On Tuesday, around 700 Tamils – mostly elderly women – set off from Jaffna. As Lankan citizens, they were exercising their constitutional rights; as family members of the war-disappeared, they intended to participate in a demonstration against extra-judicial killings, outside the UN office in Colombo.

They never made it out of Vavuniya. “The military said the protesters were stopped for their own safety after reports their vehicles were been attacked…… In the end, the mainly elderly women

Chairperson of the University Grants Commission (UGC) Prof. Kshanika Hirimburegama yesterday said that her institution was only handing over the names selected from the respective universities to the President when selecting a Vice Chancellor.

She was responding to the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) claim that there was a conflict of interest as UGC Chief Prof. Hirimburegama’s husband was also a nominee for the Colombo University Vice Chancellor’s post.

Information on Sri Lankans in Australian Immigration Detention Centres is not shared with the Sri Lankan Government for fear of risking the lives of their relatives in Sri Lanka. Australian Legal Researcher, Emily Howie, speaking on the eve of her departure from Sri Lanka, said the Australian Government has tight protocols on what information would and wouldn't be shared with Sri Lankan authorities. "Information that would be shared definitely includes data on people smugglers and their activities," she added.

Sri Lanka expressed its disappointment over the failure of the Conference on Disarmament to reach consensus on its programme of work and urged member states to make concerted efforts to reach an early agreement on the Programme of Work. Speaking on behalf of Sri Lanka, Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, at the Conference on Disarmament (CD) on Tuesday (05 March 2013), said nuclear Disarmament remains the highest priority of Sri Lanka in the work of the CD and that its internati

On 12th February 2013, at the TNL studios, where the debate between the Bodu Bala Sena and the representatives of the Jamiathul Ulama, the General Secretary of the Bodu Bala Sena, Venerable Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero, a very significant and valid remark was made, which caught the attention of the general public, where he referred to a specific financial problem faced by the Muslim community as  a result of them depositing their hard earned monies and life-savings with the Ceylinco Profit Sharing & Investment Corporation Ltd

The project was conceived with the objective to cater to the transportation needs of persons being resettled and to aid revival of their livelihoods, Indian High Commission said here on Thursday.

The total cost of the project is about 67 million Sri Lankan rupees.

Of the 10,000 bicycles, 2,, 2,, 1,, 1, and 1,.

India has also announced the progress in the second phase

The navy has arrested at least 54 asylum seekers heading to Australia by boat off the coast of Weligama, the navy said.

A navy spokesman said that the group had been spotted by navy patrol boats this morning.

Among those arrested are three Sinhalese and 51 Tamils including 36 males, seven females and 11 children. Most of them are residents of Jaffna and Mullaithivu, Navy spokesman Kosala Warnakulasooriya said.

Sri Lanka's government on Thursday refused to comment on the stoppage of protesters from the north and agreed to conduct inquiries but stopped short of pledging a formal investigation, an official said.

On Wednesday hundreds of people whose family members allegedly had disappeared during Sri Lanka's bloody thirty-year war were blocked by the authorities while travelling from the northern towns of Vavuniya and Mannar to Colombo to stage a protest.

Government Spokesman and Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella d

The Kilinochchi Education Zone is in a dire need of 525 teachers, and the authorities are attempting to fill the vacancies through irregular means, the Ceylon Teachers' Union (CTU) charged yesterday.

In-Service Advisers in the Kilinochchi Education Zone have been seconded to teach in schools, in order to fill the lacuna created by the shortage of teachers in the area, thereby depriving them of engaging in their legitimate duty, General Secretary of the CTU, Joseph Stalin said.

Speaking to Ceylon Today, Stalin re

The process of privatizing education in Sri Lanka begun by Ranil Wickremesinghe, when he was the Minister of Education, is now being intensified by the present Rajapaksa government says the convener of People’s Movement to Protect Schools (PMPS) Dhammika Alahapperuma.

Speaking at a media conference held in Colombo yesterday (6th) Mr. Alahapperuma said, “The government that closes down primary schools through development projects of selected schools has created a serious inconsistency in the schools system.