Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem told Parliament yesterday that Chief Justice Mohan Peiris had agreed to re-consider a request by those seeking admission to the Sri Lanka Law College, not to effect an immediate change to the entrance examination format.

Responding to a series of queries raised by DNA Parliamentary Group Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who made a special statement in Parliament that a decision had been taken to change the format of the entrance examination inconveniencing a large number of students.

The much awaited report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Sri Lanka is out now in anticipation of a debate and a resolution in the Human Rights Council soon on ‘reconciliation and accountability’ issues. It is a short report of 18 pages with a brief summary and 8 recommendations. The conclusions are equally important. Although it is formally a report of the Office of the High Commissioner, it is good as a report of the High Commissioner or the UN. This article only focuses on conclusions and recommendations of t

 Inquiries into Sri Lanka’s involvement in the US extraordinary rendition programme have revealed that the then US President George W. Bush personally intervened in a wanted foreign al-Qaeda suspect extradited from Sri Lanka to an unknown destination.

Highly placed sources told The Island that only the then Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe, Defence Minister Tilak Marapone, Defence Secretary Austin Fernando and Minister Milinda Moragoda had been aware of the transfer of the prisoner carried out after consult

When the big international fast food chains came to Sri Lanka they did not have halaal certification. However subsequently most of these chains went ‘halaal’. This had nothing to do with any ‘Islamist’ conspiracy to take-over Sri Lanka. It was a pure case of demand and supply and the pursuit of profit. The same applies to Islamic banking. There is nothing surprising about almost every player in the financial services market providing Islamic banking as bankers want to make money in as many ways as they can. So thi

In recent months there has been an increased outpouring of virulent anti‐Muslim sentiment by persons claiming to speak for all Sinhala Buddhists.

Organized groups led by Buddhist monks have held public meetings, distributed pamphlets, and made press statements. Articles in mainstream Sinhala and English newspapers have propagated ethnic and religious hatred. In addition, there have been hate campaigns via SMS, email, and face book.

Seribu Islands Resort Police apprehended 26 illegal immigrants from Sri Lanka after the motorboat they were in, KM Damar Jati, was stranded in the waters of Tidung Island northern coast of Indonesia on Monday. The immigrants were evacuated by the Police to Kampung Baru Mosque, Tidung Island, to be handed over to Tanjungpriok Immigration Office for questioning.

Seribu Islands (Thousand Islands) are a chain of islands to the north of Jakarta, Indonesia.

Leader of the Opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday pointed out the continuation of ethnic and communal violence taking place in some parts of the country and emphasised on the urgency of finding a firm solution to defuse the increasing tension between the Sinhalese and the Muslims.

“The Police reports that no incidents have taken place in Hiriyala and Kurunegala are incorrect. There is continuing tension in the area. Therefore, will the Government have an independent inquiry into this matter consulting the Provincia

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has ordered the Ministry of External Affairs to terminate the services of Sri Lankan Ambassador to Rome, Asitha Perera, following months-long protests by the Sri Lanka community and diplomatic staff in Italy.


Accordingly, the ministry yesterday dispatched the termination letter, signed by the Secretary to the Ministry, Karunaratne Amunugama.

Ministry sources said the termination letter demanded Ambassador Perera return to the country by 20 March 2013.

Three persons have been arrested on a charge of attempting to “sell” an infant born last week at the Avissawela Hospital. The arrested persons are a minor female hospital employee, her husband, and a third party. Under court orders, the mother and infant are being detained at the Ratnapura Hospital, where they will remain till February 22.
The story revealed in court was that a married but childless couple who were registered with the National Child Protection Authority received a call from the Avissawela Hospital saying

The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in its order of 23.03. to proceed in the SC applications filed by some depositors of the Golden Key Credit Card Company stated thus: ‘On a perusal of the file… it was revealed that Folio … containing report of the Head of the Special Investigation Unit (S.I.U.) of the Central Bank which had considered the very matter raised by Counsel for the petitioners ... has stated as follows