The Government has withdrawn more than Rs 560 million allocated for development work to Northern Province local councils controlled by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).�The move comes in a year during which Northern Provincial Council elections will be held as pledged by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The funds were meant for rural roads, construction of new buildings for local councils, building new markets and other structures in 2013, Jaffna’s Local Government Assistant Commissioner S. Jeyaharan told the Sunday Times yeste

Two hotel managers have been arrested in Sri Lanka for organising a "nirvana-style" dinner with "Buddha Bar" music that hurt the religious feelings of locals, police said Sunday.

The executives from a deluxe beach hotel at Beruwala, outside of the capital, were remanded in custody till Monday after allegations that their promotional material offended Buddhists, police spokesman Prisantha Jayakody said.

"The two managers were arrested on a charge of causing offence to Buddhists," Jayakod

In line with recommendations made in the Army’s Board of Officers report of the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), the Army is to appoint a number of special committees to look into land issues that still prevail in the North and East due to the presence of military bases in these areas.

Accordingly, five boards are to be appointed, one for each of the security forces headquarters in the North and East, namely Jaffna, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi, the Wanni, and East.

Milita

Sharjah Police have arrested a Sri Lankan maid at Sharjah Airport attempting to flee the country with stolen gold jewellery valued at Dh82,000.

The maid was working with an Asian household in a neighbouring emirate and hid the jewellery tins of in milk powder she was carrying with her.

According to the police, the maid admitted to stealing the jewellery from her employer, who were out of the country when she tried to flee.

Plantation trade unions have launched campaigns for a better wage structure for workers ahead of the expiry of the biennial Collective Agreement (CA) that concludes on March 31, 2013.

The CA was signed on June 6, 2011 among three major unions representing the bulk of the plantation workers and 23 Plantation Management Companies including the two state agencies, offering a wage increase of Rs.515 for workers.

A resident living down Pasal Mawatha at Wijerama close to the Sri Jaywardenapura University was alerted by the cries of a woman on Wednesday night. The cries came from the area of a public well.
Looking out, he noticed two three-wheelers parked near the well which had two bathing sections –one for men and the other for women.

A protest outside Mirihana police. Pic by Indika Handuwala

He promptly called the Police Emergency unit on 119. The message was picked up by the Police Communication unit at Mirihana

The websites of the Board of Investment, the Nelum Pokuna Theatre and Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage were the latest to be hacked in a series of incidents of hacking of government and private websites in the recent weeks.

A hacker using the online nickname ‘Davy Jones’ claimed he had accessed the database and obtained details of more than 2,000 investors from the BOI site. Reports also said that data had been leaked from Minister Aluthgamage’s site.Lal Dias, Chief Executive Officer of Sri Lanka Comp

The Justice Ministry through the Legal Aid Commission is considering the feasibility of stationing Duty Attorneys in police stations to assist suspects detained for questioning.

Justice Minister Rauff Hakeen in a statement to Parliament last week revealed the ongoing plans in this connection.

He said, ‘We have already prepared the amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code and we can perhaps discuss it at the next Consultative Committee of the Ministry,’ wrapping up the debate on the introduction of

Muslim political parties affiliated with the government have issued an ultimatum to the government in the wake of the anti-Muslim protests staged in Kuliyapitiya and Maharagama by a group of monks.
A hate campaign had also fast spread on the internet with Muslims in Sri Lanka being targeted on Facebook, blogs and Twitter.
The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) has urged the government to address the issue without allowing it to escalate further and go onto the international stage. SLMC General Secretary Hassan Ali said that M

Former Sports Minister, C.B. Ratnayake, a couple of years ago referred to the Sri Lanka Police as the most corrupt department in the country and lost his job. For someone who has travelled outside Sri Lanka or lived overseas, for example the West or the developed East, Sri Lanka's Police must be one of the most questionable public services or law-enforcement authorities in the world. Only two factors can be attributed to the declining image of the Sri Lankan cop. One is that he thinks he works not for the people or to uphold the law