Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

A Sri Lankan asylum seeker accused of sexually assaulting a Sydney university student has had his visa cancelled, The Daily Telegraph can reveal today.



The temporary visa was cancelled on May 3, the day after the Supreme Court granted Daxchan Selvarajah, 21, bail.



The acting minister cancelled his visa on May 3, his lawyer Ken Robinson, of the Sydney South West Legal Centre, said.

A worldwide gang of criminals stole a total of $45 million in a matter of hours by hacking their way into a database of prepaid debit cards and then draining cash machines around the globe, federal prosecutors have revealed - and outmoded US card technology may be partly to blame.

Seven people are under arrest in the US in connection with the case, which prosecutors said involved thousands of thefts from ATMs using bogus magnetic swipe cards carrying information from Middle Eastern banks. The fraudsters moved with astounding speed to loot financial institutions around the world, working in cells including one in New York,Attorney Loretta Lynch said.

Sri Lanka`s exports fell 2.8 percent to 837 million US dollars in March 2013 from a year earlier, but apparel was up 5.0 percent to 344.5 million US dollars.
Agricultural exports were also up 0.5 percent to 209.7 million US dollars with tea up 1.9 percent to 129.1 million US dollars, data released by the Central Bank showed. Rubber product export revenues were down 9.4 percent to 73.1 million US dollars.

British Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague will be attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the UK Dr Chris Nonis confirmed. The Commonwealth biennial meeting in November this year, will be preceded by the Commonwealth Peoples Forum, the Commonwealth Youth Forum , and the Commonwealth Business Forum, and usually attracts several thousand delegates, and global media coverage.

The Central Bank`s Treasury bill holdings have fallen significantly by 46.32 percent to Rs. 83.9 billion yesterday (29) from Rs. 156.3 billion at the beginning of the year, the lowest since reaching Rs. 84.3 billion on November 07, 2011.


This is a very good sign that the economy is undergoing a correction. The Central Bank is attempting to remove the money that was printed to finance the government. This would diminish demand for credit, help the rupee strengthen against the US dollar and also reign in inflation, currency dealers said.

I had just returned from Sri Lanka after attending the Thurstan College vs. Isipathana College 50th big match encounter at the SSC cricket grounds. I spent 11 memorable days in Colombo and Galle with my schoolmates of both schools, whom I met after some considerable time.

During my visit, I noticed a substantial improvement to road infrastructure largely thanks to Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa`s vision for better roads for the future. I agree with the Defence Secretary`s courage to rebuild Colombo in line with other larger cities in the world.

The constituent parties of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) have sought the assistance of Mannar Bishop Rt. Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph to prevail upon the party leadership to have the party registered as a separate political entity, ahead of the Northern Provincial Council (NPC)election, informed sources said yesterday.

The TNA is made up of five parties -- Ilankai Tamil Arachu Kachchi (ITKAK) headed by MP R. Sampanthan Eelam People`s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) headed by MP Suresh Premachandran Tamil Elam Liberation Organization (TELO) headed by MP Selvam Adaikkalanathan People`s Liberation Organization of Tamil Elam (PLOTE) led by Dharmalingam Siththarthan and the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) headed by V. Anandasangari.

A nine-year-old boy who pinched his little brother on the testicles has had his apology published on Facebook.

In the letter, posted by the boys` mothers_day.jsp' class=black>mother, Zac tells his five-year-old brother that he`s `so sad and sorry for pinching you in the nuts that I can feel the pain`.

`I know that this note won`t completely make it up for you so here`s $1.00 all for you! I know it doesn`t make the pain go away and I can`t put a bandaid on it! You wouldn`t be able to pee!,` Zac writes. `I hope you feel better in the morning buddy!`

The Navy arrested a group of Indian fishermen for poaching in Sri Lankan waters, some 24 hours after another group of Indian fishermen had also been arrested.

The navy said that 30 Indian fishermen were arrested along with 05 Indian fishing Trawlers while they were engaged in illegal fishing in the Northern seas late last night.

A navy spokesman said that the fishermen were handed over to the Talaimannar Police for legal action.

The North Korean military says it has ratified a `merciless` attack against the United States, potentially involving a `cutting-edge` nuclear strike.

`The moment of explosion is approaching fast,` the army said in a statement on state news agency KCNA.

War could break out `today or tomorrow`, the statement said, quoting a spokesman for the General Staff of the Korean People`s Army.

`The merciless operation of (our) revolutionary armed forces in this regard has been finally examined and ratified.

A large number of fishermen here today stayed away from sea after a fresh attack allegedly by Sri Lankan naval personnel on a group of their colleagues in the Palk Strait, fisheries officials said.



According to officials, the fishing nets of 10 boats were snapped and 20 fishermen on board five boats attacked with plastic tubes around midnight yesterday.



The fishermen said when they were fishing in the mid-sea unaware of the International Maritime Boundary Line, the Lankan naval men came in five fishing boats and warned them against fishing in the area.

From Sri Lanka, they travelled to Bangkok, some through Singapore and Malaysia, accompanied by agents who bribed border officials. They were kept at the Sky Place hotel until a double-decker bus brought them south to the MV Sun Sea for the long voyage to Canada.

Once aboard, they quickly discovered the fee of up to $35,000 charged by the smuggling syndicate didn`t buy them much: A spot on a cramped deck and rations of food and water, distributed by an abusive crew that sometimes withheld provisions as punishment.

Indian MP K S Azhagiri raised doubts over Prabhakaran`s son Balachandran`s death and claimed that there was no video evidence on the killing by the Sri Lankan armed forces.

The Congress MP , representing Cuddalaore Lok Sabha Constituency, made the statement while addressing a public meeting arranged by the youth Congress at Cuddalore Old Town on Sunday night.

Some parties were playing politics by taking up the issue of 12-year-old Balachandran`s death. However, there was no video evidence available on how Balachandran was killed. It was a practice among the terrorists that in order to avoid being caught by the enemy they either consume cyanide or shoot each other. It was an unlawful act to kill a child, he said.

Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper and Sri Lankan cricketer Kumar Sangakkara feels keeping the Sri Lankan players out of the Chennai matches in the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League is not going to curtail the spirit of the game.



Bowing to intense political pressure, the IPL governing council last week withdrew top Sri Lankan players from all the Chennai matches of the high-profile IPL after Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa refused to host them in view of the prevailing anti-Sinhalese sentiments in the state.

The anti-Sri Lanka protests by college students are turning into anti-Congress protests in some parts of Tamil Nadu. A group of students attempted to lay siege the office of Virudhunagar MP Manick Tagore on Saturday and clashed with Congressmen, days after students and Congress workers clashed in Trichy.

I have to inquire about the incident. I was not in my office, Tagore said. But he said the students appeared to be affiliated to political parties. If all the college students stage a protest, we can assume that it is spontaneous. But if only a handful participate, it means they have come not as students but only as party sympathisers, he said.