Protest against Dewali celebration in Toronto

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

November 06, 2011, 11:15PM Est

A peaceful protest rally was held Sunday Nov 06, 2011 at 4:00PM on Leslie street in Toronto, opposite the Korean Canadian Association. The rally was organized by the Transnational Government of Tamileelam to protest against the Deepawali celebration hosted by the government of Sri Lanka, to deceive the Canadian government and the international community.

About 500 Tamils, from toddlers to seniors gathered in front of the Korean Canadian Association chanting slogans and holding placards against the Sri Lankan regime. "Dewali celebration!! Hiding Genocide" was a slogan that highlighted the event, organized by Sri Lanka.

The 72 year old veteran Sinhala leftist politician, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, who once was seen as a champion for Tamils' rights and currently the island nations' Minister of National languages and Advisor to the president presided event.

By having Mr. Nanayakkara as chief guest the Sri Lankan High Commission in Ottawa and the Consulate office in Toronto had planned to draw a large number of Tamils, with the intention of showing the invited diplomats and Canadian politicians, that Tamil Canadian's are supportive of Sri Lanka's reconciliatory measures.

On Friday November 4, 2011, In an interview hosted by a Toronto based Tamil Radio, Mr. Nanayakkara boasted of having around 300 hundred people for the event in 2010 and since the war has been ended, to give a higher posture to the celebration he said it has been expanded this year.

To the dismay of the Sri Lankan regime and Mr.Nanayakkara, no Canadian politician attended the event on Sunday. Tamil activists who were sent inside the auditorium by the TGTE with the mission of observing the event's proceedings; said, of about the two hundred attendees about twenty five were Tamil activist’s and around another seventy were Tamils deceived by the Sri Lankan regimes lies and the rest were Sinhalese and about six to seven diplomats.

Fifteen police officers were on duty around the protesters and approximately another thirty five police officers were deployed in and around the perimeters of the auditorium.

Meanwhile the Deputy Prime Minister of the TGTE Hon.Ram Sivalingham announced to the gathering, that an invitation to talk, with the protesting TGTE officials, has been received from Mr.Nanayakkara. He said it was rejected after consultation with his MP's and civilian officials. "This invitation to talk; from Mr.Nanayakkara is a huge victory indeed for the TGTE, but we are not going, since our Tamil people do not trust the Sri Lankan government and its officials" he further said.

Hon. Sam Sangarasivam, TGTE's Minister of Media and information thanked the mainstream and Tamil media personnel present. "Today's huge gathering is the direct result of the wide media publicity that has been given about the protest rally by the local Tamil media." he further said.

The protest rally was organized by the foreign and Political Affairs ministry of the TGTE and the event coordinator for the F&PA Ministry, Nimal Vinayagamoorthy MP, said, the rally was a great success.

"I don't think Sri Lanka will think of having another Deepawali celebration next year after seeing this protest." he said. He also said, that Hon. Thanikasalam Thayaparan,TGTE's Minister of Foreign & Political Affairs has been on the phone with him at least thrice from England, inquiring about the progress of the rally.

The rally ended at 7:00PM peacefully with the observance of silence to the fallen war heroes and civilians of the now besieged Tamil nation, and an oath of allegiance to the Tamileelam nation.

Courtesy: TGTE

Anonymous threats to President of judges panel in white flag case – regime’s conspiracy exposed

(Lanka-e-News -06.Nov.2011, 2.30PM) The President of the panel of judges of the High court, justice Ms. Deepali Wjesundara in the white flag case had received anonymous letters threatening her with death, and these letters are written giving the impression that they are by parties linked to Gen.Sarath Fonseka, according to reports reaching Lanka e news.

Based on information provided to Lanka e news from sources close to the judges of High courts , pursuing instructions from the Rajapakse regime security division, a retired Major general who is an advisor there, had enlisted his subordinates to post these letters after writing them from remote areas outside Colombo to the judge’s residence and the court with the help of separate Vans used to travel to those areas for posting.

After justice Deepali Wijesundara had complained to the judges security unit over these letters of threat , her security has been beefed up. It is learnt that these threats are a ploy by the Rajapakse regime calculated to induce the judge to give the verdict in disfavor of Gen. Fonseka by provoking her , and creating a mental frame consonant with that.

Judicial service sources say , at a time when justice and laws are being given an un-ceremonial burial , the aims and ambitions of justices and judges are at this crucial period to dispense justice fairly and independently , but owing to threats , intimidations and undue pressures they are being stymied in their honorable efforts. The High court sources also view , the decision to summon former CJ Sarath N Silva to the Parliament to discuss a motion against him is making a nasty dent in the independence of the judiciary , and aimed at stifling judges from taking decisions duly, freely and justly.

A retired judge who wished to remain anonymous ,speaking to us said, a judge is a person who safeguards justice at the highest level and not an ordinary individual. Whether he is a Magistrate , judge of the district court , High court , appeal court or supreme court , all of them are dispensing justice and nothing else . Though they are of different courts , Justice is in the same lines whether it is in the higher or lower court.
Judges who performed their duties duly dispensing justice rightly maintaining the dignity of the profession and themselves will always be respected and revered . Not only them , even their children and grandchildren will be respected . But Judges who have not acted ethically and duly , and who have not maintained the hallowed judicial traditions have always courted disaster sooner or later . There are so many judges of that caliber in the history who have incurred the wrath not only on themselves , but on their descendents as well , the court sources revealed.

Though this retired judge revealed a whole host of names of such judges who earned displeasure , we are unable to include the details here.

Such judges who had committed evil cannot wipe out that sin or escape the wrath on them of families of the victims of wrong judgments , even if they go a hundred times to the Kelaniya Temple , or on pilgrimage to Rome or to Mecca , the retired judge emphasized.
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Giving the middle finger: Sri Lanka’s conflicting responses to war crimes allegations

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Channel4.com article

President holds out veiled threat to late Bharatha’s daughter –flees country in fear

Monday 7 of November 2011
(Lanka-e-News -06.Nov.2011, 11.45PM) The Regime chief Mahinda Rajapakse has held out illicit veiled threats to the grieving widow and daughter of late Bharatha Lakshman who was murdered allegedly by kudu (drugs) Duminda recently.

When the post mortem was being held some days ago , the daughter of Bharatha had told the media that the prime suspect in these murders, Duminda Silva is in Hospital and is free ; and that even the Magistrate had been denied the opportunity to make an evaluation in Hospital which is a mandatory requirement in this connection.
The Regime Chief who had been infuriated at these remarks had taken a phone call to Bharatha’s daughter and asked , ‘ What are you trying to do , Hirunika?’. ‘Are you trying to cause my Govt. to fall?’ ‘Three of those involved in the killing of your father had been murdered by now.’, the President had told. ‘ Don’t talk unnecessary things’ , the President has thundered at Hirunika. The latter who had obviously got frightened , had left the Island soon after citing security grounds. 

Assainated Bharatha's daughter Hirunika Premachandra revealed this to LeN.
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Regime chief’s luxury cars go wherever he goes like ‘Mary and her little lamb’
(Lanka-e-News -06.Nov.2011, 11.45PM) The Sri Lanka (SL) regime chief Mahinda Rajapakse is scheduled to leave on the 8th to participate in the 17th SAARC summit to be held in the Maldives on the 9th. Two luxury vehicles of his had already been dispatched by ship to Maldives in connection with his tour.

These vehicles have been dispatched by vessel across the ocean not because there are a shortage of vehicles in Maldives , but because of the regime chief’s passion to travel in his own super luxury vehicles .

Anyway it is interesting to note , the Indian leader who holds sway over such a large country in the world , does not take his vehicles along like ‘Mary and her little lamb’ when he visits SL or Maldives.
The STF soldiers have been deployed to provide security in Maldives for the President for this year’s 17th SAARC summit.

Rights Group: Sri Lanka Not Investigating Torture

  Monday, November 7th, 2011

Amnesty International says Sri Lanka is not credibly investigating torture allegations leveled against security forces.

The London-based rights group said Monday that despite having anti-torture legislation in place, a special police investigation unit reportedly carried out only three prosecutions in 14 years.

It says most cases involving torture never go to trial, with such abuse carried out by police, prison guards and military personnel.

The rights group says those suspected of being members of the Tamil Tiger rebel group have been arbitrarily detained without charge for prolonged periods of time and also subject to torture.

Amnesty International says its report comes on the eve of the United Nations Committee Against Torture's review into Sri Lanka.

“It’s not only the duty of the Sri Lankan government, but also of the International Community to find out the facts about what happened to the Tamil civilians in the last days of the war.”: R. Sampanthan

‘In Canada, the people who speak different languages, English and French, have the right to rule themselves in their areas. They have the opportunity to get political, economic, social and cultural rights. This is what we are also asking,’ said Mr. R. Sampanthan, while addressing a large gathering at the Sri Iyappan Temple auditorium in Toronto on October 30, 2011. He was accompanied by two other Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Members of Parliament, namely Mr. Sumanthiran and Mr. Mavai Senathiraja. They were on a North American visit to meet the government officials and the Tamil Diaspora. Here is the full speech of Mr. Sampanthan:
FULL STORY»>

Political will not demonstrated to implement former reports LLRC report – mixed reaction to contents

Sunday 06 November 2011

By Rathindra Kuruwita 

The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) is to present its final report to the president on November 15. There are also rumours that it will be handed on the 18th – Mahinda Rajapaksa’s birthday. LLRC Chairman C.R. de Silva told LAKBIMAnEWS that the report has already been completed and that they are waiting for the president to notify the commissioners of a date in which he is ready to accept the report.
The LLRC has been greeted with extreme optimism and viewed as a great achievement by the regime’s supporters while international human rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch dismissed the commission, refusing to even appear before it. 

Choosing a failed model

One of the main criticisms against the LLRC is that the model the government chose, a Commission of Inquiry, has failed consistently in Sri Lanka, starting with the 1977 Sansoni Commission to the 2007’s Udalagama Commission. On many occasions, the commissions failed to produce substantial and unbiased documents and in the few occasions in which they came up with acceptable and fair recommendations, they have not been implemented by the governments that appointed them.    Full Story>>>

Charity hands UN file to back Sri Lankan torture claims

  Ian Cobain  guardian.co.uk, Monday 7 November 2011
Freedom From Torture doctors say torture continues after end of civil war as UK presses ahead with deportation of Tamils

A UK charity that is pushing for a halt to deportations to Sri Lanka has handed the UN a file of medical evidence to support allegations that authorities there are continuing to torture opponents.

The submission by Freedom From Torture – formerly known as the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture – is based on a review of 35 cases drawn from the 300-plus Sri Lankans who have been referred to the charity's UK clinics for examination or treatment over the last two years.

Physicians at the organisation say that detailed examinations of Sri Lankan patients show that torture is still continuing in 2011, two years after the end of the of the 26-year civil war that ended in defeat for separatist forces of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE.   Full Story>>>

CHOGM-2011: Diplomatic victory or absolute disgrace?

By Kalana Senaratne  The 2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) raised renewed concerns about the ability of the Commonwealth to tackle human rights problems of its 54-member states. Sri Lanka hailed CHOGM-2011 as another diplomatic victory. Amnesty International slammed the Commonwealth calling it an ‘absolute disgrace’ that the countries agreed to hold the next CHOGM in Sri Lanka. Full Story>>>

Commonwealth told of 'political revenge'

The CPA was told that the government was trying to suppress and oppress the opposition An opposition parliamentarian has lodged a formal complaint with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) against alleged intimidation by the government. United National Party (UNP) MP, Anoma Gamage, in her letter to CPA General Secretary Dr William F Shija alleges that the government “is trying to suppress and oppress” opposition MPs by bringing in new regulations. The government, which commands a two thirds majority in the parliament, says it is determined to go ahead with the Revival of Underperforming Enterprises and Underutilized Assets Act despite protests from the UNP, business leaders and the Bar Association. Mrs Gamage is a director of Sevanagala Sugar Industries Ltd, one of the 37 enterprises listed to be acquired by the government under the pretext as a “underutilised” company. Sarath Fonseka The letter, handed over to Mr Shija by Jayalath Jayawardene, MP, in London alleges that the government move is a violation of her fundamental rights.  This action of the government is act of crass intimidation aimed at stifling our political activities. It is nothing but an act of political revenge Anoma Gamage, MP Noting that her company is a profitable enterprise, Mrs Gamage says that the move is also a violation of Commonwealth principals. "This action of the government is act of crass intimidation aimed at stifling our political activities. It is nothing but an act of political revenge," the letter said. Dr Jayawardene told BBC Sandeshaya that the failure of the Commonwealth to appoint human rights envoy at CHOGM in Australia might lead to more such incidents. "Human rights abuses such as this case would not have occurred had the Commonwealth leaders appointed the rights envoy at Perth summit," the UNP deputy general secretary said. He is on a European tour highlighting Sri Lanka’s human rights situation with the EU and international leaders. He has handed over an appeal to Pope Benedict XVI, in late October, on behalf of former parliamentarian Gen Sarath Fonseka, who is serving a prison sentence.

Thamizhar Changkamam draws sold-out crowd, celebrates Tamil culture

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 November 2011, 11:22 GMT]
The Ilankai Tamil Sangam, USA hosted a Thamizhar Changkamam (Confluence of Tamils) during its 34th Annual General Meeting in New Jersey and drew a sold-out crowd of Tamils. Visiting Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MPs, Mr. Mavai Senathirajah and Mr. Suresh Premachandran addressed the event and noted the problems facing the Tamils in resettling in their original homes, resuming normal life and having their voices heard since the end of the war. Naam Tamilar Seeman, who was scheduled to attend the event from Tamil Nadu, was not allowed enter the country by the US border agency. In the meantime, Congressman of New Jersey, Rush Holt, who is well informed of the plight of Eelam Tamils, made an impromptu visit to the event. He was honored with pon-aadai (a Tamil custom) for his service to the Tamil community. 

Congressman Rush Holt

The Congressman pointed out his aspiration and commitment to see Tamils living with peace, security and equal rights in the land of their birth. He also had the opportunity to discuss ground level realities with the visiting MPs. 

The US Tamil Political Action Council held its AGM at the event. Several Tamil organizations from the US, Canada and the UK participated during the day-long event, with people coming from as far away as India to attend. 

One panel addressed issues of coordination between all these diverse organizations working on different agendas, but all having the well-being and dignity of the people as their focus. 

A second standing room-only panel discussed difficulties in providing humanitarian aid to those most affected and the need to restart their livelihood. Issues surrounding pushing for accountability for crimes committed over the course of the war and following its end was the subject of a third lively discussion. Among many attendees, a prominent attorney from Tamil Nadu, Mr. Chandrasekaran outlined his projects, commitments and challenges in redressing the grievances of Eezham Tamils.

Music, dance, fine food and good fellowship were naturally enjoyed by those attending, all dressed in their finest saris, suits and vertis. 

A Paratha Naaddiyam dance was performed by Yalini, a third year student majoring in Political Science. The Shakthi Group performed light music, notably Poet Kannadaasan's songs of the '60s and '70s that Eezham Tamils are known to enjoy.

Sri Lanka: Urgent need to prosecute security agents involved in torture

NOVEMBER 7, 2011

Sri Lankan military has been accused of failing to investigate torture allegations.

© AP Graphics

Sri Lanka is not credibly investigating torture, Amnesty International said on the eve of a review by the UN Committee Against Torture into the country.

In its briefing to the UN committee, Amnesty International, working closely with Sri Lankan human rights defenders, documented a persistent pattern of torture of detainees and a culture of impunity in Sri Lanka.

“There is no longer an independently functioning unit investigating torture allegations levelled against the security forces, which calls into question Sri Lanka’s commitment to ending this abhorrent practice,” said Yolanda Foster, Amnesty International’s Sri Lanka expert.

“It’s not enough to have legislation if you have no effective means of implementing it. Although Sri Lanka has a law against torture, in effect it is treated as little more than a piece of paper, as Sri Lankan colleagues have pointed out,” she said.

During the first 14 years of the anti-torture legislation, only three prosecutions were reportedly made under the Special Investigation Unit of the police, which has since been sidelined.

In 2008, the government said that in the previous four years, there had been 42 indictments against 90 people as a result of investigations into allegations of torture. An additional 31 torture cases were sent to the police to start action in the Magistrate’s Court. Most of these cases, however, never went to trial.

Torture is carried out by police, inmates and prison guards. Detainees are also routinely tortured and beaten by military personnel and paramilitary units working with government forces, such as the army and navy.

Women’s rights activists have repeatedly expressed concern to Amnesty International that gender-based violence, including violence amounting to torture is not taken seriously by Sri Lankan authorities. Sexual violence is highly under-reported and where it is reported, poorly investigated, the activists say.

Enforced disappearances continue to be reported, and bodies of victims of extrajudicial killings have shown evidence of torture.

Individuals detained on suspicion of links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), have also been victims of torture. Sri Lankan detainees have been held arbitrarily for prolonged periods, sometimes years, without charge.  Many have been arrested and detained on suspicion of links to the LTTE pending investigation and interrogation by Sri Lanka’s intelligence and security forces, or for “rehabilitation.” People alleged to be involved with the LTTE are rarely brought to trial. Most of these detainees are eventually released for lack of evidence.

Criminal suspects are also subjected to torture. In October 2011, Lalith Susantha, a suspect arrested in connection with the death of a policeman drowned in Bolgada Lake near Colombo, after police officers allegedly took him by boat to an island in the lake to reveal the location of weapons used in the murder.

 “Sri Lanka must immediately begin a complete overhaul of its criminal justice system and guarantee prompt and fair investigation of any allegations of torture,” said Yolanda Foster.

“Prosecutions of security agents suspected of torture must be carried out as a matter of urgency,” she added.

Sri Lanka blocks websites for 'maligning' president

The Sri Lankan government has warned that any website dealing with Sri Lankan affairs must register with the government or face legal action.

Websites critical of the government will find it harder to operate

It comes after officials say a number of websites have already been blocked because they have engaged in "character assassination" of the president.

Access to at least six news websites has been blocked by Sri Lanka in the past few days.

Critics say the move adds to an established pattern of web censorship.

The sites that have been blocked include a new website of the main opposition United National Party, and another website whose premises were burnt out earlier this year.

The secretary to the media ministry said that the sites were blocked because they had maligned the president, ministers and top government officials.

He told the Lankadeepa newspaper that any website giving information about the country, wherever in the world it operated, should register with his ministry or else face legal action.

But a senior opposition figure, Mangala Samaraweera, said this requirement was "absurd" and described the government as "paranoid".

Sophisticated computer users can reach sites banned by the government through proxies.

But the move shows that there are definite limits to what this government will tolerate.

The country has a history of internet censorship.

A pro-Tamil Tiger site, Tamilnet, has been blocked almost continuously since 2007, while other sites critical of the government have been banned on and off.

A government supporter told the BBC that even though the physical war ended two years ago, the propaganda war continued because of the public relations campaign by the Tamil diaspora which still believes in Tamil separatism.

A Paris-based campaign group, Reporters Without Borders, says that online journalists and media are still targeted with violence in Sri Lanka and the perpetrators enjoy impunity.

The group has in the past criticised the two biggest service providers in Sri Lanka for allowing the censoring of websites.

Families search for thousands of missing victims from brutal war

MONDAY 07 NOVEMBER 2011
 His name was Abi, he was six, and the last his family glimpsed of him was in the frenzied moments after deadly shells struck close to the bunker where they had been sheltering. His sisters were gravely injured, his mother too, and the young boy put his arm around her. "Mother," he sobbed three times.

That scene played out in May 2009, on a patch of blood-soaked sand in northern Sri Lanka where Tamil rebels made a last stand against the advancing forces of the Sri Lankan army. With them were up to 300,000 civilians. Since then, Abi's family has searched for him without reward, turning to the army, charities even Hindu priests. "I don't know what happened to him. All I know is that he put his arms around my neck," said the boy's mother, Getharagowri Mahendiran.

Full Story>>>

Sunday November 06, 2011

Grave concern over the effects of urgent bill

Sevenagala sugar factory owner sees political motives behind acquisition Opposition says foreign direct investment will be severely curtailed

By Our Political Editor

Sitting on top of a six billion rupee empire extending to several spheres, he is easily one of Sri Lanka's top notch  Daya Gamage broke down in tears at Friday's news conference business entrepreneurs. Apparel, sugar, electronics, computer software, aviation and construction are just a few among them. The billionaire that he is, 51-year-old Daya Gamage is perhaps the only businessman in the country to own a private jet. Some days, he boards his six -seater Beechcraft C55 for a flight to Ampara where his main apparel complex is located. By afternoon, he is back in Colombo for a meeting at his three-storeyed Daya Group building at Pepiliyana junction, just a kilometre from Kohuwala. By evening, he is off again by road to one more of his business ventures in the outskirts of Colombo. A look at the wall of his modestly furnished third-floor office speaks of the company he has kept or is still keeping. There are portraits of the bearded businessman posing with former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, winning an entrepreneurial award from President Mahinda Rajapaksa and seated shoulder to shoulder with UNP leader Ranil Wickrmesinghe. At one end, several statues of Lord Buddha of varying sizes lay on a table. Gamage, however, is not an apolitical businessman though a devout Buddhist. Protests outside the gate leading to the Sevanagala Sugar Factory in Moneragala   read more..

For Ethanol, Take It All

Sunday, November 06, 2011

• An attempt to monopolize the liquor industry using the nationalization movement 

President Mahinda Rajapaksa

By Ashwin Hemmathagama

Although it is intended to look like political victimization, the controversial Bill – Revival of Underperforming Enterprises and Underutilised Assets, which will be presented to Parliament this week will pave the way for some relatives of the Rajapaksa family and their stooges to create a monopoly in the local liquor industry.

Once enacted, this Bill will provide for vesting in the state, identified underperforming enterprises or underutilised assets; to appoint in respect of each one or more of such underperforming enterprises or underutilised assets a competent authority; to provide for their thorough alternative initialisation and the payment of compensation in respect thereof; and to provide for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto. The Bill lists 38 ventures already identified by the Government as underutilised assets and underperforming enterprises. Although it is included in this list, Sevanagala Sugar Industries Ltd. and Pelwatte Sugar Industries PLC are two private enterprises in full swing making considerable amounts of operational profits while providing direct and indirect employment opportunities for well over 100,000 Sri Lankan families.
Proving the profitability of his business, which is listed as a failure in this Bill, Daya Group Chairman, Daya Gamage, the investor in Sevanagala Sugar Industries Ltd. told The Sunday Leader that a turnover of Rs.1.1 billion was reported during the FY 2010/11 and the net profits for the last three years exceeded Rs. 630 million. “This Bill was brought in within a short period of time with ulterior intensions. It did not allow us or the trade chambers to prove that my business at Sevanagala is not underperforming or with underutilized assets. I bought Sevanagala Sugar Industries Ltd. in 2002 for Rs. 550 million and have invested heavily to make it work. I do not want to look at this as political victimisation,” he said.

 Read More »

Sheraton to build hotel in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo

COLOMBO | Sun Nov 6, 2011 

(Reuters) - Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, the largest Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide brand, will build a hotel in the Sri Lankan capital on land originally offered to a Chinese firm, a government official said on Sunday.

The island nation's junior economic minister said the government has completed negotiations with Sheraton to allocate the land, earlier offered to China National Aero Technology Import and Export Corporation (CATIC).

"The negotiations with Sheraton are successfully over and we have agreed to give (the) CATIC land," Lakshman Yapa Abeywardene told Reuters.

However, he declined to comment on the amount of the investment or extent of land the government had agreed to offer Sheraton under a 99-year lease.

Last month, Sri Lanka annulled a $500 million investment deal with CATIC after it refused to sell the beach front land outright to the state-run Chinese conglomerate as agreed earlier.

The CATIC deal was among the largest foreign investments since Sri Lanka won a quarter-century civil war in 2009, and analysts say its cancellation has created concerns among potential investors.

The land deal was cancelled after the main opposition United National Party (UNP) questioned it in a parliament dominated by President Mahinda Rajapaksa's ruling party.

Officially, Rajapaksa questioned why the land for the hotel on the colonial-era Galle Face seafront grounds was being sold instead of given on a long-term lease. CATIC balked at the change in terms, having already paid $54.5 million.

The government says it is negotiating to give CATIC another property, and is in talks to lease the land in front of Galle Face Green it offered earlier to another party, which it declined to name, to build a hotel.

However, the government has not changed the terms of a similar $500 million hotel, shopping and apartment project with Shangri-La Asia Ltd, which paid $125 million to buy 10 acres next to the 6 acres CATIC wanted.

CATIC is primarily a weapons manufacturer, but has other interests, including in hotels.

Sri Lanka urges news websites to register after ban

COLOMBO | Sat Nov 5, 2011 2:11

Nov 5 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka ordered news websites on Saturday to register with the Media Ministry, in what critics called a further step towards restricting media after the banning of an anti-government site last month.

"It's a request from the Media Ministry to register (news) websites with the ministry," said Director General of the government's Information Department Ariyarathna Athugala.

He declined to comment on the reason for the measure.

Sri Lanka's Telecommunication Regulation Commission, last month blocked access within Sri Lanka to the anti-government Lanka-e-News (www.lankaenews.com) website, which carried news critical of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brothers.

The United States Embassy said it was deeply concerned over the banning of the site.

"The United States believes that a free and independent media is vital to ensuring the health and continuation of any democracy. Freedom of expression, including unfettered access to internet news websites, is a basic right which must be respected," it said in a statement.

"We therefore call on the Sri Lankan authorities and the management of Sri Lankan telecommunications firms to stop activities aimed at blocking free access in Sri Lanka to all legitimate media websites, including Lanka-e-News."

In May, the Sri Lankan government imposed a ban on Lanka-e-News for publishing false news. A court lifted the ban after accepting the website's apology.

The island nation's government initially blocked news websites during the final phase of a 25-year war against separatists Tamil Tiger rebels, banning the rebels' main propaganda website in 2008.

The government defeated the rebels in May 2009, but continued the ban on anti-government websites from time to time.

"I don't see any necessity for registering. There is enough room under the normal law to prevent obscene and unethical publications," Kusal Perera, a government critic and director of the Centre for Social Democracy, told Reuters.

The Horror of Child Abuse in Sri Lanka

Sunday, November 06, 2011

Vulnerable children face five principal types of risk:  sexual abuse, emotional and physical abuse, institutional abuse and non-organic failure to thrive

‘Life’s aspirations come in the guise of children’
Fireflies by Rabindranath Tagore
This column dedicated to the notion of making Sri Lanka the Wonder of Asia today turns the spotlight on the horror of child abuse, which affects the aspirations of Sri Lankan society to be free of child abuse.

 Read More »

SL Navy Pelt Stones at TN Fishermen, 6 Injured

PTI | RAMESWARAM (TN) | NOV 06, 2011
Six fishermen were injured and 10 boats damaged when Sri Lankan naval personnel allegedly pelted stones at them while they were fishing near Katchatheevu islet today.

Fisheries department officials said one of the fishermen suffered multiple injuries when broken window glass panes of the boat struck him under the impact of stoning.

The Sri Lankan Naval personnel also cut the fishing nets of the boats, they said.

All the injured have been hospitalised and are out of danger, they said.

Katchatheevu was ceded to Sri Lanka by India in 1974.