Reporters Without Borders and its partner organization, Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS), firmly condemn a pre-dawn armed attack on the Tamil-language daily Uthayan’s headquarters in the northern city of Jaffna on 13 April, just 10 days after a similar attack on Uthayan’s distribution office in the town of Kilinochchi.

In the 13 April attack, three gunmen threatened Uthayan security guards and staff members and forced their way into the printing department, where they opened fire on equipment and then set fire to it, causing major damage but no injuries.

Over 100 people had been arrested during search operations conducted in Jaffna last week, the Jaffna police said today.

Jaffna SSP Mohomad Jiffrey said that the suspects were arrested in connection with various crimes.

Addressing the media in Jaffna today the SSP said that 123 people were arrested in the Jaffna and KKS police divisions.

Political bankruptcy of Muslim parliamentarians was exposed by the Tamil National Alliance leader R Sampanthan and the TNA parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran when they raised the issue of growing disastrous hate Muslim campaign in the parliament.

As it is well known that there has been a wave of well planned attacks on the political, religious, cultural, economic life of Muslims in Sri Lanka. This campaign which started early last year with the destruction of a more than 400 year old Muslim shrine in Anuradhapura continues unabated with growing intensity.

Following a series of agitations against the garbage dump in Meethotamulla, Environment and Renewable Energy Ministry expects to introduce a new technology to use solid waste in the construction of highways and expressways.

Environment and Renewable Energy Minister Susil Premajayantha said that the country would adopt pollution free technology to construct highways by using a specially produced variety of gravel through recycling of solid waste as done in some other countries. 

During the National New Year when the Sinhala and Tamil communities came together for festivities of deep unity in diversity it was sad to hear of yet another attack on the Jaffna-based Tamil newspaper ‘Uthayan’. This attack, the 16th since 2006, on the leading Tamil newspaper in the North was a clear sign of the lawlessness or total breakdown of the rule of law in the country and the government’s failure to turn the LTTE defeat into lasting peace, reconciliation and justice for the people in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

The government says its philosophy is that reconciliation is not about finding culprits to punish but undertaking a process of healing.

This was said at the UN General Assembly by Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York Dr. Palitha Kohona.

He says excessive external pressure is being piled on Sri Lanka to conclude the process of investigating allegations to the exclusion of all else even though similar situations in other countries have taken much longer.

The responsibility of using electricity economically rests solely with the people. Sri Lanka can produce only 20 percent of its electricity requirements through hydro power plants and the rest is generated by the expensive thermal power plants. Therefore, it is essential to reduce the electricity consumption and thereby save the huge foreign exchange spent on oil imports.

This was stated by Minister of Mass Media and Information Keheliya Rambukwella addressing the cabinet decisions announcement media conference held at the Media Ministry yesterday.

The government is still awaiting the participation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in the Parliamentary Select Committee, Government MP Namal Rajapaksa said.

He said this in a tweet in response to a question posed to him on formulating a solution to the Tamil issue.

The MP also said that all Sri Lankans have suffered as a result of the war and the government will not allow it to happen again.

Investigation extracts in connection with the murder of Kelaniya Pradeshiya Sabha member (UPFA), Hasitha Madawala, have been submitted to the Attorney General, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) informed the Mahara Magistrate, yesterday.

The observation was made by CID Inspector, Madhava Gunawardena, when the Court inquiry into the murder case was taken up for hearing before Acting Magistrate, K. Viranga.

The era when graduates suffered due to unemployment has come to an end, Higher Education Minister S B Dissanayake said.

Addressing a ceremony at Dawulagala D B Wijetunga Conference Hall to grant permanent appointment letters to newly recruited graduate trainees to the public service in Udu Nuwara Divisional Secretariat Division recently, the minister said public servants account for 14 percent of the total number of workers in Sri Lanka.