Day: 25 February 2018
Lanka ready to take in 'failed' asylum seekers
By Leon Berenger The Government will allow thousands of Sri Lankan refugees, who failed their asylum bid in Europe and elsewhere, to enter the country provided they arrive on a voluntary basis, a high ranking official with the Foreign Ministry said yesterday. He said the decision was taken at the 4th Joint Committee Meeting on Re-Admission held in Brussels on Monday, last week. "There is an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 Lankans who have failed to obtain asylum in several European countries and they are being lined up for deportation to…
By Karuna, LATEST UPDATES, SRI LANKA NEWS, UK NEWS
Mahinda Family is safe from all its crimes – Ranil is the new Minister of Law and Order
Agreement Reached Finally on Cabinet Re-shuffle After President Rejects Three Different Lists of Cabinet Changes Submitted by Prime Minister; Maithripala Rejects Ranil'sProposal to Appoint Sarath Fonseka as Law and Order Minister. The suspense for Sri Lankans, kept in the dark for two weeks over the political crisis triggered by results of the local polls, will end today (Feb 25th). The Presidential Secretariat on Friday informed new ministers to be present at a swearing-in ceremony at 11 this morning (Sunday Feb 25th). The move signals the continuation of the SLFP-UNP coalition…
Rt. Honorable Vijaya Kumaratunga stood up as a beacon of peace and amity
Speech delivered by Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama at the 30th commemoration of Vijaya Kumaratunga at the BMICH recently I consider myself to be very fortunate for being called upon to speak a few words about our friend the late Vijaya Kumaratunga, undoubtedly the most popular actor and the most popular politician 30 years ago. All of us present here today are his friends and those who loved him. Horrendous though it was, I see Vijaya's assassination, in a certain sense, as the enactment of a farce. I say so, without…
Suresh Subramaniam is new NOC President
Suresh Subramaniam has been elected new President of the National Olympic Committee. At the election today (23), he received 18 votes, while his challenger Rohan Fernando obtained 12 votes. One vote was rejected. Subramaniam is also the deputy President of the Sri Lanka Tennis Association. Maxwell de Silva was elected secretary, defeating his challenger Priti Perera by 19 votes to 12 votes.
Jaffna boy who conquered Financial city of London
Citi veteran Bernie Sinniah is stepping down after a 38-year run at the bank. Citi confirmed the retirement of the banker – who joined as a spot foreign exchange trader in Colombo and rose to become its global head of foreign exchange solutions – in an email to staff on Monday morning. He will leave by the end of the first quarter. The bank's global head of foreign exchange corporate sales Flavio Figueiredo said Mr Sinniah had shown "tremendous client focus" and "built great sales teams" during this time at…
GTF attempts to get Brigadier Fernando's family removed
The Global Tamil Forum (GTF), an influential Tamil diaspora group in the UK, is attempting to have the family of the Defense Attaché to the Sri Lanka High Commission in London, Brigadier Priyanka Fernando, removed from the UK. GTF spokesman Suren Surendiran has written to British Home Secretary Amber Rudd thanking him for returning Brigadier Fernando to Sri Lanka. "However, we understand that Brigadier's family members continue to live in the UK. We are therefore writing to request you to curtail their visas and return them back to Sri Lanka," Surendiran said in the letter. He says…
In the end, there was nothing
"A lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing." Storm Much more than a storm in a tea cup! To a non-discerning person, it all seemed like the final battle of the counter revolution. President Sirisena was up in smoke trying to oust Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for no articulated reason. He asked good old Karu but Karu said, "Nope!" He asked Sajith but Sajith said, "Nope!" The JO boys thought they at last, were seeing a political Nirvana as the cases against them are sure to fall. "Government must resign!"…
Tamil Eelam would bloom – Sampanthan's Fear
By Dinesh D. Dodamgoda – Dinesh D. Dodamgoda The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader R. Sampanthan's recent remarks on the 'lotus bud' (Nelum Pohottuwa)' received a wider attention of many concerned parties. Sampanthan stated, "If you (Nelum Pohottuwa party attached to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa led alliance) persist with this agenda, I want to tell you (Tamil) Eelam will bloom not on account on us, but on account of your lotus bud". Sampanthan's verbal attack on Rajapaksa came as a response to Rajapaksa's pre-poll campaign statement in which he said, "A Tamil Eelam would bloom…