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Suspicious NGOs under probe

Suspicious NGOs under probe

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is looking into the suspicious funding of certain elements in society by NGO’s and INGO’s which may destabilize the democracy of the country, Ministry sources said.

“The Foreign Ministry is looking into all aspects of information received that certain elements in socie...

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Leading Sri Lanka cricketer investigated for corruption

Leading Sri Lanka cricketer investigated for corruption

A leading Sri Lankan cricketer has been investigated by the anti-corruption unit of the Internationa...

Even the whole team can be MPs says Sports Minister

Even the whole team can be MPs says Sports Minister

Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge has said that even every member of the national cricket team while pla...

Nepal's ex-PM Koirala dies

Nepal's ex-PM Koirala dies

KATHMANDU - GIRIJA Prasad Koirala, the former Nepalese prime minister who brokered the peace deal th...

Pakistan win Sri Lanka series as 3rd Test drawn

Pakistan win Sri Lanka series as 3rd Test drawn

SHARJAH — Pakistan clinched the three-Test series against Sri Lanka 1-0 after the third and final Te...

Sri Lanka Political News

After UN vote, Sri Lanka to shut few embassies in Europe

27 March 2012
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Colombo: Less than a week after the West voted against Sri Lanka at a UN human rights meet, Colombo has decided to close some of its embassies in Europe.
The external affairs ministry said Tuesday that the embassies in Europe that were not serving any purpose in winning support for Sri Lanka’s national issues will be shut and new embassies will be opened in Asia.
“President Mahinda Rajapaksa had discussed the issue with the government. It will now be decided exactly which embassy in which country in Europe will be closed,” a ministry spokesperson told Xinhua.
He said the move was not a result of several European countries deciding to vote against Sri Lanka on a resolution over human rights violations at a 22 March UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva.
But the spokesperson quoted External Affairs Minister GL Peiris as saying that with almost all Asian countries, excluding India, voting for Sri Lanka in Geneva, it was felt that strengthening ties in Asia will be helpful for Colombo.
“The government has limited resources, so it is difficult to maintain embassies in every single country. So the government feels it will be more productive to have embassies in countries where we can gain something,” the official said.
The European Union voted for the US sponsored resolution asking Sri Lanka to fully implement the recommendations of an accountability commission following the end of the war in 2009.
© 2011 Xinhua
Lanka_protest_295Colombo: Less than a week after the West voted against Sri Lanka at a UN human rights meet, Colombo has decided to close some of its embassies in Europe.

The external affairs ministry said Tuesday that the embassies in Europe that were not serving any purpose in winning support for Sri Lanka’s national issues will be shut and new embassies will be opened in Asia.

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Sri Lanka parliament approves asset acquisition act

10 November 2011
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COLOMBO- Sri Lanka's parliament passed controversial legislation on Wednesday that will allow the government to acquire enterprises or assets it deems underperforming or underutilised, despite concerns the bill could hit investment in the country.
The new law, passed by 122 votes to 46, will pave the way for the state to acquire 37 properties including from two listed companies it has said are underperforming.
Leases on the assets, mainly land, were given away or sold at a discount years ago either as an incentive for investment or with the aim that loss-making state-owned enterprises could be turned around.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa's ruling party has been strongly criticised by opposition parties and leading business chambers for seeking to expedite the bill without public discussion and without any opportunity for the properties' holders to argue against their listing.
"No asset under the bill is owned by the private sector," influential Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa, a younger brother of President Rajapaksa, told parliament during Wednesday's debate.
"These assets are owned by the government and public. The acquisition is to utilise them to get the maximum benefits.
The government says the owners will be compensated, but it is not clear what criteria compensation would be based on.
"I assure that we will never acquire private assets," the minister added, promising to "protect investors both local and foreign".
The main opposition United National Party said during the debate that the bill would damage investor sentiment and discourage foreign investment in the $50 billion economy, hindering Sri Lanka's post-war development.
It said the "politicised" takeover bill included at least three profit-making firms.
NATIONAL INTEREST
The asset acquisition bill allows the government to appoint authorities to manage "in the interests of the national economy" what it has defined as one underperforming enterprise and 36 underutilised assets.
The opposition had argued that the bill violates the country's constitution and should not be debated while a ruling on a fundamental rights case against it is pending.
But Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa, the president's elder brother, overruled the protest and allowed the debate after Sri Lanka's Supreme Court informed parliament on Tuesday that the bill was consistent with the constitution.
Assets listed in the bill include Hotel Developers Lanka Plc , which runs the five-star Hilton Colombo hotel, and 6,300-hectare land owned by Pelwatte Sugar Industries Plc . Shares in Pelwatte Sugar have fallen 15.5 percent and those of Hotel Developers Lanka have dropped 27.1 percent since the market first got wind of the proposed bill on October 1.
Though Rajapaksa has said the bill will be a 'one-off' to acquire the specified properties, economists, investors, state officials and opposition politicians have warned it amounts to nationalisation and could damage business confidence.
"It will impact larger projects and potentially investors of large scale will be worried," Frontier Research economist Amal Sandarathne told Reuters.
The government has also been criticised recently after it cancelled a $500 million hotel deal with a Chinese firm over a land dispute and transferred a top Securities and Exchange Commission official. ,
A senior bank economist speaking on condition of anonymity said the way in which the bill had been introduced risked discouraging investors.
He said greater consultation was needed and suggested the government could have pursued other avenues, such as acquiring the assets under violation of contract if they had been underutilised.
Since the end of its 25-year civil war in 2009 Sri Lanka has been working to improve the investment climate, including making fiscal and tax reforms under the guidance of the International Monetary Fund.
Sri Lanka's foreign direct investment doubled in the first half of 2011 to $413 million compared with a year ago, mainly from Honk Kong based Shangri-La Asia for a luxury hotel in Colombo.
© 2011 Reuters
sl-presidentCOLOMBO- Sri Lanka's parliament passed controversial legislation on Wednesday that will allow the government to acquire enterprises or assets it deems underperforming or underutilised, despite concerns the bill could hit investment in the country.

The new law, passed by 122 votes to 46, will pave the way for the state to acquire 37 properties including from two listed companies it has said are underperforming.

Leases on the assets, mainly land, were given away or sold at a discount years ago either as an incentive for investment or with the aim that loss-making state-owned enterprises could be turned around.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa's ruling party has been strongly criticised by opposition parties and leading business chambers for seeking to expedite the bill without public discussion and without any opportunity for the properties' holders to argue against their listing.

Last Updated on Monday, 26 March 2012 14:33

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Sri Lanka to release controversial war report

02 November 2011
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mahinda-rCOLOMBO — Sri Lanka is to publish its report into the final stages of its war with Tamil rebels despite international criticism that the probe was flawed from the start, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.

The government's Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) is to hand over its findings to President Mahinda Rajapakse who set up the probe last year. Rights groups have already dismissed the LLRC as a white wash.

"The report of the LLRC to look into the cause of the conflict, its effects on the people and reconciliation will be made public after it is handed over to the President," the ministry said quoting Foreign Minister G. L. Peiris.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 02 November 2011 20:43

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U.N. panel on Sri Lanka conflict delivers report

13 April 2011
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 jafna_warA panel of experts set up to advise U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon on possible war crimes at the end of Sri Lanka's war against Tamil Tiger rebels delivered its report to him on Tuesday, the United Nations said.

The report by the panel, whose appointment was strongly criticized by the Colombo government, was not immediately made public. U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said it was first being given to Sri Lanka and would be published fairly soon.

Government forces defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in May 2009 after a quarter-century conflict that killed thousands of people. The end of the war displaced large numbers of people in the north of the island state.

Sri Lanka's government denies any war crimes were committed but human rights groups say both the government and the Tigers, who were seeking to set up a separate Tamil state, were guilty of rights violations.

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S.Lanka army's ex-chief loses appeal

29 January 2011
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sarath-fonnseka-electionSri Lanka's jailed former army chief Sarath Fonseka, who tried to unseat the president in elections, on Tuesday lost an appeal to retain his parliamentary seat.

The Supreme Court ruled that a court martial verdict in September finding him guilty of arms procurement offences meant that he was no longer qualified to be a member of parliament.

Fonseka led the army to victory over the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in May 2009, ending decades of bloody ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka.

But he then fell out with the government and unsuccessfully tried to oust Mahinda Rajapakse in January 2010 presidential election.After being jailed, he won a seat in the following parliamentary elections which were won by Rajapakse's party.
"The supreme court ruled that the court martial is recognised by the constitution," a court official said.
Fonseka was arrested two weeks after his defeat in the presidential elections and is serving a 30-month jail term.

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