News

PRCA APAC appoints Country Representative for Lanka

Published

4 years ago

2022/09/11

ASIA PACIFIC – 8th September, 2022 – The Public Relations and Communications Association Asia Pacific (PRCA APAC) has announced Thanzyl Thajudeen MPRCA as its first country representative in Sri Lanka. Thajudeen is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) and member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) with over 10 years of experience in advising, managing, and leading PR and communications for notable brands across diverse industry sectors in Sri Lanka.

Spearheading the strategy in the local context, the representative will pursue activities aimed at curating, sharing, and enforcing knowledge and insights, and actively engage with industry leaders and practitioners within agencies and organisations in Sri Lanka. Among the initiatives is to publish a brief report on the state of the industry in the country and organise an industry webinar with renowned communications experts in the APAC region on emerging challenges and insights.

Head of PRCA APAC Tara Munis said “Thanzyl Thajudeen is a positive driving force for PR in Sri Lanka. As the world’s largest and most influential professional PR association, our mission is simple – to raise standards across the world. We’re looking forward to working with Thanzyl to further untap PR’s enormous potential in Sri Lanka.”

Sri Lanka representative Thanzyl Thajudeen MPRCA said ‘‘It is with great pleasure to represent PRCA in Sri Lanka and I believe it is long overdue of having a global voice in the industry. As the world’s largest and most influential PR professional body, there is tremendous amount of insights and resources that can be mutually beneficial to making relevant, sustainable and responsible decisions in a practice that is constantly challenging and evolving.’

‘‘We look forward to actively engage and work together with diverse stakeholders such as agencies, organizations, media, associations, academia, policy makers and experts to uplift the communications landscape and standards of Sri Lanka through various activities that spur knowledge sharing, responsible practices, and continuous learning,’’ Thajudeen added.

The Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) is the world’s largest professional PR body, representing more than 35,000 PR professionals in 82 countries worldwide, delivering exceptional training, authoritative industry data, and global networking, and development opportunities. Its mission is to create a more professional, ethical, and prosperous PR industry. It also manages the International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) – the umbrella body for 41 PR associations and 3,000 agencies across the world, and LGcomms – the UK’s national body for local government communicators. The Sri Lanka representative can be reached via srilanka@prca.global.

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Geneva takes up Sallay’s case and govt. ignores opportunity to answer accusations

Published

15 hours ago

2026/10/5

Thilina Walpola

Suresh Sallay

The government has chosen not to respond to questions raised by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) regarding the detention of retired Maj. Gen. Suresh Sallay in connection with the ongoing investigations into the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested the ex-official in late February this year. The Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health and the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers have jointly raised the issue on 20 July, 2026.

Drawing attention of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to what they called alleged arbitrary detention of Sallay, former Director General of the State Intelligence Service (SIS) and former Director of Military Intelligence (DMI), under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), as well as allegations of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment while in custody, resulting in the grave deterioration of his health, and imminent risks of retaliation through further torture and ill-treatment resulting in irreparable harm, should he be released from hospital and returned to custody, the UN sought the government explanation with a 60-day period.

The UN has stated: “This communication, and any response received from your Excellency’s Government, will be made public via the communications reporting website at the 60 days mark. Should your Excellency’s Government respond within 60 days, both the communication and the response, may be published before the 60 days mark. The communications and responses

will also be made available in the subsequent periodic report to be presented to the Human Rights Council.”

In the absence of the government’s response, the UN posted the letter, dated 20 July, 2026, addressed to President Dissanayake. The full letter can be accessed https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=31125

News

Section of wartime KKS High Security Zone vacated to facilitate economic development in the area

Published

15 hours ago

2026/10/5

Thilina Walpola

The Army, last week, vacated an area, within the wartime high security zone in the Jaffna peninsula. The Defence Ministry said that an extent of 187.56 acres of land, belonging to the Cement Corporation in Kankesanthurai, Jaffna, has been released by the military. The released land, located in Grama Niladhari Division J/233, Kankesanthurai West, within the Valikamam North (Tellippalai) Divisional Secretariat Division, had been utilised by the Sri Lanka Army since the middle of 1997.

The release of the 187.56-acre extent forms part of the initiative to make State land available for the proposed investment zone in Kankesanthurai, thereby facilitating future investment and economic development in the area.

News

Lawyer lodges complaint against Govt. Printer, Media Ministry Secy.

Published

15 hours ago

2026/10/5

Thilina Walpola

A complaint has been lodged with the Colombo Fraud Investigation Bureau against the Government Printer and the Secretary to the Ministry of Media regarding the online release of falsified documents bearing a forged Speaker’s certificate.

Attorney-at-Law Aruna Laksiri has lodged a complaint with the Colombo Fraud Investigation Bureau requesting legal action against the Government Printer of the Department of Government Printing (No. 118, Dr. Danister de Silva Mawatha, Colombo 08), Prasanna Jayaratne, and the Secretary to the Ministry of Mass Media (Asidisi Medura, 163, Kirulapone Mawatha, Polhengoda, Colombo 05), Dr. Anil Jasinghe.

The complaint alleges the commission of offences by forging and uploading falsified documents online using a forged Speaker’s certification, failure to perform statutory duties, and misappropriation of public property.

The complaint states that a copy of the English translation of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution was downloaded and printed from the official website of the Government Printing Department (www.documents.gov.lk), which operates under the Ministry of Mass Media. On its outer cover and on page 1, the text “certified on 25th of September, 2026” is inscribed inside brackets.

The complaint pointed out that the Speaker has certified an English translation. Under Articles 23, 79, 83, and 80 of the Constitution, Parliament enacts laws and the Speaker certifies bills strictly in the Sinhala and Tamil languages; under the Constitution, therefore the Speaker cannot apply such certification to an English translation.