News
Foreign powers have only shown their nudity – Johnny
Chief Government Whip and Highways Minister Johnston Fernando yesterday (4) said that the show being enacted in Geneva against Sri Lanka showed the duplicity of Western nations.
Addressing the media after participating in a tree planting campaign at Padukka, the Minister said that several Western nations had taken upon themselves the task of protecting human rights in Sri Lanka.
“Those countries sponsored the drafting of some UN documents that stated the LTTE too had committed war crimes with the intention of giving those documents a look of balance. “But those countries went all out to remove LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran to safety shortly before the conclusion of the war. If their plans to save Prabhakaran had succeeded, the war would have continued resulting in death and destruction, forcible child conscription, political killings, extortion, civilian massacres. The North and the East of this country would still have been under the jackboot of Prabhakaran.”
The Minister said the UNHRC Chief Michelle Bachelet had decided to overlook facts and continued to harass Sri Lanka. “They do not listen to reason. Why the UNHRC overlooks facts about serious human rights violations committed by the LTTE is the question. Lord Naseby has revealed in the British Parliament that UNHRC allegations against Sri Lanka are baseless and manufactured lies.
“The UNHRC’s duplicity is obvious. What action the UNHRC took against the worst war criminals in the world, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former US President George W. Bush? They are responsible for killing more than 500,000 Iraqi children in their war against Iraq,” the Minister said.
Accepting deposits from political parties and independent groups who intend to contest the forthcoming Local Authorities Election ended at 12noon today [19].
Deposits were accepted at respective District Secretariats from 3rd March 2025.
The Elections Commission has announced that the deadline for the accepting of nominations for the LA poll is set to conclude at 12:00 noon tomorrow (20).
It has been reported that the former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon has appeared before the Matara Magistrate’s Court this morning (19),
The former IGP had been evading arrest after the Matara Magistrate’s court had ordered his arrest regarding a shooting incident that took place in front of the W15 Hotel Pelena, Weligama, Matara, in 2023.
The government has begun recovering funds obtained by former Lands and Land Development, Environment and Wildlife Resources Minister SM Chandrasena for the Janatha Lanka Chilli Marketing Limited (JLCML), which he headed, Parliament was informed yesterday.
Agriculture, Livestock, Land, and Irrigation Minister Namal Karunaratne said that as the Chairman of JLCML, Chandrasena had obtained a loan of Rs. 1,275,000 from the Mihintale Govijana Seva Bank in 2001.
The principal of the loan had not been repaid until the end of last year. “After we came to power, we demanded that the loan be settled. Then, we discovered that the interest on the loan had not been paid for the past 24 years, and attempts had been made to have the loan written off. We stopped that and are now in the process of recovering the interest of Rs. 1,975,233 on the loan,” Karunaratne said.
Karunaratne added that JLCML was registered as a company with the Registrar of Companies on March 21, 2001. As Chairman of the company, Chandrasena requested a loan of Rs. 10 million on April 19, 2001, for the purpose of purchasing chillies from farmers in 12 farmer colonies in the Mihintale Agrarian Service area.
The request was approved by the Mihintale Agrarian Service Committee on the same day and referred to the Anuradhapura District Agrarian Operations Committee, which approved it on April 23, 2001. However, the Agriculture Development Commissioner General recommended that a loan of Rs. 1.2 million would suffice for this purpose. JLCML took the loan and failed to repay it until the end of last year. When the matter was raised, the principal was paid, and we are now in the process of recovering the interest that was not paid for the past 24 years,” Karunaratne added.
By Saman Indrajith
Accepting deposits for Local Authorities Election concludes
At least 12 dead in Honduras plane crash
Putin agrees in Trump call to pause Ukraine energy attacks but no full ceasefire
-
Foreign News5 days agoSearch continues in Dominican Republic for missing student Sudiksha Konanki
-
Features7 days agoRichard de Zoysa at 67
-
Features4 days agoThe Royal-Thomian and its Timeless Charm
-
News5 days agoDPMC unveils brand-new Bajaj three-wheeler
-
Sports2 days agoSri Lanka to compete against USA, Jamaica in relay finals
-
Features4 days ago‘Thomia’: Richard Simon’s Masterpiece
-
Features7 days agoSL Navy helping save kidneys
-
Editorial6 days agoCuriouser and curiouser!