During a recent legal proceeding, former President Maithripala Sirisena faced serious allegations related to the accumulation of significant wealth during his time in office. Counsel Sanjeewa Jayawardena, representing the petitioners in 11 Fundamental Rights (FR) petitions associated with the Easter Sunday attack, presented these accusations in the Supreme Court. The wealth report indicated that Sirisena…
Commissioner General of Prisons, Tushara Upuldeniya, has raised alarms over the severe overcrowding in Sri Lankan prisons, revealing that the current inmate population is approximately double the designed capacity. As of July 15, 2024, Sri Lankan prisons house 30,607 inmates, the majority of them drug offenders. This critical situation has led to significant challenges, including…
Matara, July 17, 2024 – During an awareness conference held under the People Unite for Justice and Accountability (PUJA) program, Specialist Psychiatrist Prasad Mohotti emphasized the crucial role of cultural and spiritual activities in healing society after serious human rights violations. He highlighted the importance of religious activities such as lighting lamps, chanting “Pirith,” Bodhi…
Human Rights Watch Sri Lankan authorities continue to use the notorious Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) to target perceived opponents and minority communities without credible evidence to support the allegations despite repeated pledges to end the practice, Human Rights Watch said today. While some victims have suffered years of arbitrary detention and torture, others are persecuted even after…
Saskia Fernando Gallery is pleased to present Chandraguptha Thenuwara’s annual memorial exhibition, Meta-Real. Acting as a bridge between the past and the present, Meta-Real offers a distant contemplation of the socio-political developments of the nation since the 1980s. Coinciding with the anniversary of the 1983 Anti-Tamil pogrom on July 23rd, the exhibition continues the artist’s…
Star Garments, a subsidiary of Charles Komar & Sons, has secured a $15 million loan from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to establish a new garment factory in Togo, marking their first venture into Africa. This factory, to be built in the Plateforme Industrielle d’Adétikopé near Lomé, will adhere to Leadership in Energy and Environmental…
Sri Lanka is embarking on a strategic initiative to map all its tree species as a precursor to joining global carbon credit markets. This comprehensive project, announced by Senior Presidential Advisor on Climate Change Ruwan Wijewardene, aims to quantify the island’s carbon sequestration capacity, with a focus on both forested areas and mangrove ecosystems. The…
Amaranath Thennakoon, Director of the Center for Drug and Alcohol Information, stated that people in Sri Lanka spend around 6 billion rupees daily on arrack and beer. He shared this information during a recent discussion with journalists at the Sarvodaya Institute in Kegalle. Dayarathna Bandara, reported this to Dinamina newspaper, highlighting the significant financial burden…
The Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Audrey Azoulay, has arrived in Sri Lanka on Tuesday. The Director-General of UNESCO, accompanied by a delegation, reached the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake this morning (16). She is visiting the island on an invitation from the Government of Sri Lanka. During…
The question mark that hangs over the presidential election due in October this year is not going away. The answer to it keeps getting put off. The latest is the government’s proposed constitutional amendment to eliminate ambiguity in the term of the president from six to five years. The Supreme Court has thrice affirmed the…
