Senior Indian officials have claimed that United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's first ever trip to Chennai will be a strictly non-governmental visit with no discussion on Sri Lanka.
But a senior official in the Barack Obama administration, who will accompany Clinton, has said that Sri Lanka would definitely figure in the discussions between the secretary of state and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa when they meet for the first time.
In an exclusive interview with rediff.com, the Obama administration's point man for South Asia Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake, an erstwhile US Ambassador to Sri Lanka from 2006 to 2009, said, "Obviously, the 60 million people who live in Tamil Nadu have a lot of concerns about the situation in Sri Lanka," and that he was sure that this will "be a section of the discussion when the secretary meets the chief minister".
Earlier, senior Indian embassy officials, while briefing journalists in Washington on the upcoming US-India Strategic Dialogue and Clinton's maiden visit to Chennai, said, she would not discuss any foreign policy issues, specifically Sri Lanka, during her visit to Chennai.
Sri Lanka is under tremendous US pressure to allow for an investigation led by the United States in alleged war crimes during the final months of the conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. (Rediff.com
Monday, July 18, 2011
3:49 AM
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- 12:27 AM
- aRa
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A manpower agency could be blacklisted after it failed to report the case of a housemaid who ended up in hospital after jumping from a second-floor building in Riffa.
The Sri Lankan suffered leg, hip and spinal injuries as she tried to escape from her sponsor, who allegedly told her to strip naked and take a bath in front of some plumbers.
Thushari Palkaherath, 27, filed a complaint at Hamad Town Police Station alleging mistreatment last month.
Sri Lankan honorary consul-general P B Higgoda said he was unaware of the case until police advised him the woman was in hospital.
"I visited her at Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) to see her condition and ask what happened," he said.
"She told me she had worked for the family for 18 months and everything had been okay.
"She claimed she jumped when her sponsor's son brought three plumbers in the house to fix drainage system in the bathrooms.
"Her female sponsor asked her to strip and take a bath and took the key of the bathroom to keep the doors open.
"I don't know how true this is, but this is what she told the police as well."
Ms Palkaherath reportedly jumped from the bathroom window onto a compound wall and fell in the neighbour's property.
Police were called and she was taken to SMC for treatment.
Mr Higgoda said the maid appeared to be suffering from depression.
"Ms Palkaherath belongs to a poor family and fears no one would care if something happens to her," he said.
"She is unmarried and the only breadwinner for the family."
Ms Palkaherath came to Bahrain in 2009 and was hired by the Bahraini sponsor.
Mr Higgoda said steps were underway to blacklist the agency which brought the maid here for failing to register her as working in Bahrain.
"They were working on the case secretly, without reporting it to us," he said.
"We will not allow them to recruit Sri Lankans anymore."
Officials from the Gudaibiya-based manpower agency confirmed the case and said staff had visited the maid in hospital.
However, they denied any wrongdoing and said they would fight any attempts to blacklist the company.
Interior Ministry officials confirmed a complaint had been filed, but were unable to give further details.
Ms Palkaherath was deemed fit enough to travel and was repatriated to Sri Lanka earlier this month after her sponsor agreed to provide her air ticket and her final month's salary.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
- 1:53 AM
- aRa
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The Meteorological Department today stated that fairly strong winds can be expected in the Central hills within the next 24 hours and added that the condition might continue in the coming three – four days.
Met Department official speaking to Daily Mirror Online stated that due to the South West monsoon and the cyclonic condition prevalent in the Pacific Ocean, comparatively strong Southwesterly winds can be expected mainly in the Western steps of the central hills.
The official also said that showers can be expected in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central provinces and Galle and Matara districts and added that it could be extended to the North western province as well. (LP
Friday, July 15, 2011
- 6:09 PM
- aRa
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The speech of former Sri Lankan cricket captain Kumar Sangakkara at Lord's, which turned into 'controversy' now seems not a major issue to those involved in the game of cricket.
Sri Lanka Cricket Interim Chief, Upali Dharmadasa discribed it as –'Not a major, major issue to those involved in the game of cricket'-.
Sangakkara's speech which was copied to many who called for that have now been analytically examined, and cricket sources said there was nothing harmful or damaging to the country or the game of cricket. 'Sangakkara had only spoken in his personal capacity of what he believes to be the truth' the sources added.
Sangakkara's speech at Lord's was well received by the audience and the English he produced was far above the average that was expected from a young citizen in the Asian region.
The British audience present on the occasion listened to Sangakkara in a pin drop silence atmosphere, as the elegance of the Queens language shone brightly with excellence when the words he delivered had an attractive sequence.
Sri Lankans in Britain described Sangakkara's command of the English Language as beign far better than the game he plays and added that even the Britons were delighted to hear the excellence of their own language delivered by a young Asian man in the footsteps of Sri Lankan Oxford giants like S W R D Bandaranaike, Lalith Athulathmudali, Lakshman Kadiragamar and the Cambridge product like the late Tyronne Fernando and Harendra Corea.
- 5:48 PM
- aRa
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LAHORE: The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Lahore on Friday granted bail to three more accused in the Sri Lankan cricket team attack case.
The case was heard during an in-camera proceeding by the Judge of Anti-Terrorism Court Number 2, Tahir Pervez.
The three accused, Malik Abdul Rehman, Javed Anwar and Ubaidullah, had been arrested a year after the March 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore.
The prosecution failed to prove the involvement of the accused in the attack.
Earlier, Malik Ishaq had been released on bail from Kot Lakhpat jail by the Supreme Court Lahore registry. He is one of the founders of the dreaded terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and was a key suspect in the attack on the Sri Lankan team and 43 other cases in which 70 people have been killed.
He was granted bail by the apex court after the prosecution failed to prove his involvement in the case of attack on Sri Lankan cricket team.
Ishaq was acquitted in 34 out of 44 cases while in the remaining 10, including the attack on Sri Lankan cricket team, he had already been granted bail, official documents revealed, reports The Express Tribune.
- 4:50 AM
- aRa
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The Power and Energy Ministry has requested from the Petroleum Industries Ministry to reserve and stock fuel required by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) sufficient for 03 months.
A spokesperson for the Energy Ministry cited the recent increase in fuel usage for electricity generation as the cause for this.
The CEB states that presently it has had to utilize more fuel than usually required in generating electricity at hydro-power plants.
Therefore the Electricity Board has taken measures to order and keep a stock of fuel in reserve, as a precautionary measure, in order to supply power without disruption.
- 4:36 AM
- aRa
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The army has unearthed a large number of artillery and ammunition including 1,555 120mm mortar bombs, 27,000 rounds of ammunition used for 12.7 mm guns and 15,000 rounds of ammunition used for 7.52mm guns in Polloly, Vannivilankulam, Kokavil and Udayarkattukulam.
Military Spokesman Major General Ubaya Medawala said that they unearthed nine hundred and fifty-four 81 mm mortar bombs, three thousand 86 pounder bombs and fifty 130 mm projectiles during the massive search operation which was conducted on Thursday.
Four 250 Kg air bombs without explosives and six, 250 Kg air bombs with explosives, three claymore mines, one torpedo and 2000 rounds of ammunition used for Multi Purpose Machine Guns (MPMG) were also found by the army during the search operation.
