Page 13 - Sri Lanka

Rajapaksa heir running for prez even after Lankans' ousted powerful clan

When an uprising ousted Sri Lanka's president, many saw it as the end of his powerful family's hold on the island nation after more than 12 years of rule. Now, as Sri Lanka prepares to elect a new leader, Namal Rajapaksa is running for president. The 38-year-old is the son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the nephew of the ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Namal Rajapaksa is presenting himself as an agent of change, but many see his bid for presidency as an attempt by the controversial political dynasty to regain power. By mid-2022, the clan's political career seemed in ruins. Some of its members were forced into hiding in military camps after angry protesters stormed their residences. Others simply gave up their seats in the government as people blamed them for hurtling the country of more than 20 million people into an economic crisis. Two years later, the family shunned and pushed to political wilderness is trying make a comeback via the Rajapaksa heir apparent who

Tamil party's support to Lanka's oppn presidential candidate in dispute

A dispute has been brewing among the leaders of Sri Lanka's main Tamil party over its support to the main opposition challenger Sajith Premadasa in the September 21 presidential election. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) on September 1 decided to back Premadasa in the election. The decision was taken at the central committee meeting of Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), the main constituent of the TNA. However, the party's president, S Sritharan, who was in the UK at the time, said there was no such decision and they would be backing the Tamil common candidate P Ariyanethiran. Mavai Senathirajah, another party leader, told reporters on Wednesday that a party meeting held in Vauniya, with the participation of 10 executive committee members, decided to hold back the final decision on the matter until September 15. Senior TNA leader M A Sumanthiran, however, said: ITAK decision to back Premadasa was final and is not under review. The TNA had traditionally backed the main opposition

Sri Lanka's presidential election: No female contender amongst 38 nominees

But since Sri Lanka introduced the universal franchise in 1931, the number of women in parliament has never crossed a threshold of 7%

Free on-arrival visa scheme to be implemented after Parl nod: Sri Lanka

The commencement of granting free on-arrival visas to tourists from 38 countries, including India, can only be implemented in October as it needs parliamentary approval, Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles has announced. The minister said on Monday that a new gazette to implement the change requires parliamentary approval. Last week, the presidential advisor on tourism, Harin Fernando, said the scheme was to be implemented with immediate effect following a proposal approved by the Cabinet. The Parliament is not scheduled to meet before the September 21 presidential election. The island's tourism industry has demanded an immediate end to the long delays experienced by travellers to the country. In April, a foreign company was engaged to issue on-arrival visas. However, it has caused much heartburn to the tourism industry that says travellers are made to spend hours before being allowed entry at the immigration at the Colombo International Airport. The tourism industry demands

Here's what is at stake in Sri Lanka's 1st election since economic collapse

Sri Lanka will hold its presidential election on Sept. 21 in a crucial vote that will decide the future of the South Asian nation still struggling to recover from its economic collapse in 2022, which provoked mass protests and forced the former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and later resign. The election is seen as a referendum on President Ranil Wickremesinghe's two-year-long rule that has overseen a fragile recovery of the country's economy. He faces a tough challenge from the leader of the opposition in parliament, as well as from a left-leaning politician with a powerful alliance, who is gaining popularity among young voters. Almost 17 million of Sri Lanka's 22 million people are eligible to vote, and 38 candidates are running for office. Who are the main candidates? Wickremesinghe, whose United National Party has been weakened by a split, is running as an independent candidate. Even though Wickremesinghe remains unpopular for carrying out austerity measures

NSA Ajit Doval calls on Sri Lankan Prez, discusses economic collaboration

India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on Friday called on Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe and discussed the ongoing bilateral economic collaboration. Doval arrived here on Thursday to attend the Colombo Security Conclave to be held on Friday. Doval called on President Wickremesinghe at the Presidential Secretariat this morning, the President's Media Division (PMD) said. They discussed the ongoing economic collaboration between Sri Lanka and India. Senior Advisor to the President on National Security, Sagala Ratnayake, also attended the meeting, the PMD said. The Colombo Security Conclave brings together National Security Advisors and Deputy NSAs from India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Mauritius. Bangladesh and the Seychelles have observer status at the conclave. The conclave deals with maritime security counter-terrorism and cyber security with India bringing to the fore its own strategic concerns in the Indian Ocean.

India hands over first payment to Sri Lanka for hybrid power projects

Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha on Thursday handed over the first payment for the hybrid power projects on three Sri Lankan islands off northern Jaffna that are being implemented under Indian grant assistance of USD 11 million. The projects to install a hybrid renewable energy system in the Delft, Nainativu and Analaitivu islands are being implemented under Indian grant assistance. "HC @santjha handed over 1st payment for Hybrid Power Projects in Delft, Nainativu and Analaitivu islands to Secretary, Ministry of Power and Energy, Dr Sulakshana Jayawardena and Chairman, Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority (SLSEA)," the Indian High Commission here said in a post on X. It said the project is aimed at addressing the energy needs of the people of the three islands that are not connected to the national grid. The three islets are located close to Tamil Nadu. The Memorandum of Understanding for the project was signed in 2022. It replaced the Chinese venture initially awarded the .

Sri Lankan Navy arrests 11 Indian fishermen, CM Stalin expresses concern

The Sri Lankan Navy has arrested 11 Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu for alleged maritime violation, and Chief Minister M K Stalin flagged the matter with the Centre on Saturday, seeking immediate steps for their release. One boat was also taken into custody. In a letter to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Stalin said, "I am writing to you with grave concern regarding yet another incident of apprehension of fishermen from Tamil Nadu," on Friday. The fishermen were apprehended while fishing southeast of Kodiakarai in Nagapattinam district, he said. "I have repeatedly highlighted that such incidents are occurring at an alarming frequency. In 2024 alone, 324 fishermen and 44 boats were apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy. The fishing community in Tamil Nadu continues to face immense hardships due to the recurrent arrests, which severely affect their means of subsistence," he said. Further, in the past two weeks, there have been a couple of instances of attacks on fishermen at se

Ather Energy to enter Sri Lankan market, expand global e-scooter footprint

Ather's move into Sri Lanka follows its expansion into Nepal, where it has established three experience centres and seven fast-charging grids since its entry

Sri Lanka to offer visa-free entry to Indians, 34 other nations from Oct 1

Citizens from various countries, including India, the UK, China, the US, and Germany, will enjoy this visa-free travel to Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka to boost tourism, approves free tourist visas for 35 countries

The country of 22 million people, famed for its beaches, ancient temples and aromatic tea, saw its tourism industry pummelled first by the COVID-19 pandemic and then by a severe financial crisis in 20

Sri Lanka ex-prez Sirisena settles compensation for Easter bombings victims

Sri Lanka's former president Maithripala Sirisena has settled in full the SLR 100 million compensation for the victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed 270 people, including 11 Indians, during his tenure. Sirisena, 72, was ordered by the Supreme Court to pay SLRs 100 million as compensation to victims for his negligence in preventing the country's one of the worst terror strikes despite having credible information of an imminent attack. His lawyers said the full payment of rupees 100 million was completed on August 16. Nine suicide bombers belonging to local Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jamaat (NTJ) linked to ISIS carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three Catholic churches and as many luxury hotels on April 21, 2019, killing nearly 270 people, including 11 Indians, and injuring over 500. Sirisena was also the minister of defence at that time. The attack stirred a political storm as the then President Sirisena and Prime Minister

Petronet LNG signs agreement with Sri Lankan govt for power generation

The Sri Lankan government and a state-run Indian firm on Tuesday signed an agreement to develop infrastructure for storage, regasification and LNG supply for a combined cycle power plant in the island nation, according to the power and energy ministry here. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Sri Lanka's LTL Holdings Limited and India's Petronet LNG Limited for the infrastructure development of the Sobadhanavi Combined Cycle Power Plant at Kerawalapitiya, north Colombo. The Sri Lankan Minister of Power and Energy, Kanchana Wijesekera, and the Deputy High Commissioner of India, Satyanjal Pandey, signed the MoU at a ceremony here. Wijesekara said the power generation could be as low as fifty per cent less here than generation through fuel usage. "MOU for the development of Storage facilities, Regasification unit in Kerawalapitiya and the supply of LNG for the Yugadhanavi, Sobadhanavi & other LNG power plants in Sri Lanka was signed today," Wijesekera said in a ..

Sri Lanka sets expenditure limits for prez election campaign for first time

For the first time, Sri Lanka's upcoming presidential election on September 21 will be subject to campaign finance regulations, following the introduction of the Regulation of Election Expenditure Act in January 2023. According to a gazette notification dated August 16 and published Monday, each candidate is allowed to spend a maximum of Rs 109 per elector for election campaigning activities, totalling Rs 1,868,298,586 (approx USD 5 million) per candidate. The expenditure limit per candidate has been set at 60 per cent of the total amount, while political party secretaries are allowed 40 per cent for their candidate's election campaign activities. The parties must submit expenditure reports to the Elections Commission within 21 days of the election results being declared, the notification stated. A record number of 39 candidates are in the fray for the upcoming presidential election. Incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe, the main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, and the lea

Sri Lankan police to remove propaganda material ahead of prez election

The Sri Lankan police have deployed 1,500 workers to remove any illegal election posters and cutouts from public places ahead of next month's presidential election. The police have begun an operation to crack down on all election propaganda material which violates election laws leading to the September 21 presidential election. The police election secretariat said workers have been recruited at provincial police stations to pull down material displayed by candidates in violation of propaganda rules. Senior Deputy Inspector of Police (SDIG) in Charge of Elections Asanka Karawita, said each worker would be paid Rs 1,500 a day and given police protection to carry out the task of removing unlawful election-related materials, the Island Online reported. All posters, cutouts and banners which are unlawful would be removed. The election laws do not permit propaganda material to be displayed in public places. The candidates can only display them at their propaganda offices. The Human Rig

Record number of candidates in fray for Sri Lankan presidential election

A total of 39 candidates, including three minority Tamils and two Buddhist monks, are in the fray for next month's presidential election in Sri Lanka, the election commission announced here on Thursday. However, there was not a single woman candidate among the 39 presidential aspirants for the September 21 election. In the last presidential election in 2019, there were 35 candidates while there were only six candidates in the first-ever presidential election held in October 1982. On the last day to file papers on Thursday, nominations were accepted from 9 am to 11 am local time after Wednesday's closure of paying deposits to the contest. There were 40 deposits paid but one of them has chosen not to file nominations. R M A L Rathnayake, the election commission chief, said there were three objections against three candidates, which were rejected by the commission. There were more than 17 million eligible voters in the 22 electoral districts throughout the island nation. Besides ..

Rajapaksas ditch Wickremesinghe, youngest heir candidate for Lanka prez

Namal Rajapaksa, the 38-year-old heir to the Rajapaksa dynasty, was on Wednesday named as the SLPP candidate for the presidential election, thus officially ending Rajapaksa family's backing to the incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe. Sagara Kariyawasam, the general secretary of the Sri Lanka People's Front (SLPP, also known locally by its popular Sinhalese name, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna), announced the younger Rajapaksa's candidacy early on Wednesday morning at a ceremony at the party headquarters. Namal's entry has made the election a four-cornered contest. Besides, President Wickremesinghe, the main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and the Marxist JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake are already in the fray. The Rajapaksas Mahinda, Basil and Gotabaya were instrumental in Wickremesinghe winning the parliamentary vote in July 2022 to take over Gotabaya's remaining term. It was soon after the unprecedented development of mid-April 2022 when the island nation declared its first-ever

Sri Lanka suspends its new e-visa system 3 months after launch: Here's why

While e-visa portal has been suspended, Indians still have the option of visa-on-arrival

Bangladesh unrest: A look at other government overthrows by mass protests

Mass protests led Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign and flee in 2022 like Bangladesh's Sheikh Hasina, while Egypt also saw mass protests and overthrow of the government in 2011

EAM Jaishankar assures to facilitate Indian, Sri Lankan fishermen meet

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday assured a delegation of Tamil Nadu fishermen that a meeting between the fishing communities of India and Sri Lanka will be facilitated to discuss the issues affecting them. He also informed that the recent apprehension of Indian fishermen by the Lankan authorities would be taken up at a meeting of the Indo-Sri Lanka Joint Working Group to work out a solution to the problems, Tamil Nadu BJP state chief K Annamalai said. At the meeting in which the government secretaries too participated, Jaishankar mentioned that the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to India was summoned over the death of the Rameswaram fisherman, and a strong protest was registered. "The representatives of the fishing community requested that a joint meeting between the representatives of the fishing community of the two countries be facilitated. Our EAM assured that the same would be considered," Annamalai said in a release here. Jaishankar had reaffirmed that the ...