The Lanka Academic
 
MARCH 10, 2010 EST, USA
 
QUAERE VERUM
 
VOL. 10, NO. 338
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Sri Lanka Locks Horns with UN over Experts’ Panel
IPS, March 11. COLOMBO, Mar 10, 2010 (IPS) - The war of words between the Sri Lankan government and the United Nations has begun all over again, this time over the creation of an experts’ panel on the island’s human rights record.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon wants to appoint this panel, but Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa says it is "unwarranted and uncalled for".

This week’s posturing is the latest episode in a saga that began about two years ago when the United Nations, especially the U.N. Human Rights Council, raised concerns over the conduct of the final phase of Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war.

The Sri Lankan government defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels, who waged a bloody war for decades to set up an independent homeland for the Tamil minority, in May 2009. The war cost this South Asian island nation more than 70,000 lives. More...Discuss this story
Published: Wed Mar 10 20:04:46 EST 2010

Family fears for missing Sri Lankan cartoonist
afp, March 11. Six weeks ago Sri Lankan political writer and cartoonist Prageeth Eknaligoda went missing, and his fate has raised further concerns about the island's culture of violence against the media.

Eknaligoda, who contributed to the pro-opposition Lankaenews.com website, did not return home after work on January 24, two days before the island's presidential elections.

A police probe into his whereabouts has drawn a blank, and his family and friends believe he was abducted by government authorities who act against critics.

Eknaligoda was briefly detained, roughed up and freed by unknown assailants in August. More...Discuss this story
Published: Wed Mar 10 22:32:03 EST 2010 Back to the top

India, Sri Lanka sign $67.4 m Line of Credit
Hindu, March 11. COLOMBO: India and Sri Lanka on Wednesday signed a Line of Credit agreement for $67.4 million to fund the second phase of upgradation of the Southern Railway Line from Colombo to Matara.

A statement by the Indian mission here said that the agreement was signed by P. B. Jayasundera, Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Planning, and Prabhakar Dalal, Executive Director, Export-Import Bank of India, in the presence of Ashok K. Kantha, the High Commissioner of India in Colombo.

The Government of India, through the Export-Import Bank of India, had earlier provided $100 million Line of Credit under an agreement signed in July 2008. More...Discuss this story
Published: Wed Mar 10 20:00:02 EST 2010 Back to the top

15 years after Lanka took control, Jaffna abuzz with activity
 HT, March 11. It was dusk when I checked into Bastion hotel in Jaffna. I had left Colombo at dawn... Back to the top
China to loan Sri Lanka $290 mln for infrastructure
 Reuters, March 10. COLOMBO, March 10 - China has agreed to lend $290 million to Sri Lanka for a new airport and to revive the country's railway network, the island nation's foreign ministry said on Wednesday... Back to the top
CNN International reveals Sri Lanka’s civil war aftermath in a half-hour special, ‘Witness to Survival’
 WNW, March 11. Sri Lanka's bloody civil war came to an end amongst some of the fiercest fighting, with both the government and the insurgents facing allegations of war crimes... Back to the top
China to build new international airport in Sri Lanka
 bbc, march 11. China is to lend Sri Lanka about $200m (£133m) to build a second international airport in the south of the island... Back to the top
Sri Lanka February tourist arrivals at 2-year high
 reuters, March 11. COLOMBO, March 10 - Sri Lanka's tourist arrivals jumped by nearly 70 percent in February compared to a year earlier to its highest level in over two years, boosted by the end of a 25-year war, the tourism board data showed on Wednesday... Back to the top
Indian team from Jaipur to help Sri Lanka amputees
 bbc, March 11. An Indian charity has sent a team to northern Sri Lanka to provide 1,000 amputees with artificial limbs... Back to the top
Sri Lankan Parliament reconvenes to extend emergency
 hindu, march 10. COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan Parliament, which had been dissolved, was reconvened for a short while on Tuesday to extend emergency laws by another month... Back to the top
Sri Lanka's ex-Army chief to be court martialed this week
 Xinhua, March 10. Sri Lanka's defeated presidential candidate and former Army chief General Sarath Fonseka will be produced before the Court Martial this week as the gathering of evidence has been concluded, the Army said on Tuesday... Back to the top
Water Woes Fall on Women’s Shoulders
 IPS, march 10. COLOMBO, Mar 9, 2010 (IPS) - As a wife of a rice farmer and mother of two children aged nine and two, Sanjeevani Bandara’s days are packed with chores... Back to the top
Dissolved Sri Lankan parliament reconvened to extend emergency
 Xinhua, March 10. Sri Lanka's parliament which was dissolved last month to face fresh elections came to be reconvened Tuesday for an one-shot session to extend the state of emergency... Back to the top
UN to press Sri Lanka for accountability
 Rediff, march 9. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said that he will press ahead with setting up a special panel on accountability in Sri Lanka [ Images ], despite Colombo rejecting his proposal... Back to the top
S.Lanka's detained general 'ends hunger strike'
 afp, March 9. COLOMBO (AFP) – Sri Lanka's defeated presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka ended a hunger strike after just one day when he was allowed to speak to his daughters, his party said Tuesday... Back to the top
S.Lanka approves emergency ahead of election
 SifyNews, March 09, 2010. Sri Lanka's outgoing parliament Tuesday approved the extension of a state of emergency until after next month's legislative elections, giving sweeping powers to police and troops... Back to the top
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