Bus topples in Badulla, 16 injured

Sixteen people were injured today morning when the bus they were traveling in skidded off the road and toppled neat the Soranathota School in Badulla. The injured were admitted to the Badulla Hospital. Hospital sources confirmed that most of the injured were school teachers. Source by: ada derana

The brave were rewarded and the weak sidelined, General Fonseka

October 13, 2009 02:21 pm

This may be the last occasion that he is addressing function of this nature, said Sri Lanka’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and former Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka. CDS General Fonseka was addressing army personnel who accorded him a guard of honour at a function at Army Headquarters marking the 60^th Anniversary of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA). Speaking further he said that in the 60 year history of the SLA, the past three and a half were the most difficult and demanding years. He had rewarded those who were strong and brave and others who were weak and dissatisfied were sidelined, he said.

Wishing the SLA well, General Fonseka urged them to uphold the good work achieved by them in the recent past. “If you do not uphold the excellent reputation we have already gained, others will blame you for the failures,” the General said. Source By: ada derana

22 LTTE suspects on trial in Paris

Twenty two suspected LTTE cadres went on trial on Monday for running an extortion racket among Paris’s ethnic Tamil diaspora to fund the LTTE in Sri Lanka.

The defendants include Nadaraja Matinthiran, the alleged leader in Franceof the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which is accused of extorting some five million euros (S$10 million) from the country’s 75,000 Tamils. Also in the dock is a group called the Tamil Coordination Committee in France, believed to be a legal front for the LTTE, which has been listed as a terrorist organisation by the European Union since 2006.

Experts believe the Tamil Tigers exert a controlling influence over the political life of the 1.5-million-strong world Tamil diaspora, in many cases levying a ‘revolutionary tax’ based on household size and income.

Most of the Parissuspects were arrested in April 2007 and charged with criminal conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism, financing of terrorism or racketeering to finance terrorism.

Defence lawyer Gilles Piquois called at the outset for the case to be thrown out, arguing that the LTTE was not considered a terrorist organisation by the Sri Lankan government in 2007 when the charges were brought.

AFP

Total value of CSE crosses Rs. 1 trillion for the first time in its history

The total value (Market capitalization) of the Colombo Stock Exchange crossed Rs. 1 trillion level for the first time in its history today.Source By : Ada derana

UNP candidate held gun point, assaulted

UNP southern Provincial candidate Captain Udaya Dissanayake says he was held at gun point early this morning and assaulted allegedly by a group of UPFA supporters in Wellatota, Matara. He is now in hospital
Source By: Daily mirror

LTTE cadres not among boat people - Australian Govt.

Australian Home Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor has rejected claims some Sri Lankan boat people detained on Christmas Island are former LTTE cadres who could pose a security risk. Sri Lanka’s high commissioner to Australia, Senaka Walgampaya, has spoken of his suspicions that former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels are among recent illegal boat arrivals. It has been claimed some of the recent arrivals raised suspicions because they had injuries consistent with having been involved in conflict, including shrapnel wounds.

“I have in fact informed (the Department of Immigration and Citizenship) also that there is a really strong possibility that the (LTTE) combatants, the LTTE cadres, will try to infiltrate, will try to come to Australia,” Mr Walgampaya told The Australian newspaper. Source By: Ada derana