Medical examinations have established that nine girls taking part in a ‘human skills development’ course at Hantana in Kandy have been sexually abused.
Police say the victims, aged between 15 and 17 years, were among 17 girls who had attended a six-month residential course.Kandy HQI Nipuna Dehigama said they were investigating to arrest those responsible.
Four of the victimized girls had fled the hostel of the course centre at dawn on Moday, remained in hiding in a nearby jungle and with the help of area residents, gone to police.
The girls had answered a newspaper advertisement to prepare students who had failed the GCE ordinary level examination last year to sit for the exam again.
Parents had paid Rs. 140,000 as course fees for each of the girls.The girls had been allowed to meet their parents only once a month.Without the parents’ knowledge, the girls had been taken outside on two nights, said one mother.
Hostel wardens had even disrupted the girls’ meetings with the parents.The parents say they were dissatisfied with the manner police were conducting investigations, BBC Sandeshaya reports.
Deputy Minister Ranjan Ramanayake will lodge a complaint with the FCID requesting for an investigation on how the Joint Opposition found the finances to sponsor the recently concluded Pada Yathra.
According to Ramanayake, the cost for the first day of the walk on July 28 alone was a staggering Rs. 18 million. “I have proof that they spent Rs. 18 million on the first day,” Ramanayake told a news conference in Colombo.
He accused the joint opposition of trying to split the SLFP in their effort to safeguard their corrupt practices. He also called on the media to question these MPs about their corrupt practices.
The Pada Yathra which concluded yesterday evening in Colombo at the Lipton Circus, resulted in severe traffic congestion in and around Colombo severely inconveniencing the public. According to eye witness accounts, the protestors who took part in the Pada Yathra from Peradeniya, was seen thronging liquor stores to purchase liquor, whenever the protest march passed an outlet selling alcohol.
Various government ministers accused the joint opposition of buying the participants who took part in the protest march for a bottle of arrack and a lunch packet.
Speaker Karu Jayasuriya placed his signature on the much-awaited Right to Information (RTI) Bill which was unanimously approved by Parliament on June 24, Mass Media and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Gayantha Karunatilaka said today.
He told the weekly cabinet news briefing that the RTI would be made a fundamental right of the media and the people by incorporating it in the statute book.
The minister said a fully independent Media Commission will be established to ensure media freedom in Sri Lanka and as such the suppression, refusal or depriving of any official information to the media or to a citizen by any public official would be considered a violation of fundamental rights, the right of a journalist and the Right to Information Act.
"However, any one can complain to the Human Rights Commission if he or she was deprived of this right but the ‘Independent Information Commission’ will have more legal teeth to deal with those who violate the Right to Information Act," the minister said.
He said clauses to safeguard national security, territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country have been included in the draft Bill and information pertaining to those vital areas would remain out of bounds, to the media or the people, which is an accepted norm in any country.
"With the incorporation of the Right to Information Act in the Constitution, all government circulars issued up to now restricting the dissemination of information to the media will be made ineffective," the minister said.
He said journalists would have a bigger role to play with responsibility and decorum to protect the dignity and ethics of the media while enjoying the fully fledged independence through self-regulation, self-censorship and ethical guidelines if they are to benefit fully from this exercise. (Sandun A Jayasekera)
A job at the Port is a hardworking profession. To fulfill the obligations everyone should be commitment to their task. Our up-to-date successfulness is because of the strong commitment of our employees.
Today we have moved forward and we also completed a social responsibility too. That is by joining the walk for financial assistance for the kidney patients.
This was a great accomplishment in the history of the port, where all of the employees got together without any differences. I have never seen the participation of a humongous number of employees for a social service as such.
Today we were capable of showing the whole world that the employees of the port are respectful and is well dedicated for social services…” Chairman of the Sri Lankan Ports Authority Mr. Dammika Ranathunga stated, participating on today’s walk.
The walk organized by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority for the 37th anniversary.
The main objective of organizing this walk was to donate funds for the kidney patients. Under the guidance of the Hon. Minister of Ports and Shipping Mr. Arjuna Ranatunga, and with the support from the Ministry of Ports and Shipping this walk was organized by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority.
Covering 25 departments of the Ports Authority, over 6000 employees participated on this walk. The walk which began from the right end of the Galle Face, ended near the main entrance of the Port of Colombo. Chairman of the Sri Lankan Ports Authority Mr. Dammika Ranathunga, addressing and thanking everyone who participated on the walk, further stated that this is the only port in the world to make a development of 11% in such a short period of time.
Even though many spread false rumors, we will make sure that all the other ports around the country will develop prioritizing on the port of Colombo. The Chairman further emphasized that all of the employees are together for the development of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority. Sri Lankan Ports Authority stated that the donations which were collected today are to be handed over to the His Excellency President Maithripala Sirisena during the opening ceremony of the CFS - 01 warehouse, scheduled on 10th of August 2016.
Sri Lankan has been placed first in the world in breastfeeding during an international survey conducted in 2016 with the participation of 121 countries. Cuba won second place, Health Services Director General Dr. Palitha Mahipala said.
Addressing the media in Colombo yesterday, Dr. Mahipala said the same survey was conducted in 2012 with the participation of 51 countries where Sri Lanka was again placed first.
The current percentage of breastfeeding in Sri Lanka is 92 percent and it should be further increased to 96 percent or above, he said. According to Dr. Mahipala, all Sri Lankan mothers breastfeed their infants for six months but after six months, breastfeeding is reduced due to various pressure such as infant milk powder advertisements.
All employers should provide facilities for their female employees to breastfeed infants during office hours, he said.
The National Breastfeeding Week will take place from August 1 to 7.
‘Set to revolutionise the local TV watching experience, the world’s leading Internet TV service, iflix, launched in Sri Lanka on August 1, making its vast library of the latest and most popular global TV shows accessible to entertainment buffs across the country.
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It adds - ‘iflix’s world class service offers consumers thousands of first-run exclusives, award-winning TV shows, blockbuster movies, popular Asian content, kids programs and more, with each subscription providing users with unlimited access to the service on up to five devices, including phones, laptops, tablets, and television sets, for viewing wherever, whenever. iflix subscribers can also download TV shows and movies from iflix’s extensive library for offline viewing.
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‘iflix further has exclusive premiere rights in the region to many top TV series including the critically acclaimed Robot, fan favourites Difficult People, Hunters, and the latest hit fantasy series, The Magicians.
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The Kandy-Colombo Pada Yathra was only a warm-up act and the Joint Opposition (JO) would achieve its goal with the help of the next mass protest, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa said in Colombo last evening.
Addressing a massive crowd at the Lipton Circus at the conclusion of the five-day Pada Yathra, which had wended its way along the Kandy road, Rajapaksa said the JO and it allies were ready to give the masses anything they asked for.
The JO organisers said they had been compelled to hold their final meeting at the Lipton Circus as the government had denied them a place in the city for that purpose. They said the government had ‘shamelessly’ prevented them from using all public grounds from Kandy to Colombo while extolling the virtues of good governance.
Rajapaksa said he and his colleagues such as UPFA MPs Vasudeva Nanayakkara and Dinesh Gunawardena would recall that they had once held a similar Pada Yathra from Colombo to Kataragama against the Premadasa government. Unlike the present-day rulers the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa had demonstrated he had the strength of character by refraining from making any effort to thwart the protest march, Rajapaksa said. "He did not kneel before judges in a bid to stop our march."
The incumbent government had remained in power for one year and eight months and without popular support, it was being propped by the CID, FCID and the Bribery Commission, former President Rajapaksa told a cheering crowd. "If they think we will give up our struggle for fear of being incarcerated, they are mistaken. Suppression will only steel our resolve to step up our fight as we have amply demonstrated in the past." The fate that befell previous dictators awaited the ‘duo’ in power, he said.
Rajapaksa said Ranil and Rathu Ali Petiya (‘Red Elephant Calf’) were playing a ball game. They were bowling full tosses so that both of them could score heavily, he said. The Rathu Ali Peitya had lost his ideological bearings and the onus was on his followers to guide him on the correct path, the former President said smilingly.
The government had resorted to draconian methods to increase its income, Rajapaksa said, claiming that VAT was charged even on medication for a common cold. The government was planning to ink the Economic and Technological Agreement (ETCA) to provide employment opportunities for foreigners at the expense of the local youth, Rajapaksa said. The farmers had been deprived of the much-needed fertiliser subsidy and they were compelled to dispose of their paddy for a song. Rajapaksa asked the crowd whether they knew who had benefited from the woes of paddy farmers. The crowd shouted, ‘Araliya, Araliya ... [brand name of rice produced by a miller in Polonnaruwa].’ A smiling President said only he had been accused of nepotism.
Rajapaksa said it was a pity that some public officials did not mind their language even after being elevated to high posts. Some of them spoke like 'Choppe Aiya' [a notorious thug who ruled the Colombo underworld decades ago]. The crowd chanted, "Pujithaya, Pujithaya, Pujithaya ...."
Rajapaksa said when military personnel were detailed to do civilian work for the benefit of the public during his tenure as President his detractors had screamed from the rooftops that war heroes were being used to clean culverts and gutters. But, today they were being thrown behind bars or made to languish on roads, he said, claiming that the incumbent government had, as first thing after its installation, thrown Buddhist monks into jail.
Looking around, the former President said the massive crowd consisted of people from all walks of like. He said he could see a number of medical specialists among them besides trade unionists, farmers, workers, teachers, artistes and concerned parents.
There were also media personnel attending the rally not on reporting assignments but by way of protest against the suppression of their freedom, the former President said.
All roads leading to the Town Hall were closed in view of the protest. Heavy traffic congestion could be seen in the area.
Meanwhile, a JO organiser told they had limited their protest to five days in view of the GCE (A/L) examination, which commences today.
NFF leader and Colombo District UPFA MP Wimal Weerawansa, addressing the gathering, said that time had come for those in power to be sent home. By excavating up the Hyde Park Corner to prevent the JO from holding its rally, the government had dug up its political grave, Weerawansa said.
Taking a swipe at his bete noir, JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Weerawansa said the red flag of the JVP was being used to clean pots and pans in the Sirikotha kitchen. It would be more honorable for the 'Rathu Ali Petiya' to join the UNP like his friend Ranawaka than to insult his party in that manner, the NFF leader said.
Weerawansa said they were ready to surround both the President's House and Temple Trees unless the government changed it course.
Pivithuru Hela Urumaya leader and Colombo District UPFA MP Udaya Gammanpila said the Pada Yathra had exposed what he called the green under wear of the police who had gone running to courts to obtain orders to block the protest march, but in vain.
Gammanpila also warned that they would be compelled to march on the President’s House and Temple Trees if push came to shove.
The government was ruling the country according to the whims and fancies of India and the US, he said.
Delivering the welcome speech, UPFA MP Mahindananda Alutgamage said the government had moved seven courts—in Kandy, Mawanella, Kegalle, Thulhiriya, Gampaha, Attanagalle and Colombo—in a futile bid to thwart the Pada Yathra. It had also sent 27 ambulances before the protesters had completed the first 12 Kms. Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne had failed in his endeavour, Aluthgamage said.
UPFA MP Vasudeva Nanayakkara said the JO had booked the Hyde Park for its final meeting, but the police had subsequently informed him that permit was been cancelled. Therefore, the protesters had been compelled to converge on the Lipton Circus, crippling the city. It looked as if there had been a Hartal, the JO firebrand said.
Nanayakkara called upon the government to hold local government elections without further delay.
JO leader and Colombo District MP Dinesh Gunawardena said more than 1.5 million people had taken part in the Pada Yathra.
He urged the government to hold local government elections within three months.
The case against former Deputy General Manager of the Independent Television Network (ITN) Sudarman Radaliyagoda, former Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) Director General Anusha Palpita and nine others, has been referred to the Attorney General (AG) for advise.
The Police Children and Women's Bureau informed the Colombo Additional Magistrate Thilina Gamage of the fact when the case was take up today.
The case against the former Deputy General Manager of the ITN, the former Director General of the TRC and the nine others is over their alleged involvement in the abduction of a child from the custody of his mother during the 2015 Presidential election campaign.
The child was used in a defamation campaign against the common candidate Maithripa Sirisena, allegedly engineered by the accused.
The mother of the child had complained to the Police Children and Women's Bureau that her son had been used on behalf of the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa – who was defeated in that Presidential campaign – by the suspects, including her husband.
Colombo Additional Magistrate Aruni Artigala fixed further magisterial inquiry for September 26.
At a previous occasion, the complaint had requested to withdraw her complaint against the suspects.
Additional Magistrate Thilina Gamage had informed her at the time that the Court could not terminate the case merely on the fact that the complainant was no longer interested.
He maintained that in accordance with the provisions of Criminal Procedure Code, a request to withdraw a complaint could only be brought in by the Police or Attorney General.
