tamil Archives - Ceylon Independent

Ensure implementation of 13th Amendment: Douglas urges Modi

13Sep

By Faraz ShauketalyNo Comments

LOCAL

Ensure implementation of 13th Amendment: Douglas urges Modi

MP Douglas Devananda said Wednesday he has urged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convince the Sri Lankan government and Tamil parties to fully implement the constitutional provision that deals with devolution of land and police powers to the provinces. Devananda, the leader of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), said he has made the request to Modi on the 13th Amendment of the Sri Lankan Constitution in his personal capacity. “The 13th Amendment should be implemented in full. For that, (he should) use his good office with the Government of Sri Lanka, with other Tamil party leaders, convince them to implement it,” Devananda said during an interaction with reporters in New Delhi. Devananda is a part of a delegation of Sri Lankan lawmakers visiting India. The 13th A...

Only thing Wigneswaran can do is provoke Tamils – Patali

5Sep

By Faraz ShauketalyNo Comments

LOCAL

Only thing Wigneswaran can do is provoke Tamils – Patali

There are no monumental development carried out by Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran and only convenient thing for him to do is provoking innocent Tamil people, says the Minister of Megapolis and Western Development Patali Champika Ranawaka. He stated this joining the event held in Ginigathehna to commence the construction process of a new bus stand. C.V. Wigneswaran was able to hold a fair election and obtain the chief ministerial portfolio in the North due to the sacrifices made by the security forces, the Minister pointed out. Further commenting, he said that Wigneswaran has been in office as the Northern Province Chief Minister for 05 years so far, yet has not carried out any developmental activities in the area. If the Chief Minister has done such great dev...

Sri Lankan President pledges to do everything to restore a free and a peaceful environment in the country

7Mar

By Faraz ShauketalyNo Comments

LOCAL

Sri Lankan President pledges to do everything to restore a free and a peaceful environment in the country

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena made a special statement to the nation yesterday regarding the communal clashes erupting in the island nation and pledged to do everything in his power to restore a free and a peaceful environment in the country everybody to live a happy life. Full statement made by the President: I decided the make this special address today, as a tense situation has occurred during the last few days owing to several very unfortunate incidents in several parts of the country, causing disharmony and tensions among ethnic groups. From the past, our country has experienced internal as well as external struggles. However, ours is a country where Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, Burgher and all other communities have lived with peace, unity and harmony together. If we ...

Literary works in all three languages foster greater understanding and reconciliation among people – Media Minister

28Jan

By Faraz ShauketalyNo Comments

LOCAL

Literary works in all three languages foster greater understanding and reconciliation among people – Media Minister

Sri Lanka's Minister of Finance and Mass Media Mangala Samaraweera says the literary works in all three languages - Sinhala, Tamil and English foster greater understanding and reconciliation among people in Sri Lanka. Addressing the 2017 Fairway National Literary Award in Galle at the Fairway Literary Festival Friday, the Minister said this is the only National Literary Awards competition that accommodates all three main languages used in Sri Lanka. "The Fairway National Literary Awards in all three national languages, which is now in its third year, has become a component of the Literary Festival that is much looked forward to, and it makes me feel extremely privileged to have been invited to this remarkable event this year," the Minister said. "This to me is an important aspect ...

Sri Lanka to commence enabling Sinhala and Tamil scripts for top-level domain names

13Dec

By Faraz ShauketalyNo Comments

Business

Sri Lanka to commence enabling Sinhala and Tamil scripts for top-level domain names

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and local experts in policy, technical and linguistic fields convened in Colombo recently to introduce the Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) program and launch the Sinhala Generation Panel (GP). The launch signifies a future where the local community contributes towards developing secure and stable access to the Internet in Sinhala. The Asia Pacific region is linguistically diverse. Of the 6,800 languages in the world, about half of them or 3,500 are spoken in APAC. 21 of the top 30 most spoken languages in the world are used in the region. This diversity adds challenges to the Internet domain name space. “IDNs are domain names represented by letters or characters from different scripts and writing systems. They ...

Successive Sinhalese Govts Attempted to change demography – Chief Minister Wigneswaran

7Dec

By Faraz ShauketalyNo Comments

LOCAL, Main Story

Successive Sinhalese Govts Attempted to change demography – Chief Minister Wigneswaran

Chief Minister of the Northern Province, Justice C.V. Wigneswaran says, Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara's recent interview with Ceylon Today titled 'Wigneswaran should resign', needs to be replied. In his email response, to Admiral Weerasekera's answers to Ceylon Today The Interview of 23 November 2017, the Chief Minister has expressed his opinion, by taking each point he contradicts and has formulated his responses. CM: Federalism will retain the togetherness of the Country while the disparate groups whether in the North and East or each of the other seven Provinces would be able to govern themselves according to their individual culture, customs and aspirations. It appears he is interested in a unitary structure to retain the undue advantage the Sinhalese usurped unto themselves at...

6Dec

By Faraz ShauketalyNo Comments

LOCAL

DRP issues 75, 000 smart identity cards

The Department for Registration of Persons (DRP) so far has issued about 75, 000 Smart Identity Cards with the new digital technology since the introduction of the new Smart Identity Card on 27th October this year. According to the Commissioner General of the Department Viyani Gunathilaka, the public is very keen in obtaining this new type identity card and his department is issuing about 1, 500 Identity cards per a day. The details of the holder of his new identity card have been included in Sinhalese, English, and Tamil in the Smart Identity Card. Meanwhile, the Commissioner General further added that about 350, 000 applications have been received from the students who are to face the Ordinary Level Examination this month for National Identity Cards and issuing of the NICs...

High Commissioner thrashes Canadian Tamil MP’s distorted account on Sri Lanka

13Nov

By Faraz ShauketalyNo Comments

Feature, History

High Commissioner thrashes Canadian Tamil MP’s distorted account on Sri Lanka

Ahmed A Jawad, Sri Lanka's High Commissioner in Canada slammed Canadian Tamil MP Gary Anandasangaree's misleading and factually inaccurate article, titled 'Sri Lanka's military aren't ready to be peacekeepers,' published by the 'Toronto Star,' on 3 November 2017 . In a letter to the Editor of Toronto Star, the High Commissioner noted that the Canadian Tamil MP's article does not portray the factual position regarding Sri Lanka's contribution to UN peacekeeping missions, or the progressive developments in the country under the National Unity Government. Disputing the claim made by the MP, who is the son of TULF leader V. Anandasangaree, that the "army occupies as much as 60,000 acres of civilian land just in the Mullaitivu district in Northern Sri Lanka, with massive camps that encroa...

New constitution can change the course of the country – Minister Mangala Samaraweera

1Nov

By Faraz ShauketalyNo Comments

Top Story

New constitution can change the course of the country – Minister Mangala Samaraweera

Sri Lanka's Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera says by formulating a new constitution the trajectory of the country can be changed towards a new direction and create an 'equal citizenship' to bring about economic prosperity. He expressed these views participating in the debate held in parliament today on the Steering Committee Report on constitutional reforms. The Minister said the burning issue in Sri Lanka is the ethnic problem although certain quarters do not seem to have such a problem. Over the years, leaders of all political parties have spoken about a constitution that secures the rights of all races but only the present government under President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has come forward to make it a reality. The Minister said th...