DIFFERENT PRIORITIES IN THE SINHALA AND TAMIL PRESS |
Tamil Headlines
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Virakesari: Ishara Sewwandi brought back; Special investigations commence on all 6 suspects | 839 kg of drugs recovered in the Southern sea; seized by the Navy after being abandoned in the ocean | Arrested Manusha released on bail | Mount Lavinia court incident: surrendered lawyer Wanninayake granted bail Thinakaran: Boat found drifting in Southern waters with drugs: 839 kg of ‘ice’, heroin, and hashish in 60 packets; Five arrested after investigation | Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya visits India today | Oil refinery in Hambantota; daily production of 200,000 barrels | Israel employment scams: Former Minister Manusha Nanayakkara arrested and granted bail | ‘Aswesuma’ Welfare Scheme: Rs. 110 million distributed in the first phase |
Thinakkural: Massive land grab at Kurunthurmalai; 341 acres of agricultural land are being seized | MP Gajendrakumar prevents an attempt to illegally grant 900 acres of land in Palai | 840 kg of narcotics recovered in 51 packets floating in the Southern sea! 670 kg of ‘ice’, 156 kg of heroin, and 12 kg of hashish were found; 5 arrested | A special team rushed to Nepal; five, including Sewwandi, were brought back Thamilan: Court grants bail to arrested Manusha; foreign travel banned | Prime Minister Harini heads to India | UNP agrees to talks with the SJB leadership; also considering the proposal for appointing a committee | Sewwandi and group arrived in handcuffs | 839 kg of drugs seized in the Southern sea: 670 kg of ‘ice’, 156 kg of heroin, and 12 kg of hashish |
Sinhala Headlines
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Lankadeepa: “An issue with the municipal council: a Rs. 140 million tax evasion from the Hambantota Port: even the Colombo Port doesn’t have an estimation like this” – Port Controller Divaina: Sewwandi returns with all her belongings: “On the day Sanjeewa was shot, a woman came up to me and asked if I could take over her case; I refused and sent her to another lawyer. I even gave her the fee that was requested by the other lawyer” – Ishara Sewwandi reveals |
Mawbima: The 839 kg of drugs seized in the Rekawa sea also belongs to Unakuruwe Shantha: five apprehended with boat in Devinuwara Dinamina: The foreign employment incident: Manusha Nanayakkara granted bail | Attorney-at-Law Wanninayake granted bail: 65 lawyers have represented him Aruna: The 670 kg of ‘ice’ found from the sea were packed in covers from Tangalle; 18 kg of drugs and hash also found Anidda: This paper is published on Fridays only |
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TAMIL PRESS PRIORITIES |
Photo credits: The Hindu
Massive land grab at Kurunthurmalai; 341 acres of agricultural land are being seized
Thinakkural
The Department of Archaeology has installed a board encroaching on one acre of agricultural land belonging to the Tamil people in the vicinity of the Kurunthurmalai Vihara in Mullaitivu.
This follows a previous controversy where Ven. Galgamuwe Santhabodhi Thera had farmers arrested by the police for attempting to cultivate their ancestral lands.
During former President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s administration, boundary stones were placed demarcating 41 acres as archaeological land up to Thannimurippu village, but his intervention ensured that agricultural activities were not disrupted.
It is now alleged that under the current government, there is an attempt to completely take over Kurunthurmalai and the surrounding 341 acres of farmland by erecting a security fence.
“The President is strengthening the mechanism we rejected,” state the relatives of the forcibly disappeared, expressing strong dissatisfaction to UN officials
Virakesari Relatives of the forcibly disappeared have expressed strong dissatisfaction to officials from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Sri Lanka Accountability Project. They claim that although President Anura Kumara Dissanayake states that he is also a victim of enforced disappearances, he has not met with them to hear their position since assuming power. Instead, the relatives accuse the president of taking steps to strengthen the Office on Missing Persons, a mechanism they have rejected. This was conveyed during meetings held in Geneva in September, parallel to the 29th session of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances. The representatives of the disappeared also expressed deep disappointment that their proposed question, regarding the list of those who surrendered to the army during the final war and the interrogation of the military officers in charge, was not posed to the Sri Lankan government delegation. |
Case against Rishad Bathiudeen regarding Wilpattu dismissedThinakaran
The Court of Appeal, yesterday (15th), dismissed a case filed against MP Rishad Bathiudeen regarding deforestation in Wilpattu. The case, which was pending for seven years, accused Bathiudeen of clearing the forest to build houses for the resettlement of Muslims displaced from the Northern Province. The petition was filed in 2018 by Nagananda Kodituwakku and Malinda Seneviratne. Bathiudeen’s lawyer, Hejaaz Hizbullah, argued that the case was filed without a legal basis, seeking media publicity, and that the petitioners had failed to consistently pursue the matter. The court dismissed the case after taking these arguments into consideration.
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MP Gajendrakumar prevents an attempt to illegally grant 900 acres of land in Palai
Thinakkural
MP Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam has stopped an attempt by the government to illegally transfer approximately 900 acres of land in Palai.
During a Divisional Secretariat Coordinating Committee meeting yesterday (15th), Ponnambalam exposed and halted a plan to transfer land belonging to the Land Reform Commission to a Southern-based company.
At the same meeting, Ponnambalam strongly objected to a government MP’s suggestion to only release two specific plots of private land currently occupied by the army, despite a 16-year public demand for complete military withdrawal.
He insisted that the committee must pass a resolution demanding the military’s withdrawal from all private lands in the area.
Following his intervention, which was supported by the Pradeshiya Sabha chairperson, the matter was temporarily postponed.
SINHALA PRESS PRIORITIES |
Photo credits: Ada Derana
“A Rs. 140 million tax blow to the Municipal Council from the Hambantota Port” – Mayor states
Lankadeepa, Dinamina
It was revealed at the Hambantota Municipal Council recently that an approximate tax arrears of Rs. 140 million, owed by the Hambantota International Port to the Hambantota Municipal Council since 2017, has not been paid to date.
Mayor of the Hambantota Municipal Council, D.A. Gamini, stated that the port management had credited approximately Rs. 1 million from that amount to the Municipal Council’s account last week.
He added that a discussion regarding this tax payment had taken place with the port management last week, during which it was revealed that this Rs. 1 million had been paid.
SLTB loses Rs. 10 million daily due to the non-issuance of tickets
Dinamina Deputy Minister of Transport and Highways Prasanna Gunasena stated that the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) loses approximately Rs. 10 million daily due to the non-issuance of tickets. The deputy minister made the statement while addressing the media after an event held in Colombo. It is reported that attention has been focused on strictly enforcing ticket inspections on SLTB buses due to this situation. |
A Rs. 100 fine for passengers who do not possess a bus ticket in the Western Province
Aruna
The issuance of fines for passengers traveling without tickets and bus conductors who do not issue tickets on all buses operating within the Western Province commenced yesterday (15th). Accordingly, Chair of Western Province Road Passenger Transport Authority Gamini Jasinghe stated that a passenger traveling without a ticket would be required to pay a fine of Rs. 100 and double the fare charged for the journey from the starting point of the bus to its destination. Furthermore, fines will also be issued to bus conductors who fail to provide tickets.
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5,305 train journeys cancelled in 2024 – Audit report reveals
Dinamina
5,305 journeys from the total number of 125,036 train journeys planned by the Railway Department for the year 2024 have been cancelled.
The latest report issued by the National Audit Office states that the number of train journeys operated during that year was 119,731.
The total number of train journeys planned for the year 2024 was 125,036, categorised as inter-city, postal and express, mixed train, passenger train, goods transport train, and rail bus services.
The number of train journeys operated was 119,731.
COMMON PRIORITIES: SINHALA & TAMIL PRESS |
Photo credits: Ada Derana
Sewwandi brought back to Sri Lanka from Nepal
Lankadeepa, Divaina, Mawbima, Dinamina, Aruna, Virakesari, Thinakaran, Thinakkural, Thamilan
Ishara Sewwandi, the suspect wanted in connection with the murder of underworld figure Sanjeewa Kumara Samararatne alias ‘Ganemulla Sanjeewa,’ who was arrested in Nepal on Tuesday (14th), arrived in Sri Lanka yesterday (15th).
The aircraft carrying Ishara Sewwandi and the other five arrested suspects landed at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) at 6:54 p.m. yesterday (15th).
The group was handed over to the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) following their arrival.
Papers reported further that Ishara Sewwandi was questioned by the police following her return.
Papers also highlighted that Sewwandi had provided a statement to the police stating that she was, in fact, present at the Aluthkade court complex on the day that Sanjeewa was shot.
Manusha Nanayakkara granted bail: 80% of employees for Israeli jobs sent from Galle – CIABOC informs the court
Lankadeepa, Divaina, Mawbima, Dinamina, Aruna, Virakesari, Thinakaran, Thinakkural, Thamilan
Former Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment, SJB MP Manusha Nanayakkara, who was arrested by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) yesterday (15th), was granted bail by the Colombo Magistrate’s Court.
Nanayakkara appeared before the CIABOC to provide a statement as he was called to be questioned over alleged irregularities in the deployment of Sri Lankan workers to Israel for employment in the agricultural sector, during the tenure of the previous government.
The statement made by the CIABOC states that an agreement was signed on 5 November 2023 between the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment and the State of Israel during the process of deploying workers to the agricultural sector in Israel.
Accordingly, it is alleged that Nanayakkara abused his powers and unfairly selected certain individuals to be sent for employment to Israel.
Lankadeepa highlighted in their headline that 80% of the employees sent by Nanayakkara had been selected from Galle and thereby depriving others of the opportunity.
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Common priorities: Additional stories
1. 839 kg of drugs seized in the Rekawa sea also belongs to Unakuruwe Shantha: five apprehended with boat in Devinuwara – Divaina, Mawbima, Dinamina, Aruna, Virakesari, Thinakaran, Thinakkural, Thamilan
2. Wanninayake, who handed himself over to the court, granted bail – Lankadeepa, Divaina, Mawbima, Dinamina, Aruna, Virakesari
3. Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya to India today following her visit to China – Dinamina, Thinakaran, Thinakkural, Thamilan
4. “Sri Lanka stands at the 122nd position among countries in terms of corruption” – Director General of CIABOC – Lankadeepa, Thamilan
5. “Prepared for a litmus test for the election” – Premadasa– Dinamina, Virakesari
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