A group of dissenting Sri Lankan Tamil lawmakers has formed a new coalition to challenge the TNA which has come under severe criticism for going soft on the governments delay in delivering justice to the minority community, a parliamentarian said today. Tamil parliamentarian Sivashakthi Anandan said the Tamil Liberation Alliance (TLA) has been formed to challenge the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) which is the main political front for the Tamil minorities in Sri Lanka.

The new alliance hopes to contest the forthcoming local council elections as their first endeavour. Anandan, who represents Eelam Peoples Revolutionary Liberation Front, said that his party along with the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) of veteran Tamil leader V Ananda Sangaree have joined together to form the TLA. "We cannot agree with the current TNA policies, there will be more Tamil parties joining the TLA soon," he said. The moderate TNA and its leader R Sampanthan, the main opposition leader, have come under strong criticism from the Tamil nationalists for going soft on the governments delay in delivering justice to Tamils.

The TNAs moderation has meant they no longer espouse the cause for a separate Tamil homeland. They have expressed willingness to work for a solution within an undivided Sri Lanka. The Tamil nationalists allege that President Maithripala Sirisena, who was backed by them against Mahinda Rajapaksas pro-Sinhala majority regime, has not delivered justice to the Tamils. The government has said that its resolve to deliver justice to the victims of the countrys three-decade long civil war remains firm and it is working towards making the reconciliation process with Tamils a success.

The UN Human Rights Council has criticised Sri Lankas "slow" progress in addressing its wartime past and reiterated its earlier call for hybrid court of international and local judges to investigate allegations of rights violations. The Tamil minority insists on a probe with foreign judges, saying that the Sri Lankan judicial system could not be relied upon to deliver justice to Tamil victims of the conflict. According to the UN figures, up to 40,000 civilians were killed by the security forces during Rajapaksas regime that brought an end to nearly three-decades long civil war in Sri Lanka with the defeat of the LTTE in 2009.

Sri Lanka remains on high alert as Canadian leaders may make genocide allegations next month when the country marks the war victory, according to a diplomatic source.

The respondent parties in the first application filed before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court under the newly enacted Online Safety Act, raised objections challenging the maintainability of the application.

The Court of Appeal has issued notice on former Member of Parliament Hirunika Premachandra, requiring her to appear before court on May 8 in connection with a contempt of court application.

The Catholic Church has received the remaining parts of the report submitted by the presidential commission which probed the Easter Sunday attacks, Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said today. Cardinal Ranjith said the church had received it three weeks ago. “A team of lawyers are studying the report and we will come up with a statement on it once the study is completed,” he told a briefing.

The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) arrested two suspects, including a retired Major of the Sri Lanka Army for fraudulently obtaining money from individuals promising employment in the Russian army.

The Colombo District Court today further extended its enjoining order preventing former President Maithripala Sirisena from functioning as the chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). This order will be effective till May 9. The Colombo District Court made this order following a lawsuit filed by former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga.

Sri Lanka is considering providing free visas to over 50 countries, it was reported. According to Tourism Ministry sources, a proposal in this regard is to be submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers next week.

According to the family members, the funeral service for former Deputy Minister Palitha Thewarapperuma is scheduled to take place this Friday (10).

Admissions for the GCE Ordinary Level (O/L) examinations will be issued by next week, the Examinations Department said. Accordingly, admissions will be issued to school applicants through the respective principals and to private applicants by post. The examination is scheduled to be held on May 6.

Preparations are underway to bid farewell to late Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne, the founder and President Emeritus of the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, with full state honours.

The Sri Lankan Rupee has depreciated further against the US Dollar today (Apr 17), compared to Tuesday, according to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. Accordingly, the buying rate of the US Dollar has increased from Rs. 294.20 to Rs. 295.28, while the selling rate has also increased from Rs. 303.54 to Rs. 305.19. The Rupee has also depreciated against several foreign currencies, including Gulf currencies.

The United States (US) Government recently held preliminary talks with the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) in Colombo regarding the planned transfer of a fourth US Coast Guard cutter to the SLN, as part of the ongoing security partnership between both the countries.

Amidst reports that some ex-military men from Sri Lanka have joined the Russian military operations against Ukraine, Sri Lankan Ambassador in Moscow Prof. Janita Liyanage said she asked for details about them from the Russian military if any. She said this in response to a query about media reports to that effect. “I sought such details from the Russian military if there is anyone there,” she said.

Sri Lanka cannot be pushed and bumped into a global conflict and therefore it should be diligent in its dealings with various nations, a Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP said today.

Stressing that it is time to forget party politics, the United National Party (UNP) today invited all political parties to join hands to create a stable nation.

The official vehicle of Primary Industries State Minister Chamara Sampath Dassanayake caught fire this morning in the Halpe area, as reported by the Ella police. They said the vehicle caught fire due to a technical failure.

The Central Bank has purchased the most amount of dollars for a single month in March, a sign that the country is currently in a very comfortable position in its foreign currency liquidity, after two years into the worst currency crisis in the country.

At least ten people were killed in eight road accidents within the past 24 hours in differenet parts of the country, Police said.

A 62-year-old woman who was receiving treatment at the Jaffna Hospital died of Covid-19, hospital sources said. The woman, a resident of Jaffna had arrived from France last week and was admitted to the Jaffna Hospital due to fever.

Sri Lanka’s state-owned enterprises incurred 744.6 billion rupees in losses in 2022, the SOE restructuring unit has said. “52 State-Owned Enterprises in Sri Lanka incurred losses of LKR 744.6 billion in 2022,” SOERU said in a social media post. “When divided by the total number of Citizen, each citizen needs bare LKR 33,949.”