South Asia Citizens Web

Security was tightened around the International Crimes Tribunal premises in the city following Sunday night’s bombs blast in front of the tribunal gate.
The tribunals are housed in an old High Court building under Shahbagh police station.

We have to come to the realisation that if we want to make country politically and economically healthy in the future, we must ensure secularism in politics and very strong local government. Our constitution also upholds this idea. Hence, if we allow this abuse of religion in local government elections, it will ultimately destroy our society and the spirit of the constitution.

The proposed set of media ethics by the Government of Sri Lanka bans reporting on many a important issues, and leaves room for wide interpretations on such prohibitions. The full text of the code of ethics proposed by the media ministry is follows

We the people of Jaitapur, Madban, Sakhari Nate, Mithgavane, Niveli, Karel and all the surrounding villages situated near proposed JAITAPUR Nuclear Power Project, are writing to you with a deep sense of anguish and disgust about the scheduled development taking place in the city of Paris on 5 th and 6 th June between Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) acting through Government of India, French Company AREVA and various French as well as European Bankers.

On 6 May, the Supreme Court dismissed a plea seeking to halt the commissioning of the Kudankulam nuclear reactors in Tamil Nadu till the implementation of key additional safety measures recommended after the catastrophic Fukushima accident of 2011. The court’s argument was that the project is “part of the national policy” and it “is not for courts to determine whether a particular policy or a particular decision taken in fulfilment of a policy, is fair”. Regardless of one’s opinion about that assertion, what is disturbing about the judgement is that it ventured well beyond its brief and commented on areas that were outside its provenance. . . . the court’s decision cannot settle the contentious dispute over Kudankulam, or the larger questions about the expansion of nuclear energy in the country. That is still a matter for democratic debate. And all the familiar problems with nuclear energy—including high costs, susceptibility to catastrophic accidents, and the unsolved problem of dealing with radioactive waste—should play a role in that debate.