The investment for the MWSIP totals around 0 million, partly funded by the ADB. It is 96 km long and forms part of a wider project to transform one of the island’s driest regions by channelling water from the Mahaweli River. Once completed, it will irrigate 43,000 hectares of land during the Yala and Maha seasons.
The case of Pallegama Hemarathana Thero, 71, one of the most influential Buddhist monks, has shaken the country. Arrested on 9 May and later released, he was suspended from all his functions until the end of legal proceedings. Protests have taken place in several districts with participants demanding equal law for all, a thorough investigation, and protection for the victim. Sri Lanka’s child protection authority has reported that some 300 monks have been accused of abuse over the past three years.
The Swedish government has singled out the Sri Lankan Catholic activist for his work on behalf of the victims of enforced disappearances during the civil war and previous periods of political violence in Sri Lanka. Founder of Families of the Disappeared, he has been seeking truth and justice for more than 30 years despite intimidation and threats.
The Aruwakkalu area is located 25 km north of Puttalam, in the North-Western Province. It is an area considered a mainstay of Sri Lanka’s cement industry. The new plan allows valuable materials such as ilmenite, rutile and zircon to be separated from the soil layer. Experts say the deposit “is of geological and scientific importance”.
The charge by the Attorney General’s Department follows questioning of a new witness in France. The position of the former head of military intelligence has worsened. Starting in 2017, he allegedly financed Islamic and Tamil extremist groups to be used for suicide attacks and actions against Rajapaksa's adversaries, including the murder of journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge and the disappearance of Prageeth Eknaligoda.
Asian members from Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka are part of the global humanitarian expedition. The son of Faisal Edhi, a leading figure in Pakistan’s humanitarian community, is among the people detained. As his fate remains unknown, his father has appealed to Pakistani authorities to obtain his release. For Asian activists, theirs is not just a "symbolic" participation.
