Monday, November 09, 2009

New regulations for reality programs, musical shows



By Indika Sri Aravinda - The government is to introduce new regulations to broadcast reality musical programs on television or radio stations from next year. Such programs will have to obtain clearance from the public performance board from January, the Chairman of the board Asoka Serasinghe told Daily Mirror online.

He further said that visuals and lyrics of the songs to be telecast on television will also be filtered by the board.

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Monday, November 09, 2009

163,000 people in Sri Lanka camps under deteriorating conditions-UNHCR



“Following the recent returns, some 163,000 people still remain in the camps where conditions are deteriorating,” UNHCR said in a media communiqué issued on Nov 6th.

Other independent reports say that amid heavy rains and thunder storms many of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) held in Menik Farm camp are leaving from their shelters and seeking refuge in the public halls and school buildings located inside the camp.

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Monday, November 09, 2009

UN still worried about refugees in Sri Lanka



The UN has said that while the pace of Tamil refugees returning to their homes has accelerated in Sri Lanka, the condition of the temporary camps in which the remaining continue to be is deteriorating.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson Andrej Mahecic told journalists that in the past two weeks, an estimated 39,000 people have returned to their former villages — mostly in the north and east of Sri Lanka — as part of the government’s resettlement plan.

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Monday, November 09, 2009

SRI LANKA: Gov’t, EU in Back-channel Talks Over Fate of Trade Pact



By Feizal Samath - Sri Lanka has reacted strongly to a European Commission (EC) probe on its human rights record, saying it is politically motivated.

But beyond the public sparring and rhetoric, informal diplomatic contacts between the two sides are underway to save a crucial trade pact and hundreds of jobs in the garment industry.

Sri Lanka stands to lose its trade concessions from the European Union under the Generalised System of Preferences Plus (GSP+), which has allowed tax- free Sri Lankan exports to Europe since 2005. This, following the release last month of EC’s probe of the island state’s compliance with international treaties on human rights.

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Monday, November 09, 2009

Australia urges Sri Lanka reforms, reconciliation



Australia on Sunday urged Sri Lanka, having defeated the Tamil Tigers in May, to now embrace political reform and reconciliation to stem the flow of asylum seekers leaving the country.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith will meet his Sri Lankan counterpart Rohitha Bogollagama in Colombo on Monday amid a standoff in Indonesia involving 78 Tamil asylum seekers, who are refusing to leave an Australian vessel that rescued them last month.

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Monday, November 09, 2009

France asks Sri Lanka to end emergency, probe war crimes



A top French envoy Saturday asked Sri Lanka to end its state of emergency and probe war crimes ahead of a key European Union ruling on trade concessions to the troubled island.

Ambassador for Human Rights, Francois Zimeray, said he hoped Colombo will signal the ending of its war with Tamil rebels in May by withdrawing emergency laws which allowed the detention of suspects for long periods without trial.

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