Three INS made goodwill visit to Sri Lanka; “The human rights situation in Sri Lanka in 2012 remained of serious concern”-UK; US Secretary of State John Kerry proposes a 20 per cent cut in the American aid to Sri Lanka; Atomic Energy Authority (AEA) to me
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Whatsapp
  • Linkedin
  • Print

    • According to reports, as part of an endeavor to boost mutual cooperation between Indian and Sri Lankan navy, three Indian Naval ships, 'INS Sujata, INS Tarangini and the coast guard ship ICGS Varuna', berthed at the Colombo port on April 17, 2013.1

    Reports noted that US Secretary of State John Kerry has proposed a 20 per cent cut in the American aid to Colombo, a move reflecting the unease in their ties over issues related to human rights, reconstruction and political integration in Sri Lanka after the end of the civil war. It is believed to be the highest drop for any South Asian country in Kerry's budgetary proposals which was sent to the Congress in April 2013 for its approval. In actual term, Kerry has proposed a USD 11 million in aid to Sri Lanka, which, according to a senior State Department official, is a "drop of 20 per cent" from the actual spending in the 2012 fiscal. 2

    According to reports, the human rights situation in Sri Lanka in 2012 remained of serious concern, with a number of negative developments, including with regard to freedom of expression and media and judicial independence, the United Kingdom said. UK Foreign Secretary William Hague launched the "Human Rights and Democracy report for 2012" prepared by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, which documented UK's action to raise standards and stamp out abuses occurring globally. 3

    In other developments, reports noted that the Atomic Energy Authority (AEA) is conducting a survey to measure radioactive material present in Sri Lankan soil as a precautionary measure in case there is a leakage in the Kudankulam Power Plant in India. The AEA has chosen 100 locations all over the island for the radioactive material study and also different locations in the Sri Lanka sea territory extracting sea water and sediment for the examination of radioactive material present in those samples. 4

    Top