Following last week’s interest rate hikes on credit cards by leading players in the market, more commercial banks revised their interest rates this week and service charges. The Nations Trust Bank this week raised its credit card financial fees by Rs. 100, Account Maintenance fees by Rs. 100, Penalty fees by Rs. 150 and service fees for the SMS service by Rs. 250, which will take effect from May 15, 2012.
The Commercial Bank said its new interest rates on credit cards and hikes in various fees would come into effect from June 1.

The interest rate hikes, however, drew mixed reaction from card users. “I think all of us have to be more careful when using credit cards from now on, as the interest rates have gone up. I thought of limiting my purchases through the credit card at least to some extent, but will not discontinue it. However, I will definitely not apply for another credit card,” said Shanaka Premaratne, a cardholder of a local bank.

Thamara Darshini, who is using credit cards of a local and an international bank, said that, since interest rate fluctuations are unavoidable, it is up to the consumers to use these payment methods wisely and effectively. She said that as credit cards are a tremendous convenience, consumers will continue to use them, irrespective of the increased interest rates.

Cardholder Thisara Wijerathne said that these increased interest rate charges are unavoidable, while, consumers are compelled to use credit cards for convenience and hence, will pay the enhanced charges. “We can’t help but pay and pray that next year the interest rates will be reduced,” he said.

A massive dansala was held during the Vesak week at Temple Trees with hundreds of people lining up , not only to partake of meals but also to get a chance to see the gardens of the one-time Prime Minister’s official residence now used by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The President welcomed the visitors personally and served meals to some of them.

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A federal judge sentenced a U.S. citizen accused of supporting Sri Lankan rebels to time served in jail on Friday — about five years — after casting doubt on the terrorism case and calling the 20-year term sought by prosecutors excessive, an Associated Press report said.

It said the wife and family of Sri Lankan immigrant Karunakaran Kandasamy wept as U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie announced the sentence in federal court in Brooklyn. "This is not a garden variety terrorism case," Judge Dearie said.

Mr. Kandasamy, 55, had pleaded guilty in 2009 to charges of conspiring to provide material aid to a terrorist organization. A prosecutor argued Friday that as the top U.S. representative for the Tamil Tigers, he deserved the maximum 20 years for raising money for a separatist group that earned the terrorist designation by the State Department.

But the judge said it was a stretch to say the former cab driver had a leadership role, and that he believed that he was involved in humanitarian — not military — aid for the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka.
"We do not accommodate any support of terrorism on U.S. soil. That said, we have to pull back that emblazoned banner of terrorism and look at the case specifically," he said.

Lawyers for Mr. Kandasamy, 55, had argued that he had done enough time, especially since he suffers from diabetes and a host of other ailments. "I simply want to express my remorse," Mr. Kandasamy told the judge before he was sentenced. "I was raised in a country where my family lived in constant fear. My intent was only to help my people."

Federal authorities in New York had sought to cut off support for the LTTE by arresting sympathizers in their East Coast immigrant communities in 2006 and 2007 on terror support charges.

Mr. Kandasamy and others were tied to a covert campaign to raise and launder millions of dollars through a charity front organization. Prosecutors had accused him of personally raising millions of dollars for the Tamil Tigers, and that he went to Sri Lanka to meet with rebel commanders.

As the country prepares to celebrate the third anniversary of the military defeat of the LTTE, a former LTTE fighter takes aim at a soldier outside the Planetarium in Colombo with his camera, not his rifle. More than 600 former LTTE cadres undergoing rehabilitation were in the city for the Vesak season as part of a larger tour of the country . Pic by Indika Handuwala