MADURAI: Close on the heels of chief minister J Jayalalithaa writing to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking to discourage frequent visits of Sri Lankan delegates to Tamil Nadu, activists of various pro-Tamil movements disrupted an international conference and forced the organisers to send away a Sri Lankan academic,yesterday (March 8), the Times of India reported.
 
The members of Naam Tamizhar Iyakkam, May 17 Movement, Sri Lankan Tamils Protection Federation, as well as MDMK cadres barged into the conference venue at Manonmaniam Sundaranar University (MSU) and protested against the participation of Jeeva Niriella, faculty of law, lecturer, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka in the three-day international conference on 'Exploring Linkage Between Drug Usage and Criminal Victimisation' organised by the department of criminology.
 
This is the second such incident of a Sri Lankan visitor facing a protest by pro-Tamil outfits.  This time around, the agitators, about 20 of them, entered the hall during the afternoon session of the conference posing as participants and started raising slogans against Sri Lanka. They also held placards demanding Jeeva to leave India as well as accusing Sri Lanka of genocide.
 
"Jeeva Niriella was visibly shocked by the sudden development. We were also taken aback. Since we thought that the safety and security of the delegate was important, we took her out of the venue through another exit. We then told the protesters that she was sent and that she would not participate in any of the sessions for the rest of the conference," said a faculty from the university. The protesters then left the spot. No police complaint has been lodged by the organisers, but disbelief and shock was writ large.
 
-Times of India

Sri Lanka on Thursday dismissed as "ill-timed and ill-conceived", a US move at the UN Human Rights Council to censure Colombo over alleged war crimes AFP reported.

Water Supply Minister Dinesh Gunawardena quoted by AFP said Sri Lanka was confident of defeating the three-point resolution at the UNHRC sessions in Geneva, urging the island to probe alleged war crimes.

"This resolution is ill-timed, ill-conceived and borne out of ignorance," Gunawardena, who is also the chief Government whip in Parliament, told reporters. He accused the US of ignoring Sri Lanka's reconciliation moves.

Sri Lanka has faced strong international criticism over the bloody finale to its separatist war in 2009, but has avoided censure at previous UN meetings, thanks to support from China and Russia.

The US resolution, seen by AFP, urges Sri Lanka to ensure "justice, equity, accountability and reconciliation" and says Colombo's own probe, the Lessons Learnt & Reconciliation Commission, did not adequately address concerns.

The Sri Lanka government initiated nationwide demonstrations last month to coincide with the opening of the UNHRC sessions, and denounced Washington for leading international calls for a war crimes probe.

Caption -Delegates are seen during a special session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva (AFP)

 Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena said in Parliament today  that the final report by the medical team investigating the infant  deaths at Galle Mahamodara hospital will be out next Monday (12).

Once the report is received ,it will be made public at a  press conference, he said.

A team of medical experts have been appointed to look into the child deaths reported from this hospital during past few weeks.

The Minister said this in response to query raised by UNP HAmbantota District MP Sajith Premadasa who demanded to know what action the government had taken following seven deaths of new borns infants qt the children in the same hospital  within a one month period.

 Opposition leader Ranil Wickramasinghe today questioned the contribution of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party towards improving status of the women in the County.