COLOMBO — Sri Lanka is considering barring anyone under the age of 40 from entering the three-wheeler passenger transport trade, a deputy minister said Sunday, reviving a proposal that a previous government abandoned as unlawful and unfair. Nalin Hewage, the deputy minister of vocational education, said the measure was intended to stop school-leavers from going directly into tuk-tuk driving and push them toward further study and skills training. “We expect to increase the age for entering the

By: Sidhartha Thamby Part I: The Phenomenon of Disappearances What Counts as a Disappearance The legal meaning of "enforced disappearance" is narrower than everyday usage. The main treaty — the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance — applies only when the state is involved: an arrest, detention, or kidnapping by state agents or with state approval. Disappearances by non-state groups like the LTTE or JVP fall outside this legal definition, tho

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — At least 157 people, including 55 children, have been treated at Jaffna Teaching Hospital after developing painful eye problems following a Hindu temple festival, prompting police to seize high-powered lamps used at the event as investigators seek to determine whether the lighting caused the injuries. The patients had attended a festival at a Murugan temple in the Piranpatru area of Jaffna, where powerful electric lamps had been installed around the temple grounds. Dr. T. S