Journalists and civil society members gathered in Jaffna on April 28 to mark 20 years since the assassination of renowned Tamil journalist and editor Dharmeratnam “Taraki” Sivaram. The commemoration, jointly organised by the Jaffna Press Club, the Eastern Province Journalists Association, and the Professional Online Journalists Association, took place at the memorial for murdered journalists on Main Street, Jaffna.
Candles were lit and floral tributes were laid before portraits of Sivaram and fellow journalist Selvarajah Rajivarman, who was also murdered on the same date two years later.
Sivaram, a former senior editor at TamilNet, was abducted in Colombo on April 28, 2005 and was later found murdered near Parliament. Despite international condemnation and demands for accountability, his killers have never been brought to justice.
Ahead of the commemoration, a media briefing was also held at the Jaffna Press Club.
The Meteorology Department says that several spells of showers will occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and provinces and in Kandy, Nuwara-Eliya, Galle and Matara districts today (July 07).
A few showers may occur in the North-western province.
Showers or thundershowers may occur at a few places in the Uva province and in Ampara and Batticaloa districts during the afternoon or night.
Strong winds of about 40-50 kmph can be expected at times over Western slopes of the central hills and in Northern, North-central and North-western provinces and in Trincomalee and Hambantota districts.
The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.
Ampara District Organizer of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal party and former member of the Eastern Provincial Council K. Pushpakumar alias Iniya Bharathi has been arrested.
He was arrested over the abduction and disappearance of the former Vice Chancellor of the Eastern University Prof. Subramaniyam Ravindranath.
Sivanathurai Chandrakanthan, alias Pillayan, the leader of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) and former State Minister, was arrested by the Colombo Criminal Investigation Department at his office in Batticaloa on April 8, over this incident.
He was later detained for 3 months under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
Iniya Bharathi, also known as Kumaraswamy Pushpakumar, was arrested based on information revealed during the interrogation of Pillayan.
The Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) said the electronic Revenue Licence system (eRL 2.0) is currently unavailable due to a critical technical infrastructure issue.
According to the ICTA, the disruption began on July 3, 2025, and has made vehicle revenue licence issuing services inaccessible.
The unavailability is expected to continue until July 9, 2025.
The ICTA expressed regret for the inconvenience caused to the public and assured that technical teams are working urgently to resolve the issue.
The agency also said that further updates will be shared as work progresses, with an official notice to be issued once services are restored.