<ul><li>Police probe groups targeting women and children</li><li>NCPA urged to pursue offenders under child protection laws</li><li>CERT says Meta providing details of anonymous users</li></ul> The Government has ordered a crackdown on a disturbing wave of Facebook groups in which anonymous users allegedly share photographs of women and girls without their consent, including children as young as five, while making sexually explicit and degrading claims about them.The Women and Child Affairs Ministry has directed the Police to take legal action against those operating and participating in the groups, while calling on the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) to initiate proceedings against perpetrators under its enabling legislation.The move follows mounting outrage over Facebook groups, some with more than 14,000 followers, where photographs of women and girls are circulated alongside sexually suggestive captions. Activists have also revealed that some users allegedly offer the photographs for monetary transactions and make claims the women and girls depicted are their mothers, sisters or children, while openly inviting others to engage in sexual relationships with them for money.Speaking to The Daily Morning, Women and Child Affairs Ministry Secretary Tharangani Wickramasinghe said that the Police are investigating the matter and that relevant authorities have been instructed to take action."We have informed the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the Bureau for the Investigation of the Abuse of Children and Women, and the Police Computer Crime Investigation Division, which oversees social media-related offences, is attending to the issue. We have also written to the Attorney General's (AG) Department to explore further legal avenues regarding the matter," she said.Meanwhile, the Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT) said that efforts to remove the offending content from social media platforms are continuing, with several groups already taken down.CERT Lead Information Security Engineer Charuka Damunupola told The Daily Morning that takedowns had already been carried out on TikTok and Telegram, while action against the Facebook groups was ongoing."From TikTok and Telegram, the takedowns have already happened, and the issue still lies with the Facebook groups. Some of the groups have been removed, but there are some that still remain," he said.He said existing laws could be used to prosecute those involved, particularly where child exploitation and child sexual imagery are concerned, despite concerns that the Computer Crime Act predates the emergence of newer social media platforms."In this particular situation, practices such as child exploitation and child sexual imagery can be addressed under the prevailing law, as they are taken under child abuse," Damunupola said.He added that Meta, the parent company of Facebook, generally provides information requested by authorities to identify anonymous users."When we request Meta regarding the details of these anonymous members in the groups, on most occasions, they provide us with the information. We don't need a separate Act for this; under the Penal Code, we can punish the offenders," he said.According to Damunupola, the main challenge is identifying those behind the accounts, with the relevant Police division having already requested information to assist in the investigations.He noted that existing provisions, including Section 345 of the Penal Code, which deals with assault or the use of criminal force against a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty, could also be used by the Police to pursue offenders.The development comes after a recent wave of Facebook groups sparked widespread outrage over the non-consensual sharing of photographs of women and girls, with sexually suggestive and degrading captions.The issue came to wider public attention after a foreign social media personality highlighted in a video that the practice was widespread on Facebook in Sri Lanka.The NCPA has also been called upon to take legal action against those responsible, particularly in cases involving children.When contacted by The Daily Morning, NCPA Chairperson Inoka Ranasinghe requested that the newspaper contact her after the weekend.Officer-in-Charge of the Police Bureau for the Investigation of the Abuse of Children and Women, Nimali Fonseka, was unable to provide details of the ongoing investigation when contacted and requested that the newspaper contact her in person.

Crackdown on vile Facebook abuse  

The Government is considering amendments to the Ayurveda Act, No. 31 of 1961, with the aim of modernising and upgrading the legal framework governing Ayurveda, Deputy Health Minister Dr Hansaka Wijemuni said.Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (26), Dr Wijemuni said that, along with the proposed amendments to the Homoeopathy Act, the Health Ministry is also seeking views on changes that need to be introduced to the Ayurveda Act. “We are also seeking the views of various parties these days on changing the Ayurveda Act,” he said.&nbsp;Informed Ministry sources, when contacted for further comment on the matter, stated that the proposed changes are aimed at modernising and upgrading the existing Law to meet the current requirements. The sources noted that the Ayurveda Act had been amended on several occasions, with the most recent Amendment being the Ayurveda (Amendment) Act, No. 19 of 2023.&nbsp;The 2023 Amendment introduced several changes to the 1961 Act, including changes relating to the Ayurveda Medical Council and the administration and regulation of Ayurveda. The proposed review would therefore seek to further update the legal framework governing Ayurveda in line with present requirements.

Ayurveda Act to be amended

<ul><li>Indian agri and manufacturing supplies to SL may face disruptions</li></ul> The Government is discussing contingency measures in case India restricts or suspends exports of essential food items due to the impact of the anticipated El Niño conditions, Deputy Trade, Commerce, and Food Security Minister R.M. Jayawardena said, noting that Sri Lanka relies heavily on India for a range of food imports.Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (26), he said the Government is considering what steps should be taken if El Niño affects India’s agricultural and manufacturing activity and eventually disrupts supplies to Sri Lanka. “El Niño isn’t going to affect only us. It can also affect India. There could be an impact on production activities in India as well. We import a lot of food items from India. Therefore, it’s very important to plan what we’re going to do if India, at some point, stops exports or imposes restrictions on exports.” He said the matter had been discussed recently at a meeting chaired by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, but that no specific decision had yet been taken on what measures would be introduced. “We haven’t yet arrived at a definite decision that we’ll take this particular action. But, we’re paying attention to this issue and continuing discussions. We are having discussions on this regularly,” he said. The Government has already been preparing for a possible disruption to domestic rice supplies by bringing forward this year’s (2026) Maha cultivation season by about a month. The Maha season normally runs from around September to March and is closely linked to the North-East monsoon. The preparations come as the relevant institutions monitor the development of El Niño, a climate pattern associated with changes in rainfall and temperatures across different regions. The World Meteorological Organisation stated in June that there was an 80 per cent probability of El Niño conditions emerging between June and this month (August), rising to around 90 per cent for the next month (September)-December period. Most forecast models indicated that the event could reach at least moderate strength, with the possibility of becoming strong.

El Niño impact: Govt discusses possible Indian export restrictions 

&nbsp;<ul><li>Call for formal inquiry&nbsp;</li></ul> Former Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena and former Deputy Speaker Ajith Rajapakshe have rejected allegations arising from a special audit into fuel and vehicle use in the Eighth and Ninth Parliaments, with both of them calling for a formal inquiry into the matter and saying that they are ready to respond to any investigation. When contacted by The Daily Morning, Abeywardena, against whom allegations have been levelled in the audit, said the claims first emerged about a year and a half ago but that the Government had still failed to conduct an investigation or take legal action.&nbsp;“That is because there is no acceptable ground for the Government to do something like that,” he said. He said the Speaker is provided with several official vehicles, including a bulletproof security vehicle, and that the fuel used by those vehicles is handled by the drivers. “I was given five vehicles. I was also given a security vehicle - a bulletproof vehicle. That vehicle does only a small number of kilometres per litre of fuel. All of that was handled by the drivers,” Abeywardena said, adding that he had not personally signed the relevant fuel orders except on one or two occasions in Matara, adding that such approvals were always granted by Parliamentary officials in Colombo.&nbsp;Speaking further, he said: “The audit report has the vehicle numbers and says how many vehicles there were. Then, it has added the fuel used by all those vehicles together. So, someone looking at it would think that it is a huge amount. However, the vehicles and amounts of fuel used for each of them should have been listed separately. The Police vehicle that travelled behind me was also included there. The Police provided the vehicle and officers, but the fuel had to be obtained through Parliament. That is still how it is done today.” Abeywardena also said that he is prepared to answer the allegations through any inquiry. Rajapakshe also rejected the allegations, saying that all expenditure had been incurred within the law and that Parliamentary officials had followed the required procedures. “Nothing was done outside the law. Everything was done legally. Parliament’s Audit Division reviews such expenditure every year and officials wouldn’t engage in any wrongdoing. We didn’t have time to check how much fuel was being used for our vehicles. Parliamentary officials always carry out these things properly. They would never do something wrong,” he said. He further said that he did not accept the relevant audit report`s findings and alleged that some relevant individuals had been left out. “This is a process of repeatedly creating a narrative in society targeting me and the former Speaker.” The Secretary-General of Parliament, attorney Kushani Rohanadheera was not available for comment. &nbsp; The special audit covering the Eighth and Ninth Parliaments examined fuel allocations, vehicle privileges and related expenditure involving senior Parliamentary positions, including the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, the Chairperson of Committees and the Secretary-General. The audit found that there had been no effective limit on the Speaker’s fuel entitlement.&nbsp;

Audit on Parliament perks:  Ex-Speaker, Deputy reject report 

<ul><li>BY Dhanushka Dharmapriya</li></ul> Amid the circulation of video footage showing a group of Tamil women being forcefully taken away from the Jaffna District Secretariat by the Police, with no context provided and implying that families of missing persons seeking justice for their disappeared loved ones were forcefully chased away, the Chairperson of the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) has clarified the situation.Speaking to The Daily Morning, OMP Chair Mahesh Katulanda said that no forceful chasing away of members of the public who had come seeking justice had taken place in Jaffna. He stated that the group that was taken away was a politically motivated group that had attempted to disrupt the commemoration of the International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances."The commemoration of the International Day was held at the Secretariat, and 350 families of the disappeared from many areas, including Kilinochchi, Vavuniya, Jaffna, and Mannar, were invited. They were taken to the premises after scanning a quick response code, and the event followed a welfare programme for them, including an eye test and a health camp," he said."But another group protested outside the gates, trying to prevent the selected families from entering the Secretariat. When they failed, they started to forcibly enter the premises for the attention of the international media. They were taken outside the premises," he added.He further stated that, as far as it had been found, the group that attempted to enter the premises had no relation to anyone who had disappeared.He also said that it was announced at the commemoration that the third phase of the Chemmani mass grave excavations had recently been concluded, with an expenditure of Rs 57.8 million, and that 584 skeletons had been found to date. He said that measures would be taken to accelerate the process of collecting blood samples from the families and conducting deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) tests to identify the recovered bodies.However, longstanding tensions between some parties in the North and the OMP persist, amid accusations that the OMP has not conducted satisfactory investigations, as only 25 of the 16,996 reportedly missing persons have been found to date.

OMP clarifies Jaffna incident 

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa said Sri Lanka must have prior preparedness to face the El Niño and La Niña conditions. He noted that these conditions can result in extreme weather patterns, ranging from severe droughts to heavy rainfall within a short period, demonstrating how two weather extremes can occur successively. Premadasa emphasised that regardless of whether such conditions occur, the country must be adequately prepared and that the existing disaster management structure needs to be transformed.&nbsp;He further stated that Sri Lanka should learn from the experience of the Odisha State in India, moving beyond a disaster response mechanism that merely reacts after disasters occur.According to Premadasa, Sri Lanka requires a new disaster management framework, along with new programmes and institutions, with the ultimate objective of creating a nation capable of withstanding frequently recurring disasters.

El Niño and La Niña: Sajith urges new disaster management framework 

<ul><li>BY Dilanthi Jayamanne&nbsp;</li></ul> The Sub-Inspector of Police (SI) in charge of the team that arrested the suspect involved in the incident at the Ambalangoda Police Station has been transferred from the Station with immediate effect.A special investigation has been launched into the incident on the instructions of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), under the supervision of the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) in charge of the Galle Division. The investigation is being conducted under the leadership of a senior Police officer serving outside the Elpitiya Police Division, to which the Ambalangoda Police Station belongs.A video circulating on social media shows an individual behaving disruptively inside the Station, alleging that Police officers had assaulted his detained father. Providing context to the footage, the Police stated that the elderly man identified as the father in the video was arrested by Station officers on Monday night (24) while wandering on a road in an intoxicated and disorderly manner and was subsequently brought to the Station.Police further stated that the individual attempted to flee at the time of his arrest, resulting in a fall that caused the injuries and bleeding seen in the video footage. However, the individual was admitted to the Balapitiya Base Hospital on Tuesday (25) by Station officers. Following an examination by the Judicial Medical Officer, he was produced before the Balapitiya Additional Magistrate, who ordered his release on bail.Police stated that further necessary action would be taken based on the findings of the ongoing special investigation.However, his son has given a different account of what happened. He alleged that his father was stopped about 100 metres from their home because he was unable to produce his National Identity Card (NIC). According to the son, his father offered to take the Police officers to their nearby home to produce the NIC, but was instead verbally abused and assaulted.Social media posts show that the public was supportive of the alleged unruly behaviour of the son, who allegedly caused a stir at the Station following his father's arrest and alleged assault.Meanwhile, Police Media Spokesperson, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and attorney F.U. Wootler said yesterday (26) that members of the public had the right to complain to senior Police officers, including the IGP, if their rights were violated or Police officers acted improperly.Speaking to The Daily Morning, Wootler said that complaints could be made to an ASP, SP, DIG, or the IGP, following which the Police would investigate the matter. However, he stressed that members of the public should not take the law into their own hands or obstruct or hinder Police duties.“If anyone does so, the Police will definitely take action against such persons,” he said.“If the Police don’t do their job, you can make a complaint,” he said.Referring to the recent incident at the Station, Wootler said that the SP in charge of Ambalangoda had already initiated an inquiry into the incident.

Alleged assault on suspect:  SI transferred over Ambalangoda incident

The Patriotic National Movement (PNM) has alleged that investigators and other parties provided false information with the intention of extending the detention order (DO) of former Director of the State Intelligence Service, retired Major General Suresh Sallay.PNM member attorney-at-law Sanjeeva Weerawickrama made the allegation during a press conference held in Colombo on Tuesday (25).“The Criminal Investigation Department’s Director Shani Abeysekara went to France, recorded a statement from asylum seeker and whistleblower Azad Mouland, and informed the Court of the same. However, Abeysekara didn’t visit the Embassy to record Maulana’s statement. At that time, there was no Sri Lankan Ambassador to France, as the post remained vacant. However, a residence had been acquired on behalf of the Ambassador, and it was at that residence that the statement was recorded,” he said.Weerawickrama questioned the manner in which the relevant statement had been filed in Court. He claimed that the Court documents indicated in small print that the statement had been recorded at the residence of the Sri Lankan Ambassador to France.He questioned whether Abeysekara could, under Sri Lankan law, independently record a statement at an Ambassador’s residence and submit it to Court, and whether such an action had been carried out in accordance with the law.“It was an illegal act. It was an arbitrary action taken to continuously extend the DO of Sallay,” he said.He also alleged that false statements were contained in the intervening petition filed by Colombo Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith in connection with the writ petition filed by Sallay.

False info led to Sallay’s second detention order?

The final Randoli Perahera procession of the Kandy Esala Perahera Festival is scheduled to commence at 6:43 p.m. today (27) and will parade along the Dalada Veediya, the Yatinuwara Veediya, the Kande Veediya, the D S Senanayake Veediya and the Raja Veediya, covering a distance of 2.15 kilometres before returning to the Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Tooth).

Crackdown on vile Facebook abuse

Ayurveda Act to be amended

Ayurveda Act to be amended

El Niño impact: Govt discusses possible Indian export restrictions

El Niño impact: Govt discusses ...

Audit on Parliament perks: Ex-Speaker, Deputy reject report

Audit on Parliament perks: Ex ...

OMP clarifies Jaffna incident

OMP clarifies Jaffna incident

El Niño and La Niña: Sajith urges new disaster management framework

El Niño and La Niña: Sajith ur ...

Alleged assault on suspect: SI transferred over Ambalangoda incident

Alleged assault on suspect: S ...

False info led to Sallay’s second detention order?

False info led to Sallay’s sec ...

The Randoli glory

The Randoli glory

Ayurveda Act to be amended

Ayurveda Act to be amended

El Niño impact: Govt discusses possible Indian export restrictions

El Niño impact: Govt discusses ...

Audit on Parliament perks: Ex-Speaker, Deputy reject report

Audit on Parliament perks: Ex ...

OMP clarifies Jaffna incident

OMP clarifies Jaffna incident

El Niño and La Niña: Sajith urges new disaster management framework

El Niño and La Niña: Sajith ur ...

Alleged assault on suspect: SI transferred over Ambalangoda incident

Alleged assault on suspect: S ...

False info led to Sallay’s second detention order?

False info led to Sallay’s sec ...

The Randoli glory

The Randoli glory

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Ayurveda Act to be amended

Ayurveda Act to be amended

El Niño impact: Govt discusses possible Indian export restrictions

El Niño impact: Govt discusses ...

Bringing the news paper to your fingertips

Audit on Parliament perks: Ex-Speaker, Deputy reject report

Audit on Parliament perks: Ex ...

OMP clarifies Jaffna incident

OMP clarifies Jaffna incident

El Niño and La Niña: Sajith urges new disaster management framework

El Niño and La Niña: Sajith ur ...

Alleged assault on suspect: SI transferred over Ambalangoda incident

Alleged assault on suspect: S ...