Sri Lankans watch after setting a bus on fire during a protest outside Sri Lankan president's private residence on the outskirts of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, April 1, 2022. (AP)Sri Lanka Economic Crisis Live Updates: Over 600 people were arrested in Sri Lanka’s Western Province on Sunday for violating a 36-hour nationwide curfew and trying to stage an anti-government rally to protest the country’s worst economic crisis.
Opposition lawmakers, led by their leader Sajith Premadasa, had set off on a march towards the iconic Independence Square in Colombo, defying a weekend curfew imposed by the government on Saturday, ahead of the planned protest for Sunday. The protest was organised by social media activists against the ongoing economic crisis and hardships heaped on people due to shortages of essentials. A total of 664 people were arrested in the Western Province on Sunday.
The Sri Lankan government on Saturday imposed a 36-hour curfew as a nationwide public emergency has been enforced ahead of a planned anti-government rally over the worst economic crisis in the island nation. The country has restricted access to major social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter, internet monitoring organisation NetBlocks said on Sunday, after the government imposed a curfew to tackle growing unrest amid an unprecedented economic crisis, according to Reuters.
A Sri Lankan man shouts anti government slogans during a protest outside Sri Lankan president's private residence on the outskirts of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Thursday, March 31, 2022. (AP)
ir India on Sunday said it will reduce its India-Sri Lanka services from 16 flights per week currently to 13 flights per week from April 9 due to poor demand. Sri Lanka is currently experiencing its worst economic crisis in history. With long lines for fuel, cooking gas, essentials in short supply and long hours of power cuts, the public has been suffering for weeks.
"Currently AI is operating 16 flights a week -- daily flights from Delhi and nine flights a week from Chennai," an Air India spokesperson told PTI.
In the new schedule, AI will be operating a total of 13 flights per week, the spokesperson noted. In the new schedule, while the frequency from Chennai will remain untouched, flights from Delhi will reduce from seven to four per week, the spokesperson said. "Four flights from Delhi instead of seven effective April 9 due to poor loads," the spokesperson noted.
AI 283 on the Delhi-Colombo sector will now operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays from April 8 to May 30. AI 284 on the Colombo-Delhi sector will operate on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from April 9 to May 31. (PTI)
Over 600 people were arrested in Sri Lanka's Western Province on Sunday for violating a 36-hour nationwide curfew and trying to stage an anti-government rally to protest the country's worst economic crisis.
Opposition lawmakers, led by their leader Sajith Premadasa, had set off on a march towards the iconic Independence Square in Colombo, defying a weekend curfew imposed by the government on Saturday, ahead of the planned protest for Sunday.
“We are protesting the government's abuse of the public security ordinance to deny the public's right to protest,” Premadasa said.
The protest was organised by social media activists against the ongoing economic crisis and hardships heaped on people due to shortages of essentials. A total of 664 people were arrested in the Western Province on Sunday. A countrywide curfew was declared ahead of an “Arab Spring” style protest scheduled to be staged on Sunday, Colombo Gazette reported. (PTI)
Opposition lawmakers in Sri Lanka on Sunday marched in the capital, Colombo, protesting against the president's move to impose a curfew and state of emergency amid a worsening economic crisis.
Internet users in most of Sri Lanka were also unable to access Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, WhatsApp and other social media platforms on Sunday, after they had been used to organize demonstrations calling for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign, saying he is responsible for the country's economic woes.
Netblocks, a global internet monitor, confirmed that network data collected from over 100 vantage points across Sri Lanka showed the restrictions coming into effect across multiple providers from midnight. (AP)
Sri Lanka’s Minister of Youth and Sports Namal Rajapaksa said he was opposed to the social media blackout imposed in the country. "I will never condone the blocking of social media. The availability of VPN, just like I’m using now, makes such bans completely useless," he tweeted.
Sri Lanka has blocked access to many social media platforms in an attempt to prevent further protests blaming the government for the worsening economic crisis. Internet users in most parts of Sri Lanka were unable to access Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, WhatsApp and other social media platforms on Sunday.
Netblocks, a global internet monitor, confirmed that network data collected from over 100 vantage points across Sri Lanka showed the restrictions coming into effect across multiple providers from midnight. Sri Lanka is under a nationwide curfew from Saturday night until Monday morning after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a state of emergency.
Social media platforms had been used to call for protests demanding the president's resignation, saying he is responsible for the economic crisis. (AP)
Sri Lanka's government imposed a weekend curfew on Saturday even as hundreds of lawyers urged President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to revoke a state of emergency to ensure that freedom of speech and peaceful assembly are respected under the country's economic crisis.
"Under the powers given to the president, curfew has been imposed countrywide from 6 p.m. (1230 GMT) on Saturday to 6 a.m. (0030 GMT) on Monday," the government's information department said in a statement.Rajapaksa on Friday invoked stringent laws to tackle growing unrest in the unprecedented crisis. (Reuters)
A consignment of 40,000 metric tonnes of diesel from India reached Sri Lanka on Saturday, the fourth such assistance from New Delhi, to mitigate the spike in power cuts in the island nation, which is facing an unprecedented economic and energy crisis caused due to shortage of foreign exchange.
Power cuts lasting over 13 hours were imposed on Thursday, the longest cut since 1996 when a strike by the state power entity employees caused a 72-hour black out. Officials of the state fuel entity, Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), said the Indian diesel supplies would ease the ongoing power cuts. The power cuts effective Saturday are over 8.5 hours. (PTI)