COLOMBO: Sri Lanka yesterday again rejected devolving police powers to the provinces as requested by new Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and required by the constitution as a means to ease tension with minority Tamils.
Sri Lanka agreed with India in 1987 to devolve powers, including over police and land, to a regional level as a means to improve relations between Tamils and majority Sinhalese.
A war between the military and Tamil rebels, seeking a homeland in the north and northeast, lasted a quarter of a century and killed more than 100,000 people before it ended in 2009.
“Police power is important for provinces to maintain law and order,” Primus Siraiva, a northern provincial councillor, said.
“Otherwise, there could be lawlessness in provinces and the Provincial Council won’t be able to control it.”
Scientist to retract papers
TOKYO: A Japanese stem cell scientist accused of fabricating research has agreed to retract papers published in the respected journal Nature, an official said yesterday.
Haruko Obokata, 30, would withdraw two papers at the centre of the controversy, said a spokeswoman for Riken, the respected research institute that sponsored the study, marking a steep fall from grace for the young researcher.
She added that Riken was “still discussing” a retraction with coauthor Charles Vacanti of Harvard University.
Body of missing Briton found
KUALA LUMPUR: A search party looking for tourist Gareth Huntley on a Malaysian resort island has found a body believed to be that of the missing Briton, a media report said yesterday.
The Star newspaper quoted local police saying the corpse was found yesterday afternoon in a pond on Tioman Island off Malaysia’s east coast.
Agencies
