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The Z-score calculation for university admission is once again in the spotlight following last week’s Supreme Court decision, with the new development bringing fresh hope to some students and confusion to others while education authorities are embroiled in a blame game. Uncertain future: Students who fear that the revision of the Z- score will hinder [...]
Swiss francs 85m invested in Swiss banks by Sri Lankans last year
Investments by Sri Lankan individuals, companies or the Sri Lankan government in secret Swiss accounts totalled more than 85 million Swiss francs (CHF) in 2011 while liabilities listed against Sri Lanka were 44 million in the same year, official data from the Swiss National Bank (SNB) show. The Swiss franc is higher or equal in [...]
US expresses concern over raid on website office
The United States yesterday reiterated its concern over what it called “the blocking of news websites, intimidation and disappearance of journalists”. Its response came in the wake of the Criminal Investigations Department’s raid on the office of the Sri Lanka Mirror and Lanka X news. The US embassy said it was closely following the case, [...]
Rs. 600m in public funds for PC polls
About Rs. 600 million in public funds will be spent for the elections to the Eastern, North Central and Sabaragamuwa provincial councils, a elections official said as various parties were working out their nomination lists. Meanwhile, Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya said he would meet officials on Wednesday to discuss arrangements for the polls which are [...]
Calamity in rice bowl if drought continues
Sri Lanka’s paddy production will be severely affected and thousands of farming families in the North-Central, North-Western and Eastern Provinces may lose their livelihood if the drought continues for another week, Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Amaraweera warned yesterday. He said that at present drinking water facilities were being provided to people in those areas as [...]
Embassy worker in project to boost tourism
An investment project to enhance tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka by 25 per cent is being promoted by a worker of the country’s embassy in Washington. Steen Hedges, who handles public relations at the Sri Lanka mission, has teamed up with Michael Lutzky to be partners of Sapphire Travel Pvt Ltd. They made their debut [...]
UPC a joke; no proper meetings
Uva Governor Nanda Mathew has written to President Mahinda Rajapaksa to intervene to get the councilors to attend meetings of the Uva Provincial Council after ten meetings this year ended abruptly due to the lack of a quorum or business. Governor Mathew told the Sunday Times he wrote to the President after meetings of the [...]
Fuel purchase: Billion-rupee racket or monumental mistake at CPC?
Despite persistent media exposures particularly in the Sunday Times of tender irregularities at the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), the crisis over the procurement of petroleum products continues, sources said.In the latest allegedly irregular tender, a fuel oil purchase contract that had been extended for six months has been worked out in such a way that [...]
US GSP to continue
Sri Lanka would continue to enjoy the US Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) concession without any change in trade benefits, due to the significant steps taken by the Sri Lanka government to improve its workers’ rights environment, United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk said. The action follows an interagency review of a petition filed by [...]
Dengue eradication programme hampered by uncollected garbage
With the beginning of the National Dengue month from June 25 to July 24, Health authorities have commenced dengue eradication programmes island-wide, but failure to collect garbage by local bodies, have led to the breeding of mosquitoes. “This is the main concern of Health authorities and the public who are extremely worried when it comes [...]
Appreciating dollar makes imported items out of reach
Imported consumer items, hardware and electronic items are on the rise with the depreciation of the Rupee over the past few months. The Sri Lanka rupee has seen a steady decline against the US dollar since January 2012, from Rs. 114 to the dollar on January 15, to ultimately reach a record high of Rs. [...]
Making ends meet is nigh impossible
The increasing cost of living is forcing consumers to purchase less than they usually do or, prioritise and do away with certain items now deemed as luxuries.These are, by and large, the reactions of consumers, observed by a team of Sunday Times reporters, during a visit to some of the main market places within Colombo [...]
Lanka has 20 million people: Census 2012
The preliminary report of the population census conducted in 2012 has revealed that the Gampaha District has become almost as populous as the Colombo District with the difference between the figures of these two districts being a mere 25,238. The Colombo District continues to be the most populous district of the country with a population [...]
One more suspect nabbed in Katuwana killing
One more suspect was taken into custody in connection with the attack on a JVP meeting in Katuwana where two persons were killed two weeks back, a CID official said yesterday. According to the CID officer the arrested man is believed to be a key suspect involved in the killing of a woman and a [...]
Traffic accidents kill 6-7 people daily
Reckless driving snatched the lives of five people in a road accident in Pothuhera, Kurunegala last Sunday adding to the increasing number of traffic accident victims islandwide. According to police, the passengers–three males and two females were travelling in a three-wheeler after attending a wedding in Ranjanagama. The driver of the three-wheeler had attempted to [...]
Study throws light on NCP farmers’ kidney ailment
Thousands, mostly farmers, in the North Central Province have been stricken with a mysterious chronic kidney disease that has baffled doctors and scientists for over a decade, but now a national study has found that the cause may be a combination of factors including the ingestion of a ‘low concentration of heavy metals’ over a [...]
Victims of callousness
The don’t care attitude of drivers has resulted in many tragic deaths of elephants in the Karuwalagaswewa and Tabbowa areas along the Puttalam-Anuradhapura road. Despite well-displayed warning signs which indicate the places where elephants usually cross, a number of accidents take place because drivers do not pay attention to them. Within a month two tragic [...]
Need for students to acquire skills to face life confidently, says President’s Secretary
Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunge on Wednesday stressed the need to revolutionise Sri Lanka’s school curriculum, both from an academic as well as from an extracurricular standpoint. “Sri Lanka’s education system has undergone much tinkering over a period of time, at the behest of individuals, rather than a body of cohesive and rational thinkers. This has [...]
Court says rights of students violated
Delivering the judgment in the Z-score case Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake said a mere statement that the decision of the University Grants Commission (UGC) to treat the students who sat the 2011 Advanced Level Examination (A/L) under the new and old syllabi belong to one category, would not be sufficient. The 38-page judgment with Justice [...]
Generations-old laundry workers may be squeezed dry by modernisation
The Urban Development Authority (UDA) is reviewing two locations in Colombo where generations old open air laundries are situated, in view of major foreign investment ventures expected in the area. UDA Director General Nihal Fernando said no specific decision had been taken yet and that the locations in Kollupitiya were under review along with the [...]