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Home » NewsJobs for thousands of graduate trainees in Eastern Province
More than 2,000 graduate trainees in the Eastern Province have been given backdated appointment letters after the Provincial Council was dissolved ahead of fresh elections, officials said yesterday.The move was a clear violation of the election laws that prevent job appointments during the elections. A senior government official told the Sunday Times the appointments were [...]
BASL to intervene in contempt case against minister
The Bar Council of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) decided yesterday to intervene in the contempt of court case filed by seven senior lawyers against Minister Rishad Bathuideen over alleged threats to the Mannar Magistrate, BASL Secretary Sanjaya Gamage said. He said the papers to intervene in the contempt proceedings would be filed [...]
Khar visit put off
A scheduled visit to Sri Lanka by Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has been postponed, the External Affairs Ministry’s Public Communications Director General Sarath Dissanayaka said.Ms. Khar was to arrive in Sri Lanka on August 1 on a three-day visit on an invitation extended by External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris. However, Mr. Dissanayake gave [...]
Teacher-librarian project: Yet another mess up by the Education Ministry
Yet another blunder by the Ministry of Education (MoE) has caused thousands of teacher-librarians in Sri Lanka to abandon their specialisation. After more than a decade, the MoE has yet to recognise teacher-librarians’ qualifications – a specialised teaching field created in the early 2000s to achieve education goals, leaving many teacher-librarians unable to advance their [...]
Out of the dark for the moment
Despite the recent assurance by Power and Energy minister that the country will have a round the clock electricity supply, this week’s power cuts not only created inconvenience to the public but also generated apprehension about future blackouts. Earlier this year, at the launch of a national programme on efficient use of electricity, Minister Champika [...]
Tainted South African trader now mediates in CPC-Fujairah dispute
A tainted South African oil trader has intervened to settle a pricing dispute between the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) and Fujairah Petroleum Company where the former has been billed twice the original fuel cost for six different shipments. After the first shipment was received, the CPC found that the price of US $ 54 per [...]
Commissioner wants more officers, vehicles to combat bribery and corruption
A shortage of personnel and vehicles is hampering the work of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIAOBC), its chairman Justice D.J.de S. Balapatabendi said. He said the commission had only 18 legal officers to carry out prosecutions in court; attend to other legal matters and assist some 120 police officers. The [...]
Lanka seeks early release of detained fishermen
The authorities yesterday were hopeful that some 11 Sri Lankan fishermen being held in India would be released at the earliest after the Government decided to free 23 Indian fishermen arrested earlier this week while poaching in the country’s territorial waters. A top Fisheries Ministry official said the Lankans were being held at a detention [...]
SL Navy and French oil tanker crew rescue Lankan asylum seekers
The Sri Lanka Navy along with the assistance of the crew of a French oil tanker rescued a group of 27 Tamil asylum seekers on Thursday, some 500 miles off the Sri Lankan coast.The group will be brought ashore sometime later today. The group had sent out a ‘May Day’ call which was first picked [...]
FUTA spurns ministry ‘invitation’, vows to carry on strike
A defiant Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA) said yesterday it would continue its strike despite an “invitation” from the Higher Education Minister to report to work tomorrow.FUTA spokesman Devaka Weerakoon said they would carry on their strike, until they received a positive response from the government. He said if the minister wanted to invite [...]
Top US-UNESCO job for Lankan professor
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has appointed Prof. Patrick Mendis as a commissioner to the US National Commission for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). The Commission is a State Department advisory body that provides advice regarding the US government’s activities as a member of the UNESCO.Dr. Mendis is an affiliate [...]
Fright flight by jumbos briefly stops perahera
Five frightened elephants briefly interrupted the Kandy Esala Perehera last night, when they ran back to the Dalada Maligawa premises. Jakila the jumbo from Deraniyagala had taken to its heels apparently distracted by the sound of bamboo sticks used in a dance item. On seeing Jakila turning back four other elephants including the baby elephants [...]
Hedging fiasco: CPC to file fresh appeal in British Court
The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation which lost its appeal case in Britain in its dispute with the Standard Chartered Bank over the controversial oil hedging deals said yesterday it would file an appeal in the British Courts. The Court of Appeal in London yesterday ordered the CPC to pay nearly $162 million (around Rs. 21.3 billion) [...]
PSC unaware of uncle-nephew ties in Acting Public Trustee appointment
The Public Service Commission (PSC) has said it was unaware that Public Trustee Sarath Seneviratne had recommended his nephew Ganesh Dharmawardena as Acting Public Trustee when it granted approval for a three-month contract for the post early this year. PSC Secretary T.M.L.C. Senaratne said the three-month appointment was made following an ‘urgent’ request made by [...]
Petitioners claim they were arrested under law repealed 10 years ago
The Supreme Court on Thursday decided to inquire into the fundamental rights petitions filed by six employees of Srilankamirror website.The court decided to inquire into the alleged rights violations, by the CID, of the freedom to engage in lawful occupation, freedom of expression and illegal arrest of the petitioners. Counsel Saliya Pieris for the petitioners [...]
Polls chief refutes allegations of ‘helplessness’
Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya, in response to a July 8 Sunday Times news item titled ‘Violation of polls laws: Election chief helpless’, has said: Your headline explicitly mentions that the Commissioner of Elections is helpless. I have valid reasons to point out to you that is not so. Although the Commissioner of Elections doesn’t interfere [...]
Bribery Commission probing 60 cases of alleged graft, says head
The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption (CIAOBC) is investigating over 60 complaints of corruption and illegal assets acquisition against politicians including MPs, Provincial Councillors (PCs) and members of Local Authorities, Commission Chairman Justice D.J.De S. Balapatabendi said. Along with these the Commission is also investigating complaints against several senior public officials including [...]
College of Surgeons says committed to patient care
The College of Surgeons of Sri Lanka has sent us the following letter in response to our last week’s story which carried the headline “Warning: Temporarily registered foreign medical ‘specialists’, ‘consultants’. “The above article discusses issues relevant to the times with regard to temporary registration of foreign medical specialists in a fair and well balanced [...]
Commissioner wants more officers, vehicles to combat bribery and corruption
A shortage of personnel and vehicles is hampering the work of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIAOBC), its chairman Justice D.J.de S. Balapatabendi said.He said the commission had only 18 legal officers to carry out prosecutions in court; attend to other legal matters and assist some 120 police officers. The commission [...]
Lifetime Achievement presentations to five senior journalists
Five senior journalists will receive the Distinguished Service Award for Journalism in Sri Lanka, at the 13th edition of the Journalism Awards for Excellence Ceremony on July 31 (Tuesday) at 7 p.m. in the Empire Ballroom of the Mt. Lavinia Hotel, organized by The Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka and the Sri Lanka Press Institute. [...]
Chinese seamen still adrift with no wages
Nearly a year after they left the shores of Sri lanka and headed home, two Chinese seamen are yet to receive their due wages and are requesting help from maritime organisations, an official with the International Transport workers Federation (ITF) here said yesterday. Local ITF Inspector Ranjan Perera said the two Chinese were the Captain [...]
Kahawatte wrapped in fear and silence after recent killing
Fear, uncertainty and mistrust; these words aptly describe the mood that prevails in the once peaceful Kotakethana area in the Kahawatte Police Division, following the gruesome killing of a mother and daughter 10 days ago, as authorities moved to provide psychological support to the villagers. “We will sell our property and move to my mother’s [...]
The US ambassador bids farewell
US Ambassador Patricia A. Butenis is wrapping up after three eventful years in Sri Lanka. During her term, the US Government played out its most controversial engagement so far in Sri Lankan affairs in the history of US-Sri Lanka relations. Yet, speaking to a group of businessmen in Jaffna, a few days before the end [...]
Shattered hopes: Revised Z-score adds to A/Level students’ woes
The release of the revised Z-score results has given rise to a fresh controversy amidst shattered dreams for students who sat last year’s GCE Advanced level examination. Some students who had enough Z-score points to enter university under the aborted Z-score system now find a reduction in their points after the revised Z-score results were [...]
Video footage shows state officials leading Mannar attack: Police
Prison officials, school principals and state sector workers are among those identified by police teams for being allegedly involved in the attack on Mannar courts.Criminal Investigations Department (CID) detectives and Police teams after repeatedly reviewing video footage of the attack have succeeded in identifying them, according to senior police officials. They said statements were recorded [...]
Govt. to amend Act as sand mining sans licence meets legal roadblock
The Government’s decision to allow sand transport without any need for a licence has been temporarily put on hold as it has been deemed a violation of the provisions of the Mines and Minerals Act. The existing provisions on sand transport had been lifted by a special Cabinet decision taken under a directive of President [...]
Jaywalking: What’s sauce for the goose is also sauce for the gander
Last Tuesday, July 24, police began enforcing the law against jay walkers who did not adhere to pedestrian crossing rules. Our cameraman was present when the police pounced on people who crossed the road outside the zebra crossing. Pedestrians however complained they found the law dense, as they were now forced to walk quite some [...]
Customers petition SLT for better internet service
Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) says ADSL connection issues are due to network abuse by a minority of users downloading large amounts of data. Disgruntled SLT customers have petitioned online at change.org, calling for the company to improve its service. The petition, “We Want Reasonable WWW,” with over 500 signatures, requests SLT improve its service and [...]
Authorised medical centre unilaterally ups fees for West Asia bound workers
A private medical association has opted to defy an order from the authorities and continues to fleece millions of rupees from West Asian bound workers as fees for a Health Clearance Certificate (HCC). The Gulf Approved Medical Centre Association (GAMCA) that is mandated to approve health certificates for Lankan expatriate workers taking up employment in [...]
