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Home » NewsIndo-China battle looms over prime property in Colombo
India has lodged a strong protest with Sri Lanka over the allocation of a prime Colombo property to a Chinese company though it was earmarked for India.The protests were delivered both in New Delhi and Colombo, an External Affairs Ministry source said yesterday. He was speaking on grounds of anonymity since EAM officials are not [...]
Aiyo, another goof by education authorities
With major questions still hanging over last year’s A/Level examination and the fate of tens of thousands of students, the expression on the face of this girl who sat the examination on Friday shows the magnitude of the crisis created by the Ministries of Education. Making matters worse were serious mistakes in the mathematics and [...]
Mannar attack: AG says no decision yet
No decision has been taken regarding any action against the suspects involved in making threatening calls to the Mannar Magistrate, Attorney General Palitha Fernando said.He said a report on this was handed over to the Attorney General’s Department by the CID which sought further instructions. According to legal sources, the Magistrate has ordered the CID [...]
This is the way our politicos serve us!
From allegedly killing a tourist to raping a 13 year-old and beating a 72 year-old, an increase in crimes committed by local politicians begs the question whether they are serving the public or harassing them. According to police records, for this year alone, legal action has been taken against 42 politicos including three Members of [...]
Widespread frustration across all campuses as strike enters 6th week
Academic activities at all universities continue to be at a standstill as the strike by lecturers enters its sixth week, and with no solution in sight. Striking tertiary education academics want the Government to allocate 6 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product for education, put an end to political interference in the running [...]
Treasury chief disbands Customs unit
Treasury Secretary P. B. Jayasundara has ordered the disbanding of the Customs Revenue Task Force (RTF), after the officers swooped on a group of Maligawatte businessmen reportedly bringing dutiable goods in large quantities, the Sunday Times learns. The order followed a standoff between the RTF officers and passengers who had arrived on a flight from [...]
Drought calamity, economic growth rate drops
Sri Lanka’s economic growth is reeling under the impact of a severe drought which has hit agricultural output and so far destroyed some 50,000 acres of paddy cultivation.Finance Ministry officials said earlier estimates of 7 per cent economic growth for this year may fall to 6.7 per cent due to the drought. “The overall balance [...]
Blacklisted company insists it will continue with fuel supplies
The company which has been accused of providing substandard diesel has declared that it will continue to honour its obligations under all existing contracts with the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) despite a government order last week that the company be blacklisted. The claim by the company was contrary to the CPC’s claim last week that [...]
Lower grades more eligible than higher grades to enter varsity
“A student who had only three simple passes, secured a district ranking of 15 and an island ranking of 422 in the Arts stream, will probably enter university, whereas students with three distinctions in the same stream, would not be eligible to enter the university,” stated a group of students who sat the 2011 Advanced [...]
Strike will continue till demands are met – CEB unions
At least 14,500 employees of the Ceylon Electricity Board are on strike and consumers should not expect any maintenance or repair work to be carried out while the strike continues, CEB trade unions have announced. The strike began on Friday. The strikers are that all CEB workers be given fair and unbiased treatment. “Workers will [...]
SLMC president indirectly approving SAITM programme
The Management Committee of the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) last week rejected a memo by its Chairman Prof.Carlo Fonseka to certify the transcript of a purported student of the Malabe private medical faculty. Prof. Fonseka who is also SLMC President had submitted the memo for the second time last Wednesday, the Sunday Times understands. [...]
CB made arbitrary decision by investing in Greek Bonds: Petitioner
The country lost nearly Rs. 2.14 billion of public funds due to the illegal transaction of investing in Greek Government Bonds violating the rights of the people of the country, a UNP Parliamentarian complained to the Supreme Court on Wednesday. Petitioner UNP MP Sujeewa Arjuna Senasinghe, filing the petition on behalf of the country’s citizens [...]
Taken for a ride!
When unemployed graduates belonging to the Combined Association of Unemployed Graduates were staging a protest on Thursday opposite the Colombo Fort railway station, highlighting their grievances, Police had arrived at the scene and taken the union leaders to the Presidential Secretariat in police vehicles. The Association president Dhammika Munasinghe told the Sunday Times he along [...]
Embassy takes custody of Chinese fishing crew
The 38 Chinese nationals aboard two Sri Lanka-owned fishing trawlers detected in the sea off the coast of Arugam Bay last week were charged with illegally fishing within Sri Lanka’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Officers of the Eastern Naval Command seized the two trawlers and arrested the fishing crew who were charged with illegal poaching [...]
Ten-year-long NIC racket busted
The all-important National Identity Card is vulnerable to forgery and counterfeit cards made by master crooks and appear as good as the genuine ones issued by the Department of Registration of Persons, a police raid has revealed.On August 2, an undercover police team from the Unsolved Crimes Unit of the Mirihana police busted a racket [...]
PC election violence continues unabated with UPFA leading the way
The number of incidents of election-related violence continues to rise in the three provinces where Provincial Council (PC) polls are scheduled to take place on September 8. In most instances the culprits are ruling party candidates and their supporters . Election monitoring groups–Peoples Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) and Campaign for Free and [...]
Armed with 5R concept, Lanka overcomes post-war challenges
At a three-day defence seminar organised by the Army, Sri Lanka showcased its post-war achievements in the past three years with the focus being on five ‘R’s — reconstruction, resettlement, rehabilitation, reintegration and reconciliation. The Defence Seminar 2012, the second since the defeat of the LTTE in May 2009, had top military officials and politicians [...]
Mistakes in papers become hurdles for A/L students
The problems plaguing the education system have spilled over to the ongoing Advanced Level (A/L) examination as well with mistakes found in the questions papers of several subjects held so far.The mistakes have been found in the Sinhala and Mathematics papers. A question in the Sinhala (Part One) paper (under the old syllabus) given on [...]
Despite the detections the exodus continues against all odds
Fifty-five-year-old dairy farmer Mohan Thurairajah’s dream was to seek greener pastures Down Under. Thurairajah was among the 53 people who took off on July 8 in a trawler from Pottuvil on the eastern coast. They were ferried across in four fishing boats to the main trawler waiting offshore. Forty-eight-hours later, their trawler was caught in [...]
SC says no order on website registration; Mangala claims Rs. 50 m. in damages
The Supreme Court has not called for the registration of news websites, Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake said this week, concurring with counsel for UNP Parliamentarian Mangala Samaraweera in the fundamental rights case filed against the CID raid on the Lankaxnews website. The Bench also included Justices N.G.Amaratunga and K. Sripavan.The Counsel for petitioner Mr.Samaraweera told [...]
Where only man is vile
The on-going drought has led to many tanks including the Dewahuwa tank at Galewela in Dambulla running dry. As a result hundreds of dead fish can be seen in stagnant pools of water as well as on the dried and cracked tank surface. Unscrupulous persons are now attempting to make a fast buck by selling [...]
Drought in NCP continues, relief yet to come
While the drought in the North Central Province continues, the promised programme to compensate affected farmers is not fully in effect yet, Agrarian Services and Wildlife Minister S. M. Chandrasena admitted to the Sunday Times. Crop damage due to the prevailing drought is worse than before, Agrarian Development Commissioner General Sunil Weerasinghe told the Sunday [...]
