News
Home » NewsPoosari: Police prevent transport of animals to Munneswaram Kovil
Police yesterday intervened to prevent hundreds of devotees from transporting animals for sacrificial purposes to the Shri Badrakali Amman Kovil in Munneswaram, despite an assurance given by the temple trustees that the pooja had been called off. Police set up barriers some 50 metres from the kovil and checked vehicles carrying fowl or goats. The [...]
Strict code of conduct for polls observers
Elections observers will be bound by a code of conduct which will strictly require them to act impartially and have no affiliations with any political party or group. The Code of Conduct has been laid down by Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya. This is the first time such guidelines have been put in place for observers [...]
The noose tightens on capital punishment as hangman returns
The Prisons Department will be ready to execute the death sentence, if and when it is restored, with the conclusion this week of the interviews for the post of hangman. Rehabilitation and Prisons Reforms Minister Chandrasiri Gajadeera told the Sunday Times that the main objective of recruiting a hangman was to prepare for the execution [...]
UC chairman and party hurt in explosion at Kandy crematorium
An explosion at a crematorium in the Kandy District has left the Wattegama Urban Council chairman K. C. Liyanage and six others injured. The UC chairman had come to the site after receiving a complaint that the crematorium was malfunctioning. The defect was detected when a body was brought for cremation. The chairman and the [...]
China’s Defence Minister concludes five-day visit
China’s Minister of National Defence General Liang Guanglie ends his five-day visit to Sri Lanka today. General Guanglie, who arrived on Wednesday, was accompanied by a delegation of 23 high-ranking military officers. During his visit, General Liang Guanglie called on President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa. He also visited the Defence Services Command [...]
Dengue claims 83 lives; Health Ministry gets ready to battle it with BTI
A total of 83 deaths has been recorded due to dengue for this year alone, a Ministry of Health spokesman said. One of the latest victims was the receptionist at the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation. The husband of the victim Mahinda Rupasinghe, an employee of a private radio station said his wife had come down [...]
Crooked brokers, agents make millions while country’s image suffers
A major racket involving Sri Lankan housemaids, brokers, and errant Arab recruiting agents is threatening the image of the foreign employment trade and could hurt business, the industry warned yesterday. Faizer Mackeen with the Association of Licensed Foreign Employment Agencies (ALFEA) said rogue brokers are making millions of rupees at the expense of unsuspecting Arab [...]
Top official held on bribe charge
A top official of a statutory institution was arrested yesterday by Bribery Commission officials for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs. 150,000, police said. According to investigations Central Province Private Passenger Transport Authority Chairman W. P. Ranasinghe had allegedly solicited this bribe from the owner of a private bus in the Poojapitiya area to issue [...]
Hulugalle writes on houses for Borella-Wanathamulla residents
Lakshman Hulugalle, Director General, Media Centre for National Security, Ministry of Defence and Urban Development, has written to us relating to a story that appeared in the Sunday Times of April 17, last year (2011) under the heading “Demolition for Development,” stating as follows; “The article published in your newspaper on 17-04-2011 states that the [...]
No Chinese Govt. involvement in Shaw Wallace land deal
There is no Chinese Government involvement in a prime property deal in Colombo City by a local company with foreign links, one of their spokespersons claimed yesterday. Wen Zhong Lim, Deputy General Manager of Avic International Hotels Lanka said that the transaction by his company with Shaw Wallace and Hedges PLC to purchase their property [...]
100 cases of child abuse on Facebook and other social networks
At least 100 cases where schoolchildren were sexually abused or defamed via internet including on Facebook accounts have been reported to the Cyber Crime Division of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) during the past month, a senior Police officer said. He said in most of the cases the offender had obtained information via Facebook accounts [...]
Indian company gets huge project in Fort
One of the City’s major landmarks is to be given to an Indian company for development on a 99-year lease for more than Rs 4.9 billion. The land encompasses the Transworks House, a colonial building that once housed the former Public Works Department (PWD). The building is documented as a place of archaeological value. A [...]
Ravinatha to head team for UPR
The Sri Lanka delegation to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) meeting for the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in late October will be headed by the country’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva and not by a minister, a senior official said yesterday. External Affairs Ministry Secretary Karunatillake Amunugama said the delegation headed by [...]
Upsurge in violence: Polls chief takes extra security measures
The Elections Department for the first time will have its own monitors at next Saturday’s provincial elections and will enforce more security measures to ensure the polls are not disrupted, Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya told the Sunday Times yesterday. The elections are to be held to the provincial councils in the North Central, Eastern and Sabaragamuwa [...]
Hotels concerned over British advisory; GL in London for talks
The hotel industry yesterday expressed concern over British travel advisories that put Sri Lanka in poor light as External Affairs Minister G. L. Peiris flew from Teheran to London for talks with his British counterparts on this issue. “At present there is some concern in the industry although it has not affected tourist arrivals,” Hotels [...]
GMOA threatens strike action until all assailants are arrested
The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) has threatened to strike if authorities fail to arrest those involved in the assault of a doctor attached to the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital. Dr. Chamila Herath of the Anuradhapura Hospital was assaulted by a group of supporters of the ruling party’s chief ministerial candidate Berty Premalal Dissanayake. “The doctor, who [...]
Hulugalle on houses for Borella-Wanathamulla residents
Lakshman Hulugalle, Director General, Media Centre for National Security, Ministry of Defence and Urban Development, has written to us relating to a story that appeared in the Sunday Times of 17 April last year(2011) under the heading “Demolition for Development,” stating as follows; “The article published in your newspaper on 17-04-2011 states that the people [...]
Post-conflict agenda should be ‘home-grown and people-based,’ MR tells NAM Summit
President Mahinda Rajapaksa returned to the country yesterday after attending the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in the Iranian capital Teheran, where he held talks with his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. During his two-day visit to Iran, President Rajaaksa also held talks with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheik Haseena, and the President [...]
Last rites of the Venerable Thera tomorrow
The last rites of the Most Venerable Weweldeniye Medhalankara Mahanayaka Thera, the Chief Incumbent of the Ramanya Chapter who passed away last Wednesday will take place tomorrow at the D. S. Senanayake National School grounds, Mirigama. The Government has declared tomorrow as a national mourning day as a mark of respect to the late Mahanayake [...]
Wijeyapala Mendis passes away
Wijeyapala Mendis, a former Minister of Textile Industries, Transport and Highways in the UNP Government between 1977 and 1993, passed away yesterday. He was 84. Mr. Mendis was first elected to Parliament in 1960 winning the Katana seat. Earlier he was elected as the Mayor of the Negombo Municipal Council after having won a seat [...]
International community endorses Maldivian Commission Report on transfer of power
The international community has endorsed the decisions of the Maldivian inquiry panel which said that the government of President Mohamed Waheed did not come to power through a coup. The United States welcomed the outcome of the report and commended the Commission co-chairs for their leadership and commitment to a thorough and inclusive investigation and [...]
Three money lenders paid back in lead
Susantha Premakumara, 33, a money lender of Moragahahena, off Horana, was on his motorcycle going to his ancestral home in the same village, last Sunday, accompanied by his wife and four-year-old daughter Nawanjana, when, less than 100 metres from his destination, he was ambushed by two gunmen who opened fire at him at point-blank range, [...]
Unthinking use of antibiotics could result in medicine-resistance
It will be a different kind of germ warfare, warns a top health official, cautioning strongly against the irrational use of antibiotics in Sri Lanka which could lead to microbes developing resistance to medication. If disease-causing microbes or germs are exposed to medication unnecessarily over a long period of time, there will be a tendency [...]
Eating fried or tempered food will lead to early grave, warns top nutritionist
A ‘food bomb’ is set to explode among Sri Lanka’s working population, leaving in its devastating path not only disease but also death, an expert warned on Wednesday.Look at our plates or even the bites we pick up during our working day and also while rushing to and from work, urged the Medical Research Institute’s [...]
Navy hikes surveillance as illicit migrants find new departure points
As the Navy stepped up its surveillance of the eastern and northwestern coast to detect illegal migrants heading to Australia, human traffickers this week opened up a new route from the north.Two boats carrying 120 illegal migrants were detected off Point Pedro. They included residents from Marawila, Puttalam, Vavuniya, Kilinochchi, Trincomalee and Negombo. Preliminary investigations [...]
Fires consume 15, 000 acres of forest and grassland
The Ramayana legend says that when the Sinhala soldiers captured Hanuman, they set the Monkey King’s tail on fire. In revenge, Hanuman jumped from roof to roof and set the entire Sinhala kingdom on fire. It may seem that a similarly angry entity is responsible for the spate of fires that have broken out across [...]
Jordan bans SL housemaids over levy of US$ 1,000 non-refundable deposit
Some 10,000 Sri Lankan female domestic workers will lose out on employment in Jordan, while the country stands to lose some Rs 1.5 billion in vital foreign exchange earnings, after recruiting agents in Jordan have banned the hiring of Sri Lankan housemaids over a fee issue, the industry said yesterday. The Recruiting Agents Association (RAA) [...]
You may have land deeds, but you may not be the only owner
A businessman from Nugegoda purchased a prime block of land of 20 perches bordering the High Level Road and put up a three-storied building, opening up a car sales centre too.A few months into the business the upper floors were rented out and business was thriving. Not long after, he received the bad news that [...]
Estate workers should not be living in such ‘incredible poverty’, says US presidential candidate
Sri Lanka’s estate workers should not have to live in a state of poverty in this era of technological and scientific advancement, says American politician and journalist Jerome White. Mr. White, a candidate for president in the November US Presidential election, is visiting Sri Lanka on a tour of three countries. Mr. White, who is [...]
Divineguma Bill: SC determination on petitions goes to Speaker
The Supreme Court, after two days of deliberation, concluded hearing three petitions that challenged the Divineguma Bill and would send itsdetermination on the constitutionality of the Bill to the Speaker during the coming week. There had been around ten intervenient petitions in support of the Bill. When Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake made an inquiry from [...]
Estate workers should not be living in such ‘incredible poverty’, says US presidential candidate
Sri Lanka’s estate workers should not have to live in a state of poverty in this era of technological and scientific advancement, says American politician and journalist Jerome White. Mr. White, a candidate for president in the November US Presidential election, is visiting Sri Lanka on a tour of three countries. Mr. White, who is [...]
Drought affected farmers’ loan repayments to be deferred
Loans totaling Rs. 10,000 million, obtained from State banks and institutions by farmers, are to be deferred to provide relief to those affected by the drought, Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, told the Sunday Times. At Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting presided over by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, it was decided to suspend the recovery of cultivation loans [...]
FUTA union action to continue until demands are met
Members of the Federation of University Teachers’ Association (FUTA) say they will continue with their trade union action until their four main demands are met. The Cabinet of Ministers recently endorsed a memorandum presented by the Minister of Higher Education S. B. Dissanayaka and the Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa that recommended that the [...]
Cigarette packs to depict graphic anti-smoking messages
Outer covers of cigarette packs sold in Sri Lanka will have to contain graphic, pictorial anti-smoking messages, under new labelling and packaging regulations for tobacco products, to be introduced shortly. “Eight versions of the pictures depicting illnesses caused by smoking, such as cancer, myocardial infarction, stroke etc., have been finalised by the National Alcohol and [...]
Ill-fated ship’s owner bankrupt, owes Govt. Rs. 280m.
The owner of the ship that sank off the Panadura coast last month, owes the Government US$ 2.1 million or LKR 280 million, while others expressed fears of more oil still inside the vessel. Merchant Shipping Director General Ajith Senaviratne conceded that the ship owner owed Rs. 280 million + for various services, such as [...]
Cancel Year Five Scholarship exam, says union; political conspiracy, says minister
Calls to revoke last Sunday’s Year Five Scholarship exam grew yesterday amidst a probe on leaked question papers but an embattled Education Minister said the latest crisis to hit the education sector could be a political conspiracy. The Criminal Investigation Department is probing complaints that the question paper was out in some areas ahead of [...]
Polls campaign: Blatant abuse of state resources
As the election campaign in the North Central, Eastern and Sabaragamuwa provinces reaches its peak ahead of next Saturday’s elections political parties and candidates are making a desperate effort to attract voters. From the ancient kingdom of Anuradhapura to the gem city of Ratnapura, candidates of various parties reportedly violated elections laws in a blatant [...]
Teacher librarians still await cadre status; issue stuck in ministry
Teacher librarians are still waiting for the Education Ministry to rectify a cadre issue — and the delay, they say, has affected their career prospects. Little or nothing had happened so far although Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena had asked Ministry Secretary Gotabhaya Jayaratne to settle the issue, said Upali Amarasiri, National Institute of Library and [...]
Animal sacrifice at kovil: No permanent solution arrived at as yet
A 500-year-old ancient kovil ritual of animal sacrifice in Chilaw was put on hold after President Mahinda Rajapaksa intervened and requested that the practice be suspended till the sacred Kapilavastu relics brought from India leave the country, while a senior official of the Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs Ministry said there are no discussions taking [...]
Daylight robbery!
The prevailing drought has brought out the worst in people, as they resort to “unconventional” methods of breeding livestock. At Arachchikatuwa in the Puttalam district, an enterprising entrepreneur has converted what was once a waterway into a pig sty under a small bridge along the Sitta Madama Road by completely walling off one side of [...]
Niranjan queries disappearance of two historic tamarind trees
Kandy Municipal Council’s Opposition Leader Niranjan Wijeyaratne called for an inquiry at the Council, to ascertain who had cut down the two huge tamarind trees by the side of the road leading to the Governor’s Lodge. He told the Council that these two tamarind trees, believed to have been planted by King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe, [...]
Is India’s nuclear safety worth only 500 rupees?
BANGALORE, (Reuters) – While India has produced many “ready at hand” atomic experts, as nuclear physicist Homi Bhabha predicted in 1944, they have failed to address nuclear safety concerns. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) pulled up the government last week for not implementing such a policy. Under the current system, the maximum penalty that [...]
