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From Temple Trees to Thirupathi Temple
President Mahinda Rajapaksa and First Lady Shiranthi paying homage to Lord Venkateswara at the hallowed temple in Thirupathi yesterday. Pic by Sudath Silva
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Big foreign university to be set up in Mirigama
By Chandani Kirinde A 120-acre land at the Mirigama Export Processing Zone has been leased out to establish a branch campus of the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan). The 99-year-lease agreement with the Board of Investment (BOI) was signed recently after approval was obtained from the Ministry of Higher Education. The total investment of the [...]
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Contaminated LIOC diesel suspended
Further checks underway The distribution of some 5,000 metric tonnes of diesel imported by the Lanka Indian Oil Company (LIOC) has been stopped after it was found to be sub-standard, a senior official said yesterday. The diesel stock was unloaded a week ago and failed a standard check carried out by officials at the Ceylon [...]
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Rural education in crisis: How to take teachers to schools
Reforms urged to deal with poor student performance at O/L exams, misuse of transfers, political interference, transport and accommodation problems By Chamal Weerakkody As experts cite the dearth of subject teachers as one of the main reasons for poor G. C. E. Ordinary Level examination results in rural schools, many of them also call for [...]
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Police unit set up to deal with religious tension
A new Police emergency unit has been set up to deal with problems arising from religious tension. The unit will operate 24/7. Senior Superintendent of Police Prishantha Jayakody told the Sunday Times the unit became essential after the recent rise in religious tension in several parts of the country. The unit can be reached at [...]
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Law entrants now oppose changed syllabus
Despite registration of students for admission to the Sri Lanka Law College commencing after a three-week delay, the student union threatens to continue with its protests over the revision of the entrance exam syllabus. On February 1, the Law College decided to open registration of students who scored well at the entrance exams last year. [...]
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Vishwaroopam: To screen or not to screen will depend on President
By Sonja Candappa The decision to screen or not to screen here the controversial South Indian film “Vishwaroopam” will be taken after President Mahinda Rajapaksa views it on his return from Bodh Gaya. “Once the decision is made, we will take immediate action either to screen it or ban it,” Cabinet spokesman, Media and Information [...]
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Van goes over cliff, three dead, police fear some passengers missing
Three people were killed and eight injured when a van skidded off a cliff near the 32nd milepost on Badulla- Bibile Road around 7 p.m. yesterday. Among the dead were a three-year old, a 40-year old woman and a 45 year-old man. The injured were admitted to the Bibile General hospital. The group was returning [...]
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Extra police patrols at night to ensure women’s safety
By Nadia Fazlulhaq The recent rape of a woman by a gang of three-wheel drivers in a Colombo suburb has prompted calls for preventive action, including the deployment of police patrol teams at night, adequate street lighting, and the regulating and monitoring of three-wheelers. Eric Illayapparachchi, Secretary to the Ministry of Women’s and Children Affairs, [...]
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C’wealth Secretariat: No decision yet on early CMAG meeting; Sharma visit routine
By Namini Wijedasa The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), the organisation’s political watchdog, has not yet planned an extraordinary meeting as requested by Canada to discuss the impeachment of Sri Lanka’s Chief Justice, a spokesman said yesterday. Richard Uku, Commonwealth Secretariat’s Communications and Public Affairs Division Director, told the Sunday Times that, “CMAG will make [...]
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Undergrad and sailor sibling caught printing counterfeit notes
By Damith Wickremasekara An undergraduate and his sailor brother who wanted to make a fast buck by printing counterfeit notes, this week, confessed their involvement in the racket for the past eight months. Following tip-off by traders who had become suspicious of the money the duo were changing, police nabbed them in Danvilana village in Veyangoda. [...]
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Sampur’s $4,000m heavy industries zone project free of tax, levy and duty
By Chandani Kirinde The newly appointed Investment Promotions Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena announced a series of tax concessions for Sri Lanka Gateway Industries (Pvt) Ltd which will undertake a US$ 4,000 million (around Rs 505 billion) project in Sampur, Trincomalee. The project will include the development, operation and management of a special zone for heavy [...]
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Experts’ report tomorrow on Achala’s amputation
The report of the Expert Committee which inquired into the circumstances which led to the amputation of the hand of a law student is likely to be submitted tomorrow. The Expert Committee has indicated that the report is likely to be handed over to me tomorrow (Monday), Health Ministry Secretary Dr. Nihal Jayathilake said when [...]
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Cancer on the rise in Sri Lanka
With World Cancer Day falling on Feb. 4 Charundi Panagoda speaks to health officials who stress the importance of early detection Two years ago, she was watching television when she felt a “blister” on her right breast. It was a tiny lump, not even half an inch, that hurt just a bit when pressed, kind [...]
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Mattala gets priority over BIA
Open skies policy to attract major airlines to new airport By Damith Wickremasekara The Government will adopt an open skies policy allowing international carriers to operate freely at the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport, Aviation Minister Priyankara Jayaratne said yesterday. Open skies policy is a concept where free market conditions are created for commercial aviation. It [...]
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Cyber-attacks continue, state documents vulnerable
By Nadia Fazlulhaq A series of cyber-attacks on government sites are making official documents and other information vulnerable, computer experts warned yesterday. Upto now about 50 official websites have been hacked with the latest being the website of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC). It comes just weeks ahead of the UN Human Rights Commission [...]
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C’wealth: Peiris on mission to win over Dhaka
By Ameen Izzadeen External Affairs Minister G. L. Peiris will fly to Dhaka on Wednesday in what is seen as a crucial mission to avert a Commonwealth stricture on Sri Lanka. Bangladesh is the current chair of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, which is meeting in April to discuss among other matters Sri Lanka’s alleged [...]
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Amidst grey skies, President stresses on importance of celebrations in Trincomalee
65th independence day Torrential rains beat down on Sri Lanka’s 65th Independence Day celebrations at Fort Frederick in Trincomalee last week. Even President Mahinda Rajapaksa did not escape, as raindrops splattered down on him. His “satakaya” grew splotchy and his face glistened with water. Thankfully, an aide later rushed in with an umbrella. But President [...]
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Archaeological sites islandwide plundered for priceless artefacts
Well organised network of gangs equipped with sophisticated machinery openly ‘excavate’ ancient temple lands. Namini Wijedasa reports The voice at the end of Inspector Rohana Chaminda’s line was agitated. There were “men in ties” scoping out his temple, it said. Could the police please come and see what this was about? It was the Chief Incumbent of [...]
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Massacre of the innocents
Story and pix by Hiran Priyankara Jayasinghe The continued killing of thousands of innocent dolphins in the seas off Kalpitiya by fishermen has caused concern among area residents. Dolphins found in the shallow seas off the Kalpitiya coast has made the area a mega tourist attraction “The killing of 100 dolphins in this area via [...]
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Axing of 3,500 CMC jobs will set back city development: Mayor, Dy. Mayor
By Mirudhula Thambiah The axeing of 3,500 Colombo Municipal Council jobs has triggered fears about how such a drastic downsizing of an essential service will affect the country’s capital and its permanent and transit population. The Municipal Council is Sri Lanka’s only UNP-run local government body. Two prominent city leaders – Colombo Mayor A. J. [...]
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Latimer House: Why Ranil was wrong
By Rohitha Bogollagama, former foreign minister With respect, I reply to the article written in the Sunday Times of January 27 by Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. He has declared that the impeachment motion hearing should have been confined to Parliament. This was in particular a blow against the protest actions in the vicinity of the [...]
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Police indifference virtual ‘complicity’ in chief monk’s killing
Ven. Wimalawansa Thera complained to even President, defence secretary about death threats to him A monk who saw the killing explains political thuggery at police station and the dispute that led to the slaying By Damith Wickremasekara Ven. Metihagatenne Wimalawansa Thera, the slain chief incumbent of Sunandopanandaramaya in Moratuwa, wrote to President Mahinda Rajapaksa in [...]
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Wilpattu certified as a wetland of world importance
The Wilpattu game reserve was recently named Sri Lanka’s sixth Ramsar Wetland, a name give to ecologically significant wetlands around the world. The Ramsar Convention, to which Sri Lanka is a signatory, is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands. Bundala was Sri Lanka’s first Ramsar wetland, followed by Anawilundawa, Madu [...]
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Sri Lanka, home to new snake species
By Malaka Rodrigo Today, February 10, marks the dawning of the Chinese New Year, and this year is the Year of the Snake. While billions of Chinese will be thinking about the Snake and its zodiacal impact on their lives over the next 12 months, environmentalists here are thinking of the snake and its survival [...]
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Exams Chief refutes charges, says GCE A/L results are 100 per cent correct
By Hansani Bandara Examinations Commissioner W. M. N. J. Pushpakumara yesterday refuted charges by a leading student body about miscalculations in the G.C.E. Advanced Level Examination results and said the results were ‘100 per cent accurate’. Responding to the allegations Examinations Commissioner Pushpakumara said all the accusations are made based on a misconception which needs [...]
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Illicitly slaughtered innocents’ blood turns Kalu Ganga red by night
Callous, cruel midnight slaughter of pregnant buffaloes and calves on the river banks continues unabated while police prefer not to know By Ranee Mohamed It happens in the dead of night- pregnant buffaloes and buffalo calves, are dragged towards trees near the Kalu Ganga, and slaughtered. The residents of Wettumakada Handiya in Kalutara are not [...]
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Full Bench must hear FR case against CJ, say petitioner’s lawyers
By Wasantha Ramanayake Lawyers appearing in a fundamental rights petition against the Government-appointed Chief Justice Mohan Pieris will object to any Bench comprising less than the total number of sitting judges of the judges of the Supreme Court Counsel Viran Corea who was appearing for petitioner Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) with senior Counsel M.A. [...]
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180,000 new voters
Over 180,000 new voters have registered with the Department of Elections, according to latest electoral registers which will be used this year. The biggest increases have been in the Gampaha and Nuwara Eliya districts where the registered voters have gone up by about 20,000 while in Colombo, Kandy, Kalutara, Jaffna Anuradhapura Galle and Ratnapura too [...]
