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Going home for Avurudu
With tens of thousands of people maintaining their Avurudu traditions by going to their villages for the festivities, trains and buses were heavily overcrowded yesterday. Passengers said due to a shortage of trains there was heavy and even dangerous overcrowding as seen in this picture taken at the Colombo Fort station on Friday evening. Pic [...]
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Govt. curbs jobs for Indian skilled workers
By Chris Kamalendran The Government is to reduce the number of Indian skilled workers in Sri Lanka and replace them with Sri Lankans, Labour Minister Gamini Lokuge said. He said the new policy decision by the Government would include a reduction of Indian workers in existing projects and limitations on the number coming for future projects [...]
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New Year dawns at 1.29 a.m.
The National New Year will dawn at 1.29 a.m. on Sunday, April 14 while the auspicious time for the lighting of the hearth is 4.06 am. See Plus Page 1 for auspicious times.
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CID exposes huge land rackets
By Damith Wickremasekara Racketeers including notaries public and land sale dealers have been taken into custory for large-scale illegal land grabbing in Colombo and the suburbs, Criminal Investigations Department (CID) detectives said. At least 30 such groups have been arrested so far after the CID probed some 4,300 complaints made following a Defence Ministry announcements calling [...]
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Commonwealth Secretariat raises queries over transfers of judges
The Commonwealth Secretariat has made inquiries from the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) about the recent transfer of a large number of district court and magistrate’s court judges, a spokesperson for the BASL said yesterday. He said the Commonwealth Secretariat had raised queries about the transfers of about 80 of the 240 district judges [...]
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Tough new laws to ensure you get clean food
By Chandani Kirinde New regulations dealing with food hygiene will make it mandatory for food handlers – people handling food or related items to be certified fit by a Medial Officer registered with the Sri Lanka Medical Council. They will also need to undergo medical examinations periodically as long as they are employed as food handlers, [...]
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Electricity consumption hits peak; CEB appeals for New Year restraint
The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has appealed to the people to use electricity sparingly during the National New Year season to avoid sudden power failures due to overloading or high consumption. CEB Chairman W.P. Ganegala said technical staff had been put on standby and arrangements made to buy additional power from private suppliers if there [...]
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Korean job visas on hold; plans to evacuate Lankans
By Leon Berenger More than 90 per cent of South Korean job visas for Sri Lankans have been put on hold in view of the threat of a possible war in the Korean peninsula, Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLFEB) General Manager Harischandra Batagoda said. He said about 5,000 Sri Lankans went to South Korea [...]
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CFL bulbs: A household friend but a foe of the environment
Govt. authorities to implement programme to stop improper disposal By Hansani Bandara The threat of waterways being contaminated by mercury due to improper disposal of CFL bulbs has prompted government authorities to draw up a plan to buy back used CFL bulbs, a senior environment official said. The improper disposal of CFL bulbs is posing an [...]
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World Heritage site in danger with power lines coming up in nature sanctuary
Posts would only be erected only on the perimeter, say officials By Wasantha Ramanayake The Archaeological Department (AD) and the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) are planning to put up large posts carrying electricity through the sanctuary and sacred city of Buddhist stupas and temples of the country’s medieval capital Polonnaruwa, which is on the UNESCO [...]
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Separate power generation accounts will show where CEB costs rise, says expert
The Ceylon Electricity Board should institute transparency in decision-making and set up separate cost accounts available for public scrutiny, an expert in the power sector urged this week. Dr. Thilak Siyambalapitiya, an independent advisor on electricity generation and external lecturer at the University of Moratuwa made the call at a panel discussion organised last Tuesday [...]
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Civil Aviation DG on water holes around Mattala
Right of reply H.M.C. Nimalsiri, Director General of Civil Aviation and Chief Executive Officer of the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka, has responded to last week’s Sunday Times news report titled ‘Water holes around Mattala closed to keep away birds and animals’ He says “I refer to the article published by Mr. Leon Berenger [...]
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Rs. 490 million Pak cement deal under scrutiny
An evaluation committee to be appointed by the Cabinet will examine a Rs 490 million deal to buy 53,200 tons of cement from a Pakistani supplier. The move follows a recommendation by State Resources and Enterprise Development Minister Dayasritha Tissera to award the tender to D.J. Khan Cement Company Limited. Minister Tissera said in a cabinet [...]
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JVP will not appear before panel, complains to IGP of soldiers visiting site
Presidential Commission inquiry into Matale mass grave By Leon Berenger Names of several eminent persons from different fields, are currently being vetted, before being appointed to a panel that would sit on the Presidential Commission to investigate the mass grave found in the backyard of the Matale Govt. Hospital (MGH) on November 26, 2012, a [...]
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Trouble agents of Sri Lanka
Boosting tourism industry? In a scene captured just outside the arrival area of the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) a group reportedly operating with political influence grabs the bags of tourists and ‘help’ them to load them into the vehicles waiting at the car park. In turn they demand money from the tourists and turn rude [...]
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SL artistes stage Adishtana Pooja against TN counterparts
By Sonja Candappa Well-known faces in the local film and television industry were seen at an ‘Adishtana Pooja’ held this week at Independence Square, expressing their displeasure over protests by fellow Tamil Nadu actors. The peaceful gathering named ‘Enna Avith Sathya Dakinna’ was organised by the Sri Lanka National Association of Artistes. Veteran actor Ravindra [...]
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Who’s the prettiest of them all?
Sri Lankan Army girls dispense with their uniforms to don the traditional reddai Hette (cloth and jacket) to take part in the Avurudu Kumarai contest conducted by the Army at an event held in Colombo on Thursday. Pic by Indika Handuwala.
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Lanka’s external debt rises to Rs. 3.5 trillion, says CB
Country borrowing beyond its means, warn economists Sri Lanka’s total external debt expanded by a massive 13.8 percent to US $ 28.4 billion (Rs. 3.5 trillion) last year with private commercial banks also raising loans in international financial markets, the 2012 Central Bank Annual Report reveals. External debt is defined as the portion of a [...]
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Pipe-borne water and sewer facilities for Kataragama sacred city
The Cabinet has granted approval for an over two-billion-rupee sewerage development project for the sacred city of Kataragama. The move is mainly aimed at ensuring that the Menik Ganga, the main source of water supply in the area, is not further polluted leading to serious environmental hazards. The funding will come from Unicredit Bank, Austria. [...]
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Views on collision course as Govt. takes U-turn on speed
Planned highway development to cater to all road users, be it on foot or on wheels, is the key to life on the fast track, experts tell Namini Wijedasa The main cause of road accidents in Sri Lanka is speed, Transport Minister Nimal Welgama told Parliament in January. And when vehicles crash at high speed, [...]
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Lankans in Korea dismiss war fears; but worried family members want them back
Despite tensions, most of them not willing to part with high-paying jobs By Nadia Fazlulhaq As the tension rises and war clouds gather over the Korean peninsula, family members of Sri Lankans working in South Korea are gripped by fear and anxiety. With North Korea declaring a ‘state of war’ against the South and urging foreign [...]
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The air is foul with disease, despair and deferred solutions
Aanya Wipulasena reports on the lives of the 4700 families living around the garbage disposal dump in Meethotamulla, Kolonnawa It was claustrophobic in the small and sparsely furnished room – and we had only been there 10 minutes. A gust of air blew in a foul smell that made us wrinkle our noses in disgust. [...]
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Huge shell-creatures dragged out live to satisfy foreign demand
By Malaka Rodrigo Foot-long helmet shells were among rare and protected species found being smuggled out of Sri Lanka as worries grow that demand for perfect shells is leading to a disturbing practice of wresting the molluscs live from the seabed for big money from buyers. A Chinese male nabbed at Katunayake airport on April [...]
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Lankans join hands across the nation to celebrate Avurudu
By Mirudhula Thambiah Sri Lankans joined in joy to celebrate Avurudu this year, with a highlight being a large Divi Neguma fair in Battaramulla at which young people from the North, singing and sharing their joy with visitors, visited Colombo for the first time after decades of war to sell their products. It was one [...]
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The elusive New Year messenger
By Malaka Rodrigo Today is Avurudu but have you heard the messenger of the New Year, the koha? The song of the koha, or the Asian Koel, is a special part of the Avurudu season, like the Western cuckoo is termed the first harbinger of Spring. But do we hear the koha’s melodious song as [...]
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Fag smuggling racket masterminded from behind bars: Customs
By Chris Kamalendran Customs officials claim that the mastermind behind the illegal cigarette smuggling racket that was busted last week is a gang leader who is serving time in jail after being convicted of murder. The officials said that the gang leader has been spearheading the operation for the past several months. The racket was busted [...]
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Rules observed in the breach
Story and pix by Indika Handuwala Despite efforts to regulate the private omnibus operators and provide passengers with a better service, these photos our cameraman captured portray the utter disregard for rules and lack of concern by drivers and conductors for the safety and security of passengers. While it is made mandatory for all private [...]
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An Asian tribute to Mrs. Thatcher
By Ranil Wickremesinghe, United National Party Leader and Vice Chairman International Democrat Union Margaret Thatcher epitomised a new era – the age of ‘Globalisation’. She was one of the first political leaders to initiate a dynamic global interaction of politics, economic markets, society and culture. To be quite honest, my first impression of Ms. Thatcher [...]
