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Home » NewsLanka, Canada in diplomatic dispute over ambassadors
Sri Lanka and Canada, which is calling upon member nations to boycott the Commonwealth summit in Colombo, are locked in a diplomatic wrangle over posting of envoys to their respective capitals. The Canadian External Affairs Ministry, diplomatic sources said yesterday, had placed on hold the agreemo to post Esala Weerakoon as Sri Lanka’s new High Commissioner [...]
Just fancy this at IT show
Future Minds, a modern information technology exhibition being held at the BMICH, had a strange stall also. With China being Sri Lanka’s main aid giver, Chinese businessman Chun Rong Li was allowed to have a stall selling fancy jewellery items, raising questions as to what connection they had with the education on computer technology. Pic [...]
Daya Master seeks SLFP nomination for NPC polls
The LTTE’s one-time spokesman Velautham Dayanidhi alias Daya Master was among 53 applicants interviewed by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party yesterday for nomination to contest the Northern Provincial Council election in September. Among others interviewed were TNA Jaffna Municipal Councillor Remedius Mudiappu, Chavakachcheri UNP Pradeshiya Sabha member Kumar Sharvendran, top Jaffna businessman Sathasivam Ramanadhan and [...]
Sampur : Power Ministry Secretary denies former minister’s claims
A Ministry Secretary has chided his former minister for not raising issues over technical details relating to the US$ 500 million (Rs. 65 billion) Sampur Coal fired power project. M.M.C. Ferdinando, Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy, has said the former Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka “being an electrical engineer by profession” did not [...]
Crackdown on racing private bus drivers
In a bid to curb the growing number of road accidents, the police will check the experience of private bus drivers the validity of their driving licences, the condition of the vehicles and whether temporary drivers are being used. This comes on a directive issued to all police stations by Inspector General N. K. Illangakoon [...]
Germany protests arrest of its NGO chief here
Germany has strongly protested over the arrest of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation’s Sri Lanka branch chief, Nora Langanbacher. The German-Government-funded NGO has been functioning in Sri Lanka for more than 30 years. A statement of protest from the Foreign Office in Berlin follows a meeting between German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle and External Affairs Minister G. [...]
Lankan seamen left in the lurch in Panama Canal
A group of eight Sri Lankan seamen are stranded on a ship in the Panama Canal over the past 10 months after the owner opted to abandon the vessel citing losses, maritime officials said yesterday. The all Sri Lankan crew boarded the Nicaraguan-flagged Sonikalas through local recruiting agents and boarded the vessel from a port in [...]
NIC in all three languages, SC told
The Commissioner General of Registration of persons is studying the possibility of issuing new national identity cards which will have the necessary details in all three languages, Deputy Solicitor General Shavendra Fernando told Supreme Court this week. He made this remark when the Supreme Court took up a fundamental rights case where the petitioner has [...]
CHOGM 2013 website’s statistical discrepancy rectified
Officials have responded to a statistical discrepancy in Sri Lanka’s ethnic groups on the recently launched Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2013 website after it was pointed out by the Sunday Times. While the 2012 data from the Department of Census and Statistics show the population of Sri Lanka’s Tamils to be 11.2%, the [...]
Look who’s giving a hand to whom?
MP Duminda Silva gets a helping hand down a flight of stairs from Air Force Commander Air Marshal H.D. Abeywickrama and Army Commander Jagath Jayasuriya after the ceremonial opening of the shopping arcade at the Dutch Hospital Square at Colombo Fort. But the flash of cameras seems to have rendered them rather shy because they [...]
UNP MP to appear in court for allegedly biting nose
UNP Ratnapura District MP Dunesh Gankanda was ordered to appear before court on August 8, by Colombo Fort Magistrate Thilina Gamage, for allegedly assaulting and biting the nose of a businessman. Businessman V.N. Thivakaran, a resident of Colombo 3, has lodged a complaint against the politician saying he has sustained serious injuries following an assault [...]
Suspect DIG’s son facing arrest
The son of remanded DIG Vaas Gunawardena is facing imminent arrest for his role in the abduction and murder of businessman Mohamed Shiyam. Police spokesman SSP Buddhika Siriwardena said that the DIG’s son’s name had transpired during the investigation and hence moves were afoot to arrest him. The CID had learnt from the other policemen [...]
Missing journalist’s case: UPFA MP called to give evidence
UPFA Parliamentarian Arundhika Fernando was noticed to appear in court on July 16 to give evidence in the habeas corpus case probing the disappearance of journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda. Homagama Magistrate Y.R.B. Nelundeniya on Wednesday made the order after hearing Counsel Upul Kumarapperuma appearing for the missing journalist’s wife Sandya Eknaligoda and State Counsel Chaminda Atukorale. Mrs. [...]
Alleged BBS groups create unrest in Kalutara villages
A group claiming to be from the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) has sparked unrest within the villagers of Kalutara- Katukurunda area, when they attempted to remove a Sandakada Pahana (moonstone) from St Philip Neris church. The group had warned the church that the sandakada pahana doesn’t belong there and has to be removed on Friday [...]
Worst of the monsoon season is over
The Department of Meteorology says the worst of the southwest monsoon is over but the season would continue until mid-September, bringing spells of rain which may strengthen from time to time. The southwest monsoons affect mainly the central, Sabaragamuwa and Western provinces, and the Galle and Matara districts. “At the beginning, usually during the first [...]
External Affairs spokesman now Ministry Additional Sec.
E. Rodney M. Perera, Sri Lanka’s former Ambassador to Italy and Norway and currently Director of Public Communications (official spokesman) in the Ministry of External Affairs, has been appointed Additional Secretary in the Ministry. The appointment has been made by the Public Service Commission. Mr. Perera joined the Foreign Service in 1988 has served concurrently [...]
Tanthirimale Viharaya comes alight once again to mark Poson Poya
The Tanthirimale Raja Maha Viharaya has been lit up once again from last night on account of Poson Poya which falls today. The Aloka Pooja has been undertaken by Wijeya Newspapers Ltd., for the tenth consecutive year and the entire area is lit up to mark the sacred day for Buddhists. Thousands of devotees will [...]
PC polls coming, but will they be fair, asks Opposition
As the Government prepares to hold elections to the Northern, Central and North Western Provincial Councils, the major opposition political parties such as the UNP and the JVP have cast doubts about the elections being free and fair. UNP media spokesman Parliamentarian Tissa Attanayake told the Sunday Times on Friday already military groups in the North [...]
UNP gets tough with dissidents
The United National Party (UNP) will appoint fresh organisers to the posts left vacant by last week’s sacking of Provincial Councillors (PC) Maithree Gunaratne and Shiral Lakthilaka, said the Party’s Assistant Leader Parliamentarian Joseph Michael Perera. But Mr. Gunaratne and Mr. Lakthilaka, along with eight other Pradeshiya Sabha (PS) members, will challenge their expulsions in [...]
Speeding buses claim yet another life
Increasing incidents of bus drivers racing each other to collect more passengers or reach their destinations faster have claimed many lives. On Tuesday (18) yet another accident claimed the life of a mother of two, close to the pedestrian crossing at the Kollupitiya junction on Galle Road. The victim, Priyadarshani Gunawardena (48), was on her [...]
Move to impose standards on media thwarted
A move by the Media Ministry to slap down a Code of Ethics on Sri Lankan journalists has been thwarted by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. “Such a code should come from the media itself,” he told a breakfast meeting of editors of national newspapers and heads of electronic media outlets. The event was hurriedly summoned after President [...]
Mobility of differently abled in buildings under repair a must: SC
A new Supreme Court directive requires all state and private sector public buildings that are undergoing renovations comply with the accessibility regulations to facilitate people with restricted mobility. A Bench comprising Chief Justice Mohan Pieris and Justices Chandra Ekanayake and Justice Sathya Hettige after hearing the submissions by the accessibility activist Dr. Ajith Perera, made [...]
Novel car racket busted after owners complain
The Mount Lavinia Police have busted a racket involving the stealing of vehicles from rent-a-car services in Colombo and its suburbs. The first complaint to reach the Police involved a Prado jeep that had been given for Rs. 50,000 per month to a rent- a -car service in the area. The owner had complained that [...]
Bogus law-enforcement callers alleging terrorist links extort money
Retired Agriculture Director Suranimala Rajapaksa of Kandy, recently received a telephone call. The caller identifying himself as Nishantha Wijesinghe from the Batticaloa police told Mr. Rajapaksa that he was wanted for questioning in connection with links to terrorists. The ‘caller’ went on to tell Mr. Rajapaksa that a former LTTEer , ‘Rajanayagam’, had been arrested [...]
Taking the highway? Exercise extra care in wet conditions: Traffic DIG
“Motorists need to be extra careful when driving in bad weather, as even a simple mistake can lead to accidents in wet conditions”, warns Traffic DIG Amarasiri Senaratne. Drivers often turn in various directions to avoid water on the road. Motorists on the opposite side, unaware of these unexpected turns, and unable to take timely [...]
Teacher given lesson in the new 3 ‘R’s – Rage, Rudeness and Ruthlessness
A 27-year-old teacher taking a few moments’ rest in a classroom after a busy day at school was suddenly confronted by a woman – the wife of a member of the North Western Provincial Council – waving a child’s uniform at her. In a loud voice the intruder demanded, “Mokakda me karapu wade?”(What is this [...]
Student death unveils high degree of stress
Cinnamon Gardens police continue to investigate the death of 23 year-old Colombo University student Thilini Shashiprabha, who was found fallen from the 5th floor of the Science Faculty building. Thilini Shahsiprabha Randimali Gunewardena from Lunugamwehera in the Hambantota district was a first year student at the Colombo University’s Science Faculty. On Tuesday (18) morning, she was [...]
Motive behind Open Uni. stabbing still unclear: Police
Police are yet to establish the reason behind the stabbing of an Open University staffer by a student, on Wednesday (19), as both the suspect and the victim are presently being treated in Intensive Care Units (ICU). Mirihana police Officer-in-Charge Roshan Rajapaksa said that, at present, eyewitness accounts are being recorded, while students are being [...]
Police ‘sting’ operation rounds up gang involved in 15m cash and jewellery heist
A six-member gang including an Army deserter, that broke into a businessman’s home in Matale last week and got away with cash and jewellery worth about Rs. 15 million, was arrested this week, police said yesterday. They said the suspects from Minuwangoda, Veyangoda, Gampaha and Sigiriya were picked up in a sting operation carried out by [...]
The height of hypocrisy – the Code of Media Ethics
I had the doubtful ‘pleasure’ of reading the document entitled “The Code of Media Ethics” circulated among various media institutions by the Ministry of Mass Media and Information which left me with two choices – to laugh or to cry. As it happened, I did neither. So furious was I that this Government in which [...]
Land, police powers will divide Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is a Free, Sovereign, Independent and Democratic Socialist Republic that is a Unitary State according to Article 2 of its Constitution. It is stated in Article 3 of the Constitution that the sovereignty is in the people and is inalienable. Sovereignty includes the power of government, fundamental rights and franchise. Therefore it naturally [...]
Flood Czech: our jumbos safe in Prague
Concerns over the fate of Sri Lankan elephants in inundated Prague Zoo – where an elephant died in severe flooding in 2002 – have been laid to rest by zoo officials who say the animals are safe despite the zoo being flooded again, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of its denizens. In an exclusive interview [...]
Wit, humour, law and diplomatically whatnot
DAYA PERERA UNITED NATIONS — As one of Sri Lanka’s hot-shot criminal lawyers, Daya Perera was not only gifted with oratorical skills but also a devastating sense of humour. At the United Nations, where he had a post-legal career as Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative (1988-1991), he had a field day unleashing both his skills with the [...]
No place for the dead
Whilst the beautiful stretches of beach at Kalpitiya are being turned into tourist resorts, Senawadiya, a village on the coast is being turned into an attraction tourists would not want to see a cemetery. As a result of the Forest Conservation Department taking over a stretch of land that was used as a cemetery, bodies are [...]
