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Politicians are often known to behave like goats and thus it was not surprising to see goats trying to eat political posters put up on a lamp post at Thiladiya on the Colombo-Puttalam Road in preparation for the provincial poll in the North Western Province. Pic by Hiran Priyankara Jayasinghe.
Treasury bails out SriLankan Airlines
The Treasury has stepped in to bail out SriLankan Airlines and pay up Rs. 25 billion of the national carrier’s Rs. 36 billion fuel arrears to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, a senior CPC official said. He said a Treasury bond would be given to the CPC — and this would mean the airline would have [...]
Exodus from teacher service
A growing trend of teachers retiring prematurely from service and opting for private, international schools and even applying for overseas jobs is affecting the quality of education, according to teachers and unions representing them. Of the 217,000 state-sector teachers in the country, about 100,000 had not received promotions that were overdue, Ceylon Teacher Union’s Secretary Joseph [...]
Mattala idling: Govt. offers more concessions
The Government has further slashed aircraft handling charges and introduced a string of promotional discounts at Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) in a bid to attract more flights there. A fifty per cent discount in landing and parking charges which was earlier valid only for this year has now been extended up to March 2014, when [...]
Supreme Court ruling settles Vaddukoddai name row
After a battle in the Supreme Court over its name, the village market at Vaddukoddai will be known as the Vaddukoddai Public Market – and not by its ancient name Sivankovilady or by its LTTE-given name, Sinthupuram. The Supreme Court gave its ruling this week, after the petitioners and the respondents agreed to a compromise suggested [...]
No election monitors from anti-Lanka Europe: Polls Chief
No election monitors will be invited from European countries to monitor elections to the Northern, Central, North Western provinces, Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya has told secretaries of political parties. He said this decision was taken on a request made to him not to entertain monitors from countries that had voted against Sri Lanka at the March [...]
Media coverage on C’wealth guidelines
Sri Lanka’s Task Force Secretariat for the 2013 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) yesterday endorsed the Commonwealth Secretariat’s position that the process of accrediting all international and domestic media would be “based entirely on Commonwealth Secretariat guidelines”. It specified that the Commonwealth Secretariat in London will review and process the accreditation of international media [...]
Ehelepola Walauwe to be restored to its old glory
The historical Ehellepola Walauwe that served as the remand prison for many years will no longer house prisoners, as it is to be restored to its old glory. A scroll was presented yesterday to President Mahinda Rajapaksa by Prisons and Prisons Rehabilitation Minister Chandrasiri Gajadeera, to mark the end of the administration of these premises [...]
Rs 168m for vehicles despite Finance ministry’s suspension till CHOGM
More than Rs 168 million was made in supplementary allocations between January and April this year to purchase vehicles for government institutions, despite the Finance and Planning Ministry deciding to temporarily suspend all vehicle purchases until the end of November 2013, in view of the requirements of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to [...]
SLFEB training programme for overseas domestic employment
The Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau (SLFEB) has commenced a training programme for Sri Lankan workers proceeding to West Asia for domestic employment. The programme is currently limited to workers going to Saudi Arabia. SLFEB, Deputy General Manager Mangala Randeniya said the programme will expand by 2014 to workers going to other West Asian countries. [...]
Crashes claim eight lives in two days
Eight people were killed in four separate accidents on the country’s roads over the past two days amid rising concern over speeding and other problems. A nine-year-old child was killed and his father critically injured when the motorcycle in which they were riding collided with a bus in Ahangama area yesterday. The father was admitted to [...]
SC orders female inspector be promoted as WASP despite lack of inches
She was told by Police higher ups that she was not tall enough to be a gazetted officer. Woman Inspector Bimshani Jasin Arachchi went before the Supreme Court (SC) to challenge the long arm of the law which had discriminated against her. The SC upheld her plea and she will now become an Assistant Superintendent of [...]
Foreign docs win extended right to practise
Foreign doctors were granted continued registration in Sri Lanka until March 30, 2014 after filing a petition to the Supreme Court to extend registration by one year. In their petition, Durdan’s Hospital senior resident consultant cardiac surgeon Dr. K. Kesava Dev and anaesthesist Dr. Madhur Malik, and Nawaloka Hospital’s Dr. Hemant Digambar Waikan, Dr. Landeep Krishan [...]
Arrest warrant on DIG’s son
The Police and Criminal Investigation Department (CID) are on the look out for former DIG Vass Gunawardena’s son Ravindu as the Kaduwela Magistrate had issued an arrest warrant on him in connection with the abduction of and assault on Malabe IT student Nipuna Ramanayake in 2009 and for his alleged involvement with the killing of [...]
UPFA Nomination Board yet to decide on Sarath Kumara
The UPFA Nomination Board is yet to decide whether former member of the North Western Provincial Council (NWPC) Ananda Sarath Kumara who gained notoriety for getting a school teacher to kneel for punishing his daughter, would be given nominations to contest the upcoming PC elections. However, ahead of the Nomination Board decision, the ex-provincial councillor [...]
Unlucky 13A must go as it violates public rights: Petitioner
The 13th Amendment to the Constitution is a continued violation of the rights of the public because it was not approved by the people at a referendum as per Supreme Court decision and certified by the then President to become a law, a head of a charity NGO complained to the Supreme Court asking the [...]
CPC’s hedging blunder Finally the people pay
The room was packed; the mood fraught. It was November 2008 and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation’s (CPC) hedging deals were fast going awry. Ashantha De Mel, then Chairman of the CPC, sat at the head table. On his right were the Chief Executive Officers of three of the banks – Standard Chartered (SCB), Citibank and [...]
Victims wait in vain for state accident compensation
J.M. Maharoof, from Ibbagamuwa in Kurunegala is a survivor of a deadly bus accident that claimed 21 lives in 2003. The packed SLTB bus in which he was travelling crashed into a tree, killing 11 on the spot – more deaths followed from among the 80 other casualties. Mr. Maharoof sustained severe injuries to his [...]
Brutally felled for taking stand against felling of trees
Nihal Perera, a veteran planter with 45 years of experience in the field, took up his posting as the manager of Noori Estate in Deraniyagala, in the Kegalle district, late last year. However, he soon started facing resistance from a group backed by a local politician. The group was allegedly encroaching on estate land, felling trees [...]
Rail workers win rise from strike, but bus stoppage fizzles out amid threats
Hundreds of thousands of commuters faced inconvenience this week as railway employees and bus operators went on strike, demanding salary and bus fare hikes. A sudden strike action announced by the railway employees’ union from mid-night last Sunday for 48 hours was called off on Tuesday after 40 hours when Transport Minister Kumara Welgama and Ministerial [...]
Grama Niladhari: Grassroots go-between State and common man
Thousands of grama niladharis across Sri Lanka join to form the pivotal link between the country’s governance and the public. Grama Niladhari, literally “village officer,” is a profession that has been around since the time of the kings, when they used to be known as village headmen. Over the years, they have earned more respect—and [...]
Young Lionesses from Germany will soon be on view at Dehiwala Zoo
A pair of young lionesses arrived at the Dehiwala Zoo last Wednesday (July 3). They were a gift from Tierpark Hggenbeck Zoo, in Hamburg, Germany. In April last year the Dehiwala Zoo got down an African lion from South Korea with the aim of breeding lions. Dehiwala Zoo’s education officer, Nihal Senarath said the lionesses [...]
Govt health motive on fertiliser cuts a load of compost, say critics
The government says it imposed fertiliser cuts to reduce the prevalence of chronic kidney disease among the farming community and is urging farmers to change over to using compost. These claims are being contested by critics who claim the shortage is a result of the government defaulting on payments to fertiliser importers. Companies confirmed last week [...]
Beware! You might have bought these expired goods
Two thousands tins of expired canned fish, 200 kilos of soya meat and 50 kilos of margarine, all unfit for human consumption were seized during a joint raid by Environment Police and the Dehiwala-Mt.Lavinia Medical Officer of Health’s office. The items were found in a storage on Katukurunduwatte Road in Ratmalana. Police said that the [...]
Now, a 6 lane bridge to ease increasing traffic on new Kelani bridge
A new six-lane bridge, parallel to the existing new Kelani bridge is to be constructed at a cost of Rs. 45 billion to reduce traffic congestion around Peliyagoda area. Traffic congestion at this location is expected to get worse with the opening of the Colombo – Katunayake Expressway (CKE) by the end of this year and [...]
Chief Guest emphasises need for discipline and core values
The St. Thomas’ Preparatory School prize giving was held last Friday, with leading President’s Counsel K. Kanag-Iswaran gracing the occassion as chief guest. Addressing students, staff members and parents, Kanag-Iswaran —an alumnus of Jaffna Central College and the University of London— stressed the importance of discipline and core values in students. “Have you wondered or [...]
Modern use of ancient tanks a world best-practice model
Sri Lanka’s modern farming use of rainwater stored in ancient tanks is a best practice strategy to combat the effects of climate change, says CGIAR, a global partnership of research bodies – but an expert warns that we are ruining this precious legacy. CGIAR’s research programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) outlines methods [...]
