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Home » NewsGate shut for Mandela mourners
While the whole world was mourning the death of South Africa’s legendary leader Nelson Mandela, the South African High Commission office had its flag at half mast but the mission was closed with no provision made for Sri Lankans to pay tribute in a condolence book. Outside the closed gate there was a picture of [...]
Suriyapperuma goes on a tirade against Singh, Cameron and Obama
UPFA National List MP J.R.P.Suriyapperuma hurled abuses at Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Parliament yesterday calling him an old man (nakiya) and a fool who will soon be thrown out of power by the Indian people. Eighty five year-old Mr. Suriyapperuma, who is four years older than the Indian Prime Minister directed his ire at [...]
600 more duty-free luxury vehicles coming
The Government is to issue duty-free permits to import vehicles to launch a ‘luxury taxi service’ to be operated from the country’s two international airports at Katunayaka and Mattala, Civil Aviation Minister Priyankara Jayaratna said. Initially, the Government would offer upto 600 permits to import BMW 7 Series, Benz cars, Jaguars, Chryslers and other luxury [...]
500 Pakistani Catholics seek help here
More than 500 Pakistani Catholics have sought refuge in Sri Lanka and the Church has appealed to the Government to provide support to these people, it was revealed yesterday. The Pakistanis including families are staying in pre-dominantly Catholic areas such as Negombo and Maggona and in and around Mount Lavinia and Moratuwa, a spokesman for the [...]
Warehouse raid reveals outdated skin ointment repacked for distribution
About 5,000 tubes of ointment, that had passed their dates and were ready to be released to the market with new packaging, were recovered from a warehouse owned by a registered medicinal drug distributor at Kirimandala Mawatha, Nawala. The Panadura-Walana Anti-Vice Squad together with the Cosmetic Devices and Drug Regulatory Authority (CDDRA) officers raided the [...]
IT park coming up in former Tripoli market
The one time Tripoli market in Pettah, Colombo is to be converted into an Information Technology (IT) park attracting a range of IT related companies, under an Urban Development Authority (UDA) project, a senior official said. UDA Urban Regeneration Project head E.A.C. Priyashantha told the Sunday Times that the project known as ‘iRACE’ had already [...]
Ethics and performance evaluation to be introduced for Judges next year
A code of conduct and a performance evaluation for judges are among the important changes to be introduced to the judicial system, Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem told Parliament yesterday. The Minister said, the code of conduct would be gazetted early next year and will be based on the Bangalore and Latimer House Principles. The Bangalore Principles [...]
Bus depots go bust with workers unpaid
Susantha Jayasiri, 37, is worried that he won’t be able to buy his children schoolbooks and shoes next term. Two grocers who gave him food on credit have stopped. He has taken loans from a number of relatives and friends who make sure they drop by his place at least once a day seeking repayment. [...]
Questions mount over felling of trees to pay EPF, ETF dues
Environmentalists and trade unions are concerned over proposed plans to fell over 60,000 trees for timber to raise funds for the outstanding EPF, ETF and gratuity payments in state run plantations. The three state sector plantations, Sri Lanka Plantations Corporation (SPC), Janatha Estate Development board and Elkaduwa Plantion, in the central highlands border the main watershed [...]
Stocks of expired cheese discovered during CAA raid
The Consumer Affairs Authority has detected a large stock of outdated ‘Happy Cow’ cheese which the CAA believes is to be re-packed and released to the market. A CAA official said 2,880 packs of ‘expired’ cheese were found mixed with non-expired goods at the Lanka Milk Foods factory in Welisara. But a company official said [...]
Duped depositors relate their tales of woe
For someone who has been paralysed most of his adult life, Nanda Munasinghe maintains a surprisingly cheerful countenance. But it is becoming harder by the day. Sixteen years ago, the former seaman suffered spinal damage while diving in Ratnapura. A keen sportsman, he had played rugby for Isipathana College. The accident turned his life—and that [...]
Biggest heroin haul: Cloak over PM’s official
The Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) is moving to indict the two suspects in the case involving one of the biggest heroin hauls – but the Prime Minister and top ministry officials are evading direct comment on the alleged role of a ministry official. PNB Director Kamal Silva said the Government Analyst had confirmed that the [...]
Backs to the wall, families face swathe of price rises
Whether it’s a lunch packet from the local bath kade or children’s school van fees, many essential goods and services will rise in price in coming weeks due to the impact of Budget’s direct and indirect taxes on low-income groups. Government statistics show the rises are hitting urban families most, with expenditure outstripping income and households [...]
Nuwara Eliya farmers face a plethora of problems
Farmers in the Nuwara Eliya district are facing a new crisis –low quality seed material provided by private companies and the resultant low yields. Kandasamy Pushparaj, a farmer said weather patterns too had changed over the past two years and had affected vegetable growers in the area. “Previously,” he said, “seed potato and other seed material [...]
Lankan, Indian organisations come forward to help jailed fishermen
The National Union of Seafarers Sri Lanka (NUSS) and the International Transport workers’ Federation (ITF) along with their Indian counterparts will set up a joint mechanism to assist fishermen in jails in both countries, it was revealed this week. NUSS President Palitha Athukorale told the Sunday Times that joint discussions had already taken place. “The [...]
Female supervisor dies after falling off 50-ft building
A twenty-five-year-old female works supervisor who fell off a 50-ft tall building at Dematagoda succumbed to her injuries, the Coroners Court was told on Friday. The deceased Pushpi Puimali Haturusinghe, a resident of Horana, was rushed to the Colombo National Hospital after falling off the building on Thursday (05). She was treated at the ICU but [...]
Four subjects compulsory for international and private schools
The Government will make it compulsory for international and private schools in Sri Lanka to teach Sinhala, Tamil, religion and local history. “We hope to start this programme by next year. Some international schools will do so from January,” Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena told the Sunday Times. He said he had spoken to principals of many [...]
Research officers for senior judges
The Chief Justice, Judges of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal will soon be assigned Development Officers (Research). The move comes on a recommendation made to the Cabinet of ministers by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. In terms of the decision, the Ministry of Justice has been directed to select a group of law graduates [...]
President to intervene over ‘Pusswedilla’ ban
President Rajapaksa is to intervene in the issue that arose after the Censor Board refused to approve the script of another edition of a satirical play ‘Pusswedilla’ – “The Common Welthings Summit.” Director and playwright Feroze Kamardeen told the Sunday Times that the President has said he will personally look into the matter. The 12 [...]
US$ 400m Crown Resort SL report tabled in Parliament
A report on the proposed US$ 400 million Crown Sri Lanka resort which would open the door to “international gaming” in the country, was tabled in Parliament. The Report details how it can be used to attract “high net patrons’ for gaming operations in Sri Lanka. “Sri Lanka and its economy are likely to benefit [...]
Defence & Urban Dev. Min. changing Colombo’s demography charges Mangala
UNP Matara District MP Mangala Samaraweera said that there is an insidious attempt by the Defence and Urban Development Ministry to change the demography of the City of Colombo, to break up the UNP vote base, so that the Govt. can win the next Municipal Council election. Speaking during the committee stage debate of the [...]
9 including Duminda Silva’s driver remanded over nightclub bouncer’s killing
Sampath Tharindu Cooray (21) was two months into his job as a ‘bouncer’ at a nightclub in Athurugiriya last Saturday, when a group claiming to be supporters of a UPFA Parliamentarian in the Colombo district, ordered the staff to sell them liquor. This was long after the bar had closed. Tharindu and his colleagues refused [...]
Anura K. seeks clarification of Govt.’s multiple choice reasons for transfer
Democratic National Alliance (DNA) MP Anura Kumara Dissanayaka queried the transfer of 23 members of the police Organised Crime Division (OCD) following their raid on the Salaka Ruchino casino in Colombo, and called on the Govt. to provide a detailed answer to Parliament. Speaking during the votes of the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development, [...]
PM updates House with statement on action taken to date
Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratna who is embroiled in a controversy, after it came to light that an official attached to his Ministry, had sent a written request to the Customs Dept, asking that a container with a large stock of heroin imported from Pakistan, as a shipment of grease, be released, made a statement in [...]
DNA MP queries PM’s office connection to largest drug haul in SL
DNA MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake who last week in Parliament, raised the issue of the largest drug haul in Sri Lanka, queried how an official from the Prime Minister’s office sent a letter to the Customs Dept. requesting that the heroin container be released. He said that the heroin valued at around Rs. 2,600 million, [...]
Parliament pays tribute to Mandela
Parliament yesterday expressed its condolences at the passing away of former South African President Nelson Mandela at an impromptu session with both the Government and Opposition paying glowing tributes to the late anti-apartheid freedom fighter, but no decision has yet been taken on who would represent Sri Lanka at the funeral next Saturday. No decision [...]
Paediatricians’ College springs into action launching initiative against child abuse
In a “major milestone” in the history of childcare, the Sri Lanka College of (SLCP), not satisfied with just talking about the alarming rise in child abuse and neglect, has turned words into action. It was at a simple but significant ceremony on Wednesday (December 4) that the ‘Guidelines for the Management of Child Abuse [...]
Parental neglect leading to spike in child sex abuse
A sickening series of child sexual abuse cases in recent weeks underscores a sharp rise in complaints of abuse, and officials say parental neglect is the main cause. The Chairman of the managing board of the Mahaweli Disabled Children’s Home in Marawila was remanded until 9 December over the charge of alleged sexual abuse of two [...]
Base hospital turning 100 in deplorable condition
It is a Friday and the Kuliyapitiya Base Hospital, the largest under the purview of the North Western Provincial Council, is crowded with patients. Three surgeries are being performed in the so-called ‘operating theatre (OT) complex’ of this 590-bed hospital and the scene is disturbing. While the main OT doors are wide open to the outside [...]
From Sudu Ganga to garbage dump
A tributary of Sudu Ganga which flows through the Matale town and is a main source of the Mahaweli Ganga been turned into a major refuse dumping ground. Wariayapola Watte with a population of over 300 families on the Dole Road, is rapidly becoming uninhabitable with the pollution producing bad odour and giving rise to [...]
Strange case of the midnight ghost train
The phone on the desk of the Chief Railway Controller Nihal Ferdinands began to ring at around 1.45 a.m. The caller informed Ferdinands that a runaway train engine sans a driver was moving on the tracks and heading towards the southern coastline at a speed of around 5-10kph. The Chief Controller recalls that he alerted staff [...]
