News
Home » NewsKalpitiya donkeys dwindling as development gathers pace
Wild donkeys, endemic to Puttalam are in harms way due to rapid development and habitat encroachment taking place in the area. Increase in the number of tourist resorts, the coal power plant in Norochcholai and prawn farming, Air Force shooting range, civil defence force camps and squatting on State land have resulted in the reduction [...]
OIC Traffic nabbed accepting bribe
The Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Traffic at the Paiyagala Police Station was arrested early yesterday after he allegedly accepted a bribe of Rs. 10,000 from a driver of a three wheeler, police said. They added that the suspect was apprehended by sleuths from the Bribery Commissioner’s Department as he accepted the cash inside the police station. The [...]
No milk powder: CAA says not considered ‘essential’
Amid an acute shortage of powdered milk, the Consumer Affairs Authority said yesterday it did not consider milk powder an “essential item” and hence would not take immediate steps to end the crisis. CAA Director General J.M.A. Douglas said that as powdered milk was not considered an ‘essential’ item, the CAA would not take swift action [...]
US gets tough with Lanka over Iran oil
The United States has rejected Sri Lanka’s plea for exemption from the oil embargo on Iran and has asked the Government to dissociate itself from some 30 companies, including banks and shipping firms. The Sri Lankan Government’s request had been prompted by rising costs to import refined fuel products. The list of companies which the US [...]
New rules for mining, but room for abuse
The Government has introduced regulations to govern the mining, trading in and export of minerals, including graphite, but has omitted exploration. It has also introduced a committee to determine the market value of mine output and the percentage of royalty payable by those seeking such licences. The changes, which were gazetted on Thursday, replace certain [...]
Minister Rishad’s request to Pakistan sparks controversy
The move by a Government Minister to ignore protocol and approach Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to get assistance for a housing scheme for Muslims has raised concerns in political circles. Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) spokesman Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe said that making community specific aid requests was in violation of a 2009 Supreme Court ruling delivered [...]
Poaching goes on; more arrests, but no date for talks
The Indian Government is yet to agree on a date for talks on the simmering fishermen’s crisis in the Palk Bay despite several requests from Colombo, it was revealed yesterday. Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Minister Rajitha Senaratne wrote to his Indian counterpart a week ago seeking a meeting at the very earliest but there has been [...]
US Criminal Justice envoy here tomorrow
Stephen J. Rapp, Ambassador-at-Large of the Office of Global Criminal Justice of the USA will visit Sri Lanka between January 6 and 11, the US Embassy in Colombo said. This is Ambassador Rapp’s second trip to Sri Lanka as Ambassador-at-Large. During this trip Ambassador Rapp will meet with a broad cross section of government officials [...]
Lasantha remembered, five years on
A service will be held at 9 a.m on January 8 to commemorate the fifth death anniversary of Lasantha Wickrematunge, founder editor of the Sunday Leader. The service will be at his grave site at the Borella General Cemetery.
Lankan seafarer feared dead after being swept overboard
Parents of a Sri Lankan seafarer are struck by grief, as their son- sole breadwinner of the family, has gone missing and is feared dead, after he was swept overboard off a foreign ship while entering a port in Lisbon on Christmas Eve, a maritime union said yesterday.Third Officer H. Gayan Mahesh Wickramatarne (24) on [...]
Civil Aviation DG awaits info on UL 503’s cracked windshield
The Director General of Civil Aviation was not provided with sufficient information about what happened on Wednesday’s London-bound SriLankan Airlines flight which returned to Katunayake after pilots observed a crack on the plane’s left windshield. “The Mandatory Occurrence Report had very little information,” said Civil Aviation Director General H.M.C. Nimalsiri. “It only said there was [...]
From Mayor in Germany to monk in Mihintale
Far removed from his duties as the Mayor of the small German town of Oberndorf, Hermann Acker decided to get ordained as a Buddhist monk at the Mihintale Rajamaha Viharaya recently. Mr. Acker (55), who has served as Mayor for over 14 years developed an interest in Buddhism after he heard about the teachings of [...]
Norochcholai: CEB in power battle to win coal war
Employees of the Lakvijaya Power Station in Norochcholai assembled in its lobby on New Year’s Day to hear speeches by the management. Chinese workers cycled to work while, in the distance, puffs of white steam rose from the generator of the coal-power plant’s first unit. “Everyone here wants this project to succeed,” said an official, [...]
Environment Ministry to designate areas for safe sea bathing
The Environmental Ministry will soon designate areas for sea bathing around the country, to ensure the safety of persons using them. The Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) under the purview of the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) will conduct water tests to ensure that it was safe for bathing. “We have conducted tests in several main [...]
610 jeeps, 60 trackers – sum of one day’s tragedy for hunted Yala animals
Despite recording increased tourist traffic through the years Yala National Park still struggles to meet the demand for guides who accompany visitors to the park. During December, a peak period, visitors were allowed to enter the park without a tracker or a tracker, the only persons authorised to step out of vehicle when inside the [...]
Alarmed mothers scan shelves for elusive milk powder
Champa de Silva, a private sector employee from Borelesgamuwa, frantically looks along the empty counters that were once filled with packets of powdered milk. Her five-year-old daughter Dakshi loves her daily glass of warm milk but Champa doubts whether she would find any milk powder in the market today. “We have been going to many [...]
Business at a standstill at Negombo’s Rs. 190m central bus station
More than two years after it was ceremonially opened to the public, the modern central bus terminal at Negombo has ended up a white elephant with near zero-service to the commuters, and some 90 per cent of the trade enclosures unoccupied. The terminal was built at an estimated cost of Rs. 190 million, and it [...]
Grade 5 exam: Is it on or off?
Confusion reigned after the announcement of the Education Minister’s proposal to change the existing Grade Five scholarship examination system. On Friday, Cabinet Spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said the Government has decided not to cancel the examination, but that there were proposals to make certain changes to it. He said the subject was discussed at length [...]
Experts bemoan no law against chemical enhancement of fruits and vegetables
An agriculture specialist expressed disappointment over the authorities’ failure to take action against unethical practices such as spraying agro-chemicals on vegetables. Head of the Food Research Unit in Gannoruwa, Peradeniya, Dr K.H. Sarananda said there was no law to take legal action against those using methods of pesticide spraying and chemical ripening that are harmful [...]
Traders’ meat almost consumers’ poison with 2,000 successful raids
Two weeks of raids in Colombo and the suburbs targeting adulterated and outdated food items, has culminated in 268 cases filed against errant traders and importers. According to Public Health Inspectors’ (PHI’s) Union Secretary Senerath Bandara, more than 1,068 food categories that had their expiry dates lapsed, or were rotten, and unfit for consumption, had [...]
Drunken brawls on the high this season, more hospital admissions
K. Ravindran, a 28-year- old labourer from Wattala was mowing a lawn on New Year’s day when he was attacked by a neigbour who was intoxicated. He was rushed to the Colombo National Hospital where he is receiving treatment for cut injuries after he was slashed with a knife. “I was working the whole day [...]
Unfazed by party warnings, UPFA councillors extend rebellion
More local councils are facing crisis as UPFA members shrug off warnings of disciplinary action and continue to vote against budgets presented by their chiefs. Budgets of four more councils – Ja-Ela, Hingurakgoda, Homagama and Bulathsinhala – were defeated this week. The moves come amid claims that some senior members of the UPFA have influenced [...]
New police complaints hotline rings red-hot
A third police option is proving a winner, with a new 24-hour hotline set up by the National Police Commission (NPC) registering more than 50 complaints since its January 1 launch. The new hotline (0710361010) is a step forward from two other complaints mechanisms, one set up directly under the Inspector General of Police, and [...]
High-end party revellers’ anger at insensitivity and apathy of organisers
*Anisha (27), who was expecting a night of fun and entertainment as the New Year dawned, instead ended up bruised and battered when the VIP platform at a party at Hilton Colombo, with about 200 revellers collapsed just two minutes to the stroke of midnight. “I spent the first few minutes of 2014 on my [...]
Khat import scheme to widen curse of drug addiction
Moves are underway by the Police Narcotics Bureau to ban the import of khat, a plant with strongly narcotic properties that has already been barred in European countries. Police Narcotic Bureau (PNB) Director, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) L.H.K.W.K. Silva said the recent detection of khat by Customs officers at Bandaranike International Airport had triggered [...]
UDA planning resettlement of Colombo’s shanty dwellers
The Urban Development Authority (UDA) has drawn up plans to re-settle more than 67,000- shanty families living in and around the metropolis, over the next three years a senior official revealed yesterday. These families will not be moved out from their original locations, as the flats will be constructed in the same areas, UDA’s Urban [...]
Fifteen bodies found at gravesite in Mannar
Fifteen remains of bodies have been found during the excavation of the mass grave, at the Thirukethiswaran-Mantai junction in Mannar District, which began a week ago. The excavation of the grave has continued in the presence of senior Government officials, and security in the area has been enhanced so that the evidence related to the [...]
Turning a blind eye…
With the new school term starting last week the issue of transport for children has come to the fore again. Children are ptompted to take risky rides in open vehicles while parents are often seen taking two or more children on the pillion of motorbikes, despite the risks posed by this mode of transport. Student [...]