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In the aftermath of the ground roller tragedy which killed a student at Ananda College, a mother is seen taking her children home as did many other parents. Pic by Indika Handuwala
25-year corporate tax holiday for US$ 1.3 billion offshore Colombo Port City
Government has granted a generous 25-year corporate tax holiday to Colombo Port City, the Rs 172.4 billion (US$ 1.3 billion) project to reclaim more than 575 acres (233 hectares) of sea off Galle Face Green. The project company, CHEC Port City Colombo (Private) Ltd, will also be exempt from tax on dividends for 25 years [...]
Trio arrested for allegedly robbing old couple of cash, jewellery
Three people were taken into custody for allegedly robbing an elderly couple who had arrived in Colombo from Jaffna, to travel to Britain, police said. According to the police, the suspects posing as military intelligence personnel, had ordered the couple into a parked three-wheeler at Braybrooke Place, Colombo 2. and proceeded towards Kollupitiya. The suspects had [...]
Lanka’s blunder steals honour from Palestinian leaders
The Presidential Secretariat has issued gazette notifications conferring one of Sri Lanka’s highest National Honours on two Palestinian leaders, Mahmoud Abbas and Yasser Arafat—and then withdrawn them. “Once they were gazetted, the Presidential Secretariat realised that such National Honours could only be awarded in Sri Lanka,” an authoritative source told the Sunday Times. But legal [...]
Two power plants still shut down, consumers face dark scenario
The Kelanitissa Power Station and the Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant remained under repairs this week amid fears that mounting generation costs will cause the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to renege on a pledge to cut the fuel surcharge it extracts from consumers. On Monday and Tuesday, the Randenigala and Rantembe Hydro Power Stations were also [...]
Joint Opposition march and rally on Tuesday
All major Opposition political parties and trade unions will come together at a mass protest march and rally against the Government on Tuesday. The main opposition United National Party (UNP), trade unions led by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), Sarath Fonseka’s Democratic Party (DP) and political parties in Vipakshaya Virodhaya will participate in a protest [...]
Young, tech savvy counterfeiters on the increase
Counterfeiter gangs have sharply increased activity in the past 12 months, police said after arresting members of three different gangs last week, some with superior technological skills in making fake money. One set of arrests took place in Negombo following a tip-off from a man who had rented a house to a person named Vinod. [...]
CHOGM luxury cars: Govt. steers in the dark
Only 18 of the 54 Mercedes Benz cars imported from Stuttgart, Germany at the cost of nearly a billion rupees for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) have been sold so far, the Sunday Times learns. The Mercedes Benz hybrid sedan petrol cars were imported at a cost of more than Rs. 910 million with [...]
73 officials on foreign jaunt at public expense
Southern Province Governor Kumari Balasuriya has called for explanations from 73 regional education officials after they defied an earlier order and went on a foreign junket at public expense, it was revealed yesterday. Highly-placed officials at the Governor’s office said the group that included teachers and other education officials both male and female had gone to [...]
18 undergrads charged with ragging ordered to appear in Court on March 21
Kandy Chief Magistrate A.M.A. Vasantha Kumar ordered 18 Peradeniya University undergraduates who appeared in Court on Friday, in connection with a ragging incident, to be present in Court again on March 21, 2014. The undergraduates, all 2nd-year students, are charged with ragging a ‘fresher’ undergraduate between October 26 and 27, 2011, by subjecting the victim [...]
Smoke emission tests twice a year
Motor vehicles will be subjected to smoke emission tests twice a year, instead of the current annual checks under a new gazette regulation which is due to come into effect in March, Motor Traffic Commissioner S.H. Harishchandra said yesterday. The move is part of a campaign to improve air quality after a survey revealed that [...]
Knife-wielding doctor storms court
The brother-in-law of the Janatha Vimukthi Permuna’s (JVP’s) late leader Rohana Wijeweera was arrested on Friday after he stormed the court complex in Aluthkade armed with a knife. Panic ensued as the brother-in-law Dr. Suresh Chandra Fernando entered the court that was in session and began wielding the knife in a threatening manner at the [...]
Stiff new rules to protect workers’ rights and employers from racketeering agents
Sri Lankan expatriate workers who arbitrarily terminate their work agreements in West Asian countries face jail terms, stiff fines and will be blacklisted in the host country under a new agreement to be implemented soon, senior officials and the industry said yesterday. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Sri Lanka and the receiving countries will [...]
Vehicle, equipment used at Balapitiya DP meeting released
A case in which the Democratic Party led by former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka last week used a a mobile vehicle and loud speakers for election propaganda activities without permission in the Balapitiya area has been fixed for May 20. The vehicle and equipment was released by the Balapitiya Magistrate courts when the case was [...]
MEA statement on SL’s G-77 Vienna Chapter chairmanship ignores Envoy Azeez
A Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Press release on Sri Lanka’s assumption of the chairmanship of the Group of 77 (G-77) Vienna Chapter, has left out the name of Ambassador to Austria A.L.A. Azeez, a senior career diplomat. In contrast, the press release issued by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) says in its [...]
Lands Ministry faults DS for failure to evict encroacher
The Ministry of Lands and Land Development is to lodge a complaint with the Public Administration Ministry over the failure of a Divisional Secretary in Kilinochchi to implement a directive from the Ministry regarding the issue of a permit to use a State land. Additional Secretary (Land) S.D.A.B. Boralessa who issued the directive told the [...]
Schoolboy’s tragic death raises questions over child-safety regulations
Prabath and Nilmini Wijesinghe from Thalawathugoda would not have imagined that their playful nine-year-old son who waved goodbye to them and got into the school van on Tuesday would come back home lifeless in a coffin. A grade four student of Ananda College, Colombo, Senith Wijesinghe’s killer was a turf roller lying in a corner [...]
No withdrawals from ATMs for disabled soldiers: Army
The Army has instructed all State banks to withdraw the ATM cards and other facilities extended to disabled soldiers in a bid to stamp out irregularities but has not further elaborated, it was revealed this week. In addition to the ATM facilities banks have also been instructed not to endorse joint accounts maintained by disabled [...]
Soldier killed, four injured in accident at Gokarella
A soldier was killed and four other persons injured when a three-wheeler collided head-on with an oncoming motorcycle on the Gokarella-Madagalla road early yesterday morning, police said. Police identified the victim as a 30-year-old soldier from Gonggalawatta in Kumbukwewa. The injured persons are currently undergoing treatment at the Kurunegala Hospital, police said. The driver of [...]
‘If only …’ grieving mother relates biggest dengue death trap
Thirteen-year-old Imesh’s dream to be a crack motorcycle rider one day was shattered as a deadly mosquito snatched his young life, leaving his parents in shock over the sudden loss of their only son. Today his mother, B.A. Anoma, wishes she had admitted her son to hospital earlier despite his protests. “After two days of [...]
3 arrested while transporting turtle flesh and live turtles
Three people caught attempting to transport freshly slaughtered turtle meat in a canoe from an islet off Kalpitiya, were taken into custody yesterday, police said. The men were picked up from Rosa Padua Island along with 12 kg of fresh turtle meat to be sold to restaurants and select customers in the area. Several live [...]
Candidates jump into the fray without waiting for invitations
The elections to the Western and Southern Provincial Councils are more than two months away but aspiring councillors are merrily jumping the gun, advertising themselves on posters and in media interviews even before nomination lists have been finalised.The Election Commissioner announced that nominations will be received from January 30 to February 6. Already an array [...]
Mother, daughter among four held with gold at BIA
Four people including a mother and daughter were arrested on Friday night in different detections at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) while attempting to smuggle in and out of the country gold worth over Rs. 57 million, a senior Customs official said. The mother and her young daughter had attempted to take out of the [...]
Foreign couple taken for a ride by wheeler-dealer broker
A Swedish couple on vacation here since January has complained to police that they had been cheated by a so-called broker over the purchase of a three wheeler. The couple-foster parents to a Lankan boy had gone to Gampola to buy a three wheeler for the biological father of their adopted child. A man who [...]
AG’s former office complex soon an upmarket shopping mall
The Auditor General’s former office complex at Independence Square, which is undergoing a major facelift, will soon become an upmarket shopping mall selling some of the world’s wellknown brands, said officials of the Urban Development Authority (UDA). The complex, estimated to cost Rs. 400 million, will house around 40 shops, and is expected to be [...]
Event organisers slammed over dirty dancing
Event organisers agree common sense should guide the choice of variety acts at formal occasions after a hot Latin dance duo performed at a political book launch, leaving monks in the audience aghast and fearing worse was to come when the female dancer stripped off her outer costume halfway through the act. One Buddhist monk [...]
Case of alleged SL Navy attacks on TN fishermen dismissed by Madras High Court
Two petitions relating to Indian trawling in Sri Lankan waters came up before the Madras High Court on Thursday. On, a review petition against an order of a Division Bench dismissing a public interest litigation seeking adequate measures to protect Tamil fishermen from alleged attacks by the Sri Lankan Navy—was dismissed by the Bench, The [...]
Fire at estate line room
Some 20 line room abodes were seriously damaged as a fire spread through the workers’ living quarters at an estate in the Nuwara Eliya Division early last morning, police said. The incident took place at the Ramboda Estate in Kotmale, Nuwara Eliya, according to police. They added that the regional fire brigade and residents of [...]
Toxin and cancer risks from spoiled food, experts warn
Sprats, the common man’s protein, makes a mockery of nutrition needs when sold putrified and contaminated and could trigger illnesses varying from food poisoning to cancer, warned a senior microbiologist who pointed to possible links between outbreaks of food poisoning and unscrupulous marketing of contaminated food. Recent raids have uncovered not only spoiled food set [...]
Just one month into the year and 30 killings
More than 30 killings have been reported countrywide in the past three weeks, marking a sharp increase in crime rates at the beginning of the year, police said. In the latest incident a wealthy electric-fitting shop owner from Nugegoda was killed last Saturday and the Special Crimes Division of the Mirhana Police station is probing [...]
Post-talks: Poaching as usual in Sri Lankan waters
Indian fishing trawlers that reduced intrusions into Sri Lankan waters after a series of arrests by the Navy last month and early this month have returned to poach in their usual numbers after the conclusion of talks between Fisheries Minister Rajitha Senaratne and his Indian counterpart, a senior Navy official said. Minister Senaratne was in [...]
Book launch of Hameed’s Parliamentary speeches
A book titled ‘The Valley of Gems’ containing Parliamentary speeches of Dr.AC.S. Hameed, veteran Parliamentarian and the first Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka will be ceremonially released at a function to be held at the BMICH on Saturday 1st February, 2014 at 3.30 p.m. A.H.M Azwer, MP., Member of the Parliamentary Council and Monitoring MP of [...]
Now it’s 45 skeletal remains; JVP calls for speedy, fair probe
The number of skeletal remains found in the Mannar mass grave increased to 45 yesterday as a special team from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) recorded statements from the officials involved in the excavation of the remains. One more skeletal remain was unearthed yesterday. A group of CID officers who arrived at the site at Thiruketheeswarm [...]
The Law is blind
Canvassing for the forthcoming provincial election has already commenced, violating government regulations on motor vehicles. Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) buses are being utilised for the election campaign of the ruling party, while the rear windscreens of private buses too are found plastered with posters of both prospective ruling and opposition party candidates. The Campaign for [...]
An able, honest and fearless judge: BASL
The funeral of Justice S. Sriskandarajah, President of the Court of Appeal, will be held today at 3.30 p.m. at the General Cemetery, Borella. Justice Sriskandarajah (60) passed away on Thursday at a private hospital in Colombo after a brief illness. In a message of condolence the President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL), [...]
