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Home » NewsThilanga to ICC: UNHRC probe in SL will tear communities apart
UPFA Colombo District MP Thilanga Sumathipala who recently made a presentation before International Criminal Court (ICC) President, Sang Hyun Song, in the Hague, had made a strong case against the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) spearheaded investigation into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka, where he warned, such an investigation would only lead to more [...]
Arrested Pakistanis and Afghans to be sent back
Sri Lanka has decided to send all arrested Afghan and Pakistani asylum seekers and their families back to their countries as early as possible, a senior official said yesterday. Immigrations Controller Chulananda Perera said the asylum seekers would be sent back and not deported, whereby there would be no record of deportation on their travel documents. [...]
India seeks licence to fish around Kachchativu
India will put forward a new proposal aimed at settling the long running dispute over fishing rights with Sri Lanka when External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris visits New Delhi on Friday, the Sunday Times learns. Minister Peiris will leave for India on Wednesday and will meet with Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday. According [...]
Admissions to A/L: Cabinet to decide next week
The Cabinet will next week decide whether a decision by the Education Ministry not to admit students from international schools to public schools should remain. Education Ministry Secretary Anura Dissanayake said the Cabinet would take up a report by the Education Minister on his decision not to admit international school students to follow GCE Advanced [...]
Luxury vehicle racket: Companies must pay all dues
Five leading vehicle importers are under investigation for importing some 400 luxury vehicles and undervaluing them on arrival, a senior Customs official said yesterday. The probe is being carried out jointly by the Customs Department and the Ministry of Finance. Last week The Sunday Times exclusively reported that 400 luxury vehicles were detained by the Customs [...]
How did drug baron escape? Prisons Chief asks Police Chief to conduct probe
A local drug baron’s escape, while being treated in hospital, has prompted prisons authorities to seek Police help, Prisons Superintendent J. N. Upuldeniya said yesterday. “We have doubts about claims made by the two prison guards who were on duty at the time the prisoner escaped from Ragama hospital,” he told the Sunday Times. The [...]
Rs. 139 b in unpaid taxes: 4,000 companies, individuals warned to pay up or face action
More than 4,000 private companies and individuals who failed to pay their taxes to the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) have been ordered to pay up or face legal action, a senior officer said. The findings about the outstanding tax payments were made during a two month long countrywide survey carried out by the department, Senior Commissioner [...]
Bedlam at Ragama Hospital
Last Wednesday the Ragama Teaching Hospital looked calm and peaceful with the usual hustle and bustle of patients being wheeled in and doctors rushing into surgery. Only two days before, on Monday, the hospital was almost brought to a standstill by violent clashes between nurses and midwives. On Wednesday maternity wards 17, 18 and 25, [...]
Rajarata University authorities say reopening date soon to be announced
A date to reopen the Rajarata University will be decided on after a report on the recent incidents that took place at the university is submitted on July 21, the University’s Vice Chancellor (VC) Prof. Ranjith Wijewardena said. He said a committee was appointed by the University Administration to look into the incidents and submit a [...]
7 Injured as train derails near Bambalapitiya station
Three compartments, including one carrying a group of tourists, of the Matara-Maradana train, yesterday derailed near Bambalapitiya railway station at 6.20 p.m, leaving seven commuters injured and extensive damages to the carriages, Railway officials said. One of the derailed compartments was operated by a private company which undertakes bookings from tourists. At the time of [...]
Kandy shop owner says threatened by security firm bodyguards
AA group claiming to be associated with a well known politically-linked family in Kandy has allegedly threatened the owner of a clothing store in Kandy and demanded that they immediately vacate the shop. The group of four had entered the shop and threatened the owners with death if the building on the Kandy-Peradeniya road was [...]
Aussie authorities remain mum over boats carrying Lankans heading their way
Australian Custom and Border Protection Authorities are silent over the fate of two boats which were reported to be approaching Australian waters carrying asylum seekers including Sri Lankans. The Sri Lankan High Commission in Australia has not been officially informed of the situation either, an official at the High Commission said. Navy spokesperson Commodore Kosala [...]
3 skeletons unearthed in Muhamalai
Three human skeletons had been discovered in the Muhamalai area in Jaffna, when a group of de-mining workers were clearing the area, police said. Along with the skeletal remains, a jerry can, a pair of slippers, LTTE uniforms, 10 magazines and six hand grenades were recovered from the site. Police spokesman SSP Ajith Rohana said, [...]
Man seeks probe on wife’s death, claims medical negligence
Claiming that the death of his wife was due to criminal negligence on the part of the Nuwara Eliya hospital authorities, a resident of Nuwara Eliya – Thakshita Samarakoon- has called for an investigation. The deceased, 33-year-old Kumuduni Nayanakanthi, was serving as a management assistant to the Nuwara Eliya Magistrate when she was admitted to [...]
Student’s death fall from mango tree: Principal arrested
Dikkumbura Junior School principal R. R. V. G. C. Bandara Ulangamuwa who was arrested in connection with the death of a student was released on two personal bails of Rs. 100,000. R. Kasun Buddika (15), who fell from a mango tree in the school premises on June 27 sustained critical injuries and was first admitted [...]
Probe alleged dengue cure claims, says expert
Set up a top-level committee to probe claims of dengue cures, urged an expert yesterday, as this viral disease rampaged through the country sending 19,000 to hospital and nudging the death toll to 50. Claims of cures for dengue are being spread like wildfire through the media, both print and electronic, with in-depth interviews and [...]
Once bitten twice shy? Not in dengue-ridden Lanka
Detachments of the armed forces backed by police and Public Health Inspectors moved from street to street and garden to garden in main towns in the Western Province this week. Their target: the destruction of mosquito breeding grounds. In a three-day campaign in the Colombo city they searched more than 38,000 houses and private lands, [...]
Patient claims Rs 10m+ damages from Oasis Hospital for negligence
A patient claiming damages from The Oasis Hospital, for serious injuries she sustained at the hospital premises, due to the negligence of the hospital authorities, when she visited the hospital for treatment, was heard before Judge Priyantha Fernando at the Colombo District Court this week. The patient, Winifred Aileen Perera, visited The Oasis Hospital on [...]
Highway death: Rider with mystery woman ignored police warning
A police officer told an inquiry into the death of a motorcyclist who had a female pillion rider that the rider ignored warnings and sped along the airport highway and crashed onto a moving car. Sergeant A.B.S. Perera, who was on duty at the Peliyagoda entry point to the airport highway, told Colombo’s City Coroner Ashroff [...]
No cardamom trees on Knuckles Range please
Keep cardamoms out of Knuckles, is the fervent plea not only of a researcher but also of an erstwhile small-time cultivator of this spice. “Disregard the clamour to re-introduce cardamom cultivations within the World Heritage Site of the Knuckles Range forests, for the devastation would far outweigh the benefits,” stresses researcher Pradeep Samarawickrama, who has [...]
Attack on UNP office bodes ill for Uva poll
With the Uva Provincial Council just ahead, the office of an opposition political party in the area has come under attack, police said. Election violence began with an attack on a United National Party (UNP) election campaign office at Hali-Ela on Thursday, just days before the Uva PC is to be dissolved. According to reports [...]
Heavy workload caused sergeant to shoot himself, says wife
The wife of the police sergeant who shot himself in the head inside the Kurunegala police station this week, said her husband regularly complained of being overworked. 50-year-old Priyantha Rohini told the Sunday Times her husband “did not have any family problems, but was exhausted due to his workload at the police station.” Sergeant Jayasundara [...]
Police on the firing line over free-for-all firearms
Colombo’s Grandpass area was a hive of activity as the statue of St Anthony’s was being taken in procession to mark the annual feast last Sunday. There were sporadic sounds of fire crackers going off as the statue was received at every junction. On one of the byroads, Andrewge Watta, four men had gathered and [...]
Authorities’ promises stink as much as garbage mountain
As garbage piles from hillocks to mountain levels, residents in Meethotumulla, Kolonnawa blame authorities for not keeping any of a string of promises to prevent disturbing health hazards. They condemn government plans to keep Kolonnawa as a collection depot from which refuse would be transported to Puttalam for disposal. Meanwhile the Kolonnawa Urban Council Chairman [...]
Ministry to hold talks with professionals on tech and research
The Technology, Research and Atomic Energy Ministry will tomorrow hold a ‘Vidwath Sanganayawa’ or a session with professionals to discuss a proposed five-year plan on developing the areas of technology and research. Technology, Research and Atomic Energy Minister Champika Ranawaka will preside over the sessions to be held at 8.30 a.m. at the Waters Edge. [...]
Beaming in from space on ‘silent killer’ drought
Sri Lanka has been selected as the first regional country along with Cambodia to benefit from space technology in early predictions of drought – and political rivals India and China are co-operating with the United Nations to develop the mechanism. News of the initiative came from a two-day forum on Space Technology Applications for Drought [...]
SL fishermen marooned after release from Indian custody sans their boats
Sri Lanka fishermen apprehended by India and released from custody, are facing a new crisis, as they are finding it difficult to make a living without their boats, which were confiscated by the Indian authorities for poaching in Indian waters. Fisheries Deputy Minister, Sarath Kumara Gunarathna claimed that Indian authorities are not releasing the boats [...]
We’re breeding mosquitoes
Early this week, with garbage bags in hand, teams of army personnel and health officials scoured rail tracks collecting and destroying discarded tins and containers which acted as breeding grounds for dengue mosquitoes. Breeding grounds for mosquitoes included abandoned pillar boxes of the Sri Lanka Post where hordes of mosquito larvae were discovered. The team [...]
Court stops clearing of Aluthgama debris; BASL blasts police
The clearing of debris at the scene of communal unrest in Aluthgama has been stopped on a court order until the Government Analyst (GA) examines the location. Kalutara Additional Magistrate Aisha Abdeen’s ruling came after the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) filed an application seeking court intervention to stop the clearing of the debris [...]