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With more than a million people in 14 districts severely affected by the prolonged drought, it is a wilderness experience not only for the people but also for animals as seen in this picture where buffaloes search in vain even for a little water in the dried up Berivila Wewa at Medirigiriya. Pic by Amila [...]
Land-transfer ban to be eased
New laws prohibiting the transfer of land to foreigners will allow non-citizen children or non-citizen next of kin of Sri Lankans to inherit property through intestacy or gift, a Cabinet paper exclusively obtained by the Sunday Times states. In 2013, the Finance Ministry issued instructions barring all transfers of land to foreigners and throwing a cloud [...]
Rishad again bypasses Treasury, seeks funds from more countries
Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen who recently secured US$ 1 million (Rs 130 million) after a direct call for funding from Pakistan has also approached other foreign governments for money. The Minister has written to Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan requesting funds to resettle displaced Muslims in the Northern Province, authoritative sources said. This [...]
Polls violence: STF deployed in Mahiyangana
The Special Task Force (STF) yesterday moved into Mahiyangana following a request by the Commissioner of Elections after a series of election law violations were reported. A senior police officer said the STF would be assisting the police in the area until the Uva provincial council elections were held on September 20. The STF deployment [...]
Extra security for Lankan interests in Tamil Nadu
Security has been beefed up for Sri Lankan interests in Tamil Nadu in view of continuing protests against an article and cartoon that appeared on the official website of Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence. Sri Lanka’s Deputy High Commissioner Sabrullah Khan who is based in Chennai told the Sunday Times over the telephone that protests had [...]
Diplomatic bag racket: EAM aide arrested
The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) took an office aide in the Security Mail Exchange of the Ministry of External Affairs into custody yesterday in connection with the jewellery that went missing from a diplomatic bag sent from the Sri Lankan embassy in Seoul, South Korea. The Sunday Times reported last week that the CID was [...]
Ebola: Plans to bring back Lankans
Some 200 Sri Lankans working in Western African countries hit by the Ebola virus epidemic are to be evacuated immediately, a senior Foreign Employment Bureau official said yesterday. FEB General Manager H. Batagoda said they were making arrangements to bring back the Sri Lankans, mainly female workers in garment factories, from the four countries which have [...]
Kavikara Maduwa chief will sing no more
The leader of the Kavikara Maduwa or the group who sings the praises of the Sacred Tooth Relic during the Esala Perahera died of a heartv attack on Tuesday. The Kandy Inquirer into Sudden Deaths -Attorney Piyatillke Madumage- returned a verdict of death due to a heart attack on J. Apppuhamy of Aruppola. The duties [...]
To whom External affairs are Foreign when serving the powers that be
JVP MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake: It’s no secret that the External Affairs Minister is someone who bends polices to suit the position of the side he is in. When he was in the UNP, he said we must go beyond 13 to 13 Plus, and now he says 13 is too much and we must [...]
French woman knocked down while giving chase to snatch-thief
A French woman who tried to give chase to a snatch-thief in Anuradhapura town on her bicycle sustained injuries when she was knocked down by an oncoming truck, police said. The 25 year old woman and her friend were on two push-cycles when she noticed that her colleague’s bag attached to the rear of the [...]
‘Photo Focus’ exposures bear fruit
Exposures in the ‘Photo Focus’ on two different occasions have recently borne results. One was the exposure on June 22nd of the dilapidated bridge at Beruwala, where the villagers of Kadolana Doova in Moragalla, had to risk their lives daily travelling across a broken bridge over a crocodile infested river which collapsed while a family [...]
Magistrate’s court wants report on archaeology site following arrests
A court has ordered a report be submitted by the Archaeology Department over an incident where a UNP Pradeshiya Sabha member and four others were arrested while they were allegedly attempting to unearth treasure at an archaeology site.The suspects including the local council politician Mahinda Wijenayake who were arrested on August 3 were granted bail [...]
Stars of the Esala Perahera have no place to bathe
The lack of a proper bathing space for the elephants that take part in the Kandy Esala Perahera still remains a shortcoming.Since the famous Katugastota elephant bathing place went into disuse after the flooding of Polgolla Dam under the Mahaweli project, no proper bathing place for elephants has been made available. This is the unfortunate [...]
Hospitals, airports, on Ebola alert as WHO declares emergency
All hospitals have been issued detailed instructions on how to deal with a patient suspected of having the dreaded Ebola virus, with Sri Lanka on high alert to minimise chances of the virus entering the country as the World Health Organisation declared aglobal state of emergency. “The disease is moving faster than we can control [...]
Mostly smiles but a few pouts as Uva nominations close
Public meetings and house-to-house campaigns have got off at steady pace for the Uva Provincial Council elections, with some candidates celebrating new alliances and others disappointed at the poor yields from decisions to switch parties. A total of 617 candidates handed in nominations by Wednesday’s closing date and prepred themselves for the elections fixed forSeptember [...]
New twist in school teacher kneeling episode: Open verdict on witness’ death
The Judicial Medical Officer of Chilaw returned an open verdict on the death of a witness in the case where an ex – Provincial Council Member ordered a school teacher to kneel down. H.M Punyasena Bandara, the man who gave crucial evidence in the teacher’s court case was found dead in a well on August [...]
Rodney Perera appointed ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg, EU
External Affairs Ministry Additional Secretary Rodney Perera has been appointed Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union. He will be replacing Ambassador P.M. Amza, who held a farewell reception last month. A former spokesman for the Ministry, Mr Perera has held posts in its bilateral and political, multilateral and UN, economic and [...]
Eminent Buddhist scholar, diplomat Guruge passes away
Eminent Buddhist Scholar, UNESCO ambassador, diplomat, civil service officer and author, Dr Ananda Guruge passed away in the United States on Wednesday (6). Dr Guruge, 85, passed away while on a flight home to Los Angeles, after delivering a lecture in Australia. A past student of Dharmaraja College, Kandy, Dr Guruge obtained his Bachelors 1st [...]
Audit officer who probed baby jumbo racket transferred
The auditors’ union, in the Auditor General’s Department, last Friday held discussions with Auditor General (AG) H.A.S. Samaraweera regarding the transfer of an audit officer, rumoured to be politically motivated. Last July, Deputy Auditor General A.H.M.Lalith Ambanwala held an audit query calling for information on illegally wild-caught baby elephants. His query investigated four elephant registration [...]
Police seek info on occupants in some areas in Colombo
Forms seeking information about the occupants of households have been distributed in some areas of Colombo on the instructions of Police Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Gamini Maturata. The forms are being circulated with the objective of updating records stored in the computers of the Community Policing Division, DIG Maturata, who is in charge of Colombo, [...]
BASL President without security despite magisterial order on Friday to provide same
Sri Lanka Bar Association (BASL) President Upul Jayasuriya said yesterday that he had not been provided police protection despite the magisterial order made on Friday to do so. Colombo Fort Chief Magistrate, Gihan Pilapitiya on Friday directed Colombo Central SSP Palitha Siriwardena to provide security to Mr Jayasuriya until August 11, the date for the [...]
Drip-feed of information irritates Colombo
A sight of a water bowser made everyone run after it in the hope of fetching a bucket or two of water. Where there was a well, there were hundreds of males, females and children who flocked to the location day in and out continuously for two or three days to collect some water needed [...]
UNP vilifies Govt. for its “humiliating apology” to Indian PM
The United National Party (UNP) yesterday criticised the manner in which Sri Lanka offered a “humiliating apology” to the Indian Prime Minister over a Defence Ministry website publication of what India claims is derogatory. “The slip-up is emblematic of the pathetic state of affairs in handling Sri Lanka’s foreign relations. It also offered valuable insight [...]
Three names removed from terror financing list
The Government has removed the names of three individuals from a 39-page list of designated persons, groups and entities suspected of financing terrorism. The list was compiled and issued in March this year in terms of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1373 which sets out guidelines to combat terrorism financing. The Defence Secretary [...]
BOI goes hi-tech and broadens facilities to attract investors
The government has set a target of US dollars 2.5 billion as foreign direct investment for the Board of Investment (BOI) by the end of the year, but so far only a sum of US dollars 780 million has been invested, a senior official of the Board said. BOI Director General E.A.J. Edirisinghe told the [...]
Restraining order lifted; GMOA functional
The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) has resumed functions after a restraining order imposed on its Executive Committee members was lifted on Wednesday by the Mount Lavinia District Court.Mount Lavinia District Judge Gihan Ranawaka held that the injunction order was being lifted as there were no grounds to prove that the Ex-Co members had acted [...]
Event for families of disappeared Northerners disrupted
When an unruly group of monks and men gate-crashed an event for families of the disappeared in the North, held last Monday, one of the attendees, Rani (not her real name), a mother from Mannar, was so afraid she thought the intruders might assault her. The event was held at the Centre for Society and [...]
How Kadirgamar made Lanka proud at UNHRC
Mr. KADIRGAMAR (Sri Lanka) said his country had good reason to be proud of its recent achievements in the field of human rights. The changes that had taken place over the previous six months were a triumph not only for all its citizens, but also for the lofty values and principles for which the Commission [...]
Water reserves now critical at just 15 p.c. in north and east
Extreme hardship is setting in for the country’s north and east with the area’s total water resources now only 15 per cent full, and water reserves at Ampara now at a critical level of 9 per cent and the major tanks in Trincomalee district nine-tenths empty. The 11 major tanks in Anuradhapura are four-fifths empty. [...]
Talking millet, shrimp and mango
It was not the birds and the bees that were vigorously discussed but millet, shrimp and mango when researchers, policy-makers and the industry exchanged experiences and findings and deliberated on policy issues in Colombo recently. The task of the workshop jointly organised by three research teams at the Taj Samudra Hotel was onerous but at the [...]
State Institutions wallow inmassive losses fraught with fraud
The interim report of the Committee On Public Enterprises (COPE) presented to Parliament on Tuesday, exposed huge financial losses incurred by State institutions. Some of the biggest losses were incurred by the debt-ridden Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) with an estimated loss of Rs 8.3 billion on the procurement of petroleum products during the period 01.06.2011 [...]
Emergency and Accident Trauma Centre to open in Batticaloa by August
A support group to improve health services in Sri Lanka has launched a project to build a modern Emergency and Accident Trauma Centre at the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital. The project titled Batticaloa Emergency and Accident Project (BEAP), is due to be completed by August 2016, by the Foundation Supporting a National Trauma Service in Sri [...]
Army builds fully equipped hospital in S. Sudan
The Sri Lanka Army has built a hospital in South Sudan, to extend its contribution towards the United Nations Peace Keeping Mission. The hospital, SRIMED is located in Bor, South Sudan, with 66 personnel headed by Commanding Officer Lt Col Saveen Semage, while Lt Col Sherman Fernando, Lt Col Percy Dias, Lt Col Chevindra Bopitiya [...]
Robbers strike lightning conductors for rare metal
Organised gangs have struck old lightning conductors in search of copper plates that they believe turn into a valuable metal over the years, the Sunday times learns, although many officials say there is no scientific basis for this theory. Disaster Management Centre Director General (Retd) Major Gen. L.B.R. Mark said it is believed that these [...]
Minister appoints committee to review Medicinal Drug imports draft Bill
A high-level committee has been appointed by the Health Minister to review the controversial draft Bill for the appointment of a national authority to regulate the import of medicinal drugs and devices. Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena presented this Bill to the Cabinet in March, but there were widespread protests by pharmacologists and health action groups [...]
