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Home » NewsBeg your pardon, what about our husbands?
Five Indians who were sentenced to death by the Colombo High Court were pardoned by the President at the request of the Indian Prime Minister and sent back to India this week. Three Sri Lankans who were also sentenced to death in this case are still in jail. Their wives, family members and fishermen are [...]
Amid polls fever, over hundred police officers transferred
More than one hundred police officers, including officers in charge of stations, were suddenly moved out ahead of nominations for the January 8 presidential election – while questions were being raised as to who transferred them. Police spokesperson Ajith Rohana said the officers, including 85 OICs, were being moved out but insisted no permission was [...]
Govt. may consider dissolution if there is mass defection
Government seniors were this week considering the possible early dissolution of Parliament, the Sunday Times learns. Consultations at the highest levels were held on the pros and cons of dissolving Parliament. This comes against the backdrop of the revolt by a section of ruling UPFA Ministers and MPs who have opted to back the opposition’s [...]
Budget vote amid symbolic crossovers tomorrow
With the crucial vote on the Third Reading of the Budget set for tomorrow, defectors of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party are set to make a symbolic crossover to opposition to benches. Six members of the SLFP announced on Friday they were crossing over to the opposition. A CWC member of the UPFA also [...]
15m registered voters for polls
More than 15 million voters will be eligible to vote at the Presidential election on January 8, a senior official of the Elections Department said yesterday. According to the latest figures compiled this week 15,044,490 people have been registered as voters — 292,322 more than the number of voters registered in 2013. At the last Presidential [...]
Sirisena’s security, vehicles withdrawn
The security provided to the three Cabinet Ministers and the Deputy Minister who left the Government on Friday has been withdrawn and they have been provided with the security that is accorded to MPs, Police spokesman Ajith Rohana said yesterday. They include former Health Minister and the ruling SLFP’s former General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena who will [...]
Pope’s visit: Church depends on God
Despite the possibility of violence, the Catholic Church is relying on faith in God and government assurances that the upcoming presidential election will not interfere with the scheduled visit of Pope Francis in January, a spokesman said yesterday. The presidential election has been fixed for January 8 – five days ahead of the Pope’s visit. The [...]
Kasippu use rising but Excise says moonshine
With rising costs putting hard liquor beyond their reach, many drinkers are turning in large numbers to kasippu, brewed by about 5,000 producers nationwide and estimated to comprise about 60 per cent of the total alcohol market. Police have arrested nearly 70,000 people and seized more than 1.5 million litres of illicit brew in raids on [...]
Jaffna’s youth hit the bottle
More than 15,000 litres of alcohol are consumed daily in the former war-torn district of Jaffna – a dramatic increase in liquor consumption patterns, statistics from the Excise Department reveal. Figures show some 6 million litres of arrack and beer and 5m litres of toddy were consumed last year in Jaffna district, which has a [...]
Gold for drugs
A three-wheeler parks outside a boys’ school in Jaffna almost every day, seemingly to pick up pupils and take them home. After school closes, some students enter the vehicle and remain inside for some time. When they climb out and walk away their pockets are filled with packets of a mix of cannabis and arecanut. [...]
Nuclear war fallout in South Asia: Is Sri Lanka ready?
India and Pakistan are in a race to expand their nuclear arsenal. Both countries test-fired nuclear-capable ballistic missiles this month, amidst recent tensions along the Line of Control (Loc) dividing the Indian and Pakistani parts of Jammu and Kashmir. A study by the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) has for the first time [...]
Schools for scandal
No toilets, no water, crumbling furniture and parents foot government bills. Education levels suffer while the Minister talks of a three-year plan. Aanya Wipulasena reports on the mess in our schools Nine-year-old Nethmi Sathsarani* does not like to go to school on rainy days because its tile roof leaks, soaking her books and bag. She [...]
A first at Kalubowila Hospital
Married for 10 long years, with her biological clock ticking, she and her husband longed to have a baby. It was to the pioneering Professorial Obstetrics and Gynaecology Unit of the Colombo South (Kalubowila) Teaching Hospital that they came, seeking help. The ‘time’ was right. For, although unfortunately there would be no baby for 41-year-old [...]
Thousands made happy on President’s birthday
President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s birthday last week was resonant with echoes of ancient tradition and history. On the morning of the President’s 69th birthday last Tuesday, a pandal bearing the words “Lovan hamuwe rata bebalewu ape kalaye rajathumani obata chiran jayathu”’ (“Long live the king of our times, who brought international fame to the country”) appeared [...]
Election violence and violation of election laws
With the announcement of the presidential election, incidents of violence and violation of election laws are already being reported. A former UNP Pradeshiya Sabha member was shot and wounded by an unidentified gunman in the Maggona area in Beruwala on Friday (21) night. Our pictures show police personnel inspecting the site where an unidentified gunman [...]
No arrests over last week’s museum break-in
No arrests have been made in connection with the break-in at the Colombo museum last week. This follows the break-in in 2012 that made headlines. The Colombo Crime Division (CCD) and the Cinnamon Gardens Police launched an investigation after it was found that robbers had broken the door lock to enter a room on the [...]
Tamils to call on Britain to lift ban on LTTE
The pro-eelam Tamil lobby is to call on Britain to lift its ban on the LTTE when the diaspora prepares for a major show of strength in London next Thursday to commemorate “Heroes Day” to coincide with the birthday of the late Velupillai Prabhakaran.Tamil sources said they expect the call to be backed by some [...]
Lalith Athulathmudali commemoration today
The commemoration of late Lalith Athulathmudali is due to take place today at the Booker Hall at No. 10, Hedges Court, off Deans Road, Colombo 10 at 5.30 p.m. A sermon under the theme of ‘A Sri Lanka free of an Executive Presidency’ will be delivered by Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera, Chief incumbent of the [...]
Mayors meet
Mayor of Colombo A. J. M. Muzammil took part in the Asian Mayors Assembly held at the Colombo Municipal Council in the Town Hall on Friday (21). Among the invitees were the Mayor of Navi Mumbai Sagar Naik, and delegates from Bangladesh, China, Indonesia and many other courtiers. Pic by Nilan Maligaspe
Protests in Jaffna against Presidential pardon excluding local fishermen
The fishing community yesterday staged a protest in Jaffna town demanding a Presidential pardon for three fishermen convicted for smuggling drugs from India. The protest came three days after President Mahinda Rajapaksa pardoned five Indian nationals who were convicted of the same offence. The protestors carried placards and chanted slogans and marched to the office of [...]
Modi thanks Rajapaksa for pardoning Indian drug convicts
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi telephoned President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Thursday night to thank him for pardoning the five Indian fishermen who had been found guilty of trafficking in drugs to Sri Lanka and given a death sentence by the Colombo High Court. The Delhi-Colombo telephone call was the second between the two leaders. The [...]
Govt. split could impact on foreign investment
While Sri Lanka’s business community reacted cautiously to Friday’s stunning split in Government ranks, economists, speaking mostly off the record, said political stability has become an issue for foreign investors while academia and chambers now have an opportunity to speak about the ‘real’ economic statistics. “The people cannot be fooled by rosy statistics all the [...]
Tamils to call on Britain to lift ban on LTTE
The pro-eelam Tamil lobby is to call on Britain to lift its ban on the LTTE when the diaspora prepares for a major show of strength in London next Thursday to commemorate “Heroes Day” to coincide with the birthday of the late Velupillai Prabhakaran.Tamil sources said they expect the call to be backed by some [...]
Press Institute urges President to enact RTI
The Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) on Friday addressed a letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa raising concerns regarding freedom of information and the necessity for enactment of the Right To Information (RTI) in Sri Lanka in the background of the Eighteenth Summit of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to be held in [...]
No arrests over last week’s museum break-in
No arrests have been made in connection with the break-in at the Colombo museum last week. This follows the break-in in 2012 that made headlines. The Colombo Crime Division (CCD) and the Cinnamon Gardens Police launched an investigation after it was found that robbers had broken the door lock to enter a room on the [...]
NBRO assessing landslide threat to over 200 schools islandwide
Over 200 schools in 10 districts are being evaluated by the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) to ascertain whether the school locations are prone to landslides while landslide mitigation in 18 schools in Kandy District is to commence in January next year. NBRO Landslides Division Head R.M.S.Bandara said the schools are located in Badulla, Kandy, [...]
Parliamentarians promise to uphold child rights
Sri Lankan Parliamentarians, from all political parties, launched the country’s first ever Parliamentary Caucus for Children, a news release from the UNICEF said. The launch was to mark the 25th anniversary celebrations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), ratified by Sri Lanka in 1991. The launch took place at an event [...]
Learning the language of the economic giant
Sri Lankan youth, especially those from the rural areas, will have the opportunity to learn the Chinese language through the regional National Youth Service Council Training Centres. Cabinet approval has now been granted for the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Youth Development, entered into by the National Youth Services Council (NYSC) with [...]
Preventing term test paper leaks: Union pooh-poohs measures taken
The steps taken by the Western Province Department of Education to prevent term test paper leaks came in for criticism last week by trade unions. The Department had earlier decided that the Principals of schools within the Province had to present themselves to the Divisional Secretariat office each day, to take charge of the test [...]
Beware the wasps!
A group of foreign students visit Sigiriya as a part of a familiarisation tour of Sri Lanka organised by the Ministry of Higher Education
Insurance cover next year for students in State schools
All students in State-run schools will be given health insurance cover from next year, Education Services Minister Duminda Dissanayake said. He said together with Sri Lanka Insurance the Ministry will offer students an insurance policy covering many areas. He added that students will have to pay Rs. 250 annually to maintain the insurance cover. “Even [...]
Presidential Scholarship award holders shown Lanka’s beauty and rich heritage on inaugural country trip
As a part of a familiarisation tour of Sri Lanka’s rich cultural and natural diversity among foreign students, the Higher Education Ministry organised its first country trip for the Presidential Scholarship award holders. Participating in this four-tour were 45 foreign students from countries such as Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Bhutan, Afghanistan, India, Palestine, South Africa, Bangladesh, [...]
Australia Awards for 35 Lankans to undertake post-graduate studies
Thirty five Sri Lankans have been offered Australia Awards to undertake post-graduate degrees at Australian universities in 2015. The 35 Australia Awards are valued at approximately Aus. $ six million, representing a significant component of the Australian aid program to Sri Lanka, the Australian High Commission said in a news release. “Australia has been a [...]
Mahindodaya labs ready and must be opened: CP Governor
A number of ‘Mahindodaya Vidyagara’ in the Central Province, complete with equipment installed, are ready to be opened, but the principals of these institutions are waiting for a person of their choice to declare them open, Central Province Governor Tikiri Kobbekaduwa disclosed. “They must be opened for the use of the students and that is why they have been granted [...]
