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Visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stirring the traditional pot of milk for a housewarming ceremony to declare open hundreds of houses built at Ariyalai in Jaffna with Indian assistance. This was one of the highlights of his visit to Jaffna yesterday – the first ever by an Indian leader. Pic by Indika Handuwela
UPFA wants constitutional and electoral reforms in one go
The United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) decided last night that both constitutional and electoral reforms should be presented together in Parliament. The unanimous decision came at a meeting chaired by President Maithripala Sirisena. It was held to discuss the 19th Amendment to the Constitution circulated by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at Thursday’s meeting of the [...]
Bond issue: Probe begins amid growing demand for CB Governor to step down
Three lawyers nominated by the United National Party (UNP) began their investigations this week on a controversial Treasury bond issue that has rocked the ruling party as demands grew this week for under-fire Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran to quit or ‘take leave of absence’ while the probe was pending. The Governor is being investigated [...]
Govt. seeks to extend law that it once opposed
Parliament will debate on Tuesday a notification by Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe that seeks to extend for two more years a controversial law which was opposed by the ruling UNP when it was in opposition. The law allows the Police to detain for up to 48 hours persons arrested without a warrant on charges of [...]
Wide powers for commission; interim report in two months
Corruption, fraud, and misuse or abuse of power in the past five years are among subjects for probe by a Presidential Commission which will present an interim report in two months and a final report within a year, according to a gazette notification issued this week. The Commission’s Chairman, Supreme Court Justice Priyasath Dep told [...]
CC interest rate ceiling from April 1
Interest rates on lending through credit cards will carry a ceiling of eight per cent more than the market rate in contrast to the present 24 per cent, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said yesterday. This directive will be given in one of the three circulars to give effect to proposals announced in the interim budget on [...]
Promises of greener pastures for migrant workers with shake up on the cards
A number of Lankan officials attached to West Asian embassies, consular offices and safe houses are to be recalled and disciplinary action is to be taken against corrupt officers at the Foreign Employment Bureau (FEB) and fraudulent job agents in and around Colombo by the Ministries of External Affairs and Foreign Employment to resolve migrant [...]
New support staff for SL missions abroad to aid expat workers
A fresh recruitment drive for some 100-plus Labour attaches and support staff for the country’s overseas missions is to be launched tomorrow, a senior official of the Ministry of Foreign Employment said yesterday. Screening of the new cadre, drawn mainly from the Labour & Foreign Employment Ministry and the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment [...]
Their children are in limbo when doctors are transferred
The Govt. Medical Officer’s Association (GMOA) alleges the State has failed to resolve the admission of their children to State-run schools during their transfers. The GMOA said, when Medical officers are transferred, their children are victimised as they are deprived of admission to State-run schools, even though schools allocate places for children of govt. servants when [...]
“Outstanding” Polls Chief ensures peaceful process for “Impressive” election: C’wealth observer group
The conduct of Sri Lanka’s presidential election on January 8 was “impressive”, and the overall voter turnout of 81.52% is an example for other Commonwealth countries, says the Commonwealth Observer Group’s final report released on Friday. It commends election officials for having approached their duties with “diligence and dedication”. The Office of the Commissioner of [...]
43 Indian fishermen refuse to go back without their boats
Half the number of 86 Indian fishermen whose release were ordered by President Maithripala Sirisena earlier this week have turned down the amnesty and are refusing to leave the country unless their boats are returned to them, a senior Navy official said yesterday. He said 43 fishermen who were being detained in Jaffna along with [...]
Axe on Shasheendra’s Basnayake Nilame post
A directive issued by the previous government to enable Sasheendra Rajapaksa to continue to hold the post of Basnayake Nilame of Ruhunu Maha Katharagama Devalaya after he was elected as the Uva Province Chief Minister has been revoked. Public Administration and Buddha Sasana Minister Karu Jayasuriya through a Gazette notification revoked the directive and another [...]
Helmets: Alternative design to head off robberies
With the number of snatch-and-run bank robberies by criminals wearing full-face helmets increasing, manufacturers here have been asked to design a head protector that gives maximum protection to riders but also enables the security officers to identify criminalsthe wearers. Motorcyclists had expressed concern over a recent ban on the full-face helmet and this had prompted the [...]
Man, 70, dies of fall off railway platform
A 70-year-old man fell off the Maradana railway station platform and died of related injuries, the Coroner’s court was told this week. The victim, Riyanzie Stellsar, a security guard in Dematagoda, was rushed to the National Hospital Colombo and died the following morning. His wife, Shanthi Stellsar, 50, told the Coroner’s court she had no suspicions [...]
Police probe skeletal find in Panadura backyard
Panadura Police are investigating yesterday’s find of the skeletal remains of two women aged 70 and 72, in the backyard of a home in Uwankelle, Panadura. The discovery was made by a relative of the occupants visiting the home after a two-year stint overseas. Forensic tests are being carried out to determine the cause of [...]
Modi’s eventful, whirlwind visit signals bilateral relations in urgent transition
Within the less-than-48 hours that Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi spent on his first official visit to Sri Lanka, the Premier had a packed itinerary, during which he held bilateral talks, addressed Parliament, as well as visited Jaffna, Talaimannar and Anuradhapura. Premier Modi arrived in Colombo in the early hours of Friday, on the [...]
Questions loom large over unbuilt Helmut Kohl maternity hospital
Ten years have passed since a foundation stone was laid to build the Helmut Kohl maternity hospital in Galle, but since then the site has turned into a breeding ground for mosquitoes, a group of concerned environmentalists complained. The Karapitiya Environment and Community Development Society charged that although Rs. 680 million was donated towards this project, [...]
Vegetables in price soup
With farmers, traders and even consumers complaining about major fluctuations in vegetable prices, the Government is working out a new plan to fix vegetable prices. Officials of the Food Security Ministry which is handling the subject of agriculture said a chairperson responsible to the Government would be appointed to streamline economic centres set up by [...]
Modi outreaches with his hands and heart on historic visit
Sri Lanka and India agreed to take forward several bilateral initiatives at official/expert level in ocean economy, electricity grid connectivity, joint development of the upper Oil Tank Farms in Trincomalee, recommencement of ferry services and the establishment of the Ramayana trail in Sri Lanka and the Buddhist circuit in India, to reinvigorate tourism and people [...]
No agreement for compensation due to accidental radiation, IAEA safeguards to be maintained
It was seen as the most significant bilateral agreement signed during President Maithripala Sirisena’s bilateral visit to New Delhi in February. Some Indian analysts even spun it as a preemption of Chinese ambitions in Sri Lanka. But neither India nor Sri Lanka released the full contents of their deal on “Cooperation on the Peaceful Uses [...]
The attempted great highway robbery
Sri Lanka’s voters at the January 8 presidential election were not mistaken. They voted “no” to spending billions of rupees on grandiose and economically unproductive highway development, so expensive and so poorly planned that it would have throttled the country’s hope of escaping the middle income trap. The 197 km Northern Expressway Project (NEP) was [...]
Magistrate questions DIG how police bail was given to accused
Colombo Fort Magistrate Thilina Gamage on Friday called for a report from Colombo DIG Gamini Mathurata how police bail was granted to a neuro-surgeon who was accused of assaulting and injuring a guest at an event in a five star hotel in Colombo. The Magistrate said the Police had no authority to grant police bail [...]
CEB deposits: FCID tells court leasing company paid Rs. 76 m to two agents
The People’s Leasing Company paid Rs. 76.1 million in commission to two ‘agents’ to entice the Ceylon Electricity Board to deposit its Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and pension fund in the company, investigations by the newly setup Finance Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) have revealed. The FCID on Thursday filed a report in the Colombo Magistrate [...]
Rs. 1.5 m. almost approved to build retaining wall at bogus address
A massive fraud was averted by the Kandy Municipal Council (KMC) Opposition Leader Neranjan Wijeyaratne at the Finance Committee stage of a KMC meeting. Twenty one members of the KMC were allegedly taken for a ride by an official of the Council. It is alleged that this officer was seeking an estimated Rs. 1, 465,500 [...]
Peace symbol cause of murder
A man and his son were yesterday taken into custody in connection with the killing of their neighbour, following a dispute over a pigeon in Medigama, Weligama, police said. According to police, the two adult males of the same neighbourhood had brawled, consequent to a fight their sons had over a pigeon. The victim, A. [...]
Search on for diddling con woman
A hunt is on for a woman confidence trickster who is alleged to have defrauded millions of rupees from her unsuspecting clients the latest being a doctor who had arrived from the United Kingdom, police said. They said that there are several complaints against the woman who operates mainly in up market hotels, gaming houses and [...]
Where abuse ends and healing begins
A dream has become a reality and the simple but important dream was to set up a place where “abuse ends and healing begins” for all those traumatised and victimised children out there. It was on the humid morning of last Monday that ‘Lama Piyasa’ was ceremonially opened at the Ragama Rehabilitation Hospital amidst a [...]
Today is judgment day for Dialog League Rugby 2015
At stake is the prestigious league title when rejuvenated Kandy SC meets a refreshed Navy SC outfit at Nittawela today. Kandy-Navy matches, in recent times, have been the ultimate test of rugby supremacy. No quarter is asked or given; neither team will budge an inch. The recently worked off Borneo Sevens has taken a toll, with [...]
Cops try to muscle in on Excise functions
Enforcement officers of the Excise Department have protested over covert moves to allow the police to share some of their work in regard to the monitoring and inspection of licensees of alcohol outlets in the country. The Excise men fear that this move would leave its 1000-strong cadre in limbo with no real duties and therefore [...]
