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Think of famous Egyptian royalty such as Cleopatra or Nefertiti or even African chieftains and what comes to mind is their regal bearing linked closely to the ornate and elegant head ornaments they wore. What of Sri Lanka? Harnessing his love for all that is reptilian, well-known herpetologist, Anslem de Silva, has more recently ventured not [...]
Police traffic blitz panned by critics
Scepticism greeted plans to have almost the entire police force geared to fight traffic offences, with many claiming the scheme was a revenue-raiser and open to large-scale corruption and questioning why equal resources were not given to fighting crime. The government defended the move, saying it would help to reduce the traffic accidents and congestion. [...]
Schoolgirl (13) sexually abused in Jaffna
Nearly one month after the rape in Punkudutheevu, a 13-year-old schoolgirl was sexually abused by a man at Atchuveli in Jaffna on Friday, Police said. They said they arrested a suspect on the day of the incident. As the Special Task Force (STF) continued to maintain order in Jaffna, following the recent unrest, two more persons [...]
‘Flu’ claims 8 including 6 pregnant women; Lanka on AH1N1 alert
The death of eight persons including six pregnant women afflicted by the seasonal flu in the last two months has put Sri Lanka’s health system on alert, calling on all pregnant mothers to seek immediate medical treatment when showing signs of a mild temperature or cough. The dead include one each from Galle, Batticaloa, Kalubowila, [...]
Smiling and singing in the rain
The heat wave seems to be over with the south-west monsoon setting in. But it was not all good news for these schoolgirls of Pothuwila Navodya Vidyalaya in Payagala. They were staging a colourful annual school pageant in the afterglow of Poson when the showers cast a cloud over their pomp and pageantry. Pic by [...]
Glyphosate ban mired in confusion
With most experts claiming that glyphosate is one of the root causes of the devastating kidney disease epidemic which has caused more than 20,000 deaths in recent years, two Cabinet ministers contradicted each other this week on the glyphosate “ban”. Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake insisted that all imports were stopped forthwith while Agriculture Minister Duminda [...]
Hambantota port loan: China defends hike in interest rate
Loans obtained from China under commercial terms may explain why Sri Lanka paid a higher interest rate to borrow US$ 307 million for the Hambantota Port project’s first stage. China’s state media on Thursday cited an unnamed “leading financial expert” in Sri Lanka as saying Colombo had sought commercial loans. This was the choice Sri Lanka [...]
Rupee going down, prices of imported items up
The depreciation of the rupee in relation to the US dollar will increase prices of imported consumer items.The large proportion of the cost increases in imports is likely to be directly added to the prices of the products, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Import Section Chief Dinesh de Silva told the Sunday Times. The rupee which [...]
Alleged war crimes: Domestic probe after talks with all
A final decision on an independent mechanism to address issues of missing persons and alleged violations of human rights and humanitarian law will be taken after discussions with all concerned, including civil society and victims, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said. All international partners, including the United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, [...]
Speed guns return to nab errant motorists
Police want to reintroduce “speed guns’ to detect motorists exceeding speed limits, a senior Police official said.This comes after a Supreme Court ruling that signs giving speed limits should be placed on roads in a manner that motorists are aware of speed limits in that area. The Police are consulting the Attorney General on the [...]
All’s not well at Negombo Hospital
Urgent calls are being made for the crisis-hit Negombo Hospital, now under provincial administration, to be taken over immediately by Sri Lanka’s main Health Ministry after an alert on the safety of its main building saw patients being evacuated quickly. In a related move, trade unions were also considering more drastic steps at the hospital [...]
Hospital debacle was coming, says official
Officials suspected that a Korean-aided hospital reconstruction project was doomed to failure, an expert said in the wake of last week’s emergency evacuation of the main block of Negombo Hospital. An assessment by the Health Ministry revealed that the seven-storey building was unsafe and the evacuation was carried out hastily on Saturday last week, the [...]
Hounds to humans ratio rises, with rabies risk
The dog population has risen to one animal for every 6.7 humans, and a rise in rabies this year makes it necessary to carry out widespread vaccination and sterilisation, health authorities said. There are about 3 million dogs in the country, a fifth of them without owners, Dr Mizaya Cader, Senior Registrar in Community Medicine [...]
Pakistan Army Chief here on invitation of SL Army Commander
Pakistan Chief of Army Staff, General Raheel Sharif was welcomed with full military honours by Army Commander, Lt General Chrishanthe De Silva, when he visited Army Headquarters yesterday morning. General Sharif was later introduced to the Chief of Staff, Major General Jagath Dias, Deputy Chief of Staff, Major General Mahinda Ambanpola and other Principal Staff Officers. [...]
Bank gave Rs. 1 b in political loans; nothing recovered
A state-owned bank allegedly disbursed loans amounting to more than Rs. 1 billion due to political influence without proper collateral and had failed to recover the funds, a probe by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) has revealed. The investigations were carried out on the Lankaputhra Development Bank Limited, a licensed specialised bank fully owned [...]
From solid waste to energy
Sri Lanka is on path to face a severe crisis in the near future due to the lack of a comprehensive plan to address the mounting garbage issue currently plaguing many of the municipalities. The increasing population is rapidly generating more solid waste than ever before that our little island is unable to absorb through [...]
Stamp out drug menace in North, President tells relevant officials
President Maithripala Sirisena ordered the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board (NDDCB) to take immediate measures and stamp out the drug menace in the North. The President has directed the NDDCB to work in coordination with the Northern Provincial Council (NPC), a senior official of the Board Dr.Chamira Nilanga Samarasingha, NDDCB Chairman told the Sunday Times. A [...]
FCID illegal, therefore whole process not lawful, say counsel
Continuing submissions in the fundamental rights applications filed by former Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa and three others, counsel for the petitioners argued that since the setting up of the Financial Crimes Investigation Department (FCID) has been illegal, therefore the whole process including the arrests were illegal. Former Economic Development Ministry Secretary Dr.Nihal Jayathilake, former [...]
Probe into alleged medical negligence at private hospital
The Private Health Services Regulatory Council (PHSRC) and police are investigating a complaint of alleged medical negligence filed against a private hospital in Colombo, the Sunday Times learns. The complaint is with regard to a 79-year-old man who allegedly died after undergoing a barium enema on January 14 during which he is alleged to have [...]
Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Disappearances final report by Aug.15
The Government appointed Commission that probed the disappearances of persons, is to hand over its final report to President Maithripala Sirisena by August 15, ahead of the September session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva. Commission Chairman Maxwell Paranagama told the Sunday Times that they are currently finalising the report with two [...]
DPF, NUW, UPF come together as Tamil Progressive Alliance
With General elections around the corner, three Tamil political parties united this week to launch a new alliance called the ‘Tamil Progressive Alliance’ (TPA), to fight for the political rights of the upcountry people and those living outside the Northern and Eastern Provinces. Democratic People’s Front leader Mano Ganesan was elected leader of the alliance [...]
Vesak at the UN
Sri Lanka and Thailand co-sponsored the Veask Day celebrations at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Sri Lanka Permanent representative Dr. Rohan Perera co-chaired the event with Thailand’s envoy Virachai Plasai. Also present on the podium was Ambassador Lyutha Al-Mughairy, Acting President of the UN General Assembly. Vesak is observed at the UN following [...]
National Archives lifts its periodic veil
The Department of National Archives has declassified a significant number of reports of inquiry commissions, presidential commissions and committees– chief among them being the Bracegirdle report of 1937 and two Criminal Justice Commission reports, one on the 1971 insurgency and the other on foreign exchange offences. National Archives Director, Dr Saroja Wettasinghe said the reports [...]
A tale of two citizenships, and a question of loyalty
UPFA MP Dinesh Gunawardena questioned Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe regarding the appointment of the Governor of the Central Bank. Following are excerpts of the speeches made by Mr. Wickremesinghe and Mr. Gunawardena It is a matter of great regret that no effective action has been taken, either by the Government or by this House, for more [...]
Southwest monsoon to bring relief from heat and humidity
Meteorology Department (Met) officials say that temperatures should decrease but humidity will remain fairly high at 70%-90% in the forthcoming weeks. Met Dept Director General L. Chandrapala said Anuradhapura would experience a daytime low humidity of 60% during the southwest monsoon season, while Kandy’s daytime humidity would usually range from 70%-79%. “Southwest monsoon rains are [...]
No-faith motion against PM not in the coming week
The no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will not be taken up during the coming week’s Parliament sittings, the Sunday Times learns. The motion was handed over to the Secretary General of Parliament on Friday. The motion signed by 112 MPs would be first translated into Tamil and English and placed in the Order Book [...]
Four dead, two injured in trishaw-mobike-bus collision
Four people were killed and two injured yesterday when a trishaw, a motorcycle and a bus collided on the Ratnapura-Colombo Road in Eheliyagoda, Police said. A trishaw, on a hire from Ratnapura to Avissawella first collided with a motorbike coming from the opposite direction and overturned, when it was hit by an oncoming bus. According to [...]
Rupees and Cents: Finding out what Sri Lanka MPs are worth
Many people will be surprised to know that they are entitled to request and scrutinise their MPs’asset declarations. We have tested the system thoroughly and it works. Here’s all you need to know. Who has to declare their assets? An annual disclosure must be made by the President, MPs, Judges, Board and staff officers of [...]
