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Police probing the attack on supporters of Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayaka at Kotahena on Friday are looking into two possible motives — a political attack or rivalry among underworld gangs, a senior police officer said. Twenty suspects were taken in for questioning soon after the attack, which was the worst act of violence in the current [...]
Italian jobs scam: Lanka faces blacklisting
Italy has threatened to blacklist Sri Lanka in the job market following a scandal involving the alleged sale of 480 officially sanctioned employment visas to private individuals at a staggering Rs. 500 million or more, senior officials and industry sources said yesterday. Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) Additional General Manager Mangala Randeniya- told [...]
Joint South Asian battle against narcotics, human smuggling
Sri Lanka will from next month be part of a new regional grouping to share intelligence to prevent drug trafficking, human smuggling and organised crime, a senior official said yesterday. National Dangerous Drugs Control Board Chairman Nilanga Samarasinghe told the Sunday Times the groundwork for this had been laid and later this month, the leaders of [...]
Fuel prices may be reduced again within three monthsBy Damith Wickremasekara
Fuel prices are likely to be reduced further within the next three months with world prices going down and Sri Lanka now being able to buy oil directly from Iran, following the lifting of sanctions by the United States, a top official said yesterday. Power and Energy Ministry Secretary B.M.S. Batagoda told the Sunday Times [...]
5 Killed, 20 injured as drivers lose control of their vehicles
Five persons were killed and 20 injured in two accidents reported from Anuradhapura and Udawalawe areas yesterday. One person was killed and four injured when a van driven by the Chief Inspector of Anuradhapura Police allegedly ran over them near Rambewa Maha Vidyalaya, last afternoon. The victims were supporters of Parliamentary election candidate Duminda Dissanayake, [...]
Deputy Justice Minister asked to appear in court on public nuisance, obstructing policeman charges
Deputy Justice Minister Sujeewa Senasinghe has been issued with notice to appear before the Homagama Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, over allegations he obstructed a policeman in the discharge of his duties, and threatened him, police said. The Deputy Minister is also alleged to have violated election laws by displaying cutouts and holding a night time [...]
The heat is on till September
The prevailing extreme heat and humidity will continue till the first week of September, the Meteorological Department has warned. The usual monsoonal rains that come in March and April had avoided Sri Lanka this year, except for occasional rains marked by intense thunder and lightning, according to Director Training and Research, Sarath Premalal. Sri Lanka [...]
Lanka’s special envoy at Dr. Kalam’s state funeral
Minister of Resettlement, Reconstruction and Hindu Religious Affairs, D.M. Swaminathan, was President Maithripala Sirisena’s special envoy at former Indian president, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s state funeral on Thursday. Minister Swaminathan is seen with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the State Funeral held in Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu Finance Minister, O. Panneerselvam is also in [...]
Two die in freak accidents
A 42-year-old driver died after being crushed between two container trucks at a container yard at Hendala in Wattala. The victim, D. H. Nimal Chandrasoma, a father of two, from Palapaddala in Ratnapura, was trying to walk through a gap between a stationary truck and a truck being pushed by the workers of the yard, [...]
UPFA election manifesto: New Constitution, electoral reforms and huge handouts
The United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) election manifesto titled “Anagathyata Sahathikayak” was released on Tuesday with UPFA Kurunegela District candidate and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the main speaker at the ceremony held at the Henry Pedris grounds in Colombo. President Maithripala Sirisena who is both UPFA Chairman as well as SLFP Leader, did not [...]
‘They paste, we scrape’
Desperate to have illegal posters up even for a few hours, sometimes just in the dawn hours, parties and candidates are plastering walls with posters all over the country with just two weeks to go to the elections. Candidates eager to promote their preference numbers among voters send out crews shortly after midnight to put up [...]
EC to candidates: Communal harmony, respect for rivals, uphold law and order
Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya has asked candidates of the upcoming Parliamentary polls and their supporters to refrain from any activity, expression or behaviour that could aggravate differences, hatred and tension between religions, languages, races, customs and castes in the country. This is included in a comprehensive code of conduct issued by him to political parties, [...]
North awakens to adulthood sans a childhood it never had
That the mainstream parties are able to cobble together lists of candidates to contest this election shows that, amidst the dark side of postwar North, a more liberal generation with a wider view of the world is coming to the fore. Dr R. Sivasegaran is one such candidate the Sunday Times interviewed. He has quit [...]
Handicapped electors decide to make their own voices heard at Parliamentary election
Shunned, isolated and marginalised, they have mostly been given a deaf ear or a blind eye and not accorded their rightful place in society. Having come to the sad conclusion that enough is enough, they have now decided to take not only their future into their own hands but also their troubles and demands to a [...]
Election monitoring bodies warn of increase in election violence as poll day gets closer
An increase in the number of election law violations this week saw monitoring bodies warning that more violations could take place as Election Day draws closer. Police reported that a total of 301 persons were arrested up to yesterday, with 151 people being apprehended this week alone. Election monitoring bodies and the Department of Elections said [...]
UPFA divided and crestfallen; Raja Rata turning green
The Anuradhapura District is where former President Mahinda Rajapaksa decided to kick-off his election campaign as the virtual leader of the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), the SLFP-led coalition. This inaugural rally last month at the Salgado stadium “drew” large crowds. Like all major party rallies nowadays, crowds have to be “drawn” from outer areas making [...]
Hangman vacancy at Prisons Dept. pops up again
With the work of the Committee appointed to consider ways and means to commute the death sentence of prisoners awaiting execution drawing to a close, the Prisons Department is once again searching for hangmen to fill the vacancies for the posts. The Prisons Department last week said that it would once again advertise for the [...]
Fisheries harbour deals: Consultancy firm in hot water
Politically connected company alleged to have bloated estimates to get a bigger fee Probe reveals irregularities in the award of contract to Power Asia A politically influential consultancy firm that inflated the estimated cost of three fisheries harbours to secure a multimillion rupee fee has seen its payment sliced by half after an official inquiry. [...]
Rs. 50 b coal tender up for grabs; backroom manoeuvres to clinch deal
Two international firms are locked in battle to win a lucrative Rs 50 billion coal tender from Sri Lanka. The three-year contract was awarded in July to M/s Swiss Singapore Overseas Enterprises Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based company. However, four other unsuccessful bidders— Noble Resources International Pte Ltd, Suek AG, Adani Global Pte Ltd and Liberty [...]
School van accidents expose regulation vacuum
The school van system is “completely unregulated”, a leading child safety expert said as concerns were raised over passenger and pedestrian safety following a series of tragic accidents this week. Thirteen- year-old Chamod Hasintha Dias was run over and killed by a school van veering off the road in the Moronthuduwa area in Wadduwa on Monday. [...]
Victim’s mother and lodge owner give vital clues on body in bag
Police were yesterday trying to trace a man believed to be linked to the death of the 34-year-old woman whose body was discovered at the Bastian Mawatha private bus halt in Pettah on Wednesday. Questioning the victim’s mother on Friday afternoon, she had revealed that the suspect, who went by the name Krishna, had allegedly been [...]
Google, SL MoU first step towards free Wi-FI for all, says State Minister of Defence
Moves to provide internet facilities islandwide will benefit all, especially the youth who will be able to follow online courses, said State Minister of Defence, Ruwan Wijewardene who was instrumental in initiating the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on Tuesday (28), between Google and the Government of Sri Lankan, at Temple Trees. The MoU is [...]
SL ideal for Google’s Project, says Foriegn Policy magazine
The U.S.-based Foreign Policy (FP) magazine in an article, “Can Google’s Fleet of High-Altitude Balloons Bring the Internet to the World’s Unconnected?”, said that Sri Lanka is an ideal candidate for the project for demographic and geographic reasons. However, the magazine also quoted the founder of High Altitude Science and a former International Space Station [...]
Peoples’ woes at the polls
With the announcement of elections, residents in the islands in the vicinity of the Kalpitiya peninsula are in a quandary as to how they will cast their vote at the upcoming general elections. They face a major problem to get to the polling booth. There are 14 islands in the vicinity of the Kalpitiya peninsula, of [...]
Tortoise smuggling racket stretches to IndiaBy Malaka Rodrigo
Investigations by the Sunday Times have revealed that as well as the two detections of live tortoises being smuggled to Kuala Lumpur in July through Colombo airport, there had been at least three separate attempts in the same month to smuggle tortoises from Chennai to Malaysia. Sri Lanka Custom’s Biodiversity Protection Unit on Tuesday seized [...]
Restoring the past glory of Kotte
What started off with just six people getting together to discuss how best they could protect the last of the precious monuments ‘facing extinction’ around them, has gathered momentum encompassing nearly 100, with more expected to join up soon. It was once again on an overcast afternoon, with a slight drizzle on and off like [...]
UPFA has staying power, UNP won’t last even 20 overs
I must admit I was somewhat bemused by the editor’s request to respond to Paakshikaya’s column last week because Paakshikaya is clearly elated at his new found title. I am very happy to let him enjoy that privilege because he knows not that it will be short lived — another fifteen days, to be precise [...]