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Home » NewsAlleged war crimes: Govt. to defend troops
The Government will hire counsel and pay legal costs to military personnel who may face charges of war crimes. The assurance has been given to military officers by Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka. He has been tasked by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to speak to officers and men of the armed forces on [...]
Defence allocation rises, education up four-fold, President’s budget slashed
The Defence budget will remain high next year also, but most significantly the allocation for education has been increased four-fold. The defence allocation is more than Rs. 306 billion. In contrast, the allocation for the Office of the President has been heavily reduced in comparison to allocations made under the previous administration. According to the 2016 [...]
Blows exchanged at Tamil politicians’ meeting in Paris
Blows were exchanged and police intervened at a Paris meeting of Tamil politicians, including two sitting TNA parliamentarians, to discuss the implications of the Geneva resolution, party sources said. The meeting at a restaurant was attended by TNA MPs Selvam Adaikalanathan (Vanni district) and G. Kavindran (Digamadulla district) and provincial council members N.K. Sivajilingam and Govindan [...]
Four commissions nominated; approval by President on Tuesday
President Maithripala Sirisena is expected to confirm by Tuesday the nominees to four Independent Commissions, including the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), which is to be headed by retired Supreme Court Justice T.B. Weerasuriya. The new CIABOC, which has been widely called for in view of thousands of complaints of large-scale [...]
Port city: Vital report before Thursday
The future of the controversial Colombo Port City project is to be decided on the findings of a fresh Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report due shortly, a senior official said. The EIA report prepared by the Coast Conservation Department is due to be handed over before Thursday to the 10-member committee appointed to review the project, [...]
Boardroom battles at Telecom, Mobitel
Fireworks erupted at the board meetings of Sri Lanka Telecom and Mobitel on Friday with Telecom Chairman P.G. umarasinghe vehemently opposing moves to suspend Mobitel CEO Ranjith Rubasinghe pending an inquiry. The SLT Board meeting was held first at 4 pm. Soon disagreements broke out. The situation escalated so much that Harin Fernando, the Telecom Minister, [...]
Indian HC, SL Red Cross investigate alleged sexual favours for housing funds in northern province
A joint investigation has been launched by the Indian High Commission (IHC) and the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS) into complaints of soliciting sexual favours from women in the North in return for houses from the Indian Housing Project (IHP), an Indian High Commission spokesman said. “The IHC took up the issue with SLRCS [...]
Factory damaged by fire
A private rubber factory at Bogahagoda, Galle, was destroyed in a fire yesterday morning, police said. They said the fire had started in the early hours at the production area of the factory where rubber slippers and bushes are turned out. The factory is owned by the DSI company. No injuries had been caused by the [...]
1,318 families or 4,737 people still live in IDP camps in the Jaffna district alone, says minister
The Government has allocated Rs 165 million to resettle people still housed in camps for Internally Displaced People (IDP), in the Jaffna district, with the recent Cabinet approval to build 65,000 houses in the district, Minister of Resettlement and Rehabilitation D.M. Swaminathan informed Parliament on Thursday. Responding to a question posed by Eelam Peoples Democratic [...]
New traffic plan for Colombo to ease morning rush hour
A new traffic plan will be implemented in some parts of Colombo and its suburbs from tomorrow between 7.30 a.m. and 8.45 a.m. to ease traffic congestion, a senior official said. Police Traffic Chief Amarasiri Senaratne said the plan was largely aimed at easing the morning hour traffic congestion in Battaramulla, Maharagama and Borella. DIG Senaratne [...]
HK-bound domestic workers now entitled to minimum monthly salary of Rs. 76,300
Hong Kong (HK)-bound domestic helpers from Sri Lanka will be assured of a monthly salary of HK$ 4,210 (LKR 76,367) from this month. This is the salary they are entitled to, according to HK’s labour laws, although it is well known that dodgy job agencies in Colombo and Sri Lankan recruiters in HK deceive women [...]
Police start recruiting Tamil-speaking youth in the North
A drive to recruit around 1,500 police constables from among the Tamil speaking youth in the Northern region was launched yesterday, a senior Police official said. Senior Superintendent of Police of the Vavuniya Division Wasantha Wickremasinghe told the Sunday Times that since there has been a dearth of Tamil speaking police officers in the department [...]
Animal rights group in US to present bill to President
An animal rights group based in the US is to meet President Maithripala Sirisena on October 18th to hand over a petition signed by the public and bill supporting their cause. The nonprofit organization – Dharma Voices for Animals (DVA) – operating to create awareness within the Buddhist community of the suffering of animals has [...]
Indian fishermen arrested hours after parliament debate
Hours after the parliament debate on poaching by Indian fishermen on Friday, nineteen fishermen were arrested off Point Pedro and Vettilaikerni, Jaffna by the Navy. Navy Spokesperson Indika Silva told the Sunday Times that the navy with the help of the coast guard arrested the fishermen in two batches and seized two vessels. “All of [...]
NPC opposes Govt. move to appoint District Coordinator to North DCCs
The Northern Provincial Council (NPC) decided to oppose a move by the central Government to appoint a “District Coordinator” for the District Coordinating Committee (DCC) to carry out development activities in the north. NPC Chairman, C.V.K. Sivagnanam, told the Sunday Times that the latest move by the Government would weaken the Provincial administration structure. “Bypassing [...]
Accident victim (35) dies from fall off hospital bed
An inquiry into the death of a 35-year-old man from Anuradhapura, determined that it was a result of a fall from the bed at the Anuradhapura hospital where he was receiving treatment for minor injuries caused by a motorcycle accident, the Coroner’s court was told yesterday. The victim, Padmasiri Mangala Wijewardena died at the National [...]
Express steps taken to mitigate landslides on Highway: NBRO
Immediate preventive measures have been taken to mitigate the problem of landslides on the Southern Expressway, a senior official of the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) said. NBRO landslide Research and Risk Management division Head R.M.S Bandara said an Early Alarm System (EAS) has already been installed on one side of the Expressway and an [...]
Sri Lanka Customs vehicle valuation perturbs motor traders, confuses buyers
Sri Lanka Customs has initiated a messy valuation system which has perturbed motor traders and confused prospective buyers on the eve of the 2016 budget, motor traders and customers complained. According to a gazette notification issued by the Finance Ministry recently, customs authorities have been empowered to make the valuation of the imported vehicle without considering [...]
Legal Aid: A citizen’s right or poor man’s only hope
In January 2010, a company in Kantale, Trincomalee, told its permanent workers to sign a document agreeing to be hired on contract, renewable every six months. The firm had changed hands the previous year without notice to employees. Many of them were pushed into accepting the papers. But some in its security division resisted. Among [...]
UN Task Force urges Lanka to take bolder steps to combat NCDs
Slowly and surely this spectre is gaining a stranglehold on the world and Sri Lanka too is not spared. As its vice-like grip tightens, it leaves in its wake not only disease but also early death. It is the spectre of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers and chronic respiratory diseases. NCDs [...]
Big questions loom over little Seya’s killing
Nearly a month after the killing and rape of four year-old Seya Sedewmi, police investigations still continue and the mystery deepens. Repeated attempts by the police to match the DNA of three suspects have drawn a blank as they did not tally with the DNA samples found on the victim. Greentech, the company that conducts [...]
Rule of law, not death, the solution to crime
“I take upon myself the rule of training to abstain from taking the life of living beings.”- The First Precept My father, Mahanama Samaraweera MP, knew two people who were to be hanged for murder. They were from Matara, his electorate. So, like everyone else in the district, he also knew something that most of [...]
A House divided over ‘a life for a life’
Following are some of the views expressed at the debate: MP Hirunika Premachandra: I think the time is right to reactivate capital punishment. Today, capital punishment is inactive in the country and some convicted hardcore criminals do not serve even 20 years of their life sentences. People are not afraid to commit crimes because of [...]
Lanka loses over Rs.5 b. yearly due to fish poaching: Think tank
Research on the economic and livelihood losses caused by Indian fishermen poaching in Lankan waters estimated that the country is losing Rs 5,293 million ($41 million) annually contributing to a drastic impact on the national economy. Point Pedro Institute of Development, a Northern based economic think tank released a research paper on the direct monetary [...]
Proper human and financial resources management
We cling to whatever comes our way, whatever we could grab forcefully and whatever we get by hook or by crook. This is dangerous. We are slowly coming to know the shady dealings of those who occupied high seats in the previous government. Because of the misdeeds of one or two institutions the country had [...]
Grama Niladhari service crying for upgrade
They are made to work under trying conditions, often inside tiny cubicles in the corner of a temple building or a state building or even inside a makeshift hut with drooping cobwebs, no fans, no file cabinets to keep important documents and, in some cases, no toilet. Grama Niladharis across the country have one problem [...]
Power plant at Sampur a non-starter
The siting of the Sampur Power Plant seems to be unsuitable with its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) being rejected twice and the third amended EIA report being currently scrutinised by the Central Environment Authority (CEA). India’s media reported that Sri Lanka has requested India to consider relocation of the coal power plant being planned to [...]
1,318 Families or 4,737 people still live in IDP camps in the Jaffna district alone: Minister
The Government has allocated Rs 165 million to resettle people still housed in camps for Internally Displaced People (IDP), in the Jaffna district, with the recent Cabinet approval to build 65,000 houses in the district, Minister of Resettlement and Rehabilitation D.M. Swaminathan informed Parliament on Thursday. Responding to a question posed by Eelam Peoples Democratic [...]
All I want is my tractor, says displaced farmer from the north
Since the end of the war in 2009, many people from the former war-torn areas of the north have been searching for their loved ones whose whereabouts are not known. But 62 year-old Kanthan Thadchanasingham isn’t looking for someone but something – a treasured farm tractor which he had with him for almost 30 years. [...]
Yala opens amidst tension after shooting of poacher
The Yala National Park that was closed for a month during the drought, re-opened on October 7, as scheduled. However, tension prevailed following the death of a poacher during a shootout with wildlife rangers. The family and close allies of the poacher have reportedly threatened the wildlife officers resulting in the deployment of Police Special [...]
A tourist attraction sans facilities
The Horton Plains National Park remains a major tourist attraction in Sri Lanka. While visitors pay over Rs. 1,600/- to enter its precincts, the park lacks facilities such as guides and curators. The lack of this basic facility, has left many foreign tourists helpless. Many visitors are unaware of the areas they should visit to [...]
Deaths due to medical negligence being probed
Family members in two separate cases have urged authorities to probe deaths that reportedly occurred due to medical negligence. In one case, 46-year-old Ganga Hewage Kanthi from Dharmapala Mawatha in Galle, a mother of three and a teacher at Akmeemana Maha Vidyalaya, was admitted to the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital on September 29. She was healthy other [...]
