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Home » NewsFour billion rupees in Budget for human-elephant conflict
These villagers protecting their crops in Dambulla are seen trying to scare away a wild elephant on Friday night, significantly at the same time when Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake proposed in the Budget 2016 a sum of Rs. 4,000 million to minimise the human-elephant conflict that leaves at least 160 humans and elephants dead every [...]
Eight diaspora groups, 269 people deproscribed
Eight diaspora organisations and more than 260 people who were listed under a blanket proscription last year for their alleged links with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have been deproscribed by the Government, according to a Gazette notification. The new Gazette notification, issued on Friday further to a March 2014 gazette notification that declared [...]
VAT rise means you will pay more for utility bills
Utility bills including charges of electricity, water and telephone are set to rise with the revision of the Value Added taxes (VAT). These are among a host of other utility charges which will be increased in terms of a Budget 2016 proposal to increase VAT from 11 percent to 12.5 percent, a senior Inland Revenue [...]
Telecom, Mobitel heads roll ahead of Hutch deal
Heads rolled from the Sri Lanka Telecom and Mobitel Boards this week amidst reports that the management was clearing the decks for a massive corporate deal in the offing. Thusitha Haloluwa was removed from the Mobitel board while Krishantha Cooray and Firo Farook were sacked from the SLT board. All three had opposed proposals to increase [...]
Judge Abrew indicted for sexual assault
The Attorney General this week indicted Supreme Court Justice Sarath de Abrew for grave sexual assault following a complaint made by his female domestic aide a few months ago. Indictment papers were served in the Colombo High Court on two counts of grave sexual assault and the Police were advised to pursue separately in the Mount [...]
Drastic steps to ease traffic snarls in Colombo
To reduce traffic congestion in Colombo, the Government has decided that vehicles entering the city should carry at least four passengers or pay up a special fine. The proposal was included in Friday’s budget and is due to be implemented before September next year. However, the proposal does not say whether it would apply to three-wheelers. [...]
No travel warning for Lankans visiting France, US, UK
Sri Lanka has no plans to issue any travel advisories to its citizens visiting countries which have stepped up security in the wake of recent terror attacks in France, Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Mahishini Colonne said. “I’m not aware of any move within the ministry to issue such advisories,” she told the Sunday Times. Ms. [...]
High Court trial for Seya murder suspect
The accused in the rape and murder of five-year-old Seya Sadewmi has been indicted by the Attorney General following intense investigations by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID). The crime shook the nation after the body of the little girl was found in a canal just 300 metres from her home at Akarangala in Badalgama near [...]
11,000 more wait in hope for dual citizenship
More than 11,000 dual citizenship applications are still being processed out of a total of 14,525 applications received since March by the Department of Immigration and Emigration. According to a senior departmental official approved applicants will have to pay Rs. 50,000 more for citizenship unless, an application is approved by the Minister of Internal Affairs [...]
Eco-friendly Budget allocates WB aided Rs 4,000 million to Environment sector
Budget 2016 has an allocation of Rs 4,000 million for the environment sector for three years, to resolve the human-elephant conflict and conserve Sri Lanka’s rich biodiversity. The Sunday Times learns that the Government will seek these additional funds through a World Bank project interest-free loan of US$ 30 million, which did not materialise during [...]
Former President Rajapaksa’s 2016 retirement benefits more than President Kumaratunga’s
Allocations from Budget 2016 for former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s retirement benefits will be more than that allocated to former President Chandrika Kumaratunga. President Rajapaksa has been allocated Rs 4.17 million as retirement benefits in 2016, while President Kumaratunga has been allocated Rs 3.3 million for 2016. In addition to this, both former presidents have been [...]
Ranil to head committee to abolish executive presidency
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will head the 11 member cabinet subcommittee that has been appointed to look into the abolition of the Executive Presidency, the drafting of a new constitution and amending the electoral system. The other members of the committee are Ministers Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, D.M.Swaminathan, Nimal Siripala De Silva, Susil Premajayantha, Lakshman Kiriella, Malik [...]
Incessant rains lead to floods, thousands homeless
Incessant rains followed by flooding left thousands of people displaced and affected in many parts of the island, including the Northern Province which was earlier hit by dry weather. Over 124,000 people belonging to 35,795 families have been affected by flashfloods, Disaster Management Centre (DMC) sources said. Over 2,000 persons in the Wattala grama niladhari [...]
On the trail of Paynter’s paintings; sold and regained
A respected academic in his late seventies is accused of secretly hawking to local collectors, the works of one of Sri Lanka’s greatest artists because “he needed money”. Prof. Albert Dharmasiri was granted bail by the Nuwara Eliya Magistrate this week. His arrest sent shockwaves through the country’s academic and artistic community. The nine paintings [...]
A helpful Budget not going all the way: Public
The Public’s reactions to Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake’s Budget 2016 were mixed. The Government focused on Economic reforms and granted allowances to farmers, public sector officers and others. It also introduced fixed prices for essential items such as food and gas. Here’s what the people had to say: Anthony Thisera- A farmer from Sigiriya: “I [...]
Multidisciplinary approach saves teenager from near amputation
A broad smile wreathes his face as he walks with the aid of crutches which soon he will discard. He will also put behind him a very long hospital stay, nearly half his young life, and attempt to pick up the pieces of his humble life. There was, however, not much to smile about a [...]
Save Gregory’s Lake from turning into a puddle
Gregory’s Lake, one of the country’s most scenic beauty spots, has been reduced to a puddle and is in danger of drying up. The lake bund near the culvert is leaking and this has caused a massive reduction in the volume of water in the lake. This situation was highlighted in the media earlier and [...]
Policeman jumps into tank to save drowning youth
A quick-thinking Ampara police constable saved a youth from drowning while he was swimming in a tank. Sergeant S M Kulathissa and police constable A M.A Nishantha were on duty last Saturday in the vicinity when they heard people shouting for help from the bund of the tank close by. When they ran to the [...]
Family in dark as mother faces barbaric death by stoning
The Sri Lankan mother sentenced to death by stoning in Saudi Arabia is in regular touch with her children who are completely unaware that their mother faces this cruel end. The Sri Lankan government is trying to get her sentence lifted or reduced, retaining a lawyer at a cost of Saudi riyal 10,000 (Rs. 350,000) [...]
Neurologists meet to pick each other’s brains
All that is wonderful about the human brain has been on the minds of eminent neurologists, both local and international, as they focused on what could trigger mishaps of this power organ, over three days ending today. As the 9th Annual Academic Sessions of the Association of Srilankan Neurologists (ASN) concludes, there has been much [...]
Weather or middleman to blame for chillies at Rs. 1,100?
Vegetable prices are soaring well ahead of the Christmas season with heavy rains affecting cultivation and harvesting, traders and farmers said this week. Vegetable prices have gone up by more than 50 per cent compared to last month: Limes and green chillies are topping the list at Rs. 1,000 a kilo. H.M. Tissa Kumara, a [...]
The great land robbery
A woman who recently purchased land in a residential area, close to Colombo, was in for a shock when two months after the transaction she found a board had come up informing that the land belonged to the Urban Development Authority (UDA) and trespassers would be severely dealt with. She had bought a 40 perch [...]
Tested 1-year rehab programme will suit PTA detainees
Detainees held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) who may be released on condition of rehabilitation can go through the “efficient” one-year programme through which thousands of former Tigers have been integrated into civil society, the programme’s chief said. Some legal sources, however, said the rehabilitation legislation did not cover these detainees, scores of [...]
Historic site in danger
The winds and waves are taking toll of the ruins of what was once the residence of Sri Lanka’s first British Governor -Frederick North- in Mannar. The remains of the building are under threat of coastal erosion. The Department of Archaeology says it needs Rs. 150 million to restore the building. In those days the British [...]
It’s time to think and act
Lord Buddha’s teachings on living with wisdom are not only for our own good and advancement, but also for that of our parents, relatives, friends, and the country. But we have to find out whether we are using wisdom for the good of everyone. We heard recently through the media that funds are being allegedly [...]