News
Home » NewsCMC–150 Years
The Colombo Municipal Council, the pioneer local council in Sri Lanka, celebrates its 150th jubilee tomorrow. Its landmark, the Colombo Town Hall, was yesterday being decorated and a mega stage set up for tomorrow’s gala jubilee ceremonies and dinner to be attended by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Colombo residents express the [...]
Expressway to Jaffna through Polonnaruwa and Trincomalee
Three mega road projects to be launched next year, trip to Kandy in 75 minutesBy Damith Wickremasekara Three mega expressway projects, including one to the north through Polonnaruwa and Trincomalee, will be launched next year, officials said yesterday. Funding for the projects estimated to cost US$ 13.4 billion (Rs. 1,900 billion) will come from multiple [...]
Junior National ruggerite in passport red card
A Junior National Rugby squad player participating in the Junior Rugby Asiad was yesterday detained at the Singapore Airport after he was found to be travelling on his brother’s passport, perhaps accidently, officials said. They said the Isipathana school boy left the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) along with the squad of 25 but the passport mishap [...]
SLIIT not sold; it only returned MTF money
The Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT) has returned more than Rs. 400 million to the depleted Mahapola Trust Fund (MTF) to enable it to continue to grant scholarships to needy students. In the early 2000s, the MTF had contributed Rs. 370 million to the Institute to construct its main building. However, due to dwindling [...]
Some trade unions to strike on Tuesday
Some trade unions last night resolved to launch a one day token strike on Tuesday after they claimed that talks held with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, ministers and other officials failed to address their issues. Trade union representatives said though the government was willing to hold further talks regarding their demands their inability to address [...]
Total power collapse at Norochcholai
All three units of Lakvijaya coal power plant in Norochcholai were out of commission yesterday, CEB officials confirmed. One of the units had been shut down for a planned maintenance, they said. A second suffered a “minor” technical malfunction while the third tripped yesterday. As a result, all 900 megawatts of electricity provided to the [...]
China gets the monkey off its back with Port City luxury property deal re-start
Sri Lanka has paved the way for the continuation of the controversial Chinese-owned ocean-front luxury real estate project called Colombo Port City being built on a reclaimed offshore island the size of a small state. In the same week that Colombo’s state media cited a Chinese official as saying that Sri Lanka has informed China [...]
Curb the dengue sting now before it gets out of control: Health officials
Dengue is on the rise with seven deaths being reported in the past two months and the past two weeks alone seeing 599 cases, bringing the total to 44 deaths and 26,243 cases for this year, a health official said. However, the highest number of deaths and cases were observed during the first quarter of [...]
Incomplete vouchers land trader in trouble
A trader from Kalutara, has run into problems in encashing the school uniform vouchers from banks as some of them do not have proper endorsement or the name and the official number and the seal of the school concerned. He has collected around 500 uniform vouchers and produced them to the bank to obtain cash. [...]
India urges Wigneswaran to work for party unity
India has urged the Northern Province Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran to resolve the intra-party conflicts to facilitate the Government’s constitutional changes for the devolution of power as a political solution to the ethnic conflict. Mr. Wigneswaran admitted that an Indian envoy took up the issue with him during a one-on-one meeting at his office [...]
War memorial at Kalaththewa in Anuradhapura declared open
Sri Lanka Army’s Armoured Corp yesterday declared open a war memorial at Kalaththewa in Anuradhapura to remember its war heroes.Senior Army officers and schoolchildren took part in the the event. Pic by Athula Bandara
Basil, former Divineguma DG indicted on criminal charges
Basil Rajapaksa, the former Minister of Economic Development and powerful brother of ex-President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been indicted on multiple criminal charges ranging from bribery and corruption to misappropriation of public funds. Mr. Rajapaksa who left the country immediately after the defeat of his brother at the January 8 Presidential election was arrested on his [...]
Fonseka reiterates allegation Justice Minister is corrupt
Democratic Party leader Sarath Fonseka who made a startling revelation this week accusing Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe of hiding his close relationship with the chairman of Avant Garde Maritime Services, a company that is the subject of a Government inquiry into bribery and corruption, this week threw back the gauntlet by replying a Letter of [...]
Compensation soon for 44 slain media persons: PM
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday suggested a compensation scheme for families of journalists and other media persons killed while on duty. Mr. Wickremesinghe speaking during the committee stage budget debate on the allocation for the Ministry of Mass Media and Parliamentary Affairs said a compensation plan would be implemented for 44 media persons, who were [...]
JSA calls for High Court Commissioner’s appointment to be annulled
The Judicial Services Association (JSA) called on President Maithripala Sirisena to cancel the appointment of Irangani Perera as a High Court Commissioner for the Colombo High Court judicial zone to hear cases filed under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). Indicative of a policy decision made by the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) in 2011, there [...]
Government downsizing foreign missions
The government has planned to launch a re-structuring of the Foreign Office by switching to more economic diplomacy and pruning down excesses, such as closing down several missions in a bid to increase the assets of the country, Deputy Foreign Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva said yesterday. He said that on top of the agenda [...]
Maids in misery: From destitution to death
In a hall filled with soon-to-be migrant workers, an instructor runs a multimedia programme on Sharia law. The picture on the screen changes from a hanging to a decapitation, an amputation to a gruesome public stoning. “These are the laws of the countries where you will be working,” M.H.M Azwer, the instructor, says. He explained [...]
Thajudeen family seeks security after fresh findings
The family of former rugby player Wasim Thajudeen has sought security after the Colombo Additional Magistrate this week held that the sportsman’s death had not resulted from a road accident. Additional Magistrate Nishantha Peiris made the ruling after considering the final report submitted by the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) Dr. Ajith Tennakoon and the CID [...]
Late vouchers have school uniforms in a twist
The government’s sudden decision to do away school uniform material with cash vouchers is causing hardship to both the school administration and parents. The main problem that administrators faced, whether in schools in Colombo, the suburbs and the outstations, was the problem of delivering the vouchers on time to parents before the closure of schools [...]
Floods in India turn pilgrimage into nightmare
Emotions were overflowing at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) last Tuesday with the arrival on a special flight of another group of pilgrims who had been stranded by the floods in Chennai. Elderly evacuees with strained, drawn faces looked anxiously around for a glimpse of their families; other rushed off for buses to reach their homes [...]
From Gangaramaya to border villages
The history of Buddhism started in Sri Lanka and India almost at the same time. With the arrival of the Venerable Mahinda Thera, son of king Dharmasoka of India, to Sri Lanka, not only the history of both the countries but also Buddhist history came to be well established. The visit of Ven. Sangamitta Theri [...]
Brrr, the Christmas nip is biting hard
The Department of Meteorology warns of cold weather in coming weeks due to winds from the Northern Hemisphere as well as from the Bay of Bengal blowing across the country. “The northern winds will be more dry and cold while the winds from the bay will have moisture so there will be blend of mist [...]
Colombo apartments’ residents waiting in hope for their title deeds
The residents of Good Hope Apartments in Bambalapitiya have been waiting ten years for their title deeds. They are not the only ones. The owners of flats in 236 condominiums do not hold deeds to their properties. These buildings, a majority of them in Colombo, contain nearly 6,000 housing units and have not been certified [...]
Justice de Abrew FR case: ASG rules out recording statements of more witnesses
Additional Solicitor General Yashantha Kodagoda, PC, appearing on Friday on behalf of the Attorney General, ruled out the possibility of recording statements of additional witnesses suggested by the defence lawyers of Supreme Court Judge Sarath de Abrew who has been indicted for committing grave sexual abuse and harassment of his domestic aide. Mr. Kodagoda made [...]
Fraud Bureau probes entry to US on forged visas
The Police Fraud Bureau has launched an investigation to ascertain details of persons who allegedly used forged visas to enter the USA earlier this year. The investigation has been launched after a man involved in the preparation of forged visas was arrested by the Fraud Bureau during the course of a probe on use of [...]
Kandy supermarket owner nabbed in massive foreign liquour racket
A mini supermarket owner in Kandy was taken into custody earlier this week in a massive foreign liquour bust carried out by officials from the regional excise office, senior officials said yesterday. They said the suspect who owns a leading supermarket dealing mainly in farm foods and other related items was nabbed while attempting to [...]
Rights activists oppose compulsory testing for AIDS
With much attention being focused on an “increase” in the number of men, women and deficiency Virus (HIV), human rights activists are up in arms against suggestions that compulsory testing should be carried out on students in all universities and those in Advanced Level classes. While activists are adamant that not only such compulsory testing [...]
Menace of hidden HIV revealed
About nine new HIV infections occur each week in Sri Lanka and only four of them are detected, the National STD/AIDS Control Programme (NSACP) says. The undetected HIV-infected people pose a significant risk to society, NSACP Director Dr. Sisira Liyanage said. HIV continues to be a major global public health problem that has claimed more [...]
Lane discipline at crossroads: Road users flash green and red lights
Police will not withdraw the lane discipline rule despite protests from private bus operators and motorists’ complaints that it has only made a bad situation worse, Police Traffic Chief Amarasiri Senaratne said. It is true that the implementation of the regulations had slowed down traffic flow, but motorists were learning to be disciplined while most [...]
Farmers in black loin cloth to plough Colombo in protest
Farmers dressed in black loin cloth carrying mammoties and sickles are to converge on Colombo on Thursday for a demonstration against the budget proposal to provide them with vouchers for Rs. 25,000 to buy their own fertiliser instead of providing them with subsidised fertiliser at Rs. 350 a bag. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna-backed All Island [...]
Sri Lankan bags award for best film at Delhi film festival
Young film maker Daevinda Kongahage did Sri Lanka proud at the Delhi International Film Festival when his debut feature film, Bhavatarana bagged the award for the Best Film at a gala awards night held in Delhi last Thursday. The script and concept of the film was inspired by a chapter of the book, Kandyan Kingdom [...]
Wreckers of underwater treasures must be stopped
Fish are being dynamited as they shelter in the historically important shipwrecks scattered around Sri Lanka’s coastline, damaging valuable eco-systems and putting tourist earnings at risk. Blast fishing is one of the most destructive fishing practices, used to stun or kill schools of fish for easy collection. The explosion destroys underlying habitat such as coral [...]
Tripitaka chanting ceremony by Maha Sangha in Kandy for fifth time
The Maha Sangha is to chant the tripitakaya at the Audience Hall in Kandy on December 18, 19 and 20, for the fifth time with the participation of over hundred members of the Maha Sangha drawn from various parts of the country of the two Maha Vihares Asgiri and Malwatte. This tripitaka chanting ceremony is [...]
‘Little England’ bus stand in big mess
The Nuwara Eliya bus stand frequented by local and foreign tourists alike has been in a state of neglect over the years. Although city officials are aiming to make this uphill station, known as little England, more attractive to tourists little attention has been paid to the bus stand with residents saying that since its [...]