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Angry farmers wearing black span cloths and carrying mammoties had a field day in Colombo on Thursday when they gathered for a massive demonstration against the budget proposal to scrap the provision of fertiliser at subsidised rates and instead give them cash payments. The protest organised by a Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna union included a march [...]
Budget approved with major changes; projects to be slashed
Despite widespread protests, Govt. gets two-thirds majority in Parliament By Damith Wickremasekara Changes in budget proposals will lead to pruning down some key projects under different ministries, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake warned yesterday. The projects to be affected would be placed before the Economic Affairs Management Committee chaired by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, he told the [...]
Bishops ban Christmas trees and Santas in churches
For the first time in history, the Catholic bishops have decided there should be no Christmas trees or Santas in churches during the festive season, a spokesman said yesterday. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the Archbishop of Colombo and president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Sri Lanka (CBCSL), has sent out a circular, banning Christmas trees and [...]
Fraud charges: Bail for Sonia, Rahul
NEW DELHI, Dec 19 (Reuters) – Indian opposition leaders Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul made a rare court appearance today and won bail in a case of alleged graft they say Prime Minister Narendra Modi uses in a vendetta against their family. Hundreds of members of the Congress party were massed outside the court premises [...]
US interest rate hike will affect Lanka’s economy
The United States Federal Reserve’s decision to raise interest rates by 0.25 percent on the US dollar, the currency the Sri Lankan rupee is linked to, will have a ripple effect on Sri Lanka’s economy, experts warned yesterday. “What was speculated for many months has happened now and we could see an outflow of foreign funds,” [...]
Major changes proposed to Colombo Port City Project
The Attorney General has said the Urban Development Authority (UDA) cannot be a signatory to the Colombo Port City Project Agreement replacing the Sri Lanka Ports Authority, “as it lacks the legal capacity under the UDA Act”, the new Supplementary Environmental Impact Assessment (SEIA) on the project states. “Upon creation of new land by reclamation [...]
CAA move to monitor private hospitals may bring down charges
The Consumer Affairs Authority’s move to monitor private hospitals is expected to bring down the cost of medical expenses for patients, a senior official said. CAA Director Rohan Meewanage, who is in charge of pricing and management, said the decision to monitor private hospitals was taken following complaints that several private hospitals were charging exorbitant [...]
Politics bedevils solution to Palk bay poaching
On October 1, Navy boats were patrolling the seas when they came across – a common occurrence now – Indian bottom trawlers poaching off Sri Lanka’s Point Pedro coast. When the Navy approached the intruders to round them up, however, one of the trawlers turned sharply into a Dvora and damaged its hull. This week, [...]
Tragic end to shramadana
A bus packed with officials of the Tea Research Institute (TRI) in Talawakelle skidded off the road and went down a 60-foot precipice at a location in Mattakelle yesterday killing one woman employee and injuring 41 others, seven critically, police said. They said the group was returning after a shramadana they were involved in repairing [...]
Colombo Lotus Tower project gets go ahead
The Government has given the green light to continue the multi-million dollar Colombo Lotus Tower project without offering any compensation for the delay in the construction, officials said. Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC) Director General Sunil S. Sirisena said the negotiations to go ahead with the project were completed with an offer to give a new [...]
Former Minister Adhikari passes away
Former Minister A.M.S Adhikari passed away yesterday morning at a private hospital in Colombo. He was 80 years old. Hailing from Kalawewa in the Anuradhapura District, he entered Parliament in 1974. As a senior member of the United National Party (UNP) led government he held many portfolios including Minister of Posts and Telecommunications and Minster of [...]
Lankan youth further detained in Maldives
The Sri Lankan youth arrested in the Maldives last month on charges subversion has been further detained until December 22, prompting his family to send a lawyer next week to provide legal assistance, officials said. Lawyer Shabdika Vellampil, counsel for the 24-year-old detained youth, Lahiru Madushanka, said that the Foreign Ministry, had promised to arrange a [...]
EU review team to see what garment industry has up its sleeve
A team from Brussels is due in the country early next month to assess the progress made by the government in implementing the 15 demands set out by the European Union (EU) before it decides to withdraw the ban on the GSP+ tax concessions. The planned visit comes after a three member team from the [...]
UNP MP’s self-immolation bid thwarted
Police yesterday thwarted an attempt by Parliamentarian Suresh Vadivel to carry two cans of kerosene into Parliament, allegedly to carry out his threat to set himself on fire in protest against the Government’s failure to address the plantations sector wage dispute. The Badulla District UNP MP was stopped by the policemen on duty, while his [...]
Catholic Bishops draw attention to the poor and prisoners at Christmas
Christmas reminds us of the need to invite Jesus into our lives, our families and our society, says the Christmas message of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference. “This simple birth in a stable in Bethlehem was a radical call towards conversion so that we would be more sensitive to the needs of others and specially the poor [...]
Oversight Committees to monitor 16 subjects
The Government yesterday placed on the Order Paper of Parliament a motion to set up “Sectoral Oversight Committees” in relation to 16 subjects. These Committees will have the power to examine all Bills, Resolutions, Treaties, Reports and other matters relating to their subjects. The motion has been proposed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Ministers [...]
Arrested trio indicted for financial fraud
The Attorney General’s Department this week indicted three individuals in the Colombo High Court including the former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Nalaka Godahewa over alleged financial fraud at the SEC during the tenure of the previous Government. Along with Dr. Godahewa, the Attorney General (AG) indicted the SEC’s former Deputy Director General Dhammika [...]
Blueprint for meeting climate change goals
Systemic emissions cuts, investment in renewable energy, improved public transport, recycling and an increase in forest cover lead Sri Lanka’s plans to battle climate change. Less than a month after pledges made at the Paris Climate Change summit, Sri Lanka’s plans on its contribution to improve the environment were spelled out this week by environmentalists [...]
Farmers strip to meet the PM but he stays away
Passers-by were agog when scores of farmers congregating in the middle of busy Colombo began taking off their clothes on Thursday. Tourists began videoing the unusual sight as farmers stripped on the crowded roadside at Lipton Circus in Colombo 7. Off came shirts, sarongs and trousers as 100 farmers stripped down to a loincloth – [...]
Spare a thought for the crib maker
While cheap plastic replicas of cribs are available during the Christmas season island-wide, the demand for the wooden crib is in greater demand. Justin Perera a carpenter and father of four from Wennapuwa, has been involved in the crib-making trade since his youth, and depends on this trade to make a living. For him it is [...]
COP-timism-21: Beginning of climate action
The recently concluded United Nations Climate Change Summit in Paris (known as COP21) has ended with optimism of the potential that mankind might restrict global temperature increase to below 2°C and even an aspiration of a more ambitious target of 1.5°C. Parts of the agreement are said to be ‘legally binding’ and has been hailed [...]
Manpower agencies banned from FTZ
Representatives of manpower agencies have been banned from entering Free Trade Zone areas with immediate effect and employers have been warned against providing employment to individuals recruited by them, a top official said. Board of Investment (BOI) Chairman Upul Jayasuriya said that operations of these manpower agents will no longer be tolerated inside the Zones [...]
Community participation for improving rural livelihoods — lessons from the past
COLOMBO — Centuries of irrigated agriculture and rice farming have been embedded in Sri Lanka’s cultural traditions, enriching the lives of her people in all aspects. The relevance of these traditional occupations to the demands of a modern economy has to be defined now. Strengthening the national economy for reducing inequality and eliminating poverty is [...]
Judges must be equal before law and cannot remain unjudged: AG
A Supreme Court judge should conduct himself in a manner which accords with public expectation and he must be equal before the law in the rare event his conduct is unbecoming, Attorney General Yuwanjan Wijeyatilake said. Speaking at the ceremonial sitting to welcome the new Supreme Court judge, Justice K.T. Chitrasiri on Wednesday, the AG [...]
Govt backs away from bills claimed to bar free speech
The Attorney-General on Friday informed the Supreme Court that the State would not pursue two proposed bills that would make hate speech a criminal offence. Special Additional Solicitor General Kapila Waidyaratne, appearing for the Attorney-General, conveyed this information when two petitions filed by a journalist were taken up for hearing before Justices B.P. Aluwihare, Upali [...]
Bright lights, bare pockets
The brightly-coloured lights in Colombo and other cities give the impression that a magnificent celebration is underway for Christmas and New Year but shoppers and traders have mixed reactions. One marked difference from last year is the absence of tension caused by the presidential election campaign with the election meetings of the both main candidates [...]