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The controversial multimillion dollar Mattala International Airport virtually closed during the past year with its hangars being used to store paddy came alive again last Thursday when three international flights, unable to land at the BIA due to a heavy mist, were diverted to Mattala. Pic by Rahul Samantha Hettiarachchi
Disclose source, if you receive more than Rs. 200,000
The Central Bank has tightened regulations to monitor inward remittances exceeding Rs. 200,000 – with Sri Lankans being required to provide to their receiving banks the source of their funds. This comes in terms of new Customer Due Diligence (CDD) Rules gazetted by the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Central Bank. The move runs counter [...]
Lankan tycoon’s Lycamobile given 14 days to submit accounts
Lycamobile, a giant telecom company founded by a Sri Lankan businessman and investigated in Sri Lanka for business transactions with the former administration, has been given 14 days to submit its overdue accounts for 2015 or face the possibility of being struck off the British company register. A spokesperson for Companies House, the registrar of [...]
Joint Commission minutes: Only passing reference to fishing crisis
Poaching by Indian fishermen in Sri Lankan waters – a major issue facing both countries — got just a passing mention in the agreed minutes of the India-Sri Lanka Joint Commission meeting held last week in Colombo. The Sunday Times understands that the only reference to the longstanding issue of illegal fishing in more than [...]
Passport left in toilet: Dark moon for Lankan MPs
A group of Sri Lankan parliamentarians missed the opening day of an Inter-faith conference in South Korea after one MP left her passport in the Seoul International airport toilet and the delegation was not allowed entry into the country. The group of 17 MPs had arrived in Seoul to attend the International Conference of Parliamentarians [...]
Controversy over 65,000 houses; Cabinet appoints sub committee
A Cabinet subcommittee was appointed this week to study a proposal to award a contract to a French company named ArcelorMittal to build 65,000 houses for war-affected civilians. The subcommittee was set up after Housing and Construction Minister Sajith Premadasa objected that the estimated cost of each house — at Rs 2.18 million — was [...]
Hospitals instal extra protection to cope with dengue surge
Hospitals have been forced to change operational methods to cope with a steady flow of dengue sufferers with numbers expected to rise further in the next few weeks. State and private hospitals around the country are coping with at least 175 dengue patients admitted daily over the past six weeks. Epidemiology Unit sources said more [...]
Water levels drop and fears rise for crops
Despite intermittent rains last month, experts fear the three-month-long dry weather conditions will strangle power generation, agriculture and drinking water supplies as authorities struggle with limited water in reservoirs, rivers and water treatment plants. Children walking under scorching sun, men and women carrying cans and pots long distances searching for drinking water, farmers crying over [...]
Unattended lands prime source of dengue breeding grounds, says PHI’s Union
Unattended lands – some of them purchased as investments with the owners living overseas – have also turned be one of the main mosquito breeding grounds contributing to the spread of dengue, the Public Health Inspectors’ Union) said. PHI’s Union President Upul Rohana said the PHIs were facing difficulties taking action against owners of unattended [...]
Principal on the mat for inviting convicted PC minister as a chief guest
The North Western Provincial Council (NWPC) has ordered an inquiry into the conduct of a principal in a Wayamba school for inviting a former PC member who had insulted a teacher in the school by making her kneel before him for reprimanding his daughter, a student of the school. Provincial Education Minister Sandhya Kumara Rajapaksa [...]
Midwives to take hypertension message to villages
A ‘COBRA’ strike against high blood pressure, the No. 1 killer in the world, is poised for launch among the rural folk in the Puttalam district in Sri Lanka in April, under an international research collaboration made possible by a large grant from the United Kingdom (UK). The three-year ‘Control of Blood Pressure and Risk [...]
Mini hydros: Clean energy comes at high cost to Nature
Mini hydro plants, touted as clean energy power sources, are destroying eco-systems in some areas, experts warned. In Sri Lanka, large hydro power potential has all been fully utilised and what remains are opportunities for small or mini hydro power. These smaller plants are blocking streams, threatening freshwater fish and the fragile ecosystem in these [...]
Trap guns taking heavy toll on human and animal life
The illegal use of trap guns to ward off wild animals that cause harm to farm land is common in villages in the Divisional Secretariat Divisions of Navagaththegama, Wanathavilluwa and Karuwalagaswewa in the Puttlam District. Though aimed at protecting cultivated land, it is taking a toll on both human and animal lives and leaves behind [...]
Moved by victims’ tales, Prince Zeid hits out at failed judicial system
Everywhere he travelled in the North and East, head of the United Nations’ rights body Prince Zeid Bin Ra’ad al-Hussein received letters from ordinary people. They waited for him on the way to most of his official meetings staging, as the UN calls them, “unplanned interventions”. He took time to speak with all of them [...]
A paddy glut of 200,000 tons prompts Govt. to seek overseas markets
A glut of 200,000 tonnes of paddy has prompted the Government to look into the possibility of exporting rice. Minister of Rural Economy P. Harrison told the Sunday times that Sri Lanka has rice far in excess of what is required for consumption for 2016, and hence, is looking to export the excess stock to [...]
India aids 4,000 estate workers get roofs over their heads
With initial ground work completed, the India-assisted housing project for 4,000 beneficiaries from the plantation sector will be launched by next month, a senior minister said. Hill Country New Villages, Infrastructure and Community Development Minister P. Thigambaram told the Sunday Times that in the initial phase 1,134 houses will be completed in the Uva Province [...]
N’Eliya DS rejects request to fell 3,700 trees
At a meeting of the Environment Committee of Nuwara Eliya DS held recently Helen Meegasmulla, the District Secretary turned down a request by five plantation companies to cut down 3,700 trees in their respective plantations. Earlier the Divisional secretaries of Nuwara Eliya and Ambagamuwa, the Central Environmental Authority and the Plantation Ministry had approved a [...]
Thousands of e-mails in CD titled as mail backup have to be investigated, FCID tells Court
The Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) submitted to Court transcripts of electronic mail (e-mail) exchanged between the main accused Yoshitha Rajapaksa and the former Secretary to the Ministry of Mass Media and Information in the CSN money laundering case when it was taken up for hearing before Kaduwela Magistrate Dhammika Hemapala on Thursday. The FCID [...]
Don’t make Lanka an Indian colony: Protest in London
Calling upon the Sri Lankan community in London to protest against the current danger to their motherland, a new movement named Sri Lanka Solidarity Movement staged a demonstration opposite the Sri Lankan High Commission on Friday afternoon voicing opposition to attempts to make the country a colony of India and foist a federal constitution on [...]
Magistrate refuses to revoke warrant on ex-LTTEer Emil Kanthan
Colombo Fort Magistrate Priyantha Liyanage on Friday turned down a request from lawyers for a former LTTE strongman Emil Kanthan alias Anton Chamil Lakshmi Kannan to revoke the open warrant for his arrest. The Magistrate turned down the request after the CID objected to the lifting of the warrant which has been issued for his [...]
Photo focus: Colombo’s derelict Lighthouse Clock Tower
The Lighthouse Clock Tower at Chatham Street in Colombo Fort, designed by Lady Steinberg Ward, was declared open on March 25, 1857 by the then Governor of Ceylon, Sir Henry George Ward. The monument has been a major tourist attraction, but today is in a bad state of neglect and decay. The plaque affixed to the [...]
‘Extinct’ shark spotted in Menik Ganga
A few months ago, the apex predator of the freshwater riverine habitats, the crocodile, was reported in the sea off Wellawatte; recently the apex predator of the ocean, the shark, was reported in a river. The latest sighting of a shark in a freshwater habitat was reported by a group of wildlife lovers who visited [...]
Give us a hearing too
A group of Muslims who were displaced during the conflict demonstrate outside the UN Office in Colombo demanding that they be given an opportunity to meet the visiting UN Human Rights High Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein.
Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka enters Parliament
Field Marshal (FM) Sarath Fonseka took oaths as a Member of Parliament (MP) before Speaker Karu Jayasuriya on Tuesday, to fill the vacancy created by the death last month of UNP National List MP M.K.D.S. Gunawardena. Field Marshal Fonseka was elected to Parliament at the 2010 General elections, but lost his seat consequent to his [...]
Adding meaningfulness and truth to life
In all religions, the clergy are expected to preach on the meaning of life and how we should live. Our great spiritual leader, Lord Buddha, so advised the Buddhist clergy also. From eating and drinking to proper living, all things should be properly organised. The Dhamma is a treasure and it is vital for a [...]
‘Professional’ agitation pushes Govt. into discussing ETCA
Government is to enter into a wide consultative process with professionals, Business community and trade unions before finalising the proposed Economic Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) with India, aimed at exchanging trade services including labour, between the two countries. For this purpose Government has agreed to set up a joint working committee comprising representatives of 45 [...]
Biometric digital transaction card to stamp out fraud in state, private institutes
An estimated Rs. 35 billion is removed illegally from state affiliated welfare reserves, including pensions, each year and in a bid to stamp out this fraud the authorities are to introduce a biometric digital transaction card, it was revealed yesterday. The card created by the Ministries of Telecom and Digital Infrastructure and Finance will initially [...]
Screens to alert passengers of medical aid at airport
The Health Ministry is planning to have digital led displays to advise passengers of the availability of medical help at the Bandaranaike International airport (BIA) in times of a threat of carrying contractible diseases. Quarantine Director, Palitha Karunapema said that tender procedures are on to order three 60 inch televisions to be displayed in strategic [...]
A portrait of former President D.B.Wijetunga unvailed
A portrait of former President D.B.Wijetunga was ceremonially unveiled by President Maithripala Sirisena at the Parliament Complex this week.
Jayantha Jayasuriya P.C. 29th Attorney General of Sri Lanka
Jayantha Chandrasiri Jayasuriya, P.C. was appointed Sri Lanka’s 29th Attorney General by President Maithripala Sirisena. He was admitted and enrolled as an Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in September 1982 and counts 33 years of service in the AG’s Dept, having joined the same year as a State Counsel. He was promoted [...]
Suspected child molester attempts suicide
A suspect arrested in connection with a child molestation case was rushed to hospital after he allegedly attempted suicide inside a cell at the Ambalantota Police station on Friday night. According to the police, the 42-year-old married man was taken into custody by the Ambalantota Police on Friday for allegedly raping his 13-year-old daughter. The [...]
Police investigate kidney racket on Health Ministry tip-off
The police this week said that they have started investigations into the kidney racket on a request by the Health Ministry. Media spokesman ASP Ruwan Gunasekera declined to comment in detail on the investigation but said the Colombo Crime Division (CCD) is visiting all hospitals where the kidney transplants have taken place as alleged in [...]
PNB tracking group enticing children to take to drugs
The Police Narcotics (PNB) is investigating a drug syndicate which entices school children to take to narcotics. The investigations follows revelations that more and more people from low income group families are being made use of for trafficking of drugs into schools and beach parties aimed at children and youth getting addicted to drugs. A [...]
If the Foreign Service has collapsed, revive it
A large number of diplomatic missions abroad, particularly in key capitals, continue to be headed by non-SLFS (Sri Lanka Foreign Service) personnel or political appointees. The most recent nomination of Amari Wijewardene, a cousin of the Prime Minister, as high commissioner to Britain has spurred cries of nepotism similar to those that dogged the former [...]