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Home » NewsHigh-level talks on China’s projects here
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the highest ranking Chinese leader to visit Sri Lanka since the new Government took office here, holding crucial talks with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at Temple Trees yesterday. Mr. Wang began an unexpected three-day visit to Sri Lanka on Friday with analysts saying the main aim was to ensure [...]
Free stents not this year; sales continue at exorbitant prices
By Chrishanthi Christopher The provision of free stents for heart patients has been shelved till next year due to the lack of budgetary allocations this year — while private company sales representatives are hanging around the Cardiology Unit selling stents at exorbitant prices. Health Ministry Secretary Anura Jayawickrema said the Government had earlier promised to [...]
President’s visit to Batticaloa marred by killing
By Chris Kamalendran The killing of a villager during a party by construction workers has led to the postponement of today’s opening by President Maithripala Sirisena of a tourist hotel at Pasikudah in Batticaloa. The President will, however, go ahead with other events including the opening of the domestic airport in Batticaloa, the refurbished Webber [...]
Compromise on fishing dispute: Northern fishermen vow to overturn boats
Northern fishermen leaders have sought a meeting with President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to protest over proposals to grant fishing licences to a limited number of Indian fishermen to fish in Lankan waters. The Sunday Times last week exclusively reported that a proposal to grant fishing licences to a limited number of [...]
GSP Plus – EC shortens list of conditions
The European Commission has imposed upon Sri Lanka fifteen conditions in return for granting the GSP Plus trade concession — considerably whittled down from the list of 58 strictures it had originally slapped on. The shorter list — which was first communicated to the Sri Lanka Government in June 2010 and to which the [...]
Conditional promotion for absent war-time officers
Army Headquarters has adopted a new policy in respect of promotions for officers who had been absent without leave (AWOL) before May 20, 2009; the date coincides with the death of Velupillai Prabhakaran and the military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The LTTE leader was killed on May 19. The war [...]
Salawa disaster: Bailout package Rs. 1,200 million
By Sandun Jayawardana The bailout package for the civilians who lost their property in the Salawa ammunition depot explosions will cost more than Rs. 1,200 million, a senior Government official told the Sunday Times. Colombo District Secretary Sunil Kannangara said officials had completed the final damage assessment of the incident and had found 2,014 houses [...]
Port worker’s death: Coroner summons Indian skipper
The Colombo city coroner has ordered police to produce the captain of an Indian ship for an inquiry over the death of a Port worker who was assisting to dock the vessel. A co-worker who was also injured and is currently in hospital said he and the victim had boarded the ship on Monday to [...]
Over-staffed Fisheries Corp. offers Voluntary Retirement Scheme
The Fisheries Ministry has run into a crisis over the loss making Ceylon Fisheries Corporation with an over staffing issue and workers demanding that Government offers them compensation by selling the premises of the corporation. Fisheries Minister Mahinda Amaraweera told the Sunday Times that the Ministry had offered a Voluntary Retirement Scheme, but only 105 [...]
Chip-for-job at President’s House
A scout cub volunteers to water the flowerbed at the Paget Road residence of President Maithripala Sirisena, Chief Scout and Patron of the Scouts Movement in Sri Lanka, as part of a chip-for-job programme to mark the Scouts Week. Pic by Udesh Gunarathne
RTI law now in force
The Right to Information Act is now in force with Speaker Karu Jayasuriya giving his assent to the Act on Thursday. The Bill was passed unanimously in Parliament on June 24. However, in terms of the Act, certain provisions will come into effect only after six months. The law provides the citizens the right to [...]
BOI signs 46 investment agreements worth a record US$ 982m
The Board of Investment (BOI) last month signed 46 new investment agreements totalling a record US$ 982 million in investments. The projects cover a wide range of sectors such as manufacturing, construction, mixed development, hotel, mini hydropower, trading house, solar power, apparel, research and development and education. In addition, once in operation, these projects will [...]
Litro Gas tender under a cloud, Minister orders independent probe
The Ministry of Public Enterprise Development will commission independent procurement specialists to investigate the recent award of a lucrative gas tender to a Singapore-based company by Litro Gas Lanka Ltd. “I am not happy with what happened,” Public Enterprise Development Minister Kabir Hashim told the Sunday Times. “I have received complaints that the process was [...]
The longest railway tunnel nears completion
The Kekunadura tunnel at Nakuttiyagama, which is being constructed as part of the project to extend the railway line from Matara to Beliatta is now nearing completion. At 615 metres, it is the longest railway tunnel in the country. After work lasting 2 ½ years, workers, who were digging the tunnel from two sides, have [...]
Navy gets access to monitor our fishing vessels in int’l waters
Sri Lanka Navy will have access to the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) coming under the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources from next week under a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Fisheries Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said that under the terms of the MoU, a team of Navy personnel will be granted access to the VMS [...]
Over-staffed Fisheries Corp. offers Voluntary Retirement Scheme
The Fisheries Ministry has run into a crisis over the loss making Ceylon Fisheries Corporation with an over staffing issue and workers demanding that Government offers them compensation by selling the premises of the corporation. Fisheries Minister Mahinda Amaraweera told the Sunday Times that the Ministry had offered a Voluntary Retirement Scheme, but only 105 [...]
Jayalalithaa whips up Kachchativu issue; sidelines Tamil Nadu’s problems
For the first time in Tamil Nadu history, an incumbent Chief Minister has come down heavily on the Centre, describing an external affairs action as “unconstitutional”. Chief Minister Jeyaram Jayalalithaa has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging the 1974 transfer of Kachchativu to Sri Lanka an unconstitutional act. Strangely enough, post-2016 TN assembly election, [...]
VAT exempt items up for review, says CAA
The essential food items that were announced by the government as being free of VAT in its November 2015 budget will come under review, the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) said. CAA Director General A.K. D.D.D. Arandara last week said arrangements are underway to revise the prices of the essential items as the prices of the [...]
Auditor General’s report on Central Bank bond scam, hike in VAT dominate House proceedings
The Auditor General’s (Aud.Gen.) report into the alleged Central Bank (CB) Treasury Bond (TB) scam and the increase in Value Added Tax (VAT) dominated proceedings when Parliament met this week. The Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), investigating the TB issue and the role played by former CB Governor Arjuna Mahendran, had commissioned the Aud.Gen. to [...]
Scores dying from bus frenzy to pick up passengers
There have been thousands of bus accidents since January, with 186 fatalities, with increasing incidents of bus drivers racing each other to collect more passengers or reach their destinations faster. Transport authorities agree, and say transport licence rules will be altered to prevent private fleets from employing drivers with no passenger transport skills. Private buses [...]
Dengue flourishing in crammed govt flats
The government is to take action over illegal construction in blocks of government flats with authorities saying mosquitoes are teeming with the resulting lack of space, poor waste management and congestion. “Illegal construction in government flats in the Colombo District has been a menace with most of the dengue cases being reported from these government [...]
Kalubowila Hospital facing crisis with increasing number of dengue patients
Dengue patients are flooding the Kalubowila Hospital making it difficult for the staff to manage, Hospital Director Dr. Asela Gunawardena said. He said, the hospital gets patients from Dehiwala, Mount Lavinia, Nugegoda, Maharagama, Homagama and Pandura and the numbers are twice the number of beds available creating a problem when it comes to separating dengue [...]
Brave ranger killed in showdown at poisoned waterhole
Six Wildlife Department officers, two armed with rifles, waited in ambush for more than two hours in the Sinukkugala jungles 16km from Hambantota town. Their mission was to arrest poachers poisoning wild animals to sell their flesh. Leading the party, the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the Hambantota Wildlife Range, Ajith Gunatunga, waited patiently in the scrub [...]
Catching poachers on Facebook has rewards – and also dangers
There are pitfalls in using social media to expose animal cruelty and poaching, authorities warned although they expressed satisfaction with the arrests of six suspected poachers in the Knuckles Range last Sunday following posts on their activities on Facebook. The poaching incident had occurred three and a half years ago but had only come to [...]
Former Opposition leader of Wennappuwa PS arrested for poaching
Three suspects, including the former Opposition leader of the Wennappuwa Pradeshiya Sabha in Chilaw, were arrested by officers of the the Special Task Force (STF) from the Meepilimana Kande Ela STF camp while attempting to transport the body of a Sambar (deer) which they had allegedly shot within the “Meepilimane Kande Ela” reserve. It is [...]
Billion-rupee eco-tourism hotel project in Delft Island falls apart
A billion-rupee project to erect an eco-tourism hotel on remote Delft Island in the North has been vetoed by the Prime Minister’s office even after developers spent four years finishing paperwork. Proposed by a local company called Palk Bay Resorts Ltd, the venture was backed by the Northern Provincial Council and the Board of Investment. [...]
Indian ministerial delegation here soon as ETCA finalising nears
As part of the negotiations regarding the signing of the proposed Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) a delegation headed by India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman will be in Colombo by the end of this month to expedite the process. The much debated economic pact proposed between India and Sri Lanka is [...]
“Ex-Servicemen’s Job Bank” for constructive ‘redeployment’ into labour market
An initiative to recruit retired Service personnel into public institutions on contractual basis, commenced this week, with the State Ministry of Defence advertising the establishment of an “Ex-Servicemen’s Job Bank.” The initiative, first proposed by President Maithripala Sirisena in his capacity as Minister of Defence, was approved by Cabinet in March. It will see the [...]
SLMC non-registration of SAITM grads: Two cases in court
Two cases were taken up before the Supreme Court and the Appeal Court seeking to remove barriers for the South Asia Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) medical graduates to get provisional registration with the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) enabling them to complete the one year compulsory internship at Government hospitals and be recruited [...]
Sajin Vass released again on bail
Former Foreign Ministry Monitoring Parliamentarian Sajin Vass Gunawardena was released on bail on Friday by the Colombo Magistrate’s Court in connection with charges of intimidating and forcibly obtaining money from a businessman. Chief Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya ordered to release him on cash bail of Rs. 500,000 and with four sureties of five million rupees each. [...]
Megapolis Ministry to go ahead with projects despite obstacles
The Megapolis Ministry will push through its projects despite obstacles including a delay in introducing a Bill to create a separate Authority and difficulties in acquiring land in highly urbanised areas, said Minister of Megapolis & Western Development, Champika Ranawaka. In an interview with the Sunday Times, Minister Ranwaka said the planning stage of the [...]
4 Injured in car-bus head-on collision
Four people were injured in a head-on collision between a car and a bus at Kegalle, on the Kandy-Colombo Road, Police said yesterday. Kegalle Police OIC, Sarath Jayasekara said the collision occurred at Moragoda in Kegalle, when the Colombo-bound car crossed into the wrong lane and collided with a Kandy-bound Sri Lanka Transport Board bus. [...]
Parties get set for undated LG polls
Although uncertainty looms large over the dates of the long overdue local council polls, the main political parties are in full swing with preparations and have called for applications from ‘would-be’ candidates. Last week, the United National Party, the main constituent party of the Unity Government, started an islandwide campaign to enrol some three million [...]
Activists back plan to source perahera jumbos from Pinnawela
Wildlife activists have welcomed Cabinet’s decision this week to have a herd of 35 captive elephants from Pinnawela trained to take part in cultural events while under the care of the Department of Zoological Gardens. The move follows a proposal submitted by the Minister for Wildlife, Gamini Jayawickrama Perera in the aftermath of the seizure, [...]
An intrinsic part of life
One of the sectors to be hit hardest by the Government’s move to impose the Value Added Tax (VAT) is the telecommunication sector. One of the sectors to be hit hardest by the Government’s move to impose the Value Added Tax (VAT) is the telecommunication sector. Consumers started feeling the impact of the tax hike [...]