News
Home » NewsAll day they search the barren waste for water
Tens of thousands of people have been severely hit by the current drought in Polonnaruwa, Hambantota and other areas. Our main picture shows desperate Polonnaruwa women collecting even muddy water from a tank, because they have no option. Not only humans but animals also have been affected, searching the barren waste for the taste of [...]
Billion-dollar Northern housing tender resurfaces
Cabinet paper for new committee to re-evaluate contract, but powerful agents hang around Rehabilitation Ministry By Namini Wijedasa The tender for a massive project to build houses for conflict-affected people in the North and East is to be reopened by the Ministry of Rehabilitation and Resettlement, authoritative sources said, amid reports that the billion-dollar contract [...]
Sweeping tax concessions for International Financial City Project
Sweeping tax concessions have been given to the International Financial City or Port City project to be built in a reclaimed sea area of 269 hectares. The tax concessions have been announced by Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrema in a gazette notification issued this week under the Strategic Development Projects Act. The [...]
EU court urged to lift LTTE ban; Advocate General cites procedural errors
An Advocate General of the European Court of Justice held this week that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, along with Hamas, should be taken off the bloc’s terror list because of errors in the banning process. Eleanor V E Sharpston, QC, has said in her opinion that the Council of the European Union could [...]
Wigneswaran leads 10,000 people in protest against TNA, Govt.
By Chris Kamalendran More than 10,000 people led by Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneshwaran took to the streets of Jaffna yesterday to protest against what they see as the Tamil National Alliance’s failure to fulfil pledges given during the election campaign. In support of the protest, shops were closed in Jaffna and in certain [...]
Customs work-to-rule ends, backlog to be cleared
The Government is to go ahead with the proposed Bill on Customs Department reforms including revenue collection despite objections from a section of officials as importers were struggling yesterday to overcome losses suffered during a five day work-to-rule campaign by Customs officials. The Port yesterday started clearing a backlog of 4,000 containers as importers claimed [...]
Eternal vigilance in defence of press freedom in Lanka
To mark International Right to Information Day which falls on Wednesday, September 28 and commemorate the 31st death anniversary of Esmond Wickremesinghe, a much respected media baron and press freedom activist in Sri Lanka, we publish a speech delivered by him at the 9th Commonwealth Press Union Conference jointly held by India and Pakistan in [...]
Return of lands pivotal for resettling IDPs: National Policy
The Government has adopted a national policy on the war-displaced, which acknowledges that one of the major obstacles to providing them with durable solutions for a return to normal life, is occupation of land by the military and police. The policy calls on the Ministry of Defence to coordinate with the Ministry of Law and [...]
HSBC CEO’s exit advanced
The Chief Executive Officer of HSBC Sri Lanka is being moved out prematurely, authoritative banking sources told the Sunday Times. They said Patrick Gallagher, whose term was scheduled to end in April 2017, will return to London and a new foreign CEO will be installed in his place in October. Mr. Gallagher was appointed to [...]
Boy loses leg after fall from train
A schoolboy had to undergo amputation below the knee following a train accident, police said. The boy, on his way to a tuition class, was travelling on the footboard when he fell off the train at Dematagoda. His leg hit an iron post on the side of the track at Mount Mary in Dematagoda. The [...]
PAC hacks Agriculture Ministry’s Rs. 958 million rent
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has made the shocking revelation that the Cabinet has approved the payment of Rs. 958 million over five years as rent for a building on the outskirts of Colombo to house the Agriculture Ministry. The ministry is expected to move in to this building soon. The PAC in its report, [...]
EPF loses Rs 42m in P.C. House and Grain Elevators investments: COPA
The Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) disclosed this week that two investments by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) in two companies, namely P.C.House and Grain Elevators had resulted in a total loss of around Rs 42 million. This was revealed in COPA’s report presented to Parliament this week by its Chairman MP Lasantha Alagiyawanna. COPA [...]
We are not against abolition of the Executive Presidency: Minister Ranawaka
Megapolis Minister and Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) secretary Patali Champika Ranawaka yesterday said his party was not against the abolition of the Executive Presidency, but opined that the country needed a strong electoral system to ensure a stable government. Mr. Ranawaka speaking at the 13th Convention of the party held at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium [...]
Speaker warns against canine sounds
It’s nearly six months since the draft of a Code of Conduct for MPs was circulated among lawmakers but it is yet to be adopted by the House. In the meantime, the behaviour of some MPs has become increasingly unparliametary with some going as far as to make “canine sounds”. Speaker Karu Jayasuirya warned them [...]
Gold worth Rs 30m, Rs 100,000 cash heist by SI-led gang of four
A robber gang of four, led by a Sub Inspector (SI) with two army deserter accomplices and another person, claiming to be officials from a ‘Foreign Bureau’ checking on Indian nationals working illegally as goldsmiths in jewellery shops, got away with 3.7 kg of gold worth nearly Rs 30 million and Rs 100,000 in cash. [...]
Death by drowning: SL has more than 3 a day
Sri Lanka has one of the highest drowning rates in the world, with more than three deaths a day. It is estimated that 500,000 people drown each year globally, and 1.3 million people sustain injuries as a result of near-drowning experiences. According to the Life Saving Association of Sri Lanka (LSASL), last year alone, 1,250 [...]
Are you also a victim of MSPs?
I got a text message to my mobile phone on September 11, stating: “Your auto-renewal is due in one day”. It was from an application called DZone which I had not subscribed to. This was not the first instance such a text had been received, followed by a notification that the renewal had automatically–and explicitly [...]
CCTV for 100 police stations with cells ‘not visible’
The Law & Order Ministry will initially instal CCTV security cameras in the cells of 100 police stations where the location of the cells made it difficult to be monitored by the police officers, Ministry Secretary Jagath Wijeweera told the Sunday Times. The move comes in the wake of Law and Order Minister Sagala Ratnayake’s [...]
Dogs die of poisoning in Puwakwatte
The village of Puwakwatta, in Ahangama, in the South has been hit by a wave of malicious poisonings that have left 17 dogs, pets and strays, dead in recent days. An animal charity is now warning that the indiscriminate use of a toxic poison could endanger children and affect the area’s water supply too. Among [...]
Vital drug prices to come down at last
Prices of nearly 50 ‘essential’ or ‘life-saving’ drugs are to be slashed shortly, under a proposed formula to be finalised very soon, bringing the curtain down, to some extent, on a decades-long debate on costly medicines. In some cases, the proposed reduction is over 50%, with the price of Atorvastatin (a drug for high cholesterol) [...]
Kilinochchi conflagration sparks interest in fire-fighting services
Municipal Councils and other local bodies that depend on neighbouring local bodies to provide fire fighting services in case of a major fire are inconvenienced due to the lack of a fire fighting service of their own. This matter was highlighted after last week’s fire at the Kilinochchi market that razed it to the ground [...]
AIDS deaths increasing
More than 4,500 HIV cases and 24 AIDS deaths were reported in Sri Lanka in the first six months of this year, with victims increasing, health officials disclosed this week. In the first quarter of 2016, approximately 2,377 cases of HIV were reported, with nine AIDS deaths, and in the second quarter more than 2,400 [...]
Wall to stop coastal erosion in Oluvil
The Coast Conservation Department has moved to prevent sea erosion in the Oluvil area following complaints by residents about the impact of the damage caused. Rs.17 million has been allocated to put up a 220 metre wall of rocks and soil preventing the waves from causing further erosion. The villagers made representations to Minister Rauff [...]
Hundreds walk miles for water as drought bites
The severe drought prevailing in at least five provinces, including the North Central region, is forcing hundreds of people to walk several kilometers daily to fetch drinking water or look for bathing places. In Polonnaruwa, one of the worst-affected areas, the drought has hit more than 34,000 people, the Disaster Management Center (DMC) said. Communities [...]
Factory-waste burning rampant around homes
The illegal burning of factory waste is common, with little or no action against offenders causing pollution hazards, investigations have found following the recent case of an establishment at Padiliyathuduwa Road, Wattala, where discarded sponges are collected and set on fire. Residents in the area said that twice a day workers at the storage unit [...]
A new huna emerges from unprotected Salgala forest
Herpetologist Mendis Wickramasinghe who revealed a brightly-coloured new tree snake from the Sinharaja forest last week has now announced the discovery of a new endemic gecko, found in the Salgala forest in Kegalle district. The gecko, or huna in Sinhala, is a familiar creature: most of our houses are inhabited by a family of “house [...]
Breath-test mahouts before they ‘drive’ perahera elephants, activists say
Drunken mahouts who abuse elephants should face the full force of the law, animal rights activists said, pointing out that festival organisers sometimes ply mahouts with liquor in the belief that they work better in a state of intoxication. The President of Sathva Mithra, Sagarika Rajakarunanayake, commended police who apprehended the drunk mahout at the [...]
Photo focus: Heroes of a bygone era
When statues of prominent historical figures are sculpted, they are made to honour them for the pivotal role they played in shaping the country’s identity. Dozens of such statues are found in Colombo and other major towns in the country. The statues are a tribute to the service rendered by these individuals, and dedicated to [...]
Probe into alleged fraud by top RRISL officials in lab equipment purchase
The Plantations Ministry has launched an inquiry into allegations of fraud in the procurement of laboratory equipment for the Rubber Research Institute of Sri Lanka (RRISL). The alleged fraud revolves around the purchase of a piece of equipment for the RRISL’s laboratory in Ratmalana. It has been alleged that the RRISL Director and several Deputy [...]
Don’t leave conservation solely to Wildlife Dept: Former DG Pilapitiya
“Sri Lanka has the potential of being the best wildlife tourism destination outside Africa, but only if done the right way,” Department of Wildlife Conservation’s (DWC) former Director General Dr. Sumith Pilapitiya said at a public lecture on Thursday. Delivering the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society’s (WNPS) monthly lecture on the topic, ‘‘Civil Society’s Role [...]