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Former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the man who coordinated the eventual military defeat of the LTTE, was brought to face charges relating to allegations of irregularities surrounding the Avant Garde floating armoury. He is seen kept in a cell in the Colombo Magistrate’s Court last Friday until his bail was secured. He leaves for China [...]
Another scandal reported at HSBC; forex law violations under probe
HSBC Sri Lanka allegedly violated exchange control regulations by opening offshore current accounts in its Maldives branch for domestic corporate sector clients who used the Sri Lanka Government’s External Commercial Borrowing Scheme (ECBS), investigations have shown. The regulator, Central Bank of Sri Lanka, is now looking into the matter. The ECBS was available from January [...]
Amended VAT Bill on Tuesday
Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake will present the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill to Parliament on Tuesday. This is the second time the Bill is being presented to the House. The Supreme Court ruled in early August that the previous Bill presented by the Minister to the House did not signify Cabinet approval, as is the [...]
Abuse of university quota system: Offending officials, students to be sacked
A countrywide probe is underway to nab education officials, principals, teachers and students who collaborated in abusing the quota system for university admission, officials said yesterday. They said those who helped students to fraudulently register in schools to sit the G.C.E. (Advanced Level) examination from areas outside their original district of study and gain university [...]
Airbus deal: SriLankan works out compromise
The debt-ridden national carrier SriLankan Airlines has re-negotiated the termination of the three A 350 Airbus lease contract with one of the world’s largest airline leasing company, AerCap as they were not suitable for existing routes and too expensive to maintain, officials said. The leasing company has agreed to reduce the termination fee to US$98 [...]
Angry Pakistan cancels SAARC summit
Pakistan has formally announced that the 19th South Asian Summit which was to be held in Islamabad next month has been cancelled. A statement from the Pakistan Foreign Office said, “The spirit of the SAARC Charter is violated when a member state casts the shadow of its bilateral problems on the multilateral forum for regional [...]
Human rights activist grilled at airport
Human rights activist Ruky Fernando on his way for an international seminar in Britain was questioned at the Bandaranaike International Airport by the intelligence service, a civil rights movement said. Mr. Fernando was on his way to attend a human rights session at Britain’s York University when he was questioned for about one and half [...]
Jayalalithaa’s health sparks speculation; specialist flown in from London
A cloak of secrecy surrounds the health of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayaram Jayalalithaa, who has been in a Chennai Hospital since September 22, as speculation is rife despite pleas by her party, AIADMK, not to believe any rumours. A pall of political uncertainty prevails in the southern Indian state as the chief minister remains [...]
Invoking blessings as Sri Lanka Army marks 67th anniversary
The traditional flag blessing ceremony was held at the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi, Anuradhapura, on Friday as precursor to the celebration of the forthcoming 67th anniversary of the Sri Lanka Army.
Ensure your presence in House, UNP MPs told
All UNP MPs including Ministers have been told to ensure they are present in Parliament on all sitting days unless prior approval of the Prime Minister or the Leader of the House is obtained, after it came a light that at least 25 of the Party’s lawmakers were absent without notice during a vote late [...]
Former AG legal consultant to CIFC
Former Attorney General Yuvanjana Wijethilake has been appointed legal consultant of the new Colombo International Financial City (CIFC) formerly Colombo Port City, the Cabinet Committee of Economic Management (CCEM) was informed at a recent meeting. It was stated that Mr. Wijethilake will be resposible for dealing with legal matters of the centre, which is to [...]
Three named to Right To Information Commission
Three Commissioners of the five-member independent Right to Information (RTI) Commission were appointed on Friday by President Maithripala Sirisena. The newly-appointed Commission members are former civil servant Mahinda Gammanpila (Chairman), attorney-at-law S. G. Punchihewa and attorney-at-law Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena (nominee of the Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka, the Newspaper Society of Sri Lanka, the Free Media [...]
First ever Advisory Committee on Health to be convened
‘Virtual’ will be the hospital that will be showcased, not physically there but aptly brought to life through software, when the Commonwealth Medical Association (CMA) holds its 24th Triennial Conference in Colombo, with some firsts on the table. In mid-October many eminent personalities from Commonwealth countries across the world, including Commonwealth Secretary General Baroness Patricia [...]
Number of three-wheeled vehicles increases dramatically
The number of three-wheeled vehicles registered in the country has risen sharply. The ratio of three-wheelers to people stands at 1:20 (1 three-wheeler for every 20 persons). According to latest statistics compiled by the Department of Motor Traffic, at the end of last month the number of three-wheeled vehicles in the country stood at 1,094,815. [...]
Kalutara Police sleuths crack code, nab supermarket robbers
Kalutara (North) Police officers this week cracked the code of the gang allegedly involved in a series of robberies of supermarkets. Police were on the alert for a group for allegedly robbing a Sathosa outlet in the Kalutara (North) area of some Rs 700,000 worth of goods including milk food packets. “Scrutiny of CCTV footage [...]
Animal fossils thousands of years old found in Yala
Bone fragments believed to be animals that died thousands of years ago were discovered from a rock pool in Yala this week. They are parts of skeletons of elephants, tortoises, wild buffaloes, spotted deer, wild boar and other animals, say students of the Kelaniya University Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology who are studying the fossils. The [...]
2 Controversial Bills unlikely to be debated as scheduled: House Leader
Two controversial Bills, namely the Theravada Bhikku Kathikawath (TBK) (Registration) Bill and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CoCP) (Amendment) Bill, scheduled for debate in Parliament in the coming week, are likely to be postponed. The TBK (Registration) Bill has been included in the business of Parliament for Tuesday, while the CoCP (Amendment) Bill has been [...]
SC upholds harassed teachers riaght to go to the media
“Freedom of speech is essential for the proper functioning of the democratic process,” the Supreme Court held this week, while reinstating with compensation, a Government school teacher, sacked for granting a media interview on harassment suffered by her within her institution. “Public opinion plays a crucial role in modern democracy and it is of great [...]
Three 5-year terms instead of two 10-years for Diyawadana Nilame
The term of office of the Diyawadana Nilame (DN) will be restricted to three terms of five years each, under the amendments to the Buddhist Temporalities Ordinance which Parliament is set to approve on Tuesday. At present, the DN can hold two successive 10-year terms, if elected, and re-contest after a break. However, the present [...]
CAA paints over lead content to court manufacturers
The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA), in a revised gazette notification, No.1985 /38 of September 23, 2016, has relaxed the stipulation that all manufacturers and traders of paint, varnish and solvents exhibit the exact lead content in their products. Accordingly, the new stipulation requires that the labels on all paints, varnishes an solvents products indicate it [...]
NPC politico dies while riding his motorbike
The Northern Provincial Council’s (NPC) Deputy Chairman Anthony Jeganathan died last morning after falling off his motorcycle in the Mulliyaweli area, in Mullaitivu, police said. He was rushed to Hospital, but was pronounced dead on admission.Hospital sources said Mr Jeganathan was believed to have suffered a heart attack while riding the motorcycle.
Thirsty for water and justice
Water has always been a scarce resource for people living in far-flung drought prone areas in the Hambantota and Monaragala districts, but in spite of being familiar with the inhospitable nature of the land, thousands of people in these areas are reeling under a severe shortage of water. For several weeks now, the daily lives [...]
Stiff winds hit Mannar Island wind turbine project
Gale-force winds of criticism are buffeting the proposed wind-turbine project of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) on Mannar Island, known for its unique eco-systems. All environmentalists are in total agreement on the need for Sri Lanka to make use of wind power, which is an environmental-friendly renewable source of energy, but controversy is creating turbulence [...]
Get set for a rough ride on power costs
Sri Lanka’s power sector is set to endure an extremely volatile period in the next several years, with electricity tariffs likely to rise significantly as the country moves to head off a power crisis expected in 2018/19, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has warned. According to CEB Chairman Anura Wijepala, the Board hopes to expedite [...]
Battle against NCDs intensifies
The concerted campaign against non-communicable diseases (NCDs) has been intensified with the launch of the ‘Sri Lanka Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease Initiative’ (SLDCI) in September. The three-year initiative (2016—2019) is to be undertaken by the Health Ministry, the Sri Lanka College of Endocrinologists (SLCE) and the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) with funding and supervision [...]
What price for Nature’s ‘greenbacks’ – the forests?
Conservationists are debating whether working out a rupee value for forests would convince money-crunching bureaucrats that preserving them makes more economic sense than stripping woodland for income-producing purposes. “Many people consider forest as a waste of land where utilising that terrain for other purposes can bring income, also contributing to the national economy. But forests [...]
Huge stray dog numbers neuter rabies fight
The increasing number of stray dogs is nullifying the best efforts of authorities trying to combat rabies. There are about half a million stray dogs reported to be on the roads and annually around 3,600 people seek treatment for rabies in public hospitals countrywide. Twelve people have died to date from rabies; 24 deaths were [...]
Photo focus: No human-elephant conflict here
The prolonged drought which has afflicted the country, has adversely affected the Puttalam district. The Dodanattawa tank in the village of Nawagattegama in the Puttalam district -the only tank in the area has dried up, and is affecting the lives of elephants which depend on its waters for survival. The herd of elephants -estimated to [...]
To get sand, they’ll even burn down a forest
Opportunists burning down our forests simply in order to collect sand cheaply are amongthes whose actions have caused about 4,570 acres of forest and scrub to go up in flames this year alone. “They do this because when it rains after a fire, all the solid is washed down into the streams and rivers which [...]