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Home » NewsWorld tallest Christmas tree at the Galle Face Green
A section of workers of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority are busy making what they believe would be the tallest Christmas tree in the world at the Galle Face green. A banner displayed at the site says Ports Minister Arjuna Ranatunga is supporting the project. The Sunday Times learns that Rs one million is being [...]
DPL immunity for international org.staff; Parliament to be notified
The Government will present to Parliament an Order made under the Diplomatic Privileges Act of 1996, in relation to several UN Organisations as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) among others, to correct a procedural fault that has resulted in them being hauled up before courts, even in instances where diplomatic [...]
Ampara District Field Officers demand motorcycles
Around 3,500 Field Officers (FO) from several State departments and associations, held a protest march last Wednesday, across Ampara town from clock tower junction to the district secretariat, urging the Government to address the non-provision of motorcycles to some 5,000 FOs, under the previous regime. The protesters accused the previous government of not providing motorcycles [...]
Health of the Nation – Consultation
President Maithripala Sirisena, in the eye of a storm with his coaltion partner, the UNP, over remarks on the Government’s anti-corruption drive, confers with his close political aide and Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne on Friday night at the Commonwealth Medical Association conference in Colombo. Pic by Indika Handuwala
Central Expressway cost increases by Rs. 12 billion
By Namini Wijedasa The Government is in talks with China’s Exim Bank to fund the first section of the Central Expressway which the contractor, Metallurgical Construction Company (MCC) of China, has now priced at Rs. 158 billion–or Rs 12 billion more than originally stated. The increase in cost is both due to the inclusion of [...]
CB Bonds: Final COPE report on Oct. 25
The final report of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) on the controversial Central Bank bond issue will be presented to Parliament on October 25. A meeting of the Committee has been scheduled for Wednesday and all members have been asked to attend to finalise the report. Meanwhile, Parliament will hold a day-long debate the [...]
UNP-SLFP committee to review 2017 Budget
The two main Government partners – the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) – will review proposals for the November 10 budget with Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake. “This is to ensure harmony and the proposals are introduced with the concurrence of both sides,” Mr Karunanayake told the Sunday Times. He [...]
Teak, Mahogany dead at Kanatte – to make furniture
By Kasun Warakapitiya At least 13 Teak and 2 Mahogany trees at the Borella General Cemetery’s Roman Catholic section were cut down on Friday and yesterday, for a variety of reasons including that some trees were old and a threat to visitors, while other trees were needed for timber, as they had reached maturity. A [...]
Half of us are alcoholics, one in five mentally ill
By Anushiya Sathisraja One in five people suffer from a mental illness and only a fifth of these receive treatment, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) reveals in a recent study. “We have failed because our services are still centralised and only available in the cities, NIMH Director Dr. H. M. Kapila Wickramanayaka. “Minor [...]
Farmer killed by falling coconut
A Divulapitiya farmer died of head injuries he suffered when a coconut from a tree fell on him, a coroner’s court was told this week. The 32-year-old A. Sumathipala was watering pepper plants in his garden when the tragedy occurred. He was first taken to the Divulapitiya hospital and then to the National Hospital where [...]
Espionage, several new offences in new Counter Terrorism Act
The Government’s draft proposal for a law to replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act has introduced several new types of offences under the definition of terrorism–including espionage. The ‘Policy and legal framework of the proposed Counter Terrorism Act of Sri Lanka’ was referred by Cabinet this week to the Sectoral Oversight Committee on National Security. [...]
Report out next month on delimitation of new wards for local polls
The report of the committee set up to look into complaints arising from delimitation of new ward is set to be released next month. Committee chairman Asoka Peiris said the report was due to be submitted by the end of October, but would now take more time in view of the volume of work involved. [...]
Lasantha’s alleged self-confessed killer committed suicide: Postmortem
By Chris Kamalendran The Judicial Medical investigation into the death of retired Army Sergeant Major Edirisinghe Jayamanne has ruled out foul play. Sgt Maj Jayamanne, 52, was found dead at his home in Kegalle on Friday, along with a note, allegedly confessing to the murder of former the Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge. An initial [...]
Powercuts likely
The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) may be compelled to impose countrywide power cuts of upto two hours in view of the breakdown of all three units of the Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant in Norochcholai, Power and Renewable Energy Ministry Secretary B.M.S. Batagoa said last night. The breakdown was caused due to a tripping of a [...]
65,000 houses project may be re-tendered in small packages
By Namini Wijedasa French steel giant ArcelorMittal’s US$1 billion (Rs.146 billion at today’s exchange rate) bid to singly erect 65,000 prefab dwellings in Sri Lanka for the war-affected in the North and East has suffered a blow. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Management (CCEM) headed by the Prime Minister recommended this week for the project [...]
SriLankan officials still under investigation: Chairman
SriLankan Airlines officials continue to be questioned by investigators on the previous regime’s controversial decision to lease A350-900 aircraft, and the award of the airport’s Duty-Free tender, its Chairman, Ajith Dias said this week. Both cases were exposed in the Weliamuna Report which accused SriLankan’s top officials and employees of financial misappropriation. “These are being [...]
Family members speak about their last words with Adhil Bakeer Markar
By Neville de Silva in London The body of Adhil Bakeer Markar, a young attorney-at-law, who was found dead in London last week, was due to be flown home from here. The 26-year Adhil, a son of former Media Minister Imtiaz Bakeer Markar, had passed away in his room at the London School of Economics [...]
Hazardous Badulla smog still hugs town
By Anushiya Sathisraja Days after a blaze broke out in five acres of trash mounds in Badulla, the smoke billowing from the conflagration continues to be a health hazard with authorities shutting down eight schools and hospitals and government dispensaries witnessing a rise in the number of patients. Garbage dumped here is often mixed waste, [...]
Ambassador resigns amid controversy over Lankan school in Qatar
Sri Lanka’s ambassador to Qatar has resigned from his post amid a controversy over a Sri Lankan school in the Gulf state’s capital, Doha. Ambassador Wadu Mestrige Karunadasa in a statement to the Sunday Times said he was resigning due to “personal reasons.” But Sri Lankan sources in Qatar said the resignation followed the dispute [...]
CPC wants autonomy to decide commercial operations
By Damith Wickremasekara The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) and the Finance Ministry are on a collision course over raising funds from the CPC, after turning down a Treasury request to transfer Rs. 10 billion to the Consolidated Fund. The CPC, this week, through the Ministry of Petroleum Resources Development has responded to the Finance [...]
Action Plan for coming years based on Colombo Declaration
C’wealth Medical Association meeting ends By Kumudini Hettiarachchi As the three-day Commonwealth Medical Association’s 24th Triennial Conferencehosted by Sri Lanka draws to a close this evening, the guiding light for the next three years’ work will be the Colombo Declaration. The declaration calls upon all Commonwealth governments to reduce inequalities and improve the health and [...]
Junk food, lack of exercise cause of increased NCDs, say specialist docs
World Obesity Day marked on Tuesday By Kumudini Hettiarachchi There is an urgent need for Sri Lankans to ‘beat the bulge’ to prevent them from slithering down the slippery slope to the depths of deadly non-communicable diseases (NCDs). It is in this light that World Obesity Day was celebrated on Tuesday (October 11) [...]
Witness waved hands to warn girl doomed by selfie craze
By Kasun Warakapitiya The station master of a small railway station off Ambalangoda walked out of his office onto the platform last Sunday just as the express train from Galle to Maradana was approaching the station. There was no scheduled stop at Padampagama station. “Usually I never come out from the station when this particular [...]
Drought wreaks havoc in Batti as pipe-borne water sucks
By Chandani Kirinde Residents of Batticaloa take pride in calling their town the land of the singing fish but, gripped by one of the worst droughts in recent years, the chorus of thousands of people in the district hit by severe water shortage is far from a melodious one. For the past few weeks, [...]
Drought forces delay in Maha with more trouble to come
By Ravi Shankar The delay in the second inter-monsoon of the year has prompted the Department of Irrigation to postpone the Maha cultivation season to November, with the risk of a reduced harvest. The second inter-monsoon normally starts during the beginning of October and is expected to be in full swing by the end of [...]
Change in weather forecast, 900,000 affected by drought
Nearly 900,000 people in all nine provinces are affected by the prevailing drought, but the situation is likely to change for the better with the onset of the monsoon expected within a few days, the Disaster Management Centre said. The provinces worst affected by the prevailing dry weather conditions are the North Central Province ((163,559 [...]
Detecting CKDU early:Researchers zero in on biomarkers, Hambantota also affected
By Kumudini Hettiarachchi It is the toil, sweat and tears of the humble paddy farmer in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka that puts the rice on our plates daily. It is this very same farmer, mainly in the North Central Province (NCP), who has been caught in the vice-like grip of a deadly, mysterious [...]
Public get a bellyful of endless street demos
By Sandun Jayawardana Long traffic queues, patients missing their medical appointments, bus and taxi drivers losing income and people being held up on the roads in the scorching sun are becoming a way of life in various parts of the country due to a string of protests during the past few weeks. Last month alone, [...]
Pick of the Pix
Pics by Indika Handuwala, Amila Gamage, Anurada Bandara, R.M.Munaf and Athula Bandara PETTAH: Picture cop-tion
Photo focus: Waiting for monsoon rains
Story and pics by Indika Handuwala and Rahul Samantha Hettiarachchi Birds flock to water The water level of most tanks has dropped dramatically, and many of the smaller ones have completely run dry. Humans, animals and birds alike, await the onset of monsoon rains. Severe water shortages are being reported throughout the country due to [...]