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Tomorrow is Poppy Day when Sri Lanka will gratefully remember the military personnel who sacrificed their lives in the two World Wars and those who died in defence of the country’s territorial integrity. Our picture shows military personnel representing the three armed forces conducting a rehearsal at the war memorial at Greenpath in Colombo yesterday. [...]
Airlines challenge border security deal
BAR says multinational giant will profit more than the State from ten-year contract By Namini Wijedasa The Board of Airline Representatives in Sri Lanka (BAR) is opposing a Government proposal to award a ten-year contract to the multinational information technology company SITA for enhancing border security — a deal which industry sources say will earn [...]
Budget under fire for offer to CTC
By Kumudini Hettiarachchi The Government has committed a major faux pas in its fight against tobacco and alcohol consumption by seeking sponsorship from the Ceylon Tobacco Company, as per a proposal in Budget 2017. Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake’s request for “the Ceylon Tobacco Company to donate Rs. 500 million to the Presidential Fund to be [...]
Bills going up, use water sparingly
From December 1, you will have to pay 30 percent more for the water supplied to you by the National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB). You will have to pay Rs. 16 a unit for the first ten units or 10,000 litres. For the next five units, you will have to pay Rs. 26 [...]
China’s envoy regrets remarks
China’s Ambassador Xi Xiangliang this week expressed his regrets to the Government if his recent remarks to the local media caused any embarrassment. His response came when Foreign Secretary Esala Weerakoon telephoned him last Monday to express Sri Lanka’s “serious concern” over the Chinese envoy’s remarks at a news conference to a select group of [...]
China invites Mahinda
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa will leave for China on November 23 for a week-long visit. He will be a guest of the Chinese government.
Biggest road project going to bid-rigging Japanese company
The road construction arm of Taisei Corporation, a Japanese firm tipped to receive the contract for the costly third section of the Central Expressway (CE III), was charged with bid rigging by the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) earlier this year. Taisei Corporation is also currently grappling with a yawning sinkhole that opened in a [...]
Carbon tax Rs. 2,000; smoke test on the house
The proposed carbon tax for motor cars will cost the owners Rs. 2,000 a year, the government has decided. The tax will come into effect from next year replacing the practice of paying private companies for emission tests, for which motor car owners now pay Rs. 1,100 for a year. Accordingly, all vehicle owners will [...]
Karu’s daughter laid to rest on Friday, in Kent
The funeral of Sanjeewani Indira, the second daughter of Speaker Karu Jayasuriya took place in Kent, UK, on Friday. President Maithripala Sirisena was represented at the funeral by his son Daham who carried a condolence message from his father. She passed away on November 2.
VIP migrants find haven in Colombo wetlands
By Malaka Rodrigo This is the bird migration season and the remaining wetlands around Colombo are attracting some special migrant birds, particularly in the wetlands around Thalawathugoda. While testing his new camera, Erich Joseph was lucky to capture the comb duck in a spot close to the Sri Jayewardenepura Hospital. This is a rare migrant [...]
TNA rejects offer of pre-fab houses for N-E war-affected people
By Namini Wijedasa The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) this week rejected the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Ministry’s proposal to build 65,000 prefabricated, steel houses for war-affected people in the North and East. The project, solicited by the French steel giant ArcelorMittal, has been in the pipeline since last year. Despite repeated objections to the quality, cost [...]
President yet to ratify two RTI Commission nominees
President Maithripala Sirisena is yet to ratify appointments for the remaining two posts of commissioners on the Right to Information (RTI) Commission, nearly three weeks since the Constitutional Council (CC) sent its recommendations, the Sunday Times learns. Three members of the five-member commission received their letters of appointment from the President on September 30 after [...]
Await the biggest, brightest supermoon tomorrow
Don’t miss a spectacular sight, when the biggest ‘supermoon’ in 68 years, will be visible tomorrow night, with those in Asia being best placed to see it. The supermoon is billed to be the biggest so far of the 21st century. The super moon appears over the sky in Cairo, Egypt, in this file photo [...]
Hello Trump. goodbye Clinton
As the US election results started coming in on Wednesday indicating an unexpected win for Donald Trump an official at the Colombo residence of Robert Hilton, the US Deputy Chief of Mission, is seen removing the cutout of Hillary Clinton. Pic by Amila Gamage
Raids on aphrodisiac distributors
By Chandani Kirinde Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne said measures have been taken to stop the proliferation of aphrodisiac medicines by carrying out raids on places where such medicines were stored excessively or sold without a prescription. The Minister said such medicines are registered under the National Medicines Regulatory Authority and can be sold retail [...]
Delayed govt. permits automatically granted
Public officials who delay approving permits and licenses beyond 10 working days without valid reasons will face an inquiry followed by disciplinary action, if found responsible. The action is to be initiated keeping with a proposal submitted in the Budget by Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake that if any reply is not received without a valid [...]
PM says govt. ready to climb every mountain for the sake of economic growth
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday invoked the words of the Chinese reformist leader Deng Xiaoping to stress that the economic path of the government of national unity would not be confined by ideologies. “I don’t care if the cat is black or white, so long as it catches mice,” said Deng Xiaoping and similarly I [...]
Aviation chief says all airlines agreed to day time renovation
All airlines had agreed it was best to close down Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) runway for resurfacing during daytime. This includes the national carrier, which now claims that its requests for night-time renovation were ignored. The runway will be closed to traffic between 8.30 am and 4.30 pm from January 6 to April 6, 2017. [...]
Some bless Budget but others sceptical
The government’s effort to promote information technology and offer free computer tablets to 175,000 Advanced Level students and 28,000 teachers failed to allay concerns among youth about the levy on internet services also proposed in the Budget announced this week. There is support for the proposal to open savings accounts for students and a medical [...]
Tuk-tuks for, others against hike in traffic fine
The Government’s budget proposal to sharply increase the minimum penalty for traffic offences has drawn both strong criticism and praise from transport sector unions, many of whom claim to have been given insufficient relief in the 2017 Budget. While the Lanka Private Bus Owners’ Association (LPBOA) has already threatened to launch an island-wide strike on [...]
Lankan doctor wins 335,000 pounds from NHS
A ‘brilliant’ doctor whose husband died after medics at her hospital failed to spot the signs of heart failure has won £335,000 compensation from the NHS. Rohan Rupasinghe died from a massive heart attack at the age of just 33 when staff at Watford General Hospital did not detect his life was in danger in [...]
Wonder drugs vs super-bugs: The battle is on
It was a ‘medical miracle’ which opened up amazing frontiers. The discovery of ‘mould’ which could kill off bacteria way back in 1928, by chance, and the subsequent development of penicillin launched the ‘modern antibiotic era’. Antibiotics cure numerous diseases and pull back millions of men, women and children from the brink of death. Have [...]
Lankans holding high value Indian currency in a quandary
The Government of India’s decision to demonetize Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes has had its impact on Sri Lankans who hold currency. The foreign money exchange counters in Sri Lanka have stopped accepting Indian currency for exchange, though the demonetized currency notes are valid till December 31. “We don’t accept the demonetized Indian [...]
Arrest of robber gang that tricked its way into gold shop
Seven weeks after a robber gang of four 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 the mastermind – a former sub inspector of police – and seven [...]
Cold response to burning problem
An inferno swept through the Kilinochchi market on the night of September 16. Desperate calls had been given to all quarters. The town had no fire service. The nearest was the Jaffna Municipal Council’s fire brigade, almost 1 ½ hours away. By the time it arrived, over 120 shops had been gutted. There was agreement [...]
Right of Reply: Price restrictions on drugs: Unfounded fears, says Health Ministry
The following are the relevant extracts from a Health Ministry statement issued late Friday night reacting to the Editorial in the Sunday Times last week titled “The quick-fix drug price formula is no cure”. As a responsible national newspaper we are perturbed by the degree of misreporting and misinterpretation of facts in your Editorial of [...]
MRP List: Pharmaceutical industry being torn asunder
Major concerns are still being expressed across the country by doctors as well as patients over the “rushed” implementation by the Government of a price-control mechanism for 48 drugs, while grave rumblings are occurring within the pharmaceutical industry. As harried patients on long-term drugs went hither and thither looking for their quotas, the more affluent [...]
Massive shramadana to clear Gregory’s Lake
Hundreds of plastic and glass bottles, used food canisters and loads of plastic bags were drawn out of the picturesque 140-year-old Gregory’s lake in Nuwara Eliya under a major shramadana campaign yesterday. More than 350 volunteers including workers from the municipality, hoteliers, tourist guides, soldiers, members of the business community and members of the public [...]
Aged crisis facing Sri Lanka: Govt starts to act
Last week, Bandaragama police were confronted with the problem of finding accommodation and care for an abandoned 80-year-old mother found by the roadside. She said she had distributed her wealth and property among her seven children and now they did not want to take care of her. The children were summoned to the police station [...]
New amendments to fisheries laws to deter poaching : Fisheries Ministry
The Fisheries Ministry is to introduce fresh amendments, including banning bottom trawling, into existing fishing laws as a key move to deter Indian poaching in Sri Lankan waters, officials said. Key amendments to the existing Foreign Vessels Act have already been forwarded to the Attorney General’s (AG) Department for final approval and its constitutionality. The [...]
Nothing much to trumpet about
The new President-Elect of the United States Donald Trump has made many cameo appearances in films and television, but the fact that he had acted in a movie co-produced by veteran Sri Lankan film-maker Chandran Rutnam only gained media attention this week, after he was elected as America’s 45th President. The 1989 film, “Ghosts Can’t [...]
Photo focus: Victims… of poor planning
The agricultural colony of Neelabemma, in Karuwelagaswewa in the Puttalam District has been subject to constant intrusion by wild elephants which roam the Wilpattu National Park Reservation. ‘Neelabamma’ itself is the dam across the Kala Oya, stretching 13 km up to Ottupallama and is a part of a massive two-stage irrigation project. Stage One of [...]
Prehistoric man stirs to life as scientists find clues to the past in ancient caves
Our pre-historic humans took refuge in caves that hide many secrets that are helping archaeologists piece together how humans evolved thousands of years ago, the respected archaeologist, Professor Raj Somadeva said. Recent excavations in a number of caves have produced archaeological finds showing how prehistoric humans, initially living as hunter gatherers, gradually moved to a [...]