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As 2017 dawned, the Power and Renewable Energy Ministry felt it has little cause for celebration, with the impending drought and fast decreasing water levels in irrigation tanks and hydropower reservoirs. Instead of fun, frolic and fireworks, the ministry held an all-night pirith ceremony till this morning invoking the blessings of the deities for rain [...]
High-level concern over H’tota project
Chinese ambassador meets President President Maithripala Sirisena has included his own nominee in a committee negotiating the concession agreement for the Hambantota port privatisation. While the Government proposes to sign the final deal with China Merchants Port Holdings Company (CMPort) in Hambantota on January 7, no finality has been reached on its terms and conditions. [...]
Misuse of BIA toilets: Bidet showers down the drain
Misuse of facilities at the Bandaranaike International Airport, the country’s main link to the outside world, has forced the authorities to do away with many of its handheld bidet showers. Toilets had been in a perilous state, with the floors often flooded. The reason, an airport official said, was that passengers, mostly Indian, were using [...]
Rs. 3.9 billion loss on coal tender, but ministry goes ahead with controversial deal
By Namini Wijedasa The Auditor General’s Department will state in its report on a controversial coal tender that the deal had cost the Government billions of rupees in losses, authoritative sources told the Sunday Times. The report is expected to be presented to Parliament and will reveal that the losses were in excess of Rs [...]
Sapugaskanda modernisation: CPC goes ahead despite objections
By Damith Wickremasekara The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation is going ahead with its call for bids to modernise its Sapugaskanda refinery, ignoring the Cabinet Committee on Economic Management recommendation that the project be held back until an attractive investment is found. Accordingly, the CPC has received 28 bids from international companies, including companies from India, the [...]
Dunstan: Picture of a polished photojournalist
Veteran photographer Dunstan Wickramaratna passed away on Wednesday at the age of 80. Before his retirement in 2009, Dunstan worked at the Sunday Times for nearly two decades, first as Pictures Editor and then as Consultant, Pictures Editor. During a career spanning nearly five decades in photography, Dunstan won several photography awards and covered many [...]
Poaching: Lanka wants high priority for bottom-trawling issue
With the Indo-Lanka Joint Working Group (JWG) due to hold its second round of meetings in Colombo tomorrow, Sri Lanka will ask India how effectively it would address the bottom trawling practice in the Palk Strait, a Sri Lankan delegation official said. “We agreed on certain proposals at the last JWG meeting in New Delhi. [...]
Former PM Ratnasiri Wickremanayake’s last rites; Honest and humble he was an example to all politicians: President Sirisena
The last rites of former Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake were performed yesterday at the Horana Urban Council Grounds, with the participation of a host of dignitaries and large crowds of mourners. President Maithripala Sirisena, former Presidents Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and Mahinda Rajapaksa, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya and Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan were among the mourners and [...]
Duruthu Perahera from Jan 9 to 11
The Annual Duruthu Perahera, that marks the religious significance of Lord Buddha’s visit to Kelaniya, will be held at the Kelaniya Raja Maha Viharaya from January 9 to11. The Perahera will begin at 8 p.m. with the handing over of the relic casket to the Chief Basnayake Nilame, Dhammika Attygalle by the Viharadhipathi, Ven Professor [...]
Lottery ticket sellers up in arms against price increase
Though lottery dealers and agents are threatening to stop selling tickets, the Government is going ahead with the decision to increase the price of lottery tickets from tomorrow (2). Currently, there are 300,000 street lottery sellers including disabled persons. Last week, lottery agents threatened to stop selling tickets if the price was increased. They say [...]
Talk to India about buying Trinco oil tanks, says IOC
The Government will go ahead with acquiring three of the oil tanks at the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm in China Bay in keeping with a recent Cabinet decision, Minister of Petroleum Resources Chandima Weerakkody said. He said the decision to acquire the tanks was taken to obtain additional diesel and fuel oil stocks which will [...]
Farmers direct fury at irrigation officials for worst drought in seven years
Farmers are accusing Government officials of being unprepared for the worst drought in seven years, which has roasted thousands of hectares of paddy lands and put drinking water sources in peril. Many farmers are turning their hand to other activities and some are even looking for other jobs away from their traditional rice-growing areas, farmer [...]
Dengue on the double, 50,500 cases and counting
Sri Lanka’s health sector administrators and municipal officials are entering a new year with a record of failure. Dengue cases this past year nearly doubled to 50,519 compared with 2015 when 29,777 became statistics in the dengue epidemic. Thousands of children are among the dengue patients and the island’s largest children’s hospital admitted 70 patients [...]
Budget proposals effective Jan.1, shelved as Fin.Min. not ready
Several 2017 Budget tax proposals intended to take effect from today are still not ready for implementation, an official said. Fiscal Policy Director General A.K. Seneviratne said levies proposed in the 2017 Budget will be implemented only after the return of the Finance Minister who is overseas and only after an assurance that they conform [...]
Little rain: Rice crisis by June this year
Lack of water for paddy cultivation is expected to drastically reduce rice production by June this year, Agriculture Director General Rohan Wijekoon warned yesterday. He said that already there had been a sharp drop in paddy cultivation during the current season. “Paddy farmers were due to cultivate 800,000 hectares of land yet they were able [...]
New year messages
President Maithripala Sirisena President Maithripala Sirisena in a new year message said the year 2017 dawns with new hopes of prosperity, coexistence and reconciliation in our hearts. The twenty two million people of Sri Lanka look forward to an era of sustainability with a determination to alleviate poverty in all its forms, his message said. [...]
Religious observances, charity, dinner-dances herald 2017
Religious programmes, charitable events and dinner dances ushered in 2017 in most parts of the country, with police on alert for traffic violations. Religious events were organised in temples, churches, kovils and mosques to coincide with the dawning of new year. Devotees started gathering from last morning at places of worship including the Jaya Shri [...]
Fears of cyber hacking mount as more and more turn to internet transactions
With more and more people gaining internet access and online banking being encouraged in Sri Lanka, cyber security threats are also likely to increase in the coming years. Over 2,200 social media related complaints were made to the Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT) in 2016. Many of these incidents could have been avoided [...]
Docs thrash out pros and cons of abortion
The hills of Kandy came alive, not with the sound of music, but with arguments and counter-arguments on two major and controversial but timely issues surrounding life and death. Abortion and euthanasia, were the burning topics discussed in ‘friendly’ debates by doctors that took up the whole morning of Wednesday, in an event organised by [...]
SriLankan downplays PIA delay in taking over leased A330-300
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has delayed taking over an A330-300 aircraft it agreed to lease from SriLankan Airlines. “PIA has been under a huge workload due to unrelated issues reported in the press,” said SriLankan Chief Executive Officer, Suren Ratwatte. In mid-2016, PIA took possession of one A330-300 which it leased from SriLankan. It also [...]
China refuses SriLankan alternative arrival slots in Beijing, Shanghai
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has refused SriLankan Airlines alternative arrival slots in Beijing and Shanghai to correspond with the runway closure at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) between January and May. The national carrier had sought an earlier arrival by four hours, four times a week, at both destinations, but had been turned [...]
Tsunami alarm network makes island feel safe than sorry
Sri Lanka will never be fully protected from a tsunami, but at least people can feel safer than in 2004, when 36,000 Sri Lankans who perished had not been warned even though they had a two-hour window to reach higher ground. This week, on December 26, 2004, Sri Lanka along with many other Asian nations, [...]
President dispatches experts to investigate Wilpattu destruction
After months of inaction in the face of allegations of plundering of the Wilpattu National Park and its environs, President Maithripala Sirisena stepped in this week to get a firsthand assessment of the situation. The President, on Friday, dispatched a team of experts to investigate the allegations of deforestation in the Mannar District, including Wilpattu [...]
The slithery unwelcome stranger and a pipe snake that escaped death
Holidaymakers in Nuwara Eliya this season were in for a rude shock when a strange slithery visitor was spotted at the iconic Lake Gregory e. Many who flocked there suggested it could be a Cobra and a confirmation later by snake experts that it was infact a juvenile cobra caused shivers that had nothing to [...]
Constitutional Assembly Steering Committee to finalise draft proposal
The Steering Committee appointed by the Constitutional Assembly chaired by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, will meet on January 5 and 6 to finalise the draft Constitution. If consensus is reached during the two-day meeting, the Report is expected to be presented to the Constitutional Assembly, made up of all MPs, which will meet on January [...]
Photo focus: Whales, dolphins in troubled waters
Whales and Dolphins that frequent the country’s waters, especially off Mirissa in Matara, face many man-made threats. It is only in Mirissa that people are able to see these marine mammals everyday of the year. However, the situation has deteriorated to such an extent that the very existence of these species is under threat. Dolphins [...]
Sleepy drivers on a crash course
Sleepy drivers are deadly drivers and they are being asked to wake up to the destruction they are causing to human lives. Physicians and experts on transport issues, say that lack of sleep impairs the ability to drive and that those who are exhausted should not be allowed to take the wheel. They also say [...]
