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Home » NewsThanks to the Sun, with prayers for rain
As the Sun rose yesterday, Vavuniya devotees gathered at the Kandasamy Kovil premises to celebrate Thai Pongal, the harvest festival where they thank deities for the gift of the Sun, Mother Earth and the animals which help plough the fields. With one of the worst ever droughts still persisting, the devotees also prayed for rain. [...]
GSP Plus: Govt. rushing through rights plan
The Government wants to rush a five-year National Human Rights Action Plan (NHAP) next week as part of its initiatives to get the European Union to restore the GSP Plus tariff preferences to Sri Lanka. The 300-page report, which meets most of the conditions laid down by the EU, will come up for discussion at [...]
Tycoon gets sweetheart deal for mega tyre city in Horana
The Government, through the Ministry of Development Strategies, is drawing up a sweetheart deal for controversial Sri Lankan businessman Nandana Lokuwithana to build a tyre factory in Horana. Among other things, it will grant him a 99-year lease on 100 acres of land for an annual rent of just 100 rupees an acre. For his [...]
Election campaign doles: Poor families ordered to repay them
 The poorest of the poor families, which were given Rs. 2,500 each to improve their houses during former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s election campaign have been ordered to repay the money. The money was provided to Samurdhi beneficiaries under a housing project by the Divinaguma Development Department during the campaign for the presidential election on January [...]
AG exposes huge rice import scandal as Govt. prepares to import more
The Auditor General who looked into the import of 257,000 metric tonnes of rice in 2014/2015 says bad practices that included disregard for government tender procedures had resulted in the loss of more than Rs. 15 billion. Losses continue to accumulate to date due to non-payment of loans taken for the imports and demurrage costs [...]
Lawyers to have access to suspects in police custody
The Government will propose an amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure (Special Provisions) Act giving statutory recognition to the right of an attorney-at-law to have access to a police station in which a client is being held. It will equally recognise the entitlement of such attorney to meet the officer-in-charge (OIC) of the police [...]
Singer Deepal Silva passes away
Popular Sinhala singer and artiste Deepal Silva passed away last morning at the Ragama hospital. He was 50. He entered the entertainment field in 1990 and was popular for his songs which had a touch of humour. Funeral arrangements will be notified later.
Boatyard in former HSZ returned to fisherfolk
In view of National Integration and Reconciliation Week observed from January 8-14, an anchor point for the fisheries boatyard in Urani, in the former High Security Zone (HSZ) of Kankesathurai (KKS), was returned yesterday to the fishermen community after 27 years, as they celebrated Thai Pongal festival. Earlier, the resettled fishermen in Myliddy, Urani, had [...]
MOD opposes mine-ban treaty ratification
Implementation of a 10-month-old Cabinet decision that Sri Lanka would ratify the UN convention banning anti-personnel mines is being blocked by the Defence Ministry (MoD) which insists that mines are essential to protect its military camps. On March 2, Cabinet approved a joint proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Rehabilitation and [...]
US NGO slashes funds to two Jaffna schools pending audited accounts
In an unprecedented move, the USA-based Trustees of Jaffna College Funds (TJCF) have slashed finances to the renowned Jaffna College in Vaddukoddai and Uduvil Girls’ College, consequent to the schools’ alleged failure to submit audited accounts for 2015. The TJCF has reduced funding for the two schools by 20% of the budgeted grant in Q1 [...]
Duturthu Maha Perahera of the Kelaniya Raja Maha Viharaya
The annual Duturthu Maha Perahera of the Kelaniya Raja Maha Viharaya was held this week to coincide with the Duturthu Full Moon Poya Day. The Perahera commenced in 1927, largely due to the untiring efforts of Helana Wijewardene. It has been an annual religious and cultural event ever since. The Kelaniya Temple is venerated by [...]
Use of 3 Trinco’ oil tanks to await new Indian envoy- PM orders
 Sri Lanka’s plans to make use of three oil tanks in Trincomalee, leased out to Lanka Indian Oil Corporation (LIOC) has been put on hold on Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s instructions, until the new Indian High Commissioner (HC) assumes duties. This decision was made when Minister of Petroleum Resources Chandima Weerakkody and Ceylon Petroleum Corporation [...]
Boatyard in former HSZ returned to fisherfolk
In view of National Integration and Reconciliation Week observed from January 8-14, an anchor point for the fisheries boatyard in Urani, in the former High Security Zone (HSZ) of Kankesathurai (KKS), was returned yesterday to the fishermen community after 27 years, as they celebrated Thai Pongal festival. Earlier, the resettled fishermen in Myliddy, Urani, had [...]
Govt seeks international assistance to face prevailing drought
 The Government is seeking international assistance to face the prevailing drought situation. Appeals have already been made to the World Food Programme (WFP) to provide relief for distribution among those in badly affected areas, and to the UNICEF and foreign nations to purify seawater to overcome the potable water shortage. The decision to seek such [...]
SL praises Maldives’ rescue of 6 of its fishermen lost at sea
Sri Lanka has praised Maldivian authorities for rescuing six of its fishermen who had been lost at sea since December 24, 2016. Speaking at a press conference at the Sri Lanka High Commission in Male, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka in the Maldives, Maj Gen (Rtd) B.R.W.M.R.A.B Thoradeniya said the untiring efforts of the Maldivian [...]
Over 14 appointees to overseas embassies from outside the foreign service
A businessman who was once handpicked by the former administration to head Sri Lanka’s embassy in Nigeria, has been officially named ambassador-designate to Qatar. Panagoda Don Prince Solomon Anura Liyanage, more commonly known as ASP Liyanage, was nominated by President Maithripala Sirisena. The Qatari Government is yet to be notified. He is the latest in [...]
Lakvijaya’s ‘recharged’ Unit 1 adds 330 MW to national grid from today
The remaining unit of the Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant in Norochcholai is scheduled to generate electricity from today (15), adding 300 MW of badly needed power to the national grid. Director (Development) of the Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy Sulakshana Jayawardena told the Sunday Times that, Unit 1 of the plant is on schedule [...]
Lottery dealers to repeat protest over ticket price hike
Lottery dealers intend to stage a repeat protest over the recent price hike of the Development and National lottery tickets, a spokesman for the All Ceylon Lottery Dealers’ Association (ACLDA) stated. The Lottery dealers also claim there had been a 40% drop in total sales since the price per ticket was increased from Rs 20 [...]
Lack of bilingual abilities blocking reconciliation: Consultation Task Force
On December 28, Aingkaran Kugathasan accompanied a friend to the Jaffna police station to lodge a complaint. It was around10.40 a.m. and there was a long queue. But even after one hour, the line did not move. “When we inquired, we were told there was only one policeman conversant in Tamil and that he had [...]
Beware: 45 percent of private bus drivers are using drugs
Drivers who use cannabis or ganja up to three hours before driving are more dangerous than those under the influence of alcohol — and the shocking revelation is that 25 percent of private bus drivers are often under the influence of cannabis and 20 percent take heroin, officials disclosed. Teenage drivers are less experienced and [...]
Passengers hang around at airport and face the music
More check-in counters have been opened and additional security deployed at the Bandaranaike International Airport where a band is playing to help soothe rattled nerves in the chaotic departure hall. Baggage screening is rushed, immigration lines are lengthy, hundreds of cars including taxis, SUVs, and tour buses jostle for space at the departure hall, now [...]
Don’t delay; nab dengue early
Don’t delay — get a full blood count done on Day 2 of fever and not on Day 3 to ‘catch’ dengue early. This is the strong advice of a dengue expert as dengue numbers soar and in several homes there is mourning over dengue deaths. For, the dengue strain doing the round, affecting a [...]
Fine weapon raised in desperation against runaway dengue menace
Fines of up to Rs 25,000 are being proposed by the Government in a desparate attempt to contain the dengue menace, cases of which have rocketed to a record 54,727 compared with 29,777 patients in 2015. Health officials expect bigger penalties will push the public to clean up mosquito breeding sites. But scientists have also [...]
Drought roasts 13 districts, officials feel nature’s heat
Despite politicians praying for rain, the heavens are not expected to open up soon and people across the island are being told to conserve water in preparation for the worst drought in a decade. So far, 13 districts in the island are badly affected and worse, including food shortages, are feared. Officials managing irrigation, water [...]
Drought in Nuwara Eliya wreaks havoc among farming community
The present drought conditions experienced in the country has adversely affected the farming community in Nuwara Eliya. Farmers complain they are experiencing serious crop damage. Nuwara Eliya is known as the fruit and vegetable bowl of the country, and it’s produce is transported to other parts of the island. The tourist industry in the area [...]
Plastic peril
Plastic and its potential toxic or poisonous effects came under a powerful searchlight on Wednesday. From the common and convenient bottles of water that we carry around or arm our children with, the feeding bottles that mothers tuck into the bags that they carry the stuff of their babies in, to the water tanks atop [...]
Govt. spin doctors blame communication gap for H’tota protests
In the aftermath of violent confrontations between demonstrators and the police in Mirijjawila in Hambantota on January 7, authorities claim they are making renewed efforts to pacify area residents fearful that, their lands would be swallowed up by the proposed Chinese industrial zone. Authorities further claim that no land acquisitions have been finalised and that, [...]
Kalpitiya islanders in limbo, living on Govt. promises
Located between Portugal Bay and the Dutch Bay in the Kalpitiya lagoon, the resident fisherfolk have been promised land for settlement, from time to time, but to no avail. They were subject to harassment during the war and mounting terrorist activities, and have been displaced for security reasons. Still, they have no legal claim to [...]
Photo focus: Our country is losing out
Human-elephant conflicts are on the rise, endangering both man and beast. The prevailing drought has added to the problem. At the Kaudulla National Park for example, many of the ponds which served the pachyderms have dried up. Resultantly only small numbers of elephants if any, are sighted. This has prompted many jeeps transporting tourists to [...]
Sri Lankan elephant families don’t have a dominant figure, study finds
The accepted norm is that elephant society comprises distinct family units dominated by the oldest female, or matriarch, who adopts a central role in co-ordinating group movements and responses to threats. But recent research has revealed that this is not so with elephant families of Sri Lanka. “We found out that unlike African savannah elephants, [...]
Village awakens to healthy living
From a village in Uva Parangama, in the Badulla District comes the heartening story of a group of villagers engaged in a daily keep-fit programme that has proved to be a great success, say villagers. In spite of the cold weather conditions these days, the villagers are up by 4 a.m. and make their way [...]
Cancer victim afraid for the future of his family
In a small house in Minuwangoda lives a man clinging on to the last vestiges of hope. Jagath Prasanna, was dealt a cruel hand by fate when he was diagnosed with cancer after discovering a lump on his neck. Admitted to the Cancer Hospital at Maharagama he had to undergo surgery. Married with two sons, [...]