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Home » NewsRTI Commission cash-starved
By Sandun Jayawardena The independent Right to Information (RTI) Commission will have to apply to the Presidential Secretariat each time it needs funds though the RTI Act specifies that it must have its own fund, activists say. As such, the commission will receive ad hoc injections of cash as and when it asks for it. [...]
Crisis brewing over UDA getting powers of PCs
By Damith Wickremesekera A constitutional crisis is in the making over the Government’s move to vest with the Urban Development Authority (UDA) some key functions exercised by provincial and local councils. Western Province Chief Minister Isuru Devapriya, who has been in consultation with the nine provincial councils, said yesterday that such a move contravened the [...]
PIA ends lease deal with SriLankan, US$ 1 million in arrears
Pakistan’s national carrier has run up more than US$1 million in arrears for the Airbus A330-300 aircraft it wet-leased from debt-ridden SriLankan Airlines last year, authoritative sources said. The crisis-ridden Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) suspended its lease with SriLankan on February 9 with US$1.3 million still outstanding. It will no longer lease two additional A330-300 [...]
Govt. undecided on PM’s call for state of emergency
By Namini Wijedasa Disaster Management Department statistics published online yesterday show that 493,556 people across the districts of Trincomalee, Gampaha, Hambantota, Moneragala, Anuradhapura, Jaffna, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya, Ratnapura, Kegalle, Kurunegala, Puttalam and Kandy have been hit so far by the current drought, said to be the worst in four decades. This comes in the wake [...]
Big purge at Royal amid charges and counter charges over Grade 1 admission
By Chrishanti Christopher A major purge of senior masters at Royal College, Colombo has taken place following recent allegations by Education Minister Akila Kariyawasam that Grade One admissions to the country’s leading state school were fraught with irregularities. As many as eight members of the senior staff, including two Deputy Principals, two senior Games Masters/Assistant [...]
State loses billions as financial shenanigans continue unabated
Latest COPE report on 15 state institutions By Chandani Kirinde The Committee On Public Enterprises (COPE), in its latest report submitted to Parliament this week, revealed that investigations into large scale financial irregularities that took place under the previous regime are continuing at snail’s pace, while bad financial practices continue under this regime, costing State [...]
Thewatta junction high voltage wires pose danger
Man sustains injuries following electric shock Unprotected high voltage wires running through the Negombo Thewatta junction pose a threat to passers by, residents said. On Thursday a man got an electric shock at the Thewatta Junction when he had gone to remove a banner that was on a four storeyed building. The Negombo Fire Rescue [...]
The Gangaramaya Temple’s annual Navam Perahera
The Gangaramaya Temple’s annual Navam Perahera was held on Thursday and Friday. Our photographers M.A. Pushpa Kumara and Indika Handuwala captured these scenes of the colourful pageant.
Hambantota school vandalised; students want security guard
In the wake of vandalism at a Hambantota tsunami-hit school rebuilt with funds from a Taiwan-based Buddhist charity, parents and students have called on education authorities to provide a security guard to prevent a recurrence. According to police, Vandals broke into the school last Sunday night and smashed 22 windows of the main hall of [...]
Bond issue: AG appoints 9-member team to assist Commission of Inquiry
A 9-member Attorney General’s Department team headed by Senior Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Dappula de Livera P.C., has been appointed to assist the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) and to look into irregularities in respect of the issuance of Treasury Bonds (TB) including the controversial Central Bank TB issue of February 2015. The team comprising senior [...]
Karuna leaves SLFP, forms ‘Tamil United Freedom Party’
Former Eastern Commander of the Liberation of Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and Deputy Minister Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias ‘Karuna Amman’, launched a new political party, “Tamil United Freedom Party” in Batticaloa yesterday, breaking away from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), in which he was Vice President during the previous regime. Announcing the inauguration of [...]
Home sweet home
President Maithripala Sirisena this week visited his ancestral village of ‘Lakshauyana’ in Polonnaruwa. The President also visited his ancestral home and met with the villagers.
Journalist and radio personality Ariyadasa Peiris dies aged 91
Veteran journalist and radio personality Ariyadasa Peiris passed away on Friday (10th ) at the age of 91. Mr. Peiris was a pioneer radio announcer at the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Service’s (SLBC) Commercial Service. Programmes that he presented while at the Commercial Service, such as ‘Ambiga Geethayen Geethaya,’ ‘Pibidena Gaayaka Parapura,’ ‘Vinadiyak Pamanayi,’ and ‘Visithuna’ [...]
Conflicts between Ruhunu students and villagers: Peace talks begin today
Ruhunu University authorities will meet students and villagers today in bid to get the five faculties of the campus reopened after they were shut down last week due to a clash between undergraduates and villagers. Vice Chancellor Gamini Senanayake told the Sunday Times the closure of the faculties was a temporary measure aimed at bringing [...]
Getting to know about the laws that affect you and me
National Law week from Feb 27-March 5 National Law Week 2017 will be held across the island from February 27 to March 5. Held under the theme “Justice for you,” this year’s National Law Week will see various projects, workshops and activities taking place island-wide with the participation of over a 1,000 attorneys-at-law representing all [...]
Public authorities confused, unprepared as RTI Act becomes operational
By Sandun Jayawardana Confusion over what constitutes a Public Authority (PA) under the Right to Information (RTI) Act and uncertainty about who the designated Information Officers (IO) of various government entities are, marked the first week of implementation of the new law. They provided a window into the immense challenges that lie ahead, were the [...]
One-track minded railway not exploring toilet alternatives
By Kasun Warakapitiya Rail passengers and the general public are not convinced that the Sri Lanka Railways cannot provide and maintain hygienic toilets for their use considering the availability of such public facilities in the city of Colombo managed by private companies, which also use them to advertise their public service. The bulk of Sri [...]
President re-assures “equitable solution” to SAITM issue
Calls for prompt amendments to laws to strengthen SLMC as sole regulatory authority for medicine By Kumudini Hettiarachchi President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday re-assured health services unions of an equitable solution to the furore over SAITM amidst growing unrest in state medical faculties and a group of university teachers stepping in to offer a mitigating solution [...]
Victim goes abroad unknown to police, investigations in limbo
Alleged shooting of SAITM CEO By Damith Wickramasekara Police investigations into the alleged shooting of the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr Sameera Senaratne, have run into complications due to the alleged victim having left the country. Police yesterday confirmed that the SAITM CEO had gone overseas. While [...]
PM asks for settlement of landless families- SLAF camp issue:TNA MP
By S. Rubatheesan Defence authorities have been directed to find a solution to dozens of families who had been demanding the return of their lands occupied by the air force in Mullaitivu following continuing protests, Vanni Parliamentarian of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Selvam Adaikalanathan said. Protesters in Keppapulavu of Mullativu have been demanding that their [...]
Honey bees are not aggressive, says expert
By Malaka Rodrigo South Africa contested against Sri Lanka in the third one-day international on February 4 dressed in pink to raise awareness of breast cancer, but it was bees that grabbed the attention. Bees invaded the ground forcing players and umpires to lie on the ground before they took cover in the dressing rooms. [...]
Reusable bags diktat doubles plastic imports
By Chrishanthi Christopher Environmentalists and industrialists last week claimed that the government’s strategy to reduce the heavy use of polythene used by the public by dictating the production of thicker, reusable bags.In fact, thicker bags will produce more plastic waste in the environment and require more resin. Various types of resin are used to make [...]
Akaragama soil mining: Permit holder vows to appeal ban
Two permits issued for soil mining at the controversial soil excavation site in Akaragama, Divulapitiya has been cancelled, Acting Director General of Geological Surveys and Mines Bureau, D Sajjana De Silva said. But, he said the permit holders can appeal within 14 days from the date of cancellation and the final decision will be taken [...]
Pick of the pix
Pix by Amila Gamage, Indika Handuwala, Shelton Hettiarachchi, Kanchana Kumara Ariyadasa and Jayarathna Wickramarachchi
We may have to give up farming: Nuwara Eliya farmers
Restrict the cultivation of ‘English vegetables’ only to Nuwara Eliya, say upcountry farmers as they face hardships due to plummeting market prices Pix and text by Shelton Hettiarachchi Nuwara Eliya was once known as the ‘Land of English vegetables’ but today farmers in the area face desperate times as prices of vegetables have dropped drastically. [...]
Vermin infested food unloaded on customers
The cost of food is one of the most topical subjects these days and the mass of ordinary people find it difficult to keep body and soul together. But unscrupulous traders targeting unsuspecting customers are attempting to make unconscionable profit via sale of rice and other commodities unfit for human consumption. Innocent consumers continue to [...]
Kandy’s Arthur’s seat unseated by ungainly construction
The city’s heritage committee up in arms By L.B. Senaratne Kandy’s Heritage City committee has strongly protested over an unsightly construction that has come up, under the Megapolis development project, over the historic ‘Arthur’s seat’, the famed viewing point of the city. The original seat, a slab of rock, was named after a British planter [...]