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Home » NewsPrisoners join dengue fight
As the dengue death toll rises to more than 200 with hospitals struggling to cope with the surge in cases, health officials have intensified various campaigns to combat the deadly disease. Joining them in one such campaign are about 100 prisoners from the Welikada Prison. They are seen here taking part in a cleaning and [...]
Govt seeks world aid for flood relief
A four-member ministerial team has been set up to make preparations for the upcoming donor conference to seek funding to rehabilitate the areas devastated by recent floods. The team is headed by Finance and Mass Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera and includes Special Assignments Minister Sarath Amunugama, Disaster Management Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and Foreign Minister [...]
Controversial Uma Oya project may be suspended
The Government is to consider the suspension of the controversial Uma Oya multi-purpose Development project in the Uva Province. The decision is to be taken based on recommendations by a joint team consisting of Sri Lankan and foreign experts who will be assigned to study the extent of the damage and the possible remedial action. [...]
Welikada prisons moving to Kalutara estate
The Government will acquire the New Chapel Estate at Millanaya in the Kalutara District to re-locate the Welikada prisons. The move follows a recommendation by Prison Reforms Minister D.M. Swaminathan.
Information Dept. stops release of Cabinet papers
The Information Department has halted the practice of releasing to the media Cabinet papers submitted by ministers after they are approved by the Cabinet. The move comes despite the Cabinet in April approving a note submitted by President Maithripala Sirisena informing all ministries that Cabinet decisions and memoranda not falling within excepted categories under the [...]
Austin Fernando Presidential Secretary
Senior civil servant and Eastern Province Governor Austin Fernando will assume duties as Presidential Secretary from Tuesday. He will replace P.B. Abeykoon who stepped down from the post of Presidential Secretary on Friday. Mr. Abeykoon cited personal reasons for stepping down. Mr. Fernando confirmed to the Sunday Times yesterday that he had accepted the post [...]
Sirisena going to Bangladesh
President Maithripala Sirisena will pay a three-day state visit to Bangladesh beginning July 13. He was originally to have gone there as chief guest for that country’s national day parade on March 26. This was after he concluded a visit to Russia. However, it was later put off.
SLN produces ultra-purified water for dialysis
An Ultra-Purified Water (UPW) plant produced by the Sri Lanka Navy’s (SLN) Research and Development (R&D) Unit was installed at the Dialysis and Kidney Transplant Unit of the Kandy Teaching Hospital on Friday, the SLN said. The facility can produce 10 tons of UPW per day, required for the dialysis process. The SLN’s R&D Unit [...]
Ananda College student dies after falling off train
A student of Ananda College Colombo was killed when he fell off a train at Dematagoda, a coroner’s court inquiry was told yesterday. An O/Level student, Jayasekara Adikari, Isuru Yoshitha from Veyangoda was returning home after school on Friday with friends when the accident occurred. He was rushed to the National Hospital. The student’s father [...]
Allied Health Sciences undergraduates make their demands
Allied Health Sciences undergraduates are demanding that they be given clinical practices in Kandy hospitals, including the Peradeniya Sirimavo Bandaranayake Specialist Children’s Hospital. Undergraduates of Allied Sciences Union President, Ishara Buddhika told the Sunday Times that they have been requesting the authorities to allow them clinical practices at these hospitals since 2006, but have been [...]
SC unanimously dismisses FR application with costs
The Supreme Court has dismissed a Fundamental Rights (FR) application by a mosque president and a principal of a madrassa in Panadura, arguing their right to proceed with building a religious school–which residents and Buddhist monks vehemently demonstrated against–was violated. President of the Board of Trustees of the Wekada Jumma Mosque, M.J.M. Faril and Principal [...]
RTI Commission mandates project information
The Right to Information (RTI) Commission, on Friday (30), conducted a consultation with senior public officers and representatives of independent Commissions on the RTI Act, No. 12 of 2016, discussing in particular, the Commission’s draft Proactive Disclosure Guidelines and Rules on the Annual RTI reports of Public Authorities. The Guidelines and Rules are to be [...]
Child flying kite falls into water hole and drowns
An eight-year-old child flying a kite fell into a water hole and drowned in the Kosgahahinna area in Bambaragaswewa, Galewela this week. Arosh Imesh, a Grade 3 student, had been with a group of friends flying kites in a paddy field and had accidentally fallen into the water hole. His friends had raised the alarm [...]
SLMC asks Health Minister to extend Prof. Carlo’s tenure
Members of the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) have written to Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne requesting that outgoing SLMC chairman Professor Carlo Fonseka be given a further extension to serve in the post. The request came as Professor Fonseka’s tenure as Chairman ended on Friday (30). Council Member Dr. Upul Gunasekara told the Sunday [...]
Crime was a foreign plot
The Trial-at-Bar proceedings into the death of an 18-year-old school girl from Punguduthivu, Jaffna, who was killed after brutal rape, commenced this week at the Jaffna High Court (HC). In the indictment filed by the Attorney General’s (AG) Dept, 41 separate charges were filed against nine suspects ranging from abduction, rape and killing, and 37 [...]
Shortage of PHIs hinders battle against raging dengue
A serious shortage of Public Health Inspectors (PHIs) is hindering efforts to battle the dengue epidemic raging across the country. Trainees are filling in the gaps. For all of the 25 districts there are 1,900 PHIs, the Sunday Times learns. Field visits to check mosquito breeding sites is proving difficult because there are not enough [...]
I’m here in SL to inspire and not direct on how to craft a just constitution
A political prisoner at 15 and later rising in rank to become a Judge of the Constitutional Court and the Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa, Dikgang Ernest Moseneke helped draft South Africa’s post-apartheid Constitution and was also the executor of the Nelson Mandela Estate. Here he talks to Randima Attygalle “You my children are [...]
SriLankan says previous Govt. ordered eight Airbus A 350-900 aircraft
Chairman Ajit Dias issues a statement on selected parts of last week’s Political commentary and our Political Editor responds to it SriLankan Airlines Chairman Ajith Dias has responded with a statement to some references in last week’s political commentary headlined “More details emerge on SriLankan state of affairs.”A significant highlight of the statement is the [...]
Overcoming dengue, but hit by deadly super-bug– MRSA
Watch out for a secondary infection after dengue, especially a dangerous hospital-acquired ‘super-bug’ which can cause death. This is the red alert being sent out by Consultant Microbiologist Dr. Muditha Abeykoon of the Polonnaruwa Hospital who has confirmed eight such cases, of whom tragically one had died. All these patients had been treated for dengue [...]
A tale of two weather patterns
Blowing wet and dry– This is the current weather pattern being experienced in the country with monsoon rains in certain areas and drought conditions in others Meteorological Department Deputy director Anusha Warnasooriya told Sunday Times that heavy showers are to be expected from tomorrow, with the Western, Central, Sabaragamuwa, and North Western Provinces and districts [...]
Uma Oya: The plight at the end of the tunnel
Houses collapse, walls crack, wells dry up, village economy suffers: People seek answers as a controversial irrigation project continues regardless As affected residents rose as a force on Wednesday to shake the hills to draw the Government’s attention to the serious problem they have been grappling with for months without hope, the Sunday Times journalists [...]
No more bottom trawling in Sri Lanka waters from Thursday
On Thursday, Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Minister Mahinda Amaraweera will set a global precedent by proscribing one of the world’s most destructive forms of fishing — bottom trawling — in Sri Lankan waters. In doing so, the minister will be reiterating the Government’s commitment to sustainable exploitation of the country’s vital fishery resources. Fish contributes [...]
Beruwela a dengue breeding ground
The dengue epidemic is spreading across the country like wildfire. In most instances sheer carelessness helps its spread. In the Beruwela area, abandoned fishing boats have become a major breeding ground for dengue mosquitoes. Health authorities say these sites now pose a major threat to the entire area. A field inspection conducted by the National [...]
Lung health gets a powerful breath
Wide-ranging are the plans on the table to take respiratory medicine in Sri Lanka to a different level, as chest physicians, both local and foreign, meet for an exhaustive and in-depth three-day pow-wow. Aptly titled ‘Respire 9’ with the theme ‘Nurture healthy lungs for life’, the annual academic sessions of the Sri Lanka College of [...]
Deal in the bag, postal workers promise to work ‘overtime’
The three-day strike launched by the Postal Department workers was suspended on Thursday following a written assurance by authorities that their grievances including issues on salaries would be addressed. The union says workers will clear the backlog by labouring overtime, while officials deny there is a pile of undelivered mail. Chinthaka Bandara, co-convener of the [...]
Pick of the Pix
Pics by Amila Gamage, Anurada Bandara, Sameera Weerasekera, Kanchana Kumara Ariyadasa, Shelton Hettiarachchi
SAITM crisis: As Govt. toughens stand, GMOA warns of lightning strikes
The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) will decide in the coming days when to launch a series of lightning strikes, which, it hopes, will force the Government to abandon its new tough stance on the dispute over the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM). GMOA media spokesman Dr. Samantha Ananda said that at [...]
Fishermen allegedly engaged in dynamite fishing in Kilinochchi apprehended
At least ten local fishermen who were allegedly engaged in illegal fishing using dynamite in the waters south of Iranathivu island in Kilinochchi were arrested by a Navy patrol unit on Friday, the Navy said. Two dinghies, 11 unauthorised fishing nets, 11 diving masks, 11 pairs of diving fins, two GPS units and 29 kg [...]
Breakthrough imminent in Rs 7.7 million heist in Ragama, say Police
A breakthrough in the Rs 7.7 million heist in Ragama is expected shortly, as a joint operation by the Ragama Police and the Kelaniya SSP Division has uncovered vital information regarding the incident, which could lead to the arrest of the culprits shortly, said Kelaniya Division SP Upul Jayasinghe. He said four teams are investigating [...]
Landfill plans are in the works, officials claim
More than 1,000 people who dumped garbage on the streets illegally have been arrested and those who were snared say they had no choice because the Colombo Municipal Council failed to collect the waste. Meanwhile, officials say they are planning more landfills across the country, composting projects, and energy projects from waste. The police, the [...]
China’s Hong Kong at 20
By Chris Patten, exclusive to the Sunday Times, in Sri Lanka LONDON – While I was Governor of Hong Kong, from 1992 until the handover of the city to China in 1997, I kept a diary. Consulting that diary over the last few months, as I write a book partly about my experience there, I [...]
Government hobbling along on providing access for less-abled
For Ranjith Wijesinghe, every day is a challenge. He is visually impaired by birth and depends on public transport to go anywhere from his home in the suburbs of the city, Maharagama. Now retired from teaching, he said he had not experienced any significant improvement in access for people with disabilities, although many laws and [...]
Love triangle murder suspect remanded till July 4
A love affair gone wrong resulted in the brutal murder of 21-year-old Tharindi Aloka of Kottawa, allegedly, at the hands of her boyfriend Kasun Erandika, 29. Kasun, now in remand custody, had been having an affair with Tharindi for three years, when his involvement with another young woman led to a breakdown in their relationship, [...]
Illicit sand mining at Deduru reserves continues unabated
Concerned members of the public and environmental organizations allege illegal sand mining is causing the destruction of river reserves in areas such as Polgammana, Malagane, Kithulvahare, Pothuwewa, Thambarawa, Ipalawa and Natiya which come under the Deduru Oya Reservoir. They claim the continued illegal sand mining is putting at risk the Deduru Oya resevoir in addition [...]