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Home » NewsWhispering Auld Lang Syne, let’s welcome 2018 tonight
With 2017 ending tonight, the Galle Face Green will as usual be the venue for thousands of New Year revellers to gather and welcome 2018, with the words of the traditional Auld Lang Syne being heard in the background to the music of the sea and the echoes of a million sea shells. Pic by [...]
Probe reveals criminally acquired overseas assets of politicians, officials
Some assets located overseas have been “provisionally identified” as being the proceeds of crimes committed by certain politically exposed persons (PEPs) of Sri Lankan origin, authoritative Government sources revealed this week. While they declined to say who these persons were, PEPs typically include politicians and bureaucrats. These were the outcomes of investigations conducted by the [...]
Bills redrafted more than 20 times, Legal Draftsman complains
The Legal Draftsman’s Department has redrafted Bills, some more than 20 times, as instructing agencies keep on changing policy, the Department has said in a report presented to Parliament. For example, the National Audit Bill and the Motor Traffic Bill have been amended 22 times so far, the Department has said. The other Bills amended [...]
Stamp allowance doubled for MPs, PC members, but people to pay more
The annual free stamp allowance for Members of Parliament and Provincial Councils will be increased by 100 percent from tomorrow, January 1st. The move comes with the increase of Stamp allowance doubled for MPs, rates of foreign airmails and air parcels. At present, an MP receives a stamp allowance of Rs.175,000 a year. This has [...]
Election Commission stops polls-related public events
The Election Commission has put a halt to a string of public events as they would promote a candidate or political party involved in the upcoming local council elections. The Commission also has given a ruling that in some instances events could be held without the participation of politicians or without political speeches. These are [...]
Presidential officials study 1,400-page report by Bond Commission
Presidential Secretariat officials will study the report of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) appointed by President Maithripala Sirisena to probe the Central Bank Treasury bond issue before deciding on what course of action to take. A senior Presidential Secretariat official said the report was a comprehensive one and they would need some time to study [...]
EAP’s financial arms may be managed by Bank of Ceylon
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has asked the Bank of Ceylon (BOC) to be the managing agent for the financial arms of the EAP Group–Edirisinghe Trust Investments (ETI) and Swarnamahal Financial Services PLC. Public Enterprise Development Minister Kabir Hashim met the BOC board this week as part of negotiations for a possible management [...]
Ban on use of polythene to be strictly implemented from January: CEA
The ban on polythene imposed by the Central Environment authority (CEA) in the September 2017 gazette notification will come into effect with full force beginning January. The CEA teams will come down hard on industries for non-compliance. Companies that violated the law and continue the manufacture of the banned low density polyethylene bags and lunch [...]
Petroleum pipeline gets delayed again
Officials this week passed the buck over the near year-long delay in awarding a tender to complete the final phase of a crucial fuel pipeline from Colombo Port to the Ceylon Petroleum Storage Terminals Limited (CPSTL) facility at Kolonnawa. Petroleum Corporation trade unions warn that failure to complete the pipeline could plunge the country into [...]
Several cities to get recreational parks in 2018
The Government has approved a proposal to have 15 urban parks, including recreation areas, in selected towns. Rs1.5 billion has been approved for the project to be carried out by the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development in Kandy, Kurunegala, Galle, Matara, Kalutara, Anuradhapura, Ratnapura and Nuwara Eliya. Chairman of the Urban Development Authority (UDA) [...]
Deadline to exchange defaced currency notes extended by 3 months, says CBSL
The deadline to hand over intentionally mutilated, altered or defaced currency notes has been extended till March 31,the Central of Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) announced last evening. The earlier deadline was today. The Central Bank had warned that no bank would accept such currency notes after the expiration of the deadline and urged the [...]
SAITM committee decision tomorrow
The committee appointed to implement the Government’s solution to the SAITM issue will announce its decision tomorrow. Deputy Minister Harsha de Silva who heads the committee told the Sunday Times that the announcement would be made once the decision was finalised. The Government’s proposal called for the abolition of the South Asian Institute of Technology [...]
Kiriella says state medical students struck in vain as SLMC decides to recognise SAITM degree
The Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) has decided to recognise the SAITM medical students’ degree with additional weeks of clinical training, Higher Education Minister Lakshman Kiriella said yesterday. “With five more weeks of clinical training they will be recognised as doctors on par with those coming out from state-run universities,” he said. The minister made [...]
Siva Obeysekere passes away
Veteran politician and patron of handicrafts and the handloom industry in the country Desham-anaya Siva Obeysekere passed away last week. She was 88. Mrs.Obeysekere was a founder member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) in 1951. In 1964 she established the flagship handicraft outlet Laksala. She served as MP for Mirigama from 1965-1977 and [...]
Impact of US GSP withdrawal mild, renewal likely
The United States’ decision not to renew GSP benefits to Sri Lanka and 119 other countries will not have a major impact on Sri Lanka’s exports to that country, while there is a strong likelihood of the programme being renewed in the coming months with retrospective benefits, officials said In 2016, Sri Lanka exported US$2.8 [...]
Despite strong warnings, election law violations continue
While the new electoral system was supposed to do away with the ugly spectacle of candidates fighting for preferential votes and engaging in poster wars, posters and cutouts are still appearing in large numbers ahead of February’s local council elections. The Sunday Times’ correspondents throughout the country have reported that propaganda posters and cutouts are [...]
SLIEOA mulls union action if Govt. fails to introduce service minute
The Sri Lanka Immigration & Emigration Officers’ Association (SLIEOA) says it will decide by early next month on how to proceed with trade union action after the Government failed to provide solutions to several key demands before the expiration of deadline set by the association. The two week time period set by the union for [...]
Move to import unhusked coconuts as prices soar
The Plantations Ministry is studying the possibility of importing unhusked coconuts as a standby measure to tide over a shortage that has sent coconut prices soaring in the market, and thereby, adding to the cost of living. On Wednesday, a five-member committee appointed by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Management will discuss the necessary quarantine [...]
Let’s wish ourselves a dengue-free 2018!
2017 epidemic largely due to proliferation of mosquito breeding places, people travelling to dengue-infested areas and intermittent rains, says dengue control unit School-goers the worst affected New steps to be implemented in new year to avert a severe outbreak Never again a 2017– this could well be the wish for the new year of those [...]
2018 far from road-safety year; new fine system further delayed
Will our roads that claim eight lives every day be safer in 2018? Perhaps, they may not be so at least till April next year – with the authorities now saying that the much-debated-and-delayed motor traffic fine system will not be implemented from tomorrow. The new traffic fine regulations were scheduled to be gazetted today [...]
President expresses support for Palestine
President Maithripala Sirisena has reassured the Palestinian people that Sri Lanka would stand by their struggle for independence. The President’s assurance came in a reply to a letter sent by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The Palestinian leader, in his letter, has thanked the Sri Lankan President for gifting a plot of land in Colombo [...]
Paving the way for more and more open heart surgeries in Jaffna
With open heart surgery being initiated at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital this month, bypass operations are to be launched in about two months. All arrangements are being made to begin coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) at the Jaffna Hospital, the Director-General (DG) of Health Services, Dr. Anil Jasinghe who paid a visit to the hospital [...]
Defacing the city
Despite a ban, election posters were seen near the SSC in Colombo 7. Here, a police officer oversees the removal of election posters put up by candidates for the upcoming local government polls scheduled for February 10. Pic by Indika Handuwala
56 convicted for bribery and corruption this year: CIABOC
Only 56 persons were prosecuted this year in cases filed by Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption, latest statistics from the Commission revealed. This year 89 cases were concluded while 73 cases involving bribery and corruption were referred to court. The cases concluded this year include cases filed earlier. According to the progress [...]
e-waste: Turn pollution into prosperity
The lack of a proper e-waste collecting system has raised concern among the environmentalists who say waste is being disposed in a haphazard manner thereby adding to the pollution — but a proper method could turn possible pollution into prosperity. The failure to have an organised collecting system is also leading to a situation where [...]
Megapolis Ministry bids adieu to garbage; councils take over
Garbage collected from Colombo and its suburbs will continue to be taken to the same sites as before even after the Megapolis and Western Development Ministry formally ends its involvement in the region’s waste management tomorrow, officials have assured the public. Garbage collection will be fully vested back in local government bodies tomorrow. This, though, [...]
New Year messages
President wishes for economic prosperity and reconciliation in the new year President Maithripala Sirisena in his New Year message said we should bid farewell to the year that ends and welcome the new year, with new expectations, while prioritising that vision. The message said: Every passing moment adds to our knowledge and experience and at [...]
Away from Christmas events and sales, it was business as usual for traders
The Christmas season has just concluded with a range of festivals and commercial activities including sales. ‘Colombo Christmas Street’, the three-day event held for the second consecutive year from December 21 onwards, at Green Path and organised by the Sri Lanka Retailer’s Association in collaboration with the Tourism Development and Christian Religious Affairs Ministry and [...]
Dances, dinners to greet the new year, not just in Colombo but A’Pura too
Hotels in Colombo and other cities have lined up a range of celebrations to usher in the new year. Hotels in Colombo, many fully booked, will host an assortment of celebrations ranging from dinner dances, and launching events. Many hotels have jacked up their prices from December 30 to January 1on account of these events. [...]
The evolution of the refugee crisis
LONDON – As they celebrate Christmas, Germans are also remembering the dead from last year’s attack on a Berlin Christmas market by a migrant who had been denied asylum. That incident fanned the flames of public sentiment against immigration, and probably played a role in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s stunning failure to form a new a [...]
Stay more, pay more at Yala
The Wildlife Department is studying a plan to introduce a time-based ticketing system for visitors to the Yala National Park, one of Sri Lanka’s top tourist attractions. The department is considering the new system after several attempts in the past three months failed to restrict the entry of vehicles into the park. The moves came [...]
Muthupanthiya fisher folk fear their island village may disappear
A boulder barrier built at a cost of Rs 30 million to protect an island village in the Puttalam district has failed to prevent sea-erosion — raising questions about the project. Villagers claim that the Muthupanthiya project at their fishing village surrounded by the sea and lagoon has failed largely because it was not constructed [...]
Pick of the Pix
Pix by Amila Gamage, Indika Handuwala, Sameera Weerasekera, Gamini Mahadura and Hiran Priyankara Jayasinghe.
Blessed are the poor…
Sandamali (48) and Lakshman Amarasinghe (57) are street people, living amidst dirt and grime in Rajagiriya. They have neither home nor a fixed income. But it has not stopped them caring for a myriad of abandoned cats and dogs in the area. Despite living in a lean-to shack made of odds and ends atop a [...]
At least 15,000 hapless elders knocking on the doors
The aging population is on the increase and many elderly people are being sent to or are seeking homes for elders. The Census and Statistics Department in its latest report says it is projected that by 2040, one in every four people will be more than sixty years old. The Social Services Department’s National Secretariat [...]