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Amid controversies and crises, Police Chief Pujith Jayasundera is seen yesterday discussing something with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at a ceremony to mark the opening of a police station at Wanathawilluwa in the Puttalam District. Pic by Pradeep Pathirana
President to take tough political measures
President Maithripala Sirisena, due to return at dawn today after his UN visit, is set to take some tough political measures in the coming weeks, including a possible cabinet re-shuffle, sources close to him said yesterday. Adding greater significance to the move is last week’s decision by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Central Committee [...]
Indian man not in proper senses, says brother
Marceli Thomas, the Indian man at the centre of an alleged plot to kill President Maithripala Sirisena, has psychological issues and was twice injured in accidents, one of which left him with a damaged right arm, his brother told the Sunday Times. The man had reportedly been living in Negombo and begging for food because [...]
Tidal waves disrupt traffic on Galle Road; no link with tsunami
Tidal waves interrupted traffic movements on the Galle Road between Kalutara and Hambantota yesterday, but it had no link to the tsunami experienced in Indonesia, a spokesman for the Meteorological Department said. The tidal waves also brought sand to the main road slowing down traffic movements and created panic among the public. The Met Department [...]
TID chief wanted commando training for his men, STF chief tells CID
The Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) head DIG Nalaka Silva sought commando training for a group of policemen in his organisation, the Special Task Force (STF) Commandant has told the Criminal Investigation Department. DIG M.R. Latiff, who heads the commando arm of the Police, has said in a statement to CID detectives that a request for [...]
Tough measures to check fall of rupee; moves to curtail imports
The Government last night introduced a series of measures to ease the pressure on the Sri Lankan rupee. Under the measures introduced, importers would have to deposit 100 percent on imports of refrigerators, air conditioners, televisions, perfumes, telephones including mobile phones, washing machines, footwear and tyres. Importation of vehicles using the concessionary permits issued to [...]
As rupee falls, CPC loses Rs. 17.5 b in three weeks
The depreciation of the rupee is pushing the Government’s fuel bill up, resulting in a loss of more than Rs 17.5 billion in less than three weeks to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), a senior official said. He said the losses had shot up because the CPC had obtained US dollar loans from two state [...]
Colombo Chief Magistrate defers ruling on suspension of investigations against Ravi K
Colombo Chief Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake on Friday said an order on the temporary suspension of all related investigations conducted against MP Ravi Karunanayake on charges of giving false evidence before the Bond Commission will be given on October 4. The order was issued after considering submissions made by MP Karunanayake’s attorney, Shavendra Fernando, PC, that [...]
SLMC offers provisional registration to SAITM student petitioner
The Sri Lanka Medical Council will request the SAITM graduate who petitioned the Supreme Court and obtained relief to submit a document-supported application for the review of her registration as a medical practitioner. The request will be made through the student’s lawyer and it follows the Supreme Court verdict ordering the SLMC to grant the [...]
New twist in Central Bank bond case: Lawyer alleges intimidation by AG’s Dept. officials
Two senior Attorney General’s Department officials have allegedly attempted to forcibly obtain evidence from a lawyer, implicating politicians as having obtained payments from W.M. Mendis and Company which is linked to the Central Bank bond scam. The lawyer, in an affidavit filed in the Colombo Fort Magistrate Court, this week claimed that the top officials [...]
Dinner in honour of media-freedom activists
The foreign delegates who have come for the symposium on media freedom and social responsibility were hosted to a gala dinner at the Galadari Hotel, Colombo yesterday by the Newspaper Society of Sri Lanka. Please see Pages 14 and 15 for the views expressed by some of the participants at the four-day conference being held [...]
Vigneswaran likely to contest NPC elections from new front
Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Vigneswaran yesterday declared that he would contest the next provincial council elections from a new political front, if the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) was not ‘happy with him”. “I know some people in the TNA are not happy about my performance and I have been repeatedly criticsed by a parliamentarian,” [...]
Admission by Aussie prosecutor as startling as the arrest of Kamer
“I have never been more proud to be a Sri Lankan after having seen the immense support for me,” said Lankan student following his release on bail “I’m now a free man,” said Sri Lankan student Kamer Nizamdeen out on bail and firmly proclaiming his innocence after an extraordinary admission from a Crown prosecutor on [...]
Hinduism textbooks: Many wrongs don’t make a right
The Education Department’s Publication Division keeps making glaring mistakes in Hinduism textbooks issued to schoolchildren, the All Ceylon Hindu Congress (ACHC) has charged. ACHC General Secretary V. Kandasamy said there were more than 700 mistakes in the Hinduism textbooks printed for students from grade 1 to grade 11 in the past two years. They lamented [...]
The battle for media freedom and social responsibility
Sri Lanka’s media and activists celebrate landmark 20th anniversary of Colombo Declaration PM says judiciary has to be consulted to change laws relating to Contempt of Court SLPI seeks Govt. tax concessions for struggling newspaper industry Revisiting the Colombo Declaration of 1998. Thursday September 27 marked the 20th anniversary of the Colombo Declaration on Media [...]
Defence gets lion’s share of Budget 2019 with over Rs306bn
Budgetary allocation for the Defence sector next year will go up further to over Rs 306 billion, according to the Appropriation Bill for 2019. Of this, close to Rs 275 billion will go towards Recurrent expenditure, while Capital expenditure will account for around Rs 32 billion. The highest allocation of Rs 290 billion in 2018, [...]
Saudi Arabia rejects visa applications of local pilgrims planning to travel on carriers other than SriLankan or Saudia
Saudi Arabia has started rejecting visa applications of local pilgrims who book their travel to Mecca on carriers other than SriLankan Airlines or Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia), despite the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL) saying it cannot sanction such a monopoly. The CAASL has alerted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka [...]
Colombo Chief Magistrate defers ruling on suspension of investigations against Ravi K
Colombo Chief Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake on Friday said an order on the temporary suspension of all related investigations conducted against MP Ravi Karunanayake on charges of giving false evidence before the Bond Commission will be given on October 4. The order was issued after considering submissions made by MP Karunanayake’s attorney, Shavendra Fernando, PC, that [...]
Drug addiction at school level: It all starts with a small pill
Expert stresses the need for trained counsellors in schools to identify at-risk students early and save them from becoming prey to drug predators Drug sellers, including wayside pharmacies, adopt various ruses to trap teenage students in psychotropic drug addiction; social media devices also used Rashid* was going through the early stages of heroin withdrawal. The [...]
Sexual bribery under the spotlight
It is shrouded in secrecy and even if there is a hint, it is quickly, conveniently and deftly swept under the carpet or adding insult to injury, trivialized. Nobody has wanted to or dared to lift the veil or the carpet and take a deep look. Sexual bribery is the hush-hush subject – however, over [...]
People should not be dying in pools, the sea, dams, lakes, rivers and streams
In the afternoon of April 7 this year, a group of trippers arrived at a holiday property in Huluganga, Panwila, which boasted a natural rock pool and a scenic view of the Knuckles range. An hour later, under a light drizzle, they walked to the pool in Daluk Oya through the Mulberry Estate on which [...]
Solutions derailed while elephants die on tracks
A Rs. 10 million funding project to prevent wild elephants being killed by trains has been stymied by a lack of ideas, departmental infighting and indecision, with many elephants still dying in violent collisions as they cross tracks in search of food and water. Sri Lanka Railways and the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) are [...]
Working in tandem for the good of both humans and wild elephants
It is a good example of politicians and bureaucrats working in tandem with conservationists, to bring about what is best for people and wildlife, without jeopardizing development. Like the extraordinary Gathering of Elephants at Minneriya, a wildlife event which draws wonder, the coordination among bureaucrats under the direct guidance of President Maithripala Sirisena, consultants and [...]
No returns on EPF’s Rs. 500m investment in SriLankan sans approval
Employee Provident Fund (EPF) monies amounting to Rs 500 million was used to buy SriLankan Airlines (SriLankan) Shares, without Central Bank of Sri Lanka’s ((CBSL) Monetary Board (MB) approval, which failed to generate a single cent of return, even after 8 years, EPF Superintendent Mrs Malkanthi Bandara, on Friday, told the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) [...]
Young scientists to the fore at SLAYS Open Forum
An air of expectancy and excitement is pervading the science community as they await the winner of the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Presentation Competition of the Sri Lankan Academy of Young Scientists (SLAYS) on Friday. Ten young scientists have been shortlisted for the finals of the 3MT Competition, while the winner of last year, the [...]
Coping with challenges of new-found media freedom
The Government last week claimed credit for restoring democracy and ensuring media freedom, post January 2015. President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, on two separate occasions, reiterated the achievement of the Yahapalana administration, and contrasted this with the situation that prevailed prior to January 2015, when several journalists were killed and some others [...]
Pick of the Pix
Pix by Amila Gamage, Jayarathna Wickramarachchi, Thusitha Silva, and Gamini Mahadura
Katana PS launches e-service and revives cultural activities
The Katana Pradeshiya Sabha is fast becoming an exemplary local authority by adopting innovative methods to improve services to residents. It recently launched a hi-tech programme titled “e-PuraNeguma” to give the public easy access to information on the pradeshiya sabha’s services. Another programme the pradeshiya sabha launched recently was Koho. The programme was aimed at [...]
The rape of a nature reserve
A politically backed group is destroying large swathes of the protected Ritigala Nature Reserve. Residents in the area allege, that hundreds of acres within the reserve have already been cut, and burned. They add these illegal activities are supported by an influential politician, with the connivance and knowledge of government officials and officers of the [...]
Desperate villagers sweat in the fields for a measly wage
Desperate residents, devastated by the unrelenting drought and unable to make a living, have been travelling 50 kilometres a day from their villages in the Puttlam District in search of work. Many are women, the breadwinners of their famished families. In the Divisional Secretariat areas of Awagaththegama, Anamaduwa, Wanathavilluwa and Mahakumukkadawala and in many villages [...]