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Home » NewsYahapalanaya: The pie in the sky
It was one of the last major projects of the Yahapalana Government. Present at the opening of the renovated Jaffna International Airport on Thursday were President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Their body language was an indication of the friction between the two leaders for the past few years. Also present was India’s [...]
President seeks to dismantle National Economic Council
President Maithripala Sirisena has sought to hurriedly dismantle the National Economic Council (NEC) after it has failed to achieve its objectives. The main reason, he has said in a memorandum to the Cabinet, is that NEC Secretary General Lalith Samarakoon, drawing a salary of Rs 500,000 a month, was mostly away from Sri Lanka. The [...]
Apply for election identity cards if you have no valid identity documents
With an estimated 300,000 people failing to declare their National Identity Card number in the electoral register form, the National Election Commission will issue special identity cards for the upcoming elections. Those without valid identification could obtain the identity card before November 9. Registration of Persons Commissioner General Viyani Gunatillake said an estimated two percent [...]
Questions over SLLRDC’s move to buy sea sand dredger costing Rs. 6.5bn
The Sri Lanka Land Reclamation and Development Corporation (SLLRDC) is to sink billions of rupees into buying a ‘trailing suction hopper dredger’ (TSHD)–the same type of vessel that was used by the builders of Colombo Port City—to dredge sea sand for the local construction industry. The TSHD is expected to cost around Rs 6.5bn, according [...]
Mystery ad for Gota: Army says Defence Ministry, NEC should handle issue
The Sri Lanka Army does not plan on taking legal action against a controversial election campaign advertisement featuring its Commander, Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva. Army Spokesman Sumith Atapattu told the Sunday Times yesterday the Army did not envisage taking legal action over the ad “at this juncture.” The Brigadier said the matter should be handled [...]
Assault on State Counsel: Convicts appeal against HC ruling
A father and son sentenced to prison after being found guilty of assaulting a state prosecutor and holding him hostage have filed an appeal in the Court of Appeal. G.A.D Chulasiri Ganegoda and his son G.A.D. Neelanuwan Maduranga Ganegoda were found guilty by the Gampaha High Court of all four charges filed against them. Chulasiri [...]
Police officer under probe over hit-and-run accident
A senior police officer attached to the Police hospital is under investigation for a hit-and-run accident in the Katugastota area. It is alleged that the police officer had sped away in his car after it collided with a three-wheeler on August 18 on the Madawala Road. Due to the collision, the rim cup of the [...]
Water’s Edge garbage dump: Sunday Times story brings relief to residents
The Urban Development Authority (UDA) has instructed the immediate clearance of the garbage dump behind the Water’s Edge hotel in Battaramulla. UDA Director General S.S.P. Rathnayake told the Sunday Times that the hotel had been instructed to keep the land clean and they were in the process of clearing the dump. Last week, the Sunday [...]
Wattala-Mabole UC meeting minutes tampered with to sell prime land, charges opposition councillor
The Wattala-Mabole Urban Council is attempting to illegally lease out a 79-perch plot of land that has been subjected to separate inquiries by both Parliament and the Western Province Governor’s Office, an opposition councillor alleged. Sri Lanka Freedom Party councillor Nimalsiri Koralage claimed that the minutes of the Urban Council’s special meeting held on October [...]
Bail for 7 Chinese arrested at Aruwakkalu landfill
Seven Chinese nationals working in the Aruwakkalu sanitary landfill without valid work visas were released on bail yesterday after being produced before Puttalam Acting Magistrate Abdul Cader. Their lawyer argued that his clients had come to Sri Lanka on tourist visas valid till November 10 and claimed they had only visited the landfill and not [...]
Colombo’s changing skyline from atop Sri Pada
Climbing Sri Pada these days in what is considered the “off season” is an arduous task. Those hiking the sacred mountain must brave torrential rains and the biting cold to reach the peak. The off season climb however, is increasingly becoming popular among adventurous travellers, including foreign tourists. Captured here on a clear day is [...]
Food, waste and poverty
Asian Development Bank statistics for Sri Lanka show, around 4% of the population live below the poverty line. That is around 800,000 citizens manage on less than Rs. 10,000/- per month. Yet, according to officials of the Waste Management Authority, an estimated 500 metric tons of food is discarded as garbage in the Western [...]
Hakeem explains story behind Zahran video
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Leader and Minister Rauff Hakeem yesterday (19) denied allegations levelled against him over a video in circulation alleging he has links to Easter Sunday attack mastermind Zahran Hashim. Addressing a rally of New Democratic Front Presidential (NDF) candidate Saijith Premadasa, in Hathareliyadda, Galagedera in Kandy, Mr Hakeem said the video [...]
Alarm over public apathy in fight against dengue
Carelessness is the biggest problem facing public health officials fighting the spread of dengue, with five times as many deaths in the Gampaha area compared to the same period last year. “The message has still not gone across to people about keeping their environment clean – they all wait till health officials come to their [...]
Medical waste dumped from Talawakelle hospital; residents suffer
Expired medicines belonging to the Divisional Hospital at Madakumbura in Talawakelle have been dumped in a hazardous manner in the Madakumbura estate by hospital authorities, causing severe inconvenience to schoolchildren and workers in the plantation, the Sunday Times learns. A trade union leader said an elderly became ill and was taken to the hospital. The [...]
1, 2, 3 or X, polls chief explains voting procedure
Voters can vote for a single candidate and, if they wish, they can cast their second and third preferences to two more candidates, National Election Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya said, explaining the voting procedure for the November 16 presidential poll. “We advice people to cast their vote by marking number 1 in the box in [...]
2019 presidential election postal ballot papers sent to all post offices
Postal ballot papers for the 2019 presidential election were handed over to post offices across all 25 districts of the country, on Friday (18). The National Election Commission (NEC) said that 659,117 postal ballot papers were issued from 987 centres and handed over to post offices by Friday evening. Representatives of political parties and presidential [...]
Additional day for technical glitch/system failures during exam
An additional day will be provided for those who face any technical glitch or system failures when sitting for the General Information Technology (GIT) online examination, said Commissioner General of Examinations, B. Sanath Pujitha. The Exams Department has set up 173 coordinating centres and exams will continue until October 21. The pilot test was held [...]
Sajith promises free fertiliser for all farmers
New Democratic Front (NDF) presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa yesterday said his chief opponent Gotabaya Rajapaksa had vowed to provide free fertiliser to farmers when he was not even aware of the current price they were paying. Speaking at election rallies in Rattota and Laggala yesterday, he said, Gotabaya Rajapaksa was not aware that fertilizer was [...]
Gota promises to preserve SLFP identity and policies
SLPP presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa speaking after signing an MoU with the SLFP at the Western Province Cultural Centre Auditorium (NADA) in Colombo 7, said he would never breach the trust of people who supported him. Speaking after signing an MoU between the SLPP and the SLFP, Mr Rajapaksa said, “First I thank you for [...]
Appoint competent authority to oversee state media until poll ends- SLPP to NEC
The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) has asked the National Election Commission (NEC) to appoint a competent authority to oversee state media institutions, until the conclusion of the presidential election. SLPP presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s media spokesman MP Dullas Alahapperuma made the request, when he, along with a group of SLPP representatives, met NEC Chairman [...]
Online trouble-makers ordered to obey 48-hour cutoff
The National Election Commission has threatened presidential candidates and their supporters with legal action if they use social media in the 48 hours before election day on November 16. Election Commissioner-General Saman Sri Ratnayake said the commission would either directly take legal action against an offender or support another candidate or group wishing to file [...]
Ruling coalition leads election law violations, say polls monitors
Election monitoring bodies last week said that complaints of election law violations by the ruling coalition is on the increase. The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) said that, as of Friday (18), it has received 296 complaints in 10 days, the major part of it being abuse of state property. CMEV Executive Director Manjula [...]
Kandy Teaching Hospital gets status of ‘National Hospital’
The Kandy Teaching Hospital has joined the exclusive ranks of ‘National Hospitals’ – just the second to be declared as such in the country after the National Hospital of Colombo. A veritable lifeline to a large catchment area, the 2,500-bed newly-declared National Hospital of Kandy serves patients not only from the Central Province but also [...]
Jaffna’s fast-tracked airport nearly fell victim to Easter Sunday attack
As the first passenger jet touched down at Jaffna International Airport, bringing hope of a revival to the north’s war-battered economy, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe revealed that the April 21 Easter attack nearly derailed the airport’s fast-tracked inauguration. “After the Easter Sunday attacks [in April], there were some at the Cabinet who raised concerns about [...]
Heroin discovery, arrest led to Kotakethana double murder; death sentence for neighbour
It was the accidental discovery of a packet reportedly containing narcotic drugs in the home of former Provincial Councillor Dharmasiri Lokugamhewage and the subsequent arrest of his son Sampath, that led to the Kotakethana double murder in 2012, the Colombo High Court ruled this week. Kavindya Chathurika (19) and her mother Nayana Nilmini (52) were [...]
Minorities will have to judge candidates by their track records
One of the disturbing features of the current presidential election campaign is the absence of rational discourse with regard to the issues surrounding the situation in the country. While a degree of politicking in the hustle and bustle of politics may be excused, the attempts to give a communal twist to some of the key [...]
A death-trap over the Kelani
The Nawagamuwa-Mapitigama bridge over the Kelani River, used by a large number of people on a daily basis, has become a virtual death-trap because of shoddy construction work. The bridge connects Kaduwela to Hanwela, the alternate roadway traverses a distance of 20 km. The bridge is so narrow, it is not wide enough to accommodate [...]
Expect thousands of ‘dual citizens’ at election time
While the dual citizenship of presidential election candidates has been a hotly-debated topic in the political arena, it is expected that thousands of other “dual citizens” will be in Sri Lanka by election day in November. Some of them are eligible for European passports while others come from Asian countries. None, however, will come through [...]
Topmost IUCN SSC award for Lanka’s ‘Crocodile Dundee’
Laurel after laurel is being showered on Sri Lanka’s very own ‘Crocodile Dundee’ – Dr. Anslem de Silva. The latest is the Sir Peter Scott Award for Conservation Merit from the powerful Species Survival Commission (SSC) of the IUCN (the International Union for Conservation of Nature) at a meeting in Abu Dhabi in early October [...]
Pick of the Pix
Pix by Sameera Weerasekera, Priyanka Samaraweera, Jayarathna Wickramarachchi, Hiran Priyankara, Sanjeewa Bandara.
Govt. Analyst Department not sufficiently equipped: Many killings, mysterious deaths go unsolved
Many cases of killings and suicide in Sri Lanka are going unsolved because of the need for sophisticated equipment to determine the cause of death, two senior forensic experts have said. Dr. Colin Seneviratne, a toxicologist from the United Kingdom, and Prof. Sarathchandra Kodikara, a pathologist and the Head of Peradeniya University’s Forensic Medicine Faculty, [...]