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To mark Sooranporu or Soorasamharam, part of Skanda Sashti Viratham festival, a ritual folk performance that recreates the killing of Asuras by Lord Murugan was held at the Jinthupitiya Hindu temple yesterday amidst a large gathering. Pic by Indika Handuwala.
SLFP patron CBK faces expulsion
Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, now patron of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), faces expulsion for being engaged in a deal with the New Democratic Front. Enraged by the move, the SLFP’s de facto leader President Maithripala Sirisena has summoned an urgent meeting of the party’s Central Committee, its policy making body, for Tuesday [...]
“Opened” Lotus Tower still closed to public; TRC and military to run it
The Lotus Tower, which was ceremoniously “opened” in September this year, remains barred to the public with the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) now planning to run it with the use of the military. The deployment of army, navy and military will be a temporary measure, said P R S P Jayatilake, TRCSL [...]
Waidyalankara case: Wife and son must report to FCID on Nov. 4 and 5
The summons issued by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) on the wife and son of its former head, Ravi Waidyalankara, remain valid and they must report to the Division on November 4 and 5 to give statements about their connections with Rienzie Edwards, an alleged money launderer, police said. Senior DIG Ravi Waidyalankara’s wife, [...]
Tanker coming today; LP gas shortage will end within two days
The severe domestic LP gas shortage currently affecting the country will come to an end within the next two days as a 3,500 metric tonne gas tanker is on its way to Colombo Port from Mumbai, the Government says. The tanker is scheduled to reach the Colombo Port early today and the cylinder filling would [...]
Forensic report on bond scam: Central Bank seeks AG’s advice amid controversy
The Central Bank has sought an opinion from the Attorney General’s Department on whether it should release a forensic audit report on the issue of bonds during the previous and current governments, as it could influence the upcoming presidential election. The report in five sections has been made available to the Central Bank by international [...]
This is the way to cast your vote: NEC Chairman
National Election Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya this week explained the voting process for the presidential election on November 16. He said voting time has been extended by an hour and accordingly the voting will take place from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. He said, since the counting of votes would begin an hour later there [...]
HRCSL continues to vet police and SLAF personnel for UN missions
The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) continues to vet police and air force personnel for deployment on United Nations peacekeeping, even after the UN Department of Peace Operations (UNDPO) announced it would no longer deploy soldiers from the country on UN missions. “We have stopped vetting army personnel but we continue to vet [...]
Easter Sunday bomb victims remembered
Sri Lanka’s Catholics marked All Souls’ Day yesterday with services conducted to remember departed souls. One such service was held at the Borella General Cemetery’s chapel. A special prayer was held in memory of the Easter Sunday bomb attack victims. Pic by Amila Prabodha Gamage.
PM appointment: Sajith points to law
The New Democratic Front (NDF) Presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa has said that the law provides for the President to appoint the person who commands the confidence of Parliament as the Prime Minister. Mr Premadasa made this remark while addressing a rally in Horana on Friday. He said the appointment of the Prime Minister was a [...]
Soorasamharam reenacted
To mark Sooranporu or Soorasamharam, part of Skanda Sashti Viratham festival, a ritual folk performance that recreates the killing of Asuras by Lord Murugan was held at the Jinthupitiya Hindu temple yesterday amidst a large gathering. Pic by Indika Handuwala.
Devinuwara Menike on her maiden journey
The ‘Devinuwara Menike’ is the latest addition to Sri Lanka Railways. The train will operate between Colombo and Badulla. According to the daily schedule, the train will depart from Colombo Fort at 6:45 a.m. and is expected to reach Badulla at 3:27 p.m. The train will leave Badulla the following day at 7:20 a.m and will [...]
NEC slaps ban on live political shows on ITN
The National Elections Commission last night imposed a ban on live political programmes on the state run Independent Television Network (ITN). An ITN official said that in terms of a letter received from the NEC, all political programmes would henceforth, be vetted by the NEC before being aired. A senior NEC official confirmed that a [...]
Finance Ministry releases MCC document to challenge Opposition criticism
The Finance Ministry this week released the 84-page draft Millennium Challenge Compact (MCC) agreement in a bid to quell an ongoing Opposition campaign claiming that securing the grant was tantamount to sacrificing Sri Lanka’s sovereignty to the United States. Discussions on the MCC grant first started in 2002, says a statement from Finance Minister Mangala [...]
Voter interest high despite dull election aura
NORTHERN PROVINCE Jaffna district Adrive through the roads and by lanes of three provinces – Northern, North Central and North Western — tells the same story. There are no visible sights and sounds of a presidential election. Posters, cutouts and banners are nowhere. The few exceptions are the decorated venues of political meetings. Other than [...]
Agree to disagree… and thus ended the first ever presidential debate
This week, we bring you the transcript of the much-awaited live debate between the main candidates at the presidential election. In attendance were Sajith Premadasa (SP), Gotabaya Rajapaksa (GR), Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) and Mahesh Senanayake (MS). Moderating the debate is Mahinda Deshapriya, better known to the audience as ‘MaKo’. MaKo: Good evening everyone, this [...]
Starved of care in billion-rupee zoo
Both animals and employees of the Dehiwala Zoo lacked vital facilities with animals not even receiving food at the right time, says the Auditor General’s 2018 Annual Report released this week. There were more branches than leaves in the foliage provided as feed to some animals. And there was no mechanism to meet the food [...]
Dr. Shafie: Victim of professional jealousy and racism of medical profession
Dr. Shafie Shihabdeen who was taken into custody during the tense period that followed the Easter Sunday massacres and was detained for 47 days for questioning, says “he was a victim of professional jealousy and shameful racism among medical professionals.” Speaking to me about his sufferings, Dr. Shafie, who was the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital’s Senior [...]
Study will help protect anteater targeted by smugglers
A new study has taken the first step in Sri Lanka to shed light on an elusive, solitary mammal that is the world’s most trafficked mammal. Last year, a live pangolin was rescued from a freezer in Chinese restaurant in Colombo, and the year before that, attempts to smuggle 130kg of pangolin scales that could [...]
A lesson in politics from a former student
Mahesh Senanayake, a pint sized mischievous imp whom I taught at Ananda, running about in a pair of shorts is today’s presidential aspirant. I wonder whether he ever went home for I could see him cadetting long past school hours and that he excelled in it, is to say the least. Yes, he was my [...]
Youth disillusioned, but determined to ensure their vote counts
With nearly 1 million new voters set to vote for the first time at a presidential election, the enthusiasm among youth voters is high, with a range of aspirations in mind. A cross-section of young voters interviewed by the Sunday Times shared their views on the candidates, their policies and the promises made during their [...]
Cameras and special jackets for police on polls duty
Election monitoring bodies, People’s Action for Free and Fair Election (PAFFREl) and the Centre for Monitoring Elections (CMEV) will distribute 71 cameras and 300 special jackets to police personnel involved in policing the upcoming 2019 Presidential Election. The monitoring bodies said that the cameras and jackets were gifted on a personal request from Acting IGP [...]
Election monitors challenge GMOA president’s actions
Election monitoring bodies have accused members of the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) of getting involved in active electioneering in hospitals. Last week doctors affiliated to the Sri Lankan Podjuna Peramuna (SLPP) in Anuradhapura and Colombo were involved in political campaigning among their patients. The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) charged that doctors in [...]
Election violations and violence increasing, say polls monitoring bodies
With two weeks to go for the election the number of complaints relating to election violations and violence keep increasing. The National Election Commission (NEC) as of November 1, has received 2540 complaints with reports of 2425 violations and 23 violent incidents. The first week after nominations, beginning October 8, the NEC received 269 complaints [...]
Pick of the Pix
From our readers Shutterbugs out there, here’s your chance to send in your contributions to this picture corner. Please send your captioned photograph along with your name, and the location of the photograph, to pictures @sundaytimes.wnl.lk We would also appreciate if you mentioned the camera or cellphone that was used.
White cane awareness day
The National Federation of the Blind celebrates White Cane Awareness Day annually on 15 October. In Sri Lanka several ceremonies were held to mark the day this year. In Chilaw the Sri Lanka Sunrise Foundation commemorated the day by organizing a street parade to draw attention and create awareness of the social,economic, cultural, environmental issues [...]