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Home » NewsVirus scanners come to airport
As China’s coronavirus epidemic poses worldwide dangers, Sri Lanka airport authorities installed scans which will show red images of incoming passengers if they have fever and yellow images if their temperature is normal. Passengers who are detected with fever will be quarantined and sent to hospital. Pic by Amila Gamage
Plans for two new coal power plants by changing the law
The Government is planning to remove a vital clause in the Electricity Act which requires the declaration of the lowest cost on long term generation plans in a bid to go through two controversial coal power plant projects. Any exclusion of a declaration of the lowest cost could impact on the cost of the project [...]
CEB engineers divided over Lakvijaya extension tender
Senior Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) engineers are divided on whether or not a tender should be called for the proposed extension of the Lakvijaya coal power plant in Norochcholai. Meanwhile, a Cabinet approval granted this week to a Power and Energy Ministry memorandum has unexpectedly raised the number of additional coal power units proposed for [...]
Sirisena poured more than Rs. 25 billion into his Polonnaruwa
During the Presidency of Maithripala Sirisena from January 8, 2015 to November 16, 2019, Rs 25.293 billion was used for various development projects in his Polonnaruwa district as direct government expenditure through various state agencies besides foreign funded projects. This information was obtained by the Sunday Times through a Right to Information (RTI) query. According [...]
CID freezes assets of the Edwards on money laundering charges
The assets of Rienzie Mahesh Kumara Edwards and his wife, Punya Priyanji Menike Edwards, two suspects in an international money laundering case, were frozen on Friday by the Financial Crimes Investigation Unit (FCIU) of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), police confirmed. The order pertains to bank accounts and properties, Police Spokesman Jaliya Senaratne said. Mr [...]
Two suspected coronavirus cases at IDH: Early tests negative
Two Chinese nationals were in the isolation unit of the Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH) at Angoda on suspicion of having contracted the coronavirus. Both tested negative “so far” for the disease, said Dr Jayaruwan Bandara, Director of the Medical Research Institute (MRI), last night. The Institute is sent blood samples from the patients and use [...]
CB to reveal missing sections of bond audit report
The Central Bank will forward the complete forensic audits on the Treasury bond issue to Parliament together with annexures and exhibits, Governor W.D. Lakshman told the Sunday Times yesterday. He said that in line with a request made by Parliament, the CB’s Monetary Board had approved releasing the complete forensic audits to Parliament. The decision [...]
Envoy with a ‘soft spot’ for Lanka leaves her shores after a job well done
A diplomat’s duty is always to protect his country’s interests. However, India’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Taranjit Singh Sandhu has always had a genuine affection, a ‘soft spot’ some would say, for this island-nation he has served in. The envoy came here as a Political Officer at the turn of the century when a [...]
Audit report reveals irregularities in Agri Ministry
The Agriculture Ministry vacated its sprawling premises on a 17-hectare property to cram into a building with low public accessibility, priced ten percent more per square foot than market rates, erected in violation of regulations and was not even completed when the lease was signed, the National Audit Office (NAO) says. By October 31 last [...]
Easter Sunday terror probe: Pujith says Salley promised to hand over Mawanella suspects
Suspended Police Chief Pujith Jayasundera told a presidential commission investigating the Easter Sunday attacks that former Western Province Governor Azath Salley assured him he would take steps to hand over two suspects involved in the Mawanella Buddha statue attacks. Testifying before the commission headed by Court of Appeal judge Janak de Silva, Mr. Jayasundera said [...]
An accident waiting to happen
The railings on the bridge across the Chilaw lagoon have rusted and are on the verge of collapsing, posing a serious danger to pedestrians. Area residents are appealing to authorities to repair the railings before an accident occurs. Pic by Augustine Fernando
German court convicts Tamil guerrilla for assisting in Kadirgamar killing
A Tamil guerrilla convicted by a German court this week, for helping in the assassination of former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar was responsible for gathering information about the possibility of using firearms from a neighbouring building to carryout the crime. The Stuttgart Higher Regional Court convicted the 40-year-old suspect whose name is being withheld due [...]
President lists seven priority areas in circular to governors
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has instructed Provincial Governors to give priority to seven areas of work in view of the limited financial allocations made in the “vote on account” passed in October last year. A circular issued to the nine governors urges them to give priority to work related to schools, hospitals, Sathi Pola, public bus [...]
‘Man’ who gave birth in Matara hospital says he doesn’t want his baby
Crowds gathered at the Matara General Hospital as the news of a 25-year-old man giving birth to a child spread like wild fire this week. The person who was born a woman had undergone gender reassignment surgery. However he was known to most as a three-wheeler driver in Dondra town in Matara. He had a [...]
2 Chinese tourists with suspected coronavirus admitted to IDH
Two Chinese tourists were admitted to the Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH) yesterday with suspected coronavirus, Director Dr Hasitha Attanayake said. A 43-year-old woman has arrived through a travel agent with a tourist group and had been in Ahungalla, at the tail end of her trip, when she came down with a fever, sore throat, cough [...]
30 Lankan students in deadly Wuhan virus epicentre await evacuation
About 30 Sri Lankan students, including some with families, have asked the embassy in China’s capital Beijing to help evacuate them from the provincial city of Wuhan, from where the deadly coronavirus epidemic is rampaging uncontrollably across the country and beyond its borders. So far, there are no reports of any Sri Lankan student showing [...]
Wildlife Minister gives ear to concerns of activists and promises action
No more guns will be issued to personnel of the Civil Defence Force (CDF) for use against elephants, while also recalling the guns already issued to some of them, Wildlife Resources Minister S.M. Chandrasena has assured. Minister Chandrasena gave these assurances at a meeting with environmental activists on Wednesday, sources told the Sunday Times, pointing [...]
Illegal sand miners wreak havoc while govt ponders new permit
Illegal sand mining has been rampant since the government’s move to cancel transportation permits, with miners gouging deadly pits out of riverbanks and destroying health-giving old trees in pursuit of profits. Moreover, the government’s intended motive of bringing down the price of sand has proved to be a failure as prices remain the same while [...]
Happy ending as baby jumbo is rescued from hunter’s trap
An elephant calf caught in a hunter’s trap in the jungle area of Sanhindagama, in Hambantota has been rescued by Wildlife officials. Area residents who had heard the agonising cries of the four-month old calf whose trunk had got caught in the trap had alerted the Hambantota Wildlife Department. A team led by Dr Malaka [...]
Legal battle looms over Govt.’s bid to crowd Grade 1 classes
The Government’s decision to move the Supreme Court seeking to increase the number of students admitted to a Grade 1 class is set to face a host of legal challenges, with education sector unions and parents vowing to challenge it. Those opposed to the decision argue that the move will only exacerbate the existing problems [...]
Misfired guns have caused ‘collateral damage’
Last week a young Buddhist monk, 22, a student of the Buddhist and Pali University in Homagama died in a shooting incident. Ven. Unawatune Seelarathana Thera had sustained a gunshot injury when a police constable’s firearm is alleged to have misfired and struck the monk who was in a vehicle. The incident happened in Deniyapura [...]
Artefacts of miocene era found at Aruwakkalu Archaeological Reserve
Six hectares in Aruwakkalu will be declared an Archaeological Reservation amidst evidence of ancient habitation, State Minister of Environment Jayantha Samaraweera said. The minister said four places in the Aruwakkalu area of Puttalam in the North Western Province would be taken over by the Department of Archaeology for preservation. The Aruwakkalu sanitary landfill project and [...]
Trucks from Jaffna signal long- awaited drop in veggie prices
Vegetable prices are going to start dropping in coming weeks because supplies from Jaffna and Kalpitiya are on their way in. The Director of the Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research Institute, Duminda Priyadarsana, said prices kept increasing during the last few months as heavy rains had ruined harvests. He said high prices would be gone in [...]
No reason to make changes to the 19th Amendment
Probably the most contentious aspect of the 1978 Constitution was the institution of the Executive Presidency, which concentrated power in one individual as opposed to collective decision making which is the characteristic of a Parliamentary form of Government. Farsighted politicians like Sirimavo Bandaranaike, N M Perera and Colvin R de Silva pointed out the dangers [...]
Kandy’s new terminus sends people buzzing from stand to stand
After a bus terminus with the capacity to accomadate 26 buses at a time and cost millions of rupees, was opened at Bogambara in Kandy, it was believed the chaotic traffic situation in Kandy would end. But now it is worse than ever. The Bogambara bus terminus has only one exit, which creates a traffic [...]
Small-scale rice venture meets its use-by date
In March last year, an ambitious rice brand called ‘Shakthi’ came into the market through a cooperative society mechanism of small and medium scale (SME) rice millers to ensure quality rice at a reasonable price. The rice venture did not last long. A week after the new government took office, buffer stocks that were to [...]
No parachute display at simple Freedom Day ceremony; special focus on tree planting
This year’s Independence Day ceremony will not feature the usual parachute display and only a limited number of aircraft and tanks will be used in keeping with the President’s request for a simple ceremony. The Freedom Day military and cultural parades will also be shortened. The 72nd Independence Day will be held at the Independence [...]
Lanka’s only Ayurveda Museum
An ayurvedic physician has built Sri Lanka’s first and only museum dedicated to the history of ayurvedic medicine in the country. the museum is situated at Dambana, in Mahiyangana. Dr H.M. Withanaarchchi, together with his wife, set up the museum on a three-acre plot of land. Over the years, the couple have been able to [...]
