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A mock poll was held yesterday at Negombo’s St. Sebastian’s College to assess how best the Election Commission could conduct the August 5 General Elections in keeping with the strict guidelines issued by the health authorities to prevent the spread of the COVID-19. An election official is seen here using a disposable cotton bud to [...]
Polls as scheduled even if COVID upsurge hits country
The parliamentary elections will go ahead as scheduled even in the event of another outbreak of COVID-19, by organising special booths for lockdown areas, the Elections Commission has decided in consultation with the health authorities. The EC’s Commissioner General Saman Shri Ratnayake told the Sunday Times that it was part of its contingency plan of [...]
JICA suspends funding for cable project
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), one of Sri Lanka’s oldest development partners, has suspended funding for a new transmission line until the clarification of several policy matters such as the financial policies of the Sri Lanka Government and its debt situation including the request for a debt moratorium from Japan. The JICA decision has [...]
Jail or fine if public officials misuse state resources during polls
Public officials will be fined or jailed if they are found guilty of violating a directive by the Election Commission on the prohibition of the use of state resources to promote a party or candidate. The EC directive has prohibited the use of any movable or immovable property belonging to the State or any State [...]
Govt. to resume flights to bring back stranded Lankans
The Government has finally scheduled a slew of flights to bring back Sri Lankan migrants stranded abroad, after initially cancelling some flights and resisting repatriation as a large number of West Asian workers are now feared to be infected with COVID-19. Flights were scheduled to arrive from the Maldives, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, [...]
Head of state status for Bohra chief during COVID-19 retreat here
Dawoodi Bohra leader Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin will be given head of State status when he arrives in Sri Lanka with 45 others on a special flight scheduled for June 21, the Government has confirmed. Permission has been granted for the aircraft to land and a number of other followers are expected to arrive separately. They [...]
Sri Lanka looks to setting up ‘virtual courthouse’ in this age of ‘new normal’
A demonstration of a new online platform for the court system in Sri Lanka to ensure that courts continue functioning in the age of COVID-19 was held on Friday at the Colombo Law Library before members of the judiciary, lawyers and probable sponsors. The online platform was developed by Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) in partnership [...]
Probe on death of former airline country manager continues as he is laid to rest
The funeral of the former SriLankan Airlines Country Manager in Europe whose body was found near Colombo’s Independence Square early Friday morning with a gunshot injury took place at the General Cemetery yesterday, as Police continued investigations into his death. The victim, identified as Rajeewa Prakash Jayaweera, 64, of Milagriya, Colombo 4 had been a [...]
Coal power extension project to be pushed through under “emergency” COVID-19 situation
Cabinet has instructed the Power and Energy Ministry to direct the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to expedite a joint venture agreement with China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) for a 300mw extension to the Lakvijaya coal power plant at Norochcholai. The Cabinet decision contained several other measures to be taken in view of the “emergency” situation [...]
Pick of the pix
Galle: The odd Mango Galle: Tamed posturing BIA: Cautious capture Pellawa: Take three Slave Island: Pedal patrol Pettah: Reflective pause Ratmalana: Setting standards
World Press bodies protest attacks on journalists in the US and Philippines
The International Press Institute (IPI) has launched two major press freedom campaigns for journalists in the Philippines and the United States. The IPI members have been requested to take part in the campaign to protest the case filed against Maria Ressa and the online news site Rappler, which is due to commence on June 15. [...]
Two more SJB candidates withdraw from upcoming polls
Former Central Province Governor Neluka Ekanayake and Denat Paniyandoowage, two candidates of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) from the Sabaragamuwa and Galle Districts announced their decision to withdraw from the upcoming elections, becoming the second and third candidates to withdraw from the contest – all from the SJB. Earlier in the week, former Finance Minister [...]
Rs. 10 added to every unit of electricity generated by Lakvijaya due to environment, health costs
The damage caused by the Lakvijaya coal power station to people around it and the environment adds at least Rs 10.23 to each unit of electricity generated by the plant, a team of experts has found. The impacts considered by the Sri Lanka Energy Managers Association (SLEMA) were greenhouse and other gaseous emissions, resource depletion, [...]
Sunil’s death exposes horror of ‘goda finance’ companies
The crime scene is less than 150m from Pangiriwatta Mawatha in Nugegoda, where the President lives. The killing took place in daylight. Smartphone footage shows a motionless man on the ground being beaten with a pole. It is rush hour. The death of Sunil Jayawardana, a 53-year-old father-of-three, who led the Lanka Self-Employed Professionals’ National [...]
Welcome back to worship in the age of COVID
Churches, temples, kovils and mosques are working out ways to embrace the faithful again following the government’s green light for religious institutions to open doors to devotees while keeping to COVID-19 safety regulations. Only 50 worshippers can be permitted inside at any time, and they must wear masks, wash hands and keep 1m away from [...]
Hand sanitiser havoc
With the coronavirus outbreak, disinfectant fluids (sanitisers) became prominent among essential items. There is high demand, and vendors have been producing substandard hand sanitisers. Due to the scare of a widespread Covid-19 outbreak, people tend to use disinfect fluids continuously. Public and private institutions in the Kalutara District had used these disinfectant fluids for a [...]
Study highlights public difficulties during lockdown
A large number of people had difficulty accessing medicines and medical services during the COVID-19 curfew, a University of Moratuwa survey has found, highlighting that suitable measures must be introduced to handle similar challenges in future. In terms of accessing essential goods, around two-thirds of households experienced obstacles, showed the study by Prof Amal S [...]
Pasindu’s family overjoyed to have him back home
Pasindu Hirushan Silva, the 21-year-old Jayewardenepura University student who was seriously injured on March 6 in an alleged ragging incident, is home after weeks of treatment. But he has no recollection of campus life or the incident that had left him in hospital. On Thursday, Pasindu left hospital after a medical battle lasting 98 days [...]
Desperate cry for help from Lankan mothers-to-be stranded in West Asia
Hopes of delivering her baby back in Sri Lanka shattered, a 25-year-old woman heavy with child is distraught and desperate in Kuwait. H.L. Poornima Prasadari, along with her husband, two-year-old son and father from Kandy had gone on holiday to Hawalli, Kuwait on January 26, where her mother was based as she was working there. [...]
Virus guidance sets tone for welcoming visitors
Foreign tourists will not be able to stay in unregistered guest houses as guidelines issued jointly by the Sri Lanka Tourism and Health Ministry will be in place from August 1, a top official at the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) said. SLTDA Director General Dhammika Wijesinghe said all tourists would go through proper [...]
Ancient mariners find a haven on Sri Lanka’s shores
Ancient mariners that come ashore in Sri Lanka’s southern coast have been heading to a haven on shore for decades, where their eggs are protected and wounds healed for decades by caring hands. It is mostly the females that come ashore in the nesting season. Marine turtles are endangered – all seven species. Three among [...]
Horton Plains National Park set for Monday reopening
The Horton Plains National Park will be open to the public from Monday following the Government’s decision to reopen all national parks. Although the park remained closed for three months during the lockdown period, officials continued the maintenance work. This has enabled them to reopen the park at short notice. Officials lamented the loss of [...]
Court of Appeal grants interim relief to interdicted judge
Highly questionable issues have cropped up with regard to the ongoing case against the interdicted judge Gihan Pilapitiya, Court of Appeal Justice A.H.M.D. Nawaz has noted. He made the observation this week when a two-judge Court of Appeal bench took up the writ application filed by Mr. Pilapitiya. Justice Nawaz raised several questions from Senor [...]
Schools bemoan pittance given for virus precautions
Unionists have raised concerns about the meagre amounts of money given by the government for schools to comply with guidelines aimed at protecting children from the deadly coronavirus. The Education Ministry has only allocated Rs 15,000 for each school. Unions said they will have to turn to parents for help. “The money from the ministry [...]
Booze, drugs and smokes sales tear gaping hole in lockdown
The rippling effect of the COVID-19 virus that paralysed households, restricting daily life and even the purchase of basic foods, caused no apparent upset to the supply chain for drugs, alcohol and tobacco, with addicts being able to buy their daily dose with surprising ease. During the lockdown period the availability of alcohol and tobacco [...]
Dial C for a crime from prison
Following a presidential directive, raids yield 87 mobile phones and 50 SIM cards in jails Underworld and drug mafia turn prisons into operation headquarters to direct crimes Some prison officials in collusion with inmates; new Prisons Chief speaks of challenges Attempts to prevent criminals from directing drug smuggling and other serious crimes from prison are [...]
Ease up with care
There is no room for complacency or risk-taking, reiterates a top health official, as Sri Lanka gradually opens up its workplaces and is set to allow the doors of places of worship as well as gates of schools to admit people and students respectively. It is on the eve of June 10 (Wednesday) that the [...]