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Military, state officers under EC scrutiny
For the first time during an election, state sector officials, those in the military and police have come under a microscope for airing their views on the social media including Facebook. “The Election Commission’s legal division will monitor the social media and any partisan views expressed by them will make them liable for action,” EC [...]
SriLankan Airlines’ Airbus bribery case: UK agency faces serious questions over delays
UK Export Finance (UKEF), Britain’s export credit agency, faces “serious questions” over its officials taking more than one year to report evidence suggesting that Airbus may have paid US$ 17mn to the wife of a SriLankan Airlines’ official in return for aircraft orders, The Times reported this week. UKEF Officials received emails as far back [...]
BIA new terminal project takes off with loan from Japan
The Bandaranaike International Airport’s new terminal is to be constructed by a Japanese company at a cost of Rs 108 billion, Civil Aviation Ministry Secretary S. Hettiarachchi said. He said they hoped to complete the project in three years and the funding would come as a loan from the Japanese International Corporation Agency (JICA). Japanese [...]
Kandakadu COVID cluster: Major contact-tracing ops underway
A search for those linked to the Kandakadu Drug Rehabilitation Centre in the Polonnaruwa district was expanded yesterday with the detection of two more COVID-19-infected instructors. One instructor who is from Rajanganaya in Anuradhapura tested positive after he was admitted to the Anuradhapura hospital. Two of his children have also been afflicted with COVID-19, while [...]
Norochcholai fourth unit: CEB engineers redlight contract to Chinese company
Senior Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) engineers, including the Manager of the Lak Vijaya Coal Power Plant (LVPP), have slammed Government moves to offer a fourth unit at Norochcholai “on a silver platter” to China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC). Since mid-last year, it has been proposed to add a new CEB-owned 300 megawatt unit as an [...]
Amitabh Bachchan tests positive for COVID-19
MUMBAI, July11 (AFP) – Bollywood veteran megastar Amitabh Bachchan, 77, has tested positive for COVID-19 and was admitted to hospital on Saturday in his hometown of Mumbai, he said on Twitter, calling for those close to him to get tested. “I have tested CoviD positive .. shifted to Hospital,” Bachchan wrote, saying his family and [...]
Navy says Indian fisherfolk smuggling drugs
As Southern India is experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases in recent days, Northern fishermen alleged the Navy has turned blind eye to the Indian fishermen who trespassed into Sri Lankan territorial waters to engage in bottom trawling – a fishing method prohibited in Sri Lanka. Northern fishermen alleged the Indian fishermen who were prohibited [...]
Unrest in Lunawa over police shooting of fisherman
There were scenes of anger and grief in the Lunawa area in Angulana yesterday after a 39-year-old father of four was shot and killed by police. The victim, Amith Karunarathna, a resident of Lunawa, was a fisherman who had been on his way to sea from the Lunawa lagoon on Friday night. Two three-wheelers carrying [...]
Repatriation flights suspended
The Government has decided to suspend repatriation flights for Sri Lankans in foreign countries from Tuesday, an official said. He said the move was to keep quarantine centres free if the need arose to accommodate more locals in the next few days. More than 300 COVID-19 patients have been detected since Friday in the country.
Some 700,000 public servants eligible to cast postal votes this week
More than 705,000 public servants are set to cast their postal vote this week, marking the first stage of the Parliamentary elections. Voting will be held on July 14 and 15 for public sector employees other than those in the District Secretariats, Election offices, police stations, security force camps, Department of Civil Security Force and [...]
Waves hit section of Galle Road
A section of the Galle Road between Kahawa and Thelwatte was closed for traffic due to strong waves reaching the road last evening, police said. Kahawa, Pereliya, Godagama and Thelwatte were some of the areas that experienced the waves while a few vehicles were also damaged. Police said some of the residents had even left [...]
Presidential committee to review prisoner appeals for pardon
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has appointed an eight-member committee to examine convicted prisoners’ appeals for presidential pardons, Presidential Secretariat sources said. The committee has been appointed, taking into consideration the issue of overcrowding in prisons and the danger posed to prisoners from the COVID-19 pandemic. The eight-member committee is headed by Bar Association (BASL) President Kalinga [...]
Measures against COVID-19
Kankesanturai Four persons including two Sri Lankan-origin refugees from South India who arrived at Kankesanturai (KKS) yesterday, by boat are to be sent to a quarantine centre, Navy sources said. Naval preliminary investigations revealed that two local fishermen organised the illegal passage to bring the two Sri Lankan refugees who had been living in temporary [...]
Fire engulfs rare sanctuary
A fire that spread in the Annavilundawa Ramza sanctuary on Friday in the Puttalam district has destroyed about 20 acres. This sanctuary is classified by environmentalists as a hub for endemic and migratory birds. Environmentalists have often highlighted the need to protect this sanctuary for its rich biodiversity. Brigadier Senaka Kasturi Mudalige was involved in [...]
Ensure those eligible have NICs: Ministry tells Div. Secs. following RTI application by journalist
The Ministry of Public Administration has advised divisional secretaries to ensure that people obtain their National Identity cards after a Right to Information (RTI) application filed by a journalist revealed that there were many people without identity cards. The Journalist Tharindu Jayawardena had filed RTI applications to all 331 Divisional Secretariats (DS) in the country [...]
Media associations condemn recent attack on photojournalist
Yesterday, journalist associations and organisations condemned a police officer’s harassment of a photojournalist at the Hulftdorp Court premises, and they called for a fair inquiry of the incident. The Police began an inquiry into the incident after the photojournalist Akila Jayawardena lodged a complaint against Inspector Neomal Rangajeewa. Mr Jayawardena complained the Inspector had intimidated [...]
Food safety can slip with election fever, officials warn
Hard-pressed health authorities worry that the food outlets and eateries gradually opening up in cities and towns will forget about keeping COVID rules as next month’s parliamentary election heats up with rallies and meetings. “In Colombo, initially these shops catered to a very small crowd coming to the city for work. This was ideal during [...]
Kandakadu cluster – all measures being taken, so don’t panic: Health DG
Don’t panic. We are doing everything that needs to be done,” assured the Director-General of Health Services, Dr. Anil Jasinghe on Friday night, referring to the Kandakadu cluster which mushroomed this week. This cluster is an extension of the Suduwella infections as those people were sent there and this disease usually adi adi thiyenawa (drags [...]
Grave concerns over relaxation of key measures — SLMA
The Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) has expressed “grave” concerns over the current situation where there is a “blatant” lack of application of the measures required to control the spread of COVID-19. “We are of the view that key measures are not adequately applied and monitored at present, thereby increasing the vulnerability of the country [...]
General election health guidelines to be gazetted next week
Health guidelines are to be gazetted in the next day or two, outlining detailed procedures to be followed by candidates, election officials and people during the campaign for the August 5 parliamentary elections, at polling booths and counting centres. The guidelines, first sent to the Election Commission by Health Services Director General Dr Anil Jasinghe, [...]
Illegal sand miners given licence to dig environmental grave
Suspending sand transport licences has paved the way for more environmental damage through illegal mining, which is continuing. The requirement was suspended in December amid a public outcry over its adverse consequences. Lawyer and environmental protection activist, Jagath Gunawardena, said the controversial decision to suspend licences was illegal. According to the Mines and Minerals Act, [...]
On the campaign trail
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa at a meting Samagi Jana Balavegaya leader Sajith Premadasa at a meeting in Matara JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake at a meeting in Rukmalgama. Pix by Sameera Weerasekera UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe at a meeting in Kirulapona. Pix by Priyantha Wickramaarachchi
Military comes calling on youth
New recruits including volunteers and regulars, are being sought for Sri Lanka’s army by next month to fill vacancies. Media spokesperson, Brigadier Chandana Wickramasinghe, said the volunteer force is seeking professionals who could be recruited as officers, or at other ranks. The regular force is also open for people with skills and knowledge, including doctors [...]
Dragnet widens after PNB drug ring leader surrenders
With the arrest of more key suspects this week, further details are emerging on the extent of the drug racket conducted by a team of policemen attached to the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB). By Friday night, 21 suspects have been under arrest as the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) continues investigations. Of these suspects, 18 are [...]
Mixed messages on teaching schedules
While schools re-opened last week after being closed for 14 weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic, the disparity in time tables issued to schools under the provincial education ministries has pushed the teachers’ union to seek redress at the Human Rights Commission (HRC). On Monday, the Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU) filed a petition at the [...]
Voters’ ability to take informed decisions affected by absence of a national discourse on policy issues
One of the main characteristics of the current election campaign leading up to the parliamentary elections scheduled for August 5 is the absence of a national conversation on critical matters that affect the country. While there are a plethora of problems that need to be addressed, it is vital that political formations and individual candidates [...]
Witness in RADA case changes stance: Alles, Emil Kanthan and two others discharged
The Colombo High Court on Friday discharged former MP and current Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) National List nominee Tiran Alles and three other accused from the case involving the criminal misappropriation of Rs 124 million from the State-backed Reconstruction and Development Agency (RADA). Former LTTE operative Emil Kanthan, RADA’s then Chief Operating Officer (COO) [...]
CA stays execution of warrants to arrest Ravi K
The Court of Appeal (CA) on Monday (6) issued an interim order staying the execution of warrants issued by the Colombo Fort Magistrate to arrest former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake and five others over charges of criminal misappropriation of nearly Rs 52 billion in connection with the issuance of Central Bank treasury bonds in 2016. [...]
North turned off by party virus of nationalist politics
On Monday, a pocket meeting organised by local sympathisers of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in Meesalai, Chavakachcheri saw fewer than 50 people from nearby villages taking part in the nearly hour-long meeting. Many left even before the event was officially wrapped up. With just three weeks left for the parliamentary polls on August 5, [...]
Candidate sambol as party infighting grows for preferences
Under a façade of calm in Anuradhapura, battles are raging within parties as candidates vie to wrest the preference votes that will most ensure a seat in the next parliament. This is the case throughout the North-Central Province as a million voters – 693,394 from the Anuradhapura district and 331,109 from the Polonnaruwa district – [...]
Exotic and expensive pods
Despite being considered the Queen of Spices, Cardamom cultivation is not being treated royally, as cultivators lament over the lack of lands to cultivate this high-priced herb. Cardamom is no longer an affordable aromatic spice due to a spike in price. These dried seed pods sell at Rs 26,000 per kilo in the retail market. [...]
Onion cultivation leads to tears in Kalpitiya and Puttalam
Red onions cultivated in the Kalpitiya and Puttalam districts are being harvested these days, but many of the onions produced go to waste due to low profits. Onion farmers of this region say the low profits of onions is incurred by transporting onion tips from Jaffna for their plantations. They have to incur additional expenses [...]
Human hullaballoo falls silent at the zoo
The Dehiwela Zoo looks forlorn these days: the usual crowds around the ticket gates are absent, as are the noisy vendors selling fruits, candy and toys to visitors; inside, just a few daring local families with children roam, together with a few tourists. Even its 84th anniversary on Friday last week was subdued, with only [...]