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Two former presidents confer: Newly re-appointed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in conversation with SLFP leader Maithripala Sirisena at a ceremony at Temple Trees a day before the Cabinet was appointed without the latter. Only two SLFP MPs were included in a 26-member Cabinet dominated by MPs from Mr. Rajapaksa’s party. Pic by Indika Handuwala
Rs. 1.6 trillion Vote on Account coming soon
Prior to the November Budget, a Vote on Account to the tune of Rs. 1.6 trillion (Rs. 1,600 billion) is being given priority by the government to settle old bills and kickstart the economy. To be presented in Parliament immediately after Cabinet approval is obtained, the urgent requirement is to pay outstanding bills for road [...]
Bouncing cheque scandal hits IRD, no action taken to recover Rs. 3 billion
Between 2015 and June last year, the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) lost more than Rs 3 billion by way of dishonoured cheques and, despite an alarming rise, the Government’s tax collector has not strengthened its internal control systems, the Auditor General’s Department states. Taxpayers remit money to the IRD’s revenue collection account, mostly by cheques. [...]
President orders northern shops to remain open till 10 pm daily
All shops, including grocery and textile shops, eateries and pharmacies in the Jaffna peninsula, have been requested to keep their establishments open until 10 p.m. daily on a directive by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. This is aimed at reviving business in the region, officials said. Northern Province Governor P.S.M. Charles on Friday presided over a meeting [...]
Duty-free business collapses; request to increase allowances
The Tourism Ministry will shortly submit a cabinet paper seeking approval to increase the duty-free allowance for incoming passengers to buy goods and introduce more products for purchase in a bid to revive the duty-free business which has collapsed due to the interruption of airport services. Accordingly, the Ministry will propose an increase in the [...]
Ranil to stay on till PC polls
United National Party (UNP) leader Ranil Wickremesinghe will quit his position only after the upcoming Provincial Council elections, party General Secretary Akila Viraj Kariyawasam said yesterday. He told the Sunday Times Mr Wickremesinghe conveyed this position during yesterday’s Sirikotha meeting with party candidates who failed to win a seat. “Youth should be handed over the [...]
Migrant workers await repatriation, wealthy expats charter flights to return
Hundreds of higher income bracket Sri Lankan expatriates have recently started escaping their pandemic-hit destinations abroad by chartering aircraft from SriLankan and other companies to return home. These trips are tailored as packages comprising “paid PCR, transport and hotel quarantine”. “They are groups of people who get together and contact an airline directly to charter [...]
Norochcholai extension: CEB calls for expressions of interest
The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has called expressions of interest to hire a financial consultant for the proposed 300 megawatt (mw) extension to the Lak Vijaya power plant (LVPP) at Norochcholai. The advertisement published this week indicates that a financial model for the planned build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) or build, own and operate [...]
Kurunegala mayor, suspects await ruling on arrest warrants
The Court of Appeal will rule on August 24 on whether to proceed with a writ application filed by Kurunegala Mayor Thushara Sanjeewa and four others seeking an order to quash the arrest warrants issued by the magistrate following the demolition of an archaeologically-significant building in Kurunegala. The writ was taken up in the Court [...]
New office complex for Amarapura Nikaya
The newly built office complex of the Sri Amarapura Maha Nikaya Sangha Sabha was declared open in Wellawatte yesterday by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. This was the first official function attended by the PM after he assumed duties. Former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya and former State Minister Ruwan Wijewardene were also present. Pic by Priyantha Samaraweera
India, Pakistan celebrate freedom day
The 74th Independence Day of India celebrations held at India House in Colombo yesterday with a colourful ceremony and the participation of the Indian community here. The Pakistani community in Sri Lanka celebrated the 74th Independence Day with traditional fervor at the High Commission’s premises in Colombo on August 14. The ceremonies began with Acting [...]
UNP, OPPP yet to decide on national list nominees
The United National Party (UNP) and the Our Power of People Party (OPPP) are yet to finlise their national list nominees. “No decision about the national list MP has been taken so far,” UNP’s assistant leader Ravi Karunanayake told the Sunday Times yesterday. On Thursday addressing a news conference, the Ven Athureliye Rathana Thera said [...]
Hundreds killed each year on tracks
Tragically, 718 people have died in train accidents in the past three years – the most this year even though the tracks were virtually bare of activity for months during the coronavirus lockdown. Most deaths are classified by the Department of Railways as suicides or accidents occurring as a result of trespass on rail tracks. [...]
UN special envoys urge Britain to probe Keenie Meenie’s role in war against LTTE
Six United Nations Special Rapporteurs have taken up with the British Government allegations that it failed to investigate reports that British mercenaries were involved in military operations against the LTTE in Sri Lanka from 1984-1988. The report claimed that a private military and security company known as the Keenie Meenie Services Ltd had been allegedly [...]
Top police dogs fetch high prices at auction in Kandy
Twenty-five dogs belonging to the Police Kennels Division, who actively participated in raids and detections, were auctioned in Kandy yesterday. Two-year-old Breath, a Labrador trained to seize narcotics by the Asgiriya Official Canine Headquarters, was sold for Rs. 110,000, the highest price ever paid for a Police dog at an auction. Hemantha Wedikkara, a resident [...]
NCPA slammed for gross failure to act in children’s defence
The child protection’s body’s 20-year delay in implementing a National Child Policy, failure to compile a national database and lax recruitment of adequate and qualified staff has let down the country’s children, exposing them to great harm, a scathing report has found. “Even though child abuses, delinquencies and injuries had been on the rise during [...]
Ubiquitous pandemic guidelines will greet MPs, visitors as new Parliament meets
Next Thursday’s (August 20) inaugural session of the Ninth Parliament will be unlike any other in history as it will sit in the midst of the yet to be eradicated COVID-19 pandemic. The inaugural session and subsequent sessions when proper business of the House begins, pose a host of extraordinary challenges to both MPs and [...]
Confusion over preferential voting system may have caused high rate of rejected votes
Confusion about the format of the ballot paper with its many symbols and three preferences may have led to the high rate of rejected votes at the recently concluded parliamentary elections, experts said. The total number of rejected votes at the August 5 election was 744,373. When set against a voter turnout of 75.89%, [...]
Grads, low-income recruits state jobs list posted online
The names of 50,000 graduates eligible for state jobs will be posted on the website of the Presidential Secretariat today, the secretariat announced. This comes following President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s instructions to speed up a programme to provide jobs for 50,000 graduates and 100,000 others from low-income backgrounds. Those recruited will be informed by letter tomorrow, [...]
Strictly follow preventive health measures
Extensive regional testing including vulnerable segments of the population as well as the identified clusters indicates that there is no community spread of COVID-19, Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Sudath Samaraweera assured on Friday evening. Pointing out that even though they are carrying out extensive testing, some could be missed, he earnestly urged people to adhere strictly [...]
Making inroads to sell their wares
Having lost their jobs due to the prevailing COVID situation, many who have sought an alternative income by selling lunch packets and other produce on roadsides are facing another hurdle; a crackdown by the authorities. Police and other authorities this week have started removing vendors,who were selling items from vehicles parked on the side of [...]
Hellish Kochchikade dump blights city
Public dismay has reached boiling point in Kochchikade as a result of a hellish landscape that is a stinking garbage dump created by the Negombo Municipal Council as a landfill about 20 years ago. The dump took shape on a private land on the request of the land owner to fill a pit dug for [...]
Weli Oya anicut sand mining in the spotlight again
Environmentalists and locals have been engaging in protests against a sand removal project from the Weli Oya anicut gates that started in 2017. In the most recent line of protesting, local stakeholders brought up the matter with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa during his visit to the area. The project has since been stalled until further investigations [...]
Uneven playing field favours candidates with more money
The more than Rs. 2 billion candidates spent on their general elections campaign at the grassroots level and in the digital space point to an uneven playing field which favours candidates with more money, polls monitors say. They say the disparity in campaign spending called into question the fairness of the election process. Manjula Gajanayake, [...]
Pottuvil still in favour with the tourists
Tourism has been one of the main sectors hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. Most countries have closed their borders and Sri Lanka’s airports too continue to remain shut, except for special flights. However, there are quite a few tourists still in the country. Some cannot leave because their countries have closed their borders and [...]
US $ 10,000 media blitz helps SLFP earn unprecedented victory in Jaffna
Angajan Ramanathan’s victory in the August 5 parliamentary polls is historic, firstly because he secured the most preferential votes in the Jaffna electoral district, pushing Tamil nationalist candidates behind, and secondly, for being the only first-time MP in the country elected with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the one-time grand old party now in [...]
Ministerial jobs: The chosen, the sidelined and the short-changed
In an event rich in religious and cultural symbolism, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa swore in a mix of old and new faces on Wednesday as his Cabinet and State Ministers to take forward his vision of ‘Saubhagyaye Dekma’–Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour–for Sri Lanka. The 25-member Cabinet and 39-strong group of State Ministers took their oaths [...]
US Mayor names day in honour of Lankan activist
The Mayor of Albany, NY, Kathy Sheehan, has declared August 24 “Fazana Saleem-Ismail Day” in memory of a Sri Lanka social activist who died June 25 at the age of 47 after a battle with stomach cancer. She was a Research Scientist at the Professional Development Programme of the Research Foundation of the State University [...]