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November Budget: Relief measures to be pruned down
The Government will be forced to prune down relief measures in the first budget to make up for a revenue loss of a staggering 1.3 trillion rupees, Treasury officials warned yesterday. The November budget, now on the drawing boards at the Treasury, has taken note of the biggest chunk of the loss — Rs 490 [...]
Diplomats abusing self-isolation facility; stern warning by Foreign Ministry
The Foreign Ministry has issued a demarche to one foreign embassy and expressed strong concern to all missions based in Sri Lanka about diplomats abusing the allowance to let them self-isolate after flying into the country. The Government has made provision for foreign diplomats to avoid quarantine in centres and hotels. “Heads of Mission and [...]
Legal debate over murder-convict MP’s right to attend Parliament
A legal tussle continues between the Attorney General on the one side and defence attorneys of murder convict Member of Parliament Premalal Jayasekera over the parliamentarian’s right to sit in the House while being in jail with counsel for the Secretary General of Parliament weighing in on the side of the defence counsel. Deputy Solicitor [...]
Tanker fire: AG’s advice sought for arrest of captain and crew
The Merchant Shipping Secretariat and the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) have sought the Attorney General’s advice on the arrest of the captain and crew members of the ill-fated oil tanker, drifting off the southeastern coast. By last evening the ship, New Diamond, was 40 nautical miles off Sri Lanka’s southeastern coast with the fire [...]
Major overhaul of Sri Lanka’s diplomatic missions abroad
A major overhaul of the heads of Sri Lankan diplomatic missions abroad will come into effect in the next 30 days and new ambassadors have already been handpicked to key embassies abroad. These include New Delhi, Washington DC, Chennai, Tokyo, Beijing and Ottawa. Meanwhile, several retired diplomats who are over 60 years and heading embassies [...]
Spike in Covid-19 detection grounds migrant workers’ repatriation flights
The Government has suspended repatriation of migrant workers again–including lucrative charter flights–after a spike in imported COVID-19 cases this week. The suspension started yesterday and could last around a week, authorities said. The move comes amidst a push by tourism authorities to reopen the airport to facilitate revival of the ailing industry. But the Health [...]
Dambulla Hospital gets specialised accident unit
The Dambulla hospital’s accident service unit built at a cost of Rs 10 million was declared open yesterday. With the commission of the fully equipped specialised unit, the hospital authorities say it would cater to the needs of not only Dambulla people but those from North Central, North Western and Central provinces too. Public Services, [...]
WHO says ‘will not endorse’ vaccine if not safe, effective
GENEVA, Sept. 5 (AFP) – The World Health Organisation insisted Friday it would never endorse a vaccine that has not proven safe and effective, amid concerns over the rush to develop a jab for Covid-19. Across the globe, governments are hoping to deploy a vaccine as soon as possible against the virus, which has infected [...]
Wetlands destruction: Suspects further remanded; probes continue
The two suspects arrested in connection with the Anawilundawa wetlands destruction have been further remanded. When the backhoe driver and the businessman were brought before the Chilaw Magistrate on Friday, their plea for bail was rejected as Arachchikattuwa Chief Inspector told court that investigations were still ongoing. The magistrate ordered that the suspects, who were [...]
Sapugaskanda drug haul: Lankan PC arrested in South India
A Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) constable wanted in connection with the detection of 23 kgs of heroin in Sapugaskanda has been arrested in South India, police said. Sri Lankan Police have been looking for the suspect since last Wednesday after his brother was arrested with a haul of heroin in the Sapugaskanda area. The PC [...]
Maha Bodhi Society mourns Mukherjee’s death
The Maha Bodhi Society of India has expressed its condolences on the passing away of India’s former President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday, August 31. The society in a statement issued from Kolkata said the late President was a well-wisher of the Society and had visited its headquarters Sri Dharmarajika Chaithya Vihara in Kolkata and the [...]
Pick of the Pix
Pix by Indika Handuwala, Nilan Maligaspe, Amila Gamage, Sameera Weerasekara, Nisal Baduge, M Munaf From our readers Shutterbugs out there, we would once again appreciate 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 [...]
‘Fair’ image means a toxic face
Brides-to-be, those visiting beauty salons for facials and those desperate to have a bleached white skin are being warned of illegal skin whitening creams widely available in cosmetics stores and online. While Sri Lanka permits 1 milligram per kilogram (mg/kg) of mercury content in beauty products, it was revealed that some products claiming to [...]
US, China intensify war of words over sanctions on port city builder
The United States has said that it hopes countries will examine their dealings with China’s state-owned China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) to guard against what it said were the company’s abuses and “to protect their own sovereignty and interests”. Sri Lanka clearly falls within that category because of the Government’s dealings with CCCC subsidiary China [...]
Burning questions as fire onboard MT New Diamond simmers down
Though Sri Lanka is aiming to be a global maritime hub, this week’s fire onboard oil tanker MT New Diamond raises serious concerns over the country’s lack of preparedness to meet potential maritime disasters, industry experts said. The stricken vessel, which was beginning to drift dangerously close to the island, was successfully towed to about [...]
More than 8,600 complaints of election law violations during August 5 polls campaign
Misuse of state resources and improper conduct of state employees were the main complaints of election law violations received by the Election Commission, the Sunday Times learns. Among the total number of 8, 683 complaints received by the Commission, at least 1,500 complaints are related to the misuse of state resources, in addition to other [...]
Bear and elephant attacks strike terror in North’s mighty jungles
Residents of Mannar are aggrieved at being left out of a recent meeting on wildlife issues at the Presidential Secretariat even though they in particular, and others in the Northern Province, which has the country’s greatest jungle cover, suffer the most from wild animal attacks. Elephants, bears, leopards and serpents cause the most injuries and, [...]
Driver who killed three in trishaw pileup had taken heroin
The driver responsible for the deaths of three people including a top Central Bank official this week had heroin in his blood, investigators found, as police reported increasing drug use by drivers. Blood tests show 28-year-old Gayan Sankalpa Karunaratne had used heroin within six days of Wednsday’s accident in Mattakkuliya. He also lacked a driver’s [...]
Lankan name smarts as pepper traders cheat importers
Claims from overseas that Sri Lankan pepper is substandard are bedevilling the Government’s election pledge to obtain a fair price on world markets for local cultivators. Talks are underway to convince importing countries to continue buying black pepper from Sri Lanka at the agreed price of Rs. 450 a kilogram. Along with that, traders are [...]
Striking difficult balance between opening country and warding off coronavirus
The difficult decision of when to open the entry-points to Sri Lanka has not yet been finalised, while many health sources urged people to adhere to face-mask wearing, hand hygiene and physical distancing in public places. With extensive discussions on how to strike a balance between opening the country and warding off the coronavirus, Airport [...]
Sri Lankans in Oman lend a helping hand to their brothers and sisters
As the new coronavirus rampaged through the world, leaving death, illness and economic hardship in its wake, how did Sri Lankans abroad manage, especially those in West Asia? Into the forefront in Oman, where there are 32,000 Sri Lankans working in different capacities, ranging from domestic helpers to doctors, owners of businesses to bankers, quantity [...]
University entry exam candidates face reality of disruptions
Despite the three-month lockdown to contain the coronavirus, Advanced Level candidates will not get any concessions for the exams now being held next month. The Education Ministry said the questions will be based on the entire syllabi and there will be no increase in the choice of questions. The Additional Secretary L.M.D. Dharmasena, said that [...]
Appeal Court takes up case against MP Wigneswaran
The Court of Appeal will take up for hearing, September 15, a Writ Application filed against newly-elected Member of Parliament C. V. Wigneswaran for the failure to implement a court order delivered in 2017. Mr Wigneswaran, who was the Chief Minister for the Northern Province, had been directed to reinstate former Provincial Council Minister B [...]
Quite a catch
The confiscation of over 350 illegal fish nets from the Puttalam lagoon this week is a reminder that despite the prohibition of illegal fishing equipment by a special gazette issued by the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources over 20 years ago, the law has not been put in force. The Navy and fisheries officials [...]
No let up in downpours
Showers and thunderstorms could bring up to 100 millimetres of rain across Sri Lanka, the weather forecasters say. Downpours are predicted in the North-western and South-western provinces due to an atmospheric disturbance. Showers are forecast in Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Central and North-western provinces. Showers or thundershowers will occur in Uva, Eastern and North-central provinces and [...]