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Home » NewsPublic Servants take oaths to implement President’s manifesto
At the Colombo District Secretariat, some public servants are seen taking their traditional oath when they began work for the New Year. This year the oath included a new provision where they pledged to support and implement the President’s election manifesto titled ‘Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour’. Pic by Indika Handuwala
US$ 2.5bn currency swap deals with China and India
The Government will shortly opt for currency swap arrangements with China and India for US$ 2.5 billion aimed at boosting Sri Lanka’s foreign currency reserves and maintaining foreign exchange liquidity, Treasury and Central Bank officials said. Cabinet approval will be sought shortly for the proposed currency swap with China’s Central Bank – the People’s Bank [...]
Udayanga’s Ukrainian tourists bend the rules, star hotels arm-twisted to slash rates
Organisers of the Ukrainian tour groups promoted by Udayanga Weeratunga, former Sri Lankan Ambassador to Russia, ignored safety protocols agreed upon with the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) when taking the visitors to pre-approved attractions yesterday. The first group of Ukrainian tourists who arrived aboard a charter flight at the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport [...]
Presidential pardon for monk serving life term
The Ven Uvathenne Sumana Thera who was sentenced to life imprisonment for possessing a firearm during the 2010 presidential election has received a presidential pardon. The pardon is subject to the condition that he withdraws an appeal filed against the sentence. The Ven. Sumana Thera who was a supporter of the then Presidential candidate former [...]
Burial or cremation: Two expert committees give conflicting views
The Health Ministry has failed to come to a decision whether to allow burials for COVID-19 infected dead, as two expert committees held opposing positions and were unable to reach agreement, at a face-to-face meeting on Thursday. Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi who chaired the meeting has indicated that she would make the decision shortly, the [...]
Lanka Hospitals likely to get nod to treat COVID-19 patients
A private hospital is likely to get permission from the health authorities shortly to act as a treatment centre for COVID-19 patients, the Sunday Times learns as positive cases have risen to 43,856 with 208 deaths. Top health officials have already visited two private hospitals to determine whether they have adequate facilities, after they sought [...]
‘Record judges’ to expedite cases
The Justice Ministry has decided to create a new administrative position known as “Record Judge” for a pre-trial ahead of court hearings. The position will be above the existing Registrar position and will come under the purview of the Judicial Services Commission. (JSC). The position of “Record Judge’ will be created in all courts. The [...]
Implementation of human and environment-friendly agricultural practices is “very low”: National Audit Office
Cultivators of all types of food crops are not following a Government regulation dated 2017 mandating a 14-day interval between the last application of pesticides (particularly the insecticide Profenofos) and the harvest, the National Audit Office (NAO) has found. NAO officers held discussions with farmers as part of an environmental audit on the import, use [...]
Udayanga’s Ukraine project puts tourism sector’s comprehensive plan in abeyance
On December 9 last year, the tourism regulator was made aware that Udayanga Weeratunga– Sri Lanka’s former Ambassador to Russia who now gives his official address as Temple Trees, Colombo 3–intended to bring a large number of Ukrainians to the country as a pilot project. The Health Ministry had not even issued protocols for tourism [...]
Angry villagers attack wildlife office after two leopard attacks kill one and injure one
Five villagers were arrested for causing damage to the Wildlife Department office in Panama, following two leopard attacks on two farmers who were doing chena cultivation inside the Panama Kudumbigala sanctuary in Ampara. Police said they also took into custody a three-wheeler, two motorcycles and a push cycle in which the villagers came to the [...]
After latest COVID scare, Parliament begins sittings for new year on Tuesday
The Ninth Parliament’s first sitting for 2021 will begin on Tuesday (5) with the media once again being allowed to cover sittings, albeit under certain restrictions on movement and strict COVID-19 health guidelines. Journalists had been barred from Parliament since November after several who covered the debate on the 20th Amendment tested positive. Consequently, the [...]
Agriculture waste instead of coriander: Local traders say they were duped by Ukraine company
Smarting over allegations levelled against them, Sri Lanka’s coriander importers are accusing an Ukrainian company of defrauding them and sending 28 containers of agriculture waste instead of the spice they ordered. Essential Food and Commodities’ Importers and Traders Association (EFCITA) president G. Rajendran told the Sunday Times that three out of seven traders had already [...]
Sand mining wreaks havoc in Wanathawilluwa
Due to irreparable damage caused by sand mining,Mee Oya Wanathawilluwa Divisional Secretary Chathuraka Jayasinghe has instructed the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau to suspend licences issued for sand mining. The Divisional Secretary said the decision was taken due to the damage done to the Mee Oya by the mining activities. He also said vehicle movements [...]
Mahara prison riots: Final report recommends criminal charges against prison officers and inmates over possible involvement
Prison officials responsible for shooting to death inmates of Mahara prison may face charges, if they had used ‘excessive force,’ the Sunday Times learns. This follows a final report of the Committee of Inquiry that probed the Mahara prisons catastrophe on November 29. The Committee was headed by retired High Court Judge Kusala Sarojini Weerawardena. [...]
Good riddance to a nightmare year haunted by a new, deadly virus
The dawn of 2021, was not a usual one. It was an end to an extremely exhausting, miserable year to many. This clearly was portrayed by the unusually loud firecrackers at long intervals lighted by those thrilled to end the year of the coronavirus pandemic and pain to welcome a year of hope. A deadly [...]
Curtains go up, but few moviegoers
Curtains were raised in a few movie theatres on January 1 after they remained closed for more than nine months due to the COVID pandemic. Despite the permission to reopen, only a few multiplexes screened movies on January 1. The Government took the decision to open the cinemas in a bid to provide relief to [...]
Pick of the Pix
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 mention the camera or cellphone that was used. Pix by H.K.Wejarthne, Hiran Priyankara, M.A.Pushpa Kumara [...]
Indian fishermen’s illegal bottom trawling should stop, Lanka insists again during virtual talks
Sri Lanka reiterated its position that the issue of illegal bottom trawling by Indian fishermen in Lankan territorial waters should be resolved urgently, when the two sides came together this week for a virtual meeting of the fourth Sri Lanka-India Joint Working Group (JWG) on Fisheries. “The Sri Lanka delegation underlined the need to address [...]
New Year brings hopes of vaccine by end February
A glimmer of hope is being seen in the New Year with regard to controlling COVID-19 with vaccination as early as February, but many experts caution against letting down the guard and urge that the public keep resorting to all precautions. “We are working out how to get the vaccines for the people through COVAX [...]
Classes to resume amid teaching and virus challenges
Classrooms are being prepped up with the help of educators and state agencies between next Wednesday and Friday for resuming grades 1 to 13 next Monday, but challenges remain. Schools will resume next Monday, except in the Western Province and in lockdown areas. The Education Ministry said schools will be cleaned up and disinfected according [...]
Public complaints prompt hand sanitiser regulation; NMRA registration a must
A stream of public complaints led to the decision to regulate the import, manufacture and sale of hand sanitsers, the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) says. The CAA this week issued an extraordinary gazette, making National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) registration mandatory for the import, production, storage, distribution and sale of hand sanitizers. The December 30 [...]
Dalada Maligawa’s restricted areas opened to worshippers
Some of the restricted sections of the Dalada Maligawa are now open for worshippers after they remained closed as part of measures to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Maligawa was declared out of bounds for the public with the outbreak of the second wave of the pandemic. Some of the restrictions were [...]
Seized turmeric piles up while local produce is market ready
While the country is preparing for its turmeric harvest this month bringing an end to a yearlong shortage of the spice in households kitchens in the country, the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) said that it continues to receive complaints of adulterated turmeric being sold in the market. Consumer Affairs and Information head, Asela Bandara, said [...]
Probe on Dutch monk’s mystery death: Govt. Analyst sent second concrete stone
Underwater divers were used to ascertain whether a second concrete block-stone similar to the one tied on to his leg could be located at the lagoon bed in investigations continuing on the death by drowning of the Dutch monk, Ven. Netherlandaye Jinawansa Thera (Ajahn Jinavamso) last month. His body was found in the Ratgama lagoon [...]
More pay for higher plucking output sticking point in tea worker wage tussle
It all started in 2014, when plantation workers demanded that the basic daily wage be raised to Rs 1,000. At that time the exchange rate of the US dollar was Rs 130. Five years later, it trades above Rs 185. Then, a leading trade union held a ‘Satyagraha’ protest at Malliyappu junction in Hatton on [...]
Getambe flyover project awaits approval
Work on the proposed Getambe flyover in Kandy could begin following approval, an official said. This is one of two flyovers to be built under a 52 million euro (Rs 11.78 billion at current rates) credit program by the Hungarian Government offered under the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development arrangement on officially supported export [...]
Driver licence office graft claims investigated
Allegations of corruption will be investigated against staffers of the Department of Motor Traffic (DMT) pending transfers. The department registers motor vehicles and issues driver licences among other things. Transport Minister Gamini Lokuge, said accusations against each staffer will be reviewed. He denied reports that over 600 will be transferred, but said that most are [...]