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Tomorrow is International Women’s Day with the theme being “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world.” But in Sri Lanka and other countries, women remain concentrated in the lowest paid jobs, many in extremely vulnerable forms of employment. This picture taken in a village near Saliyapura in Anuradhapura shows two women [...]
Serum unable to send 1 million doses of vaccine to Lanka
Sri Lanka will not be getting the expected balance of 1 million doses of the COVISHIELD vaccine from India’s Serum Institute in mid-March and April, the Sunday Times learns. In a surprise letter dated March 3 to the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (SPC), the Serum Institute has informed that vaccine manufacturing plans have met an “obstacle” [...]
Work-from-home facility ends; public sector employees must report to office from tomorrow
Ending the year-long Work from Home (WFH) arrangement for public servants during the COVID-19 pandemic, all state sector employees have been instructed to report to work in their offices from tomorrow. Public Administration Ministry J.J. Rathnasiri told the Sunday Times it would be mandatory for state sector employees to report to work from tomorrow onwards [...]
UDA takes over more land in Colombo from CMC
The Government this week vested with the Urban Development Authority an extent of 120 perches on Norris Canal Road to build a multistoried car park. The order was made by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in his capacity as Urban Development Minister. The land, located opposite the National Hospital of Sri Lanka, belongs to the Colombo [...]
No weapons for planters, but NSC will take up their security concerns
The Government will not issue more weapons or provide weapons training to the plantation sector management, but instead will take up their security concerns at a National Security Council meeting on Tuesday, a minister said. Public Security Minister Sarath Weerasekara told the Sunday Times that providing more weapons could lead to more unrest among workers [...]
Public service exams to be conducted by SLIDA – not Examinations Dept.
Examinations for public sector recruitment, promotions and efficiency bar – hitherto conducted by the Examinations Department — are to be handed over to the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA). The proposal to shift the responsibility from the Examinations Department to SLIDA was made last year, but the Examinations Department opposed the move on [...]
Mallika Nivasa marks centenary with pinkama
The Mallika Nivasa Samithiya, which is celebrating its centenary held its annual ‘pinkama’ to commemorate the Founder, Mrs. Mallika Hewavitarne last weekend. Pictures show the monks from the Asokaraamaya in Colombo arriving at the society premises and elders of the home participating in the religious ceremonies.
Catholic churches to observe “Black Sunday” today
Sri Lanka’s Catholic churches will observe “Black Sunday” today demanding justice for victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks. Parishioners who attend Sunday Services today have been asked to come dressed in black. The colour will signify the Catholic community’s deep sorrow and anguish over the failure to ensure justice for the victims of [...]
Concern over child cruelty as nine-year- old child beaten to death by exorcist
Concerns have been raised about child cruelty in Sri Lanka and the National Child Protection Authority’s (NCPA) inability to protect infants and children. This came after two horrifying cases were reported last week–with one child being beaten to death. At Kandugoda in Delgoda, a nine-year-old child was mercilessly beaten to death by a woman exorcist [...]
Sri Lanka ‘groping in the dark’ on how to deal with cyber-bullies
Women suffer disturbing harassment on the internet, with about 400 cases reported during the past year detailing revenge pornography, blackmail for money or sexual favours, sale of videos to pornography websites, sharing of obscene photos and videos and editing photos posted on social media sites. “Online harassment is a new form of gender-based violence,” Savitri [...]
About 17,000 tourism workers to be vaccinated
Thousands of tourism workers are to be vaccinated under the first stage of a plan worked out by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) and approved by the Health Ministry. About17,000 tourism workers come into direct contact with tourists and that is the main reason why they are to be vaccinated against the COVID-19 [...]
Silent watchers record the most heinous crimes
On Monday afternoon, an unidentified man walked along Dam Street, Colombo, and placed a heavy suitcase on the roadside. A shop owner on Dam Street who feared the bag held a bomb tipped off police. Officers arrived in no time, opened it, and found the body of a woman without her head. Within 24 hours, [...]
BHRC and IBAHRI concerned over deteriorating human rights in SL
The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC) and the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) have both expressed grave concerns about the deteriorating human rights situation in Sri Lanka. Issuing a joint statement, the two organisations stated that the Sri Lankan government continues to ignore calls for accountability for past human [...]
Parliamentary Committee to look into women’s issues to be tabled
A motion to establish a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to look into gender-based discrimination and violations of women’s rights in the country will be presented to Parliament on Tuesday (9). The motion will be presented jointly by all 12 female MPs in the current Parliament, who make up the Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus. Their motion seeks [...]
Bank’s move to seize private property challenged; Fuller bench of SC to decide
A fuller bench of Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court (more than five judges) has been tasked with deciding on an issue of whether a bank can sell off a property owned by a shareholder of the borrowing company that was offered as mortgage in lieu of a loan in a situation where the bank is unable [...]
Counting the COVID-19 dead
Sixty-two percent of reported COVID-19 fatalities in Sri Lanka were among men while a significant number of deaths–at least 16 percent–occurred at home, according to information released by the Government since March last year. Women made up 38 percent of fatalities while nearly 39 percent of the deceased had some form of heart ailment (heart [...]
Senior lawyers express concern over CoI report on political victimisation
Eleven President’s Counsels and former Presidents of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) have expressed “serious concern” that the contents of the report of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into Political Victimization may “undermine the Rule of Law in this country, impair independence of the judiciary and erode impartial and efficient functioning of the [...]
SJB group wants SC to initiate action against members of CoI for contempt of court
A group of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MPs have written to Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya and other Supreme Court (SC) Justices requesting the SC to initiate action against the three member Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into Political Victimization for contempt of court. The letter, signed by more than 30 MPs including Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, [...]
Launch of ‘National Organ Donor Card’ gives fresh lease of life to many
A landmark event to boost organ donations from deceased donors and give a fresh lease of life to numerous men, women and children, who have no other option but wait in hope for such an organ, was held without much fanfare recently. The very first colourful ‘National Organ Donor Card’ being presented to the Health [...]
Iranaitivu, where the war displaced began new lives, is no place for COVID graves
Since the Government’s Tuesday announcement that a two square kilometre Iranaitivu islet located off the Mannar coast has been selected as a site to bury COVID-19 victims, the island’s fisherfolk community have been staging a protest demanding that the decision be revoked. Even the local authorities came to know about the decision after the Cabinet [...]
COVID-19 burials: Oddamavadi to the rescue; another site at Irakkamam
For many weeks, several bodies of COVID-19 victims have been kept in freezer drawers in morgues across the country, as the families insisted that their loved ones should not be cremated against their Islamic and Christian beliefs. In Batticaloa, at least three COVID-19 victims’ bodies had been kept in the mortuary for weeks until the [...]
Iron wings celebrated
“Glory of Iron Wings,” a commemorative publication to mark the 70th anniversary of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF), was launched this week. The publication, scripted by officers of the SLAF, examines the trajectory of the Force encompassing all that it has achieved. The book lays out the SLAF’s journey from its founding in 1951 [...]
Fly by over Colombo’s skies
The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) celebrated its 70th anniversary this week with a number of events. The official 70th anniversary parade was held on Tuesday at the Katunayake SLAF Base under the auspices of the Commander of the Air Force, Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana. A total of 467 Officers and 7290 Other Rankers were [...]
Keeping the city clean
With a population numbering in the hundreds of thousands, Colombo City continues to accumulate waste in line with its ever increasing population. Authorities have often expressed a desire to transform the country’s financial capital into the next Singapore, and have continually launched city beautification projects towards this end. Proper waste management is a central component [...]
A tree for every bus
A tree planting campaign was conducted at the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) depot in Puttalam yesterday to mark International Transportation Day. SLTB employees planted ‘Mee’ saplings within the depot premises to mark the occasion. The tree planting campaign is being conducted as part of an initiative to plant one tree for every SLTB bus. [...]
Who will take responsibility for over 60s deaths?
Who will take responsibility for throwing out the ‘priority list’ where the elderly (over 60s) and young people with co-morbidities were the first on the community vaccination programme? Who will take responsibility for the deaths of the over-60s from COVID-19? These are the questions being asked by experts, some of whom alleged that there seems [...]
There are issues that need to be resolved: Dr. Hemantha Herath
There are issues in the vaccination programme and concrete action should be taken to resolve these problems, said the Deputy Director-General (Public Health Services I), Dr. Hemantha Herath, explaining that just before he met the Sunday Times on Thursday too there was a discussion on the matter. He said that the programme was working smoothly [...]
No scientific method being followed: PHIs
Who kept changing the instructions with regard to the vaccination programme we do not know, said the Secretary of the Public Health Inspectors’ (PHIs) Union, M. Balasooriya, pointing out that the WHO recommendation is to vaccinate those above 60 years old, as most of the COVID-19 deaths are in the group. Sri Lanka changed it [...]
Quarantining procedures for all returning Sri Lankans
With queries to the Sunday Times about quarantining procedures for Sri Lankans (including students or dual citizens) who are returning to the country, with or without vaccination, this is what Consultant Community Physician, Dr. S. Dilhani Samarasekera of the Quarantine Unit said: The person has to get approval from the Foreign Ministry by sending a [...]
Orderly situation in Dehiwela
I got the COVID-19 vaccine yesterday. Coming under the Dehiwela MOH office, I was advised to go to the S.de S. Jayasinghe Hall, adjacent to the Dehiwela-Mount Lavinia Municipal Council not too early in the morning, and so I went at 12.45 p.m. hoping to avoid the crowds. What a contrast to some of the [...]
The good and the bad of the jab programme
As the community vaccination programme went into its third week in the Colombo and Gampaha districts, order prevailed in some areas and disorder in others. Many people, particularly outside the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) area said that in places such as Piliyandala and Boralesgamuwa even though the ‘wait’ differed there was order, with a separate [...]
Labour and welfare officers to be sent back to foreign missions
After abruptly withdrawing 84 of its welfare officers from 16 of Sri Lanka’s diplomatic missions abroad, citing budget constraints, the Labour Ministry is to send 40 officers back. The decision follows Foreign Ministry complaints that it could not cope with the mounting workload, including migrant grievances. The Labour Ministry retained just 25 welfare officers when [...]
Pera Uni nanotech face mask soon to be available
Produced with pure cotton under nanotechnology by a team of researchers from the University of Peradeniya, a face mask will be available in the market in a few months. At a recent event, the university signed an memorandum of understanding with a private company that will take over the production. The mask can be washed [...]
Path cleared for oil pipeline; squatters moved to new houses
Squatters who were occupying state land earmarked for an oil pipeline project have been moved to a new housing complex. The new houses were handed over to them at a ceremony presided over by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa this week. For decades, the recipients of the new houses had been living in slums along the [...]
KMC invests in eco-friendly shopping bags
Kandy Municipal Council is determined to do away with polythene bags for shopping and they have decided to give away 25,000 “environmentally friendly” bags to people living within the municipality. The KMC has spent Rs. 3,875,000 for these shopping bags, which are cute and practical, a spokesperson said. The Kandy Municipal Commissioner S. Navaratne said [...]
200 accident victims a month rushed to National Hospital
More than 200 people a month are rushed to the Accident Service of the National Hospital with critical traffic injuries, mostly to the spine, head and limbs, National Hospital Training Coordinator and Head Nurse Pushpa Ramyani de Soysa said. Most of the casualties were aged 30-40 years. “Out of the close to 100,000 injuries reported [...]
Turmeric harvest released to the market; prices are expected to drop
Turmeric prices are expected to come down, with farmers beginning to sell their harvest, Agriculture Exports Director General Dr. A.P. Heenkenda said. He said that in anticipation of a better price and a good profit, more farmers resorted to turmeric cultivation after the Government last year banned imports from India as part of its measures [...]
Pick of the Pix
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