News
Home » NewsFertiliser shortage and fertile ground for corruption
With the Government continuing its drive to promote organic fertiliser, farmers have been complaining about a shortage of chemical fertiliser amid allegations that unscrupulous private traders are hoarding stocks. Yesterday. officials raided a storage facility of a trader in Dambulla and distributed the stocks at regulated prices. Pic by Kanchana Kumara Ariyadasa.
Govt. officials to take over purchase of Litro gas
A Government-appointed committee of officials headed by the Deputy Treasury Secretary is to take over the purchase of gas for the state-owned Litro Gas Lanka Ltd for the next six months, turning down a request by the company to increase prices. The move came after the Cabinet sub-committee on proposed gas price increases this week [...]
Sinovac wants price kept secret; any disclosure and deal is off
The Chinese manufacturer of Sinovac vaccines, which Sri Lankan plans to procure in the millions, has placed a condition on its purchase contract: if the price of the jab is disclosed or even spoken about in public, the deal is off and there could be legal trouble. “They [Sinovac Lifesciences Co. Ltd.] have said that [...]
Lanka issuing coin to mark Chinese Communist Party’s centenary
In an unprecedented move, Sri Lanka will be issuing a special coin to commemorate a foreign political party, the Communist Party of China (CPC), in view of its centenary celebrations. A senior Central Bank (CB) official confirmed the decision but did not give details. The Central Bank’s practice of issuing commemorative coins to mark significant [...]
Rice fine to be raised to boiling point
The fine imposed for selling rice above the stipulated price is to be increased to Rs 50,000 from the existing Rs 2,500 as a fresh measure to keep the rice prices under control, Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardena told the Sunday Times. He said a proposal to the Cabinet would be submitted in the coming week. [...]
Dollar crisis: CB shuts door for commercial banks; importers badly hit
The Central Bank has told banks not to request dollars from the banking regulator’s depleted foreign currency reserves, and instead find it in the cash-short market as the country faces a major scarcity of dollars in the forex market. This has resulted in several private banks being unable to pen Letters of Credit (LCs) to [...]
Pardon for Duminda: Other death row prisoners continue hunger strike
At the Welikada and Mahara prisons, more than 150 death-row inmates continued their hunger strike for a third straight day yesterday demanding that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa commute their death sentences to life imprisonment. Another group of prisoners staged a rooftop protest on top of Chapel Ward at the Welikada Prison in solidarity with the hunger [...]
poson pictorial
Sri Dalada Maligawa Kelani Rajamaha Viharaya Thanthirimale Aloka Puja SLAF troops colour wash Mihintale Maha Seya The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) formally handed over the colour-washed Mihintale Maha Stupa and adjacent structures on Poson Poya Day (24). SLAF Commander Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana handed over the colour-washed Maha Stupa and other structures to the [...]
“Today, the people of this country no longer have a reason to fear” – President
While outlining the health and economic challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa used his address to the nation on Friday to highlight what he claimed were the key policy achievements of his government so far. The government had made great strides in ensuring national security, President Rajapaksa said, noting that it has [...]
A wedding ring pawned to buy some bread
Treasured gold jewellery such as wedding rings and children’s panchaudas (protection talismans) were taken to pawn shops this week by scores of desperate people when travel restrictions were lifted after weeks of lockdown. Long queues were seen at pawning centres both in cities and villages. While most women turned away when approached by a reporter, [...]
Night of high drama at Minneriya Park; vehicle chase follows reported bid to abduct baby elephant
The Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) has lodged two complaints with the Habarana Police against obstruction of duty and threats to employees early yesterday, while also filing a fact report with the Kekirawa Magistrate over an incident allegedly linked to the abduction of a baby elephant at the Minneriya National Park. It had been a [...]
Crazy food prices sting the poorest as relief bodies trim aid
Relief organisations are struggling to help low-income families, the disabled and elderly with dry rations, vegetables and prepared meals as the fuel price hike sends food prices rocketing. The charity organisation, Voice of the Voiceless, like many bodies distributing free food during the pandemic, said it has been forced to reduce the quantity of dry [...]
Two multimillion projects get extensions to start commercial operations
The Finance Ministry has granted more extensions to two long-overdue multimillion-dollar mixed development projects–an Indian investment on Galle Face and a Chinese investment on R. A. De Mel Mawatha–to start commercial operations. Welcomhotels Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, a fully-owned subsidiary of India’s ITC Ltd, is building a mixed utility complex on 5.86 acres of sea-facing land [...]
Farmers on war path over fertiliser crisis
With farmer protests continuing in all parts of the country over fertiliser shortage and the government’s move to ban chemical fertiliser, these farmers in Norochcholai also held protests to highlight the difference between the harvests they obtained using chemical fertiliser and organic fertiliser. Pic by Hiran Priyankara Jayasinghe
Asela Sampath gets bail, mulls FR case against police
Consumer rights advocate Asela Sampath was released on bail by the Colombo Magistrate’s Court yesterday. Mr Sampath told the Sunday Times that his son and wife had been assaulted during his arrest and alleged that the Piliyandala Police refused to record a complaint made by his family in this regard. He said he hoped to [...]
50,000 cleared for jobs in West Asia but blocked by COVID rules
Around 50,000 people with clearance to work in West Asia are unable to take up their jobs because of COVID travel restrictions in Sri Lanka. The Association of Licensed Foreign Employment Agency (ALFEA) said it has received 35,000 visas from Qatar and 10,000 visas from Saudi Arabia but are unable to send the workers because [...]
Two more resign from vaccine committee
Two members of the independent vaccine advisory expert committee of the drug regulator have resigned, citing reasons as “personal” and “overload of work”. They are Prof. A. Pathmeswaran (community physician) attached to the Colombo North (Ragama) Medical Faculty who resigned from the committee two weeks ago and Prof. Neelika Malavige (immunologist) attached to the Sri [...]
Experts question move to order 13m doses of Sinovac amidst efficacy concerns
There are growing concerns over Sri Lanka’s moves to order 13 million doses of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine with serious doubts emerging in some other countries of its effectiveness against the Delta (Indian) variant. Sri Lanka has been administering the AstraZeneca, Sputnik V and Sinopharm vaccines with a stock of Pfizer jabs expected this week. [...]
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.
Rest and recuperation time for Railways
The Sri Lanka Railways Department (SLRD) has suffered a total loss of Rs 15 million due to the suspension of all passenger services amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Acting General Superintendent of Railways W A D M Gunasinghe said. Regular mail, express, passenger and suburban train services have been suspended since May 14 due to the [...]
Indian Navy to survey Lanka’s seabed to assess impact of X-Press Pearl disaster
Indian Naval vessel INS Sarvekshak, which arrived in the country on Thursday, is to begin a survey of the seabed across a wide area impacted by the MV X-Press Pearl disaster. The Sarvekshak is one of the Indian Navy’s hydrographic survey ships and was sent to Colombo by the Indian Government on a request made [...]
Sly hand of private interests in new power tariff scheme, says CEBEU
Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) engineers have protested to the Minister for Power that new tariff plans will hurt consumers while lining the pockets of private developers. They have written to Minister Dulles Alahapperuma to condemn the Government’s decision to amend the Electricity Act to abolish the competitive tender process in reintroducing a Feed-in Tariff (FiT) [...]
Destitute farmers on the verge of selling land
Small-scale farmers in Nuwara Eliya became the worst hit due to the sudden ban of chemical fertilisers – many expressed concern about the sustainability of continuing farming in the future. Farmers in doubt about continuing their farming activities tend to sell their lands to large-scale companies. With the pandemic making things worse, an increased cost [...]
Farmers left high and dry with no fertiliser, organic or chemical
By mid-July of every Yala season, Karthikesu Kandasamy (69) from Murasumottai, Kilinochchi would begin harvesting his paddy cultivation of three acres. As a farmer who spent over three decades of his life farming paddy, the sudden announcement by the government to ban the use of chemical fertilisers and agro-chemicals came as a shock to him. [...]
100 acres of Muthurajawela marsh to be filled with sand for LNG-fired power plants
The Government is to fill around 100 acres in the Muthurajawela urban buffer zone (UBZ) to locate future liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fired power plants planned by the Ceylon Electricity Board. The Sri Lanka Land Development Corporation (SLLDC) will reclaim the land using 1.5mn cubic metres of offshore sand, an environment impact assessment (EIA) report states. [...]
Madiwela’s variant – confirmation beyond doubt next week
There is a “high possibility” of a person from Madiwela having the COVID-19 Delta (Indian) variant, said expert Prof. Neelika Malavige, pointing out that they can be “absolutely sure and confirm beyond doubt” only when genetic sequencing is carried out next week. The genetic sequencing results would come out at the end of next week, [...]
PHIs warn of uncertain & risky future
The future is uncertain and with the Delta (Indian) variant being found, the situation is “very risky”, reiterated the President of the Public Health Inspectors’ (PHIs’) Union, Upul Rohana, explaining that the coronavirus is widespread in society now and the situation is not being controlled properly. He said that there are around 2,000 COVID-19 patients [...]
Is there a yawning hole in death data?
Controversy surrounds the COVID-19 death toll, with many alleging that there seems to be a major discrepancy in the reflection of the true numbers. Referring to the total COVID-19 burials at Oddamavadi since the nod was given for such burials, the Health Ministry stated last week that 630 burials had taken place there. The breakdown [...]
Vaccination strategy – stick to what works by giving the jab to the highest-risk group
The vaccination programme was once again the ‘centre’ of attention with many urging that it should be laid out clearly to cover those at highest risk – those over 60 years of age whose deaths are over 75% of the toll and those with diabetes and hypertension even under 60 years who are also among [...]
Reckless quarry blasts render residents’ protests inaudible
Near a stone quarry at Diddeniya South in Hanwella, villagers are locked in battle with the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB), saying the mine has expanded so much over the years that rock blasting is now threatening their homes. The mine is in an area called Thennapitahena in Diddeniya South. In 2018, the name [...]
COVID-hit Thor is sick again; zoo officials in battle to save the Lion King
Thor the Lion, who the authorities said last week was on the path to recovery after he tested COVID-19 positive, is now suffering a secondary infection. A Dehiwala Zoo official told the Sunday Times the lion was experiencing breathing difficulties once again and the zoo’s vets were taking every measure to help him breathe with [...]