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Home » NewsAll’s well that ends well, nurses back at work
Amid the ongoing Covid pandemic, thousands of nurses staged a sick note protest in hospitals all over the country. Nurses’ union leaders met President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Friday to discuss their demands. An agreement was reached and they returned to work. But this was followed by trade union action by Public Health Inspectors who also [...]
Govt. to sell diesel plant’s 51% shares to US firm
The Finance Ministry has submitted a Cabinet paper seeking approval to sell the 51 percent majority shares it holds in a diesel power plant to a United States-based company, the Sunday Times has reliably learnt. The Kerawlapitiya West Coast Power owned by Lanka Transformers Limited (LTL), a subsidiary of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), manages [...]
Price control on retail rice sales; Rs. 100,000 fine for traders, millers
The Trade Ministry is to revert to imposing a price control system on retail rice sales in an attempt to keep rice prices low. Cabinet approval will be sought next week by Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardena to impose a maximum retail price on four varieties – Nadu, Red Kekulu, Samba and Keeri Samba. A gazette [...]
Aloysius’ liquor giant in tax deal with Excise Dept.
The Excise Department granted liquor manufacturer W.M. Mendis & Co. Ltd. – which had defaulted on excise duty amounting to more than Rs.1 billion — permission to restart operations after reaching an agreement with the company to settle all of its tax arrears once it starts producing liquor in its distilleries. Under the agreement, the [...]
Move to import 56,000 MT of organic fertiliser, natural minerals
The Ministry of Agriculture has called for prequalification tenders to import 56,667 metric tonnes (MT) of organic fertilser and natural minerals for the upcoming Maha season starting from September, the Sunday Times learns. Accordingly, 27,500 metric tonnes of nitrogen fertiliser and 29,167 metric tonnes of Pottasium Chloride and other minerals are to be imported. All [...]
Education Ministry limits Suraksha student insurance payments; parents in the dark
The Education Ministry has restricted some of the insurance benefits provided under the Suraksha Insurance scheme for students, but lack of awareness among parents about the limitations has caused problems to them. Accordingly, benefits paid in the event of a death of a parent have been limited to low income group families who earn less [...]
Vaccination for apparel workers on track : JAAF
About 30% of the total workforce of 300,000 in the apparel sector have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccines, as of end June, according to the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF). “Prior to this most recent mobilisation, only 5% of our workforce had been able to receive their first dose, owing to difficulties in [...]
Esala Perahera performers and Adhivasi members receive vaccine
Artistes scheduled to perform at the Kandy Esala Perahera in August will not be allowed to leave the Maligawa premises once they come for the perahera rituals until the conclusion of the pageant, even though they would have been administered the COVIDid-19 vaccine. The vaccine programme was organised by Diyawadana Nilame Pradeep Nilanga Dela. Devaleartistes [...]
Last week’s Page 1 picture — Clarification and apology
Editor’s Note: No one likes admitting a mistake and especially when one has got caught to a photoshopped photograph. Last week’s page 1 photograph in this newspaper of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa relaxing at his residence purportedly watching his recorded address to the nation was just such a mistake, we have to admit. Once alerted to [...]
Magistrate rejects police request to issue notice on protest organisers
The Welimada Magistrate’s Court has rejected a request by Police to issue notice on five people, including All Ceylon Farmers’ Federation National Organiser Namal Karunaratne and former Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Provincial Councilor Samantha Vidyarathna, for organising a farmers’ protest over the fertiliser crisis, in violation of quarantine laws. The Bogahakumbura Police had requested court [...]
Afghan fighting rages as US forces begin exit
KABUL, July3, 2021 (AFP) – Hundreds of Taliban fighters were killed in fierce battles with government forces across several provinces of Afghanistan, officials said Saturday, as Washington announced it would finish withdrawing its troops from the country by the end of August. Washington’s announcement came after all US and NATO troops vacated their main Bagram [...]
Here a protest, there a protest
A string of protests, over issues ranging from lack of fertilizer for famers to rising cost of living due to the fuel price increase, were held in different parts of the country during the past few days. A protest over the increase of fuel prices and its impact was held by a group of fishermen [...]
Foreign Employment Bureau Chairman Kamal Ratwatte passes away
Kamal Ratwatte, Chairman Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) passed away yesterday at a private hospital in Colombo. He was 61 years old at the time of his death. He was appointed SLBFE Chairman in December, 2019. Mr Ratwatte had previously held positions of Deputy Chairman of the Airport and Aviation Services Authority and [...]
Major fire at coir fibre export factory
A fire which raged through a coir fibre export factory in Viruthoda, Puttalam yesterday resulted in damages estimated at Rs. 150 million, factory owners said. The fire had broken out suddenly last afternoon and a large stock of coir fibre ready to be exported to China was completely destroyed, along with many other fibre stocks [...]
‘The Gathering’ is in peril, warns wildlife expert
Pointing out that human-induced, ‘unseasonal’ fluctuating water levels of the Minneriya tank in the dry season was having a direct impact on the number of elephants at this annual spectacle, Former DWC Director-General Dr. Sumith Pilapitiya pleads for a national policy to redress the issue. Great danger stares the ‘Elephant Gathering’ at Minneriya in the [...]
Book ahead for state services, public advised
With busy phone lines and limited staff, public institutions are gradually resuming operations following the partial lifting of travel rules. Work is mostly restricted to high-demand services, and entry to offices will not be allowed unless an appointment has been made. The public sector is struggling to get down staff from outstations, hindered by inter-province [...]
Ship disaster evidence kept hush-hush for case, blocking marine repair
Environmental experts blamed state authorities for mismanaging priorities and failure to save marine life over the X-Press Pearl disaster as the number of turtle deaths detected reached 200 with test results still to come on the cause of the deaths. It appears government authorities are keeping information from their investigations within a tight circle in [...]
X-Press Pearl lawyers question delay in submitting recordings with Harbour Master
Investigations were underway to recover deleted email correspondence between three employees of the local agent representing MV X-Press Pearl and the ill-fated vessel, the Attorney General’s Department informed the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court this week. The email correspondence that had allegedly been deleted involved three employees from Sea Consortium Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, the ship’s local [...]
Overcoming COVID-19 in the comfort of one’s home
The long-awaited home-isolation and management of asymptomatic (without symptoms) or mildly symptomatic COVID-19 positive patients has become a reality in the Western Province. The strong network established to ensure the safety of these patients includes: The Medical Officers of Health (MOH) and Public Health Inspectors (PHIs). The ‘Patient Home Isolation and Management System’ (PHIMS) which [...]
Expert committee seeks info on efficacy of Sinovac against Delta variant
The Sri Lankan drug regulator’s expert committee on vaccines has requested data on the efficacy of the Chinese vaccine, Sinovac, against the variant of concern Delta (Indian variant) that is suspected to be usurping Alpha (the United Kingdom variant) in the country. The results of genetic sequencing – by the Sri Jayewardenepura University’s Department of [...]
Shuttling between two places to get the second jab for her parents
There were sighs of relief as an announcement went forth that with the limited leftover AstraZeneca doses, the vital second jab will be given to those over-70 years old this week. It was a mix of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ that the Sunday Times garnered from several people about the process. Here is one experience of [...]
Sri Lanka’s foreign debt sitting on a volcano
Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange crisis is sitting on a volcano with a shortage of US dollars in the market exacerbating the imports/exports situation while US$3.5 billion more of foreign debt needs to be settled by December this year, economists said. The next repayment, the biggest so far this year, is a 10-year, $1 billion International [...]
RTI query reveals CAA on a 3mn flight of fancy with King Ravana
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has allocated Rs 3 million for an ongoing research project on the “lost aviation heritage” appearing in the legend of King Ravana. The initial two-year project was launched last year on the instructions of the CAA’s Board of Directors. The Board also approved the above funds for the project, the [...]
Desperately searching for dollars: Importers and import-intensive exporters badly hit
Importers continued to fret this week with containers–many of them holding inputs for export manufacturing–held up because dollar-strapped Sri Lankan banks were slow in settling payments with the sellers’ banks abroad. “I bring in raw materials for major Sri Lanka rubber manufacturers and for a range of animal feed producers, among others,” one import agent [...]
Sgt Matiu Ratana shooting: Man charged with murdering police officer
A man has been charged with murdering Met police sergeant Matiu Ratana, who was shot while working at Croydon custody centre. The 54-year-old was shot in the chest as a handcuffed suspect was being taken into custody on 25 September 2020. Louis De Zoysa, 23, whose father is of Sri Lankan origin, also suffered a [...]
No one to nurse their many grievances
Nurses in Government hospitals are paid low wages, work long hours and have no perks like car permits. And the nurse-to-patient ratio is so high that each deals with between 15 and 20 people at a time, health sector sources said. Frequent strikes have caused many of these issues to be viewed through a political [...]
Waste not, want not
With farmers complaining of a lack of fertiliser, many of them are trying to produce their own organic fertiliser, but experts warn that it should be done in a proper manner. Producing compost from old garbage dumps could pose a danger to agriculture, Nalin Mannapperuma, Director, Solid Waste Management Authority, Western Province, said. He pointed [...]
Kandy gets beautiful walkway through Councillor’s efforts
A drab sidewalk along the Kandy-Matale railway line is to be made a promenade that would enhance the area, due to a move by a Kandy Municipal Councillor. She is also an official of the Ceylon Electricity Board. Ms Anoma Ellegedara is a newcomer to politics who made her way into the Council during the [...]
Northern sea cucumber farmers in Chinese joint venture soup
Northern fishing communities are up in arms against a Chinese joint venture company because it has taken over acres of sea-land to harvest sea cucumber, severely limiting the space for local fishermen to engage in the same business. As part of an extension to its sea cucumber hatchery, the Chinese joint venture has set up [...]
‘Death row where some are more equal than others’
A group representing the rights of prisoners says it is preparing to file a Fundamental Rights (FR) Petition in the Supreme Court stating that the presidential pardon granted to ex-MP Duminda Silva has violated the constitutional right to equality of other death-row inmates. “The President is constitutionally empowered to pardon Duminda Silva. Our contention is [...]
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.
Child’s cybersex hell shows a dark industry is booming
A 15-year-old child who was forced to perform sex acts in livestream feeds sold on social media is among many such victims of mushrooming cybersex crime, experts said after police arrested 26 people – including the girl’s mother – over the sickening offence. The victim had been trafficked online for more than three months through [...]