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With Sri Lanka in an economic crisis and banks restricting issuance of foreign currency, money exchanges are in business as seen in this picture where a customer is making a transaction. Pic by Akila Jayawardana
Amnesty for tax evaders who agree to invest here
The Finance Ministry is to give a wide range of tax amnesties, including writing off penalties for those who failed to disclose any taxable income or assets by March last year, and allow others who are willing to invest the amount equivalent of the undisclosed tax in other financial instruments in the country, according to [...]
Lakvijaya: CEB signed multimillion dollar deals with Chinese company without cabinet approval
The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has signed “operation and maintenance advisory services” (O&M) contracts worth around US$ 67mn–amounting to Rs 13.3bn at prevailing rates–with China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) in the ten years since its commissioning of the Lakvijaya power plant, some of them without prior Cabinet approval, authoritative sources said. The CEB is unable [...]
Rishad suffers suspected heart attack; under guard at cardiology unit
All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) Leader Rishad Bathiudeen, who is in Criminal Investigation Department (CID) custody, was admitted to the National Hospital in Colombo yesterday due to a suspected heart attack. Mr Bathiudeen had complained to CID officers last morning that he was feeling ill. They had, thereafter, taken him to the Outpatient Department (OPD) [...]
NMRA approval for Sinovac: Three experts resign from expert panel
Three of the eight-member Expert Advisory Panel for COVID-19 vaccines of Sri Lanka’s drug regulator resigned yesterday, soon after the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) Board granted approval for the use of the Chinese vaccine, Sinovac, on Friday. The letter of resignation signed by immunologist Dr. Rajiva de Silva, virologist Dr. Kanthi Nanayakkara and respiratory [...]
New UDA regulations: Annual licences for building owners
Sri Lanka’s new urban development and planning regulations require building owners to obtain annual licences if they wish to change the use of their property from, for instance, residential to commercial activity. The Urban Development Authority (UDA) Planning and Development Regulations were revised and published for the first time in 35 years. The gazette was [...]
Warning against Delta upswing & reckless opening for large gatherings
Heed the bitter lessons from Alpha and delayed response Use COVID-19 death toll to measure pulse of the country Hailing the fact that the lockdown in May-June appears to have impacted on the infection numbers which are showing a downward trend, many experts however cautioned that Sri Lanka needs to be very vigilant. “The infection [...]
Redesigning a top class public health system for the future
Sri Lanka should consider transitioning to an ‘institution disease control model’ like the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) in developed countries, said a top public health official on Thursday. “We can establish a first rate rule of public health in this country, one that can have an international reputation,” said the Special Envoy on COVID-19 [...]
Pandemic restrictions see Lankans gaining weight: Study
The fat is not in the fire, as the saying goes but it has settled well and truly on the bodies of Sri Lankans. Yes, the restriction to homes compelled by the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic has caused increased physical inactivity and weight gain among Sri Lankans, a study has found. The online cross-sectional survey had [...]
Teachers’ campaigns take centre stage
Protest campaigns were held this week, on various issues across the country. It was the protests by teachers and trade unions backing them that took centre stage. Most of them were related to last week’s events where trade union leaders who took part in demonstrations were allegedly forcibly taken to quarantine centres in distant locations, [...]
Power Minister rejects CEB plan, insists on 70 percent renewable energy sources
The 20-year Long-Term Generation Expansion Plan (LTGEP) prepared by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) in keeping with the government’s 2019 policy guidelines has been turned down by Power Minister Dulles Alahapperuma, the Sunday Times learns. Since it is a policy of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa that by 2030, 70% of the country’s energy consumption should be [...]
Starved for company: Long cooped up patrons crowd dining and drinking venues
Many restaurants and bars were teeming with patrons on Friday night, with wildly irregular or zero application of health regulations, the Sunday Times found. Restaurants and bars registered with the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority were approved for partial re-opening “under strict guidelines” and a priority vaccination programme on July 5, 2021. This newspaper visited [...]
Plastic ban further streamlined: More items to be added to list
The Environment Ministry will add seven items to its plastic ban list, instead of 15 items as earlier announced, an official said. The items were not disclosed as the list is still in drafting stage. It could come into force from January next year. In March this year, the Government banned sachets and cotton buds [...]
Opposition parties on ex-Speaker’s solidarity platform
The National Movement for Social Justice headed by former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya yesterday hosted a discourse of opposition parties and groups in Parliament. The discourse was held under the theme “For great solidarity in the face of great challenges facing the country”. Representatives of many political parties, including Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, UNP Deputy Leader [...]
Protests over KNDU Bill to continue: What does president mean by removing ‘obstacles’, ask unions
Education sector trade unions yesterday dismissed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s assurance that the Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) will be moved under the University Grants Commission (UGC), insisting that their protests will continue until the Kotelawala National Defence University (KNDU) Bill is withdrawn completely. At a meeting of the Buddhist Advisory Council on Friday evening, Mr Rajapaksa [...]
Years of local research result in new anti-venom, the answer for reptile bites in Sri Lanka
The results of five or more years of research findings and the continued efforts, local scientists have been able to produce in a World Health Organisation laboratory an anti-venom for the nearly 80,000 people who are bitten by reptiles annually, within the country. The first stocks are to arrive in Sri Lanka as soon as [...]
Army digs in for organic in Jaffna as Maha approaches
Tasked with producing 25,000 tonnes of organic fertiliser for the Maha harvest starting in two months, the army is in full-scale production with organic fertiliser plants set up in army camps in the North. The plants are aimed at meeting local demand as well as the needs of the army’s own vegetable farms, which are [...]
Star athlete’s father released, unable to return home due to defective fishing boat
The father of young Sri Lankan athlete Parami Wasanthi Maristela and other fishermen, who were arrested by coast guards in India’s Andaman Islands for illegally straying into their waters, were officially released one month ago. However, they are unable to return to Sri Lanka as their fishing boat is disabled. Right now, they are awaiting [...]
Farmers get big bonus to go organic
To encourage farmers to use environment-friendly organic farming practices, the Agriculture Ministry would pay an incentive of Rs. 12,500 for each hectare not exceeding two hectares (five acres) to produce and use organic fertiliser for cultivation, the Minister said. The Cabinet of ministers approved a proposal tabled by Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage this week to [...]
Teachers’ boycott means no A/L exams in October
The Education Ministry has again back-tracked on holding this year’s Advanced Level (A/L) examinations in October – as announced last week – following the decision by state school teachers to withdraw from the online teaching platform. The withdrawal is a protest against the arrests of demonstrators opposing the Kotelawela education bill, which seeks to privatise [...]
X-Press Pearl owners rebuff pleas to move swiftly on cleanup
The owners of the sunken X-Press Pearl vessel are said to be pushing back against sustained pressure from Sri Lankan agencies to start recovery and cleanup operations, claiming the monsoon is blocking them. The wildlife department said on Friday that the bodies of more than 260 turtles, 31 dolphins and six whales have washed ashore [...]
Authorities swim against tide to rein in Kerala Cannabis smuggling racket
Naval operations, especially off the northern seas, have resulted in several large detections of Kerala Cannabis over the past few weeks, again laying bare the sheer scale of the drug smuggling operations and difficulties in dismantling them. During the first two weeks of July alone, the navy detected nearly 550kg of Kerala Cannabis off the [...]
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
Battling blood cancer: Survivors’ tales bring hope
A recent study published in prestigious British journal highlights outcomes and successful applicability of treatment and supportive care protocols with regard to Sri Lankan patients Consultant Haemato-oncologist Dr. Saman Hewamana stresses importance of timely diagnosis and appropriate medicine for chance of survival A tale of life and hope and a strong underlying message. Seek treatment immediately if [...]
Rising child abuse cases: New measures include video evidence to spare victims court agony
While a shocked nation, for the past five weeks, has been finding it difficult to digest the revolting details of how a 15-year-old girl was sex-trafficked online, police have uncovered another harrowing child abuse case in Nawalapitiya where a 13-year-old girl has been sexually exploited by her biological father and his female friend. Police investigations [...]
No breakthrough yet on attacks on Mannar shrines
No breakthrough has been made in the investigations into incidents where shrines had been damaged in Mannar, police said. Three of the damaged shrines were in front of churches while the other three were statues at junctions. St Sebestian’s parish priest S. Gnanapragasam said he believed these attacks were aimed at provoking the Catholic community [...]
‘There’s no water, so there won’t be much of a harvest’: Farmer
K V Silavathi, a 72-year-old farmer in Anamaduwa, Kottukachchiya is frustrated that this year’s harvest is bound to be fruitless due to a lack of water. She said many paddy fields have become dry lands due to insufficient water supply. She expressed her grief at not being able to get water for the crop grown [...]