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Home » NewsAt last the AstraZeneca vaccine has come
Finally the much awaited second consignment of the AstraZeneca vaccine was brought to Sri Lanka from Japan yesterday. About 600,000 people who got the first dose in February or March had been waiting for months to get their second dose which will be given from today. Workers are seen loading the packs for refrigeration at [...]
Oman shows interest in SLAF HQ land and Chalmer’s Granary
An Omani Government investment arm has shown initial interest in the property on which the Air Force Headquarters is situated in Colombo 2 and the Urban Development Authority-owned Chalmer’s Granary land in Colombo Fort, official sources said. The party has signed a non-binding agreement with the UDA, committing to send a team to do due [...]
Former Solicitor General was interdicted on distorted and doctored tape recording
The tape recording of a telephone conversation between former Solicitor General Dilrukshi Dias Wickramasinghe and Avant Garde Chairman Nissanka Senadipathi which resulted in the interdiction of the senior state prosecutor had been edited and doctored, an Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) has established. Ms. Wickramasinghe was interdicted and sent on compulsory leave by the Public Service [...]
RTIC rules MPs’ educational qualifications must be disclosed, but no MP has given details
Parliamentary officials were this week instructed by the Right to Information Commission (RTIC) to divulge the educational qualifications of Members of Parliament (MPs) whenever those details are received from them. None of the MPs requested to submit their qualifications had done so yet, the Commission was told. This followed an inquiry by the RTIC into [...]
AstraZeneca second dose to be given from today
Plans are ahead to immediately vaccinate the second dose of AstraZeneca starting from today (01) in centres run both by the Army and Medical Officers of Health in the Western Province. In the Colombo District, the vaccine will be given at the Army Hospital in Narahenpita, the Army Hospital in Werahera and the Bodhirajaramaya Temple [...]
Upsurge in COVID deaths and cases, but Govt. wants normal work from tomorrow
Despite close to 250 people dying from COVID-19 this week and daily COVID positive cases exceeding 2,000 during the past few days, the Government is determined to fully resume public services from tomorrow in a move that will bring thousands of state sector employees to Colombo and its suburbs via public transport. According to the [...]
Minister Weerasekera loses two key institutions
Two key institutions that were under the purview of the Public Security Minister have been brought under the Defence Minister who is President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, according to a gazette notification issued by the Presidential Secretariat. The Civil Security Department and the Multipurpose Development Task Force Department now come under the Ministry of Defence, according to [...]
Plane from Russia brings Delta variant to China; fourteeen provinces hit
BEIJING July31, 2021 – China raced Saturday to contain its worst coronavirus outbreak in months, as health officials blamed the highly infectious Delta variant for a surge in infections spanning 14 provinces. China reported 328 symptomatic infections in July — almost equal to the total number of local cases from February to June. “The main [...]
Police provide polythene separators
Police in Wellawatte yesterday distributed polythene partitions among three wheel drivers to separate themselves from the passengers as an additional precaution to curb the spread of COVID19.
KDU running on borrowings: National Audit Office
Among the Kotelawala Defence University’s (KDU) borrowings over the years is a foreign currency loan of US$ 177.33mn (Rs 35bn) in addition to a local currency loan of Rs 3.16bn obtained from the National Savings Bank (NSB) on a Treasury guarantee in April 2013, documents show. The KDU experienced a steep deterioration in its debt-to-equity [...]
Aussie Lankans’ donations flow for COVID project sans politicos back home
No politics, no politicians: On those conditions, thousands of Sri Lankans in Australia came together for their largest ever fundraiser, collecting nearly Rs 60mn for their motherland’s fight against COVID-19. Between May 28 and last week, the campaign amassed AUD 382,472 (Rs 56mn) in donations through Facebook fundraising, direct deposits and even ‘Project Lamprais’. More [...]
Ranawaka’s Contempt of Court Bill: Justice Minister says Govt. will announce its stance soon
The Government will soon submit its observations on the private member’s bill on “Contempt of Court” submitted by Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Patali Champika Ranawaka, Justice Minister Ali Sabry told the Sunday Times. Mr Sabry said the Government had still not decided whether or not to support the draft bill, which was presented to [...]
Tug o’ war over Wayamba’s new medical unit
Government politicians are agitating against any move to shift the construction of Wayamba University Medical Faculty’s Professorial Unit from Kuliyapitiya to Kurunegala as a committee appointed to assess the proposed move holds fire on a decision. There has been toing and froing over the university, its medical faculty and now a professorial unit under successive [...]
Some 20,000 Jaffna district families left out of housing schemes
With more than 20,000 Jaffna district war-affected families not being included in any state housing development programmes, when the list of housing beneficiaries for war-affected people was showcased in Divisional Secretariat offices recently, there were allegations of administrative flaws in the selection process of beneficiaries and political influence. Among the complaints received from various Divisional [...]
Lanka receives 728,000 doses of Japan’s AstraZeneca vaccine
More than 728,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines were delivered to Sri Lanka by Japan yesterday through the World Health Organisation-led COVAX facility. Japan has pledged a total contribution of over 1.4 million doses to Sri Lanka. This is the third COVAX allocation to Sri Lanka under a donor-funded programme, with no cost to [...]
20 more occupations to be off limits for children
More new laws are being drafted to protect underaged children from potential abuse following the death of a 16-year-old domestic helper who had worked at former minister Rishad Bathiudeen’s Colombo residence. Last week, the Commissioner General of Labour, said that an amendment to the labour law of 1956 would be introduced to add 20 more [...]
Death of Bathiudeen residence domestic: AG’s Dept. raises suspicions over scene of the crime
Evidence from the scene, where the 16-year-old domestic aide who worked at MP Rishad Bathiudeen’s residence, is said to have sustained burn injuries has led to suspicions that the location where the incident is said to have occurred may have been deliberately changed, the Attorney General’s (AG) Department told the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court this [...]
Second autopsy: Focus on sex abuse
As protests continue demanding justice for the maid who worked at former minister Rishad Bathuideen’s Colombo residence and died of burn injuries, her body was exhumed on Friday for a second post-mortem examination at the Peradeniya Teaching Hospital yesterday. The exhumation followed a court order after a state counsel told Colombo’s Magistrate that a second [...]
Tour operator held liable for tourist raped in Club Bentota Hotel
A tourist who was raped by a hotel worker at a glamorous resort in Sri Lanka 11 years ago has finally won her quest for justice after the tour operator was held liable. The woman, now in her 40s, was on holiday with her husband in July 2010 at the Club Bentota Hotel on Paradise [...]
Moragahakanda project at a standstill; iron rods cut down to pay workers
A section of the multi-billion rupee Moragahakanda project has come to a standstill and the iron rods are being cut down to pay the salaries of the employees, a Sri Lanka Mahaweli Authority official said recently. They said the construction of Elahera ela, which began with the objective of diverting water to the north, has [...]
SLAF takes Kanugahawewa model village sky high in months
The Kanugahawewa model village renovation project’s second phase has been completed, after it was launched by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on December 30 last year. This project was taken over by the Air Force Commander Sudarshana Pathirana to mark the 70th anniversary of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) this year. Sports and Youth Affairs Minister [...]
Search for underaged domestic aides
This week the Police searched for underaged children employed as domestic aides. The employment of children below 16 years is illegal. Pix by Indika Handuwala
Ring around the sun a marvel if not a miracle
Nobody knows who spotted it first but news of an iridescent ring around the sun spread faster than light on Thursday, prompting crowds to look up at the sky. There was, in fact, a large circle of light resembling a full rainbow around the sun against the backdrop of a clear sky. The phenomenon was [...]
Health officials encounter maskless masses in drive to vaccinate housebound elders
Despite regular warnings about the spread of Covid-19, especially the Delta variant, there have been several instances where the public have been ignoring guidelines to maintain social distancing and wear face masks. On Friday, health officials from the Colombo Municipal Council visited houses to provide vaccines for elderly persons, and during their visits they found [...]
Red flags over COVID-19 spread
The numbers being hit by COVID-19 are spiralling up rapidly and across Sri Lanka, health staff expressed grave concern that “soon” they may not be able to meet the burden. “We are on the brink of going beyond capacity,” staff from several hospitals not only in Colombo but also in the outstations said. A major [...]
Immune responses to one dose of COVISHIELD
The February-March 2021 immunogenicity studies carried out by the Sri Jayewardenepura University’s Allergy, Immunology and Cell Biology Unit, Department of Immunology and Molecular Medicine on Sri Lankan healthcare workers who were the first to get the jab with AstraZeneca’s COVISHIELD vaccine have been published in the scientific journal ‘Nature Communications’ on Thursday. The local research [...]
Most vulnerable when eating as the mask is off – so eat alone in an open space
There is an increase in the number of COVID-19 patients and the strong suspicions are that the infections are caused by the highly transmissible Delta variant, the Director of the Health Promotion Bureau, Dr. Ranjith Batuwanthudawe told the Sunday Times. Pointing out that genetic sequencing would have to be carried out to say for sure [...]
Take Delta seriously, plead national experts, while giving a systematic course of action
Take Delta seriously, a group of national experts have urged, explaining that Sri Lanka should learn from the experiences of other countries and the evidence of high transmissibility and potential for vaccine escape of this variant. They have stressed that the country should ensure that vaccines that have proven protection against the Delta variant are [...]
Hyacinth Wijeratne dies in Lindula van plunge
Veteran actress Hyacinth Wijeratne died in a road accident in the Lindula area on the Nuwara Eliya-Thalawakele Road on Friday night, police said. Ms Wijeratne was 75 years old. According to Police Spokesman SDIG Ajith Rohana, the van she was travelling in had run off the road and plunged into a precipice. Lindula Police have [...]
Pick of the pix
Fort: Rear view Grandpass: Mas(k)querade Town Hall: Snooze-guard Gangaramaya: Sky high Thotalanga: Healthy vapours Dehiwela Zoo: Wild beauties Dematagoda: Dog days Ethul-Kotte: Misleading signs 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 [...]
Lumbini replica fast becoming wild base
A project launched during the time of the previous government to create a replica of the Sakya Kingdom of ancient India in Kahapola, Piliyandala has been left abandoned. The project spread out over a 78-acre land has been left with a range of buildings which are now used for nefarious activities, claim residents of the [...]
Will polythene ban stick this time, ask twice-shy makers
Today, the government’s ban on polythene lunch sheets will come into effect but several polythene manufacturers expressed scepticism that the policy would survive. The Polythene Manufacturers and Recyclers Association said successive governments had announced a ban but failed to implement the policy. It was five years since a ban on lunch sheets was announced but [...]
Grant our wishlist or we’ll disrupt exams: Teachers
Last year’s Ordinary Level examination practicals and this year’s Advanced Level exam duties and marking will be disrupted if the government fails to meet education demands on pay, provide online teaching resources and ditch the controversial Kotelawala Defence University Bill. Government school teachers and principals, who stayed away from online teaching for the 19th consecutive [...]
Police guard at Sathosa outlet after liquor dispute
Police protection has been provided to unload liquor stocks at the Sathosa outlet in Anamaduwa after a local politician in the area protested over the sale of liquor at the outlet. On Tuesday supporters of the local politician prevented the unloading of the liquor stocks and turned away the lorry. The local politician and his [...]
Raid in Kalpitiya by Puttalam fisheries officials; illegal cage nets seized
The Puttalam fisheries office carried out a raid in Kalpitiya to confiscate illegal fishing nets, which cause destruction to marine resources. Around 150 of these illegal cage nets, known as kudu del in Sinhalese, were found after the raid was carried out on Thursday. The nets are valued at around Rs five million. Puttalam fisheries [...]