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While the COVID-19 pandemic continues, nurses staged a countrywide token strike on Friday in protest against the non-payment of their special pandemic allowance and other issues. As a result, there was little or no work in most hospitals with doctors handling only emergency cases. Hundreds of patients were badly affected by the strike, as seen [...]
Unlimited import of rice in bid to check prices
The Cabinet has decided to allow unlimited imports of rice in a fresh attempt to prevent traders from exorbitantly increasing prices following the withdrawal of the gazette notification on maximum retail prices. The imports will be currently confined to the state sector and supplies will be made available through Lanka Sathosa, Co-operative outlets and suppermarkets. [...]
President’s Office pushes for e-Govt.
The President’s Office has directed state institutions to shift from the manual to digital mode by using electronic communications in sharing documents and records for official purposes. Issuing a circular to ministries, state ministries, government departments, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and corporations, Presidential Secretary P.B. Jayasundera noted several institutions had taken steps in recent past in [...]
Cabinet Office says no Cabinet rank for non-ministers
The Office of the Cabinet of Ministers has said there have been no ‘Cabinet rank’ appointments made so far, while reiterating that there is no specific provision in the Constitution for such appointments of “Cabinet rank officials”. In a response to the Right to Information (RTI) application filed by the Sunday Times, the Cabinet Office [...]
Namal leads big delegation for airport opening in Kushinagar
Minister Namal Rajapaksa together with more than 100 monks will leave in a fortnight on a special flight provided by the Indian government for Kushinagar, where the Buddha passed away and an important pilgrimage site for the opening of a new international airport. The flight has been arranged keeping with the promise given by Indian [...]
Basil steps in: PC polls before March
The Government is to fast-track the process of holding elections for nine Provincial Councils (PCs) before March next year as opposition parties signalled collective support to the passage of a Bill to overcome legal impediments. The Government’s position was conveyed by Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa on Friday when he took part in the Parliamentary Select [...]
Govt. loses billions in tax revenue from interest
Government revenue from tax on interest income has fallen dramatically–from Rs 30bn in 2019 to just Rs 2bn in 2020–with one of the main reasons being a change in collection format which requires taxes to be filed rather than collected at source. The Inland Revenue Department, which provided the statistics, said the drop was due [...]
29 COVID fatalities; lowest in four months
Sri Lanka recorded the lowest COVID-19 fatalities in more than four months yesterday with 29 deaths being confirmed for October 8. The latest fatalities took overall COVID deaths to 13, 296. A further 542 persons also tested positive for COVID-19 last evening, raising the total number of confirmed COVID patients to 525, 479. However, Health [...]
Ahead of gas price hike
With an impending increase of gas prices, some consumers have been stocking up cylinders of gas, creating a shortage in the market. A scene captured in Colombo yesterday. Pix by Eshan Fernando
India and Lanka differ on full implementation of 13A
Visiting Indian foreign secretary meets President for extensive talks, but statements released by two sides point to gulf between New Delhi and Colombo over power devolution Govt. tries to distance itself from Pandora Paper revelations; braces for public criticism over inability to provide essential items at affordable prices What was supposed to be a meeting [...]
Pandora Papers exposé: On the trail of trust networks linked to Nadesan
The offshore financial world is a byzantine maze that allows clients to shield wealth from domestic tax regimes that govern the rest of us. But continuous data leaks by whistleblowers are slowly stripping away the layers to reveal just how much cash is stashed away overseas. This is a complex organ of trusts, holding companies, [...]
Chinese Embassy claps back at allegations of toxic bacteria in organic fertiliser imports
The Chinese embassy in Colombo has criticised Sri Lanka’s decision to declare that samples of a Chinese organic fertiliser supplier contained harmful bacteria including erwinia, saying it was too “hasty” and lacked “scientific basis.” The Embassy was referring to the conclusion reached by Sri Lanka’s National Plant Quarantine Services (NPQS). In a statement, the Embassy [...]
Farmers walk out on meetings
Farmers in several areas have walked away from a meeting held to decide on the release of water through irrigation canals for cultivation purposes, as they do not have fertiliser to continue with their agricultural work. Farmers have threatened to abandon 3,000 acres of paddy lands cultivated under the Devahuwa Agriculture project where farmers from [...]
Frustrated parents, students watch salary tug-of-war
Mother of four school going children, Denuka Weerakkody, from Moratuwa is impatiently waiting for the government and teachers to resolve the salary issue and begin online studies as she fears the three months’ absence will have a serious effect on her children’s education. “It’s frustrating to see your children addicted to television entertainment programmes or [...]
Beruwala UC in urgent appeal to arrest rising dengue cases among youth
New dengue cases being reported from Beruwala area show a large number of young people have become victim to the mosquito-borne disease. Addressing a dengue awareness campaign, Beruwala Public Health Inspector E Tharaka Priyan urged the people to take precautionary measures to protect themselves and their children from dengue fever and take immediate medical treatment [...]
Rice prices bubble and boil over causing heartburn
Homemakers fear household expenses will be further stretched and restaurants are preparing for price increases after dominant private rice millers announced their own prices for rice, the day after controls were lifted in the wake of artificial shortages created by the trade. Also, domestic gas prices are expected to soar further. State owned Litro is [...]
Ragala estate gets 166 new houses
A ceremony to hand over 166 houses constructed by UN Habitat using funds provided by the Indian Government was held at Lederset Estate in Ragala, Nuwara Eliya on Monday. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and visiting Indian Foriegn Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla joined the ceremony via Zoom from Temple Trees. They were joined by State Minister [...]
Lanka lags behind on its climate commitments, mainly due to defects in policy implementation
Experts doing target preparations to achieve the Paris Agreement’s goals claim that falsified reports and bureaucracy are derailing their efforts to mitigate climate change. The Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) refer to Sri Lanka’s climate action plans to cut down greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and so on. Sri Lanka released their first NDCs in 2016 with [...]
If appropriation bill is any indication, budget not cheery
The Government’s Budget 2022, the first Budget of new Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, will be presented to Parliament on Friday, November 12. The Committee on Parliamentary Business, this week, decided to hold the Budget 2022 Debate from November 12 to December 10. Mr Rajapaksa presented the Government’s Appropriation Bill 2022 to Parliament on Wednesday. According [...]
‘Look to the past to prevent COVID-19 disaster in the future’
The way forward in living with the pandemic which has lasted nearly two years is to look back, learn from the past and move on, reiterates an expert who dabbles in microscopic life forms and also deals with patients. “We need to address the core reasons which set off huge outbreaks in this COVID-19 pandemic,” [...]
Navy cluster virus not related to strain doing the rounds in SL at that time
A surprise awaited KDU research team as they analysed raw data of samples – 9 were of a strain circulating in the US and the other from the B.1 lineage with mutations Some interesting research with regard to the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) strains found in Sri Lanka is emerging from the Faculty of Medicine of [...]
N’Eliya blaze: Arson suspected
Police suspect foul play behind the recent fire that caused the deaths of a family of five in the upper part of the Ragala estate in the Ragala Police Division. Investigations regarding the deaths were underway yesterday while the postmortems were due to be conducted. The deceased have been identified as Ramaiah Thangaiya (59), his [...]
Crime backlash from move to cut pandemic in jails
A decision to let out suspects from custody to cut the spread of COVID in overcrowded prisons has partly backfired with numbers of them repeatedly engaging in crime after being bailed, police said. Now, with lockdown and curfew rules being relaxed, senior police officers stationed in various parts of the country said they expect more [...]
Young crocs released into Kandy reservoir may become a problem
The release of two young crocodiles into the Dumandalawa reservoir, the perennial water reservoir which comes under the Kandy Municipality, is highly dangerous Kandy Lawyers Forum President Shantha Ratnayake PC said recently. He said these creatures are “protected species” in the country, and this action constitutes as a violation of the Flora and Fauna Act. [...]
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.
Resurrecting an old track
Preparations are underway to reopen the Kelani Valley Railway Line between Avissawella and Opanayake. General Manager, Sri Lanka Railways, Dhammika Jayasundara visited the area yesterday to explore the possibility of renovating and extending the closed railway line to Eheliyagoda. The Kelani Valley Railway was built as a 2ft 6in narrow-gauge line to transport goods between [...]
High above icy peaks, a bird tagged in Mannar makes a heroic flight
A common bird found in coastal Sri Lanka during the early part of the year has for the first time been tracked on its heroic flight high above the Himalayan mountains after being fitted with an electronic tag by researchers in Mannar. “The tagged brown-headed gull crossed the Himalaya range flying at an altitude of [...]
State forest with kohomba illegally razed: who is in control?
State land with valued kohomba (neem) trees has been cleared illegally in the Medawachchiya area but state agencies are at odds over who the responsible caretaker is, with contradictory gazette notifications being blamed for the muddle. Medawachchiya Divisional Secretary M.C. Mallawarachchi says the cleared land belongs to the Forestry Department and therefore the Medawachchiya Forestry [...]
A pinch of salt, several tonnes actually
Puttalam has been experiencing temperatures more suitable for salt production these days. The Puttalam salt industry was under the control of the government, then the Palaviya salt factory gradually became a cooperative business partnership for nearly 35 years. Two private companies own a 34% share. H M Ranasinghe, Director, Puttalam Salt Ltd said they produce [...]