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Home » NewsFloody hell in Puttalam
With heavy rain plunging the country into a disaster, this aerial picture shows the extent of the flooding in a Puttalam village with roads and houses under several feet of water. Our correspondent Hiran Priyankara Jaysinghe who took this picture said last night the water level was rising with the district experiencing more heavy rains.
More than 50 prime lands to be leased to raise US$ 6bn
Amidst lukewarm interest in what the Government had hoped will be one of its key means of attracting revenue, more than 50 prime lands in Colombo city and outstations are being offered on lease for local and foreign investors in a move to raise at least US$ 6bn. The lands will be offered on Public [...]
Chinese fertiliser company makes tough demands to withdraw shipment
The Chinese organic fertiliser manufacturer Qingdao Biotech Group Co. Ltd has put forwarded a set of conditions to the Agriculture Ministry, demanding the payment of 70 percent of agreed price in the original tender agreement and additional freight charges. The company is trying to push through a controversial shipment of organic fertiliser and has placed [...]
Back to chemical fertiliser: Stocks to be rushed to rain-affected areas
The Agriculture Ministry is to obtain chemical fertiliser from stocks still in the country to be issued to farmers in some districts where torrential rains have all but washed away the organic fertiliser they had used earlier. Torrential rains in recent days had washed away organic fertiliser used by vegetable and fruit growers in the [...]
Upward trend in covid cases; people warned of new wave
COVID-19 deaths and positive cases are on the rise, with this week recording 89 confirmed deaths and 3,528 cases. Though the daily covid death toll was below 20 last week, this week the number increased, with 23 deaths recorded on Friday. Last Saturday’s death toll was 15. Of those who died, most were above the [...]
Ranil says NFE deal a violation of parliament’s powers and privileges
United National Party Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament yesterday that the framework agreement between the Government and the New Fortress Energy (NFE) Sri Lanka LLC had been entered into in violation of the powers, privileges and immunity of Parliament and called on the Government to make a full disclosure to the House. In September, the [...]
Budget fails to address debt servicing and forex crisis
Sri Lanka’s 2022 budget, while having some positive measures, has failed to address the country’s two burning issues — debt servicing and the foreign exchange crisis. “While it has some positives, there were gaps on how to manage debt and there was no direction on the foreign exchange crisis or some signals which foreign investors [...]
UNP launches protest campaign
The United National Party held a protest rally at Lipton’s Circus in Colombo on Friday to express its displeasure over the Government’s failure to offer relief to the people who are suffering from economic hardships and shortages. UNP Deputy Leader Ruwan Wijewardene, party stalwarts Sagala Ratnayake and Palitha Range Bandara are seen taking part in [...]
Stairway to decay
The ancient Yapahuwa Kingdom, built during the 13 Century, has now been desecrated by plastic waste as the people who visited the ancient ruins have left behind empty bottles, face masks and plastic bags. The archeologically invaluable site, which was built by King Buwanekabahu, has not been given proper consideration by tourists who ventured to [...]
Sallay defamation case: District Court reissues summons on Yasmin Sooka and others
The Colombo District Court has again issued summons against Yasmin Sooka and two other United-Kingdom-based respondents, including a website operator, to be present in court in February 2022, when it took up a civil defamation case filed by State Intelligence Chief Suresh Sallay. Additional District Judge A.D. Chathurika de Silva ordered that summons be reissued [...]
National Joint Committee decries sale of Yugadanavi
The National Joint Committee (NJC) said it is disturbed, distressed and dismayed by the purported agreement signed between the United States-based New Fortress Energy (NFE) and the Government. In a statement issued by NJC co-presidents, Lt Col Anil Amarasekera (Rtd) and Retired Senior Deputy Inspector General K.M.B Kotakadeniya, the NJC strongly objected to the Government’s [...]
Wild weather kills dozens, displaces hundreds of thousands
More landslides and the danger of coronavirus disease and water-borne illnesses loom large over hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankans across 17 districts made homeless and helpless by the downpours that killed 26 people this rainy season. Many were caught unprepared. Inter-monsoon rains in October-November have so far damaged 1,300 houses while 12,000 people have [...]
Fruit stalls at Pahala Kadugannawa removed as landslide threat looms large
The fruit stalls and other temporary structures along the main Kandy Colombo road at Pahala Kadugannawa were demolished yesterday with the assistance of the Army. Although over the years there were warnings to relocate these structures no action was taken in the past. The road between Hingula and Kandy, in Pahala Kadugannawa will remain closed [...]
Landslides: DMC blames people for ignoring warnings and evacuation plans
A rising number are dying in landslides, because most people are disregarding risk warnings and evacuation procedures, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) claimed. “The reason why so many deaths still occur is because people refuse to listen to us and ignore the instructions we have given them regarding risk warnings and evacuation,” DMC Assistant Director [...]
No permission yet for students in grades 6 to 9 to return to school
Classes for grades 6 to 9 will not begin immediately, the Education Ministry said. The COVID Management Task Force has not given the go-ahead to have the rest of the grades to open up, the Ministry’s Additional Secretary L. W. D. Dharmasena said. This follows COVID-19 positive cases being reported in classrooms that have been [...]
‘Full of fancy words but no substance’; ‘no relief for the people’: Opposition blasts Budget 2022
Government and Opposition lawmakers clashed in Parliament yesterday over the merits and demerits of the Budget presented to Parliament by Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa on Friday. Opening the debate on the Appropriation Bill-2022, SJB MP Harsha de Silva lambasted the government saying the Budget had provided no relief to the people who are weighed down [...]
Press Institute launches fact-checking and research teams
The Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) Director General’s Kumar Lopez’s annual report for 2021 states that the SLPI has been able to engage with journalists on several platforms, including on operational health safety in pandemic reportage and professional security-related capacity-building programmes, ensuring their commitment to freedom of expression and free media, a news release states. [...]
Eco friendly cable cars get ministry green light
The Environment Minister has amended the 2007 gazette titled “Lake Gregory Environmental Protection Area” to include cable car projects as a permitted activity. “Construction, Operation and maintenance of Cable Car Project from Nanu Oya to Nuwara Eliya, shall not have adverse impact on the Environmental Protection Area,” the amendment states. This clears a hurdle in [...]
Horana wails over move to shift Welikada jail complex to Millewa
Resistance could grow to the move to relocate the Welikada prison complex to Millewa in Horana, if communities and local organisations are not given proper information about the project, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report has warned. Most community members and even local level agency officers were not fully aware of the proposed project, its [...]
New liquor prices according to Budget 2022
The Department of Excise yesterday announced new liquor prices in line with the tax increases imposed on them in Budget 2022. Accordingly, the price of 750ml of Local Extra Special Arrack rose by Rs. 96.14 while the price of other types of local arrack was increased by Rs. 103. The price of locally manufactured foreign [...]
Teaching to resume as usual as demands have been met, say unions
Education sector trade unions who have been involved in a long drawn-out protest demanding a salary revision, said since their demands have been met in the 2022 budget they will discontinue their agitation. The Ceylon Teachers’ Union said that the nearly four-month old protests countrywide have ended and they will resume teaching as normal. “We [...]
CEB engineers’ retirement age upped by one year
The retirement age for Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) engineering services has been extended from 60 to 61 years, according to a circular issued by General Manager (GM) M.R. Ranatunga. The circular was issued after the director board at its October 12 meeting approved a special paper to grant the one-year service extension. “The Board has [...]
Parents told they face the music if not tuned into children’s interests
Two sisters aged 15 and 13 years, living in Colombo 12 and their cousin from Gampola aged 13 years were on a mission. They wanted to follow the South Korean musical girl group ‘BlackPink’. The K-Pop (Korean popular music) group consisting of Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa, all in their mid-20s, debuted in August 2016. [...]
COVID-19 & flu — get to know the subtle difference
With heavy rains lashing the country not only leaving a trail of death and homelessness but also disease, many health experts stressed the need to keep people armed with the right knowledge. There is now COVID-19, influenza (flu) and dengue, they pointed out, cautioning that one should not be allowed to overshadow the other. (See [...]
‘Voluntary compliance didn’t work, so Gazette is the alternative’
Here are the highlights of Friday’s media briefing at the Health Promotion Bureau chaired by Director Dr. Ranjith Batuwanthudawe. Head of the Disaster Preparedness and Response Division of the Health Ministry, Dr. Hemantha Herath: When pointed out that the Health Ministry brings in guidelines but implementation is the problem, Dr. Herath said the initial approach [...]
As numbers rise, NS1 antigen test a priority in times of dengue – Dr. Fernando
Dengue is on the rise with numbers jumping up. The weekly update issued by the Health Ministry’s National Dengue Control Unit showed a rapid rise in the week November 1 to 7 (826 cases) from the previous week (759 cases). The danger districts as usual were Colombo with 295 cases and Gampaha with 188 cases [...]
‘Bio-bubble and contingency plans for schools essential’
Now that schools and tuition classes are opening their doors to children, Consultant Microbiologist Dr. Mahen Kothalawala attached to the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL) jogs the memory of people about the preventive health measures that need to be taken to safeguard children from COVID-19. “If a class gets crowded, super-spreading can take place [...]
Access to diabetes care
The strong link between COVID-19 and diabetes has been underscored, with an emphasis on the need to prevent and also control this non-communicable disease (NCD) to stop people from descending into severe illness and death due to the new coronavirus. As countries celebrate World Diabetes Day 2021 with its theme of ‘Access to diabetes care’ [...]
Milestones of a long journey of caring for Lanka’s children
They held their heads high as they had their annual sessions on Thursday (November 11), knowing that they have done their best and will continue to do their best for the children of Sri Lanka. It was a double celebration for the Sri Lanka College of Pediatricians (SLCP) – the annual sessions as well as [...]
The disturbing truth behind social media body pics
Body images seen as perfect in Instagram, Facebook and other platforms make many Lankan youths feel insecure about their own bodies and drive them to take extreme measures. Renishka Fernando examines the issue and speaks to victims and experts who offer advice to overcome the problem There was a point in her life when 19-year-old [...]
A slow trickle, but it means a lot
Tourists have started returning to the South, giving hope to those engaged in the industry that the trade would bounce back with the relaxing of pandemic restrictions The gradual return of tourists has seen locals return to their previous economic activities in the industry, which they had abandoned when there were no tourists due to [...]
Many shady suspects in Udawalawe park elephant calf capture
Illegal capture of elephants from the wild once again came to the fore this week when a calf, estimated to be between six and seven years old, was found bound by coir ropes to trees, seemingly sedated at Udawalawe National Park. Environmentalist and researcher Supun Lahiru Prakash said that in Sri Lanka there were many [...]