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Sri Lanka joined the world in mourning the passing away of Queen Elizabeth II, who was the Queen of Ceylon from 1952 to 1972 when Sri Lanka became a republic. Queen Elizabeth was also the head of the Commonwealth, of which Sri Lanka is a member. Picture shows Sri Lanka’s national flag flying at half-mast [...]
Recruitment frozen to public sector
Series of directives to reduce government expenditure Public sector recruitment for next year has been frozen, the Finance Ministry has informed all state institutions. The Government’s significant decrease of revenue collection and mounting expenditure have been cited as reasons for the decision, which is among a series of other directives aimed at keeping state expenses [...]
SPC to make emergency purchases of essential drugs
By Damith Wickremasekara The Health Ministry is to make emergency purchases of medical supplies because of a delay in obtaining medicines under an Indian credit line facility of US$ 130 million, officials said. Accordingly, the ministry is preparing a list of 300 pharmaceuticals and will go ahead with the purchase in view of an acute [...]
Four fuel ships near Colombo; Govt. to raise funds
The Government is looking at raising nearly US$ 150 million to clear four shipments of fuel in the coming week, Treasury sources said. The payments will be required for two diesel shipment and a crude oil shipment that has already arrived at the Colombo port and another petrol shipment due tomorrow. Part of the payment [...]
Samantha meets cross sections of people to assess Lankan crisis
Economic stability and food security in Sri Lanka are among a wide range of topics being discussed by the visiting United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator, Samantha Power. Ms Power opened the two-day official visit to Sri Lanka yesterday morning and is scheduled to meet political party leaders to learn their views on [...]
Norway closing embassy here, but projects will continue
Norway’s embassy in Colombo is among five diplomatic missions that have become a casualty of the changing landscape in Europe in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Accordingly, as a wider restructuring of its Foreign Service, Norway will close its embassies in Bratislava (Slovakia), Colombo (Sri Lanka) and Pristina (Kosovo), the embassy office in [...]
NJC lambasts 22A; says ineffective 19A in different wrapping
The National Joint Committee and a group of citizens have expressed concerns over the 22nd Amendment Bill presented to Parliament by the Justice Minister, claiming it was more or less a reintroduction of the 19th Amendment passed by the Yahapalana Government in 2015. The Bill seeks to replace the “Parliamentary Council” introduced by the 20th [...]
Fuel quota pledge: Tuk drivers fume over Govt. inaction
By Nadia Fazulhaq Threewheel drivers charge that the Government is dragging its feet over appeals to increase their weekly fuel quota under the National Fuel Pass QR system. Self-employed threewheelers transporting goods and those who depend on hires for income say they are the worst affected. “With just five litres a week, most drivers stay [...]
Electrical short-circuit may have caused minor fire at Royal College
A minor fire broke out yesterday at a building at Royal College, Colombo. Police said the fire had started on the 2nd floor of a building in the school premises. The room where it started had housed equipment used by Boy Scouts. The Colombo Fire Brigade said it received reports of a fire at [...]
Shock for CEB: Rs. 14.6bn not paid by consumers
By Niranjala Ariyawansha The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has revealed that domestic consumers such as households, small-scale businesses and organisations and bulk consumers including large government and other institutions have defaulted bill payments to the tune of Rs. 14.6 billion by June 30 this year. It said Rs. 9.56 billion of the dues were from [...]
Promises of flour from Türkiye and Dubai as traders told not to increase price of bread
The Ministry of Trade has called bakery traders to hold back plans to increase bread and flour based products after assuring them to make arrangements to import flour from Türkiye and Dubai on credit basis. The move follows after imports from flour from India have been halted in view of a decision not to export [...]
Records show poor attendance by parliamentarians as 9th Parliament marks 2 years
By Sandun Jayawardana As the Ninth Parliament completes two years of its term, attendance records show that several Cabinet and State Ministers are among those who have the poorest attendance records. Parliament had 182 sitting days during the two year period from August 20, 2020 to August 23, 2022, according to information released following a [...]
Not enough dough to buy a loaf
Choon paan sellers (three-wheeler bread vendors) that used to roam residential areas mornings and evenings are idling, now that demand for bread and buns have plummeted. A loaf of bread now is priced between Rs 190 and Rs 220, while at high end bakeries, it costs Rs. 350. Last year, a pound of bread was [...]
Lanka relegated to bottom slot at UN General Assembly sessions
When the high-level segment of the UN General Assembly begins on September 20, the long list of speakers includes 92 heads of state (HS) and 56 heads of government (HG). But our own HS/HG will be MIA (missing in action). In the original list of speakers released last month, Sri Lanka had a prime speaking [...]
22nd Amendment: Bid to restore checks and balances in lawmakers’ hands
By Yoshitha Perera The Supreme Court has ruled that the bill submitted for the 22nd amendment to the Constitution can be passed with a two-thirds majority in Parliament and with some clauses requiring amendments. A few clauses will require a special majority as well as a referendum, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena informed Parliament on Tuesday. [...]
May 9 violence and protests: 4000 arrested
By Kasun Warakapitiya More than 4,000 persons have so far been arrested by the police and most are suspects in the May 9 violence, the Sunday Times learns. Among them, nearly 1,500 are in remand custody. Nearly 3,800 were arrested following the violent attack on May 9, while about 200 were arrested and nearly 80 [...]
Global bodies concerned about human rights violations in SL
The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (‘BHRC’) and the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (‘IBAHRI’) have drawn attention to the “heightened environment of human rights violations, currently taking place in Sri Lanka under President Wickremes-inghe which require an urgent and immediate solution.” In a statement, the organisations note that they share [...]
Towering story of pride and waste
By Namini Wijedasa In February 2007, Mahinda Rajapaksa, then President of Sri Lanka, visited China to commemorate a half-century of bilateral ties. While conflict raged between the military and Tamil Tigers, the two countries signed slew of cooperation agreements. The proposal to erect a telecommunication tower to rival all of Sri Lanka’s tallest buildings was [...]
Need for high alert for killer sepsis
Tuesday is World Sepsis Day By Kumudini Hettiarachchi Sepsis by any other name is still sepsis and kills people. Earlier, it was known as ‘hectic fever’, then ‘septicaemia’ and also ‘bacteraemia’ “It will make a difference between life and death if sepsis is suspected at the ‘first point of contact’ if a patient presents with [...]
ASVAC 2022: For the first time, Sri Lanka hosts int’l conference on vaccines
More than 200 including GPs, Paediatricians, Microbiologists and nurses from Sri Lanka and a dozen international experts expected to participate With the importance of vaccines being reinforced during the COVID-19 havoc, the countdown has begun for the timely two-day 8th Asian Vaccine Conference (ASVAC) 2022 on the theme ‘Immunization in the era of pandemics’ to be [...]
Alarm over rise in chain snatching from women, robberies and thefts
By Senuka Jayakody An increase in robberies targeting women walking along the road has been observed in recent weeks, complaints and arrests made by police indicate. Cases of snatching gold chains from women walking on roads have shown an increase, along with other thefts, robberies, and burglaries. Apart from gold chains, women have also been [...]
Symbol of stability: SL leaders join the world in remembering the Queen
By Sandun Jayawardana Sri Lanka too has joined the rest of the Commonwealth and many other nations around the world in mourning the death of Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away on Thursday (8) at the age of 96. President Ranil Wickremesinghe led the tributes to the Queen. “I am saddened to learn of [...]
Health Ministry denies UNICEF report, but people confirm malnutrition
By Chrishanthi Chtrisopher and Tharushi Weerasinghe The Health Ministry has rejected the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) report that placed Sri Lanka in the top 10 countries with child malnutrition. Claiming that it was based on outdated data, Health Ministry Secretary Janaka Sri Chandraguptha noted that more recent statistics from the Medical Research Institute showed [...]
Indian criminal trade thrives re-exporting sea cucumber via Colombo
By S. Rubatheesan In Mannar, the sea cucumber farms targeting the export market have become the new ‘success story’ in recent years as long as one does not mind where the marine delicacy originates from, because it brings in foreign exchange. Local fishermen who hold permits to harvest sea cucumbers in the wild, leave for [...]
Sri Lanka Sumithrayo pledges to do more for suicide prevention
Chairperson says social stigma and ignorance still challenges for those seeking help By Yoshitha Perera While commemorating World Suicide Prevention Day that falls on September 10 every year, Sri Lanka Sumithrayo said it will raise further public awareness on suicide prevention and advance the country’s health care system. Sri Lanka Sumithrayo an organisation focussing on providing [...]
Health officials sound the siren on worsening medicinal drug shortage
Ministry calls for buffer stocks of medicines to be distributed from a central unit By Yoshitha Perera Health officials are scrambling to come up with emergency plans to address the medicinal drug shortage caused by the worsening economic crisis. Some hospitals’ staff say they only have a few days’ supply of life-saving medicines for non-communicable [...]
An end to colour
Pix and story by Akila Jayawardena Behind the vibrant batik industry are tears of those who are involved in the production, as they struggle to survive for the past two years. “First it was the pandemic and tourist arrivals were zero during lockdowns. Most of us tried hard to sell the already produced batik clothware, [...]
Grassroots attention required from private lenders: Humanitarian agencies collective
By Yoshitha Perera The country’s economic collapse requires immediate grassroots attention from private lenders and people who want to lend a helping hand, as well as from humanitarian organisations, a collective of humanitarian agencies (including Sri Lanka Unites) said. Three organisations, Sri Lanka Unites, LEADS Sri Lanka, and Foundation of Goodness, held a media briefing [...]
Government assistance for apparel industry: PM
Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena assured the apparel industry of government assistance for expansion and further diversification of the industry, which is one of the most successful and promising export trades vital for the country’s economy. He said this to a senior delegation of the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) who called on him on Friday [...]