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Budget in November The second
reading of the second budget of the UNF government will be on November
6. Seven days
will be allowed from November 6 for the debate on the second reading
of the Budget. the number of days allotted for the committee stage
has been reduced to 13 from the usual 19 days allowed on the last
occasion, the Ministry said. No clue yet
to engineer's killing According to
Dehiwela Police, although the assailants had fled leaving a knife,
they are yet to make any headway in the investigations. "We found
the knife at the scene of the crime and a sheath was found a few
yards away", an officer said. According to
a female neighbour, Muthulingam had come to Colombo on September
3 and travelled to Jaffna the same night. He had returned to Colombo
on September 9 and was staying with his sister at Dehiwela. At around 10.30
p.m. on September 10, two boys had walked up to the gate of the
house and called out 'Muthu, Muthu', and he had invited them inside.
"His wife and mother were in the same room when they came in.
After a few seconds they had stabbed him", she said. She also said
that they had stabbed him about five to six times and he had died
immediately. His sister
had tried to close the door, in order to prevent the assailants
from fleeing. They had however pushed her to the ground and fled,
leaving the knife at the scene, she said. She said that
according to Muthulingam's wife, her husband had been involved in
managing a Hindu temple in Perth, Australia and there had been a
financial dispute with the previous management. "Mrs. Muthulingam feels that there was a grudge over the management of the temple", the neighbour further said. Railway loses
on concessionary travel GMR Priyal
de Silva told The Sunday Times that of 125,000 commuters travelling
to and from the Fort Railway Station each day, 30 per cent are public
servants using season tickets and paying between 2 1/2 to 3 cents
per kilometre. Public servants
pay one tenth the normal fare, calculated as eleven trips for the
three-month period for which a season ticket is valid. Private sector employees using season tickets comprise a further 40 per cent spending 8 cents a kilometre, one third the normal fare. Meanwhile the Railway Department is running at a loss, with no fare hikes having been made after 1996, the GMR said. Sinhala Buddhist
groups oppose Anandarajah The NMAT said
that Mr. Anandarajah had been SSP in Jaffna when police stations
were abandoned under attack from the LTTE. It also alleged
he was appointed DIG at the request of the then North-East Chief
Minister Varatharaja Perumal who later made a unilateral declaration
of independence while Mr. Anandarajah was stationed there. The NMAT said
that Mr. Anandarajah had been named as the IGP despite Senior DIG,
H.M.G.B. Kotakadeniya being senior to him. The organizations have called the Constitutional Council to name the most suitable person to the post after considering the representations made by them. PA
divided on talks PA spokesman
Sarath Amunugama sounding a moderate note said his party wished
the government well on a process that was initiated by the PA. Dr. Amunugama
said the two parties needed to go beyond logistics to substantive
and core issues aimed at working out a political solution. But SLFP propaganda chief Mangala Samaraweera took a hardline saying the PA would not consider the talks in Thailand as official because a representative of the President had not been included. Peace talks
live on Rupavahini A Rupavahini official said that though the talks as such would be behind closed doors state television would give live updates from Sattahip tomorrow, on Tuesday and Wednesday. The media briefing at 3.00 p.m. on Wednesday would also be given live. |
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