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Private
medical school says it's ready to meet standards The SLMC had earlier this month said it suspected the VEF involvement in the attack as the SLMC had been telling inquiring parents that the school was not recognised. SLMC President
H.H.R. Samarasinghe said that although the medical school was approved
under a BOI project, the Council had not recognised it as yet, because
the school had neither furnished the required details nor invited
any SLMC official to prove that it had adhered to the SLMC standards. But Ms. Herath
said the VEF had furnished all required details to the SLMC though
it was yet to call officials for inspection. "The inauguration
of this school got delayed due to late approval of the project until
July this year. Therefore, the funds were released by our Indian
counterpart only after approval and it took some time for us to
establish ourselves. This is why we couldn't invite the SLMC for
inspection," she said adding that they would invite the SLMC
for inspection in a week's time. Prior to BOI
approval, the VEF issue had been before the Human Rights Commission
for eight months on a petition filed by Ms. Herath. "It was
following HRC recommendations that we received approval," she
said. Meanwhile,
parents who had sent their children through Ms. Herath to a VEF
medical school in Guntur in Andra Pradesh, India, for a pre clinical
medical degree, are insisting that the SLMC recognise the Indian
institution. Students are expected to leave for Tanzania after following
one and half year pre-clinical course in India. However, parents
are reluctant to send their children to Tanzania due to the AIDS
scare in Africa. They want their children to complete the degree
in India. But Ms. Herath
said it was impossible for the students to continue their degree
in India, because they had been registered with the Tanzanian university. Some parents alleged that the VEF advertisements did not state that the students will have to complete their degree in Tanzania. Ms. Herath said the parents who made such allegations are those who had not paid the course fee in full or who had problems with the institution. At present, there are some 50 students studying at the Indian school, she claimed. Hospitals
hit by double strike Some 14, 500
nurses went are on strike from 7.00 a.m. yesterday demanding the
Government to rectify a salary anomaly in keeping with the Kodagoda
Salaries Commission recommendations. Except children's
hospitals, maternity homes, the Cancer hospital and the Jaffna General
Hospital, all other hospitals were crippled due to the strike. Making the
matters worse, hospital clerks, who were on an overtime protest
campaign, also launched a one-day trade union action yesterday demanding
a salary increase. "The Kodagoda
Salaries Commission has put us on par with the para medical services
salary scale and it is just a matter of implementing it," Nurses'
Union Administrative Secretary Hector Francis said. He charged
that the Cabinet Sub Committee appointed to study the issue had
failed to submit a report within 14 days as promised. Health services
at the National Hospital and the Accident Service were badly affected
with only serious cases being attended to. Although the
strike is on, nurses have volunteered to attend to emergency operations
and critically ill patients, nurses union leaders said. "Work
is not normal," National Hospital Director Dr. Hector Weerasinghe
said adding that patients services were severely disrupted and routine
operations scheduled for yesterday had been cancelled. Accident Services
Director Dr. Anil Jayasinghe said all operating theatres except
one had to be closed down due to the trade union actions by the
nurses and the clerks.
The matter
came up in Parliament last morning when four Opposition MPs - Nimal
Siripala de Silva, Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, Wijitha Wijemuni Zoysa
and Mahinda Yapa Abeywardene - were not present to raise the questions
they included in the Order Paper. "There
is a privilege for the MPs to ask supplementary questions as well.
If the members are not here they cannot ask the questions on behalf
of the people," the Speaker said. Earlier Chief
Government Whip Mahinda Samarasinghe said this must be the first
time in history that a member who wanted answers to the questions
was not present in the House. Parliamentary
Affairs minister A.H.M. Azwer said that the Chief Opposition Whip
was aware of the sittings and put the blame on what he saw as his
inefficiency. PA MP Sarath
Amunu-gama said the matter was no big deal as the question could
be asked at the second round by another MP. The Speaker said the ministers concerned were present in the House with their answers and therefore those who requested the answers should have been present.
Six people
died following a shoot out at the Kanchirankuda STF camp on October
9. The STF was prompted to fire at the six persons due to forcible
entry to the Kanchainkuda camp and for stoning the camp. "The court
cannot entertain any reasonable doubt as to the cause of these six
deaths. I decide that no criminal act would have taken place,"
the Magistrate said in his judgment. He said that
the judgment was issued following keen observation of the circumstantial
evidence available at the site of the incident, the evidence led
before him and the post mortem report. The six people who died are Manoharan Sathiyanathan who died due to gun shot injuries to the brain, Mahendramoorthi Ratheeskumar and Vijayarajal Jayapraash due to damage to the heart and lungs, Nalliah Kulasingham and Nagarasa Sasikumar due to lung injuries and Arasaralinan Selvakumar due to heart and brain injuries.
Having worked
as a newspaper journalist in Britain and the United States, Mr.
Mathew is a former Chairman of the Indian Section of the Commonwealth
Press Union. He has also
served as the President of the Indian Newspaper Society and the
Editors Guild of India and had been a member of the Press Council
of India for two consecutive terms. Reuters Trustees,
as directors of the Reuters Founders Share Company, which safeguards
the neutrality and independence of Reuters, have the authority to
prevent any group or individual from gaining a controlling share
of the company. Mr. Mathew,
58, was selected by a nomination committee, two members of which
are judges of the European Court of Human Rights and was voted unanimously
by the Trustees. "We are delighted to welcome Mammen Mathew as a Reuters Trustee. He brings a strong background in international journalism and we are sure he will make a valuable contribution to the Reuters Founders Share Company," Pehr Gyllenhammar, Chairman of the company said. Police
on the trail of 18 kilo drug lord Police Narcotics
Bureau Chief Gerard Ignatius said they were questioning a youth
who was arrested in Avissawella with 16 kilograms of heroin. He was arrested
after police took into custody a heroin dealer from Sedawatte in
a surprise raid. DIG Ignatius
said the two suspects were the final sellers in the whole network
and their names were not in the PNB list. However, he expressed
confidence that the kingpins behind the drug network would be arrested. When the PNB
raided the house the youth arrested in Sedawatte, he had in his
possession Rs. 4.2 million in cash and 2 kilograms of heroin. On questioning him, he had informed the PNB that he had bought six kilograms of heroin from a person in Avissawella and was left with only two after having sold the rest. The PNB later arrested the person from Avissawella along with some 16 kilos of heroin. The DIG said that a kilo of heroin was sold at Rs. 2 million and that the final buyer paid around Rs. 200 for a 25 mg packet. One
media unit swallowing up another? The formation
of a Media Unit was proposed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe
soon after the UNF came into power. The Unit got Cabinet approval
two weeks back to officially set it up. It comes under the Policy
Planning Ministry. Initially the
Unit was to recruit staff from Lake House and Rupavahini Corporation,
but due to a poor response, Information Department staff were also
taken. Two media officers,
two media assistants, a receptionist, technicians and a computer
operator were transferred to the media unit together with the research
division. The Government
Information Unit which launched the website have also been taken
over along with two computers and the internet connection. Despite
Cabinet approval being given, funds have not been allocated with
all payments being made by the Government Information Department.
Five vehicles
have also been taken from the Department. The Sunday
Times learns that Cabinet approval was granted to recruit staff
from the Government Information Department on a temporary basis.
Although the Media Unit was planning to recruit journalists from
Lake House the response was poor as bonuses and other fringe benefits
would not be available. Meanwhile Director
Government Information Department Berty Jayasekera told The Sunday
Times that the staff will be recruited only on a temporary basis
and the Government Information Department will continue with the
specific work required of it. |
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