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Cold, but you won't freeze The cold weather
conditions are likely to continue till about mid February but they
will go nowhere near the freezing points which have killed hundreds
in other South Asian countries, a weather official said yesterday. The Meteorological Department's Deputy Director, K.V.R. Abhayasinghe, said that current weather was a normal part of the Northeast monsoon though it was slightly colder than in other years. Wife of ex-Associate Editor of Daily News dies The wife of
former Associate Editor of the Daily News, Nemsiri Mutukumaru, Esme
Mutukumaru, passed away yesterday. Mrs. Mutukumaru
was formerly the Deputy Chief Supervisor of the CTO. After retirement
in 1983 she took a keen interest in Buddhism and became a life member
of the ACBC and worked at the Fellowship of Buddhism - Sri Lanka
Regional Centre and the Bangkok-based World Foundation of Buddhist
Dharmadutha activities. She was also the Executive Editor of the
New World Buddhist. The cremation will take place at 5.30 p.m. tomorrow (January 20) at Rawatawatte, Moratuwa. OPA calls for views on ragging The Organisation
of Professional Associations (OPA) has called for written submissions
from the public during this month on the ragging that has been taking
place in the universities recently. Views of the
general public have been invited in an exercise undertaken by the
OPA which plans to submit recommendations to the government by March
after a careful study of the recent incidents of ragging in universities.
The public
have been asked to send in their submissions before the end of January
to OPA President, 275/75, Prof. Stanley Wijesundara Mawatha, Colombo
7. The OPA also
held one of its first seminars on the incident which took place
at the Sri Jayewardhanapura University where ragging claimed the
life of a young boy. This is the first in a series of such seminars
to be held on ' Violence among youth '. The OPA also called on the government to take immediate steps to prevent acts of ragging in order to control the violent behaviour of students, which is fast spreading to schools. Sub-lease of UDA building in question By Shanika
Udawatte The building,
which is owned by the UDA, is being used by the Colombo Commercial
Company (CCC) on lease and a part of this building has been sub-leased
to the CWE by the CCC. Western Region
Development Minister M H Mohamed under whose purview the UDA functions,
said the CWE had moved into a UDA owned building without its authorisation
and that the CCC had violated regulations of the lease agreement
by subleasing the building. However Commerce
and Consumer Affairs Minister Ravi Karunanayake said all what the
CWE had done was rented out a building for a sales outlet of the
CWE from a private company which was willing to provide suitable
premises. According to
the Deputy Director General of the UDA K V Dharmasiri the building
which the CCC is using at Sir James Peiris Mawatha has been given
to the CCC on lease by the UDA for a period of six years ending
in 2005, and that it is a violation of lease regulations for the
CCC to sublease any part of the building without the prior permission
of the UDA. Mr. Dharmasiri
said that the CCC has subleased a part of the building to the CWE
and also to some other private institutions without the authority
of the UDA which had sent letters informing the CCC, with copies
to the tenants, about the violation of the lease agreement. The UDA would
take legal action after a grace period if the CCC fails to take
proper action regarding its tenants, he said. CCC Chairman
Clive de Silva told The Sunday Times that his company has not violated
any regulations of the lease agreement. He said that since this was a matter regarding two government institutions he has left it for the institutions concerned to resolve the matter among themselves. Frustrated cops to appeal to Geneva By Shanika
Udawatte They are to
complain that irregularities in promotions have affected them with
their promotions being held up. They said that irregular promotions
during the past decade have caused severe unrest among the Police
officers. "There
is no proper and transparent, promotion and transfer scheme laid
down in the police service and this has led to stagnation,"
a senior police officer said. There are some
officers in the 'senior gazetted' ranks (Assistant Superintendent
of Police and above ranks) who have served in the same rank for
over a period of ten years, he said. Sources from within the police said that in certain cases junior officers have been promoted above senior officers and been given important portfolios due to political and various other influences and that this has led to hardworking and efficient senior officers being frustrated. Responding to these comments Interior Minister John Amaratunga said very soon the Police Commission will be conducting interviews and promoting qualified officers to the due ranks. He also added that a clear promotion criteria is being prepared so that there is no favouritism or influence peddling. Food court stalls under fire from both sides By Faraza
Farook The food court
stalls were raided last week by Colombo Municipal's health officials
with Chief Medical Officer Pradeep Kariyawasam describing them as
places where disasters were waiting to happen. Dr. Kariyawasam
said they had ordered the MC food court stalls to close down and
revamp the place or face cancellation of their licences. He said four
of the 13 stalls would be hauled before courts for selling unhygienic
food prepared in makeshift kitchens. "There
is disaster waiting to happen with wires hanging around. If there
is a fire, it will quickly spread and this is a place where several
thousands gather each day," he said. Majestic City
Deputy Chairman J.C. Page said that according to the agreement,
the stalls were supposed to bring pre-cooked food. "We were
not aware that they were cooking in the food court," he said.
Early last year too, during one of the regular meetings between
food court owners and the MC management, instructions had been given
to avoid cooking in the stalls. "They
say they won't do it, but it seems that it has been happening. The
place has been rented out and the management has no authority to
interfere in their activities," Mr. Page said acknowledging
the food stalls were violating the agreement. "We have asked them to stick to the terms and conditions. If they fail, the public health department will take appropriate action," Mr. Page said. Otunnu to make direct probe Amidst allegations
of continuing child recruitment and abductions by the LTTE, UN Special
Envoy Olara Otunnu is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka early next month
for a first hand probe. LTTE Chief
Negotiator Anton Balasingham told a news conference after the latest
session of talks in Thailand that the Tigers were no longer recruiting
children. But reports of LTTE child recruitment persist and Mr.
Otunnu is to make direct investigations. Soon after
the visit by Mr. Otunnu, who is the UN special representative for
children in armed conflict areas, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
will be paying a two-day visit on February 26 and 27 - the first
by a UN chief since U-Thant came in 1967.Foreign Minister Tyronne
Fernando said Mr. Annan had expressed the wish to visit Jaffna also
to give a push for UN programmes on demining and rehabilitation. He said Mr. Annan was expected to hold extensive talks with the President, the Prime Minster and other government leaders. Muslims MPs from NE ask for separate representation By Nilika
Kasturisinghe Eastern Province
parliamentarian M.L.A.M. Hisbullah confirming this said ten Members
of Parliament have already promised to sign the letter with the
others to follow. Mr. Hisbullah said the MPs would go in a delegation
to meet Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and hand him their letter. Meanwhile,
SLMC leader Minister Rauf Hakeem said "It is certainly not
satisfactory to confine the presence of a Muslim delegation to stage
when political matters relating to Muslims are taken up. Certainly
when the structure of the final settlement and constitutional changes
relating to devolution are discussed the continued presence of Muslims
are imperative." "Our contention is that the negotiations
which are now underway should be confined only to the two main protagonists
who have been engaged in this war, meaning the government and the
LTTE, lacks sincerity," he said. He said a specific assurance was given by the LTTE to accommodate a separate delegation to the peace talks when a written undertaking to that effect was embodied in the joint statement that he signed with Mr. Prabhakaran, on April 13. Mr. Hakeem said, it was subsequently ratified by the statement issued by the Norwegian Embassy in London after I met Mr. Balasingham prior to the first session of talks. "I observe unfortunately there is deliberate intransigence on this issue by the LTTE to put it mildly," he said. |
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