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NATIONAL HEROES DAY to commemorate the end of a three decade long northern separatist insurgency and remembrance of fallen officers and soldiers was marked last Friday at the Memorial Park at Battaramulla. The armed conflict ended on May 18, 2009 with the defeat of the LTTE. Commander in chief of the Armed Forces President Ranil [...]
Lanka confident of regaining GSP + concessions from EU
By Sunimalee Dias Sri Lanka has complied with all the regulations to qualify for EU GSP+ concessions, and is confident in regaining them when the new round of GSP+ concessions is announced. “We are on a good wicket now,” said Shobini Gunasekera, Director-General – Europe and North America at the Foreign Ministry, commenting on the [...]
Lanka gets mentioned in the dispatches by G-7
By Ameen Izzadeen Sri Lanka’s debt crisis figured in G7 summit’s final communique, with leaders of the world’s advanced liberal economies welcoming the launch of the Sri Lanka-specific creditors’ meeting under the three co-chairs — France, India and Japan. “Debt vulnerabilities in middle income countries (MICs) should be addressed by multilateral coordination. In this respect, [...]
‘Glorious Church’ in tax controversy
By Bandula Sirimanna The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) this week was scrambling to ascertain whether the ‘Glorious Church’ and its pastor Jerome Fernando, now in the centre of a controversy, were paying taxes to the Government as records, including personal NIC numbers or other details were not available, its officials said. An official at the [...]
SL slams Trudeau for outrageous claim
Sri Lankan Government yesterday summoned the Canadian High Commissioner Eric Walsh to the Foreign Ministry and later slammed the Canadian Government for what it called “unfounded allegations” by its Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in an “outrageous claim of genocide” pertaining to the past conflict in Sri Lanka. In a strongly worded rebuttal, the Ministry urged [...]
Japan reassures Lanka: No militarisation of Indian Ocean
From Ameen Izzadeen in Hiroshima Japan yesterday said that the Quadrilateral Security Alliance or Quad, of which it is a member along with the United States, India and Australia, would no way lead to the militarisation of the Indian Ocean or increase tension in the region vis-à-vis any other country. In an interview with the [...]
Navy undecided on rescue operation of Chinese fishing vessel
By Kasun Warakapitiya The Sri Lanka Navy, yesterday, was undecided whether they would take part in a rescue operation of a Chinese fishing vessel which capsized in international waters last Thursday due to the distance to the location. The Chinese Government sought assistance from five countries including Sri Lanka after 39 crew members of the [...]
Final rites of Christopher Paul held in Weligampitiya yesterday
The funeral of veteran singer and musician Christopher Paul was held yesterday at Weligampitiya in Ja Ela. The funeral service was held at St Anne’s church and was followed by the burial.
Kushani Rohanadeera appointed new Parliamentary Gen Sec
President Ranil Wickremesinghe has appointed Kushani Rohanadeera as the next Parliamentary General Secretary with effect from Tuesday. The appointment was made with the approval of the Constitutional Council. Ms Rohanadheera, the current Parliamentary Chief of Staff and Deputy General Secretary, will succeed Dhammika Dasanayake, who will retire soon. She has a BSc (Hons.) in Biological [...]
X-Press Pearl: SJB files legal action against 8 defendants
The main Opposition party Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) has filed legal action against eight defendants in the Colombo High Court over the May, 2021 X-Press Pearl disaster. The legal action has been filed by SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara and SJB Parliamentarian Dr. Kavinda Jayawardhana, an environmentalist and a member of a fisherfolk organisation. [...]
Nutrition Physicians as change agents
Brand new SLCNP to work with other disciplines to guide decision-makers By Kumudini Hettiarachchi With a severe economic crisis gripping Sri Lanka, there has been strong focus on nutrition and it is at this critical juncture that the Sri Lanka College of Nutrition Physicians (SLCNP) is born. Formed about six months ago, SLCNP will have [...]
Restrictions on public servants going overseas for work
The Finance Ministry has introduced new conditions narrowing the scope where public servants can apply to go abroad for work for a maximum of five years on no-pay leave. According to a new Finance Ministry circular dated May 17, public servants can only obtain no-pay leave to go abroad for work if they have completed [...]
Action against traders who do not reduce prices
The Government is to take counter measures to prevent companies from making ‘super profits’ by failing to pass on the benefits of paying less for imported items with the fluctuation of currency rates, a senior Finance Ministry official said. The Finance Ministry has appointed a review committee to ascertain how companies were making extra profits, [...]
China’s vast industrial-scale fleet fishing in distant oceans
By Kapila Bandara A few years ago, Ecuador’s navy found to its horror, a mega, illegal Chinese fishing fleet of 340 vessels just outside the biodiverse Galápagos Islands, a UNESCO World Heritage site. They had also avoided being tracked by illegally switching off satellite communications. China’s vast fishing armada has been for years raiding oceans [...]
SriLankan Airlines US$175m bond default heightens repayment uncertainty
By Kapila Bandara Heavily indebted SriLankan Airlines says it will engage with holders of US$175 million (Rs 53.3 billion), 7% fixed coupon international bonds on which it did not pay interest in December and during the 30-day grace period, setting a default in motion. The balance as at March 31, 2022 was Rs 51.32bn. Fitch [...]
Pastor Jerome under the radar, CID to probe the big bucks behind his church
By Sandun Jayawardana and Damith Wickramasekara A wide-ranging criminal investigation into Pastor Jerome Fernando, now at the centre of a controversy, will look into his finances and how vast sums of money came to maintain his massive church complex in Katunayake, which authorities confirm is unregistered. Pastor Fernando, a self-styled “prophet,” describes himself on his [...]
Risk of rat fever on the rise
Try not to catch it, but if you have fever think of mee una By Kumudini Hettiarachchi Be aware and beware – for, with the rains come the risk of a disease spread by a bacterium, in addition to several viral diseases in circulation these days. Rat fever (mee una) or leptospirosis was the alert [...]
Anxiety, depression part of our collective trauma in time of mental healthcare collapse
By S Rubatheesan Over the past six months, both Jeyavathani* and her husband who are daily wage farm workers tried everything they knew to ensure stable relations among their family of five during the unprecedented economic crisis. First, a small savings deposit made of wedding gifts evaporated, and then they pawned some of the jewellery [...]
National War Heroes’ Day Commemoration
A nation paid tribute to the war heroes of the tri-services, Police, and Civil Defence Forces who made sacrifices in the three-decade-long civil war at the 14th “National War Heroes’ Day Commemoration” held on Friday (May 19) at the Battaramulla War Heroes’ Memorial under the patronage of the President and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed [...]
Blasting away our marine life and marine tourism
Calls for crackdown on unseen crime of dynamite and ammonium nitrate fishing before it’s too late By Namini Wijedasa On May 8, Olivenzo Arnolda, an experienced Sri Lankan scuba diver and instructor, chaperoned British and Russian tourists to the Swami Rock diving site in Trincomalee for a morning of peaceful swimming. It was between 11.30 and [...]
Issuing shotguns to farmers facing crop pests resumes
By Kasun Warakapitiya The Government has decided to resume issuing shotguns to farmers who want to deal with potential damage to their crop by wild animals. Issuing of shotguns had been stopped before the coronavirus pandemic spread in Sri Lanka Farmers have for long raised the issue of crop damage by monkeys, porcupines, giant squirrels, [...]
Sri Lanka dragging its feet on UNESCO teacher centre
By Nadia Fazlulhaq Sri Lanka is at risk of losing UNESCO recognition given to an institution established nine years ago to serve as a centre for teacher development in South Asia. Education authorities are now struggling to secure the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recognition for the South Asian Centre for Teacher [...]
Outdated tech, bamboo gates are part of rail crossing protection
By Nathara Abeywickrema Measures are being taken to improve protective mechanisms at rail crossings to reduce accidents, railway authorities say. Most accidents involve vehicles and the impacts with locomotives cause extensive and multiple internal and external injuries such as skull fractures. Some are decapitated and some injuries even lead to amputations. General Manager of Sri [...]
State institutions to submit energy consumption reports
Heads of all State institutions are instructed to submit a comprehensive energy consumption report on the usage of water, electricity, fuel, and telephone for the period of June 30 to December 31 last year in order to evaluate whether those institutions properly followed cost-cutting guidelines introduced by the Government to reduce expenditure. The Ministry of [...]
Weather helping Influenza virus to spread and survive
By Kumudini Hettiarachchi Time will tell whether the slow and steady rise of influenza (flu) since January will plateau or peak to cause an epidemic. This is why people need to take all precautions to prevent getting the flu, said Consultant Medical Virologist Dr. Jude Jayamaha of the Department of Virology, Medical Research Institute (MRI). [...]
Marking answer scripts in fits and starts
By Senuka Jayakody Marking of GCE Advanced Level answer scripts can be completed by end June, the commissioner general of the Department of Examinations, Amith Jayasundara told the Sunday Times. But, he said exact “dates cannot be announced’’ because plans are in disarray. After marking is completed, practical exams and other related activities can be [...]
Horizon provides a gateway to Australia – La Trobe University degree pathway now in Sri Lanka at Horizon Campus
Horizon Campus, renowned non-state higher education institution in Sri Lanka, having recently partnered with La Trobe University, one of Australia’s prestigious universities, is as a part of this collaboration, offering students in Sri Lanka exceptional degree pathway programmes in Business, IT, and Engineering. This presents exciting opportunities for students who want to earn an Australian [...]