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Home » NewsRanil-Champika talks
Newly formed United Republic Front leader Patali Champika Ranawaka and a delegation from the front met President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday at the United National Party headquarters Sirikotha to discuss the URF’s common minimum programme to build up the country. The meeting is significant in the light of President Wickremesinghe’s effort to contest the presidential election [...]
Russian, Ukrainian tourists told to leave country in 14 days
Concern over foreign tourists running illegal businesses in Sri Lanka The Department of Immigration and Emigration has granted 14 days from Friday (February 23, 2024) for Russian and Ukrainian tourists living long-term in Sri Lanka to leave the country. Immigration and Emigration Controller Harsha Illukpitiya issued a letter on Thursday, February 22, to the Tourism [...]
Indignation over big hike in salaries for CBSL staff
By Bandula Sirimanna The salaries of Central Bank employees have been adjusted by proportions of 29.53% to 79.97% under a triennial pay revision, despite the fiscal authority directive to tighten the belts of the public sector, but this has aroused indignation across the board. The Central Bank Deputy Governor’s monthly pay has been increased to [...]
Kurunegala hospital’s dialysis section sealed after several deaths
By Pushpakumara Jayaratna The Kurunegala Hospital’s dialysis section has been sealed following suspicion that some of the patients who got treatment have died of an infection. A two-member committee has been appointed by the Health Ministry to investigate the issue, Health Secretary Dr. Palitha Mahipala said. A team of Health Ministry officials is due to [...]
Superior courts hit by growing number of vacancies and dispute over appointment
By Ranjith Padmasiri A second vacancy in the Supreme Court is due next week when Justice Priyantha Jayawardene retires amid the ongoing dispute between the Constitutional Council and the Executive over the filling of a vacancy in the court. On November 15, last year, Justice Buweneka Aluwihare retired from the court. Several promotions in the [...]
CBSL salary controversy: Governing body wants to explain reasons to Parliament
The Central Bank’s Governing Board has made a formal request through President and Finance Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that they be called before Parliament to answer questions on the recent controversy regarding salary increments. “We want to maintain our accountability and transparency alongside the higher autonomy we got under the new Act,” CBSL Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe, [...]
Ghazali Hussain to contest BASL presidency
H. Ghazali Hussain has announced his candidacy for BASL presidency in 2025. Mr Hussain has been 40 year at the Bar and Served the Attorney General’s Department as State Counsel for 11 years. He has served as a member of the Wakf Board of Sri Lanka and as a member of Board of Quazis. He [...]
Kotakethana murders: Ruling based on DNA evidence
By Ranjith Padmasiri Though there were no eyewitnesses to the crime, DNA evidence was ultimately instrumental in convincing the Ratnapura High Court to find the accused in the Kotakethana double murder guilty. Accordingly, High Court Judge Lanka Jayaratne sentenced the accused in the murder of a mother and daughter to death. The Judge rejected the [...]
High heat to continue till March, despite some rain forecast
By Jayanie Madawala The prevailing dry and hot weather will likely continue until March, the Department of Meteorology said. The department’s duty officer, Malith Fernando, said this is usually the period when less rainfall is received. The global situation is also similar. He said the temperature has increased as a result of a decrease in [...]
CA upholds RTIC directive to state bank to release info on recruitment
Calls for ‘transparency in public examinations’; says RTI Act gives citizens power to ‘surveil the State’ By Ranjith Padmasiri In a ruling dated February 12, 2024, the Court of Appeal upheld a 2021 directive by the Right to Information Commission (RTIC) ordering a state bank to release the marks sheets of applicants who had sat for [...]
Scorching heat raises risks for children’s health
By Nathara Abeywickrema Extreme heat can negatively affect the physical activity of vulnerable groups such as children. With annual sports meets and school cricket encounters scheduled, the physical and mental well-being of children and extreme heat are in focus again. Nutrition specialist Dr. Renuka Jayatissa told the Sunday Times that not drinking enough liquids in [...]
Indian boycott undermines St.Anthony’s feast in Kachchatheevu
By N. Lohathayalan The annual feast of St. Anthony was celebrated at the Sri Lankan islet of Kachchatheevu, with many Sri Lankan devotees attending, but it was boycotted by Indian fisherfolk in protest against the arrest of Indian fishermen for poaching. However, a few Indian High Commission officials attended the event, while about five thousand [...]
Controversy erupts over Cardinal’s move to take over Kithudana Pubuduwa
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith on Thursday issued a decree taking over all lands and other assets belonging to the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement (CCRM) or the Kithudana Pubuduwa, according to a telecast by the Catholic tv station Verbum. The move reportedly brings under the clergy the hitherto lay control lands and other assets. The donations by [...]
FAO regional conference: Resounding success a big plus for Lanka, says Country Rep.
Spells out game changing project for fisheries sector and new projects to boost agriculture sector By Namini Wijesdasa The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is mooting a proposal to attract funding of US$ 75-100mn to soften the impact of and help Sri Lanka’s fisheries sector adapt to climate change. If approved, the project will be a [...]
France keen to build common platform with Sri Lanka to fight illegal fishing: French Indo-Pacific envoy
By Anthony David France has declared its plans to fight against Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Indian ocean working through the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA). French Ambassador for Indo-Pacific, Marc Abensour told a group of selected media persons that his government was closely working with Sri Lanka on IORA initiatives. “We [...]
Climate of censorship stifles innovation and dampens spirit to find novel solutions to pressing issues
US Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy, Elizabeth Allen addresses event organised by SLPI on challenges to media freedom here and abroad The serious and escalating challenges to media freedom in Sri Lanka and around the world came in for discussion during a Press Club event organised by the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) with [...]
SLMC Council members call for explanations from Legal and Finance Units following report on financial irregularities
By Kumudini Hettiarachchi A damning independent audit report on financial irregularities in the Legal Unit of the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) from 2018-2022 has been tabled and minuted at the monthly meeting of this statutory body on Thursday (February 22). In the light of this report, both the SLMC’s Legal and Finance Units have [...]
Second FR petition filed in SC against Online Safety Act
A second fundamental rights petition was filed in the Supreme Court (SC) this week against the Government’s Online Safety Act (OSA) on grounds, among others, that the Speaker’s action in purporting to certify the Bill while Parliament stood prorogued is ex facie unconstitutional, illegal, void ab initio and a nullity. Filed by four office bearers [...]
CA upholds RTIC directive to state bank to release info on recruitment
Calls for ‘transparency in public examinations’; says RTI Act gives citizens power to ‘surveil the State’ By Ranjith Padmasiri In a ruling dated February 12, 2024, the Court of Appeal upheld a 2021 directive by the Right to Information Commission (RTIC) ordering a state bank to release the marks sheets of applicants who had sat [...]
Visitor numbers on the rise
Sri Lanka has been receiving an average of over 7,000 tourists a day in recent weeks. A total of 208,253 foreigners had visited the country during the month of January. This month, as of 18 February 2024, an average of 7,707 tourists have arrived. When considering year-on-year statistics provided by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development [...]
Sharing expertise to help people breathe
Sri Lanka College of Pulmonologists holds ‘Respire 2024’ By Kumudini Hettiarachchi Multi-disciplinary team work not just within hospitals but extending beyond to other hospitals within Sri Lanka and also across the seas to the region to provide good lung and thoracic care to patients. This was what was emphasized at ‘Respire 2024’, the two-day 14th [...]
‘Ceylon Tea’ to receive GI seal
Expert pledges French-style Appellation d’origine status for Lanka’s famous cuppa By Sunimalee Dias Where your goods come from matters in today’s world and this is getting products its seal of authenticity so consumers will be guaranteed of buying the highest quality; which is what the Ceylon Tea brand will sell in future with its sign of [...]
Parts of Yala at risk from illicit ganja growers, poachers, and bushmeat trade
With little supervision from wildlife officials, illicit activites thrive in national park’s inaccessible terrains By Kasun Warakapitiya Parts of the renowned Yala National Park, which is famed for conservation as well as an attraction to tourists, have become hubs for illegal activities such as cannabis cultivation, poaching, and the bushmeat trade. Colombarachchige Princy Surendara, 39, an [...]
Railways and police ignore defective crossings, putting lives in peril
By Hiran Priyankara Jayasinghe A young mother and her two children died at a railway crossing where the lighting had not been fixed, once again bringing into focus the deadly public transport infrastructure across Sri Lanka A day after the accident in Maiyawa, Arachchikattuwa, Transport Minister Bandula Gunawardena blamed the Central Bank of Sri Lanka [...]
Prison laundry: The untold story
The laundry washing machines used in the British era between1943-1948 are still in use and functioning well at the Welikada prison. These machines imported during the British rule are functioning better than the modern ones as they are handled by prisoners and officers with their expertise. No one is called for any repairs because the [...]
Navam Perahera in all its pageantry flair
The Navam Maha Perahera took place on February 23 and 24 at the Gangaramaya Temple. Gangaramaya Viharadhikari Kirinde Assaji Thera delivered the anushasana on Friday (23) followed by the traditional placing of the casket on the tusker Indi Raja of the Temple of the Tooth Relic in Kandy. President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa [...]
Millions chopped off national power grid over unbearable bills
By Nathara Abeywickrema Thousands of homes are being cut off from the national electricity grid in the wake of 18% tariff increase in October when the domestic category of up to 30 kilowatt hours was increased from Rs. 150 to Rs. 180. The latest figures from the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) show that in November [...]
Waiting anxiously for an exam that never seems to come
By Mimi Alphonsus The spectre of the disruption to studies caused by the COVID-19 pandemic continues to haunt Sri Lanka’s school students, a full four years after the pandemic struck. The ordinary level (O/L) and advanced level (A/L) examination schedules have still not normalised, with each batch of students since then facing delays of nearly [...]