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Home » NewsA bit of ABBA after political hustle
Night is young and the music’s high; with a bit of rock music, everything is fine: In tune with the words of this famous ABBA classic “You Are the Dancing Queen; Young and Sweet,” Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna General Secretary Tilvyn Silva and other stalwarts clapped and tapped after months of unending [...]
Stay on course, IMF advises new Govt.
Protect the gains made so far; redouble efforts to achieve social spending targets, says delegation chief By Bandula Sirimanna and Kapila Bandara Stay on the macroeconomic reform path to protect the gains so far, rebuild fiscal buffers, and redouble efforts to achieve the minimum social spending target, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) advised Sri Lanka yesterday. [...]
Cabinet ministers to use predecessors’ fleet
No new vehicles for ministers and Govt. MPs By Damith Wickramasekara Cabinet and deputy ministers will use official vehicles used by ministers in the previous government, while all other government MPs will also be given an official “non-luxury, fuel-efficient” vehicle, a senior government official told the Sunday Times. This means that all 159 government MPs [...]
President tells Laugfs Gas to ensure supplies to households
The Government has directed Laugfs Gas, one of the major providers of cooking gas, to ensure a monthly supply of 3,000 metric tonnes to households on a priority basis compared to industrial customers, as a country-wide Laugfs gas shortage is being experienced. Issuing a gazette notification on Friday under Section 12 of the Finance Act [...]
Wasantha Samarasinghe case: Deputy minister and union leader yet to respond to police
By Ranjith Padmasiri Police on Friday informed the Mt. Lavinia Magistrate’s Court that two witnesses, one of whom is a deputy minister in the new government, were yet to give statements over the case involving the new trade minister, Wasanatha Samarasinghe, despite several phone calls and letters. The Fraud Investigation Bureau is investigating allegations that [...]
Another KDU student dies 3 weeks after Badulla bus crash
By Prasad Rukmal Another student from the Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) succumbed to injuries yesterday, three weeks after an accident in Badulla that killed two female students and injured 42. The latest victim was K. Sindujan (24) a resident of Jaffna.
2 brothers die in car accident
By Iresha Bandara Two young brothers, studying abroad, tragically lost their lives in a horrific car accident early yesterday morning in a motor accident near the Kamburapola bridge on the Kuliyapitiya-Hettipola road early yesterday morning (23). The incident occurred around 1 a.m. when the Toyota Land Cruiser luxury jeep that was being driven by one [...]
Rs. 300,000 worth items stolen from former Election Commissioner’s Ambalangoda house
By D.G. Sugathapala Robbers broke into the residence of former Election Commission chairman Mahinda Deshapriya in Ambalangoda, and removed items to the value of Rs. 300,000, Police said yesterday. Two gas cylinders, a television set, two gold chains, and four wristwatches had been removed. Mr. Deshapriya and his wife currently reside in Colombo and visit [...]
Former Solicitor General Jinasena to be appointed as Justice Ministry secretary
By Ranjith Padmasiri Former Solicitor General Ayesha Jinasena, PC is tipped to be appointed as the Secretary to the Ministry of Justice, the Sunday Times learns. Ms Jinasena who served in the Attorney General’s Department for over 30 years was previously recommended to the Supreme Court. However in April this year the Supreme Court issued [...]
GMOA discusses tax relief for doctors among other issues with Health Minister
The Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) has requested the newly appointed Health Minister, Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, to urgently look into providing tax relief to doctors. The GMOA made the request when the minister met with representatives of medical associations yesterday. GMOA Spokesman Dr. Chamil Wijesinghe said executive committee members took part in the meeting with [...]
10th Parliament begins amidst a few relieved old timers and sea of new faces
By Sandun Jayawardana The inaugural session of the Tenth Parliament of Sri Lanka provided many milestones, fittingly following on from a general election that changed the nation’s political landscape. For starters, it is the first Parliament where a single party has won a 2/3 majority without having to rely on a coalition. Moreover, more than [...]
MPs to be given lessons on social media ethics during orientation programme
Parliament officials are expected to emphasise that video recording inside the chamber during Parliamentary sessions, going live on social media, and sharing videos taken during Parliament sessions on social media are prohibited when newly elected MPs take part in a three-day orientation workshop starting tomorrow (25). Former Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena had given a ruling [...]
Kenya cancels deals with Adani Group, which also has MoU with CEB
Kenya has cancelled multimillion-dollar deals with the Adani Group for airport modernisation and energy projects following the indictment by US prosecutors of its founder and chairman, Gautam Adani, for alleged fraud and bribery. Separately, the Bangladeshi government was on Tuesday directed by the country’s High Court to form a high-level inquiry committee of energy and [...]
Moves to mark Maveerar Day on Wednesday in North and East
Preparations are underway by war-affected families and youth groups to observe the annual Maveerar Naal—Martyrs Day—next Wednesday (November 27) across abandoned cemeteries in the Northern and Eastern provinces. In Jaffna, arrangements are in place near the Thileepan memorial at Nallur to commemorate the event where the lists of those who died are displayed. Declared by [...]
Brief introduction to AKD’s Ministers and Deputy Ministers
By Sandun Jayawardana and Mimi Alphonsus President Anura Kumara Dissanayake swore in a 21-Member Cabinet at the Presidential Secretariat on Monday (18). President Dissanayake retained the subjects of Defence, Finance, Planning and Economic Development and Digital Economy. Following are brief biographies of the new ministers:
Short-term Nadu imports to ease seasonal shortage
By Kasun Warakapitiya The new government is grappling with one of its first major issues to ensure sufficient rice availability at the maximum retail price ahead of the festive season, amid allegations that large-scale millers are hoarding paddy. In the short-term, 70,000 metric tonnes of Nadu rice will be imported before mid-next month. The Paddy [...]
Army, STF spend 3 days in Yala to round up cannabis cultivation suspects
Pix and text by Princy Surendra A three-day joint operation of the army intelligence officers and the Police Special Task Force (STF) officials have rounded up a six-acre cannabis cultivation within the Yala National Park. A team of eight army intelligence officials based in the Kawanthissapura camp had joined 10 police STF officials attached to [...]
CID begins questioning several former ministers over medical imports bypassing regulatory oversight
Statements already recorded from Harin Fernando, Prasanna Ranatunga and former Health Minister Ramesh Pathirana By Namini Wijedasa The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has started recording statements from former ministers who were part of the Cabinet that approved medical imports bypassing regulatory oversight. This is pursuant to a Supreme Court (SC) order instructing the police to [...]
Tariff revision: CEB requests second extension from PUCSL to submit report
The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) this week requested the regulator, Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), still more time to submit its proposal for a tariff revision. In a letter to PUCSL Director General, CEB General Manager K.G.R.F Comester says that the utility needs another two weeks to refine the inputs in their proposal, [...]
HC orders CEB to pay billions of rupees to Japanese joint venture
A Sri Lankan High Court has upheld an arbitral award requiring the state-owned Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to settle billions of rupees in unpaid contract fees, costs and interest to a Japanese joint venture that built the second phase of the Japan International Cooperation Agency-funded Upper Kotmale Hydropower Project (UKHP). The sums owed by CEB [...]
Trade union leaders to resume discussions regarding demands with the new govt.
By Ishu Bandara Trade Union leaders have vowed to resume pushing for their demands to the newly appointed government from where discussions ended with the previous government. Many trade union leaders are planning to meet with authorities in the coming weeks to present their proposals. Considering the government’s budget is scheduled for February 2025, some [...]
Little or no monitoring of Child Development Centres a serious threat to children’s safety, report reveals
By Mimi Alphonsus and Dilushi Wijesinghe The escape of nine girls from a state-run child care institution in August this year has raised concerns about abuse in children’s homes. Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Children and Women Abuse Investigation Range Renuka Jayasundara stated: “Every year, statistics have shown that some children who are abused in [...]
Another KDU student dies 3 weeks after Badulla bus crash
By Prasad Rukmal Another student from the Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) succumbed to injuries yesterday, three weeks after an accident in Badulla that killed two female students and injured 42. The latest victim was K. Sindujan (24) a resident of Jaffna. According to police, some of the injured students are undergoing treatment at the Boralesgamuwa [...]
Student killed in barrel explosion in garage
A student was killed after he was hit by the lid of a barrel that was blown off due to internal pressure, a Magisterial inquiry in Hambantota was told. Sixteen year old R.G.S.Sithumini had visited his friends at a garage where spray painting work is carried out in Angunukolapelessa, where the incident occurred. The barrel [...]
Fatal assault of teen puts spotlight on teacher violence
By Hiran Priyankara Jayasinghe and Nathara Abeywickrema The death of 16-year-old Ramisha Dinithi Thamel, a Grade 10 student at Martin and Forest College, Wennappuwa, has sparked serious debate over the role of teachers and their disciplinary methods. After allegedly being brutally assaulted by her class teacher and music teacher for leaving class without permission and [...]