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Home » NewsKandy draws millions of devotees
Hundreds of thousands of Buddhist devotees, young and old, are thronging the historic city of Kandy to pay homage to the Buddha’s sacred Tooth Relic, which is being displayed to the public for the first time in 16 years at the Sri Dalada Maligawa. With authorities expecting more than two million visitors from across the [...]
50 new bribery cases coming to courts
The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) is taking steps to file as many as 50 court cases shortly regarding long-running bribery and corruption investigations which have now been completed. A majority of the accused who are to be indicted are government officials, including several senior officials, CIABOC sources said. The court [...]
Govt. seeks Cabinet approval to buy 1.1 million more passports
Cabinet approval is being sought to buy 1.1 million more machine-readable passports (MRPs) from Thales DIS Finland OY to meet demand until Sri Lanka transitions to the e-passport, sources from the Department of Immigration and Emigration (DIE) said. Thales is the same company that won the DIE’s bungled tender for five million e-passports last year. [...]
Panadura Vadaya documents declared UNESCO Heritage
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has included the documents connected with the 1873 ‘Panadura Vadaya’ (The Great Debate of Panadura) in its list of items of documentary heritage inscribed on the Memory of the World International Register in 2025. The four documents are among 74 new items included in the list [...]
President’s campaign remarks prompt second complaint to Election Commission
The Elections Commission has received a second complaint against President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, alleging that he violated election laws during the ongoing local councils campaign. The watchdog body, Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV), submitted its complaint on Friday, following its first complaint, for which, it says, it has not received an acknowledgement so far, [...]
Sri Lanka pays its UN dues in full for 2025, while US owes world body $2.8 billion
UNITED NATIONS – At a press briefing last week, Sri Lanka was singled out for paying its UN dues in full for 2025—one of only 93 countries on a list of honourees (out of a total of 193 member states). “We say thank you to our friends in Colombo for their full payment to the [...]
RDA rejects China Harbour’s Rs. 7.9 billion claim over Southern Expressway dispute
Says no dues are owed and calls for criminal investigations By Namini Wijedasa Setting the stage for a possible legal battle, the Road Development Authority (RDA) has rejected a renewed claim from China Harbour Engineering Corporation (CHEC) for billions of rupees “in outstanding dues” for building the Southern Expressway’s Kottawa-Dodangoda section, which was opened more [...]
Bid to remove Deshabandu: Probe committee appointment finalised
By Ranjith Padmasiri Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne is expected to finalise the appointment of the Committee of Inquiry (CoI) tasked with probing the charges against suspended Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon in the next few days. A resolution calling for the appointment of a CoI to remove Mr. Tennakoon from his post for misconduct [...]
Lankan delegation to meet US trade chief on Tuesday; talks focus on tariffs
By Mimi Alphonsus A Sri Lankan delegation will meet United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Tuesday, April 22, to negotiate tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump, a government minister reveals. Labour Minister and Deputy Economic Development Minister Anil Jayantha Fernando said the delegation would consist of officials from the Foreign Ministry, Trade Ministry, [...]
X-Press Pearl disaster: Court orders examination of evidence against accused
By Ranjith Padmasiri Colombo High Court Judge Sanjeewa Nissanka ordered that the examination of evidence against eight accused, indicted over the X-Press Pearl disaster, can resume on May 15. The case had been held up due to a preliminary objection. The judge gave the order after considering a motion filed by Solicitor General Madawa Tennakoon, [...]
CPJ publishes advisory for journalists planning to travel to the US
“Journalists will not be exempt and should anticipate potential restrictions or questioning when traveling to or from the United States,” the statement says, following Trump administration proposal under which more than 40 countries are being considered for full or partially restricted travel to the US The US, which routinely issues strictures on media freedom to [...]
Sacred tooth relic exposition begins ceremonially; two million devotees expected
As the air filled with the sound of the chanting of pirith and traditional drums beats declaring open the special exposition of the Sacred Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha at the Dalada Maligawa on Friday, thousands of Buddhist devotees lined the streets of Kandy patiently waiting their turn to pay homage to the Relic. The [...]
Teeming crowds in queues jostle for breathing space
While the enormity of organising an event on the scale of the Dalada Vandana is understandable, the way those queuing up to enter the Dalada Maligawa were caged in passages with high iron railings left many exasperated and angry. With elders and very young among the crowds, the cramped passages with a wall on one [...]
Drunk-driving and falling asleep on the wheel claim many lives during Avurudu
Drunk driving along with drivers falling asleep on the wheel resulted in a string of accidents during the New Year season. At least 105 persons were killed while scores of others were injured in road accidents. Even though this year’s statistics show a slight drop in accidents compared to last year, many fatal and nonfatal [...]
Man involved in Manampitiya church shooting remanded till today
By Tharushi Weerasinghe The suspect arrested over a shooting at a church in Manampitiya was further remanded by the Polonnaruwa Magistrate’s Court until today. The 38-year-old man was arrested on Friday for opening fire at the Living Christ Church in Manampitiya following a personal conflict with the pastor in charge. Eye witnesses claimed that he [...]
Tussle for foothold in local bodies intensifies
By Kasun Warakapitiya Political parties have stepped up their campaigns to gain public attention ahead of the local polls, after a brief slowdown during New Year week. The National People’s Power (NPP) is campaigning with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake fronting the rallies. President Dissanayake, addressing an election rally at Jaffna on Thursday, said that the [...]
Ballot papers reprinted for local government election
By Ishu Bandara More than 200,000 reprinted ballot papers for the 2025 Local Government Election, covering 102 local councils, are scheduled to be finalised and fully handed over to the Election Commission (EC) today, April 20, according to Government Printer Pradeep Pushpakumara. Mr. Pushpakumara informed the Sunday Times that the ballot papers were initially printed [...]
Hali-Ela drowns in rain
Heavy rains experienced in the Hali –Ela area yesterday left the town area inundated causing inconvenience to motorists. The road across the railway bridge too was underwater. Pix by Prasad Rukmal
Request for voluntary disconnection of solar power systems slammed by experts
By Dilushi Wijesinghe Experts in the renewable energy sector have criticised the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) for requesting the voluntary disconnection of solar power systems, calling it a major setback for their industry and blaming the utility for systemic failures. Between April 10 and 21 this year, the CEB requested the disconnection of net plus [...]
Limiting solar power during Avurudu was purely due to technical reasons, CEB says
By Niranjala Ariyawansha The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has stressed that the decision to limit the use of rooftop solar power from April 11 to 13 to maintain the stability of the national grid was purely due to technical reasons. The CEB points out that in order to maintain the stability of the national grid [...]
Mosquitoes, rats, snakes breeding in front of CMC Pest Control Unit
By Kasun Warakapitiya Staring at the Colombo Municipal Council’s (CMC) Pest Control Unit is an abandoned Urban Development Authority (UDA) property – one of the capital city’s major breeding grounds for pests from snakes to rats, palm civets and mosquitoes. With mosquito-driven Dengue and Chikungunya now raging in Colombo’s city limits, this property has become [...]
All eyes on the biggest piece of the local govt. election pie
By Sandun Jayawardana Control of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) will be the biggest price for political parties and independent groups contesting the upcoming local government election on May 6. A total of 394, 533 registered voters will be eligible to vote at the election, with 2800 candidates contesting from 47 wards in the city. [...]
Waiting for justice with slow-healing wounds: Looking back on Easter Sunday attacks
By Tharushi Weerasinghe On Thursday, the Sunday Times visited survivors of the bombing at St. Sebastian’s Church in Katuwapitiya, one of several sites targeted in the devastating Easter Sunday attacks of 2019, which killed over 250 people and injured more than 500. Six years later, frustration over the lack of justice continues to grow. Many [...]
Authorities on a spree of successful drug seizures on land and at sea
By Sandun Jayawardana Authorities have successfully carried out a spate of drug seizures and arrests, both on land and at sea over the past two weeks, with stepped up anti-narcotics operations bringing results. The seizures include two mid-sea interceptions by the Sri Lanka Navy on April 5 and 11, which resulted in the capture of [...]
China carves out US$4 billion chunk from Sri Lanka trade in 2024
BY KAPILA BANDARA China’s ever-expanding trade surplus with Sri Lanka has bulged to a new high surpassing US$4 billion (Rs 1.195 trillion) in 2024, nearly doubling from the year before and continuing the nine-figure advantages. This was a period in which Sri Lanka’s import prices eased slightly overall improving the terms of trade, as measured [...]
Tour de historic Bogambara prison: People left in the dark
Story and Pix Chandani Kirinde The once notorious Bogambara Prison located in the Kandy city which is now open to the public is in dire need of restoration and development so that visitors to the historic building can experience a bit of the country’s history in a meaningful manner. The building and premise which comes [...]
Kalpitiya’s donkeys to be tapped for milk industry
Text and pix by Padma Kumari Kankanamge A Sri Lankan entrepreneur, Roshan Lowe, hopes to establish a donkey milk industry in Kalpitiya, aiming to produce milk and related products for international markets. A discussion on the proposed project was held this week. The meeting was attended by officials including the Puttalam Additional District Secretary (Lands) [...]
Hanging electric fence delivers a brief jolt to deter jumbos
By D.Thiviyatharshini A hanging electric fence which deters elephants but allows people and smaller animals, and covered vehicles to move beneath it, has been found to be more effective and less costlier, a researcher believes. A conventional electric fence is not effective against elephants who find ways to dismantle the barrier. A simple double-sided hanging [...]
Sinharaja loner checks in and goes about on its rounds
By Malaka Rodrigo As Sri Lanka prepared for Avurudu festivities, an environmental research center in Deniyaya saw an unexpected visitor at dusk on April 8. Silently emerging from the shadows of the rainforest, the lone elephant stepped gently onto the rain-soaked earth, leaving deep footprints in the muddy ground. It paused to feed on a [...]