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Oil-hedging payments: Crucial talks tomorrow
By Feizal Samath Officials of the Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) are due to meet Treasury Secretary P.B. Jayasundera tomorrow to clarify a Cabinet decision to settle a five-year old payment dispute over flawed oil hedging deals, with a US$ 60 million (Rs 7.5 billion) payout. Fresh issues have emerged with banking industry sources close to [...]
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CEB forced to lower power generation
By Damith Wickremasekara Mounting fuel bills are forcing the Ceylon Electricity Board to lower power generation, its Chairman W.P. Ganegala revealed yesterday. “Since last week the Kerawalapitiya power plant has remained shut. We are incurring a loss of Rs. 15 million a day,” he told the Sunday Times. The new situation, he said, had been [...]
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Water holes around Mattala closed to keep away birds and animals
By Leon Berenger The Civil Aviation Authority has started to cover up the water holes in and around the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) to prevent birds and other wildlife species from entering the area since they could pose a serious threat to aircraft, a senior official said yesterday. Civil Aviation Director General H.M.C. Nimalsiri [...]
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Kolonnawa to MRIA, 5 tankers of jet fuel daily for one or two flights
Hambantota oil tank farm yet to be commissioned, feasibility study under way for pipeline connecting to airport By Namini Wijedasa Five bowsers of aviation fuel travel from the Kolonnawa oil refinery to Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) every day, for refueling of aircraft, authoritative sources from the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) said. This is [...]
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Navy swoops on 26 Indians poaching in northern waters
A group of 26 Indian fishermen was apprehended by the navy after being found poaching in Sri Lankan waters on Friday evening, a senior official revealed yesterday. The group was taken into custody along with five fishing craft in the northern seas off Kovilam Point and later handed over to the authorities at Kayts Island, he [...]
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80 parties battle for approval while DP gets a tick
More than 80 applications to register new parties have been put on the back-burner by the Commissioner of Elections over the past two years, with the granting of approval this week to the Democratic Party headed by the former army commander Sarath Fonseka the only break in the pattern of rejections. The delays are due [...]
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Oxford Uni launches Kadirgamar Fund to help Asian students
Sir Adam Roberts’s book on the late Sri Lankan foreign minister launched in Islamabad and New Delhi Balliol College, one of the largest and the oldest of the OxfordUniversity colleges — established in 1263 (750 years ago) — this week launched the Lakshman Kadirgamar Fund in memory of the late Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka [...]
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Danger still lurks
Hours after the Kurunegala High Court on Friday passed the death sentence on a bus driver and a conductor involved in a deadly crash that killed 41 people at the Yaangalmodara railway crossing eight years ago, our journalist Wasantha Ramanayake captured this picture which shows danger still lurks at the same crossing. With the railway [...]
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India delays visa for SL’s envoy to Chennai
External Affairs Ministry officials say never before has it taken such a long time By Our Diplomatic Editor Sri Lanka’s newly appointed Deputy High Commissioner to India has not been able to assume duties in the south Indian Tamil Nadu state capital of Chennai for the past three months. The new Deputy High Commissioner A. [...]
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Major tax sweeteners for $220m Hambantota refinery
A US$220m (Rs. 27.6 billion) joint Indo-Lanka sugar refinery project planned for the Hambantota Free Port Area has been granted numerous tax concessions by the Minister of Investment Promotion, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena. These will include exemptions from customs levies, import and export regulations and as well as exchange control acts and regulations. The refinery will import [...]
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UNP May Day rally in three places
The United National Party will hold three separate May-Day rallies this year. Party General Secretary Tissa Attanayake said the three rallies will be held in Badulla, Kurunegala and outside the party headquarters in Pita-Kotte. “The main rally in Colombo will be held in Pita Kotte at 9 a.m., where we will be supported by four trade [...]
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BASL disturbed by unusual transfers of judicial officers
The Executive Committee of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has appointed a subcommittee to look into the recent transfers of several district court judges and magistrates who have not even completed their tenure of three years in their courts. The transfers were made by the Judicial Services Commission chaired by Chief Justice 44 Mohan [...]
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Water and more water to counter, heat, humidity and dehydration
By Nadia Fazlulhaq Health officials advise the public to drink more water and remain indoors as much as possible, with meteorologists forecasting the warm weather to continue till at least mid April. The warm weather will peak over the weekend with the sun posting itself right over Sri Lanka on April 5. Meteorology Dept’s Senior Meteorologist [...]
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Lions from Germany, Korea to breed new generation of cubs
Old big cats at Dehiwala Zoo to make way for young big ones; some cubs to be bred at zoo will be transferred to Safari Park By Hansani Bandara A new 500 acre Safari Park with a large collection of animals will be set up in Hambantota, National Zoological Gardens Director, Anura Silva said. He [...]
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Abandoned by mother, baby finds love among strangers
Several mothers voluntarily joined to breast-feed the day-old baby found abandoned in a road culvert in Hatton on Monday, the Sunday Times has learned. In an outpouring of public sympathy, more than 5000 people have offered to take custody of the infant, who was yesterday transferred from Watawala Hospital to an orphanage in Peradeniya by [...]
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TN rumblings keep Lankan shoppers and sightseers away
Travel agents complain that bookings for peak season in April down Large numbers of Sri Lankans travel to South India during the April holidays but tour operators said last week that their bookings were marginal due to protests in Tamil Nadu. “For the last one month, we have not conducted any tour packages to Chennai,” [...]
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Big stink
Residents of Meetotatamulla, Kolonnawa yesterday staged a day-long protest over the massive garbage dump in the area. Villagers charge they are suffering from diseases such as dengue, dysentery as a result of this dump. Residents claim that more than 60 people have died due to garbage being dumped at the site by the Colombo Municipal [...]
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Rape of minors on the up
The alleged sexual abuse of a 12-year-old girl by a member of the Maharagama Municipal Council last week, once again brought into focus the disturbing trend that is emerging in the incidence of child rape. The councillor who surrendered to court through his lawyer, was remanded till April 12 by the Kaduwela Magistrate. The suspect who [...]
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Consume less salt and live longer, says WHO expert
By Kumudini Hettiarachchi Try and cut out the lunu in the lunu-ambul of curries and don’t stir that spoonful of salt into the rice, is the call to all Sri Lankans from a top health expert. Stop adding salt when boiling the rice and refrain from lacing the curries with salt, stresses Dr. Firdosi Rustom Mehta, [...]
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For want of a nail … lack of funds led to students’ injuries from collapsed staircase
By Aanya Wipulasena National Heritage Minister Dr. Jagath Balasuriya said on Friday that lack of funds was the cause for the collapse of a stairway at the Colombo National Museum that left 34 students injured, at least four of them with fractures on both legs according to hospital records. Less than two-hundredth of the museum [...]
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Legal profession jolted by shuffle in judiciary
Disturbed BASL appoints committee to work out action plan As many as thirty judges from the minor judiciary have been transferred overnight by the Judicial Services Commission headed by Chief Justice 44 Mohan Peiris, causing a major uproar in the legal profession. The transfers would effectively mean that a total of 60 judges would be moved [...]
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Palestinian Religious Affairs Minister to visit Sri Lanka
The State of Palestine’s Religious Affairs Minister Dr. Mahmoud al-Habbash, accompanied by a delegation, will arrive in Sri Lanka on April 8 for a three-day visit. Dr. al-Habbash will meet Sri Lankan leaders and discuss matters of mutual interest to further enhance the bilateral relations between the two nations, the Palestinian embassy said.
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Newspaper in the classroom: A free workshop for teachers
How do you get today’s children to read? Find out from Dr. Gerard van der Weijen, an expert on young reader initiatives, at a free Sunday Times workshop for teachers. With many teachers responding favourably to the workshop titled ‘Newspapers in the classroom – a tool for teachers’ organised by the Sunday Times and the British [...]
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Boutique owner near level crossing recounts tragedy
Sounded just like a bomb going off in those days:Somalatha There had been a number of accidents even after the train rammed into the bus in 2005 – the most horrific accident at this spot. Mrs. A.K.Somalatha who owns a tea boutique near the Yaangalmodara level crossing, told the Sunday Times she wondered if road [...]
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Bus illegally driven round the end of the level crossing barrier
Yaangalmodara tragedy: Driver,conductor get death sentence By Wasantha Ramanayake The barrier at the Yaangalmodara level-crossing close to Polgahawela along the Colombo-Kurunegala main road was closed to road traffic. But a Leyland bus with a capacity crowd overtook the two or three vehicles waiting at the closed barrier and moved towards the crossing as if it [...]
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Twist in Avurudu spending as high prices hit urban shoppers
Avurudu shoppers came out in force last week and cash registers rang amid complaints of prices being much higher than a year ago. Interviews by the Sunday Times showed that shoppers this year were more aggressive in hunting for bargains than they were last year — a clear sign that spiralling prices have hit pockets. [...]
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JVP has bones to pick with then-UNP govt. as graves date to ’86-’89 period
Past hospital employees disclaim extra-judicial killings as Army plays holier than thou while awaiting outcome of postmortem, forensic investigations By Leon Berenger Reports by experts on the findings of the mass grave at Matale last week, has drawn mixed reactions from the relevant authorities and political parties, but the mystery remains unsolved, pending a court [...]
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Media organisations condemn attack on Uthayan office while police fail to do their duty
Media organisations, political parties and civil rights movements condemned this week’s attack on an Uthayan newspaper office in Kilinochchi, as police failed to make a breakthrough in the investigations. Six media organisations condemning the attack, said that the media in the Northern Province continues to be suppressed to prevent public access to information. The Sri Lanka [...]
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Declining values
Pix and text by K.G. Karunarathne Since the defacing of the historic archaeological site at Sigiriya, more cases of defacing sites of archaeological interests are being reported -the Lion’s Paw at the Sigiriya was recently defaced by a group of students. The latest desecrations are reported from Polonnaruwa Watadage where the Palace of Parakramabahu the [...]
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A professional, apolitical Bar Association
We are setting an example to civil society which must stand up fearlessly for what is right: Upul Jayasuriya By Namini Wijedasa From his very first hour as President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL), Upul Jayasuriya courted controversy. He invited the 43rd Chief Justice (CJ) Shirani Bandaranayake to the BASL’s annual convocation- [...]
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CJ 43 to file objections on May 17
Non-declaration of assets and liabilities allegation Chief Justice 43 Shirani Bandaranayake will reply to the allegations of non-declaration of assets and liabilities and file her objections on May 17 to certain Commissioners of the Bribery Commission, legal sources close to Chief Justice Bandaranayake said. Dr. Bandaranayake, who visited the Bribery Commission along with her lawyers on [...]
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Consumers throw light on CEB, oppose tariff hikes
Public representatives, stakeholders call for management reforms at Board By Chamal Weerakkody Public representatives have expressed displeasure over the proposed electricity tariff increase and joined the power-sector stakeholders in calling for more transparency in contracts, tenders and other financial dealings of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB). Their call for reforms came during oral submissions to [...]
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Threatened species served up as delicacies for Chinese palates
By Malaka Rodrigo Crocodile, tortoise and pangolins were being cooked in numbers at a restaurant in Hambantota and served up to Chinese workers at Hambantota Port who had flocked to the eatery to munch on the protected fauna they viewed as delicacies. Local residents yesterday said the Hambantota restaurant had attracted crowds of Chinese nationals [...]
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HL: Hulftsdorp Lion
By Kandiah Neelakandan On the 7th April 2013, we remember Deshamanya H.L.de Silva, PC, a multi-faceted personality who was hailed as a ‘Lion of Hulftsdorp’ on his fourth death anniversary. Although ‘H.L.’ stood for ‘Herman Leonard’, these two letters identify a Hulftsdorp Lion. I had the pleasure of associating with the Mr. de. Silva, instructing [...]
