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A grateful Sri Lanka on Thursday said farewell and thank you to the Venerable Maduluwawe Sobitha Hamuduruwo, the Buddhist prelate, who during recent years had played a powerful frontline role to bring about the silent and peaceful people’s revolution of January 8. While hundreds of thousands of grieving and grateful people flooded like a [...]
2016 Budget: Tax reforms, Govt. in search of revenue
The Government’s 2016 budget to be unveiled on Friday will see a radical shift in tax policy targeting the rich, set the tone for more business and investment, though against the backdrop of a worsening economic environment. Macro-economic fundamentals are at dangerously low levels, 2015 budget targets have gone haywire and foreign exchange reserves are [...]
Paris bloodbath: Lanka calls for world action against terrorism
In the aftermath of the brutal Paris terrorist attacks which have shocked the world, Sri Lanka yesterday called on the international community to unite in combatting the menace of terrorism and extremism.President Maithripala Sirisena in a message to France’s President François Hollande said Sri Lanka condemned the terrorist attack in the strongest terms. President Sirisena, [...]
Laws passed, but delay in collecting new taxes
Attempts to expedite collection of outstanding taxes based on six new Finance Acts have been stalled with the Finance Ministry yet to inform the Inland Revenue Department on the dates the taxes will come into effect, officials said. So far instructions have been issued only regarding the collection of the Migration Tax, according to which [...]
Stormy Sunday
Severe weather conditions are likely to prevail over the next 24 hours with heavy rains and strong winds of upto 80 kmph over many areas of the country, the Meteorology Department warned yesterday evening. Meteorologist Dharsha Shamil Premathilake said the sea areas extending from Kankesanturai to Hambantota via Trincomalee and Batticaloa would be rough at times [...]
Road tax likely
A plan to introduce a new ‘road tax’ on vehicles, including motorcycles, is under consideration, officials said. The tax is likely to be introduced for one year and the collection of the tax will be made when the revenue licence is obtained.
Bay-of-Bengal depression’s stormy weather fallout wreaks havoc islandwide
A depression buildup in the Bay of Bengal this week caused stormy weather conditions in several areas of the country wreaking havoc.At least one person died and around 300 people were displaced by heavy rains and strong winds, with Kilinochchi District the worst affected. Kilinochchi District Secretary, S. Arumainayagam said one person yesterday (14) drowned [...]
51-year-old knocked down and killed by motorcyclist at pedestrian crossing
A motorcyclist knocked down and killed a 51-year-old man at a pedestrian crossing on the Moragasyaya-Kahanpola Road in Horana on Friday (13) night, a coroner’s court was told. The deceased, Upallage Don Dharmasena, a farmer from Gonapola, Horana, was crossing the road around 7.15 pm on Friday when a speeding motorcyclist knocked him down. He was [...]
Tourism industry alarmed over shift to BTT
Sri Lanka’s rapidly-growing tourism sector has urged the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister to desist from changing the tax system to BTT from the current VAT, warning it could result in the ‘death’ of the industry. Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) representatives met yesterday and raised concern over the proposed change which is [...]
Mercy towards animals
A Sub Inspector on his way home with his family spotted five goats being taken for slaughter. On inquiries made he found out that the animals would be released for Rs 125,000. SI Sisira Kumara of Welipenna and his wife decided to go to the nearest Pawn Broker and pawned the gold chain they had [...]
FCID probing irregularities in levies on tyre imports
The Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) has opened an investigation over irregularities at the Customs regarding the imposition of levies and taxes imposed on import of tyres. The investigation came following a complaint to the Anti Corruption Committee Secretariat by Kandy Tyre House (Pvt) Ltd which claimed that the Government was losing more than one [...]
Budgetary allocation for defence, education up, President’s office down
Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake will present the maiden budget of the new Government to Parliament on Friday. The total Government expenditure for 2016 is estimated at around Rs. 1,941 billion, of which Rs. 1,314 billon will be for recurrent expenditure and Rs. 626 billion for capital expenditure, according to the Appropriation Bill for 2016 which [...]
EU delegation to meet Ranil before taking decision on ban on Sri Lankan fish products
European Union (EU) officials will this week meet with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe among others before making a final assessment on lifting the ban on Sri Lankan fish products to European countries, officials said. A senior official of the Fisheries Ministry said the decision would be taken once the visiting EU delegation assessed the progress [...]
Labour Ministry intervenes in plantation dispute with workers
The Labour Ministry has stepped in to resolve a dispute of a private plantation company following a string of protests by workers over the non payment of Employment Provident Fund and Employees Trust Fund contributions. Labour Minister John Seneviratne told the Sunday Times that the Ministry had called the parties concerned for a discussion. This [...]
Rajitha lays foundation for emergency unit at Batti hospital
Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne laid the foundation stone for a new Accident and Emergency unit at the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital in a ceremony yesterday, along with the partners of the project. The Minister also declared open the new Cancer unit of the Teaching Hospital and a newly constructed administrative building, on behalf of President [...]
Helping everyone to live within means
I could not write my article last week as I had to go to Vietnam. I attended a funeral of a close associate of mine in Hanoi, the second largest city in Vietnam. My first visit to Vietnam was about four years ago. There is a vast difference between the Vietnam that I saw during [...]
Drug Control Board’s former chief says unsavoury elements behind his removal
As the dispute for the post of Chairman in the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board (NDDCB) drags on, the incumbent chairman said some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and politicians who are alleged to have dealings with the drug traffickers were trying to remove him from his post. NDDCB Chairman Dr. Nilanga Samarasinghe told the Sunday Times [...]
Maldives’ political effluent washes ashore in SL
The fast changing political developments in the Maldives spilled over to Sri Lanka this week as news broke of the arrest of a Lankan national in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen. This was followed with the extradition to the Maldives of one of its nationals resident in Nedimala, Dehiwela, [...]
Public apathy, garbage pose dengue threat: NDCU warns
Piles of bags left by the side of the road, empty yoghurt cups and curd pots along with the waste in which rain water collects are providing ideal mosquito breeding grounds raising the threat of dengue. The prevailing garbage situation particularly in the Western Province and also the negligence of the general public are the [...]
President Sirisena to review files of fast-unto-death detainees
President Maithripala Sirisena is to review files of detainees held under terrorism charges, as over a hundred of them in prisons islandwide are continuing their fast-unto-death for the seventh consecutive day. The President had assured a delegation from the Northern Provincial (NP) Council led by its Chief Minister (CM) C.V. Wigneswaran on Thursday that the files [...]
A nation pays tribute amidst a sea of white and yellow
The gloomy, evening reflected the sombre mood of the thousands who had gathered to pay their last respects to Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera, a renowned monk, scholar and political activist. The cremation of his mortal remains was held at Parliament Grounds on Thursday. The National flag hoisted mid mast fluttered against a grey at the [...]
Pity the rail gatekeeper
Electrically operated rail gates are not found in all parts of Sri Lanka. In many areas a makeshift bamboo pole manually operated by a gate- keeper is the norm. Low wages, a lack of basic facilities, and the absence of communication between railway stations and rail gatekeepers are driving the men charged with manning these [...]
Friday the 13th space debris was no horror
The eyes of many were focused skyward around noon on Friday the 13th in anticipation of observing the much-hyped space debris predicted to fall into the sea off the southern coast. Local and foreign space observers camped out at several locations to witness traces of falling debris but no sign of it could be observed [...]
Lankan tea in a soup as refuse tea becomes big organised racket
The illicit export of refuse tea (sweepings) has become a large scale, organised racket and the Tea Board is facing an uphill task to protect the image of Sri Lanka’s internationally renowned ‘Ceylon Tea’. Every year more than 300,000 kilos of refuse tea is detected in raids at warehouses, carried out mainly by the Special [...]
Walking tracks turn into danger zones
Taking a stroll down a once-popular walking track in a Colombo suburb has become hair-raising with lurking crocs and vipers frightening those who want to use the path for pleasure and exercise. While the track in Mabole, Wattala is the worst walking experience, several other public walking paths and parks in Colombo and suburbs are [...]
Cybercrime rise worries authorities
Cybercrime is spiralling out of control, especially with the younger generation falling prey to hackers infiltrating social networking sites and other websites, a senior official of the Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team (SL-CERT) warned. So far this year, 2,250 complaints of cybercrime have been received. Most cases – around 80 per cent – relate [...]
Why I quit the Cabinet
My association with Avant Garde Maritime Services Limited (AGMSL) began in January this year. They came to see me with another known lawyer. I learnt that the company was providing maritime security, a requirement necessitated by increasing incidence of piracy in the seas in some areas near Sri Lanka. Their vessel MV Mahanuwara was holding [...]
Hartal in N&E disrupts daily life
Normal activities in the Northern and Eastern Provinces were disrupted as a hartal launched on Friday demanded the release of detainees held under charges for a long time without prosecution. Several towns across the two Provinces shut down completely in support of the hartal which disrupted the daily life of the public. Schools, shops, markets, [...]
Biometric NICs will take another 2 years: Minister
Sri Lankan citizens will have to wait another two years before the new biometric National Identity Card (NIC) is issued, Internal Affairs Minister S.B. Nawinne told the Sunday Times last week. He said that, although Finance Minister Ravi Karunayake wants it done early, there are legal issues that have to be met “We cannot do [...]
Green groups celebrate rare win against commerce
Environmentalists often have to fight losing battles but they have recently won a battle against a company clearing a forest where elephant, leopard and bear roam in order to grow gliricidia, a biofuel crop. The problem emerged in 2012, when environmentalists noted a large area of forest being cleared in Amarawewa, part of the Tissamaharama [...]
High five for a tiny survivor
Tiny deer once thought to have been lost to Sri Lanka forever have a toehold on existence with the birth of a fifth baby to a small group kept under protection. The deer live on an island sanctuary in the Lunuganga set up two years ago by the Wildlife Conservation Society of Galle (WCSG). Known [...]