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Discussing the state of the world

Discussing the state of the world

With reports saying that 63 of the world’s super billionaires owned more wealth than half the world’s population or 3.5 billion people, world leaders and top business tycoons met in Davos for the three-day World Economic Forum (WEF). A Sri Lankan Prime Minister was invited to the forum the first time. Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe is [...]

Consumers get no relief from tax hike suspension

Millions of consumers have been forced to fork out different 2016 budget levies though they remain suspended. These include increases in the Value Added Tax and the Nation Building Tax. President Maithripala Sirisena directed Finance Ministry Secretary R.H.S. Samaratunga to suspend these increases in the levies. This was after it was brought to his attention that [...]

Loud pre-dawn tremor shakes Achchuveli

A minor tremor was felt at Achchuveli in the Nawakiri areas of Jaffna yesterday morning, leaving cracks in lands, houses and wells, residents and officials said. Residents said that they experienced a vibration with a loud noise around 2 a.m. National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Research and Risk Management Division head R.M.S Bandara told the Sunday Times [...]

Sri Lankan attorneys’ letters not credible: British HC

An officer of the British High Commission in Colombo has written to the Home Office in Britain, claiming that a vast majority of endorsement documents provided by Sri Lankan attorneys in support of local asylum seekers were “not credible.” This conclusion has been drawn after the migration division of the British High Commission in Colombo [...]

10,000-rupee minimum wage

The national minimum monthly wage for all workers in any industry or service will be Rs. 10,000, while the national minimum daily wage of a worker will be Rs. 400, according to legislation to be presented in Parliament shortly. Once the law is enacted, it will be mandatory for employers in all industry or service [...]

UNHRC chief, Indian FM coming

Two high profile visitors – United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner Zeid al-Hussein and Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj — are scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka on February 5. It will be Prince Zeid’s first visit to the country since he assumed office as the UN Human Rights Commissioner. During his stay in Sri [...]

Tougher law could be used against poachers

Tougher law could be used against poachers

The government will look into prosecuting foreign fishermen poaching in Sri Lankan waters through a law that would subject them to heavy penalties, heeding the petition of local fishermen who argue the law currently used lacks teeth. The Supreme Court was told on Tuesday that the cabinet has appointed a committee to review legal procedures. When [...]

SL on track for GSP Plus but a long way to go: EU Envoy

SL on track for GSP Plus but a long  way to go: EU Envoy

Sri Lanka has not yet made a formal application for the GSP Plus trade facility and “there is still a lot that has to be done” before it can be considered, said Ambassador and Head of Delegation to the European Union (EU) to Sri Lanka David Daly. Similarly the country has made advances on governance, [...]

CEB expands digital/electronic meter installation into household sector

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) is expanding the installation of digital or electronic meters to the household sector, officials said. “These meters were first introduced in 2011 to general purpose and bulk customers, but are now available to three-phase domestic customers at an installation fee of Rs 8,700,” said Additional General Manager (Corporate Strategy) Bandula [...]

The annual Kelaniya Duruthu Maha Perahera was held this week

The annual Kelaniya Duruthu Maha Perahera was held this week

The annual Kelaniya Duruthu Maha Perahera was held this week. President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday placed the Relics Casket on the tusker before the perahera paraded the streets. Pix by Lal S Kumara

Kidney transplants suspended: Ministry, IGP to probe Indian media reports

Allegations that private hospitals in Sri Lanka have been involved in a multi-million rupee kidney transplant racket are being probed by a high level committee appointed by the Health Ministry and its report is expected within three days. Health Services Director General Palitha Mahipala said yesterday that the committee comprised Dr. Jayasundera Bandara, Dr. Kamal [...]

Talks with Iran for cheaper oil, but process may take time: Minister

Talks with Iran for  cheaper oil, but process may take time: Minister

Sri Lanka on Friday held talks with Iran to buy crude oil at lower prices but the process might take upto four months, Petroleum Resources Minister Chandima Weerakkody said yesterday. The possibility of Sri Lanka obtaining oil at lower prices from Iran, following the lifting of the international sanctions, may take three to four months [...]

Committee appointed to speed release of lands in North

President Maithripala Sirisena this week appointed a committee headed by the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Karunasena Hettiarachchi to expedite the release of private land occupied by the military in the north to owners. The President chaired an hour long meeting attended by the District Secretaries from the North, Army Commander Lieutenant General Chrishantha [...]

Thowfeek replaces Hafeez in Parliament

Former Trincomalee parliamentarian M. S. Thowfeek has been appointed to parliament following the vacancy created by the resignation of United national Party (UNP) national list MP A.R.A. Hafeez, Elections Additional Commissioner M.M.Mohamed said. His appointment was gazetted on Friday. Dr Hafeez, brother of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader Minister Rauff Hakeem, cited personal reasons [...]

C’wealth group commends August polls; says RTI priority for transparency

The Commonwealth Observer Group (COG) in its final report on the last Parliamentary Elections, urged the Government to introduce new procedures on the administration of elections, including mixing postal ballots with ordinary ballots at the start of the count, in order to protect the secrecy of all votes cast. The COG which was here on [...]

Bhikku Vinaya a la Sri Lanka, under threat from new Code-of-Conduct Bill: PHU

Bhikku Vinaya a la Sri Lanka, under threat from new Code-of-Conduct Bill: PHU

A proposed law which makes it a punishable offence for members of the Buddhist clergy to act in breach of their code of conduct, has run into trouble, even though the Ministry of Buddha Sasana insists the law was drafted with the blessings of the chief prelates of the country’s three main Theravada Chapters (Nikayas). [...]

Sound the trumpets: State funeral for slain Tanzanian elephants

Sound the trumpets: State funeral for slain Tanzanian elephants

The eyes of the world will be on Sri Lanka on Tuesday when 359 African elephant tusks detected by Customs four years ago will be ceremonially crushed after religious observances to bestow merit on the fallen elephants. The ceremony at the Galle Face Green will be attended by President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, [...]

Journalists stage a protest against the harassment of media personnel by the police

Journalists stage a protest against the harassment of media personnel by the police

Provincial journalists from all parts of the country gathered in Embilipitiya yesterday to stage a protest against the harassment of media personnel by the police. The journalists charged that the police seized their notebooks while they were covering the magisterial inquiry where a youth was killed after police stormed a house in which a party [...]

Principals, teachers perplexed over eligibility for SLEAS Class III exam

The Public Service Commission (PSC) last week called on all suitable officers in the education sector to sit for a competitive exam to fill 515 vacancies in Class III of the Sri Lanka Education Administrative Service (SLEAS). But this has placed many teachers and principals in a dilemma. The Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) claims that [...]

Criminal probe on SLRC official who allegedly solicited sexual favours

A criminal investigation has been launched into the allegation against the Sri Lanka Red Cross (SLRC) official who was accused of soliciting sexual favours from a woman in the north , police said. Police spokesperson Ruwan Gunasekara said the police would report to the Kilinochchi magistrate the proceedings of the investigations and would seek the [...]

Work on railway extension beyond Beliatta halted

Work on railway extension beyond Beliatta halted

Construction work on the Coast Line railway from Beliatta to Kataragama has been temporarily halted to address the concerns raised by farmers residing in the area through which the line is being built, Kataragama Railway Project Technical Officer Y.K Samarajeewa said. He said the ongoing railway extension from Matara to Beliatta will continue, but work [...]

His mum tossed him the car keys … and death lay ahead

His mum tossed him  the car keys … and  death lay ahead

When the 15-year-old schoolboy was handed the car keys neither he nor his mother had an inkling of the consequences. Their trip was going to be to a short one to the nearby supermarket in Dematagoda, but it ended by snatching the lives of a 42-year-old woman and her 10-year-old daughter at a pedestrian crossing. [...]

Tougher law could be used against poachers

Tougher law could be used against poachers

The government will look into prosecuting foreign fishermen poaching in Sri Lankan waters through a law that would subject them to heavy penalties, heeding the petition of local fishermen who argue the law currently used lacks teeth. The Supreme Court was told on Tuesday that the cabinet has appointed a committee to review legal procedures. [...]

Poison info centre website launched

Poison info centre website launched

The moment a patient is brought in with any kind of poisoning, doctors in all State hospitals need not flick through books to check out the best management for that particular case, for this information is now available at the click of the internet. This tox-base (www.toxbaselanka.info) by the National Poisons Information Centre located within [...]

Cheating and being cheated

We want to live without being cheated. We do not want anyone to ‘take us for a ride’. Since many of us get cheated, I thought of this subject. Whether we are Buddhists, Christians, Muslims or Hindus, we need to have our self respect and for that we must not get cheated. Our life is [...]

NE housing projects: Local builders under Rehab Ministry bulldozer

NE housing projects: Local builders under Rehab Ministry bulldozer

The Government’s initiative to build 65,000 houses for the displaced in the North and East has run into more controversy, this time from the construction industry. The Construction Association said the Ministry of Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Religious Affairs (which called for bids) had shut out all local companies from prequalifying for the controversial project [...]

Chilaw fish market in a state of neglect

Chilaw fish market in a state of neglect

The public fish market in Chilaw, located on a two-acre block of land bordering the Chilaw lagoon is posing a major health hazard to the public. The market itself has no proper sanitation facilities. Its surroundings are unhygienic with the waste heaped within the premises itself and not properly disposed of. The market also lacks [...]

Indian aircraft carrier in tie-boosting visit to Colombo

Indian aircraft carrier in tie-boosting visit to Colombo

After nearly fifty years, one of the largest aircraft carriers in the world called at the port of Colombo this week, marking its maiden visit to a foreign port. INS Vikramaditya, India’s largest naval ship serving as an aircraft carrier, accompanied by missile destroyer INS Mysore, both belonging to the western fleet of the Indian [...]

Mannar DCC wants Indian trawlers out of Lankan waters

Mannar District Co-ordinating Committee has decided to urge the Government to prevent Indian trawlers entering Sri Lankan territorial waters. This decision was taken at the Co-ordinating Committee meeting held at the Mannar District Secretariat last Tuesday. The decision was to be conveyed through the Sri Lankan Government to the Indian Defence Ministry. Government Agent M.Y.S.Deshapriya [...]

New oil spill shows CPC keeps on ‘repeating mistakes’

New oil spill shows CPC keeps on ‘repeating mistakes’

In the third major oil leak in five months harming the environment, about 12,000 litres of diesel fuel from a storage tank is believed to have leaked into the Nilwala Ganga at Akuressa. The Ceylon Petrol Corporation (CPC) failed to check if the fuel depot that had the faulty tank had taken basic steps to [...]

Photo focus: The tired and tattered Southern Expressway

Photo focus: The tired and tattered Southern Expressway

The Southern Expressway -the country’s only four line highway route- that connects capital Colombo and the southern town of Matara has become non-driver friendly due to negligence by the departments tasked for its maintenance. This is at a time when the vehicular movement in the highway is increasing. Undergrowth and overgrown grass line the two [...]

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