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UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova visited the Sigiriya Rock Fortress this week and left a message on a replica of the famed “Mirror Wall” at the nearby museum dedicated to the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Ms Bokova, who was in Sri Lanka on a four-day visit that ended on Wednesday, was dragged into a minor [...]
Malik hires another US firm to lobby for Lanka
Foreign Ministry unaware; non-existent peace process part of the deal, Sajin under investigation for hiring lobby firms By Our Diplomatic Correspondent Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrema has engaged a United States lobbying firm to educate officials on a non-existent peace process, increase economic ties and market access. The firm, Sandler, Travis and [...]
Digital forensic lab, new gadgets to fight crime
By Damith Wickremasekara Facial recognition technology to track down criminals will be among new facilities available at the government’s first digital forensic lab due to start functioning within the next three months, a senior official said. The lab now under construction with funding from South Korea will have its own facilities to carry out DNA [...]
Children getting addictive snuff at schoolgates
By Sandun Jayawardana Using a decade-old loophole in the law, importers are bringing an addictive substance called SVS snuff, or dunkudu, and peddling it mainly among schoolchildren. Snuff is smokeless, powdered tobacco. While it does not contain narcotics, snuff has nicotine and is addictive. It is also a “gateway product” for schoolchildren, according to Dr. [...]
Paranagama Commission proposes Special High Court and Truth Commission
By Chandani Kirinde The Presidential Commission to Investigate Complaints Regarding Missing Persons in its final report has recommended the setting up of a two-way domestic mechanism — a Special High court and a Truth Commission — to deal with persons accused of human rights violations during the last phase of the war. Suspects who plead [...]
SriLankan pilots threaten to strike
Relations between the Pilots’ Guild of Sri Lanka and SriLankan Airlines management have worsened after the national carrier’s Head of Human Resources (HHR) instructed the pilots’ union not to write directly to the company’s chairman, board of directors or chief executive officer. SriLankan Airlines’ Human Resources Head Pradeepa Kekulawala instructed the Guild to instead route [...]
Decked for goddess Pattini
The chief lay custodian of the Pattini Devalaya at Nawagamuwa in Kaduwala carries the casket containing jewellery of the deity during the annual ‘gonpita perahera’ or the procession on cattle back. The devalaya is visited by many people, especially those who seek cure for their children’s illnesses and those who have problems with regard to [...]
Govt. fast-tracks National Trade Policy to facilitate ETCA
In parallel with the ongoing preliminary discussions on the Indo-Sri Lanka Economic and Technology Cooperative Agreement (ETCA), the Government has appointed a high level, seven-member committee to formulate a national trade policy in keeping with the demands of professional bodies. “The first draft of that policy will be submitted to the Government for consideration and [...]
Australian govt. never recognised ‘Tamil Eelam’ as a separate country: HC Hutchesson
Australian High Commissioner (HC) Bruce Hutchesson has responded to the Sunday Times following last week’s page 1 lead story “Australia lists Tamil Eelam in census”, stating that, what happened was that internal guidelines of the census enumerators accidentally got into the official website. Not that the country’s national census recognised ‘Tamil Eelam’ as a separate [...]
MP’s Code of Conduct to be adopted shortly
The draft Code of Conduct (CoC) for Sri Lanka’s lawmakers, which was circulated among MPs in April. will be adopted shortly, a senior Parliamentary official said. “The adoption of the CoC was discussed by party leaders this week and, with a few amendments suggested by MPs, it would be put to the House and adopted [...]
Magisterial inquiry tomorrow into Justice Sarath de Abrew’s death
The Magisterial inquiry into the death of former Supreme Court Judge Sarath de Abrew will be conducted tomorrow at the Mt Lavinia Magistrate courts. The Judicial Medical Officer of the Kalubowila Hospital, Dr R.D. Dhanushan who carried out the postmortem has returned an open verdict into the death of Mr de Abrew. The findings will [...]
Tiran Alles indicted for misappropriating Rs 167 million
Businessman and former MP Tiran Alles has been ordered to appear in the Colombo High Court on August 24, to answer charges of misappropriating Rs 167 million. The order issued by Judge Kusala Sarojini Weerawardhana includes three others- Tiger guerrilla fund raiser Emil Kanthan, Rohana Saliya Abeysinghe Weerawickremesuriya and Jayantha Dias Samarasinghe. In terms of [...]
Tight security for Scotsman in Malaka Silva assault case
Tight security is expected as the Scotsman at the centre of an assault case against former Minister Mervyn Silva’s son Malaka Silva, arrives at the Colombo Magistrate’s Court on Thursday (25), when the case is to be taken up. James Casserly (44) will be in court regarding the alleged assault on a foreign couple by [...]
India’s 69th Independence Day celebration in Colombo
The High Commission of India and the Indian expatriate community in Sri Lanka celebrated India’s 69th Independence last weekend at India House in Colombo. High Commissioner Y.K. Sinha unfurled the National Flag and inspected a Guard of Honour presented by the BSF contingent. He also read out excerpts from the Address to the Nation on [...]
Good signs for the badly- affected hearing impaired
Hearing impaired people face many hurdles due to a lack of sign language translators in government offices, Social Services Department’s senior sign language interpreter Chammi Nishara Dias said. She said Sri Lanka has 25 special schools for differently abled children as well as many vocational training centres but the government has only six sign language [...]
CFC probes fishy business
The Ceylon Fisheries Corporation (CFC) is conducting an initial probe after fish stocks that had been in storage for eight years was discovered. The stock was destroyed last week. CFC General Manager Commander Nilan Miranda said three officials have been appointed to conduct the preliminary investigation to identify the individuals responsible for the losses incurred. [...]
Tamil Nadu campaign for change in Lanka loses face
Tamil Nadu, which has been at the forefront of the campaign against Sri Lanka for alleged discrimination against ethnic Tamils in the island nation, has been caught napping as hundreds of Hindu Dalits in the State come out in the open demanding equal rights in temples. The five-month long festival season which began in the [...]
Farmland, forests and fauna suffer in mountain fires
Forest fires across the central part of the country, aggravated by dry conditions, have left hundreds of acres of trees destroyed and brought suffering and death to wild animals. Firefighters continue to tackle a huge blaze in Ravana Ella, Badulla, with nearly 20 acres of land laid waste by fires spreading in the mountainous regions. [...]
Now, small-scale people smuggling hits the seas
With authorities cracking down on large-scale people smuggling, a new trend has emerged where crews manning fishing boats are stealing vessels and engaging in operations on their own. Detectives say these people smugglers only carry a small number of people, mostly from the same location and are known to each other. Last Monday (August 15), [...]
Dengue keeps spreading
Despite claims of the success of dengue eradication programmes, experts warn the virus could reach epidemic proportions in forthcoming months. So far this year 34,773 suspected dengue cases have been reported with more than 50 deaths, according to the Health Ministry’s Epidemiology Unit. Just over half the cases have been reported from the Western Province. [...]
Windy conditions to continue with light showers
The strong windy conditions (up to 60-70 kmph) experienced in some parts of the country and surrounding seas are expected to continue until next week, the Meteorological Department warned. The department’s Early Warning Centre issued a bad weather advisory stating that with the onset of the monsoon, windy conditions combined with showers should also be [...]
Maldivian judge asks Lankan Madushanka to find legal counsel
Lahiru Madushanka, the Sri Lankan accused of plotting to assassinate the Maldivian President, along with three others, was asked to find a legal counsel to represent him, as court hearings into the case began this week. Presiding judge at the Maldivian Criminal Court, AIi Adam said he should find a counsel within the coming week, [...]
Passport Office coming to Battaramulla
The Department of Immigration and Emigration will be limiting its services at its Punchi Borella main office in Colombo and regional offices in Kandy, Matara and Vavuniya, on August 26 and 29 to facilitate the Department’s relocation to Battaramulla. An official said the one-day service for issuing passports will not be available on Monday August [...]
Uva PC Deputy Chairman’s driver arrested
The driver of the Deputy Chairman of the Uva Provincial Council has been remanded in custody for allegedly running down an Advanced Level (A/L) student at a pedestrian crossing in Sevanagala. The victim, W.M. Ajith Madhusanka (20) had been on his way to sit for a paper at the GCE A/L examination when he was [...]
Govt recovers 200 acres of State land sold on forged deeds
The Government recovered 200 acres of State land in the Aalankudawa area in Kalpitiya, that had allegedly been sold to investors involved in tourism, through the use of forged documents. Former Pradeshiya Sabha members and a Provincial Councilor are said to be among those involved in this scam. A female employee of a foreign mission [...]
Former Lankan refugees hamstrung by lack of NICs
Six months since returning home from a refugee camp in Tamil Nadu, K. Chandrakumar is still waiting to obtain Sri Lankan citizenship for his two young daughters. He and his wife, both Sri Lankan nationals, fled the country in the early nineties during the civil war. Chandrakumar is one of hundreds who returned from India [...]
Govt. to crack down on hawkers in Colombo city
The Local government and Provincial Council Ministry is to go ahead with the plan to evict unauthorised hawkers within Colombo city limits. Hawkers are mostly found in Pettah on 1st Cross Street, 2nd Cross Street, 5th Cross Street, Malwatte Road, Olcott Mawatha, Main Street, Bodiraja Mawatha and Gas Paha junction. According to the Ministry, of [...]
Rs 9 million-worth duty-free vehicle for every MP
MPs elected to this Parliament will be entitled to import vehicles costing around Rs 9 million, using the duty-free permits issued to them, according to the order by Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake, under the Excise (Special Provisions) Act. The vehicle, if purchased by paying duty, would cost nearly threefold more. Parliament, in addition, will take [...]
Navy steps up ops to check narcotics smuggling
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) personnel attached to the Northern Command seized at least 150 kg of Kerala Cannabis (KC) this week alone, in a series of raids conducted in the region. On Friday night, a haul of 130 kg of KC was seized in two separate incidents by the SLN. Following a tip-off, three locals [...]
Call for sevenfold increase in fines on dirty cafes
With at least 60 Colombo restaurants hauled into court last month on charges of food poisoning and lack of hygiene, city authorities are calling for sharp increases in penalties to protect customers. Many eateries and restaurants look clean enough on the outside, but most have dirty kitchens, dirty toilets, and a vermin-infested environment alive with [...]
Stone throwers caught in the net; security beefed up on trains
Those who throw stones at trains beware! Special security teams have been deployed on trains running along the railway stretch between Kelaniya, Mount Lavinia and Narahenpita, with the objective of apprehending stone-throwers, Railways Protection Force Superintendent Anura Premaratna said. He said, the move comes in the wake of police and the Railways Protection Force [...]
Student electrocuted flying kite with copper fibre string
A 14-year-old student got electrocuted in Dompe, when the kite he was flying with copper fibre mixed string came into contact with a high voltage electrical cable, a coroner’s court inquiry was told this week. The victim, Nethmal Perera, was a Grade 9 student. Father of the child, Sampath Perera, a soldier attached to the [...]
Company within company in Namal’s HelloCorp
Namal Rajapaksa’s financial dealings during the tenure of his father’s presidency continue to be under scrutiny. He is once again in remand custody, charged with money laundering over the acquisition of a call centre by one of his many companies. The Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) has filed charges against 30-year-old Mr Rajapaksa, who was [...]
Snuff targeting schoolchildren, floods country through legal loopholes
A decade-old legal loophole is allowing addictive substances containing nicotine to flood the country, with schoolchildren allegedly the prime target. The recent seizure of two stocks of a powdered substance identified as SVS snuff (dunkudu) has brought this matter into refocus. In September last year, Customs officials confiscated 75,000 vials of SVS snuff imported from [...]
Plastic bag turned out to be a deadly Hakka Patas
Mystery still surrounds the tragic death of a 10-year-old boy in Hambegamuwa who died of injuries caused by a ‘Hakka Patas’ bomb last week. The victim, Sasindu Kaveesha, had been playing cricket with his younger brother in their garden on August 18 when the ball had got lodged in a nearby tree. The boy had [...]
Spread the word of what is happening at Pallekandal shrine
The feast is over, held amidst a large crowd at the St. Anthony’s shrine at Pallekandal, within the Wilpattu National Park (WNP) in early July, but the burning issues linked to the clearing of a Protected Area (PAs) and expansion of the shrine still linger. The activities by a section of the Roman Catholic Church [...]
India’s intervention in Lanka: Mercy missions don’t draw condemnation, says India’s ex-UN envoy
NEW YORK– When the government of Rajiv Gandhi ordered the Indian Air Force to carry out an airdrop of humanitarian supplies in June 1987 inside embattled northern Sri Lanka — infamously dubbed “the parippu drop”– the Sri Lanka government reacted furiously describing India’s action as a “naked violation of Sri Lanka’s independence and an unwarranted [...]
Photo focus: From Osu Uyana to landfill
A valuable Osu-Uyana (herbal garden) encompassing over 30 acres belonging to the Holy City Kataragama has allegedly been bulldozed and completely destroyed -allegedly on the directions of the Basnayaka Nilame of the Ruhunu Kataragama Devalaya. The Uyana situated near the Ruhunu Maha Devalaya and the Kirivehera Rajamaha Viharaya dates back to the time of former [...]
Entrancing tale of the Esala’s mighty tusker
Few know the story behind the majestic, seven-foot-high tusker, Indiriraja, which carried the Golden Karanduwa on some days in the just concluded Esala Perahera, the only pageant in the world where humans and animals in such large numbers mingle without the least harm to any of them. It all came about in 1987, when the [...]
Science needs strategic direction, says UNESCO chief
“Science holds answers for many of the key questions of sustainability we face today and science needs to be more strategic and tightly connected with national strategies,” UNESCO’s Director-General Irina Bokova, told a forum of about 200 scientists in Colombo. The event last week was organised by the National Science Foundation (NSF) as a dialogue [...]