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Home » NewsThe battle to cope with dengue
With the dengue epidemic continuing to surge, public hospitals are packed to capacity as seen in this ward at the Fever Hospital. Forty-two beds have been put in a ward that normally has 32 but every bed is shared by two patients. Pic by Indika Handuwala.
Aloysius distillery: Finance Ministry asked to show cause
A Task Force, functioning under President Maithripala Sirisena, has queried the Finance Ministry on how approval was granted to establish an ethanol distillery in Batticaloa, contrary to government policy. The Presidential Task Force on Drug Prevention (PTFDP) functions under the purview of President Maithripala Sirisena. The PTFDP has asked the Finance Ministry Secretary to explain [...]
CID action against those provoking religious or ethnic tension
Individuals or groups trying to provoke religious or ethnic hatred on social media are to be monitored and action taken against them by the Criminal Investigations Department, a senior official said. Law and Order Ministry Secretary Jagath Wijeweera told the Sunday Times the decision was taken following a meeting with the police and other agencies. [...]
Rice shock: 40 percent drop in production, huge imports soon
Rice production in Sri Lanka is expected to drop by 40 percent compared to last year, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) warned in a joint report. The report estimates that 686,000 MT of rice will be required to be imported as a result of the recent [...]
Bid to bomb Mecca’s Grand Mosque foiled
DUBAI, June 24 (Reuters) – Saudi security forces have foiled a suicide attack on the Grand Mosque in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, cornering the would-be attacker in an apartment, where he blew himself up, the Interior Ministry said. In a statement read on state television, the ministry said that three cells had planned [...]
GMOA suspends strike, claims President agreed to demands
Government doctors yesterday called off a strike that had paralysed public hospitals after they reached an accord with President Maithripala Sirisena. The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) claimed that the President had agreed to accept several demands made by the doctors relating to the controversial South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM). However, the [...]
New laws to check multiple voting by the displaced
By Ranjith Padmasiri Displaced people found to have registered to vote in several electorates by submitting false information and documents risk being fined, sentenced to a prison term or both, under new laws now being drafted. Under the new laws, internally displaced people have been allowed to register to vote in the electorate they resided [...]
Dr. Kelgama’s funeral tomorrow
The funeral of Dr. Saman Kelegama, who passed away on Friday in Thailand will take place on Monday evening. He was 58. The eminent economist served as a research fellow of the Institute of Policy Studies, prior to being appointed as its Executive Director in 1995. He served as a consultant to the World Bank, [...]
Talks collapse, postal unions to strike from Tuesday
Postal trade unions have resolved to go ahead with a strike from Tuesday after talks with Posts Minister M.H.A Haleem failed yesterday. United Postal Trade Unions Front Chief Chinthaka Bandara said the minister was unable to give an assurance with regard to their demands which included abandoning the move to convert several old post office [...]
Heavy rain in the next 2 days: Met Dept
The southwest monsoon now in season, will bring thunder showers with heavy downpours in the Kegalle, Ratnapura, Kalutara and Colombo Districts, that could exceed 75 mm, in the next two days, the Meteorology Dept said. Rains will also be experienced in the North-Central and Uva Provinces, as well as in the Galle and Matara areas.
Indo-Sri Lanka talks to release more Indian boats
Negotiations between Sri Lanka and India are under way to release more Indian boats seized after they were caught fishing in Sri Lanka’s territorial waters. Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Mahinda Amaraweera said the Indian Govt had requested the boats be released, as Sri Lanka was encouraged by the commitment shown on the [...]
Qatar embassy assures Sri Lanka
The Qatar Embassy said yesterday that all Qatar Airways flights had been rerouted through international airspace and the airspace of regional countries such as Iraq and Iran due to the ongoing diplomatic rift with a Saudi Arabia and a few Gulf and Arab countries. The embassy was responding to last week’s Sunday Times story headlined [...]
RTI progress assessed: Appeals heard and info relased disclosed
Commission launches trilingual website and logo Pending is a request for the declaration of the assets of the President and the Prime Minister Launching its trilingual website (www.rticommission.lk) and the RTI logo consisting of Sri Lanka in the black pupil of an eye signifying information held aloft by a hand of a citizen, the RTI [...]
Celebrating a deep sense of fellowship and co-existence
In his message on the occasion of Ramazan, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe observed that the Festival is celebrated with a deep sense of fellowship and co-existence. Following is the full text of Premier Wickremesinghe’s message: Ramazan Festival is celebrated by Muslims with a deep sense of fellowship and co-existence throughout the world. He further said [...]
Batticaloa declared mine-free, but 26 mn square metres still to be cleared in 9 districts
The Batticaloa District has been declared mine free but the government still needs to clear more than 26 million square metres in nine other districts. The official certificate of clearance confirming that the district has been rid of mines was handed over to the Batticaloa District Secretary P.S.M. Charles this week by the Country Director [...]
Revolting episode in law enforcement, SC slams police in FR case ruling
The Supreme Court has ordered the State to pay Rs 1 million each (a total of Rs 2 million) to the parents of two men who disappeared in 2008 while in custody of Batticaloa police. Court also ordered T Shantha Wickramasinghe, Officer-in-Charge of the Batticaloa police, to pay Rs 50,000 each to petitioners Selvarajah Pushparani [...]
Puttalam, a parched land
With Puttalam district experiencing a severe drought, villagers with buckets and other utensils are seen here awaiting the arrival of a bouser that bring them water. Pic by Hiran Priyankara
OMP Act Amendment passed unanimously in Parliament
Two years on the OMP remains the Office of Missing Members A fresh amendment was passed unanimously in Parliament this week to remove clauses that enable the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) to enter into agreements with foreign entities, 10 months after Parliament passed the OMP Act. Opening the debate on the amendment, Prime Minister [...]
Govt. waste deep in its (mis)management and disposal
By Sandun Jayawardana Piles of garbage still remain in street corners as workers toil to segregate garbage left behind by residents. Workers, under strict orders to clear up the piles as soon possible, used their bare hands to sort out the garbage dumped three to four days to a week ago. The process of ridding [...]
‘Operations Room’ to monitor city and suburbs of Colombo
A wide-ranging garbage collection and disposal programme covering the whole country is being floated immediately with a special ‘Operations Room’ being set up to monitor the situation in the city and suburbs of Colombo, a top official disclosed yesterday. The programme will come under the high-level Task Force based at the Provincial Councils and Local [...]
Matara-Beliatta railway track: Chinese contractor, Lankan engineers’ union trade barbs
By Namini Wijedasa The Chinese contractor building the Matara-Beliatta railway track is embroiled in a bitter battle with a powerful Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau (CECB) union which claims the company is following unacceptable practices and standards. The China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC) this week hit back at allegations by the CECB Engineers’ [...]
Trump’s unravelling Korea policy
By Kent Harrington ATLANTA – With every tweet or meeting with a foreign leader that US President Donald Trump completes, American officials find themselves struggling to reassure allies that the United States remains committed to their security. Nowhere is this truer than in Asia, where longstanding US strategic engagement, backed up by the world’s most [...]
War footing against dengue
Technical Head and team gears up to defeat deadly epidemic Parallel top-down & bottom-up approaches Help us – urgent plea to public We will try our level best to bring the dengue epidemic under control — Give us three months to reduce the numbers affected by illness and those dying, as well as to put [...]
Dengue infections soaring inland amid floods, drought destruction
Deadly dengue is spreading rapidly in the interiors of the island, health officials warn. Central Province Health Services Director, Dr. Shanthi Samarasinghe, the told the Sunday Times hospitals in Kandy and Peradeniya have witnessed greater numbers of patients. “We treat all fever patients as potential dengue cases as a preventive measure,’’ she said. Special units [...]
Multiple gay partners, unsafe sex give rise to more HIV cases among men
Unsafe non-monogamous sex is responsible for the increase in the number of men being infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the latest report from the National STD/AIDS Control Programme shows. Statistics for the first quarter of 2017 reveals that there have been 73 new infections (both males and females) of which around 27 males [...]
The battle to keep Sinhala alive in an American University
Scholars at the Cornell University, USA, are fighting to keep alive a decades-old Sinhala language programme that is facing closure owing to funding cuts. Cornell, a renowned private Ivy League institution, is the only university outside Sri Lanka to offer a full curriculum of study in Sinhala. About half of the funding for the course [...]
A vaccination to prevent cervical cancer
It has been a long-felt need in the battle against cancer, which now becomes a reality to safeguard the girls of Sri Lanka who will take their place in society as wives and mothers. The Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry is set to include the vaccine against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) through the National [...]
Tough new campaign to remove unauthorised structures on beaches
The Coast Conservation Department has launched a vigorous campaign to remove unauthorised constructions on beaches, Director General Prabath Chandrakeerthi told the Sunday Times. He said so far more than 1,600 unauthorised structures had been issued notices, warning their occupants that if they failed to remove them, the Department would deploy its personnel to demolish them. [...]
Abusive operators of decrepit buses set to exact high price, again
Fares of private and state run buses will rise from July 1 although promises to improve services are yet to see the light of day. The proposed fare increase of 6.28% and the increase of the minimum fare of Rs 9.00 to Rs 10 as approved by the Cabinet, will come into effect next month. [...]
Tortoise catch sheds light on another front in criminal wildlife trade
Detection of a massive number of star tortoises on a fishing boat off Kalpitiya has raised fears that smugglers are plundering Sri Lanka’s reptiles from the wild for the illegal trade. Recently, two suspects were held with 2,089 star tortoises from India in a fishing boat intercepted by the navy last Sunday at five nautical [...]
Three-wheelers operate dodgy meters, but debate heats up on fare increase
Three-wheeler operators remain far apart on a proposal to raise fares on the basis of rising costs for spare parts and lubricants. Two groups have rejected a proposal by another group to jack up fares to Rs 60 for the first kilometre, an increase of Rs 10. Meanwhile crude oil prices are in bear market [...]
Waratenna-Hakkinda declared an EPA after long fought battle by environmentalists
The battle was long and hard, with victory being achieved this week, as Waratenna-Hakkinda in Kandy, home of a critically-endangered freshwater fish, being declared an Environmental Protection Area (EPA). Environmentalists, foremost among whom is researcher Pradeep Samarawickrama are agog with excitement as President Maithripala Sirisena in his capacity as Environment Minister issued the Gazette Extraordinary [...]
Southern Province on alert for pharmacies hit by floods selling drugs
The Southern Province Health Services Director has requested owners of pharmacies affected by the recent floods to refrain from selling medicines which could be unsuitable for consumption. The Director P. Wijesuriya said police are conducting raids to apprehend those who are selling such medicines. The Southern Province has around 540 private and state owned pharmacies.The [...]
Nepali monks help Kaduwela flood victims
A group of Nepali Buddhist monks studying in Sri Lanka used their stipends and collected donations to provide household goods to victims of flood affected areas in Kaduwela recently. The monks, resident at the Sri Kalyaniwansikaramaya in Makola, while attending universities in Colombo, also went from house-to-house collecting basic domestic items from householders and distributed [...]
Pick of the Pix
Px by Indika Handuwala, Amila Gamage, Sameera Weerasekera, Gamini Mahadura and Karuwalagaswewa Jayarathna