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Thai Pongal, a harvest festival, is being celebrated today by Hindus in Sri Lanka and other parts of the world. Yesterday, people were seen buying the sacred Thulasi plants, sugar cane and other traditional items for the festival. Pic by Amila Gamage
Huge Korea-backed project for 1m tons of LNG a year
The Government will open for procurement under the Swiss Challenge method a South Korean proposal for a free-of-charge floating Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal tied to an annual order of 1mn metric tonnes of LNG for two decades at international market prices–the most expensive tender ever to be floated in Sri Lanka. But industry and [...]
New passport with biometric data in microchip
A new passport to be issued this year will contain a microchip which could store personal details including biometrics of the holder, the Immigration Department said. Immigration and Emigration Controller General S. Ranasinghe told the Sunday Times that the new passport would have additional security features to minimise chances of anyone making forged passports. He said [...]
Major investment to upgrade railway system
Sri Lanka is making a major investment in upgrading its railway system by importing new engines and wagons from Chinese and US companies, according to a top official. Sri Lanka Railways General Manager S.M. Abeywickreme said a Chinese company had been awarded a contract for US$ 80 million (Rs 12 billion) to deliver nine multiple [...]
Quarrel with squatters: Tight security around Russian embassy
Security around the Russian embassy in Colombo has been tightened after some youths in the neighbourhood pelted stones at the mission following a dispute over a cricket ball. Police Diplomatic Security Division Chief G.K.J. Aponso told the Sunday Times that the embassy staff had informed the Cinnamon Gardens Police on Thursday soon after the incident [...]
Airport touting a punishable offence
Touting of passengers in the airport premises will be a punishable offence in terms of amendments to the Civil Aviation Act. The amendments have been gazetted by Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva. They will empower police officers in the airport premises to arrest any person touting for any incoming or outgoing [...]
Election officials check backgrounds of local council candidates
The Election Commission has directed District Assistant Commissioners to check on the backgrounds of local council candidates contesting the upcoming local council elections to ascertain whether any of them has criminal records. The Commission’s Director General R.M.A.L. Ratnayake said they would also verify if former public servants contesting the polls were doing so in keeping [...]
Kalubowila Hospital & J’pura University on world map
It will be a boon for women when the diagnosis, treatment and management of gynaecological issues are taken to greater heights by the Colombo South (Kalubowila) Teaching Hospital, placing Sri Lanka at the top of this field, not only in the region but also the world. The good news in the New Year comes with [...]
Not interested in becoming SriLankan Chairman: Thilan
National Agency for Public Private Partnership, Chairman/Acting CEO Thilan Wijesinghe drawing reference to the Sunday Times news item on Page 1, last week, has sent the following response. “I wish to respond to the article speculating that I am in the running for Chairman of SriLankan Airlines by stating that I have no interest whatsoever [...]
Road constructed over damaged drainage system has residents fuming
A stretch of road constructed hurriedly by the Thimbirigasyaya Divisional Secretariat (TDS) has residents of Andarawatte Road complaining that the road has been constructed without attending to a longstanding drainage problem in the road. The residents point out the dilapidated drainage system has waste water seeping out onto the newly constructed stretch, worsening the situation. [...]
CEB-PUCSL dispute overshadows potential power crisis
The Power and Renewable Energy Ministry has brushed aside warnings of countrywide power-cuts in March and April due to trade union (TU) action by the Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers’ Union (CEBEU). Deputy Minister Ajith P. Perera told the Sunday Times, he did not believe the CEBEU would resort to a measure as extreme as one [...]
Bond Commission report online after Parliament receives it on Wednesday
The Report of the Bond Commission, as well as the reports of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry to investigate and inquire into Serious Acts of Fraud, Corruption and Abuse of Power, State Resources and Privileges (PRECIFAC), will be available online once they are sent to Parliament on Wednesday (17). The Presidential Secretariat has informed the [...]
Non-declaration of assets: Fine to be upped to Rs. 25,000
The fine imposed on failure to declare assets and liabilities by parliamentarians and senior public officials is to be increased to Rs. 25,000 from the present Rs 1,000, officials said. The law has remained unchanged for the past 27 years and an amendment to the existing law is to be introduced soon, they said. Last [...]
3000 people affectedby strong winds in Divulapitiya
Strong winds that swept across Divulapitiya on Friday night, have affected more than 3,000 people, and left a trail of destruction, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said. DMC Deputy Director Ravi Jayaratna said nearly 700 houses were damaged and powerlines knocked out in an area covering 20 Grama Sevake divisions. Tri-foces were engaged in clearing [...]
India’s lost fisherfolk
NEW DELHI – Last month, a devastating cyclone swept the southern tip of India, causing immense damage to parts of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Lakshadweep. Most victims of the oddly named Cyclone Ockhi were fishermen from the districts of Thiruvananthapuram (in Kerala) and Kanyakumari (in Tamil Nadu) who, owing to the lack of a timely [...]
Face-stinging cold in town where everyone goes to chill
Nuwara Eliya is accustomed to ground frost every year and this year, too, was no exception. Visitors were in for a teeth-clattering chill and the vegetable cultivations suffered frost damage. On January 6, the temperature fell to 3.6 degrees Celsius and many locals lighted street-side fires to keep warm. Vegetable growers have begun to count [...]
CEB-PUCSL dispute overshadows potential power crisis
The Power and Renewable Energy Ministry has brushed aside warnings of countrywide power-cuts in March and April due to trade union (TU) action by the Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers’ Union (CEBEU). Deputy Minister Ajith P. Perera told the Sunday Times, he did not believe the CEBEU would resort to a measure as extreme as one [...]
SAITM issue: Harsha explains three-party MOU to be made public next week
The three-party Memorandum-of-Understanding (MOU) to bury forever the saga that has been the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) is with the Attorney-General (AG) and will be released to the public next week, the Sunday Times learns. The MOU signed on December 30 by the government, the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology [...]
President going to SC over term: UNP largely silent, JHU says nothing wrong, JVP hits out
Consequent on President Maithripala Sirisena seeking the opinion of the Supreme Court (SC) on whether he can stay in office for six years till 2021–political parties and other organisations that chose not to intervene in the matter expressed differing views. The United National Party (UNP), the main coalition partner in the Government of President Sirisena’s [...]
Don’t subvert people’s will, says AG
President Maithripala Sirisena was elected to a six-year term by popular mandate and to make him submit to a five-year term limit passed subsequently would set aside the people’s sovereignty. This was the argument mounted by the country’s chief legal officer, Attorney-General Jayantha Jayasuriya this week before a five-member bench of the Supreme Court invited [...]
More than 1,000 bike riders speed to their deaths
More motorcyclists and pillion riders were killed on the roads last year. Weaving in and out of traffic, many riders are speeding to their deaths while destroying the lives of others and wrecking public property. As road traffic deaths rise, so is the number of bikes being registered. The National Council for Road Safety said [...]
From Jaffna to the world and back again
As a boy, Ayingaran Thevathasan helped his parents earn a living by distributing milk from a cow they bought with a bank loan. Later, when they acquired some chickens, he also delivered eggs to the shops: twice a day, before and after school. Before the cow and chickens, they lived on wartime rations distributed by [...]
Govt fails on promised concessions: Polythene industrialists
Polythene Manufacturers and Recyclers Association (PMRA) last week said the Government had failed to give them concessions on the raw materials imported for the manufacture of bio-degradable polythene, as promised in its 2018 Budget. PMRA President Anura Wijetunge said although the government promised tax concessions on the import of raw materials for the transition from [...]
Distraught retired doctor seeks recourse to RTI to know the truth about his doctor son’s death
A retired medical doctor has filed a Right to Information (RTI) application seeking information from the Health Ministry about an inquiry regarding his son’s death which he believes was caused due to medical negligence and could have been averted if timely action had been taken. Dr E. Erampoo, a retired government medical practitioner, has decided [...]
Crawling Kelaniya flyover overhaul can’t set the record straight
Renovation work on the Kelaniya flyover bridge has been crawling along for more than five months and some parts are being reused by the government to save costs. Road development officials say handling steel bridges is a new undertaking for Sri Lankans. But steel bridges have existed in Sri Lanka for decades. When the flyover [...]
Don’t frighten leopards out of existence
Last week’s commotion over a cornered leopard reinforces the need to handle such encounters with care to prevent an escalation into intense leopard-human conflict, warn experts Andrew Kittle and Anjali Watson. A few close encounters with leopards occur every year in the hill country; last week’s incident was at the Panmore tea estate in Hatton. [...]
People gutted by war, drought speak out
Pohottuwa blooms among disgruntled Sinhala farming community in Ampara; loyalty to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa for defeating LTTE still evident Former LTTE cadres and Muslim women in Batticaloa take up challenge of vying for public office in this historic poll for women; people with us, says ITAK It’s late evening in the village of [...]
Pick of the Pix
Pix by Ranjith Perera, Athula Devapriya, Amila Gamage, Sameera Weerasekera, Shelton Hettiarachchi, Jayaratna Wickramarachchi, Rahul Samantha Hettiarachchi.
Sri Lanka signs MBT; a mine-free country within four years
Sri Lanka, which acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) or the Ottawa Convention in December last year, will have four years from June 2018 to ensure that it does not use, stockpile, produce or transfer any anti-personnel mines (APMs). Only a small quantity of APMs will be permitted in the country for training purposes, [...]
Youth take to dolphin watching
Kalpitiya is one of the best spots for dolphin watching in Sri Lanka with large pods, at times running into thousands can be seen in their natural habitat. The spot became famous during 2005 when pods of Spinner and Bottle-nosed dolphins were spotted in the area. The season which commences in November continues until May [...]
Unscheduled, offtrack coal carriers rip nets, claim fishermen
Fishermen in Manpuriya, Puttalam, allege that a large number of their fishing nets were destroyed by a vessel bringing coal to the Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant in Norochcholai this week. Fishermen further said this was not the first time a ship transporting coal to the power plant destroyed their nets. The Manpuriya beach is the [...]
Nuwara Eliya could face drinking water problems: DS
Following the receipt of a large number of complaints regarding the construction of unauthorised tube wells in the Nuwara Eliya District, Mr. Sujeewa Bandara who investigated the complaints warned that if immediate steps were not taken to bring the situation under control, the district could face a massive drinking water problem in the future