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Home » NewsMatugama student’s awesome ring of fire
Matugama hi-tech student Osanda Indumina took several awesome pictures of Thursday’s annular solar eclipse from one of the highest points in South Asia – the Batamulla Kanda Buddhist Centre. He made one composite picture of it and sent it to the Sunday Times. Skywatchers in southern parts of Asia were treated to the rare “ring [...]
Gratis visas likely to end; Govt. loses Rs. 4 billion
The Immigration and Emigration Department is to recommend to the Government that it stops the gratis visa granted to tourists since July this year, because of a loss of more than Rs 4 billion to State coffers without any obvious increase in visitors. The department will present a report to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in this [...]
Welgama wants opposition seat
Former Transport Minister and United People’s Freedom Alliance Kalutara District MP Kumara Welgama has requested a seat in the Opposition while the United National Party MPs Ven Aturaliye Rathana Thera and Wasantha Senanayake will sit with the Government when Parliament meets for the first time in the New Year. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who will present [...]
Audit report exposes haphazard disposal of clinical waste
Sri Lanka’s hazardous clinical waste management practices are exposing the people to danger with incinerators running below optimum temperatures, haphazard disposal of ash and sludge, inadequate storage facilities, untimely disposal and sanitary workers handling refuse without protective gear, the National Audit Office has found. The NAO examined 17 hospitals in ten districts across seven provinces. [...]
President warns of imposters misusing his name
It has been a continuing problem since his election and, yesterday, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa once again issued a public warning against any persons who flog his name to gain personal benefits. “An individual who intimidated and threatened a Principal of a school in Moratuwa on the pretext of being an advisor to the President has [...]
ITAK divided: Sampanthan won’t contest general election
The 86-year old one time Opposition Leader, Rajavarothiam Sampanthan, a political veteran who first entered Parliament in 1977, will not contest the forthcoming general election which will be first time in recent years that the Illankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) goes to the polls divided. Mr Sampanthan was not present on Friday for the Parliamentary [...]
New Year gift for commuters: Call 1955 for complaints
A playlist for buses in the New Year–that is what the National Transport Commission, the industry regulator, has promised commuters, along with a dedicated hotline to gripe about any music that does not take their fancy. The hotline–1955–will come into effect on January 1. And passengers can complain about drivers who do not stick to [...]
Health shock as clinical waste is disposed of dangerously in Lanka’s hospitals
Clinical waste from hospitals throughout Sri Lanka is disposed of dangerously with incinerators running at below optimum levels, ash and hazardous sludge being exposed to scavengers and the elements, and sharps such as scalpels and needles posing widespread risk to humans, a Government audit has found. The National Audit Office (NAO) examined 17 hospitals in [...]
Govt. plans to buy rice to counter runaway ‘mafia’ prices
Desperate to manage runaway prices prescribed by “a mafia”, the government has floated a plan to buy rice from private millers to be distributed among consumers at “reasonable prices” as a short-term measure. Once again, the “rice mafia” backed by politicians and government officials were blamed for the prevailing situation where nadu and samba varieties [...]
Apa Shree Lanka? No more, no more, mourn Tamils hurt by anthem decision
The national anthem’s Tamil version – sung at Independence Day celebration since 2016 – will be dropped again from February 4 next year. The Public Administration Ministry, the event organiser, has resolved that the national anthem must only be sung in Sinhala. “The country has only one national anthem,” Public Administration Minister Janaka Bandara Tennakoon [...]
Sri Lanka facing climate crisis rather than climate change, warn experts
Action plans are in place to combat climate change in Sri Lanka but experts fear it is irreversible and has already raged well out of hand. “Our country lacks strong policy on climate change that fits its status as a highly vulnerable country, said Vidhura Ralapanawe, environmentalist and climate researcher. “If we do not address [...]
School sex book whisked out of sight but monk explodes in fury
The Hathe Ape Potha, a sex education book for Grade 7 students, this week became one of the most shared PDF files on Sri Lankan social media after critics panned the publication as corrupting the minds of children. The book is a joint project of the Health Promotion Bureau of the Ministry of Health and [...]
‘Barbaric killings’ in churches temper Christmas joy
While Christmas is a time of great joy and celebration, festivities were subdued and security was tight this year as a result of the terrorist attacks on Catholic and Christian churches on Easter Sunday when 250 innocents, including 45 children, perished. Foreign nationals were among the dead at hotels in Colombo that were bombed [...]
Rajitha remanded, Champika given bail, as detectives gather more evidence
Former Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne was remanded till December 30 by the Colombo Additional Magistrate on Friday (27) evening in connection with the controversial news conference on alleged “white van” abductions. Additional Magistrate Shalani Perera gave the order after visiting Lanka Hospitals in Narahenpita where the former minister was undergoing treatment. She ordered the Prisons [...]
Indian author’s highway death casts light on driver fatigue, again
The deaths of one of India’s most revered Hindi language writers, Ganga Prasad Vimal, and two of his family members on the Southern Expressway in Kurundugahahetakma this week have drawn attention to driver fatigue as a major cause of road accidents in Sri Lanka. The 80-year-old was travelling from Galle with his family in [...]
Many state hospitals go digital with home-grown system
A simple but unique home-grown solution as opposed to a very expensive system is working successfully in the digitization of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at Maharagama and several other hospitals across the country. As the Sunday Times sees the Hospital Information Management System (HIMS) now in operation at the nearly 1,000-bed NCI, it is [...]
What could be the source for the final death toll? Does that include the dead AND missing, as well?
Sri Lanka this week commemorated the 15th anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami by recalling the memories of the 36,500 who perished. Two minutes of silence was observed from 9. 25a.m. to 9. 27a.m in their memory. Sri Lanka was the hardest hit after Indonesia. The main event was held at Telwatta Tsunami Memorial, Peraliya, [...]
Christmas reflections on Easter Sunday attacks
Celebrations of Christmas this year reflected the pain of the Christian community after the tragic events of Easter Sunday. Television footage of the main Christmas mass held at the Katuwapitiya Church under the auspices of Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith depicted the anguish and emotions of those who lost their loved ones as well as those who [...]
Batik a dying art in Marawila
Batik workers in Marawila complain that successive governments must be held responsible for the collapse of an industry that was once a prime attraction for foreign visitors and Sri Lankans. The Marawila batik industry dates back to the ’70s and thrived until about 2002. Around 150 businessmen invested in Marawila, Koswadiya and Halpanwila, generating good [...]
2019 will always be remembered for Easter Sunday tragedy
The year 2019 was marred by the worst terrorist attack in Sri Lanka since the end of the three-decade-long war against the LTTE–The Easter Sunday bombings. The Easter Sunday terror attacks left 268 dead. The bombers, who were all part of the National Thowheed Jamaath (NTJ), carried out a coordinated series of suicide attacks on [...]
Pick of the Pix
Pix by Amila Gamage, Indika Handuwala, Ishanka Sunimal, Gamini Mahadura, Kanchana Kumara Ariyadasa and M. Munaf
Derailed
The number of trains being derailed has grown recently. The ‘Yal Devi’ derailed between Galgamuwa and Abanpola and the Badulla – Galle train derailed as well. Sources within the Railway Department blamed the substandard nature of wood used to manufacture railway sleepers as being one of the causes behind the recent spate of train derailments. [...]
Rains ruin vegetable crops; ginger farmers hit hard
Torrential rains have destroyed hordes of vegetable crops, leading to a severe shortage and sending prices skyrocketing. Rains that have been lashing Dambulla, Matale, Naula, Galewela and Sigiriya for many days have ruined vegetable and raw ginger crops in these areas, farmers say. Among those badly affected were raw ginger farmers in Dandubendiruppa and [...]