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Home » NewsArmed troops guard COVID hospitals
Police, Army and Air Force personnel have now been deployed to work with security staff of hospitals where COVID-19 infected patients are under treatment. Accordingly, 39 officers were deployed at Angoda’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) while 40 were assigned to the Welikanda Hospital. Security forces and police have also been deployed at the [...]
Campaign goes virtual: Millions spent on social media ads
Sri Lankan political candidates have spent up to US$ 234,692 (more than Rs 43.5mn) on 15,860 election-related publicity on Facebook and its other platforms including Instagram since nominations were handed over, according to the social media site’s Ad Library which publishes expenditure details of advertisement that appear on user timelines. This amount had been spent [...]
BTF winds up in shame
The British Tamil Forum (BTF) has been wound up under the UK’s Insolvency Act. This came after one of its Tamil employees petitioned court alleging sexual discrimination and the court ordered that the complainant should be paid compensation out of the assets of the BTF. A British High Court has held that the BTF was [...]
Runaway COVID patient not infective
The patient who ran away from Angoda’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) on Friday before arriving at the National Hospital to be sent back to the NIID is not infective and there is no cause for alarm or panic, according to the doctor who is treating him. Testing has shown that he has recovered [...]
CID probes oil refinery project
The Criminal Investigation Department has started a probe on the Yahapalana administration’s controversial US$ 3.85bn (nearly Rs 700bn) oil refinery project in Hambantota. It was announced in March last year that the Omani Ministry of Oil and Gas would have a 30 percent stake in this project. But it later emerged that Oman had no [...]
MPCS bond scam: Relief for depositors
The Cabinet has approved the formation of a committee to suggest ways to settle payments to depositors of the East Hewagama Korale Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd (MPCS). The depositors lost their savings when the MPCS’s former board of directors used the funds to buy “Treasury bills” through a company named Entrust Limited which was not [...]
South Indian smugglers go for turmeric instead of ganja
South Indian runners have taken to smuggling turmeric instead of Kerala ganja to Sri Lanka after learning that the scarce commodity brought them more money than narcotics. On Wednesday, the Mandapam police near Rameswaran in Tamil Nadu arrested two men with around 600kg of edible turmeric in 15 bundles. They were bound for Sri Lanka [...]
SJB is a separate party contesting to the detriment of UNP: CA
The Court of Appeal this week upheld the Colombo District Judge’s order that the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) is a separate political party recognised by the Elections Commission, and was contesting the upcoming parliamentary elections detrimental to the interests of the United National Party (UNP). It held that the SJB is formed by a section [...]
Kandy Esala Perahera begins amid restrictions
The historic Kandy Dalada Perahera began last night with the first Kumbal Perahera taking to the streets. Unlike previous years, the Perahera is not open to the general public due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the colourful procession making its way through almost deserted streets that were cleared of the public several hours prior to [...]
New birth certificate issue: Much ado about nothing
Registrar General says removing race from the “national birth certificate” was never on the cards Wimal Weerawansa takes umbrage over reported move earlier in week The new digitalised format to remove many loopholes of previous format The Registrar General’s Department spent much of this week clarifying that it had never planned to remove the [...]
Fatal attractions claim local lives
The death of a 35-year-old doctor who drowned while having a dip at a waterfall this week raises concerns over the lack of safeguards at tourist attractions and public unconcern about danger. The Doovili falls in Lankagama, Neluwa, located near the scenic Sinharaja forest, attracts many Sri Lankans but local villagers warn that death lurks [...]
Less crowds, more restrictions at this year’s Kandy Esala Perahera
The Kandy Esala Maha Perahera began yesterday with Indiri Raja carrying the golden karanduwa. It will continue until August 4. The water cutting ceremony will take place at Getambe temple on Augsut 4 early in the morning. It will be followed by the day Perahera. The Randoli Perahera will begin on July 30, after the [...]
Dengue delinquents will be stung in their wallets
Dengue mosquito breeders, beware: you will be spot-fined if your house or land is found to be encouraging the breeding of the deadly mosquitoes that have claimed 23 lives and made over 20,000 people – including children – ill this year. In a desperate attempt to control the spread of dengue, health authorities will bring [...]
Banks take mighty bite at arrears, leaving borrowers beggared
Customers who had taken personal loans from banks and financial institutions found to their horror last month that their entire pay was deducted from their bank accounts, leaving them with a pittance on which to live. They learned that lending institutions had claimed total arrears for the preceding COVID-19-affected three months from the June salary. [...]
Smiles all round after mother & daughter mark medical first
Nail-biting tension, for they were pushed to the edge by worry. There was, however, simply no time for emotion, for riveted was the multi-disciplinary team’s focus on the slip of a girl, just nine years old, on the operating table before them. Her tender life was in their hands and it was “touch-and-go” at a [...]
Right royal ruin over a ‘royal’ pavilion
The destruction of a supposed archeological heritage site in Kurunegala–reportedly the royal pavilion of King Buwanekabahu II–caused outrage this week, even entering the political arena and prompting finger-pointing among Government officials over who was responsible. The archeological value of the building was in dispute throughout the continuing controversy. The new town was constructed during the [...]
Hundreds of millions for polls campaigns, but who is funding whom?
To carry out a strong campaign for the August 5 general elections, a candidate needs at least Rs 10 million, but he or she is often unable to raise that amount. In contrast a well-known candidate spends millions of rupees since he or she can pull in funds from various sources, an advertising agency publicist [...]
2020 polls: An election out of the ordinary
Of all Parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka through the decades, the 2020 election is shaping up as out of the ordinary. It is being held amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, one that has already seen the poll postponed twice and necessitated unprecedented changes to the way elections are held here. Gone are sprawling rallies with party [...]
Despite COVID scare, in Kandy, people we spoke to say they will vote
There are real fears that COVID-19 will affect turnout on election day but a majority of voters the Sunday Timesinterviewed insisted they will still go out and exercise their franchise, despite not having much hope of positive change regardless of who wins. We spoke to a number of voters in Kandy town this week. There [...]
Young lecturer on life support after elephant attack in Kilinochchi uni grounds
Gayathri Dilrukshi, 32, a Jaffna University lecturer attacked by an elephant within university grounds in Kilinochchi earlier this week, is alive but in critical condition, the National Hospital of Sri Lanka said. Some media outlets reported her death a few days after the incident but Jaffna Teaching Hospital Director Dr. T. Sathyamoorthy dispelled the rumours. [...]
What I did for Polonnaruwa has not been done since the time of Kings: Sirisena
Maithripala Sirisena broke the mould by challenging his boss and defeating him to become the President of Sri Lanka in 2015. And now, he has followed his erstwhile leader, Mahinda Rajapaksa to return to Parliament and continue his political journey from the House. His victory at the Presidential election was a watershed in Sri [...]
We may lose leaves and branches; but UNP, the tree is intact: Ranil
Some love to hate him. Others say he’s not “marketable”. Still more believe he’s the one national leader who understands the interplay of politics, economics and international relations. Overrated or underestimated, United National Party Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has been Prime Minister four times: under the Executive Presidential system, “Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.” [...]
NIID escapee had recovered and no fear of COVID-19 spread
A mini-drama was enacted in Colombo city, as news spread that a COVID-19 patient receiving treatment at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), Angoda, had run away Friday early morn, with a hunt being launched for him. While a description along with his photograph was circulated widely and concern gripped the city, the face-mask [...]
PHIs threaten to “reveal all” if nothing is done to empower them
Warning that the Public Health Inspectors’ (PHI) Union may be compelled to “reveal all” with regard to certain funds allocated for COVID-19 work and what was happening at the airport and the port under a senior health official, the PHIs urged on Friday that the Health Ministry issue an official document empowering them to carry [...]
It’s a hard knock life
When you think of a kitchen in a large organisation or factory, specific images spring to mind. Mass kitchens serve hundreds, even thousands of people everyday. But, what comes to your mind when you think of a mass kitchen, inside a prison? The Welikada Prison Kitchen is situated along an area of about 20 perches [...]
