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Jak dansala for drivers at filling station

Jak dansala for drivers at filling station

Though this looks like a Poson dansala, it is a pathetic picture of lorry, truck and bus drivers who had to wait in a queue at an Aluthgama fuel shed for as long as three days and cooked Jak fruit for their meals as they waited and waited. Pic by Thusitha Kumara de Silva  

As fuel crisis worsens; Govt. goes for unsolicited proposals

Only three shipments due this month; India, China yet to respond to Lanka’s requests The Government has opted to consider unsolicited proposals for fuel supplies amid delays over financial commitments from India and China to buy diesel and petrol for the upcoming weeks, senior officials said. Accordingly, Cabinet approval has been sought to pursue at [...]

Seasonal influenza spreading rapidly; 14 deaths

Deaths of 14 people due to a flu have raised concern among health professionals who warn the public to be cautious of a seasonal influenza spreading rapidly. More than 100 people have been afflicted with the disease in the Ratnapura district alone and have sought treatment in public hospitals. According to the Medical Research Institute, [...]

Information blackout as fuel stocks run out

With existing fuel stocks almost exhausted, the Government yesterday imposed an information blackout on fuel distribution by removing distribution lists published by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) and shutting down the newly launched online platform providing information on fuel availability. The fuel distribution lists that had been published by the CPC for yesterday (18) were [...]

Official letters show CEB Chairman was instructed to facilitate Adani projects

Official letters show CEB Chairman was instructed to facilitate Adani projects

By Namini Wijedasa  India’s Adani Group intends to expand still further in Sri Lanka through Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) which has secured a total 500MW of wind and solar plants in Mannar and Pooneryn, documents show. A letter sent in November last year by Vneet Jaain, AGEL Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, to [...]

Fuel crisis: Most schools closed next week

Government schools in the Colombo Education Zone and suburbs and those in main towns will be closed next week due to the current fuel crisis, the Education Ministry said yesterday. The Provincial Education officials have been advised to continue classes at schools that have fewer students, depending on the situaiton. Principals of schools that have [...]

The Sunday Times wins Publishers’ award for investigative reporting

The Sunday Times is among partners in Asia of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) that won the Carlos Tejada Award for Excellence in Investigative Reporting at the annual Society of Publishers’ in Asia (SOPA) Awards. The Sunday Time’s entries in this category were its reports on the secretive use of shell companies by [...]

National airline’s liabilities greater than its assets, audit report reveals

The current liabilities of debt-ridden national carrier SriLankan Airlines exceeded its assets, an audit report has revealed. The current liabilities exceeded its current assets by Rs. 214,6 billion, the report said. The report compiled by National Audit Office said the company incurred a net loss of Rs. 45,231.46 million during the financial year which ended [...]

CEB’s bid for new gas turbines at Kelanitissa blows a fuse, once again

CMEC says it cannot meet the financing terms By Namini Wijedasa   The Ceylon Electricity Board’s (CEB) long overdue tender to design, manufacture, supply, install and commission three 35MW gas turbines at the Kelanitissa Power Station has suffered another blow with the selected party China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) saying it cannot meet the financing terms. [...]

Ban ends, hundreds of mechanised Indian fishing trawlers in Lankan waters again

Ban ends, hundreds of  mechanised Indian fishing  trawlers in Lankan waters again

Lankan fisher folk in kerosene queues, some families face starvation As a two month breeding ban that was imposed on Tamil Nadu mechanised bottom trawlers came to an end on Wednesday, Indian fishermen have started returning to the northern waters of Sri Lanka. Northern fishermen who are struggling to secure adequate kerosene to go fishing [...]

Low-fuel flashing light on; country grinding to a halt

Low-fuel flashing light on; country grinding to a halt

Govt. lacks solution as motorists spend days in kilometres-long queues; unrest at several sheds Health sector faces collapse; doctors and surgeons go through agony at fuel sheds School van and bus operators demand special arrangements to obtain diesel Fish industry partially paralysed; one-third of boats not going to sea; prices skyrocket By Sandun Jayawardana With [...]

Two wheels now only option for workers

Two wheels now only option for workers

Cycling to work is now being explored by state and private sector companies to ride out the economic calamity. Bus and rail transport has collapsed and there is no hard currency for the rulers to buy petrol and diesel. The last oil shipment under an Indian credit line arrived on Friday. Some companies are now [...]

Human kindness and racketeers’ wickedness intersect at fuel sheds

Kilometres-long fuel queues have brought out the human kindness in motorists waiting in hope for days and nights to top up their tanks, with food and drinks being shared among them. But there are also stories about racketeers taking them for a ride. Beware of racketeers at fuel sheds, police warn. Recently at Bandaragama, two [...]

Pic of the Pix

FROM OUR READERS Shutterbugs out there, we would once again appreciate your contributions to this picture corner. Please send your captioned photograph along with yourname, and the location of the photograph, to: pictures@sundaytimes.wnl.lk We would also appreciate if you mention the camera or cellphone that was used.

Athurugiriya fuel station clash: Seven suspects remanded till tomorrow

Seven people out of the nine suspects involved in a clash with the Police at the Athurugiriya fuel station were remanded until tomorrow. A husband and wife who were among the nine suspects were released on bail after all of them were produced in the Magistrate Court yesterday. According to the Police, on Friday people [...]

Youth shot trying to grab police weapon

A youth was shot dead in the Neluwa area after he made an attempt to grab the weapon of a policeman, last evening. SSP Nihal Thalduwa said that a Police party had carried out a raid on a group involved in drug trafficking. The incident had occurred when the Police tried to arrest the suspects [...]

Reduce at source to cut food waste

Reduce at source to cut food waste

By Nadia Fazlulhaq   While the state-sponsored cultivation drive has begun experts believe there is a need to cut down on the troubling scale of food wastage in the country. According to the UN Food Waste Index 2021, in Sri Lanka the per capita food waste is 76 kilograms annually. Every year over 1.6 million tonnes [...]

Big time millers profiteering by starving market of rice, allege traders and small scale millers

Big time millers profiteering by starving market of rice, allege  traders and small scale millers

Fear of a looming food crisis has seen a public already burdened by lack of fuel and gas and power outages scrambling to stockpile rice. Orders placed four days back for local rice stocks by economic centre traders had not seen the light of day up until Friday, the Sunday Times learns. Imported rice stocks [...]

Dalada Perahera opens to public after 2 years, 6000 police to provide security

After two years the Kandy Dalada Maligawa authorties have decided to allow the public to view the annual Esala perahera. Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (Central ) Sanjeewa Dharmaratne said about 6000 Police personnel would be deployed to provide additional security during the perahera period. The rituals connected with the perahera will begin with [...]

Where have all the tourists gone?

Where have all the tourists gone?

Pix and text by Kanchana Kumara Ariyadasa Due to shortages in electricity, gas and fuel, the once bustling Sigiriya has become devoid of tourists. Due to the prevailing shortages, tourists have departed the country, drastically impacting tourist hot spots in Sri Lanka, including the ancient city of Sigiriya, leaving the magnificent rock fortress barren, inconveniencing [...]

Community kitchens step up in spite of hurdles

Community kitchens step up in spite of hurdles

By Yoshitha Perera   Large pots filled with boiled vegetables and steaming rice are a common sight in some areas in and around Colombo. These are the community kitchens providing some kind of nourishing meal to the needy as the country’s economic woes worsen. However, even these community kitchens are affected by the severe shortage of [...]

Law enforcement officers must act with caution and restraint, says BASL

The association also asks Govt. to take urgent action to ease burdens of the people “It is of utmost importance that those enforcing the law act with restraint and caution in dealing with the people, the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL),” said recently. Issuing a statement on the current law and order situation, BASL’s [...]

If you want to cultivate, Govt. ready to give new land for 6 months to one year

Ambitious plan to promote agriculture among the people; but farmers claim the agenda is to privatise public land In a bid to promote agriculture, the Government will provide land on a short term basis of six months to a year, to people willing to cultivate crops, a senior Land Ministry official said. They said the [...]

Believing in bringing therapy out of the therapist’s room

Believing in bringing therapy out of the therapist’s room

An advocate of ‘Positive Psychotherapy’ Dr. Tayyab Rashid from the University of Toronto, Scarborough,Canada talks to Kumudini Hettiarachchi He is recognised around the world and though he has been to major trouble-spots including Lebanon to make the lives of numerous folk better, it was a first visit to Sri Lanka recently. It is in Piliyandala’s SOS Children’s [...]

15 murders since May 30 and cops say they are stretched to the limit

15 murders since May 30 and cops say they are stretched to the limit

It was mid-noon Tuesday when Nipun Chandana Perera, 23, came out from a nearby ATM booth of a private bank in Elakanda, Wattala after visiting the gym earlier as usual. Two motorcyclists wearing full-face helmets and face masks ambushed him and the pillion rider shot him with a T-56 rifle. The youth fell to the [...]

Starvation stares in the faces of their daughters and sons

Starvation stares in the faces of their daughters and sons

By Kumudini Hettiarachchi   The children are starving! If remote Salalihini-gama close to Bogaswewa, about 22km from Vavuniya town, is a ‘microcosm’ reflecting Sri Lanka’s tragedy as it falls deeper into an economic morass exacerbated by a food and fuel crisis, it is obvious that the country’s children are starving. Single-parent Chandra Kanthi (31) is toiling [...]

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