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Home » NewsPrice-hike delay suckles milk powder shortage
As the milk powder scarcity created by a short-supply continues to hit consumers hard, the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) says it is still studying the request for a price increase by companies. CAA Chairman Rumy Marzook said a committee was looking into the financial status of the milk powder companies because they had sought the [...]
CMC goes hi-tech with e-payment of rates
The online rate payment system introduced by the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) this week, in collaboration with the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA), is expected to help the council collect millions of rupees due to the council as overdues pile up.Speaking at the inauguration ceremony on January 8, Mayor A.J.M. Muzammil stressed the importance [...]
One was quite enough — sub-cyclone storm lashes north
Tropical cyclone/storm “One”, forecast to hit the country with punishing force last week, made its landfall more leniently although bringing strong winds and heavy showers to the north. Given the recent cyclone and deep depression conditions in the southwest Bay of Bengal, meteorological and disaster management authorities are making detailed preparations for disaster prevention this [...]
Shopping for milk
As the milk powder shortage turns sour with the Consumer Affairs Authority not acceding to a request by milk food companies for a price increase, more and more people are taking recourse to fresh milk. This picture shows people lining up at a fresh milk collection centre itself at Bokundera in Piliyandala to buy milk. [...]
Prisoner swap, Rs. 95b loss at Delhi talks
Next week’s high level talks between Sri Lanka and India in New Delhi on poaching in Sri Lanka’s territorial waters will also focus on a prisoner swap of fishermen. While Sri Lanka is holding Tamil Nadu fishermen in local jails, Indian authorities have detained Lankan fishermen in a number of jails there. Fisheries Minister Rajitha [...]
War crime tweet: Govt. won’t summon US envoy
The Government has backed down from a move to summon US Ambassador Michele Sisson to the External Affairs Ministry to protest over a US embassy tweet which read that “Army shelling killed hundreds of families”. External Affairs ministry Secretary Karunathilleke Amunugama told the Sunday Times there was no move to summon Ambassador Sisson but the [...]
Finger-prints for passports
Applicants for new passports will be fingerprinted from this year on, Immigration Controller Chulananda Perera said yesterday.The programme to collect biometric (fingerprints) data would begin by April, he told the Sunday Times.“The plan for the project is being finalised. The tender process will be concluded soon and we hope to begin the project within the [...]
Norochcholai out again: CEB may now seek help from India
The Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant in Norochcholai has been shut down for repairs again — the third time in five weeks. The plant was shut down at 9.15 pm on Friday “due to high conductivity of boiler water”, Ceylon Electricity Board spokesman Senajith Dasanayake said. This was the result of one of the 16,000 pipes [...]
PC polls in mid-March
Elections to the Western and Southern Provincial Councils are expected to be held in mid-March, Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya said yesterday. The dissolution of the councils is expected to take place at midnight today. Nominations would be received from Thursday and continue for two weeks, he said. Thereafter, six weeks would be provided for the election [...]
Panic as peacocks hit plane at MRIA
A Dubai-based budget airline was forced to make an emergency landing after a flock of peacocks collided head on with it during take-off from the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) early yesterday, officials said. They said the scheduled Fly Dubai flight with 188 passengers and crew had arrived from the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) earlier in [...]
Pettah comes alive with court room scenes
The Pettah was abuzz yesterday when acclaimed film-maker Chandran Rutnam began shooting the ‘court scene’ in ‘According to Mathew’ based on the notorious Vicarage double murders which rocked Sri Lanka in the 1980s. The filming resumed last week, after a six-month break. Authentically recreating the ‘courts’ in the old Town Hall building off Main Street, [...]
Probe all incidents of ethanol and drug smuggling: Ranil
Opposition and UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday called for investigation of all incidents of smuggling of ethanol and drugs into the country, and not probe only the narcotics case connected with Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne’s office. Mr. Wickremesinghe also urged the Government to implement the provisions of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution as a [...]
Amendments coming to bar illegal activity by mineral exploration licensees: Ministry
The Ministry of Environment and Renewable Energy said this week that amendments will be brought to the relevant laws and regulations to prevent illegal activity by licence holders of mineral explorations. The letter from R.P. Perera, Coordinating Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Renewable Energy, is pursuant to an article in the Sunday Times [...]
Who ordered Wellampitiya OIC to release drug suspects: Judge seeks phone record
The Colombo Additional Magistrate this week ordered police to submit a report to court regarding telephone call/s received by the Wellampitiya OIC who has been accused of possessing narcotics. The order was given after counsel for OIC Buwanekasiri Munasinghe informed court that the arrest came soon after the OIC had turned down a request made [...]
Three-wheeler taxis: Nobody’s baby
Over six months have lapsed since the gazette notification on three-wheeler taxis used to provide transportation services is yet to be implemented in the country. The gazette notification which was published by the Ministry of Transport is yet to be adopted by Parliament while a number of three-wheeler drivers and owners’ unions are calling on [...]
A week of killer road accidents
Several road accidents that claimed lives were reported from around the country last week. A cyclist, who sustained injuries on Wednesday, when his bicycle collided with a cab at James Peiris Mawatha, Colombo 02, later died at the Colombo National Hospital. The victim, Mohammad Zavahir (20), a resident of Watupitiya Akurana, worked as a restaurant [...]
Tender standoff due to political influence derails train canteens
Hundreds of thousands of train commuters are being deprived of an essential service- the railway canteens and related outlets, for the past eight months, following a tender standoff caused by political interference, while the Dept loses millions of rupees in vital revenue, it was revealed this week. According to inside sources, a single individual with [...]
Self-imposed press watchdog marks a decade with int’l presence
The tenth anniversary celebrations of the Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka (PCCSL) will be marked with an International Conference on ‘Ethical Reporting and Self-Regulation’ beginning tomorrow with the participation of delegates from the South and South East Asian regions and elsewhere. The conference is being held in partnership with UNESCO. Representatives from statutory Press [...]
No coercion, no logo, assures new halal body
The halal certification process that has been taken over by a private company will be voluntary and there will be no requirement to display any logo on products, a spokesman for the new company declared. But critics charge the creation of the new Halal Accreditation Council (Guarantee) Limited, registered as a limited guarantee company under [...]
Govt. gazettes 6 administrative zones to implement provisions of Divineguma Act
Government this week gazetted six administrative zones for the purpose of implementing the provisions of the Divineguma Act. The gazette was issued under the signature of Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa. The Divineguma zones will come into effect alongside several other administrative divisions in the country—including education and health zones. The Divineguma Act came into [...]
Crimes, murders decline, but most remain unsolved with fewer successful prosecutions
Work Supervisor, Gamini Saman was returning home from his workplace in the early hours of January 1, so that he could mark the dawn of the new year with his family at their home in Kotiyagala, Ingiriya. But, it was not to be, as he was beaten up with clubs and stones by a group [...]
Something is rotten in the state of Sri Lanka – our food
Another week of raids, and this time the Consumer Affairs Authority seized thousands of kilos of date expired sugar, Basmati rice and dried sprats valued at millions of rupees on sale to unsuspecting families, caterers and reputed firms serving locals and overseas visitors. Contaminated food can cause food poisoning and even cancers, Deputy Director General [...]
BASL President Upul Jayasuriya re-elected uncontested for another term
President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) Upul Jayasuriya was re-elected to the post for 2014/2015. Mr. Jayasuriya was re-elected uncontested to the post as the nomination of Mr R.R. Thangarajah was rejected. The BASL had amended the Constitution to disqualify any candidate who fails to obtain more than 10 per cent of [...]
No longer the farmer with the mamoty
The farmers of Sri Lanka once set off to work with knives and mamoties. The soil and water were uncontaminated and they dealt with bugs and blights the natural way. Today, they-like these growers in Karuwalagaswewa, Puttalam District-go to the fields with pesticide sprayers slung on their backs. There have been some efforts to encourage [...]
This is what you eat!
The use of chemicals to ripen raw fruits for quick sale is now on the increase. The Sunday Times today reveals how ethephon, an agro chemical is used for such a purpose. Once sprayed into the fruit, ethephon converts into ethylene, a fruit-ripening chemical. While ethylene is said to be invaluable due to its ability [...]
New places of religious worship only with prior approval of Ministry
The Ministry of Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs has reiterated the need for those setting up and operating new places of religious worship to get prior approval from the Ministry. The move has been taken to avoid breakdown in amity among members of various religious groups in the country, and on the recommendations of the [...]
Ill-fated Lion Air remains; a mystery at Jaffna Municipal Council grounds
Vithusalini was barely 3-years-old when her father set off on the fateful journey to Colombo. Little did Vithusalini know that the light of doom would take away her father, Kirubaran and two of her uncles, Senthilvel and Paheerathan forever. Fifteen years later, Vithusalini, now a young woman of 18, is looking for answers among the [...]
Blood on the factory floor – industrial accidents soar
Carpenter P. Somasiri suffered horrendous injuries when he fell onto an industrial saw in the small carpentry workshop he works at in Hibutana, Mulleriyawa and had to undergo complicated reconstructive surgery to reattach his severed hands. A few months earlier he had suffered serious gashes while working and been rushed to hospital. Somasiri has returned [...]
St. Joseph’s College Rector transferred to Aquinas
The Archdiocese of Colombo on Wednesday gave effect to the transfers of rectors, vice rectors and directors to Colleges and Parishes that it had unexpectedly suspended on January 3, 2014. The “rearranged” list was released by Rev. Fr. Jude Samantha Fernando, Secretary (Administration) of the Archdiocese. There were several changes. For instance, Rev. Fr. Bonnie [...]
Woman-led gang of pimps and pedlars busted in Kollupitiya
An organised crime gang led by a woman that is alleged to have crushed the limbs of three people in a bloody turf war involving pimps, prostitutes and drug pedlars in the Metropolis, was busted earlier this week, police said yesterday. They said the gang had operated for a considerable period of time in several [...]
Tribute to SLFP founder
Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne pays homage at the statue of the late S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike on his birth anniversary (January at Galle Face, while senior stalwart in the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena is seen conversation with former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga at the same function. Pix [...]
