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The July festival celebrated

The July festival celebrated

The July festival of our Lady Madhu was celebrated with the main mass being solemnised by Mannar Bishop Kingsley Swamippillai. 

Hospitals overflowing with dengue patients

Hospitals overflowing with dengue patients

With the dengue outbreak reaching epidemic proportions, hospitals in Colombo and other parts of the Western Province are overflowing with patients as portrayed in yesterday’s picture at the Base Hospital in the Gothatuwa New Town. Emergency operations are being conducted by public health officials, assisted by the security forces, to ensure that dengue mosquito breeding [...]

Coal or LNG for Sampur power plant, SL yet to confirm: India

 Despite environmental concerns raised by the Sri Lanka Government on the proposed Sampur coal power plant, Sri Lanka is yet to officially inform India whether it is for coal or Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) replacing the project completely, a senior Indian official said. India’s Ministry of Power, Secretary, P.K. Pujari said Sri Lanka has to [...]

Dhaka attack: Lankan couple escape unhurt

The Sri Lanka High Commission in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka put out a warning to Lankans residents to avoid unnecessary travel in public places in the wake of the terrorist attack there which left at least 20 persons, all foreigners, dead. A Lankan couple who were dining at the ill-fated Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka [...]

Plan to grant licences to limited number of Indian trawlers

The Sri Lanka Government is considering a proposal to issue permits to a limited number of Indian trawlers in an attempt to minimise mass-scale illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in sovereign seas by Tamil Nadu boats. However, the proposal — which has been floated by the Indian side several times in the past as [...]

Madushanka case: Maldivians can’t question family here

The Government has rejected a request from the Maldivian government for its detectives to question a Sri Lankan family. The move came on the advice of the Attorney General. This was on the grounds that Sri Lankan law does not allow any foreign investigators to question or record any statement from any citizen. Maldivian detectives [...]

BIA duty-free complex: Confusion over tender deadlines

International bids for operation of the two duty free shops at Bandaranaike International Airport have been called for — but confusion and controversy have arisen over the deadline being twice changed. The bids were called for by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, but to the confusion of prospective bidders, the Standing Cabinet Appointed Procurement Committee [...]

Salawa fire: Compensation for about 1,225 houses and businesses

By Damith Wickremasekara Compensation is to be paid to the owners of about 1,225 houses and business establishments destroyed or damaged in the Salawa ammunition depot inferno, a cabinet minister said yesterday. A comprehensive compensation plan, including payments for damaged household goods and electronic equipment will be taken up for approval at the next cabinet [...]

CBSL crisis ends: Indrajit Coomaraswamy new Governor

CBSL crisis ends: Indrajit Coomaraswamy new Governor

Renowned economist Indrajit Coomaraswamy was yesterday appointed as the new Governor of the Central Bank, ending a 24-hour deadlock on the appointment.  The President’s Office Media Spokesperson Dharmasiri Ekanayake said the new Governor would assume duties tomorrow. Financial experts said that among his immediate priorities would be to restore confidence in an institution which went [...]

Chinese workmen protest

Chinese workmen protest

Chinese workmen involved in the Matara-Beliatte Railway line work protest after a dispute with area residents.

Military boffins now into R&D to meet peacetime situations

Military boffins now into R&D to meet peacetime situations

In the mid 2000s, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam started using claymore mines against the Sri Lanka military in earnest. They hid them everywhere, on roadsides, in trees, under vehicles. And they started detonating them via wireless remote control. The war had started in earnest and the troops found their movements greatly hampered by [...]

We lock them up and throw away the key

We lock them up and throw away the key

Judges and magistrates who do not understand the Bail Act are contributing to dire overcrowding in prisons that sometimes hold close to twice as many inmates as they are designed to house, law reform activists say. Statistics show that while prisons should hold 11,762 inmates, in 2015 they had a daily average of 16,000 to [...]

Retired top cop’s death may point to medical negligence

Retired top cop’s death may point to medical negligence

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has submitted an interim report after probing allegations of possible medical negligence with regard to the death of a retired high-level police officer at the Police Hospital in Narahenpita. While the interim report has been submitted to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Pujith Jayasundara, the CID probe will continue [...]

NPC orders inquiry into STF Chief’s remarks threatening the media

The National Police Commission (NPC) has ordered an inquiry into the remarks made by Special Task Force (STF) Commandant- Deputy Inspector General(DIG) of Police Ranjith Perera, threatening the media. NPC Secretary, Ariyadasa Cooray said they were awaiting a report from the Inspector General of Police (IGP) about the STF Chief’s remarks at a Press conference. [...]

Now Lankan boat owners in North take to bottom trawling

Now Lankan boat owners in North take to bottom trawling

Mechanised bottom trawling—the harmful practice of scraping the ocean bed for catch such as prawns and sea cucumber—is spreading rapidly in the North, perpetrated by a band of influential Sri Lankan boat owners inspired by Government lenience on illegal Indian fishing in local waters. This group is buying up one-day boats in the South and [...]

Govt. to meet traders tomorrow following anti-VAT protests

Govt. to meet traders tomorrow  following anti-VAT protests

A series of protests aimed at pressurising the Government to withdraw the Value Added Tax (VAT) increase on retail and wholesale trade appear to have jolted the Government with President Maithripala Sirisena publicly stating there will be more revisions to the VAT soon Retail and wholesale traders taking part at countrywide demonstrations denounced the increase [...]

‘Fleeced’ patients cry foul but hospitals have their way

When family members of veteran politician and trade unionist Alavi Moulana admitted him to a leading private hospital in Colombo for a simple medical procedure, which was to be followed by a few hours of hospital stay, they were told the cost would be around Rs 300,000. He was admitted on June 15, 2016 for [...]

Lankan snakes appear in bogus Rwanda stamp issue

Lankan snakes appear in bogus Rwanda stamp issue

Sri Lankan snakes and the Republic of Rwanda have got coiled as victims in an illegal philatelic issue linked to stamp piracy. Going as far back as April 1, 2003, it has come to light that an unknown agency, probably based in Eastern Europe, has produced a series of two labels, purportedly to be philatelic [...]

A word in SC judgment adds confusion to the contentious coal saga

The Power and Energy Ministry will seek the Attorney General’s opinion on how to interpret a Supreme Court judgment calling for the cancellation of a controversial multibillion rupee coal tender. “I have advised the Secretary to the Ministry to forward the judgment to the Attorney General next week for advice,” Power and Energy Minister Ranjith [...]

Drug traffickers getting smart, but authorities smarter

Drug traffickers getting smart, but authorities smarter

Law enforcement agencies have stepped up operations to stay ahead of drug traffickers, who are increasingly using new technologies and techniques to carry out drug smuggling activities. A detective said new measues were necessary because smugglers were now using GPS devises to coordinate operations. A sting of drugs busts and drugs-related arrests in the past [...]

Homeowners in Colombo play hide-and-seek with dengue teams

Homeowners in Colombo play  hide-and-seek with dengue teams

Non co-operative Colombo city residents, the failure of public and private institutions to maintain their premises and abandoned buildings and lands were major obstacles for officials carrying out a three-day anti-dengue campaign that ended yesterday. Colombo Municipal Council Public Health Inspectors (PHIs) along with the environmental police and army engaged carried out checks on 2,667 [...]

Seven areas at high risk of dengue epidemics

Seven areas at high risk of dengue epidemics

Seven districts in the country are at high risk of dengue epidemics – Colombo, Gampaha, Kandy, Kalutara, Jaffna, Ratnapura, Kurunegala – with more than 20,400 people ill of the virus in these areas. The incidence of dengue fever has increased by 20 per cent in June this year compared with the figure last year. Hospital [...]

Pallekandal shrine going ahead with alleged destructive plans

Pallekandal shrine  going ahead with alleged destructive plans

The Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) is to take legal action against intrusions and illegal constructions within the Wilpattu National Park, while a group of Roman Catholics are preparing to lodge a complaint with Pope Francis about the church’s action in the destruction of this Protected Area. In the eye of the storm is the [...]

Pivituru Hela Urumaya Leader out on bail in misappropriation case

The Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court released UPFA Parliamentarian and Pivituru Hela Urumaya Leader Udaya Gammanpila on bail. He was in remand allegedly for misappropriation of money belonging to an Australian investor. Colombo Fort Magistrate Ms. Lanka Jayaratne noted that although the charge of misappropriation of money was a serious offence and non-bailable, the suspect could [...]

Namal charged with contempt of bribery body by failing to appear before it

Hambantota District Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa committed an offence of Contempt of the Bribery Commission by allegedly disrespecting the authority by failing to appear before the Commission on May 26, Bribery Commission complained to the Supreme Court. Director General Dilrukshi Dias Wickremasinghe PC seeking to initiate the contempt proceedings complained to the Supreme Court Parliamentarian Namal [...]

16 elephants, eight people killed as human-elephant conflict rages in Hambantota

16 elephants, eight people killed as human-elephant  conflict rages  in Hambantota

Despite promises that government would give top priority to prevent human-elephant conflict via the Hambantota Elephant Conservation Declaration, a plan is yet to materialise. The haphazard development projects started by the previous Rajapaksa regime at Mattala and Hambantota have completely ignored implementation of basic environment re quirements, and these concerns have been limited to the [...]

Photo focus: The crypts at Maggona

Photo focus: The crypts at Maggona

During the period of  ‘lent’  thousands of Christians  flock to the ‘local Calvary’ at Maggona.  Here the faithful follow the ‘Way of the Cross’ -Christ’s journey to Mount Calvary where he was crucified and died. The premises is also home to St. Vincent’s Reformatory for juvenile offenders What is lesser-known is the existence of crypts [...]

Shame of 100,000 children labouring in farms, homes and factories

Shame of 100,000 children labouring in farms, homes and factories

There are almost 100,000 child workers in Sri Lanka, with girls working mostly as domestic help in towns and boys doing agricultural work in the villages. Schooling is a distant dream for many children, the survey by the Labour and Trade Union Relations Ministry shows, with 13.9 per cent of the child labour population being [...]

CEB engineers’ union unhappy over power policy switch

The Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers’ Union (CEBEU) has expressed its displeasure over what it sees as ad hoc government policies on power generation and power projects. CEBEU President Athula Wanniarachchi told the Sunday Times that as a mark of protest, its members would withdraw from the Technical Evaluation Committees (TECs) which evaluate the suitability of [...]

Proposal to seek NBRO approval for any building islandwide in cabinet soon

A proposal that would make it compulsory to obtain approval from the National Building Research (NBRO) for any kind of construction islandwide would be submitted to cabinet shortly, an official said. Currently approval is required only in 10 districts that are considered disaster-prone. An official of the Disaster Management Ministry said they were holding discussions [...]

Court stenographer injured by file HC Judge allegedly flung at her

Police is to record the statement of a High Court Judge (HCJ) for allegedly throwing a heavy court file at a female stenographer, and injuring her. Deputy Inspector General of Police (Sabaragamuwa Province) Rohan Dias said a complaint lodged by the stenographer at the Eheliyagoda police had been forwarded to the Ratnapura police for investigations. [...]

Welder dies, son injured by collapsing temple overhang

A 50-year-old welder died and his son injured when an old concrete sun shade of a temple in the Kelaniya area, they were demolishing, collapsed on them, a Coroner’s court of inquiry was told. Chief Incumbent of the temple, Ven. Middeniye Dharmasena Thera giving evidence before Additional City Coroner Irasha Deshani Samaraweera, said the deceased, [...]

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