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Home » NewsFrom Aragalaya to Christmas festivities
Outside the Presidential Secretariat, the Galle Face Green some months ago was the site of one of Sri Lanka’s biggest public protests which forced the then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and resign. This week, the area was turned into a festive site with Christmas trees, lights, and carols by the Army band [...]
Health Minister bypasses President’s orders on medicinal drug imports
Attempts to broaden scope of unsolicited proposals; returns from trip at invitation of medical supplier in India By Namini Wijedasa Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella—who returned yesterday from a three-night trip to Chennai undertaken on the invitation of a medical supplier he is promoting for a lucrative Health Ministry contract—ignored Finance Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s instructions to [...]
IRD’s faulty online system dampens trillion-rupee target set for next year
By Damith Wickremasekara Uncertainty hangs over the Inland Revenue Department’s tax collection targets for 2023 due to a faulty online system. The IRD has sought Treasury approval to upgrade an online Revenue Administration system costing Rs nine billion despite a cloud over the programme for the past eight years. With a one-trillion-rupee revenue target set [...]
Unhealthy air pollution levels in Colombo and other areas
By Yoshitha Perera As the air quality of Colombo and several other areas again reached unhealthy levels, the situation will continue with a slight increase in air pollution in the next few days, the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) said. According to the NBRO, the air quality could drop to an unsafe level due to [...]
New Covid variant: No immediate threat locally, but…
Despite a surge in COVID-19 cases in India and China, there is no immediate threat to Sri Lanka unless a new dangerous variant emerges, according to Sri Jayewardenepura University’s Microbiology Professor Neelika Malavige. She stressed the need to strengthen Sri Lanka’s gene sequencing process to keep track of emerging variants. She said India at present [...]
Public servants to take pledge to get involved in food security drive
When state employees take a pledge on their first working day on January 2 next year, they will also commit themselves to take all possible steps to meet the government’s food security priorities as the nation is facing an unprecedented economic and food crisis. Public Administration Ministry Secretary M.M.P.K. Mayadunne said public servants from rural [...]
Electricity tariff hike: CEB Union urges Govt. not to bypass PUCSL authority
PUCSL chief says Govt. which is unable to control egg prices is now trying to control electricity tariff By Kasun Warakapitiya Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers Union (CEBEU) called on the Government not to bypass the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) when introducing proposed reforms and tariff increases. So far they have not been [...]
Eppawala’s missing boy found
A nine year old boy, who went missing earlier this week from Eppawala, was found in an estate in Rikillagaskada yesterday morning and two suspects were arrested in this regard, Police said. The two suspects, one of whom was a mechanic residing close to the boy’s house in Eppawala, were produced before the Eppawala Magistrate [...]
Harassment of group of doctors: The Health Ministry has over stepped its authority, says AMS
The Association of Medical Specialists (AMS) has condemned the Health Minister and certain Health Ministry officials for their unprecedented and unacceptable actions towards the medical officers and medical specialists in the recent past. The AMS says that they understand that certain high officials from the Ministry of Health have written to the Sri Lanka Medical [...]
Habeas Corpus petition: Vavuniya HC judge orders Army to produce missing person
The Vavuniya High Court, in response to a Habeas Corpus petition, has ordered Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to produce a person who was handed over to armed forces in Mullaithivu by his family members during the final stage of the country’s separatist war thirteen years ago. In his December 16 order, Judge Ramanathan Kannan noted [...]
Concern over coal crisis
With plans to increase electricity tariffs the supply of coal too has run into a crisis as the procurement process has been delayed. The Picture shows the depleting coal stocks at the Lakwijeya coal power plant in Norochcholai .
CB asks People’s Bank to reconsider CEO choice
The Central Bank (CB) has requested the People’s Bank to reconsider its proposal to appoint Kurukulasuriya Canicious Joachim Clive Fonseka as the new CEO/General Manager of the bank. The reason given, in a letter dated December 22 to bank Chairman Sujeeva Rajapakse, is that Mr Fonseka’s experience is confined to the subject of Treasury, and [...]
Eye-watering zeros in festive grocery bill
By Nadia Fazlulhaq andHiran Priyankara For many Sri Lankan households, the ever-increasing prices of food items has made Christmas and a New Year an unprecedented challenge, despite the relative celebratory mood in the post-pandemic period. An egg cost about Rs 25 last year, but now, even at Rs 50 to Rs 55 each, there [...]
O Christmas tree, what has befallen thee?
A blue Christmas and huge losses for dealers By Yoshitha Perera Due to the prevailing financial issues faced by consumers, there is a significant decline in the demand for natural Christmas trees, vendors said. Natural Christmas tree vendors have established their sales outlets at Thimbrigasyaya in Colombo and this time only a few vendors were [...]
Share the joy of Christmas with the poor and needy: Cardinal
Taking note of the country’s severe economic crisis, Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith called on Christians to spend their Christmas with the poor. It is said that 8.1 million people in the country are on the fringes of starvation, the Archbishop said in his Christmas message. He noted that the Catholic Bishops’ Conference in [...]
Let us remember the true message of Christmas in these hard times, say political leaders
In their Christmas messages, the country’s political leaders called on the people to take to heart the themes of love and peace and help one another in these difficult times disregarding each other’s differences. Christmas is “a joyous festival of humanity and peace, that proclaims the liberation of the poor and oppressed,” President Ranil Wickremesinghe [...]
Additional buses and trains for the holiday season
The Sri Lanka Transport Board is ready to provide additional buses for people travelling to and from their villages during the festive season. “There are long-distance SLTB buses. But we have prepared additional buses if the crowds increase,” Deputy General Manager (Operations), Panduka Swarnahansa, told the Sunday Times. The programme is already underway, having started [...]
Astronomical prices crimp Christmas spending
By Yoshitha Perera The rising cost of living has taken a heavy toll on consumer confidence this Christmas season and retailers are feeling the effects. Sri Lankans have been cutting back on discretionary spending, gifts, celebratory food and beverages and decorations. The situation is reflected in the Pettah Market, Colombo, where vendors say sales have [...]
2022: A year like no other
The rise of protesters, the fall of Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the rise of Ranil Wickremesinghe Without doubt, 2022 will go down in history as a year where some of the most momentous events in the country’s recent history played out amid much hardship and misery. For the first time in Sri Lanka’s history, a sitting [...]
Sick state of affairs in medical procurement under Indian credit line
Health Minister Rambukwella allegedly rooting for handpicked, locally unregistered Indian companies Cabinet sanctions for purchases from unregistered Savorite, though SPMC and registered suppliers can deliver the same products Questions over minister’s and NMRA CEO’s Chennai visit, courtesy Kausikh, second company mentioned in minister’s Cabinet note The Cabinet has sanctioned a proposal by Health Minister Keheliya [...]
Tuk tuks, motorbikes remain targets for thieves
By Senuka Jayakody Three-wheelers and motorbikes continue to be stolen across the country, amid a shortage of spares and high prices resulting from import restrictions. In 2021, 1,405 vehicles had been stolen, but in the first nine months of 2022, 1,406 incidents have been recorded. Narcotic drug users are suspected to be robbing three-wheelers and [...]
“How can we afford a degree when we cannot even afford dinner?” a disillusioned youth asks
This year, at least 300,000 Lankans, including professionals, have left the country for work overseas; highest number since Independence By Tharushi Weerasinghe In Sri Lanka’s post-Independence history, the record for the highest number of migrant workers to leave the country for work overseas was marked this year. The number of migrant workers leaving topped the [...]
Tri forces spread the joy of Christmas
As they do each year, the three armed forces held their annual Christmas Carol events this year too to spread some joy in this season of love.
The lights go on amidst the darkness
Story and pix by M A Pushpa Kumara The streets of Colombo have come alive with Christmas celebrations and decorations. Most parts of the city have been illuminated, with hotels too putting up their own decorations. Christmas trees have been erected at key areas of the city. The Colombo backdrop has been colourful with the [...]
Locals pick up the slack, while Russians live on the cheap
By Sohan Vipulananda There have been signs of life in the tourism industry since last month, while hoteliers in the south say Russians are not spenders and instead rent homes. Local tourists have also started to travel during long weekends. They have been enjoying the festive season once again, now that a relative calm prevails. [...]
Neglect will soon make this Peraliya tsunami memorial a memory too
Little facilities for people who visit site on December 26 to remember their loved ones Text and pix by Gamini Mahadura The stone-walled plaque built in Peraliya in memory of the lives lost in the December 26, 2004 tsunami will soon be a distant memory too. Neglected by authorities, the memorial site is cleaned only [...]
Ministry backpedals after Police school bag search yields nothing
By Wasantha Ramanayake Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Education is backtracking on its decision to ask the Police to search school bags for narcotic drugs, following widespread criticism of the idea’s political undertones and concerns over the privacy of children. Searches in the Western Province this week yielded zero results in terms of student narcotic drug [...]
Expect a wet Christmas, Met Dept. warns
Heavy rain fall over most parts of the country could be expected today and tomorrow, the Meterological Department has warned.. This could occur as the depression over the southwest Bay of Bengal, which was detected 370km to the northeast of Trincomalee, makes its way across Sri Lanka during the next 48 hours, the Department said, [...]
Electrocutions killing large predatory birds
By Kasun Warakapitiya Electric power cables, expressways, as well as garbage dumps have become death traps for large predatory birds of Sri Lanka, a senior wildlife official said. Commonly called, raptors, these birds, including eagles, hawks, and large owl species such as the Eagle owl and Fish owls, are killed or maimed for life from [...]
Degree of concern as Sabaragamuwa Uni’s waste pollutes Surathali Ella
By Senuka Jayakody The Environment Ministry is proposing waste disposal licence regulations to prevent Lanka’s scenic waterfalls from becoming garbage dumps. The move follows reports that garbage from Sabaragamuwa University is being dumped near Surathali Ella, a Ratnapura District waterfall that is popular among local tourists. The new regulations will come under the Central Environment [...]
Prelates want “monks-only” Buddhist and Pali University: Dr. Raghavan
Student leader accuses government of trying to blackmail them and privatise the institution By Senuka Jayakody The Mahanayake theras believe Sri Lanka should set up an “all-monk” Buddhist and Pali University, Higher Education State Minister Suren Raghavan said. At this week’s Cabinet meeting Education Minister Susil Premajayantha submitted a full report of the incidents at [...]
No tutors for students studying French at Pera Uni
By L.B.Senaratne Students studying French at the University of Peradeniya are facing dilemma as there are no French instructors as they have sought employment elsewhere. University sources said they were trying to obtain the services of tutors even on an hourly basis, but have not succeeded so far.
Axe on Welikanda forests: Destruction or development?
Environmentalists and residents up in arms over clearing of forest reserve for maize cultivation Say the ecosystem is being harmed and human-elephant conflict aggravated NLDB chief rebuffs allegations; says the forest was once agricultural land that even had milk factories Farmer alleges treasure hunting in plots given to businessmen; claims archaeological sites being destroyed By Tharushi [...]