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Home » NewsNavy gets honour of hoisting National Flag in jubilee week
At the Galle Face Green, the daily hoisting of the National Flag at 6 am has been assigned to the Navy for this period which also coincides with the celebrations to mark the 75th anniversary of Sri Lanka’s Independence. Navy personnel are seen hoisting the flag at dawn yesterday. Pic by Indika Handuwala
President’s Feb 8 policy statement to focus on way forward
Prorogation dissolves more than 40 parliamentary committees, including COPF, COPE and COPA By Sandun Jayawardana More than 40 Parliamentary Committees, including the Committee on Public Finance (COPF), the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) and the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA), have ceased to function following the prorogation of Parliament. With Parliament prorogued till February 8 from [...]
82,000 candidates vie for seats in 340 LG councils
By Damith Weerasekera and Yoshita Perera About 82,000 candidates from more than 30 political parties and independent groups will be in the fray for 8,771 seats in 340 local councils at elections still scheduled for March 9. The Election Commission has notified Assistant Elections Commissioners to hand over the information regarding these 82,000 candidates, their [...]
Life-or-death battle over drugs: Medical bodies go to President
By Namini Wijedasa The influential medical community’s battle against Health Ministry (MoH) moves to import drugs from locally-unregistered Indian suppliers—and to seek sweeping waivers of registration (WoR) from the National Medicines Regulatory Authority for hundreds of them—was escalated to the level of the President this week. The Councils of the Ceylon College of Physicians (CCP), [...]
PAYE tax: Treasury won’t budge
A senior Treasury official yesterday declared that there would be “no exceptions” in the implementation of the Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) tax. The official stressed that the tax was a precondition for obtaining a USD 2.9 billion bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Protests against the unprecedented increase in the PAYE tax are growing, with [...]
US$ 2bn worth of wind energy projects stuck in limbo: Four companies ask President to intervene
Four international companies — with an estimated US$ 2bn (Rs 729bn) worth of wind energy projects stuck in limbo for over two years — have sought an urgent meeting with President Ranil Wickremesinghe to break the impasse. In a letter to the President, the local representatives of Mingyang Smart Energy Group Ltd, Envision Energy Ltd, [...]
Over 100 acres of military-occupied land to be released before Feb 8
Steps are being taken to release before February 8 more than one hundred acres of civilian land under military occupation for more than three decades in Jaffna, a senior official said. Additional District Secretary (Lands) S. Muralidharan told the Sunday Times the steps were being taken in after President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s instructions to officials and [...]
Undertaker gets hearse and papers; Customs decision buried
By Ranjith Padmasiri The Court of Appeal (CA) has quashed the Customs’ decision preventing the release of a hearse and the relevant import documents on excise duty paid by the importer. A two-judge bench comprising Judges Sobitha Rajakaruna and Dhammika Ganepola issued the judgment considering a petition filed by undertakers Jayaratne V.I.P Services (Private) Limited, [...]
Aktha Pathra presented to Atamasthanadhipathi
President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday presented the Aktha Pathra (credentials) to the new Atamasthanadhipathi, the chief Sangha Nayake of the Siam Maha Nikaya, Malwathu Chapter, Nuwara Kalaviya, the Ven Dr. Pallegama Hemarathana Nayake thera at the Jayasrimaha Bodhiya in Anuradhapura. Also present at the ceremony were former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and Speaker [...]
India’s 74th Republic Day celebrations
The High Commission of India, Colombo celebrated India’s 74th Republic Day in Colombo on Thursday. After paying tributes to the fallen heroes of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) at the IPKF memorial, High Commissioner Gopal Baglay unfurled India’s national flag at India House and inspected the Guard of Honour. The High Commissioner also read [...]
EC confident of LG polls going ahead
By Sandun Jayawardana Despite various difficulties, the Election Commission (EC) is still confident that there will be no postponement of the 2023 local government election scheduled for March 9. This week, the EC wrote to the Treasury asking for the release of Rs. 800 million for initial expenses related to the conduct of the polls. [...]
Ambassador Rodney Perera presents credentials to Emperor of Japan
Newly appointed Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Japan E. Rodney M. Perera presented the Letters of Credence to His Majesty Naruhito at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on 19 January 2023. The Credentials Presentation Ceremony is one of the most solemn and formal ceremonies held by His Majesty the Emperor of Japan.
UNHRC to review Lanka’s human rights record next week
Sri Lanka’s human rights record will be scrutinised by the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group for the fourth time on February 1, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said. The first, second and third UPR reviews took place in May 2008, October 2012 and November [...]
Who and what derailed JICA’s LRT project
Japan’s major international aid agency short-changed by parties with vested interests Auditor General says no evidence to back up factors cited for cancellation of the project Many advisors get on the gravy train; politics a key reason for project derailment By Namini Wijedasa April 12, 2022: A five-page statement from Sri Lanka’s Ministry of [...]
Appeal Court ruling reinstates Prof Harendra de Silva as SLMC President
By Kumudini Hettiarachchi Prof Harendra de Silva, President of the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) who was reinstated in his position after an Appeal Court ruling was back in his office on Friday, the day after he was reinstated in his position by the Court of Appeal following his dismissal by the then Health Minister [...]
Errant engineer home free with a pension, charge sheet not issued
By L B Senaratne Charge sheets for a Rs90 million fraud have not been issued yet to an engineer sent on pension under Section 2 (12) of the Pensions Act from the Kandy Municipal Council, even though the inquiry had been held in 2018. This was revealed by Anura Gonawela, General Secretary of the Organisation [...]
75th Independence Day on a glorious and austere note amid tight security
Military and school bands are rehearsing; the freedom monument at Independence Square is being spruced up and makeshift pavilions are being built at the Galle Face Green for the nation’s most iconic parade signifying 75 years of independence from colonialism. Although the Galle Face area will be the main venue for the independence celebrations next [...]
Thefts from tourists raise alarms overseas
By Nadia Fazlulhaq Thefts of foreign currency and valuables from tourists visiting Sri Lanka have raised red flags overseas. Recently, three men including the owner of the tourist hotel in Unawatuna and an accountant were arrested for the thefts of over Rs. 750,000, US$60,000, and about 200,000 Russian rubles from a Russian group. The victims [...]
Recalling that first Independence Day celebration
By L B Senaratne I could clearly remember that it was a Sunday, when my father took out his China silk suit from the pettagama, a wooden chest often found in homes in the Kandyan region. He requested my mother to air it outside the home and iron it. Those were the days when before [...]
New forms of smuggling gold into Sri Lanka on a daily basis
By Nathara Abeywickrema Bringing gold-plated credit cards and capsules that contain gold gel are the newest ways of smuggling gold into the country. Customs officials are employing technology to detect gold of more than 22 carats. “We are always one step ahead by following tip-offs that we receive beforehand from multiple intelligence sources, including revenue [...]
Contract for project not yet awarded: CHEC – Right of reply
China Harbour Engineering Corporation (CHEC), the party selected for the proposed elevated highway from New Kelani Bridge to Athurugiriya, said this week that it has not yet received contract. “The contract related to the project has not yet been awarded to any Party and NO [sic] ‘agreement’ was reached between CHEC and the Government of [...]
Health DG throws full weight behind children with disabilities
Tribute to SLACD for collaborative efforts of multiple healthcare professionals By Kumudini Hettiarachchi It was a simple but powerful ceremony. Among the Very Important Persons (VIPs) invited on January 20 to be participants at the 6th biennial conference of the Sri Lanka Association for Child Development (SLACD) at the BMICH in Colombo were proud parents [...]
Wheels grind slowly to recognise tuk tuks as public transport
By Yoshitha Perera Amendments to the National Transport Act to regulate three-wheelers, school vans, and office transport services as public transport will be moved by March, the director general of the National Transport Commission (NTC) Dr. Nilan Miranda said. A decision to create a three-wheel regulatory authority from funds allocated in the previous budget, had [...]
Permanently disabled figures seen rising among youth involved in motorcycle accidents
By Rekha Tharangani Fonseka The number of young people who become permanently disabled due to motorcycle accidents is increasing daily according to recent data reports. Over the past year, 966 people who died in fatal accidents were motorcyclists accounting to more than one third of the deaths caused by road accidents. “Although the number of [...]
Teaching by example
Story and pix by Ravindra Welagedara A Sinhala teacher from Ruwanwella who taught the subject online to Ordinary Level pupils mostly free of charge, and only charging parents who could afford it Rs 800 per month, has used the funds to purchase a bus, which he then donated for charitable purposes. According to Sinhala instructor [...]
Rail tracks to be imported from China
General Manager assures better train services soon; says derailments will be minimised By Senuka Jayakody The import of 10,000 rail tracks, each 45 feet long, to minimise derailments and upgrade the railway services, are expected to arrive within two months from China. This is in the wake of a spate of derailments which occurred recently, including the [...]
Are we going or coming?
If the state of the nation is to be judged by recent headlines, it could be described by the often-used Sri Lankan expression: ‘Can’t say whether we are going or coming’. With the country threatened with long power cuts, the Electricity Board, a government institution, says that unless electricity tariffs are increased there will be [...]