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Home » NewsTransformative power of yoga for world peace
International Yoga Day proclaimed by the United Nations on the recommendations of India to popularise the transformative power of yoga in fostering world peace was marked in Colombo this week. Picture shows the Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay and Sri Lankan Cabinet Ministers engaged in yoga while their security officers hold umbrellas to protect them [...]
Turmoil over transfer of top pharmacists
The Health Ministry this week abruptly moved out 23 of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority’s (NMRA) most experienced pharmacists, leaving the institution with just 26 mostly junior pharmacists to carry out activities related to drug and safety efficacy. The unexpected transfers of pharmacists come amidst the second reported death on Friday of a patient at [...]
Concern over questionable meningococcal vaccine for Lankan Hajj pilgrims
Hundreds of Sri Lankan Muslims departing for Hajj this year are being administered the mandatory meningococcal vaccine through unregulated means, with doctors suspecting the injection is being imported in regular passenger baggage with no guarantee of cold chain management. The meningococcal vaccine is a compulsory requirement imposed by the Saudi authorities on pilgrims performing Hajj [...]
Parachute tourists carry on booming businesses in the South and East
More and more foreigners on tourist visas are setting up unauthorised businesses on Sri Lanka’s Southern and Eastern coasts, operating freely outside of the tax net. They are also routing their earnings around the local financial system, further eroding any benefits the country may accrue from this fast-spreading brand of “tourism”. Among the main areas [...]
TRC draft ready by next month
A final version of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission draft is to be shared with the diplomatic community and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) by next month before being submitted to Parliament, Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe told the Sunday Times yesterday. He said the government was hopeful that once the [...]
Cadavers used in medical studies dumped recklessly
By Nadia Fazlulhaq Pix by M. A. Pushpa Kumara Residents around the Joranis Peiris cemetery in Pannipitiya have been horrified to find parts of human remains in their area. “Some people were able to video record workers from a leading funeral director in Maharagama throwing bodies used by the medical students of Sri Jayawardenepura University. Monitor [...]
Esala Perahera of the Ruhunu Kataragama Devalaya from June 19 to July 4
The annual Esala Perahera of the historic Ruhunu Kataragama Devalaya will be held from June 19 to July 4. The traditional Kap Situweema or planting ceremony for this year’s Esala Perahera took place at an auspicious time on May 6. The Perahera of the Ruhunu Kataragama Devalaya will take place on June 19, 45 days [...]
Pera student falls to death at waterfall
A Peradeniya university student was killed after falling off the Bambarakanda waterfall in Haldummulla yesterday morning, Police said. The science faculty student, identified as 25-year-old Vikum Vitharana, had visited the site together with four other students. The Haldummala police are carrying out further investigations.
HIV patient numbers, deaths on the rise
Inconsistent condom usage and poor knowledge of HIV could result in further increase The number of HIV patients in the country has increased, with some 620 new patients and 81 deaths reported within a year, according to HIV/AIDS surveillance data from the National STD/AIDS Control Programme of the Health Services Department. The 13 percent spike [...]
Chiranthi and Yudhanjaya: Two winners for Gratiaen Prize
There were two winners for the Gratiaen Prize for English writing in Sri Lanka for 2022: Chiranthi Rajapakse for her collection of short stories Keeping Time and Yudhanjaya Wijeratne for his science fiction novel The Wretched and the Damned. The prize, established in 1992 with the Booker prize money won by Michael Ondaatje for his [...]
SI run over by threewheeler transporting a buffalo
By Sumathipala Deeyagahage A Sub Inspector was hospitalised with injuries after he was run over by a threewheeler that was illegally transporting a live buffalo. The injured SI was part of a team led by Yakkalamulla Police OIC who attempted to stop the trishaw near Udugama on Friday evening. The driver had accelerated on seeing [...]
Import restrictions on 800 more items to be lifted by December, vehicle import ban to continue
By Damith Wickramasekara The Government plans to lift import restrictions on a further 800 items by December this year, a senior Treasury official revealed. Import restrictions were lifted on nearly 300 items recently. The further lifting of restrictions is being undertaken in line with a target given by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Sri [...]
President on official visit to the UK and France
Will participate in the Global Leaders’ Summit at Paris on June 22 and 23 President Ranil Wickremesinghe left for the United Kingdom and France yesterday for an official visit. The visit will see the President also participate in the Global Leaders’ Summit for a New Global Financing Pact. The summit is scheduled to take place [...]
Illegal garbage dumping on the rise in Karadiyana area
By Rekha Tharangani Fonseka Roads around the Karadiyana garbage dumping site too are being used by people to dispose waste. Area residents complain of the foul smell . These residents and a community action group, said they are also facing breathing difficulties due to the foul smell. They said many people who use the roads [...]
Heat over archaeological site or people’s
By Sandun Jayawardana and S. Rubatheesan Conflicting accounts related to the ownership of hundreds of acres of land near the Kurundi Viharaya in Mullaitivu continue to evoke strong feelings from those on both sides of the controversy. Even President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s decision to appoint an expert committee on the matter has done little to calm [...]
Sri Lanka’s heritage sector buried in outdated systems, says expert
Principal legislation enacted in 1940 by the colonial rule,based on knowledge that existed at the time in Europe Sri Lanka is yet to look at heritage management fromown perspectives and enact legislation Make use of Kurundi temple controversy to address issues of balancing conservation and faith (which is being discussed globally) as well as the [...]
A lack of outrage
My dear Lohan, I thought I should write to you now. That is because you should be all over the newspapers and television news, grabbing their headlines – but, for some strange reason, you are not, being mentioned only in passing. I thought of writing to you so that everyone knows what a lucky chap [...]
Can an uneducated man write a book? The dilemma of Publis
By Vijitha Yapa Can a person who does not know how to write be the copyright-holding author of a book on a subject of which he is an expert? The person concerned is Publis, a culinary expert who works at Mount Lavinia Hotel. His name is recognised as an expert on Sri Lankan food. When [...]
SJB candidate shot in Hikkaduwa
By Sumathipala Diyagahage A former member of the Rathgama Pradheshiya Sabha, P H Dulaj Tharanga, was shot by two gunmen on a bike last afternoon, near the Seenigama Devalaya in Hikkaduwa. The vicitim was an SJB candidate for the postponed local elections. While Mr Tharanga was visiting a garage behind the Seenigama Temple in his [...]
Kandy National Hospital still using rope-pulled lift
By Sohan Vipulananda A manually-operated lift serving the ‘Bhikku Ward’ of the National Hospital in Kandy is in need of urgent repairs. The lift has been used to move patients, doctors, and ward helpers over a few decades. The Dermatology Unit of the National Hospital in Colombo also has a manually-operated lift. The director of [...]
No hotel please, say N’Eliya post office staff and area residents
By Shelton Hettiaarachchi A protest was held against a proposal to convert the historic Nuwara Eliya post office into a tourist hotel, by post office staff and some area residents. While the district’s Government Agent insisted the post office will remain intact and only part of the land will be given for the hotel project, [...]
Bread law binned, but bakers say flour duopoly hinders quality
Moves to repeal 160-year-old Bread Ordinance following Sunday Times story By Kasun Warakapitiya The Sunday Times story of widespread sale of bread unfit for human consumption has prompted the Cabinet of Ministers to act. The decision came after revelations that the 160-year-old Bread Ordinance was still in place making it difficult for authorities to take [...]
Public menace
Story and pix by Nilan Maligaspe Though local government authorities carry out dengue inspections at households and private properties some of the public places in Colombo are left unchecked. Gutters along rooftops of Pettah shops are littered with bottles, bags, drink cans and yoghurt cups. With the recent rains, water had accumulated in them making them [...]
Sak Surin getting used to specially designed ‘travel abode’ before takeoff to Thailand
By Kasun Warakapitiya Thirty-year-old tusker Muthu Raja, also known by his Thai name Sak Surin, is getting ready to be flown back to his home country. He is currently going through a process of acclimatisation, and is being trained to stay inside the crate he will be transported in, on his flight back to Thailand. [...]
Thousands trapped by convincing crypto conmen
By Sohan Vipulananda Computer crimes have increased significantly compared with two years ago, costing many people their livelihoods and hard earned money. According to the Computer Crime Investigation Department (CCID) of Sri Lanka Police, nearly 5,000 computer crime cases were reported in 2021 and there were 3,168 cases in 2022. Until June, there have been [...]
Convictions of human traffickers remain low, sentences lenient
By Kapila Bandara Sri Lanka convicted just four human traffickers, two sex traffickers and two labour traffickers, while freeing 22 suspects, the latest annual review on trafficking in persons by the United States Department of State says. Sentences for human traffickers continued to be lenient. These convictions are in contrast to those of three sex [...]
Driver discipline urged to put brakes on rising road accidents
By Nathara Abeywickrema The recent spike in road accident deaths and injuries has yet again prompted the authorities to call for driver discipline, the lack of which has been identified as a main cause of road deaths. According to the police, an estimated 930 fatal accidents have resulted in 976 deaths from January to June [...]
Stamp lovers indulge in pleasure of collecting
By Dilushi Wijesinghe Dinesh Wijeratne who has been collecting stamps since he was a Boy Scout in his younger days was among the 20 philatelists that united in friendly competition to sell their most valued stamps, coins as well as notes at the Sri Lanka Philatelic Bureau this week. Exhibitors proudly showcased their fascinating collections [...]
3,000 Grama Niladhari shortfall holds up voter list
By Ryan Casiechetty The shortage of Grama Niladharis is holding up the process of registering voters making it difficult for the Election Commission to keep to its deadline. Chairman of the Sri Lanka Government Officer’s Trade Union Association, Sumith Kodikara said there is a shortage of about 3,000 Grama Niladhari. There are 14,000 of them [...]