Court releases 12 Indian poachers after suspended sentences

A group of 12 Indian poachers arrested by the Navy during a search operation in the Sri Lankan waters off Karainagar in Jaffna on January 13, were sentenced to 18 months imprisonment suspended for five years and released after severely reprimanding by Jaffna Magistrate J. Gajanidhibalan on Saturday (27).

Mahanayaka Thera calls for visionary leader

Mahanayake of Malwatta Chapter Ven. Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thera said was with great difficulty that a patriotic and people’s friendly politician could be found nowadays and that the majority of the politicians, after coming into power, forget what they had professed to the people. During a meeting with a gro

Lorenzo Putha 4 hijacked, still no contact, all communications on standby: Fisheries Dept.

Measures are being taken with the support of the Foreign Ministry and the Sri Lanka Navy to release the ‘Lorenzo Putha 4’ - a Sri Lankan multi-day fishing trawler which was hijacked by Somali pirates yesterday, Director General of the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Department Susantha Kahawatta said. He said the Somali pirates who hijacked the multi-day trawler have not made any communication with the Fisheries Department or any other responsibl

Bribery Commission sets deadline for asset declarations

Politicians, media heads among the compliant

Sanath Nishantha; will he be remembered?

Forty eight year old Sanath Nishantha who hailed from Puttalam, left his house late on Wednesday to attend two weddings, one in Kurunegala and another in Chilaw. While wishing his wife and four children goodbye, little did he know that he would never return. At approximately 1 a.m. on Thursday morning, while he was returning home on the Katunayake Expressway, his Land Cruiser met with a fatal accident as it rammed into a moving container truck. H

Police bust suspect selling organ to buy drugs

In a grim tale of addiction and desperation, Kattankudi Police nabbed two suspects yesterday, uncovering a significant stash of the illegal drug ICE and a shocking story of organ trafficking fuelled by addiction. The raid, led by OIC G.Gajanayake, netted a 32-year-old man caught with nearly 3 grams of ICE. During interrogation, the suspect revealed a chilling truth: he had allegedly sold one of his own kidneys to fund his drug habit. Addi

Laws in the offing to institute raping of male children as criminal offence

The government is in the process of introducing amendments to the Penal Code to institute raping of male children as a criminal offence, amend laws on constitutional rape of females mentioned in the Penal Code and to correct the shortcomings in the law of raping of females. The approval had been granted at the meetings of the Cabinet of Ministers held on January 18, 2021 and on June 28, 2021 to introduce amendments to the Penal Code to amend l

Sanath Nishantha’s sudden death; great loss to the party and nation: MR

The sudden death of State Minister Sanath Nishantha was a great loss to the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and the nation, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa said yesterday. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa paid a visit to the state minister’s official residence at Wijerama Mawatha in Colombo and conveyed his condolences to the late minister’s wife and children.

Katunayake expressway in the dark

It was recently reported that it was impossible to turn on the lights of the Katunayake express way as thieves have cut and removed the high-voltage electricity cables. It was reported that the robberies had taken place around six months ago. It was also revealed by the officials that the removal of copper wire from concrete covers of the new “Kalyani” Bridge, which was built with a Japanese loan and the removal of cables of the Katunayake ex

Revision of electricity tariffs 2024: PUCSL tells CEB to submit proposal before Feb. 12

After considering the favourable hydroelectric storage and profits earned during the year ending December 2023, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) was directed by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) to submit a tariff proposal. Accordingly, the end user and bulk supply tariff proposals by the CEB for January to March 2024 were received by the PUCSL on January 16, 2024. Subsequently, though the Commission had requested certain

Sri Lankans with forged Italian resident cards nabbed at BIA

The Immigration and Emigration Department officials at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) searched two Sri Lankan men bound for Dubai on suspicion yesterday and found forged Italian resident visa cards in their possession. The immigration officials stationed at the BIA departure terminal detained two males who were about to leave for Dubai last evening and handed them over to the Border Surveillance Unit (BSU) for further inquiries.

Duruthu Perahera held in Kelaniya

The Duruthu Perahera festival in Kelaniya was held on Wednesday night. The event is celebrated annually in January with the participation of elephants, dancers, drummers and musicians. Pic by Pradeep Pathirana

High speed Crash kills Sanath Nishantha, constable

Police suspect that high speed and loss of control of the vehicle may have caused the pre-dawn fatal accident yesterday on the Katunayake Expressway, where state minister Sanath Nishantha and his security officer died. The jeep heading towards Colombo from Katunayake collided with a container vehicle when trying to overtake it, and swerved off the road crashing onto the safety fence with state minister Sanath Nishantha, a police constable on

Online Safety Bill: Meta, Google, Apple etc. refute Minister’s claims

Asia’s leading tech alliance states not privy to amendments

Minister under fire for bringing South Indian actresses for Thai Pongal

Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC) General Secretary Minister Jeevan Thondaman is in the centre of controversy over the presence of South Indian actresses Aishwarya Rajesh, Aishwarya Dutta, Samyuktha Menon, and Meenakshi (Pinky Sarkar) in national Thai Pongal celebrations conducted in Hatton last Sunday. He is under fire from his political opponents who question him whether these South artistes were sponsored using tax payers’ money despite the gove

SJB to spend more than Rs 20 Mn for planned protest on Jan. 30: Range Bandara

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) is to spend more than Rs 20 million to be paid for the people who are to be brought to Colombo for its protest on January 30 2023, UNP General Secretary Palitha Range Bandara alleged yesterday.

Chinese research vessel: Sri Lanka Says No, Maldives Says Yes

Chinese research and survey vessel Xiang Yang Hong 03 which was barred entry into Sri Lankan waters over a policy decision is now on its way to the Maldives after permission was given by its pro-China President Mohamed Muizzu.

Sri Lanka Navy says ready for Red Sea deployment

Although a date has not been fixed, the Sri Lanka Navy said yesterday that it is now prepared to send a deployment to the Red Sea to assist in defending shipping lanes from Houthi activi

Police identify 125 traffic offenders through CCTV

A total of 125 motorists who violated traffic rules received warnings following the launch of a pilot project aimed at identifying offenders through the CCTV system in Colombo.

Selling MRP drugs for exorbitant rates Private hospital pleads guilty in advance when case summoned yesterday

A leading private hospital in Colombo that stirred controversy by selling government price controlled drugs for exorbitant rates, had reportedly pleaded guilty in advance when the case was scheduled

Buddhist monk shot dead at temple in Gampaha

A 45-year old Buddhist monk Kalapaluwawe Dharmarathana Thera has been shot dead with a T-56 weapon at a temple at Malwathu Hiripitiya in Gampaha yesterday. Police said four unknown persons who arrived in a car claiming that they were officers of the Criminal Investigation Department carried out the shooting. The incident

Government U-turn resolves doctor dispute over allowance

The government’s abrupt decision to suspend the circular on increasing the Disturbance, Availability and Transport (DAT) allowance for doctors yesterday sparked concern among health professionals, leading to a threat of an indefinite strike. Howe

Transfer vehicle ownership to avoid complications in fine issuance via CCTV identification

If vehicle ownerships are not transferred to the active user, the charge sheets will be sent to the address of the previous vehicle owner

2024 intermediate class admissions Apply directly to respective schools, excluding grades 1, 5, 6, and A/L

It was also informed that the Education Ministry will not issue admission letters for schools

Online Safety Bill debate House unanimous on regulating social media but differs on how to do it

The debate on the Online Safety Bill which is seen as a controversial piece of legislation got underway in Parliament yesterday with almost all MPs from both sides agreeing that social media should be regulated while disagreeing on how to get about it. Claiming that soc

IT professionals for the people launches SMS ‘e-Referendum’ on Online Safety Bill

While expressing grave concerns raised by critics that, by imposing imprisonment and fines against ill-defined ‘prohibited statements’, the Online Safety Bill may cripple opposition election campaigns, silence journalists reporting on corruption, and may severely impact the IT industry, the IT Professionals for the People (IT4P) has launched an SMS ‘e-referendum’, allowing citizens to use a s

Former President Maithripala’s daughter’s house in Battaramulla burgled

The husband of the former President’s daughter discovered the break-in upon returning home and promptly notified the police

Substandard human immunoglobulin scam NMRA, CID seize computers, medicine samples from infamous plant in Seeduwa

The search operation lasted for about five hours before the plant was sealed off again by the NMRA officials

Anti-Terrorism Bill creates separate legal regime: SJB

Filing a special determination petition in the Supreme Court, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) General Secretary alleged that the proposed Anti-Terrorism Bill would create a separate legal regime to other penal statutes in respect of similar co

New ITAK leader commemorates dead LTTE cadres as first task

Jaffna District MP S. Sridharan who was elected as leader of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) first visited Kanakapuram cemetery yesterday and commemorated the deceased LTTE cadres. Mr. Sridharan who succeeded Mr. R. Sampanthan as the party leader is a die-hard apologist of the LTTE.