By Raisa Wickrematunge It is a hot, sleepy morning in Angulana. Fringing the rail track, the pale orange facade of the St. Francis Xavier’s Church juts out into the sky – but the gates are closed, and a thin rope winds around them, ensuring there are no intruders. The Church has been closed since June [...]
Whose responsibility was it anyway? By Camelia Nathaniel While the Fisheries Department and the Meteorology Department keep palming off the blame of failing to inform the fishing folk of the impending dangerous weather condition that prevailed over Sri Lanka over the last weekend, the death toll of the fishermen that ventured off to sea that [...]
By Easwaran Rutnam In journalism there is a popular quote which states that “the pen is mightier than the sword”. In other words it means that, as far as the media is concerned, journalists can make a change through what they write. However now there are fears the government maybe attempting to stifle that freedom [...]
Leader Expose On Illegal Gem Mining By Nirmala Kannangara Following last week’s The Sunday Leader expose on illegal gem mining licences issued by the National Gem and Jewellery Authority to ineligible parties with political affiliations, Environment and Renewable Energy Minister Susil Premjayantha has ordered a full scale investigation into the allegations. Under the headline ‘Gems [...]
Dearth of hybrid cattle varieties a key obstacle Wrong decision to import cows – Unions By Camelia Nathaniel Sri Lanka is heavily dependent on imported milk, as the domestic production of milk is only around 25 to 30 percent of the total national requirement. Although the government has elaborate plans to increase national production and [...]
Govt fails to uphold pledge By Nadine Mariah The shortage of subsidized fertilizer has caused immense problems to the farmers, the All Ceylon Farmers’ Association claimed. Farmers note that they have not been provided with the subsidized fertilizers promised by the government. Although the issue has been continuously brought to the attention of the Ministry [...]
By Nirmala Kannangara Accusations have been levelled against a higher education institute in Colombo for misleading students to get them to sign up for courses at its design school. Raffles Colombo (registered as Raffles Design Institute Pvt. Ltd), based in Singapore, is an education provider in Sri Lanka specializing in Art Design. Although they claim [...]
By Raisa Wickrematunge Angry residents surrounded the police station in Dematagoda, demanding justice for a man who died in police custody. The residents insisted that 44-year-old Kannapillaiyam Shekar was a victim of police brutality. “One of our sons was taken in at 7 pm… by 4 am, he was dead,” one of the protesters said in anger. [...]
By Easwaran Rutnam From 13 plus the government is now proposing 13 minus in order to pacify the allies in the government on the 13th Amendment to the constitution ahead of the scheduled northern provincial council elections. President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who had once said he is keen to go beyond the 13th Amendment, had confirmed [...]
By Nirmala Kannangara Monkeys are shot at the Deer Park Hotel Polonnaruwa and Girithale Hotel, claim the guests. To chase away the troops of monkeys arriving in the hotel premises, air guns are used to shoot them. Guests claim it is a ‘terrible scene’. “I was surprised seeing the way a young man, probably a [...]
