Quick Look

Buddhist panel discussion

The next Buddhist public panel discussion of the Colombo YMBA will be held on July 18 at 10.00 a.m. at its Borella building on Mindfulness of Thoughts.

Panellists are Asoka Devandra and Dr Kanishka Karunaratne with Rajah Kuruppu as Moderator.

Three Lankans jailed for theft from ATM in Doha

Three Sri Lankans have been sentenced to a year’s imprisonment each for stealing Qatar Riyal 437,100 from an automated teller machine in Doha in November last year.

Two other accomplices received the same punishment for hiding some of the stolen money. According to the charge-sheet, one of the accused was working in a security company that supervised the warning system in the ATM booth “and that enabled him to neutralize the alert and to stop the camera installed there.”

An official of the security company told police that when he came to know about the disappearance of the money from the machine it was evident that the crime was “committed by someone who knew the secret codes of the machine.”

Investigations led to the prime suspect who told the interrogators that two of his compatriot accomplices had entered the booth and carried away the money “after I neutralised the alerting system and stopped the camera using my knowledge of the codes.”

The three Sri Lankans confessed to the charges in the courtroom while the other two denied their involvement saying that they did not know about the source of the money. The Doha court of first instance heard that a total of Qatar Riyal 415,300 was recovered by the police while the rest of the money was found to be transferred to Sri Lanka.

Heavy fines for possessing kasippu

Puttalam group corr.

Two suspects found guilty of possessing 1,125 litres of kasippu and distilling equipment were fined Rs 100,000 each and sentenced to one year's imprisonment suspended to 10 years by the Marawila District Judge and Magistrate Mrs. Nirosha Fernando.

Wennappuwa Excise officials prosecuted.

Proper population management vital - Minister

Nadira Gunatilleke

Countries sometimes see their population as a problem but the population can be turned into resource through proper population management, Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena said.

Addressing the World Population Day ceremony held at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute (SLFI) on Sunday Minister Sirisena said that a countries population is controlled by various policies. No matter which policy a country uses, the population can be converted into a useful resource through proper management.

He said the population of a country becomes a blessing when it comes to trade and business. China has the world’s largest population and even when they produce a pin, they can sell over 150 million units of it within China.

Transport Dy Minister gets tough on errant private bus crew

Private buses will not be allowed to ply on any bus route without permits.

Strongest punishment will be meted out to bus owners and crew flouting this rule, Transport Deputy Minister Rohana Kumara Dissanayake said at a discussion held with the Road Transport Authority Chairman Piyasena Dissanayake recently.

The Deputy Minister said stern action will be taken against ticketless travel by commuters and bus conductors failing to issue tickets to commuters.

Flying squads would be deployed to track down such errant bus crews and commuters, he said.

Educational exhibition

An educational exhibition on National Irrigation Culture titled ‘Water and man’ organized by Kalasuri Sathischandra Edirisinghe and sponsored by Caltex Sri Lanka will be held at the Kebettigollewa Divisional Secretariat auditorium on July 13 and 14.

They went for a bath and drowned

Rafik Jalaldeen

Two men who went for a bath at a waterfall in Badureliya area drowned on Sunday evening, Police spokesman SP Prishantha Jayakody said.

He said the bodies of the men from Beruwela have still not been found. Fishermen and Navy divers searching the area recovered the bodies. The deceased were identified as A. Fernando (27) and N. Hasantha (30). Badureliya police is investigating.

Tea exhibition

'Lanka Tea - Nations Pride' a three day Educational Exhibition on Sri Lanka tea sponsored by several state and private sectors players in the tea industry will be opened by Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne at the Hantana Tea Museum in Kandy on July 15 at 9 a.m. Ministers Arumugam Thondaman and Basil Rajapaksa will open the exhibition on July 16 and 17 respectively.

Road named after late Jeyaraj

The annual festival of the St.Anthony's Church, Marichchikattuwa was held recently and the road opposite the church was repaired and named Jeyaraj Fernandopulle Road.

The name board of the road was unveiled by the minister's wife Dr. Sudarshani Fernandopulle MP, SLFP Organizer, Katana electorate.

The church was built by private funds donated by Jeyaraj Fernandopulle.

'Golden award for environmentalist'

AW Gunawardhana - Matara Central Correspondent

Deputy General Manager (Research and Training) State Timber Co-operation Dr Nimal D Ruwan Pathirana was felicitated with the "Golden Award for Environmentalist." In the 5th annual award ceremony - 2010 organized by Mass Communication Association of Sri Lanka and held on July 1 at BMICH.

Talk, AGM

The AGM of the General Dental Practitioners' Association will be held on Sunday, July 18 at the S.L.D.A Auditorium, O.P.A Building, Stanley Wijesundera Mawatha, Colombo 7. The AGM will be preceded by a talk on "Safety Aspects of Western Medicine" by Prof of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Colombo Laal Jayakody from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Bo-tree that was cut

Disna Mudalige

The Bo-tree with spot bill pelicans that was cut down recently at Slave Island was situated in a temple near Nippon Hotel on Kumaran Ratnam Road.

"There are two temples near Nippon Hotel and there were two bo-trees. What I referred to was not the temple near the junction, but the Bo-tree near the other temple. Trying to locate this tree is useless now, because it has already been cut down" said Environmental Lawyer Jagath Gunawardena.

He also requested those who need any clarification to contact him on 0773592186.

SP Samarakoon for Matale

SP Ajantha Samarakoon has been appointed to oversee the duties of Matale ASP Rohan Fernando who has been interdicted by the IGP recently.