News

May Day celebrations in Colombo & Kandy!

Published

1 month ago

May 1, 2023

editor

Various organizations including major political parties and trade unions have organized demonstrations and rallies in Colombo and Kandy today (01) on the occasion of the May Day.

SLPP – Campbell Park

The Labor Day rally of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) will be held today at 2.00 pm at the Campbell Park in Borella under the leadership of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

SLPP General Secretary MP Sagara Kariyawasam said they hope to hold the largest May Day celebration this year under the theme of “Conquering ambitions by overcoming challenges.”

UNP – Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium

The United National Party’s (UNP) Labor Day rally will be held at 9 am at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium in Colombo under the theme “Let’s conquer 2048 by focusing on Economy, Technology and Security” and under the leadership of UNP Leader and President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

SJB – A.E Gunasinghe Stadium

The Labor Day rally of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) will be held under the theme of “The Struggle of the Working People” at the A.E Gunasinghe Stadium. SJB National Organiser Tissa Attanayake said the May Day procession will leave the P.D. Sirisena Stadium at Maligawatta at 2 p.m. and reach A. E. Gunasinghe stadium.

JVP – Vihara Maha Devi Park

The Labor Day rally organized by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) will be held at 4.00 pm near the Vihara Maha Devi Park in Colombo under the theme of “Let’s defeat the oppressive corrupt regime that sells the country and let’s rebuild a people-friendly regime.’ It will be held under the leadership of party leader MP Anura Dissanayake.

The party’s General Secretary Tilvin Silva said the rally will start around 2 p.m. from the BRC ground and will reach the Viharamahadevi Park at 4 p.m.

SLFP – Kandy

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) will hold their May Day rally at the Kandy Public Market premises at 2 pm.

SLFP Publicity Secretary Thisara Gunasinghe said their parade, which will start at 1 pm, will reach Kandy via Kumburala, Katugasthotala, Ampitiya and Gatambe Roads.

FPC – Kandy

The Freedom People’s Congress (FPC) will hold their May Day rally at Sahas Uyana premises near the Kandy City Centre (KCC), MP Dullas Alahapperuma said.

ULS – Hyde Park

MP Jayantha Samaraweera said that the Uththra Lanka Sabhagaya (ULS) will hold their May Day rally at the Hyde Park grounds in Colombo at 3 pm under the leadership of its Chairman Wimal Weerawansa.

FSP – Nugegoda

Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) has organised their May Day parade from Delkanda Junction, Nugegoda at 1 pm and it will reach the Ananda Samarakoon stadium, Nugegoda where the main rally will be held, its Education Secretary Pubudu Jayagoda said.

Working People’s Joint Rally – P.D. Sirisena Park.

The Working People’s Joint Rally will be held at 3.00 pm at the P.D. Sirisena Stadium in Maligawatta. Their parade will start at 1 pm in front of the Colombo Fort Railway Station, Union leader Ravi Kumudesh said.

News

Litro slashes gas cylinder prices

Published

59 mins ago

June 3, 2023

editor

Litro Gas Lanka, one of the country’s two leading suppliers of domestic Liquefied Petroleum (LP) gas, has decided to slash the prices of its products.

The price reduction will be effective from midnight tomorrow (June 04), according to Litro chairman and CEO Muditha Peiris.

News

Three state bank employees arrested for stealing pawned gold jewellery

Published

1 hour ago

June 3, 2023

editor

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has arrested three employees of a state bank in Oddamavadi for stealing pawned gold jewellery to the tune of LKR 20 million.

According to the police, among the arrestees are the deputy manager, operations manager and the service assistant of the said state bank.

The trio is accused of stealing pawned 873g of gold jewellery from the safety-deposit box of the state bank.

The CID team had initiated probes into the matter after receiving a complaint about several pieces of gold jewellery that had gone missing from the depository of the bank.

An individual, upon visiting the bank to retrieve the gold jewellery he had pawned in November last year to obtain a loan, had learned that the items were, in fact, missing. After conducting an inspection, the bank employees realized that 13 packets of gold jewellery have been disappeared from the depository.

The bank’s management has suspended the duties of the deputy manager over the incident.

During the interrogations, he had confessed that two other female employees – an operations manager and a service assistant – too were complicit in the theft. They were later placed under arrest by the CID investigators.

They had used the depository keys which were in their possession to steal the gold jewellery on three occasions.

After stealing 13 packets of gold jewellery, the trio had sold them to gold jewellery shops in the area for LKR 13.7 million out of which LKR 5.7 million was retained by the deputy manager to settle a loan. The operations manager, meanwhile, held on to LKR 5 million, which she deposited in a bank for her daughter. The service assistant had purchased a three-wheeler and a piece of land from the LKR 3 million she received.

The trio was remanded until June 16 after being produced before the Valachchenai Magistrate’s Court on Friday (June 02).

News

3 sluice gates of Kukule Ganga reservoir opened

Published

13 hours ago

June 2, 2023

editor

Three of the four sluice gates of Kukule Ganga reservoir were opened this evening (June 02) as heavy rains were experienced in the catchment areas.

The authorities have advised the people living in low-lying areas of the Kukule Ganga reservoir to be on alert of possible floods.

It is reported that the water levels of the reservoir have increased at an alarming rate after the downpours in the water catchment areas.

Meanwhile, the Irrigation Department issued an ‘Amber’ flood warning for the upper catchment areas of Kuda Ganga sub-basin of Kalu River after heavy rainfall was received.