The Election Commission said today that there was a decrease in the numbers of people registered in Colombo City, Colombo District as well as urban and semi-urban areas.

Therefore, it requested all persons to be certain that their names are included in the electoral register as only the registered persons can vote.

“The draft of the electoral register-2017 has been completed and it can be viewed from the www.elections.gov.lk,” the Elections Commission (EC) said.

The 2016 electoral list, the names which are being deleted as well as names which are being included can be checked at the Grama Niladhari offices,” it said.

The EC requested all persons above 18 years to inform the elections office if the names are not included in the 2017 register.

A section of Sri Lankan fans turned hostile and resorted to shouting slogans outside the Sri Lankan team bus after the team suffered a heavy nine wicket defeat against India, with 21 overs to spare at Dambulla on Sunday.

Around 50 fans gathered behind the bus as the players were about to board and began chanting “We want our cricket back.” “Bring back brand of cricket we played in 1996.”

Riot police had to intervene to clear the fans before the team members boarded the bus and headed towards the team hotel.

At least 777 military deserters who are considered as Absent without Official Leave (AWOL) have been arrested in an island-wide raid carried out on Friday, the Sri Lanka Army said today.

They said the island-wide combined raid was conducted by the Police and the Sri Lanka Corps of Military Police (SLCMP).

This raid was the biggest ever raid conducted within a single day and a officer and 776 other rankers were taken into the custody during the full day raid, the Army said.

The Department of Adult and Higher Education (DAHE) in Bhutan has issued a circular asking Bhutanese medical students in Sri Lanka to return home should the on-going strike continue beyond October this year.

Sri Lankan media reports state that the Government Medical Officers’ Association and other groups including the Inter University Students Federation have been protesting, questioning the educational and medical standards of the only private medical university in Sri Lanka, South Asian Institute of Technology and Management (SAITM).

The strike, which is also against the privatisation of education, has been on for about six months. The strike has disrupted classes for 120 Bhutanese medical students studying in Universities of Colombo, Kelaniya and Peradeniya in Sri Lanka

More than 70 students have returned to Bhutan while others are still in Sri Lanka waiting for the strike to end.

DAHE’s circular of August 16 states that all medical students of the three universities should prepare for departure by early November if the strike does not end by October this year. “The students will then have to wait in Bhutan until the situation in Sri Lanka improves or some alternative arrangement is made,” the circular stated.

Senior Program Officer with the Scholarship and Student Support Division, Dolay Tshering, said, there is no point staying idle in Sri Lanka if the strike continues. In coordination with the national referral hospital and Khesar Gyalpo University of Medical Sciences of Bhutan, DAHE is working on a proposal to have the senior students attached to hospitals so that they continue to learn.

The circular also advises students whose visas are due for renewal in October and November to renew their residence visa. “Arrangements will be made for the renewal of visa for other students if the classes resume in respective universities.”

The circular also states that all payments for the medical students would be suspended while the students wait in Bhutan and would resume when the classes resume.

A final year medical student in Sri Lanka said that most of the students are returning to Bhutan after receiving the official letter stating that their stipend would be cut off. “We are disappointed by the fact that the students who were supposed to be cream of the country are now a bunch of unemployed youth.”

A third year student from the University of Kelaniya said that without the stipend, there is no way to pay for their rented accommodations. “If we come in November and if the strike ends in December then, we have to come back again which would be a waste of money on air tickets. It’s hard especially for the private students.”  The student said that the circular does not state any solutions to address the students’ dilemma.

She said the third and fourth year students of Kelaniya have not taken their examinations, for which the students are doing researches and preparing for the examination. “Most of them have to sit for the examination as soon as the strike ends.”(kuenselonline)

The South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) yesterday admitted it had only signed a Letter of Intent with the government as part of the process of handing over the Neville Fernando Teaching Hospital (NFTH) .

SAITM Registrar Husni Hussain told Daily Mirror that the Health Ministry was now operating the NFTH. “The SAITM, the Ministry of Health and the Bank of Ceylon (BoC) have signed a Letter of Intent in this respect. Legal proceedings are still underway with regard to the final agreement which is due to be signed soon,” she said.

She said the process was being conducted based on the instructions of the government and added that the approval of the Attorney General was mandatory for the agreement to be signed.

Asked whether the Letter of Intent could be revoked by any party, she said that it could not be done as it was in compliance with the law.

She said that the SAITM had undertaken to settle the loan taken by the NFTH from the BoC. (Kalathma Jayawardhane)

Norwegian Research Vessel ‘Dr Fridtjof Nansen’ will assist Sri Lanka to conduct a stock assessment of marine resources next year, a statement said yesterday.

In a statement, the Norwegian embassy said the planning seminar is taking place in Colombo for the New Norwegian Research vessel to come to Sri Lankan waters in 2018 to carry out a survey on the marine resources. This is part of the technical and institutional cooperation on Fisheries between Norway and Sri Lanka, which was endorsed by the top level political authorities of the two countries.

“The aim of the planned survey is to know the current status of marine resources including fish stocks and to investigate stocks of unexploited/ underutilized fishery resources on the continental shelf and slope. The last stock assessment for Sri Lanka has been carried out by the previous Dr. Fridtjof Nansen in 1978 to 1980.

“The new marine research vessel RV Dr Fridtjof Nansen is owned by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) and is jointly operated by the Institute of Marine Research of Norway, and Food and Agriculture organization to help developing countries improve their fisheries management,” the statement said.

The Norwegian Ambassador Thorbjørn Gaustadsæther addressing a distinguished gathering at an event to recognize the finalization of the planing schedules for the Vessel’s arrival to the Bay of Bengal said the new research vessel would make it possible to significantly step up Norway’s assistance for ecosystem-based marine management in developing countries. He said this was part of the new Ocean strategy of Norway and Norway considers this as ‘creating partnerships for the oceans’ as it enhances sharing knowledge both across industries and across international borders.