Accelerating approval

By Dilhan Wimalka The government is planning to pass 21 Bills within two days this week, though not a single of those Bills had been tabled until Friday night, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna alleged. The leader of the JVP Parliamentary Group, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, said though it is the tradition of Parliament to table a Bill several weeks prior to it being taken up for debate, the tradition has been observed in the breach. "Some officials from Parliament knocked on the door of our office at midnight on Friday and said they had come to hand over to us the Bills that are to be tabled. Where in the world are Bills tabled in such a manner?" Dissanayake questioned. He alleged that the President who is also the Minister of Finance had failed to table Bills on time. Among the Bills to be presented this week are Birth and Death Certificate (Amendment) Bill, the Inland Revenue (Amendment) Bill, ... Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill, Economic Services Amendment) Bill, Muslim Marriages and Divorces (Amendment) Bill, Marriage Registration (Amendment) Bill, Notary Public (Amendment) Bill, Power of Attorney (Amendment) Bill, Registration of Documents (Amendment) Bill, Financial Management (Amendment) Bill, Customs (Amendment) Bill, Nation Building (Amendment) Bill, Finance Bill, Gambling Tax (Amendment) Bill, Telecommunication (Amendment) Bill, Value Added Tax (VAT) (Amendment) Bill, Upcountry Marriages and Divorces (Amendment) Bill and Excise Tax (Amendment) Bill.

2013-03-11 A rape victim rescued from well MONDAY, 11 MARCH 2013  A girl who was alleged to have been raped and pushed into a well and left to die at Mirigama had been rescued this morning, Police said. They said the girl had attended a musical show last evening when she was allegedly dragged into a jungle, raped and then pushed into a well so that she would drown. Police said two students were arrested on suspicion of having been involved in this crime. They said the girl had remained in the well for more than eight hours and had managed to survive because the 12-foot deep well had only two feet of water. (Pushpakumara Mallawaarachchi)