Jubeda Chowdhury from Dhaka, Bangladesh
The Bay of Bengal, the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, is of great political, economic, and cultural importance to its coastal countries of Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, and Indonesia. With maritime trade, fishing, and tourism being the region's most significant economic activities, it faces a variety of maritime security issues, including illicit trade, piracy, armed robbery, and illegal fishing. Incidents of human trafficking after the influx of the Rohingya refugees' influx to Bangladesh from Myanmar in 2017, piracy, and attacking seamen at the cargo and fishing trawlers and... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/01/22)
මිස්සක මසමනවිරත්න උපුටා ගැන්ම අරුණ පුවත්
මම දැන් ටොස් එක වගේ මේ දවස්වල ඔබතුමාගේ දේශපාලන කටයුතු කොහොමද? ඔබ වැඩිය දේශපාලන වේදිකාවේ පෙනෙන්න නෑ? මේ දවස්වල දේශපාලන වේදිකා පෙනෙන්න තියෙනවද? නෑනේ. කොරෝනා පැතිරීම නිසා ප්‍රසිද්ධියේ මහජන රැස්වීම් තියෙන්නෙත් නෑනේ. ඉතින් මාව පෙනෙන්න විදියකුත් නෑනේ. එහෙම නෙවෙයි, ඔබ අතීතයේ රටේ නොයෙක් ප්‍රශ්න වෙනකොට පෙනී සිටියා. නමුත් දැන් එහෙම පෙනෙන්නේ නැහැ? එහෙම කියන එක හරි නෑ. දවසකට මම රැස්වීම් ගණනාවක් තියනවා. දැන් ගොඩක් විවෘත කිරීම් වාගේ උත්සව තියෙන්නේ සූම් තාක්ෂණයෙන්. චීන කොමියුනිස්ට් පක්ෂයේ සියවැනි සංවත්සරයත් ඇමතුවේ සූම් එකෙන්. ඒ වගෙම දවසකට අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/01/22)
ආචාර්ය වරුණ චන්ද්‍රකීර්ති
පංචශීලයෙන් හික්මුණු සමාජයක් බිහිකිරීම බෞද්ධ ජනරජයේ පරමාර්ථයකි. නිසි ගුරු උපදේශ සහ මගපෙන්වීම් තුළින් අදාළ ගුණධර්ම වගා කරගත් මිනිසුන් බිහි කරගැනීමෙන් මෙම පරමාර්ථය සාක්‍ෂාත්වන්නේ ය. මෙම කාර්යය උදෙසා මූලික කාර්යයක් ඉටුකළ යුත්තේ විධිමත් සහ අවිධිමත් අධ්‍යාපනික වැඩපිළිවෙළ විසිනි. පංචශීලය ඇසුරින් ගුණගරුක, සත්පුරුෂයන් බිහිවන ආකාරය අභිධර්ම පිටකයේ පුද්ගල ප්‍රඥප්ති ප්‍රකරණයේ එන චතුෂ්ක නිර්දේශය තුළින් විස්තර කෙරෙයි. එහෙයින් එවැනි ඉගැන්වීම් මත පදනම් වුණු අපරාධ නීතියක් සම්පාදනය කිරීම ජනරජයේ වගකීමක් වෙයි. පන්සිල් සුරකින සමාජයක් නීතිය තුළින් බිහිකළ නො හැකි ය. කෙසේ වුව ද, වැරැදි සහ වැරැදිකරුවන් හඳුනාගැනීමට ද එ ලෙසින් හඳුනාගන්නා වැරැදිකරුවන් සියලු දෙනා ජනරජයේ පරමාර්ථවලට අනුකූල වන... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/01/22)
තරුණ හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යංශය,සංවර්ධන සම්බන්ධිකරණ හා අධීක්ෂණ අමාත්‍යාංශය,ඩිජිටල් තාක්ෂණ හා ව්‍යවසාය සංවර්ධන රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යංශය.
ඓතිහාසික තිස්සමහාරාම බෙරලිහෙළ සාලියපුර ශ්‍රී දුටුගැමුණු රාජමහා විහාර පිරිවෙන් විහාරස්ථානයේ අභිනවයෙන් ඉඳිකරන ලද නඳුන් මහ සෑ චෛත්‍ය රාජයාණන් වහන්සේගේ ගර්භයේ නිධන් වස්තු තැන්පත් කිරීම දුරුතු පුර පසළොස්වන පොහොය යෙදුණු අද (17) දින අමාත්‍ය නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ සහභාගිත්වයෙන් සිදුවිය. මෙම චෛත්‍ය රාජයාණන් වහන්සේ සාදවා නිම කිරීමේ මාහැඟි වූ පුණ්‍ය කර්තව්‍යය, පන්නිපිටිය පැලැන්වත්ත විද්‍යා සමාධි ජාත්‍යන්තර බෞද්ධ මධ්‍යස්ථානාධිපති අමරපුර සිරි සද්ධම්මවංස මහා නිකායේ අනුනායක ධූරන්දර අති පූජ්‍ය හිපන්කන්දේ සද්ධාසිරි නාහිමිපාණන් වහන්සේගේ අනුශාසනා පරිදි ශ්‍රී දුටුගැමුණු රාජමහා විහාරාධිපති විද්‍යා ප්‍රදීප මහ පිරිවෙන් කෘත්‍යාධිකාරි පූජ්‍ය හක්මන... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/01/22)
තරුණ හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යංශය, සංවර්ධන සම්බන්ධිකරණ හා අධීක්ෂණ අමාත්‍යාංශය, ඩිජිටල් තාක්ෂණ හා ව්‍යවසාය සංවර්ධන රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යංශය.
තරුණ හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍ය නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ උදාර සංකල්පයක් අනුව ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන 'යොවුන් ශීල සමාධි ජාතික වැඩසටහන' මෙම වසරේ දුරුතු පුර පසළොස්වක පොහොය යෙදුණු අද (17) දින තිස්සමහාරාම බෙරලිහෙළ සාලියපුර ශ්‍රී දුටුගැමුණු රාජමහා විහාර පිරිවෙන් විහාරස්ථානයේ දී පැවැත්විණි. දැහැමි ගුණගරුක ජන සමාජයක් උදෙසා තරුණ පරපුර සුගතිගාමී කරවීමේ අරමුණ පෙරදැරිව රට පුරා සියලු විහාරස්ථානවල සෑම පසොළොස්වක පොහොය දිනකදී ම තරුණ තරුණියන් ශීල සමාධියෙහි පිහිටුවීම හා දාන ශීල භාවනා වැඩසටහන්වලට යොමු කිරීම යොවුන් ශීල සමාධි ජාතික වැඩසටහනේ අභිමතාර්ථයයි. ඒ අනුව,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/01/22)
Editorial The Hindu
India and Sri Lanka have shown an ability to quickly act on promises to each other External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s virtual meeting with Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa on Saturday, with an assurance that India will support Sri Lanka “in all possible ways for overcoming the economic and other challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic”, was significant and timely. A crucial week lies ahead for the Sri Lankan economy, when President Gotabaya Rajapaksa must make a decision on whether to service debts to bonds with an instalment of $500 million due on January 18,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/01/22)
BY Madhusha Thavapalakumar Courtesy The Morning
Responds to JVP’s Handunnetti and SLFP’s Piyadasa and claims they have no knowledge about ISBs Questions whether foreigners would be ‘insane enough’ to supply defaulting country Says doom-sayers are spoilt children whose ‘lies have been exposed’ Responding to allegations that the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) is servicing its maturing International Sovereign Bond (ISB) with a payment of $ 500 million today (18) despite facing a crippling foreign exchange shortage only because the investors of this particular bond are connected to CBSL Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal and the Rajapaksa family, Cabraal... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/01/22)
By Aldgra Fredly Courtesy The Epoch Times
Sri Lanka’s government has set aside $500 million for maturing bond repayment, Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said on Jan. 5, a move that some economists believe is a mistake given the country’s foreign currency shortage to pay for imports. Cabraal announced on Twitter that $500 million has been allocated for an international sovereign bond maturing on Jan. 18, but some economists opposed the move, urging the government to instead restructure its debt. Sri Lanka is reported to have to make about $4.5 billion in debt repayments in 2022,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/01/22)
උපුටාගැණීම අද දෙරණ
පොහොර අර්බුදය මධ්‍යයේ වුවද පොළොන්නරුව පරාක්‍රම සමුද්‍රය සහ මින්නේරිය ගොවි ව්‍යාපාරවල වගා කටයුතු සාමාන්‍ය පරිදි සිදුකෙරෙන බව "අද දෙරණ" එහි කළ සංචාරයේදී අනාවරණ විය. එහෙත් මෙවර අපේක්ෂිත අස්වැන්න නොලැබෙන බවත් එළඹෙන කන්නයේදී රසායනික පොහොර නොලැබුණහොත් තමන් කුඹුරු වගා නොකරන බවත් එම ගොවීන් පවසයි. පොළොන්නරුව දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ මෙම කන්නයට පෙර සාමාන්‍ය කන්නයකදී වගාකරන ලද ගොවිබිම් ප්‍රමාණය හෙක්ටයාර 70,000 කට ආසන්නය. එහිදී එක් හෙක්ටයාරයකින් වී මෙට්‍රික් ටොන් 5 බැගින් එක් කන්නයකදී ලබාගෙන ඇති මුළු අස්වැන්න වී මෙට්‍රික් ටොන් තුන්ලක්ෂ පනස්දහසක් පමණ වේ. මෙවර මහ කන්නය ආරම්භයේ ඇතිවූ පොහොර අර්බුදයත් සමඟින්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/01/22)
Courtesy Adaderana
The Health Ministry says that another 688 persons have tested positive for Covid-19 today (17), increasing the tally of confirmed cases registered in the country to 597,035. Total coronavirus recoveries have risen to 568,373 while the number of infected patients undergoing treatment presently is 13,444. Sri Lanka’s death toll due to the virus thus far is 15,218. The Director-General of Health Services has confirmed another 07 coronavirus related deaths for January 16, increasing the death toll in the country due to the virus to 15,218. This includes 05... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 18/01/22)
By Garvin Karunaratne
Today it is reported that we do not have enough dollars tro buy coal and oil to produce electricty. All we need is a few thousand wind turbines sited at Madugoda, at Ramboda, at Ohiya. at Haputale- at places where there is ample wind power, not sited on the coast to run with the evening breeze. It will create employment for hundreds and all with little foreign exchange to import only the turbine mechanism. Even that I am dead cert that Jinasena Pumps can make it locally. It can all be done within... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/01/22)
Pathik Hasan, Dhaka, Bangladesh
It is true that South Asia needs China in its development process because ‘China’ is synonymous with the term “Development”. China’s ambitus project ‘Belt and Road Initiative” provides benefits for almost all South Asian Countries. Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan are benefitting from the project directly. On the other hand, China helps most of the South Asian States through its Covid-19 Vaccine Diplomacy. South Asian countries always gain support from China in their crisis moment. ‘Vaccine Diplomacy of China’ is just an example to understand the reality. China helped Bangladesh,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/01/22)
Chandre Dharmawardana
The following article appeared in the newspaper morning.lk.I have added my comments in bold italic regarding the contents of the article. Chandre DW https://www.themorning.lk/banned-pesticides-in-well-water-linked-to-declines-in-kidney-function-study/ Banned pesticides in well water linked to declines in kidney function: Study By Beyond Pesticides (Beyond Pesticides is a non-profit organisation headquartered in Washington, D.C., which works with allies in protecting public health and the environment to lead the transition to a world free of toxic pesticides) Well water in agricultural regions of Sri Lanka is contaminated with highly... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/01/22)
Courtesy NewsIn.Asia
Governor William Gregory's term from 1872 to 1877 was the “golden age” of Ceylon coffee Colombo: Today, Sri Lanka is synonymous with tea and not coffee. As on date, it is way down in the list of coffee producing countries, 43 rd. to be precise. But back in the 1870s, Ceylon, as Sri Lanka was then known, was among the top three coffee producing centers beaten only by Brazil and the Dutch East Indies, now known as Indonesia. In the last quarter of the 19th.Century, over 111,000 hectares were... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/01/22)
Courtesy NewsIn.Asia
New Delhi, January 16 (newsin.asia): Sri Lankan singer Yohani de Silva’s “Menike Maga Hithe” which had taken the Indian music scene by storm, is now being used by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to boost the prospects of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the forthcoming Uttar Pradesh State Assembly elections. Uttar Pradesh, among India’s largest States, will go to the polls on February 10. Polling will end on March 7. https://twitter.com/i/status/1482626375177871361 READ: Indian Foreign Minister and Lankan Finance Minister have... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/01/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said yesterday that everything promised to the people to fulfill within five years will be fulfilled in the next three years. The President assured during the opening the Mirigama-Kurunegala section of the Central Expressway that as a leader descended from a farming family, he would always take the lead in protecting the farmer. President Rajapaksa said that he would not forget the youths who had cultivated barren paddy lands when he came to power and invited them to join once again. The President said that... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/01/22)
Courtesy Adaderana
The Health Ministry says that another 690 persons have tested positive for coronavirus today (16). This figure includes 03 persons who had arrived from overseas while the remainder are community cases. Sri Lanka’s Covid-19 caseload climbs to 596,347 with this while presently 12,926 patients infected with the virus are undergoing treatment. The Director General of Health Services has confirmed another 14 coronavirus related deaths for January 15, increasing the death toll in the country due to the virus to 15,211. This includes 04 males and 10 females while... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 17/01/22)
Courtesy The Morning
India and China shore up forex for now, but future remains uncertainAfter Indian visit postponed, Basil holds virtual meeting with India’s JaishankarChina mum on debt restructuring, but pushes recommencement of FTA talksDollar shortage leads to oil shortage and in turn electricity shortageCatholic Church makes bold allegation about Easter terror conspiracy3 Ministers tell SC that New Fortress deal was not approved by CabinetPresident notes ‘lost’ years; mulls referendum to lengthen term by two years With Sri Lanka squarely at a crossroads on several dimensions including the national economy, the week ahead... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/01/22)
By Yakuta Dawood Courtesy The Morning
Attygalle optimistic of receiving financial assistance from lenders The Government of Sri Lanka is optimistic of succeeding in its plan to restructure its debt with bilateral and multilateral lenders if its current attempts to restructure the debt with the Chinese Government materialises, the Treasury told The Sunday Morning Business. Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, Treasury Secretary S. R. Attygalle stated that if the Government of China were to extend its support to Sri Lanka, and given the existing supporting ally, the Government of India, other lenders would also be... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/01/22)
නිපුණතා සංවර්ධන, වෘත්තීය අධ්‍යාපන, පර්යේෂණ හා නව නිපැයුම් රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශය
පළාත් මට්ටමින් ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට නියමිත නිපුණතා උදාන ජාතික වැඩසටහන වයඹ පළාත කේන්ද්‍ර කරගනිමින් නිපුණතා සංවර්ධන, වෘත්තීය අධ්‍යාපන, පර්යේෂණ හා නව නිපැයුම් රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය, විශේෂඥ වෛද්‍ය සීතා අරඹේපොල මැතිණියගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් ‘වයඹ උදානය’ නමින් පසුගියදා ආරම්භ විය. මෙම ජාතික වැඩසටහනට සමගාමීව වයඹ පළාතේ විසිර සිටින ත්‍රිරෝද රථ රියදුරන්ගේ නිපුණතා හැකියාවන් වර්ධනය කර ඔවුන් බහුවිධ නිපුණතා සහිත වෘත්තීලාභීන් බවට පත් කර ආර්ථිකය ශක්තිමත් කිරීමේ අරමුණින් "Skills 4 you" වැඩසටහන ආරම්භ විය. එම වැඩසටහන යටතේ ත්‍රීරෝද රථ රියදුරන් හට, 🔸ගොඩනැගිලි නඩත්තු සහ සේවා 🔸ලෝහ පිරික්සුම්කරණය ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/01/22)
ලංකා ඛනිජ තෙල් පොදු සේවක සංගමය
ගරු ඛනිජ තෙල් සහ බලශක්ති අමාත්‍යතුමා. ඛනිජ තෙල් සහ බලශක්ති අමාත්‍යංශය, මල් පාර, කොළඹ. ගරු සභාපතිතුමා ඛනිජ තෙල් නීතිගත සංස්තථාව මගින්, පිරිපහදු කළමණාකාරතුමා පිරිපහදුව මගින්, ගරු ඇමතිතුමනි, නිසි වෙලාවට බොරතෙල් ආනයනය කිරීමට අපොහොසත්වීම නිසා පිරිපහදුවේ නිශ්පාදන කටයුතු පූර්ණ ලෙස අඩාල වීම පිළිබඳව පැමිණිලි කිරීම නිසි වේලාවට බොරතෙල් ආනයනය කොට පිරිපහදුවේ නිෂ්පාදන ක්‍රියාවලිය අඛණ්ඩව පවත්වාගෙන යාම, පිරිපහදුවේ ඉහළ කලමනාකාරිත්වයේ සිට ඛනිජ තෙල් නීතිගත සංස්තථාවෙත්, ඛනිජ තෙල් අමාත්‍යංශයේත් ප්‍රමුඛ තම කාර්‍යාභාරයක් ලෙස සලකා ඒ වෙනුවෙන්ම සැකසූ නිලධාරී පලන රටාවක් පවතිද්දී මේ වනවිට නිසි වෙලාවට බොරතෙල් ආනයනය කිරීමට අපොහොසත් වීම නිසා... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/01/22)
Dr. Chula Rajapakse MNZM
Dear Editor , It is disappointing and frustrating to see the respected Cardinal, continuing to raise doubts of a “ underlying conspiracy " despite the clear facts identified by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Easter Sunday Bombings, not finding any underlyingcnspiracy . To raise these doubts he uses a. concern raised by an earlier appointed and later discredited parliamentary select committee, ( PSC) appointed by then PM RW, primarily with a view to deflecting any suspicion away from him,.The select committee included those well known to be... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/01/22)
උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්
ලංකා විදුලිබල මණ්ඩලයෙන් ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 180 ක වන්දියක් ඉල්ලා මැලේසියානු සමාගමක් විසින් සිංගප්පූරු බේරුම්කාර මණ්ඩලයට පැමිණිල්ලක් ඉදිරිපත් කර තිබේ. යාපනය සුළං සහ සූර්ය බල ව්‍යාපෘතියක් පිහිටුවීමට මෙම මැලේසියානු සමාගමට බලපත්‍රයකින් අනුමැතිය ලබාදී පසුව එය අවලංගු කර ඇති බව විදුලිබල මණ්ඩලයේ ප්‍රකාශකයෙක් පැවසීය. බේරුම්කාර මණ්ඩලයේ විභාග වන මෙම නඩුව සඳහා මේ වන විට නීතිඥයන්ට රුපියල් මිලියන 200 ක ට වැඩි මුදලක් වැය කර ඇතැයි ද ඔහු සඳහන් කළේය. ව්‍යාපෘතිය ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම සඳහා මණ්ඩලය නිලධාරියෙක් ඩොලර් මිලියන 2 ක අල්ලසක් ඉල්ලා සිටි බවද එම සමාගම බේරුම්කාර මණ්ඩලයට ඉදිරිපත්... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/01/22)
Courtesy NewsIn.Asia
Colombo, January 15 (newsin.asia): The Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar held a virtual meeting with Finance Minister of Sri Lanka Basil Rajapaksa on Saturday in which an Indian credit facility of US$ 1 billion for importing essential items and US$ 500 million for importing fuel from India were discussed. Dr. Jaishankar conveyed that “India has always stood with Sri Lanka, and will continue to support Sri Lanka in all possible ways for overcoming the economic and other challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic.” As close friends and maritime neighbors, both India... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/01/22)
By Seneka Abeyratne Courtesy The Island
Kozakian Shamshir weapon made of crucible steel from the collection of the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History, Brussels The ancient kings, inspired by Buddhism and the constant need to feed a growing population, produced a new culture as well as a new economy. They also created the necessary institutions to plan and implement development projects for transforming the dry zone. Buddhism figured prominently in the island’s hydraulic civilization, which emerged during the Early Historic Period (500 BCE-300 CE). Although the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/01/22)
By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island
Dastardly conspiracy gradually unfolding’ Declaring that 2019 Easter Sunday carnage couldn’t be blamed on Muslim extremists alone, the Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith yesterday (14) questioned the failure on the part of the government to at least implement the recommendations made by the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) and the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) into the near simultaneous suicide attacks. Delivering a sermon at the Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka where the Catholic Bishops’ Conference organised a special prayer service to mark 1000th day since the... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/01/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror
Defence Secretary Kamal Gunaratne said it is not fair to criticize the police investigation into the incident in which a grenade was found at the Borella All Saints' Church, less than 24 hours after it was reported. He made this remarks responding to the statement made by Archbishop His Eminence Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith regarding the investigation into the incident. Speaking to media after meeting with Chief Prelates of Malwatta and Asgiriya chapters, he assured that all those involved in the incident will be brought to justice. "Investigation is... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/01/22)
Courtesy Adaderana
The daily count of COVID-19 cases recorded in Sri Lanka moved to 661 today (January 15), the Health Ministry said. According to the Government Information Department, the newly-detected cases include 04 individuals who recently arrived on the island. The latest development has brought the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus reported in the country so far to 595,657. As many as 568,049 recoveries have been confirmed in Sri Lanka since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 12,400 active cases in total are currently under medical... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/01/22)
Courtesy Adaderana
Sri Lanka has identified 160 new cases of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 (B.1.1.529), says Dr. Chandima Jeewandara, the Director of the Department of Immunology & Molecular Medicine at Sri Jayewardenepura University. These Omicron patients were found among 182 samples that were sequenced by the laboratory of the J’pura University. The new development pushed the total number of Omicron cases confirmed by the J’pura University’s lab so far to 205. Accordingly, Omicron now appears to be on its way to become the dominant variant of Covid-19 on the island, brushing... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 16/01/22)
Courtesy NewsIn.Asia
Colombo, Jan 14 (AdaDerana) – In the context of rising prices of all consumer products and the limited availability of most, the people of Sri Lanka, are faced with two ominous questions about which they are justifiably anxious. Will there be a scarcity of medicines in the near future in the country and if so, should they be stocking up their regular medications?Will the price of medicines go up in conjunction with all the other products in the market? Subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates from around the world Availability... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/01/22)
Courtesy RT
Biden administration said one of the suspected hackers arrested in Russia was to blame for the Colonial Pipeline attack The Biden administration is “pleased” about Russia arresting several suspected hackers, including one allegedly behind the ransomware attack that led to week-long fuel shortages last year. A senior administration official, speaking with reporters on Friday, said Moscow had informed Washington about the arrests, and that one of the individuals involved was responsible for the May 2021 attack that crippled the Colonial Pipeline. “I want to be very... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/01/22)
අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය
ජාතික තෛපොංගල් උත්සවය අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් අද (14) දින පස්වරුවේ අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේ දී පැවැත්විණි. ගොවිතැන් කටයුතු සඳහා සූර්ය දෙවියන්ගෙන් ලැබුණු ශක්තියට කෘතගුණ සැලකීම මුල් කරගනිමින් දමිළ දින දර්ශනයේ පළමු දිනය මෙලෙස සුවිශේෂීත්වයෙන් සැමරීම සිදු වේ. අස්වනු නෙලා ගැනීම සහ නෙලාගත් අස්වැන්නෙන් පළමු කොටස යොදා පොංගල් කිරිබත සෑදීම මෙම මංගල්‍යයේ චාරිත්‍රයකි. බුද්ධශාසන ආගමික හා සංස්කෘතික කටයුතු අමාත්‍යවරයා වශයෙන් අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමාගේ උපදෙස් පරිදි මෙවර තෛපොංගල් උත්සවය උත්සවශ්‍රීයෙන් සැමරීමට අවශ්‍ය වටපිටාව සකසා තිබිණි. අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේ පැවැති ජාතික තෛපොංගල් උත්සවය හින්දු සංස්කෘතික අංග වලින් විචිත්‍රවත් වූ අතර අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා සමඟ අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ආර්යා... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/01/22)
BY BRAD DRESS Courtesy The Hill
Two elephants recently died in Sri Lanka after swallowing large amounts of plastic found in a garbage heap, prompting a renewed warning from conservationists about the issue. The Associated Press reported that at least 20 elephants have died in the past eight years from eating plastic waste in the open landfill in Pallakkadu village. The wild elephant population in Sri Lanka has plummeted 65 percent since the 19th century, with somewhere between 2,000 and 4,000 left, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Elephants are protected under Sri Lankan law, and killing one... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/01/22)
Courtesy ukr agroconsult
Sri Lanka’s tea industry performed well in 2021 earning 1.3 billion U.S. dollars despite lower yields and higher costs of production, state media reported on Thursday. Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tea Board Jayampathy Molligoda was quoted by the state-owned Daily News as saying that Sri Lanka earned approximately 1.3 billion U.S. dollars from the export of 288 million kilos of tea in 2021. Molligoda said the cost of production of Sri Lankan tea is among the highest in the global market and tea production peaked in 2013 and has declined... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/01/22)
Courtesy Finance Monthly
When a company’s foreseeable future earnings are not sufficient to repay debts, the company in question may choose to restructure its debt. And this applies to countries too. In years gone by, several countries have chosen to restructure their debt, with Sri Lanka potentially soon to join them. Image by Sneharashmini - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=111021371 How does debt restructuring work for countries? Throughout history, there have been several cases of countries facing default on their external debt, including North Korea in 1987, Russia in 1998, and Argentina in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/01/22)
Courtesy New York Post
Wild elephants scavenge for food at an open landfill in Pallakkadu village in Ampara district, about 130 miles east of the capital Colombo, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022.AP MORE ON:ELEPHANTS Terrifying moment sex-crazed 13-foot elephant charges safari truckAfrica sees elephant baby boom thanks to pandemicIndonesia baby elephant dies after losing half of her trunkBaby elephant loses half its trunk to Indonesia poacher trap PALLAKKADU, Sri Lanka — Conservationists and veterinarians are warning that plastic waste in an open landfill in eastern Sri Lanka is killing elephants in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/01/22)
By Indika Hettiarachchi Courtesy EurasiaReviw
For a large number of 6.9 million voters who voted for Gotabaya Rajapakse in the 2019 presidential election, it was like giving a benefit of the doubt. This is because GR was a political novice at age 70. And his style of management or governance was a big question mark, although he was credited with military success. After two years, a vast majority of Sri Lankans aren’t convinced that giving the benefit of the doubt is a good idea when electing national leaders. As Sri Lanka descends deeper into economic... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/01/22)
Courtesy The Island
… says govt. has got priorities mixed up
By Shamindra Ferdinando Former Minister D.E.W. Gunasekera says that the cash-strapped government lacked the wherewithal to implement the much publicized Rs 229 bn relief package. Therefore, the one-time General Secretary of the Communist Party said the government had no option but to print more money at the expense of financial stability at a time the country was under tremendous pressure. The former minister quit the top party post in August 2020. CP organ ‘Aththa,’ in... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/01/22)
Darshana Sanjeewa Balasuriya Courtesy The Daily Mirror
At least 14 statements have been recorded so far in connection with the recovery of a hand grenade at the Borella All Saints' Church and those involved into the incident will be arrested irrespective of their possition, IGP C.D. Wickramaratne said. In a special statement the IGP said that those involved will be brought to justice. The IGP said that the Borella Police first commenced investigations into the incident after the hand grenade was found on January 11. Thereafter the Colombo Crimes Division took action... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/01/22)
Courtesy The Daily Mirror
Three doses of COVID-19 vaccine drop hospitalization by 90% in people above 65 years of age, health experts highlighted. According to Head of the Immunology and Molecular Medicine Department at the Sri Jayewardenepura University Prof. Neelika Malavige, hospitalization due to Omicron is also dropped by 50% with two vaccine doses in the over 65 age group. “It is the people above 65 age of who are highly susceptible to get hospitalized and succumb to the virus. Omicron in the US is commonly seen among the unvaccinated population over 65 years.... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 15/01/22)
