Govt’s domestic debt stock passes USD 50bn after the first 6 months of 2023, with an increase of 28% during the period: analysts say Govt is continuing to borrow from the domestic market at a premium.
Minister Bandula Gunawardane says the Cabinet has decided to consider the supply of drinking water as an urgent and priority requirement until sufficient rainfall is received: also says around 84,000 families in 17 districts face a shortage of drinking water.
UNP General Secretary Palitha Range Bandara says the UNP’s Party Convention, originally scheduled for 10 Sept, has been indefinitely postponed due to ongoing adverse weather conditions across the country.
Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa calls for an international probe into the Easter Sunday 2019 terror attacks.
Supreme Court determines that the new Inland Revenue (Amendment) Bill is not inconsistent with the Constitution and can be passed in Parliament by a simple majority: the bill was challenged in the SC in terms of Article 121(1) of the Constitution.
Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardena says it is essential that there is no holdback of reform of State Owned Enterprises and the Govt places new legislation to lock in this critical step to ensure sustainable socio-economic growth: also says the SOE reform measures already in place and those in the pipeline will help minimise their losses while providing efficient services to the public.
State Urban Development Minister Thenuka Vidanagamage says the National Housing Development Authority had to allocate Rs.1,537mn annually for nearly 2,100 workers recruited from the Hambantota district during Sajith Premadasa’s tenure as the Housing Minister from 2015 to 2019.
Minister Nimal Siripala Silva says the Mattala Airport has lost a billion rupees so far in 2023: earnings Rs.163mn, while expenditure Rs.1,200mn: the airport was built with a USD 189mn loan at 2% interest rate from the Exim Bank of China payable in 15 years.
Ovin Gamage & Desandhi Gamage secure top positions in the “Below 1700 Rating Category” at the UAE 2023 Asian Amateur Chess Championships: Desandhi wins the gold and placed overall 2nd: tournament organized by the UAE Chess Federation on behalf of FIDE and the Asian Chess Federation.
Sri Lanka beats Afghanistan in the Asia Cricket Cup 2023 – Match 6, by 2 runs: SL 291/8 (50 overs); Kusal Mendis 92, Pathum Nissanka 41; AFG all out 289 (37.4 overs): Kasun Rajitha 79/4.
Colombo (LNW): Showers or thundershowers will occur at times in Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Kandy, Nuwara-Eliya, Galle and Matara districts, and fairly heavy showers above 50mm are likely at some places in Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and in Puttalam, Galle and Matara districts, the Department of Meteorology said in its daily weather forecast today (06).
A few showers are likely in Mannar districts, and fairly strong winds about (40-45) kmph can be expected at times in western slopes of the central hills, North-western, Northern and North-central provinces and in Trincomalee and Hambantota districts, the statement added.
On the apparent southward relative motion of the sun, it is going to be directly over the latitudes of Sri Lanka during 28th of August to 07th of September in this year. The nearest towns of Sri Lanka over which the sun is overhead today are Maggona, Badureliya , Godakawela , Kitulkote and Meegahaveraliya about 12.09 noon.
Marine Weather:
Condition of Rain:
Showers or thundershowers will occur at times in the sea areas off the coast extending from Puttalam to Matara via Colombo and Galle.
Winds:
Winds will be south-westerly and speed will be (30-40) kmph. Wind speed may increase up to (50-65) kmph at times in the sea areas off the coast extending from Hambantota to Pottuvil and in the sea areas off the coast extending from Puttalam to Trincomalee via Mannar and Kankasanthurai. Wind speed may increase up to 50 kmph at times in the sea areas off the coast extending from Puttalam to Hambantota via Colombo and Galle.
State of Sea:
The sea areas off the coast extending from Hambantota to Pottuvil and in the sea areas off the coast extending from Puttalam to Trincomalee via Mannar and Kankasanthurai can be very rough at times. The sea areas off the coast extending from Puttalam to Hambantota via Colombo and Galle can be rough at times. Temporarily strong gusty winds and very rough seas can be expected during thundershowers.
Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Kurunegala District MP Asanka Navaratne has joined the main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) today (05), expressing his support towards the politics of Sajith Premadasa, Leader of the Opposition.
The crossover takes place following a meeting held with the Opposition Leader yesterday (04).
Navaratne pointed out that he has joined the Opposition with the aim of working towards the common goal of a shared democracy.
Navaratne entered Parliament as a National List MP for the SLPP the Ruling Party during the last General Election.
Colombo (LNW): Education Minister Susil Premjayanth speaking in Parliament today (05) emphasised that it is not possible to postpone the G.C.E. Advanced Level Examination this year, pointing out that a postponement would result in affecting the G.C.E. Ordinary Level Examinations and the completion of the syllabus for the 2024 school year.
The 2023 AL Exam, therefore, will be held from November to December as scheduled, the Minister asserted.
Colombo (LNW): The Cabinet of Ministers has shed its green light for the gazetting of the newly drafted bill for the proposed Anti-Terrorist Act (ATA), a replacement to the existing Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), with intentions to table it in Parliament for approval.
The Act, according to the government, was spearheaded by the Legal Draftsman and was initially published in the Government Gazette in March 2023, only to meet a severe backlash from a number of parties, including the civil society, political parties of the Opposition and human rights groups concerning what they described as questionable provisions in the draft bill.
The Justice Minster thereafter had sought feedback and suggestions from stakeholders to the dialogue and even personally got involved in some of the focus group discussions.
Following revision, a collective feedback was received to the proposed ATA bill and the Legal Draftsman undertook the task of amending the original version that had earlier seen the light in the Government Gazette.
The clearance of the Attorney General has also been granted for the new draft bill upon review, and subsequently, with the nod from the Cabinet, the ATA bill is set to be gazetted, later to be tabled in Parliament.
Colombo (LNW): The Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR) has slightly depreciated against the US Dollar today (05) in comparison to yesterday as revealed by the official exchange rates list issued by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL).
Accordingly, the buying price of the US Dollar has increased to Rs. 314.87, and the selling price to Rs. 326.65 from Rs. 326.28.
The Sri Lankan Rupee also indicates slight fluctuation against several other foreign currencies, but it indicates a depreciation against Gulf currencies.
Colombo (LNW): The new Anti-Corruption Act recently passed in Parliament will come into force from September 15, 2023 and assets that have been illegally stationed overseas will be recovered via the new law, emphasised Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapaksa.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) will also convey their support in this regard, the Minister told media.
Meanwhile, a special meeting was held between the Justice Minister and South Asian Regional Envoy to the UNODC Marco Teixeira yesterday (04).
Guangxi Vocational & Technical College, formerly (GVTC) known as Guangxi Labor University, was founded in 1965. It has successively gone through historical stages such as Guangxi Agricultural College Tropical Crop Branch (undergraduate), Guangxi Agricultural Reclamation Workers’ University, and Guangxi Vocational University of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce.
In 1998, with the approval of the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, GVTC became one of the first batch of independent and restructured public higher vocational colleges in Guangxi. The College is located in Nanning Airport Economic Zone, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, with beautiful campus scenery and a strong cultural atmosphere. The College has been selected as a high-level professional group construction unit in the “High-Level Vocational Schools and Professional Construction Plan with Chinese Characteristics”.
The College adheres to the education direction of featuring agriculture and coordinated development of primary, secondary, and tertiary industries, and takes the initiative to adjust and optimize the professional structure by docking with regional economic pillar industries and strategic emerging industries.
GVTC has ten teaching faculties, including the School of Agriculture Engineering, the School of Health & Care, the School of Intelligent Manufacturing, the School of Big Data, the School of Art and Design, the School of Communication, the School of Logistics, the School of Business, the School of Marxism, the School of Liberal Education, with a total of 47 enrollment majors.
There are more than 21,000 students, including more than 130 international students from 9 countries including Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
The Major Group of Tea Tree Cultivation and Tea Leaf Processing in the College is the development focus of GVTC’s Double-High (High-Level Vocational School and High-Level Professional Groups) plan. In the process of developing the professional group, “Silk Road Tea Institute” has made significant progress as a brand for international exchanges in the College and has been widely recognized by international partners.
Taking tea as a medium and making friends with tea, the “Silk Road Tea Institute” has built a bridge for communication and exchange between China’s vocational education and “Belt and Road” countries. The project has been built into an international vocational education brand covering all aspects from secondary vocational education to higher vocational education, technical skills training to academic education.
Through unremitting efforts during recent years, the “Silk Road Tea Institute” has made great achievements in the construction of international tea industry cooperation base, the international exchange of tea culture, the construction of tea industry curriculum resources, and the humanistic and technical services for the tea industry and other aspects.
The Construction of 4 overseas Silk Road Tea Institutes has been completed
Up to now, GVTC has cooperated with the Indonesia Research Institute for Tea and Cinchona(RITC), Mae Fah Luang University(MFU), Uva Wellassa University(UWU), and Northern Mountainous Agriculture and Forestry Science Institute(NOMAFSI), jointly build the “Silk Road Tea Institute”.
It has carried out extensive cooperation in many research fields such as tea production process and equipment upgrading, tea tasting, tea picking technology, tea plant research in high-altitude areas, and soil protection for tea planting, etc.
Fruitful results in the international curriculum resources of the tea industry
The College has formed a complete set of international curriculum resources for the tea industry, including “Bilingual video MOOCs”, “English version of the course PPTs”, “English syllabus”, and some “After-class Exercises”, following the requirements of high-standard international course resource construction.
At present, 10 international curriculum resources have been completed, including Nixing Pottery, Chinese Dark Tea: Liupao Tea, Chinese Incense, Modern Tea Cuisine, Chinese Tea Art, Chinese Scented Tea: Jasmine, and Chinese Tea Utensils: Appreciation of Tea Sets. The “International Training Standards for Tea Learning (Elementary)” carried by these courses has been certified by SEAMEO TED (Southeast Asian Education Ministers’ Organization Regional Center for Technical Education Development) and CATECP (China-ASEAN Technical Education Cooperation Platform), and the relevant 10 curriculum experts have also been included in the ASEAN Expert Database.
Combined with the joint scientific research and technical training research of the “Silk Road Tea Institute” in various countries, new curriculum resources such as “Tea Production Technology”, and “Pest and Disease Control of Tea Plants” are under development.
Wide range of audiences for the international tea cultural-related training
Through the “Silk Road Tea Institute”, the school has conducted a total of 9 in-depth seminars with experts from Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and Maldives, involving more than 70 experts and professors at home and abroad. and carried out in-depth research in tea production process equipment upgrading, derived milk tea products, joint development of tea, tea tasting, and other fields.
Overseas experts, including Thailand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Japan, Italy, Turkey, Vietnam, and Myanmar, gave 11 lectures related to the tea industry to domestic colleges, with nearly 3,000 teachers and students directly participating in China. The school has also held 11 training sessions about tea, focusing on such excellent courses as “Chinese Tea and Organic Tea Production and Processing”, “Tea Sensory Evaluation Technology”, ” Current Situation and Countermeasures of Tea Garden Tourism in China”, ” The Construction and Management of Eco-Tea Garden”, attracting 2,300 students from Southeast Asia, South Asia, Japan, South Korea, and Eastern Europe to participate directly.
Three customized tea-tasting training sessions were held. For Thailand, the training was focusing on Chinese-Thai tea tasting, Beverage Preparation, Tea Grading Standards, and Tea Processing Methods. The training audience involved more than 300 people from 14 schools and enterprises in Thailand, and more than 20 kinds of tea were tasted in this training.
For Indonesia, the serial training was mainly around the development of Chinese tea culture, tea art performances, and some other content, with a total of more than 200 person times of tea lovers from multiple colleges, enterprises, and research centers learning experience.
As for Sri Lanka, GVTC jointly launched a series of training on tea processing skills with Uva Wellassa University in Sri Lanka, opened an offline training venue at UWU, and carried out a fixed teaching activity with a planning cycle of one month for UWU teachers and students and local tea enterprise personnel.
A strong demand for academic studies related to the tea industry in China
Based on the cooperation between the “Silk Road Tea Institute” and various countries in different directions, in 2022, more than 90 students from Indonesia, Laos, East Timor, the Philippines, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and other South and Southeast Asian countries have willing to apply to study in China, focusing on the direction of “tea e-commerce” and “tea production and processing technology”. Through multiple interviews, the first group of 35 academic students was admitted to the Tea major.
The Silk Road Tea Institute has played an important role in international academic research, industrial cooperation, and other aspects
At the end of April 2023, on behalf of Guangxi Vocational and Technical College, the ” Silk Road Tea Institute ” assisted The Scientific Unit of Technical and Vocational Education of Greek in organizing international internship and employment recruitment activities opened to China and ASEAN, and shared the school’s professional advantages during the event, which enhanced the overseas recognition of GVTC.
At the same time, the “Silk Road Tea Institute” is also incubating enterprise business cooperation group projects, planning to drive secondary vocational education institutions and enterprises to go overseas through domestic brand influence, and promote overseas industrial cooperation.
In September of 2023, GVTC will seek for cooperation globally at the 2023 China-ASEAN Tea Industry Vocational Education Cooperation Forum, transforming the “Silk Road Tea Institute” into a new platform for international tea industry exchange and innovation cooperation.
Colombo (LNW): A 19-year old youth who had allegedly posted a ‘threatening content’ on Facebook against President Ranil Wickremesinghe has been arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
The suspect’s Facebook post in question allegedly requests the public to provide him a sniper ahead of the Sri Lankan President’s scheduled visit to Eppawala on September 07.
Court investigations are currently underway to ascertain whether there is any connection between the post and the incident where an Army solider residing in Eppawala fled with a T-56 weapon from the Kilinochchi Army Camp.
The 19-year old suspect, a resident of Mediyawa in Eppawala who serves as a mobile bakery goods seller, has been remanded till September 08, as per the order of the Colombo Chief Magistrate Court.
Colombo (LNW): One of the world’s largest shipping companies ‘Far Shipping’ has agreed to provide employment opportunities for Sri Lankan trained seafarers, Ports, Shipping and Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said.
He said this yesterday when a delegation from ‘Far Shipping’, including its Managing Director Yu Yong Jun, met the Minister at his office.
U Yong Jun said many Sri Lankan trained young sailors can be given job opportunities in his company located in China.
Therefore, he said there will be long discussions with the stakeholders involved in the naval sector of Sri Lanka regarding the recruitment methods.
Jun further said his company is willing to hire young people who have graduated from naval training institutes in Sri Lanka for on-the-job training and then hire them for permanent service.
Minister Silva said the Mahapola Maritime Company under the Sri Lanka Ports Authority as well as private sector institutions and the University of Moratuwa train quality teams in the maritime fields every year and if necessary they can be given a course that includes proficiency in the Chinese language.
Recalling that China has helped Sri Lanka as a friend since the past, the Minister expressed his gratitude as the Minister in charge of the Government of Sri Lanka for providing employment opportunities to the youth.
Sri Lanka tops the list of nations that may host a Chinese naval base in the coming years as Beijing seeks to expand its maritime capabilities, according to a new report. The South Asian nation’s Hambantota.
The South Asian nation’s Hambantota port is the most likely spot for a base given the US$2.19 billion China has already invested there, according to an assessment by the AidData research project.
The Hambantota commercial port in Sri Lanka has long been considered a prime candidate for a Chinese naval base.
Beijing gained control of the port in 2017, when a Chinese state-run company signed a 99-year lease with Colombo to run the facility – after Sri Lanka was unable to pay back the Chinese loans that built it.
“Naval cooperation was further cemented in 2018, when China gave a Type 053 frigate to the Sri Lankan Navy as a gift, rather than a foreign military sale,” AidData said.
Colombo’s port is consistently the highest-ranked South Asian port in Lloyd’s List of 100 container ports, even after the country’s 2022 crisis.
Regarding military access, Sri Lanka played a critical role in the tectonic shifts regarding Indian Ocean basing in the early decades of the Cold War.
After non-aligned politicians in Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon) won elections in 1956, the new leadership called for the United Kingdom to vacate its naval and air bases in the country.
Colombo’s policy shift revealed how a smaller state’s political decisions can affect the calculus of large powers’ strategic ambitions.
