This morning, Sri Lanka Railways announced that five scheduled office trains on all railway lines were cancelled due to a 24-hour token strike staged by station masters. President of the Station Masters’ Association, Mr. Sumedha Somaratne, stated that the strike would continue until midnight today (10).
The Railway Department confirmed that train services have been disrupted due to the station masters’ strike. As a result, the ‘Tikiri Menike’ express train that was supposed to run from Nanuoya to Kandy and Colombo Fort will not operate today. Similarly, the office train scheduled to run from Ganewatta to Colombo Fort and Panadura at 3.55 am has also been cancelled.
The Railway Department also announced that other trains will run with delays. For instance, the train that arrives from Aluthgama to Colombo Fort and runs to Chilaw at 3.40 am will only operate up to Negombo today. The train scheduled to run from Colombo Fort to Noor Nagar at 4.00 am will only travel up to Chilaw station. Similarly, the slow train that was supposed to run from Noor Nagar to Fort will start its journey from Chilaw station today.
In addition, the express train scheduled to run from Colombo Fort to Negombo at 7.00 am will not run today. As a result, the train running from Negombo to Colombo Fort at 9.00 am has also been cancelled. The express train that was scheduled to run from Puttalam to Mt. Lavinia at 4.30 am will also not run today.
According to the instructions of President Ranil Wickremesinghe, President’s Secretary Mr. Saman Ekanayake has informed all Provincial Chief Secretaries in writing today (09) to take all precautionary measures to prevent the spread of dengue.
The President’s Secretary has also instructed the Armed Forces and the Police to extend their fullest cooperation to the Chief Secretaries in accordance with the requirements of the Dengue Control Program.
During the previous week, 1896 dengue cases were recorded throughout the island, with the Western Province reporting the highest number of cases (49%).
In the Western Province, 21% of dengue cases have been reported from Gampaha district, 18% from Colombo district and 7% from Kalutara district. Among them, 3.4% of dengue cases have been reported from the Colombo Municipal Council area alone.
Furthermore, a considerable number of patients have been reported from the districts of Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Kandy, Galle, and Kegalle.
The districts of Colombo, Gampaha, and Kalutara have recorded an increase in patients compared to the previous week.
In response to a query the following information was submitted by the Chief Secretaries of all Provinces regarding the spread of dengue.
• This year, 6678 dengue cases have been recorded in the Colombo district, 7166 in the Gampaha district, and 1902 in the Kalutara district, for a total of 15,746 dengue cases reported in the Western Province.
• This year, the North Central Province has recorded 364 dengue cases, including 209 from the Anuradhapura district and 155 from the Polonnaruwa district.
• This year, 1481 dengue cases were recorded in the Kandy district, 503 in the Matale district, and 57 in the Nuwara Eliya district, for a total of 2401 dengue cases in the Central Province. There have been two dengue-related fatalities.
• There have been 556 dengue cases recorded in Uva province, including 445 in Badulla district and 111 in Monaragala district, with one fatality reported.
• In 2023, Sabaragamuwa province recorded 1878 dengue cases, while Ratnapura district reported 708 dengue cases and one fatality. In the Kegalle area, 1170 dengue cases have been documented, with no fatalities.
• This year, 3,458 dengue cases have been recorded in the North West Province, including 1069 from the Kurunegala district and 2389 from the Puttalam district. The North West Province has recorded three dengue fatalities.
• This year, 1966 dengue cases have been reported in the Southern province. There have been 918 dengue cases recorded in the Galle district, 536 in Matara, and 512 in Hambantota while three dengue fatalities have been reported in the Southern province.
• There are 269 dengue cases in the Eastern Province, including 108 cases in Trincomalee district, 106 cases in Batticaloa district, and 55 cases in Ampara district. So far, three dengue deaths have been reported in the Eastern Province.
• 1326 cases of dengue have been reported in Northern Province, 1121 cases of dengue in Jaffna district, 51 cases of dengue in Kilinochchi district, 27 cases of dengue in Mannar district, 33 cases of dengue in Mullaitivu district and 94 cases of dengue in Vavuniya district. 02 dengue deaths have been reported in the Northern Province.
The second and third types of dengue virus are currently the most commonly reported, while the third type of dengue virus is still spreading after 14 years. According to Health Department, the spread of dengue fever has also increased since immunity is low.
Provincial Chief Secretaries confirmed today that the Department of Health Services, its regional health services directorate offices, and local government agencies have already implemented a comprehensive disease prevention program under the supervision of public health inspectors.
As a result, the heads of government institutions, schools, and other institutions should be informed to check and clean places where mosquitoes can breed, inspect all houses and shop premises in urban and rural areas, make loudspeaker announcements, and visit areas where dengue cases have been detected. The provincial Chief Secretaries also stated that they are taking the necessary steps to control the spread of dengue fever, including destroying dengue-carrying mosquitoes in the surrounding areas, fumigating, conducting spot checks, and identifying mosquito larvae, as well as taking legal action against those who fail to keep the premises of houses and institutions clean.
Meanwhile, health officials are underlining that their participation is not sufficient to ensure the success of the dengue control campaign, and that public support is also required.
Showers or thundershowers will occur at times in Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, North-Western and Southern provinces. Fairly heavy showers above 75 mm are likely at some places in Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-Western provinces and in Kandy, Nuwara-Eliya, Galle and Matara districts.
Several spells of showers will occur in the Northern provinces.
Showers or thundershowers will occur at several places elsewhere over the island particularly during the afternoon or night.
Strong winds about (40-45) kmph can be expected at times over western and southern coastal areas and along the western slopes of the central hills.
General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.
On Friday, 05 May 2023, the festival of Vesak, which commemorates the birth, enlightenment and passing of Lord Buddha, was ceremoniously marked at a special event at the White House in Washington D.C. On a proposal made by Ambassador of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Samarasinghe, the Embassy of Sri Lanka to the United States, brought together envoys from several countries with Buddhist populations and initiated an effort to celebrate Vesak in a manner comparable with similar White House festivities to commemorate other major world religions. A written communication was addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken by the Heads of Mission of Cambodia, Nepal, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Myanmar, requesting a celebration of Vesak.
Ambassador Samarasinghe, who was nominated by the other participating Ambassadors from Cambodia, Nepal, Thailand and diplomatic representatives from India, Indonesia and Mongolia, to speak on their behalf on the occasion, highlighted the importance of the event which is the most significant in the Buddhist calendar. He thanked President Joseph R. Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and the Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and all others associated with the event at the White House for their cooperation and support in hosting the event. The Ambassador expressed the hope that in 2024 and in the years to come that these celebrations will be conducted with presidential patronage, on par with celebrations that mark festivals of significance in Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism – the other major world religions. He stated that this would establish a tradition that would pave the way for a regular proceeding in the future.
Ambassador Samarasinghe noted that there are 4.5 million adherents of Buddhism in the United States among over 500 million devotees in the world. He said the common initiative taken jointly with several countries with Buddhist populations was of great importance to all followers of the Buddhist faith. Venerable Maharagama Dhammasiri Thero, Chief Incumbent of the Washington Buddhist Viharaya and Venerable Katugasthota Uparathana Thero, Chief Incumbent of the Maryland Buddhist Viharaya, were among those who delivered sermons along with the several other religious dignitaries who graced the occasion including Venerable Damitha Bodhi Thero of the Mahamewnava Meditation Centre, Rockville and Venerable Dr. Ethkandawaka Saddhajeeva Thero Co-Abbot of the West Virginia, Bhavana Society monastery. Deputy Assistant to President Biden and Pacific Islander Senior Liaison Erika Moritsugu was among the senior White House officials who attended. The White House event was co-organized by the Ambassadors in conjunction with the International Buddhist Association of America.
COLOMBO (TOI): India has extended a $1 billion credit line for Sri Lanka by one year, a Sri Lankan official told Reuters on Tuesday, giving the crisis-hit country a backup infusion of dollars for essential imports.
The credit line, part of about $4 billion in emergency assistance extended by India during the peak of Sri Lanka’s financial crisis early last year, was scheduled to end in March.
Post-negotiations, the credit line was extended until March 2024, said Sri Lanka’s Deputy Treasury Secretary Priyantha Rathnayake.
“There is about $350 million left of the credit line that can be utilised as needed,” he told Reuters.
“However, given the increase of foreign exchange availability in the market, the need is not as keen as it was last year.”
Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka expects to host 1.55 million visitors and earn 2.7 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($8.4 million) in much-needed tourism revenue this year, as it maps a road to the recovery of its tourism sector amid its worst economic crisis in decades. This is up from the 720,000 tourists it welcomed in 2022, but still below the record 2.3 million visitors that flocked to the country in 2018, Padma Siriwardana, managing director of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau said on the sidelines of the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai.
The sector is on target to achieve its annual goal after receiving 450,000 visitors this year to the end of April, she said.
“We are back on track for recovery. We are coming out stronger because our industry is very resilient,” Ms Siriwardana said.
The recovery comes after the country’s tourism sector suffered several setbacks: the Easter attacks in 2019, the two-year Covid-19 pandemic and widespread street protests in 2022 in response to an unprecedented economic crisis that led to severe shortages of food, medicine, fuel, cooking gas and electricity.
Sri Lanka’s economy contracted by 8.7 per cent in 2022 and is forecast to shrink by another 3 per cent this year.
Inflation hit an average of 46.4 per cent in 2022, affecting mostly the poor and vulnerable, but is expected to come down to 28.5 per cent this year, the International Monetary Fund said.
Underpinning recovery in the tourism sector are Sri Lanka’s efforts to promote “niche” offerings to attract high-spending visitors from countries such as Japan, Ms Siriwardana said.
Beckoning tourists to the island are marine explorations to discover more than 100 shipwrecks along its coast, a 22-day hike through the mountains on its Pekoe Trail and wellness programmes.
“The post-Covid traveller is into new experiences,” she said. “We started a campaign targeting our main wellness markets, France and Germany, to promote authentic Sri Lankan wellness.”
In March, the IMF approved a $3 billion bailout loan to help the island nation of 22 million people to restructure its debt and address its crisis-hit economy.
Asked if the tourism industry will be one of the beneficiaries of the incoming funds, Ms Siriwardana said: “Part of it will be for the tourism industry. Some of the donors have committed to giving more funds for tourism investment.”
While the tourism board has sufficient funds to launch international promotional campaigns, it had difficulty last year with marketing spend abroad due to the country’s foreign currency shortage, but “now it’s definitely getting better”, she said.
Colombo (LNW): Link Natural, a subsidiary of the CIC Group, has partnered SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier, to introduce Link Samahan, a trusted herbal drink, as an onboard beverage choice.
Link Natural is a leading manufacturer and marketer of herbal healthcare and herbal personal care products in addition to ayurveda pharmaceuticals. Its flagship brand, Link Samahan, is a 100% natural authentic herbal drink.
It was formulated with 14 trusted ayurvedic herbal ingredients that have been used traditionally over centuries to enhance the health & well-being and supports immunity when consumed regularly. Moreover, it can be conveniently consumed in hot water, tea or coffee depending on the consumer’s preference.
Link Samahan will be served on board SriLankan Airlines’ medium and long-haul flights. Passengers can now enjoy a cup of the healthy herbal drink, which promotes wellness and health.
The company prides itself on the state-of-the-art modern Research and Development Centre providing the core of research, product formulation and development ensuring stringent quality and regulatory standards.
The facility is also US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) audit compliant maintaining high standards for Good Manufacturing Practices which supports the brand reaching global markets.
Today, Link Samahan is available in over 30 countries and has won the confidence of consumers across the globe. Product has been recently endorsed by world-renowned British supermodel Naomi Campbell in her interview with Vogue India.
As milestones in its growing international journey, Link Samahan has gained approval to be marketed at Costco Wholesale stores in Japan, Lulu supermarkets in the Middle East and Amazon.com in the USA.
In addition, locally discerning consumers have access to Link Natural’s wide product range and wellness mantra through its recently launched exclusive experiential centre “Swastha by Link Natural” located at No. 6, Maitland Crescent, Colombo 7.
Link Natural, for many years is home to internationally trusted and time-tested products such as Samahan, Sudantha, Swastha Amurtha, Swastha Triphala, Musclegard, SP Balm, Kesha etc., that have provided consumers with holistic wellness for generations.
Earth Essence, consisting of a complete range of herbal personal care products, is the company’s latest introduction to the retail market.
Link Natural Products International Business Manager Chathurangi Perera stated: “Link Samahan offers customers a novel in-flight experience – a herbal drink which is highly appreciated for its health benefits enabling passengers to remain hydrated, healthy and comfortable.
It is a matter of pride for our company and for Sri Lanka that we are showcasing a celebrated Sri Lankan brand to a global audience.
Colombo (LNW):The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will be supporting Sri Lanka and other Asia and the Pacific address issues pertaing to climate change and conserve environment with out polluting the air with carboin emmsions. The funds will go to the Innovative Finance Facility for Climate in Asia and the Pacific, through which the ADB plans to extend loans of up to US$15 billion for incentivizing action on the issue in a region that is vulnerable to climate-related disasters.
Japan will contribute $25 million to help countries in the Asia-Pacific region address the issue of climate change via a new financing mechanism by the Asian Development Bank.
Realizing the impending necessity to address the impact of climate change on the island nation, the Sri Lankan Government has collaborated with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to develop a national adaptation strategy to mitigate the effects of a changing climate.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is supporting the Government of Sri Lanka’s initiative to focus on climate change adaptation through the provision of a technical assistance (TA) grant titled “Strengthening Capacity for Climate Change Adaptation.
The assistance is provided through the Climate Change Secretariat (CCS) of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MENR).
“In recent years, the region has frequently suffered damage from extreme weather events and large-scale natural disasters caused by climate change.
Therefore, a balanced approach toward adaptation, in addition to mitigation measures, is also essential,” Finance Minister of Japan Shunichi Suzuki said at a meeting of the ADB’s board of governors.
Suzuki also emphasized the need to achieve “ambitious” net zero emissions targets while preventing or managing trade-offs between climate action and other important development objectives in areas such as health and education.
Besides Japan, Denmark, South Korea, Sweden, Britain and the United States are the initial partners of the ADB’s new financing scheme.
More than 40 percent of all climate-related disasters that have occurred in this century took place in the Asia-Pacific region, according to the ADB, which has set a goal of providing $100 billion in climate financing to developing member states between 2019 and 2030.
Climate change is among the key agendas for Japan, which holds the rotating presidency of the Group of Seven. Other areas considered important include issues related to debt and the provision of universal health coverage.
Colombo (LNW): The report by Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara to remove Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) Janaka Ratnayake was presented to Parliament today (09).
The report was presented to Parliament by Chief Government Whip Prasanna Ranatunga.
The report was presented in compliance with Clause 7 of the Public Utilities Commission Act.
Colombo (LNW): Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena speaking in Parliament said the Supreme Court has observed that the amendment to the Penal Code of Sri Lanka proposing the decriminalisation of same-sex conduct is not inconsistent with the Constitution, Daily Mirror reported.
