Showers will occur at times in Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and in Kandy, Nuwara-Eliya, Galle and Matara districts and fairly heavy rainfalls above 75 mm may occur at some places, said the Department of Meteorology today (02) in a statement.
Several spells of showers will occur in North-Western province and in Hambanthota district.
Showers or thundershowers will occur at a few places in Uva province and in Ampara district during the evening or night.
Strong winds about (50-55) kmph can be expected at times over the western slopes of the Central hills, Northern, North-Central and Southern provinces and in Trincomalee district.
General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.
Marine Weather
Condition of Rain:
Showers will occur at times in the sea area off the coast extending from Puttalam to Matara via Colombo.
Winds:
Winds will be south-westerly and wind speed will be (30-40) kmph. Wind speed may increase up to (50-60) kmph at timesin the sea areas off the coast extending from Galle to Trincomalee via Puttalam and Kankasanturai and up to (60-70) kmph from Galle to Pottuvil via Hambantota.
State of Sea:
The sea areas off the coast extending from Galle to Trincomalee via Puttalam and Kankasanturai will be rough and from Galle to Pottuvil via Hambantota will be very rough. There is a possibility to increase swell waves about (2.5 m – 3.0 m) in the sea areas off the coast extending from Galle to Pottuvil via Hambantota and about(2.0 m – 2.5 m) in the sea areas off the coast extending from Galle to Mannar via Colombo. Therefore, it is advised not to venture into fishing and naval activities in the sea areas off the coast extending from Galle to Pottuvil via Hambanthota and requested to be vigilant, in the sea areas off the coast extending from Galle to Mannar via Colombo during next 24 hours.
Despite the Unit 03 of the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant being restored after malfunction and its generation of power being added to the national grid, there will be no changes in the power cut schedule, said the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL).
Accordingly, the daily power cut of two hours and twenty minutes (02hrs 20mins) will continue from thereon, said Commission Chief Janaka Ratnayake.
The PUCSL added that investigations related to filling stations over the increased number of complaints received on the quality of fuel will continue.
The Parliamentary Children’s Caucus intends to do a significant amount of work in the future for the betterment of the children of Sri Lanka, its Chairperson, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Rohini Wijeratne said, in a message coincided with the World Children’s Day (Oct 01), a statement by the Department of Government Information said.
The MP noted that her association hopes to pay attention to health and nutrition, safety, education, rights of children in this country, as well as the quality of the professions operating in child-related institutions.
The Caucus is also expected to work more actively with the Ministries that have direct responsibility regarding children such as the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health and the institutions operating under them in the future, she added.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe revokes High Security Zones Order declared under Official Secrets Act, with effect from 1st October.
Secretary, Ministry of Finance Mahinda Siriwardane says rumours on social media that government employees will be paid only half of their salaries, are false.
Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission Janaka Ratnayake says no need to impose extended power cuts until next January: points out the two generating units at the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant which suffered a breakdown recently, are expected to be reconnected to the national grid.
Minister Kanchana Wijesekara confirms that the breakdown in the Norochcholai Power Plant Unit 3 has been repaired and re-connected to the National Grid. Both Units 1 & 3 are also operating at full capacity.
Foreign investors driven to convert their dividend receipts into share investments as they can’t get forex to repatriate the dividends: leads to USD 40.8 mn net foreign inflow into the Colombo Stock Exchange.
Urban residents use limited space in Colombo city to plant vegetables: move prompted by rising food prices, shortage of food, reports of malnutrition, and government drive to promote cultivation: Colombo Municipal Council and several temples also join effort.
Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera says price of Petrol 92 reduced by Rs.40 per litre and Petrol 95 by Rs.30: new price for Petrol 92 to be Rs.410 per litre and Petrol 95 to be Rs.510: prices of other petroleum products to remain same.
Social media goes viral on stories that CB Governor Dr Nandalal Weerasinghe has “ordered” Peoples’ Bank Chairman and Sri Lanka Telecom Chairman to discontinue advertising in certain popular websites: stories abound that the owner and editor of a weekly newspaper was also “spoken to” by the Governor.
Colombo Stock Market ends week with losses amidst waning investor appetite: ASPI dips by 20 points or 0.2%: however, ASPI gains 9.5% for the month.
Indian Legends beat Sri Lankan Legends by 33 runs to win the Road Safety World Series tournament: Indian Legends – 195/6 (20) Naman Ojha 108*: Sri Lankan Legends – 162 all out.
The anticipated $3 billion fundraise comes after the venture capitalist’s firm, Social Capital, has been largely closed to outside investors for about four years
Up to 70% of the new vehicle’s capital has been earmarked for its top 10 positions
In an unexpected move to once again start accepting outside capital, Chamath Palihapitiya is angling to raise at least $3 billion for his latest, top-heavy venture capital fund, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
But this time around, the longtime crypto bull doesn’t plan to give digital assets much play. Palihapitiya’s firm Social Capital has effectively functioned as a quasi-proprietary trading firm for the last several years, having pulled the plug on a number of longtime investors to focus on investing largely founder capital.
If Palihapitiya pulls it off, the ambitious multi-billion dollar fundraise would go down as his most ambitious achievement to date and perhaps ease the sting of his latest SPAC woes.
The vehicle would be Social Capital’s fifth to date. Past funds, to various degrees, have taken substantial crypto exposures, including beginning to buy into bitcoin as a firm in 2013. The venture firm has also backed the likes of NFT marketplace SuperRareand Solana’s Saber Labs.
While digital asset-oriented startups — especially emerging play-to-earn gaming and Web3 companies, plus fintech firms trying to bridge crypto and TradFi — ought to remain one area of focus, crypto collectively appears to be overshadowed by other portfolio priorities.
Sources were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive business dealings. The firm declined to comment. Axios first reported Social re-opening to external capital.
The main priorities for Fund V: backing promising startups looking to solve real-world issues across climate, deep technology (including machine learning and artificial intelligence) and cloud computing. While Palihapitiya and his team have at times played up their crypto track record in conversations with potential institutional limited partners, digital assets appear to be taking a backseat, here.
Though TradFi players have been keeping a close eye on crypto’s recent turmoil in the pursuit of vulture-style venture plays and distressed debt opportunities, indications are few asset managers have actually pulled the trigger.
That is true, as it is in Social’s case, because of an uncertainty in calling the bottom for spot cryptoassets — which all but uniformly impact valuations in the private sector — and a reluctance of top would-be investors, such as conservative sovereign wealth funds, to put sizable capital to work in the space.
In other words, the risk-reward profile is not yet there, in the eyes of some.
Fund V kicked off fundraising in recent weeks, with the plan being to launch sometime in the first quarter of 2023, at the earliest — contingent on fundraising. The fund is being marketed as having a 10% general partner commitment, or $300 million, an unusually high allocation in venture capital, where limited partners often gripe that portfolio managers don’t have enough personal skin in the game.
The vehicle is designed to split its capital into three main, equally-weighted buckets: $1 billion for early-stage companies receiving checks of between $10 million to $20 million; $1 billion for late stage companies, with checks averaging $100 million to $200 million; $1 billion for massive checks of $250 million to $450 million for opportunistic stakes in companies at various stages of development.
Fund V’s top 10 positions are earmarked to account for a whopping 70% of its entire portfolio. The term is for 10-years, plus an optional two-year extension, along with an investment period of five years. Social’s management cut is 2% and plans to take 30% of carried interest.
Before we talk about what happened to the former Sri Lankan Carrier Air Ceylon, it is necessary to understand a little bit about the history of Sri Lanka. Located in the Indian Ocean southeast of India across the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, the island nation of Sri Lanka has a population of around 22 million people.
Historically, the Greeks referred to the island as Taprobane, while the Arabs called it Serendib. When the first Europeans arrived in 1505, the Portuguese explorers colonized the island to bolster the spice trade.
During the Napoleonic Wars, fearing that the French may take over the island, Great Britain invaded, taking control of most of the coastal areas. Taking the Portuguese name Ceilao, the British changed it to Ceylon in 1815.
Air Ceylon was established in 1947
Now a part of the British Empire, the country needed more connectivity, and in 1947 Air Ceylon was established as a state-owned flag carrier airline. With a glut of Douglas DC-3 aircraft left over from World War Two, Air Ceylon began life with three planes flying between the island and nearby India. Air Ceylon named its three DC-3s after the Hindu goddesses Sita Devi, Viharamaha Devi, and Sunethra Devi.
On December 10, 1947, with Captain Peter Fernando at the controls, Sita Devi took off at 08:00 from Ratmalana Airport in Colombo. Aboard the flight were 16 passengers flying to Jaffna Airport in North Sri Lanka and then on to Madras in India. From Madras, the plane took the same route back to Colombo.
Long-haul flights began in 1949
Air Ceylon later expanded using two leased Douglas DC-4s with flights to London and Australia. In 1949 Australian National Airways (ANA) acquired a 49% stake in the airline and took over Air Ceylon’s long-haul routes.
Following BOAC’s introduction of the de Havilland Comet on the lucrative London to Colombo route in 1953, ANA’s stake in the airline was taken over by the Netherlands national flag carrier KLM. When the Comet was grounded in 1954 following a spate of crashes, Air Ceylon leased a Lockheed 749A Constellation for its flight to London. The partnership with KLM ended in 1964, following BOAC introducing a Vickers VC 10 on the route in 1965. By now, Air Ceylon was using the Hawker Siddeley HS 748 for its short-haul flights to Madras and Bombay.
In 1972 privately owned French airline Union de Transports Aériens (UTA) partnered with Air Ceylon, but this ended in 1976, leaving the carrier without a European partner. Now struggling to be profitable, Air Ceylon went bankrupt in 1979. Sri Lanka looked to move away from its colonial past and erase the name Ceylon from state institutions. This was achieved in 1972 when the country gained independence from Great Britain.
The airline was reintroduced as SriLankan Airlines
After only being grounded for several months following its bankruptcy, the Sri Lankan government relaunched Air Ceylon as SriLankan Airlines. According to Wikipedia, during its 32-year history, Air Ceylon operated a fleet that comprised the following aircraft:
President Ranil Wickremesinghe in his capacity as the Minister of Defence has revoked the extraordinary gazette issued on September 16, 2022 declaring ‘high security zones’ under the provisions of the ‘Official Secret Act,’ via another extraordinary gazette issued Saturday (01).
Accordingly, the declaration of the HSZ will be revoked with effect from October 01, 2022.
The special 15 per cent interest scheme provided on fixed deposits for senior citizens will be terminated at all commercial banks, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) said in a letter dated yesterday (30).
The letter has already been forwarded to all bank heads, informing them that the decision was taken as per a conclusion by the Cabinet on September 22.
The price of petrol will drop from midnight today (01), as per a decision by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CEYPETCO).
Accordingly, the price of Octane 92 Petrol has dropped by Rs. 40, and will be sold for Rs. 410 per litre. Octane 95 Petrol has dropped by Rs. 30, to be sold for Rs. 510 per litre.
Meanwhile, the Lanka Indian Oil Company (LIOC) has also decided to drop the petrol price simultaneous to the CEYPETCO’s decision.
