Heavy showers or thundershowers are expected to occur in several places in Sabaragamuwa, Western, Southern and Central provinces after 2 pm today (13), the Department of Meteorology warned.
Fairly heavy showers of about 75 mm can be expected at some places in these areas, it added.
Menawhile, temporary localised strong winds can be expected during thundershowers.
The public is urged to take adequate precautions to minimise damages occurred by lightning activity, the Department added.
MIAP
The British government has set travel advisory on Sri Lanka due to a number of challenges befallen the island nation, including the ongoing economic crisis.
In a report updated on March 07 and effective to date (13) the UK government stated that the economic situation is ‘deteriorating’ in Sri Lanka with shortages of basic necessities, including medicines, fuel and food because of hard currency to pay for imports.
There may be long queues at grocery stores, gas stations, and pharmacies and local authorities may impose the rationing of electricity, resulting in power outages, the report added.
“Terrorists are likely to try to carry out attacks in Sri Lanka, the report went on, “Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places visited by foreigners. More than 250 people including tourists were killed in April 2019 in terrorist attacks that targeted churches and hotels.”
Check the full report here: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/sri-lanka
MIAP
The resolution tabled by the Labour Minister to increase the incentive of Rs. 10 per US Dollar remitted to Sri Lanka by migrant workers to Rs. 38 was approved by the Cabinet. The approval was briefed by the Mass Media Minister during the press conference held in announcing Cabinet Decisions on March 08.
The foreign employment rector annually remits about US$ 07 – 08 into the country. However, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) indicating a contradiction with the Cabinet approval has announced its maintenance of the sell price of the Dollar in not more than Rs. 230 following the Sri Lankan Rupee being allowed to float.
As the matter was questioned during the briefing held in announcing the Cabinet decisions, Cabinet Spokesman and Mass Media Minister Dullas Alahapperuma responded, “The Governor of the Central Bank will be holding a special discussion in this regard tomorrow and making an explanation. When the decision was taken by the Cabinet yesterday, the Central Bank did not reach into this approach. There was a fixed value Rs. 210 for the Dollar. But this was done in the confidence that an additional amount of Rs. 10 can be paid. However, remittances entitled to the country had dropped in massive amounts and money was being flown into the country via illegal channels. It is in this backdrop did we table this resolution to the Cabinet. The Central Bank made the decision thereafter. A technical explanation would be made in this regard by the Central Bank Governor tomorrow.”
The social media youth group #LIKE RANIL backing former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has launched a brand new political campaign for the United National Party (UNP), following weeks of speculation about the once political giant’s coalition with the current regime for a national government led by Wickremesinghe as the Prime Minister.
At a grand launching event, Maha Sri Lanka Yakada Ramuwa – Samajika Prawardhana Meheyuma (Great Sri Lanka Iron Frame – Member Promotion Operation) was opened in Colombo two days ago (11), at the participation of UNP Leaders and electoral organisers.
The event expects to campaign for the UNP in grassroots, distributing leaflets about their political vision on how to overcome challenges amid the ongoing crises in the country.
Photos: The Leader
The Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Melbourne in collaboration with the Committee for Sri Lanka (CFSL), the South Asian Australia Alliance and the Australia Sri Lanka Business Council organised a photo shoot of Sri Lankan Batiks coinciding with International Women’s Day on 8 March 2022.
The objective of this first of its kind event was to promote Sri Lankan Batiks among Australians through second generation Sri Lankans and South Asians born in Australia, with a view to reach out to the younger Australians who are keen on new fashion trends.
This photo-shoot featured winners of Miss and Mrs South Asia Australia and Miss and Mrs Sri Lanka Australia pageants 2019 and 2020, who wore Sri Lankan Batik sarees.
Fabulous modern Sri Lankan Batik outfits created by the young entrepreneur “Mrs. South Asia Australia Runner-Up 2020” Thara Dias were also featured in the photo shoot.
The designer later met Consul General Kapila Fonseka to discuss the promotion of Sri Lankan Batiks in the Australian market. The photographs were widely circulated in social media by the Consulate General, organisers as well as the models who have a large following in the media.
They were also circulated through the Sri Lankan and South Asian community media in Australia.
Melbourne being a multicultural city is one of the best places to showcase Sri Lanka’s cultural identity and its unique products such as Sri Lankan Batiks. Home to a large Sri Lankan and South Asian communities, Melbourne has the potential to become an important market for Sri Lankan Batiks
According to internal government sources, Minister Basil Rajapaksa is considering giving the post of State Minister to Geetha Kumarasinghe and Diana Gamage.
Diana Gamage, who came to Parliament from Sajith Premadasa’s Samagi Jana Balawega National List, was brought in by Basil Rajapaksa to join the ruling party to get the 20th Amendment passed by a two-thirds majority, promising to give her a cabinet ministerial post.
The Deshaya national newspaper has reported that there are currently three vacancies in state ministries. Accordingly, the posts of state ministers held by Lohan Ratwatte, Susil Premajayantha and Dilum Amunugama have been vacated.
Minister of State Lohan Ratwatte resigned on the instructions of the Government due to the crisis in the duties of his Ministry. Susil Premajayantha was removed from his post due to political criticism made by the Minister of State. Minister of State Dilum Amunugama has been promoted to a Cabinet Ministerial post, leaving the post vacant.
It is reported that the post of Minister of State for Prisons held by Lohan Ratwatte will be handed over to the Minister of Justice Ali Sabri. However, the post of Minister of State for Susil Premajayantha and the post of Minister of State for Dilum Amunugama remain vacant.
In the late 1990s, Shane Warne wasn’t very well loved in the cricket-obsessed island nation of Sri Lanka. He may have been respected for his incredible talent, but local cricketers accused him of being overly competitive on the pitch.
He also lost fans because of comments he made about Sri Lankan players. At one point, he said he “didn’t like” the country’s captain at the time, Arjuna Ranatunga.
That collective feeling of animosity towards Shane Warne shifted for Sri Lankans thanks to an act of goodwill that helped some of the country’s most disadvantaged kids after the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004.
More than 200,000 people around the world died when an earthquake triggered a massive tsunami in the Indian Ocean.
Sri Lanka’s death toll of about 30,000 was second only to Indonesia.
Dilini Wasana was a little girl when the disaster struck.
“I was three or four when the tsunami hit,” Dilini said.
“We went to my uncle’s shop, and when the waves started, I ran with my aunt.
“Somehow my dad found me two days after the tsunami … about three weeks later we came back to my village, we had nowhere to live and then I remember Shane Warne came here.”
Shane Warne’s Sri Lankan rival drew him to the country to help with the aid effort in 2005.
Muttiah Muralitharan, known as Murali, is the only bowler who has beaten Shane Warne’s Test wicket record of 708.
They had a rivalry on the field, constantly one-upping each other.
While their tension on the pitch was palpable, Warne immediately called him after hearing about the devastation in his home country.
Half a million people, including Dilini, had lost their homes because of the disaster.https://www.youtube.com/embed/mzNDa1L5PiA?feature=oembedYOUTUBE60 Minutes travels with Shane Warne to offer tsunami relief to Sri Lanka
“I just wanted to help, I said to Murali, ‘what can I actually do?'” Shane Warne told 60 Minutes at the time.
“He said, ‘you just being here will actually help.'”
Murali was right.
Shane Warne walked around the disaster zone with his iconic blonde goatee and he was recognised by locals in some of the most remote parts of Sri Lanka.
When he entered the small coastal village of Peraliya, he was clapped in by kids who had just lost their homes and family in the tsunami.
Warne gave them cricket balls and lollies and trained others in bowling.
“I remember he gave me a ball, he gave us something to eat and then he asked me for a kiss on the cheek,” Dilini said.
“That humble man who spent time with us … he gave us something we could treasure when we had nothing.”
Almost 20 years after the tsunami, those kids are now adults who remember playing cricket with the icon of the game.
“We were playing cricket on the day Shane Warne came,” said Ravindra Kumara.
“I was just nine at the time. Shane Warne threw the ball at me and I caught it.”
Just before the Boxing Day tsunami, Warne had been facing a series of scandals.
He was briefly banned from cricket for testing positive for a prohibited substance.
He was also charged with bringing the sport into disrepute for allegedly accepting money from bookmakers.
He was grilled over whether the trip to Sri Lanka was a publicity stunt to clear his name.
“I wanted to come here because I could help, if people read too much into it then they can, it’s no skin off my nose,” he said in response.
The kids he met in the village that day weren’t reading the news stories about Warne.
“Now we know who Shane Warne is but I didn’t know who he was in those days,” Dilini said.
“It’s very sad that he died, but it is very special that he came and visited us.”
Australians saw footage of the tsunami-ravaged communities in Sri Lanka tsunami on their televisions.
But Kushil Gunasekera, from the Foundation for Goodness, which organised Warne’s visit, said it was the cricketer’s influence in both South Asia and Australia that led to groups committing to more funding for victims of the natural disaster.
“He was able to create the waves of compassion that flowed across Australia,” he said.
“After that, so many other institutions like Lonely Planet, Master Builders came on board.
“All of these connections and that networking wouldn’t have been possible unless he visited at the time, six weeks after the tsunami.
“So he was really keen to push his case in rebuilding lives, which is the tribute we can pay for him because we kept continuing with that.”
That rare global cricketing influence was also used to heal political rifts on the subcontinent.
In 2010, Australia and India’s relationship was struggling after a series of violent attacks on students from the South Asian nation in Victoria.
Warne met with Indian community members at the request of the Victorian government, which knew the cricketer was well-loved in the subcontinent.
It’s been just over a week since the shocking news that Shane Warne died of a heart attack in Thailand.
Warne is being remembered for many things: As the king of spin, a supporter of young cricketers and a sometimes controversial figure.
His help in Sri Lanka sums up the cricketing legend’s complex personality, according to former Sri Lankan cricket captain Arjuna Ranatunga.
He was unashamedly himself, but at his core, a kind and generous person.
“Honestly, he wasn’t the most popular guy in Sri Lanka but after the tsunami and his work here, the entire concept of Shane Warne was changed,” Arjuna Ranatunga said.
“Sri Lankans got to know who [the] proper Shane Warne was.
“He wasn’t the person competing in the middle. He had a lovely heart, a big heart for people here.”
The Department of Examinations of Sri Lanka states that the final steps regarding the publication of the results of the Year 2021 Scholarship Examination are currently underway. Commissioner General of Examinations L.M.D. Dharmasena has told the media that the results will be released between midnight today and tomorrow at 6 am.
340,507 candidates had qualified for the 2021 Scholarship Examination and the examination was held at 2943 examination centers. It also included several specialized examination centers for children with Covid infection.
Ceylon Steel Corporation Ltd. (Lanwa), says cumulative investments in recent projects amounts to over $ 250 million as it laid the foundation for two state-of-the-art production facilities for steel and roofing sheets at the Lanwa Sanstha Industrial Precinct in the Mirijjawila Export Processing Zone.
The aim of this project is to revitalise the local construction sector in the post-pandemic context by making essential raw materials readily available.
The foundation stone for the new steel facility was laid by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa with Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and other ministerial delegates in attendance.
The steel factory embodies Sri Lankan ingenuity by using iron ore as the primary raw material for manufacture of billet, bars and rods departing from the norm of using imported, costly steel billets. This backward integration is expected to save the local economy millions of dollars, which is the need of the hour.
The facility is optimally sustainable as it adheres to local and global procedures and protocols pertaining to environmental safety. The total output of the facility, once commissioned, will be 600,000 MT of steel billet, rebars and wire rods per annum. This volume is expected to make Sri Lanka self-sufficient in the foreseeable future. The excess supply will be exported via the Hambantota International Port.
Most of the raw materials are to be sourced locally to empower local suppliers as well as to provide an affordable product to the market. Lanwa’s state-of-the-art infrastructure i.e. the 2.4 km conveyor belt from Hambantota Port to the EPZ will be used to transport raw materials to the factory and manufactured goods from the factory ensuring optimum sustainability and minimum wastage.
“The facility will generate over 1,500 jobs directly and about 3,000 jobs indirectly. This will take Sri Lankan ingenuity to the world as well as support the domestic industry by managing and mitigating shortages and unprecedented fluctuations that typically occur due to overdependence on imports. This venture is a win-win for everyone,” said Ceylon Steel Corporation Chairman Nandana Lokuwithana.
The foundation for the Lanwa roofing sheet facility was laid by Trade Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardena, Energy Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi, State Minister of Aviation and Export Zones Development D.V. Chanaka and State Minister of Cooperative Services, Marketing Development and Consumer Protection Lasantha Alagiyawanna.
This facility will utilise cement from the sister company, newly commissioned Lanwa Sanstha Cement Corporation Ltd., as the key ingredient to manufacture up to 400,000 MT of asbestos and non-asbestos roofing sheets and other allied products per annum.
“A highlight of this facility would be the ‘colour coating’ unit which will incorporate cutting-edge technology making it the first and only one of its kind in Sri Lanka and the region. The cumulative investment for recent Lanwa projects amounts to over $ 250 million,” Lanwa said.
Irrigation Minister and State Minister of National Security, Home Affairs and Disaster Management Minister Chamal Rajapaksa laid the foundation for staff quarters – ‘Haritha Medura’ – for Lanwa employees as part of the aggressive expansion efforts.
The group recently declared open a state-of-the-art cement manufacturing plant, Lanwa Sanstha Cement Ltd., with an investment of over Rs. 25 billion. The total capacity of the facility is 2.8 million MT of cement per annum. This project is seen as a timely endeavour to offer a respite for the local construction community impacted by the shortage of cement over the past two years due to import restrictions put in place to mitigate the rupee depreciation.
The government’s ambitious plans of city development have been reviewed in the wake of countries present economic headwinds compelling the authorities to consider their development priorities.
Urban development plans for several major cities were presented to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat on Thursday.
The Urban Development Authority (UDA) in collaboration with line agencies has planned the development targets of the country in line with the Government’s initiatives and the development of major cities in a manner that will attract local and foreign tourists.
Under the first phase, Special Economic Zones (SEZs) will be developed in Galle, Bandarawela, Ratnapura city centre and Thimbirigasyaya, Fort, Pettah and Kollupitiya. Giving priority to the green city concept, it has been designed attractively with all amenities.
The new plan includes a number of facilities including widened roads, parking facilities, pavements, shopping complexes, and solar-powered street lighting systems.
In implementing the plans, the President emphasised the need to preserve historic sites situated in the selected cities and to preserve old buildings in a manner that would attract the attention of the public.
Sri Lanka has experienced significant improvements to available infrastructure which has been recognized as a national priority by the government.
These include an ambitious program to develop and completely upgrade seaports around the island, the international airports, roads in the city of Colombo and highways connecting to other parts of the country and power and telecommunication facilities.
The government has resumed a number of urban development projects that were abandoned during the previous government’s tenure.
It has reviewed the progress of development projects to be implemented and currently underway under the Urban Development Authority.
It has been revealed a number of development projects had been abandoned during the last five years of the previous government and he instructed them to restart a number of projects that had been abandoned.
The government wil also pay special attention to urban development, coastal conservation, waste disposal, and community sanitation activities.
In addition to the revenue earned by the Urban Development Authority for all projects, the General Treasury should also allocate the necessary funds, official sources said.
