Plagued by politically made socio-economic crisis and the recent diplomatic dispute with Russia over Aeroflot issue  Sri Lanka’s tourism Ministry had just started looking up at damage control by opening the island for Indian film industry to attract more tourists from the closest neighbour.

New plan will be implemented to promote Sri Lanka as destination with beautiful scenery , availability of sophisticated infrastructure facilities and concessions  for shooting international films specially Indian films.

Newly appointed Tourism Minister Harin Fernando has reached out to Bollywood to help boost tourism in Sri Lanka.

The Minister tweeted saying he met with Bollywood actors Chitrangda Singh and Dino Morea in Colombo on Sunday 05 and discussed ways and means of promoting Sri Lankan tourism in India.

He also discussed promoting Sri Lanka as a location to shoot Indian movies.Expressing his views, Dino Morea said that Sri Lanka is one of the most beautiful countries he has visited.

He said that even today nothing has changed and Sri Lanka continues to be a beautiful country and the people continue to be friendly.

The actor said that what is portrayed outside about Sri Lanka today is not the bigger picture and so people should visit the country.

Chitrangda Singh said that Sri Lanka is a naturally beautiful country.She also noted that Sri Lanka is safe to visit and that some information is blown out of proportion.

Sri Lanka tourism arrivals dipped 40 percent in April resulting in the lowest number of arrivals in the last three months of 2022, official data showed.

According to data shared by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA,) only 62,980 tourists had arrived in April compared to 106,500 the previous month.

The top source market for tourists in April was the UK, India, and Germany. Countries such as the UK, New Zealand and Canada have also issued travel advisories to their citizens over Sri Lanka’s crisis.

Although the Sri Lankan  tourism sector is now struggling due to  socio economic crisis and the recent  misunderstanding with with Russia, the tourism ministry is taking every possible step  to to revive the industry by introducing innovative promotional campaigns.

These promotional campaigns will be implemented under the  Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority Chairmanship of Priyantha Fernando at the Tourism Promotion Bureau. 

In a desperate attempt to mend fences with Russia, Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has informed Russia through the Foreign Ministry that the issue over the Aeroflot passenger aircraft is not between the two countries but is a private legal issue. 

The Premier further assures that Sri Lanka’s Minister of Justice has been informed to expedite the process of the court case.

He has reportedly directed the Foreign Secretary to speak to the Russian Foreign Ministry and explain the matter, and to further clarify that the enjoining order had nothing to do with the Sri Lankan government. 

Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had issued a statement on Saturday with reference to the detention of Aeroflot passenger aircraft flight SU-289, which has somewhat escalated into a diplomatic row now.

On 2 June 2022, the Commercial High Court of the Western Province issued an Enjoining Order on the Aeroflot flight restraining it from taking off from Bandaranaike International Airport, the tourism ministry said. 

The first global forum on period poverty — a situation characterised by a lack of access to menstrual products, hygiene facilities, waste management and education to appropriately manage menstruation — is coming to Australia this October. 

The Global Period Poverty Forum will see the world’s top leaders in the field unite over three days in Brisbane. 

Over 500 million people are thought to face period poverty across the world.

Stigma, shame, miseducation and sexism around menstruation, as well as general rates of global extreme poverty, are all sources of period poverty. Unsurprisingly, the issue disproportionately impacts low-income communities, those living in conflict-affected areas and people in the aftermath of natural disasters. 

ochelle Courtnay, the founder and managing director of Share the Dignity, the Australian organisation behind the forum, said coming together will cut years off the period poverty eradication timeline.

“Period poverty is something that we can completely eradicate if we unite and bring everybody on the journey; governments, brands, corporates and philanthropy,” Courtnay told Global Citizen. “The people who are attending will decide what the goal for the next two years will be; it may be a large body of research, a global advocacy campaign on removing the stigma or ensuring all advocates have the tool to remove the tax on sanitary items in their countries.”

Founder of Freedom4Girls UK Tina Leslie said the forum would be “groundbreaking.”

“The forum is fantastic news to all of us who fight for the menstrual equity of the people we support,” Leslie said in a statement. “I truly believe we all need to keep the issue of period poverty on the worldwide agenda for governments and policy decision-makers, and I believe this forum will be a force to be reckoned with.Share the Dignity is perhaps best known for spearheading the successful movement to scrap Australia’s 10% tampon tax, which previously saw the critical sanitary product taxed as a luxury item. The charity’s 2018 petition, which recorded over 100,000 signatures, is now widely considered the final push in a fiery, two-decade-long campaign effort. 

A 2021 survey by Share the Dignity revealed 1 in 5 Australians are forced to use unsuitable alternatives because they could not afford pads, tampons or menstrual cups. Almost half of all 125,000 survey participants said they missed at least one day of school because of their period.

Over 3 million Australians live below the relative poverty line, more than half of whom are women and young girls.

The organisation has donated 3 million packets of pads and tampons to Australians in need since its inception in 2015. 

The Global Period Poverty Forum in 2024 will take place in Singapore.

Global Citizen

The chairman of the 1922 Committee of Conservative MPs has confirmed a vote of confidence in Boris Johnson will be held by Conservative MPs from 18:00 to 20:00 BST.

Sir Graham Brady told reporters that the vote was triggered after at least 54 Conservative MPs asked for it.

No 10 says Mr Johnson “welcomes the opportunity to make his case to MPs”, and that tonight’s vote is “a chance to end months of speculation and allow the government to draw a line and move on”.

According to CBSL insiders Governor Nandalal keeps reminding his staff that the Prime Minister and he cannot get on because of the bond scam.

What he forgets is that some time ago a motion was submitted to the Colombo Magistrate’s Court to name the Senior Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, Nandalal Weerasinghe and the retired Deputy Governor Ananda Silva as suspects in the Central Bank bond scam. The attorney appearing for perpetual treasuries had informed the Court that the Presidential Commission which had examined the bond issue had recommended that Nandalal Weerasinghe and Ananda Silva also should be held responsible for the Central Bank bond scam.

There are many other allegations against him within the CBSL we are investing. So far Weerasinghe has only aggravated and heaped more burden of the public. He seems to have no feeling for the poor . He should either focus on his job, stop playing politics, stop running to the president like a cry baby and focus on giving relief to the poor. He has no clue about the industry problems. He should maintain the dignity of his office by shutting up and focus on saving the economy. 

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