There will be a five-hour power cut tomorrow (25) as approved by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL).
A power cut of 4 hours and 40 minutes will occur in several zones while other zones, a power cut of 05 hours and 15 minutes.
Funeral of Senior Journalist Bandula Padmakumara at Borella Cemetery (PHOTOS)
The funeral affairs of late senior journalist Bandula Padmakumara were performed at the Borella Public Cemetery this (24) evening.
A pioneer in media and journalism, Mr. Padmakumara served as a media person since 1970 was notable for his contribution to the television program ‘Loka Sithiyama’ and ‘Mul Pituwa’ broadcast on Swarnavahini. He also served as a former chairman of the Lake House.
Padmakumara was 71 at the time of his demise.
MIAP
Man arrested by Met’s War Crimes team as part of Sri Lankan murder investigation
The Met’s War Crimes team are appealing for information as part of an ongoing investigation into a murder committed in Sri Lanka more than 20 years ago.
Officers from the War Crimes Team – part of the Counter Terrorism Command – arrested a 48-year-old man at an address in Northamptonshire on Tuesday, 22 February as part of a proactive operation.
He was arrested on suspicion of offences under Section 51 of the International Criminal Court Act 2001. He was taken into custody, and has since been released under investigation.
The arrest relates to the murder of journalist Mylvaganam Nimalarajan who was killed in 2000.
Mr Nimalarajan’s family have been informed of this development, and they are being supported by specialist officers.
Inquiries continue, and officers are eager to hear from anyone who may have information that could assist the investigation – particularly members of the Sri Lankan community who emigrated to, and now reside in, the UK.
Commander Richard Smith, who leads the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “This is a significant update in what is a sensitive, complex investigation.
“There will still be people who may have information, particularly in relation to the murder of Mr Nimalarajan, and we would urge those people to come forward and help achieve justice for Mr Nimalarajan’s family.”
The Met Police War Crimes Unit sits within the Met Police Counter Terrorism Command. It is committed to investigating and bringing to justice anyone who may fall under the UK’s jurisdiction and who is suspected of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide or torture anywhere in the world. This approach directly supports the UK Government’s ‘no safe haven’ policy.
Such investigations often require inquiries to be made overseas and evidence to be secured from abroad, so they can be very complex and lengthy.
All allegations of war crimes referred to the War Crimes Team are considered, assessed and dealt with in line with the War Crimes/Crimes Against Humanity referral guidelines, which are jointly agreed with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
The War Crimes Team is part of the UK War Crimes Network, which is comprised of a number of key bodies, including the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Crown Prosecution Service and other government and non-government organisations, all working together to ensure the UK is not a safe haven for war criminals.
Parliament Special Committee on Election Reforms concludes Provincial Council Election be held via Old System
The Parliament Special Committee appointed for reforms on election rules and regulations has taken several decisions regarding the holding of elections. The Committee has decided to draft a report consisting of these decisions, said Committee Chairman Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.
Accordingly, the Committee has recommended that the Provincial Council election should be held under the old system until a new system is formulated. The recommendation will be included in the report which is currently on development.
The Committee has also recommended that Parliamentary and Provincial Council elections be held under a mixed system. Further recommendations have been made to formulate the electoral legislation in a manner in which the the districts are demarcated so that 60 per cent can be elected by the single system and 40 per cent by the proportional system.
The number of parliament seats must not exceed 225 under any conditions, the Committee concluded unanimously.
Amendments are also to be made to the existing Local Government Election laws, where the Committee recommends that amendments be made to ensure that the winning party has two additional seats in order to safeguard the majority stability in the Local Government bodies.
The current 25 per cent representation of women in local government elections alone should be made mandatory for every other election as well, the Committee concluded. The recommendations also include mandating youth representation.
Ground-breaking initiative to make IT education inclusive
- First and only free online software engineering course introduced by a joint initiative by University of Moratuwa, DP Education and Computer Society of Sri Lanka
- Course ideal for GCE O/L and A/L students and any IT enthusiast
- DP Education unveils Coding School and AI powered IELTS mock-up testing
The University of Moratuwa, on Tuesday launched the online program ‘Trainee – Full Stack Developer’ an innovative education initiative to create a new generation of IT professionals who are in high demand.
Described as the first and only free online software engineering course the ‘Trainee – Full Stack Developer’ is being championed as a Corporate Social Responsibility project in collaboration among the academic staff of the University of Moratuwa, DP Education of the Dhammika and Priscilla Foundation and IT industry professionals.
This as well as several other ground breaking initiatives were announced at a ceremony organised by the Alumni Association of the University of Moratuwa and attended by Secretary to the Ministry of Education Prof. Kapila Perera, Secretary to the Ministry of Technology Jayantha De Silva, Sri Lanka Information Technology Institute Chairman Oshada Senanayake, University of Moratuwa Vice-Chancellor Prof. Niranjan Gunawardena, Chairman of the Computer Society of Sri Lanka Damith Hettihewa and the DP Education co-founder and business leader Dhammika Perera.
At present, over 10,000 undergraduates and 3,500 postgraduate students are studying at the six faculties of the University of Moratuwa. Over 90% of students who graduate from the University are employed within three months of completing their degrees. Graduates of the University of Moratuwa are internationally recognised and are highly sought after by employers, especially in the fields of IT and Engineering.
‘Trainee-Full Stack Developer’ is a free program accessible through the open.uom.lk website. It provides the foundational knowledge needed for software development. The program contains six modules, and on the successful completion of these modules the students will be awarded certificates issued by the Center for Open and Distance Learning, the Department of Computer Science and Engineering of the Engineering Faculty and the Department of Information Technology of the Faculty of Information Technology of the University of Moratuwa.
The launch also included a panel discussion that was held on the theme ‘inclusive online education’ which was moderated by the Moratuwa University former Vice-Chancellor Prof. Malik Ranasinghe, with introductions made by the Centre for Open and Distance Learning (CODL) of the University of Moratuwa Director Vishaka Nanayakkara. The panel discussion was observed by a large local and foreign audience who participated via Zoom.
DP Education, the largest online school in Sri Lanka was established in 2019 as an initiative of philanthropist Dhammika Perera who had the vision of providing accessible online education to students from preschool to grade 13. The DP education system provides resources which are contributed by highly qualified teachers from across the country in Sinhala, Tamil, and English. It was then extended to children between ages 2-7 as DP Kids.
DP Education reaches over one million learners across Sri Lanka via their DP Education Mobile App and the use of social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Telegram and Instagram. DP Foundation’s other initiatives in free education are DP Coding School and DP IELTS.
DP Coding School aims to provide opportunities for kids and teens to develop their problem-solving and critical thinking skills by learning coding at www.dpcode.lk. Coding is giving instructions to computers through programming languages and helps develop student’s maths, logical problem solving, as well as their school and academic performance. IT literacy will soon become an essential skill and an essential requirement for many future jobs. According to code.org, 67% of all new STEM jobs will involve computing.
DP IELTS’s objective is to provide excellent coaching to all Sri Lankan students and employees who will be taking the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) which is required to study abroad and for foreign job opportunities. DP IELTS was created to produce an effective ICT workforce fluent in English. For the first time, all IELTS learners will be able to test their knowledge with Artificial Intelligence-assisted IELTS mock-up testing via the DP IELTS website.
As a next step DP Education collaborated with the University of Moratuwa to create the free online program ‘Trainee – Full Stack Developer’ with the intention of popularising online education and aims to help graduates and school leavers enter the job market by providing them with practical skills and knowledge.
This is DP Education’s first stepping stone into online higher education. This program provides learning opportunities to those interested in learning IT, by providing training which will enable them to enter the IT sector which has a large demand for skilled employees and also to create entrepreneurs who would revolutionise Sri Lanka’s ICT industry.
The ‘Trainee – Full Stack Developer’ program is endorsed by the Computer Society of Sri Lanka and is conducted by the Centre for Open and Distance Learning (CODL) of the University of Moratuwa. This course is recommended for GCE O/L and GCE A/L students and any IT enthusiast in the country.
“We believe that this initiative by the University of Moratuwa in collaboration with DP Education for the widespread development of the human resources in Sri Lankan will be an example for others to emulate,” a spokesman for the DP Foundation said.
Medicine availability at risk? Stocks only for three months
At present medicine stocks owned by Osusal pharmacies are sufficient only for three more months, revealed the All Ceylon Pharmacy Owners’ Association, warning of a potential shortage of medicines after the period.
According to Union President Ama Chandika Gankanda, there is a shortage of medicines about 05 per cent used for patients in the country.
Should the government fail to intervene and remedy the situation, the shortage of medicines may be worse than the shortage of cement, gas, milk powder and fuel, he warned, pointing out that everything depends on the health of the people.
MIAP
Veteran Journalist Bandula Padmakumara passes away
Veteran Journalist Bandula Padmakumara has passed away.
A pioneer in Sri Lankan media, Padmakumara’s most notable works are Mul Pituwa and Loka Sithiyama broadcast in Swarnavahini.
Padmakumara also served as a former Editor in Chief of Lakbima Newspaper and a former Chairman of Lake House.
He was 71 at the time of his demise.
Rupavahini changes tirlingual logo into monolingual
The Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation on February 22 has changed its trilingual logo into monolingual, following a resolution by the new Chairperson and the Board of Directors.
Accordingly, Rupavahini (රූපවාහිනී) is displayed only in Sinhala in the logo.
Sonala Gunawardena is currently the Chairman of the Rupavahini Corporation. Gunawardena was appointed following the resignation of Reginald Cooray, who had previously served as the Chairman of the Rupavahini Corporation and the Chairman of the National Library and Documentation Services Board.
Following the major transition in the logo of the state-run media body adored by generations for decades, the timing of news broadcast at night has also been changed. Accordingly, its prime time news which was telecast at 8 pm will be broadcast at 6.50 pm from now on.
The removal of trilingual Rupavahini has already been subject to severe criticism. Ruling Party MP Suresh Raghavan commented on Social Media that it is essential that all three languages are displayed in the logo.
MIAP
Unrest at Parliament as SJB MPs protest with torches and banners! (VIDEO)
The Parliamentary team of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) staged a protest in the Chambers today (24) by holding posters and torches in objection to the ongoing four and a half hour power cut in the country.
The SJB MPs insisted that the government has failed and should be stepping down.
Meanwhile, Ruling Party MPs also expressed their objection stating that the SJB MPs bringing in torches into the Chambers threatens their security. They have complained the matter to the Speaker.
Amid the unrest, the sitting had to be adjourned for a while.
MIAP
300 bakeries shut down due to the lack of ingredients
The All Ceylon Bakery Owners’ Association states that bakery owners have become extremely helpless due to a number of issues affecting the running of the bakery industry. The president of the association, N.K. Jayawardene says that about 300 bakeries have been closed down so far.
Jayawardena says that the prices of wheat flour, palm oil, coconut oil and margarine have gone up by 100% over the past and that the products are not available in the market at the prevailing prices. Due to this situation bread production in active bakeries is done only 5 days a week.
He pointed out that if the necessary steps are not taken to solve the problems faced by the bakery owners, another large number of bakeries could be closed down and the bakery industry could collapse completely and requested the President to intervene to revive the bakery industry.