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Project to install floating solar panels in mahaweli reservoirs gets underway

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Project to install floating solar panels in mahaweli reservoirs gets underway

The Government has embarked on an ambitious gigantic project to install floating solar panels in the Mahaweli reservoirs including Victoria and Randenigala to generate power 

Addressing a Ceremony organized in connection with the launching of this project Minister of Irrigation Chamal Rajapaksa said the power generated through this project would be added to the national grid and that the ratio of evaporation in the reservoir reduced to the barest minimum. 

A programme to restore 5,000 out of 40,000 reservoirs has been implemented and restoring 1,500 of them have already been completed. 

This would boost the rural economy and provide drinking water. Several other projects to help rural entrepreneurs, to establish factories at rural level are among several other projects planned by the ministry he added.  

The programme to cultivate locally several food crops that had been imported in large quantities has been a success,” he further said.   

 Several renewable energy experts noted that in view of global concern on climate change and the country’s precarious situation of energy shortage, this proposal is acceptable. 

However they pointed out that the negative aspects of floating solar panels in reservoirs, in a small island should be considered when implementing this project  

This project will block the sunlight which is required for the growth of green plants and that all animals, including human beings depend directly or indirectly upon the plants for their food supply. 

The ultimate source of energy for all marine life in the sea and in every body of freshwater is sunlight. Furthermore, most fish and many types of animals need enough illumination to see, at least part of the time – to catch their food, to avoid being caught themselves. 

But light does not penetrate into the water indefinitely; it is absorbed by the water itself and further reduced by sediment and stains affecting the marine life they claimed.

There should be a proper environmenmental and and marine life assessment report after conducting the feasibility study of the project should be made public before the implementation of a project of this magnitude which will affect the water bodies in the area,they added.    

Sri Lanka’s Tourism industry back on track despite omicron fears

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Sri Lanka’s Tourism industry back on track despite omicron fears

 Sri Lanka is desperate to revive the tourism industry, with a target of making 2022 the “Visit Sri Lanka Year” and generating $10 billion from the sector by 2025.

Successive COVID-19 lockdowns since March 2020 resulted in the tourism sector grinding to a complete halt, depriving thousands of people of their livelihoods. 

Crushed by an economic crisis due to dwindling foreign reserves and mounting foreign debt, January with 82,327 arrivals has proven that Sri Lanka may be on course to meet the target. 

These travelers have arrived in the country mostly from Russia, India, Ukraine, the UK and Germany, despite global fears of over the spread of the new, highly contagious omicron variant.

Sri Lanka was upbeat with signs of a good start in 2022, as arrivals topped the 82,000 mark in January amidst COVID-challenges.

As per provisional data released by the Tourism Ministry a total of 82,327 tourists arrived in January. However, January arrivals could not beat the 89,506 recorded in December – the highest for a month since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.

Despite a surge in its COVID cases, Russia continues to dominate with 16% as the top tourist source market for Sri Lanka with 13,478 tourists followed by India with 11,751, Ukrainian 7,774, UK 7,442, Germany 5,339 and France 3,616. In addition, tourists were also received from countries such as Poland, Australia, Maldives and Kazakhstan in January.

The first week of January saw 20,544 tourists, but the trend slowed down in the second and third weeks to 18,628 and 16,917 respectively as a result of the spike in global COVID cases. However, the fourth week again showed a sharp increase of arrivals with 26,238.

Sri Lanka revised down the tourist arrivals forecast for 2022 to 1.1 million from an earlier ambitious goal of luring 2.3 million, a move influenced by the surge in ‘Omicron’ variant in major source markets.

Tourism Minister Ranatunga on Sunday said that the spike in COVID cases, particularly in top source markets in Western Europe and India, has slowed down the tourist arrivals, whilst the strict outbound travel restrictions imposed by China and Japan, too, had impacted the numbers. 

Last week, he told the Daily FT that the monthly target of 100,000 to 125,000 arrivals will not be accomplished, noting that the future trend of tourism remains uncertain amidst the evolving nature of the pandemic and other correlated variables such as travel restrictions, vaccination rates and efforts in curtailing the pandemic.

As of yesterday, COVID-19 cases reported globally amounted to 379.63 million in 200 countries with 5.7 million deaths. The US, India and Brazil have seen the highest number of confirmed cases, followed by France, UK, and Russia.

Since mid-2021, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) rolled out promotions in several countries, including Russia, France, Germany and the UK. The inflow of tourists has been boosted by increased connectivity as well by international airlines.

The stakeholders hoped that if the momentum would continue till the first half of the year, the industry would see a faster recovery. Sri Lanka lost over $ 10 billion during the past two years from tourism sector earnings.

Another Cabinet Minister infected with Covid-19

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Another Cabinet Minister infected with Covid-19

It is reported that the Senior Vice President of the SLPP, the Minister of Environment Mahinda Amaraweera has also been infected with Covid-19.

This has been confirmed in a test performed due to the symptoms.

Accordingly, the Minister has been directed to quarantine.

An invitation to come to Welikada tomorrow to welcome Ranjan who is being released

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An invitation to come to Welikada tomorrow to welcome Ranjan who is being released

Ranjan Ramanayake, who was convicted of contempt of court, will be released on a presidential pardon on February 4, Lanka News Web previously reported.

Accordingly, an invitation has been posted on his Facebook page to come to the Welikada Prison at 11.00 am to welcome him, who will be released tomorrow.

‘One Lakh Work’ Project – The Rural Development Program scheduled to commence from today 

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‘One Lakh Work’ Project – The Rural Development Program scheduled to commence from today 

The “අයවැයෙන් වැඩ ලක්ෂයක්” -“One Lakh Work” Project – The Rural Development Program is scheduled to commence from today (03).

The Presidential Task Force on Economic Revival and Poverty Alleviation, headed by Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, is scheduled to launch the program islandwide.

Accordingly, this program will be implemented with the participation of the people centering on all the Divisional Secretariats on the island.

Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Finance explained the objectives and activities of this program at a media briefing held yesterday (02).

Assault on Medical Students: Minister Arundika’s son surrenders to Ragama Police

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Assault on Medical Students: Minister Arundika’s son surrenders to Ragama Police

The son of State Minister Arundika Fernando has surrendered to the Ragama Police Station last night (02) in connection with the assault on a group of students at the Ragama Medical Faculty, reports say.

He is a 23-year-old resident of Dankotuwa, Walawwatta who has surrendered to the Ragama Police through a lawyer.

The Ragama Police also seized a BMW belonging to the suspects in the Kalubowila area.

Accordingly, 07 persons have been arrested in connection with the attack and they are to be produced before the Welisara Magistrate’s Court for an identification parade.

Assault on Medical Students: Arundika Fernando says he will resign from his post if anyone proves he is involved in the attack

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Assault on Medical Students: Arundika Fernando says he will resign from his post if anyone proves he is involved in the attack

Arundika Fernando, State Minister of Coconut, Kitul, Palmyrah Development, and Allied Industrial Products Production and Export Diversification says that he will definitely resign from the post of Minister if he proves that he is involved in the attack on a group of students at the Ragama Medical Faculty hostel.

This incident took place on the night of the 1st. I actually found out about this morning. Then I heard that a vehicle belonging to the Coconut Development Authority was involved in this and a driver who was on duty was also involved in this. In this case, I want to say directly that if any of our officers is involved in this, I will not hesitate to take disciplinary action against them in an investigation. Now, if someone has taken this vehicle and done something wrong to these children, I will definitely intervene and carry out the investigation.

And if someone says I’m involved in this, do an investigation. If they prove that I’m involved in this, I will definitely resign from my post. I have never been named in the police, and I have never done anything wrong. That is my political life. I request at this time His Excellency the President to conduct a fair inquiry into this matter and if I am found guilty in that fair inquiry I will inevitably resign.

There is another side to this. A child of a Specialist doctor who opposed ragging has been beaten like this. I have heard that these other people are involved in the attack. So I say again this time, both these sides have facts. We have to settle the matter after considering both sides. I urge the media to look at the facts from both sides and give the right information to the people. Because I definitely will resign from the ministry if it is proved I’m involved in this.”

Minister Arundika Fernando stated this while expressing his views to the media yesterday (02).

Same market value will be paid for the dollars sent by migrant workers in future – Basil (VIDEO)

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Same market value will be paid for the dollars sent by migrant workers in future – Basil (VIDEO)

Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Finance says that a program is being prepared to pay the market value of the dollars sent to Sri Lanka by migrant workers.

Accordingly, he requested the foreign workers not to send the remittances to the black market but to send the remittances to Sri Lanka through the legal route.

The Minister of Finance Basil Rajapaksa stated this while participating in the opening ceremony of the new Kurunegala Pradeshiya Sabha building constructed at a cost of Rs. 215 million yesterday (02).

Kelanitissa Power Plant has been shut down due to a lack of fuel

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Kelanitissa Power Plant has been shut down due to a lack of fuel

The Kelanitissa Power Plant has been shut down due to a lack of fuel, the CEB said.

The Electricity Trade Unions state that the diesel required for the power plant ran out at around 07.00 last night (02).

However, Minister of Energy Udaya Gammanpila has agreed to provide the full amount of fuel required for the next week, Public Utilities Commission Chairman Janaka Ratnayake said yesterday afternoon.

The third generator of the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant, which was shut down due to a mechanical fault the day before yesterday, was reconnected to the system yesterday and is receiving a full capacity of 300 MW.

Central Bank grants Real Time Gross Settlement status to NSB in its 50th anniversary

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Central Bank grants Real Time Gross Settlement status to NSB in its 50th anniversary

The largest savings specialist bank of Sri Lanka, the National Savings Bank (NSB) has received the Real Time Gross Settlement status from the Central Bank at a time where the bank is commemorating its 50th anniversary this year, NSB announced

This special facility enables the bank to perform transfer of large sums of money on transaction-by-transaction basis, with secure and real time.

 RTGS facility enables NSB customers and its internal operations to transfer funds seamlessly and with the security and the supervision of CBSL, NSB  official  revealed. 

By using the RTGS system the customers can transfer any amount of funds to any other bank with the RTGS facility which means there’s no cap to money transfers.It can be used 24 x 7 x 365 days, people can enjoy the benefit of RTGS facility at their convenience with the NSB internet banking facility or using the NSB Pay app, where fund transfers can be initiated without visiting a bank branch. All the transactions are backed by the law means there’s a legal support for each transaction take place, he  added. 

Also, this is the first time a specialized bank is given the RTGS membership. General populace is familiar with some of the technical terms used in the financial industry like as; OD, TOD, FD, LC etc. 

With the intoduction of RTGS, the inter bank and fund transfer methods have shifted to another level. Especially when it comes to investing in treasury bills and securities the RTGS provids a very practical solution and it also enhances the quality of the customer service. 

With the implementation of the Bank’s Core Banking System and Treasury Management System the bank will be able to reap the full benefit of the RTGS membership.

The National Savings Bank’s gaining of  this membership was a long process and the employees who were responsible in securing the physical and technological know-how and assets are the main reasons behind this achievement, bank officials claimed. 

Inaugurated in 1972 by the late finance minister Dr. N.M. Perera the NSB today is a force to be reckoned with in the Sri Lanka’s finance industry. In its long journey the bank was able to revolutionize the banking sector by providing its services akin with new technology and new outlook.

Effects of the Covid 19 global pandemic was monumental, its negative impacts were felt across the Sri Lankan economy during 2020 and in 2021. Despite such atrocities the CBSL was able to safeguard our internal economy while stabilizing the monetary system. As a result, the NSB was able to earn a record-breaking profit in the 2021 financial year with the support of employees amid the pandemic.

The official event to mark the occasion was held at NSB head office on 1st February 2022 under the patronage of Governor of the CBSL. Ajith Nivard Cabral accompanied by Chairperson of NSB Ms. Keasila Jayawardena, Board of  Directors and the top management of the Bank. 

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