News Room : Curiouser and curiouser …
Saturday 16th September, 2023 Channel 4’s recent programme on the Easter Sunday terror attacks has yielded the intended results. It influenced the UNHRC ahead of the latter’s 54th regular session in Geneva. Although it said nothing new in its self-styled exposé, and its claims remain unsubstantiated, it has been able to foment discord and stir up strife among Sri Lankan...
News Room : Mendis, Asalanka nail tricky chase to set up India-Sri Lanka final
Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan in a last-ball cliffhanger by two wickets, courtesy a platform-setting innings by Kusal Mendis, and a crucial finish by Charith Asalanka. A chase of 252 in 42 overs was always going to be a tall order, but a couple of healthy middle-order partnerships set the stage for Sri Lanka to pull off a stunning run-chase...
News Room : PAFFREL calls upon Constitutional Council to make Election Commission financially independent – The Island
By Rathindra Kuruwita The Constitutional Council (CC) is responsible for creating a legal framework to ensure that independent commissions are financially independent, but even after 20 years the CC has not done this, says Executive Director of People’s Action for Free & Fair Elections (PAFFREL) Rohana Hettiarachchi . Hettiarachchi told the media yesterday in Colombo that the public’s interest in democracy...
News Room : Death toll in Libya’s Derna flooding could reach 20,000: Mayor – The Island
Derna Mayor Abdulmenam al-Ghaithi has told Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television that the estimated number of deaths in the city could reach between 18,000 to 20,000 based on the number of districts destroyed by the flood. Spokesperson of the interior ministry Lieutenant Tarek al-Kharraz on Wednesday told the AFP news agency that 3,840 deaths had been recorded in the Mediterranean city...
News Room : The Philippines looks askance at evidence gathering mechanism – The Island
UNHRC report on Sri Lanka The Philippines has questioned the allocation of as much as USD 10 mn for Geneva-based evidence gathering mechanism to inquire into accountability issues in Sri Lanka. During the ongoing 54th Session of the Human Rights Council that commenced on 11th September, 2023, the Philippines government raised the issue. Making a strong statement on the accountability mechanism run...
News Room : KOICA upgrades Korean medical clinic at Ayurveda Hospital
Korea International Cooperation Agency, (KOICA) has upgraded and renovated the Korean clinic attached to the National Ayurveda Hospital of Sri Lanka (Teaching). KOICA said that the clinic that has been set up in 2003 was meant for the advancement of the indigenous medicine sector in Sri Lanka. According to a press release issued by KOICA about 150 patients receive treatment...
News Room : Showers in Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern and North-western provinces and in Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts – The Island
Weather forecast issued at 05.30 a.m. on 11 September 2023 by the Department of Meteorology Showers will occur at times in Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern and North-western provinces and in Kandy, Nuwara-Eliya, Mannar, Vavuniya and Anuradhapura districts. Fairly heavy showers about 50mm are likely at some places in Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and in Puttalam, Galle and Matara districts. Showers or...
News Room : Waiver of tariffs on electric vehicles for assembling companies investing USD 50 mn
By Rathindra Kuruwita The Cabinet of ministers had approved a proposal by the President to remove all tariffs on electric vehicles for companies that had signed or would enter into agreements with the BOI to invest at least 50 million US dollars on assembling electric vehicles and plug – in hybrid electric vehicles, cabinet spokesman Bandula Gunawardena told reporters on...
News Room : SL joins American Georgia State University’s global Cosmic Ray Muon Detector network – The Island
Sri Lanka became the very first country (outside the USA) to deploy Georgia State University’s (GSU) Cosmic Ray Muon Detector. Sri Lanka now becomes GSU’s first international member as a part of its ongoing deployment plan for a global muon detector network and hosts a detector each at two strategic locations – Badulla, hosted at the University of Uva Wellassa...
News Room : How India overcame bitter G20 divisions over Ukraine
The G20 joint declaration in Delhi is being described as a significant diplomatic win for India. The agreement of a joint statement looked almost impossible a few days ago, given how sharply divided the group was over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In the end, we had a declaration that garnered unanimous support from all G20 member nations, without a single dissenting...