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The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) will ink an agreement with Alibaba's travel arm Fliggy to bring 1,000 travellers weekly to the country in order to expand its growing tourism sector, Tourism Minister John Amaratunga said on Tuesday.

Amaratunga said after obtaining the necessary approval, his ministry will sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Alibaba next week, Xinhua news agency reported.

Supreme Global Holdings Limited, the local company that has tied up with Alibaba, will work closely with SLTPB on the project implementation, which is expected to result in a positive large-scale impact on Sri Lanka's tourism.

Further, Supreme Global also intends to promote Alipay actively in Sri Lanka upon receiving the necessary clearances thus taking Sri Lanka Tourism to new heights, especially among Chinese tourists, Amaratunga said.

The minister expressed confidence that Sri Lanka would comfortably achieve the 2.5 million target set for this year, while noting that the country could achieve 3.5 million arrivals in 2019 provided the global tourism outlook remains favourable.

Over 1.3 million tourists arrived in Sri Lanka in the first seven months of 2018, recording a 13.7 per cent growth compared with the same period of last year.

Glyphosate, the world’s most widely used herbicide and the active ingredient in Monsanto’s weedkiller Roundup, is the subject of fierce controversy all across the globe and is classified by the World Health Organization as “probably” being carcinogenic.

After a US court on Friday ordered Monsanto to pay nearly USD 290 million in compensation to a groundskeeper who was diagnosed with cancer after repeatedly using Roundup, here is the state of play regarding lawsuits and restrictions on the use of glyphosate around the world:

UNITED STATES

A San Francisco court ordered Monsanto to pay $250 million in punitive damages and nearly $40 million in compensatory damages and other costs to Dewayne Johnson, a California groundskeeper diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma—a cancer that affects white blood cells—2014. He says he repeatedly used a professional version of Roundup while working at a school in Benicia, California.

The jurors unanimously found that Monsanto—which vowed to appeal—acted with “malice” and that its weed killers Roundup and the professional grade version RangerPro contributed “substantially” to Dewayne Johnson’s terminal illness.

Thousands of lawsuits have been filed against Monsanto, all at varying stages of the legal process. 

SRI LANKA

The Sri Lankan government banned imports of glyphosate in October 2015 following a campaign spearheaded by a Buddhist monk.

Agricultural organisations criticise the government for not having conducted other scientific research, calculating that the ban cost them 10 percent of the 300 millions of kilogrammes of tea products annually.

In July, the government lifted the import ban but restricted the use of glyphosate on tea and rubber plantations. 

ARGENTINA

The world’s third-biggest producer of soybeans after the United States and Brazil, Argentina uses vast quantities of glyphosate.

In some fertile plans in Pampa, concerned inhabitants clash almost daily with the farmers for whom the product is indispensible.

Without nationwide legislation, the mayors of individual towns and cities have passed measures restricting use of glyphosate. Farmers generally contest the measures, raising tensions further. 

BRAZIL

At the beginning of August, a federal judge in Brasilia ruled that new products containing glyphosate could not be registered in the country. Existing regulations concerning glyphosate were also suspended, pending a government reevaluation of toxicological data.

The Brazilian government plans to appeal that decision before the next harvest.

As the biggest economy and agricultural producer in Latin America, Brazil widely uses glyphosate-based herbicides, particularly in soybean plantations.

SALVADOR

Parliament voted in September 2013 to pull 53 agrochemical products, including herbicides and pesticides, from the market.

The decision was partially annulled by the president at the time, Mauricio Funes. He asked that 11 of the 53 products not be pulled on the grounds that they are widely used and that they are not banned at an international level.

A technical committee was set up, but there have been major changes to the situation in five years. Glyphosate is still on sale in Salvador.

FRANCE

The French government promised in May that glyphosate would be banned “for its main uses” by 2021, and “for all of its uses” within five years.

In June, a beekeeping cooperative in northern France filed a legal complaint against Bayer after traces of the controversial weedkiller glyphosate were detected in batches of honey.

In the autumn of 2017, a French judge who was due to sentence environmental activists for vandalising cans containing glyphosate, asked for advice from the EU regarding the dangerousness of the substance.

In 2009, France’s highest court, the Court of Cassation, fined Monsanto 15,000 euros ($17,100) for “false adverts” that vaunted the weedkiller Roundup as “biodegradable”.

The Government has decided to appoint a Special Salaries Commission to make necessary recommendations to increase the salaries of the entire public sector and to remove salary anomalies that were reported in certain public sector institutions inclusive of the Ceylon Railways Department (CGR).

"Cabinet of Ministers gave its approval to appoint a Special Salaries Commission on a recommendation made by the Minister of Finance and Media Mangala Samaraweera today", the Ministry of Finance and Media said in a statement.

The Salaries Commission will pay its attention and make an in-depth study on the provisions of the existing circulars dealing with payment of salaries and other allowances paid to public sector employees and will make its recommendations to the government within the next two months.

The Government, based on the recommendations of the Salaries Commission will introduce a new salary structure to increase the salaries of the entire public servants and to remove the reported salary anomalies that exist in certain government institutions including the CGR.

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) says that their policy for building the country will be launched in January 2019. JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake made this statement addressing a meeting at Godakawela.

The present political situation should be changed if the country is to be rebuilt; however no party that has governed the country has taken any action to build the country, he said.

Statistics from the Department of Motor Traffic show that vehicle registrations have increased since 2015 despite a slew of taxes introduced  by the government to curtail the vast number of vehicles that have flooded the already congested roads creating a multitude of socio-economic problems for the country.

According to the data, in 2014, 38,780 new cars were registered while 105,628 (2015), 45,172 (2016) and 39,142 (2017) cars have been registered.

Registration of motor cycles have increased drastically since 2015 as only 272,885 motor cycles were registered in 2014 while 370,889 were registered in 2015. In 2016 and 2017, 340,129 and 344,380 motor cycles were registered respectively.



Sri Lanka brought in a raft of measures from higher interest rates and loan-to-value ratios in a bid to reduce the number of three-wheelers in the country which have been largely held responsible for an increasing number of accidents. Three-wheeler registrations have dropped sharply as over 79,000 three-wheelers were registered in 2014 while only 23,537 three-wheelers were registered in 2017.

At the same time, the government has launched many initiatives such as introducing  Sri Lanka’s  first ever tourist friendly three-wheeler service recently where over 750 Tuk Tuk drivers were trained by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) under its tourist-friendly training programs in several districts.


Registration of new vehicles



Source: http://www.transport.gov.lk/web/index.php/en/statistics/department-of-motor-traffic.html

However, analysts point out that the current pace of yearly vehicle registrations is unsustainable for Sri Lanka which is a country grappling with a limited road network whilst being a net importer of oil. 

They also said that claims made by various parties intimating that the current government made it impossible to own a car due to the imposition of taxes are simply untrue as evident by the increasing number of vehicle registrations.

Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundara said that 25 new police posts will be set up covering all main tourist spots across the country for the security of the visitors. Furthermore, he said that police personnel have been asked to learn Hindi.

The decision was taken after discussions with the chairman and senior officials of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), Xinhua news agency quoted IGP Jayasundara as saying. He said a new uniform would be introduced to the Tourist Police Division.

In a few years, the tourism sector was expected to become the largest foreign exchange earner for the country. Therefore, ensuring safety of the foreigners visiting Sri Lanka will be a top priority for the police force, Jayasundara said.

"Officers of the Tourist Police Division should pay special attention to language training. In addition to English, they should also learn widely used international languages such as Chinese, Hindi and French," Jayasundara said. 

Sri Lanka's tourism industry, once heavily scarred by a 30-year ethnic conflict, has become one of the leading industries after it was dubbed one of the world's greatest tourist hot spots by several international publications.

The United States announced today it would grant Sri Lanka USD 39 million to boost maritime security as China develops its strategic hold on the Indian Ocean island. 

The State Department will provide the funds as "foreign military financing", pending congressional approval, the US embassy in Colombo said. 

"We look forward to discussing with the government of Sri Lanka how this contribution can support our Bay of Bengal initiative and Sri Lanka's humanitarian assistance anddisaster response priorities," it said. 

It comes as China, the world's second-largest economy, increases investment in ports and other building projects in Sri Lanka -- a key link in its ambitious "Belt and Road" infrastructure initiative. Last week, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka announced it had secured a USD 1 billion Chinese loan as the island develops closer relations with Beijing. 

The US had stopped arms sales to Sri Lanka during the height of the island's Tamil separatist war that ended in 2009. The global power has also been highly critical of the human-rights record of the former government of strongman president Mahinda Rajapakse. Several senior military commanders from the Rajapakse regime have been denied visas to visit the US. 

The US funding for Sri Lanka is part of a USD 300 million package Washington is setting aside for South and Southeast Asia to ensure a "free, open, and rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific region". 

China has vowed to keep providing financial help, including loans, to Sri Lanka despite warnings about the island nation's mounting debt. 
Sri Lanka last year granted a 99-year lease on a strategic port to Beijing over its inability to repay Chinese loans for the $1.4 billion project. 
The port in Hambantota straddles the world's busiest east-west shipping route and also gives a strategic foothold to China in a region long dominated by India. 

(AFP)

Ten female inmates of the Welikada prison are, protesting on top of the roof since the morning. According to sources they are protesting against delays in their court cases. Prison sources say the women are accused of drug-related offences.

Indian High Commissioner Taranjit Singh Sandhu noted that India has delivered on the promises made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his last visit to Sri Lanka in a timely manner while reiterating that India's development efforts in Sri Lanka was aimed at touching the lives of people, and making a genuine difference to their lives.

Attending the10th Annual General Meeting of the Indo-Lanka Chamber of Commerce & Industry held yesterday, the High Commissioner  underscored the launch of direct the flights between Colombo and Varanasi; the islandwide launch of the Emergency Ambulance Service 'Suvasariya'; and the handing over of the first lot of the 14000 houses for plantation workers in the upcountry as key milestones in the relationship between India and Sri Lanka in the last one year. 

High Commissioner quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s words, from his speech at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit held in Hyderabad in last November, wherein he mentioned about the traits of entrepreneurs: "power to think differently and ahead of the time for the betterment of mankind is what sets entrepreneurs apart.” He urged the industry leaders to look far and ahead.. 

President of the Indo- Lanka Chamber Vish Govindswamy in his speech spoke about that active engagement between the industries of the two countries marked by an increase in interaction between the Chambers of Commerce of the two countries and visits of business delegation. He enumerated the efforts made by the Indo-Lanka Chamber in helping the business grow between the two countries.

US President Donald Trump is set to sign a more than 700 billion US dollar defence bill for the fiscal year 2019 on Monday, giving more money to countries like Sri Lanka.

The bill gives big increases to the US military to counter the White House’s calls for greater competition, specifically with China and Russia, CGTN reported.

A week after approval from the House of Representatives, the US Senate passed the 716 billion US dollar National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Aug. 2, backing Trump’s call for a bigger and stronger military.

The defence act is aimed to provide more money to forge closer defence relationships with other nations like India and Sri Lanka. This year saw the first visit of a US aircraft carrier to Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War.

Timothy Heath, senior international defence researcher from Rand Corporation said the US is increasing its already overwhelming naval and air superiority all over the Indo-Pacific region.

“It’s not simply authorizing more planes and ships to be built, which it does, but it also directs reporting requirements on issues on influence operations and espionage,” he said.

(Colombo Gazette)

Pakistan Maritime Security Ship (PMSS) Kashmir arrived at the port of Colombo on a goodwill visit today. The visiting ship was welcomed by the Sri Lanka Navy in accordance with naval traditions.

Subsequently, the Commanding Officer of PMSS Kashmir, Captain Azhar Mahmood called on the Commander Western Naval Area, Rear Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne at the Western Naval Command Headquarters and held a cordial discussion on matters of mutual importance. The occasion was also attended by Colonel Sajjad Ali, Defence Advisor of the High Commission of Pakistan in Sri Lanka.

As part of her four-day visit in the country, the ship’s crew is scheduled to visit some of the popular tourist attractions in the country and take part in a friendly volleyball match organized by the Sri Lanka Navy.

The 95m long and 12.2m wide vessel which has a displacement of 1,550 tons is manned by 74 officers and sailors. The Pakistani ship is scheduled to set sail from the Colombo harbour on 16th of this month.

Joint Opposition (JO) parliamentarians may quit the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) in the coming week launching yet another bid to secure the leadership of the Opposition. Speaking to the Sunday Observer, JO frontliner Dullas Alahapperuma said if the Joint Opposition party leaders who are scheduled to meet on Tuesday (14) unanimously endorse the decision to quit the UPFA steps will be taken to give effect to that decision with immediate effect. Accordingly 70 MPs in the Joint Opposition (JO) could breakaway to form an independent group.
 
MP Alahapperuma said his personal point of view is that the JO should quit the UPFA and act as an independent group in Parliament which would eventually urge the Speaker to offer the Leader of the Opposition post to the JO. However, this proposal will be submitted to the Tuesday’s JO Party Leader’s meeting.
 
The JO has already complained to the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) regarding the issue of the Opposition Leader. “Nearly 50 percent of the people have voted for us and we cannot let their mandate go unheeded in Parliament,” he said.
 
The JO heavyweight said the reply from the Speaker was expected. “We only wanted to show how unjust the incumbent Speaker is” he said adding that if their positions as UPFA MPs in Parliament poses an obstacle they would not hesitate to take a decision regarding it.
 
Making a special announcement in Parliament on Friday (August 10), Speaker Karu Jayasuriya said that his final decision is that the constitutional and Parliamentary tradition did not warrant him to effect any change in the post of the Opposition Leader. However, he assured that he would allocate more time and provide more space in Parliamentary Committees for the JO in keeping with the number of MPs in its ranks. The Speaker also made it clear that the Opposition Leader post should be held by a person who is not from a political party representing the Government.

He pointed out the Parliamentary Resolution adopted on September 03, 2015 clearly stated that the UNP and UPFA were partners of the present National Government.

Source : Sunday Observer