News

A special Navy team attached to the North Central Naval Command and Special Boat Squadron apprehended 2 Indian nationals attempting to smuggle into Sri Lanka 425g of heroin and a stock of tobacco products (Beedi) in a small fishing boat (Vallam) on Friday.

The raid was carried out on a tip-off received by the Navy.

The suspects were held in the Sri Lankan territorial waters, east of the Mannar Lighthouse. The apprehended Indian nationals along with heroin, fishing boat and tobacco products were handed over to the Talaimannar Police for further investigation and legal action.

Alibaba, the world's largest retailer group, recently launched the 'Fliggy Online Visa Centre' in Beijing with the participation of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Beijing.

The programme was designed for Chinese nationals to expedite the process of applying visas to Sri Lanka and 10 other countries which have been designated as “electronic visa countries”.

The Alibaba Fliggy Online Visa system will make the process for applying visas easier and faster for the Chinese tourists. It provides the functions of OCR recognition speed filling, online self-photographing of visa photographs, progress tracking and other functions simplifying the traditionally lengthy and complicated visa processing procedures. Specially, it will result in a large scale impact on Sri Lanka's tourism positively.

According to Mr. Zhou Zheng, the Vice President of Fliggy, Chinese people’s tendency to go to the Belt and Road countries has been significantly enhanced in the past three years and the Belt and Road countries have become more attractive to young consumers. Accordingly the Fliggy Online Visa system will bring these Belt and Road countries closer to Chinese consumers as tourist destinations.

During the Q & A session of the event, information on the visa issuance procedure of Sri Lanka was explained to the Chinese Media.

Ambassador of Sri Lanka to China Dr. Karunasena Kodituwakku, Manager of Sri Lankan Airlines Mr. Raveendran, as well as Ambassadors of Belt and Road countries, entrepreneurs from China participated in the event.

Ven. Prof. Bellanwila Wimalaratana Nayaka Thera (77), Chief Incumbent of the Bellanwila Raja Maha Viharaya and Chancellor of the University of Sri Jayawardanapura passed away yesterday morning while receiving treatment at a private hospital in Colombo.

The Ven. Wimalaratana Thera was hospitalized on Friday after injuring himself while feeding the temple elephant “Miyan Kumara”. The Ven. Thera was seriously injured in the incident and admitted to the Colombo South Teaching Hospital where the there underwent a surgery and later transferred to the Asiri Surgical Hospital for further treatment.

Business tycoon Dilith Jayaweera, who recently bought the defunct ‘Janayugaya’ newspaper’s modern printing press, is reportedly engaged in discussions to use the ‘SathHanda’ brand name for the newly acquired press.

Although it was decided to publish the newspaper under the name ‘Derana’, vehement opposition to the idea by the Derana Board of Directors had foiled the attempt and it was suggested that the publishing house and the printing press be operated as separate entities, sources close to Derana said.

Accordingly, Dilith Jayaweera has had discussions to acquire the Sath Handa brand name with an official from the 'People’s Power Media', the company responsible for the operation of the Sath Handa newspaper. However, it is reported that the concerned parties were not able to come to an agreement.

Dilith Jayaweera, Chairman of Ada Derana television channel and radio channels, also heads ‘Triad’, one of the most prominent advertising agencies in Sri Lanka.

The Janayugaya newspaper, which began its operations with huge investment, was closed down recently due to a plethora of economic hardships.

At the same time, the Sath Handa newspaper, which was operated by a powerful government minister, ended its operations two weeks ago due to severe economic hardships.

A schoolgirl was “electrocuted in her bath” after her smartphone fell in the water while she was charging it, say police. The 12-year-old, named only as Kseniya P, reportedly died instantly.

Her distraught mother told police she took a bath when she returned home from playing basketball after school. The girl was listening to music but her smartphone ran out of power during the tragic incident in Russia.

She plugged it in to charge in the bathroom but then phone with the cable attached fell into the water, according to a preliminary investigation. Her mother was cooking an evening meal and become worried about Kseniya’s silence. She went into the bathroom and found the girl “already dead with her head under the water”.

The phone was floating in the bath. She called emergency services and tried to resuscitate Kseniya but it was too late. Kseniya was the only child in her family, living in Bolshoe Gryzlovo village in the Serpukhovsky district of Moscow region. Her mother is PA to a senior company manager, and her father works as a driver. Kseniya was keen on sports and a passionate dancer and skier.

A friend called Anna said it was a “terrible tragedy”. Online commenters urged parents to “warn their children about the terrible risks of using phones in the bath”.

One person wrote: “Don’t people know the basic rules of safety and explain them to their children?” Another said: “How many times do we have to hear about such cases? “People prefer to learn from their own mistakes, at the cost of their own lives, and do not separate themselves their phones even in the bath…" The case is being probed by Moscow regional Investigative Committee.

Source : Mirror UK

The High Commissioner for Sri Lanka in India, Chitranganee Wagiswara signed the Framework Agreement of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) on Wednesday at the Ministry of External Affairs of India in New Delhi. The signed documents were handed over to Mr. Nagaraj Naidu, Joint Secretary (Investments, Technology Promotion and Energy Security Division) of the Ministry of External Affairs of India. Once the Agreement is ratified, Sri Lanka will become a founding member of the International Solar Alliance.

With a view to spearheading the UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/36/193 in 1981 which underlined the need for cooperation among developing countries and mobilization of financial resources for new and renewable resources of energy and subsequent to the 2002 UN World Summit on Sustainable Development, many advocacy organisations were set up, primarily to disseminate knowledge on Renewable Energy, making it a priority area in the future agenda of all the countries.

The Paris Declaration on the International Solar Alliance of 30th November 2015 stressed on the shared ambition to undertake joint efforts required to reduce the cost of finance and the cost of technology and to mobilize more than USD $ 1000 billion investments required by 2030 for massive deployment of solar energy and pave the way for future technologies as well.

In this context, the ISA was conceived as a coalition of solar resource rich countries to address their special energy needs and to provide a platform to collaborate on addressing and identifying issues through an agreed common approach.

The ISA will provide solar resources rich countries, lying fully or partially between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, with an unprecedented opportunity to bring prosperity, energy security and sustainable development to the people. The objective of the ISA is to cooperate closely with its members and strive towards establishing mutual beneficial relationships with relevant organizations, public and private stakeholders, and with non-member countries.

A decision to overturn the Olympic life bans of 28 Russian athletes "may have a serious impact on the future fight against doping", says the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) overturned the IOC suspensions - for doping at the 2014 Winter Olympics - partially upholding 11 other appeals.

Cas said that in 28 cases evidence was "insufficient" to prove doping.

The IOC said it would consider its own appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal.

Cas said that for the 11 athletes whose appeals had been partially upheld, evidence "was sufficient to establish an anti-doping rule violation" had taken place. It said they would be "declared ineligible" for this month's Games "instead of a life ban from all Olympic Games".

The IOC said that the Cas ruling "does not mean that athletes from the group of 28 will be invited" to this month's Games in Pyeongchang.
It expressed its "satisfaction on one hand and disappointment on the other" at Thursday's decision, made eight days before the 2018 Winter

Olympics begin in South Korea.

"On the one hand, the confirmation of the anti-doping rule violations for 11 athletes because of the manipulation of their samples clearly demonstrates once more the existence of the systemic manipulation of the anti-doping system at Sochi 2014," a statement added.

"On the other hand, the IOC regrets very much that - according to the Cas press release - the panels did not take this proven existence of the systemic manipulation of the anti-doping system into consideration for the other 28 cases.

"This may have a serious impact on the future fight against doping. "Therefore, the IOC will analyse the reasoned decisions very carefully once they are available and consider consequences, including an appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal."

Britain in line for another bronze?

The Cas decision makes it likely that Britain's four-man bobsleigh team from Sochi will be upgraded to a bronze medal. John James Jackson, Bruce Tasker, Stuart Benson and Joel Fearon finished fifth, but the IOC disqualified two Russian sleds who finished first and fourth following re-examination of the doping tests conducted at the time.

Athletes from both Russian sleds were included in the 11 whose doping violations were confirmed by Cas.

The IOC is yet to officially reallocate the medals from that event, but if confirmed it would raise Britain's medal count to five and make Sochi 2014 their most successful Winter Olympics.

Jackson told BBC Sport: "Do I feel like an Olympic bronze medallist? I think it's starting to sink in, but I think once we have the medal it will feel more real.

"It's been a long waiting game since the McLaren report came out to get to a decision. I wasn't expecting the final outcome of the 28 appeals being upheld, but always thought a life-time ban wouldn't be upheld either way."

'A get out of jail free card'

Cas said it considered testimony from experts including former Russian anti-doping official and whistleblower Dr Grigory Rodchenkov and Canadian lawyer Professor Richard McLaren, who authored a damning 2016 report into doping in Russia.

A statement from Dr Rodchenkov's lawyers said: "This panel's unfortunate decision provides a very small measure of punishment for some athletes but a complete 'get out of jail free card' for most.

"The Cas decision only emboldens cheaters, makes it harder for clean athletes to win, and provides yet another ill-gotten gain for the corrupt Russian doping system generally, and [President Vladimir] Putin specifically.

"Clean sport is dead. The Cas decision proves that certain countries can get away with anything and everything. Today's decision will forever stand as the low point in sports integrity."

'We expect to compete' - reaction in Russia

Russian Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov said: "Our guys and all of us are happy that justice has finally triumphed. Today's rulings confirm that many of those who were accused are clean athletes."

The Interfax news agency quoted Russian Olympic Committee head Alexander Zhukov as saying: "We are simply happy now that the court has restored the athletes' good name and returned their awards."

Interfax also quoted Kolobkov as saying: "The athletes who fought for their rights have finally won, and are, naturally, happy and looking forward to continuing their careers.

"They expect the International Olympics Committee to accept the Cas ruling and allow them unconditional rights to take part in the upcoming Olympic games."

Alexander Zubkov, president of the Russian bobsleigh federation, Sochi gold medallist and one of 11 athletes confirmed to have committed a doping offence, told Reuters he was "partly satisfied" with the decision as "a large number of athletes were exonerated".

But he was puzzled as to why he was not among them, adding: "I have said many times that I have never doped and do not dope now. What am I being accused of? What anti-doping rule violation do they want to slap against me?"

Source : BBC

Apparel export revenue data issued by the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) and Sri Lanka Apparel Exporters Association (SLAEA) show that the total Sri Lankan apparel exports for year 2017 has crossed USD 4.8 billion, an increase of 3.06% from 2016’s $4.67 billion. According to a statement by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, this is the highest annual export revenue to be recorded for Sri Lankan apparels to date.

Sri Lanka has recorded an increase of 2% on year on year exports to the United States, the largest export market for Sri Lankan apparels. Compared with 2016, year on year exports to the European Union, the second largest market for Lankan apparels, surged by around 4.3% to USD 2.02 billion in 2017 from USD 1.9 billion in 2016.

170 female BBC employees have accused the broadcaster of a “longstanding breach of trust, transparency and accountability” over gender pay inequalities and demanded a public apology.

In a submission to an influential parliamentary select committee, the BBC Women group said the corporation was breaking equality laws as a result of a “culture of gender discrimination”.

While recent disclosures have revealed a significant gender pay gap among the BBC’s top stars, the group said the same exists across all levels of the corporation.

The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee will grill Tony Hall, the BBC Director-General, on Wednesday as part of its inquiry into BBC pay. Carrie Gracie, the broadcaster’s former China Editor who resigned earlier this month over pay inequality, will also be questioned.

It comes after The Independent revealed MPs’ concern that the BBC is using non-disclosure agreements to “silence” victims of gender discrimination and harassment. In addition to the DCMS Committee, the Women and Equalities Committee is also looking at the issue.

Since the BBC was forced to admit to gaping pay discrepancies, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has taken up the cases of more than 120 female BBC employees who believe they are being paid unfairly in comparison to male colleagues.

A recent audit found the BBC has a gender pay gap of 9.3 per cent. However, BBC Women said the problem was not just a disproportionate number of men in higher-paid roles but the fact that many women are being paid less than male counterparts in exactly the same jobs.

In written evidence to the DCMS Committee, they said: “BBC Women are very concerned that this publicly funded body is perpetuating a longstanding breach of its stated values of trust, transparency and accountability. We believe the BBC must put these matters right by admitting the problem, apologising and setting in place an equal, fair and transparent pay structure.”

They added: “For many years women at all levels and in all grades and positions in the BBC both on and off air, staff and freelance, working in the UK and abroad had suspected they were not being paid equally – even when management expressly assured them they were.”

“Following the publication of the list as women began to come together, sharing salary details with each other and with some male colleagues, a shocking picture of illegal pay discrimination and obfuscation began to emerge.”

Suggesting the pay gap is part of a wider problem, they said: “Behind the headline and most important issue of equal pay at the BBC we believe there is a wider culture of gender discrimination which can be seen in the patterns of promotion, especially after women take maternity leave.

“Too often talented BBC women are overlooked in favour of male colleagues or outsiders brought in – sometimes at inflated rates – without the appointment being made through any transparent appointment process. Older women worry about their futures at the BBC and younger ones about their chances of career promotion.

The group also criticised the BBC for not consulting them on a largescale review of pay inequality.

“Despite repeated requests to Lord Hall, the Director General, there has been no consultation with us on this review and no clarity around the people included in it”, they said. “Therefore women at the BBC can have no confidence in the review’s conclusions.”

The submission included testimony from a number of female BBC employees.

Source : The Independent

Addressing an election rally in Mannar yesterday, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the UNP is committed to fostering harmony among all communities and building a society where the rights of all communities are secured.

“When we assumed office in January 2015, there was discord among people. We were able to strengthen the reconciliation process by uniting the Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim and all other communities,” the Prime Minister added.

Speaking at a rally in Vavuniya, The Premier elaborated on the development projects that will help to revive the economies in the North and the East, including the Northern highway and requested the masses to cast their vote for the only party that will really address their concerns.

"North east has not been forgotten. We are all Sri Lankans. We all have the right to exist. Only we have solutions. Only we can find required finances. Let's move forward. Just like the country's government give UNP the governance of the village as well, he added.

The Colombo High Court today rejected the petition filed by former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa seeking to discharge him from the Avant-Garde case.

The Bribery Commission had filed a case against 8 defendants including Rajapaksa accusing them of causing Rs. 11.4 billion in losses to the government by allowing Avant Garde Maritime Services (Pvt) Ltd to maintain a floating armoury.

Attorneys representing the former Defence Secretary had filed a revised petition with the High Court seeking a court order clearing them of the said charges.

The petition claims that the Director General of the Bribery Commission had failed to obtain permission in writing from the commission before filing the case and that therefore it was unlawful.

It states that the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court had rejected the request made by the eight defendants to clear them from all the charges in the Avant Garde case and requested the High Court to annul the decision of the magistrate.

However, Colombo High Court Judge Sampath Wijeratne pointed out that clear legal provisions have not been set making it mandatory for the DG to seek the approval of the Bribery Commission.

Therefore the court rejected the revision petition.

(Ada Derana)

The U.S. Embassy in Colombo will launch a series of programs over the course of the next twelve months to mark the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United States and Sri Lanka. A campaign titled "#USLS70" will be launched to underscore the seven decades of respect and partnership that have characterized the SL - US relationship.

In a statement released today, the US Embassy in Colombo said that they will encompass cultural events, educational opportunities, and community engagements that will involve Sri Lankans from all backgrounds and regions of the country to underscore the seven decades of respect and partnership that have characterized the U.S.-Sri Lanka relationship.

“Our Embassy community is delighted to celebrate this wonderful anniversary with our Sri Lankan friends and partners,” said Ambassador Keshap. “For seven decades, the United States has stood shoulder to shoulder with Sri Lanka, whether as one of the largest donors of foreign assistance or as Sri Lanka’s largest trading partner.”

Ambassador Keshap further said that the #USSL70 campaign will also highlight new significant bilateral initiatives, such as the signing of the Peace Corps’ bilateral agreement to return to Sri Lanka.

During the campaign, exercises between the two countries’ militaries will enhance disaster response capabilities and expand interoperability. Supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development, job training programs will help prepare Sri Lankan youth for employment in the 21st century, while agricultural assistance will help make Sri Lanka’s dairy industry more productive.