News

A group of 14 pilot whales were found washed ashore on the beaches of Kalpitiya early this morning (11 Feb.).

Although a joint operation was launched by the Sri Lanka Navy and the Wildlife Department, together with area residents, to get the whales back into the sea, three of the whales had reportedly died.

Meanwhile, a fishing vessel collided with a whale in seas near the Dodanduwa Harbour yesterday (10 Feb.), injuring an individual.

While the vessel in question was also badly damaged, the injured person was later admitted to hospital for treatment.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, PC said that the country is ready to deploy a contingent of 300 military personnel for relief efforts in Turkiye.

The contingent will include personnel from the Sri Lanka Engineers Corps and the Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps.

Minister Ali Sabry said that on the instructions of the President he contacted the Foreign Minister of Turkiye and offered assistance for search & rescue

"We recall when the Tsunami struck us in 2004,Türkiye provided immediate humanitarian assistance & built a housing complex for those who lost their houses," tweeted the Minister.

The Sri Lankan Embassy in Turkiye said that it has not been able to access information with regard to the Sri Lankan woman who was reported missing following the devastating earthquakes.

A Senior Officer attached to the mission said that the mobile device of the Sri Lankan woman was traced.

The Officer also noted that earlier it was reported that the building in which was living had collapsed, however, reports later suggested that she had vacated the premises before the earthquakes.

Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, PC said that a contingent of 300 military personnel are ready to be deployed to Turkiye, as soon as a request for help is made.

The contingent will include Sri Lanka Army Engineers and personnel from the Medical Corps.

On Monday (6) Foreign Minister Ali Sabry said 9 Sri Lankans were residing in the region. 8 people have been contacted. Authorities have failed to contact 1 Sri Lankan.

Some difficult decisions must be made to build the economy, though those decisions could be unpopular, said president Ranil Wickremesinghe.

“We have the ability to make popular decisions. But the country will not develop if only popular decisions are taken,” he said.

The president was speaking at the launch of Hyundai Grand i10 car, assembled for the first time in Sri Lanka at the Colombo City Centre yesterday (10).

The president further said;

"Assembling the Hyundai Grand i10 in Sri Lanka is a tribute to the firm determination of Mrs. Pestanjee. I know how she initiated this journey when the economy was opened up in 1977. I still remember that there was an Abans Showroom on the fifth lane heading towards Galle Road. Thank you very much for having come this far from that point.

I hope that this step will be a good start for the arrival of other investors to Sri Lanka based on the cooperation between South Korea and Sri Lanka as well as the higher investment made by Korea here.

Today, the Hyundai Grand i10 vehicle is introduced to the Sri Lankan market further confirming the trust placed in our country.

I must extend my special thanks to Abans Company and Hyundai Company as well Mrs. Pestanjee for introducing a vehicle to the market, at a crucial time when our economy dropped.

The introduction of this vehicle takes place at a time when Sri Lanka’s economy collapsed. But the initiation was taken with the belief that the economy of the country would recover and I would again extend my heartiest thanks to you all for it.

We stepped into 2023 in the background of the complete collapse of our country’s economy last year. But now the country’s economy is recovering. Accordingly, it has been possible to provide solutions to the shortage of fuel, LP gas, and essential goods. In the same way, we have solved many other problems as well.

We anticipate a good harvest during the Maha Season. Furthermore, we have taken steps to purchase Rs.20 million worth of paddy and distribute it to low-income families.

We have taken numerous steps to strengthen the country’s economy. It has been possible to reach an agreement with the IMF organization. Negotiations with the Paris Club, India, and China are currently underway. We are attempting to reconcile their differences.

As a consequence, there is no doubt that a group of consumers in the country will be able to purchase cars again in the months ahead and there will be more economic progress than today.

A businessman will not invest money if there is no sale and you think the economy has collapsed, and there is a market. But, in this case, such investments are being made as our economy is growing.

Various decisions must be made as we work to build the economy. Among them, some difficult decisions must be made through those decisions could be unpopular.

I am aware of the hardships that people are experiencing as a result of the economic collapse. Also, I am aware of the difficulty caused by the tax increase. After paying taxes and debts, some people have very little money left over. This adversity will only last a short time. We must advance the country. However, if we had not made these decisions, the country would not be in this state today.

Furthermore, I believe that all of our political leaders will commit to considering the country and making decisions in the future. We have the ability to make popular decisions. But the country will not develop if only popular decisions are taken.

Singapore is a good example. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew never made popular decisions. He made decisions on behalf of the country. People accepted his decisions and cooperated with him. The rulers of South Korea also made difficult decisions for the country. In Europe, the situation is similar.

Specifically, Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom stated that if the United Kingdom left the European Union, he would be able to gain new markets and improve healthcare services with the money saved. They walked away from the EU. There was no funding for health care. The available market decreased even more.

Then Prime Minister, Liz Truss, worked to lower taxes. The value of the Sterling Pound collapsed. Perhaps the rupee crashed, but the pound crashed more quickly. She resigned as Prime Minister, and a new Prime Minister has been appointed in her place. The country’s current Prime Minister is making wise decisions.

We must make these decisions for the sake of our country’s future and for the sake of creating a good country for the youth. I believe that the country’s economy will be rebuilt before long.

Minister of Plantation Industries Ramesh Pathirana, Korean Ambassador to Sri Lanka Santhush Woonjin Jeong, Chairman of the Board of Investment Dinesh Weerakkody, Directors of Abans Group of Companies Saroshi Dubash and Rusi Pestonjee attended the event.

As the sun set over more than a dozen devastated cities across southern Türkiye and northern Syria, thousands of rescuers continued their grim mission of digging through the rubble of collapsed apartment blocks, after the death toll from Monday's earthquake crossed 2,400, with another 10,300 injured.

More than 3,000 buildings came crashing to the ground when the 7.8 magnitude quake hit whilst almost everyone was asleep at 4:17 a.m. By nightfall, Türkiye reported over 1,500 deaths while Syria had recovered more than 900 bodies. Hospitals were overwhelmed by the number of injured.

Rescue teams from a dozen countries were en route to Türkiye as the world responded to President Recip Erdogan's plea for immediate assistance. In neighboring Syria, the government has also called for help, but it is not clear how far international rescue teams will venture into that country's northern warzones. Much of the devastation in Syria is in areas not under the control of the government.

Freezing temperatures and snowstorms were hampering rescue efforts in some areas of Turkey. The threat of aftershocks is also very real, with more than 30 being felt throughout the day, one a huge tremor of 7.5 magnitude.

This is the largest quake in the region in more than 100 years and was felt in at least a dozen countries, with buildings shaking as far away as Romania, Iraq, and Egypt. The epicenter was 25 km west of the Turkish city of Gaziantep near the border with Syria

Turkey reported over deaths across seven provinces while Syria reported deaths in three provinces. Hundreds of buildings have collapsed and a large number of fires hampered rescuers as they dug through the rubble in the grim hope of finding trapped survivors.

The quake occurred at a triple juncture of three of the Earth's tectonic plates - the Anatolian, Arabian and African. It took place 17.9km below the surface of the Earth, along a line 190km long and 25km wide, according to data from the United States Geological Survey. The second large quake of the day in the region occurred 10km below the surface along a line 120km long and 18km wide, according to the USGS.

A minor tremor was reported near the Wellawaya Town on Saturday (11) morning.

This follows two minor tremors reported on Friday (10) afternoon in Wellawaya and Buttala.

Saturday's tremor measured a magnitude of 2.3, and was reported at about 03:48 am.

"No threat was reported to the area", Acting Director General of the Geological Survey & Mines Bureau Janaka Ajith Prema said.

A team of geologists was deployed to Buttala to investigate the tremors that were reported.

Supreme Court Judge, President of the Appeal Court, Appeal Court Justice took oath before President

Justice K. P. Fernando, President of the Court of Appeal took oath as a Supreme Court Judge before President Ranil Wickremesinghe this morning (06) at the President’s House in Fort.

Court of Appeal Justice Mr. Nissanka Bandula Karunaratne took oath as the President of the Court of Appeal while High Court Judge M.A.R. Marikkar was also sworn in as a Judge of the Court of Appeal before President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Minister of Justice Wijayadasa Rajapaksha, Secretary to the President Mr. Saman Ekanayake,Commanders of the Tri Forces and other officials attended this event.

The petition filed by Retired Sri Lanka Army Colonel W. M. R. Wijesundara seeking an order to suspend all activities related to the Local Government Election was postponed to the 23rd of February for consideration.

President's Counsel Saliya Pieris appearing for the National Election Commission filing a preliminary objection pointed out that the petitioner had failed to properly name the respondents.

In addition, he noted that the petitioner had also failed to produce the necessary documentation to prove that he is a registered voter in the country.

Therefore, the President's Counsel requested the Supreme Court to dismiss the application without taking it up for examination.

Additional Solicitor General Nerin Pulle noted that an affidavit provided by the Finance Secretary notes that the Cabinet of Ministers had decided to allocate funds only for essential matters during an economic crisis.

He was appearing for the Finance Secretary, and the Attorney General and made the submissions.

The Supreme Court noted that the petition in question will be postponed to the 23rd of February for consideration.

Arrested social media activist Darshana Handungoda has been given bail by the Colombo Fort magistrate’s court as police investigate him.

Handungoda was taken into custody by the CID at the Katunayake airport last night (05) when he returned from Dubai.

Police said he had left the country without assisting in an investigation against him on a charge of posting a violence-promoting video of the May 09 incident at Temple Trees.

The CID questioned him on May 31 and summoned him again on January 20, when it transpired that he was abroad.

The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka today dismissed a contempt of court application filed by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) against several state officials of the power sector.

The HRCSL had filed the contempt of court application against the Chairman of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), the Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy and the Chairman of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation.

The application was filed in court for their failure to comply with the settlement to provide uninterrupted electricity for GCE Advanced Level students during the course of the examination, which will conclude on 17th February 2023.

During a discussion between stakeholders of the power sector and the HRCSL, an agreement had been reached to provide an uninterrupted power supply during the examination.

However, the CEB continued with its scheduled power cuts claiming it cannot provide an uninterrupted power supply under the current circumstances, prompting the HRCSL to take legal action.

Laugfs Gas announced that it has increased the prices of its domestic gas cylinders.

The price hike will come into effect from midnight on Monday (06).

The price of a 12.5 kg gas cylider was increased by Rs. 200 to Rs.5,280.

The price of a 5 kg cylinder was increased by Rs. 80 to Rs. 2,112.

The price of a 2 kg cylinder was increased by Rs. 32 to Rs. 845.

Litro Gas increased the prices of its domestic gas cylinders recently as well.

The European Union (EU) has allocated 4 million Euro (approximately Rs. 1.5 billion) in grants for fertilizers, seeds, and training to the most vulnerable farmers, as a response to the agriculture and food security crisis in Sri Lanka.

These funds will be implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Sri Lanka. The action has been officially launched today in Colombo.

The recent economic crisis severely impacted all farmers in the country, especially smallholder farmers cultivating lands of up to 0,5 ha. These farmers have suffered immensely due to a major crop failure over the previous two harvesting seasons due to a lack of fertilizers and other inputs. This has led to reduced income and impacted their ability to provide for their essential needs, including food.

European Union Ambassador, H.E. Denis Chaibi said: “I am very pleased to announce this new action today. We teamed up with FAO to help bring Sri Lankan agriculture back on track to prevent food shortages and to increase farmer’s incomes. Together we will provide highly essential inputs such as fertilizers and seeds. We will also train farmers and extension officers on how to shift to less resource intensive paddy cultivation practices. I hope this new support will contribute towards an organized transition to a more sustainable, resilient, and productive agriculture sector in Sri Lanka.”

“We are appreciative of this generous assistance from the European Union, which will not only provide essential inputs to boost production but also reduce the agriculture sector’s reliance on chemical fertilizer by increasing the efficiency of the fertilizer used while increasing yield.” said FAO Representative in Sri Lanka, Vimlendra Sharan adding, “As FAO we will work closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Irrigation to ensure the success of this project which will make a strong case for adopting sustainable practice across the country.”

The project will support 41,000 smallholder farmers cultivating land holdings of up to 0.5 Ha in the districts of Polonnaruwa, Badulla, Ampara, and Hambantota.They will each receive a 50 kg bag of urea for the 2023 Yala cropping season.

In addition to that, targeted capacity building will be provided to those farmers as well as extension workers on how to use fertilizer efficiently, reduce actual needs for chemical fertilizer, enhance the use of organic fertilizer and improve long-term soil fertility.

To strengthen the seed paddy production system in Sri Lanka to meet current demand, the project will also support farmers to grow quality paddy seeds and strengthen government owned farms in growing and processing certified paddy seeds.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe received 50 buses from Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay at the Presidential Secretariat premises, this morning.

The buses to be received on a request made by Transport Minister Bandula Gunawardena are to be used by the SLTB to uplift the public transport service in rural areas across the country.

Commercial vehicle maker Ashok Leyland on bagged the contract for supplying 500 buses to the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB), of which 75 buses have already been delivered to the Island nation.

The order is a part of a Line of Credit extended by Export-Import Bank of India, under the Economic Assistance Scheme of the Indian government.