Ranil returns with a bang; SJB holds protest over fuel hike By Sandun Jayawardana View(s): View(s):When he took oaths before Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena on Wednesday, former Prime Minister and United National Party (UNP) Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe finally filled the lone National List seat secured by his party at the 2020 parliamentary election. The protest began after a sharp exchange of words between SJB Kurunegala District MP Nalin Bandara and Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila. The SJB this week also handed over a No-Confidence Motion on Minister Gammanpila over the fuel price hike. On Wednesday, SJB MPs came ready with handwritten posters with various slogans. At one point, a group of SJB MPs held a parallel parliamentary session in the Well of the House, with some making their own speeches.

Special trial for World Junior Championships 2021 athletics View(s): View(s):Sri Lanka Athletics (SLA) has made plans to conduct a special selection trial on July 25 at the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo to pick athletes for the World Junior Athletics Championships to be held in Nairobi, Kenya in two months. “As previously announced, it is not possible to schedule a date for the National Junior Athletics Championships due to the current situation in the country. However, SLA is planning to conduct a special selection trial next month to select the athletes for the World Junior event,” a statement issued by SLA said. With heavy restrictions in place due to the pandemic, SLA will only include few selected events at the special selection trials. The World Junior Athletics Championships, an event for athletes of the Under-20 age category, will be held from August 17 to 22 at the Nyayo Sports Complex in Nairobi.

50,000 cleared for jobs in West Asia but blocked by COVID rules By Chrishanthi Christopher View(s): View(s):Around 50,000 people with clearance to work in West Asia are unable to take up their jobs because of COVID travel restrictions in Sri Lanka. The number of women taking up jobs in the West Asia has declined in the past decade, he added: of the 50,000 waiting to go, only 15,000 are women. There are some 50,000 workers who have completed their contracts and are due back home. The backlog of migrant workers waiting to come home has eased as the airports are open and flights operating. “They can book and come any time and there is no waiting time,” Mr. Randeniya said.

On paper that looks a difficult draw, but former Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini thinks his side, who posted a record 31 games unbeaten, might have just come through their toughest test. 'We said it would be a match we would have to struggle through to get the win. Things could have been different had former West Ham striker Marko Arnautovic's goal not been ruled out by VAR for a marginal offside decision when Austria were dominating Italy. If we scored there we would have won the match at the end,' he said. 'Everybody is disappointed because we were eliminated, but if we look at the performance we can be very proud.

England put up a dominant performance both with the bat and the ball as they ran out comfortable winners by 89 runs against Sri Lanka to complete a 3-0 sweep in the T20I series. They scaled a partnership of 105 runs, before Bairstow was scalped by Isuru Udana for 51. Dushmantha Chameera was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka, with excellent figures of 4/17 in his four overs. In reply, Sri Lanka got off to the worst possible start as David Willey scalped the wicket of Danushka Gunathilaka in the very first over. Sri Lanka only managed to post a score of 91 in reply, losing the contest by 89 runs.

By Sanchez Manning Social Affairs Correspondent For The Mail On SundayPublished: 17:01 EDT, 26 June 2021 | Updated: 19:57 EDT, 26 June 2021Sainsbury's is putting 'trans ideology' above staff welfare by letting men who identify as women use female toilets and changing rooms, a whistleblower claims. The whistleblower claimed Sainsbury's membership of Stonewall's controversial Diversity Champions scheme has led it to 'indulge in trans ideology'. Astock image is used above [File photo]But the whistleblower dismissed the programme and Sainsbury's involvement with Stonewall's annual Workplace Equality Index as a 'waste of money'. He said: 'The Workplace Equality Index takes about 400 hours to fill in the forms and then you get just four lines of feedback. Stonewall said its staff 'deliver helpful and robust advice' to more than 850 organisations and called the Workplace Equality Index 'a robust benchmarking tool'.

Vision: Anne Boden backs online solutions in banking and the officeIt was not unusual for Anne Boden to work in the office from dawn to dusk – at least until the pandemic struck. And at Starling I felt I had to be there early in the morning because I was a leader. Others have said prospective candidates for jobs are asking questions about how many days they will have to work in the office. 'I think we've gone through this great realisation that many people are far more effective working from home,' Boden says. Starling's 1,400 staff work across the UK, with more in Cardiff than London.

The challenge for Malan, however, was provided not by the strength of the opposition but of rivals queueing up for top-order batting places behind him. There have been quicker Malan 50s in T20s for England - two for the record - but this innings could not have been better timed following two single-figure flops in Cardiff. And it came from his favoured opening position after Jason Roy was ruled out due to a tight hamstring. This was only the fourth occasion on which Malan has gone in first for his country. David Willey claimed three wickets as a 3-0 clean sweep was achieved at a canter.

Realme launched the Buds 2 wired earphones in 2019, and the company will introduce the Neo variant on July 1 in India alongside a hair dryer and a couple of beard trimmers. This revelation comes through Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart, which has set up a promo page on its website for the Buds 2 Neo, revealing their design and features. Realme Buds 2 Neo color optionsThe Realme Buds 2 Neo will come in the regular Black and a new Blue color. The Realme Buds 2 are sold at INR599 ($8/€7) in India at the time of writing this, and the Buds 2 Neo will likely be cheaper than them. We'll know more about the Realme Buds 2 Neo's pricing and availability on Thursday.

Matt Hancock has resigned as Health Secretary the day after video footage emerged of him kissing an aide in his ministerial office in a breach of coronavirus restrictions. Labour also called for the Health Secretary to go and branded the Prime Minister 'spineless' for failing to sack him. Liberal Democrat health spokesman Munira Wilson said: 'Matt Hancock is a terrible Health Secretary and should have been sacked a long time ago for his failures. Downing Street repeatedly refused to comment on whether Health Secretary Matt Hancock had broken the law after he was pictured kissing a close aide in his Whitehall department. Liberal Democrat health spokesman Munira Wilson said: 'Matt Hancock is a terrible Health Secretary and should have been sacked a long time ago for his failures.

There was one chapter devoted to the man in my first book: Tigers of Lanka, which dealt with the origin and growth of Tamil militancy. Since its publication, friends have been pressing me to write Prabhakaran’s biography. But I was surprised by those who felt that a biography cannot be written without the explicit co-operation of the subject matter. I must underline that my knowledge of spoken and written Tamil helped me connect with those who were not comfortable with or did not know English. A Prabhakaran relative had written a long piece on the man for another Tamil journal in Chennai, but this was apparently halted after five chapters on Prabhakaran’s instructions.

Muruththettuwe Ananda Thera, during a recent chat with UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, had noted that the ideal political leader for Sri Lanka would be one with Wickremesinghe’s head and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s body. Wickremesinghe was amused by the Thera’s statement. Ananda Thera had expressed his disappointment at the conduct of the current Government, which he had also played a key role in bringing into power. He had called on Wickremesinghe to always keep the country’s interest at heart and that he would never go wrong. The Thera had made these observations when Wickremesinghe had visited the Thera to receive his blessings after being sworn in as a parliamentarian last Wednesday (23).

Former Prime Minister and incumbent United National Party (UNP) Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe last Wednesday (23) surprised many by visiting the Abhayarama Temple in Narahenpita and meeting with Chief Incumbent Ven. Muruththettuwe Ananda Thera, after attending his first parliamentary session after returning to Parliament as a National List MP. Ananda Thera also played a key role in ensuring SLPP’s victory at the 2019 presidential election and 2020 general election. After visiting the temple, Wickremesinghe engaged in religious observances before receiving blessings from Ven. Ananda Thera.

The Samsung Galaxy A22 4G unveiled earlier this month is expected to debut in India soon. Samsung hasn't revealed when it will launch the Galaxy A22 4G in India, but a leaked image tells us the 4G model with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage will cost INR18,499 ($250/€210) in the Asian country. It appears Samsung won't bring other memory configurations to India, and the same goes for the color options since the poster only includes two color models instead of all four. The Samsung Galaxy A22 4G is powered by the Helio G80 SoC and sports a 6.4" HD+ Super AMOLED 90Hz screen. Samsung also announced the Galaxy A22 5G earlier this month, but we don't know if it will be launched in India alongside the 4G version.

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) National Organiser Basil RajapaksaThe Government, it is learnt, is in the process of preparing a new portfolio that is to be assigned to Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) National Organiser Basil Rajapaksa upon his entry to Parliament in early July. Basil’s return to Sri Lanka from the US, where he was visiting his family, has resulted in news of his return to Parliament on 6 July and eventual appointment as Minister of Finance and Economic Development, making the rounds in the country’s political circles. However, it was not immediately clear as to who out of these MPs would submit their resignation. After returning to Sri Lanka on Emirates flight No. Minister Prasanna Ranatunga and State Minister Nimal Lanza were at the Bandaranaike International Airport to welcome Basil upon his return to the country.