Coronavirus- 1,667 more patients discharged upon recovery
June 16, 2021 04:13 pmAs many as 1,667 more novel coronavirus patients were discharged from medical care within the last 24 hours as they have returned to health, the Ministry of Health says. This brings the total number of recoveries from COVID-19 in the country to 194,145. Sri Lanka has so far reported 228,256 positive cases of COVID-19 and 31,851 of them are still being treated at designated hospitals and treatment centres. The death toll from the outbreak of the pandemic meanwhile stands at 2,315.
Source:The Nation
June 16, 2021 10:41 UTC
UK's 'failure to prepare for global warming is risking catastrophe'
The UK is unprepared for the devastating consequences of global warming in the coming years, the Government's climate advisers warned last night. Our planning for such events has been 'genuinely poor', the Climate Change Committee warns today in a damning 1,500-page report exposing the risks of global warning to Britain. The committee calls for action within the next two years from Government in eight key areas, including guarding against power failures. Baroness Brown, chairwoman of the Adaptation Committee, said the Government's national action plan that followed the committee's last risk assessment was inadequate. A Government spokesman said: 'We welcome this report and will consider its recommendations closely as we continue to demonstrate global leadership on climate change ahead of Cop26 in November.'
Source:The Nation
June 16, 2021 09:33 UTC
Finance Ministry approves online sale of liquor
The Ministry of Finance has reportedly approved for the public to purchase liquor through an online procedure, Commissioner of Excise Kapila Kumarasinghe stated. However, this decision will only be implemented with the approval of the National Operation Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO). There had been a number of requests to the Department of Excise regarding the possibility of purchasing liquor online through supermarkets. Accordingly, the Excise Department made recommendations and observations regarding the relevant requests to the Finance Ministry, Media Spokesman of the Excise Department Kapila Kumarasinghe said.
Source:The Nation
June 16, 2021 08:37 UTC
SL displays an improvement in achieving Sustainable Development Goals
Sri Lanka shows significant progress in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) according to the 2021 Global Sustainable Development Report, the Director General (DG) of the Sustainable Development Council of Sri Lanka stated. Accordingly, Sri Lanka has improved its global rank by 7 positions and is placed at 87th place out of 165 countries in 2021. It was also revealed by the DG that Sri Lanka’s Overall Country Score has increased to 68.1, which is well above the regional average. In 2019 and 2020, Sri Lanka ranked at 93rd and 94th place respectively with scores of 65.8 and 66.9 respectively. The Global Sustainable Development Report is compiled by Jeffrey Sachs, Christian Kroll, Guillaume Lafortune, Grayson Fuller and Finn Woelm and published by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), the Bertelsmann Stiftung and the Cambridge University Press.
Source:The Nation
June 16, 2021 07:52 UTC
UNP submits Ranil s name to National Seat vacancy
The United National Party (UNP) has informed the Election Commission regarding their National Seat in the parliament. Party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was previously nominated for the vacancy. Accordingly, a letter stating the former Prime Minister is named to occupy the National Sea vacancy was handed into the Commission today.
Source:The Nation
June 16, 2021 06:56 UTC
Sri Lanka included in research project for chemical fertilizer use
The International Nitrogen Management Systems (INMS) jointly with the United Nations Environmental Program (MNEP) has planned to implement a multi-purpose research proposal based in the Asian region including Sri Lanka, with regard to the utilisation of fertilizer with Nitrogen in various cultivation fields. This project is planned in view of the huge environmental impact and destruction due to non-management of chemical fertilizer varieties containing a high Nitrogen percentage in Asian countries. In Sri Lanka it has been planned to perform the collection of data relating to Nitrogen damage and release of greenhouse gases in the cultivation fields in the country selected for the particular research study such as vegetables Nuwara Eliya and Kalpitiya as well Anuradhapura concerning rice. In this context it is learnt that there is a proposal to enter into a partnership agreement among the University of Peradeniya and the United Kingdom Research and Innovation Institute, Global Challenges Research Fund and the South Asian Nitrogen Hub for the implementation of the proposed research project.
Source:The Nation
June 16, 2021 06:56 UTC
SL shows interest in hosting two ICC events in next cycle
“We have shown our interest in hosting two global events in the coming cycle. “The ICC had asked for EoIs (Expression of Interest) from its member countries to host events coming up in the next cycle. The ICC events in next cycleIn the women’s circuit, there will be World Cups (in 50 overs) in 2025 and 2029. The World Cup and the T20 World Cup have both been expanded to consist of a maximum number of ten and 12 countries respectively. Pakistan has reportedly held talks with the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) to jointly host some of the ICC events that are coming up.
Source:The Nation
June 16, 2021 03:03 UTC
Biden nominates Julie Chung as US envoy to Sri Lanka
United States President Joe Biden has nominated foreign service woman diplomat Julie Chung to be the country’s next ambassador to Sri Lanka. Fluent in Korean, Japanese, Spanish and Khmer, Seoul-born Chung was previously Director of the Office of Japanese Affairs at the State Department. Chung was also the Chief of Staff to the Transition Coordinator at the US Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. Biden announced a slate of ambassador nominations on Tuesday that included Morgan Stanley Vice Chairman Thomas Nides as the top diplomat to Israel and former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar as envoy to Mexico. Thirteen of the selections are career diplomats, including his picks of Julie Chung to Sri Lanka, Sharon Cromer to Gambia, Troy Fitrell to Guinea and Marc Ostfield to Paraguay.
Source:The Nation
June 16, 2021 02:26 UTC
Cotah Ramaswami: Indian double-international who went missing forever
The youngest son of Buchi Babu Naidu, the great patriarch of Madras cricket, Cotah Ramaswami was a fine left-handed batsman who had a 27-year first-class cricket career. Tall and sturdily built, Ramaswami played some excellent strokes off the front foot on both sides of the wicket. Early daysRamaswami came from a family of cricketers: other than being the son of Naidu, he had two brothers playing first-class cricket; his son played first-class cricket too, as did four of his nephews and a grand-nephew. Ramaswami played only in the doubles (partnering Dr. Hassan-Ali Fyzee) and won the match 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 against Nicolae Misu and Misu Stern. Post-retirementAfter he quit first-class cricket, Ramaswami remained a significant and respected name in the Madras cricket circuit.
Source:The Nation
June 16, 2021 01:52 UTC
Football News from Round the World
The Juventus keeper’s unfortunate error left Poland behind in the first half of Monday’s clash with Slovakia. Denmark’s Group B clash against Finland in Copenhagen on Saturday (12) was initially suspended after 41 minutes following Eriksen’s on-field collapse. They (the Denmark players) were left with three options; one was to play immediately (after the 41-minute stoppage) and get the last 50 minutes played. According to The Telegraph, Manchester City are now open to offer Raheem Sterling a new contract after Euro 2020 is concluded. Sterling had been rumoured to be out of Pep Guardiola’s plans but that has perhaps been an overstated narrative.
Source:The Nation
June 16, 2021 01:07 UTC
SLC concerned over Technical Committee intervention?
By Revatha S. Silva(From left) Newly-appointed SLC Director of Cricket Tom Moody, Technical Committee Chairman Aravinda de Silva, SLC President Shammi Silva, Secretary Mohan de Silva, and Technical Committee member Muttiah Muralitharan address the media in Colombo on 25 MarchOne of the highly-placed officials of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has shown his concern, and agitation, over the present SLC Technical Committee’s (TC) alleged intervention on the national cricket affairs, The Morning Sports reliably learnt. I would say the issue (TC’s involvement in cricket affairs above SLC ex-co) was a concern at that meeting. Meanwhile another leading SLC official said: “At the moment there is no such opposition to the Technical Committee within the ex-co. We all work as a unit. Therefore there should be a better understanding between the TC and SLC in future. If things go wrong, it is the SLC ex-co which will have to take the entire responsibility,” he said.
Source:The Nation
June 16, 2021 00:45 UTC
On This Day – 16 June
At Summer Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada, he broke both Olympic and world record with a time of 47.63 seconds. Over a period of 10 years, from August 1977 until May 1987, Moses collected 122 straight victoriesOn 16 June 1984, Edwin Moses (centre) won his 100th consecutive 400-metre hurdles race. The ultimate hurdler is running her for the gold at Los Angeles Olympics on 5 August the same year2008 – In France, “the 24 hours of Le Mans race” concludes. Audi scores its fifth straight victory, with drivers Allan McNish of Scotland, Rinaldo Capello of Italy, and Tom Kristensen of Denmark. Stuart Broad forced an outside edge off the final ball but it fell inches short of second slip, prompted gasps all around.
Source:The Nation
June 16, 2021 00:45 UTC
The Ink Station: Copying tattoos
Out of these taboos, I can think of none more frowned upon than tattoo copying. While it may seem like a minor offence, tattoo copying is a very harmful practice that impacts everyone involved in the process, from the original artist, their client, copying artist, and their client. But, unlike these other art styles, the copyright laws against tattoo copying are very lax, leaving us to fend for ourselves. As I mentioned before, copyright laws against tattoo copying are still lax. Due to this, tattoo artists must abide by their own morals and not partake in tattoo copying, while clients should do their best to deter their tattoo artists from copying another artist’s work.
Source:The Nation
June 15, 2021 23:03 UTC
FIDE Online Queen’s Chess Festival 2021: Sanidula and Oshini second in Asian Qualifiers
By Ishani UpatharithaSanidula Dahamdi of Musaeus College, ColomboSanidula Dahamdi of Musaeus College, Colombo won the second place in the Asian Qualifier of the rating category between 1500-1799 in the Queen’s Chess Festival, conducted by the FIDE Women’s Commission on Sunday (13). The nine-year-old Oshini Gunawardena from Ferguson High School, Ratnapura also got second place in the rating category of less than 1500 in the same Asian Qualifier event. Gunawardena scored nine points along with two others and had to be satisfied with the second place according to the tie-breaker. The online Queen’s Chess Festival is an open event organised by the FIDE Women’s Commission for female chess players in the world on the Tornelo Platform. It is a blitz chess event which gives three minutes plus two seconds for each move played.
Source:The Nation
June 15, 2021 23:03 UTC
Discussions begin on Bangladesh trade agreement
Cabinet approves Preferential Trade AgreementBy Imsha IqbalPrime Minister of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa and PrimeMinister of Bangladesh Sheikh HasinaThe Sri Lankan Government is discussing the possibility of entering into a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with Bangladesh, with whom it entered into a swap agreement recently, The Morning Business learns. Speaking to The Morning Business, Trade Ministry Secretary Bhadrani Jayawardena stated that with both countries being developing countries in the same region, Sri Lanka looks forward to maintaining good trade relations with Bangladesh. Jayawardena stated: “We have not decided a date of signing (the PTA); we (both countries) have agreed, but it is at the discussion stage,” implying that such a trade agreement would be possible, as the involved countries have expressed each other’s agreement. Cabinet approval was granted to a proposal furnished by the Minister of Trade regarding entering into a PTA with Bangladesh, in order to hold discussions with the relevant authorities of the aforementioned country. In terms of economic benefits, Jayawardena said “both countries (Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) are trying to achieve development targets.
Source:The Nation
June 15, 2021 22:30 UTC