Amazon removes another major accessory maker (Update: Amazon response)
Amazon confirmed that it has pulled all of RavPower’s products from its store. Update, June 16, 2021 (04:45 PM ET): Amazon responded to Android Authority’s request for a comment on this story. Additionally, it posted a new blog post detailing its strict policy towards companies soliciting paid Amazon reviews. The Verge reports that Amazon has removed all RavPower products from its shop days after the Wall Street Journal revealed that the battery and charger company was offering incentives for reviews. The WSJ‘s Nicole Nguyen ordered a RavPower charger only to discover an offer for a $35 gift card if she left a review.
Source:The Nation
June 16, 2021 21:03 UTC
What's the Deal With Ranked-Choice Voting?
For these reasons and others, a new form of ranked-choice voting is becoming more popular in many U.S. cities, with the country’s most populous—New York City—primed to adopt the format in its upcoming June 22 mayoral contest (early voting has already begun). What is ranked-choice voting? On the surface, the premise is simple: In an election with multiple candidates, voters rank their preferred choices from favorite to least favorite. That combination can allow the most broadly popular candidate to win the election, while also making clear the full spectrum of voters’ views. What are the advantages of ranked-choice voting?
Source:The Nation
June 16, 2021 19:30 UTC
‘Uncommon manifestations of mental health conditions require customised treatment’
This advice was given in the case report on “Successful treatment of coprophagia in resistant schizophrenia”, authored by D. Jayakodi (attached to the Peradeniya Teaching Hospital’s Psychiatry Unit) and S.R. In addition to its rare association with schizophrenia (only a few cases have been reported, according to “Coprophagia in a schizophrenic patient: Case report” by S.K. Valmaggia, and F. Smit, and “The treatment of hallucinations in schizophrenia spectrum disorders” by I.E. Jayakodi and Perera presented a case of the successful management of coprophagia in a patient with resistant schizophrenia. He had been on treatment for schizophrenia for the past 15 years.
Source:The Nation
June 16, 2021 19:09 UTC
Notable progress by Sri Lanka on Sustainable Development Goals
Sri Lanka has shown 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 yesterday (16). Accordingly, Sri Lanka has improved its global ranking by seven positions and is placed at 87th 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 19:04 UTC
Online liquor final approval likely today
Kumarasinghe said that after obtaining the approval of the NOCPCO, the F.L 4 retail liquor licence holders including supermarket chains will be allowed to sell liquor online. He also said that the system of selling liquor online was being implemented in several countries around the world, including India, given the current situation. Furthermore, when questioned as to whether mobile delivery services companies such as Uber and PickMe would be allowed to sell liquor online, Kumarasinghe said: “It’s too early to say that. The continued prohibition on liquor sales due to the existing travel restrictions in the country has resulted in Rs. “We have observed that the production and the demand for illicit liquor and drugs have increased.
Source:The Nation
June 16, 2021 18:56 UTC
59 more COVID deaths, tally at 2,374
June 16, 2021 10:40 pmSri Lanka has registered 59 more victims of COVID-19, the Director-General of Health Services confirmed today. The latest fatalities have moved the death toll from the virus infection to 2,374, according to Government Information Department’s data. Reportedly, the victims have succumbed to the virus infection on Tuesday (June 15). As per official data, 38 victims were aged 60 years and above and 20 were aged between 30-59 years with one male aged below 30 years.
Source:The Nation
June 16, 2021 18:00 UTC
Quarantine fatigue: How to overcome
QuarantineThe term “quarantine” was not very familiar among Sri Lankans until the onset of the current pandemic. Quarantine fatigue and cabin feverThough not categorised as a disorder, quarantine fatigue, conceptually similar to cabin fever, is a distressing feeling as a result of strict isolation. Physical exerciseRegular physical activities reduce one’s stress hormones and release endorphins. Having a routine consisting of daily activities, projects, physical activities, leisure activities, chill out time, etc. It is a good solution for quarantine fatigue, and one will feel that the time passes faster.
Source:The Nation
June 16, 2021 17:48 UTC
The TNA and ethnic realities
However, what was raised by the UNHRC and the EU Parliament is quite unique and straightforward, and constitutes more or less, warnings for Sri Lanka. They are also opportunities Sri Lanka received to pay more attention to its internal issues; more specifically, they were human rights related matters Sri Lanka should not ignore. However, the TNA is still one of the prominent North based political alliances and one of the political Parties that focused on political and policy decisions, including the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. What is more concerning is the fact that Sri Lanka keeps showing a rather lackadaisical approach as far as the worsening inter-ethnic and post-war reconciliation concerns are concerned. Listening to them is sometimes a necessary evil, which can help Sri Lanka deal with longstanding and deep rooted problems and improve as a nation.
Source:The Nation
June 16, 2021 17:26 UTC
Sri Lanka signs USD 100 mn LoC with India for solar energy projects
India became the first country to partner with Sri Lanka in fulfilling the vision of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, to ensure that 70% of Sri Lanka’s national power requirements are fulfilled by renewable energy sources by 2030, as reiterated during his address at the recently concluded Sri Lanka Investment Forum. In this context, an agreement extending a USD 100 million Line of Credit (LOC) to Sri Lanka for projects in the Solar Energy Sector, signed between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Export-Import Bank of India, was exchanged by the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay and Secretary to the Treasury S.R. This USD 100 million LOC will help finance various projects in the solar energy sector in Sri Lanka, including those announced during the Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) held in March 2018, such as rooftop solar photovoltaic systems for households and government buildings. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the High Commissioner of India discussed the striking similarity in the national objectives outlined by India and Sri Lanka in connection with solar energy. The National Solar Mission of India aims to increase it further to 100 GW and beyond, the High Commission of India in Sri Lanka stated, issuing a press release.
Source:The Nation
June 16, 2021 17:00 UTC
Fitch affirms Sri Lanka at CCC amid debt service challenges
Fitch Ratings has affirmed Sri Lanka’s long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating at CCC. It said the island nation’s CCC rating reflects a challenging foreign-currency sovereign external debt repayment burden over the medium term, low foreign exchange reserves and rising government debt that gives rise to sustainability risks. Nevertheless, said Fitch, Sri Lanka’s medium-term debt service challenges are substantial and pose risks to the sovereign’s debt repayment capacity. A total of about USD29 billion in foreign currency debt obligations are due between now and 2026 against foreign exchange reserves of USD4.5 billion as of end-April. Fitch projected Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange reserves to remain at about USD 4.5 billion by end-2021 before declining to USD3.9 billion by end-2022.
Source:The Nation
June 16, 2021 16:30 UTC
Daily coronavirus case count moves to 2,419
June 16, 2021 08:43 pmThe Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry reports that another 788 persons have tested positive for COVID-19 in Sri Lanka, moving the daily total of new cases to 2,419. This brings the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus reported in the country to 230,675. As many as 194,145 recoveries and 2,315 deaths have been confirmed in Sri Lanka since the outbreak of the pandemic. The Epidemiology Unit’s data showed that 34,215 active cases are currently under medical care.
Source:The Nation
June 16, 2021 15:11 UTC
Prof. Mohan Munasinghe to receive prestigious Blue Planet Prize
Sri Lankan physicist, academic and economist Professor Mohan Munasinghe has been selected to receive the 2021 Blue Planet Prize, the international environmental award sponsored by Japan’s Asahi Glass Foundation. Each year, the Foundation selects two winners, individuals or organizations that have made a significant contribution to solving global environmental problems. This year, the winners of the 2021 Blue Planet Prize were Mohan Munasinghe (Sri Lanka) and Veerabhadran Ramanathan (USA). Prof. Munasinghe said he was “deeply grateful and honored” to receive the Blue Planet Prize 2021, the premier global environmental sustainability award, which symbolizes Japan’s Asabi Glass Foundation’s commitment to a better future. This year’s fellow recipient of the Blue Planet Prize, Veerabhadran Ramanathan is a renowned climate and atmospheric scientist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.
Source:The Nation
June 16, 2021 15:01 UTC
Indian fishermen oppose Sri Lanka dumping discarded vehicles in sea
The move was termed by Sri Lanka as one ‘to help create artificial reef conducive to the marine environment’. Sri Lanka has been dropping discarded vehicles for a while. Trawling continues to the primary fishing practice for Tamil Nadu fishers, whereas it is banned in Sri Lanka. Tamil Nadu fishers trawl in Coramandel Waters, Palk Strait and Gulf of Mannar, which Sri Lanka also shares. But, the bodies of vehicles Sri Lanka is dumping are made of corrosive metal materials.
Source:The Nation
June 16, 2021 14:37 UTC
Here’s a sneak peek at Google’s first permanent retail store
Google will officially open the doors of the Google Store NYC tomorrow, June 17, 2021. The store is the company’s very first permanent physical retail location. One thing Google has never had, though, is a permanent physical retail space. At 10:00 AM ET on June 17, 2021, Google will officially open the Google Store NYC, a new permanent home. Google Store NYC photos
Source:The Nation
June 16, 2021 14:26 UTC
Sri Lanka reports 1,631 new cases of COVID-19
June 16, 2021 06:39 pmThe Ministry of Health reports that another 1,631 persons have tested positive for coronavirus today (June 16). All new cases are associated with the New Year Covid-19 cluster. This brings the total number of COVID-19 cases confirmed in the country thus far to 229,887. Presently 33,427 infected patients are being treated at hospitals and treatment centers across the island. Meanwhile, the number of total recoveries has reached 194,145.
Source:The Nation
June 16, 2021 13:07 UTC