International Affairs

The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) said yesterday it had directed Sri Lanka Customs to re-export the illegally imported containers filled with industrial waste to the country of origin.

Israel is very eager in assisting Sri Lanka to explore immense potential in tourism, agriculture and water management adopting modern innovative techniques, visiting Israeli Ambassador to India and Sri Lanka, Dr. Ron Malka told the Business Times.

හිටපු හමුදාපති ජගත් ජයසූරිය සහ යුද හමුදා මාණ්ඩලික ප්‍රධානි ශවේන්ද්‍ර සිල්වා යුද අපරාධකරුවන්ගේ ජාත්‍යන්තර ලයිස්තුවේ ඇතැයි එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ හිටපු නිලධාරිනී යස්මින් සුකා මහත්මිය විසින් පළමුවරට හෙළිකර ඇත.

In a bid to boost tourism, the Government yesterday announced that the visa-on-arrival scheme for citizens of 39 countries will be implemented from 1 August, after the move, which was to be effective from 1 May, was suspended soon after the Easter Sunday attacks.

A vessel taken over from the China, to increase the operational capabilities of the Sri Lanka Navy, arrived at the Colombo port this morning.

The Saudi government has increased the Hajj quota for Sri Lankan pilgrims by adding 500 visas to the existing number, bringing the total to 4,000 from this year, Azmi Thassim, the island’s ambassador in Riyadh, told Arab News on Saturday.

Newly sworn-in Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Sean Cairncross says the agency is committed to advancing the proposed USD 480 million compact.

මේ දිනවල බොහෝ දෙනාගෛ් කතාබහට ලක්වන මිලේනියම් චැලේන්ජ් කෝපරේෂන් හෙවත් එම්.සී.සී. සම්බන්ධයෙන් අමෙරිකානු තානාපති කාර්යාලය ට්විටර් පණිවිඩයක් නිකුත් කර තිබේ. ඒ අනුව අදාළ ට්විටර් පණිවිඩයේ දැක්වෙන්නේ මිලේනියම් චැලේන්ජ් කෝපරේෂන් හෙවත් එම්.සී.සී. යනු ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ලබා දෙන ත්‍යාගයක් බවය. එසේම ඒ පිළිබඳව අසත්‍ය තොරතුරු දැනට ප්‍රචාරය වෙමින් පවතින බවද තානාපති කාර්යාලය නිකුත් කළ ට්විටර් පණිවුඩයේ සඳහන්වේ.

The first Model Village built with Indian assistance under the Model Villages Program of the Ministry of Housing and Construction & Cultural Affairs - Ranidugama in Gampaha District was inaugurated and the completed houses were handed over to the beneficiaries.

Mr. Cheng Xueyuan, Ambassador of China to Sri Lanka visited the St. Sebastian’s Church at Katuwapitiya, Negombo on Sunday (7th July) to inquire into the damages caused to the Church following the 21/4 bombing, and the reconstruction works.

Sri Lanka is wooing Chinese manufacturers, to make use of its preferential duty-free treatment by the US and Europe as a way to offset the growing tariff pressure of the trade war.

High Commissioner of Britain James Dauris paid a visit to Muslim Aid Sri Lanka’s field office premises in Muthur, Trincomalee. As a British-based relief and development agency, Muslim Aid welcomed the envoys as a show of solidarity with the British High Commission and presented the organisation’s staff and Muslim Aid’s role in Sri Lanka to the delegation. The meeting was arranged during the High Commissioner’s official visit to the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka on Monday, 1 July.

Latest IPS publication explores challenges and opportunities presented by BRI

ජනාධිපති සිරිසේන කැනඩාවේ සංචාරයක් සදහා කැමතිව ඒ සම්බන්ධව දන්වා ඇතත් කැනඩා රජය එම ඉල්ලීම ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කර ඇති බව වාර්තා වෙයි.

NEW DELHI (Reuters): Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Government raised import tariffs on nearly 75 items including gold and automobile parts in its federal budget yesterday and increased taxes on the rich to hold down the fiscal deficit as it tries to revive growth.

What could be tagged the largest community service program in the country, impacting thousands of lives, was brought to a close by Port City Colombo, at a ceremony held in Negombo earlier this week. The Fishermen’s Livelihood Support Society Ltd. (FLSSL), a Rs. 500 million outreach program to improve the lives of fishing communities spread across the Negombo, Wattala coastline, was a part of the tripartite agreement between Port City Colombo, the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development and the Urban Development Authority, overlooked by the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development.

මිලේනියම් චැලේන්ජ් කෝපරේෂන් වැඩසටහන තුළින් ශ්‍රී ලංකාව, ඇමරිකාව ප්‍රමුඛ ලොව බලවතුන්ගේ දාස රාජ්‍යක් බවට පත්වීම වැළැක්විය නොහැකි බව ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ මාධ්‍යවේදි මොහාන් සමරනායක මහතා පවසයි.

The Rapid Response Team by Safertourism based in USA is standing by if Sri Lanka tourism officials are ready to respond, says Dr. Peter Tarlow, president of Safertourism.com.