Category: Featured Headlines

A heavy presence of security personnel was observed in parts of Colombo city since last night (May 12).

This development came after it was reported that a group of at least 750 individuals was preparing to exert pressure on the government.

Unspecified intelligence information had revealed that the group in question was planning to rise up in revolt from inside the University of Colombo.

Police sources said this group’s organized attempt to instigate unrest was foiled after tightening the security.

The police, Special Task Force (STF), riot police and the tri-forces had been deployed to the area adjacent to the Colombo University including the Independence Square, Kollupitiya Junction and the Temple Trees.

In addition, several fire trucks and firefighters were also seen at the scene.

As Sri Lanka is witnessing a week-on-week increase in tourist arrival from China, more flights will be added in the coming months between the two countries.

The flag carrier of the People’s Republic of China, Air China, affirmed this week it would resume operations to Sri Lanka starting July.

According to Tourism Minister Harin Fernando, Air China has committed it would operate three flights to Sri Lanka. Fernando took to Twitter to share in brief an update in this regard.He added that the flight frequency would further be increased in the coming months.

Speaking to Mirror Business, the industry stakeholders welcomed the move, stating that the increased number of flights will help lure more travellers from China.

“It is a good move. It is a much-needed move. It augurs well for the industry. We needed that capacity to cater to the demand from China,” said the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators. At present, national carrier SriLankan Airlines operates a weekly service to Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou.

China’s National Health Commission announced in December that the inbound travellers will no longer have to go into quarantine and there will be no official restriction on Chinese people going abroad.

Following the scrapping of the ‘Zero Covid-19’ policy, Sri Lanka welcomed the first group of Chinese tourists in March 2.

Since then, tourist arrivals from that country are on a steady increase. China even ranks among the top 10 key source markets for destination Sri Lanka in April, where it stood in the sixth position, moving from the 11th position in March.

For the January 1 to May 7 period, China stands as the ninth largest tourist traffic generator for Sri Lanka, contributing to 3 percent of the total tourist arrivals (11,553).

A Paris baker of Sri Lankan origin said he “cried” when he heard he had won best baguette in the French capital this week and would be delivering the bread to the presidential palace.

“I cried because we are foreigners and we came here to learn how to make traditional French bread,” Tharshan Selvarajah told AFP on Thursday.

“I am very happy to have won the prize.”

Fifteen baguette connoisseurs on Wednesday selected Selvarajah’s version of the iconic French bread as the best among 175 anonymous contenders.

Members of the jury, including six ordinary Parisians, had to rate dozens of baguette on their taste, crust, crumb, air bubbles, and overall aspect.

“Don’t drink at the start or you won’t be able to make it to the end of the tasting,” Paris official Olivia Polski warned judges before they started.

A video she shared on Twitter shows her then ringing up the baker based in eastern Paris to tell him the good news.

Selvarajah told AFP he always makes his long loaves “with love”, while “smiling, laughing and singing”, and the result is well-cooked, delicious and crusty.

He has won 4,000 euros (RM19,500) and the opportunity to supply baguettes to the presidential palace.

(TheStar)

The stakes are high in the world of Parisian baguettes, and one baker has won it all. "I cried," says Tharshan Selvarajah, a baker of Sri Lankan origin, describing the moment he found out that his stick had won the title of Best Baguette in Paris. pic.twitter.com/JkXOaV8wrZ

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) May 11, 2023

The priest and member of Athi Lingeswaran temple were released on bail yesterday after they were arrested by Nedunkeni police.

Nedunkeni police summoned the priest and temple member yesterday for further investigations relating to the vandalism of the Athi Lingeswaran temple in March but were later arrested and taken to Vavuniya Magistrate court where the judge presiding over the case released them on bail.

In March, the Athi Lingam consecrated to Lord Siva in Vedukkunaari hill in Nedunkeni, Vavuniya was destroyed and discarded in the shrubbery surrounding the temple. Additionally many idols such as the idols of Pillaiyaar, the Mother Goddess Amman, and village deity Bhairavar were stolen from the temple.

The judge clarified that, contradictory to what was reported in the media earlier, while the police has to provide security for the poojas and to the worshippers at the temple, no restorations or changes are to be made to the temple itself.

The judge once again reiterated to the police to conduct the necessary further investigations in order to arrest those who had vandalised and destroyed the temple.

An AFP photojournalist in Sri Lanka has won recognition at the Human Rights Press Awards 2023 for his work during the political upheavals that eventually led to the ouster of Gotabaya Rajapaksa from the presidency in July 2022, a statement said.

Ishara Kodikara, 41, won an honourable mention in the “photography series” category of the awards organized by the New York-based Human Rights Watch, Arizona State University and the Reynolds Centre for Business Journalism.

“This award is a recognition for your hard and excellent work covering the daily protests in Colombo last year,” AFP’s Hong Kong-based Photo Director for the Asia-Pacific region, Mladen Antonov said in the statement.

“On behalf of all of us here in Hong Kong and from the photo management in Paris, please accept once more our warm congratulations!”

Ishara joined AFP in 2008 and is attached to its Colombo bureau. He has also photographed political upheavals in the Maldives and the 2015 earthquake in Nepal in addition to covering international cricket tournaments in Sri Lanka and abroad.

AFP’s Kabul bureau won the first prize in the breaking news category and recognised for their work “under deadline pressure with speed, accuracy and high-quality writing on a single human rights-related news event.”

Present in 151 countries, AFP offers news coverage on a vast range of subjects, and often from rarely covered locations, and the presence in the field allows AFP to diversify its sources, the statement said. A recognized hallmark of AFP journalism is also the attention it pays to human interest stories.

Images, which are increasingly the key element of news coverage, now account for half of the agency’s turnover, and live video broadcasts (around 40 a day) are among the most popular products.

The full list of 2023 Human Rights Press Awards can be accessed here: https://humanrightspressawards.org/2023-winners/

The Bill to amend the Provincial Councils (PC) Elections Act, presented by Jaffna District MP M.A. Sumanthiran as a Private Member’s Bill, has been published in the government gazette.

If the parliament enacts the Bill, the Provincial Council Elections (Amendment) Act No. 17 of 2017 will be repealed.

Further, the provincial council elections can be held under the old voting system if the Bill is adopted.

The Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian’s bill to amend the PC Elections Act was first published in the government gazette on October 11, 2019 as a private member’s proposal.

Meanwhile, Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced to the House on Wednesday (May 10) that he has endorsed the certificate on the Inland Revenue (Amendment) Bill in accordance with Article 79 of the Constitution.

The said Bill was passed in Parliament on April 28th 2023.

Accordingly, given the certification by the Speaker, the “Inland Revenue (Amendment)” Bill will come into effect as the “Inland Revenue (Amendment)” Act No. 04 of 2023.