CEJ warns of mercury risks from substandard coal imports to Norochcholai
The Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) has raised concerns that recent coal consignments suspected to be of inferior quality may contain elevated mercury levels, posing risks to ecosystems and human health. According to The Island newspaper, Chairperson of CEJ, environmental…
Sri Lanka to allow import of alternative rice varieties to address Samba shortage
A Gazette notification has been issued by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake permitting the import of alternative rice varieties to address the shortage of Samba and Kiri Samba rice in the local market. On Tuesday (31 March), Cabinet Spokesman Nalinda Jayatissa…
Lightning advisory: red alert issued to 18 districts
The Department of Meteorology has issued an advisory for severe lightning in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Northwestern, Northcentral, and Uva provinces, and the Trincomalee, Mannar, Vavuniya and Mullaittivu districts today (03). Per the advisory, valid until 11.00 pm, red alerts…
India defence exports surged 62% to $4.1 billion in fiscal year to March
India’s defence exports for the fiscal year to March reached 384.24 billion rupees ($4.11 billion), a jump of more than 62% from the previous period, the government said in a statement on Thursday. India exported 236.22 billion rupees ($2.52 billion)…
Bangladesh missed its last measles vaccine drive. Now dozens of children are dying
Vaccination rate below 60 per cent is blamed for measles outbreak in Bangladesh A measles outbreak in Bangladesh due to low vaccination rates has prompted authorities to launch an emergency nationwide immunisation campaign to contain the spread of the disease….
‘System failure’ sparked robotaxi outage in central China, police say
A “system failure” caused a robotaxi outage involving multiple vehicles operated by Baidu’s Apollo Go in central Chinese city of Wuhan, local police said on Wednesday, re-igniting safety concerns over the fast-growing service. Police received reports late on Tuesday that…
Ministry of Industries denies false reports targeting Minister Sunil Handunneththi’s staff
The Ministry of Industries and Enterprise Development says the news being circulated through various media networks targeting the coordinating secretaries of Minister Sunil Handunneththi is completely false and baseless. In a statement, the ministry said that the video clips being…
Russian Deputy FM reaffirms oil, investment and tourism support for Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Affairs Vijitha Herath met with Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko at the Ministry in Colombo on Thursday (02), where both sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral relations. According to a Foreign Ministry statement,…
Corruption case : Prasanna Ranatunga to pay Rs. 25 mn fine, appeal withdrawn
Former Minister Prasanna Ranatunga has agreed to pay a Rs. 25 million fine and withdraw his appeal in connection with a case involving the alleged solicitation of money from a businessman over land in Meethotamulla. The development came during proceedings…
Dollar rate today : Selling rate remains unchanged at Rs. 318
The Sri Lankan rupee remains steady against the US dollar across commercial banks in Sri Lanka today (03), compared to Thursday, while the selling rate remains unchanged at Rs. 318. According to Seylan Bank, the buying and selling rates of…