Affidavit filed by the Chief Wildlife Warden, Assam in the matter of news item titled "the last feral horses in India" appearing in Mongabay, November 5, 2024. The matter relates to the critically endangered status of feral horses in the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park as well as of smuggling of these …
The world has achieved its first Millennium Development Goal of cutting extreme poverty in half ahead of the 2015 deadline, a study by the World Bank shows. The bank defines extreme poverty as living on under $1.25 per day, adjusted for purchasing power parity. According to the report, released this …
Sri Lanka has recorded the lowest number of persons suffering from abject poverty in the Asian region, Housing and Engineering Services Minister Wimal Weerawansa has said. Addressing a tree planting ceremony in Ratmalana, Minister Weerawansa has observed that the country's economic indicators were on a positive path and that poverty …
Demystifying the popular myth that Nepal is the poorest country in South Asia, a recent World Bank report revealed that it is third poorest country in the region. “From being the poorest country in 1990, Nepal has improved its position to be the third poorest ahead of Bangladesh and India …
Tobacco use kills one person every six seconds: Rasika Somarathna Secondhand smoke cause * Lung cancer * Heart disease * Sudden infant death syndrome * Low birth weight * Serious respiratory conditions The government is planning to bring in two important pieces of legislation which when implemented, could result in …
Sri Lanka is to obtain a US$ 278 million loan from China to extend the Southern coastal railway line from Matara to Kataragama. The Ministry of Finance has announced that the Exim Bank of China has agreed to provide the US$ 278 million concessionary loan for the construction of the …
A fire has broken out in the Eastern slope area of the Knuckles Forest Reserve. The forest fire which had spread to the Kahatagolla, Ududumbara area has destroyed around 15 acres of land. The fire is suspected to have begun from the upper area of the Knuckles Reserve such as …
Atomic Energy Authority officials, along with other stakeholders, collected samples in the deep sea upto four kilometres in the Beruwala area, to check whether they were contaminated due to the radiation leak in Japan. Atomic Energy Authority Sectional Head Wijeya A. Waduge told The Island yesterday that the earlier test …
The number of people affected by asthma has shown an alarming increase in Sri Lanka due to increased air pollution in the cities. This was revealed on Thursday (2) by Dr. Thalatha Liyanage, Director of the Non Communicable Diseases (NCD) Unit of the Health Education Bureau. She told The Island …
Sri Lanka Ministry of Industry and Commerce has decided to hold a census of industries in 2013. Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiyutheen says that the State owned industrial establishments, industries coming within the purview of Board of Investment (BOI) and private sector establishments with 5 or more persons …
Ford announced the winning project under their Environmental Conservation and Grants program in Sri Lanka. The ‘Fire Prevention in Knuckles Forest Reserve’ project was selected as the winner after heavy jury examination and will receive upto $10,000 from Ford Motor Company to implement their proposal. Ford Motor Company's Conservation and …
Representatives from 13 countries attended the second Asia Energy Security Summit 2012, which commenced on Wednesday in Colombo. Participants include experts in the field and sub fields of energy of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Uzbekistan. Speakers at the summit included energy experts and academics, policy makers, government officials …
The government expects a bumper harvest of nearly 1.5 million metric tonnes of paddy from cultivation areas during this Maha season. Co-operatives and Internal Trade Ministry Secretary Sunil S Sirisena told the Daily News that this was a result of several thousands of acres in the North and East being …
Signalling increasing emphasis on healthcare, the government has decided to boost public spending in the sector to 2.5 per cent of GDP from the current 1.4 per cent over five years. The Prime Minister’s Office has directed the Planning Commission to allocate funds during the 12th Five-Year Plan. The increase …
The second Asia Energy Security Summit 2012, a Track 2 diplomacy initiative, debating Asian geopolitics, energy and infrastructure security will begin in the Sri Lankan capital city Colombo today with the participation of attendees from 13 countries. The two-day summit from February 29 - March 01 will be held at …
The Power and Energy Ministry is to use Nuclear and Radio Isotope (NRI) technology for sea water pollution management for the first time as sea water contamination has gone out of control in the seas surrounding Sri Lanka, a Ministry spokesman said. He said a workshop on sea water management …
A sustainable solution has been found for the human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka by Practical Action, said Practical Action Sri Lanka Team Leader Ranasinghe Perera, addressing a press conference yesterday at the Buddhist Cultural Centre, Colombo. He said that electric fencing was the principal solution for the human-elephant conflict in …
The Deduru Oya is the sixth largest river in Sri Lanka which is about 142 km in length and has a water resource area of about 2,420 km. The objective of the project was to prevent about 1,000 billion sq. metres of water flowing out to the sea and to …
The Health Ministry will set up the National Research Institute on Typhus Fever and Leishmaniasis in Hambantota. Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena has already instructed health officials to set up the Institute within the next few months using the resources of Malaria Project which has been abandoned, a Health Ministry spokesman …
Ancient lineage traced to East, West parts of Africa Scientists have discovered a new family of limbless amphibians from northeast India with their ancient lineage traced to eastern and western parts of Africa, a relationship preserved from the time the southern continents broke up more than 150 million years ago. …
The Sri Lankan government has taken steps to auction a land that has recently caught attention due to a massive gem deposit found in it. The land situated in Thammennawa in Kataragama Pradeshiya Sabha area of the Uva Province became a sudden hot spot as gems were found from soil …
