In brief

 

School books and 617 sets of drawing equipment were distributed among re-settled children attending 16 primary schools in the Mannar West area recently. A ceremony was held under the patronage of Brig. Maithree Dias and Col. Vikum Liyanage, Commander 215th Brigade through the coordination of Lt. Col. Nalinda Mahavithana, Civil Coordinating Officer of the 215th Brigade at the Roman Catholic School, Karukkathandal to distribute the items. The items were donated by Sarvodaya.

 

Foreign earnings target US 4 b

Foreign remittances to Sri Lanka increased by 11 percent to US $ 1820 million in the second quarter of the year. This was at US $ 1602 in the corresponding period last year.

Foreign remittances are Sri Lanka's number one foreign exchange earner and the government hopes to achieve a record US $ 4 billion target this year. This was at US 3.3 billion last year.

Despite the global economic downturn last year, Sri Lanka recorded a sharp 15 percent increase in foreign employment, an official from Foreign Employment Bureau said. A record number of 134,670 Sri Lankan employees went overseas in the first six months of this year which is a 17,669 increase as against the first six months of the previous year.

Sri Lanka had provided the highest number of employees to Qatar which shows a 54 percent increase.

Lankan employees to South Korea have increased by 43 percent, Kuwait 18 percent and UAE 11 percent. Over 2,000 Sri Lankans ventured to South Korea in the first six months of this year and under new agreements the Bureau expects this number to increase by 12 percent.

Sri Lanka also expects a high quota of employment opportunities from Malaysia, Libya and Bahrain. - SS

UDA to launch Rs 5 m IPO

by Shirajiv SIRIMANE

The Urban Development Authority (UDA) will launch an Initial Public Offer (IPO) to raise Rs. 5 million by the end of the year.

Director General Nihal Fernando said that the IPO would be launched on September 23 and the official banker would be the Bank of Ceylon.

He said that if the IPO is oversubscribed they would go up to Rs. 10 million. The money raised from the IPO would be used for Urban Development projects in the pipeline.

Aadivasi Day celebrations

World Aadivasi Day will be held on September 25 at the Dambana Aadivasi Heritage Centre.

The event is organized by the Presidential Public Relations Division to give effect to the aspirations of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. National Heritage and Cultural Affairs Minister Pavitradevi Wanniarachchi, Uva Chief Minister Sashindra Kumara Rajapaksa and Presidential Public Relations Director, J. P. I. Vajira Irugal Bandara will participate at the ceremony.

An exhibition and a medical clinic will be held. Consumer items will also be distributed among the members of the aadivasi community.

Ruhuna varsity student's death inquiry tomorrow

The inaugural session of the Presidential Commission of inquiry into matters relating to the death of Susantha Anura Bandara, student of Ruhunu University will be held tomorrow at the auditorium of the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies, Colombo.

The Commission will be chaired by retired Judge of the Supreme Court Justice D. J. de S. Balapatabendi. Edmund Jayasuriya will officiate as the Secretary to the Commission.

Low cost power, need of the hour

Power and Energy Minister Patalee Champika Ranawaka said his ministry's attention has been drawn to the generation of low cost electricity and maximising the capacity of power generation plants.

The Minister, who visited the Inginiyagala hydro power station, instructed officials to obtain a new generator to increase the output to 15 MW.

The Minister pledged that the electricity supply in the Ampara district, which is only for 40 per cent of the population, would be increased to 100 per cent during the next two years, "Providing electricity qualitatively and at maximum level to the public is my prime target", the Minister said.Under the "Vidulamu Lanka" program, the power supply would increase to 100 per cent. Wind power and small-scale hydro power houses would also be commissioned so that an additional 100 megawatts could be added to the national grid", he said.

Sweet success for Jaffna grape farmers

by Ananda PATHIRAJA

Following the restoration of peace in the Jaffna peninsula after three decades, the cultivation of grapes in the region has increased manifold.

Due to the unrest in the Jaffna peninsula earlier, agricultural activities faced enormous obstacles, affecting farmer families.

However, with incentives provided by the Government, grapes have been cultivated all over the Jaffna peninsula.

As the grape harvest has increased, grape farmers are earning a sound income from their harvest.

Ex-staffer passes away

The death occurred last week of Carl Nanayakkara at the age of 86 and the burial took place at the Nayakakanda Church cemetery, Hendala, last Sunday. Late Nanayakkara was attached to the Railway Department as a station master and served the department until his retirement.

After his retirement he joined Lake House in the newly formed Editorial VDT department as a Proof Reader, in the early 80s.

Sustainable development plans in North

Government Agents of Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, Jaffna, Kilinochchi and Mannar met representatives of key state Technical Agencies in a District Consultative Meeting recently to discuss the development plans of each district in the Northern Province. The meeting took place during Integrated Strategic Environmental Assessment (ISEA) field visit to the Northern Province, recently.

The ISEA is a multi-agency approach that aims to ensure sustainable development in the province whilst preserving historical sites, forest reserves, and other significant environmental locations with a view to long-term disaster risk reduction.

For this the Central Environmental Authority (CEA), Disaster Management Centre (DMC) with financial and technical assistance of the UNDP and UNEP coordinate a consultative process involving a large number of line agencies where data and information are assimilated in an easy to understand format. During the visit the Government Technical Agencies prepared a water budget covering extraction capacity and the quality of ground water with the help of Water Resource Board.

An assessment was also made on the provision of sand and building materials with technical know how of Geological Survey and Mines Bureau and also on optimum use of marine and coastal resources by National Aquatic Resources Agency.

Movie-making workshop

International Award winning Indian Filmmaker, R.S. Prasanna will hold his next movie making workshop "cinemascope" in colombo at the end of this month.

R.S. Prasanna said that the workshop is not just a lecture but an event in which all aspects could be studied.

Best performers will have the chance of winning a free India trip to L.V. Prasad studio to gain experience in movie making. (LSAW)

Mini power plants to ease crisis

The Power and Energy Ministry is conducting a feasibility study on mini power plants as an alternative means to ease the power crisis in the country. Plans are afoot to set up mini power plants, each of which has the capacity of producing less than 10 megawatts electricity, according to the Ministry sources. At present 80 megawatts of electricity are produced by mini power plants. Due to insufficient water resources to power mega plants, the ministry had decided to launch mini power plants.

MN

Sinhala program for Tamil teachers

The State Language Commission and the Eastern Province Education Department will hold a 10-day residential training program for selected Tamil medium teachers in the Province who are capable of teaching Sinhala, Eastern Province Education Director S. Manoharan said.

He said that 50 selected teachers will be trained, four teachers from each education zone in the province.

The training program is scheduled to be held from September 25 to October 03 at Thisera Ladies College Batticaloa.

The letters for the selected teachers for the training program will be sent shortly, said the Director.

The trained teachers will teach sinhala to school teachers and Tamil medium Government Officials the Director said.

- MN

Ranjith's father passes away

W. Rapheal Rodrigo (84) father of Ranjith Rodrigo, Vice President of Football Federation of Sri Lanka, President Negombo Football League and Negombo Youth Sports Club passed away on Friday. The cortege leaves residence at 4 pm for burial today at St. Anne's Church cemetery, Palangathure. Remains lie at Church Road, Palangathure, Daluwakotuwa, Kochchikade.