News.lk - The Official Government News Portal of Sri Lanka

Eighteenth Session of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) of the Food and Agriculture Organization will be held in Colombo from 01st to 05th June 2014. The Meeting is held in Sri Lanka on the initiative of Dr Rajitha Senaratne, Minister of
Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Development. This is the second time Sri Lanka is hosting the event, the first being in 2011.

The annual 'Pan Pooja'  ceremony organized by the Ceylon Electricity Board  was held at the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi, Anuradhapura with the participation of Minister of Power and Energy Mrs.Pavithra Wanniarachchi to invoke blessings for bountiful rain this season to fill the hydro  reservoirs ending the dry spell prevalent in the country.

The Sri Lanka Navy assisted in the repatriation of 21 Indian fishermen and 10 fishing trawlers on Sunday.  They were handed over to the Indian Coast Guard Ship “Abheek” at the seas off Mannar. Sri Lanka Navy Inshore Patrol Craft were deployed for the humanitarian mission.

Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs and Law K Shanmugam will arrive in Sri Lanka today on a four-day official visit. will be accompanied by senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Spiritual Head of the lnternational Dawoodi Bohra Community His Holiness Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin arrived in Colombo on Monday evening for a short visit in the island.

The Sri Lanka Consulate General in Mumbai in collaboration with Hotel Trident, Mumbai and Hotel Mount Lavinia, of Sri Lanka organized a Sri Lankan Food Festival from 7th -14th March 2014 at the Frangipani restaurant, Hotel Trident, Mumbai with the objective of promoting tourism between India and Sri Lanka under the theme “Destination Promotion”. The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau and Sri Lankan Airlines approved this endeavour with their sponsorship for this event.

The world renowned chef Dr. Pubilis Silva of Hotel Mount Lavinia was specially flown to Mumbai with his three culinary experts for the preparation of authentic and traditional Sri Lankan cuisine giving the food lovers from various regions to experience authentic Sri Lankan dishes such as egg hoppers, roast paan, kottu roti, polos curry, ambul thiyal, coconut sambol and sweet eats such as ala toffee, watalappam, coconut cake and mung guli and konda kevum. The Ceylon Tea Counter arranged by Basilur Tea from Sri Lanka was a major attraction during the ten day promotion. Guests had the opportunity to taste specialty teas from a range of Ceylon Teas.

An exhibition of photographs depicting Sri Lanka’s cultural heritage, bio diversity and tourist attractions along with selected Sri Lankan handicrafts was held as a sideline event.

At a ceremony attended by Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Jayanath Colombage, Sri Lanka Navy took delivery of the first Australian Bay Class patrol vessel in Cairns Australia on Saturday (29). The flag transfer ceremony, which marked the passing of responsibility, authority and accountability of command of the vessel from one Flag state to another, took place in the presence of the officials representing the Australian Customs and Border Protection, Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Australia,  Admiral (retd) Thisara Samarasinghe, Commander of the Navy and the SLN crew, who will be manning the vessel’s 4800 nautical-mile voyage home.

Considerable progress has been made in the consolidation process during the month of March 2014. Over the past few days, in keeping with the Central Bank’s request, banks and NBFIs have commenced submitting their broad plans on consolidation and greater participation in the economic activities, thereby adhering to the already announced time line of 31 March 2014. These plans are to be reviewed by the Central Bank within the coming week, and suitable responses due to be sent thereafter.