Demining in areas reserved for resettlement of displaced civilians has been completed, Army Commander Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya said. Demining in other areas will also be completed within the next two years, he disclosed addressing a media briefing held at the Army Headquarters yesterday(17).
(JNW)
January 18, 2012 at 10:53 am
‘Abimansala-2′, welness resort for disabled soldiers in South will be inaugarated by the Army Commander tomorrow(19). It will be located at Wilpitawatta, Udumulla under Athuraliya Divisional Secretariat.
The new ‘Abimansala-2’ project, estimated to cost around Rs 240 million upon completion lies in a 10-acre serene natural environment with rich bio-diversity and waterways, bordering ‘Haliela Wewa’, and was donated by Land Reforms Commission in response to a request, extended by the Commander of the Army.
28 disable soldiers, but still able to move about on wheelchairs are to be housed in seven Villas, four in each Villa while totally dependent remainder of 20 more War Heroes who constantly need the medical attention are to be accommodated in a state of the art ward to be built as per medical advice.
(JNW)
January 18, 2012 at 10:46 am
South Africa took an unassailable 3-0 lead after the most closely fought game of the five-match series thus far, with the result settled in anticlimactic fashion by the Duckworth-Lewis method. Thundershowers interrupted play at the end of 34 overs of South Africa’s chase, at which time the teams were on even terms but the hosts just four runs ahead mathematically. In that context, captain AB de Villiers’ counterattacking, unbeaten 39 and his brief partnership with Albie Morkel, which included a retrospectively decisive 26 runs in the last three overs, settled the game for South Africa.
Batting down the order, at No.6, and promoting Faf du Plessis to No.4 proved a masterstroke from de Villiers, who showed excellent adaptability to a tricky situation posed by the weather. A light drizzle infused a sense of urgency in his approach, and by the time it had developed into pouring rain, he had taken his team past the required target. His efforts, together with du Plessis’ fluent half-century earlier in the innings, undermined a spirited performance from Sri Lanka in the field and a much-improved show with the bat.
Three fours in an over against Kosala Kulasekara signalled the acceleration South Africa needed to get their noses ahead. de Villiers, in the 32nd over, smashed two deliveries through extra cover and walked across to clip one through square leg. The next over fetched five and what turned out to be the final over of the match yielded eight, including a wide and at least a run scored off every other ball. de Villiers and Albie Morkel had got together when their opponents held the advantage, following the run-outs of du Plessis and JP Duminy.
South Africa 179 for 5 (du Plessis 72, de Villiers 39*) beat Sri Lanka 266 for 9 (Tharanga 58, Nuwan Kulasekara 40) by four runs according to D-L method
(ESPN)
January 18, 2012 at 6:24 am
Sri Lanka’s batting turned up on a slow East London pitch after the no-show in Paarl but a scratchy performance was not enough to push South Africa, though the hosts managed to give themselves some nervy moments during the chase. Sri Lanka’s three big batsmen failed once again and it was only due to the rapidly maturing Dinesh Chandimal and Upul Tharanga that they avoided another poor score.
Hashim Amla’s wizardry then threatened to shut out the visitors before South Africa lost crucial wickets at the wrong times to make sure the rest of their chase wouldn’t be as breezy as Amla’s innings was. JP Duminy, though, kept his cool to guide his side home in the penultimate over.
AB de Villiers had earlier been lured into putting Sri Lanka in by overcast skies, but the visitors were able to survive and slowly build their innings, partly due to the lack of bite in the pitch and partly due to Chandimal and Tharanga. That South Africa got as much as 237 to chase was down largely to Chandimal. He batted till the end of Sri Lanka’s innings, displaying grit – a quality that has been largely absent among Sri Lanka’s batsmen recently.
Chandimal outside-edged heaves over point, he even lap-swept a ball off his helmet a four. Timing eluded him for most of his innings, but fortune did not. He repeatedly tried to smash the spinners out of the ground only for the ball to roll towards midwicket. He could have been run out several times as he went for tight singles. He had earlier been hit on the arm and the side of the helmet by Albie Morkel as he played a pull too early. But he just smiled and rode out the tough period. He hit his first four off the 16th delivery he faced, the next one came off the 85th as he carried Sri Lanka from 164 for 5 in the 40th over to 236 for 6 in the company of Angelo Mathews.
The visitors had initially found themselves in familiar territory at 21 for 2 after 10 overs despite the Buffalo Park pitch affording neither the pace nor the bounce that Paarl had. Tillakaratne Dilshan still managed to get dismissed off the fourth ball he faced for his second duck in as many games, a slight hesitation while attempting a tight single against the arm of Faf du Plessis finding him short of the crease. He now averages 15.50 with the bat in 18 ODIs since taking over the Sri Lanka captaincy.
South Africa 237 for 5 (Duminy 66*, Amla 55, Prasad 3-46) beat Sri Lanka 236 for 6 (Chandimal 92*, Tharanga 66, M Morkel 2-39, Tsotsobe 2-43) by five wickets
(ESPN)
January 15, 2012 at 6:36 am
Error made in Advanced Level district rankings has been caused in the last stage of issuing results, the Experts Committee appointed to look into the matter has said. However, the Examination Department was able to rectify it within a shorter period. Amended results are accurate, the committee has said.
(JNW)
January 14, 2012 at 10:40 am
The Cabinet has approved signing of MoU with India to obtain a grant equal to US $ 260 million for construction of 49,000 houses for IDPs in the Northern and Eastern provinces. The project is to be implemented in three modes.
Under mode 1, about 38,000 houses in the Northern and Eastern Provinces will be reconstructed, with a total payment of Rs.550,000 per house. Payment will be made in four installments directly to the beneficiaries bank accounts.
Around 5000 houses in the Northern and Eastern provinces will be repaired and payment will be made directly to the beneficiaries in three install1nents, under mode 2.
Under mode 3 about 6000 houses are to be reconstructed and about 4000 of these houses will be reconstructed for Estates workers in the Central and Uva Provinces.
(JNW)
January 12, 2012 at 1:32 pm
Salaries of Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, Ceylon Electricity Board and Water Board employees are to be increased by 18%, Cabinet Spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said. In addition, a monthly allowance of Rs.2500/- will also be given away, the Minister added.
(JNW)
January 12, 2012 at 1:30 pm
No Visa fees are to be charged from children under 12 years of age and for transit passengers who stay in the country up to 48 hours, the Cabinet has decided. It would be very much favourable for Sri Lanka, as it would make this system attractive while boosting visits by foreigners with their children, Cabinet Spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said.
Furthermore, it is considered that if transit passengers are given exemption from processing fees up to two days (48 hours), as on nurnerous occasions they conclude their visits within that period of time.
(JNW)
January 12, 2012 at 1:27 pm
The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani will arrive in Sri Lanka for a two day official visit on January 15, on the invitation of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The Qatari delegation will consist high ranking officials of the Qatari government and several leading business tycoons of Qatar.
The Emir of Qatar is due to hold bilateral talks with President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat. A State Banquet will also be hosted by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to the Emir of Qatar and his delegation. Several agreements in the fields of economic, trade, investment, cultural and industrial sectors are also to be signed during the visit of the Emir of Qatar.
(JNW)
January 12, 2012 at 11:20 am
South Africa’s season of outlandish results produced another jaw-dropper as Sri Lanka subsided to 43 all out, their lowest total in one-dayers. The shorter format was widely expected to make the one-day series a more even contest than the Tests, but Sri Lanka’s 258-run defeat in Paarl was the third largest in ODI history, giving AB de Villiers the perfect start to his captaincy.
South Africa’s batsmen had earlier enjoyed themselves despite the scorching heat as they ran up 301 after winning the toss. Hashim Amla highlighted why he’s the world’s top-ranked ODI batsman with his ninth century, and was supported by the two other big guns of the batting – Jacques Kallis provided the early impetus before de Villiers produced the most fluent innings of the match to power South Africa on a pitch where both seam and spin proved elusive in the afternoon.
Lasith Malinga underscored his value to Sri Lanka, with a five-for that reined in South Africa towards the end of the innings, but his sterling efforts proved moot as Sri Lanka lost five wickets in five overs to effectively end the contest.
South Africa 301 for 8 (Amla 112, Kallis 72, de Villiers 52, Malinga 5-54) beat Sri Lanka 43 (Morkel 4-10) by 258 runs
(ESPN)
January 12, 2012 at 6:09 am
Report of the committee appointed to look into the G.C.E. Advanced Level district result issue has been handed over to President Mahinda Rajapakse by the chairman of the committee Secretary to the Ministry of Technology and Research Dhara Wijethilake at Temple Trees today(11).
Other members of the committee Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo Professor Shanika Hiriburegama, Vice Chancellor of the University of Moratuwa Professor Ananda Jayawardena, Vice Chancellor of the Uva University Professor Ranjith Premalal De Siva and the Principal of the Royal College Upali Gunasekara were also present on this occassion.
(JNW)
January 11, 2012 at 8:24 pm
The government is to increase the fleet of Sri Lankan airlines to 27 by 2015, Minister of Civil Aviation Priyankara Jayaratne stated. In addition the number of sea planes will be increased up to 5, he added.
(JNW)
January 11, 2012 at 3:32 pm
The government is to link up with the University of Colombo to begin a degree programme for pilots, Minister of Civil Aviation Priyankara Jayaratne said. Main objective of this is to train rural youth to be pilots in the next decade, he added.
(JNW)
January 11, 2012 at 3:27 pm
Members of the Army who applied for 2012 Grade One admissions could find the schools allocated to their children at www.army.lk website, the Army Headquarters have said.
(JNW)
January 11, 2012 at 3:25 pm
The Met Department and the Disaster Management Center has emphasized Sri Lanka will have no impact from the tsunami triggered by the earthquake struck off northern Sumatra. Indonesia issued a tsunami warning early today(11) after an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.3 occured.
The quake was 420 km (260 miles) southwest of Banda Aceh, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
“Both the Disaster Management Center and the Met Department are closely monitoring the situation. However, according to the international data that have been collected, we can confirm that there will be no impact on Sri Lanka from the tsunami,” Pradeep Kodippili, Assistant Director of Disaster Management Center told JNW a short while ago.
(JNW)
January 11, 2012 at 1:10 am
Indonesia issued a tsunami warning on Wednesday after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck off northern Sumatra.
The quake was 420 km (260 miles) southwest of Banda Aceh, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
Indonesia’s meterological and geophysics agency, which said the quake was 7.6 magnitude on the Richter scale, routinely issues tsunami warnings for quakes over 7 magnitude.
Local people in Banda Aceh ran away in panic from buildings after news of the quake, a witness said.
(Reuters)
January 11, 2012 at 12:55 am
A National Dengue Prevention Week has been declared from Monday(16), the Ministry of Health has announced. 5 deaths have been reported during the first week of the new year, it added. Therefore, the decision in this regard was taken at a special discussion held at the Ministry today(10).
(JNW)
January 10, 2012 at 5:00 pm
