‘I resigned from the presidency to give the people of Sri Lanka some respite’ View(s):Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa this week released his book titled “The Conspiracy: How Internationally Sponsored Regime Change Made a Mockery of Democracy in Sri Lanka”. I can now say through experience that whoever becomes President should be the leader of the political party as well”. –“Usually people spend years in a political party rising through the ranks as parliamentarians and ministers before becoming President. There was in fact a major foreign power that was insisting that I should not resign and they had demonstrated their willingness to do whatever it takes to keep Sri Lanka supplied with essentials. Yet I resigned from the presidency [sic] to give the people of Sri Lanka some respite.”(See also the Political Commentary on pages 12 and 13)Share This Post FacebookTwitterEmail × Send Email to FriendSend Please enter valid email WhatsappDeliciousDiggGoogleStumbleuponRedditTechnoratiYahooBloggerMyspaceRSS

Body of 17 year old girl found in a tea plantationNewsThe body of a young girl was found in a secluded tea plantation situated at Kurundugaha hathakma area in Elpitiya. The police confirmed the identity of the girl as Madusdhani Hansika Madusahani, a 17 year old resident of Thalawa Madakanda. Police observations revealed that the body of the girl had been found three kilometers away from her residence, and they had detected the body following a tip off. The police suspect that the body was placed in the secluded tea plantation after committing a murder elsewhere. The police said that observations were made that the body has cut wounds and bruises.

Steady tourist arrivals over the weeksNewsSri Lanka’s tourism arrival figures continued to rise for the past 10 weeks with an average of more than 6,000 arrivals per day. The latest figures for this month show that more than 40,000 tourists arrived between March 1 to 6. Last month, a total of 218,350 tourists arrived while in January 208,253 tourist arrivals were recorded. Reports from the outstations said that large number of tourists had arrived in the Ella, Kandy and Galle areas over the past few weeks. Pix by Prasad RukmalYou can share this post!

Ashtyn Mayo, a junior at Alturas, said the trip is part of the program, called IB Diploma. RELATED | ‘Rigorous’ diploma program equips local teens for successPart of the program’s curriculum, Mayo said, is the completion of CAS (creativity, activity, service) Project. Along with three of her program-mates, Mayo selected a trip to Peru, where the students will assist in development programs while taking part in cultural activities, like cooking and basket weaving. “We’re hoping, after we come back, to hold events to fundraise for charities in Peru where we would talk about Peruvian culture, probably prepare some Peruvian food,” she said. The group expects to plan additional fundraiser events before the trip, which is planned for June.

Source: phys.orgConsidering the climate crisis and worldwide plastic pollution, many people believe that recycling materials, in particular plastic, is the solution to our problems. Recycling can reduce resource use, prevent waste and reduce CO2 emissions. It is an important cornerstone of the circular economy. But while some materials are relatively simple to recycle, recycling plastics involves a complex conflict of objectives.

Source: phys.orgIt's estimated that $12 billion will be spent on political ads this election cycle—30% more than in 2020. The sheer volume of ads is remarkable, and there is vast potential to use this political information to contribute to democracy: to reach more potential voters and provide accurate information.

Source: phys.orgAcademic freedom today is not available for 3.6 billion people, or 45.5% of the world's population. After a global peak in academic freedom in 2006, the situation today is comparable to circumstances fifty years ago in 1973.

Five offers for Sri Lanka Insurance units stakesNewsFive offers have been made under the Request for Qualification (RfQ) called for the divesture of shares in the life and general units of Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation Ltd, according to the state-owned Enterprises Restructuring Unit of the Ministry of Finance. For the life unit, offers were made by LIC (Lanka) Ltd, Union Assurance PLC and Asiri Hospital Holdings PLC while for the general unit offers were received from Euro Exim Bank Ltd and Fairfirst Insurance Ltd. The deadline for submissions ended on March 6. You can share this post!

IMF comments on Sri Lanka’s commitment on Programme implementationNewsDuring the meeting between President Ranil Wickremesinghe and the IMF team at the Finance Ministry today (07), Peter Breuer, the Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka, delivered encouraging remarks. This statement resonated with both President Wickremesinghe and the IMF team, highlighting the collective efforts and collaboration that have contributed to Sri Lanka's economic recovery. As discussions progressed, President Wickremesinghe and the IMF team delved into various aspects of Sri Lanka's economic performance, focusing on fiscal stability, structural reforms, and future outlook. In conclusion, the meeting between President Ranil Wickremesinghe and the IMF team at the Finance Ministry today highlighted the positive outcomes of Sri Lanka's engagement with the IMF program. Breuer's remarks served as a testament to the collective efforts and commitment towards achieving economic prosperity, further reinforcing the optimism surrounding Sri Lanka's economic trajectory.

BERLIN (AP) — German law enforcement authorities on Thursday carried out raids across Germany against people suspected of posting misogynistic hate speech on the internet as part of of a coordinated push to shine the spotlight on online violence against women. None of the suspects were detained, Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office said in a statement. In preparation for the raids, authorities scoured the internet for posts that potentially broke anti-misogyny laws and attempted to identify the authors. The raids concentrated on suspects who had set their sights on well-known women like female politicians – often the target of misogynistic hatred online. Despite the law, online posts that degrade or threaten women often go unpunished, and many women say they avoid public attention fearing online attacks.

ATIRE becomes the World’s 1st CARBON-NEUTRAL Solid Tire CompanyBusinessIn a groundbreaking move, ATIRE Pvt Ltd, the rapidly growing industrial solid tire company based in Sri Lanka, has redefined the standards of environmental responsibility by becoming the world's first carbon-neutral industrial solid tire manufacturing company. Founded in 2019, ATIRE is one of the fastest growing solid tire brands in the industry. As a member of Anunine Holdings, a diversified conglomerate with a strong focus on sustainability, ATIRE is part of a broader mission to drive positive change across multiple industries. Innovative and Sustainable Initiatives“We are delighted to state that ATIRE is now the world’s 1st carbon neutral solid tire company, which includes its state-of-the-art tire manufacturing facility based in Sri Lanka - which is now a net-zero emissions manufacturing plant. Steam generation, a significant energy consumer in the solid tire industry, traditionally relies on fossil fuels, contributing to environmental degradation.

Addi Health Secy gives in confidential statementNewsDr. Saman Ratnayake, the Additional Secretary of the Health Ministry who was recently placed on remand following the scandal involving the substandard medication procurement has made a four-hour confidential statement to the Maligakanda Magistrate’s Court today (Mar. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested him on Friday (Mar. 1), in relation to the incident involving the substandard purchase of human intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). The court has further ordered the Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Health to be kept apart from the other detained suspects of the case after he declared in court on Friday (Mar. 1) that he was prepared to confess to the matter.

Source: phys.orgText-to-image generative AI systems like Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, and DALL-E can produce images based on text prompts that, had they been produced by humans, would plausibly be judged as "creative." Some artists have argued that these programs are a threat to human creativity. If AI comes to be relied on to produce most new visual works, drawing on what has been done before, creative progress could stagnate.

Says failure to address suffering of civilians in Gaza, undermines the credibility of the international human rights frameworkBy Sunil JayasiriSri Lanka has called for the UN Human Rights Council to halt its excessive scrutiny of nations in the global south through intrusive mechanisms while ignoring violations elsewhere to regain credibility. Sri Lanka also expressed disappointment that the Council’s persistent and disproportionate attention on Sri Lanka is not beneficial to the nation. “Unfortunately, this does not appear to be the case with regard to Sri Lanka, where the Council´s continuous and disproportionate focus on Sri Lanka is unhelpful to the country concerned,” she said. We appreciate the many positive comments made by countries during the General Debate on Sri Lanka, acknowledging the visible progress on the ground. In the context of protection and promotion of human rights in the Global South, Sri Lanka supports the One China principle and we take note of China’s cooperation with UN human rights mechanisms.

Source: phys.orgA new study from the Nihewan basin of China has revealed that hominins who possessed advanced knapping abilities equivalent to Mode 2 technological features occupied East Asia as early as 1.1 million years ago (Ma), which is 0.3 Ma earlier than the date associated with the first handaxes found in East Asia. This suggests that Mode 2 hominins dispersed into East Asia much earlier than previously thought.