By Yakuta DawoodAmidst intensifying discussions on the possibilities of exporting hemp – a type of cannabis plant – to the international market, an official from the Export Development Board (EDB) stated that Sri Lanka should try other export avenues rather than focusing on “something that is not possible”. “With the present legalisation, growing and exporting cannabis is going to be a complicated process, which will be very difficult to implement. If we can sort out these issues, we can improve quite a bit in our export market,” he said. Right now, the EDB is helping companies to brand, market, and gain exposure in the international market,” the official added. Everyone wants to do the tea business, whereas Sri Lanka has also been blessed by the gods with an all-natural treatment called cannabis.

The Ministry of Agriculture says that permission has been granted for the import of plant nutrients and agrochemicals for paddy, corn vegetables and other crops for the Maha season. Secretary to the ministry Prof. Udith K. Jayasinghe stated that it is during the Maha season that most of the farming activities are carried out especially for crops such as paddy, maize, vegetables and the export-oriented crops such as tea, coconut and tuber. He stated that their first step is to obtain the recommended maximum cultivation size of these crops and ensure food security and that they are in line with the government policy for that. Prof. Jayasinghe said that under the supervision of the Director of Agriculture and committee, it is to be decided what are the required quantities and that the government has empowered them to act scientifically to the extent necessary. He said the Director of Agriculture will make the recommendations through the committee as to what fertilizers and agrochemicals are imported.

State Minister of Urban Development, Waste Disposal and Community Cleanliness Dr. Nalaka Godahewa said that the Government through the Budget 2022 has not passed the burden on to the people. However, the Finance Minister has taken a lot of care not to put a burden on the public. At the same time, the Finance Minister has taken a lot of care not to put a burden on the public. A: I think the Finance Minister made it very clear in his speech that now the Government has to look at attracting investments. Some people are talking about a point made by the Finance Minister in his Budget speech.

By The Sunday Morning Business DeskA part of the star sapphire cluster that was discovered in Sri Lanka a few months ago, and said to be the largest in the world, is presently at the testing stage at the Gübelin Gem Lab in Switzerland, after which the entire cluster will be auctioned in Switzerland itself, The Sunday Morning Business learns. Continuous attempts to reach State Minister of Gem and Jewellery-related Industries Lohan Ratwatte until this edition went to print, proved futile. Experts said that the sapphire is pale blue in colour and weighs around 510 kg. The main gemstones found in Sri Lanka include sapphire, alexandrite, cat’s eye, padparadscha aquamarine, and moonstone, amongst which the blue sapphire is the most widely known coloured gemstone. The Government relaxed the 14% income tax on the gem and jewellery industry last year.

OverviewWhat is abusive supervision? While abusive supervision has long been documented in the workplace, only recently have researchers begun to examine its consequences. As researchers observe, abusive supervision is not typically viewed as a conflict between two parties. “Certain targets – those who are anxious and tense – seem to be at higher risk of abusive supervision,” says Hershcovis. There is limited research about how to deal with abusive supervision once it occurs.

It is learnt that these local coaches who also guide national and school level athletes, have grown jealous at the large sums of money being paid to these foreign coaches. Athletes who were being trained under these local coaches have also been decreasing in numbers while it was the other way around with the foreign coaches. Sri Lanka Athletics (SLA) and some Ministry officials who understood the situation had resolved the matter on numerous occasions earlier. But the newest plot this year is that the local coaches allegedly came up with bogus reports to show the failures of the foreign coaches and succeeded in their campaign to oust them. Currently, the Sri Lanka long jump record holder is Amila Jayasiri (8.15m) and the top ranked jumper is Janaka Prasad Wimalasiri (PB 8.14m).

The Government and the World Bank (WB) signed a $500 million financing agreement to provide safe, efficient and climate resilient connectivity to strengthen agricultural supply chains through the Inclusive Connectivity and Development Project. This project is expected to benefit around 16 million people living in rural communities in selected districts of Sri Lanka. Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, Sajith Atygalle, signed on behalf of the Government and Hartwig Schafer, World Bank Vice President for South Asia, signed on behalf of the World Bank. While nearly all national roads are paved, only 67 percent of provincial roads, and 13 percent of rural roads are in good condition. Sri Lanka also has the highest rate of road fatalities in the South Asia Region with around 3,000 deaths per year.

The latest ultrafast delivery services promise groceries on your doorstep in 15 minutes or less, and they’re expanding fast. Companies like Jokr, Gorillas, Buyk, GoPuff, and Getir are beating the delivery services at their own game, with Uber rising to the challenge and promising superfast delivery services, starting in France. Eight years later and they’re one of the biggest ultrafast delivery companies around, with over 500 micro-fulfillment centers delivering to over 1,000 cities. Founders Rodion Shishkov and Slava Bocharov previously started Samokat, a European ultrafast delivery service. Of course, that’s not so different from the analytics used by most major grocery stores.

Sri Lanka today (November 20) commenced rolling out the third dose of COVID-19 vaccine for fully vaccinated immunocompromised and highly vulnerable comorbid individuals aged 20 years and above. In a communiqué issued by the Director-General of Health Services Dr. Asela Gunawardena yesterday, it was noted that selected categories are eligible for prioritization for the third dose of COVID-19 vaccination:• Immunocompromised patients due to disease or treatment• Patients with chronic kidney disease• Solid organ, bone marrow or stem cell transplant recipients• Patients with cancer whether on treatment or not• Those with asplenia and splenic dysfunction• Patients with any other immunosuppressed state on the recommendation or referral from the treating physicianThe third dose is accordingly administered to those who have completed two doses from any COVID-19 vaccine type and the time elapsed at least one month from the second dose. The same consent form for adult COVID-19 vaccination is used for the third dose rollout. Sri Lanka began an island-wide inoculation program to administer the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as the booster dose to people aged 60 years and above on November 17. As per official data, 163,789 people in total have received the booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine so far.

This felt exactly like talking parents into taking COVID-19 seriously way back in March 2020 (not to mention all the ongoing conversations ever since). And a lot of the communication tips we mentioned for talking to parents about COVID also apply to talking to parents about what they eat. This is all the more reason to use motivational interviewing to inspire change independently, rather than dictating diet “do’s and don’ts” at your parents. What is motivational interviewing? Find an organic opportunity to have a conversation about your parent’s health, and remember that ultimately, your role is as a supporter.

The Director-General of Health Services has issued guidelines to be followed by schools if a student or a member of the staff is suspected or confirmed as COVID-19 positive. The guidelines are as follows:

Indian PM Narendra Modi has announced the repeal of three controversial farm laws after a year of protests. Farmers say the laws will allow the entry of private players in farming and that will hurt their income. Farm unions will see this as a huge victory. Mr Modi said the new farm laws were meant to strengthen the small farmers. On the occasion of Guru Purab, the government has decided to repeal the three farm laws,” he added.

The Ministry of Agriculture has recently requested permission from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to import pesticides and fungicides required for selected crops in limited quantities. “Especially during the rainy season, some pesticides and fungicides are needed for certain crops, given the fact that very organic agrochemicals are not available in Sri Lanka. In that case, we need to have limited quantities of pesticides and fungicides. It was therefore decided to bring in some pesticides and fungicides in limited quantities and to store such, and the relevant arrangements are currently being made in that regard,” he added. So we requested the President to grant permission to bring in a very small quantity of such (pesticides and fungicides),” he added.

BY Kavishna WijesingheCheryl Guerriero, the screenwriter, novelist, and producer known for the Justin Timberlake movie Palmer (2021) spoke to Junkyard Theory about her writing process for both novels and screenplays and about the long process in getting Palmer made. Her passion for movies and stories prompted her to begin writing, and she revealed that she began by reading books on screenwriting and watching movies. Even though she had no contacts in the industry she kept writing until she found her way into the field step by step. After some time, director Fisher Stevens chose Palmer out of eight other movies that he was offered and Justin Timberlake signed on to play the main role. Cheryl revealed that her personal experiences and preferences were brought into life with Palmer on a beautiful note.

By Dinitha RathnayakeDevelopment Lotteries Board (DLB) sales are slowly recovering after the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic according to new Chairman Anusha Palpita. Speaking to The Morning Business, Palpita said lottery sales had decreased due to the pandemic, at as low as Rs. We hope we will be able to recover during the December season,” Palpita noted, adding that 80% of sales have recovered so far. Nevertheless, according to Palpita, sales personnel have also been affected due to Covid-19 and some have already found new jobs instead of selling lottery tickets. The objective of the DLB is to bring luck whilst strengthening the country’s development efforts through lottery tickets.