Bollywood stars… gyrating to go viral!
Practically, the whole of the Bollywood industry seems to be in the mood to gyrate, in front of a camera (or their smartphones) to Yohani’s mega hit. Everyone now seems to be ‘dancing’ on social media – the viral infection! Unfortunately, social media is also full of fake news, so I don’t take, what I see on social media, seriously. And, Mignonne’s version of Uma Pocha’s ‘Bombay Meri Hai’ turned out to be a massive hit in India, and in Sri Lanka, as well. Remember, all this was achieved with no social media, no smartphone, no YouTube, no private radio stations, TV stations, etc.
Source:The Nation
November 18, 2021 00:03 UTC
Delhi smog- Schools and colleges shut as pollution worsens
Authorities in the Indian capital, Delhi, have shut all schools and colleges indefinitely amid the worsening levels of air pollution. A figure between zero and 50 is considered “good”, and between 51 and 100 is “satisfactory”, according to the the air quality index or AQI. Some schools had already shut last week because of pollution and the Delhi government said it was mulling over a lockdown to improve air quality as dense clouds of smog engulfed the city. And fireworks during the festival of Diwali, which happens at the same time, only worsen the air quality. Following the hearing, a meeting was called by Delhi’s Commission for Air Quality Management and emergency measures were announced.
Source:The Nation
November 17, 2021 19:41 UTC
No fuel fund or pricing formula?
Explaining further, she provided: “A Fuel Price Stabilisation Fund should be established in a market where fuel prices are falling and not in a market where prices are increasing.”She also stated that no discussions have been held within the Ministry of Energy with regard to the implementation of a fuel pricing mechanism as of right now. Her comments come amidst calls to implement a fuel pricing mechanism from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) and the Ministry of Justice. I have proposed the Fuel Price Stabilisation Fund from last year, as it is more suitable for a country like Sri Lanka. During 2020, when world fuel prices were low, an import tax surcharge was imposed on fuel to maintain the domestic prices and the gains which arose from such non-adjustment of domestic fuel prices were transmitted to the FPSF. This tax surcharge was removed when fuel prices started going up during the latter half of 2020.
Source:The Nation
November 17, 2021 19:41 UTC
Weather advisory issued for heavy rain
The Department of Meteorology has issued an advisory for heavy rain in the Northern Province and three districts. Under the influence of the low-pressure area, heavy showers above 100 mm can be expected at some places in Northern Province and in Puttalam, Anuradhapura and Trincomalee districts, the advisory said. Department had earlier also issued an advisory for naval and fishing communities in the deep sea areas. There can be very heavy showers or thundershowers, strong winds of 40-50 kmph gusting up to 60 kmph associated with rough seas over the aforementioned sea area and the sea areas around the Island, the advisory warned. Naval and fishing communities out at sea over West-Central Bay of Bengal, South-West Bay of Bengal, South-East Bay of Bengal, East-Central Bay of Bengal (07N-16N; 80E-95E) and Arabian Sea (08N-18N; 70E-77E) are advised to be vigilant in this regards.
Source:The Nation
November 17, 2021 10:41 UTC
Brave built its own crypto wallet into its browser
Brave has announced that its web browser now includes a native cryptocurrency wallet, replacing the previous one that was based on the MetaMask wallet extension. Brave also says that its built-in wallet will take up fewer CPU resources compared to extension-based ones (like the aforementioned MetaMask) and be less susceptible to phishing or attempts to steal NFTs. But hey, given that a lot of NFTs are stored on Ethereum, you can at least use Brave Wallet to store those. Brave has been paying attention to the blockchain, and websites built on it, for quite a while. And it’s likely that a good portion of Brave users will enjoy a crypto wallet, based on the browser’s long-running support for blockchain currencies and applications — as long as they’re willing to import their crypto assets, something that Brave’s tool does support for other self-custody or certain hardware wallets.
Source:The Nation
November 16, 2021 21:12 UTC
Meta goes into lockdown
Last month, a researcher for Meta prepared a talk for colleagues that they knew would hit close to home. And as the bad press continues, Meta executives have argued that the documents were cherry-picked to smear the company and paint an incomplete story. This story is based on conversations with current and former Meta employees and internal Workplace posts from the past month obtained by The Verge. In response to this story, Meta confirmed that the company was making changes to internal communication. The overwhelming majority of commenters disapproved of the move to make Integrity groups private.
Source:The Nation
November 16, 2021 18:06 UTC
India opens borders to fully vaccinated foreign tourists
After shutting its borders to international visitors for 20 months due to the pandemic, India will now allow fully vaccinated foreign travelers from a list of nearly 100 countries to enter without the need to quarantine. As of Nov. 13, there were 99 countries on that list including the United States, U.K., Singapore, Australia, Germany, France, Sri Lanka and Brazil. Notable countries missing from that list of 99 countries include China, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia. Still, due to the limited testing, the number of confirmed cases remains lower than the actual number of infections. India has also reportedly approved its first vaccine for those under 18 — a three-dose shot produced by Indian drugmaker Cadila Healthcare.
Source:The Nation
November 16, 2021 13:01 UTC
20 years of Xbox: a visual history
Xbox 360The original Xbox 360 with its Kinect accessory on top. Photo by Sam Byford / The VergeThe Xbox 360 was a very different-looking console to the original Xbox. Xbox 360 SThe Xbox 360 S. Image: MicrosoftThe Xbox 360 S brought two significant advantages over the original Xbox 360, or three if you include its slimmer dimensions. Xbox 360 EThe Xbox 360 E. Image: MicrosoftMicrosoft released the final model of the Xbox 360 E in June 2013, just months before it would release the next-generation Xbox One. But it was tough to care given the performance upgrades the console offered over the original Xbox One, which even extended to some backward compatible Xbox 360 and original Xbox games.
Source:The Nation
November 16, 2021 06:08 UTC
Scientists create a vegan cheese from ALGAE that 'mimics cheddar'
Scientists claim to have created a vegan cheese that actually tastes like the real thing. Scroll down for videoAnything ewe can do, algae do cheddar: The new vegan cheese is available as two types of products - a semi-hard microalgae dairy-free cheese that's sliceable (pictured here) and a dairy-free cheese spreadMICROALGAE AND UMAMI Microalgae are tiny photosynthetic microorganisms found in both freshwater and marine aquatic systems, each only a few micrometres in size. This new vegan cheese, made from Microalgae milk, packs a umami punch. Developed using microalgae protein flour, the cheese is set to become available as two types of products – a semi-hard microalgae dairy-free cheese and a dairy-free cheese spread. Sophie's BioNutrients' microalgae milk, revealed in May this year, starts off as a micro-algae protein flour.
Source:The Nation
November 16, 2021 04:07 UTC
Grades 6-9 classes restart next week
BY Buddhika SamaraweeraThe Government has decided to reopen all the remaining grades in government schools, namely for classes from Grades Six to Nine, from next week, according to Education Minister Dinesh Gunawardena. Speaking in Parliament yesterday (15), he said that in addition to the primary grades and Grades 10, 11, 12, and 13 which are currently open in schools, all other Grades (Six, Seven, Eight, and Nine) will be opened next week. However, the Education Ministry took steps to reopen schools in a few stages after the Government decided to lift the lockdown on 1 October. Furthermore, the Education Ministry reopened the primary sections of all schools in the country from 25 October 2021 while Grades 10, 11, 12, and 13 (General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level and Advanced Level classes) were reopened on 8 November. Attempts to contact Education Ministry Secretary Prof. Kapila Perera to inquire about the exact date on which the aforesaid grades would be reopened next week, were not successful.
Source:The Nation
November 16, 2021 00:08 UTC
Govt s allied parties set to hold talks today
November 15, 2021 10:03 amA special discussion is to be held today (15) between the allied parties of the government, with regard to supporting the 2022 budget proposal. The meeting is to be held this morning with the participation of representatives from 11 political parties supporting the government. The discussion is to focus on the Budget proposal, presented by the Finance Minister on Friday, as well as the Yugadanavi power plant deal. The government’s allied had previously held several rounds of discussions on various matter concerning the government.
Source:The Nation
November 15, 2021 17:05 UTC
Top 10 trending phones of week 45
Xiaomi was still the most popular brand in our database this past week with the the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ leading from the Redmi Note 11 Pro. In fact it solidified its position with newly announced Poco M4 Pro taking third. The Samsung Galaxy A52s was pushed down to fourth, while the Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max improved its standing to capture fifth. In sixth we have the Redmi Note 10 Pro as the Galaxy S21 Ultra rises to seventh. The Poco X3 Pro and Galaxy A12 return to the top 10 and sit in eight and ninth, respectively.
Source:The Nation
November 15, 2021 07:04 UTC
Vegetable prices up, but quality down
By Buddhika SamaraweeraVegetable traders claim that the prices of vegetables in economic centres islandwide have risen sharply, while their quality has significantly dropped in the absence of fertilisers and pesticides. Speaking to The Morning, a trader at the Peliyagoda Manning Market said that the prices of vegetables have gone up significantly in the last week alone, adding, however, that the quality of vegetables delivered to the market has dropped by as much as 75%. Claiming that the quality of vegetables, fruits, and other products had declined since the Government decided to ban the importation of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, he said that farmers cannot produce good-quality vegetables without fertilisers and pesticides. Meanwhile, traders at the Meegoda Dedicated Economic Centre also stated that the quality of vegetables they receive has dropped drastically, to the extent that consumers were not even buying them. The retail prices were Rs.
Source:The Nation
November 14, 2021 19:36 UTC
Teachers suspend TU action after Budget
30 billion through the Budget for the financial year 2022 to resolve the teacher-principal salary anomaly issue, the Teachers’ and Principals’ Trade Union Alliance (TPTUA) has decided to suspend the trade unions actions initiated by them demanding a solution to said salary anomaly issue until 20 January 2022, according to the Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) and the Ceylon Teachers’ Service Union (CTSU). However, he said the ultimate victory in the struggle to resolve the salary anomaly issue would be the implementation of the recommendations of the Subodhini Committee, which previously looked into the teacher-principal salary anomaly issue. If the Government fails to do so, we will definitely take action to get our trade union actions back on track,” he said. Accordingly, Minister of Education Dinesh Gunawardena at the time announced that through the budget proposal for 2022, the relevant salary revisions would be given to resolve the teachers’ and principals’ salary anomalies. They then relaxed some of these trade union actions, including by returning to physical teaching in schools, under a work-to-rule campaign.
Source:The Nation
November 14, 2021 19:36 UTC
Five provinces to experience showers today
Showers will occur at times in Sabaragamuwa, North-western, Central, Northern and Western provinces and in Galle and Matara districts, says the Department of Meteorology. Showers or thundershowers may occur at several places in Uva province and in Ampara and Batticaloa districts during the afternoon or night. Showers or thundershowers will occur at times in the sea areas extending from Kankesanturai to Galle via Mannar, Puttalam and Colombo. Showers or thundershowers will occur at a few places in the other sea areas around the island. Winds will be South-westerly or Westerly and speed will be (40-50) kmph in the sea areas around the island.
Source:The Nation
November 14, 2021 11:04 UTC