Sour festive season ahead?
As per CBSL statistics, Sri Lanka has spent $ 250.3 million on imports within the period of January-July 2021 in comparison to $ 268.4 million spent during 2020 for telecommunication devices. Moreover, banks are ordered not to grant any advances to customers in order to enable them to reach the minimum cash margin deposit requirement that has been in effect as per the order. However, banks can certify the particular invoice with the cash margin deposit that has been ordered above. We also got in touch with Canon Metropolitan, a leading camera company in Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, attempts to get through to Abans, Singer (Sri Lanka), and several small-scale businesses for comment proved futile.
Source:The Nation
September 18, 2021 18:56 UTC
On This Day: Sports happenings of 16 and 17 September
In fact he took 120 catches before stumping Venkatesh Prasad off the bowling of Paul Adams at Newlands in 1996-97. Richardson scored nine Test fifties as well as a century, against New Zealand in Cape Town in 1994-95. His bushy, black beard and solid play were the most recognisable figures in world cricket for a decade. His bushy, black beard and solid play were the most recognisable figures in world cricket for a decade1987 – Birth of Suzie Bates, one of New Zealand’s double-internationals. Ashwin made his name in the IPL, replaced Harbhajan Singh in the India ODI side in 2011, and impressed when he took nine wickets, the second-best figures by an Indian Test debutant after Narendra Hirwani.
Source:The Nation
September 18, 2021 18:45 UTC
Addressing Sri Lanka’s macroeconomic imbalances
The report was prepared by Advocata Institute Senior Research Fellow and Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) former employee Dr. Roshan Perera. After addressing the imbalances through this in the external sector, she said it is required to address the fundamental imbalances in the economy such as addressing the forex deficit or addressing savings rates. Moreover, she said that Sri Lanka needs to have a comprehensive review of the tax system. For the external sector and the trade sector, Sri Lanka needs policies to support trade and investments such as global production networks, trade return and improving trade facilitation. Economic growthJust as a country needs macroeconomic stability it also needs economic growth,.
Source:The Nation
September 18, 2021 18:45 UTC
Economy grows by 12.3% in Q2
This positive growth comes against the backdrop of a 16.4% contraction in the economy reported in the second quarter of last year. 3,007,345 million which was recorded in the second quarter of 2020 registering 20.6% of change in the current price GDP. Accordingly, in the second quarter of 2021, the YoY GDP growth rate has been calculated based on that reduced level of real GDP. However, the following figure clearly shows that the economy still has not reached at least the GDP level, reported in the second quarter of 2019. This created some sort of favourable environment to continue businesses in the second quarter of this year when compared to the situation and the nature of the lockdown period in the second quarter of 2020.
Source:The Nation
September 18, 2021 18:45 UTC
Pataz.com to revolutionise B2B marketplace
Pataz.com is the platform the two friends Andy De Silva and Chamli Tennakoon had innovated to revolutionise the B2B marketplace by connecting suppliers, buyers, manufacturers, and wholesalers – on a global scale. Andy then pitched the idea to Chamil who had happily retired from his work which led to the creation of Pataz.com. Pataz.com is a unique B2B platform from other such platforms in the world as there is a human aspect to it other than the technology involved. Pataz.com will take those businesses to the outside world based on the products and capacity and create a much larger portfolio for the businesses. So Sri Lankans will have the first chance to get exposure in the US, Europe, and the global marketplace,” Andy said.
Source:The Nation
September 18, 2021 18:45 UTC
Android 12.1 is all about improving foldable phone experience
XDA Developers unearthed some interesting stuff about an upcoming incremental update to Android 12, likely called Android 12.1. We don't know the full scope of features for now, but it's possible that most of them, if not all, are aimed towards improving the foldable phone experience. It's also possible that this a move to prepare for the foldable Pixel phone release. The system's code describes optimized animations when folding and unfolding the screen and gives out an image of an unfolded phone showcasing the taskbar. It's interesting to note that the image shows two separate instances of Google's Chrome browser, hence we might see support for that in Android 12.1 for improved multitasking.
Source:The Nation
September 18, 2021 16:52 UTC
Daily COVID cases count climbs to 1,983
September 18, 2021 08:41 pmThe Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry reports that another 456 persons have tested positive for COVID-19 in Sri Lanka, moving the daily total of new cases to 1,983. This brings the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus reported in the country to 502,758. As many as 431,036 recoveries and 12,022 deaths have been confirmed in Sri Lanka since the outbreak of the pandemic. The Epidemiology Unit’s data showed that 59,700 active cases are currently under medical care.
Source:The Nation
September 18, 2021 15:11 UTC
Plans afoot to reopen universities soon
The Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) says plans are afoot to fully vaccinate all the members of the academic and non-academic staff of the Sri Lanka University system against COVID-19, in a bid to reopen the universities soon. Both vaccines have already been given to the academic and non-academic staff members above the age of 30 years in all universities, he said further. Furthermore, the staff of the UGC below and over 30 years have already been administered both doses of respective vaccines. The universities are expected to reopen subsequent to the evaluation of the progress and discussions with the health authorities, university vice chancellors and other related parties. Although, the universities are physically closed, the usual academic and non-academic activities are continuing hassle-free with the help of modern communication technology systems, Prof. Amaratunga noted.
Source:The Nation
September 18, 2021 13:07 UTC
36 river conservation projects to be implemented
COLOMBO (News 1st); The Ministry of Environment states that 36 projects have been submitted to conserve the country’s river system. Secretary to the Ministry Dr. Anil Jasinghe stated that these projects have been submitted for 25 rivers in 18 districts. The specific objective of the project is to conserve water resources by ensuring water quality, which is a key component of environmental conservation. The “Conserve the Rivers” programme is designed to cover 103 rivers in Sri Lanka. The Ministry of Environment and the Central Environmental Authority will implement the “Conserve the Rives” programme in joint coordination.
Source:The Nation
September 18, 2021 12:56 UTC
Two arrested with over 8,000kg of refuse tea
COLOMBO (News 1st): Two suspects have been arrested with a stock of refuse tea near the Balummahara junction on the Colombo-Kandy road. The suspects were arrested during a special operation conducted by the Police Special Task Force (STF). An amount of 8,155 kilograms of refuse tea was found while being prepared for exportation to foreign countries under the name of Ceylon Tea. The suspects were arrested while the tea was being transported from Gampola to Muthurajawela without a license. The Police Special Task Force (STF) said that more than 267,000 kilograms of Ceylon Tea was found during operations during the period from 21 June 2020 to date.
Source:The Nation
September 18, 2021 12:56 UTC
Weekly Authority: Edition #160
Except, Colossal’s not actually bringing it back, it’s creating a whole new species that’s close to, but not an exact replica of the woolly mammoth: de-extinction. It might be time for the return of the woolly mammoth . First, the team needs to take a sample of and sequence the woolly mammoth genome from a frozen carcass. Next, they’ll check to ensure the genes correspond to the traits they want: big, check; woolly, check; mammoth-y, check. It’s hoped reintroducing the woolly mammoth — or a creature close to it — could change things, as well as increasing biodiversity.
Source:The Nation
September 18, 2021 12:56 UTC
Employee arrested for swindling Rs. 1.4 Mn at Expressway
COLOMBO (News 1st): An employee who swindled money at the Galanigama entrance of the Southern Expressway has been arrested, the Police Media Spokesperson says. The relevant suspect had been arrested during an investigation conducted following a complaint received. Police Media Spokesman SSP Nihal Thalduwa stated that the suspect has defrauded over Rs. The Police Media Spokesman further stated that the suspect was arrested yesterday (17) with over 300,000 rupees. He added that the suspect had taken money from the highway toll gate from time to time since 31 August and used it to settle his personal debts.
Source:The Nation
September 18, 2021 12:11 UTC
Laws should be strictly enforced against extremists: ACJU
The All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama has expressed that the law must be strictly enforced against any persons involved in extremist activities. “The people of our country cannot suffer another attack like the April 21st attacks in the middle of this pandemic and our economic struggles,” the ACJU expressed at a media briefing. Referring to a recent statement made by the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) General Secretary Ven. Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thera that a terror attack such as the Easter Sunday terror attacks of 21 April 2019 could take place at any time in the future, the ACJU said that they have informed the IGP regarding this and urged for an investigation to be conducted into the matter.
Source:The Nation
September 18, 2021 11:26 UTC
Taliban excludes girls from returning to secondary school
The Taliban has excluded girls from returning to secondary school and replaced Afghanistan's women's ministry with an all-male 'vice and virtue' department. The Islamists excluded girls from returning to secondary school in Afghanistan on Saturday but ordered boys and male teachers back to the classroom. But the diktat from the education ministry was the latest move from the new government to threaten women's rights. The statement, issued late Friday, made no mention of women teachers or girl pupils. Officials in the new ministry said they had not been informed whether a new women's ministry was being planned.
Source:The Nation
September 18, 2021 11:03 UTC
iPadOS 15 to increase the RAM cap for apps
Apple's iPad Pro is advertised as a worthy substitute of your laptop but there's one thing that's holding it back and Apple fixes it with the iPadOS 15. We are talking about the 5GB RAM limit imposed on third-party apps by the OS. For instance, developers say that they can now request up to 12GB of RAM with their apps on iPad Pro, leaving the rest of the 4GB for the OS. Whereas the 8GB variants, the RAM limit has been increased to 6GB. On the other hand, iPads with less than 5GB of RAM will likely still have the same limits as before.
Source:The Nation
September 18, 2021 10:52 UTC