Asia Sri Lanka The special dengue eradication program has ended yesterday: it aimed at preventing the situation from escalating to an epidemic phase in the context of increasing cases
Asia Sri Lanka Inter provincial bus and trains will enter service from today and ordinary and advanced level classes in all schools will commence on November 8 as from today all bans are lifted and new restrictions rules come into force
Asia Sri Lanka The country has backtracked on ambitious plans to become the world's first fully organic farming nation, reversing a total ban on chemical fertiliser imports imposed in May with the aim of making the country's agriculture 100 % organic
Asia Sri Lanka The Court of Appeal has recently issued an interim order preventing the registration of wild elephants under private owners; the move has been celebrated by environmental activists who believe many of such private owners are actually racketeers
Asia Sri Lanka A five-year plan to revive the Covid-affected tourism industry has been presented by the tourism minister, who welcomed Ukraine's support for the tourism pilot project launched during the Coronavirus outbreak
Asia Sri Lanka Conservationist Anjali Watson is fighting to save the critically endangered leopards and reports that with the war over in 2009 about 70% of the animals' habitat has been destroyed, and only 750-1,000 adult leopards remain
Asia Sri Lanka Chemical fertilisers have been banned this year to kick-start the country's drive towards 100% organic food production; however, tea plantation owners are predicting that crops could fail as early as October, with cinnamon, pepper and staples such as rice
Asia Sri Lanka Sri Lankan shares closed at their highest level in nearly seven months, driven by strong gains in the financial sector
Asia Sri Lanka An online system has been made available to the public for obtaining copies of birth, marriage and death certificates, a system designed to reduce the difficulty of requests during the pandemic crisis
Asia Sri Lanka A US$1 billion bond was paid last week by the country but its finances are still alarming with evident crisis signs: bonds at half their face value, debt-to-GDP levels >100%, over 80% of government revenues spent on interest payments and tourism industry
Asia Sri Lanka The country's first 'National Sandalwood Garden', grown and designed at Sri Jayewardenepura, Battaramulla, was inaugurated under the patronage of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa
Asia Sri Lanka The government's move to ban chemical fertilizers has had a heavy impact on many agriculture-related sectors, including the tea industry, whose growers have demonstrated in Yatadola, Matugama, Urubokka and other areas