Category: News

SriLankan Airlines Achieves Highest Ever Monthly Revenue in December

SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier of Sri Lanka and a member of the oneworld alliance, achieved the highest ever monthly revenue in Company history in December 2017. The air-transport operation of the Company recorded a stand-alone revenue of US Dollar 100.1 million – the first instance in the 38-year history of the airline where monthly operating revenue reached this landmark figure.

The airline attributes the increase in revenue to its expanded network and continuous improvement in revenue management processes. A total of 566,627 passengers were carried during the month, a 27% increase over December 2016 and recorded a Passenger Load Factor of 85.9% – above that of most major airlines in the world. Cargo carriage too witnessed a significant growth, rising 23% year-over-year to 12,016 metric tonnes.

The airline’s newly launched route to Melbourne, Australia, was a resounding success – achieving a Passenger Load Factor of 92.4% – and recording a significant overall profit during the month. This makes Melbourne the first long-haul route launch of the airline in recent years to reach profitability in such a short period.
TERROR IN SRI LANKA

In 8 coordinated attacks around Sri Lanka, 215 people were killed and 449 were injured. the death toll included 35 foreign nationals. the nationalities were USA, Denmark, Pakistan, India, Morocco, China, Japan and Bangladesh.

7 persons have been arrested and an island-wide curfew has been imposed until 6 a.m on Monday morning. Schools throughout the island closed for two consecutive days 22nd and 23rd of April and universities have been temporarily called off. It is not clear if Monday and Tuesday are declared a holiday.

Former Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse, currently Sri Lanka’s leader of the Opposition visited the injured in hospitals whilst President Maithripala Sirisena was making a return to the island from Singapore.
Research study uses sounds of disturbed honey bees to scare away Sri Lankan elephants

Jan 22, Colombo: A research study published in Current Biology reports that the Sri Lankan elephants are scared of the sounds of honey bees and the honey bee colonies can be used to deter the elephants from roaming into villages and destroying the farmers’ cultivations.

Playbacks of honey bee sounds have successfully been used for many years to scare away the African elephants from farm lands but this is the first time the technique has been used with Asian elephants, according to a report in EurekAlert!, the news service of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

The study, led by Dr Lucy King, a Research Associate with the Oxford University Department of Zoology and head of the Human-Elephant Co-Existence Program for Save the Elephants, showed that Asian elephants responded with alarm to the bee simulations. They also retreated significantly further away and vocalized more in response to the bee sounds compared to controls.

The team now hope that beehive deterrents can be applied to prevent Asian elephants from raiding crops.

The research study was performed in collaboration with elephant scientists from Cornell University, Save the Elephants, Trunks and Leaves, Disney’s Animal Kingdom and University of Peradeniya in Udawalawe National Park, which has an exceptionally large elephant population.

“Udawalawe is a microcosm for the issues Asian elephants face, because it is practically encircled by agriculture and settlements. This study takes the first step in offering a new way of addressing the conflicts that arise as a result,” said Dr. Shermin de Silva, Director of the Udawalawe Elephant Research Project.

In partnership with the Sri Lankan Wildlife Conservation Society and Australia’s Newcastle University, a network of 10 trial beehive fence projects are presently being tested to see if they can reduce human-elephant conflict for rural farms in central Sri Lanka.

“We have a wonderful community of willing farmers there who are helping us understand if beehive fences could work to reduce conflict in this intensely high human-elephant conflict zone,” said Dr. King. “Although beehive fences may not completely stop elephant crop-raids the honey bees provide other benefits to the farms in the form of pollination services and a sustainable income from honey and wax products.”

Dr King said Asia has even higher levels of human-elephant conflict than Africa does and Asian elephants are approximately 10 times more endangered than African elephants.

“If we could help apply the results from this research to develop effective community-based beehive fence deterrent systems for rural Asian farmers living with elephants, we could have a significant impact on the survival of the Asian elephant species.”

The initiative is already harvesting honey from the beehives and four beekeeping workshops have been held to boost beekeeping knowledge and honey processing skills. Further Asian beehive fence collaborations are being formed with scientists in Thailand, India and Nepal.

The full paper citation: King, L., Pardo, M., Weerathunga, S., Kumara, T.V., Jayasena, N., Soltis, J. and de Silva, S. (2018) Wild Sri Lankan elephants retreat from the sound of disturbed Asian honey bees. Current Biology 28, R51-R65, January 22.
State Defense Ministry Cyber Operations Center opens at Air Force Headquarters

Ministry of Defense Cyber Operations Centre at Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Headquarters was declared open by the Secretary to the Ministry of Defense Kapila Waidyaratne on Monday on the invitation of the Commander of the Air Force Air Marshal Kapila Jayampathy.

The visiting Defense Secretary was welcomed to the new Cyber Operations Centre by the Chief Information Technology Officer of the SLAF Air Commodore Arosha Vithana.

The new Cyber Operations Centre consists of a 24 Hours Monitoring Centre and Cyber Security Analytical Labs. Cyber Security experts from tri forces are scheduled to operate at this new Operations Centre. With this new venture the SLAF is taking the lead role in implementing Joint Cyber Security Operations among the Sri Lankan forces.
Last year 183 ships arrive at Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port

Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Shipping and Ports says last year 183 ships arrived at the Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksha Port in Hambantota Port. Out of these ships, 175 ships were cargo ships.

In 2017, 126,514 tonnes have been unloaded at the Magam Ruhunupura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port and 46,835 tonnes have been shipped from the Port.

The port’s total container handling capacity is 198,000 TEUs and also has a 950,000 tons Break Bulk handling capacity. Its bulk Cargo capacity is around 2.5 million tons (including 1.6 million tons cement) and it also has 396,000 units Roll-on/Roll-off (RO-RO ) capacity.
Source: Colombo Page
Exports of goods grow by 13% in Sri Lanka

Exports of goods grow by 13%, reaching US$1,062.63 mn in January. 1,062.63 millions in January

Exports of Sri Lanka’s products grew by 13 percent to US$1,062.63 million 1,062.63 million during January 2022 as compared to January 2021 according to figures released by the Sri Lanka Customs.

Additionally, it’s also a 5.7 percentage increase when it is compared the January of 2020. EDB Chairman Suresh De Mel, said, ” exports performance in January 2022 has been awe-inspiring and the increase has been broad as nearly all major industries have displayed positive developments. We’re optimistic the trend is likely to last and we could expect a robust recovery until the close in the calendar year. In the future, we must increase the value of our exports , and also explore market niches, as well as diversify our product range and markets. While we recognize it is true that both it is true that the US along with the EU are the biggest markets, we have to increase our share of the market in Asia. A planned Bangladesh PTA will certainly help in this direction. “

Earnings from exports of Apparel and Textile have risen by 22.1 percent y-o-y, to 514.41 Million in January 2022, with a an impressive performance in the exports of Apparel (24.25 percent) as well as Woven Fabrics (50.24%).

Tea export earnings from January 20, 2022 making 12 percent of all exports of goods, dropped by 9.67 percent y-o-y, up to USdollars 91.22 million. Export earnings from rubber and Rubber Finished Products have grown by 3.52 percent y-o-y, reaching USD 87.12 millions in the month of January. Export earnings from Electronic and Electrical Components rose by 12.62 percent year-on-year to US35.87 million. 35.87 million for January 2022. The earnings for export from Seafood rose by 42.66 percent up to US$2 24.11 million for January 2022 as compared to January 2021. Meanwhile, earnings from Ornamental fish grew by 45.61 percent up to US$1.78 million. 1.78 million .

A strong export performance was observed in the major export markets, which comprised 65percent of all exports of merchandise during January 2022. Eight among the top 10 market showed an improvement, with the exception of Italy and China. The month of January 2022 exports made to the United States of America, the single most important export destination, grew by 26.43 percent up to US$295.25 million 295.25 million as compared to January 2021 month. Exports of Sri Lanka’s products to United Kingdom as the second largest trading partner registered the highest growth of 31.99 percent up to USUSD 81.16 millions in the month of January 2022. (26.32%). The month of January 2022 exports of goods to Free Trade Agreement (FTA) partners made up 7.2 percent of the total exports, and grew by 28 percent up to USUSD 80.31 million.

Furthermore exports from India and Pakistan were up by 28.9 percent and 21% y-o y in the range of USUSD 71.72 million , and USUSD 8.59 million, respectively during this month in January. The increased exports to India are mostly fueled by an increase in exports of animal Feed (11 percent) as well as Pepper (17.86 percent) Woven fabrics (26.5 percent) as well as Apparel (65.51 percent) during January 20, 2022.

Exports breakdown to the five top EU markets, which comprised the majority from Sri Lanka’s exports into the EU included: Germany USdollars 60.2 millions (increased by 12.63 percent), Italy US$ 49.69 million (decreased by 6.32 percent), Netherlands US$ 38.68 million (increased by 10.96 percent), Belgium US$ 24.78 million (increased by 4.56 percent) in addition to France USUSD 23.51 million (increased by 12.65%)).

Exports into the European Union (EU) which represented 20 percent in Sri Lanka’s total exports over this month in January of 2022 grew by 1.33 percent year-on-year up to USUSD 206.74 million

Estimated value for services exports in the January 2022 period totaled 313.22 millions dollars an increase of 42.2 percent over the previous month in 2021. The services exports calculated by EDB comprise ICT/BPM, Construction, Financial services and Transport & Logistics.

Furthermore there was a better performance in Pakistan due to Desiccated Coconut, Other Articles of Stones, Woven Fabrics and Perfumes Cosmetics, Shampoos & Makeup Preparations and other Electrical & Electronic Products. In a comparison of regions, exports from all areas grew during the month of January 2022 as compared with January 2021.
Sri Lankan Airlines flight from London diverted to Frankfurt due to medical emergency

SriLankan Airlines flight UL504 en-route from London to Colombo with 268 passengers was diverted to Frankfurt airport last night due to a medical emergency, the airline said. The fight has landed safely at Frankfurt International Airport in Germany.

The airline in a travel alert said the most important factor was the health and safety of the passenger in concern and it has made every arrangement to meet the needs of the customers who were affected by this incident.

“The expected time of departure from Frankfurt will be notified shortly, once Frankfurt airport re-opens after the usual nighttime closure,” it said.
Anna-Marie Ondaatje to grace Asian Games for Sri Lanka

Anna-Marie Ondaatje will represent Sri Lanka in the Rythmic Gymnastics event, at the Asian Games 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Ondaatje represented Sri Lanka previously at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, where she finished in 11th position out of 16 in the Women’s individual all round finals, and became the first Sri Lankan gymnast to ever qualify for the final in a Gymnastic event at the Commonwealth Games.

Anna-Marie Ondaatje also represented Sri Lanka at the 2017 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships, which was the first event she represented Sri Lanka in, becoming the first ever Gymnast to represent Sri Lanka at an International Rhythmic Gymnastics event.

Ondaatje was born on the 1st of September 2000 in Markham, Ontario Canada, but hails from the town of Wattala, Sri Lanka. She started training and competing at the age of 9, in a sport children usually start much earlier, but she trained hard and adapted quickly to get to where she is now.

Her hard work paid off when she won the bronze medal for Canada in the group event in the Pacific Rim Championships in 2014, and went onto rank number 1 in the Canadian group selection for Team Canada in 2016.

Anna-Marie will be accompanied to Jakarta by her Coach Mrs. Svetlana Joukova.

The Rhythmic Gymnastics will take place across the 27th and 28th of August.
Roger resigns from Wimal’s NFF

Actor turned politician, Roger Seneviratne, who is also a councilor of the Western Provincial Council representing the National Freedom Front (NFF) led by MP Wimal Weerawansa, has handed his resignation from the party.

Seneviratne in a latter dated June 1, 2018 addressed to party leader, MP Weerawansa has stated that he was resigning from the party due to personal reasons.

However, he has added that a detailed letter on his resignation would be later sent to Weerawansa.
Senior Attorney-at-Law Mr. Kandiah Neelakandan passes away

Senior Attorney-at-Law Mr. Kandiah Neelakandan passed away this afternoon. He was Precedent Partner at Neelakandan and Neelakandan, a staunch rights activist, and last appeared on Face the Nation last year to discuss the future of national unity and reconciliation in Sri Lanka.