The Central Cultural Fund (CCF) has made plans to designate the Demodara Nine-arch Railway Bridge and the landscape of the surrounding tea plantation as a World Heritage Site through UNESCO.
According to this plan, the entire region including the nine-arch bridge and Demodara Railway Station has been designated as a cultural landscape, CCF Director General Prof. Gamini Ranasinghe said.
He said that the section from the Idalgashinna Railway Station to the Demodara Railway Station would be developed as one zone where lavatory facilities would also be installed for the tourists.
The Director General said that the CCF is carrying out its conservation work and that a request will be made to UNESCO soon to name this entire landscape as a cultural landscape.
The 21-year-old daughter of Dr. Maheshi Surasinghe Wijerathna, a consultant neurosurgeon attached to Sri Jayawardenapura General Hospital, has been remanded until July 09.
She was arrested earlier today by the Keselwatta Police for allegedly threatening an official of the Bribery Commission and subsequently produced before courts.
Earlier, the Colombo Magistrate’s Court remanded Dr. Wijerathna and two others over allegations of selling medicines at inflated prices through a third party.
Former Minister S.M. Chandrasena, who is currently in remand custody, has been denied a request to receive food from outside.
According to reports, the request was made by a former secretary of Chandrasena and not a close family member, which is a mandatory requirement for such permissions. Therefore, the Prisons Department has rejected the appeal. A medical examination conducted by prison doctors confirmed that the former minister is in good health, and as of July 06, he has been consuming standard meals provided by the prison authorities, prison sources confirmed.
A coordinated Search and Rescue (SAR) operation led by the Sri Lanka Navy, following information received from the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) Colombo, resulted in the successful rescue of four Indian fishermen stranded off the western coast of Sri Lanka yesterday (July 06).
The operation was launched after MRCC Mumbai alerted its Colombo counterpart regarding an Indian fishing vessel that had gone missing on June 29, following severe weather and loss of communication. Responding promptly, the Navy deployed Fast Attack Craft from the Western Naval Command to search the area off Chilaw, where the distressed boat was located.
The rescued fishermen, all residents of Minicoy Island, India, were safely brought ashore at Dikovita Harbour, where they received immediate support from the Sri Lanka Navy and Coast Guard. Following preliminary medical assessments, the individuals were handed over to the Wattala Police for further procedures.