BIZ

Transporting beef & mutton at district & provincial level, suspended

Published

12 months ago

December 10, 2022

editor

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has ordered to suspend the transportation of beef and mutton at district and provincial level with immediate effect in order to safeguard public health considering the sudden death of cattle, buffalos and goats in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

The President has also instructed the relevant district officers and the Police to act responsibly in this regard.

Cattle, buffaloes and goats have suddenly died in the vicinity of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu in the Northern Province and Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara Districts in the Eastern Province on Thursday (08) and Friday (09).

According to the statistics by the Department of Animal Production and Health, 358 cattle and 191 goats have died in the Northern Province, while 444 cattle, 34 buffaloes and 65 goats have died in the Eastern Province.

North and East Animal Production and Health Department fficials and veterinarians are visiting these places providing necessary health facilities to the animals.

Veterinary Investigation Officers, in the first phase, have conducted preliminary investigations through the District Veterinary Investigation Centers in the respective districts of the Eastern and Northern Provinces, and they suspect that these animals have died due to a shock caused by the unexpected cold weather throughout the country.

Under the direction of the Ministry of Agriculture, the intervention of the Department of Animal Production and Health, it has been decided to commence the laboratory tests today.

Accordingly, a team of veterinarians and officers from the Animal Health Division of the Peradeniya Head Office of the Animal Production and Health Department collected the specimens of the dead animal from Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara districts today.

Director General of the Department of Animal Production and Health Dr. Hemali Kothalawala said that that specimen of animals will be subjected to laboratory tests at the Gannoruwa Veterinary Research Institute today and tomorrow.

However, the President has ordered to suspend the transportation of beef and mutton at the district and provincial level with immediate effect in order to safeguard the public health, until these research activities are properly concluded and the reports are being released.

BIZ

Cinnamon prices drop in SL

Published

11 hours ago

December 6, 2023

editor

Cinnamon prices have dropped in the Sri Lankan market, the Department of Agriculture states.

Alba cinnamon, which is the highest grade of Ceylon cinnamon available in the local market, is sold between Rs. 4,800 – Rs. 5,000 per kilo which is a drop of Rs. 500.

This will lead to serious economic issues for those at the grassroot level of the industry, whose livelihood is cinnamon cultivation.

BIZ

SL records record tourist arrivals in November

Published

2 days ago

December 5, 2023

editor

Sri Lanka Tourism has recorded its highest arrivals figure mark for a month in November after a lapse of nearly 4 years.
The November 2023 arrivals hit 151,496, passing the previous best of 143,039 recorded in July 2023.

The November arrivals figure also is a 153.5% increase against 2022 November which was 59,759.

With this the total number of arrivals from January to November end was at 1,276,951 in comparison 719,978 arrivals recorded in the entire last year.

Once again for the seventh month in succession India was the best course destination for Sri Lanka fielding 30,339 tourists and accounting to 20% of total arrivals for November.

The Russian Federation was in second place with 24,912 (16%) arrivals while Germany (12,331) and the United Kingdom (11,526) were the third and fourth source markets for Sri Lanka. Australia (7,900) and China (6,673) remained fifth and sixth.

BIZ

SriLankan doubles Colombo – Mumbai daily flights

Published

3 days ago

December 4, 2023

editor

SriLankan Airlines has introduced double daily flights between Colombo and Mumbai, multiplying the convenience for passengers travelling to and from India’s financial and entertainment capital, the Sri Lanka’s national carrier announced.

In a statement, SriLankan Airlines said the new double daily service to Mumbai will not only give a 50 per cent boost to SriLankan’s capacity on its Mumbai route, but will also strengthen the airline’s already vast network in India.

Flights UL 142 and UL 144 will depart daily from Mumbai to Colombo at 3:10hrs and 20:45hrs and flights UL 141 and UL 143 from Colombo to Mumbai will depart at 23:45hrs and 17:10hrs, respectively, according to SriLankan Airlines.

Thus, passengers travelling out of Mumbai on SriLankan Airlines will now have the advantage of more flight options to Colombo and convenient connections via Colombo to popular destinations in the Far East, Europe and Australia including Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, London, Frankfurt, Paris, Melbourne and Sydney.

Meanwhile, the Head of Worldwide Sales and Distribution of SriLankan Airlines Dimuthu Tennakoon stated: “The Indian market has been incredibly important to SriLankan Airlines since the get-go, and with India fast becoming one of the world’s largest outbound travel markets, we are only happy to expand our operations in one of India’s most celebrated cities and make travel between Mumbai and Colombo extra seamless. Our frequency increase comes on the heels of Sri Lanka announcing free visa for Indian visitors and we hope that these positive developments will encourage more travellers from Mumbai to stop by Sri Lanka.”

India is the only country with nine cities featured in SriLankan Airlines’ network. This includes Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi, Trivandrum, Chennai, Trichy and Madurai in addition to Mumbai, to which altogether SriLankan operates close to 100 flights every week.

Given the geographic and cultural proximity of the two countries, most Indians are likely to find a welcoming familiarity in Sri Lanka not found elsewhere, and SriLankan Airlines is the best bet for Indians who want to experience the best of both worlds onboard, it added.

For more information in this regard and bookings you can visit the official website of SriLankan Airlines through www.srilankan.com