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Indian govt. doubles grant assistance to upgrade plantation schools

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High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka – Mr. Santosh Jha and Secretary, Ministry of Education and Science and Technology, Mrs. J.M. Thilaka Jayasundara signed and exchanged diplomatic letters on 18 October 2024 to formalize modalities regarding doubling the grant support of Government of India (GOI) to the up-gradation of 9 schools in the plantation regions of Sri Lanka. 

With the additional funds infused at the request of the Government of Sri Lanka, GOI’s total commitment to the project now stands at SLR 600 million.
 

The project envisages up-gradation of infrastructure of 9 plantation schools identified by the Government of Sri Lanka. These include 6 schools in the plantation areas of Central Province and one school each in Uva, Sabaragamuwa and Southern Province.

 The project would add to the long list of numerous past and ongoing development partnership initiatives of India in Sri Lanka in the important sector of education. Besides support for infrastructure development and equipment supply, training and capacity-building have formed an equally important focus area for India’s development cooperation projects in the sector in Sri Lanka. A selection of only a few instances would include renovation works at over 100 schools in the Northern Province; setting up of 40 e-Libraries in the Southern and Eastern Provinces; supply of 110 buses to educational institutions across the island; setting up of English language laboratories in all provinces of the country; establishment and renovation of auditoriums at numerous institutions across the country, including the Rabindranath Tagore Memorial Auditorium at Ruhuna University; construction of a multi-ethnic tri-lingual school at Polonnaruwa in the North Central Province; support to vocational training institutions such as the Thondaman Vocational Training Centre at Hatton in the Central Province and the Vantharamullai and Onthachimadam Centres in the Eastern Province; establishment of smart classrooms and computer labs in 200 schools in Galle in the Southern Province; among many others. A 3-month teacher-training program in STEM subjects for plantation schools was also conducted recently under the multi-sectoral grant assistance of INR 750 million announced last year to mark 200 years of arrival of Indian-origin Tamil community to Sri Lanka.

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Israel agrees to ceasefire proposal

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The Israeli government has said it agreed to the ceasefire proposal after “achieving the objectives” of its attacks on Iran.
According to the statement, Israel has removed Iran’s “dual immediate existential threat” from nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

It also says Israel has “inflicted severe damage on the military leadership, and destroyed dozens of central Iranian government targets”.

The statement goes on to say that Israeli forces, in the last day, have “severely struck government targets in the heart of Tehran, eliminating hundreds of Basij operatives” – a militia the Iranian government often uses to suppress protests – and “eliminating another senior nuclear scientist”.

“Israel thanks President Trump and the United States for their support in defence and their participation in eliminating the Iranian nuclear threat,” the statement adds.

Earlier, Iran state TV news channel IRINN says a ceasefire has been “imposed” on Israel following the “successful” Iranian attack on the US base in Qatar.

State TV said in a statement that Trump “begged” for a ceasefire following Iran’s attack. The statement was read aloud by the presenter.

The statement also hailed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Army and praised the “resistance” of Iranians.

The statement also called Iran’s attack on the US base in Qatar as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ “successful” response to the US attacking three Iranian nuclear sites, while Qatar said all missiles were intercepted.

(Excerpts : BBC News)

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3 including Consultant neurosurgeon, further remanded

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The Colombo Magistrate’s Court today (June 24) rejected the bail applications of 03 suspects, including Dr. Maheshi Wijeratne – a consultant neurosurgeon attached to the Sri Jayewardenepura General Hospital, who were who were arrested by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC).

Accordingly, Colombo Chief Magistrate – Thanuja Lakmali ordered that the suspects be further remanded until July 08.

The three suspects were arrested on June 17 in connection with the alleged sale of medicines at higher prices through a third party.

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Colombo Central Bus Stand to be upgraded

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In line with the “Clean Sri Lanka” programme, the government plans to upgrade the Colombo Central Bus Stand within the next year.

In line with the same initiative, 50 major bus stands nationwide are scheduled for renovation, with assistance from the Sri Lanka Air Force.  

The renovation of the Colombo Central Bus Stand will include the refurbishment of key facilities such as the canteen, rest area, ticket counters, administrative unit, operations room and driver quarters.

Established in 1964, the Colombo Central Bus Stand spans 1.42 hectares and currently handles between 1,500 to 2,000 buses daily.

These details were revealed during a discussion held yesterday (June 23) at the Presidential Secretariat on the “Clean Sri Lanka” programme.

The meeting was attended by Minister of Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation Bimal Rathnayake, Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, Air Vice Marshal (Retired) Sampath Thuyacontha, Secretary of Defence, Senior Officers of the Sri Lanka Air Force and other government officials.

(President’s Media Division)

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