Emeritus Professor of Demography at the University of Colombo – Indralal de Silva, states that Sri Lanka’s Southern Province – reported to have the lowest gravitational force in the world – also exhibits a notably higher life expectancy among its residents.

He notes that this unique geographical factor could be promoted to boost tourism and investment in the region.

Among Sri Lanka’s 09 provinces, the Hambantota and Matara districts in the south have recorded the highest life expectancy rates. According to recent NASA data, one contributing factor is that the lowest gravitational pull on Earth has been measured in this southern region and the nearby eastern Indian Ocean near the Maldives.

Given this, Prof. Indralal suggests promoting the Southern Province as a destination for wealthy international visitors, encouraging long-term residency options for foreigners, and attracting foreign investment into industries that could benefit from the region’s unique low-gravity environment.

He particularly emphasizes that it would be timely to promote ‘Wellness Tourism’ – especially among European travelers – by promoting a blend of Ayurvedic, Western, and traditional Sri Lankan medical treatments.

These insights are based on Sri Lanka’s life expectancy data secured on male and females for the years 2000-02 and 2011-13.

(Source : Silumina)

The Meteorology Department states that showery conditions are expected to be enhanced in Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, North-western, and Northern provinces, and in Galle and Matara districts during the next few days.

Cloudy skies can be expected over most parts of the island.

Showers or thundershowers will occur at times in Western, Sabaragamuwa, North-western, and Northern provinces, and in Galle and Matara districts today (May 17).

Showers or thundershowers may occur at several places elsewhere on the island during the evening or night.

Fairly heavy rains above 75 mm are likely at some places in Western, Sabaragamuwa, Northern, North-western, and North-central provinces.

Fairly strong winds of about 30 – 40 kmph can be expected at times over North-western, North-central, and Southern provinces, and in Trincomalee district.

The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damage caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.

The Chairman of Lanka Salt Ltd. – Mr. D. Nandanathilaka, has told ‘Silumina’ newspaper that the first 20,000 MT from the 30,000 MT order of salt from India will be released to the market by Monday (May 19), ensuring no shortage.

He mentioned that an additional 10,000 MT of salt ordered by the company is also expected to arrive soon. He also stated that 200,000 packets of salt are expected to be released to the market starting next week.

He further stated that since May 14th, the company has been releasing 100,000 packets of 400g table salt daily, to Lanka Sathosa.

The Chairman had previously mentioned that Lanka Salt had not been able to produce a single grain of salt this year due to adverse weather conditions.

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