News

Revised indictments served on Rajitha!

Published

1 year ago

April 27, 2023

editor

The revised indictments on three suspects, including former Fisheries Minister Rajitha Senaratne, was served before Colombo High Court Judge Navaratne Marasinghe yesterday (26) for causing unlawful loss to the Government when leasing out the Modara Fisheries Harbour to a private company in 2014.

The attorneys representing the defendants said the Bribery Commission has failed to provide all the documents that should be handed over to them.

Accordingly, the Judge granted additional time for the defence attorneys to check and report back on the matter and also ordered the case to be called for the pre-trial conference on June 16.

Ceylon Fisheries Harbour Corporation’s former Chairman Upali Liyanage, former Managing Director Neil Ravindra Munasinghe and Senaratne were named defendants in the case for causing unlawful loss to the Government between 1 August and 1 November 2014.

News

China to back digital education transformation project

Published

3 hours ago

May 7, 2024

nipuni

The Chinese Government has pledged support for Sri Lanka’s digital education transformation project.

This project is expected to enhance general education by providing classrooms, data centres, and necessary equipment like tables, studio rooms, and conference rooms.

These resources will facilitate blended learning methods, and resource sharing, and enable teachers with special skills to engage students effectively.

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Education.

News

MoP fertilizer subsidies to farmer accounts from today

Published

3 hours ago

May 7, 2024

nipuni

The Department of Agriculture emphasizes that the application of Muriate of Potash (MoP) to paddy cultivation has been quantitatively reduced in the last few seasons.

According to the Department of Agriculture, it is mandatory to use MoP fertilizer to strengthen paddy pods as well as to improve the quality of paddy seeds.

But the use of MoP has decreased in the last ‘Maha’ season. Only 11,000 MT of MoP was used despite around 800,000 hectares being cultivated during the season.

Although the MoP requirement for the ‘Maha’ season is 30,000 MT, it appears that only one third was purchased by farmers.Therefore, in a bid to promote the use of MoP, it has been decided to credit the fertilizer subsidy money to the farmers’ accounts in this ‘Yala’ season.

The Department of Agricultural Development states that depositing subsidies will commence from today (May 07) with financial allocations scheduled to be given to the farmers who have finished planting paddy fields.

Authorities have assured that sufficient stocks of MoP are available in the country.