The oil anointing tradition for this year’s Sinhala and Tamil New Year was held today (April 16).
The National Zoological Gardens of Sri Lanka in Dehiwala also performed these rituals on several of its inhabitants.
The rituals began with the ‘Kadol’ elephant, continuing a customary tradition of blessing elephants during the New Year period.
The head of a brown bear recently received by the zoo from United Arab Emirates, was also anointed.
However, the most special zoo resident that was included in these rituals, was the 153-year-old giant tortoise, recognized as the oldest living animal in Sri Lanka.
The event was organized by the zoo’s management team under the guidance of Director General Chandana Rajapaksa and coordinated by Deputy Director Dinushika Manawadu.
Due to various issues that have arisen within many political parties during the selection of members for LG bodies, submission of name lists to the Election Commission (EC) are being delayed, reports say.
As a result, the establishment of LG bodies is expected to be delayed further.
In this backdrop, the EC has instructed all political parties and independent groups to submit their name lists within a week.
The gazette on the newly appointed members will follow only after the EC receives all lists.
The Ministry of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs has issued a letter over a program organized by Br. Charles Thomas.
The relevant program is scheduled to be held today (May 17) at the historic Padeniya temple and is allegedly scheduled to be held in a manner that is harmful to Buddhism.
The letter notes that the Deputy Minister has taken steps to cancel the program following complaints from various parties, citing strong displeasure expressed by the local Buddhist community.
The Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education has announced that applications are now open for admissions for Grade 12 students for the Advanced Level (A/L) Vocational stream subjects.
According to the Ministry, the vocational stream will be offered in 608 schools starting this year.
The Ministry further clarified that students who have not passed the GCE Ordinary Level (O/L) examination will still be eligible to apply, as O/L results will not be a determining factor for admission to this stream.
For this, students need to submit an application to the principal of the school they wish to enroll in.