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Messi says he will not retire

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Argentina’s World Cup-winning captain Lionel Messi has quashed speculation and pledged to continue playing for his country, despite realising his lifetime ambition of winning the sport’s biggest prize.

“I want to keep experiencing a few more matches as world champion,” the 35-year-old told Argentinian television following an epic penalty shoot-out victory over France in the World Cup final in Qatar on Sunday.

“I was lucky to clinch every title in my career, this was the only one missing,” Messi said. “I want to take this one there [to Argentina] and enjoy it with everybody else.”

Messi opened the scoring for Argentina with a 23rd-minute penalty and also found the net in extra-time for the 3-2 in the 108th.

France’s 23-year-old superstar Kylian Mbappe completed his hat-trick to take the game to a shoot-out, in which he and Messi also scored.

Messi, now indisputably one of the greatest players the game has ever seen, had said the tournament in Qatar would be his last World Cup.

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Over 3,000 child abuse incidents in Jan. – April 2023

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There have been 3,102 reported child abuse related incidents in the first four months of this year, the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) revealed.

These statistics were presented during a workshop at the NCPA on 24 May, with the aim of raising awareness among the media about child protection issues.

Sajeewani Abeykoon, Director of Law Enforcement at the NCPA, revealed that on average they receive over 600 complaints per month.

The highest number of reported cases this year occurred in March, with a total of 1,026 cases. The figures for the first four months of this year are as follows: January – 779 cases, February – 703 cases, March – 1,026 cases and April – 594 cases.

Furthermore, the statistics from 2022 indicate a total of 10,497 reported cases.

Abeykoon said, “There was a slight decrease in reported cases during the month of July last year, possibly due to the Aragalaya protest, as the fuel and economic crises may have had a positive impact for the first time. In the previous year, there were a total of 185 serious sexual harassment cases reported, along with 729 minor sexual harassment cases, 167 rape cases, and 132 reported cases of child smuggling.”

(Excerpts : Ceylon Today)

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Interim order issued over using movie song sans consent

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Colombo Commercial High Court Judge K.P. Fernando today (31) ordered an interim order, banning the use of a popular movie song for commercials and on social media.

The song, ‘Mey Bajaar Ekata Malli’, is a song on the hit movie – ‘No Address’ was penned by Prof. Sunil Ariyaratne with music by Dr. Rohana Weerasinghe.

The case was filed by Dr. Weerasinghe, who stated that using the song sans permission for commercials and on social media violated his intellectual property rights.

Considering the case, the judge issued the interim order against ‘Saregama Films, Santhush Weeraman and Ceylon Cold Stores.

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Rs. 28.8 mn. already allocated for Poson festival – PMD

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The government has refuted claims raised by various parties over the lack of state sponsored funding for the Poson Program being held in Anuradhapura this year.

In a media release, the President’s Media Division states that 02 State Ministries and one Department has already allocated Rs. 28.8 million for the purpose.

According to the PMD media release, Ven. Valahangunawewe Dhammarathana Thera, the Chief Incumbent of the Mihintale Rajamaha Viharaya, has forwarded an estimate of Rs.17 million to the Secretary of the Ministry of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs, specifically for the Mihintale Poson Perahara.

It adds that the Secretary of the Ministry of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs – Mr. Somaratne Widanapathirana has informed allocating such a large sum of money is not possible within the financial regulations imposed by Parliament and that the ministry has approved a sum of Rs. 3.1 million from its budget head allocations for the 2023 National Poson Festival. 

“Secretary of the Public Administration Ministry K.D.N. Ranjith Asoka also said that an additional Rs.10 million has also been disbursed to the District Secretariats under the approval of the Anuradhapura District Secretary,” it adds.

“The National Water Supply and Drainage Board have agreed to supply 30,000 cubic meters of water for the drinking water and sanitary needs during the National Poson Festival… The Water Supply and Drainage Board Chairman, Mr. Nishantha Ranatunga, stated that the cost of these water-related services, including the installation of water tanks and tap systems at gathering places and providing water to the tanks along the Perahara route for the elephants, amounts to Rs. 15.7 million (excluding VAT), which will be covered corporately,” the media release further notes.

The complete media release issued by the PMD in this regard is as follows :

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