The two leaders discussed promoting bilateral tourism and developing cultural and religious ties that have existed between the two countries historically.

“With the aim of expanding political relations, a proposal was made to facilitate an exchange program for Members of Parliament to study the parliamentary affairs of both countries,” a statement by Wickremesinghe’s media division said.

Late last year, Wickremesinghe told a group of school children that Parliament had become a place where a lot of MPs act. He said some MPs don’t know where to draw the line when acting in Parliament. (Colombo/Jan20/2024)

And adding to the woes of the 40-year old US national was a bout with appendicitis, which finally turned out well for her.

Apicella was treated for appendicitis at the Akkaraipattu Base Hospital where she was operated on.

She ended up praising Sri Lanka’s healthcare.

In a video broadcast by NewsFirst, Apicella left a thank-you note on 11 August, “I stayed in the hospital for 2-nights to get my appendix out. Thank you so much for the excellent care I received. Everyone was very kind and all the medical care was good.”

“Compared to the medical care in the USA, this hospital is much better,” she told the TV channel.

According to hospital staff, she got sudden abdominal pain and was diagnosed with appendicitis upon admission and immediately operated on by a team headed by Dr P.K. Ravindran on 10 August.

Apicella is one of the stranded travellers in the country due to pandemic border closures.

(Colombo/Aug25/2020)

Reported by Mahadiya Hamza

ECONOMYNEXT- The Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka has replied to reports about the google map image that had emerged in social media showing multiple buildings in Hambantota spelling out ‘CHINA SW’ saying that it was initially constructed to show ‘CHINA SLK.’

The official Twitter account of the Chinese Embassy in Colombo tweeted saying it was originally designed to spell out as ‘CHINA SLK’ by China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) when the Hambantota port was built.

However, the Tweet said that after Hambantota International Port Group (HIPG) and Hambantota International Port Services (HIPS) moved in and took it over as a residential camp, they had to extend the building to accommodate more people as the business of the port increased quickly.

The Tweet from the Chinese embassy is as follows,

“It was designed as “CHINA SLK” by the CHEC when constructing Hambantota Port. After HIPG & HIPS moved in and took it as residential camp, they had to extend it since the business of the Port increasing so fast. A story of development & love. Best wishes to #HambantotaPort”

The Google map image of the initial construction uploaded by the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka

The current Google map image of the site.

Link to Google Map: https://t.co/N7DMqXhLUb

Reported by Imesh Ranasinghe (Colombo/Aug11/2020)

Wedage, a Lecturer in the Department of History and Archaeology of the University of Sri Jayawardenapura told reporters today June 16, this study was a part of his research paper for a doctoral thesis on how modern humans spread in tropical rain forests and how their day to day activities were carried out in those conditions

The overall study into the cave also known as Fa Hien’s cave after the famous Chinese explorer, made headlines when it revealed that bow-and-arrow technology existed in Sri Lanka before Europe.

Wedage said that they were able to recover tools from the excavations done in Pahiyangala and Kithulgala which were identified as ‘bone points’, a weapon created by animal bones to make arrowheads to hunt animals.

He said after obtaining specialist knowledge about the tools from Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany and Dr Michelle Langley from Griffith University in Australia, they were able to conclude that this tool was used as an arrow to hunt fast-moving animals in the rain forest.

The backdate of tools to 48,000 years using Carbon-14 tests also revealed the evidence of adaptation of humans to a different environment condition for the first time after leaving the African continent in the tropical rain forest which was previously thought to be barriers to human occupation, with limited prey opportunities and disease challenges.

Wedage said that due to the limited resources available in Sri Lanka, they had to seek foreign support to do the Carbon-14 testing and they were able to get accurate results by sending two sets of samples for backdating to Beta Analytic Laboratory in America and Oxford University in the UK which led to a special appreciation for the research. (Colombo/June16/2020)

Edited by Arjuna Ranawana

UPI reported that the evidence was found in the so called Fa Hien cave, also known as the Pahiyangala in the Kalutara district.

The cave and remains of late Pleistocene Human fossilized remains were first discovered by Sri Lanka government archaeologist Suren Deraniyagala in 1968.

Researchers also found tools that were likely used to make clothing, technology thought to be limited to cold-weather populations, according to the study.

As dozens of studies have demonstrated, Asia — especially south and Southeast Asia — was host to a complex history of human migration and settlement. Understanding this history is key to figuring out how early humans moved across Earth’s continents during the Late Pleistocene, between 129,000 and 11,700 years ago, the UPI report said.

Long-occupied caves like the one at Fa-Hien Lena, found deep inside Sri Lanka’s Wet Zone forests, can offer insights into the region’s human history.

“Fa-Hien Lena Cave was first excavated in the 1980s when it yielded some of the earliest human fossils, bone tools and miniaturized stone tools — or ‘microliths’ — anywhere in South Asia, and the earliest on the island of Sri Lanka,” Patrick Roberts, an archaeologist and postdoctoral researcher with the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany, told UPI in an email.

“What was particularly interesting was that this site was found in the modern day tropical rainforest of Sri Lanka,” Roberts said. “These environments were long thought to be barriers to human occupation, with limited prey opportunities, toxic plants and disease challenges.”

Excavations at the cave revealed tools and artifacts representing four distinct periods of occupation, dating from 48,000 to 4,000 years ago. Among the artifacts, researchers identified 130 projectile points carved from animal bone. Many of the points featured impact fractures suggestive of hunting use.

“We can now place its [Fa-Hien Lena’s] occupation as starting at 48,000 to 45,000 years ago and have shown that humans in the rainforests of Sri Lanka were relying on tropical resources, including difficult-to-catch prey like monkeys and squirrels,” Roberts said. “This makes it some of the earliest evidence for human rainforest occupation and use outside of Africa.”

Animal remains suggest humans first used bow-and-arrows to hunt adult monkeys, rodents and other small mammals. Over time, humans increased the length of their tools in order to target larger animals, including pigs and deer.

The findings offer evidence of the tools and techniques early humans used to survive challenging habitats, such as dense tropical forests. Clothing may have helped populations avoid being eaten my mosquitoes, while bow-and-arrows allowed early humans to hunt fast-moving animals.

Most surveys of Pleistocene innovation have focused on Europe and the savannas of Africa as the wellsprings of material culture among early human populations, ignoring other parts of Africa, Asia, Australasia and the Americas.

“While the earliest clear evidence for bow-and-arrow technologies does indeed come from South Africa 64,000 years ago, the Sri Lanka evidence shows that it was not a one-off innovation linked to a singular adaptation,” Roberts said. “Instead, they were part of a human ‘toolkit’ that was multiple, diverse, and adaptable to different settings — in this case tropical rainforests and small, quick mammals.”

Researchers are currently working on excavating ancient human sites along the coast of Sri Lanka. Some evidence suggests different human groups along the coast and in the island’s interior forests may have interacted.

“We also found shell and ochre beads which suggest human symbolism was also being used in a rainforest context,” Roberts said. “Particularly fascinating is the fact that some of these beads come from shells from the sea.”

“We know, from isotopic evidence on human tooth enamel from the nearby site of Batadomba-lena, and later humans at Fa-Hien Lena, that humans were relying one rainforest resources for their diets all year round,” he said.

If the people of Fa-Hien Lena remained in the forests but used beads from the coast, it’s likely they traded with people from other parts of the island. (Colombo, June 13, 2020)

Edited by Arjuna Ranawana

Sparkwinn Research, which polled over 280 respondents working and residing in urban areas on an online survey, found that 41 percent of individuals will gift chocolates at Valentine’s Day.

Clothing and shoes, flowers, perfumes and greetings cards were also popular gifts of choice.

A quarter of those surveyed said they will be celebrating the day with dinner.

Sparkwinn Research said nearly half of respondents preferred a compatible personality in a partner, while shared interests and friendship were also valued.

Money and good looks were not among the most important considerations for a partner.

(Colombo/Feb13/2020)

The chief custodian of the Temple of the Tooth — which organises the event — Pradeep Nilanga Dela said Tikiri would not be part of Wednesday’s grand finale, involving dozens of jumbos.

Dela said the elephant’s "medical condition" meant her owners told him she would not be part of Kandy city’s parade and told AFP by telephone, "Tikiri is being treated."

Animal-lovers lambasted the authorities for forcing the aged animal to parade several kilometers (miles) wearing elaborate clothing at the hugely popular night festival.

Asian elephant expert Jayantha Jayewardene described the animal’s treatment as inhumane.

"Obviously the animal is severely under-nourished, it is close to death", Jayewardene told AFP.

"Owners parade their elephants to gain merit for themselves and not for the animal. This should never have been allowed," he said, adding he was relieved she would not be paraded.

Lek Chailert, the founder of the Save Elephant Foundation, said on social media that spectators do not realise how weak Tikiri was because she was covered in an elaborate costume.

"No one sees her bony body or her weakened condition, because of her costume," Chailert said. "No one sees the tears in her eyes, injured by the bright lights that decorate her mask, no one sees her difficulty to step as her legs are short shackled while she walks."

The Temple of the Tooth, Buddhism’s holiest shrine on the island, holds the annual festival with traditional drummers and dancers as well as nearly 100 tamed elephants.

Many rich Sri Lankans keep elephants as pets, but there have been numerous complaints of ill treatment and cruelty.

Long queues were seen outside depots to buy gasoline and lubricants from Sunday night as word spread that a petroleum trade union was staging a work stoppage from midnight.

Midnightdivas.com sprang into action with an email campaign. It showed a woman dressed in lingerie at a pumping station with the following tagline: "Strike?" Don’t worry, we now offer same day door-to-door delivery."

A petroleum union official came up with a bizarre claim on Sunday that their strike was actually helpful to raise the flaccid Sri Lankan economy. The convenor of the previously unknown Coalition of Petroleum Trade Unions, D. J. Rajakaruna said their work stoppage will be a blessing for all.

"Each day, people in Sri Lanka burn about 1,400 million rupees on fuel. By not sending a single bowser (oil tanker) out of Kolonnawa (distribution point), we will save all that money for the country," Rajakaruna told reporters.

The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation assured consumers on Monday that there was no disruption to their distribution network despite the strike called by a minor trade union.

Last year too, Midnightdivas jumped in during length blackouts by offering glow-in-the-dark lingerie.

"Still having power cuts. Don’t worry. Coming soon… glow in the dark lingerie from Midnightdivas," the company said in an email campaign as the Ceylon Electricity Board announced a seven-and-a-half hour power cut in March last year. (COLOMBO, April 24, 2017)

Published pictures of the dark and light blue painted aircraft with its wings dis-assembled looks like a Kitfox classic aircraft.

Kitfox is one of the most popular kit planes ever produced and are bought and assembled by hobbyists and enthusiasts especially in North America and Europe.

A person with a sound knowledge of aircraft construction could also build a Kitfox from plans, the enthusiast said.

Dr Ray Wijewardene, a tropical agricultural expert who was an aviation hobbyist, used to own a similar aircraft, in identical livery which he called Lihiniya, he said.

In published pictures of the mystery aircraft a word which could almost be ‘Lihiniya’ can be made out on the nose of the aircraft behind the engine cowling close to the windscreen.

Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirror newspaper said owners of an aviation company in Sri Lanka had gifted the aircraft – which was not in an airworthy condition – to one of ex-President Rajapaksa’s sons.

It is not clear how the aircraft ended up in the warehouse of a state enterprise.

An unusual bank data release showed the City institution had bought 648 bottles of beer for official functions so far this year for £758.16 (954 euros, $1,187) — up from just 24 bottles in 2013.

But the bank said it was cutting down on supplies of wine and champagne in another sign of the times after the decline of bubbly-fuelled partying in the City in the wake of the global financial crisis.

A total of 180 wine bottles including champagne have been purchased this year for an average of £9.95 each, compared to 756 bottles in 2013.

"There has been a change in that we are now serving beer at various functions, in addition to other beverages. Hence the reason for the increase in beer purchased for 2014," a central bank spokesman said.

Carney gave up another time-honoured Bank of England tradition earlier this year when he announced that cricket would be abandoned in favour of rounders as part of the bank’s annual sports day.

The 49-year-old former Bank of Canada governor was the first non-Briton to be appointed head of the Bank of England since it was founded in the 17th century.

The German Chancellor — leader of one of the world’s biggest beer-producing nations — was determined to see some of the Queensland capital before high-powered weekend talks on issues such as economic growth and tax evasion.

After jetting in mid-evening on Friday, she made an impromptu appearance at one of Brisbane’s most popular pub strips, stopping by bars to shake hands and pose for selfies with locals.

Her down-to-earth appearance drew big cheers from pub-goers, according to the Brisbane Courier-Mail newspaper with locals taking to social media to offer praise.

"The sign of a true leader, mixing it up with the locals!" wrote Jan Green on Facebook.

Courier-Mail photographer Sarah Keayes, who was at the scene with friends, added: "She was in a great mood, she seemed to get a real buzz from the crowd, and took the time to say hello, and was all smiles."