Malaysia declares state of emergency.

The king of Malaysia, Al-Sultan Abdullah, has declared a months-long state of emergency across the country to combat a rise in current pandemic cases. The move was requested by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, and allows Mr Muhyiddin to suspend parliament at a time when his …

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Biden nominates veteran diplomat William Burns as CIA director.

US President-elect Joe Biden has chosen William Burns, who served for three decades as a diplomat, to be his CIA director. Mr Burns led the Obama administration's negotiations with Iran to reach a landmark nuclear deal in 2015. Before that he served as ambassador to Russ…

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Oldest living Olympic champion Agnes Keleti turns age 100.

The remarkable Hungarian former gymnast, who survived the Nazis and went on to win 10 Olympic medals, 5 of them gold, turns 100 today (12th). The oldest surviving Olympic champion, Ágnes Keleti, celebrates her 100th birthday. She is one of her country’s most successful Olymp…

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Saudi Arabia, World's Top Oil Producer, Launches City With No Cars.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman unveiled his latest vision for Saudi Arabia's future beyond oil: a city with no cars, roads or carbon emissions. The 170 kilometer-long (106 mile-long) development called "The Line" will be part of the $500 billion project calle…

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India's arm wrestling champion Rahul Panicker defeats 'world's strongest bodybuilder'.

Rahul Panicker, the current 70kgs Indian National Arm Wrestling Champion, defeated 'world's strongest bodybuilder' Larry Wheels in a super match. The super match took place in Dubai with excited onlookers cheering for them. Panicker's father was a powerlifter …

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Cristiano Ronaldo becomes joint-highest goalscorer in football history.

Cristiano Ronaldo is now the joint-highest goalscorer in professional football history following his latest strike for Juventus on Sunday 10 January 2021 evening. The Portugal international netted late on to seal a 3-1 victory over Sassuolo, taking his goals tally for club a…

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Bangladesh ready to expand educational opportunities for Sri Lanka.

Newly-appointed High Commissioner of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh to Sri Lanka Tareq Md. Ariful Islam has presented his credentials to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the President’s House yesterday (January 11). During the ensuing discussion, explaining the current e…

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Cabinet approval to purchase 200 low-floor buses for SLTB.

The Cabinet of Ministers has granted approval to procure 200 low-floor buses for Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB), says the Government Information Department. Plans are afoot by the State Ministry of Vehicle Regulation, Bus Transport Services and Carriages and Automotive Ind…

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Sri Lanka to sign MoU with China to market Pure Ceylon Tea both online and offline.

The Cabinet approved the proposal submitted by the Minister of Plantation for entering into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Sri Lanka Tea Board and Fujian Star China International Trade Company Limited for marketing Pure Ceylon Tea both online and offline utiliz…

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Flexible working hours for public sector

The government has reportedly focused its attention on introducing flexible working hours for the public sector. Cabinet Spokesperson Udaya Gammanpila mentioned this at a press conference held to inform cabinet decisions today (January 12). “If you have to work 40 hours a wee…

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Cabinet nod to import frozen coconut kernels

As a result of local coconut production supply being insufficient for industries related to coconut kernel, Cabinet had approved the import of coconut kernel in 2017. Accordingly, 2,542 metric tons of coconut kernels were imported to Sri Lanka during a period of 08 months. Me…

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Maximum compensation limit for employment termination to be doubled.

The Cabinet of Ministers has given the nod to amend the Maximum Compensation Limit of the Compensation Formula in effect under the Termination of Employment (Special Provisions) Act, No 45 of 1971. Termination of Employment Act, as amended by Act No. 12 of 2003, was enacted …

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Myanmar President confers honorary title on four Sri Lankan Buddhist monks.

The President of Myanmar U Win Myint has decided to confer the honorary religious title of “Aggamahāpaṇḍita” on four Sri Lankan Buddhist monks and several other honorary titles on three Buddhists Priests and one Layman from Sri Lanka, in honor of the 73rd anniversary of Mya…

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Parler Sues Amazon after being suspended.

The social media site Parler filed a lawsuit against Amazon, claiming that Amazon’s suspension of Parler violated antitrust laws and breached the contract between the two entities. As Parler went dark, CEO John Matze told to the media that the site would try to “get back onl…

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Elon Musk falls to Second Richest Person in the world in one day.

After a brief stint as the wealthiest person on the planet, Tesla billionaire Elon Musk is again the second-richest person in the world after his fortune fell by nearly $14 billion in one day.  Shares of his electric-vehicle maker, Tesla, fell by nearly 8% on Monday (11th), …

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Sri Lankan seafood exported to Ukraine from Mattala.

SkyUp Airlines PQ-555 outward flight to Ukraine carried 658.5kg fish and seafood from Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) on 8 January 2021. This fish and seafood exports were comprised of edible Tuna, Prawns and Mullets. “MRIA is positioned to utilizing its strat…

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Cinnamon Life lights up with Hope for 2021.

Cinnamon Life, Colombo’s most iconic upcoming mixed development project, marked the dawn of the New Year with a message of optimism, lighting up its residential tower (The Suites at Cinnamon Life) with ‘Hope 2021’. This is the first development in Sri Lanka to light up a bu…

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Thailand to focus on investment opportunities in Plantation and Agricultural sectors in Sri Lanka.

Ambassador of Thailand in Sri Lanka Chulamanee Chartsuwan paid a Farewell Call on Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena on 08 January 2021.  During the meeting, the Foreign Minister noted that Thailand has potential to invest in Sri Lanka especially in the plantation and agri…

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Central Bank’s Financial Intelligence Unit imposes penalties on three finance companies.

The Central Bank's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) had fined three finance companies mainly for violating Financial Institutions (Customer Due Diligence) Rules, No. 1 of 2016 in relation to sanctions screening. By virtue of the powers vested under Section 19 (1) read t…

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Entertainment tax on local cinema waived off for 2 years.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has decided to waive off the entertainment tax on the Sri Lankan cinema industry for the years 2021 and 2022. The Prime Minister’s Office stated that the Premier took the decision considering the requests made to him by industry professionals…

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Joe Biden Names Two Indian-Americans In US National Security Council.

US President-elect Joe Biden named Indian-American Sumona Guha as senior director for South Asia and Tarun Chhabra as senior director for Technology and National Security. Guha was co-chair of the South Asia foreign policy working group on the Biden-Harris campaign, and serv…

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World Hindi Day - 10 January.

World Hindi Day is celebrated every year on January 10. Vishwa Hindi Divas commemorates the anniversary of the first World Hindi Conference held in Nagpur on January 10, 1975. The conference was inaugurated by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi in Nagpur. World Hindi Day…

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Elon Musk's six secrets to business success as the richest person on the planet.

Elon Musk has just become the richest person in the world, overtaking Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The Tesla and SpaceX entrepreneur's net worth has crossed $185bn (£136bn) after an increase in the share price of the electric car company. So, what is the secret of his succe…

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US to lift restrictions on contacts with Taiwan.

The US is lifting long-standing restrictions on contacts between American and Taiwanese officials, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says. The "self-imposed restrictions" were introduced decades ago to "appease" the mainland Chinese government, which lays cl…

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Amazon to remove "Parler" site from web hosting service.

Amazon is removing "free speech" social network Parler from its web hosting service for violating rules. If Parler fails to find a new web hosting service by Sunday (10) evening, the entire network will go offline. Parler styles itself as an "unbiased" soc…

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UNDP’s Global Human Development Report launched in Sri Lanka.

UNDP commits support to define and operationalize a national development plan underpinned by Green Development thinking Report notes it is time for all countries to redesign their paths to progress by fully accounting for dangerous pressures humans impose on the planet The Gl…

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Indonesia’s Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737 plane missing after take-off.

A Sriwijaya Air plane with more than 50 people on board lost contact after taking off from Indonesian capital Jakarta on Saturday en route to Pontianak in West Kalimantan province, local media reported. Reliable tracking service Flightradar24 said on its Twitter feed that Fl…

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Air India women pilots to fly over North Pole on world's longest air route.

An all-woman cockpit crew will create Indian aviation history on Saturday 09 January 2021 when it operates the inaugural San Francisco-Bengaluru flight, going over the North Pole and taking the Atlantic route to reach the Karnataka capital at the other end of the world.  Thi…

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Pakistan Successfully Test Fires Indigenously Developed Rocket “Fatah-1”.

Pakistan on Thursday successfully conducted the test-flight of an indigenously developed Guided Multi Launch Rocket System, capable of precisely delivering conventional warheads deep into “enemy territory.” According to Director General of Pakistan Army, Media Wing, Major Ge…

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Twitter bans President Trump permanently.

Twitter has suspended President Trump from its platform, the company said Friday (08) evening. Twitter's decision followed two tweets by Trump Friday (08) afternoon that would end up being his last.  The first tweet was about Trump's supporters. "The 75,000,000 gr…

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