148th session of the Executive Board of World Health Organisation.

The 148th session of the Executive Board take place on 18-26 January 2021. The Executive Board is composed of 34 technically qualified members elected for three-year terms. The annual Board meeting is held in January when the members agree upon the agenda for the World Heal…

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International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) won't be held Men's World Championship 2021 in Belarus.

The International Ice Hockey Federation cited safety concerns and said it will seek a new country to co-host the tournament with Latvia or host it on its own. The tournament is scheduled to start May 21. Criticism of Belarus’ role as co-host grew after authoritarian presiden…

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Yonex Thailand Open Badminton Tournament - 2021.

Carolina Marin and Viktor Axelsen has won Thailand Open in Bangkok badminton tournament 2021. The Yonex Thailand Open Super 1000 badminton tournament was held from 12 January 2021 to 17 January 2021. It was the first badminton tournament of 2021 by Badminton World Federatio…

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Russia withdraws from Open Skies Treaty.

Russia said on Friday 15 Jan 2021 it will withdraw from an international treaty allowing observation flights over military facilities following the United States’ exit from the pact. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the US withdrawal from the Open Skies Tre…

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Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) keeps policy rates unchanged.

The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, at its meeting held on 18 January 2021, decided to maintain the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) and the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) of the Central Bank at their current levels of 4.50 per cent and 5.50 per…

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Blue Origin launches New Shepard rocket mission.

Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin launched another version of his New Shepard mission Thursday 14 January 2020 in the remote west Texas landscape. Mission NS-14 took a little more than 10 minutes to complete and sent the crew capsule more than 350,000 feet into the a…

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US designates UAE, Bahrain as ‘Major Strategic Partners’.

The United States has recently designated the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the “major strategic partners” of the country. This has been announced before the formal transition of the president’s office from Donald Trump to Joe Biden.  This announce…

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Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE)'s All Share Price Index (ASPI) sets new all-time high among the best performing indices globally.

The All Share Price Index (ASPI) of the Colombo Stock Exchange reached its all-time high index tally today closing the 10th trading day of 2021 on 7922.66 points. The previous highest points figure recorded was 7811.80 points on 14 February 2011. The ASPI gained 188.09 poin…

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China's 'Bat Woman' honored as advanced personnel of Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Chinese virologist from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) Shi Zhengli was honored as an "advanced worker of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)". Shi was also elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology in 2019.  During the CAS 2021 annual work…

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At 17.5 million, Indian diaspora largest in the world: UN report

India continued to be the largest country of origin of international migrants. It had the largest number of migrants living abroad (17.5 million), followed by Mexico (11.8 million), and China (10.7 million). The top destination country remained the United States (50.7 milli…

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Highest volcano on Indonesia’s Java island Semeru has erupted.

The highest volcano (3676m) on Indonesia’s most densely populated island of Java, spewed hot clouds as far away as 4.5km today (18th December). There were no immediate evacuations, but the National Disaster Mitigation Agency warned people who live in the villages on the slop…

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Rohit Sharma becomes the First Cricketer to smash 100 Sixes against Australia in International Cricket

Rohit became the first cricketer to score 100 sixes against Australia in international cricket. The hitman has now hit nine sixes in Test matches against Australia, 76 sixes in ODIs and 15 in T20Is making him the first cricketer to smash 100 sixes vs Australia.  The six agai…

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India Finds Its First Ever Lithium Reserves.

India has discovered its maiden lithium reserves discovery in the igneous rocks located in the Marlagalla-Allapatna region of Karnataka's Mandya district. Though the discovery is very small in size in the present and stands at only 1,600 tonnes of lithium, it marks an in…

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North Korea unveils new submarine-launched missile.

North Korea has unveiled a new type of submarine-launched ballistic missile, described by state media as "the world's most powerful weapon". Several of the missiles were displayed at a parade overseen by leader Kim Jong-un, reported state media. The weapon's…

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Uganda's long-time leader Yoweri Museveni declared as the election winner.

Uganda's long-time President Yoweri Museveni has been re-elected, electoral officials say, amid accusations of vote fraud by his main rival Bobi Wine. Mr Museveni won almost 59% of the vote, with Bobi Wine trailing with about 35%, the Electoral Commission said. Thursday&#…

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Nepali climbers make history with winter summit of K2 mountain.

A team of 10 Nepali climbers has set a new world record by becoming the first to reach the summit of K2, the world's second highest mountain, in winter. Mountaineer Nimsdai Purja, a member of the group, said they reached the peak at 17:00 local time (12:00 GMT). Dozens of…

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Fiji wins presidency of The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR).

The favorite of Western nations, Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji, beat off competition from Bahrain and Uzbekistan to win the presidency of the UN Human Rights Council. The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR) on Friday (15 Dec) elected Fiji's ambassador as its 2021 p…

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US emissions in 2020 in biggest fall since WWII.

US greenhouse gas emissions tumbled below their 1990 level for the first-time last year as a result of the response to the current pandemic. A preliminary assessment from research group Rhodium says that overall emissions were down over 10%, the largest fall since World War …

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World Religion Day - 17 January.

Every year on the third Sunday in January, people from all cultures and backgrounds come together World Religion Day. The day celebrates the commonality of the major faiths of the world. It may surprise you to know that there are over 4,000 recognized religions in the world.…

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Sri Lanka Tamils appeal to UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for rights accountability.

Sri Lanka’s minority Tamil political parties and civil society groups have urged the UN Human Rights Council to establish an international independent investigatory mechanism with a strict time frame to ensure accountability from the island nation on the alleged human right…

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New Species of Bat Found in West Africa.

A new species of a striking orange & black bat has been discovered from the Nimba Mountains in West Africa. The species has been named Myotis Nimbaensis in recognition of the Guinea Mountain Range it inhabits. The American Museum of Natural History tweeted about this new …

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U.S. imposes sanctions on Chinese officials.

The United States announced sanctions on Chinese state-owned enterprise and military officials and added Chinese oil giant CNOOC to a blacklist, accusing them using coercion against states with rival claims in the South China Sea. The moves by the Trump administration will f…

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Archaeologists find world's oldest animal cave painting in Indonesia.

Archaeologists have discovered the world's oldest known animal cave painting in Indonesia - a wild pig - believed to be drawn 45,500 years ago. Painted using dark red ochre pigment, the life-sized picture of the Sulawesi warty pig appears to be part of a narrative scene. …

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Biden names ex-US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power to lead international aid agency.

Joe Biden on named Samantha Power, the former US ambassador to the United Nations, as his choice to lead the US Agency for International Development (USAid). Samantha Power was US ambassador to the United Nations in the Obama-Biden administration and also served on Barack Ob…

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Daily Telegraph owner Sir David Barclay dies at age 86.

Sir David Barclay, one of the two billionaire brothers who own the Telegraph newspaper group, has died unexpectedly after a short illness, aged 86. The newspaper reported that the billionaire died “unexpectedly”. Sir David, alongside his twin brother Sir Frederick, had built…

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Biden picks Kurt Campbell to head Asia Policy.

United States President-elect Joe Biden has picked veteran diplomat Kurt Campbell, who was the architect of the trilateral dialogue with India and Japan during the Obama Administration, to lead his Asia Policy. The brain behind the Asia Pivot of the Obama Administration from…

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International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2021 to celebrate the work of legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray.

The 51st International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will be celebrating the work of legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray by screening five of his classics.  As part of the tribute, the festival will showcase Ray's acclaimed "Pather Panchali", the first film of his…

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Apple announces education funding under racial justice plan.

Apple has announced it's $ 100 Million initiative funding for technology education efforts as part of its racial justice initiative launched last year during the civil unrest sparked by police killings of African Americans. The projects include a global innovation and le…

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Sri Lanka’s trade deficit narrows in November.

According to the latest external trade data released by the Central Bank, country’s trade deficit narrowed in November 2020 by US $ 198 million to US $ 565 million, from US $ 762 million recorded in November 2019, due to a larger decline in imports compared to the decline i…

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Selling rate of US $ exceeds Rs.196 mark.

According to the daily exchange report of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), the current buying rate of the US Dollar today stands at Rs.190.77 and selling rate of the US dollar stands at Rs.196.05. This is the highest buying and selling rate recorded for a US dollar, sin…

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