Category: Sri Lanka

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Sri Lanka invites global players to Port City

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa urged global business leaders to make use of the country’s first service-oriented Special Economic Zone (SEZ)… reports Asian Lite News

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has invited investors from around the world to make use of the strengths and opportunities provided by the Port City Colombo, the country’s first service-oriented Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

Speaking at the Sri Lanka Investment Forum (SLIF) 2021, President Rajapaksa said on Monday: “We encourage business leaders from all nations to make full use of the unique strengths and many opportunities that the Port City affords by investing here.

“Our vision is to make the Port City a key service hub for one of the fastest-growing regions in the world.

Port City Colombo(Wikipedia)

“Its residents will have all the facilities they need to do productive work while enjoying a very high quality of life in a vibrant tropical beachside environment that fuses the best of both old and new.”

The SLIF is a three-day virtual event organised by Sri Lanka’s Board of Investment, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, and the Colombo Stock Exchange to attract high-quality investors from around the world, reports Xinhua news agency.

ALSO READ: Fire-stricken X-Press Pearl cargo ship sinks off Sri Lanka coas

The event showcases investment opportunities in the country and provides investors with an opportunity to network with local policymakers and businessmen.

Rajapaksa told investors that his government has passed a legal framework which would establish special incentives and improve ease of doing business in the Port City SEZ.

Port City Colombo(Wikipedia)

He said that Colombo is one of the best-connected and most livable cities in South Asia and that the Port City project would augment these features by adding world-class residential, commercial, social, and entertainment facilities.

The President also encouraged investment in a broad range of areas prioritised by government policies, including trans-shipment and logistics, organic agriculture, value-added agricultural exports, large-scale solar and wind power, manufacturing, IT, and tourism.

“The government of Sri Lanka is proactive and pro-business. We will look very favourably upon investments that can have a transformative impact on our economy as well as our national profile, and we will do our utmost to create an enabling environment for the success of such investments,” Rajapaksa added.

ALSO READ: Floods strike Covid-hit Sri Lanka

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Cargo ship fire: Dead animals drift ashore in SL

Photo taken on June 2, 2021 shows part of the X Press Pearl, a container ship burnt near the Colombo Port, in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (Sri Lanka Air Force Media/Handout via Xinhua/IANS)

The dead marine creatures were found on beaches from Puttalam in the northwest to Mirissa in the south….report Asian Lite News

Sri Lankan government officials have said that bodies of more than 10 turtles, a dolphin, fish and birds have washed up on the country’s beaches after the burning of the X-Press Pearl container ship.

In a statement on Sunday, the Department of Wildlife Conservation officials said an investigation was underway to ascertain the cause of death of these marine species, reports Xinhua news agency.

The dead marine creatures were found on beaches from Puttalam in the northwest to Mirissa in the south.

Two turtles with injuries were also found on the Unawatuna beach in the south, according to the media reports.

“Most of the turtles that were found dead on the beaches off Panadura and Wellawatte had their carapaces broken. One dead turtle at the Unawatuna beach was found with injures,” an official involved in the investigation told the local Daily Mirror newspaper.

Photo taken on June 2, 2021 shows part of the X Press Pearl, a container ship burnt near the Colombo Port, in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (Sri Lanka Air Force Media/Handout via Xinhua/IANS)

A link between the marine life death and the burning of the X-Press Pearl container ship is expected to be the focus in the investigation.

The Singapore-flagged vessel was carrying 1,486 containers with 25 tonnes of nitric acid and several other chemicals and cosmetics when arriving from India on May 15.

ALSO READ: Floods strike Covid-hit Sri Lanka

It sent out a distress call while being close to the Colombo port on May 20 and soon caught fire resulting in Sri Lanka Navy dispatching vessels in efforts to fight the fire onboard.

Sri Lanka’s Marine Environment Protection Authority has said the burning of the vessel caused a massive environmental disaster as many beaches were damaged by the debris washing ashore.

Photo taken on June 2, 2021 shows part of the X Press Pearl, a container ship burnt near the Colombo Port, in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (Sri Lanka Air Force Media/Handout via Xinhua/IANS)

The government has said a large number of marine life have been killed as a result of the pollution caused by the fire, while the fisheries department has imposed a temporary ban on fishing from the southern to the western coast.

A criminal probe is presently underway into the cause of the fire on board the X-Press Pearl ship.

Earlier Sunday, police said investigators have received the ship’s voyage data recorder which contains all the communication dialogues between the captain, the ship’s parent company and the local shipping agent.

The Navy said an oil spill has not been detected from the burnt vessel, which was about 18.52 km away from the Colombo port.

ALSO READ: Floods strike Covid-hit Sri Lanka

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Floods strike Covid-hit Sri Lanka

People wade through water in suburban areas of Colombo, Sri Lanka, . (Xinhua/Gayan Sameera/IANS)

South-west monsoon rains settling in the country’s western, southern and central parts resulted in heavy showers and landslides …reports Asian Lite News

Heavy rains followed by landslides and flooding in Sri Lanka killed at least 14 people and has affected over 250,000 more in the past two days with warnings that adverse weather conditions will continue, officials said on Sunday.

South-west monsoon rains settling in the country’s western, southern and central parts resulted in heavy showers and landslides in several areas, Disaster Management Centre (DMC) officials said.

A family of four was killed on Saturday when they were buried in a landslide in Aranayaka, some 90 kms east of Colombo, reports dpa news agency.

The other victims also died in landslides or were swept away by flooded rivers or streams, the DMC said.

The majority of the affected residents were able to remain in their homes while some 20,000 people were evacuated, the officials said.

People wade through water in suburban areas of Colombo, Sri Lanka, . (Xinhua/Gayan Sameera/IANS)

Meanwhile water levels of two of the main rivers flowing through the Western Province, which includes the capital, continued to rise as rain kept falling on Sunday.

The adverse weather conditions were an additional burden on authorities already busy enforcing island-wide travel restrictions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The South Asian country has reported an average of 40 Covid-19-related deaths and 3,000 positive cases per day over the past week.

Travel restrictions were originally due to be lifted on Monday, but have instead been extended by a week.

ALSO READ: Sri Lanka extends nationwide travel curbs

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Fire-stricken X-Press Pearl cargo ship sinks off Sri Lanka coas

X-Press Feeders, operators of the container ship ‘X-Press Pearl’ reported that despite salvors successfully boarding the vessel and attaching a tow wire, efforts to move the ship to deeper waters have failed….reports Asian Lite News

Fire stricken Singapore registered MV X-Press Pearl cargo ship, which caught fire near the Colombo harbor, had sunk off the coast of Sri Lanka during an attempt to tow the vessel to deeper waters.

Captain Indika de Silva, Navy Media Spokesman, said the towing the ship to the deeper seas was abandoned as the stern of the ship sank to the seabed when it was being towed 500 to 600 meters westward, reported Colombo Page.

X-Press Feeders, operators of the container ship ‘X-Press Pearl’ reported that despite salvors successfully boarding the vessel and attaching a tow wire, efforts to move the ship to deeper waters have failed.

The operators in an update confirmed that the ship’s aft portion is now touching the bottom of the sea at a depth of 21 meters, reported Colombo Page.

“As of 1500 Sri Lanka time, the foreward area of the vessel remains afloat with smoke coming out of Cargo Holds No 1 and 2,” the update said.

A Navy spokesman said several teams, including the Navy and the Ports Authority, were on standby to prevent an oil spill from the ship and that three Indian vessels are also ready to handle the ship.

He said the towing the ship to deep sea was abandoned as the back of the ship was submerged in water, leaving the ship stranded in the seabed. He added that due to the severe damage caused by the fire, there was an uncertain situation at the beginning of the towing, reported Colombo Page.

More than half of the ship is now sinking at sea. A salvor team belonging to a foreign company commenced the removal of the wrecked X-Press Pearl from the shipping lanes of the Sri Lankan port this morning.

The Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy Vice Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne and the Commander of the Indian Navy had a discussion on the incident this afternoon. It is reported that the Indian Navy Commander has promised to extend further support to Sri Lanka, reported Colombo Page.

Singapore-flagged Containership, X-Press Pearl with a container leaking nitric acid reported smoke from the cargo hold on the 20th May while anchorage at 9.5 nautical miles northwest of the Port of Colombo. The vessel reported fire on deck on May 21.

X-Press Pearl had carried 1486 containers with 25 tonnes of Nitric Acid, several other chemicals, and cosmetics; it had departed from the port of Hazira on India on 15th May 2021.

Sri Lankan Navy, Air Force, Sri Lanka Ports Authority and other local agencies in coordination with the Indian Coast Guard ships continually battling the fire managed to douse the flames on May 31 making it possible for salvor teams to board the ship and assess the damage. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Sri Lanka bans travellers from India

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-Top News China Sri Lanka

Plaque omits Tamil evokes fury in Srilanka

Sri Lanka in major language controversy as Mandarin replaces Tamil on signages

The inclusion of Mandarine raised concerns over whether the China is beginning to impose its cultural hegemony on the Sri Lanka…reports Rahul Kumar

Sri Lankans are holding a major debate in the country after two back-to-back incidents in which Mandarin was included in sign boards omitting out Tamil from government projects. Now people are debating if China is beginning to impose its cultural hegemony on the island nation.

This week Sri Lankan Attorney General Dappula de Livera unveiled a plaque written in Sinhala, English and Mandarin. It caused a controversy on both countries that Tamil was not included and Mandarin was. This goes against the official language trilingual policy in the country wherein Sinhala, Tamil and English are used.

The controversy erupted after China gifted a smart library to the attorney general’s department. Social media platforms were abuzz with the development. Facing criticism, the plaque was removed. The attorney general’s office declined to comment.

In a bid to control the damage, the Chinese embassy tweeted: “We noticed an interim sign in a JV building site not abiding by trilingual rules. Request raised. We respect all three official languages in Sri Lanka, and urge China companies to follow”. It shared images of other Chinese-built structures that included the Tamil language in their signages.

This controversy erupted on the heels of another similar one.

Just last week, the central park being developed in the China-backed Colombo Port City had replaced Tamil with Mandarin. After the news went viral on Tamil groups and in social media circles, the Port City Colombo released a statement saying that the photograph being circulated is that of an old signboard.

News website, Colombo Page, published a statement, by Port City Colombo, released on its trilingual letterhead that the project is under construction and the signboards put up by the contractor are meant for employees and authorised visitors. It added that temporary sign boards do not have to be in all three official languages.

The clarification said that due to a majority of employees being locals, Sinhala language was used while English and Chinese were used for the considerable number of foreign workers at the site. It added that, “… When opening doors to the public to visit, any and all signboards in all public areas will be erected as per the government regulations for such boards,” the Port City Colombo said.

ALSO READ: Lankan Navy rescues foreign crew from burning cargo ship

The controversy generated by the signage and the plaque refuses to die out.

State Minister of National Heritage, Performing Arts and Rural Arts Promotion, Vidura Wickramanayka told Sri Lankan newspaper, The Daily Mirror: “As a country we should not allow these type of things to happen. We talk about co-existence. An inquiry in this regard has to be carried out…”

Gotabaya Rajapaksa meets Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe(Twitter)

Batticaloa Member of Parliament from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Shanakiyan Rasamanickam said that it is China which decides what to put on the sign boards in Sri Lanka. He added that Sri Lanka had become “Chi-Lanka”.

The controversy over the languages comes soon after the massive opposition to the Colombo Port City, which had been opposed by almost the entire cross section of the Sri Lankan society except President Rajapaksa Gotabaya’s ruling party – Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna. Even powerful Buddhist monks had opposed Chinese control over the Colombo Port City saying that it would make Sri Lanka a colony of the communist giant.

(This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

ALSO READ: Soon, Lankans will need a passport issued by China to enter Port City

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Soon, Lankans will need a passport issued by China to enter Port City

Under the Port City Economic Commission Bill, businesses can operate in any recognized foreign currency, reports Asian Lite News

Silently China has done the impossible. In a deft move loaded with strategic importance Beijing has purchased 269 hectares of reclaimed land in what China calls will be used as a special economic zone (SEZ) for services-oriented industries.

The controversial Port City Economic Commission Bill was passed by the Lankan Parliament last week with 149 votes in favour and 58 against. Under the legislation, a President-appointed commission will be established to govern the SEZ.

The $1.4 billion-Colombo Port City, was launched in 2014 during the previous term of the Rajapaksa government, when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the island nation. The mega infrastructure project is currently being built on land reclaimed alongside Colombo’s iconic sea front, while environmentalists, fisher folk and Opposition parties are against the move.

The passing of the bill is considered a major diplomatic and strategic concern for India, as China’s footprint increases in neighbouring countries such as Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Tibet.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa meets Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe(Twitter)

The bill will enable the businesses to operate in any recognized foreign currency within Port City. After the Port City bill was tabled in Parliament on April 8, 19 petitions were filed with the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa told the Parliament that the Port City project would create 200,000 jobs in the first five years, with the majority going to Sri Lankan nationals. He said that the Port City bill provides a competitive framework to attract investment.

Port City Colombo Director of Sales and Marketing Yamuna Jayaratne said that Sri Lanka already enjoys several advantages in the cost of doing business in comparison with established and mature services hubs such as Hong Kong and Dubai.

Lankans will need a passport to enter their own land

According to a report by seatrade-maritime.com, the area in which Sri Lanka is now rooted in Sri Lanka is just 290 km from Kanyakumari. China is also preparing a separate passport for Colombo Port City and Hambantota. However, the Sri Lankan government or media has so far not given any official information about the separate passport.

What are China’s intentions?

Whether it is East Africa or Pakistan, China has always been expanding by extending loans. He has a keen eye on Sri Lanka. Through this, it can pose new threats to India. He has already taken Hambantota on a 99-year lease. Colombo also holds a 99-year lease term with Port City. Sri Lanka will get entangled in the debt trap and will also be with Colombo Port City as it lost Hambantota. Last year, the BBC said in a report – Sri Lanka has borrowed billions of dollars from China to improve the infrastructure sector.

Lankan Oppostion’s argument

Legislators from Opposition parties including the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB or United People’s Front) and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) challenged its provisions that they said infringed upon the country’s sovereignty, gave the governing commission overarching powers, and immunity from Sri Lankan law, and threatened to create a “Chinese enclave”.

Some of the strongest attacks on the Bill, during the debate, came from Tamil MPs. Legislator and former Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran on Wednesday asked the government if its stated policy of striving for ‘One Country, One Law’ meant “Chinese law”.

Intervening in the debate, Tamil National People’s Front Leader Gajen Ponnambalam on Thursday said Sri Lanka, in the past, had got too close to the U.S. in the Cold War era, prompting India to back and train Tamil militant groups. The “China-centric” Rajapaksa administration was again challenging the geo-political order in the region, he said. Observing that the “Tamil nation” had paid a heavy price the last time Sri Lanka made such choices, he said he opposed the Bill for that reason.

Tamil National Alliance MP and senior lawyer M.A. Sumanthiran said the Supreme Court had made merely “cosmetic changes” to the Bill, while its fundamental character remained unchanged. Accusing the government of giving away part of its land to China, the Jaffna legislator said: “You say so much about [Tamil] Eelam, but this is Cheelam, [referring to China and Eelam, the Tamil name of Sri Lanka]… and it is Cheelam that you are enacting in your own laws, when you don’t have jurisdiction over that territory.”

ALSO READ: Sri Lanka bans travellers from India

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Lankan Navy rescues foreign crew from burning cargo ship

Container ship turns into floating inferno off Colombo (Credit SL Air Force) (1)

The vessel sent out a distress call while being close to the Colombo Port on May 20, and soon caught fire…reports Asian Lite News

 Sri Lankan authorities on Tuesday rescued 25 foreign crew members onboard a cargo ship which was engulfed in flames off the Colombo Harbour, while the Navy said an explosion was heard within the vessel earlier in the day.

The Singapore-flagged container ship, X-PRESS PEARL, was carrying 1,486 containers with 25 tonnes of nitric acid and several other chemicals and cosmetics from the port of Hazira, India, on May 15, according to the Navy.

The vessel sent out a distress call while being close to the Colombo Port on May 20, and soon caught fire, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Sri Lankan Navy dispatched vessels to bring the fire under control.

By Tuesday morning, eight cargo containers had fallen into the sea and the vessel was reported to be unstable, the Marine Environmental Protection Authority (MEPA) said.

Container ship turns into floating inferno off Colombo (Credit SL Air Force) (2)

The Sri Lanka Navy said it had rescued 25 crew members from the cargo ship.

Two injured Indians among the rescued had been hospitalised for treatment, according to the Navy.

The distressed container ship had a crew who are Philippine, Chinese, Indian and Russian nationals.

The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) said it had deployed Bell-212 helicopters to drop dry chemical powder on the X-Press Pearl to douse the fire.

While these operations were ongoing amid inclement weather, the MEPA urged citizens in capital Colombo to avoid going to the beaches and touching any floating objects in the water as they might be chemicals from the burning fire.

The MEPA has launched a probe to assess if there has been any environmental destruction due to the fire.

Indian Coast Guard rushed to spot

The Indian Coast Guard has rushed two of its ships with capability to fight fire and undertake pollution response to douse the major fire on container carrier MV X-Press Pearl near Sri Lanka’s Colombo port.

Sri Lankan authorities have sought Indian Coast Guard assistance towards firefighting and for augmenting pollution response measures in light of the oil spill.

According to the Coast Guard, its assets at Kochi, Chennai and Thoothukodi are on standby for immediate assistance for pollution control.

Further Coast Guard aircraft are being brought to Thoothukodi from Chennai and Kochi for aerial surveillance and pollution response.

ALSO READ: Sri Lanka bans travellers from India


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6 Covid-19 variants detected in Lanka amid surge

A letter signed by the Department’s Professor Neelika Malavige and Director Chandima Jeewandara on Sunday, said the six variants were found in samples from patients sent to them as of April 30….reports Asian Lite News

 Sri Lankan health experts have said a total of six Covid-19 variants have been identified in the island nation amid an ongoing resurgence of new cases.

The coronavirus variants, including the more contagious B.1.617 first reported in India, were identified by the Department of Immunology and Molecular Medicine of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, reports Xinhua news agency.

A letter signed by the Department’s Professor Neelika Malavige and Director Chandima Jeewandara on Sunday, said the six variants were found in samples from patients sent to them as of April 30.

The health experts said the variant of B.1.617 was detected in a person who recently returned from India and was in a quarantine centre in Colombo.

Jeewandara was quoted by the Sunday Morning newspaper as saying that his Department has also detected 65 cases with the virus variant B.1.1.7 first found in Britain as well as one infection with the B.1.351 strain that originated in South Africa.

Sri Lanka has so far reported 125,906 confirmed cases of Covid-19 with 801 deaths.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry has started administering the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine against Covid-19 to citizens, soon after the World Health Organisation (WHO) approved it for emergency use worldwide.

The vaccines were administered on Saturday at the Panadura Health Office in Kalutara District, in the outskirts of capital Colombo, an area which has reported a rising number of Covid-19 cases in recent days.

ALSO READ;Sri Lanka bans travellers from India

Speaking at the launch of the vaccination drive, State Minister of Production, Supply, and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals Channa Jayasumana thanked the Chinese government for sending the Sinopharm vaccines and said this would add to the efforts of the Sri Lankan government to inoculate at least 70 per cent of its population against the virus by the end of the year.

“Today is a very special day for the Panadura MoH office. We want to thank the Chinese government as well as the WHO for approving the Sinopharm under emergency use. Today we began administering the Sinopharm in the Panadura area and want to thank President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for approving to start this program from the Kalutara district,” Jayasumana said.

Sri lanka vaccination

State Minister of Primary Health Care, Epidemics and Covid Disease Control Sudharshani Fernandopulle, also said at the launch that with the WHO and the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) approving the Sinopharm vaccine under emergency use in Sri Lanka, authorities will now look to get more vaccines from China to vaccinate the local population.

“Today we began administering the Sinopharm vaccine in the Panadura Health office for locals above the age of 30 years and below the age of 60 years. From tomorrow (Sunday) we will also identify the areas which have reported the highest number of Covid-19 patients in recent days and will begin to administer the Sinopharm vaccines in those areas as well,” Fernandopulle said.

She said some of the areas worst affected by the virus were Colombo, Kalutara, Gampaha, Kurunegala, Kandy, and Matale, and authorities were making arrangements to vaccinate the people in these areas as soon as possible.

The Sinopharm vaccines arrived in Sri Lanka last month, under a special grant by the Chinese government to the Health Ministry.

ALSO READ:Maldives Police arrest two over attack on ex-Prez

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Lanka starts administering Sinopharm vax

Sri lanka vaccination

The vaccines were administered on Saturday at the Panadura Health Office in Kalutara District, in the outskirts of capital Colombo…reports Asian Lite News

Sri Lanka’s Health Ministry has started administering the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine against Covid-19 to citizens, soon after the World Health Organization (WHO) approved it for emergency use worldwide.

The vaccines were administered on Saturday at the Panadura Health Office in Kalutara District, in the outskirts of capital Colombo, an area which has reported a rising number of Covid-19 cases in recent days, reports Xinhua news agency.

Speaking at the launch of the vaccination drive, State Minister of Production, Supply, and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals Channa Jayasumana thanked the Chinese government for sending the Sinopharm vaccines and said this would add to the efforts of the Sri Lankan government to inoculate at least 70 per cent of its population against the virus by the end of the year.

“Today is a very special day for the Panadura MoH office. We want to thank the Chinese government as well as the WHO for approving the Sinopharm under emergency use. Today we began administering the Sinopharm in the Panadura area and want to thank President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for approving to start this program from the Kalutara district,” Jayasumana said.

Sri Lanka vaccination against Covid 19

State Minister of Primary Health Care, Epidemics and Covid Disease Control Sudharshani Fernandopulle, also said at the launch that with the WHO and the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) approving the Sinopharm vaccine under emergency use in Sri Lanka, authorities will now look to get more vaccines from China to vaccinate the local population.

“Today we began administering the Sinopharm vaccine in the Panadura Health office for locals above the age of 30 years and below the age of 60 years. From tomorrow (Sunday) we will also identify the areas which have reported the highest number of Covid-19 patients in recent days and will begin to administer the Sinopharm vaccines in those areas as well,” Fernandopulle said.

She said some of the areas worst affected by the virus were Colombo, Kalutara, Gampaha, Kurunegala, Kandy, and Matale, and authorities were making arrangements to vaccinate the people in these areas as soon as possible.

The Sinopharm vaccines arrived in Sri Lanka last month, under a special grant by the Chinese government to the Health Ministry.

Sri Lanka has so far reported 123,234 confirmed coronavirus cases and 786 deaths.

Also read:Sri Lanka bans travellers from India

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Sri Lanka bans travellers from India

Workers disinfect a piece of luggage at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake, Sri Lanka

The curbs were applied until further notice following the guidelines received by the Health Ministry until the next evaluation,said official…reports Asian Lite News

The Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL) on Thursday announced its decision to suspend all Indian travellers from entering the country with immediate effect in an effort to curb the spread of the Indian Covid-19 variant.

In a statement, CAASL Additional Director General P. A. Jayakantha said the restrictions were applied until further notice following the guidelines received by the Health Ministry until the next evaluation, reports the Daily Mirror newspaper.

He said the CAASL have directed all airlines to preventing disembarking Indian passengers.

Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka

The announcement comes as India is struggling to battle a second deadlier wave of the pandemic.

As of Thursday, India’s overall Covid-19 caseload and death toll stood at 2,10,77,410 and 2,30,168, respectively.

It has been 15 straight days that India has recorded more than three lakh cases daily, while the casualties have been over 3,000 deaths for nine consecutive days.

Also read:OIC rights panel slams Sri Lanka ‘reintegration’ plan