News
30th Annual All Island Essay Competition –Awards Ceremony
Lions Club of Dehiwela North (Lions International District 306 A 2) successfully completed it’s 30th Annual All Island Essay Competition on Prevention of Drug Abuse, open for all school children in the age group of 15 to 19 in all three languages. First five place winners from each language category received their cash prizes, medals and certificates at an awards ceremony held on Feb 18at the Lions Activity Centre, Vidya Mawatha, Colombo-7.
District Governor Lion Nuwan Indunil Ballantudawa graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. Past District Governor Lion Duminda Munasinghe, Chairman of the Express Newspapers (Ceylon) Ltd. Kumar Nadesan, Dr.Sarayh Samarage, Rotary District 3220 Secretary Rotarian V. Ramanah and Secretary, Foundation for Innovative Social Development Ravi Kandiah were present as special guests of Honour. All of them in their speeches stressed the need of Awareness on the impact of drug abuse.
Project Chairman Lion S. Ramachandran and Club President Lion Madara Sandamali briefed the audience of the activities carried out by the club continuously from 1993 to create much needed awareness among the younger generation.

(Standing) Winners in the English Medium with Committee members Miss A Krishnaweni. (Seated) PDG Lion Duminda Munasinghe, District Governor Lion Nuwan Indunil Ballanthudawa, Project Chairman Lion S Ramachandran, Dr Sarath Samarage, Mr Kumar Nadesan and Club President Lion Madara Sandamali
Details of winners are as follows:-.SINHALA MEDIUM: 1st Prize- Miss.H.A.Kaveesha Diwyangani Hettiarachchi, Sri Sumangala National College, Wariyapola, 2nd Prize: Miss. W.A.M.Ayesha Maduwanthi Abeysinghe, Holy Family Balika Maha Vidyalaya, Kurunegala, 3rd Prize: Miss.K.M.Thejanee Devindhya Jayaweera, Holy Family Balika Maha Vidyalaya, Kurunegala, 4th Prize: Miss.H.D.Adeesha Indusarani Wijesinghe, Mayurapadha National School, Narammala, 5th Prize: Mast. H.M.Laksanda Pasindu Bandara Herath St.Anne’s College, Kurunegala, TAMIL MEDIUM: 1st Prize: Miss.Mohammed Faseeth Fathima Shafa, T/Mu/Mutur Muslim Ladies’ College, Muttur-01, 2nd Prize:Miss.Krishnamoorthi Abirami, Sri Saivapragasa Ladies’ College, Vavuniya 3rd Prize: Miss.Alavutheen Fathima Ishtha, T/Mu/Mutur Muslim Ladies’ College, Muttur-01, 4th Prize:Miss.Kavinaya Anthonythasan, Mn/ St.Xavier’s Girls’ College, Mannar, 5th Prize: Mast. Sritharan Payotharan, Bt/Kk/ Vantharumoolai Madya Maha Vidyalayam, Sittandy. ENGLISH MEDIUM:1st Prize:Miss.D.M.Pehesarani Nimthera Gunawardhana, A/Swarnapali Girls’ College, Anuradhapura, 2nd Prize:Mast.Sathiyarupan Aarthik, Hartley College, Point Pedro, 3rd Prize:Miss.Piumraa Dulkini Halpe Gamage, Musaeus College, Colombo-7, .4th Prize:Miss.Kaventhika Jeyachandran ,J/Jaffna Hindu Ladies’ College, Jaffna, 5th Prize: Miss.Haajar Aroos, Ilma International Girls’ School, Colombo 5.
This year’s programme was jointly sponsored by Rotary E – Club of Greater Sydney & the Rotary Club of Tuggrah (District 9685-Australia) and the Rotary Club of Colombo South teamed up with the Lions Club of Dehiwela North to work out this project.
Foreign News
One dead in US after being struck by taking off Frontier Airlines plane
A person has died after jumping an airport perimeter fence in the US state of Colorado and being struck by a Frontier Airlines plane, according to authorities.
Denver International Airport said the unusual incident occurred late Friday, after the unidentified individual gained access to the tarmac.
It said the “pedestrian jumped the perimeter fence and was hit just two minutes later while crossing the runway”.
A brief engine fire followed the collision, which was put out by emergency responders, according to the airport.
It said that 12 of the 231 people on board suffered minor injuries, with five hospitalised.
The airport said investigators had examined the fence line where the individual entered and “found it to be intact”.
It added that the struck individual “is not believed to be an employee of the airport”.
“We are extremely saddened by this incident and express our sympathies to those involved,” the airport said.
Both local authorities and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) were investigating the incident.
Airport safety in the US came under renewed scrutiny earlier this year amid a prolonged shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which temporarily left both Transportation Security Agents (TSA) and air traffic controllers working without pay.
While instances of people being killed on airport tarmacs are rare, Friday’s incident came a day after a Delta employee was killed after an airport vehicle struck an airbridge at Orlando International Airport.
In March, two pilots were killed after an Air Canada Express plane crashed into a fire-rescue vehicle at LaGuardia Airport in New York.
About 225,000 people travel through Denver International Airport a day.
[Aljazeera]
Latest News
Showers above 100 mm are likely at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Southern, Uva, North-western and Northern provinces and in Anuradhapura district.
WEATHER FORECAST FOR 10 MAY 2026
Issued at 05.30 a.m. on 10 May 2026 by the Department of Meteorology
The low-level atmospheric disturbance in the vicinity of Sri Lanka is likely to develop into a low-pressure area around 11th of May. Therefore, the prevailing showery conditions over the island are expected to continue during the next few days.
Showers or thundershowers will occur at most places over the island, and cloudy skies are expected over the island. Heavy showers above 100 mm are likely at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Southern, Uva, North-western and Northern provinces and in Anuradhapura district.
The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damage caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.
News
Lanka Port City officials to meet investors in Dubai
ECONOMYNEXT –Colombo Port City (CPC) officials will head to Dubai to meet with investors on June 11, as Sri Lanka’s most ambitious economic zone looks for further foreign investments.
“We are meeting people in Dubai and the Middle East in order to demonstrate that Colombo Port City can be a supplementary zone of investment,” Harsha Amarasekara, Chairman, Colombo Port City Economic Commission (CPCEC), told Economynext.
The meeting will be organised by CPCEC, China Harbour Engineering Company, Consulate General of Sri Lanka – Dubai, and the Embassy of Sri Lanka – Abu Dhabi.
Foreign investor meetings have been a consistent factor in marketing CPC, and identifying potential markets has been a priority for CHEC and CPCEC.
“We have shortlisted and identified primary markets and we have combed the globe in that to say have a rationale behind why you would want to do certain things, a road show in a particular country,” Thulci Aluwihare, Deputy Managing Director, CHEC Port City Colombo, told Echelon Media.
“Once we kind of shortlist on that, then we aggressively go and market Port City, first Sri Lanka I should say, then Port City.”
“Sri Lanka is known in the world as a tourist destination, not essentially for a doing business capital. That is the narrative that we are trying to change,” he added.
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