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Cabinet approves engaging additional staff and issue 4000 passports per day
As per the recommendations of the intellects committee appointed by the Cabinet of Ministers to submit recommendations on the actions to be taken for circumventing the shortage of passports, the procurement process has already been started to supply 1,100,000 empty passports with “P” category chip from the supplier.
Accordingly, a programme has been planned to issue 4000 passports per day by monitoring the operations of the Department of Emigration and Immigration throughout the 24 hours to eliminate the delay of issuing passports which prevails at present.
Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal furnished by the Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs to supply
the additional staff required for the purpose by engaging officers who served in that Department and have retired, on contract basis with the concurrence of the Public Service Commission in addition to attaching
the officers currently in government service with the consent of the Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government.
“The wicket was very good last time. I’m hoping it will turn more in this match.”
When a Sri Lanka captain says this in Galle on the eve of a Test, there might be a dustbowl in the offing. What is clear is that the surface Sri Lanka and Australia are set to play the second Test on appears substantially drier than the track they played the first match on.
Partly, this is down to bright conditions in the lead-up. Where the days before the first Test had been beset by rain, this pitch has more or less baked in ferocious heat since the first match ended, on Saturday.
There is also the theory that producing pitches that only break up after days three and four offers too substantial an advantage to the side batting first. Sri Lanka want to avoid conceding another score in the realm of 654 for 6 declared, which deflated them in the first Test. They are seeking an advantage and have fallen back to what they tend to rely on in Galle: big turn.
“Our strength is spin,” Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva said. “If you look through the history in Galle, a lot of spinners have been among the wickets, and hopefully ours can be effective.”
The problem for Sri Lanka is that Australia have learned to thrive in spinning conditions as well. Their bowlers might have had the better bowling conditions in the first Test, but they made the unusual move of strapping three frontline spinners to the plow, and between them, Nathan Lyon, Matthew Kuhnemann and Todd Murphy shared 17 wickets, dismissing Sri Lanka for 165 and 247.
Australia have been outspoken about their having prepared for “extreme” surfaces as well as flatter ones, partly through their week-long training camp in Dubai. Steven Smith revealed ahead of this Test that it was India’s spin-blueprint in Asia that Australia had chosen to emulate, to some extent. Devising bowling strategy around three frontline spinners is not a challenge that many Australia captains have had to contend with, but on the evidence of the first Test, Smith has been relishing it.
“Looks a very dry surface and I dare say it will take a reasonable amount of spin,” Smith said. “In these conditions, it’s great to have more than two options of guys who can take wickets and build pressure. If you look at India, who have done it so well, they’ve had R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, and either Kuldeep Yadav or Jayant Yadav or Axar Patel – someone who bowls good spin – with them in their line-up.
“In these conditions, it’s tiring for a spinner as well. It’s hot and humid out there, and you can get tired bowling spin as well as pace. If a batter looks comfortable against a bowler, you can take that bowler off and get someone else in. Even if a new bowler takes a wicket early in the spell, you can go back to the other guy, which is what India have done so well for a number of years. I just have a similar philosophy. ”
Australia’s batting against spin has also improved substantially, particularly since the 2016 tour of Sri Lanka, which they lost 3-0. Smith said many Australia batters’ exposure to big-spinning conditions – even through the T20 leagues in Asia – has helped raise their game.
“Even in one-day tours you can get similar wickets in the nets to what you get out there,” Smith said. “Last time we played in Colombo in one-dayers, the ball was ragging all over the place. For guys that play IPL and things like that, and you can get nets there that can be extreme, you just learn on the go through those experiences. It’s almost been attack before defence and thinking proactively. I thought we did that magnificently in the first Test.”
Because of how enormous the winning margin was in the first Test – an innings and 242 runs – Sri Lanka now find themselves having to prove that their own batting in spinning conditions is up to scratch. And that their own bowlers can be penetrative in helpful conditions. Early signs are that this game could be a classic low-scoring Galle shootout.
“In the first Test, a lot of our batters got starts but didn’t carry on,” de Silva said. “During the match and afterwards, what we’d talked about was that someone has to make 150 or 200, because then others can bat around him, and we can get to a big score. That’s what Australia did. I’m expecting that will happen for us in this match.”
[Cricinfo]
The Italian Naval Ship ANTONIO MARCEGLIA arrived at the port of Colombo on a replenishment visit this morning (05 Feb 25).
The visiting ship was welcomed by the Sri Lanka Navy in compliance with naval traditions. ANTONIO MARCEGLIA is a 144m – long frigate commanded by Commander ALBERTO BARTOLOMEO. In addition, the ship is manned by a crew of 199.
During the ship’s stay in the island its crew is expected to explore some interesting tourist destinations in Colombo and Galle.
The ship is scheduled to depart the island on 07 Feb and on her departure ANTONIO MARCEGLIA is set to engage in a Passage Exercise (PASSEX) with a Sri Lanka Navy ship off the coast of Colombo.
The Secretaries to the Ministries of Industries and Entrepreneurship Development as well as Plantation and Community Infrastructure Facilities were ordered at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers held of
27.01.2025 to prepare a methodology by inquiring all relevant parties regarding the possibility of immediately importing coconut kernels and other coconut related raw materials adhering to the legal provisions applicable at present so that an increased amount of local coconut harvest can be utilized for the industries utilizing coconut as a raw material temporarily as a remedy to the crisis in the market for
use in the local consumption due to insufficient coconut production in the country.
Accordingly, the Department of Agriculture, Coconut Research Institute, Coconut Development Authority, Plant Quarantine Service and Sri Lanka Standards Institution jointly have prepared and submitted guidelines
applicable to import of chilled coconut kernel and dried coconut pieces with coconut (non – copra) husk, coconut milk / coconut milk powder and desiccated coconut.
The Cabinet of Ministers has granted their concurrence to the joint proposal forwarded by the Ministers of Industries and Entrepreneurship
Development as well as Plantation and Community Infrastructure Facilities to take measures to import a capacity equal to 200 million coconuts of coconut kernel related products and dried coconut pieces
with coconut (non – copra) husks for manufacturing coconut oil adhering to the given guidelines.
Sri Lanka’s ‘strength is spin’, but it’s a game Australia can play too
Italian Naval Ship ANTONIO MARCEGLIA calls at Port of Colombo
Cabinet nod to revise sub – section 8:5 of Chapter XII of Segment I of the Establishments Code
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