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Consumer Rights Protection Initiative launched under “Clean Sri Lanka” programme on World Consumer Rights Day
Coinciding with World Consumer Rights Day on March 15, a new initiative under the “Clean Sri Lanka” Programme is set to be implemented to promote awareness and attitudinal change regarding consumer rights protection within society.
A discussion on this initiative was held at the Presidential Secretariat under the patronage of Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, Secretary to the President, with the participation of officials from the Ministries of Health and Agriculture.
Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake emphasized the need for the practical implementation of existing policies and plans of the Ministry of Health to ensure that citizens have access to safe and high-quality food.
Extensive discussions were held on ensuring consumers’ right to access high-quality and safe food. The dialogue focused on creating an environment that supports compliance with health standards, enhancing consumer confidence and exploring measures to involve both the public and private sectors in achieving these objectives.
Attention was also drawn to the practical implementation of existing policies and plans related to food standards and quality assurance through the “Clean Sri Lanka” Programme, exploring possible measures to achieve these objectives effectively.
Discussions also focused on integrating the “Clean Sri Lanka” Programme with the Ministry of Agriculture’s National Policy framework, particularly in ensuring the safety and proper storage of agricultural produce. Additionally, attention was given to the implementation of existing regulations related to restaurant certification, street vendor regulation, registration of street food establishments & food trucks and registration of personnel training.
The meeting was attended by Senior Additional Secretary to the President, G.M.R.D. Apponsu, Additional Secretary to the President, S.P.C. Sugiswara, along with senior officials from various ministries and institutions, including the Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils, and Local Government, Ministry of Health and Mass Media, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation, Ministry of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development, Department of Food Commissioner, Department of Agriculture, Department of Health Services, Consumer Affairs Authority, Sri Lanka Standards Institution, National Medicines Regulatory Authority, Industrial Technology Institute, Central Environmental Authority, National Food Promotion Board, and Department of Measurement Units, Standards, and Services.
[PMD]
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Showers above 75 mm can be expected at some places in Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Southern and North-western provinces.
WEATHER FORECAST FOR 16 MARCH 2025
Issued at 05.30 a.m. on 16 March 2025 by the Department of Meteorology
Misty conditions can be expected at some places in Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and in Galle, Matara and Kurunegala districts during the morning.
Cloudy skies can be expected over the Southern half of the island.
Showers or thundershowers will occur at times in Northern, Eastern and Uva provinces and in Hambantota, Polonnaruwa, Nuwara-Eliya and Matale districts and at several places elsewhere in the island after 1.00 p.m. Fairly heavy showers above 75 mm can be expected at some places in Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Southern and North-western provinces.
The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.
The US has launched a “decisive and powerful” wave of air strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen, President Donald Trump has said, citing the armed group’s attacks on shipping in the Red Sea as the reason.
“Funded by Iran, the Houthi thugs have fired missiles at US aircraft, and targeted our Troops and Allies,” Trump wrote on his Truth social platform, adding that their “piracy, violence, and terrorism” had cost “billions of dollars” and put lives at risk.
The Houthi-run health ministry said at least 13 people were killed and nine others injured in the strikes.
The group – which began targeting shipping in response to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza – said its forces would respond to US strikes.
In a statement, the Houthis blamed the US and the UK for “wicked” aggression targeting residential areas in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa – though it is understood that the UK was not behind Saturday’s strikes on the Middle Eastern country.
The Iranian-backed rebel group, considers Israel its enemy. It controls Sanaa and the north-west of Yemen, but it is not the country’s internationally-recognised government.
Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, it has launched hundreds of attacks on commercial vessels travelling through the Red Sea.
These attacks, Trump said, “will not be tolerated”. “We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective.”
Initially, the group said it was attacking ships connected with, or that had docked in, Israel. However, many of the vessels have no connection with Israel.
Trump said that it had been more than a year since a US-flagged ship had sailed safely through the Suez Canal – which the Red Sea leads to – and four months since a US warship had been through the body of water between east Africa and the Arabian peninsula.
The Suez Canal is the quickest sea route between Asia and Europe, and is particularly important in the transportation of oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Addressing the Houthis directly, Trump wrote that if they did not stop, “HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE”.
But the Houthis were unwavering in their response, saying the aggression would not wane their support for Palestinians.
“This aggression will not go without response and our Yemeni armed forces are ready to answer escalation with further escalation,” the group said.
Meanwhile, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the Houthi’s “benefactor”, Iran, was “on notice”.
For more than a year, major shipping companies were forced to stop using the Red Sea – through which almost 15% of global seaborne trade usually passes – and used a much longer route around southern Africa instead.
The Houthis launched 190 attacks in the Red Sea between November 2023 and October 2024, according to the US Congress.
Previously, the UK and US conducted joint naval and air strikes against the group. Israel has also targeted sites linked to the Houthis in separate strikes.
Trump urged Iran to cease its support for the Houthis, warning that Washington would hold Tehran “fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it”.
He also accused the previous White House administration, under Joe Biden, of being “pathetically weak” and allowing the “unrestrained Houthis” to keep going.
[BBC]
Mumbai Indians (MI) won the Women’s Premier League (WPL) title for the second time in three seasons, successfully defending 149 for 7 to consign Delhi Capitals (DC) to a runners-up finish for a third season in a row.
Nat Sciver-Brunt, who became the first to 1000 runs in WPL, and Harmanpreet Kaur, who tallied 300 runs in a season for the first time, were central to MI’s batting even on Saturday, adding 89 for the third wicket to lift them from 14 for 2. Harmanpreet continued her fine striking form to hit a 36-ball fifty that dragged MI to a respectable total.
DC crumbled early in response to their 150-run chase but sprung back to life thanks toMarizanne Kapp’s late, smart hitting. She hit 40 off just 26 balls and added 40 off 29 balls with Niki Prasad for the seventh wicket. That assault brought down DC’s equation to 23 off 12 balls and then 14 off 6 when Prasad hit Hayley Matthews for a six. But there was Sciver-Brunt at the end, like she was there at the start. As a result, DC came out to be second-best again, their eight-run loss likely to sting them the most.
It was the fifth game in a row – fourth at the Brabourne Stadium this season – that a team batting first won. It was only the fourth time in the WPL that a sub-150 target was successfully defended, three of them have seen DC on the losing side.
Sciver-Brunt celebrated vociferously after clean bowling DC captain Meg Lanning. Shabnim Ismail couldn’t be stopped after she trapped Shafali Verma, DC’s leading run-getter this season. Amelia Kerr outfoxed Jess Jonassen, Saika Ishaque got the better of Annabel Sutherland. DC were in all sorts at 4 for 44 and soon, Jemimah Rodrigues fell after a sprightly knock, leaving them 66 for 5. Sarah Bryce’s run-out left them at 83 for 6 inside 13 overs. Surely it was curtains for DC?
Not until Kapp was in the middle. She was not going to let her frugal spell of 2 for 11 off four overs to waste. She blasted a Sciver-Brunt half-tracker over deep midwicket for half a dozen before bringing her wrists into play to clip one behind square on the leg side. She then hit two fours off successive balls off Hayley Matthews before going 4, 6, 4 off Ishaque to leave DC needing a gettable 35 off 24 balls. When Prasad, batting at No. 8, scythed Ismail through backward point to end the 17th over, the equation came down to 29 off 18.
The partisan crowd at the Brabourne Stadium suddenly cheered every Kapp boundary. But Sciver-Brunt earned the loudest cheer when she had Kapp flat-bat one straight to Matthews at long-off. Nothing quite stings like a dashed hope; Lanning’s blank expression said it all.
DC opted to bowl on what was a fresh surface. On a balmy Mumbai evening, Kapp and Shikha Pandey got the new ball to swing around. Matthews couldn’t score from five of the seven balls she faced off Kapp. After bowling a few balls shaping away from the right-hander, Kapp got one to go straight on and rattle Matthews’ stumps. It was the 11th time Matthews was dismissed by Kapp in women’s T20s.
From the other end, Pandey also did not let the off-colour Yastika Bhatia off and built up the pressure. In a bid to cut loose, Bhatia drove one Kapp delivery towards cover, where Jemimah Rodrigues took a low catch tumbling forward. That double strike meant MI finished the powerplay on 20 for 2, their second-lowest total in the phase in the WPL.
Like the previous two WPL finals, it looked as if the team batting first would end up with a below-par total. DC were calling the shots with the ball; Kapp finished her quota in a single spell to give them early control. That did little to fluster Sciver-Brunt and Harmanpreet. They targeted their bowlers to help MI pick up pace, and how. MI scored just 28 off 2 in the first eight overs; in the next five, they added 59. Each of those five overs went for over ten.
It is not often Sciver-Brunt plays the second fiddle but such was Harmanpreet’s silken touch. A pull off Annabel Sutherland, that travelled over deep backward square leg for a six, started a style of play we have come to see Harmanpreet in WPL 2025. She then took apart Jess Jonassen, a bowler who has got her number in T20Is, in the 11th over, carting her for three fours in a row. She welcomed the offspin of Minnu Mani with what was one of the shots of the evening – a whip that was all wrists through square leg off the back foot. She scored her third half-century of the season to pull MI out of trouble. MI scored 70 in the seven overs between the first and second timeout.
Sutherland then had Harmanpreet hole out to deep cover as MI collapsed from 102 for 2 to 118 for 6. Yet, MI managed to score 25 off the last two overs to get close to 150. DC picked up 5 for 45 in the last five overs; that effort wouldn’t have been all that bad on another day.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians Women 149 for 7 in 20 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 66, Nat Sciver-Brunt 30, G Kamalini 10, Amanjot Kaur 14*; Narizanne Kapp 2-11, Annabel Sutherland 1-29, Jess Jonassen 2-26, Shree Charani 2-43) beat Delhi Capitals Women 141 for 9 in 20 overs (Meg Lanning 13, Jess Jonassen 13, Marizanne Kapp 40, Jemimah Rodrigues 30, Niki Prasad 25*; Nat Sciver-Brunt 3-30, Shabnim Ismail 1-15, Hayley Mathews 1-37, Amelia Kerr 2-25, Saika Ishaque 1-33) by eight runs
[Cricinfo]
Trump administration mulls new travel ban that could hit 43 nations: Report
Showers above 75 mm can be expected at some places in Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Southern and North-western provinces.
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