News
Newly described cave bat in Sri Lanka indicates presence of more species
Researchers say a new bat species found in Sri Lanka and South India and named Miniopterus phillipsi in honour of British naturalist W.W.A. Phillips is an indication to the presence of more yet to be identified species, said a report by the Mongabay.It said: Sri Lanka is home to 31 species of bats, but researchers say there could be more given that neighboring India has 132 bat species already described.
The number of identified species in the genus Miniopterus has doubled in Africa, but in Asia, M. phillipsi is the first new addition to this genus after a lapse of six decades.M. phillipsi is a small, insectivorous bat previously identified as Miniopterus fuliginosus; it inhabits caves and its population remains stable, although habitat loss may soon impact these bats.
The 18th and 19th centuries’ Sri Lanka saw many British naturalists studying the island’s rich biodiversity. They also contributed to profiling the same. One of them, W.W.A. Phillips, a tea planter who was particularly interested in mammals, published the Manual of the Mammals of Sri Lanka in 1932. One of the chapters in the book describes the island’s bat fauna, including the Sri Lankan woolly bat (Kerivoula malpasi), a species then new to science.
Now, after 90 years since Phillips’ discovery, young researcher Tharaka Kusuminda, a PhD candidate at the University of Ruhuna, and his team have described a new bat species from Sri Lanka, naming it Miniopterus phillipsi in honour of the British naturalist. Their findings are reported in the journal Acta Chiropterologica.
The new bat is a medium-sized cave-dwelling insectivorous species found in Sri Lanka and India. It was previously misidentified as the Eastern bent-winged bat (Miniopterus fuliginosus), but the new species is generally smaller than M. fuliginosus in both external and skull dimensions. The newly described species does not change the total number of bat species of Sri Lanka, which remains at 31 since the entire population of M. fuliginosus would now be identified as M. phillipsi, says Kusuminda.
“M. fuliginosus is described based on a type specimen collected from a colder region in Nepal, so I had doubts whether the species found in Sri Lanka could be the same”, Kusuminda tells Mongabay. The researchers analysed the available specimen and compared DNA barcoding, which provided conclusive results proving their finding to be of a new species.
The discovery of the new Miniopterus species again highlights the widespread existence of cryptic diversity in bats that needs to be explored using an array of modern techniques like DNA barcoding, among others, says Uttam Saikia of the Zoological Survey of India and an author of the same study.The discovery of the new bat increased the number of bat species in India to 132, as M. fuliginosus populations are also thought to inhabit the colder northern Himalayan range. “The exact geographic boundary of both the species in India is not clear yet, but the bats previously thought as M. fuliginosus in peninsular India would actually be M. phillipsi,” Saikia tells Mongabay.
by Saman Indrajith
TheBatalanda Presidential Co-mission report was tabled in Parliament yesterday (14) by the Leader of the House and Transport Minister, Bimal Ratnayake.
Minister Ratnayake announced that the government has decided to forward the report to the Attorney General for legal advice. Additionally, a Presidential Committee will be appointed to provide guidance and recommendations on how to proceed with the findings of the report.
Ratnayake said that the Cabinet-of-Ministers, along with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, has made a policy decision to take necessary action in response to the report. He reassured the public that steps are being taken to ensure that such a dark chapter in the country’s history is never repeated.
Minister Ratnayake said that a two-day debate on the Batalanda Commission report will be scheduled in Parliament at an appropriate time, allowing for a detailed discussion on the report’s findings and recommendations.
The report, which will be printed in all three official languages—Sinhala, Tamil, and English—will be made available to the public in the near future. Ratnayake confirmed that printed copies would be provided to Members of Parliament, as well as the general public, for review.
The Leader of the House revealed that there are 28 evidence volumes associated with the Commission’s work, which will be submitted to Parliament at a later date for further scrutiny.
Ratnayake said that as the entire country is concerned about the findings of the Batalanda Commission, the government’s commitment to addressing the issues raised, and preventing future atrocities, stands clear. The next steps, including legal action and policy recommendations, will be shaped by expert advice and informed parliamentary discussions, he said.
The Parliamentary watchdog Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) has found that there were fake documents regarding the importing of medicines under the emergency procurement system in 2022 and 2023.
This was revealed during a COPE meeting held at Parliament probing the transactions of the National Medicine Regulatory Authority (NMRA).
NMRA CEO Saveen Semage told the Committee that several fake documents have been found due to the lack of registration of medicines.
Stating that six such fake documents were found last year alone, Saveen Semage said he had recorded statements regarding each of the documents with the Financial Crimes Investigation Division.
He revealed that, however, no investigations have been conducted yet into the incidents.
“We have documents with confessions from a woman accepting that fake documents had been made. However, a statement has not even been recorded from that woman yet,” he said.
Meanwhile, COPE member MP Asitha Niroshana Egoda Vithana also revealed that the highest number of waive-off registrations (WOR) for medicines had been obtained in 2022 and 2023.
He said 656 waive-off registrations (WOR) had been obtained in 2022 and 261 in 2023, adding that this proves that discrepancies have taken place during the emergency procurement of medicines during these periods.
Furthermore, Deputy Director General of the Medical Supplies Division of the Health Ministry, Dr. G. Wijesuriya, said discussions are underway on allowing the State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC) to directly import essential medicines.He pointed out that it was essential to take a policy decision in this regard as a solution to mitigate such discrepancies.
by Norman Palihawadane
Department of Prisons’ Media Spokesperson, Gamini Dissanayake said yesterday that retired Superintendent of the high security Boossa Prison, Siridath Dhammika, who was tragically gunned down at Thalagaha, in Akmeemana, on Thursday (13), had been provided with a firearm for his protection during his tenure, considering the potential threat to his life.
Dissanayake said that during his service period, he had received threats from certain individuals.
Furthermore, the Prison Department stated that during his service, there were no significant issues or shortcomings found in his personal records.
Dissanayake said that the majority of detainees at the Boossa Prison are individuals linked to organized crimes.
Batalanda Commission report tabled … finally
COPE finds fake documents submitted for emergency procurement of drugs
Retired Superintendent of High Security Boossa Prison had threats – Prison Spokesman
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