President Ranil Wickremesinghe stated that he had directed authorities, including the State Minister in charge, to submit a report on the acceleration of the program to move the country towards a digital economy within a month.
The President also commented on Revenue Administration Management Information System (RAMIS), which was established by the Inland Revenue Department to collect tax revenue and said that he discussed it as the Prime Minister in 1993. He pointed out that it is regrettable that it is still being discussed in 2023, the President said that the program to move the country towards a digital economy should not be delayed at all and that the faster it is done, the more results can be achieved.
Let us uphold the true meaning of Christmas following the guidance of Jesus Christ, and work together towards the shared goal of building a new nation filled with peace and harmony – PM
Prime Minister Dr Harini Amarasuriya in her Christmas message, called upon everyone to uphold the true meaning of Christmas following the guidance of Jesus Christ, and work together towards the shared goal of building a new nation filled with peace and harmony
The full text of the PM’s Christmas day message:
“As the month of December dawns, Christian devotees prepare to celebrate Christmas. The message of peace that echoed from Bethlehem with the birth of the infant Jesus continues to be honoured and revered by Christians across the world.
However, this year, the month of December has arrived not with the usual joy and festivity. It comes amid the sorrow, pain, and quiet anguish of thousands of our people affected by a natural disaster that has shaken the entire nation.
Yet, in keeping with the true meaning of Christmas and guided by the teachings of Jesus Christ, the people of our country have set aside their differences and come together in unity and solidarity to support those affected by the disaster. Through their actions, they have demonstrated to the world the values of love, compassion, and the noble teaching of Christ to love one another.
At this moment, we stand at a critical juncture where all communities must unite with a shared purpose and collective responsibility to rebuild the country and work together for the future of our nation.
We will continue to work tirelessly towards the common goal of building the “new country” envisioned by the many who have placed their trust in our government, and to ensure that their hopes and aspirations are fulfilled.
On this Christmas Day, let us renew our commitment to act together as citizens, guided by unity, love, compassion, and responsibility, in pursuit of our shared dream of a better tomorrow.
I extend my heartfelt wishes for a Merry Christmas to all Christian devotees in Sri Lanka and around the world.”
Shafali Verma took 27 balls to bring up her fifty [BCCI]
A quick glance at the head to head record is enough to show the gulf between India and Sri Lanka in women’s T20Is. Despite that, the manner in which India have swept Sri Lanka aside two games in a row would have surprised watchers and the hosts alike. The story in the second T20I followed a similar script to the first. Once again, India’s spinners squeezed Sri Lanka’s middle order before one of their top-order batters made easy work of the chase.
Left-arm spinners Vaishnavi Sharma and N Shree Charani picked up two wickets apiece after Sneh Rana, in the XI in place of the indisposed Deepti Sharma, sucked out the momentum from Sri Lanka’s batting. If it was Jemimah Rodrigues’ half-century in the first game, Shafali Verma was at her brutal best in the second, finishing on an unbeaten 69 in just 34 balls, to help India get to the 129-run target at a run-rate close to 11 an over with 49 balls to spare.
India went 2-0 up at the end of the Visakhapatnam leg, with the next three games to be played in Thiruvananthapuram.
Sri Lanka were jolted in the opening over after being asked to bat. Vishmi Gunaratne’s uppish drive was caught by Kranti Gaud in her follow-through. Chamari Athapaththu then started the charge. After the defeat in the first game, she asked her batters to step up and find ways of scoring. She was intent on leading from the front. She used her feet against Gaud to slash her in front of point. Two balls later, Gaud almost got back at the Sri Lanka captain.
Charani, who dropped two simple catches on Sunday, misjudged Athapaththu’s slash and conceded a six. She charged in from the boundary line and then ran back, missed the ball completely despite a leap. Athapaththu blazed away with the field restrictions on, scoring 31 off 24 balls out of Sri Lanka’s 38 in 5.3 overs at that stage.
After her dismissal, Hasini Perera and Harshitha Samarawickrama continued to bat with high intent. They primarily scored square of the wicket and added 28 in the three-and-a-half overs. And then came the squeeze from India.
On a day she was newly crowned the No. 1 T20I bowler in the ICC rankings, Deepti missed a T20I for the first time since 2019 – after 92 straight games – because of a mild fever. Harmanpreet Kaur has often turned to her when in search of control, but on Tuesday, Rana fit into the role with ease.
Playing her first T20I in India since 2016 – she played 15 away from home in between – Rana’s first task was to stop a belligerent Athapaththu, and she delivered. She kept the Sri Lanka captain guessing with flight and dip before dismissing her. With Athapaththu itching to cut loose, Rana generously flighted one. It landed slightly shorter than Athapaththu expected because of the dip, and she ended up miscuing it to long-off.
Rana then returned with Perera and Samarawickrama scoring at a good tempo, bowled a maiden and that turned the tide. It allowed left-arm spinner Charani to slip in a few quiet overs, which resulted in Perera’s dismissal. Vaishnavi also returned to pick up her first international wicket, with Charani, who denied her in the first T20I by dropping a dolly at short fine leg, taking a simple catch at the same spot after Nilakshika Silva top-edged a sweep.
Sri Lanka hit 11 boundaries in the first nine overs, but could hit only two fours in the rest of their innings. They lost six for 24 to be restricted to a below-par total for the second game in a row, which was never going to challenge the hosts. Three run-outs for a second game in a row did not help matters either.
If Sunday was an opportunity missed by Shafali, she more than made up for it on Tuesday. She was happy to bide her time at the start, with Smriti Mandhana being the aggressor. Once Mandhana fell, caught at point in a bid to hit Kavisha Dilhari’s offspin inside out over the off side, Shafali took centrestage. Inoka Ranaweera’s left-arm spin with the field restrictions in place was just the tonic she needed.
Shafali hit Ranaweera for successive fours in the penultimate over of the powerplay – both by dancing down the track and lofting her over cover. She then took apart Athapaththu’s offspin, hitting here for 4, 6, 4 in the sixth over of the chase: first sweeping a short ball through backward square leg, then thumping a full ball straight into the sight-screen and then lifting one over extra cover.
With the in-form Rodrigues for company, there was no respite for Sri Lanka’s bowlers. Rodrigues also tore into Ranaweera, hitting her for two fours and a six as the left-arm spinner was taken for 31 in her two overs.
In an attempt to maintain the high tempo, Rodrigues holed out to long-on. Shafali soon completed her fifty from just 27 balls. She picked Shashini Gimhani’s left-arm wristspin from the hand and thumped her for back-to-back boundaries in a 12-run over that put India on the brink.
Sri Lanka earned a consolation when Malki Madara’s dipping yorker deceived Harmanpreet. But they knew, as Athapaththu conceded after the game, that the batters failed to make the helpful conditions count in successive games.
Brief scores: India Women 129 for 3 in 11.5 overs (Smriti Mandhana 14, Shafali Verma 69*, Jemimah Rodrigues 26, Harmanpreet Kaur 10; Malki Madara 1-22, Kavya Kavindi 1-3, Kavisha Dilhari 1-15) beat Sri Lanka Women 128 for 9 in 20 overs ( Chamari Athapaththu 31, Hasini Perera 22,Harshitha Samarawickrama 33, Kavisha Dilhari 14, Kaushini Nuthyangana 11; Kranti Goud 1-31, Sneh Rana 1-11, Shree Charani 2-23, Vaishnavi Sharma 2-32) by seven wickets
With the objective of enhancing the living conditions of the agricultural community and increasing the contribution of the agricultural sector to the GDP, ‘Smallholder Agribusiness Partnerships Programme’ is being implemented with the financial contribution form the government and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation is
implementing the program in collaboration with the Regional Development Department of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. All recoveries from loans provided under the program shall be directed to a revolving fund titled the “Sustainable Agricultural Fund”, which shall be utilized exclusively for the provision of
agricultural loans. Using the said fund, it is proposed to implement an agricultural loan scheme titled the “Sustainable Agriculture Programme” for individuals and institutions engaged in agriculture and related activities.
It is expected that an amount of Rs. 800 million from the funds available in the Sustainable Agriculture Fund will be allocated for the implementation of the Sustainable Agriculture Program in the year 2026.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal made by the President in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to implement the “Sustainable Agriculture Program” loan scheme through the Participatory Finance Institution as an annual program from the year 2026.
