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Advisory for strong winds and rough seas due to Very Severe Cyclonic Storm “Hamoon”

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An advisory for strong winds and rough seas has been issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre valid until 2.30 p.m. 25 October 2023 for Multi-day boats in the west-central Bay of Bengal Sea areas.

The Severe Cyclonic Storm “Hamoon” over the west-central Bay of Bengal has intensified into a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm and it is likely to move towards the Bangladesh coast away from Sri Lanka.

Wind speed will be (45-50) kmph and can increase up to (60-70) kmph in sea areas between (18N – 22N) and between (88E – 92E).

Heavy showers or thundershowers and rough or very rough seas can also be expected in the above sea areas.

Fishing and naval community are requested to be attentive to future forecasts issued by the Department of Meteorology in this regard.



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Thousands of Afghans moved to UK under secret scheme

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[pic BBC]

Thousands of Afghans have been moved to the UK under a secret scheme which was set up after a British official inadvertently leaked their data, it can be revealed.

In February 2022, the personal details of nearly 19,000 people who had applied to move to the UK after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan were leaked.

The previous government learned of the breach in August 2023 and created a new resettlement scheme nine months later. It has seen 4,500 Afghans arrive in the UK, with a further 600 people and their immediate families still to arrive.

The existence of the leak and relocation scheme were kept secret for more than three years after the government obtained a super injunction.

Details of the major data breach, the response and the number of Afghans granted the right to live in the UK as a result were only made public on Tuesday after a High Court judge ruled the gagging order should be lifted.

The leak contained the names, contact details and some family information of people potentially at risk of harm from the Taliban.

The government also revealed on Tuesday:

  • The secret scheme – officially called the Afghan Relocation Route – has cost £400m so far, and is expected to cost a further £400m to £450m
  • The scheme is being closed down, but relocation offers already made will be honoured
  • The breach was committed mistakenly by an unnamed official at the Ministry of Defence (MoD)
  • People whose details were leaked were only informed on Tuesday

Speaking in the House of Commons, Defence Secretary John Healey offered a “sincere apology” to those whose details had been included in the leak, which came to light when some appeared on Facebook.

He said it was as a result of a spreadsheet being emailed “outside of authorised government systems”, which he described as a “serious departmental error” – though the Metropolitan Police decided a police investigation was not necessary.

Healey said the leak was “one of many data losses” related to the Afghanistan evacuation during that period, and contained the names of senior military officials, government officials, and MPs.

The MoD has declined to say how many people may have been arrested or killed as a result of the data breach, but Healey told MPs an independent review had found it was “highly unlikely” an individual would have been targeted solely because of it.

He said that review had also judged the secret scheme to be an “extremely significant intervention” given the “potentially limited” risk posed by the leak.

In a High Court judgement issued on Tuesday, Mr Justice Chamberlain said it was “quite possible” that some of those who saw the Facebook post containing the leaked personal data “were Taliban infiltrators or spoke about it to Taliban-aligned individuals”.

An email has been sent to those impacted by the breach, urging them to “exercise caution”, and take steps like protecting their online activities and not responding to messages from unknown contacts.

Healey said those who have been relocated to the UK have already been counted in immigration figures.

Tuesday’s disclosure dates back to the August 2021 withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, which saw the Taliban retake power and quickly surround the capital Kabul.

The leak involved the names of people who had applied for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) scheme, which the UK government set up to rapidly process applications by people who feared reprisals from the Taliban and move them to the UK.

The evacuation – which saw 36,000 Afghans moved to the UK – has already been heavily criticised in the years since it was launched, with a 2022 inquiry by the Foreign Affairs Committee finding it was a “disaster” and a “betrayal”.

When the government set up a new relocation scheme last year in response to the leak, members of the press quickly learned about the plans.

The government asked a judge to impose a superinjunction on the media, preventing outlets by law from reporting any detail.

Healey told the House even he had been prevented from speaking about the breach because of the “unprecedented” injunction, after being informed while still shadow defence secretary.

Reading a summary of his judgment in court, Mr Justice Chamberlain said the gagging order had “given rise to serious free speech concerns”.

He continued: “The superinjunction had the effect of completely shutting down the ordinary mechanisms of accountability which operate in a democracy.

“This led to what I describe as a ‘scrutiny vacuum’.”

Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge, who was in government when the secret scheme was established, said “this data leak should never have happened and was an unacceptable breach of all relevant data protocols”.

Erin Alcock, a lawyer for the firm Leigh Day, which has assisted hundreds of Arap applicants and family members, called the breach a “catastrophic failure”.

Earlier this month, the government confirmed it had offered payouts to Afghans whose information had been compromised in a separate data breach.

[BBC]

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MOU signed between STEMedical USA and Sri Lanka Institute of Biotechnology to establish a laboratory with international accreditation facilities

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A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed this morning (15) at the Presidential Secretariat between STEMedical of the USA and the Sri Lanka Institute of Biotechnology (SLIBTEC) to establish a laboratory with internationally recognised accreditation.

The MoU for this $15 million investment project, conducted under the guidance of the National Initiative for Research and Development Commercialisation (NIRDC), was signed by Professor Hans Keirstead, founder of the American company STEMedical and on behalf of the Sri Lanka Institute of Biotechnology (SLIBTEC), by its Chairman, Professor Samitha Hettige and Chief Operating Officer, Amali Ranasinghe.

For a long time, there has been a need to enhance the capacity of laboratories with internationally recognised accreditation for testing purposes across many sectors in Sri Lanka, including health, agriculture, cosmetics and Ayurveda, as well as in the import and export fields.

Professor Gomika Udugamasooriya, Senior Presidential Advisor on Science and Technology, who attended the event, said that today is a special day for Sri Lanka and that accreditation is very important for a country. Prof. Udugamasooriya emphasised the significance of a laboratory project with such accreditation facilities in achieving the government’s objective of doubling the country’s export revenue by the year 2030.

This laboratory is expected to function as a main lab, working in conjunction with existing laboratories across the island, to ensure the quality of goods and services in various fields.

Professor Hans Keirstead, founder of STEMedical, stated that he is pleased with the current leadership in Sri Lanka, which he said has a broad vision for the scientific sector and has been able to identify developmental needs such as enhancing laboratory capacity. He also said that this project would bring many benefits to the country, not only clinically but also economically. Mr Keirstead further mentioned that it would attract the attention of economic experts and generate revenue by bringing items, such as medicines, from other countries to Sri Lanka for accreditation.

Professor Hans Keirstead, the founder of STEMedical in the United States, is an internationally recognised stem cell expert. He is also a respected entrepreneur in the field of regenerative medicine in the USA. It is also noteworthy that Professor Keirstead, who currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Human Immunome Project, is among the top 100 scientists in the world, as listed by Discover Magazine.

The President’s Senior Additional Secretary, Russel Aponsu; the Director-General of the National Initiative for Research and Development Commercialisation (NIRDC), Dr Muditha Senarath Yapa; and the Chief Executive Officer of STEMedical in the United States, Dr Nistor Gabriel Loan, also attended the event.

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Cabinet nod to implement National Cyber Protection Strategy 2025-2029

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The first Information and Cyber Protection Strategy of Sri Lanka, introduced in 2018, was implemented from 2019 to 2023. The Computer Emergency Readiness Team (Sri Lanka CERT) has prepared the National Cyber Protection Strategy for Sri Lanka – 2025-2029 on cybersecurity based on the first Cyber Protection Strategy with the assistance of the World Bank. The aforementioned strategy has been drafted based on the theme fields, upgrading the legal regulatory framework, increasing knowledge, enhancing the readiness of cybersecurity, strengthening response capabilities, and increasing cooperation in a way that covers only the civilian sectors of cybersecurity in Sri Lanka.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the President, in his capacity as the Minister of Digital Economy to implement the ’National Cyber Protection Strategy 2025-2029´.

 

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