News
FAO Director-General here
FAO Director-General, Dr QU Dongyu, arrived on Sunday in Sri Lanka, on a three-day visit to participate in the 37th Session of the FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific. Government Ministers and Heads of Delegations from as many as 46 Member Nations are gathering in Colombo for the event. Sri Lanka is hosting the APRC37.
The Director-General was received at the airport by Janaka Dharmakeerthi, Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture in Sri Lanka, Jong-Jin Kim, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative, and Vimlendra Sharan, the FAO Representative for Sri Lanka.
During his stay, the Director-General will also visit agricultural sites, and is scheduled to hold a series of bilateral discussions with Sri Lankan leadership and Ministers from other Asia-Pacific countries.The #APRC37, convened by FAO’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and hosted by the Government of Sri Lanka, marks a major international, multilateral milestone in an effort to reform agrifood systems across the Asia-Pacific region. The Conference runs from 19 – 22 February in Colombo.
President Wickremesinghe and the Director-General are expected to inaugurate the Ministerial session of the conference on Tuesday, 20 February with delegates from across the Asia-Pacific region participating. The objective is to outline a pathway toward a full recovery from the pandemic and other converging crises, and reinforce ways to rebuild and transform the region’s agrifood systems, delivered through better production, better nutrition, a better environment and leading to a better life for all – leaving no one behind.
The Sri Lanka Navy and Coast Guard intercepted 02 Indian trawlers poaching in Sri Lankan waters and apprehended eight Indian fishermen, during a special operation conducted off the Delft Island today (08th December 2024.)
The Navy continues to conduct regular patrols and operations in Sri Lankan waters to curb illegal fishing practices of foreign fishing trawlers, taking into account the impact of those practices on the livelihood of local fishermen.
Pat Cummins’ five-wicket haul capped Australia’s dominance in the pink-ball Test at the Adelaide Oval as they leveled the series on the third afternoon with a statement win. The end was nigh for India when Mitchell Starc struck in the first over of the day with a perfectly pitched delivery to have Rishabh Pant nicking behind for his overnight score of 28. India folded for 175, a little over an hour into the first session. Needing 19, Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney knocked off the runs within four overs.
India were in danger of conceding an innings win when Cummins was banging one bouncer after another. Ravichandran Ashwin, Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy all fell to short balls from the Australia captain. Much to the delight of the Adelaide crowd, their hero Travis Head pulled off a tumbling catch to dismiss No. 11 Mohammed Siraj, who had become public enemy No. 1 after giving Head a send off on day two.
Australia, though, didn’t need Head with the bat in their second innings as Khawaja and McSweeney applied the finishing touches for them.
Australia’s 25 run drubbing in Perth drew some hot takes, which surprised some of their players, but they produced a near-perfect response in Adelaide to achieve parity and set things up beautifully for the rest of the series.
Cummins, who didn’t look sharp enough with the ball in the first Test, was back to his best in the second. After having hit the top of Rohit’s off stump with the pink new ball under lights on Saturday, Cummins dragged his lengths further back with the older ball, which wasn’t swinging or seaming as much under natural light. He had Ashwin gloving behind and Rana popping up a catch to gully with a nastier bouncer.
Reddy stood up to Cummins and hooked a throat-high lifter over square leg for six, despite two men out on the leg-side boundary. But when Cummins angled one across him from around the wicket next ball, Reddy ramped it straight to fine third.
Reddy finished with 42 off 47 balls – it was the third time in four innings that he had top-scored for India in his maiden Test series. The hosts ended up facing only 81 overs across both innings, which contributed to the shortest pink ball Test in Australia and also the shortest between the two teams.
The Adelaide crowd of 33,184 had more reasons to cheer about when their adopted son McSweeney creamed a brace of fours in the slim chase and then when their favourite son Head bagged the Player-of-the-Match award.
Brief scores:
Australia 337 (Travis Head 140, Marnus Labuschagne 64, Jasprit Bumrah 4-61, Mohammed Siraj 4-98) and 19 for 0 beat India 180 (Nitish Kumar Reddy 42; Mitchell Starc 6-48, Pat Cummins 2-41) and 175 (Nitish Kumar Reddy 42; Pat Cummins 5-57, Scott Boland 3-51) by ten wickets
[Cricinfo]
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has directed rice traders to sell Nadu rice to consumers at a wholesale price of Rs. 225 per kilo and a retail price of Rs. 230 per kilo.
The President also instructed the officials of the Consumer Affairs Authority to closely monitor the situation over the next ten days and strictly enforce the law against rice mill owners who fail to comply with the fixed prices.
President Dissanayake made these remarks during a meeting with officials from the Ministry of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development, along with rice traders, at the Presidential Secretariat on Saturday (07).
The President highlighted that the largest investments in the country are allocated to the Ministry of Highways, followed by the Irrigation and Agriculture sectors, with substantial subsidies provided to farmers.
The President further pointed out that low-interest bank loans have been provided to traders for the purchase of paddy and urged rice traders not to undermine the public’s right to access affordable rice.
As a result, the following rice prices will be implemented
• Wholesale price of a kilo of Nadu rice: Rs. 225, Retail price: Rs. 230
• Wholesale price of a kilo of white rice: Rs. 215, Retail price: Rs. 220
• Retail price of a kilo of imported Nadu rice: Rs. 220
• Wholesale price of a kilo of Samba rice: Rs. 235, Retail price: Rs. 240
• Wholesale price of a kilo of Keeri Samba: Rs. 255, Retail price: Rs. 260
The President also strongly criticized rice mill owners for frequently changing rice prices on a daily basis and instructed the Consumer Affairs Authority to monitor the daily rice production and distribution by mills.
Furthermore, President Dissanayake urged the rice traders to collaborate with the government in resolving the rice-related issues in an amicable manner.
The meeting was attended by Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Wasantha Samarasinghe, Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, Secretary to the Ministry of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development A. Wimalenthirajah, Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation D.P. Wickramasinghe, Director General of the Department of Development Finance Malarmathy Gangatharan, Acting Director General of the Department of Agriculture Dr. S.K. Wasala, Chairman of the Consumer Affairs Authority Hemantha Samarakoon, Chairman of the Paddy Marketing Board A.M.U. Pinnalanda, Director of the Hector Kobbekaduwa Agricultural Research and Training Institute A.L. Chandika, among other officials.
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