The group of suspects was arrested in Kuttaduwa area, Negombo and has been handed over to the Police for onward legal action.

The Navy warns public not to involve in high risk sea-borne migration to overseas countries based on false information provided by human smugglers and reiterated that such attempts would finally end up behind bars.

Further reminds of its strong network of intelligence and regular patrols put in place to nip such illegal migration efforts in the bud as the country is very strict with illegal migration attempts.

Indonesian President’s special envoy, A M Fachir, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs delivered the letter of invitation to President Sirisena at the Presidential secretariat yesterday (23rd February). President Sirisena will attend the IORA Summit on 6th and 7th of March and pay a state visit on 8th March.

The President conveyed his thanks to President Widoda, through the Special Envoy, for the invitation and said he was looking forward to attend the Summit, which marks the 20th Anniversary of IORA and to meet the Indonesian President for discussions on furthering bilateral friendship and cooperation in trade, investment, tourism and other areas of common interest.

The Special Envoy, Fachir said that Indonesia has already dispatched the first consignment of the rice donation for drought relief announced by President Widoda. He said that President Widoda personally attended the brief ceremony held at the State Logistics Agency Warehouse in Kelapa Gading in Jakarta.

President Sirisena conveyed his thanks to the President, the Government and the people of Indonesia for the donation. He said the Indonesian donation of 5,000 MT symbolizes the strong friendship that exists between Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

He recalled the strong ties between the two countries since ancient times. He said that Indonesia played an invaluable role at the Non-Aligned Summit of 1976 hosted by Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike.

Several spells of showers will occur in the Eastern and Uva provinces and in the Hambantota district.

Showers or thundershowers will occur at several places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and Central provinces and in the Galle and Matara districts.

Misty conditions can be expected at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central and Southern provinces during the morning.

T emporary localized strong winds during thundershowers are expected and the public is requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by lightning.

The fumigation machines each valued at Rs.150, 000 were imported from Germany. Ten each were distributed among Colombo, Kaluthara, and Gamapaha Districts.

According to the minister, in Western Province, 500 field officers will be recruited immediately for fumigation and the inspection of the households.

During this year, 15, 180 suspected dengue patients were recorded to the Epidemiology Unit. About 43.05 per cent of them are from the Western Province.

The Summit discussed about the regional Development, Agriculture, Health, Climatic Changes, and Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation.

The Speaker of Sri Lanka Parliament Karu Jayasuriya chaired the session on ‘Climatic Changes in the Region’.

At the Presentation of credentials Gen. Jayasuriya conveyed greetings of President of Sri Lanka and briefed the significant developments taken place under the unity government. He also congratulated the President on winning the Nobel Peace Prize and for the success of the peace process of Colombia.

After presenting credentials, Ambassador Gen. Jagath Jayasuriya had opportunity to meet Maria Ángela Holguin Cuéllar, Minister of Foreign Affairs and highlighted the importance of strengthening bilateral relations between the two friendly countries.

Ambassador also met Alfredo Ramos – Director of the Asia, Africa and Oceania, Ms. Maria Poula Arenas Director of Trade Relations at Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, and Manuel Felipe Becerra – Director of International Affairs of the Ministry of Defence. During meetings, Ambassador emphasized importance of enhancing bilateral relations, trade relations and exchange of experts in the field of trade and defence for the benefit of both countries in the years ahead.

The Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers’ Association appraised the President in detail regarding factors like planning locations to build future power stations, finding possibility to use the large-scale wind power as an alternative to the hydropower, during the meeting.

The Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers’ Association also expressed their views regarding the challenges posed by some interested groups against their plans on low-cost power plants.

Furthermore, the Association pointed out the importance of considering the opinions of the experienced energy experts in the field when implementing future plans and they also presented the long term power generation plans of the Ceylon Electricity Board to the President.