Category: Environment

Dec 18, 2012 (LBO) – Flooding and landslides have killed at least nine people and left thousands homeless, Sri Lanka’s disaster management office said as heavy rains continued to lash parts of the island. Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Centre said eight people had died in Matale and one is Kandy in central Sri Lanka and […]

COLOMBO, Nov 27, 2012 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s health ministry announced plans on Tuesday to draw up new guidelines for donating food to the country’s venerated Buddhist monks amid concerns about their weight and health. The ministry said the faithful, who offer alms as a religious tradition, tended to give food that was too high […]

Nov 23, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Dilmah, a tea sector group are starting an initiative to promote conservation. The Business and Biodiversity Platform (B&B Platform) would allow businesses to share information on conservation and also tap local international expertise in the area. […]

Nov 11, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s health ministry has put off till March 2013, graphic labeling designed to educate consumers on the cancer and heart disease causing effects of cigarette smoke. Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Tobaccco Company, a unit of British American Tobacco, went to courts against the new rules which gave three months for […]

Nov 06, 2012 (LBO) – Feeding of begging wild elephants in Sri Lanka’s Udawalawe National Park, can be made safer for both man and animal if it is formalized as a supervised process, where fees are charged, a wildlife enthusiast has suggested. S M S Senadhipathi, a wildlife enthusiast says though elephants lining up for […]

Nov 05, 2012 (LBO) – Researchers at America’s Stanford University have found little evidence to back a widespread belief that organic foods which are sometimes twice as expensive as conventional ones, gives more health benefits, a report has said. A team led by Dena Bravata, a senior affiliate with Stanford’s Center for Health Policy, and […]

Oct 19, 2012 (LBO) – A sudden ban on the sale of Corex, a cough syrup originally formulated by the US pharmaceutical firm Pfizer which has brought relief to tens of thousands of sufferers, is temporary, Sri Lanka’s health minister said. The sale of Corex branded medicine variants were banned following the deaths of several […]

Oct 12, 2012 (LBO) – A community based program to increase forest cover in Sri Lanka’s dry zone and support small farmers has been launched by Australia and the United National Development Program. “Forests are a critical environmental and economic resource for Sri Lanka,” the Australian embassy in Colombo said in a statement. “During the […]

Oct 12, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka and India will move towards striking a comprehensive agreement on civil nuclear co-operation, a joint statement issued after the first discussions between the two countries on the issue said. At the first round of talks held in Delhi representative from foreign ministries of the two countries and the […]

Sept 23, 2012 (LBO) – A Dena Nano Technology Lanka Pvt Ltd, company with British and Indian investment plans to recycle old automobile tyres into wood replacement material for the construction industry, a media report said. Dena Technology of UK has patented technology to make wood-like products for the construction industry from old tyres which […]

July 25, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has bought a 64. 9 million US dollar water supply system from Tetra Tech, a California based firm with financing from the Export-Import Bank of United States. The 12-year credit, the first since 2008, will finance a water supply system for Badulla, Haliela and Ella areas on Sri […]

July 16, 2012 (AFP) – Sri Lankan scientists have identified a new genus of fresh water fish and named it after the evolutionary biologist and renowned atheist Richard Dawkins. Lead researcher Rohan Pethiyagoda said the new genus, named Dawkinsia, comprises nine species that are found only in South Asia and are characterised by long filaments […]