Sri Lanka Independence Day celebrated in Pakistan

Sri Lanka High Commission in Islamabad celebrated the 64th National Independence Day of Sri Lanka in the High Commission premises on 4th February 2012 with Sri Lankan community living in Islamabad and the Sri Lankan military officials attached to Pakistan Military Institution for training.

Sri Lanka's High Commissioner in Islamabad Air Chief Marshal Jayalath Weerakkody hoisted the National Flag and opened the celebrations.  

64th Sri Lanka Independence Day on

04 February 2012

Sri Lanka gained independence by liberating the country from  British & Portuguese colonialists on the 4th of February 1948. The then leaders  and people of Srilanka gave great sacrifices for their sovereign homeland. The  independence movement began with Uva Wellassa riot in 1818. D.S. Senanayaka was  the first Prime Minister of independent Sri Lanka.

Prior to the year 1972, Sri Lanka was known as Ceylon. For more than a century Sri Lanka was a British crown colony but on 4 February, 1948 the country achieved its independence to officially become the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

Since the attainment of freedom from British rule, Sri Lanka has enjoyed a stable democracy and steady economic growth in spite of the conflict with a separatist military group called LTTE in the recent years.

The Sri Lankan nation was subject of terrorism and internal wars  until 18th May 2009 when the peace was restored by the leadership of the 5th  Executive President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa the nation was able to gain  true independence. The peace has been restored the country. Acting on a firm  stance in the face of many national and international elements Sri Lankan nation  was able to achieve its greatest ever victories on the 18th of May 2009 by  defeating terrorism.

The independence day of Sri Lanka is a Great National occasion celebrated with parades and pageants combined with the spirit of patriotism and national pride. The celebrations begin with the hoisting of the national flag and singing the national anthem, followed by the traditional lighting of the lamp ceremony. Subsequently there are various cultural programs as well as serving of refreshments.

Sri Lanka Among Top Five Travel Destinations

 

Sri Lanka has been named among the top five destinations in Kuoni’s annual poll of where UK customers want to spend their holidays. Sri Lanka also retained the number one destination for weddings, according to the report.

The top five holiday destinations for 2012 are the Maldives, Thailand, Sri Lanka, The United Arab Emirates and the USA.

The 20-page report also tracks hot travel trends and the top destinations for weddings and honeymoons, for families, for solo travellers, for pampering spa holidays, for the most exciting adventures and authentic experiences as well as the best destinations for those that care about the planet.

The report also highlights changes in holiday behaviour and includes trends in holiday booking behaviour, such as the importance of social media in driving holiday choices.

Kuoni predicts that South Africa will witness huge growth over the next 12 months, helped by the exposure from the football World Cup last year and the weakened currency against sterling.

The only mid-haul destination in the 2012 Top Ten selling destinations is the United Arab Emirates, which kept its fourth position from last year. Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah account for the popularity of this region

 Sri Lanka Develops Tourism industry to economically strengthen conflict-affected East

Over two years after eradicating terrorism form the country, Sri Lanka is taking measures to develop tourism in the former conflict-affected areas to economically strengthen the region and provide employment to the inhabitants. Since the end of the war in May 2009, Sri Lanka is becoming popular as a hot tourist destination and has seen tourist arrivals rising every month setting an all-time high of 855,975 arrivals in 2011. Under an ambitious plan the government has focused on developing the Pasikuda Tourist Zone in the eastern sea board as an attractive destination for tourists. Until 1983 Pasikuda was a tourist haven and there were at that time. Due to the war the tourist industry in the area had a natural death and with the end of the war more and more tourist attention has been focused on this zone and it has become a very vibrant tourist area.

 UN meeting on tea opens in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka will hold a two-day international meeting on the tea industry with the participation of officials from major tea producing and consuming countries in the world.

The 20th Session of the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization's Inter-Governmental Group on Tea will open tomorrow in Sri Lanka. It will be held from 30 January to 1 February 2012 in Colombo.

Sri Lanka Tea Board, the apex authority of the tea industry in Sri Lanka, will be hosting the event.

A statement issued by the Tea Board said the focus of the biannual FAO/IGG sessions is to discuss and resolve issues related to production, marketing, pricing and consumption of tea faced by the international tea industry in a single platform and discuss the way forward for the next 10 years.

Maximum residue level of pesticides in tea, the impact of climate change, market development, and the medium-term outlook for tea are some of the major issues to be addressed at the meeting.

During the session, an interactive electronic forum would be launched to facilitate interaction among tea producing countries, particularly, during the two-year period between two sessions of FAO/IGG on Tea.

Delegates from over 25 countries will participate in 2012 FAO/IGG sessions. Some of the tea producing countries to participate in the meeting includes India, China, Kenya, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Africa, and Argentina while the USA, Canada, UK, Pakistan, Russia and UAE will represent nations consuming or importing tea.

The UN FAO/ IGG on Tea, which was established in 1969, is a forum where important policies and strategies related to the global tea industry are formulated. Its Membership is open to all the members/associate members of UN who are interested in tea production, consumption and trading.

 The Central Bank of Sri Lanka  predicts an 8 percent Economic Growth this year.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka says 8 percent economic growth is expected during this year.  Director of the Economic Research in the Central Bank Mrs. Swarna Gunaratne says although Sri Lanka expected an 8.5 percent Economic Growth initially, the amount was revised considering the possible international economic down turns during this year. 

Sri Lanka has maintained an 8.2 percent growth in the national economy during the first half of the last year.  She expresses confidence that the overall growth during the last year could be 8.3 percent.