Lanka-Israel to exchange irrigation knowledge

By Priyanka Kurugala | Daily News
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'The Irrigation technology exchange between Sri Lanka and Israel is very important as Sri Lanka after eradicating terrorism has started a rapid development drive, Irrigation and Water Resources Management Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said.

Minister de Silva said so while participating in a discussion with Israeli Agriculture Minister Orit Noked at the Ministry recently.

The Israeli Agriculture Minister said that, they hope to provide high standard milch cows to increase Sri Lanka's milk production free.

'The Israeli government will study the reservoirs and water management systems in Sri Lanka. They hope to exchange their experience in the same field, Noked said.

'Israel hopes to popularise drip irrigation in Sri Lanka, a technology which is being widely used in agricultural work,' she said.

Under this programme the two countries will exchange their knowledge of agriculture and irrigation.

© Daily News

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Sri Lanka boxer stripped of gold medal

AFP | Teheran Times
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Disgraced Sri Lankan boxer Manju Wanniarachchi was stripped of his Commonwealth Games gold medal Sunday after he failed a second doping test for a banned steroid.

Sean McGoldrick from Wales becomes the bantamweight Games champion as a result.

The Commonwealth Games Federation’s (CGF) Federation Court said Wanniarachchi has been disqualified from the 2010 Commonwealth Games and his competition results at the Delhi Games be nullified.

"The Court has ruled that the medal awarded to him be forfeited and returned to the CGF,"" the governing body said in an email statement.

""The gold medal in the bantamweight 56 kilo weight division will be awarded to Sean McGoldrick from Wales,"" it said.

Wanniarachchi's urine sample was found to contain 19-Norandrosterone, a banned performance-enhancing substance, the body said.

Sri Lanka's National Olympic Committee last year took away Wanniarachchi's medal pending the completion of inquiries. The boxer risks a two-year ban.

Sri Lankan authorities say that the boxer may have unknowingly taken the banned steroid when he consulted a physician.

Sri Lanka also won one silver and one bronze medal in boxing and weightlifting during the October Commonwealth Games.

Two Sri Lankan athletes tested positive for nandrolone in 1998 and 2007 but they were cleared on both occasions because of alleged flaws in the inquiries against them.

© Teheran Times

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Sri Lanka ministers shave heads for Buddhist anniversary

Xinhua | People's Daily Online
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A ruling coalition minister and a provincial minister in Sri Lanka retreated into a monastery on Sunday, having shaved their heads to mark the 2,600th anniversary of Buddhism.

"They will dedicate themselves to the religion throughout the next 10 days and indulge in religious activities including meditation", Reverend Athuraliye Rathana, a senior monk and a ruling party legislator said.

Champika Ranawaka, the minister of power and energy and Udaya Gammanpila, a ruling party minister in the western provincial council and the party's spokesman were among those who shaved their heads.

They will now move to a monastery at Kanduboda near the capital Colombo clad in white for their 10 day meditiational retreat.

The 2,600th anniversary since the Buddha's attainment of Buddhahood is to be celebrated with state backing in the Buddhist majority island.

© People's Daily Online

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