Srilanka

Southern Provincial Council (SPC) member Manoj Sirisena has been appointed to fill the vacant Parliament seat following the demise of MP Chandrasiri Gajadeera.The Elections Commission said the gazette notification regarding the relevant appointment was issued yesterday (12).

National carrier SriLankan Airlines yesterday announced a ban on Apple MacBook Pro laptops from both cargo and cabin luggage on the basis of a fire hazard.The airlineannouncement came in the wake of Apple company determining recently that some of its older-generation 15-inch MacBook Pro units had batteries that could overheat and pose a fire safety risk. This had prompted a laptop battery recall by Apple.A SriLankan statement said Apple had determined that, in a limited number of older generation 15-inch MacBook Pro units, the battery may overheat and pose a fire hazard.The affected units were mainly sold between September 2015 and February 2017.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will provide technical assistance to strengthen the Gender Action Plan (GAP) for Colombo Light Rail, towards making it the first woman-friendly public transport system in Sri Lanka. The memorandum for this assistance was signed between the Secretary of the Ministry of Megapolis - Western Development and Chief Representative of JICA Sri Lanka Office on September 10. The Colombo Light Rail from Malabe to Fort is financed under JICAconcessionary loan scheme.

An interactive training programme for youth held in the Northern Province recently.An interactive training programme for youth held in the Northern Province recently.During the post war development, youth should be empowered to serve their communities. Accordingly, an interactive training programme for youth in the Northern Province concluded recently. In this programme, more than 120 youths from Jaffna, Mullaithivu, Vavuniya, Kilinochchi and Mannar were trained as &community champions& who will act as driving forces of community development.