Srilanka

Four new air quality measuring instruments will be installed in Puttalam, Anuradhapura, Vavuniya and Jaffna during the coming days, the National Building Research Organization (NBRO) said. The particulate matter levels in Colombo went up twofold, to unhealthy levels, creating an atmosphere of smog but have come down since. Air quality started deteriorating from November 5-8 in Colombo, said Climate Scientist cum Environmental Engineer Lareef Zubair. &The particulate matter levels went up twofold, to unhealthy levels, but has come down since,& he said.

The deadline for the acceptance of applications for temporary IDs has been extended to the 12th of October. The Commissioner-General of the National Elections Commission, Saman Sri Ratnayaka said that this decision was taken following a discussion yesterday.

Sri Lanka, with backing from the 120-member Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), again issued a scathing criticism of the United Nations over what it called a matter of questionable procedure and unjust treatment by the Department of Peace Operations in unilaterally adjusting the countrycontribution to UN deployments abroad. The DPO sought to link its decision not to replace a contingent of peacekeepers on rotation to an internal appointment made by Sri Lanka as a sovereign right, thereby challenging the Head of State of a member country, said Kshenuka Senewiratne, Sri LankaPermanent Representative to the UN in New York.

Silver streaks of water from the gigantic Kalu Ganga Reservoir project flowed down to irrigate arid lands in several districts in the country on Thursday when President Maithripala Sirisena opened the sluice gates of the reservoir constructed under the mega Moragahakanda - Kalu Ganga Multi-Purpose Development Project, considered to be the irrigation marvel of the 21st Century.