April 4, 2016 Reading Time: 2 minutes
Australian INGO donates prosthetic limbs. Image credit: News.lk
Reading Time: 2 min read
Increased investment in telecommunication and digital infrastructure
The government is to allocate Rs. 10 billion for the Ministry of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure for the advancement of 64 new projects.
The Minister, Harin Fernando, stated that the projects will focus on introducing a digital identity card, digital key, islandwide fibre optic connectivity and Google Icon.
Unemployment rate drops
The Director General of of the Department of Census and Statistics, Dr. A.J. Satharasinghe, reported that the unemployment rate declined from 5% to 4.3% in the fourth quarter of 2015.
The data gathered through the Sri Lanka Labour Force survey also revealed that the overall unemployment rate for females is 7.6% and 2.6% for males.
Australian INGO provides assistance to veterans
Over 100 prosthetic limbs were donated to disabled war veterans by the World Community Service Helping Hands Project, an Australian International Non-Governmental Organisation (INGO).
The Manager of the INGO, Terry Daley, led the Australian delegation’s visit to Sri Lanka, where they met with war heroes. The donation comes as a result of a request made by Directorate of Rehabilitation.
German newspaper leaks classified documents
The German newspaper, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, has leaked 11.5 million documents from Mossack Fonseca, a Panama-based offshore law firm. It is currently being reported as one of the biggest data leaks in history.
According to the Munich based daily newspaper, the leaked documents dubbed the ‘Panama papers’, reveal many illicit financial transactions involving world leaders, politicians and celebrities.
Azerbaijan announces ceasefire
Azerbaijan has announced a unilateral ceasefire in its ongoing conflict with Armenia. This announcement was made following fighting which broke out over the weekend in relation to the long-contested enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenian authorities have claimed that despite the professed ceasefire, Azerbaijan continues to carry out attacks using missile artillery systems.
Leader of the al-Nusra Front killed
Abu Firas, a prominent leader of the al-Nusra Front, has reportedly been killed in a suspected Syrian or Russian air raid near the city of Idlib.
It has been reported that Abu Firas was a founding member of the al-Nusra Front, who fought in Afghanistan in the 1980s and allegedly worked with Osama bin Laden.
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