TOP NEWS
Pauline received millions in grants and a private jet
2026-04-30 01:00:26Australia's One Nation party leader Pauline Hanson has announced that she has received a new private jet and millions in donations. She took to social media to describe the aircraft as "very impressive" and "extremely good". The Cirrus G7 aircraft, normally valued at $1.5 to $1.9 million, is planned to be used for new campaigns. The plane and funding for One Nation came from several powerful donors, including Adam Giles and Ian Plimer, who each gave $500,000. Business couple Angus and Sarah Aitken have also contributed $1 million. Some of these contributors are reportedly connected to some of Australia's wealthiest businessmen. Hanson says the new plane will help him reach people in remote areas and improve political campaigns. It is also seen as part of an effort to further strengthen the One Nation party for the upcoming elections. Critics point out that such large contributions are a debate about the influence of wealthy people in politics and have re-emerged in Australia.
An electric train project in Sri Lanka..??
2026-04-29 23:00:00A special discussion on the development of the railway service in the Colombo suburbs in a new way was held at the Presidential Secretariat on the morning of the 29th under the patronage of Mr. Anura Kumara Dissanayake. The Colombo Suburban Railway Project was discussed extensively, and attention was drawn to the plans to start electric railway services on several main railway lines under the project. Accordingly, electric railway services are planned to be implemented from Maradana to Makumbura on the Kelani Valley line, from Colombo Fort to Ragama on the main line, and from Colombo Fort to Panadura on the coastal line under the first phase. Special attention was also paid to the provision of financial provisions for this project, the challenges that may arise during its implementation, and technical issues. Discussions were also held on the introduction of electric railway services in addition to the current railway service in the future, and the reconstruction of the railway lines using Standard Gauge instead of the existing Broad Gauge. It has also been decided that this project is expected to commence in the first half of next year. Mr. Bimal Ratnayake and a group of senior officials from the Ministry of Transport and Highways and the Ministry of Finance participated in this discussion.
New proposals to create a 'tobacco-free generation' in Sri Lanka
2026-04-29 21:55:00The concept paper prepared by the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol has been submitted to the Ministry of Health and Mass Media, containing proposals for the “Tobacco Free Generation” concept. This concept paper was submitted to Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa by the Chairman of the Authority, Specialist Dr. Ananda Ratnayake, and Mr. L.L. Amila Isuru of the Faculty of Medicine, Rajarata University. According to this proposal, the main objective is to make all children born after 2010 a tobacco-free generation. Two main steps have been proposed for this, the first is to introduce amendments to update the existing regulations of the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol Act. Secondly, it has been proposed to completely ban access to tobacco and its products to persons born after a certain age. It has been pointed out that nearly 8 million people die annually due to tobacco use worldwide, the majority of which are due to direct smoking, and the rest due to passive smoking. It has also been revealed that in Sri Lanka, nearly 22,000 people die annually due to tobacco and alcohol use. Experts point out that tobacco and alcohol use are the first step to other drugs, and therefore, building a “tobacco-free future generation” is essential as a long-term solution to this problem.