Srilanka

The military launched a major hunt, on Saturday, for the remnants of the National Thowheed Jamaath, which carried out the Easter suicide bombings, killing 258 people.Several Colombo suburbs were targeted by troops using emergency powers on arrests and detentions adopted after the April 21 attacks. "Special cordon-and-search operations are under way in three areas just outside Colombo," a military official told reporters.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe says a methodology will be devised preventing Islamic State (IS) terrorism to raise its head again in the country by safeguarding the law and order of the country. The Premier yesterday (25) met with a group of representatives of civil societies and trade union collective at Temple Trees.

While attendance reaches normal levels in schools island wide after the assurance of the Army Commander, Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake, Minister of Education, Akila Viraj Kariyawasam pledged to install CCTV cameras in Government schools throughout the island and reiterated that the Ministry at present has no plans to postpone the exams scheduled for the next few months.

Tea exports for the month of April was recorded at 20.8 Mkg, which is identical when compared to the same period of the previous year, produce broker John Keells Ltd., said in their weekly report.

Sri Lanka harvested a crop of 23.6 Mkg during the month of April & a negative variance of 15.6% when compared to the crop harvested in April 2018. The main contributor for the 23.6M kg was from the Low Grown planting districts with 61.6% followed by the High Growns at 22.6% and the Medium Growns at 15.8%. When compared with the 2018 harvest, negative variances have been recorded in all elevations.

The FOB value was Rs. 12.19 above the FOB value of 2018. The cumulative export quantity for the four-month period this year was 94.4 Mkg at an increased FOB value of Rs. 844.14. As a result of a higher export volume of 4.7 Mkg for the year 2019, the to-date value of the Tea Exports have increased by Rs. 5.5 billion when compared to the previous year.

Iraq has emerged as the leading importer of Sri Lankan tea. The other major importers of Sri Lankan tea are Turkey, Russia, Iran and Libya. 1 Mkg of ex-estate teas met with irregularly lower demand. Select best Western High Grown BOPs were mostly easier with only a few selected invoices gaining. The below best and the plainer types were mostly easier.

Select best Western High Grown BOPFs were easier with the below best and the plainer varieties, too, following a similar trend. Nuwara Eliya BOP/BOPFs were easier with a large volume remaining unsold. Udapussellawa BOPs were easier, whilst the corresponding BOPFs were mostly easier with only a few invoices maintaining last levels. Uva BOPs were substantially easier.