President Rajapaksa sworn in for his second term; Asian Development Bank (ADB) helps Sri Lanka in drafting national strategy for climate change adaptation; Sri Lanka grants financial assistant package to Palestinian National Authority (PNA); Hambantota
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    • President Mahinda Rajapaksa has sworn in for his second term before Chief Justice Asoka De Silva at the Presidential Secretariat. Special representatives from Bhutan, China, Maldives and Pakistan were among a large number of official foreign representatives who participated in the ceremony.1 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth has sent a congratulatory message to President Mahinda Rajapaksa on the occasion of his inauguration of the second term of office.2

    Meanwhile, Sri Lanka has drafted a national strategy for climate change adaptation with the support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).3 On the other hand, the Government of Sri Lanka has signed a MoU with the Ministry of Education & Higher Education of Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to grant a financial assistant package of US$ 40,000/- for organizing training workshops to strengthen readiness of primary education teachers in Palestine. The first installment of US$ 20,000/- for the project was already made. The 2nd installment of US$ 20,000/ was made at a ceremony which was held on November 9 at the Representative Office of Sri Lanka in PNA.4

    According to the latest figures released by Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka in October 2010 went up by 39.4 percent to 52,370, compared to the corresponding period the previous year.5 However, Sri Lanka’s new deep sea port on the south coast of the island 'Magama Ruhunupura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port', Hambantota, has been officially opened on November 18 with the ceremonial docking of the first vessel to use the port facilities.6

    In other developments, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on November 16 at the India’s Ministry of External Affairs at New Delhi between the Hindustan Prefab Limited (HPL) under the administrative control of Government of India, Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Ministry of External Affairs, to construct 1,000 houses as a pilot project for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in North of Sri Lanka.7

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