https://www.rnz.co.nz/assets/news/243006/eight_col_070520-Phibbs-Terminal1.jpg?1600399496 Tourism operators are calling for the government to give them more clarity about when borders will be opened again. File photo. Photo: Brett Phibbs / PhibbsVisuals In December, Cabinet agreed in principle to establish a travel bubble with Australia in the first three months of this year. While the news was welcomed, those in the tourism industry said they needed to ensure there was enough time to get ready for an influx of overseas visitors. The managing director of the Scenic Hotel Group, Brendan Taylor, said it would take two to three months for the airlines to ramp up, if the borders reopened. He said operators needed time to prepare and ensure they have enough staff to cater for incoming guests. Tourism Industry Aotearoa’s chief executive Chris Roberts said it would take time to prepare for the return of international visitors after such a devastating blow – and it ...

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2017-11/beehive-red-og_0.png Travellers from the United Kingdom or the United States bound for New Zealand will be required to get a negative test result for COVID-19 before departing, and work is underway to extend the requirement to other long haul flights to New Zealand, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today. “The new PCR test requirement, foreshadowed last week, will require travellers from the UK or the US to have a written form, certified by a laboratory or another form of approved evidence, showing a negative result in the 72 hours prior to departure. It will come into force on flights arriving in New Zealand after 11.59pm on 15 January,” Chris Hipkins said. “Work is underway on similar measures for travellers using most other long haul routes to New Zealand. We expect to be in a position to provide more details within the next week – after we get a more complete picture of testing regimes and capabilities in overseas jurisdictions.      “A detailed plan to put the new requirement into action in the UK and the US is being developed ...

https://www.elanka.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ST-PETERS-COLLEGE-CRICKET-TEAM-1953.jpg Donate to eLanka Perera & Sons Breudher – Limited Stock – at Sunil’s Spice Centre, Thornleigh (Sydney) Search eLanka website eLanka Newsletter Signup eLanka Marriage Proposals Best & Less Travel Banner Advertising on eLanka Sri Lankan Events Calendar << Jan 2021 >> M T W T F S S 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ...

https://www.rnz.co.nz/assets/news_crops/115797/eight_col_000_8Y289Z.jpg?1609613963 An illegal warehouse rave that began on New Year’s Eve in France in defiance of coronavirus precautions has been shut down by police after arrests and clashes. French gendarmes break up an illegal rave that 2,500 dancers took part in near a disused hangar in Lieuron, France, despite a national curfew. Photo: AFP Some of the 2,500 ravers in Lieuron, near Rennes in northern France, had planned to party until Tuesday. Police issued fines to revellers found leaving and the organisers were being identified as the party ended. A number of party-goers were from the UK and Spain, police said. Attendees clashed with police, setting fire to a car and throwing objects at officers attempting to shut the event down. At least three officers were injured. A driver was apprehended with turntables, speakers and a generator in the boot of the vehicle, according to French TV station BFM TV. ...

https://www.elanka.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Dunagaha.jpg Source:Dæhæna – Monthly e-Newsletter January 2021 “Dunagaha” is a village in the Gampaha District. The incident is around a wealthy family that lived here.The family was so rich they lived in a large house and owned many a paddy field and even elephants. They had only one daughter and after the birth of the daughter their wealth began to grow and the parents thought that this daughter brought them luck. Obviously their love towards the daughter was growing. As time went by, the daughter wished to have her own way and refused to obey the parents. She was now a grownup girl and this attitude worried the parents. Arguments between the mother and the daughter happened often and the happiness in the house was disturbed. Father tried to console the daughter but failed. One day the mother and the daughter quarrelled. The daughter was missing thereafter. Then the mother ...

https://www.elanka.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Book-Review.jpg Source:Dæhæna – Monthly e-Newsletter January 2021 “Mma Storm Warning is a thriller/romance fiction novel written by Sharon Sala under the pseudonym of Dinah McCall. It explores the journey of Virginia Shapiro as she tries to escape a mysterious invisible killer. She is the last alive in a class of seven schoolgirls who have all recently died in unfortunate and unusual circumstances. McCall’s writing style makes this book quite easy to read, ensuring you get absorbed into the narrative very quickly. Also, the way the author sets up the story within the first few chapters creates a suspenseful atmosphere which entices you to keep reading. The character development of the two main protagonists as the story progresses is done well and is represented in a raw way that can seem relatable to the reader. Their romanticstoryline becomes an integral part of the overall plot, even though it may seem forced ...

https://www.rnz.co.nz/assets/news_crops/115796/eight_col_000_8XQ7QG.jpg?1609572539 New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced a range of coronavirus restrictions, including mandatory masks in indoor settings and lifting lockdown orders in the southern half of Sydney’s northern beaches. A public health order notice is seen at an almost empty Bondi Beach on Christmas Day in Sydney Photo: AFP The changes come as state health authorities record seven new Covid-19 cases in the 24 hours until 8pm, with one of those being an inner-south-western Sydney case whose source on infection remains under investigation. Five of today’s cases are from western and south-western Sydney and linked to the Berala cluster, which now stands at seven. Another is a household contact of a previously reported case, a patient transport worker, and was isolating for their infectious period. From 11:59pm Saturday (local time), the 180,000 residents living south of the Narrabeen Bridge will be subjected to the same provisions as ...

https://www.rnz.co.nz/assets/news_crops/115790/eight_col_063_1230376371.jpg?1609558567 US coronavirus cases have crossed the 20 million mark as officials seek to speed up vaccinations and a more infectious variant surfaces in Colorado, California and Florida. Medical staff treat a patient in the Covid-19 intensive care unit on New Year’s Eve at the United Memorial Medical Center in Texas Photo: GETTY via AFP The United States has seen a spike in number of daily Covid-19 fatalities since Thanksgiving with 78,000 lives lost in December. A total of 345,000 have died of Covid-19, or one out of every 950 US residents, since the virus first emerged in China late in 2019. To slow the death toll, Senator Mitt Romney on Friday (local time) urged the US government to enlist veterinarians and combat medics to give out coronavirus vaccinations. The US rate of new Covid-19 infections increased in the second half of last year. An analysis of Reuters data shows ...

https://www.elanka.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Udawattakele-Kand01y.jpg   Udawattakele Sanctuary, popularly known as “Udawattakele” is a historic forest reserve situated on a hill-ridge behind Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic) in Kandy City. Udawattakele Sanctuary is also known as the Royal Forest Park. During the Kandyan Kingdom, Udawattakele Sanctuary was known as Uda Wasala Watta (Upper Palace Garden or the garden situated above the Royal Palace) as it was used by the royals, was a forbidden forest and out of bounds (Tahansikele) for ordinary people. According to folklore, King Sena Sammata Wickramabahu (1473 – 1511), the first king of the Kandyan Kingdom, had his Royal Palace inside Udawattakele. The forest reserve had been a pleasure garden and a safe haven for the Royal family. During the Kandyan Kingdom, the Queens had used the pond in the Park for bathing and it was called the Royal Pond.  The Sanctuary is a vital biological reserve of ...