Sri Lankan students safe Sri Lankan students of the Sichuan Medical University are safe and have been evacuated from the earthquake hit province in China, the Foreign Ministry said.

Japan provides grant worth Rs.3,165 million

The Government of Japan has provided a grant of 3,103 million Yen (approximately Rs.3165 million) for the implementation of two projects, under its Grant Aid Programme.
Part of the grant which is 1,803 million Yen is provided for the improvement of the curative healthcare facilities at the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital which is the main hospital in the region and the third largest hospital in Sri Lanka. The grant is expected to be used to construct a new three storied building with a floor area of around 7,500 square metres to house the Obstetric Gynecology Operation Theatre, the Paediatric Unit (Intensive Care Unit) and the Outdoor Patients Department (OPD) with all necessary equipment.
Improved facilities at the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital will provide better access to specialized healthcare services to minimize difficulties faced by patients who travel long distances to obtain such services from other tertiary healthcare institutions. Over 1.3 million people who are residing in the Anuradhapura District and adjoining districts of Vavuniya, Mannar, Trincomalee and Puttalam where the healthcare facilities are comparatively insufficient, will benefit from this project. The Project will be implemented by the Ministry of Healthcare and Nutrition and is expected to be completed by early 2010. The Government of Japan has already provided a grant of 104 million Japanese Yen in February this year to prepare the detailed designs of the new building. The detailed design is scheduled to be completed by July 2008.
In the meantime the balance 1,300 million Yen of the grant is to be provided under the General Nan-Project Grant Aid Programme of Japan, which facilitate the sustainable economic development initiatives of the Government of Sri Lanka. The Government of Japan has been providing assistance under this scheme annually to Sri Lanka since 2003 and this is the fourth of such grants. The grant will be used to import goods and material necessary for the implementation of development projects. Part of the value of the goods imparted under this grant will be deposited as counterpart funds in a Special Account and will be utilized to finance small scale development projects in those lagging regions, including the Eastern Region, falling within the Ten Year Development Framework announced by the Government thereby promoting socio economic development in Sri Lanka.
The signing of the Exchange of Notes pertaining to the above grant took place recently at the Ministry of Finance and Planning. His Excellency Kiyoshi Araki, Ambassador of Japan in Sri Lanka signed the Exchange of Notes on behalf of the Government of Japan while Dr. P B Jayasundera, Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Planning signed on behalf of f Sri Lanka.

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