උදයාංග වීරතුංග

July 8, 2013in තවලම 3 0 Comments 0 Likes

මෙගා තවලම නිශ්නිනොවගොරඩ් හි

Mega Tourism Caravan in Nizhny Novgorod Day 1
8-9 July 2013
On Monday, 8 July the “Mega Tourism Caravan” arrived at the fifth largest city of the Russian Federation. Nizhny Novgorod, is, with a population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia and the Administrative center of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of two most important rivers, Volga and Oka. The name literally means Lower Newtown to distinguish it from the older Velik Novgorod.
The first event of the day, «Workshop for travel and tour operators” was held in the Yalta Hall of the Marins Hotel. The workshop which was attended by approximately one hundred participants was the first, to be held in Nizhny. At the be-ginning of the workshop H.E. Udayanga Weeratunga very warmly welcomed all participants and conducted a very informative and educative presentation on Sri Lankan Tourism. During the presentation he covered salient points such as his-tory, climatic conditions, major tourist attractions, major cities, visa procedures and recent infrastructure developments in the spheres’ of socio – economic and tourism.
The «Mega Tourism Caravan” conducted its promotional activities in Nizhny Novgorod. The major event of the day was “Shopping Mall Activation” at the Mega Nizhniy Novgorod. MEGA is one the most frequently visited shopping mall in Nizhny Novgorod. The prime location of MEGA Nizhny Novgorod, the first super-regional shopping mall in the city makes it the major player among shopping malls in the region. MEGA houses the first OBI in Nizhny Novgorod, the only Auchan and an IKEA store. ZARA, Marks and Spencer, Adidas, Ann Chris-tine, Vero Moda and New Yorker have opened for the first time in Nizhny Novogord at MEGA.

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July 5, 2013in තවලම 3 0 Comments 0 Likes

මෙගා මොස්කව් හි උත්සවාකාරයෙන්

Sri Lankan Grandeur at the “Mega Moscow”
4-7 July 2013
IMG_3042Exhibiting the Sri Lankan grandeur on Saturday and Sunday, the promotional activities were conducted at the one of the most visited place in Moscow, the “Mega Moscow”, which has a visitor turnover of 2,450,000 monthly. MEGA complex combines such large stores like IKEA, garden centre Mega Moscow, Auchan Hypermarket, DIY OBI, Media Market, Hypermarket M. Video, Hypermarket of Sport Goods Dekatlon, entertainment park Crazy Park, bowling and billiard club Kosmik, 15 cinema halls, a skating ring. MEGA has the widest choice of stores under one roof which means, they offer the best shopping opportunity for visitors at competitive prices. MEGA is a unique development project in Russia by IKEA Group; it is a conceptual family trade and entertainment centre, one of the largest in Russia and in East Europe.
In promoting the tourism industry in the country, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau takes the lead among the others with having two main objectives of: Marketing and promoting of Sri Lanka directly or indirectly as a tourist and travel destination of quality in accordance with the Tourism Development Plan in consultation with the Authority and promoting Sri Lanka as a gateway to the South Asian Regions; and making Sri Lanka known as the centre of excellence in tourism management and development in the region. The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau is the institute responsible for all marketing and promotional functions of Sri Lanka, which is also responsible for overseas marketing and promotional functions.
One of the major participants of the campaign is the State owned Gift and Souvenir Boutique “Laksala” which was established under the National Skills Act of 1982. This renowned Gift and Souvenir Boutique operates through ten branches located island wide and offer the widest variety of all Sri Lankan products at a reasonable price. Most importantly, Laksala enables the numerous industries that supply goods to it to stay both profitable and in business.
During the weekend the campaign was well received by the visitors of Mega Moscow who were introduced to Sri Lanka by the Ambassador and in shopping mall activations; Sri Lankan traditional dancing performances including a “Perehara” entertained the visitors which was a major attraction. Apart from that distribution of leaflets/souvenirs, tourism promotional videos and T shirts were carried out. And also more than five thousand Ceylon tea cups were served to all spectators.

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July 4, 2013in තවලම 3 0 Comments 0 Likes

යථාර්ථය සාර්ථක වෙයි

Caravan-3, Become a reality and a success
4 July 2013
Nestled by the banks of the Moscow River, the Radisson Slavyanskaya Hotel and Business Center, Moscow offers an ideal location, facilities and atmosphere for tourism promotion. Thus on Friday the 5th for the second consecutive day the Workshop for the leading tour operators was conducted at the Chaykovsky hall of the Hotel Radisson Slavyanskaya. The hotel which is adjacent to the new Europe Plaza, fountain and crystal bridge features 14 meeting rooms spread over 4,400 square meters and can accommodate a meeting for 15 or an event for 1,500.
In the morning the workshop conducted with the collaboration of another well known tour operator in Moscow, “Labirint”. The company has been founded in 1995 as a tour operator for Greece and Finland with head office in Moscow. The most prolific destinations are Greece, Finland, Scandinavian countries, Baltic countries, France, Germany, Russia, Israel, Africa with tour types been Package tours, recreational tours, escorted tours, cruises, ski packages, fishing tours, conference tours, incentive tours, business trips, tours to exhibitions. The company takes part in renowned exhibitions such as MITT, MITF, Leisure (Moscow), МАТКА (Helsinki), Philoxenia (Thessaloniki), ITB (Berlin). Also it has regional representative offices in Perm, Saratov, Cheliabinsk, Kazan, Nizhnij Novgorod, Volgograd, Ufa, Krasnodar, Novosibirsk, Rostov-on – Don.
Once again, having very warmly welcomed all participants His Excellency Udayanga Weeratunga conducted a very informative and educative presentation on Sri Lankan Tourism. The workshop which was once again attended by more than one hundred representatives was concluded in the afternoon. During the workshops the attendees were presented with audio CD package. This package of two Audio CD’s gives an exclusive commentary on 49 important tourist locations and covers Colombo, Kelaniya, Pinnawela Anuradhapura, Sigiriya, Dambulla, Mihintale Polonnraruwa, Euwara Eliya, Kandy, Yala nad Galle. The package which is been published in Russian language is an excellent tour guide to the tourist from Russia and CIS countries. The first edition was published in 2008 and more than 5000 copies have been distributed. All tourists flying to Sri Lanka by Srilankan Airlines has been availed with the opportunity of listening to this CD on board.
In the afternoon hours of the day the next major event of the campaign; shopping mall activation commenced at the shopping mall “Mega Belya Dacha” in Moscow. Major participants of the activation were “Laksala” “Siddalepa” and ‘Sri Lankan Airlines”. During the event the spectators were issued with tourism promotional materials, gift items and tea sachets. The liquid tea service organized by the Embassy served the gathering whilst the dancing troupe entertained them.

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July 4, 2013in තවලම 3 0 Comments 0 Likes

“බිලියනපතියන්ගේ නගරයේ” වැඩමුළු

Tour Operators of the “City of Billionaires” attends a Workshops
4 July 2013
Thursday, 4 July was the second successful day of the “Mega Tourism Caravan”, in the city of billionaires. Moscow which has the largest community of billionaires in the world is the northernmost mega city on earth, the second most populous city in Europe and the 6th largest city proper in the world. Moscow with an annual tourist arrival of approximately five million Moscow is the second most popular tourist destination in Russia after Saint Petersburg. Moscow is situated on the Moskava River in the Central Federal District of European Russia. In the course of its history the city has served as the capital of a progression of states, from the medieval Grand Duchy of Moscow and the subsequent Tsardom of Russiaa to the Soviet Union. Moscow is the site of the Moscow Kremlin, an ancient fortress that is today the residence of the Russian President. The Kremlin is also one of several World Heritage Sites in the city.
Today, the major events of the promotional campaign were the two workshops conducted in the morning and afternoon respectively at the Chaykovsky hall of the Hotel “Radisson Slavyanskaya”.
In the morning the workshop was conducted with the collaboration of reputed Tour Operators Paks and Russian Express. This event was attended by approximately one hundred and fifty representatives in the tourism industry in Russia. In the afternoon, another successful workshop was conducted at the same venue with the collaboration of renowned tour operators’ Spectrum, Maldiviana and Connaissance. This too was attended by more than hundred representatives.
On both occasions having very warmly welcomed all participants His Excellency Udayanga Weeratunga conducted a very informative and educative presentation on Sri Lankan Tourism. During the presentation he covered salient points such as history, climatic conditions, major tourist attractions, major cities, visa procedures and recent infrastructure developments in the spheres’ of socio – economic and tourism.
During both workshops the attendees were presented with many promotional materials and the Catalogue on Sri Lanka Tourism in Russian language containing information about Sri Lankan history, modern history, people, festivals, visa procedures, currency, Sri Lankan food, culture and heritage was a the major attraction of all materials. Further; this catalogue opens portals to cities such as; Colombo, Anuradhapura, Sigiriya, Dambulla, Polonnaruwa and Kandy whilst discussing about hill country, wildlife, beaches and star class hotels along with the facilities provided.
The tantalizing dancing performance of the Dancing Troupe directed by Chandana Wickramasinghe did entertained the participants and received a hearty applaud from the gathering.

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July 3, 2013in තවලම 3 0 Comments 0 Likes

ශ්‍රී ලංකා රාත්‍රීය “තුන්වන රෝමයේ”

Sri Lankan Night at the “Third Rome”
3 July 2013
The two week long “Mega Tourism Caravan” commenced its first phase on 3 July in the capital city of Russia, Moscow. This promotional campaign which will be conducted in Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Ufa and Yekaterinburg covering a distance of almost 4000 kilo meters on wheels is the follow up of the “Mega Tourism Road Show” held in March – April 2013, in the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Republic of Kazakhstan. This enormous task of organizing weeks long tourism campaigns firstly in four major cities of Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan and subsequently in four major cities in Russia for the second time would not have been a reality, if not for the resolute and untiring efforts of His Excellency Udayanga Weeratunga, the Ambassador of Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka to the Russian Federation. His vast experience and hard earned knowledge on the tourism industry were the main attributes, which paved the way to successfully organize both “Mega Tourism Road Show” and “Mega Tourism Caravan”.
This time the campaign commenced its proceedings with a cultural show, namely the “Sri Lanka Night” at the Hotel Lotte Plaza, Moscow. The event attended by the diplomatic corps, leading travel and tour operators in Moscow, leading businessmen in both tourism and tea trade, leading print and electronic media persons and Sri Lankan Diaspora was well received and appreciated by all present at the ceremonial opening.
Addressing the august gathering the Ambassador stressed upon the need to promote tourism of Sri Lanka in Russia and CIS countries as the fifth largest tourist arrivals are from the said countries. Further, he spoke about the diplomatic and cultural relations between the two nations, traditional dancing of Sri Lanka and development of infrastructure in the country.
The cultural show of three hours performed by the Dance Guild of the maestro Chandana Wickramasinghe, enthralled and pleased the audience with many a traditional dancing, drum fusion, mask dancing, drum orchestra and medley of folk songs. The photo exhibition of 120 photos covered the visits of His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka to the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Republic of Kazakhstan. It also covers major tourist destinations of the country namely; Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Dambulla, Kandy, Sigiriya, Pinnawela and Nuwara Eliya along with scenic and pristine beaches along both Western and Eastern coasts, Sri Lankan cuisine, traditional dancing and wild life.
The event was held at the Crystal Ballroom of the Hotel Lotte Plaza, Moscow which is a One of Moscow’s newest hotels. The Lotte is an Asian export in the heart of the Russian capital’s shopping and financial districts, close to the Kremlin and new business district. The “Three Michelin” star chef, Pierre Gagnaire, along with a team trained exclusively in Paris, presided over the reception which followed the cultural show.

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June 29, 2013in උත්සවය 0 Comments 0 Likes

තානාපති ක්‍රිකට් කුසලානය 2013

Embassy Cup 2013
29 June 2013
This year Sri Lanka Embassy Cricket Cup was held for the sixth consecutive year on 29 June 2013 at the People’s Friendship University grounds in Moscow. The main sponsorship provided by His Excellency Udayanga Weeratunga, Ambassador and his close guidance made this event a glittering success. The tournament was held from morning to the evening amidst a large crowd consisting Sri Lankan university students, Sri Lankan community and a minor representation of Russians.
Embassy Cup cricket tournament was inaugurated in year 2008 by the present Ambassador His Excellency Udayanga Weeratunga with the motive of uniting and developing the relationship of the Sri Lankan students studying in the Russian Federation. After con-ducting the tournament for last five years it has been evident that the unity, friendship and harmony of the students of different universities have developed. More-over, this has now become an event every cricket loving student look forward to attend each year.
Eight Sri Lankan cricket teams from different universities of the Russian Federation participated in this year tournament. Lion Bros team of Kursk Medical University emerged as the Champions and was awarded the Embassy Cup Trophy and a cash prize of US$ 1,000.00 while a cash prize of US$ 500.00 was awarded to Cobra team of Kursk Medical University as they emerged Runners up. A SriLankan Airline return air ticket to Colombo was awarded to Mr. Mohomad Zeezan of Kursk Cobras Team who emerged as the Man of the Series and US$ 200.00 each was award-ed to Mr. Manoj Devapriya as the Best Batsman of the first round and Suneth Mihiranga of Volgograd University Team as the Best Bowler of the first round.

This was not only a fruitful way to break the long spell of continuous studies but to enjoy Sri Lankan food which is a rare opportunity for students living in Russia. A delicious traditional Sri Lankan lunch was served to all present by sponsor-ship of His Excellency the Ambassador. Tea and snacks for all participants were also provided throughout the day. All arrangements of the event were done by the Embassy Staff. The venue was decorated with national flags and company banners of the sponsors. A special thank should be conveyed to the Sri Lankan business community living in Russia, without their generous contribution, this event would not have become a reality.

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June 23, 2013in පිළිගැනීම් 0 Comments 0 Likes

තාක්ෂණ හා පර්යේෂණ අමාත්‍ය

තාක්ෂණ හා පර්යේෂණ අමාත්‍යගේ රුසියානු සංචාරය
23-25 June 2013

Minister of Technology Renewable Energy Hon. Patali Champaka Ranwaka visited the Russian Federation on 23 June 2013 to participate the International Industrial Conference on Nuclear Power in the 21st Century in St. Petersburg . The Honorable Minister visited the Embassy and discussed the future plans of cooperation in the field of energy with the Russian Federation.

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June 5, 2013in සුහද හමුව 0 Comments 0 Likes

පොලිස්පතිගේ රුසියානු සංචාරය

පොලිස්පති විශේෂ සේවා ප්‍රධානින්ගේ රැස්වීම සහභාගිවීම
5-6 ජූනි 2013
The XII Meeting of Heads of Special Services, Security Agencies And Law-Enforcement Organizations on counterterrorism matters was held in Kazan, Russian Federation from 5 to6 June 2013. The meeting was attended by 96 delegations from 63 nation states, as well as 3 international organizations, including the UNSC Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) and UNSC Committees, Shanghai Cooperation Organization Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (SCO RATS), Anti-Terrorism Center of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CISATC).
Participants’ exchange of opinions during the discussion was helpful in terms of building stronger mutual trust in matters of strengthening counteraction against the terrorist use of weapons and explosives.
The Meeting became a platform for the exchange of practical experience on provision of security during major international events. The participants stated the necessity of terrorism-related threats during the stage of preparation as well as in the actual course of such events.

Considering the repercussions of recent developments in terrorist activities in the world at large, the main focus of the conference was on information sharing through formal data bases and learning through others’ experiences. Based on the current terrorist threat assessment, participants of the Meeting agreed on necessity of the ongoing counterterrorist campaign expansion to counter extremism.

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May 17, 2013in උත්සවය 0 Comments 0 Likes

සංචාරක ප්‍රවර්ධනයේ දායකත්වය

තානාපතිතුමාගේ දායකත්වය විසින් සිදුකල සංචාරක ප්‍රවර්ධන කටයුතුවලට ඇගයීම
17 මැයි 2013

His Excellency Udayanga Weeratunga was appreciated for the immense contribution he is making to promote Sri Lanka tourism in the Russia and CIS region. A plaque was awarded to His Excellency the Ambassador by Hon. Namal Rajapaksa, Member of Parliament on a special celebration held during the “Get Sri Lankaned” Tourism Promotion event in Bangalore on the 17 May 2013.
Deputy Minister Hon. Muttu Sivalingam, Parliamentarian Hon. Santh Jayasuriya, Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Mr. Bhashwara Gunaratne and many cricketers were among the distinguished guests.

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April 26, 2013in තවලම 2 0 Comments 0 Likes

මෙගා ඇල්මාති සාප්පු සංකිර්ණයේ

Saga Continues in the «City of Alatau Mountains»
26-28 April 2013
The “Mega Tourism Road Show” continues in Almaty. Almost 150 years have passed since the first settlements were established in Almaty. The city is situated in the centre of the Eurasian continent, in the south-east of the Republic of Kazakhstan, at the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau Mountains, the northernmost ridge of the Tien Shan. The city occupies an area of over 170 square kilometers. It stands in the valleys of the Bolshaya and Malaya Almatinka rivers Talgar (5017 m), Nursultan (former Komsomol 4376 m) and Bolshoi Almatinski (3684 m) peaks prevail over the range of picturesque summits surrounding the city from the south.
The climate in the city is sharply continental, with considerable fluctuations in temperature not only in different seasons but also between day and night. From a height of 500 meters the city climate is closer to the steppe and semi-deserts, coming close to the hot Kaskelen Moyunkuins. In the southern areas, at an altitude of 1520- 1750 meters above sea level, in the Medeu Tract and the Kamenski Plateau, you can feel the breath of “Arctic mountains”. Average annual wind speed is twice as less as in Moscow. Average temperature of July is the same as on the islands of Sri Lanka (Ceylon) or Java. Average temperature of January can be compared with that in the north of Norway.
Rich and diverse is the animal and vegetable kingdom of the Trans-Ili Alatau. The Almaty precincts are part of the Ili-Alatau National Park in the territory of which nature reserves and wildlife are arranged. They are the habitat of many rare birds and animals listed in the Red Book of Kazakhstan. Among them is the snow leopard, now embellishing the emblem of Almaty.
At the foothills of the mountains grain, melon and gourd, and tobacco plantations and vineyards are interchanged by orchards and berry fields. It was here where famous “aport” Almaty apple breed was first cultivated. Once this very apple became not only the city’s symbol but also gave it its name (“alma” is the Kazakh for “apple”).
Gardens and parks, public gardens and boulevards occupy over 8 hectares of the city territory. The vicinity of Almaty can boast rare representatives of the local endemic flora. Long forgotten names of our countrymen, men of science, are now eternalized in the names of many Almaty plants: Nedzvetski apple-tree, Fetisov onion, Kushakevich saffron, etc.
Many names of honorary citizens have been preserved in the names of mountains and valleys of the Trans-Ili Alatau: Palgov, Bryzgalov, Dmitriev, Poyarkov, Shnitnikov and Wojcehowski glaciers; Ryskul, Kolokolnikovs, Zimin Valleys and Kuderin summit. Many old names were changed to new ones.
The Mega Al-Mata is located in the south of the city of Almaty, and is one of the most popular and largest shopping malls. It is widely patronized by all groups of shoppers at all age categories, mostly of the higher income level category. The Mall includes a large food hypermarket Ramstor, many shops, restaurants, cafes, leisure areas and entertainment, promoting well-known international brand names.
At the start of the activation, introduction and promotion of Sri Lanka was carried out with description of places of tourist attractions and other interesting information. A mini spa conducted by the masseur from Siddhalepa Ayurveda Resort & Spa, and a demonstration of traditional mask making was given by the mask maker. Both items were very popular among the visitors. Competitions to promote knowledge and interest in Sri Lanka were conducted with enthusiastic participation from the crowd. Prices were given out to winners.
The cultural dance items presented by the dancing troupe “Chandana and the Dancers’ Guild” proved to be a major attraction as in previous events and were able to draw a significant crowd of around a thousand visitors counting both days. The stall for the liquid Ceylon tea service and promotion was well patronized. Distribution of tea sachets and promotional leaflets, Tourism catalogue and Audio Guide CDs were also conducted extensively at the mall.

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