Five-member delegation from SL to travel around the world in 40 days

Friday, 28 March 2014 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Shabiya Ali Ahlam Travelling around the world is certainly invigorating. Not only does it provide a sense of adventure, but it also gives one a much needed respite in between work and life. While travelling itself is an enriching experience, an opportunity to travel around the world is definitely an idea to be hyped about. And hyped up and excited were the five delegates selected to have this once in a lifetime opportunity. News 1st together with Sri Lanka Youth officially launched this week on Wednesday the ‘Around the World in 40 Days’ initiative

where a five member delegation will travel to 18 important cities of the world. The five member delegation will be officials of the Sri Lanka Youth Services Council Saman Abeywardena, Saman Kumara and, Amuda Raja Thewaraja, and News 1st Director/General Manager Yasarath Kamalsiri, and News 1st Assistant News Manager Ramesh Irugalbandara. To mark the presence of the nation at the 18 countries which the delegation will visit within a span of 40 days, President Mahinda Rajapaksa prior to their travel on 26 March officially handed over the national flag to the team at Carlton House in Tangalle. The objective of the initiative is to take Sri Lanka to the world before the World Conference on Youth 2014 which is scheduled to take place from 6 to 10 May 2014 at the BMICH, Colombo. Having left Sri Lanka on the 26 March evening to reach Malaysia, the first destination, the five member team will return Sri Lanka on 5 March, a day prior to the start of the World Conference on Youth 2014. While the epic journey is the first of its kind to take place at this scale, previously News 1st together with Sri Lanka Youth Services Council toured around the nation with the national flag before the London Olympics in 2012. In 2013, prior to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) the two organisations partnered once again to travel around Sri Lanka with the aim of representing what CHOGM stood for. Pic by Lasantha Kumara