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Hospitals overwhelmed by major surge in COVID

Hospitals overwhelmed by major surge in COVID

With an unprecedented surge in the COVID-19 pandemic this week, and the death toll topping 5,000, the signs of the catastrophe are seen in this high dependency ward of a hospital in the suburbs of Colombo city. Every bed in the ward is occupied with emergency care patients and the medical staff are also known [...]

Vehicle import ban next year also; strict austerity measures

The Government has decided to continue the ban on imports of vehicles for next year also and issued strict guidelines to all ministries on the preparation of their allocations for the 2022 budget to be presented in November, a senior Treasury official said. On the recurrent expenditure, a Treasury circular to all ministries and departments [...]

Cyber mystery as drug companies’ files go missing from NMRA cloud

Terabytes of information attached by pharmaceutical companies to their applications to the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) for registration and licensing of medication have “disappeared” from the Lanka Government Cloud (LGC), authoritative sources said. “Pharmaceutical companies applied either for new registrations or renewals of expiring registrations via a digital system recently introduced by the NMRA,” [...]

Despite rejection of mega projects with foreign loans, UK firm to get CEP contract

Despite publicly rejecting costly mega projects funded through foreign loans, the Government will award the 58km section of the Central Expressway Project (CEP) from Kurunegala to Dambulla to a company named M/s Roughton International Ltd which is seeking to borrow about 691.5mn Euros (Rs 162bn) from UK Export Finance (UKEF). The Cabinet last year cleared [...]

President to get power to extend PR from 5 to 10 years

The Government is to extend the period of granting Permanent Resident (PR) visas from the existing five years to ten years while vesting the power of determining the period to the Minister in charge — Minister of Defence According to a bill published this week by the Ministry of Defence to amend the Immigrants and [...]

Coal ban flouted by big businessman; CEA gives nod despite missing data

The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) has granted provisional approval to Lanwa Sanstha Cement Corporation (Pvt) Ltd owned by businessman Nandana Lokuwithana to import thousands of tons of coal via Hambantota Port for a steel company he plans to set up in the Mirijjawila export processing zone (EPZ). The concept is in contravention of President Gotabaya [...]

COVID death toll tops 5000; Govt. says stay at home

The Government yesterday issued a set of stringent advisories that call upon the people to limit their travel outside their homes, unless for urgent business, refrain from attending weddings, funerals and other festivities and get themselves vaccinated as soon as possible. These advisories issued by the Government Information Department  however fell short of any formal [...]

Crematoriums and morgues feel the burden of COVID deaths

A number of crematoriums close to hospitals in heavily populated areas have started operating round-the-clock to clear a backlog of bodies, health authorities said. Meanwhile, morgues are struggling to find space to store remains as their limited freezer facilities rapidly fill up. The deceased are not exclusively COVID-infected. But the pandemic has significantly increased the [...]

Milk powder importers contest Govt.’s price revision freeze claim

The Government last week assured the public that there would be no shortage of milk powder in the market as it had bought time for price revision, but importers contested the claim and said if a price increase was not sanctioned, they would be compelled to discontinue the supplies. Consumer Protection State Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna [...]

Second AstraZeneca vaccine stocks come from Japan

The second batch of 727,380 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine donated through the COVAX facility by Japan arrived in Sri Lanka yesterday with transportation support from UNICEF. The consignment brought the total number of AstraZeneca doses donated by Japan to Sri Lanka through the COVAX dose-sharing mechanism to over 1.4 million. The first batch [...]

STC to supply foreign helmets to Army; local company protests in letter to President

The Sri Lanka Army’s infantry regiment would be getting new special ballistic or bullet proof helmets made by a foreign company as the relevant procurement committee has awarded the tender for the supply of 10,000 ballistic helmets to the State Trading (General) Corporation (STC). STC, the trading arm of the Government, has submitted its quotations [...]

Perahera set to go ahead; vaccination of participants mandatory

Perahera set to go ahead; vaccination of participants mandatory

Director of Health Services, Kandy, Dr Nihal Weerasooriya said on Saturday (7) that people would not be allowed within the Kandy Esala Perahera area during its duration. He added that the number of artistes taking part in the procession was not decided, and discussions were yet underway. The artistes would be housed in schools allocated [...]

Kap ceremony signals perahera beginning

Kap ceremony signals perahera beginning

‘Kap’ was cut early today at the Aluthnuwara Devale premises to denote the commencement of the historic Kandy Esala Perahera which begins on the evening of August 9 within the Sri Dalada Maligawa and devales and reaches the streets (without the participation of devotees) on August 13, continuing till August 22. The ‘Kap’ would be [...]

New circular on public services in effect until virus spread subsides

New circular on public services in effect until  virus spread subsides

The newly issued circular on maintaining public services will continue until the dangerous situation in the country owing to the rapid spread of Covid-19 subsides, a senior government official said. According to the new circular issued on Friday (6), teams should be formed for officers of all public institutions in such a manner that one [...]

Pests ravage crops as confusion reigns over pesticide policy

Pests ravage crops as confusion reigns over pesticide policy

Almost half the crops in areas of the north have been destroyed by pests and weeds, and many farmers blaming the pesticides ban for their losses have returned or cancelled permits for leased paddy lands. The biggest menace is from stem borers, which are widespread in the region. The insects bore into plant stems and [...]

Oxygen concentrators developed by Peradeniya Uni mechanical engineers

Oxygen concentrators developed by Peradeniya Uni mechanical engineers

The University of Peradeniya’s Mechanical Engineering Department staff have developed oxygen concentrators. They received funding for the project from the Korean Maritime and Ocean University at Busan in South Korea. These oxygen concentrators use standard PSA technology (Pressure Swing Adsorption) based on zeolite as the adsorption agent. The initial design was targeted for moderate oxygen [...]

French help for Kandy’s cable car project discussed

French help for Kandy’s cable car project discussed

The possibility of a Cable Car Project in the Kandy District was discussed by the Ambassador of France in Sri Lanka, Eric Lavertu with the Governor of the Central Province Lalith U Gamage when both met at the Governor’s Office in Kandy this week. This proposal was made with the intention of curtailing environmental pollution [...]

Police investigate murder-suicide in Galgamuwa

Police yesterday recovered the bodies of three persons including that of a child, from a house in Mahananneriya, Galgamuwa. The bodies were those of a 28-year-old female, her 10-year-old son and another 28-year-old male, Police Spokesman Senior Deputy Inspector General (SDIG) Ajith Rohana said. Police suspect that the male, who had been having an affair [...]

Laugfs claims financial ill health cause for stopping domestic gas supplies

Laugfs claims financial ill health cause for stopping domestic gas supplies

Laugfs Gas Plc, the partner in the duopoly in the country’s domestic supply of liquid petroleum gas (LPG ), last week, said that it would inform its 30% domestic customers this week about its inability to supply gas. Chairman, W K H Wegapitiya said the company was unable to continue supplies under the present circumstances [...]

Sexual violence: System is stacked against victims and it can begin at police stations

Sexual violence: System is stacked against victims and it can begin at police stations

Sexual violence is spiralling. But even the few survivors that stumble their way to Sri Lanka’s courtrooms are stigmatised, battered by a sexist system and still defeated by ineffective laws. According to the Police Research and Planning Division, 1,401 crimes of sexual violence were reported countrywide in the first seven months of this year alone. [...]

New SC judge calls for hi-tech driven judiciary with necessary firewalls

While the present judicial delays were exacerbated by the pandemic, it is important to treat these challenges as an opportunity, build on the momentum and continue to strengthen the relationship of technology and the judicial system, newly appointed Supreme Court Justice Arjuna Obeysekere said. While the country’s judicial system took time to adjust to the [...]

This, too, is child abuse

This, too, is child abuse

The practice of using children for begging has been continuing for a long time, but it seems to have increased significantly in recent times. Unfortunately, one can see many children around Colombo City now engaged in the practice along with adults. It is indeed heartbreaking to see these children being forced into such a terrible [...]

The hospitals are full-up

The hospitals are full-up

With hospitals not only in Colombo but even in Ratnapura and Karapitiya tumbling like dominoes under the onslaught of COVID-19 and the weight of hapless patients who are taking up ‘lodging’ in the garden, the Sunday Times felt the COVID pulse in many outstation areas. “Reached saturation” or “close to reaching saturation” was what we [...]

Multi-pronged plan to manage the heavy inflow of patients

A multi-pronged plan is in motion to enable the hospitals to manage the heavy inflow of COVID-19 positive patients, a top health official assured on Friday evening, while sending out a strong plea to everyone to take all preventive measures. Referring at length to widespread illness being caused by Delta mainly in the Western Province, [...]

Defiant Indian intruders dodge undersea bus barrier, navy helpless

Defiant Indian intruders dodge undersea bus  barrier, navy helpless

When the Department of Fisheries with the help of the Sri Lanka Navy dumped some 20 discarded buses off Delft Island sea in Jaffna during the fish breeding ban in June, they hope to achieve two things: one is to create an artificial reef, and other is to discourage Indian bottom trawlers who frequently enter [...]

Teachers might cave in on street protests but not boycotts

Teachers might cave in on street protests but not boycotts

Under growing pressure from the health sector, teacher-principal unions will discuss today whether to continue with protest marches and vehicle processions in coming weeks – but they vow to continue boycotts on online teaching and exam duties. Another week of failed discussions, protest marches, vehicle processions and teacher arrests passed, with students from government schools [...]

Not forgetting the mentally handicapped in these times of COVID

Not forgetting the  mentally handicapped in these times of COVID

The Consultant is examining a patient who is wracked by a fit of coughing, when the Sunday Times calls him on Thursday morning. This is nothing new in these terrible times of COVID-19, with a rapid spread of the virus. What is new though is that the doctor seeing the patient is not a Physician [...]

Jab well done in day and night campaign

Jab well done in day and night campaign

Sri Lanka’s first 24/7 inoculation drive against the coronavirus disease this week drew crowds in Western Province desperately awaiting their second dose of the AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine and for the army it was a jab well done. Colonel (Dr.) Saveen Semage, director of Preventive Medicine and Mental Health at the Army Headquarters, told the Sunday [...]

Crushing pressure to excel drives kids to exit school in despair

Crushing pressure to excel drives kids to exit school in despair

Children from families working in the plantation sector are dropping out of school at an increasing rate to seek work due to crushing pressure to perform extraordinarily well at national exams. These students are being pushed by teachers, principals, education zone and provincial directors to show good results at national exams so that these functionaries [...]

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