| News |
||||
|
Govt. to crack
down on drug companies All taxes on
drug imports had been withdrawn from August 1 and the State Pharmaceutical
Corporation had reduced prices of its drugs from that date, but
drug companies had asked for time till October 1 to dispose of old
stocks. A survey by
The Sunday Times over the weekend showed that most pharmacies had
yet not reduced prices and were passing the blame to drug companies. An official
of the Consumer Care Division of the Ministry of Commerce and Consumer
Affairs said yesterday the Ministry also had received a spate of
complaints that the benefits of the drug price reduction were not
being passed down to the hard pressed consumers. The official
said the Fair Trading Commission and the Commission of Internal
Trade would gazette new regulations immediately compelling drug
companies and pharmacies to pass on the price reduction benefits
to consumers. He said that in addition, the new Consumer Protection
Authority Bill was now before the cabinet and the Ministry hoped
it would be in operation within two months. The new Authority would
have sweeping powers to cancel licences and take tough action against
traders including pharmacies and drug companies which did not abide
by State regulations. The official
said a further price reduction in drugs was expected when the new
State Trading Company (Medical Ltd.) began making parallel imports
of drugs at prices about 30 % less than current prices. The Sunday Times learns the new company chaired by a medical professor and including several top consultants on the directorate is seeking a contract from the Health Ministry to import a stock of about 20 million Amoxylin tablets at prices much lower than the current rate. Universal
Teachers Day today "Each
week a village school is shutting down while at the same speed private
education establishments are mushrooming around the country while
the government allocation for education is being slashed,"
the teachers said in a statement to mark the occasion. The union said
promotions of 50,000 teachers and principals had been delayed for
years while teacher transfers had been transformed into a battle
ground between the provincial and zonal education officials. "The national
policy on teacher transfers has been thrown on the garbage heap
while political influence has been given pride of place," the
statement said. "Let us
recognize the 12 months ahead as the Year of Teachers Struggle and
unite," CTU President Bertie Ranaweerage said. The majority of teachers in permanent government employment earn less than Rs. 6,000 a month. Medirigiriya
judge hits out at police Magistrate
Saman Wickremarachchi said the police had acted partially in the
case and thus tried to hide the truth. Polonnaruwa
district UNP MP Sydney Jayaratne's brother was among the suspects
arrested in connection with the incident. But, Mr. Jayaratne
told The Sunday Times he was not involved in the Medirigiriya attack
on Wednesday and accused PA politicians of trying to implicate him
and his brother. UNP General
Secretary Senarath Kapukotuwa told the Sunday Times that the ruling
party strongly condemned the attack on three journalists and Samurdhi
animators. But Mr. he defended Mr. Jayaratne, saying he was not
involved. Central Province
DIG A. Jayasekera said police had arrested 27 persons, including
a brother of the and two UNP local council members. The magistrate on Friday allowed bail for 22 and remanded five. NUA MPs to meet
PM The meeting
will be attended by the three NUA MPs - Ferial Ashraff, M.L.A.M.
Hisbullah and Segu Issadeen. NUA sources
said the Premier had called the NUA for the meeting. The NUA has
in the recent weeks expressed an interest in supporting the UNF
if the needs of the Muslim people of the East are looked after.
NUA leader Ferial Ashraff confirmed that a request for a meeting had been made but said she was unaware of what exactly was to be discussed. |
||||
Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
