News

Local bottled water producers today (07) announced a set of revised prices, following the removal of the maximum retail price (MRP).

Accordingly, a 500ml water bottle will be sold at Rs.50 while a 1 litre and 1.5 litre water bottle will be sold at Rs. 70 and Rs. 90, respectively.

Moreover, a  5 litre water bottle is to be sold at Rs. 200 rupees, while a 7 litre bottle is to be sold at Rs. 240.

An extraordinary gazette notification was issued on 29 January, removing the MRP for locally bottled drinking water, owing to the increasing costs of raw materials and other relevant industry costs.

Sri Lanka’s Energy Ministry says the Kelanitissa Power Plant will remain without fuel until a diesel tanker reaches the country on Monday (7).

The country’s hydropower generation has already dropped to 32 percent.

Data published by the Ceylon Electricity Board said there is limited fuel in thermal power plants.

Power cuts were reported in many areas although the Ceylon Electricity Board had not made any announcement to that effect on Thursday (3).

Although Sri Lanka’s power demand at nightstands at 2650 Megawatts, the CEB had been able to generate only about 2276 Megawatts.

The CEB said that the Kelanitissa and Baththala power stations had not generated power as they had run out of fuel.

The energy ministry’s secretary K.D.R. Olga said fuel had been supplied to the CEB as agreed.

The secretary added that the power plants had run out of fuel before as more fuel had been used compared to the initial calculations.

She added that the West Coast Power Plant had run out of fuel in 8 days despite being given fuel for 11 days.

The Kelanitissa Power Plant was given fuel to run until Friday (4).

The energy ministry says that the Kelanitissa Power Plant will remain without fuel until a diesel tanker reaches the country on Monday (7).

It added that providing more fuel to the Kelanitissa Power Plant before that would create a shortage of diesel.

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Human rights lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah has been given bail after remaining under detention for 20 months.

The Court of Appeal today (07) ordered bail for Hizbullah, who was arrested in April 2020 under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

Justices Menaka Wijesundara and Neil Iddawela favourably considered a revised bail application filed on his behalf.

Last month, the Puttalam High Court refused to grant bail to him, saying the matter was beyond its jurisdiction.

Hizbullah was instructed to request bail from the Court of Appeal.

Earlier, the attorney general’s department said it had no objections to his being given bail.

Hizbullah was arrested on 14 April 2020 by the CID on charges of aiding and abetting the Easter Sunday bombers and of engaging in activities detrimental to religious harmony.

Foreign Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris will visit India this weekend for a two-day official visit, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed today.

Accordingly, the lawmaker is expected to set off for India on February 06 (Sunday).

His visit comes days after Sri Lanka and India signed a USD 500 million Short-Term Line of Credit (STLOC) agreement with the Export-Import Bank (EXIM) of India, for the purchase of petroleum products.

India extended this support in the wake of a virtual meeting between the External Affairs Minister of India Dr. S. Jaishankar and Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa on January 15, 2022, during which they discussed a range of issues.

India said it is committed to assisting Sri Lanka in its post-Covid economic recovery. “Signing of the LOC Agreement is another landmark in our bilateral cooperation and is in continuation of India’s recent foreign exchange support of over USD 900 million to Sri Lanka.”

The Government health workers will resort to an indefinite trade union action starting from 7.00 am tomorrow (07) over government’s failure to address their grievances, despite recent token strikes.

Head of the Sri Lankan Association of Government Medical Laboratory Technologists Ravi Kumudesh told the Daily Mirror that the Health Ministry had failed to provide concrete solutions to their seven demands.

"We have categorically informed the Health Ministry Secretary in writing about our grievances; however, he has turned a blind eye to our demands. Thus, we have decided to launch an indefinite trade union action from tomorrow morning," he said.

As a result,16 teams comprising of health professionals, including medical laboratory scientists, pharmacists, radiologists, public health inspectors and family health officers.

Eliminate parallel salary anomalies caused by addressing only teachers' salary anomalies,

Maintain the pay policy in a manner that does not violate the Sri Lankan Qualifications Framework and implement Ranugge's pay committee recommendations,

Failure to issue the circular naming the posts regarding the confirmation of staff ownership,

Delay in issuing circulars related to the paramedics and paramedical professions with regard to the first class promotion system after 12 years,

Not establishing the correct salary scale relevant to the professional degree and obtaining suitable posts/employment opportunities,

Implementing a 'Health Administration Service' representing all health professionals,

Increasing special duty allowance to Rs.10,000 and transforming health professional services into closed services, are among the seven demands.

However, the strike will not hamper services at Cancer, Women and Children's hospitals and the Central Blood Bank.

dailymirror.lk

The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) would take action against the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) in accordance with the provisions of the Electricity Act if the CEB imposed any power cuts in the future.

PUCSL Chairman Janaka Rathnayake stated that the CEB will be dealt with sternly and strongly in accordance with the Act.

People are saying behind the PUCSL that there will be power outages."This has to stop, especially for the members of the CEB unions, and it has to stop immediately," he said.

We have not given any approval for power interruptions. If any power-shedding happens without our approval, we will take action.

Yesterday we connected around 50 MW of electricity to the national grid from the private sector. We spoke to all the large-scale factory owners' who have generators to provide electricity to the national grid during the peak time and they agreed.

The PUCSL requested the Condominium Management Authority to request the apartment owners to use their generators and not use air conditioners between 6.00 p.m to 10.00 p.m.

The Director General of Health Services has confirmed another 23 coronavirus related deaths for February 05, pushing the country’s death toll due to the virus pandemic to 15,596.

The deaths reported today includes 11 males and 12 females while one of the victims is below the age of 30 years.

Four of the patients are between the ages 30-59 years while the remaining 18 are aged 60 years and above.

The Director-General of Health Services has confirmed 29 new coronavirus-related fatalities for February 03, increasing the death toll in the country due to the virus to 15,544.

This includes 17 males and 12 females, according to the Department of Government Information.

Four of the victims were in the age group of 30-59 years. The remaining 25 virus-infected people were aged 60 years and above.

Lanka IOC (LIOC), IndianOil’s subsidiary in Sri Lanka, has announced the increase of fuel prices from midnight today (February 06).

The price of 92 Octane Petrol has been increased by Rs. 07 per litre while the price of Auto Diesel has been increased by Rs. 03 per litre.

Accordingly, the new price of a litre of 92 Octane Petrol is Rs. 184 while the new price of Auto Diesel is Rs. 124 per litre.

Colombo Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith is to boycott the state function to mark 74th Independence Day tomorrow (04) and also cancelled an afternoon mass at All Saints Church in Borella.

This was announced by Colombo archdiocese communication unit member, Father Cyril Gamini Fernando, at a media briefing today.

The Cardinal’s decisions are in protest against authorities’ failure to ensure justice to Easter Sunday terror attack victims and a lack of progress in investigations into the finding of a hand grenade at the Borella church.

He will hold a mass instead, while other churches will hold services to invoke blessings on the country, said Fr. Fernando.

Only fully-vaccinated people will be allowed to enter public places from 30 April, according to a gazette extraordinary.

Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella issued the gazette dated 25 January, preventing unvaccinated people from entering or being in public places.

It says, ”A person shall not enter any public place without having the proof of being fully vaccinated against the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) unless exempted by the Proper Authority in respect of the whole of Sri Lanka.”

It says the fully vaccinated means that the relevant person has obtained the required doses of the relevant vaccination as specified by the director general of health services.

Reproduced below is the gazette extraordinary:

State Minister Arundika Fernando says that he is resigning from his ministerial position.

The decision to step down comes in the backdrop of the SLPP parliamentarian’s son surrendering to police in connection with the incident of attacking medical faculty students in Ragama.

Arundika Fernando’s son, a 23-year-old named Avinda Randila Jehan Fernando, was arrested after he surrendered to Ragama Police last night through a lawyer.

The BMW used by the assailants was meanwhile taken into custody in the area of Kalubowila.

A total of seven suspects involved in the incident are currently under arrest on charges of assault, causing injuries, forceful entry, unlawful assembly and misuse of a vehicle belonging to a state institution.

Six were apprehended yesterday and one of them, an injured student, is being treated at the Negombo Hospital.

The accused including the MP’s son have been remanded untiol February 07 after being produced at the Wattala Magistrate’s Court. They are also scheduled to be presented in an identification parade.

It was reported yesterday that a group of 10-15 outsiders had forcibly entered the men’s hostel of the Kelaniya University’s Faculty of Medicine in Ragama at around 3.00 a.m. and attacked several students.

As per reports, four students who sustained injuries in the incident were admitted to the Colombo North Teaching Hospital in Ragama. One of them was later transferred to the Negombo Hospital for further treatment.

The suspects had reportedly arrived in two cars and had fled after the attack, however, the students had managed to apprehend one of the individuals along with a car, which reportedly belongs to the Coconut Development Authority.

An official ID, issued in 2018 to a driver of State Minister Arundika Fernando’s personal staff, was found inside the car.

Speaking regarding the incident yesterday, the State Minister had said that if anyone connected to him is involved in the incident, he would definitely take a disciplinary decision against them following the respective investigation.

“Also, if anyone says that I am involved in it, I will definitely resign from the ministerial post if it is proved.”