News

The government Information Department states that two more COVID-19 cases have been identified.

Thereby the total number of patients have increased upto 82.

The person that was identified at the IDH hospital of having contracted the virus had not returned home as he had suspicions of having contracted the virus.

He had traveled to several parts of the island with a group of Italian tourists and had visited his family doctor shortly after his tour instead of going home as he was feeling indisposed.

He was rushed to the IDH hospital following instructions given by the doctor.

The Ministry of Education has informed the Provincial Directors of Education to limit students' extracurricular activities outside the classroom.

Secretary of the Ministry of Education, NHM Chithrananda said that a instruction manual has been sent to all Provincial Directors of Education

The Provincial Directors of Education will forward the instruction manual to all principals.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education has directed the relevant authorities to subject both parents and children that arrive from overseas for a 14-day quarantine.

Furthermore, the Education Ministry has instructed all schools to suspend educational tours until further notice

The President’s Media Division said, the islandwide police curfew currently imposed in the country has been extended till 6 AM on Tuesday (24th of March), to the Colombo, Gampaha, and Puttalam districts. To the districts of Colombo, Gampaha, and Puttalam, the curfew will be lifted at 6 in the morning on Tuesday, 24th March and will be re-imposed at 2:00 pm the same day.

The police curfew to the remaining districts will be lifted at 6 AM on Monday (23rd March) and re-imposed at 2:00 pm the same day.

Issuing a communique, the President’s Media Division said, the government also instructed all bars in the country must remain closed during this period.

The Government also requested the public not to panic unnecessarily about a shortage of food, as all the essential food items are adequately stocked and the distribution of these items will continue as usual. The government has also instructed the police to allow farmers in the country to continue with cultivation activities without any hindrance.

As part of Sri Lanka Navy’s sterilization programmes in action to keep the coronavirus at bay, similar disinfection programmes were conducted at the Fort Railway Station and main entrances of Colombo harbour today (20th March 2020).

As such, the Navy’s Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear Unit executed this sterilization programme for the second time at the Fort Railway Station which is frequented by a large number of people. Further, the Navy also sanitized the main entrances of Colombo harbour to make those premises free of the virus.

Meanwhile, the Navy is working in full swing to arrest further spread of the virus in public places, by continuing its sterilization programmes.

Navy.lk

Former Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera said that if the fuel price formula introduced by the Good Governance Government had been implemented thus far, it would have been possible to reduce the prices of all types of fuel by at least Rs. 20 per litre from March 10, 2020.

During the ‘Yahapalana’ Government, fuel prices were revised on the 10th of every month in accordance with the fuel price formula to give maximum benefit to the consumers of Sri Lanka, comparing prices in the world market.

The then Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera, when he introduced the fuel price formula, had promised to pass the benefit of world oil price fluctuations to the consumers by reducing the oil prices in the local market. Now the international oil price has come down to USD 45 per barrel from USD 65 when the fuel price was last revised in September 2019.

Likewise, the government had also introduced a price formula for another essential commodity, domestic gas. As a result, the price of a 12.5 kg gas cylinder sold for more than Rs. 2,000 in 2015 has been reduced to Rs. 1,500.

Accordingly, when the price of a barrel of Brent crude oil in the Singapore market was US $ 65, the price of oil has been revised last in September 2019 and the new prices by March 10, 2020 should be as follows.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases in Sri Lanka have risen to 65.

Ministry of Health said a total of 218 people are under medical observation.

SriLankan Airlines will lose USD 130 million for the year ending March 2020, chairman Ashok Pathirage disclosed to the Parliamentary Committee On Public Enterprises (COPE). He requested a USD 300 million capital injection from the government to prevent a debt spiral.

Pathirage blamed the situation on the loss of tourism after last year's Easter Sunday bombings and the ongoing Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak. Arrivals from China, for example, which accounted for 30% of inbound travel in 2018, plunged 92.5% in February year-on-year.

Although undercapitalised due to past losses, the airline had been expecting to reduce its loss to about USD30 million in 2021, the chairman told the committee, promising that “the board has a plan where we are very confident the airline will be profitable two to three years down the line", he stated.

It was only last month that the government approved a further handout to SriLankan Airlines, this time for USD 50 million, to enable it to continue its services.

Loss-making since Emirates (EK, Dubai Int'l) concluded a profitable ten-year management contract with the carrier in 2008, SriLankan's cumulative losses will total LKR 232 billion rupees (USD1.27 billion) by end March 2020, Pathirage said, including USD 115 million to release it from a controversial Airbus deal. The carrier committed in 2013 to buy six A330-300s and four A350-900s and take a further four A350-900s from lessors but later reneged on its decision to add any of the A350s.

Sri Lanka's previous administration, which was in power until November 2019, decided in August of that year to sell a 49% stake in the flag carrier and try to attract foreign investors by assuming some of the airline's legacy debt. Nothing further was done, however.

Pathirage also reiterated earlier plans to launch flights to Frankfurt Int'l and Sydney Kingsford Smith and lease more A330s. According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, the carrier currently operates an all-leased fleet of five A320-200s, two A320-200neo, two A321-200s, four A321-200neo, six A330-200s, and seven A330-300s.

Failure to take advantage of the decreasing crude oil prices in the world market and pass the benefit to the public by reducing the prices in the domestic market has allowed the Indian Oil Company (IOC) to amass billions of rupees in additional profits.

The Indian Oil Company (IOC), one of two suppliers of fuel in the country, has raked in billions of rupees in profits due to the failure of the current government to take advantage of the decreasing global crude oil prices, which have hit a historic low in recent times.

The government has not reduced the domestic fuel prices as it needs a much needed capital injection to an economy that has been plagued by reckless and short-sighted polices that have deprived the treasury of income. The failure to reduce the fuel prices and allowing the IOC to rake in billions in additional profits have led to suspicions in economic circles.

The suspicions have fueled the allegation that certain members in the present government could be getting a 'commission' from the company to be used for propaganda purposes in the upcoming general election.

Accordingly, the IOC sold a litre of 92 octane petrol for Rs.137 and a litre of auto diesel at Rs.104, while maintaining maximum profit margins.

However, crude oil prices in the world market have dropped by less than 30% in recent times. In September 2019, the price of a barrel of Brent crude was USD 65 but it has been drastically reduced to USD 45 by earlier this week.

Former Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera said in a statement recently that if the government is genuinely interested in providing relief to the people, it is possible to reduce the price of a litre of petrol and diesel by Rs. 20.

However, the both the government and the IOC have failed to take advantage of the decreasing oil prices and pass the benefit to the consumers.

Govt. opposes the reduction in prices

Meanwhile, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) said that there will be no change in the price of fuel.

CPC chairman Sumith Wijesinghe said that before the fuel prices can be reduced, there needs to a be a proper mechanism in place that would allow them to directly pass any benefit of decreasing oil prices in the world market before reducing oil prices in the domestic market. He pointed out that without a proper mechanism in place, the public will not be able reap benefits of price fluctuations in the world market.

Wijesinghe further said that the CPC has been able to make a profit since mid-February due to the crude oil prices in the world market.

The Police Narcotics Burea and the Sri Lanka Navy in joint operation nabbed two foreign trawlers packed with over LKR 6000 million worth of heroin and crystal methamphetamine in Sri Lanka's biggest-ever drugs bust at sea, Navy spokesman said.

The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) has no intention or the capacity to obtain a two-thirds majority in Parliament, Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine Pavithra Wanniarachchi said.

Minister Wanniarachchi made this statement while addressing a meeting in Ratnapura on Wednesday (11).

"We don't want a two-thirds majority. We can't get two-thirds. Even though we got a two-thirds majority when we won the war, it won't be possible. At least seven MPs from the Ratnapura district should be sent to parliament. 113 MPs from the SLPP should be sent to parliament," she said.

Long before the general election announced, the SLPP had declared that they would definitely repeal the 19th Amendment with a two-thirds majority.

Despite being faced with many difficulties throughout its inception as a party and having emerged victorious in all elections since, the founder of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Basil Rajapaksa asserted that the SLPP will achieve a landslide victory at the upcoming general election.

He made these comments while addressing party representatives at the SLPP headquarters in Nelum Mawatha, Battaramulla.

He further stated that he expects to win the election by getting 113-120 seats.

He had also pointed out the importance of executing an eco-friendly election campaign while paying strict adherence to election laws and regulations.

Sri Lanka Nidahas Podujana Sandanaya to contest under SLPP!

SLPP General Secretary attorney-at-law Sagara Kariyawasam had officially informed the Election Commission on Tuesday (03) that the Sri Lanka Nidahas Podujana Sandanaya would contest under the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).  

Attorney-at-law Sagara Kariyawasam made this notification as all political parties must inform the Election Commission of their intention to contest within seven days of the declaration of an election.