News

Sri Lanka plans to strengthen primary healthcare services to relieve the congestion at hospitals providing treatments at tertiary level as the general public prefer to receive treatment from the tertiary level hospitals.

Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine Dr. Rajitha Senaratne has made a proposal to establish an advanced Health Service System, to enable the general public to have access to those facilities easily by linking the closest hospitals providing specialized treatment services, as forums.

The proposal focuses on providing the Medical Practitioners with the initial training required for carrying out the functions in the field of Family Medicine and for strengthening the first contact care services; ensuring that all patients are provided with treatments at the Primary Healthcare Institutions and to encourage to refer those patients to secondary and tertiary hospitals with Specialist Doctors appropriately, in a timely manner; and identifying one family doctor each to cover per 5,000 of the population and to further strengthen the institutions providing Primary Healthcare services to facilitate the prevention of illnesses.

Iranian lawmakers approved an extradition treaty between Iran and Sri Lanka on Sunday (15).

A total of 203 lawmakers were present in today’s parliament session, and the bill was ratified by 153 Yes votes, 11 No votes, and 7 abstentions.

The treaty which includes an introduction and 21 articles will allow the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to exchange convicts and the related documents.

According to the MPs in the session, there are dozens of Iranians and Sri Lankan nationals kept in the two countries' prisons.

The MPs also said that the Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani’s visit to Sri Lanka was on the agenda of the parliament session.

Minister Sarath Amunugama says that a detailed program is being worked out with the United National Party (UNP) for the implementation of a common program to continue with the consensus government.

According to the Minister the main aim of his committee is to ensure a program that will help the consensus government to continue with a proper plan for its future.

The Minister also said that the formulated plan and process by the committee will be presented to the President following his return to the country from the tour to the United Kingdom.

The committee was appointed by the President following chaotic situation caused after 16 SLFP Ministers of the government vacated their posts and leaving the consensus government.

Accordingly recommendations of the committee and opinions regarding it will be sought from the UNP to agree on the future of the consensus government sources said.

However SLFP sources say based on the recommendations the consensus government will be able to function as normal for the next two years successfully.

Former Minister of Sports, Mahindananda Aluthgamage has been arrested by the FCID (Financial Crimes Investigation Division) of the Police. He arrived before the FCID today to make a statement regarding misappropriation of state funds during his tenure as the country’s Sports Minister.

He is alleged to have misappropriated state funds worth Rs. 53.1 million while importing carrom boards during the last Presidential Election.

According to the State Minister of National Policies and Economic Affairs, Dr. Harsha de Silva, the Rajagiriya Flyover opened to the public in January this year has surpassed its original objectives of reducing cost and time by alleviating traffic congestion in the area.

State Minister Dr. de Silva citing an Impact Evaluation Study of the Rajagiriya Flyover done by Master Hellie's Engineering Consultants says the firm's study has confirmed that the bridge has met more than 100 percent of the objectives (time and economic cost) and will continue to yield benefits until a light-rail transit system (LRT) is established along this corridor.

The report shows that during the morning and evening rush hour traffic the time saved on West Bound travel from Parliament towards Colombo and East Bound travel from Colombo towards Parliament is more than or nearly 50 percent compared to the time taken prior to the opening of the flyover.

The data collected over a period of one month since the opening of the flyover on 8 January, 2018 with (still) loose ends to be tied (traffic lights to be operationalized, sidewalks to be completed, street lanes to be marked and one-way schemes to be started) suggest over 50 percent improvement in speed during the peak times between Battaramulla City Centre and Baseline Road; a distance of 5.2 km, State Minister Dr. de Silva said.

Source : Colombo Page

A senior minister of the UNP claims that there is information that a special social media operation is being carried out at the President's office, against the Prime Minister and several of his close associates.

According to him, a Senior Technology & Development Officer of the President’s office is misusing several websites to carry out this mudslinging campaign.

He says the President has already been informed about this officer who is on a mission to create discord between the President and the Prime Minister.

The Minister said they are keeping an eye on what action the President will take in this regard at a time where he has urged other media organizations to act according to ethics set out.

39 people were killed in accidents across Sri Lanka during the New Year period which began on April 12 and ended on Monday, Sri Lanka Police said.

While noting that most of the accidents were mainly due to driving under the influence and speeding, Police spokesperson S.P. Ruwan Gunasekara said that over 515 drivers were nabbed for drunk driving during the period.

President Maithripala Sirisena left for United Kingdom today(15) to participate at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2018 which is being held in London.

President Maithripala Sirisena will join the Heads of Government of the 53-member Commonwealth at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) that is to convene in London from 16-20 April 2018.

The Commonwealth is a diverse community of nations that work together to promote prosperity, democracy and peace. The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings are occasions where the leaders of the Commonwealth member states come together to reaffirm common values, address the shared global challenges faced and agree on how to work to create a better future for all citizens, particularly young people.

The theme of the Summit in London – “Towards a Common Future” – is focused on building on the strengths of the Commonwealth to ensure that the organisation is responsive to global challenges and delivers a more prosperous, secure, sustainable and fair future for all the citizens of the Commonwealth, particularly the young.

President Sirisena’s participation at the CHOGM will be focused on reaffirming Sri Lanka’s firm commitment to the Commonwealth and deepening Sri Lanka’s partnership with the Organisation as well as with each individual member nation.

The President’s engagements will include the Heads of Government meeting on 19 April, the leaders retreat on 20 April, and addressing the Commonwealth Business Forum as the keynote speaker on 18 April on the theme “Delivering the SDGs: Aligning Business, Society and the Governments”.

Source : Ada Derana

British Prime Minister Theresa May announced Sunday that New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Ghana have joined Britain in an alliance to fight against plastic pollution.

The three countries have joined Britain in the Vanuatu-led Commonwealth Clean Oceans Alliance which has pledged to ban microbeads in rinse-off cosmetics and personal care products, and cut plastic bag use by 2021.

To drive the aims of the alliance forward, May has also announced an 88 million U.S. dollars package of funding to boost global research, and help Commonwealth countries stop plastic waste from entering the oceans in the first place.

British Environment Secretary Michael Gove said: “The challenge is global so the answer must be too. Through this ambitious alliance we will build on the UK’s world-leading microbeads ban and 5 pence (0.07 U.S. dollar) plastic bag charge to harness the full power of the Commonwealth in pushing for global change and safeguarding our marine environment for future generations.”

Later this year the British Department for International Development will also match dollar-for-dollar public donations to tackle the issue of plastic waste in the world’s oceans and rivers.

Britain’s International Development (DfID) Secretary Penny Mordaunt said: “The scourge of plastics is a global environmental challenge, and one that overwhelmingly impacts the livelihoods and health of the world’s poorest people.

“We are bringing together global expertise to stop plastics waste from entering oceans - and by matching pound-for-pound the UK public’s passionate response to the issue, we can make our shared ambition for clean oceans a reality.”

DfID says it is to support research into solutions to reduce manufacturing pollution, and carry out waste management pilot programs to help tackle the waste from cities that often end up in the world’s oceans and rivers.

The alliance has announced it is to work in partnership with businesses and NGOs, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as well as companies such as Coca-Cola, to share expertise and experience and push for global change.

Source: Xinhua

The national oil anointing ceremony will take place tomorrow (16th April) at 10.16 am at Attanagalla Purana Raja Maha Viharaya, under the patronage of Speaker Karu Jayasuriya and Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne.

The ceremony is jointly organized by the Health Ministry, Indigenous Medicine Ministry and the Department of Ayurveda.

Oil anointing is one of the key traditions of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year.

 Source : Ada Derana

Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe was seen cutting a potato cake with a sword during his recent visit to Nuwara Eliya at a tourist hotel in the town. The Potato cake was made by a group of Chefs with an attempt to set a record for the world’s longest Potato cake made.

The cake 111 meters long and weighing 380 Kilograms was cut by the PM who was invited by the hotel to the event during his tour to Nuwara Eliya.

The picture shows the Prime Minister who accepted the invitation cutting the cake with a sword presented to him.

Five spill gates of the Udawalawa reservoir were opened today due to rising water levels.

Meanwhile, the entrance of heavy vehicles to the Udawalawa resorvioir has been temporarily barred due to the opening of spill gates. Drivers have been asked to use alternative routes.

Mahaweli Authority urges the general public in low lying areas to also exercise caution.