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All government and government-approved schools will be closed for one month from 07 February in view of the GCE Advanced Level examination.

The education ministry announces the schools reopen on 07 March.

Sri Lanka’s Minister of Power Gamini Lokuge has assured there would be NO power cuts until April 2022, following a special meeting with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday (31).

The Minister said from Tuesday (1) 270 MW of electricity will be added to the grid from the Norochcholai Power Plant, and fuel is being delivered to the other power plants in Kelanithissa, Sapugaskanna, and the Barge-mounted power plant, and therefore, there will be no issue in supplying electricity.

The Minister said authorities will prepare an electricity generation plan until April 2022, and hydro-power generation will have to drop as water needs to be released for irrigation and agriculture purposes.

The Director-General of Health Services has confirmed 32 new coronavirus-related deaths for February 01, increasing the death toll in the country due to the virus to 492.

This includes 14 males and 05 females, according to the Department of Government Information.

Two of the victims were in the age group of 30-59 years. The remaining 17 virus-infected people were aged 60 years and above.

Minister of Power Gamini Lokuge says that the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) would be able to directly purchase fuel through the Indian Oil Company (IOC) tomorrow and the day after.

He said a decision is expected to be taken tomorrow regarding the fuel required by the CEB for next week.

He also said that a program will be launched to obtain electricity from private power plants in the short term.

Speaking further, Minister Lokuge said that for now the CEB is receiving fuel supplies and that from Monday they have to find a way to obtain fuel for the next week. He said discussions have been held with IOC for this purpose.

He said that are working on maintaining the power supply without any disruptions as per the instructions of the President.

The minister expressed hope they would be able to obtain fuel from IOC and said this is being discussed with the Finance Ministry.

The Indian Exim Bank on Wednesday (2) signed a $ 500 Million Line of Credit Agreement with the Sri Lankan Treasury.

The agreement was signed for the purchase of Petroleum Products.

Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa and Indian High Commissioner Gopal Bagley were present for the signing.

The Director General of Health Services has confirmed another 20 coronavirus related deaths for January 29, pushing the country’s death toll from the virus since the start of the pandemic to 15,420.

This includes 13 males and 07 female patients while surprisingly 03 of the victims, two males and a female, are below the age of 30 years.

Five are between the ages 30-59 years while the other 12 are in the age group of 60 years and above.

The headline inflation, as measured by the year-on-year (Y-o-Y) change in the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI, 2013=100), increased to 14.2 per cent in January 2022 from 12.1 per cent in December 2021, according to the Statistics Department of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, on an annual average basis, the CCPI increased to 6.9 per cent in January 2022 from 6.0 per cent in December 2021, the Central Bank said in a statement.

Inflation was driven by monthly increases of prices of items in both Food and Non-food categories. Subsequently, Food inflation (Y-o-Y) increased to 25.0 per cent in January 2022 from 22.1 per cent in December 2021, while Non-food inflation (Y-o-Y) increased to 9.2 per cent in January 2022 from 7.5 per cent in December 2021.

The monthly change of CCPI was recorded at 2.43 per cent in January 2022 due to price increases observed in items of both Food and Non-food categories which were 1.15 per cent and 1.28 per cent, respectively.

Accordingly, within the Food category, prominent increases were observed in prices of rice, fresh fruit, milk powder, and bread.

Further, prices of items in the Non-Food category recorded increases mainly due to price increases observed in the Transport (Petrol, Diesel, Bus fare), Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and other fuel (Housing Rent, Maintenance/Reconstruction), Education (Course fees for higher education and vocational training), and Restaurant and Hotels sub- categories during the month.

The core inflation (Y-o-Y), which reflects the underlying inflation in the economy, increased to 9.9 per cent in January 2022 from 8.3 per cent in December 2021. Moreover, annual average core inflation increased to 5.0 per cent in January 2022 from 4.4 per cent in December 2021.

Derana

The Consumer Affairs Authority on Saturday (29) issued a gazette notification removing the Maximum Retail Price imposed for water bottles.

Meanwhile, authorities at reservoirs recently warned of an impending water shortage due to the water at reservoirs being utilized for energy generation.

The Director-General of Health Services has confirmed 32 new coronavirus-related deaths for January 31, increasing the death toll in the country due to the virus to 15,473.

This includes 15 males and 17 females, according to the Department of Government Information.

Nine of the victims were in the age group of 30-59 years. The remaining 23 virus-infected people were aged 60 years and above.

Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena has tested positive for COVID-19, Parliament sources confirmed.

Abeywardena is the latest victim of the fast developing Parliament COVID cluster, with SLPP MP Akila Ellawala testing positive earlier this morning, and state ministers Dilum Amunugama and Jayantha Samaraweera having tested positive on Tuesday (25).

Previously, MPs Rohini Kaviratne, Amarakeerthi Athukorala, Kokila Gunawardena, Nalaka Bandara Kottegoda, Sarathi Dushantha Mithrapala, Shanakiyan Rasamanickam and minister Sarath Weerasekara tested positive for the coronavirus.

Minister Prasanna Ranatunga denies any involvement in the egg-throwing at the vehicle of JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

Vehemently rejecting the allegations against him over the incident, Ranatunga says he strongly condemns it as the SLPP leader for Gampaha district.

He is calling for a comprehensive investigation in order to bring those responsible to book.

Eggs were thrown at Dissanayake’s vehicle by a group of persons as he arrived at a JVP convention in Kalagedihena yesterday (30).

Party activists captured two of the assailants and handed them over to the Nittambuwa police.

Sri Lanka Customs detected 16,000 kilograms of beetroot concealed inside two refrigerated freight containers in Colombo on Friday (29).

The stock of beetroot was imported to Sri Lanka illegally from Pakistan under the guise of importing potatoes.

Customs Spokesperson said the detection was made at the Customs Yard (Gray-Line 2) in Colombo and the stock was seized for further investigations.

Importers had declared to Sri Lanka Customs that the cargo comprised 53,000 kilograms of potatoes, however, upon inspection only around 44,000 kilograms of potatoes were discovered.

Officials said the value of the illegally imported beetroot is valued at over Rs. 3 Million.

Recently, traders from Colombo alleged that imported Beet Root was flooding the local markets at a time when authorities have not granted permission to import Beet Root to Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka’s Plant Quarantine Service has only granted permission to SriLankan Catering to import fresh vegetables, and NOT to any other establishment.

Sri Lanka Customs said that the Wattala-based importer has listed an Indian Company as the exporter, however, further inspection revealed that the stock of beetroot actually originated from Karachi, Pakistan.

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