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Home » NewsPatients painfully waiting, but no medicine
With the National Hospital and other public hospitals crippled by strikes, people who came for treatment were not able to get medicines and had to join long queues outside State Pharmaceutical Corporation’s Osu Sala outlets to get their drugs. Some patients lamented they had to painfully wait for more than three hours. Pic by Priyanka [...]
CPC calls for fuel price increase; proposes more than LIOC hike
A second price increase of petrol and diesel within two weeks is expected if a request by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) to the Ministry of Finance is approved. Following a price revision by the Lanka Indian Oil Company (LIOC) earlier this week, the CPC is expecting that approval is granted for it to increase [...]
As cost of living soars, people eating less or switching to cheaper and less nutritious food: FAO
Sri Lanka’s vulnerable households have apparently reduced their food consumption or switched to comparatively cheaper but less nutritious foods, with an overall negative effect on their food security, health and nutrition status, an update from a UN agency said. Issuing a Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS) update on January 26, the United Nations’ [...]
COVID death toll continues to rise
Twenty three more COVID-19 deaths were reported yesterday with the week’s death toll rising to 182. This week recorded the highest daily deaths in recent weeks with 36 persons dying from the virus on Tuesday. Daily more than 30 COVID fatalities were reported throughout the week. COVID death toll in the country has now reached [...]
Auction of Rolls Royce, Lamborghini abruptly stopped
A Customs move to auction a Rolls Royce, a Lamborghini, a Jaguar, a Mercedes Benz, a Hummer and two buses illegally imported to the country has been abruptly stopped at the last minute. These top-end luxury vehicles seized by the Customs were to be auctioned on Thursday, according to a copy of the Tender Sale [...]
Public hospitals crippled for sixth day, unions defy presidential and court orders
Public hospitals remained crippled for the sixth continuous day yesterday, with health sector trade unions defying a court order and a Presidential directive declaring the health sector as an essential service. On Friday night the President’s Office said an extraordinary Gazette notification was issued declaring that all health services, work or labour required in connection [...]
Renewable energy: Shocking indictment on CEB failure
A national audit has delivered a stinging indictment on the Ceylon Electricity Board’s (CEB) failure to prioritise renewable energy, saying it is a violation of clearly stated national policy and Sri Lanka’s international pledges. As recently as 2020, only 37 percent of Sri Lanka’s electricity was from renewable energy sources. Just 12 percent of this [...]
All-party consensus on slashing the number of local council members
The Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on Electoral Reforms has reached agreement on reducing the number of representatives in local councils. Two key issues that all political parties coming before the PSC stated were that there were too many local level representatives and no party that took control of a local council could maintain a stable [...]
CIABOC law to be amended; cases can be filed with one commissioner’s signature
The Government is planning to amend the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) Act to enable the Commission to file new cases with the signature of just one Commissioner. This is being done to ensure that fresh cases are not withdrawn on a legal technicality following a Supreme Court (SC) judgement, a [...]
Talks on paying compensation to victims draw no response from gas companies
The government has held talks with gas companies with a view to paying compensation to victims of the several cylinder explosions that shook the nation last year, but the two companies are yet to respond. The Consumer Protection State Ministry said Litro Gas and Laugfs had been told that victims of more than 800 cylinder [...]
CEB appoints consultants with monthly pay of Rs. 1 million each
The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) directors have decided to appoint with immediate effect former Power Ministry Additional Secretary Dr. Susantha Perera and former General Manager M. R. Ranathunga as consultants with monthly salaries and allowances of Rs one million each. The decision was taken on the instruction of Power Minister Gamini Lokuge, the Sunday Times [...]
Leprosy cases on the rise during pandemic; eradication deadline revised
Health officials’ preoccupation with the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a rise in the number of leprosy patients, impacting negatively the target set by the Anti-Leprosy Campaign (ALC) to eradicate leprosy by 2025. This has prompted the ALC to revise its national strategic plan and set a new 2030 deadline. Commemorating the World Leprosy Day [...]
Now no licence required to import bovine, goat and swine semen
The Government has removed the import licence requirement for bovine, goat and swine semen on the request of large-scale dairy farmers and milk collectors. The liberalisation of the sector will allow more widespread mixing of foreign genes with local cattle, goats and pigs. The focus is mainly on cattle with the objective of producing animals [...]
Mahinda College OBA appointments challenged; enjoining order against principal
The Colombo District Court has issued an enjoining order against the Principal of Mahinda College, Galle and 38 others over appointments made to the Executive Committee of the school’s Old Boys’ Association (OBA). District Judge Aruna Aluthge issued the enjoining order after hearing a petition filed by OBA members G.Y.R. Kamalaratna and U.G. Nishantha. In [...]
For once a House not divided as Mangala is remembered
Both the government and opposition came together in a rare show of unity on Friday (11) as Parliament moved the Vote of Condolence on late Minister and ex-MP Mangala Samaraweera. MPs from both sides paid emotional tributes to their former Parliamentary colleague, who passed away due to complications from COVID-19. Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa led the [...]
Tug-of-war between Ministry and health worker unions continues; patients suffer
J P Sunila Ranjani, a 73-year-old patient suffering from a heart ailment was compelled to stand in a long queue at an Osusala – a State pharmaceutical corporation outlet – due to the strike by nursing and supplementary medical staff this week. The tug-of-war between the Health Ministry and unions crippled health services across the [...]
80-year-old woman’s three hour wait at Osu Sala queue
Eighty-year-old D M Chandani was one of those who had to undergo severe hardship due to the health workers’ strike. Like many patients, she was also unaware of the strike. To be at the Badulla Hospital clinic around 8 am, she left her house in the remote village of Gala-Uda, around 5 am. After the [...]
CPC decision will trigger next wave of price hikes
Yet another wave of price hikes has been set in motion with the Lanka Indian Oil Company increasing fuel prices while the state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation is also indicating an upward revision of prices. Although the LIOC fuel price hike has led to a marginal increase in the prices of goods and services, a noticeable [...]
Paddy purchasing begins in Ampara; Govt. expects to buy 300,000 MT
Paddy purchasing for Maha season has begun in theAmpara district and the Government expects to purchase 300,000 metric tonnes of paddy accordingly, Paddy Marketing Board Chairman Neil de Alwis said. The paddy procurement programme has been implemented island wide under the supervision of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Mr. Alwis said while [...]
Not just the flu, so take your vaccines to ward off severe illness and death thro’ Omicron
Vaccines save lives and prevent severe disease in COVID-19. Do not be under the impression that Omicron which is causing a steep dramatic upward rise is “just a cold or flu”. This is a misconception and vulnerable people are dying. This was the reality check that frontline Respiratory Physicians, who treat COVID-19 patients day in, [...]
Hydration is vital not to descend into complications
The importance of hydration if infected by the virus, is what Dr. Geethal Perera talks of and how it can lead to more hospitalizations if ignored. “This is a big issue,” he says, as he and his colleagues have seen firsthand the lack of hydration in those having mild COVID-19 and its domino effect. n [...]
Confronting and jabbing down vaccine hesitancy
The three doses of the vaccine against COVID-19 work – to save people from severe disease and death, say these four Respiratory Physicians, fervently urging people to “go take the third dose” because in those who took their second dose in August last year (2021), there would be a drop in the immune response against [...]
If mother was vaccinated, newborns got protection – small study by JAMA
Further strengthening the critical need for vaccination, a small study has found that six-month-old babies have antibodies, if their mothers had got vaccinated while they were pregnant. The study published on Monday (February 7) in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), a peer-reviewed medical journal, found that at six months of age, babies [...]
Re-visiting the basics of the ‘crown bug’
In the face of the rapidly-spreading Omicron, the Sunday Times takes a re-look at variants and immunity with Consultant Microbiologist Dr. Mahen Kothalawala who is attached to the National Hospital of Sri Lanka. What is the distinction between ‘infection’ and ‘disease’, he asks before explaining that it is very important to understand the dynamics of [...]
IIFRC urges Lankan Govt. to create proper legal framework for local Red Cross Society
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has urged the Sri Lankan Government to create a proper legal basis for Sri Lanka Red Cross Society to bring clarity in its role in humanitarian work. During a four-day visit last week, IFRC Secretary General Jagan Chapagain, discussed the implementation of the legal [...]
Illegal feeding blamed for three elephant attacks in Yala
While tourism returns to normal in Yala, a number of elephant attacks were reported this week from the national park. The first incident was reported on Wednesday morning when a safari jeep carrying four French tourists was attacked by the tusker Nandimitra. A video filmed by passengers in a nearby jeep shows the angry elephant [...]
Custodial deaths and torture need attention at highest Govt. level, says BASL President
The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) believes that custodial deaths and torture and amending the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) require attention of the Government at the highest levels, BASL President Saliya Pieris PC said recently. In his speech during the inaguration of the National Law Conference 2022 on Friday, the BASL President said [...]
Prematurely-born twins safe and healthy thanks to quick-thinking doctor and hospital staff
Despite the ongoing health sector strikes some doctors and hospital staff were making personal sacrifices to save lives. On Thursday doctors and staff at two hospitals together successfully saved the lives of two prematurely born babies born at Passara Hospital. The incident had taken place when a 28-year-old pregnant mother from Passara Elatabe estate got [...]
Seized Indian vessels go under the hammer: Rs. 5.2mn raised
Despite India’s objections, the Fisheries Department went ahead this week with the auctioning of some 150 Indian bottom trawlers seized for poaching in Sri Lankan waters and engaging in internationally banned fishing practices. The department issued a public notice last month calling for bidders to dispose 105 trawlers detained in Karainagar, Kankesanthurai, Kiranchi, Talaimannar, and [...]
Vehicle market running on low gear
The used Mercedes Benz C180 cost the marketing executive Rs 7mn in August 2021. He had bought it from a friend. Today, the twice-owned vehicle is between Rs 11.5 and 12mn. It recently needed work done. “Normally, a repair would have taken a week,” the 23-year-old said. “This time, it took three weeks.” He did [...]
Only despair grows in this model organic village
Although Laggala-Pallegama in the Mahaweli F Zone was declared a ‘sustainable development model village for organic agriculture’ by the Mahaweli Ministry in 2020, the experiment had failed Nawarathna Banda is fretting about this season’s harvest. The farmer from Laggala-Pallegama, Poththatawela, grew beans and chilies during the Yala and paddy in the Maha for nearly five decades [...]
Cleaning up Madu Ganga
Students of the Institute of Indigenous Medicine, University of Colombo – one of the Universities offering youth the chance to learn, practice and preserve indigenous medicine – contributed recently to protecting the environment. Project Madu Ganga is an initiative by the “Community Service Avenue” of the Rotaract Club of the Institute of Indigenous Medicine, University [...]
Going nuts over prices
Just like many food items in the country, the price of coconuts has gone up significantly in recent months. Prices continue to remain high and consumers continue to suffer as a result. There is no fixed price, with some large coconuts going for as much as Rs. 100 while smaller ones sell for about Rs. [...]