The Cabinet endorsed a proposal to import another dispatch of six million doses of Sputnik V vaccines from Russia , a spokesman said .
Earlier , an order was placed for the import of seven million doses of vaccines from Russia .
Heat condition in 13 districts
Extreme and caution level heat weather advisory was issued by the Department of Meteorology yesterday for 13 districts including Mullaithivu, Vavuniya, Puttalam, Kurunegala, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Monaragala.
According to the heat index , Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Matale, Ampara, Badulla, Gampaha, Colombo, Kalutara, Galle, Matara and Hambantota districts will be affected by severe heat.
Meanwhile, Mullaithivu, Mannar, Vavuniya, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Puttalam, Kurunegala and Monaragala districts have also been cautioned to be affected by the hot weather conditions.
In such areas, people may suffer due to heat cramps, exhaustion and continuing activity in the open sun could lead to heatstroke.
The Met Department said the Heat Index Forecast was calculated by using relative humidity and maximum temperature and the condition that is felt on the human body.
The department also advised the public to remain hydrated and take breaks in the shades as often as possible at exposed work sites. They also advised checking the conditions of the elderly and the sick who are indoors and not leave the children unattended.
Prez orders to ban palm oil imports
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has decided to ban the import of palm oil with immediate effect .
A statement from the President’s Media Division said the government plans for the total eradication of palm oil consumption in the country .
No room for those responsible for Easter Sunday attack to escape the law-Prez
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said he would not allow those held responsible for the serial bombings on 2019 Easter Sunday to escape the arm of the law.
He also said his government had taken measures to strengthen national security leaving no scope for such carnage in the future.
India says no ban on Covid-19 vaccine exports
India said today it had not imposed any export ban on COVID-19 vaccines and production of COVID 19 vaccines in India was being ramped up further to meet domestic requirement and global demand.
A spokesman for the Indian High Commission made these remarks in response to media queries about the matter.
“Sri Lanka is among 80 countries to which a total of over 64 million doses of COVID 19 vaccines made in India have been supplied, as bilateral gift, through COVAX facility and on commercial orders many of which were placed last year. No country has shared with the world COVID 19 vaccines in such a large quantity while vaccinating its own population.
Arrival of duly approved AstraZeneca COVID 19 vaccines as a gift from India in January this year enabled vaccination against the dreaded pandemic in Sri Lanka begin ahead of earlier plans. As a close friend and neighbour of Sri Lanka, India ensured that the people of Sri Lanka start benefitting from India’s global prowess in vaccine production within days of launch of COVID 19 vaccination in India itself,” he said.
This is how New Year should be celebrated.
These are the series of health guidelines issued by Director General of Health Services Dr. Asela Gunawardena to protect the public against the COVID-19 during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year.
He said that there was a risk of a third wave of COVID-19 after the Sinhala and Tamil New Year and that this series of instructions will be issued to prevent it yesterday (2nd April 2021). He also said that people should celebrate the Sinhala and Tamil New Year while following the COVID 19 health guidelines to prevent a surge in the disease again.
Foreign Minister elected to chair BIMSTEC
Sri Lanka Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena was elected to chair the 17th Session of the Ministerial Meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), a statement from the Ministry said .
Presiding over the conference held in Colombo on April 1, Minister Gunawardena stated that the charter of the Association of Parliamentarians of BIMSTEC Member States should be finalized early. After finalizing the charter, the Parliamentarians are more likely to be committed to the democratic principles and there will be opportunity for them to exchange views and information on the Parliamentary practice, the Minister pointed out.
The member countries of the BIMSTEC, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Thailand were also connected with Sri Lanka virtually during the meeting.
Cabinet subcommittee will hand over its report to Prez next Monday
Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said the ministerial committee which studied the presidential commission’s report on Easter Sunday attack will hand over its recommendations to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday.
The report was to be handed over on March 15. However, the Minister said it was delayed because the committee wanted further time to study it.
The committee was chaired by Irrigation Minister Chamal Rajapaksa. The others are Highways Minister Johnston Fernando, Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila, Ports and Shipping Minister Rohitha Abyegunawardane.
Three more Covid-19 deaths reported
Three more Covid-19 deaths were reported today increasing the total to 571, the Government Information Department said .
Germany is suspending routine use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine for people aged below 60 because of a risk of rare blood clots
The German medicines regulator found 31 cases of a type of rare blood clot among the nearly 2.7 million people who had received the vaccine in Germany.
Canada earlier suspended use of the AstraZeneca jab in people under 55.
AstraZeneca said international regulators had found the benefits of its jab outweighed risks significantly.
It said it was continuing to analyse its database to understand “whether these very rare cases of blood clots associated with thrombocytopenia occur any more commonly than would be expected naturally in a population of millions of people”.
“We will continue to work with German authorities to address any questions they may have,” it added. (Courtesy BBC)
SriLankan Airlines offers option for social distancing onboard
SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier of Sri Lanka, announced its Neighbour Free Seats option for passengers to purchase an empty seat or row beside them on a flight, at a nominal price set by the airline, to keep it vacant on economy class to facilitate social distancing during flight, a statement said.
The airline said in a statement that Neighbour-free seats will provide customers with generous legroom and more space to relax during the flight. Also, it benefits concerned travellers by enabling passengers to block seats around them, providing an effective solution for social distancing onboard.
These seats will be offered to all Economy Class passengers holding a confirmed booking on SriLankan Airlines. Passengers will be able to pre-book empty seats, as these are subject to availability. This feature is available on https://srilankan.com/en_uk/plan-and-book/neighbour-free-seats.
UNESCO scotches social media claims about denudation of Sinharaja
Despite claims about denudation of forestlands belonging to Sinharaja, a top UNESCO official said no such damage had been done to the natural heritage site.UNESCO Secretary General for Sri Lanka Dr. Punchinilame Meegaswatte said Sri Lanka had eight world heritage sites and six of them were cultural sites. He said the two others- Sinharaja and central highlands – were natural heritage sites.According to him, a dozen government institutions have been assigned to take care of these sites.“These sites are well taken care of in Sri Lanka,” he said.
Sri Lanka submits proposals for India to address fisheries issue – Minister
Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda said Sri Lanka had submitted a set of proposals for India to resolve the fisheries issue between the two countries.He said this was aimed at resolving the issue of fishermen from India poaching in Sri Lankan waters. The Minister said a license system would be introduced for fishermen to carry out fishing under this programme. The fisheries issue has been an irritant to bilateral ties between the countries. Recently, 54 Indian fishermen were apprehended by the Sri Lanka navy while they were carrying out unlawful fishing activities.