The Meteorological Department has issued a warning for heavy showers from today (13) afternoon to tomorrow morning.
Accordingly, heavy showers exceeding 100 mm are expected in the Central, Sabaragamuwa, Uva and North Central Provinces and in some places in the Kalutara, Galle and Matara Districts.
The department called on the public to take necessary measures to reduce the risk of temporary strong winds and thunderstorms.
Sri Lankan fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera has been sold for 20 million Indian rupees to Lucknow Super Giants at the ongoing IPL Auction.
Chameera had a base price of INR 50 lakh as the second day of the IPL Auction got underway today and while the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) also bid on him, the pacer was picked up by LSG.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) are one of the two new teams in the IPL. The Lucknow franchise was purchased by businessman Sanjeev Goenka’s RPSG Group for a whopping INR 7,090 crores.
China says it has given “conditional” approval for Pfizer’s COVID-19 drug Paxlovid to treat adults with mild to moderate illness and a high risk of developing severe disease.
The drug has so far been authorised in about 40 countries, while the European Union has permitted member states to use it before formal approval as an emergency measure against the rapidly spreading Omicron coronavirus variant.
“This is an important milestone in our fight against COVID-19,” a Pfizer representative said in a statement, without providing information about procurement.
Unlike COVID-19 vaccines, Pfizer says that preliminary studies show that Paxlovid does not target the ever-evolving spike protein the coronavirus uses to invade cells, meaning it should theoretically be more variant-proof.
China’s National Medical Products Administration on Saturday said further research on the drug needed to be undertaken and submitted to the regulator.
Beijing has not yet approved any foreign-made coronavirus vaccines.
Lab tests have shown Omicron patients jabbed with the Chinese-produced Sinovac vaccine experience larger drops in antibody levels than those given the Pfizer version.
Earlier this week, Pfizer, whose vaccine developed with Germany’s BioNTech was the first approved in the United States, forecast more than $50bn in 2022 sales for its coronavirus jab and therapeutic treatment.
The company expects to make 120 million treatment courses of Paxlovid, with executives describing ongoing contract talks with about 100 governments.
China has yet to approve any COVID-19 vaccines developed by foreign drugmakers but has vaccinated 87.1 percent of its entire population by February 7 using several domestically developed shots.
ALJAZEERA
Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila states that there is no discussion within the Ministry or the government regarding the increase in fuel prices. The Minister has stated this in response to a query made by journalists as to whether there are any plans to increase the price.
The Chairman of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) recently told the media that after the decision of the Ceylon Indian Oil Company to increase fuel prices, the company’s fuel consumers would also visit petrol stations owned by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation. Due to this the loss incurred by the corporation has further increased, he had said.
Although the Minister has stated that there is no discussion regarding the increase in fuel prices, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation has already requested an increase in prices from the Ministry of Finance. Chairman of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation Sumith Wijesinghe says that he expects the Ministry of Finance to approve the request.
It has been suggested to the Ministry of Finance that in order to minimize the losses incurred by the Corporation, a price increase should be made which would exceed the IOC prices.
When the last increase in fuel prices was announced at midnight, the media had reported that Minister Udaya Gammanpila- the Minister in charge of the subject was aware of it.
The Chancellor of the University of Colombo Murutthettuwe Ananda Thera says that the people will not tolerate certain actions taken by some ministers to get points. Murutthettuwe Thera says that if the President, who promised to bring prosperity, also adopts the policy of scoring points, it will be a very final situation.
Ananda Thera further states that the people who came to the rally of the SLPP held at the Salgadu Stadium in Anuradhapura recently should not be considered as supporters of the government but as opponents.
Ven. Murutthettuwe Ananda Thera added that the time left for the President to build the prosperous country promised to the people is sufficient and therefore the President should intervene to fulfill the promises made.
The Minister of Health has stated that he is ready to publish information regarding the salaries and other allowances including overtime of health care professionals such as nurses, paramedics in a press release. President of the Sri Lanka Public Health Inspectors Association Upul Rohana responded to this at a media briefing in Colombo.
He says it is unethical to issue such statements regarding the salaries of public health inspectors and health workers who work day and night without pay, despite all the hardships during the covid epidemic.
He also says that before announcing the overtime of public health inspectors, the Minister of Health should find out whether they are receiving their overtime allowances properly.
However, Upul Rohana states that his union is ready to publish the salary reports of the Directors General and Additional Secretaries of the Ministry of Health if the salaries and other allowances of health workers are to be made public. He also says that the public will know that the overtime that public health inspectors get in a month is equal to the amount that senior officials in the Ministry of Health get in one day.
The Kewaralapitiya West Coast Power Plant has been out of order since last night (12) due to a technical fault and has not been able to reconnect to the national grid.
The Kelanitissa Sojitz power plant also suffered a sudden breakdown last night and has been repaired and added to the system.
Meanwhile, it was reported that the operation of the Thulhiriya Power Plant has been suspended since last night due to lack of fuel.
According to CEB sources, the amount of fuel and naphtha required to generate electricity from thermal power plants is rapidly declining.
Minister of State Sanath Nishantha emphasizes that housewives should get used to using wood-burning stoves again as a situation has arisen where the country is unable to import the required amount of LP gas.
“In short, the country is in a situation where we can no longer import I am now in my 24th year as a Member of Parliament, even at this point the wood stove in our house, is still being used for day-to-day work.”
Sanath Nishantha stated this at a meeting of the SLPP Women’s Federation – Wariyapola.
President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has said that the nature or extent of the challenges involved in fulfilling the promises made to the people is not important.
“As soon as I was elected in November, by December, we had a big challenge; this corona epidemic. Today we have reopened the country. There were times in which we were pressured to lockdown the country. Even in those lockdown periods, we worked to provide people with essential food items, to take deliver the medicine they needed, and to provide relief. I think a lot of people don’t remember this work that happened in the last two years, and some people don’t even know it. The biggest challenge as a leader at the time was how we would deal with this. I think we were able to deal with it successfully.
When changes are made, there could be great challenges. There are similar challenges in advancing this renewable energy. It is in the midst of those challenges that I am trying to take this forward. The CEB says that it is difficult to balance the grid. So, as a government, we have come to realize that this is an important thing to do. We have presented a project to generate electricity from solar energy using those roofs in government institutions, especially in the camps of the three forces. If we can generate this energy during the day in the same houses, we can control it a lot ”
The President said this while inaugurating the first round of discussions at a series of seminars with professionals in various fields at the President’s House on the 11th.
The Government Nursing Officers’ Association has stepped back from the strike action launched by 18 trade unions responding to the Health Sector.
The Colombo District Court on February 10 issued an enjoining order barring the holding of the strike action against the Government Nurses Association and its Chairman Saman Rathnapriya. The union, nevertheless, continued the strike action till today (12).
In obedience to the Court order, the Union has decided to temporarily step back from the strike action.
The rest of the 17 trade unions, on the other hand, continue to endorse the strike action.
Meanwhile, President today issued an extraordinary gazette declaring the Health Service and Power Supply as essential services.
MIAP
