Millions spent on drafting a new constitution

Matt Hancock has accused former Scots bra tycoon Michelle Mone of sending him a "threatening" message after a firm she was helping did not secure a deal during the covid pandemic.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation on Monday (5) announced that the price of a liter of Auto Diesel will be reduced by Rs. 10/-.Accordingly, the new price of a Liter of Auto Diesel will be Rs.

₹1,584 crore." He added that under the Namami Gange programme, the project of natural farming is going on along the banks of the Ganges, while the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and all Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), Central and State Agricultural Universities and Colleges are making all-round efforts to promote natural farming.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – A scholarship program utilizing funds from the President’s Fund has been initiated under the directives of President Ranil Wickremesinghe for students who have passed the G.C. E.

COLOMBO (News 1st) –  Minister of Tourism and Lands Harin Fernando said that a new mobile application will be introduced for the safety of tourists coming to Sri Lanka while promoting the tourism industry.The Minister stated the above at the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Tourism and Lands held recently (30) at the Parliament.The Minister said he hopes to use this mobile application in January.The Minister further explained that through this application, tourists can be allowed to check their location, and if they get lost or need to take some safety measures, they can access the app for instructions.The Minister also said that for the safety of tourists, a tourist police team will be stationed at every beach with tourist attractions.Harin Fernando also mentioned that it is planned to bring 1.5 million tourists to Sri Lanka, especially in the year 2023.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Central Bank of Sri Lanka noted that the speculation that expatriate Sri Lankans' remittances to the country are taxed and forcibly converted into Sri Lankan Rupees is completely unfounded.In a statement, it added that there are no taxes on remittances, and expatriate Sri Lankans are free to hold such remittances in foreign currency form in their bank accounts.They can also convert such remittances into Sri Lankan rupees at their discretion, said the Central Bank.It added that expatriate Sri Lankans can continue to enjoy the current incentives without any charge whatsoever.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka Police discovered seven packets of narcotic pills in a canteen at a school in Gampaha.38 narcotic pills were discovered on the school premises which is located in the Malwathuhiripitiya area in Gampaha.Police arrested a woman over the discovery of the narcotic pills, and said investigations were underway.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The 3rd term for all government and government-approved schools began on Monday (5).The 2nd term for all government and government-approved schools ended last Friday (2).Schools will be closed on the 22nd for Christmas and New Year holidays, and schools will start again on the 2nd of January 2023.Further, schools will be closed on the 20th of January 2023 due to the GCE Advanced Level Examination and will start again on the 20th of February 2023.The admission of students for the intermediate classes for 2022 has been suspended with effect from today (5).The Ministry of Education said that students will be accepted to the intermediate classes in 2023 after the end of the third school term of 2022 on March 24, 2023.The Ministry of Education says that it will operate only according to the circulars issued by the Ministry of Education.

(With inputs from PTI)

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Ministry of Trade, Commerce and Food Security say that steps have been taken to discuss reducing the prices of school equipment & stationery with importers and local manufacturers.Minister Nalin Fernando said that he has informed the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) to discuss the matter and submit a report.Meanwhile, the Chairman of the All Ceylon Communication Owners' Association Indrajith Perera said that the price of office stationery is also skyrocketing given the present economic situation in the country.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) has approved power cuts of 2 hours and 20 minutes on 05th December as follows;Groups ABCDEFGHIJKLPQRSTUVW: 1-hour during daytime 1-hour 20-minutes during the night

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Department of Meteorology says that several spells of showers will occur in Northern, Eastern and North-Central provinces.Showers or thundershowers will occur elsewhere during the afternoon or night.Fairly heavy showers above 75mm are likely at some places in Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and in Kandy, Nuwara-Eliya, Galle and Matara districts.The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.Condition of Rain:Showers or thundershowers will occur in several places in the sea areas off the coast extending from Batticaloa to Pottuvil. Showers or thundershowers will occur in the other sea areas around the island during the afternoon or night.Winds:Winds will be north-easterly and speed will be (25-35) kmph.State of Sea:The sea areas around the island will be slight to moderate.Temporarily strong gusty winds and very rough seas can be expected during thundershowers.

Health insurance aims to protect against uncertain... moreHealth insurance aims to protect against uncertain risks and meet health emergency requirements.

People who get Covid after being vaccinated three times tend to display similar symptoms, medical experts have discovered.

Social Work staff from justice services and representatives from Police Scotland, NHS, Education, Housing and third sector gathered at Motherwell Concert Hall recently for the first in-person Justice Conference since 2019.

STRICTLY Come Dancing fans think the right person was eliminated tonight as Kym Marsh became the tenth celebrity to leave the ballroom. The former Coronation Street actress, 43, was given a bye last week after falling ill with Covid, but despite being back to full health, Kym and pro partner Graziano di Prima were sent home after a dance-off with Molly Rainford and Carlos Gu. CBBC star Molly performed a Charleston to Hot Honey Rag from the musical Chicago, while Kym performed a Cha Cha to Fame from the musical Fame.

Covid-19 update: The death toll has climbed to 5,30,6278 with one fatality being reported from Odisha, data updated at 8 am stated. India has logged 226 new Covid infections in a day taking the tally of cases to 4.46 crore while active caseload has declined by 68 to reach 4,529, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.

We LOVE Marie Osmond! And Perez does NOT love this basic yellow American mustard!

Kym Marsh has become the tenth celebrity booted off Strictly Come Dancing after battling Molly Rainford in the dance-off. The Coronation Street star faced the axe alongside her professional partner Graziano Di Prima after an intense dance-off with the CBBC star and pro Carlos Gu.

Colombo (News 1st) – There is a rapid increase in the rate of Colorectal Cancer among both men and women across the country, the Sri Lanka College of Oncologists raised the alarm on Saturday (Dec. 03). "In Sri Lanka, the number of Cancer cases detected per year is increasing.

The World Health organization (WHO) estimated that 9% of the world population now had some resistance to Covid-19, but warned that a troubling new variant could still emerge. "WHO estimates that at least 90 percent of the world's population now has some level of immunity to SARS-CoV-2, due to prior infection or vaccination," said Tedros, referring to the virus that causes Covid-19 disease. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said gaps in vigilance were leaving the door open for a new virus variant to appear and overtake the globally dominant Omicron.

Health experts are investigating cases of Strep A infection after the deaths of six young children and a rise in cases.

STRICTLY star Kym Marsh is returning for the Quarter Finals TONIGHT after she was forced to miss last's live show week due to Covid. Actress Kym Marsh, 46, began training again this week and will return to Strictly Come Dancing as she and pro partner Graziano, 28, perform a Cha Cha Cha for Musicals Week tonight. Meanwhile, former frontrunner Hamza Yassin's odds of winning Strictly 2022 have fallen away as new data reveals he’s no longer the show's favourite star.

GOOD Morning Britain host Kate Garraway gave an emotional update on Derek Draper's health this morning. The 55-year-old star appeared on Lorraine Kelly's show with co-host Ben Shephard when she opened up about her husband. Derek was taken to intensive care with Covid in March 2020 and only allowed home in April the following year.

(Reuters) – International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday that she will travel to Beijing next week with heads of other international institutions to press for quicker action on debt relief for poor and developing countries.The meetings with the country's leadership will focus on China's economic, COVID-19 and debt relief policies and will include officials from China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China, the IMF said."This is the first time, hopefully, we will be able to sit together and discuss the very pressing issues that China, and the world are faced with," Georgieva told the Reuters NEXT conference.Georgieva said that during the Beijing meetings she intends to discuss ways to accelerate China's participation in debt relief for poor and developing countries as the world's largest official bilateral creditor."I am very hopeful that when we have a chance next week to discuss these issues, we will continue on a path of finding better solutions and strengthening the capacity of the common framework to deliver," she said, referring to G20 countries' slow-to-launch common debt restructuring framework.World Bank President David Malpass told the conference that he would join the discussions in Beijing, along with officials from the World Trade Organization, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and others.Georgieva and Malpass have both called for reforms of the common framework to offer heavily indebted countries a freeze in debt service payments when they apply for debt relief and clearer timelines for reaching agreement on debt treatments.Asked if China's slowing growth would limit its appetite for agreeing to debt reductions, Georgieva said she hoped

A new study has revealed that teenagers had a tremendous impact on their mental health due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The findings claimed that pandemic-related stressors have physically aged the brains of adolescents.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Parliamentarian & Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka told Parliament on Friday (2) that the project to dig trenches as a solution to the Human-Elephant Conflict is a failure.Sarath Fonseka said that a ruling party MP from Ampara had proposed for trenches to be dug as a solution to the human-elephant conflict.Fonseka said warned that digging up a trench that is 10 feet wide and 10 feet deep would pose a direct threat to the river systems in the country.He added that even though the Department of Wildlife Conservation had not approved the project on technicalities, a 55-kilometer-long trench has been dug up, and the allegation is that the project is being used to illegally remove soil and sand.His comments were met with strong opposition from the ruling party in the house.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva told Reuters Next on Friday (2) that changes to the G20 Common Framework on debt restructuring were needed to speed up debt treatments, freeze debt service payments once a country requested help, and open the process to middle-income countries like Sri Lanka."We are concerned that there is a risk for confidence in debt resolution to be eroded at a time when the level of debt is very high," Georgieva said."We don't see at this point … a risk of a systemic debt crisis," she said, adding that countries in debt distress were not large enough to trigger a crisis that would threaten financial stability.Source: Reuters

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The 3rd term for all Government & Government-approved schools will commence on Monday (5).The Education Ministry's Additional Secretary for School Affairs Lalitha Egodawala speaking to News 1st said that the 2nd term concluded on Thursday (1) and Friday (2) was declared a holiday for all schools.Christmas holidays for schools will commence on the 22nd of December, and schools will re-open on the 2nd of January 2023.Thereafter, schools will close for a month from 20th January to 20th February 2023 for the G.C.E.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka's State Ministry of Higher Education says the cut-off marks for university entrance based on the results of the recent A/L examination will be released today (2). The Ministry further said that it has planned to enrol 44,000 students in the universities this year based on the cut-off marks.Over 85,000 students applied for admission to state universities this year.The selected students are scheduled to start their academic activities in each university in January 2023.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Chairman of Sri Lanka Thriposha Ltd Deepthi Kularatne says Thriposha production resumed after suitable stocks of maize were made available.Nearly, 60,000 triposha packets are being produced by the company daily and are being distributed across the country.He further said that the production of triphosha products for mothers will continue.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Department of Meteorology says that showers or thundershowers will occur in Northern and Eastern provinces and in the Hambanthota district.Showers or thundershowers will occur elsewhere during the afternoon or night.Fairly heavy showers above 75mm are likely at some places in Western, Sabaragamuwa and Central provinces and in Galle and Matara districts.The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.Condition of Rain:Showers or thundershowers will occur at times in the sea areas off the coast extending from Puttalam to Pottuvil via Kankasanturai, Trincomalee and Batticaloa. Showers or thundershowers will occur in the other sea areas during the afternoon or night.Winds:Winds will be north-easterly and wind speed will be (20-30) kmph.State of Sea:The sea areas around the island will be slight.Temporarily strong gusty winds and very rough seas can be expected during thundershowers.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Fitch Ratings has downgraded Sri Lanka's Long-Term Local-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to 'CC', from 'CCC', and has affirmed the Long-Term Foreign-Currency IDR at 'RD' (Restricted Default). Fitch typically does not assign Outlooks to ratings of 'CCC+' or below.Fitch has also removed the Long-Term Local-Currency IDR from Under Criteria Observation, on which it was placed on 14 July 2022, following the publication of the updated Sovereign Rating Criteria.A full list of rating actions is at the end of this rating action commentary.KEY RATING DRIVERS:Challenging Domestic Financing Outlook: Sri Lanka continues to service its local-currency debt, but the downgrade of the Long-Term Local-Currency IDR reflects our view that a local-currency debt default is probable, in view of an untenably high domestic interest payment/revenue ratio, high interest costs, tight domestic financing conditions and rising local-currency debt/GDP in the context of high domestic fiscal financing requirements, which authorities forecast at about 8% of GDP in 2022.According to authorities, domestic interest payments in 8M22 were LKR718.8 billion, taking the domestic interest/revenue ratio to an estimated 56% in 8M22; the highest among sovereigns rated 'CCC+' and below.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka's Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda said recently (29) that due to the fuel crisis, steps will be taken to introduce electric motor boats for fishermen from next year.The Minister mentioned this at the meeting of the Ministerial Consultative Committee on fisheries in Parliament.The minister pointed out that it is expected to introduce electric motor boats that can travel 100 kilometres using batteries and the cost is only 86 rupees per day to fishermen engaged in small-scale fishing.The Minister also mentioned that attention has also been paid to providing electricity generation facilities through solar panels and wind turbines for boats using kerosene and diesel.State Minister of Fisheries Piyal Nishantha, mentioned that a special mobile service is being implemented successfully by the ministry to solve the problems faced by the fishermen.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka's President, Prime Minister, Speaker and other public representatives stood in unity with the Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus for Global Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) on Thursday (1).A wristband given to Parliamentarians with the message “Let’s Unite to end Gender Based Violence” as a sign of support.

NEW DELHI : National AIDS toll-free helpline, lifetime free ART services and regular viral load monitoring for PLHIV are some of the steps taken by the government to strengthen HIV/AIDS and STD response, said Union Minister of state for Health and Family Welfare, Bharati Pravin Pawar on Thursday.  Addressing the World AIDS Day celebrations, the minister said that the World AIDS Day is an opportunity to show solidarity with people living with HIV (PLHIV) and create awareness for the same. “The theme of this year’s World AIDS Day is ‘Equalize’, which is a slogan for a call to action for all connected with this crusade.

NEW DELHI : New Delhi-based Aakash Healthcare Pvt. Ltd on Wednesday said it has acquired Asia Med Centre in Uzbekistan’s Tashkent for $4 million. The upgraded 60-bedded multi-speciality hospital will be opened to public on 23 November.

 COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka's Minister of Justice, Prisons Affairs and Constitutional Reforms Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said calling for applications to appoint civil society members to the Constitutional Council is not in accordance with the 21st Amendment to the Constitution.Recently the Sri Lanka Parliament said that applications are called for the appointment of Members, who are not members of Parliament to the Constitutional Council proposed by the 21st Amendment.Applications are called from persons of eminence and integrity who have distinguished themselves in public or professional life and who are not members of any political party, to be considered for the appointment as Members of the Constitutional Council which is to be established under the provisions of Article 41A of the Constitution of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, said the statement.However, Justice Minister said that the 21st Amendment to the Constitution does not allow for such appointments via application, and the appointment of the civil society members to the Constitutional Council should be done by the Speaker, Prime Minister, and the Opposition Leader.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Applications have been called for qualified persons regarding the appointment of civil society members for the Constitutional Council established under the 21st Amendment.Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena stated that the relevant applications should be forwarded to the Parliament before 28th November.Accordingly, those who are not members of any political party who are considered acclaimed personalities in the spheres of their public or professional lives and have functioned with excellence and honesty can apply for the position.A discussion was held at the Parliament Complex under the Chairmanship of the Speaker last week to discuss the establishment of the Constitutional Council.It was held with the participation of Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa and Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva who was appointed as the President's representative.The Constituent Assembly consists of 10 members, including the Speaker, the Prime Minister, the Opposition Leader, a member appointed by the President, a member representing the party representing the Prime Minister, a member of the party representing the Leader of the Opposition, a member of another political party representing Parliament and 3 civil society representatives.According to the 21st amendment, the Supreme Court judges headed by the Chief Justice, the President and judges of the Court of Appeal, the Attorney General, the Governor of the Central Bank, the Auditor General, the Inspector General of Police, the Secretary General of the Parliament, the Ombudsman of Parliamentary Affairs as well as the chairpersons and members for independent commissions should be appointed subject to the

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Seven newly appointed Ambassadors and a High Commissioner to Sri Lanka presented their credentials to President Ranil Wickremesinghe at the Presidential Secretariat on Friday (11).Accordingly, His Excellency Mr. Federico Salas Lotfe, the Mexican Ambassador to Sri Lanka, His Excellency Mr.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) said that 60,000 MT of coal was imported to the country on Thursday (10) and unloading will take place on Friday (11).CEB Spokesperson Andrew Navamuni said the shipment of coal was from South Africa and so far three coal shipments have reached the country in recent weeks.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The National Fertilizer Office says that a cargo vessel carrying 22,000 MT of fertilizer is scheduled to arrive in the country from Malaysia next week.The Director of the National Fertilizer Office Chandana Lokuge says that the relevant fertilizer will be used for the maha season cultivationEarlier, 13,000 MT of Urea fertilizer was brought to Sri Lanka and the relevant fertilizer was distributed to farmers across the country.

DigiLocker can be used as a health locker for storing and accessing health records such as vaccination records, doctor prescriptions, lab reports, hospital discharge summaries etc New Delhi: DigiLocker, the authentic documents exchange platform under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, has completed its second-level of integration with Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), the National Health Authority (NHA) said on Thursday. The secure cloud-based storage platform of DigiLocker can be used now as a health locker for storing and accessing health records such as vaccination records, doctor prescriptions, lab reports, hospital discharge summaries etc, stated NHA. DigiLocker had earlier completed level 1 integration with ABDM wherein the platform had added ABHA or Ayushman Bharat Health Account creation facility for its 13 crore users.

The UK Government has dismissed a new online petition calling for a full review into the way the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) administers Personal Independence Payment (PIP), specifically the role independent assessors play in the application process. The petition has received nearly 15,000 signatures of support so far, passing the threshold of 10,000 which has resulted in an official response from the DWP.

(More details are being added.)    

States have been asked to continue monitoring incoming international travelers, undertake constant genome sequencing and step-up vaccination. NEW DELHI: India reported 811 fresh covid infections in the past 24 hours, while active cases slipped to 13,559, the health ministry said in an update on Wednesday.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The United Nations (UN) team in Sri Lanka and non-governmental organisations have today revised and extended their joint Humanitarian Needs and Priorities (HNP) Plan, which aims to provide life-saving assistance to 3.4 million people amid Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis since independence.Since June, the HNP has been responding to the Government's request for UN-backed multi-sector support for Sri Lanka's debt and food and medicine shortages. Governments and donor agencies have helped the humanitarian community reach over 1 million of the country's most vulnerable people with cash, food, school meals, medicine, protection, and livelihood support. The HNP aligned with appeals from other UN agencies has raised US $79 million for Sri Lanka thanks to landmark support from the U.S and USAID, Australia, and Japan including JICA, the UN Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF), as well as Canada, Denmark, Norway, New Zealand, Italy, EU, Switzerland, France, and with additional support from the UK, Germany, Thailand, Sweden, Georgia, Latter Day Saint Charities and private individuals and organizations including Brandix Apparels Ltd, Hemas Holdings PLC, Dilmah Ceylon Tea Company PLC, Daraz (Alibaba Group), Amana Bank PLC and the Citi Foundation. The HNP's revision extends the plan through 2022 and requires US $70 million in additional funds to reach a total of US $149.7 million."We are immensely appreciative of the solidarity the international community has shown with the people of Sri Lanka, including through their generous contributions to the HNP.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The second total lunar eclipse of 2022 will turn the moon a reddish-copper colour for 85 minutes on Nov. 8, 2022.Sri Lanka will be able to witness this spectacle from 5 PM to 7 PM on that day.Often colloquially called a Blood Moon, a total lunar eclipse, happens as the full moon (in this case November's full Beaver Moon) moves into the deep umbral shadow of the Earth and receives only light first filtered by Earth's atmosphere, will be visible from North America and parts of South America, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. A partial lunar eclipse will be visible from Iceland, parts of South America, south and central Asia and Russia.