Former Minister Mangala Samaraweera has passed away at a private hospital due to COVID-19.

Former Matara District Parliamentarian has previously served as Minister of Mass Media, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Finance in previous governments.

The new education channel Vision FM launched yesterday by Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation with the aim of uplifting education of children. The channel is broadcast on FM 102.1 and on FM 102.3. It is broadcast daily from 4.00 am to midnight for 20 hours. 65 percent of air time will be used to teach subjects and 35 percent to non-subject matters. The channel is broadcast jointly with media and education ministry. The radio channel was officially launched today under the patronage of secretary to the ministry of mass media Jagath Wijeweera. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse extended his greetings to the new channel. Ministers Keheliya Rambukwella, G.L Peris, State ministers Seetha Arambepola, Susil Premajayantha and Piyal Nishantha also extended their greetings. Secretary to the mass media ministry Jagath Wijeweera said that children should move forward with radio. Chairman of Rupavahini Corporation Reginald Coorey said that Rupavahini is also telecasting educational programmes for children. Director General of Rupavahini Corporation Jayampathi Bandara Heenkenda said that Rupavahini Corporation is telecasting educational programs with SLBC. Director General of SLBC Chandrapala Liyanage said that air time will be allocated for educational programs in future as well. He said that studio 02 has been allocated for the purpose. The programs are implemented under the guidance of SLBC Chairman Hudson Samarasinghe.

Mayor of Colombo Rosy Senanayake has issued an urgent message to residents of the City of Colombo and those visiting the city, in view of the prevailing Covid-19 situation.

She says that Sri Lanka is at a critical point in the battle against the spread of Covid-19 and that it’s no secret that the number of Covid patients and related fatalities are at the highest levels since the epidemic hit the country.

The Mayor said that the government is doing its best to manage the situation, but the health system is severely stretched, and health officials are struggling to cope.

“This is not unique to Sri Lanka as we have seen how the health systems of even the most developed economies struggled to cope with the epidemic.”, the mayor added.

The mayor also requested the public to be extremely vigilant and cautious in their activities.
She stated that the authorities will, and are, doing their best to keep the people safe. “But they cannot succeed if individuals and institutions act irresponsibly. It is shocking to see people putting the lives of many at risk by acting with sheer disregard for the current situation.”

National operation center to prevent covid 19 says that quarantine curfew will be imposed island wide from 10.00 pm to 4.00 am. Army Commander General Shavendra Silva says that it will be effective daily until further notice. Only persons involved in essential services are permitted to travel during that time. Meanwhile weddings have been prohibited until further notice from today. Weddings will not be permitted at homes or halls. The Army Commander has requested the public to support the measures taken to prevent the spread covid 19.

The Financial Consumer Relations Department (FCRD) established under the provisions of Section 33 of the Monetary Law Act No. 58 of 1949, as amended, continues to serve as the single point of contact to handle complaints against financial service providers (FSPs) regulated by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL).

FCRD introduced a complaint submission form for financial consumers who wish to submit a complaint against a FSP regulated by CBSL. This will streamline the complaint handling process in an efficient manner and financial consumers are encouraged to submit a clear and concise complaint with accurate information using the complaint submission form.

Another 15,000 doses of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine has arrived in Sri Lanka this morning.

The vaccines have been handed over to the State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC) at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake

The Cabinet approved Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa’s proposal to implement a working capital loan scheme under concessionary conditions to re-energize public ventures, Co-Cabinet Spokesman Plantations Minister Dr.Ramesh Pathirana said.

He was speaking at a media conference held yesterday at the Government Information Department to inform the decisions taken at this week’s Cabinet meeting. The Government implemented a concessionary loan scheme named “Saubhagya COVID-19 Rehabilitation Facility” by 2020 end, with the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in the country, under the supervision of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to accomplish working capital requirements for minor and medium scale (SME) sectors.

The Government yesterday assured that a curfew will be enforced only as the final attempt to curtail the spread of COVID-19.

Addressing the media at the Government Information Department yesterday, Co-Cabinet spokesman Mass Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said that mass vaccination is the only long-term solution to the current COVID-19 crisis.

The employees of government and private sectors should carry their office identity cards when using the public transport. The process is implemented effective from today. The police and health authorities will randomly check the public transport in this regard. Meanwhile , the public is requested not to travel outside without any important reason.

It is stressed that public transport will be used for essential services. State Minister Dilum Amunugama said that office identity cards are mandatory to travel in public transport. They will checked arbitrarily by traffic police.Those who violate these regulations will be dealt with.

The government has successfully implemented the housing project amidst corona pandemic. State minister Indika Anurudda says construction work of 6000 houses has commenced so far under the theme ” House for you, a future for the country”. Out of which the construction work has been completed for 4000 houses.