News
Schoolchildren aged 18 and 19 to be vaccinated from 21 October
By Rathindra Kuruwita
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday instructed health and education authorities to start vaccinating schoolchildren aged 18 and 19, from 21 Oct.
The President asked the officials to carry out the vaccination programme at schools themselves.
The President said so during the meeting of the Special Committee on COVID-19 Control held through video conference yesterday morning (08). The President emphasised that the vaccination programme in each school should be done under the supervision of a doctor. The children in that age group who have left school would be vaccinated by the medical officers attached to the Health Office in their respective area.
It was revealed during the meeting that 100% of the population over the age of 60 and 98% of the population over the age of 30 had been vaccinated. The President also instructed the health officials to take steps immediately to vaccinate those in the age group of 20-30.
More than 10,000 children with congenital diseases between the ages of 12 and 19 have been vaccinated so far. The Provincial Directors of Health Services stated that vaccination of those children would be carried out continuously in all hospital clinics in the country.
The COVID-19 Control Committee has decided that the existing inter-provincial travel restriction should remain in place until the 21st of October.
Accepting deposits from political parties and independent groups who intend to contest the forthcoming Local Authorities Election ended at 12noon today [19].
Deposits were accepted at respective District Secretariats from 3rd March 2025.
The Elections Commission has announced that the deadline for the accepting of nominations for the LA poll is set to conclude at 12:00 noon tomorrow (20).
It has been reported that the former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon has appeared before the Matara Magistrate’s Court this morning (19),
The former IGP had been evading arrest after the Matara Magistrate’s court had ordered his arrest regarding a shooting incident that took place in front of the W15 Hotel Pelena, Weligama, Matara, in 2023.
The government has begun recovering funds obtained by former Lands and Land Development, Environment and Wildlife Resources Minister SM Chandrasena for the Janatha Lanka Chilli Marketing Limited (JLCML), which he headed, Parliament was informed yesterday.
Agriculture, Livestock, Land, and Irrigation Minister Namal Karunaratne said that as the Chairman of JLCML, Chandrasena had obtained a loan of Rs. 1,275,000 from the Mihintale Govijana Seva Bank in 2001.
The principal of the loan had not been repaid until the end of last year. “After we came to power, we demanded that the loan be settled. Then, we discovered that the interest on the loan had not been paid for the past 24 years, and attempts had been made to have the loan written off. We stopped that and are now in the process of recovering the interest of Rs. 1,975,233 on the loan,” Karunaratne said.
Karunaratne added that JLCML was registered as a company with the Registrar of Companies on March 21, 2001. As Chairman of the company, Chandrasena requested a loan of Rs. 10 million on April 19, 2001, for the purpose of purchasing chillies from farmers in 12 farmer colonies in the Mihintale Agrarian Service area.
The request was approved by the Mihintale Agrarian Service Committee on the same day and referred to the Anuradhapura District Agrarian Operations Committee, which approved it on April 23, 2001. However, the Agriculture Development Commissioner General recommended that a loan of Rs. 1.2 million would suffice for this purpose. JLCML took the loan and failed to repay it until the end of last year. When the matter was raised, the principal was paid, and we are now in the process of recovering the interest that was not paid for the past 24 years,” Karunaratne added.
By Saman Indrajith
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