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Create a strategy to engage state media in transforming society’s attitudes – President

Published

6 months ago

2025/08/20

Priyan

A review of the projects implemented under the 2025 budgetary allocations for the Ministry of Health and Mass Media, together with a pre-budget discussion for the year 2026, was held on Tuesday (19) at the Presidential Secretariat under the patronage of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

The discussion broadly scrutinized the allocations made for 41 institutions under four departments of the Ministry of Health and Mass Media, as well as the progress of projects implemented accordingly.

The President instructed officials to focus special attention in the upcoming budget on strengthening primary healthcare services. He also reviewed the ongoing programme for developing Primary Health Centres. It was revealed that currently one Primary Health Centre operates per 30,000 people; the plan is to improve one centre per 10,000 people.

Discussions were held on organisational and structural reforms in the health service to match current technological and social conditions. Attention was also focused on the construction works within the health sector and the issues that have emerged there.

The meeting addressed the key issue of medical equipment procurement and considered the updating of procurement guidelines, including those applicable to the Ayurvedic sector. Plans to enhance facilities of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority to ensure the quality of medicines purchased were also discussed.

The President instructed officials to ensure that essential vehicles required for services such as the National Blood Transfusion Service are acquired within this year itself.

He further emphasised the need for transformation not only in the physical resources of the health service but also in human resources, in response to technological advancement and population growth. It was also noted that a new National Health Policy and Strategic Plan are scheduled to be launched next year.

The President pointed out the importance of effectively using foreign aid and grants to deliver the intended benefits to the people and suggested that issues arising at provincial level be resolved through dialogue.

Attention was also drawn to ensuring the credibility of health-related donations, with a proposal to introduce a digital mechanism that confirms reliability for both donors and recipients.

It was revealed that the “Suwa Seriya” ambulance service, currently operational in different parts of the country, will be further expanded from 272 ambulances to 400.

Future plans relating to the Ministry of Mass Media were also discussed. The President stated that intervention to shape social attitudes is a responsibility of state media. Accordingly, he instructed officials to present a plan to engage state media in this process, with allocations to be set aside for this purpose in the upcoming budget.

Extensive discussion was also held on modernising the Postal Service to suit present day requirements. The need to transform it into a new model by integrating courier services and similar facilities with modern technology was underlined.

The President noted that the problem in the past had been insufficient budgetary allocations for necessary projects. However, in contrast, the most recent budget has allocated adequate provisions for all sectors. He stressed the importance of properly utilizing these allocations during the financial year into the intended projects so that the public receive the maximum benefits.

Minister of Health and Mass Media Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, Secretary to the Ministry of Finance Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma, Secretary to the Ministry of Health and Mass Media Dr. Anil Jasinghe, Senior Additional Secretaries to the President Russell Aponsu and Kapila Janaka Bandara, along with several senior officials of the Ministry of Health and Mass Media, were present at the discussion..

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Canada bowl against pace-heavy South Africa

Published

10 hours ago

2026/02/9

Priyan

Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada will lead South Africa's pace attack (Cricinfo)

Canada captain Dilpreet Bajwa won the toss and asked South Africa to bat in their World Cup opener in Ahmedabad.

South Africa have opted for a pace-heavy attack. Keshav Maharaj slots in as their only spinner, alongside the speedy quartet of Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi. Tristan Stubbs also begins the tournament at the No. 6 spot – a position Jason Smith had occupied in their last T20I, while Stubbs had slid down to No. 7. Smith is in the World Cup squad but did not find a spot in South Africa’s starting eleven.

South Africa’s pace is expected to get the most out of a characteristically flat Ahmedabad black-soil pitch. But first, their batters will have a hit in a game they begin as overwhelming favourites against Canada, who are their second World Cup.

Canada’s new captain, Bajwa, will lead the side at a global tournament for the first time. He also slots in at the top of the order, alongside Yuvraj Samra, and their batting power will be key to their hopes of causing a massive upset.

Canada have lost both their warm-up games – to Italy and Nepal – but should their batters come off on a friendly pitch, South Africa will look to have the added insurance of a few more runs in the bank before dew takes over when Canada begin their chase at night.

South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Aiden Markram (capt), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi

Canada: Dilpreet Bajwa (capt), Yuvraj Samra, Navneet Dhaliwal, Nicholas Kirton, Shreyas Movva, Harsh Thaker, Saad Bin Zafar, Jaskaran Singh, Dilon Heyliger, Kaleem Sana, Ansh Patel

(Cricinfo)

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Hong Kong court jails media tycoon and British citizen Jimmy Lai for 20 years

Published

12 hours ago

2026/02/9

Priyan

(Pic BBC)

A Hong Kong court jailed pro democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai for 20 years on Monday after he was found guilty of national security offences last December

This is the harshest sentence under the controversial national security law, which China says is necessary for the city’s stability

Lai, who is a British citizen, was one of the loudest critics of Beijing, often wielding his pro-democracy paper, Apple Daily, as a tool of protest

Six former executives of the paper were also jailed on Monday – from six years and nine months to 10 years

Hailed a hero by the pro-democracy movement, Lai is seen as a traitor by Beijing. He has always denied the charges against him

The UK calls for the Chinese government to release Lai, saying it will “rapidly engage further” with Beijing. But Hong Kong’s chief executive welcomes the sentence, saying Lai used “used Apple Daily to poison the minds of citizens”.

Lai’s son, Sebastien, tells the BBC his father’s punishment is “basically a death sentence”.

(BBC)

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Muzarabani returns as Zimbabwe opt to bowl against Oman

Published

14 hours ago

2026/02/9

Priyan

Sikandar Raza and Jatinder Singh at the toss (Cricinfo)

Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza decided to field first against Oman in the men’s T20 World Cup match at the SSC in Colombo. Both teams were pleased to arrive in Sri Lanka early to get themselves attuned to the conditions.

Zimbabwe have Blessing Muzarabani back in the squad after he missed the tri-series in Pakistan in November.

Oman, meanwhile, include 44-year-old Aaamir Kaleem the oldest player in the tournament – after he came into the side in place of Hasnain Shah, who was injured after the squad was named.

Zimbabwe return to the tournament after missing out on the previous edition in West Indies and the United States of America. They had made it to the Super 12s of the 2022 T20 World Cup but failed to progress through the qualifiers for the 2024 tournament. They completed qualification alongside Namibia; Brian Bennett was the tournament’s top run-scorer, while Brad Evans and Richard Ngarava were among the leading wicket-takers.

Zimbabwe are bolstered by the return of Graeme Cremer, whose November 2025 comeback marked the longest gap between T20I appearances.

Oman are one of three qualifiers from the Asia-Pacific region, alongside Nepal and the UAE. They have previously appeared in the 2016, 2021, and 2024 editions of the T20 World Cup.

Oman: Jatinder Singh (capt), Aamir Kaleem, Hammad Mirza, Wasim Ali, Karan Sonavale, Jiten Ramanandi, Vinayak Shukla (wk), Sufyan Mehmood, Nadeem Khan, Shah Faisal, Shakeel Ahmad

Zimbabwe: Brian Bennett, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Dion Myers, Brendan Taylor (wk), Sikandar Raza (capt), Ryan Burl, Tashinga Musekiwa, Brad Evans, Wellington Masakadza, Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani