News
Nearly 74,000 persons under home quarantine
Close to 74,000 people belonging to 27,974 families had been placed under home quarantine, Police Spokesman DIG Ajith Rohana said on Wednesday (25).
He said that the number of cases from the Minuwangoda and Peliyagoda clusters had increased to 17,436 with 458 persons had tested positive for the virus on Tuesday.
Two wards of the Kethumathi Maternity Hospital, Panadura were temporarily closed on Wednesday after two pregnant women admitted there tested COVID-19 positive.
The two women are from Atalugama, which has been declared an isolated area. During the last few days close to half of the COVID-19 patients detected in Colombo District are from Atalugama.
The two women have been sent to Neville Fernando Hospital, Malabe. The patients and staff in Wards 3 and 4 at the Kethumathi Maternity Hospital are now under quarantine. Their family members too have been asked to undergone self-quarantine.
The Police had arrested 61 persons who had violated quarantine laws within the 24 hours that ended at 8 am yesterday, Police spokesman, DIG Ajith Rohana said, adding that they had been arrested for not wearing masks or for not maintaining physical distancing. With those altogether 688 persons had been arrested for violating quarantine laws from October 30, he said.
Commissioner General of Prisons Thushara Upuldeniya said that apart from Welikada, the spread of COVID-19 had been controlled at other prisons. COVID-19 cases had been reported from six prisons, he added.
“We are conducting PCR tests and hope that the situation in Welikada too would be brought under control. Twenty four new cases were detected from prisons on November 24 and from October 04, we have identified 708 cases within the prison system.”
News
Cabinet nod to increase the number of new automated passenger clearance gates at the Bandaranayake International Airport to 12
Approval of the Cabinet of Ministers was granted at their meeting held on 19.05.2025 to purchase four (04) automated passenger clearance gates for Bandaranayake International Airport.
In addition, it is expected to extend the automated passenger clearance gates facility so far given only to the Sri Lankans
parallel to the e – passport issuance system to be introduced in the year 2027 also to the foreigners who travel to and from this country.
Furthermore, considering also the number of air passengers rapidly increasing with the fast – forwarding business and tourism field, the appropriateness to increase the total automated passenger clearance gates up to twelve (12) in number has been recognized.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers, approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs to initiate the procurement and installation of 12
automated passenger clearance gates altogether with the already approved four (04) and another eight (08) automated passenger clearance gates adhering to the formal procurement procedure
News
Draft Bill for amending the Trust Ordinance
Based on the observations submitted by the Task Force on Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing for Terrorism, approval of the Cabinet of Ministers was granted at their meeting held on 18.12.2024 to amend the Trust Ordinance No. 9 of 1917 including amendments proposed by the Financial
Intelligence Unit of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
Accordingly, clearance of the Attorney General has been granted for the Trust (Amendment) Draft Bill formulated by the Legal Draftsman.
Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Justice and National Integration
to publish the said draft bill in the government gazette notification and thereby, submit the same to the Parliament for its concurrence.
News
Implementing further relief programme to Public sffected by the Middle East conflict situation
Action was taken to provide a fuel relief for the fuel consumers during the months of April, May and June of 2026 to redress by minimizing the impact caused to the day today life of the citizens of this country as well as the entire economy due to the price hike of petroleum fuel in the global market resulting from the war situation in the Middle East.
Government mediation is essential for minimizing the impact on the day to today life of citizens in this country due to that war situation not being ended further. Therefore, it has been planned to redress on the sale price for Auto Diesel and Industrial Diesel for a period of 03 months by the Government to provide relief to the public as well as to maintain the prices at a bearable level to the consumers without escalating the fuel prices in this country compared to the escalation of fuel prices
in the international market.
Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval for the resolution furnished by the President in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to
allocate provisions subject to the monthly limitations respectively as rupees 15 billion for the month of October, rupees 13.5 billion for the month of November and rupees 12.15 billion for the month of December to provide the said relief
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