Pandemic Outlook Recovers as U.S. Leaders' Messaging Falters

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.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that a bill on gender equality and women's empowerment will be submitted to Parliament soon and he also instructed the Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus to prepare the bill. The President emphasized that women's representation should be increased not only in the Parliament but also in other sectors and the public sector as well as the private sector should focus their attention in this regard. The President pointed out that the representation of women in the First Council of Sri Lanka was 2% and 91 years after universal suffrage, the representation of women in the current parliament is only 5.3%. President Ranil Wickremesinghe made these observations by joining the Committee Stage Debate on the budget proposal for the financial year 2023 in parliament on Thursday (01). Statement issued by the President's Media Division:“I expect to speak especially on the Ministry under me. We thank the Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus for commencing a 16-day campaign against Gender-Based Violence (GBV). It was in 1931 that Sri Lankans got the universal franchise.

Sarah Beeny has been inundated with supportive messages from fans today after she shared a positive update following her recent cancer diagnosis.The 50-year-old shared a selfie of her wearing a purple woolly hat as she enjoyed a walk out in the open.Alongside the post, she revealed she was feeling more "human" following a recent picture of her back in hospital for treatment.She wrote: "It may be cold but WHAT a beautiful morning!!"One of my very fav hats I’ve been given and feeling human! You were right - it does pass!"Many of the presenter's 245,000 followers flocked to her post to comment.Zara Tindall's hug with Mike on I’m A Celeb questioned by Ant and DecSusieqbach typed: "Hang on in there, Sarah. Looking marvelous, out there using all your senses, smell that air, hear those birds, see those views."Shelleylilburne wrote: "Very cute hat...

COLOMBO (News 1st)- Sri Lanka's Public Security Secretary S. Hettiarachchi expects to deploy the Police Special Task Force to crack down on drugs and underworld criminal activity."Prisons are reaching maximum capacity because of the rising number of drug users.

Stephen Robinson insists St Mirren will “play their part” in protecting players from developing dementia after they’ve retired.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – A Sri Lankan and a Russian died after a three-wheeler collided with a train in Galle on Thursday (1) morning.Sri Lanka Police said the Russian was a female, and the train was travelling from Beliatte to Vavuniya. The three-wheeler had caught fire following the accident at the Maharamba Railway Crossing in Galle.Sri Lanka Railways said that there may be minor delays in operations.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Hambantota International Port announced that another luxury cruise MV Azamara Quest is expected to arrive on December 5th.The MV Azamara Quest will become the second cruise ship to dock at the Hambantota International Port this year, after the visit of Mein Schiff 5.Passengers from the Mein Schiff 5 visited Colombo, Yala national park, Udawalawe wildlife park, and the historical rock temple of Mulkirigala.Bundala National Park, Hambantota Botanical Gardens, Galle and Kataragama were popular destinations among the Mein Schiff 5’s passengers. MV Azamara Quest (IMO: 9210218) is a Passenger Ship that was built in 2000 (22 years ago) and is sailing under the flag of Malta.Its carrying capacity is 30277 Gross Tonnage and its current draught is reported to be 5.9 meters.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka's Cabinet approved a hike in electricity tariffs under two steps in January and June 2023.A statement from Sri Lanka Parliament said that although the electricity tariff has been increased in the past, it is not sufficient to cover the loss of the electricity board and thus, the request to increase the electricity bill has received cabinet approval. This was disclosed at the Sub Committee on Identifying the Short & Medium-Term Programmes related to Economic Stabilization of the National Council held on Wednesday (29).Accordingly, the Cabinet has approved increasing the electricity tariffs under two steps in January and June 2023.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena endorsed the certificate on the “Appropriation (Amendment)” Bill which was passed in Parliament on Wednesday (30).This bill to amend Appropriation Act No. 30 of 2021 was presented by the Prime Minister and Minister of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government Dinesh Gunawardena on 15th of November, 2022.Accordingly, paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 2 of the Appropriation Act, No.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf has told Scots “I am sorry” over long waits for ­treatment in our crisis-hit NHS.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka Police arrested three people from Silvan Lane in Panadura over a shooting incident on Wednesday (30) night.News 1st correspondents said that among the arrested was an attorney.According to Sri Lanka Police, the attorney and two others had visited a house in Panadura on Wednesday (30) night and an argument had broken out over a monetary transaction.As the argument had escalated, the attorney had taken out his licensed pistol and fired into the air.Sri Lanka Police said that the pistol, and the vehicle owned by the attorney, were taken into custody.NO one was injured in the shooting.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Litro says it will distribute 100,000 domestic LP gas cylinders daily from today (1) without any shortage during the festive season.Litro said that a vessel carrying 3,740 MT of cooking gas arrived in the country yesterday (30).The Chairman of Litro, Muditha Peiris confirmed that gas has been ordered as per the requirement, as the demand for gas increases during the festive season.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB) said the water supply will be interrupted for 15 hours tomorrow (2) to several areas in the Colombo district.The water cut will be in effect from 10.00 PM on Friday (2) to 1.00 PM on Saturday (3) in Colombo 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15.NWSDB urged the people to gather the necessary water in advance to avoid inconveniences.Further, NWSDB said that the water supply will be interrupted due to the laying of new transmission pipes related to the Ambatale Energy Improvement Project.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka says that there will be daily outages during the festive season starting today (1).The Chairman of the PUCSL Janaka Ratnayake says the power crisis is ongoing due to issues in generating hydropower and purchasing coal.He adds power cuts will have to be imposed until the issues are resolved.However, PUCSL approved power cuts of 2 hours and 20 minutes on 1st & 2nd 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 showers and thundershowers may occur over the island from tomorrow (2).Meteorology says that there is a high possibility for afternoon thundershowers over the island and morning showers over the Northern and Eastern provinces from tomorrow (2).A few showers will occur in Northern and Eastern provinces.Showers or thundershowers may occur at a few places in Sabaragamuwa province and Galle and Matara districts during the afternoon or night.The misty condition can be expected in Western, Sabaragamuwa and Uva provinces and Galle and Matara districts during the morning.Condition of Rain:Showers may occur at a few places in the sea areas over the island during the evening or night.Winds:Winds will be north-easterly or variable in direction and wind speed will be (20-30) kmph. State of Sea:The sea areas around the island will be slight. 

PACKED Lunch host Steph McGovern revealed that she was forced to turn down I’m A Celebrity due to a health reason. The TV presenter, 40, said she's been asked several times to take part in the ITV show, but has been reluctant to sign up as she has irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Channel 4 star Steph explained that she worries that the jungle diet would wreak havoc on her body.

Colombo (News 1st) – Sri Lanka roared back to square the ODI series with Afghanistan in Pallekelle on Wednesday (30th) by chasing down an imposing target of 313. The hosts won by 4 wickets with 2 balls to spare after a record breaking knock of 162 by Afghan opener Ibrahim Zadran.Sri Lanka started the run chase briskly with Kusal Mendis (67) and Pathum Nissanka (35) putting on a 101-run opening stand.

Colombo (News 1st) – Sri Lanka’s babies are starving! A comprehensive report by the Family Health Bureau of the Ministry of Health shows alarming levels of malnutrition among children under 5 years, nationwide, in October 2022. Following the assessment, it was reported that a staggering 42.9% of children under 5 years are having some form of malnutrition problem which includes growth faltering, underweight, wasting, and stunting. This alarming trend is seen in all age categories – infants, 1-2 years, 2-5 years – and in all three sectors – urban, rural and estates.The highest percentage of children under 5 years with any kind of malnutrion problem was reported from the Ampara district where 59.4% or 3 in 5 children are suffering from malnutrition. A total of 1 million, 363 thousand, 7 hundred and 47 children were weighed and measured in all of Sri Lanka’s districts in the month of October. Nationwide, the percentage of Underweight Children under 5 years increased to a staggering 15.3% from 12.2% last year. Children with Wasting increased to 10.1% from 8.2%. Children with Stunting increased to 9.2% from 7.4%. The percentage of children with Severe Wasting is a shocking 1.4%.The report notes that “Sri Lanka, at present is enduring an economic, energy and political crisis resulting in many families desperately needing assistance.

Twitter Inc. has stopped enforcing a policy aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19 misinformation on its platform in the company’s latest move to loosen moderation guidelines on the site.

A woman has told how newly-launched choirs in Dumbarton and Helensburgh are improving members’ mental health.

 

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera has announced a special power management update for tourism zones in Sri Lanka for December.In a series of Tweets, Minister Wijesekera said the Southern Province and Ella Tourism zones will be exempted from the 1 hour 20 minutes power cut during the night from the 1st of December.The power cuts of 1 hour imposed during the day and 1 hour 20 minutes at night enforced islandwide will continue until the 15th of December.He tweeted, "With the scheduled addition of Unit 3 of the Norochcholai Power Plant to the National Grid on the 15th of December, all tourism zones identified by the Ministry of Tourism will be exempted from night time power cuts."This will also result in night time power cuts enforced islandwide being reduced to 1 hour. He said, however, there will be no power cuts during Christmas and New Year.

₹65.31 lakh crore, as against ₹56.20 lakh crore in Q2 FY22, showing a growth of 16.2% as compared to 19.0% in Q2 FY22. Shares closed at record highs for a fifth straight day today, extending their daily rally to seven days and logging a second straight month of gains, as investors cautiously awaited gross domestic product data. Many analysts believed that the Indian economy will expand at a single-digit rate mainly due to the waning base effect.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – History will be made when Costa Rica face Germany on 1 December 2022 at the Al Bayt Stadium when Stephanie Frappart becomes the first woman in the history of the World Cup to referee a finals match in the men's tournament.However, it will not be the first time the 38-year-old French referee has written her name into football history. Frappart was also the first woman to referee a Ligue 1 and UEFA Champions League game.Frappart will be joined by assistant referees Neuza Back of Brazil and Mexico’s Karen Díaz Medina for the crucial Group E game.Before the World Cup, Pierluigi Collina, chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee, said of the three female referees at the World Cup: "They were not selected because they are women, but as FIFA referees.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – A man and a woman were brutally stabbed with a sharp weapon at the Wewala Junction in Hikkaduwa on Wednesday (30) morning.Sri Lanka Police said that the man succumbed to his injuries upon admission to the hospital. The woman is currently being treated for stab wounds.Investigations are underway, said Sri Lanka Police.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – History will be made when Costa Rica face Germany on 1 December 2022 at the Al Bayt Stadium when Stephanie Frappart becomes the first woman in the history of the World Cup to referee a finals match in the men's tournament.However, it will not be the first time the 38-year-old French referee has written her name into football history. Frappart was also the first woman to referee a Ligue 1 and UEFA Champions League game.Frappart will be joined by assistant referees Neuza Back of Brazil and Mexico’s Karen Díaz Medina for the crucial Group E game.Before the World Cup, Pierluigi Collina, chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee, said of the three female referees at the World Cup: "They were not selected because they are women, but as FIFA referees.

Lanarkshire nurses have been urged to accept a new pay deal by the country’s largest health union.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – A group of officials from the Criminal Investigation Department and the Foreign Employment Bureau have been deployed to the United Arab Emirates.The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment said steps are being taken to repatriate 77 people residing in the UAE and Oman on tourist visas.The Bureau said an internal investigation was also launched regarding former Secretary to the Sri Lankan Embassy in Oman E. Kushan, who is facing charges over sexual harassment of a woman in Oman.He was remanded till the 13th of December 2022 after he was arrested by the CID on Tuesday.An internal investigation was launched against E.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – President Wickremesinghe says that the world is still no closer to the implementation of a universal action plan to combat climate change. issued a statement President Wickremesinghe yesterday (29) issued a statement after participating in the COP 27  United Nations Climate Change Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt earlier this month.The President was critical of the countries that were historically accountable for the greatest damage and who are capable of meaningful contributions but who have stymied the furtherance of climate action.Following is the statement issued by President Ranil Wickremesinghe“For 27 years, world leaders have been meeting under the COP framework to confront the greatest threat to the future of humanity – climate change. Yet, we are no closer to the implementation of a universal and collaborative plan of climate action as mandated by the COP process.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Five suspects have been arrested with heroin and an overseas-manufactured live hand grenade, in their possession.This operation was carried out by the Police Special Task Force in the Ragama area.Sri Lanka Police said that 32.720g of heroin, a passport, 05 mobile phones, a van and a motorcycle were also seized.The suspects, who are between ages 20 and 40, have been handed over to the Colombo Crime Division.The Police further said, after reporting facts to the Wattala Magistrate's Court, they obtained a seven-day detention order and will conduct further investigations.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Today’s exchange rates from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka:USD Buy 361.2379 Sell 371.7170GBP Buy 430.4286 Sell 447.3859EUR Buy 371.6659 Sell 386.9802JPY Buy 2.5840 Sell 2.6917AUD Buy 239.1567 Sell 250.2936

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The provision of food aid to 66,000 families in Sri Lanka has commenced. Chairman of the Presidential Committee on National Food Security Dr Suren Batagoda said that Rs.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The train schedule will be revised from the 5th of December, in stages.The General Manager of Railways Gamini Seneviratne says that the Kelani Valley railway line's schedule will be revised from the 5th of next month. He further said that the changes of other routes will be informed in due course as well. At the same time, he says that the train operations will have a change of 5 to 10 minutes.Meanwhile, a spokesperson of the Railway Department said that due to the shortage of employees, there are obstacles to the continuation of the railway service.He further said that NO action has been taken so far to fill the existing 8000-employee vacancies. Sri Lanka Railways said that it has sought permission from the Public Services Commission to meet the staff requirements, however, no permission has been granted yet.Due to this matter, it has become a problem to summon retired personnel back to work.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka's housing minister Prasanna Ranatunga told Parliament that 76 MPs who lost their houses and property to arson following the unrest that broke out since May have been given temporary housing at the Viyathpura Housing Scheme in Kalalgoda.He told Parliament that these houses were given for a period of one year, with a monthly rental charged from the occupant MP. "Not a single MP was given a house free of charge," he told the house in response to a claim made by an opposition lawmaker.The Minister said the complex comprises 106 houses for MPs, and 76 of them have been given on rent to MPs, and if any other MP has a requirement a vacant house can be provided on rent.He also said that these houses can be purchased by MPs as well to be used as their permanent residences.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) approved power cuts of 2-hours and 20-minutes on 30th November as follows;Groups ABCDEFGHIJKLPQRSTUVW: 1-hour during daytime 1-hour 20-minutes during the night

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Department of Meteorology says that few showers will occur in Northern and Eastern provinces.Showers or thundershowers may occur at a few places in Sabaragamuwa province and Galle and Matara districts during the afternoon or night.Mainly fair weather will prevail elsewhere in the country.The Misty condition can be expected in Sabaragamuwa, Central and Uva provinces and Galle and Matara districts during the morning.Condition of Rain:Showers may occur at a few places in the sea areas off the coast extending from Galle to Matara via Hambanthota during the evening or night.Winds:Winds will be north-easterly or variable in direction and speed will be (20-30) kmph. State of Sea:The sea areas around the island will be slight. 

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella announced in Parliament that doctors who travel abroad without proper permission will be blacklisted.He said that notice will be issued to these doctors stating that they have vacated their posts.The Health Minister also said that it is possible to terminate the registration with the Medical Council of doctors who travel overseas without permission.

A pharmacist has shared his expertise on which products work best in battling cold and flu - and which ones he's deemed as a "waste of money". Abbas Kanani, the superintendent pharmacist at Chemist Click, understands that Christmas can be prime time for infections to spread around.

BEIJING : Chinese police have begun leveraging the powers of the country’s surveillance state to go after demonstrators who participated in rare public displays of defiance over the government’s stringent Covid control policies.

The Scottish Government should ban the use of zero hour contracts in health and social care jobs if it wants to solve a recruitment crisis, campaigners have claimed.

₹5 lakh. JP Nadda said it was more than the combined population of the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Canada. Speaking at a rally in Dahod, JP Nadda said, “We are giving health care cover of ₹5 lakh to 50 crore people.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The former 3rd Secretary of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Oman E.

Steven Spielberg was unable to attend Monday night's Gotham Awards in New York due to Covid.The legendary filmmaker, 75, was set to present actress Michelle Williams, 42, with a performer tribute, but had to skip after testing positive for the virus.He was replaced by Paul Dano, 38 — Williams' costar in the Spielberg-directed autobiographical film The Fabelmans — who confirmed the news on stage saying 'Steven got Covid', after it was initially reported by Variety.  Covid: Steven Spielberg was unable to attend Monday night's Gotham Awards in New York after coming down with Covid; Pictured 2022 in HollywoodDuring the presentation, Dano recounted some memories of being at the film’s Hollywood premiere with Williams and how they spoke about being young actors in Los Angeles.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Steps taken to implement the country's development process through the partnership of public and private sectors in the future, said Prasanna Ranatunga, Minister of Urban Development and Housing.He said that a large number of persons have lost their jobs due to the ceasing of work in the construction sector.The Minister made these remarks when Members of Parliament inquired regarding the matter at the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Urban Development & Housing held under his chairmanship recently.The minister further mentioned that since there are private investors in the country who are willing to spend on development programs, development activities can be done through the partnership of the public and private sectors without using money from the treasury.Furthermore, the plans related to the development of the city were discussed at length at the Committee meeting held, and the officials pointed out that although no money has been allocated for the development activities, most of the plans related to the development have already been completed and all those plans can be completed in 2023. The minister also instructed the officials to present the relevant plans to the district and regional development committees and complete them considering their needs.The minister also instructed the officials to present the relevant plans to the district and regional development committees and complete them considering their needs.Officials pointed out that due to the huge increase in the price of construction materials, construction has been abandoned. Due to this, the officials pointed out that they are also receiving complaints from people who have paid money to buy houses about those projects. The

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Five Indian poaching trawlers were held in northern waters during a special operation conducted by the Navy and Coast Guard.Sri Lanka Navy and Sri Lanka Coast Guard conducted a special operation in northern waters to chase away Indian poaching trawlers from Sri Lanka’s waters yesterday (28). The operation led to the seizure of 05 Indian trawlers with 24 Indian fishermen, poaching in the island’s waters off the Kovilan Lighthouse, Kareinagar, Jaffna.Sri Lanka Navy and Coast Guard remain ever alert to foil illegal fishing practices of foreign fishing trawlers in Sri Lanka’s waters and regularly conduct patrols and operations to prevent such endeavours.As an extension of these efforts, the Northern Naval Command mounted a special operation yesterday (28), by deploying Craft of the 04th Fast Attack Flotilla and the Sri Lanka Coast Guard attached to the Northern Naval Command, to chase away a cluster of Indian poaching trawlers in Sri Lanka’s waters, off the Kovilan Lighthouse, Kareinagar, Jaffna. The operation led to the seizure of 05 Indian poaching trawlers continued to remain in the island’s waters, with 24 Indian fishers and their fishing gear.The seized trawlers together with 24 Indian fishermen were brought to the Kankesanthurai Harbour and they will be handed over to the Mailadi Fisheries Inspector for onward legal proceedings.In the recent apprehension, the Navy has seized 35 Indian poaching trawlers and 252 Indian fishermen during operations conducted thus far in the year 2022 and handed them over to the authorities for onward legal action.Illegal fishing practices of foreign fishermen in Sri Lanka’s waters deal a blow to the livelihood of local fishermen as well as the marine ecosystem's

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Former 3rd Secretary of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Oman E.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka's Cabinet of Minister granted approval to the recommendations proposed by the committee appointed to explore restructuring the CEB.The Electricity Reforms Bill will be drafted within a month to begin the unbundling process of the Ceylon Electricity Board, said Sri Lanka's Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Super luxury cruise ‘Mein Schiff 5’ reached the Port of Colombo on Tuesday (29) morning, and will head to Hambantota on Wednesday (30).Sri Lanka'a Harbour Master Nirmal Silva told News 1st that the cruise ship is carrying 2014 passengers and 922 crew.Hapag Lloyd Lanka, a subsidiary of the Aitken Spence Group, are the agents for TUI cruises. Mein Schiff 5 is owned by the German operator TUI cruises.Mein Schiff 5 has a capacity of 2,500 guests and was built in 2016.