Indian Army commander General Manoj Makundh Narawana met President Gotabhaya Rajapakse this morning at the Presidential Secretariat. Commencing the discussion, the Indian Army commander said that his country highly expects stability in neighboring countries for regional security. Recalling military training and experiences in India he had during his military service period, the president praised the leadership skills acquired by local army officers through training in India. The President inquired General Manoj Makundh about ensuring India’s security, military welfare activities in mountain ranges and ranks of Indian army officers sent for training.  The Indian Army Commander said that Indian army officers are sent for leadership training after being appointed as a commander and explained about the age limit of various ranks sent on retirement. Nearly 1000 Sri Lankan army officers undergo training annually in India.  The Indian army commander said that on a request from Sri Lanka Army Commander General Shavendra De Silva a special training programme   for 50 officers will be provided in future. General Manoj Makundh Narawana said that his memory on the experiences during his duty at Trincomale 4^th mile post, representing the Indian Peace Keeping Force, was renewed with the tour. The president said he is also happy to speak about recalling the memory in such an occasion as a former army officer. Meanwhile, the Indian Army Commander visited the army headquarters in Battaramulla this morning. Army Commander General Shavendra Silva and Indian army commander held bilateral discussions important to both countries. The Indian Army Commander is visiting Sri Lanka on an invitation from Army Commander General Shavendra Silva.

The Government agrees to facilitate the pay hike of teachers and principals in two stages, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has told the Teacher-Principal Union representatives.

Prime Minister Rajapaksa met the Teacher-Principal Union representatives for a decisive meeting at Temple Trees yesterday. The Teacher-Principal Unions are engaged in a trade union action for over three months demanding to rectify their salary anomalies and teachers have stopped online teaching.

The Cabinet Sub-committee appointed to look into the issue proposed to increase the salaries of teachers and principals in three stages, and the PM proposed to implement its first stage from Budget 2022 and the second and third stages from Budget 2023.

The PM said that the Government is sensitive to the salary problems of the teachers and principals and that it accepts that those anomalies should be rectified. However, he pointed out that those demands could not be met at once as the receipts to the Treasury have dropped in the face of COVID-19. He told the Union Leaders that the Government is coming up with these proposals despite the prevailing financial difficulties because it is important to continue the education of children without any interruption. He also assured that other recommendations of the Cabinet Sub-Committee headed by Minister Dallas Alahapperuma would also be implemented, adding that those have received Cabinet approval.

Accordingly, he said the teachers’, teaching consultants’, and principals’ service would be made “Closed Services” and the orders in this regard would be published in November. The rest of the recommendations will be implemented within six months.

Teacher and Principal Trade Unions said they would convey their decision today after discussing the solutions presented by the Government with their members. Ceylon Teachers Services Union General Secretary Mahinda Jayasinghe speaking to the media said the demand was for the proposed salary to be given at once.

“However, the proposed salary will be provided via two installments by the Government. We will discuss with our members before reaching a final decision,” he said. Ven. Muruththettuwe Ananda Thera also attended the meeting. Among the representatives of the Teacher-Principal Unions, who attended the meeting, were Joseph Stalin, Mahinda Jayasinghe, Ven. Ulapane Sumangala Thera and several others.

Ministers Dinesh Gunawardena, Gamini Lokuge, Dallas Alahapperuma, Mahinda Amaraweera, and Udaya Gammanpila attended the meeting together with several other Government representatives.

State universities are expected to resume physical classes next month after the completion of the youth vaccination program this month.

UGC Chairman Prof. Sampath Amaratunga said discussions are on to reopen universities in November following the prolonged closure due to the outbreak of Covid-19 world pandemic.

The five-day Covid-19 vaccination program for university students will begin tomorrow, Director General of Health Services Dr. Asela Gunawardena said.

He said the undergraduates will be administered the Sinopharm vaccine and the university vaccination program has been arranged in consultation with the health authorities, University Grants Commission (UGC) officials, and Vice-Chancellors. The students can receive the jab from the university closest to their residence and they are not required to visit the university they are enrolled in, Dr. Gunawardena said.

The Government plans to complete Covid vaccinations for youth aged 20-30 by the end of this month. Speaking on the national inoculation drive, Dr. Asela Gunawardena said the rolling out of the third booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine will commence after the inoculation program for children concludes.

The booster shot will be administered to people who have received the second dose, after an interval of six months. However, immunocompromised people will be given the third dose a month after being fully vaccinated. Almost a hundred percent of those over 60 have now been fully vaccinated and the inoculation of those between 30 to 59 years is nearing completion, the Health Ministry stated.

The Sri Lanka Medical Association has recommended that a third dose be administered to those above 60 who had received the Sinopharm jab, one month after the second dose. The third dose can be AstraZeneca, Pfizer, or Moderna.

State Minister Dr. Channa Jayasumana said the SPC has already placed orders for 14.5 million more doses of Pfizer vaccine for children and those eligible for a third dose.

All schoolchildren should keep their masks on while they are in school and it is the duty of the parents to train them now to keep their masks on.

It is the duty of all teachers to monitor constantly whether children keep their masks on. The children can take the mask off and breathe for a while only when they are outside the buildings and not close to another child/children, the Deputy Director General (Public Health) Dr. Susie Perera said.

She told a press briefing at the Health Promotion Bureau in Colombo recently that the parents should train their children now to keep the mask for a few hours.

One child should have at least five masks to use during the week.

The child should be given a separate small pouch to keep the mask when it is taken off from the face. They should be educated on not to play with it. Dr. Perera said that all teachers need to wear their masks during school hours. Holding exams is not a problem at all and it is very safe because exams are conducted in a strictly controlled environment.

Dr. Perera said that every citizen should be very much aware of his / her private space and respond instantly when someone violates his/her private space and comes closer exceeding the safe distance. This is the only way of preventing Covid-19. It is very important to keep all doors and windows open in public transport because people cannot keep them safe distance (more than one metre) from each other while travelling in public transport.

The younger generation’s reluctance to get themselves vaccinated due to various misconceptions poses a risk of the COVID-19 spreading again, Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Samitha Ginige emphasized.

He pointed out that even while enough stocks of vaccinations required for COVID-19 vaccinations have been received, the country’s youth between 20 to 29 years are not keen to get themselves vaccinated due to certain misconceptions and various posts on social media.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) Director General for South Asia Department Kenichi Yokoyama has assured President Gotabaya Rajapaksa that the ADB will support the promotion of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs).

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) provided a $ 750 million concessional loan last year for projects in Sri Lanka. Mr. Yokoyama said that the ADB will take steps to increase that amount to $ 1 billion next year.

The Director General made these remarks when he met with President Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat, today (05).

Mr. Yokoyama further noted that the success of the COVID-19 vaccination drive demonstrates Sri Lanka’s ability to overcome challenges.

The President pointed out that the entire public service and the health and security sectors had worked together to make the vaccination programme and the COVID eradication process a success.

The government’s objective is to reduce the use of fossil fuels and move towards the use of renewable energy sources. A number of solar and wind power generation projects have been planned for this purpose. The government has also taken a policy decision to use organic fertilizer. The President also requested for Mr. Yokoyama’s intervention to provide technical assistance for the production of organic fertilizer and nitrogen extraction.

The Government’s aim is to uplift the income and living standards of those who make up 90% of the rural population that are engaged in agriculture. The President also pointed out the need to increase the forest cover through economically viable cultivations and sought the assistance of the Asian Development Bank.

Asian Development Bank Country Director Chen Chen, Deputy Director Utsav Kumar, Secretary to the President P. B. Jayasundera and Principal Advisor to the President Lalith Weeratunga were also present.

Moves will be taken to start schools promptly in accordance with the health guidelines so as to minimise the damage caused to students, Education and Higher Education Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said.

He added that most of the schools can probably be started this month under the moves taken by the Ministry. Under the first phase, the schools, which have up to 200 students, will reopen.

The Minister was inaugurating the construction of the Maharagama Madiwela Rural People's Fair on Saturday on his decentralised allocations in Parliament at the request of the people of the area including the Madiwala Community Council to provide the public the opportunity to sell non-toxic vegetables, fruits and self-employment products.

Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said the Government has planned to provide Nadu rice at Rs.98 per kilo to consumers soon.

“The consumer cannot be allowed to be exploited further by the rice mill-owners of this country.

We have planned to set up five large scale rice mills in five selected Administrative Districts under government patronage to end the rice monopoly created by few leading rice mill owners here.

He said that his Ministry has already made arrangements to set up large scale nurseries to produce quality seeds of different crops for farmers.

“About 52 types of seed varieties are now imported for our farmers, spending Rs.300 million annually,” he said.

He was of the view that the country can save money by producing seeds locally for crops.

“However, the Trade Ministry has now taken steps to import 1,000 metric tonnes of rice to meet the present rice shortage in the country now. Our responsibility is to help the farmers to stand as a community of wealthy and healthy lot in the future,” he said.

Sri Lanka spends US$ 9 million a year to import herbal plants such as Aralu and Bulu required for indigenous medicine .

Experts point out that although there are enough medicinal plants in Sri Lanka such as Aralu, Bulu and Nelli used in Ayurvedic and Indigenous medicine, Sri Lanka spends around US$ 9 million a year to import them from India.

These facts were revealed at a meeting of the Presidential Task Force on Green Economy with Solutions to Climate Change held at the Environment Ministry last week.

The Task Force proposed a comprehensive plan to be implemented in the country to ensure that these plants can be grown in all parts of Sri Lanka.

Task Force Chairman, Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera stated that under the National Tree Planting Programme implemented by the Environment Ministry, a programme will be initiated to cultivate these trees in the forest areas as well as on road sides.

Although there are medicinal plants such as Aralu and Bulu in almost all parts of the country at present there is no programme in place to collect them in a systematic manner, the Minister said. “We do not need to import such local medicines from India.There are enough resources in the country but there is no formal programme in this regard and such a programme could be initiated in consultation with the Indigenous Medicine Ministry,”he said.

The Nilgala forest has a large number of such medicinal plants and the Task Force will take steps to cultivate such plants in other forest areas as well, he said.

He also pointed out that one of the reasons for the damage to food crops by wild animals is the lack of enough fruit trees in the forests to feed them. Therefore, the Presidential Task Force could initiate a programme to plant more fruit trees such as Etamba and Valu Amba in the forests, the Minister said. 

Minister of Mass Media Dulles Alahapperuma said that if a person with a media accreditation identity card is taken into custody due to some offence, by the Police, the Director General of Department of Government Information should be informed compulsorily with immediate effect.

The Minister said further that the IGP has already been informed about this.

He said he will ensure that no journalists will be summoned by the CID and inconvenienced in the future although it did happen recently. Alahapperuma on said that every possible step will be taken to build a new media culture to empower media personnel and strengthen the field of media.

The Minister made this comment on Thursday evening during a discussion held at the Media Ministry with the Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka. Realizing the importance of establishing a higher education institute for journalism on behalf of developing professional skills of media personnel, initial work on it has already commenced.

Such an institute exists for almost every sector including doctors and lawyers and the Editors’ Guild pointed out that there is no such institute for journalists.

“When transforming a journalist into a chartered journalist, his/her qualifications as well as period of service, training and experience is taken into consideration and once the determined standard is reached a chartered certificate will be awarded and this is currently under discussion”, he said.

It was mentioned on this occasion that there is an opportunity available to propose one person representing the Editors’ Guild for the committee which is working on creating a higher education mass media institute.The Minister pointed out the importance of updating the Sri Lanka Press Council Law No. 5 of 1973, taking into consideration the recent developments and trends in the field of mass media and bringing in amendments.

The Editors’ Guild said that it is suitable to set up a different mechanism for social media networks and electronic media. The procedure of amending the Press Council Law has commenced already and the Minister said he hopes to obtain the views of the Guild about it.

Minister Alahapperuma said further that insurance for journalists will be formalized and within three months, about 3000 journalists will be provided with insurance cover. The Minister requested newspaper editors to be sensitive when writing about the disabled community’s problems and the Editors’ Guild expressed their agreement.

The Editors’ Guild has earlier issued a statement condemning the move by the CID to question several journalists over their reporting on the garlic scam.