Haj Holiday Shifted To Saturday(27)

The government has decided to shift Haj Holiday falls on 26th (Friday) to  27th(Saturday) as Muslims here are celebrating haj festival on Saturday the ministry of public administration has announced.earlier the haj holiday which is a public and bank holiday here was scheduled on 26th Friday.although haj or Eid Al Adha is celebrated by Muslims all over the world on 26th the Colombo Grand Mosque was announced last Tuesday (16) that Sri Lankan Muslims will celebrate haj on 27th as  moon had been not sighted.

Meanwhile as Some people are planning to celebrate a long weekend including Poya Holiday which falls on Monday (29) along with haj holiday in Friday by visiting outstation areas  have to cancel their plans as well as hotel bookings after shifting haj holiday to Saturday it has been reported.a large number of people who have booked hotels and resorts to spend coming long weekend with their families had already cancelled their bookings and the hotels are lost a huge of sum of income due to this situation hotel sources said.

Minimum Fine For Maintaining Dengue Mosquito Breading Places Increased

The cabinet has amended the prevention of  mosquito breading act to increase the minimum penalty who are found guilty for breeding mosquitoes in their own backyard to Rs.5000.anyone who will not take proper measures to destroy mosquito breeding places will be punished with this fine.this is the second time this act is amended since  last May .

Under the new amendment the director general of health services and provincial directors of health are empowered to declare any dengue affected area as a high risk area effective for a specific period of time  it has been announced during today's Cabinet briefing.

More Government Hospital Lab Tests Referred To Private Labs

Laboratory tests ranging simple tests like full blood count (FBC) and urine test UFR to complex blood and urine tests as well as ct scan tests performs in government hospitals for free of charge are referred to private hospitals and labs in large scale these days according to secretary of Joint Council Of Professions Supplementary To Medicine Saman Jayasekera.due to this situation patients with economic hardships faced severe difficulties as they have to get these tests done through the private sector  from their own expense he stressed.

Patients have to pay   a large sum of money to private sector to get these  tests done  saman jayasekera has said.even ministry of health has failed to issue the circular as promised during last year which direct hospital authorities to stop performing above lab tests through private sector he has further added.

Government Hospital PSM's Are To Stage Two Hour Walk Out On 24th Of October

The professions supplementary to medicine(PSM) attached to all government hospitals have decided to stage  an island wide two hour walk out from their services on 24 th of October(Wednesday)  demanding solutions for six of their major service demands.after this protest around thousand PSM's are scheduled to hold a protest campaign in front of ministry of health at 12 noon on same day according to secretary of Joint Trade Union Federation Of Professions Supplementary To Medicine Saman Jayasekera.

Addressing a press briefing in Colombo today (16) he said that although health ministry officials have issued press releases stating all the major demands of PSM's have been solved not a single demand has received solution except receiving a court order preventing them of launching island wide strike.the PSM's are compromising with government pharmacists,radiographers,medical laboratory technologists(mlt's) physiotherapists and occupational therapists .

Increasing overtime and communication allowances through this year's budget ,granting delayed promotions of psm's belongs to special grade are among the major demands of psm's.

50KG Cement And Chicken Prices Increased

The prices of 50 KG bag of Cement and Chicken have increased with effect from today(13) according to Consumer Affairs Authority. a 50kg cement bag will be  increased by Rs.68-85 and a killo gramme  of chicken will be increased by Rs.30 .

Retirement Age Of Public Employees Raised To 60

The government has announced that the public employees can work till 60 years of age without requiring to obtain an extension after the age of 57 years. a circular regarding this decision has been issued according to government information department.

Earlier the retirement age of public employees was 57 and they need to get approval of their institution heads to obtain extensions.government had taken decision after considering  requests of public employees on extending the retirement age.

University Lecturers Suspend Their Strike And Report To Work On Monday

The University lecturers who are in strike since 04th of July by  demanding a pay hike and allocating more funds  for education sector have decided to suspend their strike action temporarily tomorrow(12) and report to work from next Monday(15th) according to Federation Of University Teachers Association (FUTA)after the discussions held with economic development minister basil rajapaksha and treasury secretary Dr.p.b jayasundara last Tuesday (09) FUTA this evening has decided to suspend their strike .

It has been reported that the government agreed to increase  salaries or allowances  of university lecturers from the budget proposals due to be presented Parliament in coming weeks.earlier it has been announced that FUTA officials will attend the press briefing held today (11) at higher education ministry on university lecturers salary issue ,but later today FUTA officials have announced that they will not attend that briefing .

Due to the long standing strike of University Lecturers all universities except medical faculties have been closed since 04th of July.the marking of this year's G.C.E Advanced Level  answer scripts too got delayed as university lecturers refrained from attending supervising those activities during the strike period.

Meanwhile government medical officers association (GMOA) has been announced today that they will launch an island wide strike action if the government has increased salaries of university lecturers alone.there should be a salary increment to all government sector employees without giving special increment to one category only the media spokesman of GMOA Dr.navin soyza said today.while addressing a press briefing at GMOA Headquarters in Colombo he had stressed that government doctors too should have given a salary increment similar to that of university lecturers  .