News updates

Amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, the cabinet secretary on Wednesday said all states and Union Territories should invoke provisions of Section 2 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 by means of which all advisories issued by the Union health ministry and state governments from time to time are enforceable. India on Wednesday suspended all tourist visas till April 15 in …

Kuwait has declared that it will be suspending all flights from Friday. The gulf country will, however, limit inbound trips for Kuwaiti citizens and their first-degree relatives. Cargo flights are also excluded. It also announced a public holiday from March 12 to March 26. These steps have been taken to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus outbreak. Kuwait has …

Saudi Arabia on Thursday temporarily stopped all travel to and from almost all of Europe and 12 more countries including Sri Lanka as the number of coronavirus cases in the Kingdom jumped to 45, Arab News reported. The Ministry of Health on Wednesday said the latest cases include a man and a woman who were tested and placed in quarantine …

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has placed a temporary ban on Umrah pilgrims in an attempt to ensure public safety by preventing the spread of the coronavirus. Most foreign pilgrims often visit the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah before or after the completion of their religious duties in Makkah, this has also been halted. It is one of a number of precautionary restrictions …

Address by His Excellency Gotabaya Rajapaksa, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka at the 72nd Independence Day celebrations Most Venerable Maha Sangha,Other Religious DignitariesHon. Prime MinisterHon. SpeakerHon. Chief JusticeHon. Ministers, Ministers of State and Members of ParliamentHon. GovernorsH. E. the Ambassadors and High CommissionersSecretary to the President and all State OfficialsChief of Defence Staff and Commander of …