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Marine Traffic websites have confirmed that the Hippo Spirit vessel, also sailing as Seiyo Explorer, has entered the Sea of Sri Lanka.

The ship is now located close to the Hambantota Port.

The Hippo Spirit is carrying tonnes of rejected Chinese Fertilizer from Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co., Ltd to Sri Lanka.

Earlier, it is reported that the Hippo Spirit, the ship carrying Chinese Organic Fertilizer, did not return to China after the first samples were rejected by Sri Lanka.

Instead, the Hippo Spirit had sailed to Singapore and altered its course back to Sri Lanka, without returning to China.

On the 22nd of September, the Hippo Spirit ship carrying 20,000 metric tonnes of organic fertilizer left for Colombo from China’s Qingdao Port.

But the ship was diverted to Singapore after harmful bacteria was detected in the samples of this fertilizer shipment.

The Hippo Spirit ship that didn’t return to China had left Singapore declaring it would be heading to the Colombo Port.

But on the 14th of this month, the automatic identification system (AIS) used to track the ship had been deactivated at the Malakka Strait.

Vessel trackers showed the last position of the ship as the Malakka Strait before it went out of range.

Data available online showed the Hippo Spirit ship in Hambantota on the 24th of this month under the name Seiyo Explorer.

The Hippo Spirit and the Seiyo Explorer both share the same IMO number, and therefore it can be confirmed the Hippo Spirit is the Seioy Explorer.

The IMO Ship Identification Number is a unique seven-digit number that remains unchanged through a vessel’s lifetime and is linked to its hull, regardless of any changes of names, flags, or owners.

Although the ship was seen in Sri Lanka’s waters off the Hambantota District on the 24th of this month, the ship has gone out of range on tracking systems.

But on Sunday (31), marine traffic websites confirmed that the ship has entered the Sea of Sri Lanka and is now located close to the Hambantota Port.

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The inter-province travel restrictions presently in force will be lifted at 4.00 am on 31 October, said the President’s Media Division today (29).

The decision was taken at a meeting of the COVID-19 Prevention Committee, chaired by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Measures to reopen schools for GCE ordinary and advanced level students also came under discussion.

The possibility of making it mandatory to possess the vaccination card when visiting public places was discussed as well.

A SriLankan Airlines flight departed for Paris early this morning (31) making the resumption of direct flights between Sri Lanka and France after six years.

According to the Tourism Ministry, flight UL 563 from Bandaranaike International Airport at Katunayake took off at 1.00 am for Charles de Gaulle Airport.

SriLankan will fly between Katunayake and Paris every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

The first direct flights between Sri Lanka and France were launched in the 1980s. Later in 2015, these direct flights were discontinued.

The Ministry said that SriLankan Airlines has launched direct flights to various destinations around the world on the instructions of Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga and steps were taken to launch direct flights to a number of new destinations in the future.

The Economic and Commercial Office of the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka has decided to blacklist the People's Bank of Sri Lanka.

The office said that People's Bank had recently failed to make the payment according to the Letter of Credit and the contracts between two parties, which had caused huge losses to Chinese companies in international trade.

Accordingly, the People's Bank has been included in the blacklist and Chinese companies have been instructed not to accept letters of credit issued by the People's Bank in trade with Sri Lanka.

People's Bank is one of the two major banks that issue letters of credit for imports. The inclusion of the bank in the blacklist will have a severe impact not only on imports from China but also on imports from other countries.

Suppliers in many countries, including India, are refusing to supply goods to Sri Lanka on letters of credit already, and this situation will continue to worsen in the future.

The news published by the Economic and Commercial Office of the Chinese Embassy

Nineteen Covid-19 related deaths were confirmed yesterday (29), say health authorities.

The country death toll has now risen to 13,725.

Twelve men and seven women are the latest victims.

Meanwhile, another 428 persons tested positive for the virus, taking the cases tally to 539,844.

The Director General of Health Services has confirmed another 22 coronavirus related deaths for October 27, increasing the country’s death toll due to the virus to 13,696.

According to the figures released by the Govt. Information Department, the deaths reported today includes 09 males and 13 females while one of the victims is a youth below the age of 30.

Six of the deceased are between the ages 30-59 and the remaining fifteen and aged 60 and above.

A special gazette notification has been issued declaring several institutions including ports, fuel, postal transport and Government banks as essential services.

The gazette, which was issued by the Secretary to the President, has been issued considering the possibility of any hindrances or disruptions in the provision of such services and as well as taking into account the facts mentioned in the guidelines issued by the Director General of Health Services on COVID-19 prevention.

Accordingly, Public Corporations, Government Departments, Local Authorities, Co-operative Societies or State Banks have been declared as essential services.

Essential services also include services related to the Ports Authority and all services related to fuel disposal, transportation, landing, all fuel supply and distribution including petroleum products and liquefied petroleum products, rail freight and public transport services provided by the Transport Board.

The World Health Organization has selected Prof. Neelika Malavige, head of the Immunology and Molecular Medicine Department at the Sri Jayewardenepura University, to be a member of its technical advisory committee on COVID-19.

This committee advises on scientific, technical and strategic matters related to the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool.

It consists of 10 renowned experts with a diverse range of knowledge and expertise as clinicians and researchers. Just recently, Prof. Neelika Malavige was included in a list of the world’s best scientists compiled by the Stanford Universit

All school in Sri Lanka will re-open for Grade 10, 11, 12 and 13 from 8th November, announced the Education Ministry on Saturday (30).

Earlier, the Health Ministry also granted permission to re-commence tuition classes for O/L & A/L students from the 16th of November with 50% capacity.

Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya, Aggamahapandit Dr. Most Ven. Welamitiyawe Dharmakirthi Sri Kusala Dhamma Thero has passed away.

The much venerated Thero was aged 84 at the time of his demise.

He passed away last night (October 27) while receiving treatment at a private hospital in Colombo.

Tripitaka Vagishwaracharya Ven. Kusala Dhamma Thero, who served as the head of the Vidyalankara Pirivena in Peliyagoda, devoted his whole life in robes to uplift Sri Lanka’s Buddha Sasana.

The Thero was also the Chief Judicial Prelate for the two Regions of Colombo and Chilaw.

The arrangements of final rites of Ven. Kusal Dhamma Thero will be announced later today, a spokesperson of Vidyalankara Pirivena said.

The Director General of Health Services has confirmed another 10 coronavirus related deaths for October 28, increasing the country’s death toll due to the virus to 13,706.

According to the figures released by the Govt. Information Department, the deaths reported today include 07 males and 03 females.

Five of the deceased are between the ages 30-59 and the remaining five are aged 60 and above.

The total number of people, who died of COVID-19 infection in Sri Lanka, moved up as 20 more fatalities were confirmed by the Director-General of Health Services on Tuesday (October 26).

The new development has pushed the official death toll from the virus outbreak in the country to 13,674.

The latest victims include 11 males and 09 females, the Department of Government Information said.

According to official data, 08 deaths were reported among elderly people aged above 60 years. In addition, 12 people aged between 30-59 years have also fallen victim to the virus infection.