: Sri Lanka has decided to amend the Disaster Management Act soon, the Disaster Management Centre said.

A spokesman for the Centre said that it has decided to amend the Act due to the practical difficulties in the Act. The Act was enacted in 2005 following the tsunami disaster that ravaged the island in 2004.

The Sri Lanka Health authorities warned that the threat of dengue is spreading across the Colombo city again.

A spokesman for the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) said that this is mainly because of the uncollected garbage in the city. About 201 dengue patients have been reported in the Colombo city during this year alone. Four had succumbed to the disease, he said.

Sri Lanka government is planning to plant 2 million young plants to mark this year's Sinhala and Hindu New year dawning tomorrow.

Sri Lanka's Co-operative Department has organized this program under the theme of "let's plant today and pick a fruit tomorrow."

At least 50 houses were partially damaged due to a twister that blew across Ihalapuliyankulam at Karuwalagaswewa in the Puttalam District last night.

Residents of the area said the twister blew across their village for about seven minutes with a loud sound.

Most of the houses have been damaged due to fallen trees, but no injuries were reported, police said.

Sri Lanka government is to take legal action against the Turkey Shipping Company, the owners of the sunken tanker with a load of sulphuric acid off Trincomalee Harbour.

Sri Lankan Marine officials together with the Navy have taken measures to minimize the environmental damage caused by the Turkish ship that sank 8 kilometers off Foul Point in Trincomalee.

A top University Professor in Sri Lanka says that twenty percent of school attended students in the country cannot write or sign.

Prof. Ratnasiri Arangala of the Sri Jayewardenepura University said that this is due to the lack of proper guidance.

The World Heath Organisation (WHO) completing their investigation on the death of a child due to rubella vaccination has recommended that the vaccinations should be done under the supervision of qualified doctors.

The Sri Lanka Supreme Court yesterday proposed two alternative sites, one at Mahara and another belonging to the Sri Lanka Ports Authority to dump accumulated garbage in Colombo.

Matara: The parents of the students at seven schools in Matara District today opposed the government program to vaccinate the students for tuberculosis.

The Health Ministry has scheduled to carry out its vaccination programme for tuberculosis in Matara district this morning, but it has to be cancelled due to parents' objections, the Ministry said.