The poverty level of Sri Lanka had dropped from 22.7 percent in 2002 to 15.2 percent in 2006-2007 according to a document tabled in Parliament by Construction and Engineering Services Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne this week.

Agriculture Development Minister Maithripala Sirisena told Parliament yesterday that it is a matter for shame that Sri Lanka still imports Kurakkan every year.
Minister Sirisena said the country still imports grains such as cowpea, and an import tax had been imposed in the budget to discourage the influx of such foreign items to the local market.

The plastic waste management project, "Pilisaru Pola" is scheduled to commence work today (11) at 9.00 am at the Princess of Wales College, Moratuwa.
Central Environmental Authority chairman, Udaya Gammanpila and the Moratuwa Municipal Council chairman, Saman Lal Fernando will be present to grace the occasion.

Farmers in the East say they were ordered to pay for the land they cultivated for decades while offering the land for companies.
Farmers in Kantale told BBC Sandeshaya that the Mahaveli Authority has ordered them to pay a Rs. 2000 tax per season per acre to continue the use of paddy fields.
"I have been cultivating for 31 years," said a paddy cultivator.

The Matale anti malaria Regional Office has embarked on a malaria prevention programme in the area. Eight malaria patients have been treated recently at the Matale district hospital.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) in its latest report has stated that there was a possible risk of water-borne disease spreading in the areas affected by the recent floods.
The Epidemiologists confirmed the possibility of such diseases spreading but stated that no cases have been reported yet.

The most complete survey yet of the genes which go wrong when lung cancer takes hold has been carried out by US researchers.

The Fauna and Flora Protection Bill, which is aimed at amending the Fauna and Flora Ordinance to give a greater protection to the flora and fauna in the country was passed in Parliament yesterday.

Nearly 60 million women will give birth without any medical assistance this year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday in a report calling for an overhaul of how health care is financed and managed globally.

An International Health Confab the