Dec 9 (FT) Leading business magazine LMD announced that its Sri Lankan Of The Year for 2015 is Commissioner of Elections Mahinda Deshapriya. LMD pays tribute to the man whom it says is “a model citizen who has left an indelible mark on the Sri Lankan psyche through his steadfast belief in accountability and fair play”. His handling of this year’s two landmark elections, the magazine notes, was exemplary: “One of the primary reasons cited by all and sundry for the perceived success more..

Dec 9 (IR) Famous cricket legends Kumar Sangakkara and Muttiah Muralitharan has donated huge amount of money for Chennai floods to help people. As we know, Chennai was severely faced by heavy rains and sudden floods. From last one week, people are facing struggles in Chennai including many places in Tamil Nadu. Still many places are under water and struggling for daily usages. Whole India responds on Chennai floods and many politicians, Cine heroes and charitable trusts more..

Dec 9 (DN) Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka lodged a complaint with the CIABOC urging the commission to conduct a fresh investigation into the statement made by Avante Garde Chairman Major (Rtd). Nissanka Senadhipathi that he solicited a bribe running into millions from him (Senadhipathi). Senadhipathi had told the media that former Army Commander solicited a bribe from him. He had also said that 2 vehicles had also been given more..

Dec 9 (FT) The Joint Opposition yesterday stressed that the Govt should give a concession period of six months for all depositors who have dormant bank accounts before nationalising those deposits via a consolidated fund. The recent budget has proposed to remit monies lying in inactive accounts of commercial banks to a consolidated fund by 1 Jan 2016. MP Bandula Gunawardena asserted this proposal would be very unfair to all depositors who do not have much knowledge about budget. more..

Dec 9 (FT) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe advised new UPFA MPs to avoid criticising political leaders of all parties, including present and past presidents. Addressing the House, PM wanted UPFA lawmakers to stop criticising their party leader President Maithripala Sirisena openly in Parliament. “Times for debates were allocated by respective party leaders. Please talk to them directly if you have displeasures. But don’t criticise the President Sirisena openly in Parliament,” he said, more..

Dec 9 (CT) Colombo Additional Magistrate Nishantha Peiris, who was hearing several high profile cases including the murder of ruggerite Wasim Thajudeen, will be transferred with effect from 1 Jan 2016 to Matara as a District Judge. Colombo Chief Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya, who was similarly involved in hearing high profile cases, is also being transferred as a Colombo Additional District Judge. more..

Dec 9 (DM) AG is studying the cases of 20 more LTTE suspects detained under the PTA to see whether they can be released, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Prison Reforms Minister D.M. Swaminathan said. He said he would meet Law and Order Minister and the relevant officials to discuss this matter further. PTA detainees, charged with serious terrorist acts, would be prosecuted while those held up without charges would be considered for release or rehabilitation. more..

Dec 9 (DM) The joint opposition would report to the newly appointed Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) regarding the controversial Central Bank Bond sale once the budget period was passed in parliament, UPFA MP Bandula Gunawardena said. He said the Central Bank Bond Sale was the main reason for the record depreciation of the rupee against the US Dollar. "CB Governor Arjuna Mahendran who is responsible for these outcomes is nowhere to be seen. more..

Dec 9 (Island) Former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has alleged that among those LTTE cadres expected to be released soon by the govt are two hard core undercover operatives responsible for executing all major attacks in Colombo and its suburbs. He said one of them was known as Morris, the kingpin of LTTE terror project in Colombo. Morris had masterminded the abortive assassination bid on then Army Chief more..

Dec 9 (DM) The controversy that sprung last week regarding the security of former President and current MP Mahinda Rajapaksa merits serious discussion on the provision of security to VIPs and VVIPs. Our sister paper The Sunday Times in its latest issue said President Sirisena had ordered the immediate withdrawal of a contingent of some 500 soldiers assigned to his predecessor’s security detail. However, Mr. Rajapaksa’s Spokesman Rohan Weliwita was quoted more..

Dec 9 (DM) he President and the PM in Parliament said numerous steps have been taken to save millions in the Presidential Secretariat. This no doubt is a loud message to the entire public sector. He said owing to the steps taken, the total expenditure had come down considerably resulting in reduced operational expenditure. Shouldn’t we encourage the other Ministries and Departments too to follow this example. I have always taken up the position that the President and the PM more..

Dec 9 (DM) Within a short stint as a politician, Minister Rajitha Senaratne’s son, Chathura Senaratne has got involved in a number of controversies. The allegations against young MP from Gampaha included unlawfully entering a Ministry and getting in an alleged brawl with Gampaha UNP MP Dr. Kavinda Jayawardene. Young Senaratne responds to the allegations against him. Q: What do we hear now about more..

Dec 9 (SL) The issues in implementing the recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) on state institutions that function with public funds is still a concern due to the failure of the govt to implement the recommendations according to COPE reports. The purpose of the COPE is to analyse the accounts of the state institutions which come under the authorisation of the committee and more..

Dec 9 (CI) Depletion of SL's attack due to injury, and the seam-friendly tracks in NZ will likely mean an enhanced role for himself with the ball, Angelo Mathews has said. Already the team's most experienced batsman, Mathews has seen his Test bowling average improve substantially over the past two years. This is partly because he has largely limited his bowling to the early overs of the innings, while the ball is still moving around. more..

Dec 9 (CI) Sri Lanka may appear the weaker team on paper, but the hosts remain wary of a seam attack that's underrated and world-class senior batsmen in the opposition, New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum said. Of the visiting squad, only seven have played Tests in New Zealand before, but two medium-pace bowlers - Suranga Lakmal and Nuwan Pradeep - had created problems for New Zealand previously. more..

Dec 9 (ST) Sri Lanka missed a Nov 27 deadline to submit a proposal to the IMO that would save endangered whales off the south coast from being killed or maimed in the busy shipping lane offshore that is also a feeding ground for the giants. Known as ship strikes, these accidents are a growing concern in the seas off the southern coast where one of the world’s largest shipping route cuts across rich blue whale habitat. more..

Dec 9 (Island) Farmers of the All Ceylon Farmers’ Federation (ACFF) yesterday staged a protest at Tambuttegama, Anuradhapura against what they termed the govt’s discriminatory policies towards the agricultural sector as evident from its 2016 budget proposals. National Organiser of ACFF Namal Karunaratne said that the agricultural sector and farmers in Sri Lanka would undergo much suffering and hardships due to more..

Dec 9 (EN) A switch to beer that was taking place especially among younger people, with proportionate levies would slow after a tax hikes by the new administration pushes more people towards hard alcohol. "The speed at which drinkers are switching to beer from hard liquor should slow down somewhat in 2016, as taxes on a 100% alcohol by volume basis on strong beer have surpassed that of hard liquor after back-to-back tax increases more..

Dec 9 (CI) A domestic aide of Justice Sarath de Abrew, the Judge of the Supreme Court, has told a Judicial Medical Officer that she was sexually assaulted by Justice de Abrew at his residence. The complainant had told the doctor that the petitioner threatened to kill her if she revealed the incident, the Additional Solicitor General, Yasantha Kodagoda, President’s Counsel told the SC while reading a medico-legal report. more..

Dec 9 (DN) The individual who ran Avant Garde will soon confess and come out with everything as Sajin Vaas did, Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne said. "The names of all former kings will be there in the confession and as one CID officer commented, those involved in these financial frauds will have to commit suicide by shooting themselves or jumping into the sea when details about bank accounts and foreign assets amassed by more..

Dec 9 (DN) The Development Strategies and International Trade Ministry in a media release slammed the GMOA's Dr. Haritha Aluthge and Dr. Nalinda Herath for extreme irresponsibility for totally misrepresenting the proceedings Minister Malik Samarawickrama had with several professional organisations including the GMOA, by declaring that Indo-Lanka Economic & Techcnical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) would be finalized and more..

Dec 9 (CT) Govt's decision to make it mandatory for all University entrants to undergo HIV or AIDS screening and blood tests for other socially communicable diseases before they enter universities is a welcome step in these dire times. Dire times indeed since the govt's decision may have arrived when it is too late. Minister Dr. Rajitha Senartne said that the HIV/AIDs screening would be carried out under a different description to ensure there is no inadvertent stigma attached to it. more..

Dec 9 (CT) At the height of Eelam War IV, as the WikiLeaks material reveals, American officials in Colombo as well as Washington and New York were bombarded with email demands and/or information from ardent Tamil advocates concerned about the deteriorating situation of the LTTE and the populace corralled within Thamiîilam’s declining terrain. The very diversity of fervent messages had an impact on the thinking of key American policy makers in 2009. The extremism of the vast majority of more..

Dec 9 (Island) A heated argument ensued between Deputy Minister Dr Harsha de Silva and UNP MP Buddhika Pathirana in Parliament over the crisis in providing school uniform vouchers to students. It was sparked by Pathirana raising a query during the oral question session over the school uniform vouchers and Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam responding and the MP raising a supplementary question. MP Pathirana: The quality of uniform material being provided was the issue we had more..

Dec 9 (CT) Expecting to come to a settlement Victor Ivan’s Ravaya has started paying back monies collected from the public, after the newspaper provided false information in many public appeals made by Ravaya Solidarity to keep the newspaper afloat. The public appeals made by Ravaya Solidarity at no point intimated that monies collected from the public were to pay Victor Ivan a sum of Rs 20 Million. Subsequent to these appeals Ravaya collected a whopping sum of Rs 12.7 million more..

Dec 9 (DM) Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka today displayed several photographs of families of Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe and Avant Garde Chairman Nissanka Senadhipathi enjoying a holiday in Disneyland, and also said they are taking measure to arrest Attorney General as well on his retirement. He said there was enough evidence to prove Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapaksa and Senadhipathi are close friends more..

Dec 9 (Island) Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday said that he had been forced to decline some of the invitations as the security provided to him was not adequate. "There are only 89 army personnel in my security detail," he said. Rajapaksa said, "I skip Parliament to visit those who had held various positions in the previous regime or political allies now serving prison terms or in remand". He said the govt continued to arrest them on various charges. more..

Dec 9 (Island) Court of Appeal yesterday gave the respondents, the IGP and the Director CID, time till Jan 18, 2016 to file objections to the Habeas Corpus application field by Sandya Ekneligoda. The petitioner has requested the Court of Appeal to direct the respondents to produce her missing husband before the Court. Meanwhile, magisterial inquiry pertaining to an application by CID in respect of disappearance at issue will continue before the Homagama Magistrate’s Court. more..

Dec 9 (DM) Govt has again changed its policy on Concessionary Vehicle Permits for Public Servants and said all Public Servants who were entitled for vehicle permits could purchase his or her first duty-free vehicle after completion of five years in service, but the second permit would be issued only after 10 years. Deputy Finance Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardana said that the govt after a review had decided to maintain more..

Dec 9 (Reuters) Shares closed lower for a fourth straight session on Wednesday as investors turned cautious going into the holiday season and ahead of a likely decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve next week on raising interest rates, brokers said. The main stock index ended down 0.11% at 6,841.55, its lowest close since March 31. "Local participation is very low with the post-budget impact and with the closing in of holiday season. Investors are not in a buying mood ahead of Fed rate decision," more..

Dec 9 (Haveeru) Maldives on Wednesday moved to mend ties with Sri Lanka as the country's top diplomat met with top govt officials of the neighbouring country. Foreign minister Dhunya Maumoon met with her Sri Lankan counterpart Mangala Samaraweera after meeting Sri Lankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe on Monday. Foreign ministry on Twitter said the sit-downs entailed constructive discussions in further strengthening bilateral ties between the two nations. more..

Dec 9 (CG) Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena has been accused of attempting to mislead the public by claiming that the Local Govt Elections will be postponed. CaFFE said it believes that citizens of Sri Lanka must unite to oppose moves by certain sections of the govt to postpone the LG Election due to political reasons. Minister has told media that LG election might have to be postponed indefinitely as delimitation process more..

Dec 9 (DM) Govt is likely to postpone the Local Government elections scheduled to be held in March 2016, State Minister of Finance, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena today said. “We have received nearly 700 objections with regard to delimitation. The delimitation has to be completed before the elections are held,” he said. However, PM Ranil Wickremesinghe said on September 29 that the govt had no intention of postponing the LG elections fixed for March, 2016. more..

Dec 9 (Island) The delimitation process according to the amended Local Govt Act could be completed by Jan 15, Chairman of the Delimitation Commission Asoka Peiris said. He said the commission had accomplished the task to facilitate the holding of the local govt election on April 7 if the govt so decided. Peiris was addressing a workshop titled Challenges of new local govt act organised by the CaFFE at the Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute in Colombo. more..

Dec 9 (CG) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe today insisted that Sri Lanka will not sign the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with India. He told Parliament that SL govt is negotiating a new economic and technology agreement with India. PM said that the govt hopes to sign a similar agreement with the Chinese govt as well. However he said that before agreements are reached, more..

Dec 9 (CI) 11: Number of consecutive home Tests in which New Zealand have been unbeaten. The last time they lost a Test at home was against South Africa in Hamilton in 2012. At the time, that defeat was their fifth in ten previous Tests. 1: Series SL have won in New Zealand, in seven attempts. Their only series win came in 1994-95 when they won 1-0. Also SL have won only two of 15 Tests in NZ. 4: Test series wins for SL outside Asia [they have played 26 series of two or more matches more..

Dec 9 (AD) A mother and her daughter have committed suicide by hanging themselves in the Waguruwela area in Pannala. Police said that a 45-year-old woman and her 20-year-old daughter had committed suicide at their home last night. Police believe the motive behind both suicides was a love affair that the daughter was involved in. Police conducted the investigations via information received to the 119 police emergency unit. more..

Dec 9 (DM) An offer by the UK to provide UKP six million to upgrade Sri Lankan Armed forces and a move followed by the offer to appoint the Military Attaché of the UK High Commission in New Delhi to oversee these reforms were detrimental to the national security of the country, former Minister G.L. Peiris said today. UK PM David Cameron had made an offer to President Sirisena six million pounds to upgrade SL military more..

Dec 9 (DM) A complaint would be lodged today with CID by CEB Chairman to probe into missing Rs.2.9 billion belonging to CEB Welfare Fund that had been invested in Treasury Bonds through a private company in 2009. Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy today stated that according to a Central Bank statement issued on Dec 31, 2014 Rs. 2.9 billion had been unaccounted for. An investigation carried out by the CEB Internal Audit Branch had revealed that 2.9 billion had been withdrawn more..