Dec 20 (AM) A group of senior Army officers, who are now retired, met with Chief Opposition Whip John Amaratunga this morning at the Opposition Leader�s Office for a special discussion. The meeting was aimed at discussing essential security measures for the party supporters and activists on January 08. The meeting was attended by two retired Major Generals and a group of ex-Brigadiers and Colonels. more..

Dec 20 (ST) Street vendors are a common sight to most motorists and pedestrians. Clutching packets of incense sticks, children�s story books, plastic ornaments and other items, they flit in between traffic. These self-employed persons operate on busy roads, climbing into buses and pressing their goods to halted vehicles in an effort to sell their ware. While these vendors are merely trying to earn a living, the unsupervised manner in which they operate, does create several problems. more..

Dec 20 (CT) TNA has kicked off its Presidential Poll campaign from the Eastern Province emphasizing that voters should cast their votes without fail in the Presidential polls. TNA General Secretary Mavai Senathiraja said that the Tamil voters from the North and East should not refrain from voting at the forthcoming polls. "The votes from the North and East will be crucial in the forthcoming poll. By refraining from voting, the Tamils are allowing the candidate who will be not of their choice. more..

Dec 20 (Island) The Govt yesterday said that the intention of the Common Opposition Alliance was to follow the Tamasek model adopted by Singapore during the rule of Lee kuan Yew, where all state enterprises which were performing well had been privatised. Minister Susil Premajayantha said that policy had been publicised by the Common Opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena during the last few days. more..

Dec 20 (Island) The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) had not received any complaints from the Common Opposition Presidential Candidate Mahithripala Sirisena or any other members from the opposition regarding any unannounced power cuts during their public rallies, the CEB management said. CEB Spokesman, Deputy General Manager Business and Operational Strategy, Senajith Dassanayake said that CEB was an independent body and it had no political affiliation to any party. more..

Dec 20 (AD) Sri Lanka�s Ambassador to Germany, Karunatilaka Amunugama met the Director General of the Department of Aerospace of the Federal Ministry for Transport and Digital Infrastructure of Germany, Gerold Reichle in Berlin, and discussed at length, the strengthening of Sri Lanka - German civil aviation relations. Ambassador Amunugama highlighted the great demand for intensifying bilateral cooperation in the field of civil aviation, due to increased inbound tourism from Germany more..

Dec 20 (TOI) The Tamil Nadu govt on Saturday expressed disappointment over the Sri Lankan govt's unwillingness to release boats of TN fishermen impounded by the Lankan navy for crossing the international maritime boundary line. On Friday, the external affairs ministry informed the TN govt that though the offer of the state (to release the Sri Lankan fishermen from Tamil Nadu jails) was conveyed to Sri Lankan govt, more..

Dec 20 (Island) Professions Supplementary to Medicine (PSM) said it would wait till the end of the presidential election to make its demands which the govt had only partially granted. PSM General Secretary, Saman Jayasekara, said that one of their chief demands was that promotions be given to those who completed 12 years in service over a span of five years; those promotions had been pending for nine years, he added. Promotions had been given to those who completed 12 years more..

Dec 20 (Island) Number of snake bites and resulting deaths has come down dramatically, says SL�s foremost authority on snakes, herpetologist Anslem de Silva. Effective use of anti-venom was the major contributory factor. Number of snakes had also come down. A few years back snake bites were a major problem with nearly 60,000 people becoming victims annually. Only close to 40,000 received treatment from hospitals and others resorted to traditional snake bite treatment. more..

Dec 20 (AM) UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake lashed out at Finance Secretary P.B. Jayasundara, a public servant, for blatantly violating election laws by appearing for a two hour long television interview conducted by SLBC Chairman Hudson Samarasinghe on Rupavahini. During the programme, the SLBC Chairman repeatedly criticized the election manifesto of the Common Opposition. more..

Dec 20 (Island) JVP splinter group, Frontline Socialist Party lodged a complaint with Human Rights Commission (HRC) on behalf of FSP leader Kumar Mahattaya alias Premakumar Gunaratnam currently in Australia using the name, Noel Mudalige. FSP�s Presidential candidate Duminda Nagamuwa and politburo member Chameera Koswatte complained to HRC that the govt was dragging its feet on a online visa application submitted by their leader Gunaratnam. more..

Dec 20 (Island) Health Minister Tissa Attanayaka addressing the Ministry officials stressed yesterday that he had decided to implement the National Health Programme from next year at provincial and rural levels. Minister Attanayaka pointed out that he believed that there were no people at his Ministry who wanted to sabotage its activities. He had accepted the Health portfolio not to find fault with former Minister Maithripala Sirisena or his predecessors. more..

Dec 20 (CG) India is to export two warships to Sri Lanka after delivering a warship to Mauritius for the first time, India�s Minister of State for Defence Production Rao Inderjit Singh. �From Sri Lanka, we have received an order to build two off-shore patrol vehicles (OPV) and they are under construction in Goa Shipyard,� the minister said on the sidelines of the ceremonial delivery of warship CGS Barracuda to Mauritian Coast Guard. more..

Dec 20 (DM) Kelaniya university undergraduates have surrounded the administration building at present, to express their objection to the administration�s inaction towards the dengue menace that is spreading through the university. A member of the Kelaniya student union said that within the past two weeks alone, a total of 55 students of the Kelaniya University have been hospitalized due to contracting dengue. �We are currently having examinations. more..

Dec 20 (CG) Early Warning Centre of the Department of Meteorology has issued a severe weather alert for 24 hours beginning at 9 this morning. It said that an atmospheric disturbance is still affecting the weather over the island. As such cloudy skies with showers or thundershowers will occur over most parts of the island particularly in the Central, North-central, Eastern, Uva and Southern provinces. Heavy rain falls are also expected at some places. more..

Dec 20 (CG) President Rajapaksa today rebuked the election manifesto of common opposition Presidential candidate Maithripala Sirisena which promises change should the opposition win the Presidential election. Speaking at an election rally in Ampara, he said that when an election is near a lot of promises are made and some are not realistic. He said that the country had to wait nearly 60 years for change and that change took place over more..

Dec 20 (CG) Public Relations Minister Mervyn Silva today said he will not jump, and if he needs to leave the govt, he will walk away. Speaking at an election rally in Ampara today held in support of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Minister said that people have been wondering where he was all these days. He said that his silence had raised speculation that he may join the opposition but he refuted those claims and said that he has great respect for the Rajapaksa family. more..

Dec 20 (AM) Common opposition Candidate Maithripala Sirsisena said Preident Rajapaksa and his UPFA govt still needed him � even after his departure. He made these remarks on the govt�s propaganda campaign using some old speeches of Maithripla Sirisena � which he made when he was a Minister. In their propaganda campaign, the govt demonstrated the way Maithripala Sirisena spoke in praise of President Rajapaksa while serving as a Cabinet Minister of the same govt. more..

Dec 20 (CG) UNP says it will seek the support of the JVP after the Jan 8 election. JVP has already said it will not publicly support common opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena at the election but UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe says JVP support will be sought for a National govt after the election. He said that the election manifesto of Maithripala Sirisena, clearly spells out the need for political parties represented in Parliament to more..

Dec 21 (SO) It is still fresh in people's minds how the NDF candidate Sarath Fonseka acted during his unsuccessful Presidential election campaign. He made sweeping statements and his close supporters did not vote for him. One of the many outrageous statements was that he branded those who opposed his political ideology as his enemies. In most of his campaign rallies, Fonseka said these people would be brought to the Galle Face Green to be punished in public after his 'victory'. more..

Dec 21 (SL) Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya should be topping the list of officials and politicians on the number of times he had threatened to resign from his office � even forsaking his pension. He may be feeling like a potentate appointed to rule a vast and mighty empire without the power or resources to implement his decisions. His recent predecessors too would have had similar experiences and inclinations with electoral lists elongating by millions of voters more..

Dec 21 (SO) Udaya Gammanpila said, just like D.B. Wijetunga and Chandrika Kumaratunga were made puppet Executive Presidents in 1994 and 2001, in the event Maithripala Sirisena is elected as president, without a comfortable majority in Parliament will have to dance to the tune of his coalition partners who represent, dictatorship, corruption and separatism. �Opposition claim that SL has the most powerful executive presidency. more..

Dec 21 (Island) The second week after nominations saw stark contrasts developing in the campaigns of the incumbent President and the common opposition candidate. President Rajapaksa, the acclaimed populist of the ordinary people, took to wooing the business community in Colombo that has traditionally been the bulwark and money baggers for the UNP. Last Wednesday, in what was a show and tell Momentum Forum, a so called synchronized President addressed a captive audience of more..

Dec 21 (NS) Christmas, in this island where Christians are a small minority tending towards an even smaller slice in the population pie, is celebrated as though it is the religion of the majority. Well, at least in the major cities. It helps when countless retail outlets use Christmas to move stuff off the shelves. Come Christmas time, in this tropical island that has never seen a snowflake ever, store windows get dotted with cotton-wool �snow�, draped in red and green, along with the more..

Dec 21 (SL) The Tamil diapora has been widely discussed by the govt during its election campaign. One of the concerns raised by the govt is an alleged attempt by the pro-LTTE diaspora to divide the country and revive the LTTE. V. Rudrakumaran, the head of the TGTE, who is among those listed in Sri Lanka for terrorism related activities, admits that the push for an Eelam state has not been abandoned. more..

Dec 21 (ST) The brutes who gunned down more than 130 children in cold-blood, together with their principal and teachers in a school in Peshawar, Pakistan shocked the world with their senseless action and brought back haunting memories of the equally inhuman massacre of young Buddhist novice monks in Aranthalawa not so long ago. The Pakistan Taliban proudly accepts the �responsibility� for this dastardly act. They say it is in retaliation for Pakistan�s military strikes against more..

Dec 21 (ST) My dear Udaya, I thought I must write to you because frankly, we are all confused about what happened to you over the past few weeks, what with all this fuss about leaving the Government and then suddenly re-joining it, after suddenly realising that you had made the �wrong� decision. Honestly, I am less than impressed with all these cross-overs. These days, we can�t open a newspaper or switch on the television without being told that an unheard of provincial councillor more..

Dec 21 (ST) A large stock broking company which was on the market during the past six months for a part or full divestment by the owner is now in discussion with two big foreign parties to fork out a deal after the shareholder�s initial efforts to sell collapsed. They added that the owner, a high networth (HNWI) party, is in talks with BNP Paribas (which is a French bank and financial services company with headquarters in Paris) and Fairfax Financial Holdings (which owns a stake in more..

Dec 21 (Island) Allegations of widespread govt corruption can be heard from the public stage at every election. Many allegations of govt corruption have been made in the ongoing presidential election campaign and it may be pertinent to delve into some of the issues raised. At the ceremony held to launch his book Alapalu Arthikaya Champika Ranawaka made the allegation that the cost of the first phase of the Norochchcolai power plant was estimated at 300 million USD for 300 megawatts in 2005. more..

Dec 21 (CT) Ven. Maduluwawe Sobhitha Thera who played a key role in the creation of a common Opposition candidate expressed fears of a free and fair election being held on 8 Jan and labelled the upcoming poll as a robbery as all polls laws were being violated. He said the situation was likely to worsen in the coming days with violence escalating. Q: Why are you silent while the political world is so much chaotic? more..

Dec 21 (SL) Whilst the signs of grass root activities for the Common Alliance was hardly making a blip on the journalistic radar screens, the candidates� principal backers Chandrika Kumaratunga and Ranil Wickremesinghe were busy playing politics. An inspired leak revealed that a Sirisena-led administration will have a mean and lean cabinet of ministers, numbering just 18. Twelve members were already named according to leaked information; Maithripala Sirisena � President more..

Dec 21 (Island) Our stable-mate, The Island, did some useful memory jogging about the Friday Forum statement regarding Minister S.B. Dissanayake�s offensive remarks about stripping former President Chandrika Kumaratunga of her clothes and making her run naked on the streets. Dissanayake, once a great buddy of CBK has, as everybody knows done some great leaps from one side of the political spectrum to the other, enjoying at various times many personal advantages more..

Dec 21 (SL) As the tension grows between the opposition common candidate and President Rajapaksa, many have observed grave violations of the elections laws ahead of the election and they direct allegations at the govt for misusing state property for the election campaign. Election Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya said that if there are complaints about any election violations, complainants need to direct them more..

Dec 21 (Island) John Keells Holding has entered into a USD 445 million syndicated project development facility with Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) in connection with the ongoing mega Waterfront Development Project, the biggest investment made by the conglomerate in its history, its Secretaries, Keells Consultants (Private) Ltd., said in a Stock Exchange filing last week. The multi-billion rupee project on the banks of the Beira Lake is being done through a cash call on holders of more..

Dec 21 (CT) Rs 576 million worth of foreign exchange dissipated from the markets last week (week ended Friday) due to foreigners exiting from the same, data showed. Those included another Rs 367 million (US$ 2.79 million) exited from the government securities market in the week ended Wednesday (17), taking the value of such exits in the 16 weeks to Wednesday to Rs 47,268.74 million (US$ 359 million), thereby causing pressure on the exchange rate (ER). more..

Dec 21 (ST) Sri Lanka�s ongoing road development projects with an excessively estimated high contract price are being carried out by Chinese firms awarding subcontracts to local contractors at a low cost, construction industry sources revealed. Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau (CECB) is monitoring, supervising and handling these public works being carried out by local sub-contractors. more..

Dec 21 (CT) DFCC Bank CEO Arjun Fernando said that his bank was waiting to repeal the DFCC Act, which was the forerunner to the merger of the DFCC Bank, DFCC Vardana Bank and the National Development Bank. Now that the requisite parliamentary approvals have been given on 1 Nov, the then DFCC Bank, which was incorporated by an Act of Parliament under the name of Development Finance Corporation of Ceylon, has to be repealed and we are awaiting the gazette notification more..

Dec 21 (NS) Just two and a half weeks before the election, Common Candidate Maithripala Sirisena launched his election manifesto at the Viharamahadevi Open Air Theatre. However, the launch of his election manifesto did not lack �drama� � with which the political sphere of the country is characterized these days! As the event began, the electricity supply to the Viharamahadevi Park was cut-off due to undisclosed reasons and as a result, digital microphones did not work when more..

Dec 21 (EN) Sri Lanka's opposition has advocated curbs on people's freedom of exchange to artificially boost profits of producer lobbies in an election manifesto though some economic freedoms have been proposed. "Import expenses that devalue the exchange value of the rupee will be curtailed while steps will be taken to produce to the maximum what could be manufactured in the country," a manifesto of common opposition more..