Dec 31 (DN) Civil Security Department Director General Rear Admiral Sarath P. Weerasekara yesterday denied allegations made by Mangala Samaraweera, Co-Media Spokesman for Sarath Fonseka that over Rs 1,500 million belonging to the Commandant Fund of the members of Civil Security Force were being misused by the Government for President Mahinda Rajapaksa's election campaign. more..

Dec 31 (IE) For little Sri Lanka, 2009 was a year of celebration and heart break. The aftermath of an improbable victory against the LTTE brought a massive wave of support from the Sinhala majority to President Mahinda Rajapakse. The Tamils were dumbfounded. In a near thirty year period of the LTTE�s dominance, the Tamil community, though not by choice, looked upto the LTTE to bring about devolution or some semblance of self rule in the North and East more..

Dec 31 (DN) The demand for fertilizer has increased rapidly due to the Government's subsidy scheme. The Government is encouraging the public and private sectors in agriculture development. The average fertilizer imports per annum are around 600,000 - 650,000 MT. However, during 2008 it grew up to 800,000 MTs, which shows that there is a big demand for fertilizer, a senior official of CIC Agri Business told Daily News Business. more..

Dec 31 (Island) The Department of Census and Statistics said increases in food prices had led to an increase in the point-to-point change in inflation from 2.8 percent in November to 4.8 percent in December. "Prices of food commodities recorded increases due to less supply of agricultural consumer goods such as rice, vegetables, fish and sea food, coconuts and Potatoes from November to December," more..

Dec 31 (Island) The UNP yesterday demanded that the government make a public statement on a missing sum of Rs 47,000 million received by Sri Lanka as tsunami aid, as alleged by the Transparency International organisation. He said that a recent survey conducted by the international non government organisation Transparency International had revealed that Sri Lanka had received Rs 110,000 million and more..

Dec 31 (Island) All five-star and other hotels staging dinner/dances to usher in the New Year tomorrow have applied for special liquor licences to serve alcoholic beverages after midnight today. This year's New Year's Eve falls on Duruthu Full Moon Poya Day. A spokesman for the Excise Department told The Island yesterday that he was still not in a position to give the exact number of hotels that had applied for special liquor licences. more..

Dec 31 (Island) Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake has appointed a Competent Authority for the State owned electronic media in response to a complaint from the Opposition that those media institutions are biased against the UNF-JVP presidential candidate. We do not question the Polls Chief�s authority, but interventions of this nature give rise to some questions. First of all, let it be stated at the very outset that we are no great fans of the State media, more..

Dec 31 (Island) National Freedom Front leader Wimal Weerawansa MP yesterday alleged that the TNA leader R. Sambanthan had accepted the offer to support General Fonseka on the instruction of LTTE associations scattered across the world. He made this allegation at a press conference held at the NFF headquarters, Battaramulla. more..

Dec 31 (DN) With the diminishing flames of war the government had to face another major problem in May this year. The innocent people trapped and held hostage by the LTTE were escaping from their ruthless terrorists hanging on to their most valuable things-their children. Most of them skeleton-like were struggling to cross over to the Government held areas unheeding their former bosses while the terrorists were shooting at them. more..

Dec 31 (DM) Colombo Fraud Bureau (CFB) informed the Colombo Chief Magistrate�s Court that they have initiated investigations into an alleged case of preparing fake educational certificates for prospective job seekers. The Bureau filing the report in court alleged that they had initiated investigations into the matter following a complaint made by the Nuwara Eliya Assistant Commissioner of Agrarian Development more..

Dec 31 (LG) President Mahinda Rajapaksha has himself said that he is the only president who called another election before two years, but now many more details have been released on what the President has been doing for these past four years. According to reports his average personal expenses amount to nineteen million, one hundred thousand Sri Lankan Rupees every day. more..

Dec 31 (DM) As to why the UPFA supporters staged a protest against General Sarath Fonseka when Ven. Dambara Amila was brought to Bandaragama court on Tuesday is a question that surely begs an answer. Ven. Amila is certainly is not a �model� monk. He could well be an anti-thesis of an ideal disciple of the Buddha. Given the evidence produced against the pro-JVP monk for misleading innocent job seekers, it is obvious that there�s a strong case against him. more..

Dec 31 (TC) 1. Why did the LTTE come to being? 2. Who really created the LTTE? The answer to both questions, to cut a long, horrible story short, are: 1. Due to post-1948 Ceylonese/Sri Lankan government policies and: 2. The majority Sinhalese leadership(s)seeking narrow political gains and political mileage. Now, the SL government and a strongly Sinhala nationalist leadership (with a Sinhala supremacist discourse, more..

Dec 31 (Island) The mud slinging campaigns carried out by Opposition parties against President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family on several alleged transactions and dealings are baseless and unfounded, Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said. Several emails and news articles are going around on alleged deals such as purchase of Apollo Hospital, more..

Dec 31 (DM) Two SLMC members who defected from the party during the time of its late leader M.H.M. Ashraff, and are currently holding deputy minister posts, are planning to make a comeback to the opposition. These two deputy ministers have held negotiations with the SLMC leadership for over a month now on their plan to cross over in the run up to the Presidential election. A senior Muslim politician representing the Democratic Unity Alliance is mediating in this case. more..

Dec 31 (DM) The JNP leader Wimal Weerawansa yesterday insisted that the public debate on common opposition candidate General Sarath Fonseka�s son in law�s company should be held with one of General Fonseka�s representatives while a series of public debates can be held between the two main candidates separately. Responding to a comment made by JVP Parliamentary Group Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake who more..

Dec 31 (AFP) Anti-graft campaign group Transparency International accused Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Thursday of using state property and public cash to illegally finance his re-election bid. The Sri Lanka branch of the Berlin-based watchdog said armed forces, police and public servants were being deployed to campaign for the ruling party in the January 26 vote. more..