Dec 31 (AAP) Another chance to claim a historic first Test win in Australia ensures injury-ravaged Sri Lanka remain motivated for the dead-rubber New Year's Test at the SCG. Sri Lanka are walking wounded and could be forgiven for losing interest ahead of the third and final Test after suffering an innings and 201-run thrashing at the MCG to go 2-0 down. The loss took Sri Lanka's record in Australia to 10 losses and two draws from 12 Tests spanning back to 1988. And veteran Thilan more..

Dec 31 (CT) �Always a lively crowd, Sri Lanka�s Sinhalese extremists have been raising a ruckus over five issues of late. They have demanded, for example, that (#1) the Norwegian Ambassador be expelled from the country, and complained about (#2) a pro-Tamil movie that opened in Europe recently and (#3) a BBC poll that gave pride of place to a Tamil nationalist song. Constructing strawmen, they are also demanding that no effort be more..

Dec 31 (F2F) In the first half of 2012, exports fetched revenue of US$ 4,965 million for Sri Lanka, according to the latest statistics released by the Central Bank. Of this, exports made by the BOI approved projects earned US$ 3,110 million, accounting for 63 percent of the total export revenue. According to the report, industrial products accounted for 81 percent of all the exports made through the BOI, with the textiles and garments contributing a lion�s share. more..

Dec 31 (CT) Sri Lanka seems to be having enough problems to haunt the minds of its citizens. The latest in the series has been the impeachment of the CJ with the govt determined to oust her at any cost, since the Supreme Court headed by her had asserted the independence of the Judiciary with decisions that were not palatable to the govt. This saw a report being put together by the PSC set up to investigate a series of charges hastily drawn up without proper evidence, more..

Dec 31 (GDI) The BOI signed an agreement with International Construction Consortium (ICC) for a mixed development project. The agreement was signed by M M C Ferdinando, Chairman of the BOI and Harsha De Saram, Vice Chairman of ICC being the promoter of the proposed project will implement a mixed development project in a 22.5 acre land owned by Nivasie Developers which is located at Halbarawa Estate in more..

Dec 31 (7DD) A housemaid has admitted stealing Dhs250,000 from her employer�s house and running away with it. The Sri Lankan woman told Abu Dhabi Criminal Court yesterday she was cleaning the bedroom of her Emirati boss when she spotted a bag. �I opened it and saw a huge amount of money, I removed the money and ran away,� the maid told the judge, adding that she didn�t know how much cash was there as she never counted it. Prosecutors said her boss was not home when the more..

Dec 31 (AT) Personnel from Kuwait�s Criminal Investigation Department have arrested a Sri Lankan man in Farwaniya, Kuwait City for allegedly practicing sorcery. The suspect claimed he has powers to solve problems and was reportedly charging KD 150 for the service, reports Al-Shahed daily. The daily quoting security sources said police acting on information put the man under surveillance, set a trap for him and caught him red-handed while receiving KD 20 from a police agent.

Dec 31 (ST) New equipment acquired by the Motor Traffic Department will enable more stringent tests including night checks on harmful vehicle emissions starting next year. Motor Traffic Commissioner General S.H. Harischandra said random checks would be carried out on vehicles using the equipment, the first of its kind to be used in the country. �Many vehicles are driven/used at night, so police are unable to more..

Dec 31 (GDI) Special religious ceremonies will be held in the places of religious worship throughout the country today and tomorrow to invoke blessings to the country, the people, the President and the govt in the New Year 2013. Accordingly, special religious ceremonies will be held at the Temple of the Tooth Relic in Kandy, Jaya Sri Maha Bodhiya and Atamasthanaya in Anuradhapuraya, Kelaniya, Mahiyanganaya, Kataragama, Kalutara, Matara, Tissamaharama and many other more..

Dec 31 (CNA) The World Vision Taiwan charity organization said Monday that it is collecting ballpoint pens to give to school children in resource-lacking areas of Sri Lanka who do not have sufficient stationery supplies. The public can donate new pens to World Vision Taiwan offices around the country until Jan. 31, according to the Christian charity. �Children here often had to quit school in the past because of financial difficulties at home, so they cherish the opportunity to go to school. more..

Dec 31 (Xinhua) Sri Lankan activists on Monday joined protests against a brutal gang rape in India that has brought global condemnation and pressure to tighten laws on violence against women, an official said here. The Lak Vanitha Front, a women's organization affiliated to Sri Lanka's main opposition, the UNP, staged a peaceful protest in the capital and launched a signature campaign to drum up support for rape victims. more..

Dec 31 (SLN) Naval troops attached to SLNS Thammanna of the North-central Naval Command during a special operation conducted on reliable information received arrested seven persons who had attempted to illegally enter Sri Lanka from India. The arrest was made in the General Area Urumalai on 28th Dec and the group consisted of 5 males and 2 females. The arrested persons along with their personal belongings, were handed over to Thalai-mannar Police for legal action. more..

Dec 31 (OU) Govt stating that LTTE�s movement has resumed is totally fabrication. By originating such erroneous opinion, govt should curtail in shoving the Tamils to a dark era. There is no necessity to provide psychosomatic resource consultation to the university students. They themselves will attend to their selves. To retain the army's presence, those connected with the students should guide them to abstain from getting involved in the activities which gives opportunity to more..

Dec 31 (LT) A new process of awarding dual citizenship to Sri Lankans domiciled in foreign countries would be implemented from Next year where the applicants have to come before an investigation board and their backgrounds are thoroughly investigated states the Secretary to the Ministry of Defense Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. He says earlier no investigation had been carried out when awarding dual citizenship. more..

Dec 31 (CT) Since Bruce Haigh ('Diplomats paint one-sided picture of Sri Lanka', December 28) has singled me out by name for defending my country - which is my duty as Sri Lanka's consul-general in Sydney - I would point out that he shouldn't have rushed into places where better informed commentators would fear to tread. He refers to the origin of the Sri Lankan flag. There are 192 flags flying at the UN and only the Sri Lankan flag has given a place to the Tamils. Not even India. more..

Dec 31 (CT) Lanka Private Bus Owners� Association (LPBOA) charged the government has no intention of implementing the combined time table for private and Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) buses. LPBOA President, Gemunu Wijeratne said, though the Minister of Public Transport Services, C.B. Ratnayake pledged to implement a combined time table from 1 January this year it didn�t materialize, adding that ministers as well as the National Transport Commission (NTC), more..

Dec 31 (LBO) Sri Lanka's stocks closed up 0.6% Monday, down 7.1% for the year, on top of an 8.5% loss in 2010, though the market has gained from mid 2012. The Colombo All Share Price Index closed at 5,643.00 up 36 points and the S&P SL20 index closed up 16.3 points at 3,085.33 up 0.5%. Turnover was 289 million rupees with interest seen in John Keells Holdings, which closed at 219.90 up 50 cents, Nestle Lanka which more..

Dec 31 (DM) A train commuter who had allegedly sexually harassed a female teacher by exposing his private parts to her when she was travelling in an express train was arrested and produced in Court by the Fort Police. Lodging a complaint with Fort Police, the complainant said she was married with two children. She had boarded an express train to Colombo Fort from Mount Lavinia. The complainant said she was sitting in a third class compartment at the time of the incident and alleged that more..

Dec 31 (OU) Action should be taken to find a settlement to the affected peoples living conditions due to severe floods in the Batticaloa district. Such request was made by eastern provincial council member R.Thurairatnam to Disaster Management Minister. An appeal was forwarded to the Minister regarding this mentioned a variety of crisis. The appeal further quoted, many have got affected due to the continuous torrential rainfalls and floods in the Batticaloa. More than 63,000 families have more..

Dec 31 (CG) The UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Gabriela Knaul, expressed today serious concern about the impeachment proceedings against the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the recent attacks against lawyers who have been fighting for the independence of the judiciary in Sri Lanka. According to information received by the independent expert, attacks and threats more..

Dec 31 (NF) The Ceylon Teacher Association is claiming that the payment made to teachers for grading answer scripts is insufficient. General Secretary of the association Mahinda Jayasinghe said that this payment does not cover daily expenses. "It is common knowledge that bus fares, the price of fuel and the cost of living have increased significantly," Jayasinghe said. "Therefore this minimal amount we receive is insufficient to fulfill our daily needs." "We asked the relevant more..

Dec 31 (SM) An incident where a Buddhist priest has been arrested by the police yesterday for driving a motor vehicle in a drunken state, has been reported from the Anuradhapura sacred city. The police had given pursuit to a speeding vehicle in the city limits and had questioned those in it when it was stopped at a filling station. Thereafter it was revealed that a Buddhist priest had been at the wheel and two other priests were traveling with him. The group was taken to the Anuradhapura more..

Dec 31 (CG) Sri Lanka says Adele Balasingham, a key member of the LTTE and head trainer of LTTE�s female cadres needs to stand trial for crimes against humanity. An article appearing in the Defence Ministry website says Balasingham, the spouse of LTTE theoretician Anton Balasingham, took pride in training young girls as young as 10years to kill. The article says Adele was responsible for training, arming and tying a more..