THE SPORTS CAMPUS: Ponting, Muralitharan top decade aggregates
Posted: December 31, 2009 | Leave a CommentJacques Kallis finished the decade of the noughties (2000-2009) with the best batting average in Test match cricket and the second leading runs aggregate.
As is to be expected from a team that has had a high winning percentage during this decade, Proteas’ squad members feature prominently in all categories. Makhaya Ntini is the second leading wicket taker (380) with only the prolific Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka (565) ahead of him. Ntini has an average of 28.64 for this period with 18 five-wicket hauls and four 10-wicket hauls. Full Story
PTI: Fonseka says govt targeting supporters
Posted: December 31, 2009 | Leave a CommentOpposition Presidential nominee Sarath Fonseka today accused the Rajapaksa government of preparing a list of his supporters to be targeted before the polls, triggering an angry reaction from the Sri Lankan Police which described it as false.
Fonseka, the former Army General who is now pitted against incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa in the January 26 Presidential polls, claimed that the government has put out a “list” of people who are to be targeted for offering their support to him. Full Story
ASIAN TRIBUNE: Thaksin will not be appointed as Sri Lanka’s Economic Advisor - Sri Lanka Foreign Minister
Posted: December 31, 2009 | Leave a CommentSri Lanka Government categorically denied that the information about Thaksin Shinawatra will be appointed as an economic adviser.
With reference to the recent media speculation that former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is poised to be appointed as an economic adviser to the Government of Sri Lanka, the Foreign Ministry stated that those speculations were baseless. Full Story
BUSINESSWEEK: Sri Lanka Stocks, Asia’s Best Performers, to Extend Gains
Posted: December 31, 2009 | Leave a CommentSri Lanka’s stocks, Asia’s best- performing in 2009, may extend gains as the end of a 26-year civil war and low interest rates help boost economic growth, the island’s biggest fund manager said.
The Colombo All-Share Index, which rose 0.9 percent to a record of 3,385.55 today, may climb to 3,500 in two months, said Bimanee Meepagala, an analyst at Eagle NDB Fund Management Co., the nation’s biggest non-state fund. The gauge has jumped 125 percent this year, the world’s second-best gainer after Russia. Full Story
THE ISLAND: Buddhism in Sri Lanka: The significance of Duruthu Full Moon Poya
Posted: December 31, 2009 | Leave a CommentDuruthu is considered as the first month of the Sinhala calendar. Notable feature, this year 2009, is Duruthu Full Moon Poya falls on Thursday, December 31, 2009. Incidently, this year month of December marks two Full Moon Poya days. Unduvap Full Moon Poya fell on Tuesday December 1, 2009. Full Story
DAILY NEWS: Inflation down to 3.4 percent after 25 years - Central Bank Governor
Posted: December 31, 2009 | Leave a CommentThe year 2009 ends in a very hopeful note with the inflation rate coming down to 3.4 percent after 25 years, Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal told the Daily News yesterday.
Since 1977 there was only one occasion when the inflation rate came down to a comparable level. In all the other years after 1977 when the liberalized economy was introduced, the inflation rate was higher, he said. Full Story
THE ISLAND: Hindu Congress hails IDP relief
Posted: December 31, 2009 | Leave a CommentThe All Ceylon Hindu Congress (Federation of Hindu Religious Associations and Trusts in Sri Lanka) has expressed its high appreciation to the President and the government for the speedy resettlement of IDPs.
In a letter addressed to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Kandiah Neelakandan, the general secretary of the All Ceylon Hindu Congress, thanked the President and government officials for expediting the resettlement process. Full Story
LANKA BUSINESS ONLINE: Sri Lanka Hayleys expands to former war zone
Posted: December 31, 2009 | Leave a CommentSri Lanka’s Hayleys group said it has re-established its presence in the former northern war zone where it supplied farmers agricultural inputs and advisory services before the conflict.
Hayleys said in a statement it has set up its first-ever group showroom and business centre in the northern Jaffna peninsula where life is returning to normal like elsewhere in the war-affected north and east. Full Story
THE ISLAND: German Ambassador welcomes pace of resettlement
Posted: December 31, 2009 | Leave a Comment“Everybody had endured so many personal tragedies and I can only compliment them on their dignity and determination to rebuild their homes and lives, ” observed the German Ambassador Jens Plotner when he met and chatted with members of war-effected families who have just been resettled in the Vavuniya district.
He was on his first field visit to Manik Farm and the resettlement areas close to Vavuniya when he observed that the resettlement-process is indeed a mammoth task. The Ambassador also visited areas in Mannar district, famed as the rice bowl. Full Story
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Sri Lankans arrive to start new lives
Posted: December 31, 2009 | Leave a CommentRefugees from the Oceanic Viking have been welcomed to Australia by family and friends already in Sydney and Melbourne while six others were reunited with family detained on Christmas Island.
The 16 Sri Lankan Tamils to resettle in Australia were part of a group of 40 who left Indonesia this week after spending more than a month in a diplomatic stalemate on the customs ship that picked them up in October. Full Story