Sri Lanka’s state owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) posted losses of Rs. 95 billion, according to Managing Director Susantha De Silva, while a government minister insisted that a high quality service was being provided, ruling out privatisation of the company.

According to De Silva, the losses were due to the subsidising of fuel and delay in payment by state services, despite several hikes in fuel prices in the last year alone.

Debtors included the Ceylon Electricity Board (due to which De Silva claimed to incur losses of Rs. 4.2 billion per month), the national carrier Sri Lankan Airlines (owing Rs 21 billion), the Defence Ministry (owing Rs 14 billion) and Sri Lanka Railway (owing Rs 5 billion).

Meanwhile the also state-owned Daily News reported that Petroleum Industries Minister Susil Premajayantha said the government “will never privatise any institution” and plans on “providing a high quality service“ from the CPC.

He went on to say,

"Under the Mahinda Chinthana Policy of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the privatisation of all institutions that were under the purview of the Petroleum Industries Ministry has been completely stopped"

Two villages in the Vadamaraadchi region of the Jaffna peninsula saw Christmas events organised by the Sri Lankan Army.

Soldiers of the 55th Division, based in Vetrilaikerni near Elephant Pass, dressed up as Santa and in traditional Singhalese clothes, singing songs in Singhalese, English and Tamil.

Pictures on the “Civil Military Coordination” website, show dozens of children watching the show put on by the soldiers, many of whom would have taken part in combat during the brutal end-phase of the armed conflict in 2009.

We wrote about the military presence in the Tamil homeland in a previous editorial:

"The Sri Lankan state has relentlessly continued to consolidate its militarisation of the North-East since the armed conflict drew to a close in 2009. Regardless of international efforts at closed door diplomacy and the occasional public wrist slapping, the Sri Lankan state has shown no signs of relenting. The burgeoning military budget, the grabbing of civilian lands for military housing and establishments, and the military’s saturating presence within everyday civilian life has continued; not only contrary to well-trodden paths of post-conflict reconciliation, but in brazen defiance of international criticism.

"It is not the physical deployment of Sri Lankan military soldiers in the North-East, but a state of terror imposed on the Tamil nation."

Sri Lanka’s outgoing Bank of Ceylon Bank of Ceylon chairman has stated that rates of default on state loans were almost zero in the North-East, a stark contrast to the rest of the country.

Gamini Wickramasinghe was quoted as saying,

"We are happy to say NPAs (non-performing assets) since the war, in the North and the East taken as an average is about one percent... Sometimes in some branches in the North NPAs are zero percent. You can't find this kind of thing around the country."

"They have some kind of belief that what they borrow they pay. Even the East was 1.1 percent last year. I do not know the exact number this year."

A Russian nuclear power team will visit Sri Lanka laster this month to inspect the energy sector output on the island.

The Russian ambassador Alexander Kerchava last month offered Russia's assistance to Sri Lanka in trade, energy, economy and the social sector, reported ColomboPage.

The visiting team of nuclear scientists is to support Sri Lanka’s power and energy sector.

The governor of the Central Bank, Ajith Cabraal, said that the Sri Lankan economy would grow to $100bn by 2016 and predicted a bright future for the country.

“If Sri Lanka is successful over the next three years, the country would surely be the next “Break-out Nation” and the ‘Wonder of Asia,” Mr. Cabraal said.

He pointed out that the Central Bank had to adopt ‘strong measures’ to stabilise the economy in order to reach their economic goals of a GDP of $4,000 by 2016, attracting 2.5 million tourists by 2020 and a US$ 100 billion economy by 2016.

“These measures resulted in swift responses allowing the Bank to relax the policy stance before the end of the year. Today, the Central Bank is in a position to move along a more stable and sustainable path to achieve its mission of maintaining economic and price stability and financial system stability to support sustainable and inclusive growth.”

Suresh Premachandran, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP, has said that international intervention is needed to reach a political solution in Sri Lanka, reports Uthayan.

In response to questions on whether the TNA would participate in the upcoming Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC), Premachandran stated that international influence would be essential to negotiating a political solution with a government that shows no intention of power-sharing.

He further stated that attacks to the 13th amendment, the introduction of the 18th amendment and the Divi Neguma scheme would not have been introduced had the government been genuinely interested in a political settlement.

Premachandran also commented on the Chief Justice impeachment saga, saying that the state of the country's justice system was indicative of the kind of political process that could be expected for the Tamil issue.

There has been uproar and anger amongst Buddhist clergy and trade union leaders over the government's official calendar, which does not include Poya days (full moon days) as holidays for public servants and private sector employees.

The national organiser of the Bodu Bala Sena, the Ven. Vitarandeniya Nanda, said:

“Poya is significant for Sri Lanka where most people are Buddhists. It should continue to be a mercantile holiday. Otherwise, it will be a great injustice to Buddhists. We do not know whether this is a mistake or a deliberate act.”

The President of the Inter Company Employees Union, Wasantha Samasinghe said:

“The government should declare its stand. We, as trade union leaders, are confused by this action.”

The government has dismissed the uproar and unwarranted. The Secretary of the Public Administration Ministry, P. B. Abeykoon said:

“Full Moon Poya Days are holidays common to all the employees. There is no need for specific mention about it in the calendar. For the last so many years, Poya Days have not been mentioned as mercantile holidays in the official calendar. Poya is always a holiday meant for private sector employees. Therefore, there is no need to be unnecessarily concerned in this regard.”

The decision of when to resume operations at the University of Jaffna will be taken after Thaipongal, reports Uthayan.

The university's Faculty of Arts concluded that too many 'complications' would arise, should teaching go on as normal while students were being held under anti-terrorism laws, and so a date to reopen will be decided after the festival of Thaipongal.

The Faculty of Sciences is also due to meet soon to discuss the issue.

The Commander of the Sri Lankan Army, Lt Gen Jagath Jayasuriya, extended his New Year wishes to the armed forces.

Jayasuriya, in a speech at the army headquarters, expressed his pride in the dedication his forces had shown to development projects in the country.

The General also pledged that more training, both domestically and internationally, would be provided for the army.

“One of our prioritized objectives during this year is the enhancement of training opportunities at local and international levels.” Jayasuriya said.

The Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse has joined his brother in accusing foreign conspiracies for bringing the country into disrepute.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of a building, he also claimed that all Sri Lankans are now living in harmony.

“This is the country of our birth. So, the responsibility of protecting peace and harmony lies in our hands,

“Sri Lanka is making giant strides in all spheres. All Sri Lankans are living in harmony and working for the country’s benefit. We can strengthen national unity by learning all three languages,

“The country enjoys the dividends of peace which is a blessing for all Sri Lankans. So, we should protect this freedom in the future too,

“Some sections of society with vested interests have joined forces to spread false allegations and bring the government and country into disrepute. These organizations rely on foreign elements and funds to fund their conspiracies against the country,

”We will never allow these forces to destroy this country as we have inherited a right to protect this country for future generations”,

The president also hailed Sri Lanka’s economic model, saying that privatisation of state properties will not occur again.

“Sri Lanka is now self - sufficient in rice, while the surplus is being exported,

“Sri Lanka takes loans to develop the country. We have never sold state property or resources to receive money as had been the policy of former governments,

“We have passed that era and entered a new one where development is achieved not by selling state properties but by receiving loans,”

“When I met Gen Bikram Singh, I renewed our offer to train Indian forces in counter-insurgency. We have designed courses in this field and have offered them to other countries facing terrorism.”

It is now up to the Indian army chief to decide.”

The military has no intention of withdrawing army camps in Jaffna despite intense pressure exerted by the international community and Tamil political parties, reported The Sunday Leader.

The Jaffna Security Forces Commander Major General Mahinda Hathursinghe defended the excessive military presence, alleging that the LTTE is still active.

“The army is aware of this and remains vigilant,” Hathursinghe told The Sunday Leader.

Hathursinghe went on to imply that, the building of new military camps on ‘government land’ were, in fact, aiding resettlement as the military could move out of occupied civilian homes.

“Now we are using government land to build army camps. So gradually we are returning civilian homes,” he said.

Demonstrating the intense military presence, Democratic People’s Front (DPF) leader, Mano Ganeshan, said,

“The government is telling the world the war is over. We are saying if that is so then remove the new camps. In the whole country there are only 20 divisions. Of this 10 are in the north and 5 in the east”

Incidentally, the British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, John Rankin, also outlined  that if the army was to be considered a non-occupying army, the military presence in the north should resemble that of the army presence seen in other 

The brother of Khuram Shaikh, the British man murdered in Sri Lanka on Christmas day last year has spoken out about the lack of action with the case.

Nasser Shaikh told BBC Breakfast that the stalled case was "disheartening" and "gives out the wrong message".

Matt Baker, parliamentary aide for Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk, who has taken up the case said:

"There is some concern that political interference is playing a part, particularly as one of the suspects is a prominent politician with ties to the president."

"One year on from the murder all the suspects have been released on bail, no charges have been brought, the politician has been reinstated back into the ruling party and there is no trial on the horizon,"

See here for full report on BBC News.