Party leaders who convened a special meeting to discuss the oft-postponed Local Government elections decided yesterday they would hold the LG polls on January 27, 2018.

Although the Elections Commissioner is yet to officially announce the date, sources present at the meeting confirmed to Asian Mirror that party leaders had agreed upon January 27.

All party work pertaining to the elections will accelerated to allow the government to hold the Local Government elections in January, the sources further said.

Local Government and Provincial Councils Minister Faiszer Mustapha confirmed last evening that the gazette on the Local Government polls would be published in Parliament next week.

President Maithripala Sirisena and a delegation of senior SLFP Ministers are expected to meet the chief prelates of the Malwatte and Asgiriya chapters this week, informed political sources said. 

The purpose of the visit is to brief the chief prelates of the two chapters on the ongoing constitutional amendment process. 

This comes in the wake of the statement made by the Malwatte - Asgiriya Karaka Sangha Sabha against the introduction of a new constitution. 

Speaking to Asian Mirror, a senior SLFP Parliamentarian said the SLFP had decided to back constitutional reforms. 

"The President is determined to proceed with constitutional reforms. But we need the support of the Maha Sangha. We believe hey have been misguided by certain political elements. The purpose of this discussion is to clear the air on nthe matter," he said. 

"The SLFP, as a party, will ensure that the constitutional amendment will not harm the unitary status of the country," the MP added. 

Reports have surfaced that a meteoroid may have crashed into the coast of Southern Sri Lanka.

Residents of Galle and Matara reported hearing a loud noise, which has been attributed to the crash.

Experts believe a fireball meteoroid may have crashed into the Southern coast.

Further investigations are underway.

President Maithripala Sirisena, in a message issued on Deepavali said it was a day symbolizing the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil, and hope over despair.

‘I am very pleased to send this message of greetings on the occasion of the festival of Deepavali celebrated by the Hindus throughout the world, symbolizing the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil, and hope over despair,’ the President said.

‘They celebrate this with much joy and happiness by lighting lamps and illuminating their homes and places of worship.’

‘The ardent desire of every human being on this earth is to make efforts to dispel ignorance through gaining knowledge. Since ancient times, human beings depended on light and their lifecycle was adapted accordingly. The knowledge is important for the spiritual life of a human being as well as for their material life.’

‘Just as lighting a lamp eliminates the darkness, may the light of Deepavali lighten up the hearts of all individuals with collective yearning for reconciliation and may that be the common wish of every human being belonging to all civilizations,’ the President said.

‘When harmony has become essential for the existence not only of our country but also of the entire world, we should be totally committed to build a deep bond and mutual understanding based on the coexistence and reconciliation, avoiding the divisions of race, religion, caste etc. The cultural ceremonies such as Deepavali are immensely helpful to bring forth the message of harmony.’

‘I wish all the Hindus in Sri Lanka and abroad who celebrate Deepavali with utmost devotion and fervour be bestowed with happiness and prosperity and illuminate their lives with wisdom,’ the President said.

The Attorney General’s Department this morning informed the Presidential Commission investigating the Treasury bond issue that Annika Wijesuriya - who testified against former Minister Ravi Karunanayake - has left the country after receiving death threats.

Annika Wijesuriya, on July 23, testified that Arjun Aloysius had paid a monthly lease of Rs. 4.1 million on behalf of then Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake; which revelation led to the public resignation of the Minister who was in charge of Foreign Affairs at the time.

The Presidential Commission of Inquiry is currently investigating the Treasury bond auctions of February 2015 and March 2016 during which Perpetual Treasuries Limited (PTL) made unprecedented gains. 

Former Director of Perpetual Treasuries Arjun Aloysius's father-in-law Arjuna Mahendran was Governor of the Central Bank at the time and the two are accused of insider trading. 

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's office, this evening, announced that the Prime Minister was ready to appear before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Treasury bonds issue and make clarifications. 

The statement also said the Prime Minister would make clarifications "at any time" in view of references to him during proceedings. 

"In line with January 08, 2015 mandate, the government will investigate allegations made against it or its employees. The Prime Minister's office assures the public that the government will carry out its mandate to ensure democracy and establish good governance," the statement added. 

However, when two powerful Cabinet ministers Malik Samarawickrama and Kabir Hashim appeared before the commission last week, their statements were limited to mere 20 minutes with the officials from the Attorney General's Department making no effort to question them.

After the departure of the ministers, the commissioners said they had enough evidence to compile a report. 

In this context, many political observers question the genuineness of the Prime Minister's Office's statement.

Railway trade unions temporarily called off their strike launched Wednesday (11) after a meeting with President’s Secretary Austin Fernando this evening (12).

The meeting, on the instructions of President Maithripala Sirisena, was fruitful, resulting a temporary cessation of civil action.

Railway trade unions launched an unannounced yesterday evening severely inconveniencing thousands of commuters.

Talks with the Transport Minister had failed leading to the decision to continue the strike until further notice.

The State Enterprise Development Ministry has ordered the removal of Shalila Moonasinghe from the position of Litro Gas Chairman.

The decision comes in the wake of the arrest of Shalila Moonasinghe on October 9 for his involvement in the hacking of the Taiwan Far Eastern Bank.

USD $60 million was transferred from the Taiwan Far Eastern Bank to foreign destinations such as Sri Lanka, Cambodia and the United States.

Two people – including Shalila Moonasinghe – were arrested for receiving vast sums of money into their personal accounts in Colombo.

Ornella Iresha Silva, who was repatriated from Abu Dhabi yesterday (9), was arrested at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) this morning (10).

Iresha de Silva had a warrant out for her arrest through the Interpol, for her involvement with the company Gowers Corporate Services Limited.

Gowers Corporate Services Limited is a company formed by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s oldest son Namal Rajapaksa.

Iresha Silva, together with Nithya Senani Samaranayake and Sujani Bogollagama functioned as directors of the company owned by Rajapaksa.

Rajapaksa and the three others are accused of using the company Gowers Corporate Services Limited to launder money amounting to Rs. 30 million.

Taiwan's Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said today it was preparing to send investigators to Sri Lanka to seek further details on the reported arrest there of two suspects accused of helping hackers stealing millions of US dollars from a Taiwanese bank.

However, due to the fact that Taiwan has no diplomatic ties with Sri Lanka or any government representatives stationed there, the CIB told CNA, it would take some time to get everything in order for the investigators to go there.

According to local and regional news reports, Far Eastern International Bank was hacked by means of a computer virus and some US$60 million was wired to the accounts of the suspects at a Sri Lanka bank in the capital Colombo.

Two suspects were arrested last week in Sri Lanka when they tried to withdraw the money, and police there were look for a third person, according to the news reports.

"We are looking at some US$1.3 million that had come into three accounts in Sri Lanka," an unnamed Sri Lankan official involved with the investigation was quoted as saying. "We have taken two people into custody, and we are looking for one more person."

On Saturday, Far Eastern Bank said it had recovered most of the stolen money and that its losses would amount to no more than US$500,000.

The bank said it noticed some irregularities in its computerized transaction system on Tuesday and then discovered that some of its computers and servers had been infected with malware.

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication's (SWIFT) network was also compromised, which allowed the hackers to wire money to international destinations such as Sri Lanka, Cambodia and the United States, Far Eastern Bank said.

The bank said that on Thursday it reported the matter to Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) and the CIB, which in turn informed the International Criminal Police Organization and asked for assistance.

The FSC said that it was an isolated case in Taiwan and advised that Far Eastern Bank, not its customers, should absorb the losses, the bank said.

Over the weekend, after Premier Lai Ching-te was informed about the case, he asked the relevant agencies to review Taiwan's information security and to close any loopholes, according to Cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung.