Jan 31 (DM) Political revenge and witch hunting should be confined to politicians and not be extended to their families, former president Rajapakse said after visiting his son Yoshitha Rajapakse at Welikada Prison, who was arrested on Saturday. Speaking to the media outside the magazine prison, Rajapakse said it would not matter if he was arrested and imprisoned in the govt’s political witch hunt. more..

Jan 31 (FT) Offered the chance to ride shotgun in a helicopter, I leapt at the opportunity. As anyone who has ever negotiated the roads in Sri Lanka knows, driving can be slow. The journey from Colombo to Ulagalla, 175km north-east of the airport, had taken almost five hours; the place we were moving on to was almost 350km south. A chopper seemed the way to go. It was raining, but even so the views were sensational. We glimpsed a column of elephants, their backs like great grey boulders, more..

Jan 31 (ST) Little Sri Lanka is a land with a multitude of experiences and this is seen in three resorts that feel like luxurious mini-destinations. The stylish, lakeside 11-suite Tri, where villas have living roofs, is the cutting edge of the new Sri Lankan hospitality, which is flourishing in a time of peace after the government vanquished the revolutionary Tamil Tigers in 2009, and after the 2004 tsunami. The Tea Trails bungalows in the cool hill country evoke a vanished era of British tea planters, more..

Jan 31 (DM) Yoshitha Rajapakse and five others who were arrested on Saturday have been given additional security but no additional privileges, Prisons Spokesman Thushara Upuldeniya said. Prison Commissioner Upuldeniya said the suspects were in normal prison cells, except for Kavishan Dissanayake who was admitted to the Prisons Hospital for treatment. The Department has however taken measures to reduce more..

Jan 31 (EN) Janashakthi Insurance PLC said it has completed the amalgamation of Janashakthi General Insurance Limited and AIA General Insurance Lanka Limited it had acquired for 3.2 billion rupees in Oct 2015. Janashakthi Insurance now has a market share of about 17.5% with an estimated Gross Written Premium (GWP) of 11 billion rupees. “The acquisition of AIA General Insurance Lanka Limited marked a significant step in our long term growth strategy,” it said. more..

Jan 31 (SO) SLFP dissidents in the Joint Opposition confirmed that no final decision had been taken to contest the upcoming LG polls under a separate political Front. “We still function as the Joint Opposition in Parliament, but the comments by some UPFA coalition partners show there are signs of an emerging political party. The majority of Local Govt and Pradeshiya Sabha heads and members have already said if former President Rajapaksa does not lead LG election campaign, more..

Jan 31 (EN) Police Sunday listed allegations against former president Rajapakse's son a day after he was remanded in custody and the family accused the Maithripala Sirisena govt of a vendetta. FCID had said on Saturday that Yoshitha Rajapakse was arrested and remanded in custody after questioning him under Money Laundering Act. Former president came out of the Kaduwela court house in tears and accused the authorities more..