President Mahinda Rajapaksa has made a serious allegation against former Health Minister and Common Opposition Presidential candidate Maithripala Sirisena saying he accepted money from cigarette companies and then acknowledged it, the State controlled Sinhala paper Dinamina reported.

President of the All-Ceylon Buddhist Congress Jagath Sumathipala has vacated his post, informed sources said.

Internal rifts erupting within the Rajapaksa regime has led to President Mahinda Rajapaksa being unable to unveil his policy manifesto before 5,47,000 postal voters exercise their franchise on Dec. 23 -24, co-media spokesperson of the common candidate - MP Mangala Samaraweera said.

The Sri Lankan collective in France is to hold a protest demonstration urging the Sri Lankan Elections Commissioner - Mahinda Deshapriya to hold a fair and free Presidential election on Jan. 08.

According to certain studies of voter behaviour ahead of the Presidential polls, the popularity of common candidate Maithripala Sirisena is rising steadily while the popularity of incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa is declining fast, the 'Ravaya' newspaper reports.

A conspiracy is underway to distress cricketer Kumar Sangakkara by claiming he is to enter politics, 'Sri Lanka Mirror' learns from reliable sources.

India will now export two warships to Sri Lanka after delivering a warship to Mauritius for the first time, Minister of State for Defence Production Rao Inderjit Singh has stated.