The ceremony of official handing over of 177 acres of land in Sampoor to the rightful owners was held yesterday. Follwoing the instructions of President Maithripala Sirisena, steps have been taken to hand over the land deeds in Northern and Eastern provinces which were held under the control of Government security forces.

The event was participated by the Leader of the Opposition R. Sambandan, the Minister of Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Religious Affairs, D.M. Swaminathan, the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Eng. Karunasena Hettiarachchi, the Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne, the Chief Minister of the Eastern Province, Hon. Z.A. Nazeer Ahamed (Eng), Ministers of the Eastern Provincial Council, the Divisional Secretariat of Muthur and a large number of government officials. This land was previously occupied by a naval base in the area. Further navy has extended their support to refurbish the old Sampoor Maha Vidyalaya and Hindu Kovil which were stationed in this land, upon their handing over.

The naval base which was declared open in 2007 as a naval training centre in Sampoor later commissioned as SLNS Vidura in 2013. President Maithripala Sirisena handed over 60 acres of land out of 237, which belonged to SLNS Vidura earlier, to its original owners in August last year and the rest of 177 acres were returned today. The Sampoor naval base was shifted to a new area nearby.

The Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) appointed former MP Mavai Senathirajah as the head of the party’s Central Committee. According to reports, C. V. K. Sivagnanam was also appointed as the Acting Leader of ITAK.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has summoned Yoshitha Rajapaksa, the second son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, to record a statement regarding the ownership of a government-owned land in Kataragama.

The National People's Power (NPP) government now has a struggle with state officials to safeguard the NPP's policies, whereas the NPP had to struggle on the streets for the rights of the people before taking over power, Minister of Industries Sunil Handunnetti said today.

Sulochana Gamage, a former member of the Western Provincial Council, who was arrested while allegedly accepting a bribe, has been ordered to be remanded in custody along with another individual until January 6, 2025. The Hulftsdorp Additional Magistrate issued the remand order following their arrest on bribery charges.

SLPP Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa, paid his last respects to Dr. Manmohan Singh, the former Prime Minister of India, at the Congress Party headquarters in New Delhi today.

A jet-powered drone, believed to be a target drone used for military training, was discovered floating in Sri Lanka’s eastern waters near Trincomalee.

Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe paid his last respects to former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi today. He also met Indian Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi at Singh's residence.

A Sri Lankan woman with health issues caused a plane to make an emergency landing at the Erbil International Airport on Wednesday. She died in the Kurdish capital hours later, according to Sri Lanka’s honorary consul.

Sri Lankan President Anura Dissanayake expressed interest in joining BRICS in a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the republic's ambassador to Moscow Pakir Amza told RIA Novosti.

While the Government has pledged to initiate a fresh investigation into the murder of rugby player Wasim Thajudeen, it has yet to reach out to the Thajudeen family or their lawyer regarding the ongoing cases and the promised new probe, The Daily Morning learnt.