Oct 3 (TN) The TNA Friday told the visiting Australian parliamentary delegation that the establishment of an interim administration with adequate powers has become a sine qua non for rebuilding the war ravaged northeast province and to ensure the survival of the present peace environment. more..

Oct 3 (UNI) The People's Alliance (PA), Sri Lanka's main Opposition, taking exception to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's address of justifying the US invasion of Iraq in the recently-concluded U N General Assembly, will be moving a no-confidence motion against his Government. more..

Oct 3 (News24) A rousing fightback from the Sri Lankan A tail spared the tourists considerable blushes against the South African Academy on the opening day of their three day cricket match at the North West Oval on Friday. After stuttering to 168 for six, the Lankans recovered sufficiently to declare on 311 for nine. more..

Oct 3 (TN) Mahalingam Lingaruban,21, of Urumpirai and V.Rasakumar,30, of Point Pedro were killed instantaneously Friday evening around 5 p.m. when a Sri Lanka Army truck collided with their motorbike at the Gurunagar water tank junction in Jaffna town, police said. more..

Oct 4 (TN) Owners of coconut estates in High Security Zones in Thenmaradchi Jaffna, through the NPCEOA, requested the Government of Sri Lanka to pay compensation for the loss of trees used to construct SLA bunkers and for the revenue lost due to the Sri Lanka Army soldiers' use of estate produce, more..

Oct 4 (Island) World Bank Director in Colombo Peter Harold says that the World Bank is indirectly funding a project of the LTTE front Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO). Harold said that money was channelled through the government of Sri Lanka for a project carried out by the TRO. more..

Oct 4 (LT) Students belonging to Inter Universities Students� Federation engaged in a �sathyagraha� campaign opposite University Grants Commission demanding the removal vice-chancellor of the University of Sri Jayawardenepura. more..

Oct 4 (IL) The government's total expenditure next year will be Rs. 668.6 billion and the total receipts including revenue and foreign grants will be Rs. 356.1 billion, according to Finance Minister K. N. Choksy's appropriation bill which was presented to the Cabinet, the Daily Mirror reported. more..

Oct 4 (IL) The Chamber Development Project (CDP), a partnership between the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL) and Germany's Handwerkskammer (HwK) Koblenz, in cooperation with the Ministry of Commerce and Consumer Affairs are organising a study tour on the German chamber system from October 5 to 11, more..

Oct 4 (IL) The Ceylon Electricity Board yesterday promised its consumers a better and continuous power supply from the end of this year, with two more new grid substations expected to be connect to the national power grid. more..

Oct 4 (IL) The Administration of Colombo University and Law Faculty Students Union (LFSU) were pondering on measures to enhance the security to avoid future violence. LFSU President, Ravindra Mayu Rangana said that they held talks with the Administration regarding the security measures to the university. more..

Oct 4 (DN) The Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) will fine tune its investigation strategy to net 15 more 'A Grade' drug traffickers operating both locally and internationally. The PNB has already netted 18 from the A Grade list of drug traffickers with yet another 15 still at large, more..

Oct 4 (TN) More than 1500 representatives of women�s organizations in Jaffna gathered at the Veerasingham hall in Jaffna town Thursday at 9 a.m., and critically discussed the problems confronting women, in particular, the lack of awareness of social issues among women in villages and barriers to women's development in the spheres of education and economics, more..

Oct 4 (LBO) The government is in high level talks with energy arm of India�s TATA Group to build and operate Sri Lanka�s first 300 MW coal power plant. Though a location for the plant is yet to be decided, TATA Power is reportedly interested in a site at Trincomalee or Hambantota, more..

Oct 4 (Hindu) The main Opposition party, the SLFP, headed by the President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, has welcomed the U.S. decision re-designating the LTTE as a foreign terrorist organisation (FTO) and wanted the ban to "continue till we come to a negotiated settlement". more..

Oct 4 (TN) Sri Lanka Army (SLA) stepped up checking pedestrians and vehicles at several key roads and junctions in Batticaloa district inconveniencing civilians and causing delays to vehicular traffic, sources in Batticaloa said. more..

Oct 4 (TN) The UNICEF launched a book on Mine Risk Education at the Puthukulam Maha Vidiyalayam in Vavuniya with the support of the Department of Education, and the book will be included in the curriculum of Vavuniya schools to create an awareness among children of the dangers posed by land Mines, booby traps and unexploded ordnances, more..

Oct 4 (TN) Widespread clashes erupted between Sri Lanka army and large crowds of angry residents in the Jaffna town suburbs of Gurunagar and Paashaiyoor Saturday morning. Three civilians were injured in the clashes that rapidly spread to all the neighbourhoods of these densely populated coastal suburbs, Police said. more..

Oct 4 (LBO) Cathay Pacific could add a fifth flight to Sri Lanka, with cargo and passenger numbers picking up. Airline officials here to celebrate 10 years of operations out of Sri Lanka, say demand in and out of the country is moving up with the peace process taking root. more..

Oct 4 (SLA) A soldier had allegedly taken his own life while in PUNANI army camp about 14 km east of WELIKANDA, on 02 October 2003 around 8.15 p.m. The soldier private D.M.G DISSANAYAKA of NO. 35, ALUTHWALA, DIYATALAWA who was attached to the PUNANI Army camp succumbed to his injuries after having admitted to WELIKANDA hospital. more..

Oct 4 (SLA) One hundred and twenty nine (129) lorry loads of food and other essential items had been dispatched to un-cleared areas in the northern province during the period between 22 September 2003 and 28 September 2003. more..

Oct 4 (DM) President Chandrika Kumaratunga said yesterday she hoped and prayed for a negotiated settlement of the ethnic conflict which she said might not materialise unless there was a change in the mindset of the people along with radical reforms in education. more..

Oct 4 (HT) Ex-Indian Army de-miners, whose induction into parts of Vavuniya district in North Sri Lanka had triggered apprehensions among the pro-LTTE Tamils about a possible Indian military intervention, are willing to work in the LTTE controlled areas to prove their bona fides. more..

Oct 4 (UNI) United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, who was scheduled to visit Sri Lanka on October 9 on a three-day visit, has postponed his visit to the island nation since his presence was required in New York for a controversial new resolution on Iraq. more..

Oct 4 (AP) Three people were injured and admitted to hospital Saturday in Sri Lanka's northern town of Jaffna when police used tear gas and batton charged to disperse protesters who mourned the death of two young men knocked by a speeding army truck. more..

Oct 5 (TN) The United Alliance of Railway Trade Unions (UARTU) said Saturday that it would continue its strike, which was originally launched for forty-eight hours with out a break till their demands are met. Meanwhile entire train services in the island have ground to a halt since Tuesday midnight. more..

Oct 5 (TN) The World Medical Team (WMT) comprising sixty-one medical specialists from United States of America, Holland and Nigeria are conducting an eight-day free medical service in Trincomalee since September 29 at American Mission hall which is located at Uppuveli about two km north of Trincomalee town, more..

Oct 5 (LT) The LTTE has ordered that 25% of the compensation money the Muslims of Valachchena received from the government should be paid to them. Anjineer, the leader of the financial unit of the Tamil tiger orgernization at Valachchena has made this order and has warned that all those who violate his order would be punished. more..

Oct 5 (Island) Red faces abound at police headquarters following the recent raid of the premises of a man law enforcers say is one of the country�s leading drug barons when detectives found a video tape and photographs of police brass including the IGP who were guests at the five-star birthday bash of the suspect�s infant daughter. more..

Oct 5 (SL) The Permanent Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption is once again in the eye of a storm with evidence emerging that President Chandrika Kumaratunga could be acting in collusion with the bribery commissioners to manipulate the workings of the commission. more..

Oct 5 (SL) The latest destination in the on going political odyssey of the LTTE organisation is the Emerald Isle. LTTE Political Wing Chief, S.P. Tamilselvan along with Eastern Special Military Commander, Karuna and a woman activist, Thamilvili boarded a Sri Lanka Air Force helicopter from Kilinochchi on October 2 to leave for Dublin via Colombo. more..

Oct 5 (SO) Four Tamil political parties opposed to the LTTE met with President Chandrika Kumaratunga last week and requested her not to de-merge the North East province reiterating that devolution of power is a must for a solution to the ethnic crisis. more..

Oct 5 (TS) Sri Lanka Police ended the four-year unbeaten streak of Bombay Gymkhana by winning the Castle Lager All India & South Asia Rugby Tournament at the Bombay Gymkhana here today. In an intense and wildly fluctuating final, the cops from the emerald isles took the title with a determined 19-17 win. more..

Oct 5 (TP) Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has turned down an invitation to attend the 10th International Islamic Conference in Malaysia this month and was instead sending a Muslim minister as his representative, newspapers reported yesterday. more..

Oct 5 (TN) Professor David Cole of Georgetown University and Nancy Chang, Senior attorney at Center for Constitutional Rights, New York, will lead the legal challenge against the provision of the USA Patriot Act that criminalizes the provision of �expert advice and assistance� to proscribed organizations. more..

Oct 5 (ST) The UNF Government is to make a fresh attempt to wrest control of the defence establishment from the President amidst rising fears of weakening security forces and a militarily stronger Tiger guerrillas. more..

Oct 5 (AFP) Sri Lanka has launched a major push to boost cricket in war-torn areas and plans to set up an international stadium in a former battle zone, Sri Lanka Cricket chairman Thilanga Sumathipala said. more..

Oct 5 (Gulf) Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe, rocked by growing opposition to a statement he made last week to the UN General Assembly justifying the US led invasion of Iraq has launched a major campaign to soft-peddle the issue saying his speech has been taken out-of-context. more..

Oct 5 (PTI) UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is due to visit India on his way to an 'Islamic Summit' in Malaysia, but he will skip his other stopover in Sri Lanka, diplomats said on Sunday. Annan, who was originally expected in Colombo on October 10, will miss the Sri Lankan capital and instead go ahead with his visit to New Delhi on October 14 before heading off to Kaula Lumpur, more..

Oct 5 (SLA) Naval troops on duty have arrested ten Indian fishermen while they were poaching in Sri Lanka waters in the general sea area off TALAIMANNAR on 03 October 2003 around 3.00 p.m. Subsequently arrested fishermen with their boats have been handed over to TALAIMANNAR Police station. more..

Oct 5 (HT) Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's speech at the UN General Assembly on September 26 has come in for bitter criticism in the media here for the support it gave to the US war against Iraq without a UN mandate. more..

Oct 5 (AFP) Two wild boar raided a Sri Lankan hospital Sunday and escaped after smashing windows, terrorising patients and rummaging through a neighbouring grocery store, a doctor said. more..

Oct 5 (TN) Subramaniam Kirubakaran, 36, a former member of the Eelam Peoples Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) was shot dead in Araiyampathy in Batticaloa district Saturday morning at 10 am, ex-militant sources said. more..

Oct 5 (TN) A Sri Lanka Army (SLA) delegation led by 23-3 Brigade Commander Col.L.Ameratunge will meet with a LTTE delegation led by Senior Commander T.Ramesh at the Vavunathivu district Secretariat building Monday, security sources in Batticaloa said. more..

Oct 5 (PTI) The second Asian Information Technology Ministers' summit will be held in Hyderabad on November 6 to create a framework for bridging the digital divide in the region. more..

Oct 5 (PTI) Pakistan ripped apart the Sri Lankan battting line up in the final to clinch the cricket tri-nation Emerging Trophy by six wickets at the Premadasa Stadium here on Sunday. more..

Oct 5 (TN) Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe said Sunday that LTTE's response to the Sri Lanka Government proposals on the Interim Administrative (IA) structure for the northeast, which is expected to be submitted by the end of this month, needs to be discussed openly, more..

Oct 5 (TN) The UARTU Sunday evening called off their strike following successful discussions with Transport Minister Mr.Tilak Marapane. Railway Authority Chairman Mr.Hemachandra Manatunge said. Train services which had come to a standstill since Tuesday midnight would return to normal Monday morning, more..

Oct 5 (NIP) Geoffrey Boycott believes India's best chance at winning Tests abroad lies only in Sri Lanka. His reasoning: the wickets are flat and aid spinners. But he'd probably revise his opinion if he takes a close look at the Emerging Teams Trophy tri-series currently being held in Colombo. more..

Oct 6 (DN) The targetted two million tourist arrivals to the country could be expected within the next few years with the success of the existing peace process, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said. more..