Aug 9 (TN) Reconstruction of nine bridges on the 98 km long A-32 Navatkuli-Kerativu road connecting the districts of Mannar and Jaffna costing nearly 230 million rupees was initiated under the UK funded North East Bridges Reconstruction Programme (NEBRP). more..

Aug 9 (TN) World Bank funded the North East Integrated Agricultural Programme (NEIAP) 2 has allocated about 16 million rupees to renovate five major tanks in the districts of Mannar, Killinochchi, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Amparai bringing a total of about 37,749 hectares of land under paddy for both seasons and the beneficiaries will be about 30,811 farming families, more..

Aug 9 (BBC) Sri Lanka�s Tamil Tigers attempted to assassinate a Sinhala parliamentarian, opposition Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) said. However, the party would not be intimidated by LTTE threats, JVP�s General Secretary Tilvin Silva said. more..

Aug 9 (TP) Police have decided that they would not provide bodyguards or security personnel to the children, especially sons, of parliamentarians to accompany them on private events. The Daily Mirror said the Police chief Chandra Fernando had instructed the head of the Ministerial Security Division to strictly enforce this order. more..

Aug 9 (TP) A large number of expatriate Sri Lankan Tamils from various parts of the world have arrived in the northern town of Jaffna for the annual historic Nallur Kanthaswamy Kovil festival which begins on August 10, the Daily News reported. more..

Aug 9 (TP) Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake, in the eye of a storm over the date of the next presidential poll, is likely to meet the leaders of all main political parties in coming weeks before fixing the date for the next presidential election, according to some news reports. more..

Aug 9 (AT) While hundreds of protesters marched against the LTTE attack on the JVP office in Kantale, near Trincomalee, the arrested LTTE cadre involved in the attack had confessed to the Police that he was ordered by LTTE�s Kattaparichchan Intelligence Leader Niroshan to kill the JVP MP, Jayantha Wijesekera, who was in office at the time. more..

Aug 9 (AT) The JVP condemned the Tamil rebel attack on JVP office in Trincomalee and urged the government to restore democratic rights of the people in the north and east. Addressing a press conference, JVP leaders said that the cowardly attack on its political office was carried out by the LTTE. more..

Aug 9 (AT) The Tamil rebels do not favor Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse�s proposed visit to the sacred Catholic shrine at Madhu in the rebel controlled north. The LTTE did not favour the proposed visit when Bishop of Mannar Rev. Royappu Joseph informed them about the Prime Minister�s desire to visit the shrine in Madhu located in the Mannar district, on August 15 for the annual feast. more..

Aug 9 (AT) More than five thousand upcountry plantation workers, leaders of the political parties and trade unions jointly participated on Monday evening in a massive demonstration in front of the Colombo Fort Railway Station against Mervyn Silva, Deputy Minister of Labor Relations and Foreign Employment, over his recent racial slurs directed against the Tamils of the Indian origin. more..

Aug 9 (KT) MADRASSAS have become a major topic of global debate. Madrassa in Arabic means school but in South Asia, Madrassa means any institution which teaches Islam. But there are serious misconceptions in the West about what is taught in madrassas. more..

Aug 9 (TN) The Sri Lanka's parliament reconvened Tuesday morning with the Speaker Mr.W.M.J.Lokkubandara in the chair. Mr.Lokkubandara informed the house that the ruling party UPFA has appointed Mr.Nimal Sripala de Silva as the Leader of the House, filling the vacancy created with the resignation of Mr.Maithiripala Sirisena. more..

Aug 9 (TN) Karunakaran Sasikaran (16) of Allarai Kodikamam in Thenmaradchchi division in Jaffna district who is alleged to have been taken into custody by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers in Muhamalai checkpoint recently when he was crossing to enter Wanni has not been released yet, more..

Aug 9 (TN) Ms Vijeyakumary Thavasilingam, an exponent in Carnatic Music and the pioneer in the creation of a Music group that played traditional Tamil instruments, was felicitated for her services to the Tamil culture and fine arts at the Festival of Human Values held Sunday evening in Trincomalee St.Mary's College more..

Aug 9 (SLA) The decomposed remains of the civilian, who went into un-cleared areas of AMBALAMA, MAHAOYA in the company of two others for tamarind plucking were brought back to DEHIATTEKANDIYA Hospital on Monday (08) for post-mortem. more..

Aug 9 (SLA) Five more teenagers, one of them being as young as thirteen years had been reportedly abducted by LTTE for conscription within a matter of one week (19-27 July 2005) from the general area of BATTICALOA. more..

Aug 9 (LT) Karu Jayasuriya has been named the UNP candidate for the post of Prime Minister. UNP leader made the announcement at a ceremony held to congratulate him for being elected the vice-persistent of World Democrats' Union and the president of the union in the countries in South Asian region. more..

Aug 9 (LT) "No one can scare us. We will continue to do political work in the Eastern Province. If anyone tries to prevent our party from engaging in politics anywhere in the country it would be a futile effort," said Mr. Tilvin Silva, General Secretary of the JVP addressing a media meeting held in Colombo yesterday. more..

Aug 9 (SN) The various events that took place after the interim order of the Supreme Court on the P-TOMS MOU. At various places, and on a daily basis, their were murders of security personals by the LTTE gunmen. Who were not captured to-date. more..

Aug 9 (Reuters) Sri Lanka Telecom posted a 19 percent fall in first-half net profit on Tuesday due mostly to a levy on international service that the country's largest fixed-line operator said would largely be refunded. more..

Aug 9 (LNP) More than 40 percent of the employers islandwide have not been remitting Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contributions. The Labour Department yesterday (8) launched an operation to nab the errant employers. Labour Ministry Secretary, Mahinda Madihewa told The Island yesterday the department had deployed officers to track down errant employees. more..

Aug 9 (LNP) The LTTE is continuing its attempts to provoke the forces. On Saturday (7) in Jaffna, one of a group of four soldiers on patrol duty was attacked with a pole by an LTTE cadre who was amongst a group which had been following the soldiers, an Army spokesman said. more..

Aug 9 (Xinhua) The internecine clashes between the rival factions in the Tamil Tiger outfit has claimed another four lives since Monday night in eastern Sri Lanka, defense officials said Tuesday. more..

Aug 9 (SAMN) In a statement issued by Information and Media Minister Dilan Perera, he says that granting of Pensionable status to journalists has been finalized after a joint discussion held between the Information and Media Ministry and the Women�s Welfare and Social Welfare Ministry with the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association which was under discussion for several years. more..

Aug 9 (SAMN) Deputy Transport Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna yesterday vowed not to give into the threats of private bus operators while the Lanka Private Bus Owners Association (LPBOA) said it will go on with the proposed islandwide strike today. more..

Aug 9 (SAMN) The Prime Minister is to refer protests made against Cabinet colleague Mervyn Silva by several political parties, to the President and the Secretary General of the SLFP and the Central Committee, for action. more..

Aug 9 (PIS) Four Tiger cadres from Chavakachcheri, including Iswaran who is in charge of the area, were responsible for abducting SSP Charles Wijewardena and later murdering him, Police sources told the Daily Mirror. more..

Aug 9 (DN) The Samurdhi and Poverty Alleviation Ministry has formulated a special scheme to provide scholarships to 14,000 schoolchildren of families at the lowest rung of the poverty level. more..

Aug 9 (IANS) Despite Tuesday being a working day here, this Sri Lanka capital seemed to have shut down to watch the India-Sri Lanka triangular series final - either on television sets or at the R. Premadasa Stadium. more..

Aug 9 (Reuters) Tens of thousands of people were stranded across Sri Lanka on Tuesday and hundreds of children missed school as private transport operators went on strike to protest higher fines for bad driving. more..

Aug 9 (Reuters) Opener Sanath Jayasuriya became the fourth batsman to score 10,000 one-day runs while helping Sri Lanka to an imposing total of 281 for nine in the final of the triangular series against India on Tuesday. Jayasuriya smashed 67 of 77 balls but was eventually outclassed by the inform Mahela Jayawardene, more..

Aug 9 (Reuters) A feud between Sri Lanka's mainstream Tamil Tigers and a breakaway faction that threatens to rupture a 3-1/2-year truce is an internal rebel problem, and the government will not hunt down and disarm the renegades, a top official said on Tuesday. more..

Aug 10 (TN) Mr.Maithiripala Sirisena, General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the main constituent of the ruling UPFA government, Tuesday filed a petition with the Supreme Court to order the Commissioner of Elections to hold the next Sri Lanka Presidential election in 2006, more..

Aug 10 (TN) Dr.S.Gunarasa, Jaffna Municipal Commissioner, during a conference held at the Jaffna district secretariat Tuesday afternoon, requested the authorities to take steps re-open the Powerhouse Road for public use to ease traffic congestion in Jaffna town, sources said. more..

Aug 10 (TN) Farmers in the three districts of eastern province, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Amparai, are unable to harvest their crops due to acute shortage of labourers. The farmers fear that monsoon rain expected during the end of August would destroy their crops if not harvested in time, sources said. more..

Aug 10 (TN) Two political cadres of the LTTE were shot and killed by unidentified gunmen who were riding in a blue colour van Wednesday around 7:30 a.m. The incident took place at Kanjirankuda junction on Akkaraipattu-Pottuvil Main Road, more..

Aug 10 (SLA) Two motorbike- riding suspected LTTE men fell victim to gunfire, said to have been directed by another group of assassins who were on a van while the victims were in the general area of RUPAS junction, THIRUKKOVIL on AKKARAIPATTU road Wednesday (10) morning at about 7.45 a.m. more..

Aug 10 (SLA) Two armed LTTE men have fired towards a group of fishermen, engaged in fishing in the general sea area of UPPARU on 09 August 2005 around 7.30 a.m. after the group was forcibly taken away and threatened by those armed LTTE men. more..

Aug 10 (SLA) LTTE gunmen in the general area, about 300- 400 m east of KATTAPARICHCHAN Brigade on Tuesday (09) night at about 7.50 p.m. fired a Multi Purpose Machine Gun (MPMG) tracer round, directed at KATTAPARICHCHAN Army camp which is situated at a nearby location. more..

Aug 10 (SLA) The LTTE with no regard to the Cease-Fire Agreement (CFA) has once again violated provisions of the agreement by showing an LTTE film inside a refuge camp at POTHPATHAI, KUDATHANAI around 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday (09) night. more..

Aug 10 (SLA) Two suspected LTTE men, armed with a T-56 weapon have waylaid and robbed Rs150,000 (US $ 1500) of a lorry proceeding towards PADIYATALAWA while the lorry was running in the general area of PELATIYAWA, POLONNARUWA during early hours on 09 August 2005. more..

Aug 10 (PSL) Power and Energy Minister Susil Premajayantha declared recently that hydropower was a win-win situation for the nation at large. �The only large-scale reliable indigenous resource we have, hydropower was to be utilised to the maximum. more..

Aug 10 (LT) UNP Western Provincial Councilor, Thusara Perera says that United National Party leader Ranil Wickramasinghe is a leader without a backbone and who cannot get anything straight. He contends that he can never be a leader. more..

Aug 10 (LT) Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse says he vehemently condemns the grenade attack on the JVP office at Kanthale in Trincomalee District. Issuing a communiqu�, the Prime Minister says it was an undemocratic act. As the suspects have been arrested legal action would be taken against them says Mr. Rajapakse in his communiqu�. more..

Aug 10 (LT) Nimal Siripala de Silva has been appointed as the new Leader of the House. This was announced by the Speaker W.G.M. Lokubandara when the Parliament met yesterday. Mr. Maithripala Sirisena, General Secretary of the SLFP was the Leader of the House earlier. more..

Aug 10 (LT) The true picture of the tiger organization could be revealed to the international community and immediate legal action could be taken as the tigers that launched an attack on the JVP office at Kanthale were apprehended by the police state Sri Lanka Police Inspectors' Association in an urgent letter sent to the IGP. more..

Aug 10 (LT) The protest campaign and the protest march of the Railway employees that had been arranged to be held today have been called off. Railways General Employees Union had earlier announced that trade union action would be taken regarding 18 demands they had submitted to the Department. more..

Aug 10 (GT) A MAN who walked into the Commercial Bank branch at Akuressa yesterday around 1.30pm got away with Rs4mn in cash. He handed over a letter to the cashier. The letter said the man was armed and demanded that he should immediately hand over Rs4mn. It said that he had three accomplices waiting for him outside the bank. more..

Aug 10 (GT) WESTERN Provincial Council UNP member Thushara Perera has warned the UNP and opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to beware of a section of his party �which has taken a contract to destroy the UNP by launching a mud slinging campaign against prime minister and SLFP Presidential candidate Mahinda Rajapakse�. more..

Aug 10 (Reuters) Sri Lanka raised on Wednesday its 2005 budget deficit forecast to 8.5 percent of gross domestic product from 7.6 percent previously, citing costs related to rebuilding the island's tsunami-battered coastline. "We were planning on investing $2.2 billion on coastal areas that were hit by the tsunami over the next 3-4 years," more..