Mar 27 (BBC) In Galle, while the officials say that everything is on track, the displaced Tsunami victims say that things are far from satisfactory. �The short and long term rehabilitation processes are successfully underway. more..

Mar 27 (SLA) On information, Naval troops had recovered six Gas Masks from an abandoned temporary hut located at a place West of KUCHCHAVELI � TIRIYAI road. It is suspected that these items belonged to the LTTE. Investigations are on. more..

Mar 27 (SLA) Naval troops on duty in the general sea area northwest of THALAIMANNAR pier have observed approximately 75 � 100 Indian fishing trawlers poaching in the Sri Lankan water on 26 March 2005 between 6.00 � 9.00 p.m.

Mar 27 (LBO) Employers blasted the governments watered down hire and fire polices, they say, will scare foreign investors and be a bottleneck for restructuring sick businesses. Top chambers led by the Joint Business Forum say the compensation formula will make it too expensive to lay off workers and is uncompetitive by even regional standards. more..

Mar 27 (ANN) The last television assembly plant in business in Sri Lanka closed last August when Singer Industries (Ceylon) Limited shut down its TV assembly department which was operationally losing Rs.1 million per month � "yet another victim of the globalization policy,�� according to Mr. Hemaka Amarasuriya, the company�s chairman. more..

Mar 27 (AT) LTTE has set up a well-organised network in Australia to collect funds and to provide logistical assistance in procuring arms. LTTE front organisations function in Australia despite an Australian Government�s ban on LTTE. The body that directly represents the LTTE in Australia is the Tamil Coordinating Committee (TCC). more..

Mar 27 (LT) JVP is prepared to take a crucial decision if the cabinet decides to privatize the remaining 1/3rd shares of Ceylon Electricity Board and Ceylon Petroleum Corporation at a special cabinet meeting scheduled to be held tomorrow (28th) say internal sources of the JVP. more..

Mar 27 (SAMN) JVP heavyweight Nandana Gunatilleke has called for the establishment of a Parliamentary Select Committee to investigate foreign funded NGOs. Gunatilleke, who is also the chairman of the UPFA, had handed over the motion to Speaker W. J. M. Lokubandara. more..

Mar 27 (SAMN) Prisons Commissioner Rumy Marzook faces a ministerial probe over his conduct following a CID report that blamed him of giving special treatment to an influential prisoner at Welikada. The report submitted to Colombo Additional Magistrate Mohamed Irshadeen on Wednesday, more..

Mar 27 (SAMN) Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse today (Sunday) completes a week-long private visit to Britain and Northern Ireland during which he had a medical check up in London and attended a reception at the Sri Lanka High Commission where he met a large number of Lankans living in Britain. more..

Mar 27 (BBC) Top Sri Lankan cricket officials and former national players have elected a new committee after the government's suspension of the cricket board. Sri Lanka Cricket was taken over on Friday by a government committee, which said it had mismanaged funds and did not follow government-laid guidelines. more..

Mar 27 (CI) England A's winter ended with a whimper, as they crashed out of the triangular tournament after a crushing 114-run defeat to Pakistan A at Moratuwa. While Ian Bell's side head home, Sri Lanka A will now face Pakistan A in the final on Tuesday, but they will face a stern test: Pakistan have won all four of their group matches. more..

Mar 27 (Xinhua) The 137 refugees rounded up by the Egyptian Coast Guard authorities at their Red Sea border last Friday have all been confirmed as Sri Lankans. The weekly newspaper quoted I. Ansar, director general of the foreign ministry for overseas administration consular affairs, as saying that they are "job seekers" in Israel. more..

Mar 27 (IPS) It's Easter Sunday morning, three months since the Asian tsunami killed over 30,000 Sri Lankans the day after Christmas. And Ivar Dilama wants to be closer to God. After mass he leaves his family at the welfare centre that has been their home since Dec. 26 and makes his way to where he celebrated last Christmas. more..

Mar 27 (SO) A Civil Society Organisation has handed over a petition against 100 meter buffer zone to the Human Right Commission (HRC) on Friday claiming that this rule has caused immense difficulties for thousands of people. more..

Mar 27 (HT) The LTTE may now be having its own satellite channel. The Tamilnet website said on Saturday, that the National Television of Thamil Eelam (NTT) satellite channel would be beaming programmes from "an undisclosed location in North East Sri Lanka," from Saturday onwards. more..

Mar 27 (Reuters) Hundreds of mourners prayed until dawn on Sunday beside an unmarked mass grave in southern Sri Lanka, chanting Buddhist mantras to honour the dead three months after they were swept away by a killer tsunami. more..

Mar 27 (IL) Amidst a looming countrywide blackout, powerful unions attached to the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) yesterday refused to bow down to the Government�s sudden interest in �restructuring� the CEB, unless the Government immediately halts the restructuring process. more..

Mar 27 (AFP) Three twisted carriages stand as a grim reminder of the December tsunamis that engulfed the "Ocean Queen" train, sending more than 1,000 passengers to their deaths and ripping up the tracks. more..

Mar 28 (IANS) Five Tamil Tiger rebels were killed in Sri Lanka in attacks by a breakaway group, Xinhua reported quoting military sources. Five members of the mainstream group of the LTTE were killed when the rival Karuna faction fired at them at Tharavai in the eastern province in two separate incidents Saturday night. more..

Mar 28 (AP) The bleakness comes late at night, after the little shop is closed and her family is asleep, and the pain from her son�s death tears at her like a raw wound. Lately, that�s when the neighbors have heard her crying, her sobs clearly audible through the roughhewn wooden shelters more..

Mar 28 (KUNA) Sri Lankan Minister for Rehabilitation and District Development Abdul Risath Bathiyudeen praised here on Sunday the large humanitarian aid presented by Kuwait to Sri Lankan people after the Tsunami crisis. more..

Mar 28 (IANS) Sri Lanka's tourism industry is fast recovering from the devastation caused by last year's killer tsunami, the head of the country's tourism board says. "We have regained 50 percent (tourist arrivals compared to the level before the tsunami) and we are quite confident of bouncing back," more..

Mar 28 (LT) Leaders of Wanni tiger organization including Thamilselvan, leader of political wing of the Wanni tigers, who are touring Europe these days have drawn attention of the international community to three items. more..

Mar 28 (BBC) The newly elected head of the suspended Cricket Board expressed confidence that the sports minister will revoke the suspension. Thilanga Sumathipala said that the Annual General Meeting on Sunday that elected him as president of the cricket governing body wants to make an appeal to the minister to reinstate the status of the committee. more..

Mar 28 (BBC) Though government has not received aid as promised there is enough funds for reconstruction of houses, says Prime MInister Mahinda Rajapakse. The resettling process of families affected by tsunami is now underway and achieving progress but he accepted that there is a delay. more..

Mar 28 (AN) Sri Lanka is seeking clemency for three of its nationals who have been sentenced to death for carrying out an armed robbery in a private company in the Kingdom two years ago. In October last year, four Sri Lankans were convicted of armed robbery more..

Mar 28 (AT) Eelap Patheeswara Temple trustees are warned of death in case they take steps to challenge and try to take back the control of the temple from Seevaratnam and Sivayogam Trust. Meanwhile, Temple�s injunction is set for a renewed hearing on 31 March at the High Court of London. more..

Mar 28 (AT) The history of LTTE reveals a discernible pattern in its relations with religious institutions: it has ruthlessly attacked and killed Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists but hardly ever touched Christians. It has never confronted the Churches the way it has taken on the other three main religionists. more..

Mar 28 (Reuters) Sri Lanka cricket officials have criticised the government's decision last week to take control of the game's administration on the island. Sports minister Jeevan Kumaratunga on Thursday appointed a six-man interim committee headed by Jayantha Dharmadasa and justified the move on the grounds of financial mismanagement. more..

Mar 28 (FE) After the initial euphoria following the free trade agreement (FTA), India�s trade with Sri Lanka is slowing. For the first half of this financial year, bilateral trade has grown just 4.85% at Rs 3,290.7 crore compared to Rs 3,144.5 crore for April-September 2003. more..

Mar 28 (SAMN) At a press conference held Sunday at Peraliya, Trade, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister, Jeyaraj Fernandopille threatened to encroach on Galagoda group of estates if this land is not allocated by government officers by 10.00 a.m. today (28) for construction of houses for tsunami displaced persons of Peraliya. more..

Mar 28 (SAMN) THE country is on the correct track to economic prosperity despite the tsunami, President stated Sunday. "Although the tsunami dealt a massive blow to the country, we are confident of rebuilding the country with the help of the international community. They have expressed their confidence in our Government," more..

Mar 28 (SAMN) Several health sector trade unions will launch countrywide strikes this week that will cripple health services ranging from medical laboratory services, dental services to Ayurveda services. more..

Mar 28 (LNP) The Vavuniya police arrested two girls believed to be members of an extortion ring on Saturday, police sources said yesterday. The two suspects, aged 25 and 23 were residents of Vanuniya and they had earlier operated in Colombo and its suburbs, police said. more..

Mar 28 (LNP) JVP trade union leader Piyasiri Wijenayake, MP yesterday vowed that they wouldn't allow the hotly disputed government-Bharat deal on Treasury-held shares of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation. more..

Mar 28 (LNP) Minister Janaka Bandara Tennakoon was elected president of the Athletic Association of Sri Lanka (AASL) by a majority of just two votes, in an election marred by allegations of vote-fixing. Local Government Minister Tennakoon polled 56 votes against opponent Derwin Perera's 54 votes. more..

Mar 28 (Jang) The second and final Youth Cricket Test ended in a tame draw here at the Multan Cricket Stadium on Sunday, after Sri Lanka Under-19s had set their Pakistani counterparts an impossible 341 runs to make for victory. The Pakistan Under-19s only reached 112 for three more..

Mar 28 (TN) Three persons were injured in grenade attack on the political office of the Liberation Tigers in Vavuniya town Monday morning around 5.30. Police said. The wounded were a security guard at an adjacent weaving centre and two civilian employees at the LTTE political office. more..

Mar 28 (TN) The Socio Economic Development Bank (SEDB) headquartered in Killinochchi Friday evening distributed eleven solar power units on a loan scheme to its customers to provide electricity to Mulankavil, a village which is located about 45 km west of Killincochi along Poonagari-Mannar road, more..

Mar 28 (TN) London medical team comprising 152 members and sponsored by London Sai Samithi after completing its humanitarian mission in tsunami affected coastal areas in the northeast and south, left Colombo Friday, sources said. more..

Mar 28 (TN) More than two thousand Internally displaced persons (IDP) and fisherman of Jaffna's Vadamaradchi region marched and demonstrated in Pt. Pedro Monday demanding that the Sri Lanka army (SLA) leave schools, villages and farm lands it has garrisioned and that the SLA should lift restrictions on fishing. more..

Mar 28 (TN) Two civilians were knifed to death Saturday night in the Kudumbimalai area, about forty kilometres northwest of Batticaloa, a spokesman for the Liberation Tigers said. �We strongly suspect the hand of Sri Lanka army Special Forces in the murder. Evidence points in that direction. more..

Mar 28 (SLA) Two unidentified gunmen, suspected to be from LTTE have shot and killed a twenty-six year old youth in the general area of ERAVUR on 27 March 2005 around 4.30 p.m. The victim has died on the spot following pistol shot injuries received to his head and chest. more..

Mar 28 (SLA) A civilian resident in the general area of ERAVUR, who received injuries after LTTE men fired on him with a pistol on 26 March 2005 around 7.40 p.m. has sought admission to the hospital for treatment. The victim who claimed that he was fired upon by the LTTE for reasons best known only to LTTE men, is twenty- three years of age. more..

Mar 28 (SLA) A civilian in the general area of AMPARA has been threatened with death over a land dispute on 26 March 2005 by an identified LTTE cadre. The civilian, K.JEGANADAN in a complaint to the Police claimed that LTTE man, APPUNATHAN threatened him with death during an argument over a land dispute.

Mar 28 (PRIU) President Kumaratunga designated the Sri Lankan Meteorological Department as the focal point for receiving all Tsunami Watch Information from the Japanese Meteorological Agency. This interim arrangement will be in place until the proposed Tsunami Early Waning System for the Indian Ocean region becomes fully operational. more..

Mar 28 (PIS) At the very commencement of the present peace process, Interim Administration (IA) was the buzzword particularly in the North and East. The LTTE gave much hopes to the war-weary civilians in the north and east that the conditions will be much better when the IA is established. more..

Mar 28 (LM) Muslims students at Lindsay Girls School were in for a shock when the Principal of the school banned Muslim students from wearing a traditional headscarf. It is reported that there are over 100 Muslim students in this school. more..

Mar 28 (Xinhua) Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will visit some areas in Sri Lanka hit by last December's tsunami, during his tour of the country in early April, said Sri Lankan Ambassador to China Nihal Rodrigo. Rodrigo said China was one of the first countries to offer assistance after the disaster. more..