Mar 1 (TN) The delegation of the Human Rights Commission (HRZ) of Sri Lanka, which is conducting investigation into the disappearance of persons during the period of 1996-1997 in the Jaffna district, is to visit the high security zones in the peninsula Saturday. more..

Mar 1 (TN) One hundred and eighty three years old Trincomalee Methodist Girls College, popularly known as the Vembadi school, held its annual prize giving celebration Thursday with the Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Human Resources Development, Education and Cultural Affairs, Mr.S.Thillainadarajah, as the chief guest. more..

Mar 1 (AFP) Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe Friday said his government was discussing with India an agreement to liberalise trade and reduce investment barriers between the two South Asian neighbours. more..

Mar 1 (Reuters) Sri Lanka have edged out West Indies by six runs in a thrilling World Cup Group B match, bouncing back from their shock defeat by Kenya to virtually assure themselves of a place in the Super Sixes. more..

Mar 1 (LBO) The Central Bank said Friday, that inflation measured by the Colombo Consumer Price Index for February dropped 1.1 percent over January to 3423.1. Central Bank said the availability of food items, mainly of upcountry vegetables, led to a drop in February�s inflation. more..

Mar 1 (DOI) With the emergence of peace after nearly two decades of war, Sri Lanka is building a new, high growth economy, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told the India Today conclave in New Delhi yesterday. more..

Mar 1 (DOI) Extensive concessions will be made available to revitalise under-performing industries particularly relating to the export trade. The concessions will also be extended to investments in large-scale infrastructure development. more..

Mar 1 (DOI) Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon yesterday praised the progress achieved in the peace process in Sri Lanka. Speaking in Colombo at the end of his visit to Sri Lanka, he paid tribute to the Government of Sri Lanka for the commitment it had demonstrated to resolve the ethnic conflict through negotiations and to build a durable peace. more..

Mar 1 (DN) The Government and the LTTE yesterday agreed to work together on three key issues and to create an environment conducive to bankers and investors in the North East for economic revival in an environment free of ceasefire violations. more..

Mar 1 (Island) PA spokesman Sarath Amunugama yesterday charged that the government had only released Rs.15 million to purchase paddy although the government had announced Rs.450 million has been allocated for the purpose. more..

Mar 1 (AP) Sri Lanka's prime minister had another tough confrontation on his mind as he spoke about the government's truce with Tamil Tiger rebels - his country's World Cup performance against the West Indies. more..

Mar 1 (C365) The International Cricket Council has moved to clarify an inaccurate wire story relating to the Kenya's surprise win over Sri Lanka in a Cricket World Cup Group B played in Nairobi on Monday. more..

Mar 1 (IPS) After decades of civil war, this year the migratory birds have returned to the wetlands along the A-9 highway to the north-eastern Jaffna peninsula, every inch of which is scarred with battles fought between the Sri Lankan army and the Tamil Tiger rebels. more..

Mar 1 (DM) Former Jaffna Mayor Sellan Kandiah claimed yesterday cast discrimination was behind the non re-opening of the Jaffna library recently. "I am a minority within the minority, caste-wise as such they have a problem in placing a low caste man's name on the plaque on the wall to commemorate the opening on that day" he said. more..

Mar 1 (AP) Sri Lanka's prime minister warned that the Tamil Tigers rebels will be "in trouble" if they break their cease-fire with the government, and said the peace process had prevented the collapse of the nation. more..

Mar 1 (SLA) Nine hundred and seventy four lorry loads of food and other essential items had been dispatched to un-cleared areas in the northern province during the period between 21 February 2003 � 27 February 2003. more..

Mar 1 (AN) The recently formed parliamentary friendship societies in both Riyadh and Colombo are paving the way for exploring investment opportunities, according to a visiting senior Sri Lankan minister. more..

Mar 2 (TN) Hundreds of thousands of Hindus in Sri Lanka Saturday night observed the Maha Sivarathiri day with great devotion. Special poojahs and religious discourses are being held throughout the night in several leading Hindu temples in the island, especially in the North-East province, exhorting Hindus to lead their lives according to the teachings of Saiva saints and philosophers, sources said. more..

Mar 2 (TN) The Missing Persons Guardians' Association (MPGA) in Jaffna has decided to file a case in the High Court against some Sri Lanka Army officials and government civil administrators regarding dozens of Tamil civilians who have been reported missing after being arrested by Sri Lankan government troops during the period between 1996 and 1997 in the Jaffna peninsula. more..

Mar 2 (SL) The SLFP has gone into a serious internal split with news that the party intends to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the JVP. After the recent meeting with the JVP, the SLFP was exploring the possibility of signing an MoU with the Marxist party in March. more..

Mar 2 (TOO) Omani investors to Sri Lanka will be exempted from exchange controls, freedom for exporting and importing and in short, there will be less interference by the Sri Lankan government in running the Omani (or any other foreign) investor�s businesses (in Sri Lanka). more..

Mar 2 (SL) WHILE the government was moving to consolidate the peace process and the economy in the lead up to the Tokyo donor conference in June, the President was busy laying the ground work for the dissolution of parliament in consultation with the JVP. more..

Mar 2 (IANS) India has assured Sri Lanka of its continued support for the peace process aimed at ending the island's drawn out ethnic strife. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee gave the assurance to his visiting Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe when the latter called on him on Saturday. more..

Mar 2 (AP) European cease-fire monitors in Sri Lanka rejected on Saturday a request from Tamil Tiger rebels for the release of six of their fighters in exchange for freeing a government soldier and a policeman, a spokesman for the monitors said more..

Mar 2 (Xinhua) India and Sri Lanka signed a Memorandum of Understanding here on Saturday for bilateral cooperation in the field of information and Technology (IT). The accord was signed following a meeting between Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremasinghe who arrived here on Friday for a three-day private visit. more..

Mar 2 (SO) The Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Welfare will come down hard on those who have signed as 'guarantors' for doctors who have not returned to Sri Lanka after completing their post-graduate qualifications abroad, and will hold them financially responsible, for the cost incurred in sending these doctors overseas. more..

Mar 2 (PTI) The Scandinavian team monitoring Sri Lanka's truce today accused Tamil Tiger rebels of going back on their promises to release a policeman and a soldier in their custody. The monitors said they wrote four letters to the LTTE calling for the freedom of a policeman and a soldier held by them. more..

Mar 2 (Deepika) LTTE chief negotiator Anton Balasingham is expected in Sri Lanka on Sunday for talks with Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran ahead of the next round of peace negotiations in Japan. more..

Mar 2 (PTI) After kick-starting petrol and diesel retailing in Sri Lanka, India's state refinery Indian Oil Corporation is planning to enter aviation fuel business in the island nation. "We have started negotiations with Sri Lanka's state- owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) for selling jet fuel (Aviation Turbine Fuel)," more..

Mar 2 (CI) Hail a hero: just six balls, perhaps, but what a moment for Pulasthi Gunaratne! Summoned to the crease to bowl the final over, amidst heart-pounding tension, Gunaratne held his nerve against a rampant Ramnaresh Sarwan. more..

Mar 2 (BBC) Former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga believes India can win the World Cup. Ranatunga, who led Sri Lanka to their only World Cup success in 1996, believes India's emphatic six-wicket victory over arch-rivals Pakistan will give them the confidence to go all the way. more..

Mar 2 (AFP) Sanath Jayasuriya aims to crush South Africa's World Cup dream when the two sides clash in a do-or-die World Cup encounter under the Kingsmead lights tomorrow. "I think we've got a good chance," he said of a match which could secure top place in Pool B for the 1996 champions and eliminate the hosts from Super Six contention. more..

Mar 2 (AFP) Sri Lanka's warring parties have agreed to speed up the return of refugees to the island's war-torn regions as peace talks shift to contentious political issues, diplomats said Sunday. The government and the rebel LTTE decided to establish a "resettlement program" for the northwestern district of Mannar, diplomats said. more..

Mar 2 (ST) The African National Congress has been asked to help pave the way to peace in Sri Lanka. The LTTE made a formal request to former ANC MP Ebrahim Ebrahim when he visited the strife-torn Indian Ocean island last month. more..

Mar 2 (Reuters) The chief negotiator of the Tamil Tiger rebels, Anton Balasingham, arrived in Sri Lanka on Sunday to consult the reclusive Tiger supremo before a round of peace talks with the government this month that could be tough. more..

Mar 2 (TN) A nine-member delegation of the Infrastructure Development Institute of Japan (IDI) Saturday held talks with civil officials in Jaffna regarding proposed development of roads, water supply, sanitation and flood control in the peninsula, said Jaffna district secretariat sources. more..

Mar 2 (CI) A possible first round exit for tournament hosts South Africa was hardly anticipated before the World Cup but that will be their fate if they lose to Sri Lanka under lights at Durban on Monday. more..

Mar 3 (TN) Minister of Power and Energy Mr.Karu Jayasuriya Sunday inaugurated electricity supply to sixteen villages in the Jaffna district. The electricity supply to these villages was disconnected ten years ago, Ceylon Electricity Board sources said. more..

Mar 3 (TN) The special committee of the Human Rights Commission (HRC) of Sri Lanka, which is inquiring into the complaints in regard to the disappearance of more than six hundred Tamil civilians between 1996 and 1997 in the Jaffna district arrived Saturday, to conduct further investigation, sources said. more..

Mar 3 (TN) LTTE theoretician and leader of the LTTE negotiating team in the current peace talks between the Government and the LTTE, Mr. Anton Balasingham, arrived in Kilinochchi 4 pm Sunday with his wife and Secretary to LTTE peace delegation Adele Balasingham, sources in Vanni said. more..

Mar 3 (TN) A special delegation of Thailand government, lead by the Commissioner of the Economic section of the Thailand ministry of Foreign Affairs met with the Head of LTTE political section, K.P. Thamilchelvan and communicated the desire of the Thai government to provide help and to participate in the development of the war affected North East region, more..

Mar 3 (CI) The International Cricket Council (ICC) bowled a bouncer at Sri Lanka which might cost them a place in the 2003 World Cup Super Sixes if they lose their final Pool 'B' match to South Africa at Kingsmead here tomorrow. more..

Mar 3 (Hindu) The chief negotiator of the LTTE, Anton S. Balasingham, arrived in Sri Lanka today to hold talks with the rebel leadership ahead of the next round of talks in Japan, to be held between March 18 and 21. more..

Mar 3 (Island) The government plans to implement a controversial scheme as a part of the strategy to ease traffic congestion along main roads in Colombo during peak hours. It would be implemented on a priority basis, officials said. more..

Mar 3 (LBO) The government is making plans to capitalise on the upturn in tourism fortunes in the country. A new law is in the pipeline that would see the hands-on involvement of the tourism industry in planning and rolling out a marketing campaign for the country. more..

Mar 3 (TN) A delegation of the Infrastructure Development Institute of Japan (IDI), led by Mr.Yoshiyo Yabe, Senior consultant and Director of Planning Department of IDI, met with Kilinochchi Government Agent(GA), Rasanayagam, at the Kilinochchi secretariat Saturday, more..

Mar 3 (TN) The annual procession of the chief deity Lord Konesar and his consort Maathumai Ambal (Parvati) of the historic Trincomalee Koneswaram temple, which is located inside the Fort Frederick in the east port town, commenced Sunday evening, the day after the Holy Maha Sivarathiri Day. more..

Mar 3 (FL) AS the Sri Lankan peace process aimed at solving the decades-old separatist crisis chugs along, a deeper, long-standing problem, one faced by the island's Indian Tamils, who officially constitute 5.08 per cent of its population, has now come centre stage. more..

Mar 3 (SLA) Two Muslims, who had gone for some work have been abducted by LTTE from the general area of THIRIYAYA, about 44 km northwest of TRINCOMALEE town on 01 March 2003 around 11.30 a.m. more..

Mar 3 (SLA) A suspicious fiber glass dinghy moving from KODDIYAR BAY to BACK BAY in the general sea area east of TRINCOMALEE was intercepted by Naval troops on sea patrol on 02 March 2003 around 12 midnight. more..