Apr 10 (AFP) Sri Lanka hold a psychological edge going into the second cricket Test against New Zealand here with their top order batsmen presenting a more solid unit in the first Test while the Black Caps struggled with the unorthodox bowling of Lasith Malinga. more..

Apr 10 (Xinhua) Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao met in Colombo Saturday with Ranil Wickremesinghe, leader of the United National Party. Wen said China and Sri Lanka established an all-round cooperative partnership featuring sincere mutual support and everlasting friendship during his visit. more..

Apr 10 (Xinhua) Commissioner of Elections has called for speedier action to set up an independent elections commission to make the process of elections truly independent. Dayananda Dissanayake told a seminar held here that the authorities seem less keen to give effect to the 17th amendment to the constitution adopted in 2001 - among them the setting up of an independent elections commission. more..

Apr 10 (ANN) The Human Rights Commission (HRC) last week warned that the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions has asked to visit Sri Lanka in connection with unabated killings in the north and east. Philip Alston is also concerned about reports of summary killings in other parts of the country, more..

Apr 10 (SAMN) Sri Lanka and China agreed yesterday that the next UN general secretary should be from Asia -- but there was no pledge of support for Sri Lanka's candidacy from the visiting Chinese Premier. more..

Apr 10 (SAMN) While unions are warning of islandwide blackouts if the government goes ahead with the restructuring of the Ceylon Electricity Board, the Power and Energy Ministry is preparing for an energy crisis of another sort. more..

Apr 10 (SAMN) Finance Minister Sarath Amunugama -- obviously seething at three months of media criticism over post-tsunami reconstruction efforts -- declared at a press briefing that the government's biggest challenge was "uninformed media". more..

Apr 10 (Xinhua) China and Sri Lanka issued a Joint Communique Saturday in Colombo at the end of Premier Wen Jiabao's official visit. Both sides declared that, as Asian neighbors with a long tradition of friendship, based on the Five Principles for Peaceful Coexistence, more..

Apr 10 (FL) Professor Sudharshan Seneviratne, Senior Adviser (Culture) to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sri Lanka, was Head of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Peradeniya and holds the only Chair in Archaeology within the university system of that country. more..

Apr 10 (FL) GAMINI COREA is one of Sri Lanka's most outstanding economist-civil servants and has held many key positions in that country, as Secretary of the National Planning Council, Secretary of the Cabinet Planning Committee and Senior Deputy Governor of the Central Bank. more..

Apr 10 (LNP) An LTTE request for it to send a delegation to the funeral of Pope John Paul II on Friday was turned down by the Italian Foreign Ministry this week. LTTE operatives in Europe had established contact with the Vatican and the Italian Government to have a delegation from the rebel group attend the funeral. more..

Apr 10 (LNP) The ruling Alliance-run Southern Provincial Council is in the process of acquiring a fleet of luxury vehicles for the provincial cabinet. But the Alliance is sharply divided over the move. The JVP group had vehemently opposed this, but the SLFP and the UNP opposition are believed to be cooperating. more..

Apr 10 (LNP) The Presidential Investigation Unit (PIU) probing Grade One school admissions has found that more than 50 percent of children have been admitted to national schools based on fraudulent documents and horrifyingly the principal of a leading school in Colombo was among those who sold forged documents. more..

Apr 10 (LBO) Central Bank on Friday raised the minimum capital requirement for commercial banks by 400 percent to promote a robust and stable financial system. Licensed commercial banks will have to fork out US$ 25 mn (up from US$ 5 mn) while specialised banks need US$ 15 mn (up from US$ 2 mn) to meet Central Bank's new guidelines, more..

Apr 10 (SO) According to figures released by the Public Health Department of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) Cinnaman Gardens has the highest number of premises with mosquito larvae (12%) followed by Havelock Town (11%), and Kolluptiya (9%). more..

Apr 10 (AFP) Tension has escalated in Sri Lanka's restive northeast even as peace broker Norway was set to launch a fresh attempt to keep the two sides engaged in talks, officials and diplomats said. more..

Apr 10 (PTI) Amid reports that Tamil Tiger rebels might attack naval facilities, Sri Lankan Navy has issued an alert and stepped up security vigil in all of its major establishments in the island nation, including Colombo and Trincomalee ports. more..

Apr 10 (AP) Tamil Tiger rebels on Sunday freed a government soldier they captured a day earlier for allegedly trespassing on guerrilla territory, a top cease-fire monitor said. "The soldier has been released," Hagrup Haukland, head of the European cease-fire monitors told The Associated Press. more..

Apr 10 (TN) Mr.S. Jeyanandamoorthy, Batticaloa district TNA parliamentarian has brought to the notice of President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge that cadres of JVP, have been helping Sinhala fishermen from other districts to move to Kalkuda, an area which is completely destroyed by the tsunami tidal wave, more..

Apr 10 (TN) �We should write the people�s history of the northeast. It is important to discover and publish old palm leaf manuscripts such as �Mattakkalappu Poorva Sariththiram� (Ancient History of Batticaloa) to bring out the history of the communities that live in this region. more..

Apr 10 (LBO) The Boxing Day tsunami not only left a trail of destruction along the coastal belt of the country but also a gigantic task of rebuilding damaged houses and other infrastructure. more..

Apr 10 (LBO) Ceylon Petroleum Corporation says its operations are not viable unless the government sticks to the pricing formula agreed to as part of the sector restructuring. CPC is waiting for confirmation the government will pay an overdue subsidy payment of over Rs. 3.5 billion to finalize its accounts for last year. more..

Apr 11 (TN) The Sunday Times this week published transcripts from the Presidential Commission into the killings of LTTE officials and supporters in Sri Lanka�s restive east, in which the head of the international ceasefire monitors in Batticaloa, Mr. Steen Joergensen, confirmed the presence of anti-LTTE paramilitaries in government-held areas. more..

Apr 11 (TN) Injured cadre of the LTTE in Friday's dawn attack on the LTTE sentry point in Poonagar by an unidentified group in army uniforms was admitted to the Trincomalee general hospital Sunday afternoon for further treatment as his condition is reported critical. more..

Apr 11 (TN) Chariot (THER) festival of the historic Trincomalee Koneswaram Temple was held Sunday morning with Lord Konesar and his consort Maathumai Ambal being taken in a chariot while deities Pillaiyar and Murugan with his two consorts Valli and Theivayanai taken ahead in two other chariots. more..

Apr 11 (LT) The country can win the maximum number of victories only if all Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslims strive to build a Sri Lankan identity says Mr.Wimal Weerawansa, Propaganda Secretary of the JVP. He says through this the identity of all nationalities should be safeguarded. more..

Apr 11 (LT) Anura Bandaranaike, the minister of tourism says that certain deputy ministers are trying to disrupt the UPFA government. He made this accusation at a rally in Puttlam to declare open the functions of Sagarawewa which was repaired under the Thousand Tanks project of the ministry of agriculture. more..

Apr 11 (LT) Minister of Finance Mr. Sarath Amunugama left Sri Lanka to participate in two special summits in the USA. The decisions taken at these summits will influence the aid programme for Sri Lanka. One summit held by International Monetary Fund and the World Bank will be held in Washington. more..

Apr 11 (AT) A group of Sri Lankan Parliamentarians will arrive in Melbourne, Australia on Monday on a study tour to learn about disaster management. It will be led by Mahinda Samarasinghe, Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee for Disaster Management. more..

Apr 11 (AT) Environmentalists have pointed out that the delay in the construction of the proposed Zoological garden on 200 acres of land, next to the world renowned Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage in Kandy, was due to bad planning by the authorities concerned. more..

Apr 11 (HT) China did not want an inch of India's territory, but if it invaded India in 1962, it was only to punish it for being arrogant, Chinese leaders told Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike, former Sri Lankan Prime Minister, when she met them as an emissary of a non-aligned nations' effort to mediate between the Asian giants in the aftermath of the Sino-Indian war. more..

Apr 11 (BBC) Sri Lankan authorities say that they are trying their best to safeguard the lives of Sri Lankans in death row in Saudi Arabia. Deputy foreign minister Vishwa Warnapala said that the government has already forwarded appeals by the family members of the three Sri Lankans to relevant authorities. more..

Apr 11 (SAMN) Another Chinese gift similar to the Bandaranaike Memorial Internatonal Conference Hall (BMICH) failed to reach Lanka with President Chandrika Kumaratunga rejecting the designed structure for a building to function as a cultural centre. more..

Apr 11 (SAMN) Twenty four government and opposition MPs have taken wing to several countries on tsunami early warning system study tours unaccompanied by a single official or expert on natural disasters, parliament sources said Sunday. more..

Apr 11 (SAMN) Port employees Sunday threatened tough trade union action along with other public sector trade unions if the Government is to proceed with its plan to restructure the Sri Lanka Ports Authority. more..

Apr 11 (LNP) The widow and brother of internationally renowned accupunturist Dr. Anton Jayasuriya, who died last week had a harrowing experience at the hands of an armed gang that ransacked his residence at International Buddhist Centre Road at Wellawatte on Friday night and got away with a van and a BMW car belonging to him. more..

Apr 11 (LNP) Muslims in the Iqbal Nagar village in Trincomalee allege that the divisional Secretary of Kuchchaveli, backed by a leading TNA Member of Parliament, is making attempts to force them out and settle Tamils in the area by saying they were affected by Tsunami. more..

Apr 11 (LNP) Microsoft Sri Lanka recently announced another initiative to expand its alliance with academia by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Statistics and Computer Science, University of Kelaniya. more..

Apr 11 (TN) More than three thousand people marched through Vavuniya town Monday demanding that the government of Sri Lanka restart the long stalled peace talks with the Liberation Tigers, set up a joint mechanism for Tsunami relief in the island's northeast and stop using its paramilitaries to attack LTTE activists. more..

Apr 11 (TN) A man said to be a member of the EPDP was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Trincomalee town Monday around 10.30 a.m. Police searched the Huskision Road area immediately but arrested no one. Meanwhile, in Kalmunai Police found the body of a man who was shot dead Sunday night around 10.30. more..

Apr 11 (SLA) LTTE pistol men in broad daylight gunned down another EPDP member of thirty-three years of age in TRINCOMALEE town on Monday (11) morning around 10.15 while he was returning home after prayers at KONESHWARAN Kovil (temple) with two of his friends. more..

Apr 11 (SLA) A state official returning home from JAFFNA was shot dead by unidentified gunmen on 10th April 2005 around 10.30 pm. in the general area of KALMUNAI. The victim, KALMUNAI was the SAMURDHI project official for TRINCOMALEE and was accompanying his 11 year-old son for school vacation more..

Apr 11 (LM) Assistant Superintend of. Police Keeragala of Eravur police scotched rumours that the man arrested last Saturday with a T - 56 assault rifle, two magazines and fifty nine rounds of T -56 ammunion at his home in Mitsui Nagar was involved with an Islamic Extremist group. more..

Apr 11 (TP) Lanka government will soon introduce legislation to protect stray animals. With more and more stray animals being found on streets, authorities intend providing the �strays� with some legal protection, the Sunday Leader newspaper said. more..

Apr 11 (TP) Police will deploy 3,700 officers during this week�s Sinhala and Tamil New Year festive season to nab drunken drivers. �We will severely deal with drunken drivers this year. Therefore, we request people to avoid driving after celebrating at New Year parties,� more..

Apr 11 (ANN) The Norwegian-led SLMM has sought to impart lessons to the Sri Lankan media on �responsible journalism.� Of the manner in which the media reported the recent incident off the eastern coast, where the LTTE fired at a naval vessel with a monitor on board, more..

Apr 11 (AP) Sri Lanka hopes to boost its gem and jewelry export by 20 percent this year with an aggressive marketing campaign, an industry official said Monday. Sri Lanka is famous worldwide for its blue sapphires, red rubies, cat's eyes, alexandrites, tourmalines, zircons, garnets, moonstones, amethysts and topaz. more..

Apr 11 (IT) The Kyunki's and Kasautii's of Indian television are not just helping Indian channels stay on top of the ratings charts, they seem to be helping Sri Lankan broadcasters too. Sinhalese Sirasa channel run by Maharaja Television in the island country, more..

Apr 11 (SLBC) Deputy Minister of Higher Education Dinesh Gunawardena says that the President has decided to increase university admissions by 1,100 students form this year. At a media briefing held recently, the deputy minister said the government has implemented several projects to upgrade the higher education in the country during the past year. more..

Apr 11 (SLBC) Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse says children should not confine themselves to school education but should also venture into beneficial extra curricular activities. This would help in molding a good generation. In the context Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse singled out sports and social service activities. more..