Mar 5 (PIS) Assessments of the Geneva talks have varied so widely, from a chorus of claims of success to some critics� judgment of total disaster, that one needs to work out some criteria for evaluating their success or failure. more..

Mar 5 (LNP) The offices of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs were the headquarters of a multi billion rupee human smuggling operation to the United States, a CID investigation has revealed. This investigation was sparked off after CID detectives last week arrested eight Sri Lankan nationals heading for Alaska (in the United States) with forged visas. more..

Mar 5 (LNP) Highways Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle last week reported to cabinet that work on the US$ 300 million Colombo-Kandy Expressway will begin soon, officials said. This new road will enable a one-hour drive between Colombo and Kandy and is expected to substantially improve the hill capital`s tourism potential. more..

Mar 5 (LNP) The JVP didn`t necessarily have to pile onto the streets to have an impact on national politics, said parliamentarian Vijitha Herath yesterday, when asked why the party was mum on the Constitutional Council issue. `Didn`t you watch Thulawa this week'` Herath also asked, referring to the Independent Television Network`s weekly political talk-show. more..

Mar 5 (LNP) Leader of the House Nimal Siripala de Silva yesterday promised to `do something` this week about making the Constitutional Council (CC) operational'but sharp differences of opinion have already emerged among the minor parties in parliament over selecting a sixth member. more..

Mar 5 (DN) The proposed Matara Kataragama Railway line will be constructed at a cost of Rs. 1100 million and the construction work of this project will be completed within three years, Railway Development Minister Mahinda Amaraweera told the Sunday Observer. more..

Mar 5 (HT) If comments in Sri Lankan media are any indication, Sri Lankans have a dim view of the new-found Indo-US strategic alliance sealed in New Delhi on March 3. Edit-page articles in the leading English dailies over the past few days suggest that the Sri Lankans view the alliance with skepticism if not trepidation. more..

Mar 5 (BBC) Muttiah Muralitharan says he may continue his career even after next year's World Cup. The Sri Lankan spinner became the first bowler to take 1,000 international wickets on Thursday. There were rumours he would quit after the World Cup in the West Indies in March and April 2007 but Muralitharan may have other ideas. more..

Mar 5 (TN) Vipra Foundation, a non-governmental organization in the south of Sri Lanka, donated a consignment of textbooks and other learning materials to students affected war and tsunami in the Liberation Tigers held Muttur east in the Trincomalee district. more..

Mar 5 (TN) Inter SOS, an Italian non-governmental organization which has been engaged in rehabilitating the tsunami destroyed fishing industry in Muttur east, in the Trincomalee district handed over its Boatyard in Kadatkaraichchenai and its office building to the Muttur Fisheries Societies Federation (MFSF). more..

Mar 5 (Xinhua) Leaders of Sri Lanka's political parties will probe the deal signed by Tamil Tiger rebels and the government last month in Geneva, party sources said Sunday. President Mahinda Rajapakse has summoned an all-party forum for Monday to discuss the outcome of last month's talks in Geneva between his negotiators and the LTTE rebels. more..

Mar 5 (AP) An ambush on a Tamil Tiger rebel checkpoint that killed two rebels in eastern Sri Lanka has dealt a major blow to a four-year-old cease-fire, European monitors said Sunday. The Tamil Tigers have blamed the military and their armed proxies for Saturday's attack, an accusation the military denies. more..

Mar 5 (AFP) Right-wing allies of Sri Lanka's president have renewed moves to drop support for his shaky minority in parliament over his failure to take a harder line with Tamil rebels, officials say. President Mahinda Rajapakse called an all-party meeting for Monday to discuss the peace process, which the nationalist all-Buddhist monk party, the JHU, and the Marxist JVP will attend. more..

Mar 6 (WS) The Committee appointed to investigate activities of the Public Trustee Department has recommended the removal of the Public Trustee and his two Deputies for allegedly committing fraudulent activities with monies taken from Trusts that are currently under the Department's purview. more..

Mar 6 (WS) Though Sri Lanka boasts of having a literacy rate of more than 90 percent and a free education system open to all, in low income areas of the country 30 percent of the children do not go to schools due to poverty. A quarter of the population lives below the poverty line and in some districts, the poverty rate is above one third. more..

Mar 6 (WS) The UNP has sullied an 'age old tradition' by nominating a Mayoral candidate hailing from a majority, although the party had to correctly nominate a minority member to the candidature of Mayor for the Colombo Municipal Council, alleged Reyyaz Salley, Chairman of the Islamic Solidarity of North America. more..

Mar 6 (WS) In a sense Ranil Wickremesinghe is a fortunate politician, although he is a failure at winning elections, he is still holding onto the leadership of the party. That way Ranil is nearing a Guinness record. Although Ranil was able to suppress the agitation to oust him from the leadership of the UNP, the problem is once again threatening him. more..

Mar 6 (WS) When candidates canvassing for the forthcoming local government election visit her home, Anna Perera (53) simply points them the big heap of trash rotting outside her gate for almost three weeks, smelling to high heavens. "They feel little embarrassed and, make casual promises to attend the matter when they get elected" she said. more..

Mar 6 (WS) It was a long time since I had been back in Oxford in the depths of winter, and my initial thoughts were that this was a huge mistake. But a few days of unarguably the best company in the world, dons of different generations and the vast resources of the Bodleian, soon reassured me that some joys are eternal. more..

Mar 6 (TW) The LTTE last week submitted a lengthy document to the government at the Geneva peace talks which contained evidence compiled by the organisation on paramilitaries. At the conclusion of the talks, the two sides released a joint statement that said "The Government and the LTTE are committed to taking measures to ensure that there will be no intimidation, acts of violence, abductions or killings. more..

Mar 6 (LT) Wanni tiger organization is carrying out a scheme to bring discredit to the S.L. security forces says Army spokesman Prasad Samarasinghe. Fabrications and distortions about security forces are being published through various web sites sympathetic to wanni tiger organization points out the Army spokesman. more..

Mar 6 (LT) Patriotic National Movement in a letter addressed to the president today (05th) says the newspaper article �The Tiger report on paramilitaries� which appears on page 12 of the �Sunday Leader� on 05.03.2006 has betrayed the National Security and Armed Forces personnel who are shouldering a huge task on behalf of National security. more..

Mar 6 (DS) There has been a discernible change for the better in the South Asian embattled nation of Sri Lanka. The recent talks between the government and Tamil rebels have impacted positively and consequently violence is on the wane even if temporarily. more..

Mar 6 (TP) President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to sack some Sri Lankan envoys serving overseas after receiving complaints against them, the Daily Mirror reported. The paper quoted Presidential sources as saying Rajapaksa is to order Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera to probe complaints against envoys in some western countries. more..

Mar 6 (TP) President Mahinda Rajapaksa said on Friday that successive governments were responsible for the fierce competition to admit children to popular schools. Speaking at a ceremony to award scholarships to children, he said parents come up with all sorts of �lies� just to admit their children to Colombo schools. more..

Mar 6 (LeN) The SLMC has decided to participate in the Wednesday's all party conference to brief political parties on he outcome of the Geneva talks, thus abandoning its boycott of all party conferences. Before the conference the SLMC leader is scheduled to meet with Congress leader Rauf Hakeem on Monday. more..

Mar 6 (LT) GoSL has warned Jo Anna Van Gerpen, representative of UNICEF in Sri Lanka regarding certain steps taken by him to undermine the question of LTTE using children in military activities. A strong opposition regarding the LTTE using children for military matters has developed internationally. more..

Mar 6 (SLBC) The forest and Wild Life Ordinance Act is now being amended. Director General of Wild Life Dayananda Kariyawasam says new amendments have increased penalties relating to unauthorized access to reserved areas and wild life parks and hunting. Laws are tightened in applying for bails for killers of wild elephants. more..

Mar 6 (SLRC) Government expressed its deep concern in a news report appeared in a week-end newspaper today under the head line �Tigers report on para militaries� government information department issuing a news release says that the news report alleged that the security forces supports the activities of the armed groups to operate in the uncleared areas in the north and east. more..

Mar 6 (SLRC) President Mahinda Rajapakse personally intervenes to provide prompt solutions to problems of traditional industrialists. the president paid a surprise visit to kandy today and inquired into difficulties faced by brass industrialists. President visited several villages including mahaiyyawa muslim village, deiyyanwala sinhala village and katukele tamil village. more..

Mar 6 (TN) John Cushnahan, the chief of the European Union Election Observation Mission (EOM) to Sri Lanka will arrive in Colombo on Monday to present the full and final report on the 2005 Presidential election. A press release issued by the EU organisation said "the report will make a number of major recommendations for strengthening the electoral process in Sri Lanka." more..

Mar 6 (TN) Education International (EI) funded compensation scheme for NorthEast teachers affected by tsunami was inaugurated by the Ceylon Tamil Teachers Union (CTTU) in an event held Sunday in Trincomalee Vikneswara Maha Vidiyalayam, education officials said. more..

Mar 6 (ISL) The words of Norway's ebullient International Development Minister Erik Solheim saw the birth of a dialogue between the Government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Geneva this week. more..

Mar 6 (ISL) If President Mahinda Rajapaksa's administration were to offer rewards for performance to members of the Sri Lanka delegation to the Geneva talks, one of the topmost contenders, no doubt, would be the Police Chief, Chandra Fernando. more..

Mar 6 (ISL) V Anandasangaree has raised some serious concerns following the recent Geneva Talks. Among the living today, he is the only person who can talk for the people of Wanni having legally and popularly represented them for over thirteen years in the country�s House of Parliament. When he speaks for the people of Wanni, the whole country must hearken. more..

Mar 6 (ISL) Eleven days after the Geneva accord between the Government and the LTTE, the focus turns again to the one time battle areas in the North and East. This is in the backdrop of varied responses to last month's Geneva talks. Protagonists felt it was indeed a significant breakthrough for President Mahinda Rajapaksa's Government. more..

Mar 6 (AT) A subtle form of ethnic cleansing is taking place at a state owned TV channel in Colombo, alleged victims have complained to President Mahinda Rajapakse. "Several Muslims who have been working for many years at the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation owned Channel Eye (Tamil Channel) have been transferred for political reasons, more..

Mar 6 (LeN) President Mahinda Rajapaksa is due to undertake a visit to Pakistan at the end of this month. This would be President Rajapaksa's s 2nd overseas visit since assuming duties in last November. The Pakistan embassy in Colombo has announced that the aim of the President's visit is to further strengthen bilateral relationships between the two countries. more..

Mar 6 (LeN) The JVP yesterday insisted it should nominate the sixth member to the Constitutional Council, as it is the third largest party in Parliament. The JVP has nominated Prof. Upali Jayasekare of the Sabaragamuwa University to the constitutional Council on the basis that according to the Constitution, more..

Mar 6 (LT) The Muslim parties at the all party conference with the President today rejected the allegation made by Mr Anton Balansingham. They commented on his allegation that the Muslim community in Eastern province has set up an armed organisation called �Jihad� which receives foreign aid. more..

Mar 6 (LT) Senior Lecturer of Sri Jayawardenepura University, Ven. Dambara Amila Thero, Chief Judicial Sangha Nayake for 4 Koralas � Raigam, Salpiti, Hewagam and Pasyodun says that it is incorrect to accuse the Government on the attack which took place on 4th March on a LTTE checkpoint in an un-cleared area. more..

Mar 6 (TN) Liberation Tigers Trincomalee district political Head, Elilan, registered a complaint with the SLMM Sunday that Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) soldiers had entered the LTTE held coastal areas from Ilakanthai to Mankerni in the Muttur east division and fired at a group of fishermen, violating the CeaseFire Agreement (CFA), sources said. more..

Mar 6 (TN) Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), during the All Party Conference (APC) held Monday at the Old Parliamentary building in Colombo submitted separate memoranda rejecting the agreement made between the Government and the LTTE in the talks held in Geneva more..

Mar 6 (LT) The JVP in it�s statement issued for the all party conference scheduled to be held this morning (06) states that the preparations for the latest round of talks were done in a manner that was completely open and transparent. They have mentioned that although the government as well as the people of Sri Lanka hope that this round of talks would lead towards a lasting solution to more..

Mar 6 (LT) The Leader of the �Basnahira Janatha Peramuna� Parliamentarian Mr Mano Ganeshan said that the whole Tamil community is not represented by Tiger organisation. He made this comment at the all party conference which held at Temple Trees this morning (06) chaired by President Mahinda Rajapakse. more..

Mar 6 (LBO) Only two of the three airlines that were given provisional approval to fly international out of Sri Lanka have submitted detailed business plans so far, civil aviation officials said. Last year, the government gave three out of nine applicants provisional approval to start international commercial passenger services. more..

Mar 6 (ANN) With just days to go before the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, Sri Lanka suffered a major shock when high jumper Manjula Kumara Wijesekera pulled out of the games due to injury. The Asian champion who had a strong chance of winning a medal at the games next week is reported to have suffered a leg fracture. more..

Mar 6 (ANN) A special team of the Bribery Commission, headed by Justice Ameer Ismail, has visited the East to lead investigations into the alleged tsunami-related corruption charges against government officials here. Following the announcement of this visit, post-tsunami millionaires, especially certain Grama Niladaris, technical officers and fisheries inspectors, etc. are like cats on hot bricks. more..

Mar 6 (PIS) TULF President V. Anandasangaree has criticised Norway, saying the country should not mar its neutral role as a facilitator by entertaining the LTTE team in Oslo after their presence in Geneva. "What is puzzling me is can the umpire in a cricket match entertain one team during the tea interval?" the TULF chief asked. more..

Mar 6 (LNP) Eight government servants, who pleaded guilty to the charge of tendering forged documents, to admit their children to year 1, in respect of year 2005 admissions, were fined Rs.1,500 each as state cost by the Maligakande Magistrate Priyantha de Silva, on (3) Friday. more..