Nov 4 (SAMN) A two-member committee appointed by former President Chandrika Kumaratunga to explore measures to cope with major natural disasters has handed over its findings to President Mahinda Rajapakss. The committee comprised Supreme Court Judge Hector S. Yapa and Appeal Court Judge P. H. K. Kulathilaka. Edmond Jayasinghe functioned as Secretary to the Commission. more..

Nov 4 (SAMN) Deputy Mayor of Colombo A. K. M. S. Rajendran Friday said that his group will in future contest all election to the Colombo Municipal Council on the SLFP ticket. Speaking to the media at the Colombo Town Hall, he said some elements in the UNP had threatened him and he had complained about it to the UNP leadership on several occasions but no action had been taken. more..

Nov 4 (SAMN) The Government has set itself a medium term (2007-2009) target to ensure that 80 per cent of the population will have access to safe drinking water. At present the number is 74 per cent. The projects earmarked in budget 2007 and the medium term will cover about 1.6 million people additionally provided with water supply. more..

Nov 4 (SAMN) The Organisation of the Professions Supplementary to Medicine will resort to trade union action from November 06 as demands of its members have not been met. The organisation comprises the Sri Lanka Association of Government Medical Laboratory Technologists, Sri Lanka Association of Govt. Occupational Therapist, Govt. more..

Nov 4 (DN) The Department of Archaeology has commenced a countrywide programme to identify sites of archaeological value through Divisional Secretariats. Sources at the Archaeological Department said that the Department had commenced archaeological surveys in the Hanwella area of the Western Province in keeping with it. more..

Nov 4 (HT) Sri Lanka is India's largest trading partner in the SAARC region, with bilateral trade having crossed $2 billion in 2005. India is the largest source of imports for Sri Lanka, and is the third largest export destination for it. India is the second largest investor in the island country. And among tourists, who are a valuable source of foreign exchange, Indians are the single largest group. more..

Nov 4 (IANS) Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse is likely to visit India soon, sources said on Saturday. Although the president is coming to attend a conference, he is expected to make the trip only if he can meet Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the sources said. The finer details of the journey are to be worked out. more..

Nov 4 (PTI) Former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has said she turned down an offer made by two permanent United Nations Security Council members to contest for the post of Secretary General. Chandrika, who is currently touring Pakistan as the UNESCO Advisor, told reporters here last night that two permanent UNSC members proposed to her to contest for the UN Secretary General's post which was won by South Korean nominee Ban Ki-Moon. more..

Nov 4 (CI) Darrell Hair, the Australian umpire who accused Pakistan of ball tampering during the Oval Test in August against England this summer, has been banned from umpiring in internationals. The announcement was made by Percy Sonn, the ICC president, at a press conference in Mumbai at the end of a two-day ICC meeting. more..

Nov 4 (KUNA) Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Khaled Sulaiman Al-Jarrallah received on Saturday the Sri Lankan ambassador to Kuwait. The two sides discussed bilateral ties and issues of common interest. The diplomat notified the undersecretary about his country's support for the nomination of Dr. Kathem Bahbahani for the post of the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Nov 4 (Reuters) Central bank will follow a tight monetary policy to curtail demand conditions and keep a lid on price pressures, Deputy Governor WA Wijewardana said on Friday. "When money supply increases, it naturally raises aggregate demand. That's why we want to curtail that by containing money supply," he told reporters at a banking conference in Hyderabad. more..

Nov 4 (AP) Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels killed two sailors Saturday in a roadside bomb attack in Sri Lanka's volatile east, the military said, a day after the air force bombed three rebel naval bases deepening a crisis that threatens to return the country to all-out war. The Saturday morning blast targeted a naval foot patrol in northeastern Trincomalee, where the Sri Lankan military has a major naval base, more..

Nov 4 (AFP) A powerful Claymore mine has exploded in northeastern Sri Lanka, killing two sailors. The rebel LTTE set off the surface mounted mine at Nilaveli, a former popular tourist spot, as sailors were on a foot patrol, a local official said Saturday. "One died on the spot while the other succumbed to his injuries after being taken to the Trincomalee hospital," a police official said more..

Nov 5 (TN) The abundance of fish stock in Mullaitivu seas has provided a life line to fisher families from littoral villages dotting 70km Mullaitivu coast stretching from Kokkilai in the south to Iranaipalai in the north. Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has occupied 13km of this coastline from Kokkilai to Nayaaru from 1985. more..

Nov 5 (LeN) Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) planning to invest in a television station and 'differentiating' its product offering based on internet provider technology to beat the competition. "We have applied for a anon voice telecommunication service license to use cable and satellite technologies and we want to get into Television." Shuhei Anan, CEO SLT told to Media last day. more..

Nov 5 (LeN) Secretary to the Ministry of Media and Information W.B.Ganegala has ordered he Rupavahini authorities to immediately suspend 'Rajatha Rashmi' program which was launched to coincide with the Rupavahin's 25th anniversary. A spokesman of 'Rupavahini' said the suspension was prompted by the misappropriation of huge amount of money. more..

Nov 5 (LeN) The Karu Jayasuriya faction of the UNP has decided to seek legal redress if the party hierarchy acts against party constitution by not moving the proposals forwarded by S.B.Dissanayake aimed at pruning the powers of party leadership and making the party more democratic were not moved at the UNP convention on the 19th. more..

Nov 5 (LeN) November 26, LTTE's 'Heroes' Day' is a significant day for the armed forces. An LTTE suspect who surrendered to the Army has made an important statement in this connection after being produced at the Kantale court. According his statement, LTTE cadres are now undergoing training on their leaders instructions to recapture Sampur before the 'Heroes' Day'. more..

Nov 5 (AFP) Sri Lankan cricket legend Arjuna Ranatunga Sunday welcomed the International Cricket Council's decision to remove Australian umpire Darrell Hair from its elite panel. "This should have happened long ago, but I am happy with the way the ICC handled the Pakistani complaint," said Ranatunga, who led his team to an epic World Cup triumph in 1996. more..

Nov 5 (LBO) Sri Lanka�s opposition United National Party which has pledged to support the ruling party in the budget vote says, it will criticize harmful features of the budget, because economic policy is not included in a recent co-operation deal signed between the two parties. �We were not consulted on the upcoming budget, our views were not sought and our input are not included in the budget,� more..

Nov 5 (AT) The twentytwo Tamil National Alliance (TNA) legislators in Sri Lanka parliament solely representing the North and East voters are set to make a "stay in parliament or go," decision on Monday November 6, a Sinhala language newspaper reported here today. Their decision to 'take a decision' comes due to party's loss of hopes and confidence on the future conduct of GoSL-LTTE negotiations and also more..

Nov 5 (AT) Over the next fortnight, India's ban on the LTTE is likely to get judicial imprimatur. It is not a formality though. Much will depend on how the interior ministry puts its case before Justice A K Sikri of the Delhi High Court, who is examining the issue. The Judge is heading a one-man tribunal under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act of 1967, which provides more..

Nov 5 (AT) Walk into any left-leaning parliamentarians office from Toronto to Sydney you will find a Tamil behind the counter in one capacity or the other. These are nominally the volunteers placed in electoral offices of parliamentarians in Europe, Australia, Canada, and the USA to help in their election campaigns. Parliamentarians need helping hands not only to do electoral work but even to do office chores. more..

Nov 5 (AT) The A9 controversy is symptomatic of the Lankan crisis. The LTTE, citing civilian needs, wants the road reopened. The government, based on security considerations, opposes the road reopening. If the LTTE is genuinely concerned about the starving population of Jaffna it would have given a security guarantee to ships transporting food and medicines under the auspices of international relief agencies. more..

Nov 5 (AT) Sri Lanka�s Deputy High Commission in Chennai has taken steps to sort out problems Indian fishermen encounter while fishing at sea and at times closer to Sri Lanka border. On the 28th of October representatives of the South India Federation of Fishermen Societies (SIFFS), and Alliance for the Release of Innocent Fishermen (ARIF) led Mr. V. Vivekanandan, Chief Executive met Mr. P.M. Amza the Sri Lanka Deputy High Commissioner in Chennai to explain the problems they encounter at sea. more..

Nov 5 (AT) This is the success story behind the transfer of a 3000 year old medical technology by an Ayurvedic physician from Sri Lanka to Japan. At a simple ceremony held at the Hotel Lanka Oberoi in March this year, Dr. Upali Pilapitiya of Kasbewa was presented with two prestigious awards from the Association of Colo-Proctology of Japan and the more..

Nov 5 (AT) Government yesterday, as an urgent measure, airlifted 18,000 kilogram of milk powder for children in Jaffna by the Air force plane. In the meantime Sri Lanka Army reports revealed that last week alone, 88 lorry loads of food items have been transported to Vanni. According to the �Media Centre for National Security,� the entire consignment of milk powder for children has been handed over to the Government Agent (GA) Jaffna. more..

Nov 5 (GDI) The Government in its second budget has allocated the highest ever provision, over Rs.730 billion for the infrastructural development in the country. This is nearly 55 percent of the Government total expenditure and the quantum could be the largest allocation for infrastructural development in the history, said Deputy Finance Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya. more..

Nov 5 (FARS) Iran and Sri Lanka explored avenues for the expansion of exchanges and removal of the problems facing the two countries' economic development in a meeting between the two commerce ministers. Iranian Minister of Commerce Seyed Mas'oud Mir-Kazemi met with Sri Lanka's Minister of Trade, Commerce, Consumer Affairs and Marketing Development Jeyaraj Fernandopulle on Saturday, a report released by the Public Relations department of the Commerce Ministry said. more..

Nov 5 (ZN) After a 29-day ordeal, three fishermen from Kambangthottai in Sri Lanka, finally drifted ashore at Poompuhar in Tamil Nadu after they were left stranded at sea when the engine of their boat failed. The signal of the boat also did not work and after the fishermen failed to repair their boat's engine the desperate men resorted to collecting rainwater in bowls and catching turtles and fish after their food and water supplies ran out, more..

Nov 5 (LNP) President Mahinda Rajapakse is expected to announce tomorrow an eight-member commission of inquiry to investigate 15 cases of abduction, disappearance and extra-judicial killing that occurred after August 2005. These include the Lakshman Kadirgamar killing; the hanging of a family of five in Mannar; the Pesalai incident where the navy is blamed for firing on civilians inside a church; the killing of civilians in Kayts Island; more..

Nov 5 (LNP) A civilian airline company announced it was resuming passenger flights between Colombo and Jaffna from today although the frequency of the operations will depend on the market availability which was affected after the LTTE launched attacks on the Palaly air base. Expo airways said operations, which were suspended following hostilities between government troops and the LTTE in the north, will more..

Nov 5 (LNP) The UNP Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya was interviewed by Sunday Observer staffer Anura Maitipe last week with regard to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Government and the Opposition UNP. Following are excerpts of the interview: Question: Many are of the view that the SLFP and UNP consensus was a historical turn in Sri Lankan politics and what will it give the country' more..

Nov 5 (SAMN) UNP leaders are to meet next week ahead of the Party�s annual convention on November 19 with two factions wanting to push through their own proposals for restructuring the Party. The UNP Working Committee is to meet on Wednesday while the Resolutions Committee is to meet on Monday and the Parliamentary group on Tuesday. more..

Nov 5 (SAMN) The Nuclear Medicine Unit at the Faculty of Medicine and the Peradeniya Teaching Hospital are heading for a breakdown in bone, liver cancer and thyroid detection if the X-ray cameras in use are not replaced immediately. The equipment was donated by the International Atomic Energy Authority at Vienna 25 years ago. more..

Nov 5 (SAMN) Puttalam district has the largest number of people displaced by the ethnic conflict, with more than 100,000 refugees housed in camps for more than 15 years. There are as many as 134 refugee camps in Mundel, Kalpitiya, Wanathavillu, and Puttalam for Muslims displaced from Mannar, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya, Jaffna and Kilinochchi. more..

Nov 5 (SAMN) Some 25 five acres of land adjoining the Muthurajawela environmental protection area have been earmarked to dump thousand of tons of garbage from Colombo city � amid warnings by residents and environmentalists that a dirty time bomb was being wired for the people of the area. more..

Nov 5 (CI) The national selection committee will meet some time next week to pick the Sri Lanka team for the tour of New Zealand starting next month. The teams for the Tests and one-day internationals will be selected from a squad of 19 players which the selectors have earmarked for the tour. more..

Nov 5 (CI) Arjun Yadav, with 133, managed to rescue South Zone from a total collapse after Akalanka Ganegama's ran through the South Zone top order, heavy with national team players. Ganegama's four wickets as South Zone crumbled for 266 included those of VVS Laxman, Venugopala Rao and Robin Uthappa - all three out with only one run added to the score. more..

Nov 5 (SO) Officials have warned of a dengue outbreak next month in Colombo due to the recent incessant rains and negligence of people to keep their environment clean. The number of dengue infected cases in the Colombo city over the past 10 months has increased, compared to the corresponding period last year. Already, 669 cases have been reported so far this year while the figure last year was 656. more..

Nov 5 (Xinhua) The Sri Lankan government said Sunday that it has requested the United Nations (UN) to escort the food convoys to the northern Jaffna peninsula in the midst of a food crisis and the UN has agreed. "The UN has agreed to escort food supply vessels to Jaffna," Minister of Human Rights and Disaster Management Mahinda Samarasinghe said, adding that four UN officials will arrive in Colombo on Nov. 8 for the purpose. more..

Nov 5 (SN) Parliamentarian Mano Ganesan and the Civil Monitoring Committee on the recent abductions of Tamil civilians are to request the international community to look into the disappearances in Colombo and the suburbs during the past few months. Speaking to The Nation MP Mano Ganesan said that they will request the international community to appoint a monitoring committee to inquire into these incidents. more..

Nov 5 (SN) Fisher folk in Jaffna have been hit hard by sky rocketing prices and their inability to afford essential items. Jaffna GA K. Ganesh told The Sunday Leader that fishermen and fisher families were starving mainly because goods provided by the government were hardly sufficient to last a month and they would sell anything to gain a few rupees to provide their families with provisions. more..

Nov 5 (PISL) More than twenty five Sri Lankan organisations in United Kingdom have formed an organisation to campaign for Peace and unity in Sri Lanka (CPUSL). Sri Lanka's High Commissioner in UK (Mrs.) Kshenuka Senewiratne, convenor of this organisation requested CPUSL's members to formulate a pro-active Media strategy to deal with the LTTE's disinformation and propaganda campaign. more..

Nov 5 (PISL) The Government has sought India�s help to rush urgent supplies of food, medicine and other essential consumer items to the Jaffna peninsula where food shortages have led to a humanitarian crisis. The appeal was made by Minister Rohita Bogollagama to India�s Deputy High Commissioner A. Manikkam on Friday. more..

Nov 5 (NS) The Co-Chairs of the Tokyo Donor conference will meet in Washington on November 20, to review the Sri Lanka peace process and the second round of peace talks in Geneva which ended in a stalemate. It is likely that the co-chairs will put the government and the LTTE on red notice saying that it would be difficult to help the peace process any further if the meetings are not productive. more..

Nov 5 (NS) UNP firebrand Dr. Rajitha Seneratne has been asked by party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to mediate between the leadership and S.B. Dissanayake to iron out the recent differences of opinion on reforms to the party constitution. Wickremesinghe who earlier dismissed the pressure for reforms has had a lengthy discussion with Senaratne on Friday evening and had requested him to mediate between the various groups and bring everyone to a common ground on party reforms. more..

Nov 5 (NS) October 28 and 29 were significant days in the peace process. The parties came back to the negotiating table, weeks after war and months since Geneva I. November 20 and 27 will be equally important days in the peace/war calendar. Exactly a week ahead of the policy statement to mark LTTE�s Heroes Week, the Co-Chairs have fixed its review meeting in the US Capital, Washington. more..

Nov 5 (NS) The Colombo Municipal Council has issued a warning to several leading star grade hotels in Colombo after failing a sanitary inspection, especially in the food preparation areas, conducted by the medical officers, The Nation learns. Chief Medical Officer for the CMC Dr. Pradeep Kariyawasam said these hotels are given time until December 1 to refurbish their food preparation areas and train their staff on hygienic practices. more..

Nov 5 (AP) Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels, widely accused of forcibly recruiting child soldiers, said they released 22 underage recruits who lied about their age to join the separatist campaign. The rebels, fighting to carve out a state for the country's 3.2 million Tamils, said in their Web site Saturday that the youths "joined the movement by lying about their age." more..