Nov 3 (DJ) A planned initial public offering by Sri Lanka's Housing Development and Finance Corp. has been postponed until December to allow for more preparation time, the managers of the issue said Wednesday. more..

Nov 3 (wsws) The Commerce and Industrial Workers Union (CIWU) in Sri Lanka has betrayed the bitter three-month struggle of Bata shoe factory employees, allowing the Canadian-based multinational to retrench 146 workers and impose harsher working conditions. more..

Nov 3 (IANS) President Chandrika Kumaratunga will be in Bihar over the weekend when she visits the famous Buddhist pilgrimage spot of Bodh Gaya to inaugurate a global convention of Buddhist youths. Sources said Kumaratunga would arrive in Bodh Gaya, where the Buddha attained enlightenment, on Nov 7 by a special plane. more..

Nov 3 (AT) Release Rajaratnam.com is a new website opened up to appeal for the release, by the well wishers and sympathizers of Dinesh Dharmendra Rajaratnam, a truck driver from Sri Lanka, who has been kidnapped by the Iraq Islamic Army on 28 October, in Baghdad, Iraq. more..

Nov 3 (AT) President Chandrika Kumaratunga begins a five-day visit to India today on the very day the Japanese special peace envoy Yasushi Akashi briefed New Delhi of the outcome of his ‘not so successful’ latest visit to Colombo. more..

Nov 3 (MG) The 50th Anniversary of Sri Lanka's admission to the United Nations falls on December 14. The Government has decided to appoint Deputy Minister, Foreign Affairs Prof. Wiswa Warnapala to head a National Committee to mark the 50th Anniversary of Sri Lanka's membership to the United Nations Organization. more..

Nov 3 (Jang) The export of some 25,000 tonnes of IRRI-6 rice to Sri Lanka this past week has lifted domestic prices in Pakistan and traders said on Tuesday they were likely to remain stable as Sri Lankan buyers were placing new orders. more..

Nov 3 (Jang) The match referee for the just concluded Pakistan-Sri Lanka Test series, Jeff Crowe had a word with captains and coaches of both the teams during the second Test in Karachi on their excessive appealing in the match. more..

Nov 3 (DN) Minister Mangala Samaraweera and JVP MP Wimal Weerawansa in a joint statement of the Media Unit of the United People's Freedom Alliance yesterday, sympathised with the UNP for their helplessness before the pending budget proposals which are people friendly but, unpalatable to them. more..

Nov 3 (LT) The JVP in a letter to the president requests her to take immediate action in respect of the appointment of four non cabinet ministers, which is a breach of the Memorandum of Understanding reached between the two parties for the formation of the Alliance. more..

Nov 3 (Reuters) U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said on Wednesday he feared a chance to forge peace between Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tigers could be slipping away, and called on the rebels to renounce violence for good. more..

Nov 3 (AP) President planned to discuss her nation's stalled peace process with Indian leaders during a five-day visit starting Wednesday, India's foreign ministry said. President Chandrika Kumaratunga was scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, and other leaders on Thursday, more..

Nov 3 (HT) Peace talks between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE are not starting due to a lack of mutual trust, and not so much because there are any unbridgeable differences on substantive issues, informed political sources say. more..

Nov 3 (BBC) More than 700 Muslim families have fled their homes near Batticaloa in eastern Sri Lanka after clashes between rival Muslim groups. The fighting broke out after a hand grenade was thrown into a mosque during evening prayers on Monday. more..

Nov 4 (TN) Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) Wednesday opened its fifth divisional office in Punnaiady, a remote village in Eachchilampathu Division in the Trincomalee district. more..

Nov 4 (TN) Clerics of a Sufi sect of Islam in Kattankudy, a large Muslim town near Batticaloa riven by religious clashes which started four days ago, said Wednesday that more than six hundred of their followers were forcibly converted to orthodoxy under threat of violence and death. more..

Nov 4 (TN) A group of soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA)and members of public clashed at Madathady junction along Main Street in Jaffna town Wednesday noon that injured a soldier, police said. Jaffna Police arrested a Tamil youth after the incident. more..

Nov 4 (LBO) India has come through with a US$ 150 mn credit line, allowing Sri Lanka to fill up her fuel tanks with refined petroleum products for six months. Indian state owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp. will deliver the load as soon as procurement agreements are reached with Ceylon Petroleum Corp. (CEYPETCO). more..

Nov 4 (LBO) If Sri Lanka’s garment sector is to benefit from any trade agreement with the US, negotiators must focus on the rules of origin,” say trade analysts. Getting duty free access for Sri Lankan garments into the US won’t be enough to compete, says the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) more..

Nov 4 (BBC) The United Peoples’ Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government is keeping quiet despite the promise to increase the public sector workers’ salaries by 70% within three months of coming to power, said hundreds of protesters who gathered in Colombo. more..

Nov 4 (BBC) Nearly 2500 people from 768 families taken refuge in mosques belong to Sufist All Ceylon Islamic Spiritual Movement (ACISM) and in Tamil villages at Kattankudy in Batticaloa after continued clashes between two different Islamic sects. more..

Nov 4 (BBC) The Indian Army commander NC Vij told senior military officials in Sri Lanka that although there is a truce in fighting Sri Lankan soldiers need to be vigilant. The Indian Army commander visited Vavuniya and met senior Sri Lankan Army (SLA) officials early hours on Wednesday. more..

Nov 4 (NW) Suspended Sathosa Chairman Upali Guneratne yesterday denied allegations made by Trade, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Jeyeraj Fernandopulle that he had given false information to the media to mislead the public. He said his efforts were to educate the public of the shady transactions that were taking place at the Sathosa. more..

Nov 4 (NW) A child who was snatched by an eagle at Beruwala Ambalappola sea coast was saved by his mother by beating the giant bird with a stick and forcing it to drop the child. The incident had taken place on Tuesday 2, at about 9.30 a.m. more..

Nov 4 (NW) The Bribery and Corruption Commission is to file four cases this week against some heads of state institutions for allegedly earning millions of rupees as commission on investments made in the Pramuka Bank. more..

Nov 4 (NW) The Sri Lankan truck driver held hostage by an extremist group in Iraq was expected to be released along with his Bangladeshi counterpart within the next 24 hours, reports reaching Colombo said yesterday. more..

Nov 4 (AT) President George Bush promised the American people that he will be tough on terrorism. Now that he is back for a second term will he carry out his zealous "war on terror" and against the so-called rogue states? more..

Nov 4 (AT) Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Petersen is rushing to Sri Lanka once again as Tamil militants issued a warning to the international community that they could not dictate terms on liberation goals of the LTTE. more..

Nov 4 (TN) Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) has been implementing a programme to educate the rank and file of Tamil political parties and armed Tamil groups in Jaffna district on safeguarding human rights and preventing abuses of such rights, HRCSL sources said. more..

Nov 4 (TN) Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) Wednesday handed over bulls and carts to five beneficiaries and financial assistance to two beneficiaries to run groceries in their areas under its Self Income Generation Incentive Project (SIGIP). more..

Nov 4 (TN) Two Information Technology centers were opened in Puthukudiyiruppu Maha Vidiyalayam and Mullaitivu Mahavidyalayam Monday as part of the second phase of a project undertaken by The Economic Consultancy House (TECH), Non-Governmental Non-Profit Sharing Organization more..

Nov 4 (SLA) An LTTE attempt to transport two abducted civilians into cleared areas across the BLACKBRIDGE Entry/Exit point at BATTICALOA on 03 November 2004 around 4.30 p.m. was foiled after the Police took the abducted civilians, including a woman into their custody. more..

Nov 4 (SLA) Six unidentified self-claimed LTTE men, pretending that they were in search of LTTE men from KARUNA faction had ransacked two houses in the general area of SAMBALTHIVU during 2nd & 3rd November 2004. more..

Nov 4 (SLA) Field Engineers of the Sri Lanka Army on a directive made by Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General S. H. S Kottegoda embarked on the task of repairing and renovating dilapidated buildings and toilets at Kanniya Mixed Government School, Trincomalee after the school compound and surroundings were cleared of mines. more..

Nov 4 (SLA) The Indian Army Chief, General N. C. Vij now in Sri Lanka on a goodwill tour, as part of his itinerary during (November 1- 4), visited Vavuniya and Anuradhapura on Wednesday (3) along with Mrs Vij and his entourage. more..

Nov 4 (NT) A temple for saptharishis (seven Seers of Truth) - Agasthya, Valmiki, Athri, Brugu, Vyasa, Vasishta and Roma - was consecrated at Mattakalappu in Sri Lanka recently. The temple, the first such dedicated to the sages, has been built by Gayathri Siddhar of Lankatheeswarar temple at Nuverelia, more..

Nov 4 (LT) At a meeting with Chandrika Kumaratunga, Leader of the Opposition strongly emphasized of a “a clear agreement between the Government and the LTTE to explore a federal solution as the basis of a political resolution of the ethnic conflict.” more..

Nov 4 (LT) Police reports that complaints have been received against the Wanni Tigers, who are demanding increased extortions from Public in Mannar in order to strengthen LTTE coffers. more..

Nov 4 (TP) Sri Lankan Majlis, a social organisation of Sri Lankan Muslims in Qatar, plans to conduct studies back home to ascertain reports that the number of Muslim university graduates in the island country was showing a downward trend. more..

Nov 4 (PSL) President Chandrika Kumaratunga arrived at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport in the early hours of Thursday 4th November. The President was accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, Power & Energy Minister Susil Premajayantha and Government officials. more..

Nov 4 (AFP) A Sri Lankan businessman who splurged on advertisements to congratulate George W. Bush a day before the US vote said Thursday that he now planned a big celebration bash. Real estate man A.S.P. Liyanage, who splashed out a million rupees (US$ 9,600) for full-page ads in the national newspapers in support of Bush, more..

Nov 4 (PIS) The Religious Committee of the National Advisory Council for Peace and Reconciliation (NACPR) has decided to meet LTTE political wing leader S.P. Thamilselvam to discuss about the hurdles to resume peace talks. more..

Nov 4 (Reuters) Japan approved disbursement of around $250 million of a wider $4.5 billion aid package for Sri Lanka on Thursday, but urged the government and Tamil Tiger rebels to resume peace talks. more..

Nov 4 (DN) The construction of the Colombo-Katunayake expressway is to resume next year with the Government deciding to expedite the project which is the country's second largest road development venture. more..

Nov 4 (AP) U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage has canceled a planned visit to Sri Lanka next week because of "unexpected change in travel plans," the U.S. Embassy said Thursday. The statement gave no other details. more..

Nov 4 (Xinhua) India and Sri Lanka have agreed "in principle" to enter into a defense cooperation pact following talks between Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Indian leaders here Thursday, the Indo-Asian News Service quoted official sources as said. more..

Nov 4 (AP) Norway's foreign minister will meet with the Tamil Tiger rebels' reclusive leader next week in another attempt to salvage Sri Lanka's faltering peace process amid tough rebel warnings, officials said Thursday. more..

Nov 4 (AFP) Tamil Tiger rebels have warned foreign aid donors not to interfere in Sri Lanka's faltering peace bid amid fresh diplomatic moves to salvage the process, a pro-rebel website reported Thursday. more..

Nov 4 (HT) A Lankan Tamil member of parliament has warned that the proposed military pact between India and Sri Lanka might tempt the latter to restart the war against Tamil Tiger guerrillas. more..

Nov 4 (AT) Chandrika Kumartunga, President now on a four-day working visit to India, held wide ranging discussions with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his external affairs minister, Natwar Singh. more..