May 9 (TP) Lake House, Sri Lanka’s biggest newspaper group under state control, two government television stations – Rupavahini and ITN - and the Information Department are among state enterprises listed for restructuring by the Public Enterprises Reform Commission (PERC), newspapers said. more..

May 9 (PIS) LTTE in another attempt to provoke Security forces on duty had fired around 350 rounds of T 56 gunfire over the Kattaparichchan Army detachment on Saturday morning. Military sources said that the fire was directed from a location approximately 400 m - 500 m away from the camp more..

May 9 (SAMN) President Chandrika Kumaratunga yesterday stressed the need for partners of the Alliance Government to work with collective responsibility for the benefit of the country without attempting to increase individual party stakes within the Government. more..

May 9 (SAMN) A third year Science Faculty undergraduate of the Kelaniya University was seriously injured in a clash between two rival students' factions on Friday. Kiribathgoda police said that one student who allegedly assaulted another student with a bicycle chain in the clash causing head injuries was arrested. more..

May 9 (SAMN) The GMOA yesterday questioned the ability of the Medical Research Institute to deal effectively with any future infectious disease outbreak due to the lapses highlighted in its administration during the recent dengue and myocarditis outbreaks. more..

May 9 (PE) The Hong Kong based Asian Human Rights Commission urged the government to take appropriate measures to end its practice of unreasonable delay of justice and be answerable for a complaint by a torture victim Lalith Rajapakse to the United Nations Human Rights Committee. more..

May 9 (Reuters) The Sri Lanka rupee ended flat for the second day in a row on Monday as importer demand for dollars to settle trade bills were offset by bank dollar sales, dealers said. The local currency closed unchanged at 99.87 rupees from Friday, after weakening to 99.91 in intraday trade. more..

May 9 (LM) SLMC leader demands recognition of Muslim dignity, national entity status, and equal partnership in the peace process. Slates SLFP's compromise for political expediency while the country faces anarchy. more..

May 9 (LM) Abandoning the earlier pricing formula and purchasing crude supplies from sources not necessarily the cheapest were factors contributing to government's inability to work out a reasonable and rational oil price hike that would not unduly affect the people, more..

May 9 (LM) More than three thousand jobs are reportedly threatened at the possible closure of all Sathosa retail shops by the foreign investor, The International Grocery Alliance, later this month. more..

May 9 (LNP) IGP Chandra Fernando said that there was no clear evidence that the LTTE had abducted the missing Police Inspector T. Jeyaratnam. `We can't point fingers at them for the abduction,` IGP Fernando said, adding that no important evidence or a lead had been found of the IP, more..

May 9 (LNP) National Anti-War Movement Secretary Ven. Pandit Madampagama Assagi Thera yesterday lashed out at Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe for refusing the offer extended by the President to discuss a common program for implementing humanitarian tasks in tsunami hit areas. more..

May 9 (DN) The Education Ministry has strongly challenged the Public Service Commission (PSC) order to reinstate the two Principals of Ananda College, Colombo and Kingswood College, Kandy with immediate effect and to pay their salaries etc. for the period that they were out of service. more..

May 9 (HT) The North-South divide in Sri Lanka has had many dimensions. The latest difference between the two is in the way post-tsunami rehabilitation work is being done in the two areas. Sri Lanka's North may have taken the brunt of the 20-year war ethnic war, and is a manifestly devastated land, in contrast to the South. more..

May 9 (AP) A Japanese envoy will visit a Tamil guerrilla-held area in northern Sri Lanka and meet the country's leaders in the capital to discuss its stalled peace process, officials said Monday. Yasushi Akashi will arrive Wednesday more..

May 9 (AP) Police opened fire Monday when Tamil activists became unruly during a rally demanding the removal of a security checkpoint in eastern Sri Lanka, and one demonstrator was later found dead and another wounded, a military spokesman said. more..

May 9 (AP) The government is scrambling to prevent the abuse of tens of thousands of Sri Lankan women working as maids overseas, mostly in the Middle East, following reports of torture, harassment and even death, the country's labor ministry said Monday. more..

May 9 (HT) A three-day annual travel mart, to be held in Colombo from June 3, will help provide a unique business environment for 150 buyers from around the world including key target markets like France, the United Kingdom, Australia, China, Germany, Japan, India, Italy and the Middle East. more..

May 9 (BBC) Supreme Court issued summons to ‘Lankadeepa’ editor Siri Ranasinghe to answer the contempt of court charges against him. Charges were filled against the editor in the Supreme Court by a counsel representing Rohitha Bogollagama, Minister for Advanced Technology and National Enterprise Development. more..

May 10 (TN) The joint mechanism between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers called for by international aid donors has become the centre of political manoeuvres by the main Sinhala parties, in whose zero-sum calculations, international aid has a critical role to play. more..

May 10 (TN) Officials of the Sri Lanka Government security forces and the LTTE in the Trincomalee district met for discussions on the ground situation and to review complaints made by both parties to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) over recent firing incidents, sources said. more..

May 10 (TN) Ten thousand member strong Jaffna District Fishermen Co-operative Unions' Federation (JDFCUF) in a memorandum to the SLMM protested against Sri Lanka Army's (SLA's) decision to issue special identity cards to their members. The JDFCUF urged its members to refrain from obtaining special identity cards from the SLA, more..

May 10 (TN) As the proposed joint mechanism for aid distribution urged by international donors between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers remains mired in Sinhala political manoeuvring, deep scepticism has replaced early optimism amongst the Tamils. more..

May 10 (BBC) Government’s coalition partner should have considered the allegations against the Western Provincial Council’s Chief Minister before they formed an alliance with his party, SLMC said. The party will abstain from voting when the no-confidence motion against Chief Minister will be brought forward again, more..

May 10 (LM) The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress yesterday charged that President Chandrika Kumaratunga has stopped enjoying the Executive Powers vested in her as the country's Executive President, since a few trade unions have apparently taken over those powers. more..

May 10 (AT) Senior Buddhist Bikkhus have opposed the Norway proposed Joint mechanism and claimed that it would undermine the sovereignty of Sri Lanka. They said that there is a hidden conspiracy agenda in Joint Mechanism which was against the Sinhala Nation. more..

May 10 (SLA) LTTE men, regardless of provisions of the cease-fire (CFA) agreement on Sunday (8) abducted an undergraduate student of the UNIVERSITY OF SRI JAYAWARDENEPURA, NUGEGODA while he was in NALLUR KACHCHERI area, JAFFNA after he was bundled into a three-wheeler. more..

May 10 (SLBC) A special programme to issue one million national identity cards commences today. This is the first phase of a project planned to issue 2.5 million identity cards to civilians. more..

May 10 (SLBC) Steps have been taken to issue certificates acceptable at national level, to students who complete vocational training programmes. The Commission for Tertiary and Vocational Education said the certificates will be issued by the relevant institutes conducting the programmes. more..

May 10 (LBO) Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Health is drafting new laws that require importers to clearly label genetically modified (GM) foods. "We have drafted the law for GM food imports. Now we are in the process of getting it approved," said C K Shanmugarajah, more..

May 10 (LT) The time has come to develop the economy of Sri Lanka says Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe. The Leader of the Opposition made this observation participating at a meeting. The Government has not been able to find a solution for the ascending living index neither does the Government have a programme to develop the country. more..

May 10 (AT) The villagers in the remote Padaviya bordering the eastern and north central provinces, had a very pleasant surprise yesterday when President Chandrika Kumaratunga arrived on an unannounced visit and inquired about their well being. more..

May 10 (AT) Immediate consultations between the senior military officers and Tamil militants, with the Scandinavian facilitators have succeeded in defusing the tensed situation in the east after a civilian was killed and several persons including policemen and soldiers injured during a violent demonstration. more..

May 10 (LM) Mounting tension aggravated in Kalmunai and Marathamunai as this predominantly Muslim trading community was ordered by the LTTE to put up shutters, heightening a sense of imminent trouble while all business establishments, schools and transport services were forced to closure and a stand still from this morning. more..

May 10 (LM) Tension is building up in Kinniya following an LTTE ban prohibiting Muslims cultivating their own lands in the area. This has resulted in these cultivators closing ranks to make representations to the Kinniya Jamiyathul Ulamaa and a demand to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission to persuade the LTTE to retract their ban. more..

May 10 (PIS) President Chandrika Kumaratunga will go to India on Saturday for a two-day official visit on an invitation by the Indian government. Diplomatic sources said Ms. Kumaratunga's visit follows a report submitted to the Indian government by its Foreign Secretary Shan Saran who was in Sri Lanka last week. more..

May 10 (PIS) The EPDP is not opposed to Joint Mechanisms in each of the districts of the North and East affected by the tsunami that would recognise the political and ethnic pluralism of those districts, said Douglas Devananda, Minister of Agricultural Marketing Development, more..

May 10 (PIS) National Left Front Leader Dr. Wickramabahu Karunaratne yesterday said his party fully endorsed the decision to establish a "joint mechanism" with the LTTE to distribute tsunami relief. Dr. Wickramabahu said it was a positive step taken by the government more..

May 10 (Gulf) President Chandrika Kumaratunga has called for unity among members of the coalition government in Sri Lanka. The call comes as the Marxist JVP continued to differ over the issues of privatisation of the state run electricity and petroleum sectors more..

May 10 (SAMN) In what is described in political circles as a move to silence its critics who demand to know how it is going to solve the problems besetting the disbursement of tsunami funds in the North and the East, the JVP will spell out its alternatives to the joint mechanism today at its rally in Colombo. more..

May 10 (SAMN) UNP members in the Western Provincial Council have decided not to give evidence before the Commission appointed to look into the allegations against Chief Minister Reginald Cooray. Western Province Opposition Leader Kithsiri Kahatapitiya said the decision was taken as they felt the Commission was not an effective solution to the problem. more..

May 10 (SAMN) A private bus company from India is to grant Rs. 120 million to the Transport Ministry to set up a Drivers' Training Centre for private bus operators, the Transport Ministry said. Transport Minister Felix Perera said Ashok Leyland Company of India will also provide trainers for the centre. more..

May 10 (LNP) Bandarawela Police had taken into custody high powered explosives including live T56 ammunition hidden in Ambetota Forest Reservation in Gaswatte in Bandarawela on Saturday. The operation was carried out on a tip off received by IP R. D. M. Jayaratne attached to the Bandarawela police. more..

May 10 (LNP) The UNP which did not allow a subsidy of even Rs. 150 for a hundred-weight of fertiliser is now shedding crocodile tears on behalf of the farming community, said the Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation, Lands and Livestock Development, Anura Kumara Dissanayake more..

May 10 (DN) The "Gemi Diriya" project, a special poverty alleviation drive officially launched by President Chandrika Kumaratunga in December last year to uplift the socio-economic conditions of poor families has already commenced the development of 143 rural villages selected from six districts for the year 2005. more..

May 10 (LNP) With the increase of road accidents in the recent past, police have adopted a series of new measures to prevent road accidents in the future. Four teams have been mobilised to carry out cordon and search operations island-wide using modern equipment. more..

May 10 (TN) Reporters San Frontiers (RSF) Tuesday urged international monitors supervising Sri Lanka’s ceasefire to carry out their own investigations into the abduction and murder two weeks ago of political columnist and military analyst Dharmeratnam Sivaram. more..

May 10 (CI) Ashantha de Mel, Sri Lanka's sacked selection chairman, has lashed out at two of his fellow selectors, KM Nelson and Shabbir Asgerally, claiming that they were serving "vested interests" and "promoting their own agendas". de Mel was ousted as selection chairman on Friday in a surprise move by Jewwan Kumaratunga, more..

May 10 (TP) Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh will visit Sri Lanka on June 9 and 10 to hold talks with his Sri Lankan counterpart Lakshman Kadirgamar and other Sri Lankan leaders including President Chandrika Kumaratunga, the Island newspaper reported. more..

May 10 (PRIU) The Government under its program of providing houses to those who have lost their abodes in the tsunami has provided Rs. 453.5 million as housing assistance among 8,237 affected families through the two main state banks, People's Bank and Bank of Ceylon upto April 30 this year, more..