Nov 15 (LBO) The apparel industry is cutting its growth forecasts for this year and the next as prices fall and margins get thinner, trying to trim local costs to shore up exports. The industry expects a maximum of eight to nine percent growth this year with an export turnover of US$ 300 million and about ten percent growth next year. more..

Nov 15 (LBO) Sri Lanka's borrowing costs went up by about 10-15 basis points at this week's treasury bill auction, leaving room for speculation that the Central Bank may hike its benchmark interest rates on Wednesday. The island nation sold Rs. 7.4 billion of three-months treasury bills at a yield of 10.02 percent, more..

Nov 15 (TN) Workers at Halo trust, a British charity engaged in mine clearing work in Jaffna for the past five years, went on strike to protest the dismissal of four workers without warning. More than one hundred workers picketed in front of the Halo trust vehicle park located on Temple road near Nallur, Jaffna, more..

Nov 15 (Reuters) A security scare forced Sri Lanka's Prime Minister to miss his final presidential election rally on Monday and police stepped up patrols after a minister's bodyguard was shot dead by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels. more..

Nov 15 (Bloomberg) The Sri Lankan government's annual budget for 2006 looks more like a cash-for-votes plan. Both the generosity and the fiscal imprudence were to be expected, considering that last week's budget came days before the Nov. 17 presidential polls. more..

Nov 15 (BBC) Bandula runs a small shop selling Chinese electronic goods in Colombo's bustling Pettah market. Like many Sri Lankans, he is fed up of constant elections - parliamentary elections were held last year and Thursday's presidential vote will be the fourth poll in six years. more..

Nov 15 (AT) The Industrial Technology Institute (ITI) successor to the Ceylon Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research (CISIR) the premier multidisciplinary scientific research and service organization in Sri Lanka completed 50 years of service to the nation earlier this year, which have been established on 12th April 1955. more..

Nov 15 (TW) Whatever the political compulsions or inner- party intrigues involved the overt and united decision of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in declaring Mahinda Rajapakse and Anura Bandaranaike as the Presidential and Prime Ministerial Candidates respectively is a very welcome one. more..

Nov 15 (TO) Four months ago I was a business writer on this newspaper. I had a privileged role interviewing famous businessmen. After 16 years in Wapping I considered myself a Times man. I was deeply proud of the association, and still am. more..

Nov 15 (AT) The Inspector of Police P.Bhavani of the Tamil rebel outfit, LTTE made a startling revelation before their district judge, that according to investigations the three Sri Lanka policemen arrested and held in custody by the LTTE in Kilinochchi more..

Nov 15 (AT) Military cadres of the Tamileelam Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP) led by Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan (Colonel Karuna) have ambushed and killed Suresh, LTTE’s military commander for Ampara. more..

Nov 15 (AT) With the country going to polls on November 17, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse’s Chief Campaign Manager said the Premier would garner an “unexpected” number of minority votes from the Eastern province and the upcountry areas. more..

Nov 15 (AT) President Chandrika Kumaratunga is expected to make her farewell speech to the nation today. She is expected to make a dignified exit from her 11-year-old office as the President of Sri Lanka. more..

Nov 15 (LS) All set for one of the most crucial presidential elections of the post independence political history of Sri Lanka. On the 17 the November, the people of Sri Lanka will elect the 5th executive president under the present constitution. more..

Nov 15 (AP) A student group with ties to Sri Lanka's feared insurgents called for minority Tamils to boycott Sri Lanka's presidential election, widely seen as a referendum on the country's faltering peace process. more..

Nov 15 (LM) Colombo district UNP Parliamentarian Ravi Karunanayake yesterday said it was high time Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse stopped talking big about uniting the country when he had simply failed to bring his alliance partners - - the JVP, the JHU and the President on one election stage. more..

Nov 15 (TN) North East Provincial Council (NEPC) is planning to establish plants to mine sand from sea in the districts of Jaffna, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Amparai to compensate for the shortage of river sand needed for the construction industry in the districts. more..

Nov 15 (AT) In a last minute appeal to the Tamils to participate in the presidential election Douglas Devananda, the leader of the EPDP, says that he does not believe in remaining neutral at this juncture because the ballot can serve the Tamils better than the bullet. more..

Nov 15 (PIS) Amidst the excess of political propaganda in the country, there is to be heard a despondent cry from the Tamil people of the north east, that it matters not to them whether Rama or Ravana rules. Those very words may be articulated only by those with a Poet's instinct to capture the reality of existence in a phrase. more..

Nov 15 (PIS) As many as 208,820 voters, living in the LTTE controlled areas, who are eligible to vote at the Presidential Election this week, have to travel anything between 20 to 100 Kilometers to cast their vote at the cluster polling stations, Election Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake said yesterday (14). more..

Nov 15 (Xinhua) Sri Lanka Elections Chief Dayananda Dissanayake announced that the poll card is not essential to make use of their franchise right at the upcoming presidential election, Daily News said Tuesday. more..

Nov 15 (Xinhua) The final result of the Nov. 17 Presidential Election of Sri Lanka will be announced on Friday morning, Sri Lankan Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake was quoted Tuesday by Daily News as saying. more..

Nov 15 (TN) An unidentified flying object, suspected to be a small aircraft or a helicopter, has come down in the sea 140 km north of Colombo and 2 km off the Ilanthayadi shore at about 10.45 a.m. Tuesday, according to fishermen in the area. more..

Nov 15 (TN) Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) soldiers arrested three Tamil youths at Paddiriuppu Bridge in Kaluwanchikudy, 24 km south of Batticaloa, and the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers arrested two Tamil youths at Black Bridge in Chenkalady, 13 km north of Batticaloa Monday. more..

Nov 15 (UNP) “The Choice is clear when Sri Lankans head to the polling station on 17th November – what people should decide is if they want war or peace in the country” said UNP Presidential candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe who addressed his final political rallies yesterday in Matara, kalutara, Moratuwa and Colombo. more..

Nov 15 (LM) ‘We could see a hostile atmosphere emerging in the Ampara district as deployment of several dozens of thugs believed to be hired by the ruling UPFA strongmen in the district are taking place in the SLMC strongholds', said SLMC Leader Rauff Hakeem. more..

Nov 15 (LT) Sources say Mr. Chandrasekeran, leader of Upcountry People’s Front met representatives of wanni tiger organization in Wanni yesterday. Mr. Chandrasekeran had first been to Vavuniya and was to leave to Jaffna in the evening. more..

Nov 15 (wsws) In the communally charged atmosphere of Sri Lankan politics, a conspiracy is underway to prevent large numbers of Tamils in the war-ravaged northern and eastern provinces from voting in the November 17 presidential elections. more..

Nov 15 (SAMN) They are the second largest foreign exchange earners in the country. They constitute 12 per cent of registered voters. They contributed 17% of national savings and more than 20 per cent foreign exchange earnings in the year 2004. more..

Nov 15 (SAMN) The Elections Chief yesterday warned he would be compelled to appoint a Competent Authority to control state media institutions if they continued to be partial to some candidates. “There cannot be anything called a state media in a democratic country”, Mr. Dissanayake told a news conference more..

Nov 15 (USE) The United States of America will support the efforts of Sri Lankan civil society organizations to monitor and report on the 2005 Presidential election to help ensure a free and fair poll on November 17. more..

Nov 15 (SAMN) Mystery surrounds a ship seen in the seas off the North. It is believed to be carrying weapons for the LTTE, but had disappeared sometime after it was sighted, Chief of Defence Staff, Vice Admiral Daya Sandagiri told The Island yesterday (14). more..

Nov 15 (SLE) ‘I have always championed the Palestinian cause and I am the first Sri Lankan politician who forged a strong friendship with the PLO. I am the first parliamentarian who thanked then Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike when she decided to close the Israeli Embassy in 1970, and I have always condemned the invasion of Iraq. more..

Nov 15 (SLE) “You are going to make me the nest president of Sri Lanka not to my personal gain but to your own future prospect. My victory will be your victory. I have the plan and the ability to fulfil your aspiration,” said UNP Presidential candidate, Ranil Wickramasinghe, more..

Nov 15 (SLE) Addressing his final campaign rally in Maradana yesterday, Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said he would not allow any one to divide the country. “My aim is a united Sri Lanka. I call upon all other parties, including those who stand against me today, to join hands with us to save the motherland. I never lied to people, never even thought of betraying it,” he said. more..

Nov 15 (LNP) Amidst tight security in the city ahead of the Presidential election, a camouflage uniform similar to that used by the Army was found yesterday morning from Campbell Park, where Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse was to address his final rally last evening. more..

Nov 15 (LNP) Residents in Mahara, Naligama and Nugegoda divisional secretariat divisions have vehemently protested against, a rumered proposal to fill the Naligama Galwala lake and the land area owned by the ports authority, with garbage collected from the Colombo Municipality zone. more..

Nov 15 (DN) UPFA Presidential candidate Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse yesterday went on to stress that the current battle was not between two individuals or political parties but a fight to preserve national ethos and aspirations against the threat of alien forces. more..

Nov 15 (LM) UNP Presidential Candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday pledged to take forward the peace process from the point where he stopped in November 2003, and solve the problem within a united Sri Lanka by ensuring that the rights of all communities are upheld. more..

Nov 15 (AKI) The minority Muslim population in eastern Sri Lanka will have a "crucial impact" on the outcome of Thursday's presidential elections, according the Rohan Edrisinha of the Centre for Policy Alternatives in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo. more..

Nov 15 (IPS) When 13 million Sri Lankan voters cast their ballots on Thursday, they will do so with clear choices before them and the sense that this is the closest contest for the top job since 1979, when the country adopted executive presidency. more..

Nov 15 (AP) A resident of Sri Lanka's southern coast was so enraged by his neighbors' constantly barking dog that he killed the husband, wife and one of their daughters with an iron rod, police said Tuesday. Two other daughters escaped by hiding in the backyard. The dog also survived. more..

Nov 15 (AP) Fishermen had reported seeing a small plane crash into the sea off Sri Lanka's western coast, but inspection of the alleged site found no traces of a crash, the military said Tuesday. "We didn't find anything," said Jayantha Perera, navy spokesman, more..

Nov 15 (AP) With Sri Lanka's presidential vote expected to be tight, the country's minority Tamils have emerged as potential kingmakers in a race between contenders with widely divergent views on how to end an insurgency fought in the name of Tamil rights. more..

Nov 15 (Xinhua) UNP warned Tuesday that the presidential elections due to be held on Thursday could become violent. G.L Peiris told reporters that a large number of military deserters had been despatched by a group of government supporters to outer districts in order to intimidate voters. more..

Nov 15 (Reuters) He rose through the ranks to become Sri Lanka's prime minister thanks to close labor union ties and support among Sinhalese nationalists, but Mahinda Rajapakse's Marxist union allies could prove to be his downfall. more..

Nov 15 (Reuters) Ranil Wickremesinghe was the youngest cabinet minister in Sri Lanka's history, has been prime minister twice, but analysts say Thursday's presidential vote could be his last chance at the top job. more..

Nov 15 (AP) UNP on Tuesday accused the government of trying to intimidate voters in an effort to disrupt polling among minority Tamils, widely seen as a key block in what is expected to be a tight presidential election. more..

Nov 15 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's presidential election is a two-horse race that boils down to a referendum on how to forge lasting peace with the Tamil Tigers and develop a rural economy battered by two decades of civil war. more..

Nov 16 (TN) Sri Lankan Tamils living in Europe and North America have decided not to distribute or see films featuring Khushboo and Suhasini Manirathnam on the grounds that they had insulted Tamil women. They have also warned that they will agitate against the screening of films made by director Manirathnam. more..