Oct 1 (LBO) Farmers in Ampara are giving their tsunami hit cows a new lease of life, as they "rebuild their cattle and buffalo herds", and jazz up the bovine gene pool. 'Cow rebuilding' is picking up a tad faster than houses in tsunami devastated regions in the South and East, with donations of healthy bulls worth millions of rupees. more..

Oct 1 (LBO) Sri Lanka is close to signing a US$ 800 mn joint venture with a US based energy firm, to double oil refining capacity at its Sapugaskanda refinery and save on its fuel bill. State owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (Ceypetco) is in talks with US based firm Global Energy and Industrial Operations Inc. (GEIO), more..

Oct 1 (TN) More than two hundred thousand people attended the Tamil Resurgence celebrations in Jaffna Friday at Jaffna University Grounds calling for the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to vacate the Tamil homeland and declaring that the Tamils right to self-determination is non-negotiable. more..

Oct 1 (HT) Britain, which ruled what is now Sri Lanka till 1948, has a historical "obligation" to help the Tamils in their struggle to secure their rights in Sri Lanka, says the LTTE. more..

Oct 1 (BBC) The ruling party in Sri Lanka has admitted there were differences between the president and the prime minister on devolution of power as a solution to the long running ethnic conflict. more..

Oct 1 (Xinhua) Sri Lanka's ruling party has appointed a high level committee to thrash out a policy difference between party leader President Chandrika Kumaratunga and the party' s presidential candidate Mahinda Rajapakse ahead of the presidential poll. more..

Oct 1 (AP) Presidential candidate and current Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse visited Sri Lanka's Muslim heartland Friday promising if elected to create an "honorable peace" on the island plagued by decades of sectarian violence. more..

Oct 1 (AP) Prime Minister and presidential candidate of the ruling coalition government Mahinda Rajapakse addresses the public from a bullet proof cubicle as a soldier stands guard in the foreground in Akkaraipattu, about 200 kilometers east of Colombo, more..

Oct 1 (LBO) Sri Lankan shoe maker that went from pavement to conglomerate, says threats are opportunities on reverse. DSI shoes started its journey, to become one of Sri Lanka’s most successful corporates, with a few pairs of imported shoes in the Pettah pavement and an eye for opportunity. more..

Oct 1 (AT) SLFP’s Central Committee meeting ended in a compromise note, as Chandrika Kumaratunga showed her steaming anger and frustration over Mahinda Rajapakse entering into an agreement with two Buddhist Sinhalese parties by agreeing on a unitary form of government, while she insisted that the accepted policy of her government was ‘federalism.’ more..

Oct 1 (AT) Sri Lanka's mechanisms for early warning and detection of natural hazards are being established, but there are many gaps that need to be filled, said Prof.Tissa Vitarana, Minister of Science and Technology, on Thursday, at the Asian Conference on Disaster Reduction held in Beijing. more..

Oct 1 (MNA) Iran is to expand its trade ties with Algeria, Sri Lanka and Armenia in a move to promote joint investment in various economic sectors, the Economic Affairs and Finance Minister Danesh-Jafari emphasized in three separate meetings held last week with his counterparts from the said countries. more..

Oct 1 (HT) Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is the candidate of the United National Party (UNP) for the Sri Lankan Presidency, has appealed to Chandrika Kumaratunga, the head of the rival Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), not to make the peace process in the country a divisive poll issue. more..

Oct 1 (TN) Trincomalee Additional Magistrate Mr.M.Ganesharajah Friday sentenced the former administrator of the Trincomalee 'Anbu Illam', a leading children home in the eastern port town to two years rigorous imprisonment when he was found guilty for child abuse. When the case was taken up for delivering order, the prosecution informed court that the accused has gone into hiding. more..

Oct 1 (SLA) Marking an important milestone in the country’s defence history, the first ever UN contingent of Sri Lankan troops of all three Armed Forces took their leave of the beloved ones, Senior Officers and their workmates on Friday (30) evening after a brief send-off ceremony at Colombo Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA). more..

Oct 1 (SLA) A group of un-identified armed men suspected to be from LTTE have shot and killed two civilians injuring another on 30 September 2005 around 10.40 p.m. in the general area of JETTY, VALAICHCHENAI. The victims had been reportedly engaged in masonry work connected to construction of a Kovil in the area. more..

Oct 1 (SLA) A group of un-identified armed men have set fire to a few temporary huts in a restaurant premises after hurling a hand grenade towards the restaurant in the general area of POTHUVIL ULLA of KALMUNAI on 30 September 2005 around 1.30 a.m. more..

Oct 1 (SLA) Troops deployed in the general area of NAGARKOVIL have observed eight LTTE cadres extending LTTE Defence Line on 30 September 2005 during daytime. A new fence being constructed ahead of the existing LTTE Defence Line and a tractor load of bricks being unloaded were also sighted by the troops. more..

Oct 1 (SLA) One thousand nine hundreds and four lorry (1,904) loads of food and other essential items had been dispatched to un-cleared areas in the northern province during the period between 23 September 2005 and 29 September 2005. more..

Oct 1 (SLBC) Post Master General K.A.S. Senadheera says the distribution of mail is being carried out speedily as the work to rule campaign of the postal workers was over. Dispatch of letters held up in post offices will be completed by next Tuesday. more..

Oct 1 (AT) President Chandrika Kumaratunga left for France in the early hours of Saturday [1st October] morning. She is scheduled to address the 33rd session of the UNESCO General Conference on Monday 3rd October in Paris. more..

Oct 1 (AT) “Ellalan Padai” (Ellalan Army or Ellalan Force), an auxiliary killer force, the strike unit of the feared Sri Lankan Tamil terrorist organisation LTTE, has issued a final warning to our Sydney correspondent Selliah Nagarajah demanding him to stop criticising the LTTE. more..

Oct 1 (AT) In a letter addressed to the European Union Presidency, Douglas Devananda MP, in his capacity as the Secretary General of the EPDP has clarified that the problems of the LTTE are different from that of the problems Tamil speaking people in this country are confronted today. more..

Oct 1 (LT) Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe should withdraw the clause in his election manifest about building the world’s largest Sthupa in Sri Lanka and if he doesn’t take any steps to do so the Maha Sangha as well as the masses in this country should rally to get it withdrawn and a Sangha Degree should be issued against him more..

Oct 1 (LT) Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe had said the election manifesto of the UNP should be treated as a title deed but it is really a deed which gives people nothing says Parliamentarian Sripathy Suriyarachchi. Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe has promised to increase ‘Samurdhi’ allowance by Rs.1000/-, the pension by Rs.750/-. more..

Oct 1 (LBO) Sri Lanka's Central Bank has sought proposals from foreign and local banks to structure a dollar bond issue aimed at funding upcoming infrastructure projects, officials said Friday. more..

Oct 1 (Hindu) Officials of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) from Chennai busted an international drug trafficking racket by seizing 11 kg of heroin in Bangalore on Thursday night. They intercepted a truck carrying the narcotic substance on National Highway 4, off Madanayakanahalli, on the outskirts of Bangalore more..

Oct 1 (PIS) President Chandrika Kumaratunga insisted yesterday that the SLFP manifesto for the upcoming Presidential election would focus on a federal solution to the ethnic conflict. The President made these observations at a crucial central committee meeting at President’s House yesterday more..

Oct 1 (PIS) The government yesterday reiterated its stand for a negotiated settlement with the LTTE, despite the European Union’s punitive travel ban against the rebels and the possible listing of the LTTE as a terrorist organization. more..

Oct 1 (LNP) The Colombo Magistrate yesterday released the wife of the Industrial Minister Rohitha Bogollagama who was charged with causing injury to Dr. S. Narenthiran, warning that the parties should not be involved in any fights hereafter. The court discharged the suspect after the two parties had agreed to settle the matter. more..

Oct 1 (LNP) 'The UNP will provide 200,000 jobs in its first year of the term of Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe as the President, as a top priority of the national agenda. He will also grant permanent status to all graduate-recruits who were misled by the UPFA government,' more..

Oct 1 (LNP) In building a healthy nation the services of the dairy farmer is not at all second to that of the paddy farmer who supply rice, the staple food of the nation. Despite the fact that we are almost self-sufficient in rice, it is indeed deplorable to note that we are far behind in that respect where milk production is concerned, more..

Oct 1 (Dawn) A Sri Lankan woman has been admitted to the JPMC after she consumed some poisonous substance, reportedly at the residence of a senior police official in DHA. The woman, identified as Ms Sheshala, is in her late 30s and had been brought to the hospital by some police officials first on Sept 21, sources in the JPMC said. more..

Oct 1 (DN) THE Government has decided to grant immediate relief to the dependents of the three prison guards killed in the Black Maria ambush in Gampaha on Monday. Cabinet approval has been granted to pay the total monthly salary of the victims to their dependents until the age of 55, more..

Oct 1 (Xinhua) A national action plan with a firm resolve to combat child sex tourism in Sri Lanka, zero tolerance on child exploitation in the country will come into effect from next month. The national action plan to combat child exploitation will be launched on Nov. 8 with the participation of Tourism Minister Anura Bandaranaike as the chief guest, it said. more..

Oct 1 (AP) Gunmen fatally shot two ethnic Tamils and a Sinhalese man in separate attacks in Sri Lanka’s volatile east, hours before a planned visit on Saturday by presidential candidate and current Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, police said. more..

Oct 2 (TN) Children from nine chidren's homes in Mullaitivu and Kiliochchi districts participated in International Children'day celebrations that included sports competitions and cultural events held in the Kilinochchi Central Play grounds Saturday, sources in Vanni said. Supporting events were also held in Akkarayan, Pooneryn and Vaddakachchi, more..

Oct 2 (TN) Sri Lanka’s has substantially increased its defence budget for next year to almost US$700 million, the Sunday Times said this week. The rise of over 20% comes amid a stepping up of violence in the island’s east between Army-backed paramilitaries and the Liberation Tigers. more..

Oct 2 (TN) Four leading citizens of Trincomalee town, three of them octogenarians who have rendered selfless services to their language, religion and community were felicitated at the 2005-Literary Festival of the Trincomalee Divisional Secretariat held Friday evening at Trincomalee Town Hall. more..

Oct 2 (LBO) Sri Lanka has completely missed out on Foreign Direct Investment flows to emerging markets last year. FDI to emerging markets dominated by Chain and India grew 40 percent but flows to Sri Lanka have been hovering around the US$ 200 million a year mark for a decade. more..

Oct 2 (LBO) Sri Lanka's top Treasury official says the country will not accept debt relief next year, unless it is given without strings. Treasury Secretary Dr. P B Jayasundera who asked top lenders to extend debt relief for another year says, last year's relief was not a big help, and he did not ask for it anyway. more..

Oct 2 (LBO) Diversified DSI says they will take more of their newer companies public to raise their profile on the back of the success of earlier listing. "When we went to the public for the first time we understood that when going public your prestige increases and then that is one way of getting capital," Kulatunga Rajapaksa, MD, Samson Group said. more..

Oct 2 (SLBC) Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse says that the Samurthi scheme would not be abolished for any reason. He said unlike the United National Party,he would further strengthen it to alleviate poverty. Speaking at a public meeting held at Kirindiwela the Prime Minister said he would identify the problems of the country and solve them in a practical manner. more..

Oct 2 (CT) Transparency International Sri Lanka, the national chapter of the global coalition against corruption, says it has already addressed both the Presidential candidates and presented their five proposals for the sake of the country. more..

Oct 2 (Hindu) An enraged railway commuter in Sri Lanka bit a station master's hand at a suburban railway station on Friday, angered at a train running "too fast." The man-bites-man incident occurred at Polgahawela station, 80 km from Colombo, at 6.10 a.m. after a "heated argument between the commuter and the station master," more..

Oct 2 (ANN) For the first time in Sri Lanka, a large company has introduced an internal code of ethics to prevent harassment, sexual or otherwise, in the workplace. The comprehensive policy against workplace harassment introduced by SriLankan Airlines covers inappropriate or unwelcome behaviour, conduct not acceptable in a professional environment, assault, touching, staring, more..

Oct 2 (ANN) The European Commission has provided "very high-resolution satellite imagery of the entire tsunami-affected coastline, including LTTE-held areas inaccessible to government authorities. The Sunday Island learns that India, too, handed over similar imagery to Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar months before his assassination in August. more..

Oct 2 (AT) Sri Lankan Armed Forces Relief Foundation (SLAFRF) -- a non-governmental organization based in USA -- has launched an international appeal to log a formal complaint in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) citing LTTE's (1) war crimes 2) crimes against humanity and (3) its violations of the Ceasefire Agreement of 2002. more..

Oct 2 (AT) There are contradictions and there are contradictions. For the sake of theoretical correctness one can call them primary contradictions and secondary contradictions, antagonistic contradictions and non-antagonistic contradictions (borrowing Mao’s categorisation) more..

Oct 2 (GT) The travel ban imposed by the Europe Union (EU) on the LTTE was a result of President Chandrika Kumaratunga and former foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar informing the international community of repeated LTTE violations of the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA), government spokesman Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said. more..