Oct 25 (CT) Polythene and plastic industries in Sri Lanka are being considered as a threat to the environment. This has happened due to the careless usage and disposal by the consumer. The local polythene and plastic manufacturers said that the way of usage is very important to protect the environment. more..

Oct 25 (LM) Prime Minister and UPFA presidential candidate Mahinda Rajapakse's pledge to amend the terms of a truce with the LTTE if elected president next month could cause the agreement to collapse, the Tigers warned yesterday. The LTTE insist the government sticks to the terms of the existing 2002 ceasefire, but has vowed not to restart its war for self-rule and observers expect the truce to hold. more..

Oct 25 (LM) A Colombo Court yesterday turned down an appeal by JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe who sought an order to prevent a private television channel from telecasting an election propaganda advertisement based on a statement allegedly made by him. more..

Oct 25 (LM) President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday agreed on the need for the two main political parties to get together in a bid to end the country's ethnic conflict, party sources said. more..

Oct 25 (Hindu) On a trip to Kachchathivu in 2002 that took almost an entire day of two boat journeys on the open seas from Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka, I noticed a curious mix of anticipation and tension with which the Sri Lankan fishermen awaited the arrival of their Indian counterparts on the island more..

Oct 25 (TS) True, the Supreme Court has ordained the presidential poll to be completed by the end of this year, and very soon dates would be announced. But the unicameral 225-member parliament, too, has become an odd structure after the withdrawal of support to the incumbent government by the Leftist JVP. more..

Oct 25 (TS) A member of Sri Lanka's deadly Tamil Tiger rebel group, who claims to have been tortured for fighting for an independent Tamil state, is now battling to break the shackles on his freedom in Hong Kong. The rebel, who can only be identified as "V" because of his fear of persecution, is seeking a judicial review against the director of immigration's decision to place restrictions on his movement more..

Oct 25 (Xinhua) The Agriculture Ministry has decided to amend the existing import tax imposed on chemicals and other research equipment to boost its agriculture exports. Public Security, Law and Order Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake following an inspection tour to the country's Export Agriculture Center has given this assurance to department officials. more..

Oct 25 (Xinhua) The Elections Secretariat has provided 185 million rupee (1.85 million US dollar) to the Police Department for elections duty to safeguard the forthcoming presidential election. The disbursement also includes the provision of security to international observers, more..

Oct 25 (LBO) Labour Ministry switches on new formula to retrench workers but social security system still switched off. Over 300 workers in the local private sector were laid off under the new compensation formula this year. “The compensation formula is active since March 15 this year. Compensations under the new formula are now being paid,” more..

Oct 25 (PIS) Minister and EPDP leader Douglas Devananda yesterday warned the LTTE was attempting to create fear among the people to ensure they do not cast their vote for UPFA Presidential candidate Mahinda Rajapakse. more..

Oct 25 (SAMN) Foreign Minister Anura Bandaranaike Monday expressed keenness in renegotiating and wooing the massive 25 million dollar Sheraton hotel chain project back into the country. The Sheraton hotel project abandoned the project in Colombo citing delays by the Urban Development Authority in acquiring lands. more..

Oct 25 (SAMN) President of the Lanka Private Bus Owners Association (LPBOA) Gemunu Wijeratne yesterday expressed his opposition to the donation of 177 buses by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government for Public Sector Bus Transportation. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government said the buses were donated to recover the set back of the passenger transportation system in the country. more..

Oct 25 (PRIU) A new Ministry of Petroleum Resources Development has been established under Article 44(1) of the Constitution effective from 24th October 2005. President Chandrika Kumaratunga will function as the Minister. Mr. Jaliya Medagama, former Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy has been appointed Secretary to this Ministry, more..

Oct 25 (LNP) A possible attempt on the life of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse was thwarted with the detection on Sunday of four high-powered detonators and fuse wires in a vehicle parked on the route the UPFA presidential candidate usually takes, police sources said. more..

Oct 25 (LNP) Minister of Healthcare and Nutrition and Uva Wellassa Development Nimal Siripala de Silva has decided to absorb 2,250 casual and substitute workers into the permanent cadre by November 2. Interviews in this regard will be conducted during this week. more..

Oct 25 (LNP) Kudu Lal, a notorious drug baron, who was appointed a Justice of the Peace on the recommendations of Deputy Minister Mervyn Silva, has been stripped of the appointment. The government, no doubt, found it extremely embarrassing to ignore the protests against that appointment as it became ammunition in the hands of its critics following a media expose of Kudu Lal`s background. more..

Oct 25 (DN) The Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) probing the assassination of former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar yesterday told the Colombo Chief Magistrate and Additional District Judge Sarojini Kusala Weerawardena that they have detained Charles Gnanakone Selvakumar until the completion of investigations. more..

Oct 25 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's politicians may be used to running the risk of rebel bomb attacks during elections, but the timing of this year's presidential poll means they perhaps should be more worried about lightning, an expert said. more..

Oct 25 (CI) A magical comeback for Sachin Tendulkar, where sparkling strokeplay blended with youthful daring, inspired India to a mammoth total before the spinners taunted the Sri Lankan batsmen and completed a rout in the opening game at Nagpur. more..

Oct 25 (AFP) Government has promised a "free and fair" presidential election in the island's embattled northeast amid fears that escalating violence could scare off voters. President Chandrika Kumaratunga's office said she had agreed in talks with the main opposition candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe to ensure that the November 17 vote in the troubled areas will be fair. more..

Oct 25 (AP) An Indian port is seeking foreign loans worth US$100 million (83.72 million) to dredge a shipping channel between India and Sri Lanka. The Sethusamudram project is aimed at shortening the sailing time between ports on the eastern and western coasts of India by cutting a 167-kilometer (104-mile) channel in the shallow sea off the country's southern coast. more..

Oct 25 (LeN) The Board of Investments (BOI), set up with the lofty aim of upgrading the production sector and generating more employment opportunities, has reached a point where it is unable to achieve its intended goals. more..

Oct 25 (Gulf) A Presidential Commission in Sri Lanka which investigated the sudden death of a prominent Buddhist monk has come out with divided opinion with two of the members ruling that a conspiracy led to the death and third member ruling out any conspiracy. more..

Oct 25 (AP) Sri Lanka said Tuesday that it has temporarily banned poultry imports from countries affected by the bird flu. "We have temporarily banned these items from coming in. They include birds, poultry products and feathers," said S.K.R. Amarasekara, the chief of Sri Lanka's Animal Production and Health Department. more..

Oct 25 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers refused on Tuesday to free three captured policemen who say they strayed into rebel territory hunting a British paedophile, but angry ceasefire monitors called for their release. more..

Oct 25 (AP) Sri Lanka's foreign minister on Tuesday complained to his sister - the president - that there was a plot to edge him out as prime minister designate amid a deepening rift within the party. "The plot to defy the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and name somebody else as prime minister has been hatching for many a week," Anura Bandaranaike, more..

Oct 25 (BBC) Prime Minister - designate, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anura Bandaranaike says that there is plot to defy the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and name somebody else as prime minister. The minister said this in a letter sent to President Chandrika Kumaratunge. more..

Oct 25 (TW) The Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) informed the Colombo Chief Magistrate and Additional District Judge Sarojini Kusala Weerawardena on Monday Oct 24th that they have detained Charles Selvakumar Gnanakone for questioning in connection with the assassination of Former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar. more..

oct 26 (LT) Mr Sripathi Suriarachchi in a press release that Mr Ranil Wickramasinghe has alleged that Prime Minister and the JVP has done a crime from not accepting the Tokyo aid or Rs 45,000 million which was granted at the Tokyo conference held in April 2003. more..

oct 26 (TP) Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse said the state-owned Paddy Marketing Board closed by the previous UNP regime would be revived immediately after “his victory at the November 17 presidential election”. more..

oct 26 (HT) It is apparent that President Chandrika Kumaratunga wants to postpone Sri Lanka's budget for 2006 to a date after the November 17 presidential election, but she is going to have great difficulty in getting the cabinet to agree to a postponement. more..

oct 26 (BBC) Sri Lanka must publish an official report into the massacre of 27 young Tamil men five years ago, a human rights group has urged. The Delhi-based Asian Centre for Human Rights says it has seen the report, which was commissioned by President Kumaratunga but never released. more..

oct 26 (AT) The alleged rape of a woman by five persons including two airport security men at the airport has sent shock waves, to the tourists and the woman passengers, especially those female foreign job aspirants. more..

Oct 26 (UNHCR) Like so many other people in Sri Lanka, Mrs. A.L. Sulahaummah will never forget 26 December 2004, the day the tsunami struck, killing more than 200,000 people in 13 countries, including Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, the Indian-owned Andaman Islands, India itself, and even far-away Somalia. more..

Oct 26 (AT) Sri Lankan policemen held under the LTTE custody are again refused bail when they were produced on Monday at the LTTE’s district Court, Killinochchi. Tamil Eelam police said at the hearing that their investigations are not over and the District judge ordered them to be kept under custody until 11 September. more..

Oct 26 (BBC) A number of trade unions and farmers organizations gathered in Colombo to voice their disapproval of the agriculture policy of the main presidential candidates. Alex Thanthirarachi, secretary to the Movement of Protecting Indigenous Seeds said that the government has fallen back on its targets of purchasing paddy from the farmers. more..

Oct 26 (TN) The first Day Care Centre for Mother-Child built at a cost of about 1.5 million rupees was declared open Monday in Iththikulam- Pattalipuram in the Muttur east area in Trincomalee district. The TRO through its Trincomalee district secretariat has implemented this project with the funding of Tamil expatriates. more..

Oct 26 (TN) TDTPC made a complaint to the SLMM against "high-handed action" of the Sri Lanka armed forces in down-town, Trincomalee on 24 October around 3.00 p.m. TDTPC has stated that a group of unidentified persons had assaulted and humiliated two foreigners in the presence of Sri Lankan armed forces for taking photographs of the controversial Buddha-Statue in Trincomalee. more..

Oct 26 (SLA) UNCONFIRMED REPORTS received from un-cleared areas in KADDU MURIVLIKULAM, about 25 km northeast of WELIKANDA on Wednesday (26) morning said that a clash between Tamil Tiger PRABHAKARAN faction and LTTE KARUNA faction has caused death to two cadres of LTTE PRABHAKARAN faction. more..

Oct 26 (SLA) TROOPS were compelled to conduct a search in the general area of MUDCOVE junction, about 1.5 km west of TRINCOMALEE town after they heard a loud explosion from the nearby area on 24 October 2005 around 10.50 p.m.. However, troops afterwards traced signs of a possible hand grenade explosion at a location close to the junction. more..

Oct 26 (TN) Army Commander Lt. Gen. Shantha Kottegoda has been granted an extension in office till June, 31, 2007 by out going President Chandrika Kumaratunga. Lt.Gen. Kottegoda was appointed Sri Lankas Army Commander in July, 2004 and granted one year's extension, already in November, 2004 when he reached the retirement age of 55. more..

Oct 26 (UNP) The Elections Commission has drawn its attention towards the UNP complain‚” on one sided and slanted media campaign for the Mahinda/JVP/JHU alliance by the state media organizations. A spokesman the Commission said that they are studying the relevant matters. more..

Oct 26 (UNP) Deputy Tourism Minister, Faizer Musthapha has announced his resignation from the government and has pledged his support to Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe claiming that the UNP Leader was the true leader of the nation. more..

Oct 26 (wsws) If one knew nothing of the record of the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), one might be amazed at how aggressively their candidates in the November 17 presidential election are competing on public education. more..

Oct 26 (LBO) Sri Lanka's insurance watchdog is asking market players to develop more products to cover against natural perils after last year's tsunami left behind US$ 130 million worth of claims. The tsunami killed over 30,000 people, destroyed about 11,000 houses, damaged around 6,000 vehicles and left the island with a US$ 1.6 billion repair bill. more..

Oct 26 (LBO) Dilapidated apartment blocks in and around Colombo is a disaster waiting to happen. But despite plans to tear the blocks down, poor people living in them are reluctant to move. There are 150 state owned apartment blocks in and around Colombo, like the Maligawatte and Kettarama Housing schemes in the heart of the city. more..

Oct 26 (LM) A fundamental rights application was filed in Court on Monday seeking a court order to prevent cluster polling in the rebel controlled areas and to demand all voters from the uncleared areas to produce their identity cards to polling officials. more..

Oct 26 (LM) SLFP Prime Ministerial candidate and Foreign Minister Anura Bandaranaike yesterday launched a thundering attack on Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, accusing him of behaving like a "Frankenstein monster" in hatching a plot to change a party decision. more..

Oct 26 (LM) South Africa announced its decision to establish a resident South African High Commission in Sri Lanka during the 1st Session of the Senior Officials Meeting of the Bilateral Partnership Forum between Sri Lanka and South Africa on October 27. more..