Nov 2 (SAMN) Several hundred school principals in the western province staged a demonstration opposite the Chief Minister’s office Thursday demanding their salary arrears be paid immediately. The protest was organized by the All Ceylon Principal Services Union. The protesters were involved in a heated argument with police as the latter attempted to prevent them from entering the premises of the Chief Minister’s office. more..

Nov 2 (SAMN) The Ministry of Urban Development and Water Supply will develop eight locations in the North and East under its market driven property development and construction plans under Mahinda Chinthanaya. Urban Development and Water Supply Minister Dinesh Gunawardana said yesterday in an interview with the Daily News that the locations have been already identified by the ministry for this purpose. more..

Nov 2 (SAMN) The UNP warned yesterday of a grave financial crisis next year as experienced in Thailand sometimes back if the present situation continues. The Party’s economic spokesman and MP Bandula Gunawardane told journalists that the cost of living had recorded an unprecedented hike of 17.1 percent last month due to this. more..

Nov 2 (DN) President Mahinda Rajapaksa has recommended a National Action Plan for Children and its speedy implementation next year to prevent child abuse and ensure non-violation of children's rights. Presiding at a progress review meeting of the Child Development and Women's Empowerment Ministry at Temple Trees on Tuesday, President Rajapaksa pointed out the necessity of having 'Day Care Centres' in every State institution to take care of the children of employees. more..

Nov 2 (Reuters) Thousands of Sri Lankans displaced by heavy monsoon flooding which killed 26 people have returned to their homes as waters subside, government officials said on Thursday. The floods, triggered by heavy rains that began a week ago, destroyed 77 homes, damaged 358 and briefly forced more than 330,000 people from their homes, but most have now returned. Heavy monsoon rains died down on Tuesday. more..

Nov 2 (AP) Sri Lankan air force jets bombed the Tamil rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi on Thursday, killing at least five people, a rebel official said, further deepening a crisis that risk an all out war. Four bombs were dropped some 600 meters (1980 feet) away from a hospital and destroyed a civilian home, the Tamil Tigers' military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan said by telephone from Kilinochchi. more..

Nov 2 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's air force bombed Tamil Tiger targets near the rebels' northern stronghold and in the island's northwest on Thursday, the military said, the second consecutive day of air raids in the wake of failed peace talks. The Tigers said the air force dropped four shells near a hospital around 3 km (2 miles) from the rebels' political offices in their northern stronghold of Kilinochchi, destroying a house and killing its five civilian occupants. more..

Nov 3 (HT) Kuldip Nayar, the noted Indian journalist and head of the Indian Peace Mission to Sri Lanka said in Colombo on Thursday, that India should lift the ban on the LTTE and engage it politically in order to bring lasting peace to war-torn Sri Lanka. "I am of the view that the ban should be lifted," Nayar said when newsmen asked him how India could play a constructive role in the Sri Lankan conflict if more..

Nov 3 (LeN) Media Minister Mr. Anura Priyadarshana Yapa questioned how to open the A-9 Muhamalai check point when it was attacked even yesterday and this morning using artillery mortar and other heavy weapons. This was opined by the Minister when a journalist questioned him what was the response of the government for the request to open the A-9 highway. more..

Nov 3 (UCAN) Renewed government-rebel fighting has prevented more than 2,000 Catholics who went on pilgrimage in August to the Shrine of Our Lady of Madhu from returning home. "I am anxiously waiting with prayers for the arrival of my son and daughter," Philip Motha told UCA News on Oct. 29 from the Jaffna peninsula at the northern tip of Sri Lanka, where fighting has been heavy. more..

Nov 3 (TN) About fifteen Indian fishermen currently detentioned in Anuradhapura remand prison informed Mannar court Thursday that they would start a hunger-strike if the authorities fail to release them immediately, legal sources in Anuradhapura said. The fishermen have been indicted with poaching in the territorial water of Sri Lanka. more..

Nov 3 (TN) A virus fever is spreading fast in Mannar district and daily hundreds of persons affected by the fever are seeking treatment in the Mannar general hospital and private medical institutions, health officials in Mannar said. Mannar General hospital is overflowing with the large influx of affected civilians, hospital sources said. more..

Nov 3 (TN) Rear Admiral (Retd) Mohan Wijeyawickrema, Governor of the North East Province, rejected appeals from more than one thousand Tamil government employees stranded in Jaffna peninsula for the past three months to allow them to work in the province as an interim measure, civil society sources in Jaffna said Thursday. more..

Nov 3 (APP) Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Thursday said Pakistan and Sri Lanka enjoy excellent relations and the two countries hold similar views on a number of regional and international issues. Talking to former President of Sri Lanka, Mrs. Chandrika Kamartunga who called on him here at the PM house today, the Prime Minister said Pakistan considers Sri Lanka an important member of SAARC and the two countries have stood by each other in difficult times. more..

Nov 3 (AT) In a new twist to the already crisis ridden Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), power and energy minister W.D.J. Seneviratne has called for the immediate resignation of the Board. The sudden move which claims to be a form of reconstituting the Board, is however believed to be a subtle form of getting rid of certain top officials who have failed to keep up to expectations. more..

Nov 3 (AT) Whoever were the attackers, the Russian-built RPG MK 22 anti-tank weapons were especially chosen by them since the HQ building was a heavily enforced structure. The MK 22 RPGs are designed as an anti-tank weapon for an urban environment as their original function–and their armour-piercing capability was expected to rip through tanks ---and even such a 'heavily glazed building' such as the HQ…Fortunately, no one was injured. more..

Nov 3 (AT) Maradhagahamula, a center for Rice is now idling as a desert city ,and around 4500 direct employments in this trade were vanished after the lack of government support , say Rice millers, traders and entrepreneurs of the area. At present there is a few rice traders and most of the Rice millers now manufacture coconut husk related products. more..

Nov 3 (AT) Sri Lanka is acclaimed as a country with a unique tradition of hydraulic technology that runs in to the pre-Christian period. The industry and technical perfection of their achievements had reached the zenith during the Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa periods. Every one knows about the weva and canal heritage and the Bisokotuwa (the present valve pit) the last of which was invented by our fore fathers more than 2200 years ago. more..

Nov 3 (Hindu) The military on Thursday said the LTTE was gearing up for a major offensive in the east to "recapture its lost territory." In an escalation of violence post Geneva-II, at least five persons were killed in "pre-emptive" air force raids. The LTTE alleged that the five persons of a family were killed when Kifir bombers attacked the newly-built Kilinochchi hospital full of patients. more..

Nov 3 (Hindu) To the disappointment of everyone except chauvinists on both sides, the Geneva-II talks between the Sri Lanka Government and the LTTE broke down on the A 9 highway. Taking the high ground on the issue, the latter held the talks hostage to the demand for an immediate re-opening of the trunk road. The Government would have done well to resolve the crisis triggered by the A 9 shutdown before going to Geneva. more..

Nov 3 (Gulf) The top official of Sri Lankan Airlines sees huge potential in the emerging markets of China and India. "Both countries are close to Sri Lanka and this will be the best moment for us to strike and emerge as a main player in the industry," Peter Hill, chief executive officer of SriLankan Airlines told Gulf News on the sidelines of the SriLankan Golf Classic that concluded in Kandy last weekend. more..

Nov 3 (PTI) Sri Lankan police are seeking international help to track down two Indians who allegedly duped hundreds of people through an internet scam, police said. Seagull Software, run by two Indians, had swindled around 113 million Sri Lankan rupees by allegedly scamming thousands of citizens from January to October this year, they said. more..

Nov 3 (EI) SRI LANKAN fisherman Victor Fernando’s heart was filled with gratitude — and of course, joy — on Thursday. After all, he along with his seven-member crew had been found innocent and were allowed to go home. They left Porbandar for Sri Lanka after spending six months in jail. "Thank you all. We are grateful to the Coast Guard for having rescued us and the National Fishing Forum for helping us in completing all formalities thereafter," said Victor in broken English. more..

Nov 3 (wsws) The two main establishment parties in Sri Lanka—the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the opposition United National Party (UNP)—for the first time signed a formal coalition agreement last week. The grand alliance has been hailed by corporate leaders and the media as an “epoch making achievement”. In reality, it is another sign of the country’s deep political crisis. more..

Nov 3 (LBO) Within weeks of taking over the former Apollo hospital, Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC) is poised to gain control of the Asiri Hospitals group with the aid of recently ousted former owners. SLIC, controlled by the tycoon Harry Jayewardene’s Distilleries Group, charged into Asiri Surgical Hospital as a white knight to former owners, the Subasinghe family, in an unusual role for a group known for hostile take-overs. more..

Nov 3 (LBO) An Indo-Lanka economic partnership agreement to free up services like banking and insurance, professional services and aviation, has been delayed to early next year. India and Sri Lanka have had about seven rounds of technical level talks on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), since 2003. more..

Nov 3 (TN) Jaffna Bishop, Rt. Rev. Thomas Savundara- nayagam, has sent an urgent telegram Thursday to Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse requesting him to immediately open a landroute to Jaffna peninsula to allow the flow of desperately needed food and other essential materials to Jaffna residents, civil society sources in Jaffna said Thursday. more..

Nov 3 (TN) Dr.Sathanandan, Director of Kilinochchi General Hospital at Anandapuram which was subjected to Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) aerial bombardment on Thursday afternoon at 2:45 p.m.appealed to all parties to respect the International Humanitarian Law and avoid targeting hospitals, in an interview to the TamilNet, Thursday. more..

Nov 3 (ISL) Ever since the escalation of the violence in the North and East, I made it a practice to monitor the security situation in Sri Lanka (where I was born) and until recently from a foreign country. I had very few modes to get the real picture of the security situation especially when something triggers off in the Jaffna peninsula. more..

Nov 3 (LeN) Opposition UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday said political leadership of this country had only one more chance to solve the national crisis of the country. Mr. Wickramasinghe who was the special guest at the opening of the Seema Malaka of Lenvara Rajamaha Vihara in Kossgoda, said it was essential to make use of this opportunity. "It is time for all Sri Lankan's to unite forgetting their differences. more..

Nov 3 (LeN) UNP MP Gamini Lokuge yesterday justified Deputy Leader Karu Jayasurya's statement demanding for immediate political reforms to the party citing majority of the party members were of that view. In a letter to Mr. Wickremesinghe, he criticized his fellow party member Vajira Abeywardene for calling on the party leader to take disciplinary action on Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya earlier this week. more..

Nov 3 (LeN) A new satellite television- 'Srilakvahini' will commence its test transmission from today, the company said. Srilakvahini, a state of the art digital satellite television channel can broadcast its programmes to Asia, Europe, the Middle East, the Russian Federation and African countries, Future Sat come, the holding Company of the channel said. more..

Nov 3 (LT) The cold war which has existed in the U.N.P. for a long time has been exposed to the public as a result of a letter written by Vajira Abeywardena to Ranil Wickremasinghe asking him to take disciplinary action against Karu Jayasooiya. Further the letter warns that unless disciplinary action is taken in this regard the situation in the party would be more acute. more..

Nov 3 (AT) The observations of the 13-member team of the All Party Representative Committee (APRC), which visited India to get a first hand experience on Panchayat system, will be announced next week. The team led by APRC Chairman Minister Tissa Vitharana visited India and met village level Panchayat committees in Delhi and Pondicherry. more..

Nov 3 (AT) The condemnation of the United national Party(UNP) deputy leader Karu Jayasuriya by a protégé of party leader Ranil Wickramasinghe for criticizing the party leader has turned into a hornet’s nest when other party members started lashing out at the despotic nature of the party leadership, repeating Jayasuriya more severely. more..

Nov 3 (PISL) The Co-Chairs to the Tokyo donor conference and other foreign diplomats based in Sri Lanka were yesterday briefed by the government peace delegation on the outcome of the Geneva talks. The delegation led by Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva stressed the Government’s commitment to resolving the ongoing conflict. more..

Nov 3 (PISL) Citing the continuing LTTE attacks on the Muhamalai entry point which delays the re-opening of the main supply route to Jaffna, the Government yesterday accused the LTTE of duplicity over the A9 issue. "The LTTE has attacked the Muhamalai point yesterday and even today. How can we re-open the road in this situation," Cabinet Spokesman Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa questioned. more..

Nov 3 (PISL) A two-man UN delegation is expected in Colombo shortly to discuss modalities regarding a fresh initiative to establish a safe sea route to and from the Jaffna peninsula. The delegation is expected to meet Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe in this regard after President Mahinda Rajapakse addressed outgoing UN General Secretary Kofi Annan on the facilitation of supplies to the Peninsula. more..

Nov 3 (PISL) The closure of the A-9 road has not caused any breakdown in the supply of essential food items to the Jaffna peninsula since the Government has supplied essential food items to Jaffna by sea since August 17, Essential Services Commissioner S.B. Divaratne told the Daily News. The Commissioner said food stocks sufficient for more than 12 days for a population of 653,735 have already been sent to the peninsula through six ship loads. more..

Nov 3 (GDI) The President Mahinda Rajapaksa stated that he is glad that the activities during this week are intend to promote grater understanding of the Law, our legal system and the Legal profession within our community. The 'National Law week' lasts from 30th October to 5th November. The theme of the National Law week is 'Facilitating Access to Justice'. more..

Nov 3 (GDI) The LTTE has increased deployment of their cadres and heavy weapons in Kadiraveli, Mavilaru south and Kadjuwatte North areas in the east. After the Peace Talks in Geneva the Tigers increased their mortar and artillery attacks on the Kadjuwatte and Mankerni Army camps from their positions in Kadiraweli. more..

Nov 3 (GDI) The year 2006 is expected to record the highest growth of foreign direct investments in the country. The FDIs expected to increase to about US$600 million from US$270 million from the year 2005. Minister of Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion Rohitha Bogollagama said this at a special meeting with key investors and representatives of trade chambers in which he briefed them on the Geneva peace talks. more..

Nov 3 (GDI) Ministry of Nation Building in collaboration with Ministry of Education and Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner in Chennai scheduled to hold G.C.E. (O/L) Examination for about 100 students who fled to Tamil Nadu, during this year due to LTTE threats. According to the Sri Lanka Deputy High Commissioner in Chennai, the significant feature among the escapees is the large presence of youngsters below 16 years. more..

Nov 3 (GDI) The Government of Saudi Arabia has extended their helping hand to build up the lives of the people in Muttur who were displaced due to LTTE violations in the resent past, disclosed Minister of Disaster Management Mahinda Samarasinghe at the media briefing held at the Ministry in Colombo. more..

Nov 3 (GDI) The Government of Japan handed over a newly built National Blood Centre (NBC) to the people of Sri Lanka at a simple ceremony held yesterday at the National Blood Transfusion Service premises. Minister of Healthcare and Nutrition Nimal Siripala De Silva was the chief guest on this occasion. more..

Nov 3 (LNP) An underworld gang yesterday hit the wrong target, when they opened fire on another underworld character but killed three innocent bystanders instead. The gunmen had arrived at the Ambagaha Handiya three wheeler park, in the Wellampitiya Police area and opened fire targeting another gangster who escaped. Wellampitiya Police are investigating. more..

Nov 3 (LNP) Deputy Minister Mervyn Silva`s son Malaka and two of his bodyguards yesterday pleaded guilty to attacking Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) officers who were on a drug raid at a night club in a five star hotel. Colombo High Court judge Upali Abeyratne ordered each of them to pay compensation of Rs. 10,000 each and enter into a bond in Rs 100,000 each to be of good behaviour for one year. more..

Nov 3 (LNP) To the disappointment of everyone except chauvinists on both sides, the Geneva-II talks between the Sri Lanka Government and the LTTE broke down on the A 9 highway. Taking the high ground on the issue, the latter held the talks hostage to the demand for an immediate re-opening of the trunk road. The Government would have done well to resolve the crisis triggered by the A 9 shutdown before going to Geneva. more..

Nov 3 (LNP) Fishermen, of Hendala, Elakanda Palliyawatta and Dickowita have complained to the Minister of Fisheries Felix Perera that they are facing severe difficulties and are in danger of losing their only source of living due to the navy forbidding small boats and canoes fishing in the Kelani River estaurial waters. more..

Nov 3 (GG2) THE FORMER top executive of US technology firm Computer Associates was sentenced to 12 years in jail and fined $8m (£4m) Thursday over a $2.2bn (£1.1bn) accounting fraud. Sri Lankan-born Sanjay Kumar, the former chairman and chief executive of the software and computer security giant, pleaded guilty in April. more..