Oct 14 (TN) Jaffna Magistrate Mr.K.Viknarajah Wednesday held the preliminary inquiry into a Habeas Corpus (HC) application filed by relatives of three Tamil youths who disappeared after being arrested by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers in 1996, legal sources said. The youths were residents of Gurunagar and Ariyalai areas. more..

Oct 14 (TN) Mallakam Magistrate Ms Sarojini Ilankovan Wednesday allowed an application made by the Kankesanthurai Police to send samples of explosives recovered from 10 Indian fishermen by the Sri Lanka Navy to Sri Lanka Government Analysts and ordered further remand for 10 Indians till October 22, more..

Oct 14 (TN) Two policemen of Jaffna Police Mr.T.Dhanapala and Mr.Pushpamali Fernando were identified at the identification parade held Wednesday in Jaffna Magistrate's Court in connection with the alleged assault on Mr.Ruwan Chandrasekara, regional co-ordinator of Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka more..

Oct 14 (TN) A grenade attack took place Wednesday evening around 3.30 p.m.allegedly targeting a leading private sector cement factory, which is located in Chinabay, about 9 km off Trincomalee town. Prima Milling Complex, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation refinery, airport and Fisheries Corporation office are also located in Chinabay, more..

Oct 14 (AT) The good news is that there is an overarching policy consensus. The bad news is that it will never be put into bipartisan practice. President Kumaratunga and the Leader of the Opposition agree that an/the ISGA must fall within the Oslo framework of a federal, united Sri Lanka. more..

Oct 14 (TT) Indian Oil Corporation’s subsidiary Lanka IOC will launch its initial public offering in the emerald island during the last week of November. IOC plans to offload 25 per cent of its equity through the IPO route in order to broaden its shareholding pattern to include local investors. more..

Oct 14 (Bloomberg) Six months ago, Sri Lanka's voters removed the government of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe because they thought he wasn't doing enough about the rising cost of living. The people of Sri Lanka should worry even more now. more..

Oct 14 (HT) The Opposition leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe, who wound up a series of meetings with Indian leaders in New Delhi on Wednesday, found that India was very supportive of the peace process in Sri Lanka, but it was still reluctant to play a pro-active role in it. more..

Oct 14 (HT) Foreign Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, has said that India should not ignore Sri Lanka's concerns about the environmental and economic impact of the Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project (SSCP) on the island. more..

Oct 14 (NW) Divisional Secretaries throughout the country have expressed concern over the sudden transfers of about 150 of their cadres and suspect the move might be linked to an agenda to influence the upcoming election of the Diyawadana Nilame of the Dalada Maligawa. more..

Oct 14 (NW) The Trincomalee town and its outskirts looked desolate yesterday with shops, government and private establishments closed and roads deserted due to the hartal launched by the North and East Sinhala Organisation, demanding the immediate release of the two home guards abducted by the LTTE. more..

Oct 14 (BBC) A baby elephant was reported missing following a train accident that killed it's parents in the early hours of Wednesday. The father elephant, a tusker and the mother was killed by the night mail train from Colombo to Vavunia at Poonewa. more..

Oct 14 (BBC) The North and East Sinhala Organisation (NESO) called for the Sri Lankan government to re-distribute weapons to Sinhalese in the Eastern region. Conducting a "Harthal" on Wednesday demanding the release of two Home Guards taken into custody by the Tamil Tigers more..

Oct 14 (IANS) A team of Indian advocates will shed their black robes for white flannels to take on their Sri Lankan counterparts in a three-match cricket series in the island next week. Two matches will be played in Colombo Oct 18 and 20 and the third in the southern port town of Galle Oct 21, more..

Oct 14 (SLBC) The government is hoping to provide telephone and internet connectivity to global knowledge centres by means of a satellite-based solution. The Information and Communication Technology Agency said that this would be an interim measure pending the construction of a permanent Regional Telecommunications Network. more..

Oct 14 (SLBC) Regional experts will begin a meeting in Colombo on Monday to discuss cultural policies and planning for sustainable development in South Asia. Minister of Cultural Affairs Vijitha Herath will chair the three-day event. more..

Oct 14 (LT) The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation has taken steps to formulate a ‘National Lands Policy’. According to the sources in the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation a committee consisting of S.J.Pathirana, commissioner of Lands and V.M.Jayatilleke, Additional Secretary of the ministry are preparing the blueprint for the policy. more..

Oct 14 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's selectors have axed middle order batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan in a surprise shake-up of the squad for the two-test series against Pakistan starting later this month. more..

Oct 14 (TN) Jaffna Magistrate Mr.K.Viknarajah Wednesday held the preliminary inquiry into a Habeas Corpus (HC) application filed by relatives of three Tamil youths who disappeared after being arrested by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers in 1996, legal sources said. more..

Oct 14 (TN) The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has prohibited resettled Tamil farm families in Paththinipuram village from cultivating their paddy fields for the forthcoming season, said in complaints lodged with the Tampalakamam Divisional Secretary (DS) and Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO). more..

Oct 14 (TN) The Batticaloa Magistrate Mr.M.H.M.Ajmeer Thursday afternoon released ten cadres of LTTE on cash and surety bail on the orders of the Court of Appeal. Monitors of the SLMM in Batticaloa immediately took charge of the released 10 LTTE cadres and handed over to the Sri Lanka Army. more..

Oct 14 (SLA) A new round of protest march, organized to oppose the continuing LTTE detention of two Home Guards ended this morning (14th October 2004) after agitators led by Hon JAYANTHA WEJESEKERA MP for TRINCOMALEE district handed over a memorandum to this effect to the SLMM. more..

Oct 14 (SLA) An unidentified group of gagged men aboard a fishing boat had assaulted two fishermen engaged in fishing in MANALKADU area during small hours on 13 October 2004 and abducted one of the fishermen. more..

Oct 14 (SLA) Attention of the Army Headquarters has been drawn to media reports on an alleged involvement of the Military Intelligence in connection with a recent visit made by Dr. Jayalath Jayawardene MP to Switzerland, designed allegedly to convince the LTTE to delay proposed peace talks. more..

Oct 14 (SLA) A blood donation campaign plus a Shramadana (community work) to mark the Army Day got under way in the Jaffna peninsula on Saturday (9) under the aegis of Commander, Major General Sunil Tennekoon with the support of the General Officer Commanding of the 51 Division, Major General Lawrence Fernando and the Lions Club, Wattala. more..

Oct 14 (Sun) A career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Dr Greg French has been appointed Australia's new High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, with concurrent accreditation to the Republic of Maldives. more..

Oct 14 (TS) Ten-year-old Sabana Patel was just trying to catch her bus to school yesterday. The Scarborough girl never made it to Rouge Valley Public School. At about 8:15 a.m., she darted out from behind a parked car at the corner of Dragonfly Cres. and Mantis Rd. and was hit by a minivan, police said. more..

Oct 14 (Dawn) International truce monitors in Sri Lanka have hinted that issue involving the abduction of two government paramilitary force members by the Tamil Tigers may take time to resolve. more..

Oct 14 (SLBC) The Government plans to send over 100,000 Sri Lankan workers for foreign jobs. Minister of Foreign Employment and Labour Relations Athauda Senevirathne said that they have already held discussions with foreign delegates on increasing the number of jobs for Sri Lankans. more..

Oct 14 (AT) The two month long dispute over the abduction of the two Home Guards by the LTTE is likely to be settled 'soon' as the ten LTTE cadres who have been granted bail by the Court were released from the Batticaloa Remand prison on Thursday afternoon. more..

Oct 14 (AT) Prabakaran wanted the peace talks to be dragged on for a period of five long years. This was what Balasingham told to V.Muralitharan whose nom de guerre - Colonel Karuna, who is the President of the “TamilEela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP)”, recently publicly accalaimed political party. more..

Oct 14 (Reuters) The Sri Lanka rupee slightly weakened on Thursday despite light central bank intervention, on importer dollar demand to settle trade bills, dealers said. The rupee closed at 103.87 against the dollar, compared to Wednesday's close of 103.82. more..

Oct 14 (DN) President Chandrika Kumaratunga said the aim of providing free education to all was not to create a generation who take to guns and bombs to solve problems but to use their brains and intelligence to redress their grievances. more..

Oct 14 (LBO) Sri Lanka and India are trying to harmonise standards and certification procedures between the two countries by early next year to move the Indo-Lanka agreement another step forward. “We are hoping to work out a scheme for mutual recognition of quality certification processes within the next six months,” more..

Oct 14 (LBO) A change in land taxes and a stagnated economy has not crimped Sri Lankans desires to own a house in the skies. Property developers suffered a minor heart attack when the government re-introduced a 100 percent tax on foreigners owning land. more..

Oct 14 (LBO) The government of Sri Lanka says it is ready with a new set of proposals to re-start peace pow-wows and is baffled by the lack of interest from the LTTE. “We are ready and waiting with counter proposals to re-start talks,” said Cabinet spokesman Managala Samaraweera on Thursday. more..

Oct 14 (HT) Contrary to the impression in certain quarters in Sri Lanka, India did not keep Sri Lanka in the dark over its plan to cut a shipping canal in the sea between the two countries, a well-placed official source in New Delhi told Hindustan Times. more..

Oct 14 (Xinhua) Sri Lankan government has finalised a set of counter proposals to the Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) proposal put forward by the Tamil Tiger rebles, the government spokesman said here Thursday. more..

Oct 14 (AP) Sri Lanka's government is ready to present a peace plan to the Tamil Tiger rebels, and is "baffled" by the insurgents' reluctance to return to the negotiating table, a senior minister said Thursday. more..

Oct 15 (TN) "Leader of Opposition, Ranil Wickremasinghe, has told the Indian leaders that that UPFA. should start talks with the LTTE. In earlier times, it was left to the Tamil leaders to undertake missions to bring pressure to bear on the Sri Lanka Governments. more..

Oct 15 (TN) The Sri Lanka Army has prohibited resettled Tamil farming families in Paththinipuram village from cultivating their paddy fields for the forthcoming season, said the villagers in complaints lodged with the Tampalakamam Divisional Secretary and Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO). more..

Oct 15 (TN) Jaffna district political head of the LTTE, C.Ilamparithi, Thursday met with a delegation comprising Southern provincial councillors and members of the Saumya Youth Foundation at the Potpathy Road offices of the LTTE, sources said. more..

Oct 15 (Economist) FOR a year and a half, Sri Lanka's peace process has been locked in an ugly stalemate. In April 2003, the LTTE, who had been waging a 20-year war for an independent Tamil homeland in the north and the east of the island, withdrew from talks with the government. more..

Oct 15 (CI) Pakistan gained the psychological edge in this dress rehearsal of Saturday's Paktel Cup final as they overhauled Sri Lanka by six wickets with seven balls to spare. Set 293 to win by Sri Lanka, spearheaded by 111 from Marvan Atapattu, Pakistan edged home in the final round-robin match of the tournament. more..

Oct 15 (BBC) Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe said, his party does not oppose the Sethu Samudhra project. The project to dig the Palk Strait opens up a new sea route that allows navel traffic to continue around the peninsular. This proposal has been under consideration of the Indian authorities for a long period. more..

Oct 15 (TT) Former Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today allayed fears about a Rs 2,000-crore project to deepen the Palk Straits that is on top of the priority list of the DMK and its allies in Tamil Nadu. more..

Oct 15 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's chairman of selectors Asantha de Mel has publicly criticised skipper Marvan Atapattu and his team management. De Mel believes the team management, which has the final say on selection while on tour, is holding back the development of the team by not picking youngsters. more..

Oct 15 (TN) “Tamil people are greatful to the Government of Finland for its significant contibution to the efficient functioning of the SLMM,” said S.P. Thamilchelvan in a meeting with Mr. Jaakko Laajava, under- secretary of state for political affairs, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Finland, more..

Oct 15 (TN) Mr.Saverimuthu Norbert aged 38, a fisherman of Manatkadu in Vadamaradchchi east division in Jaffna district Wednesday disappeared in northern sea after being attacked by unidentified persons while fishing. more..

Oct 15 (AT) At last it is almost confirmed that Denmark is hereafter out of the orbit of the LTTE, despite ministerial and personal level pressure applied by Norway’s Special Peace Envoy to find ways and means to get the Danish Foreign Ministry to officially receive in Copenhagen, the visiting Tamil Tiger delegation for talks. more..