Nov 25 (LBO) An investment show in Singapore had generated renewed interest in Sri Lanka, with fund managers who are already investing in the country as well as new investors taking part, an official said. "We were satisfied with the level of interest generated, there was a lot of media exposure as well," Rajeeva Bandaranaike, head of marketing at the Colombo Stock Exchange said. more..

Nov 25 (LBO) An old-established family footwear company from the deep south of Sri Lanka, has published its credit rating, before entering the country's debt markets through a debenture issue. The holding company of Sri Lanka's top footwear maker DSI, has earned a BBB+ investment grade rating, Fitch Ratings Lanka said Thursday. more..

Nov 25 (Hindu) National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon discussed the Sri Lankan situation with Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi here on Friday. The Centre and Tamil Nadu had identical views on the Sri Lankan question, Mr. Narayanan told presspersons. "The discussions went off well," Mr. Narayanan said. more..

Nov 25 (LeN) Few roads including the Flower road were closed for traffic as the presidential convey was due to pass that road. All cross roads were closed, traffic was stopped and people were grouped at several places and not allowed to move. Some people who were passing a shop on Flower road was stopped and put into the shop and the owner was ordered to close the door by the army. more..

Nov 25 (LeN) The Centre for National Security said that a police party conducting a search operation was attacked by LTTE last night with bombs and small arms. The army has returned fire and at the search operation conducted next morning found 5 bodies and a T 56. Two soldier sustained injuries when a bomb planted near the bodies of LTTE cadres who were killed by the army at Pirimanakulam, went off yesterday. more..

Nov 25 (wsws) For weeks the Sri Lankan attorney general has remained silent on the international campaign waged by the World Socialist Web Site and the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) demanding the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the murder of SEP supporter Sivapragasam Mariyadas. Now, the Attorney General’s department has belatedly informed the SEP that the case is receiving its attention. more..

Nov 25 (PISL) The government has requested the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission to facilitate moves to send urgent food supplies to Jaffna along the A9 route via rebel controlled Kilinochchi as a one off measure to address the humanitarian crisis in the peninsula. SLMM spokesman Thorfinnur Omarsson told the Daily Mirror the request was made at a routine meeting between the ceasefire monitors and the government peace secretariat yesterday. more..

Nov 25 (ET) This has come as a surprise. The Union commerce ministry has changed its mind about importing duty-free vanaspati from Sri Lanka through the National Agricultural Co-operative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed). Instead, via a notification dated November 21, it has allowed private parties to import the item up to a tariff related quota (TRQ) limit of 2.5 lakh tonne from Sri Lanka in a single financial year. more..

Nov 25 (TW) The complexity of the calamitous conflict in Sri Lanka due to the intransigence of the warring parties with regard to their divergent aims has not been fully grasped by the Co-Chairs of the Tokyo Donors Conference – the United States, the European Union, Japan and Norway, who are pressing the warring parties to stop fighting, comply with the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) and seek a negotiated settlement. more..

Nov 25 (TW) Sri Lankan newspapers have honoured and are paying tribute to veteran journalist Ajith Samaranayake in their recent Editorials. Ajith, who died aged 51 on Wednesday Nov 22, after a brief illness, began his brilliant career in 1975 at Lake House. He was also a prolific writer on the arts, drama, cinema, literature, on current personalities and contemporary events. more..

Nov 25 (TW) In our on-going debate and the search for peace many well-meaning men and women of learning across the ethnic divide are sharing their thoughts and prescriptions to reach that goal all of us yearn for. But there are others too actively moving – though not exactly in the same trajectory. In Izzath Hussain’s “Indian factor and moral power”, the writer puts forward the bizarre suggestion that the Jaffna people – more..

Nov 25 (AT) As Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa completed one year in office, there are perceptible changes in the attitude of international community to the alarming escalation in the conflict between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during this period. Specifically these were in three directions. more..

Nov 25 (AT) Sri Lanka Government alleged LTTE is planning 'to Starve civilians to Death in Vakarai' located in the East. It further added that LTTE wants the Tamil civilians starved to death to launch a media campaign against the Government – 'Sinhala dominated oppressive rule.' According to the latest report released by the Media Centre for National Security, "Tigers want to see some Tamil civilians starved to death, more..

Nov 25 (GDI) The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) welcomed the President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s humanitarian offer as a positive step towards restoring normalcy. The SLMM said that they were pleased with the President’s offer to send a food convoy via A9 road to Jaffna. They express this at the discussion was made between the Ceasefire Monitors and the Government Peace Secretariat yesterday. more..

Nov 25 (GDI) Former Chief Justice of India Justice P. N. Bhagwati was yesterday invited to serve as the Chairman of the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) which will assist the Commission of Inquiry to investigate and inquire into alleged serious violations of human rights. President Mahinda Rajapaksa announced the establishment of this Commission on November 3. more..

Nov 25 (LNP) President Mahinda Rajapaksa has reportedly decided to extend the service of Army Commander Sarath Fonseka whose term is due to expire on December 18. However attempts by the Daily Mirror to confirm the move did not prove fruitful at the time of going to press. Informed sources said President Rajapaksa had placed his signature on the document after going through the details of the Commander. more..

Nov 25 (LNP) The resolution to increase allowances to all the parliamentarians including the Prime Minister, the Speaker, the Opposition leader, Deputy Speaker, Deputy Chairman of Committees and others was approved unanimously yesterday. Accordingly, they will be paid a one year arrears from January this year. Chief Government Whip Jeyaraj Fernadopulle proposed the resolution on Thursday and it was approved unanimously. more..

Nov 25 (LNP) The All Ceylon Trade Union Federation yesterday urged President Mahinda Rajapaksa to intervene to resolve the ongoing crisis between the management and employees of the Sri Lanka Telecom before the whole telecommunication system grinds to a standstill. The Federation alleged that the Telecom management was resorting to oppressive actions instead of negotiating with the employees. more..

Nov 25 (LNP) A JVP parliamentarian told Parliament yesterday that state land in Madiwela where the Presidential Palace was to be erected had been sold to a businessman at a price less than 15% of the market value. JVP MP Lakshman Nipunaarachchi said a perch had been sold at Rs 71,000 while the market value was around Rs 500,000. more..

Nov 25 (SAMN) The UNDP is proposing a set of far reaching anti corruption measures to strengthen the battle against waste, mismanagement and unbridled corruption. Authoritative sources said the UNDP initiative was primarily aimed at toughening the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption. President Mahinda Rajapaksa, presenting his Budget for 2007, called for stringent financial controls in the public sector. more..

Nov 25 (SAMN) The Ministry of Cultural Affairs and National Heritage has decided to invite suggestions from the public on the formulation of a national cultural policy for Sri Lanka. The vision of the National Cultural Policy is to foster the identity of the Sri Lankan Nation and help it keep abreast with the rest of the world, while promoting development, the Ministry said. more..

Nov 25 (SAMN) Urban Development Minister, Dinesh Gunawardane, told parliament Friday, they would tax all constructions in urban areas covering an area exceeding 1000 square metres. Gunawardane stated this while speaking during the debate on urban development and water supply in the House. The revenue accumulated through this tax would be transferred to a fund to assist slum dwellers in the respective areas. more..

Nov 25 (SAMN) Public Administration and Home Affairs Minister Sarath Amunugama Friday pledged to revamp the public service introducing new changes to the system. The Minister gave the assurance when the House debated the vote on the Public Administration Ministry along with others. Dr. Amunugama said the Government would fill vacancies in the administrative Service by January 1, next year under the new plan to streamline the service. more..

Nov 25 (DM) The EU presidency has decided to postpone the resolution against Sri Lanka condemning alleged serious human rights violations in the country. The resolution was to be put before the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) which is toconvene its third session from Monday. Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told the Daily Mirror that Finland in its capacity as the EU presidency had decided to postpone the resolution till March next year more..

Nov 25 (DM) Tourism Minister Anura Bandaranaike and Gampaha District MP Sarath Kumara Gunaratne will lead a mass Shramadana campaign to be launched at the Dutch Fort premises in Negombo at 8.30 a.m. today. This Shramadana campaign will also mark the inauguration of the Rs. 400 million Negombo City Beautification and Development Programme assisted by the Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC), more..

Nov 25 (DM) SLMC Leader Rauff Hakeem urged the Government in Parliament yesterday to expedite the re-demarcation of Divisional Secretariats in the country. He said the SLMC too had submitted proposals to the Andrew Silva Commission in this regard and the report of that Commission has already been submitted. He lamented that there had been no follow up action on this report. more..

Nov 25 (DN) There is no need to panic over Chikungunya fever as is not a deadly disease, Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said. Addressing a media conference at the Health Education Bureau to announce the results of the tests done by five laboratories in Sri Lanka, India and Thailand, Minister de Silva told the media that the State, Local Government bodies and the public have a greater role to play in combating the disease. more..

Nov 25 (DN) The Panchakarma system of Ayurveda treatment hitherto restricted to patients warded in hospitals is to be introduced to out door patients as well in the future. This follows successful research by the Nawinna Ayurveda Research Institute recently, said Dr. Parakrama Hemachandra. Although this research programme started by treating 50 out patients on a trial basis, more..

Nov 25 (IE) On a day of hectic parleys, National Security Adviser M K Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon today called on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, as part of the ongoing process of consultation on the Lankan issue. Hinting at a possible hardening of stand on the issue of humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka, Menon, whose Colombo visit was primarily "to convey India's deep concern and anguish" on the violence against Lankan Tamils, said "Colombo should speak for itself". more..

Nov 25 (Dawn) Sri Lanka’s 23-year-old history of war left the country’s political leaders and its people exhausted but it has also created worries for Lanka’s immediate neighbour, India, especially Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu has clearly been irked by the recent military bombings of Tamil civilians in rebel-controlled areas and also the humanitarian situation in the north-east with thousands of Tamil civilians suffering from shortages of food, more..

Nov 25 (IANS) Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers chief Velupillai Prabhakaran will turn 52 Sunday, presiding over a de facto state in the Indian Ocean island and still steering a cause for which he fled from his home over 30 years ago. In the three blood-soaked decades gone by, the once catapult wielding boy has leapfrogged from being the head of a small militant group of the early 1980s to one presiding over the world's deadliest insurgent outfit. more..

Nov 25 (AP) An international group on Saturday urged the U.N. Human Rights Council to create a rights monitoring mission in Sri Lanka, amid increasing reports of abuses. A letter from New York-based Human Rights Watch asked the council to raise the Sri Lankan issue during its session starting Monday, and to "work with the Sri Lankan government toward establishing a United Nations human rights monitoring mission." more..

Nov 25 (AP) Sri Lankan warplanes on Saturday attacked a camp housing Tamil Tiger rebel suicide bombers in the country's north, the military said. The camp was located at Iranamadu, close to the rebel stronghold, Kilinochchi, military spokesman Maj. Upali Rajapakse said. He said the camp suffered "heavy damage," but exact details were not available. more..

Nov 25 (Reuters) Sri Lankan air force jets bombed a Tamil Tiger suicide fighter camp near the rebels' northern stronghold on Saturday, the military said, adding it believed it had inflicted heavy losses. The LTTE said the air force had dropped bombs a few kilometres away from their nerve-centre of Kilinochchi, but had no details of any damage or casualties. more..

Nov 25 (Reuters) Sri Lanka has confirmed an epidemic of the mosquito-borne Chikungunya viral fever, a top health official said on Saturday. Doctors suspect it has infected 5,000 people in the island's far north. Dr. Nihal Abeysinghe, director of the state Epidemiology Department, said pockets of the fever had been detected in Sri Lanka's northwest, south and east, but could not say how many cases had been reported. more..

Nov 25 (AFP) Sri Lankan war planes have bombed a suspected base of Tamil Tiger suicide bombers in the island's north, the defence ministry said, as the rebels commemorated their war dead. The defence ministry said a base housing "Black Tiger" suicide bombers was hit causing "heavy damage", but the rebel LTTE said the aircraft had bombed a jungle area. more..

Nov 25 (Reuters) Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody wants his team to build-up momentum for next year's World Cup during their seven-week tour of New Zealand. "To me, sport in general is all about momentum," Moody told reporters before the team's departure on Saturday. Sri Lanka face two tests and a five-match one-day series with the first test starting on Dec. 7. more..

Nov 25 (IANS) Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse arrived here Saturday on a four-day visit during which he will hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the country's ethnic conflict. Rajapakse, who on Sunday will give the inaugural address at the Asian Mayors conference in Dehradun in Uttaranchal, is coming to India for a second time in a year. more..

Nov 25 (CI) Inclement weather in Colombo has forced the postponement of certain Premier league matches in Sri Lanka. Matches that were scheduled to begin on November 24 and December 1 have been pushed back to January 12 and 19. Basil Perera, Sri Lanka Cricket's tournament committee chairman, said that in fairness to the 14 clubs represented the postponement was necessary because the current season was one of transformation for them. more..

Nov 25 (ANI) India is likely to tell visiting Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse for an "early and comprehensive political settlement" of the Tamil problem, when the two sides meet for talks next week. Rajapakase is arriving here this evening on a five-day visit and will brief Indian leaders about the latest development in his country, including the status of the ongoing conflict between Lankan defence forces and the LTTE. more..

Nov 26 (TW) As he completes his first year as President, Mahinda Rajapakse has taken the country back to its bad and dangerous past that many of us thought ended for good in 1994. The People’s Alliance victory in 1994, after a decade of war and violence, had signaled a sea change in the Sinhala political leadership. more..

Nov 26 (AT) When Vellupillai Pirapaharan makes his annual Heroes Day Speech Mahinda Rajapakse will be in Delhi. An interesting coincidence (?) since the Tiger Supremo will probably endeavour to woo India in general and Tamilnadu in particular in his peroration. Though the LTTE has made several previous attempts at bridge building, whatever success it has had is not due to its own efforts but to a series of avoidable blunders by the Rajapakse administration. more..

Nov 26 (AT) The entirety of the Maha Oya- Heenganga basin lying at the northeastern extremity of Koratu Kandu (part of Dumbara hills, popularly known as the Knuckles) encircled by the Knuckles-Dumbanagala-Kehelpathdoruwegala-Telambugala in the south and the east and the Knuckles-Kalupana- Katakitule kanda-Lakegala-Demalagala ranges on the west and the north, is commonly known as Meemure. more..

Nov 26 (AT) "For the last twenty-five years the LTTE has not honored any of it's agreements whether it be with India, Norway, the UN much less those agreed to with the Sri Lankan government," writes Ira de Silva. She underlines that the fact is the Tamils were confined to Jaffna until the arrival of the British in 1815. more..

Nov 26 (AT) For the entire theater of war in Sri Lanka, curbing LTTE influence in the East would be of paramount importance. In this perspective, prevailing situation in Batticaloa is advantageous to SL armed forces - a situation which could be turned in to a desired / decisive victory especially since a considerable segment of Trinco-Batti A9 route stretches through cleared areas. more..

Nov 26 (ISL) His abhorrence of war and espousal of non - violence stems very much from very personal loss, suffering and pain. Sangaree has lost many relatives to political violence and terror. His elder brother Rajasangaree was the chairman of Chavakachcheri Citizens committee during the Indian Army period. Rajasangaree spoke out against Indian army atrocities and was killed by the EPRLF on Oct 26th 1987. more..

Nov 26 (ISL) The tightrope walking Catholic priest has compromised a great deal on the spirit of Christianity and embraced the terror politics of Velupillai Prabhakaran who is to him Jesus Christ of Wanni incarnate. As the Monster of Wanni gets ready to make his Maveerar Day address most probably via a dummy fearing that he may be assassinated even by his own colleagues, or for other reasons, more..

Nov 26 (GDI) It is high time that some factions of Sinhala society who continue to treat every Tamil person as a LTTE terrorist dispel such prejudices in the new social environment of national unity founded under this government, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa. President Rajapaksa stressed the need for an attitudinal change in the petty minded few who continue to maintain such prejudices against the ordinary Tamils in the country. more..

Nov 26 (GDI) The new strategies introduced in the Defence sector during the last year have changed the entire military structure paying substantive dividends to fight terrorism and sectoral corruption, Defence sources told the Sunday Observer yesterday. Consequent to this, the overall development taking place in different departments under the purview of the Ministry of Defence have shown tremendous results thereby increasing the performance of the three security forces and the police. more..

Nov 26 (GDI) Cholomondeley Goonewardene, MP for Kalutara and veteran Samasamajist passed away at a private nursing home in Colombo yesterday. He was 89 years at the time of his death. A Lawyer by profession, the LSSP stalwart entered the Kalutara bar in 1946. He is a product of Holy Cross College, Kalutara and S. Thomas' College, Mt. Lavinia. He was the longest living member from the first Parliament in 1947. more..