newslanka.org

Saudi Arabia has lifted its travel ban on Sri Lanka allowing its citizens to visit the country. The Kingdom issued the ban in February 2008 after fighting between government forces and LTTE escalated, particularly in the north…

Persons of Sri Lanka Peoples Party (SLPP), a constituent of ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA), caught and held N. Parameswaran, a senior Tamil journalist in Jaffna peninsula, the correspondent of BBC Tamil service and Daily Mirror, Saturday from 9:00 a.m til 9:30 in front of the SLFP office located at Veampadi Veethi in Jaffna, [...]

8.8-mag earthquake hits coast of Chile & tsunami warning issued in region; no threat of a tsunami to Sri Lanka-Disaster Mgt Centre-JNW

(Lanka-e-News, Feb.27, 2010, 10.30AM) The security contingent of Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan‘s (Pillayan) has been reduced with immediate effect…

(Lanka-e-News, Feb.27, 2010, 10.30AM) The International monetary Fund (IMF) which was to grant the third installment of the original loan amount of US $ 2.6 billion to Sri Lanka…

Feb 27, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s ruling party, United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) is to launch its election campaign with religious observances from the historic city of Anuradhapura.

(Lanka-e-News 27,Feb,2010 9.00AM) Tissa Kathiarachchi ,the candidate of Mangala Samaraweera who was in third position in the nomination list of the UNF for the Moneragala District has been expunged and in his place …

Eezham Tamils in Denmark will cast their ballot in 32 centres across the country in a referendum on the question of independent and sovereign Tamil Eelam in the North and East of the island of Sri Lanka. The referendum will be conducted by a professional institute TNS Gallup, specialised in sociological and public opinion research [...]

Unidentified persons threw stones continually, attacking the office of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) former parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran Friday night causing damage to the tiles and windows of the office, sources in Jaffna said. The office is located at the entrance of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) 512 Division on Point Pedro road in Jaffna where there [...]

The Defence Ministry said that Army security will no longer be provided to politicians, in an attemp..

It is an irony that a party that plunged headlong into an ill-conceived peace process at the beh..

* Elections dept. runs out of symbols

* Over 20 parties, independent groups in the fray
..

The BBC’s Swaminathan Natarajan reports on escalating fears about a crackdown on media and political freedom in Sri Lanka.

All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) submitted its list of candidates contesting Trincomalee electoral district Friday, sources in Trincomalee said. Meanwhile, former parliamentarians Gajendrakumar Kangkesar Ponnambalam, Ms. Pathmini Sithamparanathan and Selvarajah Gajendran along with representatives of public organizations as a new alliance are contesting under bicycle symbol of ACTC in the forthcoming parliamentary elections, according to [...]

Sri Lanka’s civil war might be over, but the European Union recently dropped the island’s preferential trade status because of human-rights violations. Guest columnist Peter Mountford says Sri Lankan media are not free to discuss the challenges, so the best hope is international attention.

A total of 1867 candidates are set to contest the up coming April eight Parliamentary Elections in Sri Lanka’s north and east where 31members will be elected to the SL Parliament. The candidates will contest in the districts of Jaffna, Vanni, Batticoloa, Trincomalee and Digamadulla. The total includes those from eight recognized political parties while [...]

Until Friday noon 15 registered political parties and 12 independent groups had submitted their lists of candidates to contest parliamentary election in Jaffna district electorate competing for nine seats for Jaffna electorate, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, the nomination lists of Sri Lanka National Front political party and four independent groups were rejected by Jaffna [...]

After 26 years of civil war, Sri Lanka has an ambitious $1 billion plan to revive the city of Jaffna, long isolated by the rebel Tamil Tigers.

All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) party which had quit Tamil National Alliance (TNA) submitted Friday its nomination list at Jaffna Secretariat with Sinnathurai Varatharajan, a teacher of economics, as its chief candidate, sources in Jaffna said. Many prominent people in the peninsula as well as the Jaffna University community are said to be supporting ACTC [...]

In chartered buses and private cars, Sri Lankans pour into this war-ravaged city, finally rejoined to the rest of the country.

Twenty five people have come forward to give evidence against Rtd. Gen. Sarath Fonseka, Military Spo..

Eezham Tamils in Denmark will cast their ballot in 32 centres across the country in a referendum on the question of independent and sovereign Tamil Eelam in the North and East of the island of Sri Lanka. The referendum will be conducted by a professional institute TNS Gallup, specialised in sociological and public opinion research [...]

Unidentified persons threw stones continually, attacking the office of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) former parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran Friday night causing damage to the tiles and windows of the office, sources in Jaffna said. The office is located at the entrance of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) 512 Division on Point Pedro road in Jaffna where there [...]

Tourism industry participants, both in Sri Lanka and abroad, agree that there is a number of reasons why the Government should now begin to think out of the box about the tourism sector and prepare a strategic plan for the next ten years.

(Lanka-e-News 26.Feb.2010 11.30PM) In the Bar Council elections held this week the lawyers voted overwhelmingly against a candidate who was openly promoted by the government….

(Lanka-e-News 26,Feb,2010 11.40PM) The Secretaries of the United National Front (UNF), the United Peoples freedom Alliance (UPFA) and the Democratic National alliance handed over their respective lists of candidates…

Feb 26, Colombo: The Colombo Magistrate Court today ordered the further detention of six army officers arrested for their alleged involvement in a plot to overthrow the Sri Lankan government in connivance with defeated presidential candidate and former military chief General Sarath Fonseka.

Feb 26, Jaffna: Sri Lanka’s pro-government Tamil party, Elam People Democratic Party (EPDP) and the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance are to jointly contest for the Jaffna District at the upcoming General Election to be held on the 8th of April.

Feb 26, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s major political parties handed over their national list of candidates to the Elections Commissioner today.

Feb 26, Colombo: Sri Lanka Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is to consult the country’s Attorney General on all the matters related to the investigation of Hicorp’s arms deal.

The Sri Lankan government says that it is concerned about the welfare of sea turtles on the southern coastline.

Feb 26, Colombo: Sharmila Perera ,the Secretary of the New Democratic Front (NDF), the party led by defeated presidential candidate General Sarath Fonseka, today filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking to annul the presidential election results of four districts.

The government says it is concerned about the welfare of the sea turtles which live and breed in the southern coastline.

The annual cricket match between St. John’s College and Jaffna Central College, two leading educational institutions in Jaffna, which first took place in 1904 has begun with the cheerful engagement of the student community in the peninsula, sources in Jaffna said. Most of the schools in the peninsula have declared Thursday and Friday as holidays, [...]

Feb 26, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s rate of inflation, on a year on year basis, rose for the 5th consecutive month to 6.9 percent in February hitting a one-year high as consumer spending in the country increased in parallel to the rising global commodity prices.

Feb 26, Colombo: The opposition parties contesting the parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka say they fielded strong teams of candidates to run against the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA).

Feb 26, Colombo: The period to accept the nominations for the upcoming general election in Sri Lanka ended today at noon while objections to the nominations were submitted until 1:30 this afternoon.

Five political parties submitted their lists of candidates contesting Jaffna electoral district in the parliamentary election at Jaffna Secretariat Thursday making a total of seven political parties contesting the election including Tamil Arasuk Kadchi (TAK) and Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, 3 independent groups have also submitted nomination lists Thursday, [...]

Feb 26, Colombo: The American Chamber of Commerce Sri Lanka (AmCham) today announced that this year’s Ambassador’s Ball will be held on Saturday, March 27, at the Hilton Hotel in Colombo.

Feb 26, Beliatta: Namal Rajapaksa, eldest son of Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa commenced his election campaign today from Beliatta electorate in Hambanthota district.

Until Friday noon 15 registered political parties and 12 independent groups had submitted their lists of candidates to contest parliamentary election in Jaffna district electorate competing for nine seats for Jaffna electorate, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, the nomination lists of Sri Lanka National Front political party and four independent groups were rejected by Jaffna [...]

Twenty-two district secretariats in the island are declared as special
High Security Zones (HZS) from Friday, according to instructions issued by
the Commissioner of Elections. Friday is the final day to submit
nominations for the forthcoming general election. Submitting
nominations by registered political parties and independent groups
began on February 19.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says that the overall economic condition in Sri Lanka is impro..

Six Sri Lanka army officers, arrested on suspicion of conspiring to overthrow the government, further detained.

(Lanka-e-News, Feb.26, 2010, 6.05PM -Praveen Swami-) Late last August, India’s intelligence services listened in as two Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba…

Colombo – Nominations for Sri Lanka’s parliamentary elections closed on Friday with the ex-army commander currently in military custody on allegations of conspiracy against the government also contesting the April 8 poll, officials said. General Sara…

Water Board requests public to use water sparingly as water levels in reservoirs which generate power are going down-reporter-JNW

President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday said he has been mandated by the people to reach the highest point of development free from corruption and terror.

Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) — Sri Lanka’s inflation accelerated to a 12-month high in February, giving the central bank less room to keep benchmark interest rates unchanged to bolster the economy’s recovery.

The military security provided to Eastern Province Chief Minister and TMVP Leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan has been withdrawn with immediate effect, TMVP sources told Daily Mirror Online.

New Democratic Front Secretary Sharmila Perera filed a petition in the Supreme Court today seeking to annul the results of four Districts of the recently concluded Presidential Elections.

The internal administration system at Sri Lanka Cricket is reportedly in a mess following the split in the Interim Committee.

Sri Lanka is to set up a Chinese model EXIM Bank (Export - Import Bank) to plug brain drain, invest in foreign countries and use Sri Lankan expertise in overseas development projects, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said yesterday….

Another supporter of Gen. Sarath Fonseka who was being detained by the Terrorist Investigation Department (TID) of the Sri Lankan Police on charges of conspiracy to over throw the government was released by Colombo Magistrate today.

Over 100 Muslim candidates from recognized political parties and independent groups will be contesting at the upcoming Parliamentary elections to be held on 8 April 2010 with nominations closing at 12 noon today.

The United National Front (UNF) will obtain sworn affidavits from all its candidates contesting the forthcoming Parliamentary Elections, to the effect that they will not switch their allegiance to another party after the election.

Colombo – Nominations for Sri Lanka's parliamentary elections closed on Friday with the ex-army commander currently in military custody on allegations of conspiracy against the government also contesting the April 8 poll, officials said.

A UAE-based company with a global presence, Etisalat, launched its operations in the competitive telecom market in Colombo after its acquisition of the Tigo mobile firm, targeting one million customers by the end of the year.