Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka, Ambassador/Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN, Geneva told a panel discussion titled `War, Peace and Human Rights: Sri Lanka after the Eastern Elections', [Full Story]

The Sri Lanka High Commission in Singapore has warned the public to a number of scams carried out by unscrupulous recruitment agents who obtain large sums of money from Sri Lankans with the promise of education and employment opportunities in Singapore. [Full Story]

Former Minister of National Heritage and Gampaha district MP Anura Bandaranaike passed away in his official residence Wisumpaya yesterday (16) afternoon. [Full Story]

The United Kingdom Foreign Office has rejected the suggestion of talks with a terrorist organization such as al-Qaeda as “inconceivable”. [Full Story]

The report on Sri Lanka in the US State Department’s 2007 Country Report on Human Rights released this week by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice [Full Story]

President Mahinda Rajapaksa today directed that speedy action be taken to bring to book those responsible for attacks on employees of Rupavahini, and has called for a plan of action to protect them. [Full Story]

A delegation from the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs of Pakistan Senate paid a courtesy call on President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat, Colombo this morning (14). Senator Mushaid Hussain Sayed (Chairman) and 10 others constituted the delegation. [Full Story]

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has engaged in a blatant falsehood in claiming that Sri Lanka has refused to let the Working Group visit Sri Lanka said Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleka. [Full Story]

A Maltese national charged in connection with a North American network that police allege provides weapons and other materials to LTTE has had a date set for his extradition hearing, North American media reported yesterday (13). [Full Story]

The Gama Naguma development programme by the Nation Building and Infrastructure Development Ministry will be inaugurated island wide today (March 14).[Full Story]

The European Union Troika current Presidency Slovenia, future Presidency France and the European Commission would visit Sri Lanka next week, a Foreign Ministry press release said (March 13).[Full Story]

The Maha Sanga in the East provided the strength and spiritual support to the people in the East to live without fear of terrorism said President Mahinda Rajapaksa at a ceremony held at the Presidential Secretariat today (March 13) to provide financial assistance to develop temples in the East.[Full Story]

Deputy Solicitor General Shavindra Fernando responding to Amnesty International statement titled “ Sri Lanka – Siliencing Dissent” says the report is totally misplaced [Full Story]

Projects initiated under the Nagenahira Navodaya Programme (Reawakening of the East) are being fully implemented bringing benefits to the communities living in the Province. [Full Story]

UNESCO has withdrawn its patronage of the Online Free Expression Day, organized by the non-governmental organization, Reporters Sans frontiers (RSF). [Full Story]

Sri Lanka remains firmly committed to the "One China Policy" and opposes any form of Taiwan independence, said a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday (12) concerning the proposed so-called referendum in Taiwan to seek independence. [Full Story]

President Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed Sahampathi Angammana new Commissioner General for the Inland Revenue Department yesterday (March 11). [Full Story]

With the LTTE outsourcing its boat-building works to the obscure boat-building yards in Kerala, the Tamil Nadu government has woken up to a new threat, IANS said today (March 12). [Full Story]

The local government elections held in Batticaloa shows this government has a plan and will deliver its promise to restore normalcy in the areas affected by the present conflict, said Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama addressing the Diplomatic Corps at the Foreign Ministry today (March 12). [Full Story]

Expressing reservations with regard to the use of the words by Manfred Nowak, Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment to the effect that torture is "widely practiced" in Sri Lanka, [Full Story]

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has directed the Commissioner General of Elections to announce the date calling for nominations to the first ever elections to the Eastern Provincial Council. [Full Story]

Leader of the separatist terrorist LTTE Velupillai Prabhakaran, its Intelligence Chief Pottu Amman and four others have been indicted before the High Court of Colombo in connection with the assassination of former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar. [Full Story]

“I thank all those who helped make a success of the government’s policy of restoring to the people of the East the democratic rights that had been denied to them for nearly two decades through the politics of terror,” said President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a message issued after the close of polling in the Batticaloa District today (March). [Full Story]

Tamil Nadu Government has shifted three Sri Lankan nationals, Chandra Kumar, Ashok Kumar and Sriharan, all from Jaffna who clandestinely operated boat services for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to smuggle arms and other materials to the Special Camp at Chengalpattu yesterday (10). [Full Story]

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is doubling its funding for the Southern expressway. It has now granted another $ 90 million in addition to the original commitment of $ 90 million. This will facilitate the expansion of the expressway from two to four lanes and its early completion. [Full Story]

Central Bank– Sri Lanka's foreign reserves had increased to 3.4 billion dollars by March 06 with the monetary authority collecting 366 million dollars since the beginning of the year, the central bank said. [Full Story]

The Supreme Court yesterday (March 10) allowed NTT Communications Corporation in the Sri Lankan Telecom (SLT) to sell its 35.2% of shares to GTH Malaysia. [Full Story]

The 15th SAARC Summit and its preceding meetings will be held at BMICH in Colombo from 27th July to 3rd August 2008, a Foreign Ministry statement said today (March 11). [Full Story]

‘Engagement, yes; permanent monitoring mission or external presence on the ground, no’, emphasized Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations at Geneva Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka at a panel discussion titled `Sri Lanka: [Full Story]

Polling was brisk and peaceful in the East in elections to the local government bodies in the Batticaloa Distict, today. [Full Story]

The LTTE triggered off an Improvised explosive Device (IED) targeting civilians at Galle road in Wellawatte around 6.50 a.m. this morning (March 10) killing one civilian. [Full Story]

Sri Lankan Ambassador to the US Bernard Goonetilleke interviewed by Masha Wickremasinghe of WCCA TV Massachusetts said that one has to be vigilant, and one has to be mindful, of the fact that a problem,  [Full Story]

Government is taking action to maintain buffer stocks of rice following a sucessful paddy harvest this Maha season. [Full Story]

All arrangements are set to conduct the elections for the nine local bodies in Batticaloa district today.  [Full Story]

A new savings bank named Sri Lanka Savings Bank opened this morning (March 10). [Full Story]

The Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights has regretted the haste with which the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP), [Full Story]

The recent Amnesty International (AI) report titled "Sri Lanka-Silencing Dissent" fails to acknowledge the many positive steps taken by GOSL to promote freedom of expression which is also enshrined in the Constitution. [Full Story]

I am pleased to send this message on International Women’s Day 2008, which marks the centenary of the day in 1908 when 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights. [Full Story]

Both the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Serious Violations of Human Rights and the Attorney General’s Department have rejected the reasons given by the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) for terminating its operations in Sri Lanka .. [Full Story]

Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights Mahinda Samarasinghe expressed Government's regret over the 'misconceived approach' of the British Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, Mark Malloch-Brown at the ongoing UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva. [Full Story]

Sri Lanka will not go down the road which permits certain biased, lop sided, hypocritical human rights institutions with double standards to violate its sovereignty, [Full Story]

Tamil Nadu Police are keeping a tight vigil on Sri Lankan refugees in the state, especially in Madurai, as fighting intensifies in north Sri Lanka between the security forces and the LTTE. [Full Story]

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Kiddinan Sivanesan was killed in a claymore explosion in Kanagarayankulama, Wanni yesterday (March 6). [Full Story]

The Amy has recovered some baby items from a recently captured bunker in Pallaikuli, Mannar along with three bodies of female cadres, Army spokesman Brigadier Uadaya Nanayakka said. [Full Story]

Today, Hindus in Sri Lanka and abroad celebrate the Maha Shiva Rathri, one of the most important festivals in the Hindu religious calendar. [Full Story]

President Mahinda Rajapaksa directed relevant health authorities to necessary steps to upgrade the service provided by the provincial hospitals. [Full Story]

Campaigning for the March 10 Batticaloa local polls will end by midnight today, 48 hours ahead. [Full Story]

The first SAARC conference on "science-based agricultural transformation towards alleviation of hunger and poverty" organised by the Indian government inaugurated in New Delhi yesterday (March 6). [Full Story]

Intelligence agencies in Kerala have reported increased LTTE activities in the state. [Full Story]

Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI) signed agreements for 4 new projects worth US $ 50 million on March 04, a BOI press release said. [Full Story]

The Micro Car manufacturing company of Sri Lanka has embarked on establishing a production plant I Guyana in the Caribbean with the intention of targeting the Latin American car market. [Full Story]

The heads of Sri Lankan and Indian armies reviewed the ongoing military operations against the LTTE. [Full Story]

The figures on abductions and disappearances given by the official Presidential Commission Inquiring into Abductions and Disappearances run counter to the most recent claims made by the US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) on abductions and disappearances in Sri Lanka, and reported prominently by the media. [Full Story]

UNHCR Headquarters in New York in a statement commended the Sri Lankan government for rescuing the 71 foreign job seekers and bringing them ashore. [Full Story]

The Supreme Court yesterday (March 4) dismissed the fundamental rights petition filed by People's Action Committee for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) ... [Full Story]

Intelligence Bureau and Tamil Nadu Police yesterday (March 4) arrested two Sri Lankan Tamils in Kerela on charges of making a Indian Rupees 4.2 million worth boat for the LTTE, IANS reported. [Full Story]

The Japanese government provided US$ 5 million to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to support a Livelihood Development Programme in North and East," a UNDP statement said. [Full Story]

Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) yesterday bombed an identified LTTE military Base and an underground storage facility 1.5 km North of Pooneryn junction yesterday (4) between 12 noon and 2.25 p.m. [Full Story]

The first intake of 175 Tamil stream Police officers who passed out in February are now deployed at Police stations in East, Defence spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told media in Colombo today (March 5). [Full Story]

An LTTE claymore was triggered off morning (March 5) at Madukanda, injuring two police personnel engaged in a route patrol along the Vavuniya - Kebithigollewa main road, Madukanda Police said. [Full Story]

Since his inauguration as Head of State in November 2005, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has repeatedly said that there will be no military solution to the conflict in Sri Lanka pursued by the government. [Full Story]

Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe responding to the earlier statements made by a few countries on the situation in Sri Lanka strongly refuted the assertion that the situation has worsened. [Full Story]

Additional Commissioner Elections W. P. Sumanasiri said arrangements have been made to ensure a free and fair election in Batticaloa scheduled for March 10 after a lapse of 14 years. [Full Story]

Arrangements have been made to hand over the 71 survivors of the ill-fated Myanmar vessel to the respective embassies and diplomatic missions through the Foreign Ministry for repatriation, navy sources said. [Full Story]

The Indian Union Cabinet has approved the Trans Asian Railway Network (TARN) which envisages to link 27 countries through railway network, Times of India reported yesterday (March 3). [Full Story]

President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that while engaging in the crucial task of eradicating terrorism, the Government has not in any way abandoned or fallen short of their obligations to develop the country, in particular the rural areas, via the ‘Gama Neguma’ and ‘Maga Neguma’ programmes. [Full Story]

Sri Lanka concluded a bilateral Extradition Treaty with Turkey recently in Ankara, Foreign Ministry said. [Full Story]

The liberation of the Eastern Province is a tangible manifestation of a highly successful and effective “hearts and minds” campaign of the Sri Lanka military, which can be held out as a model in post-conflict development, to other countries, [Full Story]

Sri Lanka Navy today (3) rescued a vessel load of illegal foreign job seekers who had been marooned for 13 days at sea at a distance of 150 nautical miles off the Eastern coast of Sri Lanka. [Full Story]