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SU ask Ranil not to allow Pongai Tamil in Colombo Ranmali Wijesuriya in Colombo, SLT 10.15 a.m Wednesday March 6. Sihala Urumaya has asked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe not to allow Pongai Tamil celebrations to be held in Colombo. Udaya Gamanpila of Sihala Urumaya told The Lanka Academic " Wickremasinghe must ban this event which also has the support of government ministers like Thondaman and Chandrasekaran. If not it will lead to a violent situation in Colombo. One must not forget that LTTE has attacked Colombo more than any other city in the country and one cannot expect the people of Colombo to keep quiet if the LTTE is allowed to hold events of this nature in Colombo" The first Pongai Tamil was held in Vauniya last week. Published: Tue Mar 5 23:15:03 EST 2002

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Ask Mahinda Answers 1-28 now available! The Lanka Academic is delighted to announce the 8th guest in its series of Q & A sessions: Hon. Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Leader of the Opposition in the Sri Lankan Parliament. With the recent change in leadership in the Sri Lankan government, the peace process appears to be gaining fresh new momentum. This is your opportunity to ask questions from Hon. Mahinda Rajapaksa related to Sri Lankan politics and receive answers by clicking here. The answers will appear here.

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President Busy with Implementing Truce- FM Saroj Pathirana in London, Tuesday 05/03/02 1720 GMT. President Chandrika Kumaratunga could not attend the meeting of the Commonwealth heads of governments (CHOGM) in Australia as she is busy with overseeing the implementation of the cease-fire agreement at home, Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando said...

Group of Buddhist monks protest against Norwegian ambassador Leo de Lile in Colombo, 1.30 pm, SLT, March. 05, 2002. Buddhist monks protest peacefully out side the Norwegian embassy in Colombo on Tuesday, March...

Lanka truce monitors to meet Prabhakaran The Hindu NUS, Colombo, March 5. (PTI). Scandinavian cease-fire monitors will meet LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran in northern Sri Lanka tomorrow to discuss the modalities for beginning the task of overseeing the truce, as Buddhist monks took out a protest march demanding the peace accord be scrapped...

Sri Lanka lifts Tamil travel curbs BBC South Asia, Tuesday, 5 March, 2002, 17:47 GMT . Officials in the Sri Lankan interior ministry say they have lifted travel restrictions on Tamil civilians with immediate effect...

Polls to 20 local bodies postponed Frederica Jansz in Colombo, 3.20 p.m. SLT Tuesday March 5. Elections to twenty local bodies will be held on a date other than March 20, 2002...

Journalists Launch Peace Campaign Saroj Pathirana in London, Wednesday 05/03/02 1210 GMT. A group of leading journalists representing many public and private media institutions launched a poster campaign asking the authorities to take concrete measures towards a political solution to Sri Lanka’s national problem...

Switzerland welcomes the formal agreement Federal Department of Foreign affairs (DFA)-Switzerland , 06 March 2002. Switzerland welcomes the formal agreement on a ceasefire between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE)...

Monks hand over petition to the Norwegians Ranmali Wijesuriya in Colombo, SLT 12.15 p.m Tuesday 5 March. Over 200 monks who walked peacefully to the Norwegian embassy in Sri Lanka handed over a petition to a Norwegian embassy official in Colombo...

Cricket - Pakistan, Sri Lanka seek to become Asian champions Yahoo India, March 5, 6:56 PM. Pakistan and Sri Lanka meet in the Asian Test Championship final in Lahore on Wednesday, with each team confident of securing the title of regional champions...

Cache of LTTE explosives seized in Thailand The Island, March 6, 2002. Police yesterday seized a cache of explosives believed to be destined for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebel group in Sri Lanka...

Apollo Health plans overseas expansion Yahoo India, 06 March 2002. Apollo Health and Lifestyle Ltd (AHLL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Chennai-based Apollo Hopsitals group, is planning to spread its wings abroad by setting up shops in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Singapore and the Middle East, reports The Financial Express...

Sri Lankan Government Defends Norwegian Role in Peace People's Daily, 06 March 2002. Sri Lankan government on Tuesday defended the role of Norway as peace facilitators in the country in the face of criticism by President Chandrika Kumaratunga...

Pakistan play Sri Lanka for Asian title amid tight security The Hindustan Times, Lahore, March 5 . In-form Pakistan take on Sri Lanka in the final of the second Asian Test championship here at the Gaddafi stadium starting Wednesday amid tight security...

Businessmen toast Ranil, Prabhakaran Sunday Times, March 3, 2002. Sri Lanka's business glitterati wined and dined at a Colombo hotel last week and in the process rose to their feet and clicked their glasses to toast Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran over the peace process...

Gangs linked to terrorism, study finds National Post, 06 March 2002. TORONTO - Violent ethnic gangs in Canada's largest cities appear to have close links to terrorist factions in South Asia, according to an independent academic study...

Sri Lankan women aim for bigger political voice Asia Times, 06 March 2002. Prior to hitting the campaign trail for local government polls to be held this month, Nimalka Fernando got another taste of the sexism that prevails in Sri Lanka's political culture...

Sri Lanka Bajaj dealer wants reversal of green bill IANS/Yahoo, 06 March 2002. The Sri Lanka agent for Indian-made Bajaj Auto three-wheelers is set to fight a proposed government ban on exhaust-spewing petrol engines, a company official said...

Seven Indian fishermen arrested Frederica Jansz in Colombo, 2 p.m. SLT Tuesday March 5. Seven Indian fishermen were arrested by the Sri Lanka Navy at Nainathivu in the Jaffna peninsula on Saturday March 2, 2002...

Norway finalising Lanka truce monitoring team Bahrain Tribune, 05 March 2002. Norway is working on finalising a team of Scandinavians who will monitor a cease-fire between the Sri Lankan government forces and Tamil Tiger guerrillas, officials here said yesterday...

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2001 - Sri Lanka US Department of State, 06 March 2002. Sri Lanka is a democratic republic with an active multiparty system...

No compromise at cost of country's security: Lanka South Nexus, COLOMBO, Mar 05. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he was eager to make peace with Tamil Tiger rebels, but not at the expense of compromising the country's security and sovereignty...

Lanka army on alert despite truce with Tigers Times of India, MONDAY, MARCH 04, 2002 1:05:01 PM ]. : Sri Lankan security forces were on a high state of alert on Monday even though the government has entered into a Norwegian-brokered ceasefire with Tamil Tiger rebels...

Cricket: Sri Lanka happy to resume international match in Pakistan Yahoo Singapore, 05 March 2002. Sri Lankan coach Dav Whatmore said his side are happy to reopen international cricket in Pakistan and have no security concerns...

India Further Reduces Tariff on Sri Lankan Exports Nothern Light, Monday, March 04, 2002 10:06 PM EST . India has further lowered tariff barriers on 4,561 Sri Lankan import products effective on March 1, the official Daily News said on Tuesday...

Scrutiny was intense at ICC Yahoo India, 05 March 2002. With all the attention on the outstanding individuals shortlisted for the ICC’s Elite Panel of Match Referees, it’s been overlooked that only two of the five figure in the current (Test-playing countries’) nominated line-up...

Chandrika greets Jayalalithaa The Hindu NUS, Chennai, March 4. (PTI). Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga greeted Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on taking over as Chief Minister...

Parliamentary debate on MoU begins Frederica Jansz in Colombo, 12 p.m. SLT Monday March 4. The parliamentary debate on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the government and the LTTE began this morning...

Dollar dilemma for Sri Lanka cricket BuisnessNet, march 4. Sri Lanka's cricket board is in a dilemma whether to honour a $3.3-million logo contract with a local tea company or abide by the International Cricket Council's strict dress code for two upcoming tournaments and lose money...

Lohan, Chanuka not identified Frederica Jansz in Colombo, 1.15 p.m. SLT Monday March 4. Lohan and Chanuka Ratwatte, suspects in the killing of ten Muslim youth at Udathalawinna last December were not recognized in an identification parade held at the Teldeniya Magistrates Court this morning...

Sri Lanka Activists Demand Action Against Torture in Police Custody Yahoo, Mon Mar 4,10:26 AM ET . Human rights activists are pressing the government of Sri Lankan prime minister Ranil Wickremasinghe to take action against policemen accused of torturing four men held in custody last month...

Ex-cricket captain files petition in court Gulf-News, 5 March 2002. Sri Lanka's former cricket captain Arjuna Ranatunga has filed action in a court claiming that his fundamental rights have been violated by the sports ministry preventing parliamentarians contesting the cricket board elections...

Unfortunate fallout of terrorist actions Gulf-News, 05 March 2002. Thousands of bona fide immigrants looking for greener pastures in Canada and the United States and asylum seekers running away from political or religious strife in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, West Bank and Gaza, to name a few, have little or no hope of getting into the two countries any time soon...

Sarvodaya to launch peoples peace operation Ranmali Wijesuriya in Colombo, SLT 4.30 p.m Monday 4 March. Sarvodaya movement is to launch a peoples peace operation on 15th March linking 1000 villages from North with 1000 villages from the South a release issued by Dr...

Giant milk rice dish gobbled up BBC South Asia, Monday, 4 March, 2002, 16:47 GMT . Thousands of people have turned up in Sri Lanka to get a portion of an almost 200-metre long milk rice dish displayed outside the Town Hall in Colombo...

Sinhalese businessmen not allowed in Mankulam by the LTTE Ranmali Wijesuriya in Colombo, SLT 1.00 p.m Monday 4 March. Three Sinhalese businessmen who tried to enter Mankulam area to do business relating poultry feeding was not allowed to enter Mankulam by the LTTE recently...

Sunrise in Sri Lanka Globe and Mail, Canada, Monday, March 4, 2002 . Ms. Kumaratunga appears bent on making things difficult. Foolishly, she has questioned clauses in the peace pact that allow the government of Norway to act as an impartial arbiter, and has accused the Prime Minister of keeping her in the dark...

TNA to launch campaign demanding the repeal of the PTA Frederica Jansz in Colombo, 11 a.m. SLT Monday March 4. Selva Adaikalanathan, Tamil National Alliance Parliamentarian has called for a mass campaign to demand the government to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act law...

Sri Lanka ceasefire likely to spark heated debate MSNBC, march 4. Sri Lanka's parliament was expecting heated debate on a landmark ceasefire pact on Monday after Tamil Tiger rebels accused the president of trying to sabotage it...

International backing for ceasefire will silence critics - Tyronne Frederica Jansz in Colombo, 9.30 a.m. SLT Monday March 4. Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister, Tyronne Fernando, attending a four day Commonwealth summit in Australia has reiterated to journalists that international pressure would silence critics of the present ceasefire between the Lankan government and the LTTE...

TABLE-Sri Lanka Telecom full year net soars Yahoo Singapore, 04 March 2002. Results for the full year to December 31, 2001 (in billions of Sri Lankan rupees unless stated):

S.Lankan Govt to Form Parliamentary Committee to Assess Cease-fire People's Daily, 04 March 2002. The Sri Lankan government has agreed to appoint a parliamentary committee to assess the implementation of the recently agreed ceasefire between the government and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels monitored by an international monitoring team...

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