News in brief

SLFP 56th Convention today

The 56th Convention of the Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP) will be held with the participation of President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the BMICH today at 9am.

Meanwhile, President Rajapaksa in his capacity as leader of the SLFP will spell out the 'Mahinda Chinthana Program', reply charges by Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and educate the masses on the future plans of the SLFP at the third rally organised by the party in Galle on September 7.

The first and second rallies at Nawalapitiya and Kurunegala received a good response. The main objective of the rallies is to counter misleading statements by Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and MPs Mangala Samaraweera and Sripathi Suriyaarachchi.

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11 LTTErs killed

Security Forces killed 11 LTTE members in the North, the Defence Ministry said. Soldiers pushed into the LTTE-held territory near the Omanthai forward defence line in Vavuniya district after observing a build up of insurgents in the area, an official at the Defence Ministry's Information Centre said.

A subsequent clash left at least 11 Tigers dead and eight government soldiers wounded. Earlier, the military said it had thwarted attempts by the rebels to infiltrate the Muhamalai defence line further North on Friday, killing three guerrillas.

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Annual Job Fair

The annual Job Fair organised by the Lyceum International school in collaboration with the Mohan Lal Grero Foundation will be held on September 8 from 8 a.m. at the Lyceum International school premises in Nugegoda.

There are several vacancies in private sector firms, private banks, international schools, insurance companies, garment sector offices, industries and mercantile firms.

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CWC pledges support

The Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) has pledged their full support to the Government for future work.

"We have not done any wrong to the Government and do not hope to vote against the next Budget", a CWC official said. He said that the acceptance of ministerial portfolios again will be a decision of the party.

A final decision on ministerial portfolios will be taken after the CWC Leader, Arumugam Thondaman returns to the country, the official said.

The CWC members resigned from ministerial portfolios a few months ago over certain disagreements but later pledged to support the Government.