May 22 (TN) "Ravaneswaran Inthira Ulah" a research book on the history of King Ravaneswaran written by a leading Tamil scholar Mr.Kandasamy Balasubramaniam of Moolai in Jaffna district was launched in Trincomalee recently under the auspices of Trincomalee Muthamil Valarkalai Mantram. more..

May 22 (TN) The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) Friday held a demonstration in Colombo against the State electronic and print media for conducting what it said was "malicious propaganda" against the party. A group of Buddhist monks including JHU parliamentarians went in procession from the Wijerama Mawatha to the State run Rupavahini Corporation. more..

May 22 (TN) The leadership of the JVP has been holding intensive discussions with the other constituent political parties of the UPFA on the current position of the peace process, as a prelude to announcing its final stand on the Norwegian brokered peace talks between the UPFA government and the LTTE, more..

May 22 (AT) Great escapade - Dr.R. Janarthanan relives the great thriller of 1974. It was all about the Tamil Conference by the International Association of Tamil Research held in Jaffna from 03 January 1974 to 10 January 1974. more..

May 22 (AT) “Those who kidnapped us assaulted and attacked us warning that we should not get involved in any anti-social activities.” Those who were said to have been kidnapped by the Ellalan Padai told this in their statement to Jaffna police after being released by them. more..

May 22 (NW) In a letter to Speaker W.J.M. Lokubandara, Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) MP Ven. Aparekke Pugnananda Thera charged that the clique of 'yellow cats' in the JHU were "aiming at our rights as well as our lives". more..

May 22 (NW) Colombo District Court while allowing the plaintiff UNP Chairman Malik Samarawickrema and former Trade and Commerce Minister Ravi Karunanayake to withdraw case filed against Rupavahini and ITN ordered them to pay the taxed cost to the defendants when the case was taken up yesterday before the District Court. more..

May 22 (NW) The JVP has expressed its displeasure over the continuing Norwegian facilitation in the peace process and suggested facilitation by India, party sources said. more..

May 22 (NW) In the aftermath of the rain, a fresh dengue epidemic is sweeping the country with at least 12 deaths and the number of victims soaring towards 3000, health officials said yesterday. more..

May 22 (NW) A priceless Buddha statue belonging to the ancient Kasagala temple was recently stolen by thieves. According to the Weeraketiya police the thieves had robbed the statue in the night and no arrests have yet been made. more..

May 22 (NW) Jathika Hela Urumaya's Ven. Kataluwe Ratana Thera, who's disappearance from his temple, which led to much political uproar recently, wrote to the IGP urging him to terminate questioning him any further. more..

May 22 (NW) On the directions of the President, the Ministry of Public Security, Law and Order and the Department of Police will promote 3196 Police personnel including Police Sergeants, Sub Inspectors of Police, Inspectors of Police to higher ranks. more..

May 22 (TT) The contours of the new Indian government may not yet be clear but Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have already requested visits to Delhi for talks with the new dispensation. India has a request from Dhaka for a visit by its foreign minister, Morshed Khan, sources at South Block said. more..

May 22 (PD) AN INTREPID mother-of-two is preparing to take part in a trek through jungles and over mountain peaks in Sri Lanka to raise money for cancer research. Lesley Evans's expedition comes just three years after she was battling against cancer herself. more..

May 22 (LBO) As traditional farming methods are lost to chemical fertilizer dumping in Sri Lanka, its people are paying with their lives. Over use of chemical fertilizer and pesticide is poisoning the waterbed. LBO goes on a field trip to the Kalpitiya Peninsula which houses Sri Lanka’s largest shallow water reserve. more..

May 22 (LBO) The External Resources Dept., is negotiating with Japanese funding agencies for a fresh US$ 85 mn credit line for the small and medium scale industry. If approved the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC) will replace the US$ 65 ADB credit line now fully utilized by the Sahanya low interest-lending scheme. more..

May 22 (TN) Residents of Nedunthivu, one of the islets in the Jaffna peninsula have been agitating for a better passenger boat service for travelling to the Jaffna mainland as the "Kumudhini" mechanized boat has gone out of order for the last eight months. more..

May 22 (TN) Thursday night attack in Aalankerni on Liberation Tigers in which an LTTE cadre, Markandu Punithalingam (alias Rohithan or Gohilan), was killed was carried out with the support of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), said E.Kausalyan, more..

May 22 (SLA) Remains of a dead LTTE cadre has been brought to BATTICALOA from VAKARAI area by three LTTE cadres through the MANKERNI entry exit point about 38 km northwest of BATTICALOA town on 21 May 2004 around 1.30 p.m. more..

May 22 (SLA) Two LTTE cadres who tried to enter the cleared areas in a van were stopped and turned back by troops on duty at VAKANERI Junction, about 07 km west of VALACHCHENAI on 20 May 2004 around 2.00 p.m. more..

May 22 (SLA) Eight hundred and seventy three (873) lorry loads of food and other essential items had been dispatched to un-cleared areas in the northern province during the period between 14 May 2004 and 20 May 2004. more..

May 22 (TP) The Saudi Arabia government in response to a request by Labour and Employment Minister Athauda Seneviratne, has expressed interest in employing Sri Lankan doctors, nurses and IT professionals in the oil rich state, newspapers said. more..

May 22 (UNI) Sri Lanka has come out on the top in the CEAT Cricket Rating 2004-05. Sri Lanka skipper,the stylish Marvan Atapattu, has climbed to the top of the CEAT Cricket Rating for 2004-05 after his team's mammoth innings win against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo. more..

May 22 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's Hatton National Bank Ltd reported a 43 percent fall in first quarter net profit on Friday and said the drop was due to a lack of opportunities to invest in government securities. more..

May 22 (LT) A wily plan is being hatched by the tiger organization to silence Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar say sources close to foreign missions. Minister Kadirgamara has been identified as the main obstacle for the tiger organization in realizing their political ends. more..

May 22 (SN) Squashing rumours spread by the state media that Ven Kathaluwe Rathanaseeha thero had been detained at Devram Vehera, Pannipitiya by JHU activists, the thero went back to his temple, Sambuddhaloka Viharaya, Moratuwa yesterday in the evening. more..

May 22 (AT) The rebel Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) parliamentarian Venerable Aparekke Punnananda Thero accused W.J. M. Lokubandara - Speaker of parliament of aiding and abetting the crime of abducting and later making tender his resignation of Venerable Kathaluwe Rathanseeha from being a Member of Parliament. more..

May 22 (G2L) SLMC MP Ismail Quddus father-in-law of SLMC leader Rauf Hakeem tendered his resignation to Secretary General of Parliament Mrs. Priyani Wijesekera in Parliament yesterday Secretary General of the SLMC MP. M. T. Hassen Ali said on Thursday. more..

May 22 (IANS) Seven guerrillas were killed and dozens were injured in fighting between two factions of the LTTE)in Sri Lanka, Xinhua reported. The fighting erupted between guerrillas loyal to LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran and renegade military leader Karuna around midnight Thursday in an area held by LTTE in the eastern district of Batticaloa. more..

May 22 (DN) Former Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando has on the invitation of President Chandrika Kumaratunga joined the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. The President made him a member at a simple ceremony at President's House yesterday. more..

May 22 (AT) The new United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government to be led by Dr. Manmohan Singh had indicated that it will fully support the peace talks Sri Lanka undertakes, which would fulfills the legitimate aspirations of all linguistic and religious minorities within the territorial integrity and solidarity of Sri Lanka. more..

May 23 (TN) People's Action for Free and Fair Election (PAFFREL), a Colombo based election monitoring group said it plans to start citizens committees in Jaffna-Manipay, Pt. Pedro-Karaveddy and Kopay for addressing local social problems and issues. more..

May 23 (TN) "Tamil Nadu political leaders should pressure Delhi to take active interest in Sri Lanka Tamil problem and also to deproscribe the Liberation Tigers," said Leader of the Upcountry People’s Front (UPF) and Member of Parliament, Mr. Periyannan Chandrasekaran, more..

May 23 (TP) The Marxist People’s Liberation Front or JVP, a key partner in Sri Lanka’s coalition, has expressed its opposition over continuing Norwegian facilitation in the peace process and suggested facilitation by India, party sources were quoted as saying in the Daily Mirror. more..

May 23 (AP) The Commonwealth of Britain and its former colonies lifted a four-year suspension of Pakistan on Saturday, welcoming the country's progress on democratic reform since a military coup more than four years ago. more..

May 23 (AP) Tamil Tiger rebels want the Sri Lankan government to agree in writing to a set of demands before restarting long-stalled negotiations to end the island's 19-year civil war, a news report said Saturday. more..

May 23 (SL) While the UNP struggled last week to introduce any meaningful reforms which would have mass appeal, the government was desperately seeking a working majority in parliament by wooing individual members from the minority parties, resorting in the process to the most despicable of strategies. more..

May 23 (SL) Following the stinging defeat suffered by the United National Party (UNP) at the April 2 general election, the country's largest single political party is currently engaged in some political soul-searching aimed at some quick fixes. more..

May 23 (SO) Waulpone, the 'legendary Rock Cave' with the unexpected archaeological evidence of a civilisation, tens of thousand years old, running back to the time of the "Balangoda Man" is again, in the grips of a new menace, the illegal gemming activities. more..

May 23 (AT) Gnanapiragasam Gnanasekeram recalls the 1983 jail massacre, in which he was one of the ten prisoners, who survived in the second day attack and he relives the horror, trauma and the pain he underwent, saw and experienced during the two of those “Blackest Days,” in the history of Sri Lanka. more..

May 23 (AT) Tamil Nadu Government led by J.Jayalalithaa has again slapped the ban on the LTTE for another two years declaring that the Tamil rebel outfit would continue to remain a terrorist organization in Tamil Nadu, as well as in India, whilst numerous overtures were made by the rebel outfit to establish friendly relationship with India. more..

May 23 (TN) A top level conference is scheduled to be held in Colombo in the office of Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources on May 27th and 28th to explore the possibilities of stopping poaching in Sri Lankan northern territorial waters. more..

May 23 (TN) "The condition laid by the US government for the LTTE to lay down arms is not acceptable. The question of handing over arms would cease automatically when an acceptable political solution to the Tamil people is found through talks, accepting the self determination of Tamils and their traditional homeland concept," more..

May 23 (SLA) Troops on duty at MADHU Road Junction check point arrested two vehicles respectively on 21 May and 22 May 2004 moving towards MADHU church since both had varying numbers on documents and engines. more..

May 23 (SLA) Naval troops on duty in the general sea area west of URUMALAI have apprehended 25 Sri Lankan refugees returning from India on 22 May 2004. 25 Sri Lankan refugees including 12 children, who arrived at the beach west of URUMALAI have been apprehended by Naval troops around 8.30 a.m. more..

May 23 (SLA) An LTTE cadre’s attempt to abduct a civilian was foiled by the troops on duty at the MUHAMALAI Entry/Exit point on 22 May 2004. The LTTE cadre identified as UMAYAR was abducting a 21 - year old youth to the un-cleared area for reasons best known to LTTE when the troops checked. more..

May 23 (SFG) In a war-torn patch of jungle in Sri Lanka, diesel generators power the computers at an unusual school whose roof and walls were once riddled with bullet holes. At the Vanni Institute of Technology, the students study database programming, computer networking, Web development and electronics more..

May 23 (AFP) Sri Lanka's revenues have fallen sharply while a plethora of election pledges are set to bust the budget as the government aims to raise 250 million dollars in new foreign loans. more..

May 23 (LT) Tiger organization must give up human rights violations before they sit for peace talks says Ian Martin, former president of Amnesty International. He made this observation when he had discussions with S.P. Thamilselvan at Kilinochchi. more..

May 23 (Gulf) The Marxists JVP has expressed its displeasure over the continuing Norwegian facilitation in the peace process and suggested facilitation by India, a local newspaper said yesterday. more..