Aug 20 (Rupavahini) Prompt action has been taken to the combat crime wave in the island. The government and the opposition have agreed to appoint a parliamentary select committee for this purpose today. more..

Aug 20 (SLBC) Two Sri Lankans were arrested at dawn today while trying to smuggle out foreign currency notes. Customs officers at the Katunayake Airport recovered the currency notes with a rupee value of around 13 million from the suspects. more..

Aug 20 (AT) Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and scholars on the Sri Lankan studies last Friday 13 August met the State Department officials at the South Asian Desk to brief anti-conversion bill in Sri Lanka. more..

Aug 20 (LT) Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle says that there is no any dispute between the SLFP and the JVP and the UNP or anyone else need not worry about that. The minister said this in reply to a question raised by the Muslim Congress MP Rouf Hakeem. more..

Aug 20 (LT) The executive council of the UNP has decided to suspend the party membership of Duminda Silva who has been remanded upon being accused of raping a teenage girl. The UNP says that Duminda Silva is therefore not allowed to take part in any party activity or meeting in the future. more..

Aug 20 (CI) Sri Lanka's weary cricketers slip back into their blue-and-yellow pyjamas on Friday for the start of a five-match series against a wounded South Africa team. Buoyant but exhausted after two months of non-stop cricket, Sri Lanka sense an opportunity to prove that, while life may be sweeter with him around, winning is now possible without Muttiah Muralitharan. more..

Aug 20 (CC) As you pull in to the tiny lot off Loveland Madeira Road, you might not be too impressed with the melon-colored corrugated aluminum building that houses Aralia. Walk inside, however, and any trepidation will quickly change to anticipation of exotic herbs and spices. more..

Aug 20 (HT) Representatives of various political parties, who spoke at the funeral of anti-LTTE writer-activist Balanadaraja Ayyar in Colombo on Thursday, said that the Sri Lankan government should refuse to hold peace talks with the LTTE so long as the latter is on a spree killings its opponents. more..

Aug 20 (NW) With the cost of living sizzling at red hot levels after the increase in the prices of petrol, diesel and gas, the overburdened people received more shocks yesterday when approval was given for an increase in milk food prices while bus operators threatened a strike over the refusal to allow an increase in the minimum fare. more..

Aug 20 (NW) Journalists were shabbily treated and virtually forced to walk out of the Sarasaviya Film Awards ceremony held at the BMICH yesterday. First the journalists were sent to the balcony but the officials there said there was no accommodation and they were sent to the main hall where the same treatment was given. more..

Aug 20 (AP) Sri Lankan authorities have complained to European cease-fire monitors that Tamil Tiger rebels may be smuggling weapons into the country, taking unfair advantage of a truce, officials said on Thursday. more..

Aug 20 (TN) The Jaffna Magistrate, Mr.R.T.Viknarajah, Thursday struck off the murder case of journalist Mylvaganam Nimalarajan from the roll call until the Attorney General sent his determination on the findings of the special police team, which conducted investigation into the murder, more..

Aug 20 (TN) A man convicted of murder is the joint organiser of a conference on Sri Lanka in Oslo, the Norwegian multicultural newspaper Utrop said in its online edition Friday. The conference, which begins Friday, brings together Sinhala nationalist hardliners and Sinhala Buddhist extremists from around the world. more..

Aug 20 (SLA) Affected parents of two teenagers have reportedly approached the SLMM in BATTICALOA to complain that two of their teenaged sons were abducted by LTTE for conscription along with two other youngsters from the general un-cleared areas of KANNANKUDAH, BATTICALOA. more..

Aug 20 (SLA) Two teenagers, escaped from LTTE abduction attempts while they were attending a religious ceremony at the KUDAKATARAGAMA temple in the general area of VELLAVELI, MANDUR during early hours on 19 August 2004, had fled in fear and sought protection from the Policemen, providing security to the event. more..

Aug 20 (SLA) The New Commander, Security Forces Headquaters, Jaffna Major General S.D Tennakoon RSP ndc assumed his duties this morning, Aug 20, 2004 at his office in Jaffna. The new Commander upon assumption of his duties was accorded a Guard of Honour by troops of the Sri Lanka Artillery Brigade. more..

Aug 20 (LBO) The government will revisit an annuity model to fund the Colombo Katunayake Highway project, after efforts failed to get former contractor Keagnam back on board. Open bids that were to be called in June were put on hold, halting two years of groundwork after the new government tried to explore renegotiation with Keagnam. more..

Aug 20 (LBO) SriLankan Airlines is increasing its Indian frequency by to 77, by adding 11 more flights from October. Currently one of the biggest operators into India, SriLankan will add daily or more frequencies to nine of its ten destinations, including Madras which has 15 flights per week, and Trivandrum which has 11. more..

Aug 20 (PRIU) The World Food Programme (WFP) in response to President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s request has provided 1,750 metric tones of wheat flour. Ministry of Relief, Rehabilitation & Reconciliation will distribute the wheat to drought victims in Kurunegala, Puttalam and Anuradhapura districts. more..

Aug 20 (PIS) Sri Lanka's peace process is, to use a rhetorical understatement, in a stalemate. It is a hurting stalemate of a particular kind in a situation of no war. This perhaps is an original contribution that the Colombo government and the LTTE have jointly made to the theory of hurting stalemate developed by William Zartman, more..

Aug 20 (PIB) The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has offered to assist Sri Lanka in the field of animal husbandry and dairy development. The offer was made when the Sri Lankan Minister for Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation visited NDDB, Anand last month. more..

Aug 20 (SLBC) The Joint Trade Union Federation of the Petroleum Corporation is to propose the Corporation to take back its 33 percent stakes which are currently under the treasury. Spokesman of the federation says special discussion will be held on Monday with its representatives in this regard. more..

Aug 20 (SLBC) Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse says late leftist leader Dr. N.M. Perera is example to present day politicians. He was a genuine and loyal leader who rendered a great service to the country in demolishing imperialism. more..

Aug 20 (SLBC) Ministry of Social Services the treasury has allocated an amount of 708 million rupees to provide relief to drought stricken families. The Ministry says according to the reports from the District Secretaries it has earmarked more than 558,000 families in 12 districts to provide concessions. more..

Aug 20 (DN) The Government has taken concrete measures to bring down the cost of living through a drastic reduction of essential items such as rice, potatoes, B'onions and sugar. The new measures were decided on at a meeting of the Cabinet Sub Committee to bring down the cost of living. more..

Aug 20 (TN) A large group of undergraduates Friday forcibly removed a portrait of President Chandrika Kumaratunga from the general hall of the Jaffna University and smashed it in protest against the her government's policiy on the Tamil question, staff said. more..

Aug 20 (PTI) MDMK chief Vaiko today said he would accompany a delegation of Sri Lankan members of Parliament during their proposed meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh next month to seek India's participation in the peace process in the neighbouring island nation. more..

Aug 20 (HT) The United States has asked the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to stop killing its rivals and opponents, and positively respond to the Sri Lankan government's peace initiatives. more..

Aug 20 (TN) Mr. Bawa, a senior member of the LTTE from the Amparai District, an LTTE rehabilitation affairs official and a female cadre were killed in an ambush near a Sri Lanka army camp at Kayankerni, 36 kilometres north of Batticaloa, Friday around 2.15 p.m. more..

Aug 20 (AFP) The United States urged Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka to cease political assassinations, suicide bombings and recruitment of child soldiers and resume peace talks with the government. more..

Aug 20 (CI) Eric Simons, South Africa's coach, had promised a new strategy for a new series, and the first change worked a treat. Jacques Kallis, the surprise No. 3, set the South Africans on their way with a muscular and aggressive innings. After 25 overs, they were moving smoothly at 125 for 2, exactly five an over. more..

Aug 20 (AT) Thamil Thaesiya Padai - Tamil National Force (TNF) a hitherto an unknown para -military group has claimed the killings of the three cadres from the LTTE – Vanni group this afternoon at Kayankerni in the Batticaloa district. more..

Aug 21 (CI) Tillakaratne Dilshan held his nerve with a priceless unbeaten 38 from 36 balls, and Kaushal Lokuarachchi wrapped up the match with a glorious leg-side flick for six, as Sri Lanka surged to a thrilling three-wicket victory in the opening game of this five-match one-day series in Colombo. more..

Aug 21 (LBO) The latest round of talks on the Indo-Lanka FTA ended in Colombo this week with a promise to come closer together under the textile sector umbrella. Delegations will meet in India again later this year, says the Commerce Department of Sri Lanka, to work out exactly how this is to be done. more..

Aug 21 (LBO) A tailor-made loan scheme to finance local heat-treating of geudas is ready for rollout, meeting a lack of working capital to grow the sector. Commercial banks have historically been wary about lending to the industry, deterred by the huge raw material costs and lack of available collateral to hedge against it. more..

Aug 21 (LBO) The government will revisit an annuity model to fund the Colombo Katunayake Highway project, after efforts failed to get former contractor Keagnam back on board. Open bids that were to be called in June were put on hold, halting two years of groundwork after the new government tried to explore renegotiation with Keagnam. more..

Aug 21 (IANS) Indian swimmer Bula Chowdhury Friday became the first woman to swim the seven seas after crossing the Palk Straits between India and Sri Lanka. Bula, who started from Talaimannar in Sri Lanka, covered the 35 km to the Dhanushkodi beach in Tamil Nadu's east coast in 13 hours and 52 minutes. more..

Aug 21 (IL) National Bhikku Front (NBF) on Wednesday called the Defence Ministry to stop ignoring the violent acts committed by the LTTE terrorists and take immediate action to stop these ruthless killings. more..

Aug 21 (IL) A senior Opposition MP yesterday challenged the JVP to go to Sampur, attack the LTTE cadres, and bring back the weapons-laden LTTE boats to Colombo without blabbering nonsense in Colombo. more..

Aug 21 (NW) Colombo Crime Division (CCD) raided the Torana Music Centre and arrested its owner Kumara Kotalawala and one of his operators yesterday afternoon in connection with pirating teledramas and films without the permission of its producers. more..

Aug 21 (AT) The World Alliance for Peace in Sri Lanka (WAPS) had it "Road maps to peace in Sri Lanka” one day conference yesterday at Oslo Kongressenter, Folkets hus, Oslo, Norway exposing the partisan role played by Norwegian Foreign Ministry in the peace facilitation between the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE, which they came forward and undertook to bring about a sustainable peace in Sri Lanka. more..

Aug 21 (AT) Karuna has an existential choice to make. Is he going to be like Raghavan and Panagoda Maheswaran, with a heroic past but disappearing into private life in exile, or like Vardharajahperumal, permanently ‘in waiting’? Or is he going to be like Prabhakaran who returned from self-exile in India with his men in 1986? more..

Aug 21 (TP) The Colombo Narcotics Bureau has recommended a ban on the import of “babul” betel imported from India charging that it contains a component that has the effect of a narcotic drug, newspapers have reported. An official said that several school children who were addicted to it, appeared and acted as if they had been drugged. more..

Aug 21 (TP) Police intelligence officials said they have received information of a high-powered satellite antenna fixed in Colombo by the LTTE to intercept security forces’ communications. This powerful antenna is installed and operates from the premises of a Tamil businessman, more..

Aug 21 (TP) The cost of living in Sri Lanka, which has soared in recent weeks with the increase in prices of petrol, diesel and gas, took another hit on Thursday with prices of milk foods set to rise. The Consumer Affairs Authority said it had given approval for an increase in the prices of several brands of imported milk powder. more..

Aug 21 (IRNA) Pakistan and Sri Lanka will immensely benefit if the bilateral free trade agreement is implemented at the earliest, according to a local daily report. The News reported in its Thursday issue that there was a proposal that Sri Lanka should reduce the customs duty to zero percent under the free trade agreement. more..

Aug 21 (LT) No power can topple the Alliance Government says Mr.Tilvin Silva, General Secretary of the JVP. Mr. Silva made this statement at a seminar held in Tangalle yesterday under the theme “Who are the true enemies of peace?” more..

Aug 21 (NM) Q. I would like to attend a yoga retreat in Sri Lanka for a week or two. Can you recommend any and advise the best time of year to visit?
A. One of the most popular yoga retreats in Sri Lanka is run by Ulpotha Holidays (www.ulpotha.com), near Embogama in the Kandy hill country. more..

Aug 21 (SLA) An Army Officer and a Soldier narrowly escaped death when some unidentified suspected LTTE gunmen fired and hurled a hand grenade at them early this morning (21 August 2004) while both of them were proceeding towards MANKERNI area on a motorbike. more..

Aug 21 (SLA) A Police Sergeant attached to the KALMUNAI Police station has been shot and killed at close range by an unidentified gunmen (Friday night) 20 August 2004 while he was on the way to KALMUNAI town. more..