The Army’s 57 division advancing towards the Mullaitivu District marking another victory captured the Vavunikkulam tank killing at least 25 Tigers and recovering a 120mm gun and two 81mm mortars yesterday morning.

Information and Media Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa said there is no truth in allegations that the Government has stopped air raids on Tiger facilities. These raids by the Sri Lanka Air Force are continuing, the Minister told the Cabinet news briefing. Identified Tiger bases are subjected to these attacks, he added. The Air Force has carried out a number of attacks yesterday.

At its worst, a little learning can indeed be a dangerous thing, but at any time it can be exceedingly annoying. As Marx once expostulated "ignorance never helped anyone yet". In recent days the Sri Lankan press has seen the most careless flinging about of analogies, with the LTTE being written of in the same paragraphs as the IRA, the ANC, Hezbollah, Hamas and Nepal's Maoists.

At its worst, a little learning can indeed be a dangerous thing, but at any time it can be exceedingly annoying. As Marx once expostulated "ignorance never helped anyone yet". In recent days the Sri Lankan press has seen the most careless flinging about of analogies, with the LTTE being written of in the same paragraphs as the IRA, the ANC, Hezbollah, Hamas and Nepal's Maoists.

Information and Media Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa said there is no truth in allegations that the Government has stopped air raids on Tiger facilities. These raids by the Sri Lanka Air Force are continuing, the Minister told the Cabinet news briefing. Identified Tiger bases are subjected to these attacks, he added. The Air Force has carried out a number of attacks yesterday.

The breakaway LTTE faction has been cautioned against causing a rift between ‘Colonel’ Karuna and Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, Chief Minister of the newly elected Eastern Provincial Council.

At its worst, a little learning can indeed be a dangerous thing, but at any time it can be exceedingly annoying. As Marx once expostulated "ignorance never helped anyone yet". In recent days the Sri Lankan press has seen the most careless flinging about of analogies, with the LTTE being written of in the same paragraphs as the IRA, the ANC, Hezbollah, Hamas and Nepal's Maoists.

An LTTE training centre in the Oddusuddan area came under Sri Lanka Air Force fighter jet attack this morning, the Ministry of Defence announced.The target was located approximately 20 km southwest of Mulaithiuvu and 4 km north of the Muthuaiyankaddu Tank.

The use of polythene of less than 20 microns thickness for decorations or banners has been banned at the upcoming North Central and Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council elections, the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) said yesterday.

JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe said media freedom is a focal point when measuring the level of democracy in a country when he met leaders of the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA) yesterday morning at JVP Headquarters. Mr. Amarasinghe also noted that violence against media is a major blow against democracy and therefore his Party will continue involving in activities against media suppression.

The JVP said in Parliament yesterday that Finance Ministry Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundara should resign immediately, since he had been found guilty of irregularities in the privatisation of Lanka Marine Services Ltd. JVP Colombo District MP Lakshman Nipunaarachchi made this observation when speaking during the debate on the Rs. 3 billion supplementary estimate of the Foreign Ministry.

Speaker W. J. M. Lokubandara yesterday told Parliament that the Government has mustered the majority when the meeting commenced to elect the new Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). When the PAC met to elect the PAC Chairman, 15 Government MPs and 10 Opposition MPs who are members of the Committee had attended the meeting.

Agriculture Development and Agrarian Services Minister Maithreepala Sirisena said yesterday that the political bankruptcy of the UNP was obvious through the suggestion to accept the unilateral ceasefire of the LTTE.

The Minister said the UNP was not encouraging the Government to combat terrorism continuously when the three Armed Forces were victorious in the North.

The Colombo Stock Exchange continued to regain lost ground on low turnover yesterday for the second consecutive day with the All Share Price Index up 27.30 points (1.16%) and the Milanka up 46.83 points (1.67%) on a turnover of Rs.113.3 million, down from the previous day’s Rs.119.5 million.

CSC Kandia (Pvt) Ltd, (pending BOI approval), which is a joint venture company between Ceylon Shipping Corporation Ltd. (CSC) and Ariston Oil and Shipping (Pvt) Ltd was awarded Licence by the Ministry of Petroleum and Petroleum Resources Development to carry out bunkering operations in Sri Lanka.

Grim realities expected to dislocate the tea sector have been effectively countered. Our report yesterday said the Colombo Tea Traders’ Association (CTTA), Colombo Brokers’ Association, (CBA) the Tea Exporters Association (TEA) were meeting last morning to decide options to maintain efficiency. They did.

A total of 36.9 million kilograms of rubber was produced during the first quarter of the yaer, a 14.4% increase over the corresponding period in 2007, it is reported.While the demand for natural rubber has increased following the fuel price hike in the world market, proper maintenance of rubber trees with rain protectors,

Sri Lanka’s sprint queen Susanthika Jayasinghe has been elected to lead the country’s Olympic Squad to the Beijing Games next month. This announcement was made by the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka recently. The team will leave for Beijing on August 5 and the Games is scheduled to begin on August 8.

Premila Priyadarshani who won the 100 metres gold medal at the South Asian Athletic Championships in March has tested positive for a banned drug, Athletics Association sources revealed yesterday. Priyadarshani had tested positive for the drug Terbutaline at the recent National Athletics championships in Colombo where she was subjected to a....

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene won the toss and elected to bat in their first cricket Test against India at the Sinhalese Sports Club grounds here Wednesday. The first two sessions of the Test match were washed out due to rain and wet ground conditions. Spinner Ajantha Mendis is making his debut as Sri Lanka opted to play just two seamers.

Ministry of Ports and Aviation of Sri Lanka will host the first ever South Asia Port Games (SAPOG) to be held from September 13 to 18 in Sri Lanka. These Games are organised under the chairmanship of Minister Dilan Perera to co-inside with the SAARC conference that will be held in Sri Lanka next week. Dilan Perera said that the conduct of these Games will cost Rs. 100 million and the finances will be raised by means of sponsors.

 The Cabinet has granted approval to a memorandum submitted by the Minister of Power and Energy W.D.J. Seneviratne, for the construction of an India-Sri Lanka electricity transmission interconnection for bilateral power exchange between the two countries, Information and Media Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa told the Cabinet news briefing yesterday.

SAARC security arrangements will be in effect from today with Police deploying 12,000 personnel in addition to a strong presence of Army, Navy and Air Force personnel.

Addressing the media yesterday at the Media Centre for National Security, Senior DIG Nimal Mediwake said all security and traffic arrangements had been made for the 15th SAARC summit in Colombo. There will be alternative routes and shuttle bus services from July 30 to August 4.

Speaker W. J. M. Lokubandara yesterday told Parliament that the Government has mustered the majority when the meeting commenced to elect the new Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

When the PAC met to elect the PAC Chairman, 15 Government MPs and 10 Opposition MPs who are members of the Committee had attended the meeting.