The Island - index   Saturday 14th January, 2006         INSIDE      News      Features      Saturday Magazines      Opinion      Business      Editorial      Sports      Share Market      Marriage Proposals      Classifieds      Obituaries       CARTOON       WORLD NEWS       SERVICES     Advertising Rates     Advertising     Supplements      Subscription Rates      View Opinions      Submit Your Opinion       ARCHIVES         GROUP SITES         CONTACT     Editor - Daily Island     Webmaster     Manager Internet     Operation   TODAY'S TOP STORY   We cannot accept LTTE denials any longer Monitors The Norwegian-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) yesterday said they could no longer accept the LTTE?s denials over a wave of claymore mine attacks on government troops. It also pointed a finger at the government for failing to act against Paramilitary groups which targeted the Tigers. Ten sailors were killed in an LTTE mine attack on Thursday raising the number of government troops killed by the terrorist outfit to 76 in the last month.                                           Full story Karuna group kills eight Tigers A group of Karuna loyalists attacked and killed eight Wanni LTTE cadres on Thursday (12) police sources in Ampara said yesterday We wish all our Hindu readers a Happy Thai Pongal. January is the celebration of Thai Pongal, the most joyous and by far the most popular of the Hindu festivals of Sri Lanka. Hindu astrologers have fixed the date to coincide with January 14, the first day of the auspicious month of Thai. This family festival, with many time-hallowed rituals begins with the boiling of a pot of rice at sunrise on the front doorstep of the house and the delightful cry of the family gathered round the pot: "Pongal! Pongal! auchu!" which means exactly what one would expect" It?s boiling It?s boiling!"       NEWS Health unions discuss opposing kitchen privatisation The All Ceylon Health Service Union was scheduled to meet yesterday to oppose attempts to privatize the food supply services to patients in the government hospitals. The officials of other Trade Unions of the Health Services Department had also been invited to participate in the discussion. IGP defends his men, denies discrimination charges The Inspector General of Police yesterday defended his men against allegations of discrimination. Speaking on the allegations made by certain Tamil political parties, IGP Chandra Fernando told The Island "The Police do not discriminate against the minority, neither do we favour the majority. The police are on the lookout for suspects.Their ethnicity is not the issue". More News       FEATURES Modayas , Tigers and Solheim Sri Lanka is undoubtedly at the cross-road, skating on thin ice. Its sovereignty and territorial integrity has been systematically eroded and it has now become the plaything of Veluppillai Prabhakaran and the international community. The " Sinhalaya Modaya" slogan coming down from time immemorial had been coined by the Sinhalese themselves