Amiga Plus 1995 #2

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Archive-name: sri-lanka-faq Soc-culture-sri-lanka-archive-name: sri-lanka-faq Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list on Sri Lanka Last update: Feb 17, 1995 { The file server at <dharma@src.umd.edu> has be temporarily disabled. I am manually sending out files. So, please take it easy on the requests for files. --prasad } This list should not be construed as an endorsement of any of the products or services mentioned herein. I will take no responisibily for hardships caused due to incorrect or inaccurate, or even accurate information presented. Those who wish to use the information are strongly encouraged to use common sense and consumer doubts if and when applicable. I have tried not to list any illegal or illicit activities. If the services or persons mentioned here are engaged in such activities, it is by their own discretion. I neither endorese nor condone such activities. If you think that the scope of this FAQ should be expanded by adding more questions and/or answers, please do contribute. Your contributions will make this document more useful. You may freely distribute this FAQ list as long as: (a) This notice is attached to the full or partial FAQ list (b) You do not make money (or other equivalent compensation) by doing so (other than nominal distribution charges -- if you include this FAQ in a CD-ROM, I would appreciate if you send me a copy of the CD-ROM) I would like to thank everyone who helped me in the compilation process. Compilation (c) Copyright Prasad Dharmasena <pkd@frb.gov> ======================================================================= ======================================================================= Administrative: <0 - 9> <0> What the heck is a FAQ? + <1> How do I get the latest copy of this FAQ? <2> How do I make changes to the information in the FAQ? General Information on Sri Lanka: <10 - 19> + <10> Where is Sri Lanka? What are the general information? <11> How do I get tourist information on Sri Lanka? + <12> So what's so great about Sri Lanka? <13> Tourist Hotel information? <14> What does Sri Lanka mean? + <15> What is the Civil War in Sri Lanka? Passports/Visas/Immigration/etc: <20 - 29> <20> Where is the Embassy of Sri Lanka in <country>? <21> Where is the Embassy of <country> in Sri Lanka? <22> How do I get my SL passport renewed? <23> What are the US Immigration announcement phone numbers? <24> Does Sri Lanka allow dual citizenship? Electronic/Computer/Network related: <30 - 39> <30> What are the electronic forums on Sri Lanka? <31> Does Sri Lanka have e-mail? <32> Are there Sri Lanka related FTP/Web/Gopher sites? + <33> Are there any Sinhala fonts? <34> Are there any Tamil fonts? + <35> Are there Sinhala/Tamil word/text processors? News: <40 - 49> <40> What are the SL publications in <country>? + <41> Can we get SL newspapers in <country>? + <42> Are there any SL radio programs in North America? <43> What are the SLBC shortwave frequencies? <44> What are the BBC frequencies for North America? <45> What are the All India Radio frequencies? Services and general information <50 - 69> + <50> Are there any Sri Lanka related organizations? <51> Who's the best airline ticket agent? + <52> From where do I get Sri Lankan spices? + <53> Are there any Sri Lankan restaurants outside of SL? <54> How do I get my wedding tape converted from PAL to NTSC? <55> How do I send flowers to SL? <56> How do I send money to and from SL? <57> How do I send misc big items to and from SL? <58> What about parcels to SL? Misc. <70> Are there any quality books on Sri Lanka? <71> Where's the info about SL stock market? <72> Is there a "Study Abord" program for Sri Lanka? ======================================================================= ======================================================================= Subject: <0> What the heck is a FAQ? FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions. This FAQ list tries to answer some of the commonly questions about matters pertaining to Sri Lanka. Some newsreaders will allow you to go to the next subject with a ^G. Else, do a search on the string "<xy>" to go to the question numbered xy. -- ======================================================================= Subject: <1> How do I get the latest copy of this FAQ? I will try to post an updated copy of this on soc.culture.sri-lanka newsgroup on or around every 13th of the month. You may FTP a copy of this FAQ from the usual FAQ archive. ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/news/answers/sri-lanka-faq ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/soc.culture.sri-lanka/sri-lanka-faq An up-to-date copy of this FAQ file can also be obtained by sending an e-mail to <dharma@src.umd.edu> with the subject line containing the words "send sri-lanka-faq" (no quotes). (If you are in Thailand, you may send the same e-mail request to <slna-request@cs.ait.ac.th>) I will try (try being the keyword here) to update the list once a month. So, if your copy of the FAQ has a date which is within the last 30 days, chances are that you *are* reading the latest version. -- This FAQ is also available on following WWW pages. http://suif.stanford.edu/~saman/lanka/sri_lanka.html http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/sri-lanka-faq/faq.html -- ======================================================================= Subject: <2> How do I make changes to the information in the FAQ? If you find any errors, omissions, or otherwise incorrect information, please point them out to me. Your feedback is very important and will be greatly appreciated. -- ======================================================================= ======================================================================= Subject: <10> Where is Sri Lanka? What are the general information? [More information can be found on CIA world fact book - available on many FTP/gopher/Web sites. Also search via veronica.] Sri Lanka is an island in the Indian Ocean southeast of the Indian sub-continent. Sri Lanka belongs to the South Asia sub category. Location: Latitude 5'55" - 9'51" Longitude 79'42" - 81'52" 29 km southeast of India Length: 432Km (270 ml) Width: 224Km (140 ml) Area: 65,610 Sq.Km. (31,365 sq.ml.) Landarea: 65,610 Sq.Km. Full Name: Democratic Socialist Repubic of Sri Lanka. Short: Sri Lanka Former: Ceylon, Taprobane, Serendib (see below) Capital: Sri Jayawardenapura Commercial Center: Colombo International Airport: Colombo (Katunayake) Intl Seaport: Colombo Literacy Rate: 87%+ Total Population: 18 million Labor force: 6.6 million Population growth rate: 1.2% Life expectancy: 68 (male), 73 (Female) Infant Mortality: 22.8 deaths / 1000 live births Climate: Tropical Monsoon Seasons: northeast monsoon (December to March) southwest monsoon (June to October) Average temps Max C(F) Min C(F) Elevation m(ft) Colombo 30.4(87.7) 24.0(75.2) 0(0) Kandy 28.7(83.7) 20.2(68.4) 305(1000) Nuwara Eliya 20.2(68.4) 11.4(52.5) 1890(6200) Languages: Sinhala (74%), Tamil (25%?), English (20%) Ethnic div: Sinhalese (74%), Tamil (18%), Moor 7%, Burgher, Malay, ... Religions: Buddhists (69%), Hindu (15%), Christian (8%), Muslim (8%) Currency : Sri Lanakan Rupee (US$1 ~= Rs. 50), Rs.1 = 100 cents Banknotes: 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1000 Rupees Coins : 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50 Cents 1, 2, 5 Rupees Government: Executive: Elected President (Mrs. Chandrika Kumaratunga) Prime Minister (Mrs. Sirima Bandaranayake, CK's mother) Cabinet - appointed by Prez from the Parliament Legislative: Elected Parliament Judicial: Supreme Court GDP (1992): $7.75 billion (est) per capita: $440 (est) inflation: 10% unemployment: 15% Telephone Country code for Sri Lanka: 94 (From US, Europe, Australia?) Time Difference: GMT+ 0530 hrs -- ======================================================================= Subject: <11> How do I get tourist information on Sri Lanka? Book: Lonely Planet Travel Survival Kit, Sri Lanka Language: English 5th Edition, 1993 ISBN: 0-86442-169-9 -- Book: Insight Guides - Sri Lanka Language: English APA Publications -- Book: Sri Lanka Reise Know-How Language: German Author: Rainer Krack 1st Edition, 11/93 ISBN: 3-89416-170-1 -- ** Sri Lanka Ceylon Tourist Board Travel Information Center 78 Steuart Place c/o Ceylon Tourist Board Colombo 3 72 Victoria Drive Sri Lanka Kandy, Sri Lanka Tel: +94(1)437059, 437060 Tel: +94(8)22661 437952, 437954/5 Dept of Wildlife Conservation Cultural Triangle Office 82 Rajamalwatte Road 212/1 Bauddhaloka Mawatha Battaramulla, Sri Lanka Colombo 7, Sri Lanka Tel: +94(1)867086 Tel: +94(1)587912, 500733 [Note: 94 is the country code for Sri Lanka] -- ** Australia Ceylon Tourist Board W.Au office F. P Leonard Advertising Pte Ltd. 439 Albany Highway 241 Abercrombie Street Victoria Park Chippendale West Australia 6100 NSW Australia 2008 Tel:(09)362-4579 Tel: (02)698-5266 -- ** Germany ** Denmark Sri Lanka Tourist Board - Eu. Office Ceylon Touristrad Allerheiligentor 2-4 Sollerodgardavej 38 60311 Frankfurt Main D K 2840 Holte Kaiserstrasse 13 Germany Tel: +49-69-287734, 288371 -- ** Japan ** Thailand Tourist Board Representative Ceylon (Sri Lanka) Tourist Board AMO 1/18 Soi 10 2/1 Atago 1-chome Sukhumvit Road Minato-ku, Tokyo Bangkok, Thailand Nippon Tel:433-6377, 433-6378 -- ** USA ** UK Ceylon (Sri Lanka) Tourist Board Ceylon (Sri Lanka) Tourist Board 609 Fifth Avenue, Suite 308 52 High Holborn New York, NY 10017, USA London WC1V 6RI Tel:(212)935-0369 Tel: 01-405-1194 -- Contact the nearest Sri Lankan embassy/high commission/consulate/ and/or Air Lanka office. (Addrs/phone are elsewhere in this FAQ) -- ======================================================================= Subject: <12> So what's so great about Sri Lanka? Famous sci-fi writer Arthur C. Clarke, who resides in the island, once wrote "It may well be that each of Sri Lanka's attractions is surpassed somewhere on Earth; Cambodia may have more impressive ruins, Tahiti lovelier beaches, Bali more beautiful landscapes (though I doubt it), Thailand more charming people (ditto). But I find it hard to believe that there is any country which scores so highly in all departments - which has so many advantages and so few disadvantages, especially for the western visitor." For a country of that size (about the size of West Virginia or Ireland) things one can do are amazing: surfing, wind surfing, scuba diving, rock/mountain climbing, searching for ancient ruins, wildlife, corral reefs, gemstones, spices, rituals, ... read: trip reports archived on ftp://amil.eng.buffalo.edu/pub/slnet/. ftp://ftp.cc.umanitoba.ca/rec-travel/. -- National Parks in Sri Lanka: 10 % of Sri Lanka's land is protected as national parks. The most important parks are: Bundala Bird Sanctuary (between Hambantota and Kataragama) Gal Oya National Park (north of Yala) Horton Plains Nature Reserve (in the southwestern mountains) Lahugala National Park (west of Pottuvil) Uda Walawe National Park (near Hambantota) Udawattakele Wildlife Sanctuary (northeast of Kandy) Peak Wilderness Man and Biosphere Reserve (at Adams Peak) Singharaja Rain Forest Reserve (between Ratnapura and Matara) Wilpattu National Park (northeast area of Sri Lanka) Wirawila Bird Sanctuary (near Tissamaharama) Yaka National Park (near Tissamaharama) Kumana Bird Sanctuary (part of Yala) -- Colombo: All the modern inconveniences such as fax machines, cellular phones. Arguably, the largest city in the country and home to the richest and the poorest. Most people speak a strange dialect of English. Not being from the area, my advise is this: "Leave Immediately." ;-) Kandy: Still has good spots. But try to go see the country side. Colombo-Kandy trip via the train is highly recommended. So is Peradeniya Botanical gardens. Peradeniya campus, one of the best looking campuses in the world, is nearby. Try not to get ragged. See Colombo. Kandy Parade: "Perahera" starts on Full Moon day of July and lasts for 11 days. Elephants , traditonal dancers, drummers, "Gini Keli" (fireworks- no, not the July 4th stuff), etc. Mt. Piduruthalagala: Because it's there. Highest mountain top. 8100+ft. May need hiking pass from Colombo Tourist Info. (High Secutiry area because radio/tv antennas at the top) World's End: Near Horton Plains. "Yo dude, sky diving off of this cliff's gonna be super cool, man." "A most excellent idea, dude." Yala/Kumana: National Park/Bird Sanctuary. Can stay overnight. No Camping. Guided tours on vehicles. Chances of seeing wild elephants, leopards are good. (reservations: wildlife dept.) Wilpatthu: Larger than Yala and has more leopards. However, maybe a security risk due to the fightings between LTTE and govt forces. Katharagama: Religious place Buddhist/Hindu. Crack a coconut on god's stone. See fire walks, needles through the cheeks (face!). Anuradhaputa, Polonnaruwa, etc: Religious/Cultural/Historical. See the ruins. Excavate your own. Ancient artwork in temples. Beaches: The beach is always less than 70 miles away. No crowds, even on long weekends. Plenty of free parking. Adam's Peak: Religious/Adventurous. Said to have a 6 feet long foot print of Adam/Buddha/Allah/David Koresh. At sun rise, you can see the sun jumping up and down taking a bow or is it a bath? Top is 7500+ feet. ?? Zoo: Dehiwala (suburb of Colombo) Zoo is one of the best in the world. Pinnawala: Elephant orphanage. How to catch a wild elephant in .... Dambulla: `gala uding "coming water" thamba ha^liyata ta~ng ta~ng.' Ancient artwork on the walls of seven caves. Buddhist temple. Sigiriya: See the ancient erotica. Gaffiti? We invented it. ("King Kashyapa slept here" "with ....?") -- ======================================================================= Subject: <13> Tourist Hotel information? Here are some five star hotel addresses and phone numbers. There are many low cost accomodations available. Please consult travel guides. Colombo: (Telephone area code is 1 (01 if dialed within SL) ------- Holiday Inn - 30 Sir Mohamed M. Marker Mawatha, Colombo 3 Tel: 422001, Fax: 447977 Hotel Ceylon Intercontinental - 48 Janadhipathi mawatha, Colombo 1 Tel: 421221, Fax: 447326 Oberoi- 77 Steuart place, Colomb 3 Ramada - 115 Sir Chitampalam Gardiner mawatha, Colombo 2 Taj Samudra - 25 Galle face Center Rd. Colombo 3 Tel: 446622, Fax: 546348 Galle Face Hotel - 2 Kollupitiya Rd. Colomb 3 Taprobane - York st. Colombo 1 Colombo Marriott - 64 Echelon sq. Colombo 1 Colombo Renaissance - 115 Sir Chittampalam A., Gardiner Mw. Col.2 Tel. 544200, Fax. 449184 Le Galadari Meridien - 64 Lotus Road, Col.1 Tel. 544544, Fax. 449875 Colombo Hilton - Lotus Road, Echolon Square, Col.1 Tel. 544644, Fax. 544657 Kandy: (area code is 8, or 08 if dialed in SL) ----- Queens Hotel - Dalada veediya, kandy (08) 22121 Casamara - 12 kotugodella veediya, kandy (08) 24051 -- Check ftp://amil.eng.buffalo.edu/pub/slnet/info/sl-hotels See <32> for more info about this FTP site. -- ======================================================================= <14> What does Sri Lanka mean? Sri Lanka was known as Ceylon, Serendib, Taprobane, etc.... [ Following section was compiled by Lareef Zubair ] Etymologies of Lanka, Serendib, Taprobane and Ceylon. There is only one credible theory for the origin of the name `Ceylon'. One starts with the Pali for the `Place of Jewels', which is Sihalam goes thro Senendiva (diva for island) and Silandiva, becomes Serendib in Arabic (which incidentally does not mean anything in colloquial New England Arabic) and is contracted to Cilao by the Portuguese and to Zeilan or Ceilan by the Dutch and to Ceylon by the British. Admittedly, the reasoning and linkages are thin. Horace Walpole wrote the fairy tale named the `three princes of serendib' in which the heroes have the faculty of making happy and unexpected discoveries by accident. Then a cabal of slnetters used serendipity for the name of their journal but their reports on the serendipitious discovery of the Vallipuram Buddha statue has been anything but happy. Then there is the Taprobane used by Milton in Paradise Lost, borrowed from the accounts of Alexander the Great's officers who heard reports of the island when in West Asia and from Greek and Ceylonese travellers. Taprobane is supposed to have originated from the `copper colored' (Tamba Vanna in Sanskrit) soil of the place at which Vijaya's retinue landed. They called their capital Tambapanni. The name (Sri) Lanka was first recorded in the Ramayana and means `resplendent land' in sanskrit. There are other names, including the Tamil Ilanare etc, the Arabic `Tenerisim' (the isle of delight), the Chinese `Pa-outchow' (the isle of gems), and the `salike' of Ptolemy. Some theologians (Christian and Muslim) thought that Noahs ark came to rest on Serendib. Also when Adam and Eve were thrown out off the garden of Eden for fornication, it was thought appropriate to banish them to this island. Then there is the Sinbad character in the Arabian nights supposed to be based on early Arab travellers and there is a description in the Sixth Voyage of Sinbad (`the diamonds are in its rivers and the pearls are in its valleys and Adams peak contains rubies and spice trees' - This must explain the hordes who go there). In 1250 AD, Marco Polo found both men and women of Zeilan nude except for a cloth around the middle part of their bodies and wrote that they ate wine from trees - (must be ra, no?). Sources 1) Zeylanicus, `Ceylon, between Orient and Occident' 2) J.R. Sinnatamby, `Ceylon in Ptolemy's Geography', Colombo 1968 3) H.A.J. Hulugalle, `Ceylon of the Early Travellers', Colombo 1965 4) A.J. Tresidder, `Ceylon; an introduction to the resplendent land' Van Nostrand, 1960 -- ======================================================================= Subject: <15> What is the Civil War in Sri Lanka? There is a long standing ethnic crisis in the country among Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims. A Tamil militant group, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), is fighting with the government forces in the north and east parts of the island. It is beyond the scope of this FAQ to give details about the ethnic crisis or how ethnic tensions have escallated into a civil war. It is suggested that information be obtained from multiple sources. [Please suggest good reading material] [Serendipity -- send an e-mail to <dharma@src.umd.edu> with "send serendipity-index" in the subject line] -- ======================================================================= ======================================================================= Subject: <20> Where is the Embassy of Sri Lanka in <country>? If you are visiting Sri Lanka, you may want to find out about the visa requirements from the closest embassy. If you are going to spend an extended period in the island, you will need a visa. [Penalties for carrying of illegal narcotics into the country are severe] ** Australia High Commission of Sri Lanka Consulate of Sri Lanka 35 Empire Circuit 191 Clarence St., 7th Fl. Forrest, Canberra ACT 2603 Sydney, NSW 2000 Tel: (06)239-7041/2 Tel: (2)262-5944 Fax: ? Fax: (2)290-2335 -- ** Canada ** Germany Walter E. Fernando Embassy of Sri Lanka High Commission of Sri Lanka Rolandstrasse 52 [ has moved ] 53179 Bonn Ottawa, Ontario Tel: (0228)332055 Tel: (613)223-8449 Fax: (613)238-8448 -- ** India High Commission Consulate Consulate 27 Kautilya Marg 9D Nawab Habibullah Ave Sri Lanka House Chanakyapuri Anderson Road 34 Homi Mody Street New Delhi 110021 Madras 600006 Bombay 400023 Tel: 3010201 Tel: 470831 Tel: 2045861 -- ** Singapore ** Thailand Sri Lanka High Commission Embassy of Sri Lanka 51 Goldhill Plaza 89 Sukumvit Soi 15 1307-1312 Newton Road Bangkok 10110 Singapore 1130 Thailand Tel: 2544595 Tel: +66(2)251-2788,9 -- ** UK Sri Lanka High Commission 13 Hyde Park Gardens London W2 2LU Tel: 071-262 1841 -- ** USA Embassy of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Mission to the UN 2148 Wyoming Avenue, NW 630 Third Avenue, 20th Floor Washington, DC 20008 New York, NY 10017 (202)483-4025 (212)986-7040 (202)483-4028 (212)986-1838 (Fax) (202)232-7181 (Fax) Passport Office: Ext. 120 -- -- ** Sri Lanka Ministry of Foreign Affairs Republic Building Colombo 1 Sri Lanka Tel: (1)325371 Fax: (1)446091 -- ======================================================================= Subject: <21> Where is the Embassy of <country> in Sri Lanka? Australian High Commission Canadian High Commission 3 Cambridge Place 6 Gregory's Road Colombo 7 Colombo 7 Tel: (1)698767 thru 69 Tel: (1)694851 thru 53 Fax: (1)686453, 698332 Fax: (1)687049 -- French Embassy German Embassy 89 Rosmead Place 40 Alfred House Avenue Colombo 7 Colombo 3 Tel: (1)698815, 699750,1 Tel: (1)580431 thru 34 Fax: (1)580440 -- Indian High Commission Japanese Embassy 36-38 Galle Road 20 Gregory's Road Colombo 3 Colombo 7 Tel: 421605, 422788,9 Tel:(1)693831 thru 33, 698628 Fax: 446403 692154, 693015 Fax: 698629 -- Norwegian Embassy Netherland, Embassy of 34 Ward Place 25 Torrington Avenue Colombo 7 Colombo 7 Tel: (1)698936, 692263, Tel: (1)589626 thru 28 699457, 687534 Fax: (1)502855 Fax: (1)695009 -- Switzerland Embassy Swedish Embassy 68 Gregory's Road 315 Vauxhall Street Colombo 7 Colombo 2 Tel: (1)695117, 695127 Tel: (1)328822, 329261 695148, 695176 -- UK High Commission 190 Galle Road Colombo 3 Tel: (1)437336 thru 43 Fax: (1)437344 USA Amb: Mrs. Teresita C. Schaffer Sri Lanka Desk Embassy of the United States Department of State 210 Galle Road 21st and C streets Colombo 3 Washignton, DC 20551 Sri Lanka USA Tel:(01)448007, 421271 Tel: (202)647-1450 Fax:(01)437345 -- ======================================================================= Subject: <22> How do I get my SL passport renewed? There are two types of renewals. (1) If your passport is less than 10 years old, you can simply renew the existing one. (2) If the passport is more than 10 years old (ie. it has been renewed once before) OR it has run out of pages (stop traveling so much) then you have to obtain a new passport. Naturally, there are two types of forms that you have to fill out. (I guess one form with two boxes to tick off makes too much sense.) So when you call the embassy, (phone numbers are under <20>) be specific. You may also need to give them the National ID number and the current passport number before they can send you the form. Why? Why ask why? There is a $130 surcharge for getting a new passport through the SL embassy in Washington DC as they have to send the paperwork to Sri Lanka. As far as I know, the five-year renewal doesn't cost this outrageous $130. If you get your passport renewed in Sri Lanka, there is no $130 surchage. Your mileage may vary for SL embassies in other countries. For emergencies, the embassy can issue an one-time temporary passport which is good only to enter Sri Lanka. You will have to obtain a regular passport while in SL. Moreover, you may have problems of getting visas (ie: transit visa -- to have the privilage of sitting on a lousy chair at Charles de Gaulle airport.) with this temporary passport. To get a new passport for a lost/stolen passport, you are required to send a police report, national ID and/or original birth certificate and/or citizenship certificate, documents to prove the legality of your stay in the country (valid visa)... etc. For more info, call the embassy. See <20> -- It is possible to renew your passport directly from SL while you are out of SL. Cost Rs. 1000.00 (takes one week) or Rs. 2000.00 (same day service). 1. a letter stating why you need it so fast. 2. Affidavit stating that the bearer will handle all the passport related matters on your behalf. (state his national ID number) 3. If you need to express mail (courier), need permission from Emmigration and Immigration dept. 4. Will need National ID, birth certificate, etc, as per application requirements. 5. May need certified proof of your identity. (AttornyAtLaw, JP) -- [ Okay, can someone send his/her old passport to Sri Lanka and get a new one? Can you send it to the passport office? Is it cheaper to send it to a relative and ask him/her to take it and get it renewed? Or does the passport owner absolutely *has* to be in Sri Lanka before they can renew the passport? ] -- I hear that all the Kachcheri's can do passport work now. Please confirm. -- ======================================================================= Subject: <23> What are the US Immigration announcement phone numbers? These are the numbers for Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) of the United States, Washington, DC office. Toll calls. Visa Cutoff Date Announcement (202) 663-1541 Visa Information (202) 663-1225 Immigration Lottery Info (202) 663-1600 (DV-1 has been anounced) Online Visa Information (202) 647-9225 (Modem/Data) Bureau of Consular Affairs (202) 647-3000 (Touch Tone FAX only) Also check with your local INS office. -- alt.visa.us FAQ "us-visa-faq" is available (along with many other FAQs) from ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/us-visa-faq If you do not have access to FTP, send an e-mail to <mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu> with "send usenet/news.answers/us-visa-faq" (without quotes) in the body. -- ======================================================================= Subject: <24> Does Sri Lanka allow dual citizenship? [Thanks: Vicumpriya Perera <vperera@silver.ucs.indiana.edu> for sending me a copy of the "Citizenship Act of Sri Lanka"] Yes, Sri Lanka allows dual citizenship. A "Dual Citizen" is a legal citizen of two countries. Other countries that allow dual citizenship are: US, UK, Canada, ...? -- If your child was born outside of Sri Lanka and you want it to have the Sri Lankan citizenship, the law requires that the child's *father* (not mother) be a citizen of Sri Lanka at the time of the it's birth. The father has to register the child at an embassy/high commission/consular office/etc. within one year of the date of the birth. Such a child will become a "citizen of Sri Lanka by decent" and, therefore, may not be restricted under articles 21 and 24. These children may also have (automatically) the citizenship of the country of their birth. -- Current understanding: A Sri Lankan citizen who eventually becomes a citizen of aother country has to make an application to the Minister [of what, the "Citizenship act" doesn't spell out.] to resume the Sri Lankan citizenship. Moreover, the Ministry will charge Rs. 100,000.00 for such an application. [Rs. 125,000.00 per married couple] Now, if you are not particularly inclined to pay them Rs 100,000 and think that it is ridiculous to have to pay them to "resume" the citizenship which you never gave up in the first place, you are encouraged to go through legal means to get what *I consider* rightfully yours. Here is why I consider that: Article 19 of the "Citizenship Act" says: "If a citizen of Sri Lanka of full age and of sound mind makes a declaration of renunciation of citizenship of Sri Lanka in the prescribed manner, the Minister shall cause the declaration to be registered; and, upon registration thereof, the declarant shall cease to be a citizen of Sri Lanka." [I replaced Ceylon with Sri Lanka] Some countries such as the United States does *not* require you to renounce your current citizenship in the *prescribed manner according to the laws of the country of your current citizenship* at the time of obtaining the citizenship of that country. In other words, if you have not notified the Minister [of no particular portfolio :-)], he or she has *not* declared you as having ceased to be a citizen of Sri Lanka. As such, you are still a *lawful* citizen of Sri Lanka. Hence, there is no need for an application to the Minister for the "resumption" of your Sri Lankan citizenship. However, if you are not a "citizen of Sri Lanka by decent" but by "registration" the above argument doesn't hold as according to Articles 21 and 24, if you voluntarily become a citizen of another country, you lose the citizenship of Sri Lanka. Yes, I have looked at the amendments made to the article 19 and others. However, all the amendments are there to allow you to retain the citizenship of another country while "resuming" or registering as a citizen of SL. Rich Wales has looked at the issue of dual citizenship from the United State's perspective. Latest update of his article can be obtained by sending an e-mail to <richw@mks.com> with the subject line containing the two words "send dualcit." Remember, this article is only useful for those who are already citizens or permanent residents of the US. (It's *not* an article on how to get the green card) -- ======================================================================= ======================================================================= Subject: <30> What are the electronic forums on Sri Lanka? SLNet: A moderated electronic mailing list which carries news and info. This is not a discussion group. To get a copy of the application form, please send an e-mail to <dharma@src.umd.edu> with "send slnet-form" (no quotes) in the subject line. Copy of the application can be obtained by finger slnetad@ganu.colorado.edu OR http://cs.indiana.edu/finger/ganu.colorado.edu/slnetad SLnet distribution: <slnet@sparcy.stanford.edu> Add/delete/etc : <slnetad@ganu.colorado.edu> -- Serendipity: An electronic magazine published on a bi-monthly basis by the Sri Lanka Academic Interest Group. Its primary audience is the expatriate Sri Lankans. It is aimed at increasing the awareness of Sri Lanka and the artistic and scholarly activities of the Sri Lankan community spread all over the world. Electronic copies of Serendipity are available free of charge in ASCII (plain text) or TeX formats. To obtain past issues, please send an e-mail to <dharma@src.umd.edu> with "help" in the subject line. An auto-mailer will reply with a directory listing. Serendipity issues: <dharma@src.umd.edu> -- Sawnet: South Asian Women's NET is a forum for south asian women, and those interested in issues relevant to south asian women. Membership is limited to women only (not necessarily South Asian). To subscribe to Sawnet, send a message to <kher@cadse.enet.dec.com> with the subject "Sawnet subscription request." -- LaRC: Lanka Ribald Classics is an electronic magazine aimed at archiving unwritten humor from Sri Lanka. Rated R. To become a member of the mailing list, send an e-mail to <wpd@eng.umd.edu> Send contributions to the same address. -- GASSHO: A bimonthly electronic journal seeking to promote communications and community amongst Buddhist scholars, laypractitioners, monks and nuns. GASSHO is a non-sectarian publication and does not represent any particular school of Buddhism. <dharma@netcom.com> or <GASSHO@f33.n125.z1.FIDONET.ORG> Review Editor, GASSHO [ This list and the following list are not P.O. Box 4951 directly related to Sri Lanka, but Buddhism Berkeley, CA 94704-4951 is a major religion in the country ] -- BUDDHA-L: Buddhist Academic Discussion Forum. To subscribe send an e-mail to <LISTSERV@ULKYVM.BITNET> with "subscribe buddha-l your-name" in the message body. Text archives maybe found via FTP/Gopher on coombs.anu.edu.au or its mirror sites under /coombspapers/otherarchives -- CricInfo: This is a gopher. [Cricket is the second religion for all.] Path is: <Other Gophers/North America/USA/Oregon/CricInfo Gopher> -- soc.culture.sri-lanka: A newsgroup on Usenet. Other relevant news groups include soc.culture.tamil, soc.culture.indian, soc.culture.asian.american, rec.sport.cricket, rec.sport.cricket.scores, misc.news.southasia, alt. visa.us, alt.buddha.short.fat.guy, alt.flame, alt.I.am.holier.than.thou. -- BBS': Your local BBS' might carry full Usenet and Internet mail, in which case you can subscribe to any news group or a mailing list on the Internet. Online services that do provide, at least, an e-mail link to Internet include: Netcom, UUnet, PSInet, CompuServe, America Online, Genie, Prodigy, Delphi, FidoNet, etc. Prices vary depending on the services/times that you access the service. (more info: see books/publications on <32> All of them tell you how to "get online.") -- WWW/Gopher/Veronica: see below -- ======================================================================= Subject: <31> Does Sri Lanka have e-mail? Lanka Academic Network (LAcNet), a not for profit organization created by overseas Sri Lankans, provides an electronic mail service to the following institutions in Sri Lanka. Saman Amarasinghe <saman@wildhog.stanford.edu> operates the US end of the link. This connects to the SL hub (LEARN mail) at the University of Moratuwa. This connection is NOT an internet link. One cannot telnet or FTP to Sri Lanka, yet. Plans are underway to implement a real-time internet connection. More information about it will be made available via SLnet. U. Moratuwa cse.mrt.ac.lk Dept. of Computer Science and Eng. ent.mrt.ac.lk Dept. of Electronics and Telecom Eng. elect.mrt.ac.lk Dept. of Electrical Eng. civil.mrt.ac.lk Dept. of Civil Eng. mech.mrt.ac.lk Dept. of Mechanical Eng. becon.mrt.ac.lk Dept. of Building Economics. U. Colombo pharm.cmb.ac.lk Pharmacology Dept. parasit.cmb.ac.lk Parasitology Dept. dscs.cmb.ac.lk Stat. & Comp. Sci. Dept. ict.cmb.ac.lk Inst. of Computer Technology dfs.cmb.ac.lk Dean - Science Faculty ou.ac.lk Open U. of Sri Lanka (there are a number of sub-domains under ou.ac.lk . Please contact postmaster@ou.ac.lk for information.) U. Peradeniya eng.pdn.ac.lk Engineering Fac. pgia.pdn.ac.lk Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture sci.pdn.ac.lk Science Fac. arts.pdn.ac.lk Arts Fac. ugc.ac.lk University Grants Commission kln.ac.lk U. Kelaniya sjp.ac.lk U. Sri Jayawardenapura sci.ruh.ac.lk University of Ruhuna, Science Faculty ifs.ac.lk Inst. of Fundamental Studies kdy.ices.ac.lk International Centre for Ethnic Studies - Kandy ef.org.ac.lk Environmental Foundation cisir.ac.lk Ceylon Inst. of Scientific and Industrial Research shalimar.ac.lk Rohan de Livera (private) limm.ac.lk Lahmeyer Int. (company) its.ac.lk Inst. of Technological Studies cintec.ac.lk Computer & Info. Tech. Council care.ac.lk CARE International - Sri Lanka naresa.ac.lk Natural Resources, Energy and Science Authority slida.ac.lk Sri Lanka Institute of Development Admin. narepp.ac.lk NAREPP\IRG deptag.ac.lk S.L. Dept. of Agriculture cssl.ac.lk Computer Society of Sri Lanka If you need more information, you may contact the postmaster at the site. For instance, to get more information on who's who at IFS you may send an e-mail to <postmaster@ifs.ac.lk> Since e-mail to Sri Lanka goes over international telephone services, please do NOT send long, useless, frivolous (huh?) or test messages. ***** If you find e-mail services to Sri Lanka valuable, please make a ***** ***** small monetary contribution towards keeping the e-mail link alive. ***** You may send your contribution (payable to LACNET) to: Vicum Perera, Treasurer 64E, South Westmoor Av Newark, OH 43055 USA -- Datanet X.25 Packet Switch connection 67 Dharmapala Mawatha to Singapore and rest of the world Colombo 7 Tel: +94(1)437545,6 For CompuServe accounts, contact Fax: +94(1)437547 Rohith Odalagama -- Electrotek ??? [please send info] Going out of business sale? :-) [please send more info] -- Information Laboratories (Pvt.) Ltd. 69/7A, Attidiya Road Phone: +94(1)611061 Ratmalana E-mail: <service@infolabs.is.lk> Sri Lanka BBS: +94(1)611160 (8N1, 14.4K baud) This company provides e-mail facilities in Sri Lanka, to individuals, companies, and organisations. Messages can be sent to/from any internet address both within and outside Sri Lanka. They also provide a facility for sending messages to people who don't have a telephone or a computer. Infolabs also provides access to Usenet and ftp services, as well as a computer bulletin board. -- Lanka Internet Services, Ltd. Phone: +94(1)342974 5th floor, IBM Building Fax: +94(1)736605 48 Nawam Mawatha E-mail: <info@sri.lanka.net> Colombo 2, Sri Lanka WWW: http://www.lanka.net/ This company provieds TCP/IP full internet connections to other companies and organizations. They also provide Colombo Stock Exchange information via e-mail on a pay-per fee basis. -- Toolnet Access Point (TAP) Sri Lanka Arthur C. Clarke Centre for Modern Technologies Prof. S. Karunaratne Moratuwa, Sri Lanka Tel. +94 1 446546 or 507461 Internet: <accc@lankatap.tool.nl> Fax. +94 1 647462 Toolnet of Netherland (<jeroen.jonk@tool.nl> (Jeroen Jonk)) provides FidoNet e-mail connections to/within Sri Lanka. Internet e-mail can be routed to FidoNet e-mail system. -- Places such as VOA (Voice of America), USAID (US Agency for Intl Develpoment) etc offices in Sri Lanka have their own dedicated connections. So, if your friends are working in those offices, you are in business. -- ======================================================================= Subject: <32> Are there Sri Lanka related FTP/Web/Gopher sites? For more info on FTP, e-mail, Usenet, gopher, WWW, WAIS, etc. read a) "The Whole Internet - User's Guide and Catalog" by Ed Krol Published as an O'Reilly Associates <nuts@ora.com> book. ISBN: 1-56592-025-2 b) "Zen and the Art of Internet" by Brendon Kehoe <brendan@cygnus.com> ftp://ftp.uu.net/....??? Also available in paperback - ISBN: 0-13-010778-6 c) "EFF's Guide to the Internet" by Electronic Frontier Foundation This guide is available free of charge from the EFF online archives at ftp.eff.org, gopher.eff.org, http://www.eff.org, EFF BBS (+1 202 638 6120), AOL keyword EFF, CIS EFFSIG forum, etc. -- Check the anonymous FTP site <amil.eng.buffalo.edu> (128.205.21.5). ftp://amil.eng.buffalo.edu/pub/slnet/ README - Read this first doc/ - documents, reports, papers, etc. images/ - gif and tiff images from SL + space shuttle photos of SL info/ - information of all kinds misc/ - chicken curry recipe, guitar cords, sinhala mac font ***** Please restrict your FTPing to non-business hours ***** ***** (6:00pm - 7:00 am US Eastern Time). ***** ***** Thanks Bandu (Jagath Samarabandu <bandu@acsu.buffalo.edu>) ***** ***** for maintaining the FTP site ***** Those of you who cannot ftp directly can use a mail server. Send the word "help" in the message body to <ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com> -- Another SLnet related file archive is <dharma@src.umd.edu> To get a listing of available files, please send an e-mail to the above address with "help" (no quotes) in the Subject line. -- WWW - Check http://suif.stanford.edu/~saman/lanka/sri_lanka.html This Web page is maintained by Saman Amarasinghe <saman@wildhog.stanford.edu> -- WWW - Check http://www.cm.cf.ac.uk/Sri_Lanka This Web page is maintained by Gihan Seneviratne <seneviratne@cf.ac.uk> -- Many other Sri Lankans (Shahani, ...) have Web pages with Sri Lanka related stuff. Please let each other (and me) know so links can be made from one to the other. -- ======================================================================= Subject: <33> Are there any Sinhala fonts? There is a bitmap font for Macintosh available as a shareware at the Sri Lanka FTP site (see <22>) as a binhex'd file. Contact Sunil Koswatta <skoswatt@mcs.kent.edu> for more information. -- Vasantha Saparamadu <vasa@ee.uts.edu.au> has sucessfully converted the above to a LaTex font. -- No Sinhala Metafonts that I know of (yet). If you are interested in developing a sinhala Metafont, you may want to contact Wijesuriya Dayawansa <wpd@eng.umd.edu> at University of Maryland. -- Ecological Linguistics Sinhala Font for Mac and PCs. P.O Box 15156 Price: US$80.00 Washington, DC 20003 (202)547-7678 -- Ethno Multimedia They sell five Sinhala PostScript fonts for 2055 Dundas Street West PCs, Macs, Amiga and NeXT. Price US$300/font. Toronto, Ontario Canada M6R 1W8 (416)588-7193 (416)925-6319 -- S.T. Nandasara Fonts for Xerox Ventura (Rs. 30,000) Institute of Comp Studies WadanTharuwa SP (Rs. 20,000) University of Colombo E-mail: stn@ict.ac.lk Tel: (1)581245 -- S.P. Mahanama Fonts for Aldes Page Maker (PC) 145/1 Gramasanwardena Rd Four styles (Rs. 50,000) Polwatte, Pannipitiya Sri Lanka Tel: (72)46918 -- Gate Seven Computers Ltd Chitralekha, SHree Lipi 6A Gwendwr Road Word (windows) fonts London W14 9BG Tel/Fax: +44(0)71-602-5186 -- Lingua Language Services 63b Woodhead Road Holmfirth Huddersfield Yorkshire HD7 1PR, UK Tel +44 (0)484 686396 Fax +44 (0)484 687320 -- Gamma Productions Inc 710 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 609 Santa Monica, CA 90401 (310)394-8622 (310)395-4214 Fax -- OpenArc Systems Management (Pvt) Ltd. 57C S De S. Jayasinghe Mawatha Kohuwala, Nugegoda Sri Lanka Tel: (94)(1)823551-2 or (94)(078)64707 Fax: (94)(1)823552 -- It is possible to make new Mac fonts with the package Fontographer on the Mac. The package costs about $250.00 <hint><hint> -- ======================================================================= Subject: <34> Are there any Tamil fonts? [ There is a "Tamil Software Information FAQ" prepared by Ravi Sundaram <sundaram@utacfd.uta.edu> being posted to soc.culture.tamil and soc.culture.indian.info. Please check that FAQ for more (detailed) information on Tamil fonts and Tamil WP software. ] [ Also see previous section for vendor info ] -- ITRANS package made by Avinash Chopde comes bundled with wntml Tamil meta font made by the Humanities and Arts Computing Center of the University of Washington. Latest version I fould was 3.20. It comes with instructions to install on PC or Unix. The package can be FTP'd from: <cs.duke.edu> (128.109.140.1):/dist/sources/itrans32.tar.Z -- Macintosh fonts for Devanagari and Tamil are available for FTP at <mac.archive.umich.edu>:/mac/system.extensions/font/type3/indianfonts.sit.hqx -- Another Mac Tamil font (Palladam Tamil Font, Version 2.1) is available. I was not able to find the FTP silte info on this. The developer is T. Govindaraj <tg@chmsr.gatech.edu>. He also has a mailing list about the font. (Please send mail to <tamil-palladam-request@isye.gatech.edu> if you would like to get on/off the mailing list) -- K Sanchayan InXyte Incorporated True Type Tamil Fonts (KS_ouvai, KS_kampan) 15, Mt. Vernon Street Free; write to the address Malden MA 02148 Send $2.50+ for shipping + other costs -- "Ranjani Mathy" - TrueType font. Info came from SL. (need info about availability, contact address/phone/FTP site/etc) -- Adami Tamil font - I don't have any info on this. Supposedly a very nice font. -- Ethno Multimedia (see <23>) also sells PostScript Tamil fonts. Price: US$???? per font. -- ======================================================================= Subject: <35> Are there Sinhala/Tamil word/text processors? [ See note under <34> ] -- With the Mac fonts, any Mac word/text processor can become a Sinhala/ Tamil word processor, instantly. See <23> and <24>. {same is true of PCs and TrueType fonts???} -- WadanTharuwa Contact: S.T. Nandasara Computing Services Center Dot Matrix - 24pin (Rs. 20,000) Inst. Comp. Studies, U of Colombo Laser (Being developed) Colombo, Sri Lanka Tel: (1)581245 E-mail: <stn@ict.ac.lk> -- WordPower Laser version: Rs. 20,000 S.P. Mahanama Tel: (72)46918 145/1 Gramasanwardena Rd Polwatte, Pannipitiya Sri Lanka -- Thibasa Developed by IFS (?) Dynamic Ramy, Haylese Group Laser: Rs. 25,000 Poster Lane, Deans Road Dot Matrix: Rs. 18,000 Colombo 10, Sri Lanka Tel: (1)699087, 699100 -- Super Bits Created by: IFS (e-mail @ifs.ac.lk) Sampath Godamunne Hantana Road Vipula Jayampathi Kandy, Sri Lanka Rohan Manamudali Tel: +94(08)32002 Dhammika Wijeratne -- ADAMI94.ZIP - Tamil word processer for MSDOS (IBMPC) The package is shareware requiring a registration fee. It is available on the following site as well as other Simtel mirror sites. For a list of Simtel mirror sites, check MSDOS FTP documents. <oak.oakland.edu> (141.210.10.117): /pub/msdos/editor/adami94.zip -- Pulavan - For PCs 386 and up. Developed by Dr. Vasu Renganathan (vasu@u.washington.edu) at U Washington. It is a Tamil Teaching, Learning, Translating software. There is a translation software which translates a restricted number of sentence types from English to Tamil. Source is available. ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/doc/misc/tamil/pulavan/ -- PCTAMIL - Transliteration tool for PCs. PC based programs in this package can beused for reading Romanized Tamil text in Tamil script. ftp://oak.oakland.edu/pub/msdos/editor/pctamil1.zip -- Thiru 1.0 - A WYSWYG DOS editor in Romanized Tamil. Use this program to create, edit and print texts in Tamil script. The tamil words are entered in the Romanized Tamil convention. [K. Srinivasan <srini@ireq.hydro.qc.ca>] ftp://oak.oakland.edu/simtel/msdos/txtutl/thiru10.zip ftp://archive.orst.edu/pub/mirrors/simtel/msdos/txtutl/thiru10.zip -- Visual Tamil - Learn Tamil and Tamil culture of TamilNadu. graphics, animation and sound. Windows 3.1 product. $35. Indus Valley 591 Albion Court San Jose, CA 95136 -- ======================================================================= ======================================================================= Subject: <40> What are the SL publications in <country>? ** Australia Thorathuru: Newsletter-SL Assoc. of NSW Serendib/Hela Handa Ed: Dr. Harold Gunatillaka PO Box 163 2 Liffey Place North Balwyn Woronara Victoria 3104 NSW 2232 Light of Buddhism 21 Rich Street Noble Park Victoria 3174 -- ** UK Silver Arrow??? -- ** USA Serendipity - a free electronic journal of scholarly articles. See <30> for more details. -- Sri Lanka Express news; ads; marriage proposals; 12922 Osborne Street English; Bi-weekly; $24.00/year; Arleta, CA 91331 Ed: Mr. Deeptha Lelaratne [ This here is the pillar of ] Tel: (818)897-7035 [ journalistic integrity. Not! ] Fax: (818)834-0659 -- The Lankan - Newsletter of SLANY (See <50>) -- Sri Lanka Update - News according to the government. Published by the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Washigton DC. (see <20>) -- ======================================================================= Subject: <41> Can we get SL newspapers in <country>? ** NY, DC -- people get the Sunday SL newspapers by Tuesday. Check with local contacts. ** Toronto -- Most SL newspapers are available in Sri Lankan stores ** Australia -- Most SL newspapers are available. Check with local contacts. -- Lake House International Edition Upali Group Intn'l Editions Sri Lanka News ?? Island The Circulation Manager Circulation Associated Newspapers of Ceylon, Ltd. Upali Newspapers, Ltd. P. O. Box 1198, Colombo 223 Bloemendhal Road, Colomb 13 Sri Lanka Sri Lanka news;English; Bi-weekly?? Monthly??; news; English; Bi-weekly; air:$58.75/yr; sea:$29.50/yr; price ?? -- *** These two are highly recommended. (Now more than ever! The two editors are said to be very close to the current President of SL :-)) Counterpoint (A Ravaya publication) Pravada (Pravada Publications) P. O. Box 66 129/6A Nawala Rd Mount Lavinia Colombo 5 Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Tel:(1)501339 political analyses; news; political analyses; news; English; monthly mag; $24.00/yr; English; monthly mag; $38/yr -- ======================================================================= Subject: <42> Are there any SL radio programs in North America? Voice of Taprobane CKDU 97.5 FM in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Every Sunday 2.00p.m to 3.30p.m News; music; local events; Wimal Rankaduwa <RANKADUW@ac.dal.ca> -- KPSK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles news; music; interviews; for programming information call Deeptha Leelaratne (see <40>) -- Asian Vibrations CJAM 91.5 FM 401 Sunset Ave Windsor, Ontario Canada N9B 3P4 Community radio; SL & Indian prog. -- ======================================================================= Subject: <43> What are the SLBC shortwave frequencies? Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) Radio Broadcasts 2000-2130 UTC 11835, 15120, 17805 KHz 0600-1000 UTC 6005, 9720, 17805 KHz SLBC North American Service 2330-0000 UTC - 15425 KHz Monday 0445-0515 UTC - 15425, 9720 KHz Tuesday Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation P.O. Box 574 Torrington Square Colombo Sri Lanka news???; music????; -- ======================================================================= Subject: <44> What are the BBC frequencies for North America? {try these and let me know if they work} Eastern US/Canada Central, Mountain, Pacific US/Canada Time (GMT) Freq. (MHz) 1400-1615 17.84 1400-1615 17.84 1400-1745 15.26 1400-1745 15.26 1100-1400 15.22 1100-1400 15.22 2100-0030 9.59 1300-1400 11.82 1300-1745 9.515 1400-1500 11.82, 9.74 (Sat/Sun) 2200-0430 7.325 1200-1400 9.74 1100-1200 6.195 0500-0815 9.64 2300-0430 6.175 2300-0230 9.59 1100-1400 5.965 2300-0430 7.325 2300-0430 5.975 0000-0730 5.975 world news; -- London Calling, PO Box 76, Bush House, Strand, London, England, WC2B 4PH monthly magazine; program journal of the BBC World Service; 12pounds/year; For a free copy of London Calling call/write BBC 630 5th Avenue N.Y, N.Y 10111-0002 (212) 581-7100 -- Check the following anonymous FTP site for radio frequency listings <nic.funet.fi>:/pub/dx/text/schedules/ -- ======================================================================= Subject: <45> What are the All India Radio frequencies? 0000-0115 9910 English 0130-0250 15120, 11830 News in various languages 1300-1500 15020, 9700 Sinhalese 1300-1610 11620 News in various languages 1330-1500 9565 English 1330-1450 10030, 9950 News in various languages 2030-2230 11620 English -- ======================================================================= ======================================================================= Subject: <50> Are there any Sri Lanka related organizations? ** Australia Sri Lanka Association of NSW Sri Lankan Youth Club President - Freeda Karunaratne Contact - Ranjeeva Perera Tel: 874-2313 Tel: 02 670-6063 -- Buddhist Vihara Victoria Melbourne Sri Lanka Buddhist Vihara 21 Rich Street Regent Street Noble Park Vic 3174 Springvale Tel : 548 4525 Tel : 547 0872 -- Lanakarama Buddhist Vihara 27 Asquith Street Auburn (Sydney?) -- ** Canada Sri Lanka-Canada Association of Montreal P O Box 261 Pointe-Claire, Quebec H9R 4N9 Canada For info: Anton Eric Perera <aericper@teleglobe.ca> -- Sri Lanka Association of Manitoba (SLAM) ?? -- ** UK London Buddhist Vihara Thames Buddhist Vihara 5, Heathfield Gardens Dulverton Road Chiswick Selsdon London W4 Surrey Tel: 081 - 995 9493 Tel: 081 - 657 7120 -- London Murugan Temple Sri Lanka Association?? 78, Church Road London E12 Tel: 081 - 478 8433 -- Sri Lankan Students Society c/o University Union Ca> rdiff University of Wales College of Cardiff Park Place Cardiff CF1 3QN email: slss-cardiff@cm.cf.ac.uk WWW: http://www.cm.cf.ac.uk:/Sri_Lanka/Slss -- Movement to Prevent Child Prostitution (MPCP) 5 Mount Drive Wembley Park Middlesex HA9 9ED United Kingdom Tel: 081-904 1727 Fax: 081-550 9224 E-mail: <leelasena@oldstreet.agw.bt.co.uk> or <leelaslk@vax.sbu.ac.uk> -- ** USA SL Assoc of New York (SLANY) SL Assoc of Washington DC (SLAW) 755 Webster Ave PO Box 65380 New Rochelle, NY 10804 Washington, DC 20035-5398 -- Sri Lanka Ranga Kala Kavaya P. O. Box 18029 Washington, DC 20036-8029 (703)527-3659 To promote the Sri Lankan Culture -- Sri Lanka Association of Los Angeles Take your pick. Many divisions and factions. (Evidently, LA's Sri Lankan population has exceeded the "critical mass.") -- Royal College Old Boy's Association of North America (R-COBANA) Call Raj Gowrinathan (310) 271-9678 (Los Angeles) -- Trinity Old Boy's Association Call Samy Thirunavukarasu (213) 874-8030 (Los Angeles) -- Following is a list of religious organizations. Temporary accomodations maybe available at some of these places. Buddhist Vihara Buddhist Information Center Ven. Maharagama Dharmasiri Ven. Katugastota Uparathana 5017 16th Street NW P. O. Box 13504 Washington, DC 20011 Silver Spring, MD 20911 (202)723-0773 (202)832-9393 -- America-Sri Lanka Buddhist Assoc. Bhawana Society Ven K. Piyatissa Ven. Henepola Gunarathana 84-32 124th Street Rt. 1. Box 218-3 Kew Gardens, NY 11415 High View, WV 26808 (718)???-???? (303)856-3241 -- Houston Buddhist Vihara Los Angeles Buddhist Vihara 8727 Radio Road Ven. Dhammarama Houston, TX 77075 ??? Beachwood Drive (713) 944-1334 Los Angeles, CA 90027 ?? (213)464-9698 -- Hindu Temple (in Malibu) Dharmapala Institute 1600 Las Virgenes Cyn Rd 110 West Latimar Avenue Calabasa, CA 91302 Campbell, CA 95008 -- ======================================================================= Subject: <51> Who's the best airline ticket agent? There are way too many ticket agents (just like lawyers) and they all give competitive prices (just like lawyers??). Make sure that *all* your flights are confirmed. You may have to call the airlines yourself. There is a file containing comments from people who have bought tickets from travel agents. To get a copy, send an e-mail to <rajiv@coos.dartmouth.edu> or look in the FTP site <amil.eng.buffalo.edu> Some European countries such as UK, France, etc require transit visas if you carry a Sri Lankan passport. Some autorities/airlines may take your passport. If they do take, insist on an official receipt for it. -- You might want to consult the net.wisdom in air travels. Net.wisdom is archived in ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/rec.travel.air/ directory. There are two FAQs. One is called "Air Traveler's Handbook" and the other is "How to get cheap air tickets." Both are multi-part postings to the usenet news groups rec.travel.air and news.answers. [If you find any interesting tidbits in these files, please share them with us. I have not read all of them.] -- Listed below are some of the airlines which fly to Colombo. Air Lanka NY office (phone ????) Air Lanka - London: 071 - 930 2099 Heathrow: 081 - 745 6647/8 Aeroflot British Airways Gulf Air KLM (800)374-7747 Korean Air (800)223-1155 Kuwait Airways Royal Jordanian (800)223-0470 Soudi Air Singapore Airlines (800)742-3333 UTA French Airlines -- Service from other Asian Countries: India : (Dehli, Bombay, Madras, Trivamdrum, Trichy) by Air Lanka and IA Pakistan : (Karachi) by Air Lanka and PIA Maledives : (Male) by Air Lanka Thailand : (Bangkok) by Air Lanka and Thai Airways Malaysia : (Kuala Lumpur) by Air Lanka and MAS Hongkong : (Hongkong) by Air Lanka and Cathay Pacific Singapore : (Singapore) by Air Lanka, Singapore Airlines and Emirates -- Travel Agents with e-mail access. Upul Dharmadasa <upul@delphi.com> Hanif Kasmani <73243.3717@compuserve.com> -- ======================================================================= Subject: <52> From where do I get Sri Lankan spices? *Mail order places* (hence not geographically challenged) will be listed here. Please help fill this void. Here's a chance to advertise your booming home business... and it's free. -- ** Canada Shankar & Co. 720 Kennedy Road 1404-Scarborough Ontario MIK 2B7 Canada Tel: (416)261-9287 CDs, canned food? -- ** USA Lanka Link India Emporium 18613 Pioneer Blvd 6848 New Hampshire Ave Artesia, CA 90701 Takoma Park, MD 20912 (310)860-2840 (Los Angeles) (301)270-3322 (Wash DC Local area) spices, groceries, arts, SL Marketing Dept canned food, spices crafts, jewelries Sinhala/Tamil movies/CDs -- Paradise Imports, Inc Sailon, Inc. 10438 Paradise Court 44 Arcadia Court Manassas, VA 22110 Harrington Park, NJ 07640 (703)330-8645 (Voice/Fax) (201)768-4327 (703)968-5524 (Wash DC area) Fax: (201)768-4882 Canned goods, spices, shipped Canned goods; Shipped via UPS. via UPS. Any import needs, large Orders below $25 add $5 handling fee. or small, maybe included in the shipment from Sri Lanka. -- Vijaya Imports and Exports Sri Lankan Delight 36 Hamilton Ave 7455 Reseda Blvd, #A Staten Island, NY 10301 Reseda, CA 91335 (718)720-7538 (818)774-1237 (718)883-1092 (818)774-1536 Fax Whole-sale; SL Marketing Dept shipped via US Mail, CD's cassettes canned goods, their own brand; large stock -- Lanka Spice 3649 Anchorage St. Hemet, CA 92545 (909)766-6271 (909)766-6271 Fax Whole-sale? -- ======================================================================= Subject: <53> Are there any Sri Lankan restaurants outside of SL? Please send info for this section. Give general comments as well. ** Los Angeles, CA, USA Roma's Kitchen (Made to order + Restaurant) 3520 Overland Ave Los Angeles, CA 90034 (310)558-8685 -- ** New York, NY, USA: Lakruwana - A Taste of Sri Lanka Taprobane Sri Lankan Restaurant 303 West 42nd Street 234 West 56th Street 6th Floor, Suite 606 New York, NY 10019 New York, NY 10036. Tel: (212)333-4203 Tel: (212)397-2089 Call ahead for daily menu Relatively expensive -- ** Saint Paul-Minniapolis, MN, USA Sri Lanka Curry House 2821 Hennepin Ave. Minneapolis, MN Tel: (612)871-2400 This is the first to open in the US. -- ** Nuremberg, Germany Restaurant Mount Lavina Owner Shane Samson Jakobsplatz 22 90402 Nuremberg/Germany Tel. +49-911-227009 Only for non-smokers Very good, but relatively high prices -- ** Ottawa, Canada Ceylonta Restaurant 403 Sommerset W. (on the corner of Bank and Sommerset) Ottwa, Canada (613)237-7812 -- ======================================================================= Subject: <54> How do I get my wedding tape converted from PAL to NTSC? Sri Lankan TV format is called PAL whereas that of US is called NTSC. These are not compatible with each other. Hence, PAL video tapes need to be converted to NTSC before you can play them on a normal VCR in the US. (Vice versa for US tapes taken to Sri Lanka) Conversions can be done in numerous ways (analog, digital, studio quality (super-VHS), low quality, etc) Quality of the converted tape may depend on how much you are willing to shell out. There are way too many video places which can do this. -- Check with your school's video/broadcasting/television/ department. They might be able to do it for free. -- Multi-system VCR/TV combinations can play all tapes. Following VCR is a special case as it doesn't need a multi-system TV. See input/output. AIWA HV-MG360 VCR will do the conversions on the fly. Input format: PAL, NTSC, Secam, Mesecam Output: PAL or NTSC (i.e can hook upto Sri Lankan or US TV sets) Tuner: NTSC tuner (will record off the air from US broadcasts) Operating Voltage: 110-240V (50 -60 hz) -- ======================================================================= Subject: <55> How do I send flowers to SL? No one actually sends flowers from here. A florist or a company would call up a florist in Sri Lanka and place an order on your behalf. So, if you know of a florist in Sri Lanka, it would be cheaper to call them directly rather than going through these middlemen. {let me know of any florists in Colombo, Kandy, etc who will accept credit card/money order/ COD/ etc payments.} -- (800)FLOWERS Order + $26.99 surcharge. [Price check:8/24/93] Takes 2 - 3 days -- An FTD Flower shop (most florists are members of FTD) quoted $56.80 [Price check: 8/24/93] for an arrangement or a bouquet delivered in Colombo. Look in your local yellow pages under florists for an FTD member. Takes 1 - 2 days -- ======================================================================= Subject: <56> How do I send money to and from SL? International Money Orders - you can get them from any bank. -- Personal Checks; I believe most banks in SL accept personal checks in US Dollars. It might take a while to clear the check. -- Western Union (USA) can do wire transfers. Ask them where to pick up the money in Sri Lanka. -- ** UK Bank of Ceylon 22-24 City Road London EC1Y 2AJ Tel: 071 - 839 7555 -- ======================================================================= Subject: <57> How do I send misc big items to and from SL? Also see <52>. A 20ft. container costs about $2,000 - $2,500 from a US sea port to Colombo -- Ceylon Shipping Corporation (CSC) CSC - Katunayake Office 6 Sir Baron Jayatileke Mawatha Unit 6, Upper Fl, Plaza Building Colombo 1, Sri Lanka Investment Promotion Zone Tel:(1)328772, 328773, 326194, 423214 Katunayake, Sri Lanka Fax:(1)447547, 449486 (Fax) Tel:(1)452907, 453672 -- CSC - CA Office CSC - NY Office Ceylon Shipping, Inc. Ceylon Shipping Inc. Circle Business Center 2 World Trade Center #2228 4500E Pacific Coast Highway, #290 New York, NY 10048 Long Beach, CA 90804 (212)514-8780 (213)493-1450 (Area code maybe 310) (212)514-8908 (Fax) (213)494-4886 -- CSC Subsidiaries: Ceylon Shipping Lines, Ltd. Colombo Dockyard, Ltd. Ceylon Port Services, Ltd. Amalgamated Lines -- Blue Star Shipping in NY (800)532-4320 or (718)297-4320 $5.50/cu.ft from Newark, NJ to Colombo, SL $1.50/cu.ft from local home to Newark, NJ [Price check: early 1993] -- Forwardair Clearing & Forwarding (pvt) Ltd. 24 Rotunda Gardens Colombo 3 Sri Lanka Phone (1)27373, (1)430067 -- ======================================================================= Subject: <58> What about parcels to SL? Following prices are for a 1 pound letter/document from Washington, DC to Colombo, SL. Prices for boxes may vary depending on the size as well as the weight. (They also asked for my zipcode) -- US Mail (Express Delivery) UPS Go to a local post office (800)247-4747 $14.00, takes about 4 days $39.00, takes about 4 days [Price check: 02/01/94] [Price check: 8/24/93] -- Federal Express DHL (800)247-4747 (800)225-5345 $52.50, takes about 7 days $71.00, takes about 3 days [Price check: 8/24/93] [Price check: 8/24/93] -- If you use a FedEx account the rates to Sri Lanka are much cheaper than the regular rates (I write a check to my employer and use their fedex account): FedEx Letter (upto 8 oz): $22.50 FedEx Pak (upto 1 lb): $26.95 2 lb : $31.00 It can take from 3-7 days to get there depending on the day you send the package off (call 800-247-4747). [From: nihal@rs6000.houston.wireline.SLB.COM] -- ======================================================================= ======================================================================= Subject: <70> Are there any quality books on Sri Lanka? This will be archived in a different file. More info later. -- ======================================================================= Subject: <71> Where's the info about the SL stock market? Thilaka Sumanaweera has compiled some info about the Sri Lankan stock market. It is available for anonymous FTP at ftp://amil.eng.buffalo.edu/pub/slnet/info/stock-market -- Daily Colombo Stock Market prices can be requested via e-mail from Lanka Internet Services, Ltd. Contact LISL for pricing and availability information. See "<31> Does Sri Lanka have e-mail?" -- ======================================================================= Subject: <72> Is there a "Study Abord" program for Sri Lanka? Fullbright Scholarship program ?? [ Senator Fullbright, who started the Fullbright scholarshop program passed away last week. May his legacy, the scholarship program, continue to help the students world over better understand other cultures.] -- AFS??? -- Cornell University in Ithaca, NY has a (the only?? in US) Sinhala linguistic program. -- From: tadams@polar.Bowdoin.EDU (Ted Adams) Date: Wed, 6 Jul 1994 10:02:35 -0500 (EDT) The Intercollegiate Sri Lanka Education (ISLE) Program is a consortium- based study-abroad program centered in Kandy and affiliated with the U. of Peradeniya. ISLE began operating in 1982 as a fall-semester program offering a broad range of courses structured specifically for American liberal arts undergraduate students. ISLE Consortium members include: Bates, Bowdoin, Carleton, Hobart & William Smith, and Swarthmore Colleges, Cornell U. and the U. of Pennsylvania. The ISLE Program accepts 12-18 students each year from member schools. (Non-member students are accepted only under special conditions.) The program runs from early August to mid-December, incorporating two tours of Sri Lanka - one of the Cultural Triangle and the other around the south coast. Required courses include Sinhala language, a Sri Lanka Studies Seminar (presenting a broad spectrum of cultural, social and political issues), and an Independent Study. Optional courses cover a range of disciplines, including religion, history, literature, politics, gender studies, economics, and folklore. ISLE is administered from Bowdoin College by Dr. Ted Adams - an anthropolo- gist specializing in S. Asia, who also administers the South India Term Abroad (SITA) Program. -- ======================================================================= ======================================================================= A lot of people have sent me information. I tried to keep a note on everyone who helped, but I may have forgotten some. Please excuse my aging mind.... "Dave, my mind is going.... I can feel it" Special Thanks go to: Thushara Amaranayaka <amarana@server.uwindsor.ca> Cate Carroll <Carroll@care.ac.lk> Tom David <tom_david@Warren.MENTORG.COM> Wijesuriya Dayawansa <wpd@eng.umd.edu> Ian "Jack" Dempsey <Ian@daleroad.demon.co.uk> Gamini Dharmasena <gamini@aardvark.ucs.uoknor.edu> Erik Futtrup <futtrup@daimi.aau.dk> Nimal Gamage <gamage@paradox.colorado.edu> Kumudu Jayatilaka <KUMUDU@delphi.com> Klaus Kettner <Klaus_Kettner@sesom.schiele-ct.de> Ajith P Madurapperuma <Ajith.P.Madurapperuma@cm.cf.ac.uk> Mano Pallewatta <pall@cs.ait.ac.th> Vicumpriya Perara <vperera@silver.ucs.indiana.edu> Gihan Seneviratne <Gihan.P.Seneviratne@cm.cf.ac.uk> Shantha Ranatunga <shantha@cs.unsw.oz.au> Kavan Ratnatunga <kur@mds.pha.jhu.edu> Harsha Ratnaweera <harsha.ratnaweera@niva.no> L. Salgado <l.salgado@canrem.com> Michael S. Samuel <M.Samuel@student.anu.edu.au> Rasika Suriyaarachchi <rasika@kln.ac.lk> Thiviyanathan Varatharasa <thivi@expert.cc.purdue.edu> Wije Wathugala <cewije@unix1.sncc.lsu.edu> Lareef Zubair <zubair@biomed.med.yale.edu> ======================================================================= ======================================================================= ----end of faq------ -- # For info on SLnet, Sri Lanka FAQ, Serendipity, etc. please send # # an e-mail to <dharma@src.umd.edu> with "help" in the Subject line. # # # # Things are more like what they used to be than they are now. #