Mr. Murasolimaran, minister of industries in the central government. In the next few days, a consignment of books will arrive from Chennai and there will subsequently be a continuing commitment on the part of the Tamil Nadu govt. to supply free of charge Tamil books for the Jaffna library. Prime Minster Gujral decided that the central government of India should also provide books in English for the new Jaffna library. Officials from the Sri Lanka High Commission in New Delhi and from the Indian External Affairs Ministry drew up a list of books covering a variety of disciplines that will be sent by the Indian government for the library. However, Ministry of Science, Technology Consultant Dr. Tissa Vitharana said, 'there was just one classical case' of the disease in Sri Lanka.
Authorities believe all three victims have contracted the disease while on holiday in Britain.
The condition of at least one patient is reported to be grave and is being treated at a private hospital in Sri Lanka. BSE is a degenerative disease which occurs in several animal species, mostly among cattle and sheep. The disease is believed to have spread to British cattle from cattle feed made from infected sheep brain tissue. Ms. Sushma Swaraj, BJP's official spokesperson, told The Sunday Times in an exclusive interview, that her party saw the Tamil issue as an internal affair of Sri Lanka. Significantly, the BJP spokesperson not only ruled out any help to the LTTE, but denied that her party was aligned with these pro-LTTE groups.