‘Every child in school programme’ to be inaugurated in NE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 January 2003, 13:22 GMT]
‘Every child in school programme’ sponsored by the UNICEF in the northeast province will be inaugurated in Trincomalee Thursday, 9 January, morning by the Minister of Human Resource Development, Education and Cultural Affairs Dr.Karunasena Kodituwakku.
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LTTE, SLA discuss Batticaloa incidents

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 January 2003, 18:32 GMT]
"The Sri Lanka army should supervise the activities of the paramilitary groups and keep them under control. Recent incidents in Batticaloa appear to be aimed at casting aspersions on us and confounding the peace process. Agent provocateurs have been attempting to derail the peace process in the east by instigating violence against communities in Valaichenai, Mutur and Akkaraipattu and by staging abduction dramas," said T.Ramesh, LTTE’s special commander for the Batticaloa-Amparai region, at the conclusion of a discussion with the Sri Lankan armed forces near the eastern town.
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Film release celebrates Sea Tigers' tenth anniversary

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 December 2002, 17:43 GMT]
“Nitharsanam” TV unit of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Tuesday released the film “ Kadaloorakatru” (A wind along the coast) produced after the ceasefire agreement between the government and LTTE came into force, simultaneously in six districts in the northeast province celebrating the tenth anniversary of Sea Tigers, sources said.
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Trinco university campus faces uncertain future

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 December 2002, 01:49 GMT]
In a meeting held at Trincomalee Sri Koneswara Hindu College hall Monday evening, leading educationists, citizens and heads of schools in the Trincomalee district expressed serious concern over the lack of support by the University Grants Commission and the Administration of the Eastern University on developing Trincomalee campus of the East University of Sri Lanka to a quaity academic institution, sources said.
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Agreement to rebuild A9 signed

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 December 2002, 15:06 GMT]
Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed an agreement Monday morning at the Kilinochchi political head quarters to provide a Rs.600m loan to rebuild 103km segment of Jaffna-Kandy road (A9) beginning from Vilakuvaithakulam in Omanthai to Jaffna Town, sources in Kilinochchi said.


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Police collect details of Vavuniya Traders

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 December 2002, 13:28 GMT]
Names, address and other personal details of employees of business establishments in Vavuniya are being collected by police stations in Vavuniya district, alarmed traders in Vavuniya said. Police officers have distributed forms to businesses and have directed all employees to submit completed forms back to the police stations.
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LTTE returns children to their parents in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 December 2002, 17:54 GMT]
Political leader for Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for Vavuniya, Mr. Ezhilan, returned six children under the age of 18 who wanted to join the LTTE, to their parents, in the presence of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) officials and journalists in Vavuniya today.


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Military enclaves in civilian areas, a Rights violation - Judge

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 December 2002, 12:51 GMT]
Military camps in heavily civilian populated areas is a form of human rights violation, said M. Sittampalam, President of Vavuniya Attorneys Union and District Court Judge, in a meeting at Vavuniya Suthananda Hindu Youth Association building, celebrating the Human Rights Day.
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Floods cause A9 highway closure

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 December 2002, 17:14 GMT]
Torrential rain continued Wednesday in northeast province mainly Killinochchi, Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara districts bringing transport through A9 high way to and from Jaffna came to a standstill Wednesday, sources said. The Elephant Pass Bridge, the gateway to northern district is under floodwater, sources in Jaffna said.
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Jaffna gets first woman de-miner

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 December 2002, 00:13 GMT]
Ms. Niroja Srirajakumar, 19, of Navatkuly east of Jaffna town, became the first woman in Jaffna to join de-mining work in the peninsula, officials at the Jaffna District Secretariat said Sunday. Ms. Niroja was trained in de-mining techniques and safety procedures by a Swiss organisation in Vavuniya.
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Road blocks remain in Batticaloa district

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 December 2002, 21:32 GMT]
Speed barriers and road blocks in Batticaloa district roads are still obstructing traffic in many roads in Batticaloa causing severe hardship to residents in several areas of Batticaloa, sources in the east said. Assurance given by the Sri Lanka military chiefs during the meeting of the Sub-Committee on De-escalation and Normalization held in Vavunathivi 20 October that efforts will be taken to remove these barriers still remains to be fulfilled, sources said.
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Karuna Oslo bound

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 November 2002, 12:14 GMT]
Colonel Karuna, Senior Commander of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) took off from Batticaloa in an Sri Lanka Airforce helicopter to Colombo at 9.30 am today on his way to the next round of peace talks between LTTE and Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) to be held in Oslo, Norway 2 December, sources said.
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North East celebrates Heroes Day

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 November 2002, 10:44 GMT]
Towns, villages, remotest hamlets in the northeast province held by government forces and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are gaily decorated with yellow and red flags and cut outs depicting the Tamil liberation struggle observing the final day of the 'Maaveerar Naal' (Heroes Day) celebrations Wednesday. Jaffna, Batticaloa, Vavuniya and Mannar Maveerar Naal final day celebrations are being held on a grad scale.
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Batticaloa Chapel Road opens after 12 years

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 November 2002, 05:31 GMT]
Chapel Road in Batticaloa district which was closed for traffic last twelve years was opened yesterday morning by soldiers from the SriLanka Army (SLA), sources said.
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‘Col. Karuna’s approach very positive’ -Maj. Gen. Kottegoda

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 November 2002, 13:25 GMT]
“I think Col. Karuna’s approach is very positive. If we continue in this manner we should be able to sort out a lot of issues pertaining to de-escalation and normalisation,” said Maj. Gen. Shantha Kottegoda of the Sri Lanka army, speaking to the press Wednesday at the conclusion of the meeting of the Batticaloa District Committee of the Sub-Committee on De-escalation and Normalisation held in Vavunathivu, 5 kilometres southwest of Batticaloa, near the line of control.
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Limited progress reported in Omanthai meet

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 November 2002, 13:05 GMT]
The meeting between the Liberation Tigers (LTTE) and the Officers of Security forces to discuss problems arising from High Security Zones (HSZ) in Vavuniya, Mannar and Mullaitivu districts, conducted in Omanthai no-mans land concluded with decision taken to continue discussions at the forthcoming sub-committee meeting, sources said. The meeting started Monday morning at 9.30am and lasted for 5 hours.
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Trinco journalists briefed on torture victim rehabilitation

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 November 2002, 18:33 GMT]
The Family Rehabilitation Center (FRC) in Trincomalee Saturday held a one-day seminar for local journalists on rehabilitating torture victims. "The main objective of the FRC is to rehabilitate the victims of torture physically and psychologically and make them to lead normal lives in the society," said Dr.Gnanagunalan, medical officer of the FRC when addressing the seminar held at Trincomalee Town Hall Saturday morning.
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Multi-community sportsmeet in Kalutara

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 November 2002, 14:50 GMT]
Seven hundred sportsmen and women and officials from the North travelled to Kalutara to participate in a sportsmeet for peace being held in Matara starting from today. The participants departed from Vavuniya yesterday by a special train, sources said. Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe, will be the chief guest at the prize giving ceremony on the last day of the meet, sources said.


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East development review before Sub-Committee meet

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 November 2002, 22:37 GMT]
Three Tamil Parliamentarians and political officials of the Liberation Tigers Of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) from the eastern province are meeting in Kilinochchi Saturday to review development needs of the eastern districts in preparation for the forthcoming meeting of the Sub-Committee for Rehabilitation and Resettlement scheduled for Monday, 18 November, sources said.
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Vavuniya Children with Special Needs excel in sports

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 November 2002, 18:57 GMT]
Kirupananthamoorthy Nitharshan and Raveendran Thanusha, students at the Empowerment Campus in Vavuniya district, obtained medals in a nationwide sports meet for children with special needs organized by the Colombo Metropolitan Rotary Club, held earlier this month.
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