NECORD funded school buildings opened in Mannar

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 March 2006, 08:33 GMT]
Mr.V.Visuvalingam, Mannar Government Agent, Monday declared open three new class room buildings in three Tamil schools in the LTTE held area in the Mannar district. The building were constructed at a cost of about 6.4 million rupees with the funds provided by the North East Community Restoration Development (NECORD) programme. Asian Development Bank (ADB) funds the NECORD, sources said.
Full story >>

Army plans new Muslim unit amid militancy furore

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 March 2006, 02:01 GMT]
Amid a furore over the Liberation Tigers’ demands that Sri Lankan government disarms a Muslim entity called ‘Jihad’ which is amongst five anti-LTTE paramilitary groups being sponsored by military intelligence, the Sri Lanka Army is reportedly planning to raise an exclusive Muslim unit in the island’s volatile eastern province. The issue of Muslim militancy has been gaining focus amid renewed suggestions by the LTTE that Jihad has links to Pakistani intelligence – a charge leveled by Indian military analysts as early as in 2004.
Full story >>

SLA troopers' desecration of Hindu Temples condemned

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 March 2006, 19:21 GMT]
The Eelam Peoples Revolutionary Front (EPRLF-Suresh wing) of Mannar district condemned willful descretion of Hindu Temples by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers who enter inside temple buildings and at times inside the inner sanctum with their boots on, sources in Mannar said. Mr.Ratnasigham Kumares, District Secretary of the Mannar EPRLF, urged the Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in Mannar to advice the SLA to obey Hindu customs when entering Temples and to withdraw soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army from the Mannar hospital premises, sources said.
Full story >>

LTTE, TNA discuss Vavuniya violence with SLMM

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 March 2006, 13:01 GMT]
Head of Vavuniya LTTE Political Wing, Mr Gnanam, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians, and several Vavuniya civil society representatives held discussions with members of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) on escalating violence in Vavuniya targetted against businesspersons, at the LTTE political office in Puliyankulam at 10.30 a.m. Saturday, sources from Vavuniya said.
Full story >>

TECH donates mini-lathe to self-taught craftsman

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 March 2006, 02:04 GMT]
The Economic Consultancy House (TECH) donated a mini-lathe and other accessories costing about Rs 50K to a self-taught entrepreneur in Muthaiyankattu near Mullaitivu to encourage his inventive spirit amid poverty, and to reward technical astuteness despite his bringingup in an technologically deprived environment, officials at TECH told TamilNet.
Full story >>

LTTE's military strength key to Tamils' future- Theepan

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 March 2006, 11:38 GMT]
Speaking at a sports event commemorating the martyrs of the Special Reconnaissance Wing of the Liberation Tigers Wednesday, in an undisclosed location in Vanni, Northern Region Military Commander, Col.Theepan said, "Tamil peoples' future and victory in the struggle for self-determination are critically dependent on our military strength. Our continued transformation to engage and beat the enemy in all types of warfare is fundamental to our security and to live as a free nation," sources in Vanni said.
Full story >>

SLA troops threaten students at Annai Poopathy celebrations

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 March 2006, 12:16 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops threatened students at the Jaffna Technical College where celebrations marking Annai Poopathi's anniversary are taking place. More than 300 SLA soldiers who arrived at the Technical College premises at 3 p.m. Wednesday demanded taking down of the Tamileelam National flag which the students hoisted in the morning as part of the celebrations, sources said. Tension prevailed for more than an hour while the students refused to comply with the SLA demands.
Full story >>

Justice Ministry to repair damaged Court buildings in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 March 2006, 00:07 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Ministry of Justice team consisting of Mr. W. A. Seniveratne, Additional Secretary, and Chief Engineer Mr. D. A. Hemasiri, inspected Justice Courts buildings in Kayts and Mallakam Monday, and Point Pedro Tuesday morning and assessed the damages, sources in Jaffna said. The Justice Ministry is planning to repair the war damaged buildings to allow judicial activities to resume in these buildings, sources added.
Full story >>

TRO assists Mullaitivu child's heart surgery

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 March 2006, 11:48 GMT]
Tamil Rehabilitation Organization Monday donated Rs 45,000 towards heart surgery expenses for Saruaka, an eight month old ailing baby from Silavattai in Mullaitivu district, sources in Vanni said. The surgery is to be performed at the Colombo Jayawardenepura Hospital, medical sources in Vanni said.
Full story >>

Threats to Vavuniya traders must be stopped, MP tells Rajapakse

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 March 2006, 01:37 GMT]
Mr.Selvam Adaikalanathan, Wanni district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian has appealed to Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse to take immediate steps to disarm persons intimidating members of the business community in Vavuniya district with death threats and extortion, sources in Vavuniya said.
Full story >>

TNA, LTTE discuss local elections at Kilinochchi meet

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 March 2006, 12:19 GMT]
Selvam Adaikalanathan, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian for Vanni district addressing media in Kilinochchi after a meeting between the Liberation Tigers and the TNA parliamentarians Sunday morning, accused Colombo for delaying making decision on holding local elections in the NorthEast
Full story >>

Three hundred police trainees begin training in Vanni

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 March 2006, 00:31 GMT]
Three hundred officers newly recruited for Thamileelam Police started training on Saturday in Vanni. The recruits, under the coaching of Police Trainer S. Thamilarasan, were the second unit to be trained in 2006, said T. Kanahan, the head of administration of the Police.
Full story >>

TRO donates permanent houses to tsunami victims

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 March 2006, 10:43 GMT]
"We have plans to build 250 houses in the Mullaitivu district. Houses we have constructed in Kallappad are expensive, structurally strong and are better than many similar houses donated as part of tsunami relief across Sri Lanka," said K.P. Regi, Executive Director, Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), speaking at the handing over ceremony held Tuesday morning in Kallappadu village in the Mulaitivu district.
Full story >>

NGOs meet Planning Secretariat Officials

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 March 2006, 11:54 GMT]
Representatives of Local and International Non-Governmental Organizations met with Officials of the Liberation Tigers' Development Planning Division in Kilinochchi Tuesday 10.30 a.m.,at the LTTE's Planning Secretariat Building, sources in Kilinochchi said. K. Ranjan, Director of Planning Secretariat, presided the meeting.
Full story >>

Teacher shortage in Vanni schools spotlighted

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 March 2006, 09:41 GMT]
Tamil medium schools in the Vanni electorate are in urgent need of trained teachers to teach various subjects, but no action has been taken by the education authorities to post enough teachers to these schools, said Mr.Selvam Adaikalanathan, Wanni district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in a letter to the Minister of Education.
Full story >>

Local elections in NorthEast likely to be postponed

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 March 2006, 10:40 GMT]
A final decision to conduct elections to local government authorities in the North East is to be announced by the Commissioner of Elections this week after consultations with NorthEast district returning officers, political sources in Colombo said. Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse last week agreed in policy to postpone the local elections in the NorthEast local authorities at meeting with a delegation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) led by its parliamentary group leader Mr.R.Sampanthan, sources added.
Full story >>

Sea Tigers launch Deep-Sea Ops training to Auxiliary Flotilla

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 March 2006, 12:33 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Special Commander of Sea Tigers, Col. Soosai, on Friday launched Deep-Sea Operations training for selected naval auxiliarists from the recently trained flotillas of Thamileelam Naval Auxiliary Force, Sea Tiger sources in Mullaithivu said. The auxiliary naval flotilla, named after Lt. Col. Oscar of the Sea Tigers, is the first auxiliary flotilla to be trained in assisting the Tigers in offensive operations in the sea, sources added.
Full story >>

Defunct committees cause hardships to fishermen, farmers

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 March 2006, 11:51 GMT]
Mr.Selvam Adaikalanathan, Wanni district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian, expressed serious concern over the lethargic attitude of the Mannar District Secretariat for not holding monthly meetings of the District Fisheries Committee (DFC) and the District Agricultural Committee (DAC) regularly to address problems faced by Mannar farmers and fishermen when they are undergoing severe difficulties due fishing ban and violence, sources in Mannar said.


Full story >>

SLN takes Indian poachers to Point Pedro military base

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 March 2006, 09:13 GMT]
Five South Indian fishermen from Puthuchcheri district in TamilNadu who entered Munai area in the northern waters around 11:00 a.m. Sunday, were taken to the shore by Vadamaradchi fishermen. Tense situation ensued between the Sri Lanka Navy troopers and the local fishermen as they refused to hand over the Indian fishermen to the SLN. However, the SLN soldiers threatened the local fishermen and have forcibly taken the Tamil Nadu fishermen to the 52-4 Brigade quarters for investigations, fisheries officials said.
Full story >>

Mullaitivu fishermen receive fishing nets, accessories

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 March 2006, 17:39 GMT]
The Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) under its accelerated rehabilitation project after tsunami with the funding of the Church of South India handed over a consignment of fishing nets to affected fishermen in Mullaitivu district at an event held Friday. Mr.Maraiyarasa, President of the Fisheries Co-operative Federation presided over the event, sources said.
Full story >>