Resurgence event emphasizes Vavuniya Declaration, urges EU to reconsider stand

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 October 2005, 18:04 GMT]
Thousands of people gathered in Vavuniya Urban Council grounds Thursday at 3:30 p.m. to reaffirm July 27 Vavuniya Declaration. Tamil National Alliance parliamentarians, academics, religious leaders and social activists attended the event which also urged the European Union to reconsider its stand on travel restrictions on Liberation Tigers officials on visiting EU member states. Vavuniya was the venue of the initial Tamil National Resurgence Conference that proclaimed that an environment must be created to enable Tamils to decide their political destiny calling for the Sri Lankan Armed forces to vacate the land and seas of NorthEast.
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Mahinda Rajapakse addresses rallies in Trinco, Kantalai, Kinniya

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 October 2005, 17:18 GMT]
Prime Minister Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse, presidential candidate of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) Wednesday addressed election rallies in the towns of Trincomalee, Kinniya and Kantalai in the district. Mr.Wimal Weeravanse, parliamentary group leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna accompanied him, sources said.


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Vavuniya prepares for concluding resurgence event, grenade explodes

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 October 2005, 11:26 GMT]
Unidentified men lobbed a hand grenade inside compound of the Tamil National Resurgence committee Wednesday afternoon around 4:30 p.m. No one was injured in the explosion. Witnesses said that two men who lobbed the grenade escaped in a motorbike. The incident happened while Vavuniya residents are making preparations for the third month anniversary celebrations of the 27 July 2005 Vavuniya Proclamation.
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ACHR exposes Bindunuweva massacre report

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 October 2005, 16:17 GMT]
The New Delhi based Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) released details in a confidential report of Sri Lankan Presidential Commission on the Inquiry into the Bindunuwewa massacre. The organisation released details Tuesday on the fifth anniversary of the massacre of Tamil inmates in the Sri Lankan jail in Bindunuwewa. The ACHR said it had obtained a copy of the confidential report that has not been made public although SL President Kumaratunga's term as President comes to an end. Twenty-eight Tamil youth between the ages of 14-23 years were massacred while 14 other Tamil youths were seriously injured by Sinhala mobs and Sri Lanka police on 25 October 2000.
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TNA, SLMM meet in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 October 2005, 10:40 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians Sivanathan Kishor , Sivasakthi Ananthan and Vino Noharathalingam met with Vavuniya Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) at the Vavuniya SLMM offices Monday morning, sources in Vavuniya said. The discussion centered on the National Resurgence Event scheduled to take place on the 27th of this month.
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Media speculation on cause of UAV crash rebuffed

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 October 2005, 00:05 GMT]
Media reports that the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) belonging to Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) that came down in Vanni on 19 October was downed either by radar-guided gun or by an air-borne attack by the Liberation Tigers were mere speculations not backed up by concrete evidence, experts contacted by TamilNet said. A Virginia (US) based science journalist who covers UAV developments, rebuffed a report that quoted a Sri Lanka Air Force official as saying: "engine failure, generator failure and communications failure warning messages appearing simultaneously at Ground control indicated sudden destruction of the UAV caused by enemy action."
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Mannar hospital suffers from nurse shortage

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 October 2005, 12:23 GMT]
112 positions out of 147 positions for full time staffing positions for nurses still remain vacant at the Mannar government district hospital, and the hospital is currently functioning with only 35 nurses, hospital officials said. Providing effective medical service to patients warded in the hospital has become extremely difficult, said Mr.Selvam Adaikalanathan, Wanni district parliamentarian said in a letter the Director General of health Services of the Ministry of Health.
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Lt.Col.Sekhar's fifth anniversary commemorated in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 October 2005, 11:58 GMT]
The fifth death anniversary of Lt Col Sekhar, a special commander attached to the Charles Antony Special Brigade, was commemorated on Sunday with a Memorial Volley Ball tournament followed by a cultural event held at the premises of the Charles Antony Memorial builidng located near the Kovinthan Junction Kilinochchchi, sources in Kilinochchi said. Lt Col Sekhar succumbed to the wounds received during the Unceasing Waves-4 (Oyatha Alaigal) battle on the 23 October 2000.
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Electricity outages irk Mannar residents

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 October 2005, 11:22 GMT]
Frequent outages of electricity supply in Mannar and its suburbs are hurting residents and economic activity in Mannar, and industrialists are complaining that frequent breakdown and fluctuation in the supply are damaging industrial machinery, Mr.Selvam Adaikalanathan, Wanni district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian said in a memorandum sent to the Minister of Power and Energy, Mr Susil Premajayantha.


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Three children, SLA soldier injured in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 October 2005, 07:58 GMT]
Three children were injured in Batticaloa Sunday morning when Sri Lanka Army soldiers opened fire on gunmen who fired at SLA soldiers manning a sentry wounding one soldier. The incident took place around 8:45 a.m. The soldiers were manning a sentry point at the Zahira College on Rosario Road, 2 km north of Batticloa town. The children were refugees stationed in the refugee camp at the Zahira College, civilian sources said.
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Clustered Polling booths to be located 500 meters from SLA checkpoint

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 October 2005, 11:16 GMT]
Jaffna district Government Agent (GA), Mr K Ganesh, in a meeting with election officials and officers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) held at the Secretariat offices Friday, informed that the Election Commissioner has directed him to arrange clustered polling booths near Muhamalai area to allow the voters in the Liberation Controlled areas in Vanni district to exercise their franchise, sources from Jaffna said. Unlike in the previous elections, the polling booths are to be located 500 meters away from the Muhamalai Sri Lanka Army (SLA) checkpoint towards Eluthumattuval direction, he added.
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TNA headquarters opened in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 October 2005, 17:16 GMT]
The headquarters of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) was declared open Friday evening in Trincomalee town on the eve of the Trincomalee National Tamil Resurgence Convention to be held on Saturday morning. Mr.Mavai Senathirajah, Jaffna district TNA parliamentarian lit the flame of sacrifice. Mr.R.Sampanthan, TNA parliamentary group leader hoisted the Thamileelam national flag and Mr.Jospeh Pararajasingham, TNA National List parliamentarian unveiled the name board of the headquarters.


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Massacre anniversary commemorated in Jaffna Hospital

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 October 2005, 11:18 GMT]
Eighteenth death anniversary of twenty-one persons including medical specialists, nurses, attendants, patients and members of public who were massacred inside Jaffna Teaching Hospital (JTH) by Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) troops stationed in Jaffna Fort on 21st October, 1987 was held at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital Friday, sources in Jaffna said. Deputy Director of the Hospital, R Raviraj, presided the event.
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18th anniversary of IPKF Hospital massacre to be held

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 October 2005, 11:26 GMT]
Eighteenth death anniversary of twenty-one persons including medical specialists, nurses, attendants, patients and members of public who were massacred inside Jaffna Teaching Hospital (JTH) by Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) troops stationed in Jaffna Fort on 21st October, 1987 is to be observed Friday in the hospital premises, civil sources said.
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Nimalarajan remembered in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 October 2005, 15:54 GMT]
Journalists and academicians Wednesday addressing the fifth death anniversary of late journalist Mr.Mylvaganam Nimalarajan held at the Media and Research centre of the Jaffna University appealed to the government to take steps to bring the culprits of the murder before court of law without any further delay, attendees to the event said. The case filed in the court was struck off from the call roll after some months.
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Sri Lankan UAV comes down in Vanni

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 October 2005, 10:01 GMT]
An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) launched from the Joseph camp in Vavuniya for surveillance mission into the Liberation Tigers controlled area has come down in Vanni Wednesday afternoon, sources in Kilinochchi said. A UAV was seen coming down in Vignanikulam between 9th Mile and Karappukuththi, around 20 km northeast of Omanthai, according to civilian sources in Vanni. Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) sources in Colombo also confirmed that an UAV was missing.
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Nimalarajan's fifth anniversary commemorated

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 October 2005, 11:28 GMT]
Fifth death anniversary of Mr.Mylvaganam Nimalarajan a BBC reporter in Jaffna who was shot dead by suspected members of a Tamil para-military group on October 19, 2000 was commemorated in an event held at the Offices of the International Students Union located in Nallur Jaffna. Journalist Thavachelvan presided the event.
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Policeman shot dead in Puttalam

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 October 2005, 06:24 GMT]
Two motorbike-riding gunmen, stopped by the Sri Lankan police Monday night at a checkpoint in Puttalam, shot and killed a police constable and escaped leaving behind their motorbike 50 meters away from the ckeckpoint. The incident took place in front of a Mariyamman temple on Puttalam -Mannar road around 8:00 p.m. Monday.
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Constitutionality of Economic Powers Act challenged in US Court

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 October 2005, 00:05 GMT]
The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), non-profit legal organization based in New York, is expected to file a case in US Courts against provisions in the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) that criminalize contributions of "goods or services" to designated foreign terrorist groups. CCR represents Humanitarian Law Project, a human rights organization, and several Tamil- American organizations that seek to support the lawful activities of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka, especially in areas affected by the 2004 tsunami.


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Vanni hospital aims high

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 October 2005, 00:02 GMT]
Doctors, both foreign and from Tamil diaspora, have been visiting hospitals in the NorthEast, often bringing new medical equipment and training local medical practitioners with invaluable surgical knowledge and other medical diagnostic skills. Dr K Sivapalan, Medical Director at Dr Ponnampalam Memorial Hospital in Puthukkudiyiruppu, Mullaitivu district, himself has been to U.S for four weeks recently looking at different medical facilities, is keen to capitalize on and encourage diaspora interest to develop his hospital into a premier medical institution in the NorthEast.
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