Tamil Students Federation HQ opened in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 September 2004, 14:46 GMT]
The headquarters of the Tamil Students Federation (TSF) was opened in Jaffna Monday morning. The headquarters is located along Kovil Road in Nallur."The headquarters will bring to the notice of the international community the violations of fundamental and human rights of Tamil students in the northeast," said Mr. P.Nilakshan, President of the TSF presiding over the event.
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Japan funds training for Trinco mechanics

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 September 2004, 01:34 GMT]
Twenty-two mechanics of Trincomalee district Saturday completed a five-day training course on maintenance of outboard motors organized by the Association of Overseas Technical Scholarship (AOTS), Japan and implemented by Yamaha Motor Co.Ltd, Japan in co-operation with Associated Motorways Ltd, Sri Lanka.
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Kantalai Sivan Temple "Kumbabishekam" held

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 September 2004, 14:06 GMT]
The consecration (Kumbabishekam) ceremony of the historic Kantalai Sivan Temple in Trincomalee district, which was built by the Chola King Rajendra Cholan around A.D.1010 was held Friday with Bramasiri S.Ravichandrakurukal, Chief Priest of the historic Trincomalee Paththirakali Amman Temple, conducting the ceremony officiating as the chief of a group of Hindu priests.
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Trinco rail, bus services in deplorable condition- MP

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 September 2004, 13:38 GMT]
Trincomalee district Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian Mr.K.Thurairatnasingham brought to the notice of the Transport Minister, Mr. Felix Perera, of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government the deplorable state of train and bus services in Trincomalee. Bus services to resettled villages in the Trincomalee district have been drastically curtailed due to acute shortage of buses thus causing severe transport difficulties to resettled families, the TNA MP complained.


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Jaffna MPs allocate funds for dependents of missing persons

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 September 2004, 11:42 GMT]
Jaffna district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians have allocated funds under the Decentralized Budget for the welfare of the dependents who have lost their breadwinners following the disappearance of persons after the arrest by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) during the period 1996-1997, sources said.


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Training for unemployed graduates

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 September 2004, 19:45 GMT]
One hundred fifty two graduates selected from the Trincomalee district in the first phase of the graduate employment scheme of the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) began their three months training with the inaugural event held in Trincomalee Town Hall Thursday.
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Bill criticized as disenfranchising many Tamils

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 September 2004, 14:28 GMT]
''The passage of 'Elections Special Provisions' Bill in Sri Lanka's parliament compelling citizens of Sri Lanka to produce National Identity Cards (NIC) to exercise his or her vote would tantamount to disenfranchising a large number of Tamil people, and would cause them irreparable political harm,'' said Mr.R.Sampanthan, parliamentary group leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in a letter faxed to Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse through the Secretary General of the Parliament Thursday.
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French diplomats meet TNA foreign affairs committee

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 September 2004, 09:36 GMT]
“We told France if indeed talks on the ISGA commence, there is a good chance that an agreement could be reached in this matter. We said that this is exactly what the Singhalese are afraid of, as it would mean that they would no longer have a monopoly on power, and their hegemony over the Tamil nation will cease for once and for all time. We also said that it is for this reason that we suspect that the Sri Lankan government t is trying to provoke the LTTE to another war by destabilizing the east and supporting Tamil armed groups," said Mr. Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam TNA MP Thursday.
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Youths are cornerstone of our struggle- Ilamparithy

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 September 2004, 00:32 GMT]
"Younger generation is the cornerstone of our struggle. We are fully aware of the efforts by our adversaries to spread social ills among our people. We accept that some level of distraction among the teen-agers is unavoidable. But this helps us in building strong social resistance against negative influences in the long term," said Ilamparithy, LTTE's head of political wing in Jaffna district.
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TNA's Southern campaign critical to peace- paper

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 September 2004, 09:29 GMT]
"The failure of the Tamil leadership during the last half a century to join forces with the progressive forces in the South has been one of the reasons why earlier attempts at a solution were not successful," said an editorial in Thinakkural, welcoming the formation of awareness and advocacy committees by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to conduct a campaign in the South of Sri Lanka on the importance of ISGA, and the aspirations of Tamils.
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Wickremanayake rhetoric harmful- NLF

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 September 2004, 06:40 GMT]
''Acting Defence Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake's warning to the Liberation Tigers not to push the Government to war and accusing the LTTE of continuing with killings and attacks on anti-LTTE elements in the East and in Colombo in violation of the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) in place, is not conducive to promoting a climate of peace,'' Mr Thirunavukkarasu, politburo member of the New Left Front (NLF), told TamilNet Tuesday
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Plan afoot to build new Trinco Campus

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 31 August 2004, 22:48 GMT]
Eastern University administration has prepared a master plan to rebuild the Trincomalee Campus of the East University at a new site at Konesapuri, seven km off north of Trincomalee town towards Nilaveli, where two hundred acres of land located has been allocated for the project. The Trincomalee campus is now functioning in buildings in the heart of Trincomalee town, without sufficient space to conduct classes and with substandard residential facilities to students, sources said.
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Special education project for resettled students in Trinco inaugurated

[TamilNet, Monday, 30 August 2004, 17:57 GMT]
Trincomalee Children Fund (TCF), supported by Trincomalee Tamil expatriates in Canada, last weekend inaugurated a free education project for resettled students in the villages of Sampalthivu, Salli and Aththimoddai, north of Trincomalee town. This project would provide special classes to students of Salli Ambal Vidiyalayam, Aththimoddai Tamil Vidyalaym and Sampalthivu Tamil Maha Vidyalayam in three subjects Maths, English Language and Science by specialized teachers in the subjects.
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TNA to promote ISGA awareness and advocacy

[TamilNet, Monday, 30 August 2004, 14:27 GMT]
"We have created three different action groups for the tasks of promoting awareness in the Parliament, awareness in the South and advocacy in the diplomatic circles," Mr. R. Sampanthan, Secretary General of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) told the press in Kilinochchi Monday. LTTE Political Head Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan and Mr. Sampanthan met press briefly after TNA's meeting with the LTTE's Political Head at the Planning Secretariat of the Liberation Tigers in Kilinochchi.
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TNA parliamentarians to meet Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 August 2004, 18:01 GMT]
All twenty-two parliamentarians of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) are scheduled to hold talks with Mr.S.P.Thamilchelvan, Political Head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Monday morning at the headquarters of the LTTE, Vanni sources said.


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SLA detains TNA MP at Omanthai checkpoint

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 August 2004, 13:23 GMT]
Soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) manning the Omanthai checkpoint in the Vanni region Friday detained Mr.M.K.Eelaventhan, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) national list parliamentarian, and his family members for more than one and a half hours under the pretense of checking his family members' identities, sources said.
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ISGA will prevent secession- Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 August 2004, 13:49 GMT]
In a meeting with Forum of Federations, Canada, the LTTE's Political Head Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan Friday told that institutionalising ISGA will ''prevent secession and pave the way for unity and lasting peace,'' according to sources at the LTTE Peace secretariat.
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Mannar youths lack vocational training opportunities- TNA MP

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 August 2004, 08:03 GMT]
"Mannar district youths who leave schools without the opportunity of going to universities and other high educational institutions to obtain high studies are tempted to engage in illegal activities to earn a living. Vocational training for these youths are absolutely necessary to provide alternate employment opportunities for these youths," said Mr.Selvam Adaikalanathan, Vanni district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian in a letter Minister Mr.Piyasena Gamage, Ministry of Skills Development, Vocational and Technical Education.
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Jaffna court postpones Habeas Corpus inquiry

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 August 2004, 02:04 GMT]
The Jaffna High Court Judge, Mr.K.P.S.Varatharajah, Monday put off the inquiry into a Habeas Corpus application filed by the father of a disappeared youth, after being arrested by the Sri Lanka Army in 1997, for October 18 as the defense submitted that the accused, Lieutenant Colonel Mahindaretna of the Sri Lanka Army, has been warded in the military hospital for kidney operation, legal sources said.
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Japanese ambassador says concerned by killings in east

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 August 2004, 14:21 GMT]
Japan and the international community are very concerned that killings in Sri Lanka's east coast and in Colombo might affect the peace process adversely, said Mr. Akio Suda, Japan's ambassador in Colombo Monday. He was speaking to the press in Batticaloa after meeting Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham, Tamil National Alliance MP for the eastern district. During the meeting the Batticaloa MP told Mr.Suda that the Sri Lankan military intelligence is behind the murder of several Liberation Tigers in the east.
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