Sri Lanka President says will discuss peace with all

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 September 2004, 16:19 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s President Chandrika Kumaratunga said Saturday that she would invite all parties and organisations concerned in the peace process for discussions on how to take forward negotiations with the Liberation Tigers in two weeks. She was addressing a rally in Galle, a large provincial town on the island’s southern coast, to mark the 53rd anniversary of her Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), which was founded by her father, Mr. Solomon Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike. Speaking in Singhalese, President Kumaratunga vowed to do her best to bring the Liberation Tigers back to the negotiating table.
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Trinco Inner Wheel Club honours students excelled in A/L exam

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 September 2004, 19:17 GMT]
The Inner Wheel Club of Trincomalee at its second anniversary held at the Trincomalee Rotary House honoured fifteen students from Trincomalee town schools who have passed the G.C.E. Advanced Level Examination with three A's.
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Training for unemployed graduates begins in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 September 2004, 13:16 GMT]
A three month training program for hundred and sixty eight unemployed graduates in the Vavuniya district was inaugurated Thursday. The program is part of a controversial scheme by President Chandrika Kumaratunga's government to provide state jobs for more forty one thousand unemployed graduates. The scheme was introduced after mass protests and hunger strikes backed by the Marxist Sinhala nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, President Kumaratunga's mail coalition ally. Critics say it will cause a huge strain on the cash strapped Sri Lankan treasury.
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New SLA commander visits Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 September 2004, 12:59 GMT]
Sri Lanka's army commander, Lieutenant General Shantha Kottegoda began a two day visit to Jaffna Thursday. He vistited Sri Lankan armed forces positions in Kankesanthurai, Palaly and in some parts of the islands off Jaffna, Sri Lankan military sources in the northern peninsula said. The SLA commander was also scheduled to visit the main entry point to the LTTE held areas in Jaffna and Vanni at Muhamalai after it closed to public traffic in the evening. This is Lt. Gen. Shantha Kottegoda's first visit to Jaffna after he assumed duties as SLA commander.
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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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Destroyed major bridges in Jaffna to be renovated

[TamilNet, Monday, 30 August 2004, 15:27 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army's Jaffna area commander Major General Sunil Tennekon at a conference held at the Jaffna district secretariat on Monday assured the civil authorities that the SLA would extend its support to renovate major bridges in Jaffna district. These bridges were destroyed in the war, civil sources said.
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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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Price hikes ease Jaffna farmers' burden

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 August 2004, 10:50 GMT]
Despite unfavorable market conditions, prices of onions have increased from a July low of Rs.12 per kilo in Colombo markets, to a respectable Rs.40 to Rs.50 per kilo, according to traders dealing with perishable goods. Market watchers earlier warned that unplanned cultivation and increasing use of artifical fertilizers in Jaffna would result in oversupply leading to plunging market prices.
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LTTE women take part in mine ban conference

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 August 2004, 17:13 GMT]
Two senior female members of the Liberation Tigers are taking part in a conference organised by Geneva Call for former women combatants of Non State Actors to identify how they can contribute to the promotion of the landmine ban and other humanitarian norms. The conference began in Geneva Thursday.
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VVT celebrates revival of traditional temple festivals

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 August 2004, 08:38 GMT]
For sea faring residents and fishermen from the town of Valvettiturai located in the northern shores of Jaffna, temples dotting the town's landscape provide solace and protection from the dangers that accompany their trade. Boat festivals, where the elephant-faced god 'Ganapathi' is taken around the town in a boat shaped vehicle, are being celebrated with renewed cultural traditions, in the current climate of peace.
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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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Colombo said considering alternative to Nordic truce mission

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 August 2004, 06:36 GMT]
Sri Lanka' Deputy Minister of Defence, Mr. Ratnasiri Wickremanayaka, said Monday that his government is thinking of either enhancing the powers of the Nordic truce monitoring mission in the island or finding a more effective alternative to it.
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Agricultural exhibition to be held in Vattakachchi Model Farm

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 August 2004, 04:19 GMT]
Manufacturers and resellers of agricultural tools using latest technology, and agricultural, livestock producers will be showcasing their products in an exhibition at the Model Farm premises in Vattakachchi organized by the Tamil Eelam Economic Development Organization (TEEDOR) during the first week of September, organizers in Vanni said this week.
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Maj. Gen. Tennekoon made Jaffna SF commander

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 August 2004, 13:38 GMT]
Major General Sunil Tennekoon has been appointed the new Sri Lankan Security Forces Commander for Jaffna, military headquarters in Colombo said Thursday. He was the General Officer Commanding the Sri Lanka army's 22 Division in Trincomalee. Maj. Gen. Tennekoon replaces Maj. Gen. Susil Chandrapala who has been made commander of SLA's Volunteer Force.
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Tamil women's problems spotlighted in Vavuniya gathering

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 August 2004, 14:28 GMT]
A gathering of Tamil Eelam Women Associations, Sangamam, was held in Vavuniya Irambaikulam Girls Maha Vidiyalayam Monday on a grand scale. Noting that "women are subjected to more violence than during the war period", Vavuniya district Political Head of the LTTE's Women Wing, Ms Alai, said that the gathering was conducted to study about the violence and the forces behind the atrocities committed against women.
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Peace talks should be over ISGA proposals - Mannar Bishop

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 17 August 2004, 02:35 GMT]
“The Interim Self Governing Authority [ISGA] document was only a proposal for discussion as a step towards a viable alternative to separation. The current talk of a counterproposal to be made by the [Sri Lanka] government is not acceptable to the Liberation Tigers, as the LTTE feels this will become an opportunity for the government to bide its time…The government can bring up all its proposals at the discussion table over the ISGA proposals,” said the Bishop of Mannar, Rt.Rev. Rayappu Joseph, when TamilNet interviewed him Monday.
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Record crowds attend Madhu Church festival

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 August 2004, 15:32 GMT]
The annual festival of Madhu Church concluded Sunday with three Bishops - Thomas Soundaranayagam (Jaffna), Malcolm Ranjit (Ratnapura) and Rayappu Joseph (Mannar) - jointly holding Holy Mass. About three hundred thousand devotees from all parts of the island participated in the final day of the festival of the Madhu Church, which is also called Jungle Shrine, revered by Tamils and Sinhalese, sources said.
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SLMM-SLA meeting held in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 August 2004, 02:38 GMT]
Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission’s officials coordinating security met with the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army for the Vanni region, Maj. Gen. Sisira Wijesooriya, at the SLMM office in Vavuniya Friday, military sources said.
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