Armed men abduct Tamil youth in Thampalakaamam

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 August 2007, 18:08 GMT]
Unidentified armed men abducted a Tamil youth Thursday morning at Ka'l'limeadu in Thampalakaamam village in Trincomalee district, according to a complaint lodged with the Trincomalee Human Rights Commission (HRC) Regional Office.
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2 STF troopers injured in Kangchikudichchaa'ru mine explosion

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 August 2007, 13:19 GMT]
Two troops of the Sri Lanka Task Force (STF) unit infiltrating into Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held territory in Kangchikudichchaa'ru area in Ampaa'rai district Wednesday evening, were seriously injured when a pressure mine exploded and were admitted to the Ampaa'rai District Hospital, Ampaa'rai police said.


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TamilNet Transcription

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 August 2007, 04:08 GMT]
Near accurate Tamil pronunciation is a challenge to English news reporting. Tamil words and place names have long been misspelt due to ambiguity in transcription. Conventional transliteration symbols are difficult to compose, store and retrieve. Known transcription systems are unaesthetic to look at and tiresome to compose due to mix-up of lowercase and uppercase characters. TamilNet presents a standard transcription system to face the existing challenges and to cater to contemporary social and cyber needs.
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TamilNet Transcription: improved facilities introduced

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 August 2007, 04:07 GMT]
TamilNet Transcription is now possible in Unicode with simultaneous display facilities. Transcription from Tamil to Roman and reverse transcription from Roman to Tamil can now be done without any limit to the size of the text, using the TamilNet web tool. Readers can make use of the facility by accessing the link provided on the right-hand top of the front page. Those who wish to get the source code are welcome to contact us. It is a non-profit offer from the TamilNet.
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Cordon, search operation troubles fishing in Ea'raavoor

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 August 2007, 18:38 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA), Police and Special Task Force (STF) commandos cordoned off fishing villages 18 km northeast of Batticaloa Wednesday early morning. The search operation in the coastal villages, where Sri Lanka Navy has banned fishing during nights, affected the fishermen, causing scarcity of fish in Batticaloa town and Vaazhaichcheanai.
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Thuvarai Moaddai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 August 2007, 19:00 GMT]
The tank in the locality of Thuvarai trees
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Heavy rain adds to Moothoor IDPs' woes

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 August 2007, 10:36 GMT]
Heavy rain in Moothoor division have added further misery to displaced Tamil families sheltered in temporary structures in Killiveddi and Paddiththidal in Trincomalee district, civil society sources said. Flood water entering their camps, and leaking roofs have become a burden to carry out day-to-day basic acitivities, sources added.
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SLA renames Thaa'ndiyadi to Suniththapura

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 August 2007, 03:01 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) officials, giving Sinhala names to traditional Tamil villages in the areas captured in military offensives in Batticaloa district, are compelling residents resettled in the areas to use the new Sinhala name for all purposes, accused Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Batticaloa district parliamentarian, T. Ariyanenthiran, Monday.
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10 Tamils arrested in Muneesvaram still under custody

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 August 2007, 02:18 GMT]
Ten Tamil civilians out of 62 arrested on Sunday night in a cordon and search operation conducted by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and police at Muneesvaram area in Chilaw (Chilaapam) district in the north western province are still being detained at Chilaw police station and are being interrogated by the Terrorist Intelligence Division (TID), civil society sources said.
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IFJ calls for safety of journalists

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 August 2007, 02:04 GMT]
Jacqueline Park, Asia-Pacific Director of International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), said that as long as journalists are continued to be intimidated and attacked in Sri Lanka, a free press in the country cannot be assured, in an IFJ media release Monday. IFJ, which represents over 600,000 journalists in 114 countries, while expressing its concern, called upon the Sri Lanka Government to act immediately to ensure the safety of journalists who serve the public's fundamental right to know, according to the media release.


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STF arrests 2 Tamil youths in Kokkaddichchoalai

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 August 2007, 11:16 GMT]
Sri Lanka Special Task Force (STF), an elite commando unit of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces, arrested two Tamil youths on suspicion Tuesday morning in a search operation launched in Kokkaddichchoalai area in Batticaloa district, Senior Police Commissioner of Batticaloa, H. M. P. Hearath, said.


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Tamil youth shot dead in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 August 2007, 10:36 GMT]
Unidentified arm men shot dead a Tamil youth Monday evening in Jinna Nakar, a suburb located at Third Mile Post, three km north of Trincomalee Town.
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SLA bombards LTTE areas from Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 August 2007, 06:45 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army Tuesday launched sustained artillery and multi-barrel rocket fire towards Tamil Tiger controlled territory from Koaddai and Palaali in Jaffna. The sudden and intensive SLA bombardment has raised fear among the residents of the northern peninsula that fighting may break out on the Front Defence Lines (FDLs). The SLA said the barrage was in retaliation for an LTTE artillery attack in which at least ten shells had been fired at the Palaali base complex from LTTE-controlled Poonakari on Tuesday at around 8:45 a.m.
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LTTE, SLA exchange artillery fire in Thenmaraadchi FDL

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 August 2007, 19:39 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and Sri Lanka Army were engaged in a heavy exchange of artillery fire Monday evening. SLA fired artillery shells from Koappaay area on LTTE held Poonakari, Mukamaalai and Naakarkoayil areas, while LTTE retaliated artillery shelling SLA bases in Mirusuvil and Usan areas in Thenmaraadchi.
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Jeyananthamoorthy MP's brother shot dead

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 August 2007, 16:07 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Batticaloa parliamentarian S. Jeyananthamoorthy's brother S. Thiyagachandra was shot dead by armed men in Oaddamaavadi, 1 km west of Vazhaichcheanai Monday evening around 6:30, according to his relatives.
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Tamil woman shot dead in Vellaave'li

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 August 2007, 14:45 GMT]
Unidentified gunman shot dead a Tamil woman Sunday around 8:00 a.m at Kampiyaa'ru in Vellaave'li police division in Batticaloa district, while she was leaving her house, Ka'luvaagnchikkudi police said.
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Tamil Literary Festival to be held in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 August 2007, 07:55 GMT]
The Eastern Provincial Council is to hold Tamil Literary Festival in Batticaloa during the last week of October 2007 for the first time after the de-merger of North East Provincial Council (NEPC), civil society sources in Batticaloa said.
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SLA allows cultivation, resettlement in Kurankupaanchaan

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 August 2007, 05:51 GMT]
About three hundred families displaced from Kurankupaanchaan, a hamlet in Kinniya division in Trincomalee district, will be allowed to resume cultivation of paddy and other crops in their abandoned lands immediately. Resettlement of these families displaced in 1990 would take place simultaneously, according to consensus reached at a discussion held Saturday at Kurankupaanchaan camp of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) , civil society sources said.
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US in refurbishment of markets in Trincomalee region

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 August 2007, 10:44 GMT]
Breaking ground for refurbishment of Anpuvazhipuram market in Trincomalee, Deputy Chief of Mission at U.S. Embassy in Sri Lanka, James R. Moore, said "The U.S. Government is proud to be able to contribute to the refurbishment of this market, which is important to the economic and social life of Trincomalee...The coming months and years will be a decisive and exciting period for Trincomalee and the East. We hope there will be new opportunities for people of all communities," the US Embassy said in a press release issued Wednesday.
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More IDPs resettled in Eachchilampathu

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 August 2007, 05:01 GMT]
About 1200 members of 317 Tamil families displaced from Eachchilampathu division in Trincomalee district last year following military offensives by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) were taken to their villages, Ilankaiththurai and Muhaththuvaaram, for resettlement Saturday, civil society sources in Trincomalee said.
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