Thalpitiya, Thaaligala, Thaazhaiyadi, Kaththaazhampiddi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 April 2011, 22:51 GMT]
The plain or high ground of palmyra palms
The rocky place of talipot palms
The locality of screw-pines
The high ground of aloe

Full story >>

Eastern campus students continue boycott

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 April 2011, 10:18 GMT]
Undergrads of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka (EUSL) did not attend classes Tuesday following the arrest of the President and Secretary of the University Students Union (USU) on Monday night, according to the acting Vice Chancellor Mr.K.Premkumar. The EUSL re-opened Tuesday after the closure following the boycott of classes in protest to the assault on Tamil undergrads by the police that took place on March 29. But the Student Union through a media statement on April 18 wanted its members to continue the boycott till the removal of the police sentry point from varsity premises when the EUSL administration decided to reopen the varsity on April 19.
Full story >>

‘Saving a state that refuses to be saved’

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 April 2011, 02:40 GMT]
A perusal of the leaked UN report would show that the outlook is to ultimately save the Sri Lankan state by providing it with an escape avenue through a minimum penalty of accepting a ‘concurrent’ international mechanism to investigate the war crimes. But the reactions coming from Colombo only show that such an undue consideration on the part of the UN and the IC towards Sri Lanka is futile as state has never been orientated in the island for peaceful unity or for being genocide-free. Perhaps a chance has now been given especially to the Sinhala masses to demonstrate their choice between supporting a criminal regime that tries to save its skin by citing love to a genocidal `mother country´ and recognizing the love of both the Sinhalese and Eezham Tamils towards their mother countries in order to pave way for true reconciliation, writes A. Vijayshankar of Tamil Nadu who is now in Norway.
Full story >>

TNA urges GoSL not to miss the opportunity to engage in equality process

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 April 2011, 18:38 GMT]
R. Sampanthan, the parliamentary group leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), in his response to the leaked recommendations of the UN Panel, on Monday said that the TNA urged the Rajapaksa regime not to miss the opportunity to "constructively engage in a process which would result in all the Peoples of Sri Lanka being the beneficiaries of genuine democracy, equality and justice."
Full story >>

UN panel admits international failure in Vanni war, calls for investigations

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 April 2011, 08:22 GMT]
"During the final stages of the war, the United Nations political organs and bodies failed to take actions that might have protected civilians," said the United Nations Panel on Sri Lanka in its final report to Secretary General Ban-ki Moon. The report has also admitted that the UN system knowingly failed to release the casualty figures of the civilians. Although the report didn't touch the hot topic of serious allegations against the role the UN officials and certain responsible personalities associated with world powers, it said: The Secretary-General should conduct a comprehensive review of actions by the United Nations system during the war in Sri Lanka and the aftermath, regarding the implementation of its humanitarian and protection mandates.
Full story >>

Canada orders deportation of Mrs. Parajasingham

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 April 2011, 03:41 GMT]
Canada has ordered the deportation of the widow of Joseph Pararajasingham, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian shot dead during at Christmas Mass in 2005 at packed church in the then Sri Lankan government-controlled Batticaloa town, the Toronto Star reported. Canada says 74 year old grandmother, Mrs. Sugunm Joseph, is a member “by association” of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), because her husband was a member of the TNA, the largest Tamil political party of Eezham Tamils in the island. Mr. Parajasingham was killed just weeks after President Mahinda Rajapaksa assumed office after the elections in November 2005.
Full story >>

Sinhala colonization threatens coastal areas of Mannaar

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 April 2011, 03:56 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse led United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government has been implementing a planned scheme to settle Sinhalese persons in the southern coastal areas of Mu'l'lik-ku'lam, Thampapa'l'li in Ko'ndaichchi and areas along Madu road in the Mannaar district. Lands belonging to Tamil villagers in these areas are being grabbed to settle Sinhalese from the south, said Mr.Selvam Adaikalanathan, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Vanni district parliamentarian in a statement to media.
Full story >>

North-East ITAK local councilors take oaths in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 April 2011, 20:39 GMT]
Seventy six councilors, elected under Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK) ticket on behalf of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) for the fifteen local authorities in North and East, took oaths on Saturday at Trincomalee Town Hall in the presence of Mr.R.Sampanthan, parliamentary group leader of the TNA and President of the ITAK, sources in Trincomalee said. Sampanthan is also the Trincomalee district parliamentarian.
Full story >>

Sampanthan presides oath taking event of ITAK local councilors

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 April 2011, 05:36 GMT]
The oath taking event of seventy six councilors of the fifteen local bodies in the North and East is scheduled to be held on Saturday in Trincomalee Town Hall. Mr.R.Sampanthan, parliamentary group leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the President of the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK) arrived in Trincomalee Friday evening to preside over the event. The event was earlier fixed for Sunday.
Full story >>

HRW demands accountability for wartime disappearances

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 April 2011, 05:19 GMT]
Human Rights Watch, a New York based rights organization, said in a press release issued Friday that "[t]hrough interviews with relatives of the missing and witnesses, published testimony, and media reports, Human Rights Watch found that more than 20 people who were taken into army custody between May 16 and 18, 2009, appear to have been forcibly disappeared. Most of them are known to have been detained in the Vadduvaakal area, just south of the strip of land in northeastern Sri Lanka where the final battle between the LTTE and government forces occurred. At the time, the area was controlled by the Sri Lankan army’s 59 Division," and demanded that Colombo "should account for everyone who was taken into custody."
Full story >>

Emergency extended for another month in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 April 2011, 05:08 GMT]
Sri Lanka parliament Thursday evening adopted the motion by the government to extend the state of emergency for another month with a majority of 81 votes. 98 parliamentarians from the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and its constituents voted for the motion, parliamentary sources said.
Full story >>

Blake sees ‘people to people’ ties through militaries

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 April 2011, 13:36 GMT]
The US Asst Secretary of State Robert O Blake, giving testimony before the US House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday said that the value of the skyrocketing US arms sales to India over the last decade “is not just the dollar figure – they both represent and strengthen deeper levels of cooperation between our two militaries and facilitate building people-to-people ties.” On Sri Lanka Blake said: “Positioned directly on the shipping routes that carry petroleum products and other trade from the Gulf to East Asia, Sri Lanka remains of strategic interest to the U.S. An important contributor to global peacekeeping operations, Sri Lanka stands poised to be a capable and willing partner to effectively combat violent extremism, trafficking and piracy, and thereby help to ensure the maritime security of the region.”
Full story >>

Forced registration in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 April 2011, 19:07 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has instructed residents of Vellaveli in Batticaloa district to register with the village level officers (Grama Niladhari-GN), civil society sources in Batticaloa said. The SLA has directed the GN to submit all names of residents of the village in forms supplied to them. SLA has also directed the villagers to indicate whether the household members include ex-cadres of the LTTE and disabled due to conflict. This has caused tension and fear among the villagers.
Full story >>

Vi'laan, Divula-pitiya, Jool-pallama

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 April 2011, 21:22 GMT]
The place of wood apple trees
The high ground of wood apple trees
The low ground of wood apple trees
Full story >>

ITAK local councilors of North, East to take oath in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 April 2011, 06:55 GMT]
76 councilors of the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK) elected to fifteen local authorities and Chairmen and Vice Chairmen of twelve local authorities are scheduled to take oaths on April 10 Sunday morning at Trincomalee Town Hall in the presence of Mr.R.Sampanthan, parliamentary group leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the president of Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK). ITAK is the major constituent of the TNA. Earlier TNA decided to have the event on March 31 but it was later postponed to April 10 enabling Sampanthan to attend the event, party sources said.
Full story >>

Vasanthi Arasaratnam becomes Vice Chancellor, Jaffna University

[TamilNet, Thursday, 31 March 2011, 01:24 GMT]
Senior Professor of the Medical Faculty of the University of Jaffna, Ms.Vasanthi Arasaratnam has been appointed as the new Vice Chancellor of the University of Jaffna with effect from 28th March. She gets the rare distinction of being the first woman Vice Chancellor of the university. Prof. Arasaratnam earlier served as the Dean of the Medical Faculty. She secured the highest number of preferential votes of the university council among the three nominated to the post a few months ago.
Full story >>

Saiva temples desecrated in East: Yogeswaran MP

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 March 2011, 05:53 GMT]
The desecration of Saiva temples in the eastern province cannot be allowed to go unchecked, said Batticaloa district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian C.Yogeswaran on Monday. He made this comment after viewing the destruction of statues and other temple articles at Periyakallaa'ru a coastal village located 30 km south of Batticaloa city in the Ka'luvaagnchik-kudi division of Batticaloa district by unidentified group of persons recently.
Full story >>

London women urge immediate IC move to rehabilitate Eezham widows

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 March 2011, 21:02 GMT]
Representatives of women’s groups in London, who met on Thursday at Kingston to observe International Women’s Day centenary, appealed for immediate international community move to rehabilitate an estimated 89,000 Eezham Tamil war widows. The gathering organized by Tamil Women Development Forum and Elders Empowerment Programme was participated by representatives of various communities in London and was attended by the Mayor and council officials of Kingston. Speaking on the occasion, Ms Annabelle Sartoris, a university researcher, said that Sri Lanka breaches UN resolution 1325 in protecting the rights of Eezham Tamil women.
Full story >>

Batticaloa development not transparent, benefits no residents, says Council member

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 March 2011, 11:33 GMT]
Sri Lanka government has been planning development projects in the Batticaloa district to boost the image of Mahinda Chinthanaya and also to help its financial resources, but not to benefit the district residents, according to Mr.R. Thurairatnam, Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) member. Mr.Thurairatnam is also the leader of the Padmanaba wing of the EPRLF and representd Batticaloa district in the EPC.
Full story >>

TNA MP accuses Pillaiyaan of issueing death threats

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 March 2011, 01:41 GMT]
Batticaloa District Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian C. Yogeswaran has lodged a complaint with the Kaththangkudy Police that he had repeatedly received death threats from the Chief Minister of Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pilliayan, according to electronic media reports in Colombo Tuesday.
Full story >>