Jaffna Principals appeal to UNF government to establish IA

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 June 2003, 17:35 GMT]
The Northern Principals' Association (JPA) Saturday requested the United National Front (UNF) government to establish an appropriate administrative structure in the northeast under the leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to serve as a foundation for find lasting peace in the country. "This request should be accepted by the Colombo government and the peace loving groups without delay," said the Jaffna Principals' Association in a statement issued Saturday in Jaffna, sources said.


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Japanese embassy refuses visa to civil society delegation

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 June 2003, 16:51 GMT]
Three member delegation of the North -East and South civil society invited to participate in the Japan donors conference by the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR), a non-governmental organization based in Tokyo was refused visa by the Japanese Embassy in Colombo, one of the members of the delegation Mr.T.Mahasivam said Saturday.
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Batticaloa-Amparai News in Brief

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 June 2003, 15:20 GMT]
Batticaloa-Colombo train service to resume after a false start, new library for Batticalo Town to be opened on Saturday and suspension of bus service to Kannakipuram in Ampara district causes severe hardships to residents of the impoverished village.
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Razeek group arrests two LTTE members in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 June 2003, 14:57 GMT]
Razeek group cadres arrested V. Paranitharan and S.Sathiaraj, members of the political wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and handed them over to the Sri Lanka police Friday morning in Thimilathivu in Batticaloa district, ex-militant sources said.


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EPDP cadre shot dead in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 June 2003, 14:18 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen Saturday early morning shot dead Raju Wijenathan alias Wijeyan, a thirty three year old Tamil youth who was a member of the para military group Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) when he was staying in his brother's restaurant, Trincomalee Police said.
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Colombo taking steps to enforce Official Language Policy - Language Commissioner

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 June 2003, 13:03 GMT]
"Although Sinhala, Tamil and English were declared as official languages fifteen years ago Sri Lanka governments of the past have not taken adequate measures to facilitate use of Tamil in Government offices of the Northeast," said D.U.Gunasekara, Head of the Official Language Commission briefing the press Friday in Rajagiriya, Colombo.


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Talks should be based on concrete proposals – Balasingham

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 June 2003, 06:45 GMT]
Negotiations on an Interim Administration for the Northeast could only begin once the Sri Lankan government had produced a detailed draft of its proposals for such a body, the Liberation Tigers said Friday. Discussions could only proceed usefully on the basis of “specific and concrete” proposals from Colombo, the LTTE’s Chief Negotiator and Political Advisor, Mr. Anton Balasingham, told TamilNet when asked about press reports suggesting the government had agreed to the establishment of an Interim Administration.
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Colombo JVP demonstration attracts more than 10,000

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 June 2003, 16:52 GMT]
More than ten-thousand members and activists, including parliamentary members of the Sinhala nationalist party, the Janta Vimukti Peramuna (JVP), took part in a massive rally in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo, Friday afternoon, protesting against attempts by the Sri Lanka government to hand over Northeast interim administration to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), political sources in Colombo said.
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Tamil students uprising celebrated in Northeast

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 June 2003, 14:03 GMT]
Thousands of Tamil students in the Northeast Friday celebrated the day of Student Uprising participating in processions and holding public meetings in several parts of the Northeast, sources from different districts in Northeast said.
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Humanitarian mine clearing group completes training

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 June 2003, 11:48 GMT]
A new group of workers from the Humanitarian Mine Clearing division which completed training that complied with international standards participated in a passing out ceremony held in the training center in Paranthan in Kilinochchi district at 4pm Friday, said sources.
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Trade Unions jointly respond to 'Regaining Sri Lanka'

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 June 2003, 00:54 GMT]
The two-day workshop held in Trincomalee Vigneswara Maha Vidiyalayam concluded Thursday as representatives of trade unions, welfare organizations and humanitarian agencies in the south and Northeast agreed to submit a joint response to the Sri Lanka government's 'Regaining Sri Lanka' document prepared as a presenting document to the aid meeting to be held in Japan starting from 9 June, sources said.
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Political confusion in Colombo said undermining peace

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 June 2003, 20:04 GMT]
"It would be absolutely imprudent on our part to predicate the future of the Tamil people on the unpredictable political climate we are witnessing in Colombo now. It is getting progressively unstable. A politically powerful section of the Sinhala Buddhist clergy asserts that President Kumaratunga wowed during a meeting with its leaders that she would divide the Northeast province. The political bankruptcy of the Sri Lankan state in solving the ethnic conflict never stood so well exposed," said Mr. Selvam Adaikalanathan, MP, a senior leader of the Tamil National Alliance, Thursday.
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Foundation stone laid for Chavakachcheri maternity home

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 June 2003, 17:31 GMT]
The foundation stone for the construction of a government maternity home at Chavakachcheri in the Jaffna district was laid Thursday by the Regional Director of health Services Mr.T.Sivapatham who was the chief guest at the event . The hospital complex was completely destroyed when the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched multi-barrel artillery (MBRL) attack on the town in 2000.
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NE observes Environment Day

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 June 2003, 13:38 GMT]
Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) and Tamil Eelam Economic Development Organization (TEEDOR), Thursday organised tree planting campaign in the Northeast province to mark the World Environment Day.
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Jewellery shop deaths alarm Jaffna residents

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 June 2003, 12:01 GMT]
The deaths of two Tamil youths, Viswa (20) and Balachandran Raghavagan (19) who mysteriously died in Jaffna within the last four days inside Jewellery shops have alarmed the Jaffna public, security sources said.


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Tamil students to celebrate day of Uprising

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 June 2003, 11:55 GMT]
With the motto "We will saw the seeds of education that instills responsibility and determination to preserve our motherland," Tamil students across Jaffna Peninsula are preparing to celebrate the day of student Uprising Friday, local reports from Jaffna said.


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Jaffna educationists urge Lanka's Prime Minister to act on IA

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 June 2003, 11:13 GMT]
The Jaffna District Council for Advancement of Education of Tamils (JDCAET) Wednesday appealed to the Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe to take immediate steps to set up an interim administration for the northeast province with adequate powers to uplift the standard of living of the people of the soil and rebuild the war ravaged province, sources said.


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Tamil students' language skills below par - Education Secretary

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 June 2003, 01:57 GMT]
Two-day workshop for the Assistant Directors of Education (Tamil) in the twenty-one Tamil medium education zones in the northeast province organized by the NE Provincial Education Ministry in Trincomalee concluded Wednesday evening. The main objective of the workshop was to instill in the minds of the assistant directors who are in charge of teaching Tamil language in their respective zones the critical necessity of ensuring the development of Tamil language skills of Tamil medium students, sources said.


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Heads of Mission from Europe meet LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 June 2003, 14:22 GMT]
Heads of Mission (HOMs) from The Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, met with Mr S P Tamilselvan, Head of the Political Wing of the LTTE, to reaffirm, as bilateral donors, their strong support for the peace process.
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Police yet to investigate attack on home says Batticaloa journalist

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 June 2003, 10:37 GMT]
“The Sri Lanka Police have not taken any action so far to investigate the grenade attack on my house in Valaichenai on Jan. 7 this year. I lodged a complaint at the Valaichenai Police station on the morning after the attack, in which an attempt was also made to set fire to my house”, said Mr. Senathirajah Jeyananthamoorthy, a leading Tamil journalist in the east giving evidence before a commission inquiring into attacks on media persons in the northeast Wednesday.
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