Fresh tsunami alert issued in Tamil Nadu, India

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 December 2004, 06:49 GMT]
A new tsunami alert is issued by Indian authorites, according to South Indian radio stations monitored in Colombo. Residents along the coastal line in Colombo are seen fleeing. Meanwhile, Rediff.com, an Indian online media quoted Commodre Salil Mehta, spokesman of Indian armed forces as saying: "We are on high alert. There is a warning of tsunami and earthquake today (Thursday)". Sri Lankan authorities will not be putting out a warning, government sources in Colombo said.
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Pirapaharan appeals for international assistance

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 December 2004, 14:09 GMT]
Mr. Velupillai Pirapaharan, leader of the Liberation Tigers, Wednesday appealed to the international community and the United Nations to generously assist the people of the northeast devasted by the Tsunami. "I express my deepest sympathies and condolences to my people who lost their kith and kin in this disaster. I also extend my deepest sympathies and condolences to our Muslim and Sinhala brethren in the south who were affected by the Tsunami", he said in a statement issued in Tamil by the headquarters of the LTTE.
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Tsunami death toll expected to increase

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 December 2004, 17:10 GMT]
Around 3100 persons in Northeast and 1400 in South have died due to tsunami waves that hit NorthEast coast Sunday, according to government sources in Colombo. In the Northeast alone, nearly 12000 people have suffered injuries and around 200,000 people have been affected, administrative sources in Colombo said. Government sources added that death toll is expected to rise significantly. In the meantime, Tamil National Alliance (TNA)parliamentarian Mr. Joseph Pararajasingam has urged the Prime Minister Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksha, to attend to immediate needs of the affected public in the east.
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At least 500 feared killed by Tsunami waves in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 December 2004, 04:12 GMT]
At least five hundred people are feared killed as fierce waves from the sea hit Sri Lanka' eastern and southern coasts Sunday morning. Initial reports from the east said that many coastal villages of the Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Amparai districts were hit by powerful tidal waves causing extensive destruction as thousands of homes were covered by rising sea waters. Around 25 villages are reported to have been swept off by the tidal waves of the Tsunami.
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Twenty Tamil refugees return to Talaimannar by sea

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 December 2004, 17:10 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Navy Tuesday evening arrested 20 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees when they landed in Talaimannar coastal area and one of them with about one and half kilogram of ganja. All the twenty were handed over to the Talaimannar Police, sources said. Mannar Magistrate Mr.M.N.M.Abdulla Wednesday released 19 refugees and ordered remand till December 29 for the refugee who was allegedly possessing ganja when they were produced in court by the police.
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HIV/AIDS awareness seminar held in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 December 2004, 14:25 GMT]
"Students of the east port town should exercise constraint in their sexual behaviours and should not fall to prey to the deadly disease. Six persons have already been affected by HIV/AIDS affected in Trincomalee district," warned Dr.E.G.Gnanagunalan, President of the Trincomalee district branch of the Sri Lanka Red Cross (SLRC) and a senior medical officer of the provincial ministry of health addressing a seminar for students held Wednesday in the Trincomalee Town Hall to mark the International HIV/ AIDS Day.
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Stick courageously to your Policies, Cine Director tells Tamils

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 December 2004, 14:56 GMT]
"Tamils of Eelam must achieve success by continuing to pursue their policies courageously as they have been doing for the past 30 years...The Eelam Tamils must stand firm and attain their final goal," said Bharathiraja (63), the veteran Tamil Director from Tamil Nadu in South India, in an interview to a popular Tamil daily in Jaffna Friday.
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Veteran Tamil scholar dies

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 November 2004, 11:19 GMT]
Mr.R.Vadivelu, a veteran Tamil and Hindu scholar in Trincomalee passed away at the age of 85 Friday afternoon around 1 p.m. at his residence located in Vidiyalayam Lane in the heart of east port town. Cremation is to take place in Trincomalee Hindu Cemetery Saturday evening, family sources said.


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Journalist Nimalarajan remembered in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 October 2004, 13:46 GMT]
Journalists of Jaffna regional newspapers and Colombo based print and electronic media Tuesday around noon gathered in the Jaffna bus stand and held demonstration demanding the government not to hush up the inquiry into the murder of journalist Mr.Mylwaganam Nimalarajan who was shot dead allegedly by members of a Tamil para-military group four years ago on October 19, 2000. The Jaffna Nimalarajan Foundation (NMJ) organized this event in connection with the fourth death anniversary of late Nimalarajan, which fell on Tuesday, media sources said.
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Peace talk delays, diversionary tactic of SL Govt.- Wickremesinghe

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 October 2004, 00:33 GMT]
Charging that Sri Lanka Government's deliberate delaying of peace talks as a diversionary tactic, Leader of Sri Lanka Opposition and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, addressing a group of political and business leaders on the eve of an official trip to India Friday, warned that if the Sri Lanka Government does not genuinely make efforts to advance the peace process it will lose a valuable opportunity for resolving the ethnic conflict. He said further that unless negotiations are undertaken immediately the economy will be adversely affected.
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Mannar magistrate remands five Indians

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 October 2004, 11:43 GMT]
Mannar magistrate Tuesday remanded five Indian boatmen for entering Sri Lankan waters. He directed Thalaimannar Police to hand over fifteen Indian fishermen who were arrested along with the five boatmen to Sri Lanka navy for repatriation. Sri Lanka Navy seized seven Indian fishing boats that were poaching in Sri Lankan waters north of Thalaimannar Monday afternoon around 4.Twenty eight fishermen were taken into custody and were brought ashore by SLN.
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Under world killings continue in South

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 September 2004, 16:34 GMT]
Two members of a suspected underworld gang were shot dead by Police officers manning the check point in Piwatte near Panadura in Colombo Saturday evening, police sources said. They allegedly hijacked a motorbike in Wadukka, 20km south of Colombo, and had passed through the checkpoint when Police officers gave chase and opened fire.
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India to declare Tamil as classical language

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 September 2004, 02:45 GMT]
The Indian Union Cabinet, which met on Friday morning, decided to declare Tamil a "classical language," Press Trust of India (PTI) reported Friday. The declaration comes after years of lobbying by Tamil scholars including Prof. George Hart, Professor of Tamil, University of California, who wrote in April 2000, "To deny that Tamil is a classical language is to deny a vital and central part of the greatness and richness of Indian culture."
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Refugees abandoned on Kachchathivu arrive in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 September 2004, 09:37 GMT]
Twenty eight Sri Lankan Tamil refugees from South India who had been abandoned in the island Kachchaithivu were brought to Jaffna Saturday. Government officials at the Jaffna District Secretariat gave the refugees money to help them return to their villages in Mannar,Mullaithivu and other parts of the Vanni. The refugees related their harrowing experience to local experience to local journalists.
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TNA MPs welcome POTA's repeal, urge India to revoke ban

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 August 2004, 13:52 GMT]
''We welcome the Indian Central Government for its intention to abolish the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). At the same time, we also urge the Indian Government to consider lifting the ban on the LTTE and create a more meaningful and conducive environment necessary to bring the stalled peace process in Sri Lanka back on track'', TNA MPs Mr. Joseph Pararajasingam and Mr. Selvam Adaikalanathan told TamilNet Friday.
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Refugees abandoned on mid sea sandbank

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 August 2004, 12:06 GMT]
Nine refugees who were abandoned by two Indian boatmen on a sandbank in the middle of the sea in the Gulf of Mannar were rescued by a fisherman from Thalaimannar Saturday. Mannar magistrate released them when they were produced before him by Thalaimannar Police Sunday. The refugees said the boatmen had forced them to get off on a small shifting sandbank at midsea around midnight on Thursday. The influx of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees from state run camps in South India who risk illegal and dangerous sea journeys to reach Mannar has increased dramatically recently.
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Poojas on plastic in Meenakshi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 August 2004, 16:49 GMT]
Devotees of the Meenakshi Sundareswar temple in Madurai, 500 km south of Chennai, can now swipe the card to pay for their poojas and donate for temple charities, IANS reported this week.
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UNHCR urged to organize boat service to refugees in India

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 August 2004, 16:54 GMT]
Mr.Selvam Adaikalanathan, Vanni district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian has appealed to the UNHCR Sri Lanka's Representative to take steps to organize boat service between India and Talaimannar to transport Sri Lankan Tamil refugees who are willing to return to their villages. Currently thousands of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees are in refugee camps in Tamilnadu in South India.
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Death at noon creates crack in Sri Lanka's defences

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 August 2004, 02:31 GMT]
Mr. Kandaiah Yoharasa alias PLOTE Mohan was the most dreaded Tamil paramilitary operative that ever worked with the Sri Lankan armed forces in their war against the Liberation Tigers. His name once evoked terror among the people of Batticaloa. He was an invaluable if not indispensable part of Sri Lanka's intelligence and counter insurgency operations against the LTTE.
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North East Tamils mourn ‘Black July’

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 July 2004, 07:12 GMT]
Tamils in northeast province Sunday observed a day of mourning to mark the pogrom against Tamils by Sinhala extremists assisted by the then Sri Lanka Government twenty one years ago on 23rd July, 1983. Several Tamil and civil group organizations in Jaffna called for people to close down shops and conduct prayers. More than thousand innocent Tamils in the southern part of the country, majority of them in Colombo were killed, many burnt alive or hacked to death, in daylight in the presence of State security forces during the ‘Black July’.
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