NECORD allocates Rs.300m for Vavuniya development

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 March 2006, 08:31 GMT]
In Killinochchi district eleven schools are still functioning with basic facilities in cadjan huts. Educational facilities have to improve if our students are to become skilled workers and intellectuals in a global community which is advancing rapidly in the use of technology," said Mr.T.Lankaneson, Project Director of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded North East Community Restoration Development (NECORD) programme participating as the chief guest at the annual prize giving celebration of the Vavuniya Saivapragasa Ladies College held during the weekend, sources said.
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LTTE, TNA discuss Vavuniya violence with SLMM

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 March 2006, 13:01 GMT]
Head of Vavuniya LTTE Political Wing, Mr Gnanam, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians, and several Vavuniya civil society representatives held discussions with members of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) on escalating violence in Vavuniya targetted against businesspersons, at the LTTE political office in Puliyankulam at 10.30 a.m. Saturday, sources from Vavuniya said.
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Fonseka claims credit for successful ‘retaliations’

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 March 2006, 01:46 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Army commander, Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka, has claimed credit for a number of killings and disappearances of Tamil political activists in during the heightened violence in December and January. The Sunday Times quoted him as telling troops: “we bravely faced the situation and retaliated on those who attacked us. Thereafter we took a proactive role by looking for those who attacked us and retaliated in places like Jaffna and Batticaloa.”
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Vavuniya Judge orders SLA Officers to appear in Court

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 March 2006, 18:11 GMT]
Following complaints registered with the Vavuniya District Judge M. Ilancheliyan by residents of Sasthrikoolankulam of alleged Sri Lanka Army (SLA) involvement in the killing of a merchant on Friday, the Judge ordered the Commanding Officers of Kalmadu, Pampaimadu and Thandikulam army camps to appear in courts on Monday, legal sources in Vavuniya said.
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Vavuniya businessman shot dead

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 March 2006, 01:28 GMT]
Unknown gunmen who came in a white van shot dead Ponniah Murugesu, 40, in front of his shop in Sasthrikulankulam, 6 km north of Vavuniya town, around 8.15 p.m. Friday evening, Vavuniya police said. His assistant at the shop, Mr Ramesh, was also injured in the shooting, witnesses said.
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BoT launches 'Bank at school' in Mallavi

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 March 2006, 12:04 GMT]
"Bank at school saving programme promotes students to start thinking to attain the best economical resources in their future," says K. Blakrishnan, the Managing Director, Bank of Tamileelam (BoT), in his introductory speech on the merits of School Saving Units of the Banks in LTTE administered areas. The BoT ceremoniously opened Thursday the fifth of its Students' Savings Unit, at Mallavi Central College, in the Mullaithivu district.
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Body found in Batticaloa belongs to Ex-LTTE cadre

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 March 2006, 11:48 GMT]
Body of a young male recovered near the Batticaloa lagoon near Pillaiyarady on Monday has been identified by his wife as belonging to an ex-member of Liberation Tigers' Jayanthan Brigade who had left the LTTE and was working as a day laborer, sources in Batticaloa said.
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Businessman, conductor shot dead in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 March 2006, 20:40 GMT]
Unknown gunmen riding in a motorbike shot and killed M. Gunaratnam, a prominent businessman in Vavuniya and his bus conductor Jude in Kurumankadu Vavuniya, Wednesday night at about 8.45 p.m, Vavuniya police said.
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Local elections in Trincomalee, Amparai to be held

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 March 2006, 19:27 GMT]
Elections to 12 local authorities in Trincomalee district and 17 in the Amparai district are to be held on March 30. Elections to forty-six local authorities in the other six districts of Jaffna, Killinochchi, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya, Mannar and Batticaloa in the North East are to be postponed by six months, Colombo media sources reported Monday evening quoting an official of the Department of Elections.
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Threats to Vavuniya traders must be stopped, MP tells Rajapakse

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 March 2006, 01:37 GMT]
Mr.Selvam Adaikalanathan, Wanni district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian has appealed to Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse to take immediate steps to disarm persons intimidating members of the business community in Vavuniya district with death threats and extortion, sources in Vavuniya said.
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Local council election contestants meet TNA in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 March 2006, 13:12 GMT]
Candidates competing in the Vavuniya district local council elections under the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK) ticket met with Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians in Vavuniya Hindu Youths Hall Thursday, sources in Vavuniya said.
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Businesses target of two Vavuniya grenade attacks

[TamilNet, Friday, 17 March 2006, 10:05 GMT]
Unknown group of men hurled hand grenades near business establishments in Vavuniya town Thursday night escalating fear and tension among the Vavuniya trading community which has become the target of several incidents of threats and grenade attacks recently. Vavuniya police said no one was injured in the two attacks.
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Grenade attack, extortion threats unsettle Vavuniya businessmen

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 March 2006, 12:34 GMT]
Unknown attackers on Wednesday lobbed a grenade at the residence of a businessman in Vavuniya, sources in Vavuniya said. No one was injured in the attack. Five traders have registered complaints with Vavuniya police that persons claiming to be belonging to Karuna group have threatened over the phone demanding large sums of money, Vavuniya Police said.


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Donors to ensure equity in aid distribution- Norway diplomat

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 March 2006, 00:15 GMT]
"The donor community is currently focusing its attention in ensuring equity in tsunami aid supply to North East," Mr. Erik F.Brede, Counselor of the Norwegian embassy in Colombo told presspersons when he paid a visit to Naduottu, a village in Kinniya division in Trincomalee district on Wednesday. Mr Brede was in Trincomalee to participate in the handing over event of twenty houses constructed with the funds provided by a group of Norwegian citizens to the tsunami affected families.
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EU provides housing aid for NorthEast war affected families

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 March 2006, 11:30 GMT]
European Commission agreed to finance E$ 22 Mn (European Dollars) for housing of conflict affected families in the Vavuniya and Mannar Districts through the World Bank, North East Housing Reconstruction Programme (NEHRP) officials said.
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Three youths abducted in Vavuniya, family dispute suspected

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 March 2006, 12:15 GMT]
Unidentified armed men has abducted three youths, two Muslims and one Tamil, Tuesday early morning at 1 a.m. in Pattanisoor area in Vavuniya, Officer in Charge of Vavuniya Police, Mr Tennekoon, said. Residents speculated that the abductions are linked to the relationship one of the abductees' brother had with a Tamil girl which the families were opposed to.
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Geneva peace talks in grave danger – Balasingham

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 March 2006, 11:16 GMT]
"The Geneva peace talks will face grave danger if the Sri Lanka government refuses to disarm Tamil paramilitary organisations and continues allowing them to launch offensive military operations against our military positions in Batticaloa district," warned Mr Anton Balasingham, the chief negotiator and political strategist of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Commenting on the current situation Mr Balasingham told TamilNet that the LTTE leadership would be compelled to review its decision to participate in the next round of talks, to be held in Geneva on 19 April, if Colombo fails to fulfil the pledges agreed in the joint statement issued after the first session of talks in Geneva.
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New prison to help Vavuniya residents, law enforcement officials

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 March 2006, 16:14 GMT]
The Commissioner of Prisons has agreed to build a new prison complex in Vavuniya after repeated requests by Tamil parliamentarians, local police and officials of Vavunia judiciary, Sivanathan Kishokumar, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian said Saturday. Until now crime suspects who are directed to be kept in remand by Vavuniya courts have to be taken to Anuradhapura prison causing logistical nightmare for law enforcement officials and severe hardships to relatives of suspects.
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Amnesty fears for safety of disappeared TRO staffers

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 March 2006, 12:28 GMT]
Amnesty International in an Urgent Action release issued Friday expressed "grave concern" for the safety of the seven Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) staffers who were abducted on 29-30 January and are still missing. Amnesty urged all concerned to write to the Sri Lanka Ministry of Defence, Inspector General of Police and Sri Lanka's President Mr Mahinda Rajapakse to "undertake and complete as a matter of urgency thorough investigations into the fate and whereabouts of the seven," and to ensure safety of all TRO workers and the families of the missing.
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Kanniya resettled families celebrate Women's Day

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 March 2006, 00:29 GMT]
Traditional Tamil village of Kanniya in Trincomalee town celebrated the International Women's Day Thursday evening with the support of the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), sources in Trincomalee said. Several hundred families from Peeliaydi, Managaiootu and Kanniya, resettled since the signing of the Ceasefire Agreement in the year 2002, participated in the celebrations.
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