Legend missing in Thiruva'l'luvar statue in London

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 July 2008, 17:02 GMT]
The prestigious School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London displays a statue of the ancient Tamil poet and philosopher Thiruva'l'luvar in its premises. The plaque noting him a Tamil scholar and the palm-leave book in his left hand are missing for some time.
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SLA artillery attacks target IDP settlements in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 July 2008, 19:45 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) continue to launch artillery fire on Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) settlements in Ka’l’liyadi, Aaththimoadai and Illuppakkadavai in Mannaar district from Monday early morning. Large number of civilians who had been displaced from their villages in Mannaar district due to SLA offensives had been living in temporary shelters in the above villages.
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42 SLA killed in two days, heavy fighting in Mannaar - LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 June 2008, 07:57 GMT]
At least 42 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and 76 wounded Within the past 48 hours at two fighting fronts in Mannaar, Tiger officials cited LTTE Operations Command in Mannaar as saying. On Monday, 22 SLA soldiers were killed when the SLA launched a ground movement at 5:30 a.m. at Aalangku'lam towards Vaddakka'ndal, the Tigers said. The SLA move was thwarted at 10:00 a.m. Meanwhile, at Periyamadu the SLA opened a ground operation on four fronts on Sunday. The SLA was defeated at 2 of the fronts. Meanwhile, the SLA said it had recovered three dead bodies of LTTE fighters and handed over the bodies to Murungkan police on Monday.
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Claymore attack in Colombo kills 22 civilians, 50 wounded

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 June 2008, 02:45 GMT]
At least 22 civilians, including 8 females, were killed and more than 50 wounded when a Claymore mine targeted a bus at Katubedda, near the University of Moratuwa, 18 km south of Colombo at 7:35 a.m. Friday, Police said. The wounded were rushed to Lunawa and Kalubowila hospitals. Police has clamped down a curfew in Katubedda area.
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Anandalingam appointed Dean of Maryland Business School

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 May 2008, 02:11 GMT]
Professor Anandalingam, Senior associate dean and Ralph J. Tyser Professor of Management Science in the Robert H. Smith School of Business, has been appointed dean of the school, Provost Nariman Farvardin announced this week. "Dean Anandalingam takes over the Smith School at a time when strong leadership and vision are needed to implement the university's bold new strategic plan, which charts a course for Maryland to be one of the world's best universities within 10 years," Farvardin said according to the University website.
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SLA, Police complicit in white van abductions- SL Minister

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 May 2008, 02:18 GMT]
"I have received information that Sri Lanka Police personnel and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were involved in several white van abductions. Reluctance of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and other law enforcement officials to take timely steps to investigate these crimes is clear evidence of widespread violations of human rights and breakdown of law and order," said Sri Lankan Deputy Minister for Vocational Training and Industrial Education, P. Rathakrishnan, during a meeting with the relatives of the disappeared held late last week at the Colombo 14 offices of the Upcountry People's Front (UPF), Tamil daily Thinakkural reported in the Sunday edition.
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Large scale SLA cordon, search in Vadamaraadchi, Thenmaraadchi

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 May 2008, 15:57 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Jaffna peninsula deployed more than a thousand soldiers in a large scale cordon and search operations Monday from dawn till 5:00 p.m in areas of Vadamaraadchi and Thenmaraadchi, civil society sources from Jaffna said. Information on anyone being arrested in the search is not known. SLA soldiers, during search in houses, took away the computers saying that the owners can come and get them after investigation from the SLA camps, according to sources.
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Tigers locate 6 SLA bodies, seize weapons, heavy fighting in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 May 2008, 05:35 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) on Sunday thwarted a ground movement launched by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) from Irungka'ndalku'lam towards Va'n'naaku'lam in Mannaar claiming that at least 26 SLA soldiers were killed in the fighting and that more than 50 SLA soldiers were wounded. The Tigers have located 6 dead bodies of the SLA soldiers in the clearing mission. Two Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) launchers and six T-56 assault rifles were among the weapons seized by the Tigers. Three Tiger fighters were killed in action, according to the LTTE officials in Vanni.
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Security tightened in Colombo during Vesak celebration

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 May 2008, 11:16 GMT]
Areas where pandals and lantern erected to mark the Vesak Day celebrations are located in Colombo city have been declared high security zone by the Police from Sunday. Members of public visit these areas are being subjected to severe body checks before entering the area for sightseeing, media sources said.
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Musali displaced harassed by SLA, 70 families flee to Tamil Nadu

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 May 2008, 10:40 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Mannaar has ordered the displaced Tamil civilians from Musali division in September 2007, to present themselves at the 21-5 SLA Brigade High Quarters at Ilanthaimoaddai, on a village-by-village basis on allocated days, to obtain details of every individual and interrogate them for alleged participation in training given to civilians by the Tigers when their native division was under the control of the Liberation Tigers prior to September 2007. Around 70 families of between 450 to 600 families, all of them displaced from Musali division and living Naanaaddaan, have crossed the Palk Strait to Tamil Nadu during the recent days, according to residents in Naanaaddaan.
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India's Champoor power project, a terrible scandal, say activists

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 May 2008, 19:44 GMT]
While India's National Thermal Power Corp (NTPC) Chairman Ram Charan Sharma told the media that the 500-MW thermal power project in Champoor in Trincomalee district will be one of the largest infrastructure investment in Sri Lanka, residents and rights activists complained that the Indian decision to pick Champoor for the power project had added to the Champoor displaced people's misery. "I have interacted with Indian diplomats (in Colombo) and am certain they are very sensitive to the human rights and humanitarian issues. But if India is involved in this, it will be a grave disappointment, even a terrible scandal," the activist told the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS), the agency reported.
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Burning Memories: Documentary on Jaffna Library

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 May 2008, 15:51 GMT]
A 49-minute documentary, titled Burning Memories, featuring the story and the memories of the Jaffna Library, which was burnt down by the Sri Lankan Police in June 01, 1981, has been produced by an audio visual journalist, S. Someetharan. The tri-lingual documentary is scheduled to be released in May by the Nikari, the producers and distributors of the film.
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Sinhala thugs threaten, rob Piliyandala Tamil traders

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 May 2008, 17:40 GMT]
Tamil traders in Piliyandala are living in constant fear as Sinhala goons daily threaten them and rob their stocks of goods from their establishments. This has been going on since the Piliyandala bus bomb blast, media sources said.
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Intense fighting in Mannaar - LTTE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 May 2008, 18:55 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army units launched an attempt to move its troops from Thirukkeatheesvaram towards Veaddaiyaamu'rippu in Mannaar Tuesday morning from 5:30 a.m. till noon with artillery barrage, but sustained heavy casualties, LTTE offiicals in Vanni said. Meanwhile, on another front where SLA attempted to move from Ka'rukkaaykku'lam targeting Vaddakka'ndal was confronted by the Tigers from 8:15 a.m. An Armoured Personnel Carrier was destroyed in LTTE mine, killing at least 9 SLA soldiers and wounding many, according to the LTTE.
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945 military personnel injured in April - SL Prime Minister

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 May 2008, 09:42 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake, who opened the debate on the state of emergency in the Sri Lankan Parliament Tuesday morning said 945 Sri Lankan security personnel were wounded in April, from March 30 upto April 29. However, he put the death toll for the April at 120 killed in action. 56 civilians were killed and 145 wounded, including the bus bomb in Piliyandala. He said there were also Sinhalese who were involved in carrying out the attack on the civilian bus in Piliyandala.
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Ethnic divide reflected in Sri Lanka media coverage

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 May 2008, 17:56 GMT]
The polarization between Sri Lanka’s ethnic communities is also reflected in coverage of the island’s protracted conflict and has rendered ‘the truth’ an inevitable casualty of war, several speakers argued last week at the annual conference in London of the International Association of Tamil Journalists (IATAJ). The day-long event at the University of Westminster was attended by one hundred invited participants and was addressed by journalists, academics and media activists, including Mr. Nadesapillai Vithyatharan, editor of the Uthayan newspaper, Mr Chandana Bandara, senior producer with the BBC’s Sinhala service and Mr. Bhagwan Singh of the Deccan Chronicle.
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Northern Front impregnable, say NTT panelists

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 May 2008, 10:49 GMT]
Colombo was forced into staging Mukamaalai offensive to ensure safety to troops in Jaffna which had fallen within the range of artillery, panelists said during a Political Analysis segment of National Television of Tamileelam (NTT), participated by LTTE military spokesperson, Irasiah Ilanthiraiyan, and Chief-Editor of Viduthalaip Pulika'l, LTTE's official organ, S. Ravi, in the programme moderated by K. Veera, this week. Panelists added that Colombo's assertion that LTTE is moving troops between different Northern fronts is a figment of their imagination, and refuted the claim that the Sri Lanka Air Force has caused detrimental impact to LTTE's war machinery.
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SLA occupation of Madu, triggers fears of renewed Sinhalicisation

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 April 2008, 17:42 GMT]
The Madu Road junction located on Mannaar-Madawachchi Road, which branches off the main route to Madu shrine, situated in the middle of traditional Tamil area, became the center of a Sinhala settlement in the 1970s. The Sri Lanka Government had the agenda of transforming the area into a full-fledged Sinhala colony, by using the lands of a cashew farm between the Madu Shrine and the junction. However, the settlement was later abandoned, fearing repercussions following large-scale massacre and arson committed by the Sri Lanka Army in December 1984 after a landmine blast. The spectre of a Sinhalicised Madu area has now become a dangerous new reality with SLA's occupation of Madu shrine.
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19 arrested in Piliyandala bus bomb explosion

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 April 2008, 06:25 GMT]
Colombo police said Sunday that they have taken into custody 19 persons in connection with the Piliyandala bus bomb explosion. 26 passengers were killed and 62 injured when a bomb exploded in a crowded State sector bus Friday evening. Police further said the bomb had been placed on a hood rack above the third seat behind the driver.
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