NECORD to revive rural bank system in northeast

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 April 2004, 00:01 GMT]
The Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded North East Community Organization for Restoration and Development (NECORD) has formulated a scheme at a cost 10.4 million rupees in collaboration with North East Provincial Department of Co-operatives to strengthen the co-operative rural banks in the war-torn province, thus reviving the rural economy devastated in the two-decade-old war, sources said.
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SL Police attack IDPs at Vavuniya Welfare Center

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 April 2004, 16:06 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s police and home guards on Tuesday intervened in a private family quarrel and attacked a father and son with knives and an axe at the Sithamaparapuram Welfare center for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Vavuniya, and the victims were admitted at the Vavuniya hospital, sources in Vavuniya said.
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Tamil New Year Day to be held in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 April 2004, 17:13 GMT]
A provincial level Tamil New Year Day celebration organized by the North East Provincial Education and Cultural Ministry in collaboration with the Vavuniya Suththananda Hindu Young Men Association, called in Tamil as " SITHIRAPAVAI," is to be held in Vavuniya on April 16th, sources said. The Tamil-Sinhala New Year Day dawns on Tuesday (April 13th).
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BASL honours senior human rights lawyers

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 April 2004, 14:38 GMT]
The Legal Aid Foundation (LAF) of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has honoured seven senior lawyers, Mr.K.Sivapalan of Trincomalee, Ms. Shantha Abimannasingham of Jaffna, Ms C.M.Balalle of Maho, Mr.M.Sittampalam of Vavuniya, and Mr.A.L.M. Hashim of Kegalle, Mr. Ashoka Mahadiulweve of Anuradhapura and Mr. Marshal Perera of Badulla, with the honorary title " Senior Legal Aid Counsel."
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TNA MPs from Vanni pay homage to LTTE martyrs

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 April 2004, 21:01 GMT]
The newly elected Tamil National Alliance MPs from the Vanni district Monday visited the martyr’s cemetery of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Eachankulam in Vavuniya and paid their respects to the LTTE cadres who died fighting for the Tamil people, vowing "to work hard for the ideals for which the martyrs have sacrificed their lives," sources in Vavuniya said.
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Thousands from Vanni vote in Omanthai, Uyilankulam, Madhu

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 April 2004, 07:50 GMT]
Thousands of enthusiastic voters from the Mullaithivu district and the northern parts of the Vavuniya district which are controlled by the Liberation Tigers swarmed to polling stations in Omanthai Friday morning to cast their ballots. More than thirty percent of the fifty two thousand voters in Mullaithivu had cast their votes by 10 a.m. according to the chief returning officer for the district, Ms. Imelda Sukumar. Omanthai, a dilapidated town surrounded by Sri Lankan military garrisons is eighteen kilometres north of Vavuniya town.
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Pre-school Committees to be elected in the North-East

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 April 2004, 23:15 GMT]
Elections of 13-member executive committees of the Pre-school Education Development Centre (PSEDC) are being held throughout North-East, and Committee members will be elected from General Councils comprising parents, administrators, teachers and government officers from Education and Health Departments, Pradeshiya Sabahs (regional councils) and Non-Governmental Organisations, the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) said in a statement Thursday.
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Voters in LTTE-held Vanni arrive in Puliyankulam

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 April 2004, 17:33 GMT]
Twenty thousand voters in remote areas in the Mullaithivu district have been brought to the Liberation Tigers’ checkpoint in Puliyankulam until Thursday evening for voting in the general elections on Friday at the clustered polling stations in Omanthai, about 10 k.m. south of Puliyankulam, said Mr. S. Elilan, the political head of the LTTE in Vavuniya.
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Omanthai SLA checkpoint gets electricity

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 April 2004, 06:02 GMT]
Transport arrangements for the more than 100,000 voters in the Liberation Tigers controlled areas in the Vanni and Jaffna districts for the elections to be held on Friday are being completed, with a resting place in Puliyankualm and voting booths close to Omanthai and Muhamalai check points of the Sri Lanka Army, officials from the Elections Department said. As part of these arrangements, electricity supply was ceremonially inaugurated to the Omanthai checkpoint complex of the SLA on Wednesday.
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Businesses close as Jaffna Tamils leave Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 March 2004, 11:01 GMT]
Businesses belonging to Tamils from Jaffna remain closed in Batticaloa, Chenkalady, Kaluwanchikudi, Pandiriuppu and Kalmunai areas as the owners left the area on the orders of renegade commander Karuna said sources in Batticaloa.
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"Thanthai” Chelva remembered on 106th birthday

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 March 2004, 04:15 GMT]
The 106th birthday of the late Tamil leader and the founder of the Federal Party (Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchchi -ITAK), Mr.S.J.V.Chelvanayakam, falls on Wednesday. Tamils in the country, who still fondly remember Mr. Chelvanayakam as “Thanthai (father) Chelva,” will celebrate the late leader's birthday Wednesday at a time when the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is contesting the forthcoming general elections on the ITAK ticket, with its HOUSE symbol revived after 37 years, political sources said.
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Accused rapist of minor gets 27 year sentence

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 March 2004, 00:10 GMT]
The Vavuniya High Court Tuesday sentenced an absconding accused, Chelliah Sivaji, 24, to 27 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) for the abduction and rape of an eight years-old girl, and ordered the accused to pay 20,000 rupees as compensation to the victim and 3,000 rupees to the court, sources in Vavuniya said.
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GA briefs officials on Vanni voting arrangements

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 March 2004, 05:43 GMT]
Essential facilities, including transport, have been arranged for the voters in the Liberation Tigers controlled areas of Vavuniya, Mannar and Mullaithivu to vote in clustered polling stations in the areas controlled by the Sri Lanka Army, and the Omanthai check point will stay open starting at 4:00 am on election day, April 2, until all the voters can return to their homes in the LTTE-controlled areas, said the Returning Officer and Government Agent for Vavuniya, Mr. K. Ganesh, at a special meeting Saturday.
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Omanthai checkpoint to close for election arrangements

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 March 2004, 17:24 GMT]
The Omanthai check point along A9 highway will be closed from 1 p.m. on April 1st to 5 p.m. for civilian movement and transport of goods to enable civil and army authorities to make arrangements for general election, the Commissioner of Elections Mr.Dayananda Dissanayake said Saturday in a press release.


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"Sri Lanka's President sabotaged the Peace Process" - Selvam

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 March 2004, 16:23 GMT]
"The take over of the defense ministry by the President had been well planned to sabotage the peace talks between the UNF government and LTTE," said Mr.Selvam Adaikalanathan, former Member of Parliament and the lead candidate of the Tamil National Alliance in the Vavuniya electoral district addressing an election rally at Orr's Hill in Trincomalee Friday.
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6151 NorthEast children suffer without psychiatric help

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 March 2004, 11:25 GMT]
6151 children in NorthEast are psychologically affected due to war induced trauma and remain without adequate help, said planning commissioner for Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), Mr.Malaravan in a press briefing in Vavuniya Thursday morning. Lack of funds has denied us from taking forward the medical plans designed to help these children, Malaravan further said.
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Danish organization spends Rs.260m on Rehabilitation

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 March 2004, 00:12 GMT]
A four year rehabilitation plan at a cost of nearly Rs.260m is being successfully carried out by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) in Vavuniya, Mannar, Trincomalee and Anuradhapura districts, said Ms.Birgitte Ebbesen, Sri Lanka country representative of DRC, in a press briefing Tuesday in Vavuniya.
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Japan donates ambulances to NE hospitals

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 March 2004, 17:26 GMT]
Mr.Hiroshi Karube, Charge d' Affaires of the Japanese Embassy in Colombo, Tuesday handed over a consignment of six ambulances and three transport vehicles to the hospitals in the northeast and in the neighbouring districts under the Japanese Government funded Project for Improvement of Maternal and Child Health Care in the Conflict Affected areas.
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UNICEF to donate ambulances to NorthEast

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 March 2004, 14:09 GMT]
The UNICEF is to donate a consignment of ambulances and transport vehicles to improve medical facilities provided by the health institutions in the northeast province. The handing over ceremony of six ambulances and three transport vehicles in the first phase to the provincial health authorities will take place on March 23 morning at the provincial health ministry auditorium in Trincomalee, sources said.


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Vanni voters to stay overnight in Puliyankulam

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 March 2004, 13:29 GMT]
"Voters from Liberation Tigers controlled area in Vanni will not undergo regular checking at Omanthai Sri Lanka Army checkpoint, and voters from remote areas will be given the option to stay overnight at Puliyankulam with free transportation, lodging facilities," said Vavuniya Government Agent (GA) and Returning Officer K.Ganesh after a meeting Sunday with Vanni district Deputy Inspector General of Police, sources in Vavuniya said.
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