Cabinet reshuffle at appropriate time- Rajapakse

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 December 2006, 15:58 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse said Sunday in Colombo that he will initiate a cabinet reshuffle at an appropriate time when such need arises, political sources in Colombo said.


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Hindu Congress condemns attack on Verugal Murugan Temple

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 December 2006, 16:07 GMT]
All Ceylon Hindu Congress (ACHC), which has its headquarters in Colombo, has condemned the aerial attack carried out by the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Thursday on the historic Sithirivelautha Swami (Murugan) Temple located in Verugal in Eachchilampathu division, south of Trincomalee district.


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UNP in the dark over NorthEast de-merger

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 December 2006, 14:02 GMT]
The main opposition United National Party (UNP), which has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) giving top priority to solve the ethnic conflict, is in dark over the actions currently being taken by the Provincial Governor, Rear Admiral Mohan Wijewickrema, to split the administration of the merged North East into two provinces, Colombo media sources said, quoting UNP General Secretary Mr.Tissa Attanayake.
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UNP to attend next APRC-Wickremasinghe

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 December 2006, 13:14 GMT]
The main opposition United National Party (UNP) is expected to attend the next meeting of the All Party Representative Committee (APRC), which is scheduled to meet in the second week of January, Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, leader of the UNP, said Friday.


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Vaharai IDPs rally, demand International relief, re-opening of A-15

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 December 2006, 11:28 GMT]
Thousands of Tamils, most of them Internally Displaced Persons in the Sri Lanka Army besieged Vaharai region, Friday at 10:00 a.m. marched from Vaharai school IDP camp towards the Vaharai Hospital in a prosession, and handed over an appeal addressed to the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, calling on the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) to allow the International Relief to reach Vaharai and re-open the A-15 access route, that has remained closed by the Sri Lanka Army for the last 2 months. The IDPs also raised concerns over the alleged move to select Sampoor region to set up a Coal Power Plant preventing the internally displaced people of the area from resettling in their own lands.
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India, Sri Lanka sign agreement on Trinco coal plant

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 December 2006, 10:40 GMT]
The process of site selection for the establishment of the planned coal-fired power plant in Trincomalee is expected to commence in the near future as the Government of India and the Government of Sri Lanka signed an agreement Friday at the Sri Lankan Presidential Secretariat in Colombo, according to a press release issued by the Indian High Commission in Colombo.
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Sunday Leader editor faces arrest

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 December 2006, 10:46 GMT]
Sri Lankan Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has been instructed by the Defence Ministry to arrest Lasantha Wikramatunga, the editor of the Sunday Leader, who exposed last Sunday a move to build a 500 million rupee bunker at Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse's official residence, editorial staff of the paper said. As the news spread, media personnel in Colombo surrounded the Sunday Leader office Thursday evening.
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Rajapakse pays surprise visit to Trincomalee naval base

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 December 2006, 20:16 GMT]
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse paid a surprise visit to the SL Naval Base in Trincomalee Wednesday morning and inspected the naval installations and participated in a passing out parade held in the naval base. This was his first visit to Trincomalee after assuming the executive presidency in December last year. Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse is the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of Sri Lanka.
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Eastern University staff continues boycott

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 December 2006, 14:43 GMT]
The acadamic and non acadamic staff of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka (EUSL) continued their boycott for the 10th concecutive day demanding the release of abducted Vice Chancellor Prof. S. Ravindranath who is believed to be held by the paramilitary Karuna Group in Colombo from 15 December.
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SAR appeals to SL President to locate disappeared Vice-chancellor Raveendranath

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 December 2006, 22:40 GMT]
Scholars At Risk (SAR), an international network of universities and colleges dedicated to promoting academic freedom and its constituent freedoms of thought, opinion and expression -freedoms essential to any healthy society, operating from New York, has written Thursday to the President of Sri Lanka expressing concern about the disappearance of Professor S. Raveendranath, Vice Chancellor of Eastern University, reported missing since Friday 15 December.


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Basil Rajapakse visits Jaffna with Devananda

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 December 2006, 13:43 GMT]
A heavily guarded Special Conference was held at the Jaffna Public Library Thursday from 10:30 a.m to 1:00 p.m, presided by Basil Rajapakse, the brother and advisor of President Mahinda Rajapakse, to discuss matters related to restore normalcy to Jaffna peninsula with the key Government officials of the peninsula, attended by minister and leader of EPDP, Douglas Devananda and a team of junior ministers of the relevant ministries from Colombo, Jaffna sources said. Diffusing the present critical situation in the matters of supply and distribution and resuming normalcy were the important subjects dealt with, in the conference, sources close to Jaffna Secretariat said.


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Collective agreement signed on plantation workers' salary increase

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 December 2006, 18:14 GMT]
Representatives of the Employers' Federation and the trade unions, Ceylon Workers Congress, Ceylon Estate Workers Union and Plantations Union, have signed a collective agreement regard to the daily salary increase of the plantations workers Tuesday morning in the presence of President Mahinda Rajapakse at Temple Trees, the State-run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) said in its Tuesday noon news broadcast in all three languages quoting government sources.
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University students protest supporting plantation workers

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 December 2006, 02:24 GMT]
Large number of University of Colombo students held a protest rally Monday afternoon at 12:30 p.m near Thummulla junction in Colombo, in a show of support to demands for wage rise of the tea plantation Tamil workers, sources in Colombo said. The Students warned that if the government does not accede to the demands of the plantation workers the protest will spread to all the other universities.
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Norwegian University appeals for the release of Vice Chancellor Raveendranath

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 December 2006, 09:53 GMT]
Norwegian University of Life Sciences has appealed to the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse to take urgent action to find the whereabouts of the Vice Chancellor of the Eastern University, Professor S. Raveendranath, and ensure his safe return. The Vice Chancellor, who was reported missing while he was on duty in Colombo last Frdiay, was engaged in a sustained effort of building the academic capacities of the EUSL and was working with the Norwegian University in developing a master's degree programme i peacebuilding and development, said Professor Ruth Haug, Department Head of International Environment & Development Studies, Noragric Norwegian University of Life Sciences.
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Wickremasinghe to brief Rajapakse on US visit

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 December 2006, 07:17 GMT]
Ranil Wickremasinghe, the leader of the main opposition United National Party (UNP), returned to Sri Lanka Sunday after a week's visit to United States of America (USA) at the latter's invitation, sources in Colombo said. During his stay in Washington he held discussions with Political Affairs Secretary, Nicholas Burns, Assistant Secretary of Central and South Asian Affairs of the US government, Richard Boucher, and former US Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, regarding the current political and security situation in Sri Lanka.
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Anton Balasingham - The Times’ Obituary

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 December 2006, 06:52 GMT]
In an obituary Friday, The Times of London described Mr. Anton Balasingham, the theoretician and chief negotiator of the LTTE who passed away Thursday, as “the one man the Tigers could trust with their destiny in what looked like being a breakthrough in talks.” At one stage in the Norwegian peace process, the British broadsheet noted, Mr. Balasingham had steered the Tigers away from their demand for independence. However, it said, “everybody underestimated the determination of hardcore Sinhalese organisations like the JVP and hardline Buddhist clergy to scuttle any deal that gave the Tamils even a hint of autonomy.”
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Leaked Expert panel's reports trigger controversy

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 December 2006, 13:19 GMT]
The 17-member panel of "Legal/Constitutional Experts" tasked by Sri Lanka' president Mahinda Rajapakse to aid the sub committee on Constitutional Reforms to formulate proposals for constitutional changes, in June 2006, failed to agree to produce a single set of recommendations, and instead produced four separate, competing reports which were leaked to the media. The exercise widely believed by the Tamils and noted Think-tanks in Colombo, as a project by Colombo to buy time while engaginng in military offensives in the East, has triggered controversy in ruling circles, as Colombo attempted to distance itself from recommendations in the main reports.
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APRC to continue without JVP

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 December 2006, 10:58 GMT]
All Parties Representative Committee (APRC) would continue to meet to formulate a political consensus in finding a solution to the ethnic conflict. The withdrawal of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) would not deter the functioning of the APRC, said Minister Tissa Vitarane, Chairman of the APRC Wednesday.
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New regulations mandate "written approval" for peace facilitation

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 December 2006, 05:42 GMT]
Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse, in his public address on 06 December, stated that his government had decided to "reactivate the provisions of the The Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA)." On the same day he announced that he had defined "terrorism" in new regulations called Prevention and Prohibition of Terrorism and Specified Terrorist Activities Regulations (PPTSTAR) which makes explicit reference to the PTA. The facilitation process has to be conducted as an "approved transaction," and upon "written approval" from Colombo, according to the PPTSTAR.
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Church groups slam PTA

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 December 2006, 00:10 GMT]
Churches in Sri Lanka have denounced the revival of a draconian anti-terrorism law by the government. "Many still have painful memories of the harsh impact of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) on the life of the nation not too long ago. It was political wisdom coupled with political will that finally led to it being suspended," Anglican Bishop Duleep de Chickera of Colombo said last week after the government declaration.
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