World Bank funds pharmacist-training programme in NE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 December 2003, 20:00 GMT]
North East Provincial Ministry of Health launched a project called "External Pharmacist Training Programme (EPTP) 2003-2004" to train eligible persons from the NorthEast to qualify as pharmacists to prevent unqualified persons in running the private pharmacies. The project is being implemented under the North East Emergency Rehabilitation Programme (NEERP), funded by the World Bank.


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Parents of Jaffna Missing to Protest in Colombo

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 December 2003, 16:13 GMT]
Fifty four mothers and fathers who are Members of Jaffna Missing Persons Guardian Association (MPGA) and Jaffna Mothers Front (JMF) will picket in front of the Justice Ministry and Offices of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission in Colombo on Monday and Tuesday, said Subbu Satkunam, president MPGA.
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MGR remembered in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 December 2003, 04:57 GMT]
The 16th death anniversary of the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Mr.M.G.Ramachandran, was commemorated in Vavuniya Wednesday at the Veerasingham Hall at the Multi-Purpose Cooperative Union (MPCU) building. The LTTE’s political head in Vavuniya, Mr. S. Ezhilan, and the Vanni district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian, Mr. N. Sivasakthi Anandan and several other prominent personalities in Vavuniya participated, sources said.
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Vavuniya youth wins cash award for bravery

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 December 2003, 19:28 GMT]
Richard David Remsy Teroni, a youth from Sivapuram in Vavuniya district was awarded Rs.15,000 for fighting off three burglers who attempted to rob his family home on 6 November and recovering a T-56 rifle from the burglars that was earlier stolen from a Police Division in Mannar road. Vavuniya district Judge gave the cash rewards during the annual Police ceremony held in Vavuniya Urban Council Pavilian Monday.


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Sri Lanka's new IGP sworn in

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 December 2003, 10:25 GMT]
Mr. Indra de Silva was sworn in as Sri Lanka's new Inspector General of Police (IGP) at an official function held at the Police headquarters, Monday. He will function as the IGP till his retirement in February next year, police sources said.
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Stolen statue from Jaffna temple recovered

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 December 2003, 12:34 GMT]
Vavuniya Police Tuesday recovered the statue of Hindu God Ganesh stolen from Kokkuvil Jaffna Pillaiyar Temple when two Kokuvil residents, Balasingham Sivalingam (30) and Sinnarajah Mayooran (29) attempted to smuggle the statue through Omanthai checkpoint, Vavuniya Deputy Police Inspector, P. Pathamanathan said.
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Missing youth last seen arrested by SLA - Witnesses

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 December 2003, 05:41 GMT]
Two witnesses told the Vavuniya district court Judge, Mr. M.Ilancheliyan, during court proceedings yesterday that they saw Anthonythas Ariyathas, a youth from Mullaithivu, being arrested by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers at the Mullaithivu beach before his disappearance in 25 August 1985, legal sources in Vavuniya said.


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ADB funds new project for North-East rehabilitation

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 December 2003, 18:18 GMT]
A new four-year development project called Conflict Affected Area Rehabilitation Project (CAARP), funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL), is to be launched in the North and East with effect from January 1st 2004. The objective of the project is to support rehabilitatation of essential infrastructure and restoration of community livelihoods in the most severely conflict-affected areas of the North and East, predominantly in the districts of Jaffna, Mannar, Killinochchi, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Amparai, CAARP sources said.
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Vavuniya Tamils decry Indian objections to ISGA

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 December 2003, 06:27 GMT]
Criticizing the comments made by the former Indian foreign secretary, Mr. M.K. Rasgotra, at a conference in Colombo on December 4, saying that India could not accept the Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) proposals submitted by the Liberation Tigers, the Federation of Vavuniya Cattle breeders unions said in a statement Friday that the Tamil people would totally reject the opinion of Mr. Rasgotra.
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SLA trooper sentenced to death

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 December 2003, 07:29 GMT]
Vavuniya High Court Judge J.Visvanathan Friday sentenced to death Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldier, Dinapalage Jayantha Dinapala, for murdering two brothers, Kanagasabai Kanagalingam, Kanagasabai Kanagendran, and their cousin Thamotharampillai Pulendirarajah, in the village of Chambaikulam in Vavuniya on 03 March 1996, legal sources said.
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LTTE Education Council spotlights NE shortcomings

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 December 2003, 00:01 GMT]
" We earnestly request the international agencies and other authorities to take effective measures to remove the Sri Lanka Army from the areas in the northeast province where schools are located in the high security zones and from the vicinity of schools, so that they can function in a favorable and peaceful atmosphere," the LTTE's Education Council of Thamileelam said in a paper presented at the workshop held in Trincomalee Thursday.
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WB team inspects NEIAP focal villages in northeast

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 December 2003, 21:31 GMT]
A World Bank team is to begin its six-day tour in the northeast province and its border areas Thursday to assess the ongoing rehabilitation and development works in the selected villages under the North-East Irrigated Agricultural Project (NEIAP), which is funded by the Bank, sources said.
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NE pre-school education development program inaugurated

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 December 2003, 17:58 GMT]
A seven-day residential training camp for pre-school education coordinators of the education zones of Trincomalee and Vavuniya south began Wednesday in Trincomalee. The training program has been organized by the North East Pre School Education Development Council (PSEDC) and funded by the Norwegian-Swedish agency, FORUT, and the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization in the northeast province, TRO sources said.
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Departing Vanni SLA commander commends LTTE’s cooperation

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 December 2003, 06:01 GMT]
“During the last 13 months of my service in Vavuniya, the Sri Lanka Police and the LTTE’s political cadres, who are working in the SLA-controlled areas, cooperated with me. The problems that arose with respect to the LTTE’s peace-related political activities and other issues were solved with the assistance of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, and we were able to maintain peace and order in Vavuniya,” said Maj. Gen. Susil Chandrapala, the outgoing Vanni commander of the Sri Lanka Army, during a Police farewell given to him in Vavuniya Monday, sources said.
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Sinhala nationalists dared to go beyond Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 December 2003, 03:40 GMT]
“I dare Wimal Weerawanse and Champika Ranawaka to go beyond Vavuniya. They can’t. But I can take them now or even during war because we have trust in the Tamil people,” said Mr. Dharmasiri Bandaranayaka, a well known and respected Sinhala film director, addressing a meeting organised by leftist political parties, trade unions and civil society groups at the New Town Hall in Colombo Wednesday. The Liberation Tigers control most of the northern province beyond Vavuniya.
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International Day for people with special needs held in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 December 2003, 00:01 GMT]
People with special needs (the handicapped) in Vavuniya gathered at the Urban council hall in the Northern town Wednesday to participate at the International Day for people with special needs, and re-iterated in an oath that disability did not mean lack of talent and that they would demand equal rights in spheres where such rights are currently lacking, sources said.
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NE environmental management workshop begins in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 December 2003, 18:23 GMT]
A four-day international workshop on Environmental Management in the NorthEast of Sri Lanka began Monday at the Kailasapathy auditorium of Jaffna University. The University of Jaffna, Eastern University of Sri Lanka and The Economic Consultancy House (TECH) have jointly organized the workshop. The concluding session of the workshop is to be held on Thursday with Dr.Jay Maheswaran in the chair.
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‘Flagrant discrimination’ in allocation of Health funds alleged

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 December 2003, 23:01 GMT]
The allocation of funds for a program on emergency Obstetrics and Child Health in the war-ravaged areas of the North East, jointly sponsored by the UNICEF and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), flagrantly discriminates against Tamil provinces, several health officials in the North East told TamilNet’s Vanni correspondent Tuesday.
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Vavuniya Courts hears case of missing youth

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 December 2003, 11:33 GMT]
Ariyathas Puvaneswary, mother of Ariyathas Vijayakumar, who went missing after 15 August 2000 when he was arrested by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers from the Vavuniya 211 Brigade, gave evidence at the Vavuniya courts when the case was taken up for hearing under District Judge M.Ilancheliyan, legal sources in Vavuniya said.
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Row erupts at TULF meeting

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 November 2003, 11:42 GMT]
The central working committee of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) Sunday evening voted on a no confidence motion on the President Mr.V.Anandasangaree. The meeting ended in uproar. Jaffna TULF organiser Mr. T. Kulasingham, Vavuniya TULF organiser and TNA parliamentarian Mr. N. Raviraj were assaulted.
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