I'rakka'ndi

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 February 2011, 07:04 GMT]
The descending sector
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Muslim journalist attacked for exposing corruption

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 February 2011, 04:31 GMT]
An unidentified group of assailants attacked the Chief Editor of the weekly Batticaloa newspaper ‘Vaara Uraikal’ with iron rods after throwing chilli powder on the editor's face on Monday evening in Kaaththaankudi, sources in Batticaloa said. Puvi Rahumathulla, was admitted in the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital for treatment. Media sources alleged that the attack had been carried out by an armed gang at the instigation of M.L.A.M. Hisbullah, a deputy minister the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government led by Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse.
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Mannaar severely affected by overflowing water from Anuradhapura tanks

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 February 2011, 23:32 GMT]
Mannaar district has been facing a severe natural calamity for the first time in its history due to recent rain and flood. Almost all the villages in the district are under water. 7,807 persons from 2,667 families have been displaced from areas that come under Mannaar Urban Council and Naanaaddaan Piratheasa Chapai (PS). People from Arippu and Maanthai have been trapped in their houses as they are marooned in the flood. The Government Agent of Mannaar, N.Vedhanayagam, has declared emergency situation in the district.
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100,000 displaced, 7 die in second wave of floods, Ampaa'rai worst hit

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 February 2011, 09:01 GMT]
Seven persons have died and over 100,000 civilians are displaced due to second wave of heavy rains in the Eastern, North Central and Central provinces of the island according to District Disaster Management Centre Friday. Four persons have died in Ampaa'rai district alone. While tens of thousands were hit by the disaster, the participation of even Sinhalese was poor at Mahinda Rajapksa government's celebration of Sri Lanka's Independence Day at Vihara Mahadevi Poongaa in the bordering district of Tissmaharagama at Kathirkaamam, sources in Ampaa'rai told TamilNet. People who lost their properties, houses and belongings have been left in the lurch due to failure of the Colombo government to provide any relief to restart their day to day life.
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Second wave of floods hit Trincomalee hard

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 February 2011, 13:48 GMT]
Trincomalee district has been severely affected by the renewed adverse weather condition now prevailing in the Eastern Province since last Saturday. All villages in the Moothoor East and Verukal division have been marooned with spill flood water that flows from Minneariyaa and Pararakrama irrigation tanks in Polonnaruwa district. The number of welfare centres has risen to seventy by Thursday evening where 16,501 persons from 4519 families displaced from their houses from eleven DS divisions in the district are sheltered.
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Minni-ni'raignchaan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 February 2011, 05:32 GMT]
The place abounding with Minni plant or creeper
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Thean-thookki

[TamilNet, Monday, 31 January 2011, 00:14 GMT]
The place of Thean-thookki trees
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EPDP area organizer recovered dead in Vadamaraadchi East

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 January 2011, 22:20 GMT]
36-year-old Rasarathninam Sathees, Maruthangkea'ni area organiser of EPDP paramilitary-cum-political party was found dead Saturday morning near Aanaivizhunthaan cemetery near Vallipuram temple. The last news about Mr. Sathees was that he was on his way in a motorbike to organise an event to which EPDP leader and SL Minister Douglas Devananda was scheduled to attend at Ampan-kudaththanai. Sathees has been critical of EPDP leadership on its Maheswari Foundation business of excavating sand from Vadamaraadchi East. The EPDP has said Sathees was killed in a motorbike accident. Police said it was awaiting a medical report.
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People turn against paramilitary groups in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 January 2011, 18:22 GMT]
Batticaloa residents have shown their anger against Karuna, Pillayan paramilitary groups by organizing demonstrations against the factions of the groups, one led by a deputy minister of Rajapaksa-government Muralitharan (Karuna) and the other by Colombo-installed chief minister S. Chandrakanthan (Pillayan). On Tuesday, an spontaneous street-demonstration condemned attacks by Pillayan group on divisional secretary and village officer attached to Ma'nmunaippattu DS office.
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Rajapaksa claims credit for British-aided causeway and bridge to Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 January 2011, 20:00 GMT]
“The foundation for this causeway and bridge was laid down 7 times since 1940's, but it was only my government that managed to complete the project,” claimed Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in opening a causeway and bridge in the SL military-occupied Tamil country in the island, between Keara-theevu of the Jaffna peninsula and Changkup-piddi in Poonakari of the main island on Sunday. The causeway as used to be called Mahadeva Thaampoathi was first built in British times and the present bridge, doing away with the ferry route in between points of the causeway, has been built by British Steel Corporation, aiding the island. Mr. Rajapaksa made no mention of the British aid at the inauguration and the obscured British officials were found seated only among the audience.
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Queen Elizabeth honours three Tamils this year

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 January 2011, 18:52 GMT]
Queen Elizabeth II honoured three Tamils this year at New Year’s awards in New Zealand and in UK. Significantly, The Queen’s Service Medal (QSM) to 77-year-old Eezham Tamil, Mr. Arumugam Thevarajan from New Zealand was in specific recognition for his services to the Tamil community in New Zealand. Another Eezham Tamil who received Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) was Mr. Chelliah Yogamoorthy, an old student of Jaffna Hindu College, who was honoured for his outstanding service to the Department of Transport. Mr. Yogamoorthy is also a trustee of a Tamil school in Birmingham. The MBE honour for Lakshmi Holmstrom, alumna of Madras and Oxford universities, was for her services to literature. She translated a number of Tamil literary masterpieces into English. In 2007, Canadian Tamils also honoured her with an award.
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Spill water from reservoirs deluge villages in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 January 2011, 09:40 GMT]
With the opening of the floodgates of hundreds of reservoirs, the second largest river in the island, Aruviyaa’ru in spate has deluged many villages in the Mannaar district. Three villages in Madu division, Kugnchukku’lam, Maathaa-kiraamam and Periya-mu’rippu are completely cut off, marooning nearly 1230 villagers of 300 families. A cable-bridge, the only link of the villages with outside is completely inundated in the floodwaters. This never happened before in the last 50 years, people in Mannaar said. The new Government Agent for Mannaar arranged supplies to reach the village through a jungle track, but the crew was yet to reach the villages at the time of this report Thursday night.
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Kudumpi Malai, Kudimbi Kanda

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 January 2011, 21:41 GMT]
The hill having a summit resembling a traditional hair-knot on the head
The hill having a pointed top
The hill having a crown-like top
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Floods claim 14 lives in Batticaloa, 4 missing in Ampaa'rai

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 January 2011, 12:10 GMT]
14 people have died so far in the floods in Batticaloa district according to Batticaloa District Secretariat. At least 10 persons have been reported missing in the district and 4 fishermen are missing in Ampaa'rai district. On Tuesday, a 17-year-old boy was electrocuted and a 19-year-old boy was seriously injured along Koayil Road in Onthaachchi-madam in Ka'luvaagnchik-kudi division in Batticaloa district when they touched a live electric wire lying on the ground after strong winds.
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Tamil villages of Katpiddi Peninsula are for sales by Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 January 2011, 06:05 GMT]
Many traditional Tamil villages in the Katpiddi Peninsula and islets off that in the Puththa'lam district of the North West Province are for sales by Colombo establishment, ostensibly for tourism purposes under Kalpitiya Integrated Tourism Resort Project (KITRP). “There are about 11 investors who applied to invest around US$ 500 million to put up tourist resorts, golf courses, marinas, etc in this zone which was defined as a tourist zone by the Sri Lanka Tourism Authority, but the government is not happy with the bids which have mainly come from Indian parties,” Sunday Times reported. The presence of Chinese is overwhelming in the Katpiddi Peninsula along with construction of Nuraichchoalai power plant, local residents said.
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1,232,000 acre crops destroyed in Batticaloa flood

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 January 2011, 05:22 GMT]
In Batticaloa district alone 1,32,000 acres of paddy and subsidiary crops have been completely destroyed due to the torrential rain now being experienced in the eastern province, according to the latest figures issued by the Regional Disaster Management Centre . Meanwhile Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) member R.Thurairatnam, in a memorandum sent to the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, has requested that farmers in the district who have incurred heavy loss including their capital due to the flood should be paid full compensation by the government.
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Colombo's Archeology department intrudes into historic Hindu temple in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 December 2010, 19:12 GMT]
Colombo’s Archeology Department officials, who have been frequently intruding into several century old Hindu temple of Thaanthaamalai Sri Murukan in Batticaloa, 10 days ago warned the devotees and the members of the temple management while they were attending a pooja, not to enter the shrine in future for any reason. Thereafter they took management committee members to the Ampaa’rai police station. The temple, revered by Saivaites in the East as ‘Chinna Kathirkaamam’ and the land in the extent of 25 acres that comes under Paddippazhai DS division in Batticaloa district was declared in 13 March 1959 as Saiva Sacred Area according to the decree entered by the Court of Law, temple sources said.
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Mannaar Muslims brought back from Puththa'lam stranded without facilities

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 December 2010, 14:19 GMT]
900 displaced Muslim families brought down to Mannaar by Rishad Bathiyutheen, a minister in Rajapaksa's cabinet, are stranded without proper assistance or basic facilities in their villages in Mannaar for the past three days, the Muslim IDPs complain. Many of the IDPs brought to Thaaraapuram chose to return to Puththa’lam as there have been no preparations, but only promises extended to them by the minister, who is locked in a campaign against U. L. Muthaliph Farook, who is scheduled to fill the vacancy of late parliamentarian Noordeen Mashoor ahead of local elections expected in the early part of 2011.
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War crimes ignored in East, focus urged on ‘killings’ at Eastern University

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 December 2010, 07:09 GMT]
While the war raged in Vanni war front, Sri Lanka Army deployed paramilitary operatives with close link to Rajapaksa quarters in Colombo, killing a female hostel warden and two female Tamil students from Vanni at the Eastern University in February and March 2009, journalists from Batticaloa said citing information from ex-paramilitary personnel and naming a key operative in Vaazhaichcheanai in Batticaloa with close links to Rajapaksa's cabinet as the man who carried out the orders from the top. In the meantime, a 54-year-old man from Paa'ndiruppu linked to Iniyapaarathi, the most feared operative of Karuna group, was found dead Friday hanging inside a building used by the group earlier.
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SL First Lady’s Xmas in Jaffna cancelled

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 December 2010, 23:58 GMT]
As most of the local priests and Christians in Jaffna were not interested in participation, the programme of Mahinda Rajapakasa’s wife Shiranthi Rajapakasa presiding over an Xmas fete in Jaffna as its chief guest was cancelled. However, Buddhist monks, Sinhalese visitors and some Muslim religious leaders who were brought from the south for this purpose, along with military personnel in Jaffna, celebrated Christmas at the Methodist Church in Jaffna on Saturday. Since Shiranthi Rajapaksa didn't come Mrs. Imelda Sugumar, the Government Agent of Jaffna, joining religious representatives, released ‘peace doves’ on the occasion.
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