Development untenable without peace - Nadesan

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 May 2008, 11:42 GMT]
"Development is possible only when there is permanent peace. To achieve peace the International Community (IC) should engage seriously in restoring the status quo which the IC itself has disturbed in recent times, and should pressurise the Sri Lankan government to come to terms with a negotiated settlement," said Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Political Head B. Nadesan, in an exclusive interview to TamilNet on Friday, while responding to a question on LTTE's position on International involvement in Colombo's 'development-agenda'. "Recognition of Tamil sovereignty and right to self-determination are key issues in creating a climate for a negotiated settlement," Nadesan added.
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Court denies bail for journalist Tissanayagam

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 May 2008, 11:14 GMT]
Journalist J.S.Tissanayagam, Vettivel Yaseeharan and Vadivel Valarmathi were produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate Nishantha Kapuarachchi Wednesday for the first time after their arrest. They were ordered further detention with the Terrorist Investigation Unit (TID) till June 6 on an application made the TID that the inquiry conducted so far against the suspects had revealed that the suspects were involved in LTTE activities and that the TID needed more time to conduct further investigations, legal sources said.
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3 Tamil passengers arrested in Dickwella

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 May 2008, 11:07 GMT]
Three Tamil civilians, including two females, were arrested by police at Dickwella check point while traveling in a private bus from Colombo to Kathirkaamam Wednesday afternoon. The arrested are being held at the Dickwella police station for further inquiry.
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Jaffna dailies face closure following slaying of Journalist

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 May 2008, 09:16 GMT]
The killing of the Jaffna correspondent of Sakthi TV Station, Paranirupasingham Thevakumar, has raised fear for their lives of the remaining journalists, the media report released Thursday by North Ceylon Journalists’ Association (NCJA) said. The dailies in Jaffna, faced with the lack of journalists and editors, are being forced to close down, the report warned.
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Compensation paid to Dehiwala bomb blast victims

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 May 2008, 05:18 GMT]
Rehabilitation and Disaster Relief Minister, Rizad Badudeen, awarded compensations to the victims in the Monday train bomb blast in Dehiwala at Kalubovila hospital Wednesday. The families of the nine killed and the 74 injured were paid compensation, sources in Colombo said.
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SLTMA condemns assassination of Tamil Journalist

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 May 2008, 00:34 GMT]
Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance (SLTMA) in a statement issued Wednesday condemned the killing of Jaffna based journalist P.Thevakumar and his friend by armed men, and said that such killings have diminished the ability of general public to have access to information and had raised questions on media democracy.
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Gotabhaya 'warns' activists of state-owned media

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 May 2008, 11:52 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary and the brother of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Monday invited two media activists Poddala Jayantha of Working Journalists' Association and Sanath Balasooriya, the secretary of the organization, both employed in the state-owned Lake House, and had cautioned them that their activities are bringing disrepute to State armed forces, and that the Government will not bear responsibility if any harm befalls on them from 'patriotic citizens' who support the military, informed sources from Colombo said. on Wednesday, SL Minister Keheliya Rambukwella confimed the meeting and reiterated that state employees should abide by rules of their employer organization.
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Five suspects discharged in Kadirgamar murder case

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 May 2008, 11:33 GMT]
The Colombo Chief Magistrate, Nishantha Kapuarachchi, discharged the five suspects arrested and remanded in connection with the murder of Lakshman Kadirgamar, former Foreign Minister on 12th August 2005 in Colombo, legal sources in Colombo said. The court made the order on the instruction of the Attorney General when four of the five suspects were produced in court Monday from Welikada prison.
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JVP to launch trade union action next month

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 May 2008, 11:29 GMT]
The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) at its fifth national convention held in Colombo Tuesday declared that its trade unions would launch a struggle demanding salary increase to public and private sector employees from the month of June. Parliamentarian K.D.Lal Kantha, the leader of the National Trade Union Federation of the JVP trade unions, said at the convention that people had been suffering immensely due to the increase of food and other essential items.
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Tamil lodge owner shot dead in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 May 2008, 23:14 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen riding a motorbike shot dead a lodge owner in Kathireasan Road in Pettah, Colombo, Tuesday at 8:30 p.m., sources in Colombo said. The victim was standing in front of the lodge facing the road when the gunmen fired at him.
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JVP appoints new parliamentary group leader, propaganda secretary

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 May 2008, 17:09 GMT]
The Central Working Committee of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Tuesday appointed parliamentarian Vijitha Herat as the Propaganda Secretary of the Janatha Vimukthi and Anura Kumara Dissanayake as the parliamentary group leader of the party. Both positions were earlier held by Wimal Weerawanse before the split of the JVP. The new appointments to the party hierarchy were later ratified by the fifth national convention of the JVP held Tuesday at Sugathathasa Indoor Stadium in Colombo, political sources said.
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Fishing ban in Trinco harbor due to LTTE infiltration-Minister

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 May 2008, 10:38 GMT]
Minister of Fisheries Neomal Fernando Tuesday said that the ban on fishing in Trincomalee Harbour area has been imposed on confirmed reports that LTTE cadres had infiltrated. This has come to light with the sinking of a vessel belonged to the Sri Lanka Navy on May 10, according to reports from Colombo.
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Police arrests Jaffna youth in Dehiwela bombing

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 May 2008, 02:40 GMT]
One Jaffna Tamil youth was arrested Monday evening in connection with the Dehiwala train bomb attack, and several others have been taken in for questioning, reports from Colombo said. The Jaffna youth arrested is now being interrogated by the Terrorist Intelligence Division, reports added.
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Fein: Hold referendum to test support for Tamil Statehood

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 May 2008, 18:15 GMT]
Bruce Fein, Attorney for a US-based Tamil Activist Group, in responding to a statement by Ambassador Robert Blake to Sunday Observer saying that from his discussions with Tamils he knows that "over 95 percent of them [Tamils] support a solution within a framework of a united Sri Lanka," challenged the Ambassador to hold a referendum to prove his assertion of percentage Tamil support, and added that "[i]f statehood prevails, the Ambassador should be the first to concede Prabhakaran’s superiority in discerning the political aspirations of the Tamil people."
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Severe rice, sugar shortage hits Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 May 2008, 15:33 GMT]
Residents of Jaffna peninsula are experiencing acute shortage of rice and sugar as stocks of these essential food items have dwindled in shops and co-operative retail stores despite Jaffna Government Agent’s (GA) assertion that Jaffna peninsula has enough stocks to last three months, civil society sources in Jaffna said. Trade society representatives in Jaffna said that the ineffective handling by the Jaffna Secretariat officials to facilitate shipments through Commissioner of Essential Services (CES) in Colombo, was the main reason for the shortage.
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Women Tigers documentary producers win award for new film

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 May 2008, 12:22 GMT]
Sabiha Sumar's "Dinner with the President: A Nation's Journey," which she made with her husband, political columnist Sachithanandam Sathananthan, won the highest award in the international documentary competition in the United Arab Emirates on Friday. Sri Lanka born Dr Sathananthan, currently in self-exile in India, and his Pakistani wife Sabiha Sumar, produced a 1996 documentary "Suicide Warriors" based on the lives of women cadre amongst the LTTE's women's brigade, some of whom belong to the elite Black Tigers.
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Bomb blast inside train, 9 killed, 70 wounded

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 May 2008, 11:54 GMT]
Nine civilian commuters were killed and more than 70 wounded in a bomb blast around 4:45 p.m. Monday at Dehiwela railway station in Colombo inside a packed compartment of a train bound from Maradana to Panandura. A parcel bomb has went off inside the 5th compartment of the train, according to the police. The attack comes in the wake of the detection and deactivation of powerful bombs in two separate incidents on Saturday.
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Trincomalee put on red alert-EPC to meet on June 4

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 May 2008, 09:30 GMT]
Trincomalee town and its suburb have been put on red alert with the announcement of the augural session of the newly elected East Provincial Council (EPC) which is scheduled to be held on June 4 morning. Police and SLA soldiers in large numbers have been guarding all roads lead to the area surrounding the East Chief Secretariat complex where the Assembly Hall of the EPC is located along the Inner Harbour Road which leads to the Sri Lanka Naval Headquarters, sources from east port town said. The East Chief Secretariat complex was used earlier as the North East Chief Secretariat before the de-merger of two provinces.
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JVP to hold national convention

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 May 2008, 04:17 GMT]
The fifth national convention of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), third largest political party in the current parliament, is to be held Tuesday, May 27, at Sugathathasa Indoor Stadium in Colombo, political sources in Colombo said. This will be the first convention of the JVP after, party propaganda secretary, Wimal Weerawanse, split from the party and formed a new political group called National Freedom Front (NFF).
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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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