Night curfew imposed in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 August 2005, 17:26 GMT]
A night curfew from 10 p.m. Friday till 5 a.m. Saturday has been imposed in Jaffna district, civil sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, Mr.Chandra Fernando, Sri Lanka's Inspector General of Police (IGP), is to visit Jaffna Saturday following the Inuvil Thursday where a civilian was shot dead by Sri Lanka Army and a high ranking official was killed in retaliation.
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Time for donors to provide direct aid to NorthEast- Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 August 2005, 11:20 GMT]
"Time has come for the International Community to provide direct aid to the Tamil homeland without waiting for Colombo," LTTE's Political Head Mr. Thamilchelvan told reporters in Kilinochchi after a meeting with the Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Mr. Vidar Helgesen and his delegation at LTTE's Peace Secretariat on Friday. "Joint Mechanism to deliver tsunami aid has been scuttled, internally displaced people continue to suffer due to Colombo's denial to let them return to their homes, and the Cease Fire Agreement is severely threatened by Colombo's shadow war using paramilitary groups in the East. The patience of the Tamil people is running out," Mr. Thamilchelvan told the press.
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CFA, P-TOMS discussed in Helgesen, Kumaratunga meeting

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 August 2005, 07:54 GMT]
The Norwegian Depurty Foreign Minister and the facilitator of the peace process Mr. Vidar Helgesen met Sri Lanka's President Ms. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga at her official residence Thursday night, Presidential Secretariat sources said. The Norwegian Deputy FM discussed the current state of the peace process with the SL President along with the issues which confront the implementation of the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA). Mr. Helgesen also discussed the issues related to the scuttled P-TOMS deal, sources added. The meeting which began at 9 p.m. continued till 10.30 p.m. The Norwegian Deputy FM is visiting Kilinochchi Friday to meet the LTTE's Political Head Mr. S.P.Thamilchelvan.
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Grenade lobbed at EPDP office in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 August 2005, 04:06 GMT]
The office of the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) leader Mr. Douglas Devananda came under a grenade attack around 11:40 p.m. Thursday, Police sources said. There were no casualities reported but a big noise due to the explosion echoed throughout the highly residential Park road, Colombo 5, the area where the EPDP office is located. Mr. Douglas Devananda, MP, leader of EPDP and a close ally of President Chandrika Kumaratunga, is the Minister for Vocational Education. The heavily guarded EPDP office houses the EPDP paramilitary cadres who operate along with the armed forces in the NorthEast.
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Inquest held into the death of Jaffna SP

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 August 2005, 16:45 GMT]
Jaffna Police Superintendent Mr.Charles Wijeratne's body is to be taken to his native place Kurunagala in the south Friday. Ms. Sarojini Ilankovan, Mallakam Magistrate held the inquest into the death of Mr.Wijeratna Thursday evening and directed the authorities to take the body to Colombo and to hold autopsy examination by Colombo Judicial Medical Officer.


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JHU to protest against P-TOMS

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 August 2005, 04:58 GMT]
"We have decided to hold island-wide protests against the Post-Tsunami Operations Structure (P-TOMS), we demand holding of elections for Sri Lanka's presidency in 2005, and want immediate suspension of all talks with International community regarding P-TOMS," said Omalpe Sobitha Thera, parliamentarian from the extremist Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) , an all monks party, to media persons Wednesday.
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Indian Tamils to protest against SL Minister's ethnic slur

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 August 2005, 04:12 GMT]
Tamils of Indian Origin from upcountry estates are to protest against the ethnic slurs directed at their community by Sri Lanka's Deputy Minister of Labour Relations and Foreign Employment, Mr. Mervyn Silva, during arraignment of the Minister's son Malaka Silva for his alleged confrontation with Police, sources in Nuwara Eliya said. The protest planned by the Upcountry Peoples Front (UPF) is to take place in front of the Fort Railway Station Colombo on 8th August.
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Court extends stay order in estate land expropriation case

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 August 2005, 03:06 GMT]
Colombo High Court which began hearing on the Ingurugama estate case on Monday extended the stay order preventing State's attempt to expropriate land belonging to estate workers at the Ingurugama tea estate in Badulla district and postponed the hearing to 26 September, legal sources said.
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Recourse to Court action on election date challenged

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 August 2005, 17:11 GMT]
The main opposition United National Party (UNP) Wednesday announced that incumbent President has no authority to seek the Supreme Court its determination on fixing the date for the next Presidential election, political sources in Colombo said.
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Helgesen to visit Colombo, Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 August 2005, 11:58 GMT]
Norwegian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Vidar Helgesen, will be arriving in Colombo on Thursday on a four day visit, according to a press release issued by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Colombo on Wednesday. Mr. Helgesen will have meetings with Sri Lanka's President Kumaratunga and with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
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India, Sri Lanka agree to monitor environmental impact of canal project

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 August 2005, 11:24 GMT]
During the second round of Technical Level Discussions held between India and Sri Lanka on the Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project in New Delhi on 1st August 2005, the sides agreed to “an arrangement to share relevant data …. which could enable them to assess and monitor the environmental impact of the project," said a press release issued by the Sri Lanka Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombo Wednesday.
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SLMTA commemorates slain journalist

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 August 2005, 11:01 GMT]
"Mr. Sivaram played an important role as a journalist highlighting the gravity of the NorthEast political and military situation with his in-depth analysis," said Professor Karthigesu Sivathamby, in a tribute to the slain popular military analyst and senior editor at TamilNet, Mr. Dharmeratnam Sivaram, on Tuesday during a commemoration event organised by the Sri Lankan Tamil Media Alliance (SLTMA) at Colombo Tamil Sangam in Wellawatte marking the third month of the journalist's death.
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NE schools to get 2915 graduate teachers, planning officers

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 August 2005, 08:53 GMT]
Interviews to recruit 2188 graduates as teachers (1684 Tamil medium and 504 Sinhala medium) and 727 graduates (629 Tamil mediums and 98 Sinhala medium) as Planning and Financial Assistants for schools in the North East province are to begin on August 4 in the districts of Jaffna, Killinochchi, Mullaitivu, Mannar, Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Kalmunai and will be conducted till August 10, said Mr.R.Thiakalingam, Provincial Education Ministry Secretary.
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SAARC meeting in Colombo to promote South Asia tourism

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 August 2005, 10:21 GMT]
Minister of State for Tourism, Government of India, Ms Renuka Chowdry and other heads of delegation of SAARC countries attending a meeting of SAARC Tourism Ministers in Colombo Monday, signed a joint declaration for making joint efforts for promotion of tourism in the region, a press release issued by the Sri Lanka Information Department said.


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US's strategic interests in Sri Lanka- Taraki

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 July 2005, 18:45 GMT]
What are the US government’s strategic interests in Sri Lanka? If the US has specific strategic interests in the island, then what are the means and modes by which it was and is securing them? Dharmaretnam Sivaram, popular military analyst and senior editor at TamilNet was working on this feature when he was abducted and killed on 28 April 2005.
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Colombo requests SC to remove P-TOMS stay order

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 July 2005, 16:25 GMT]
Mr.M.S.Jayasinghe, Secretary to the Ministry of Relief, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Friday filed a petition in the Supreme Court requesting for the removal of its restraining order from implementing four clauses of the P-TOMS (Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure) till its final determination on the Fundamental Rights application filed by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) parliamentarians. The SC made the restraining order on July 15 when the FR application came up for inquiry, the State run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) reported in its Friday night news bulletin quoting legal sources.
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Helgesen, Solheim to visit Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 July 2005, 15:59 GMT]
The Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr. Vidar Helgesen and the Norwegian Special Envoy Mr. Erik Solheim are expected to visit Sri Lanka next week, Minister Mr. Nimal Sripala De Silva, said in a press conference at the Government Information Department in Colombo Friday.
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US embassy officials visit Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 July 2005, 13:35 GMT]
A delegation of the US Embassy officials in Colombo arrived in Jaffna Thursday on a two-day visit and met with representatives of the civil groups, non-governmental organizations and senior journalists Friday at the Yarlpadi Restaurant, sources said. Ms Helena W.Rathore, Information Officer of the US Embassy said US assistance for rehabilitation and reconstruction of the tsunami destroyed coastal areas would be channeled through USAID and other agencies.
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Royal Navy war ship to visit Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 July 2005, 08:31 GMT]
Royal Navy Warship HMS YORK and her accompanying Royal Fleet Auxiliary support ship BLACK ROVER are due to arrive alongside Colombo, Sri Lanka on 5 August. The ships will visit for three days before heading further east as part of a Royal Naval deployment called VOLANS 05, said a press release of the British High Commission issued Friday.
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Bhikku front holds convention against P-TOMS

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 July 2005, 16:44 GMT]
The National Bhikku Front (NBF), an ultra Sinhala nationalist organization of Buddhist monks of Sri Lanka, held a special National Sanga (Monks) Convention against the Post -Tsunami Operational Management Structure (P-TOMS) at Bandaranaiake Memorial International Center Hall (BMICH) in Colombo Thursday evening. More than five thousand nationalist monks and their supporters attended the conference that urged all Sinhala nationalist forces to join hands in one platform against the scuttled P-TOMS deal.
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