USS Courageous will increase SLN naval power by 75 percent, says Daya Sandagiri

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 March 2005, 08:30 GMT]
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and the Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy, Vice Admiral Daya Sandagiri, said on Tuesday in Colombo that the inclusion of a 210 foot US Coastguard Vessel, USS Courageous, into the fleet of coastguard ship would greatly enhance‚ the deep sea operations of the Sri Lankan navy. "The new vessel will increase our naval power by 75 percent," Vice Admiral Sandagiri said on Wednesday while speaking at the ceremony to officially commission the USS Courageous, which is renamed as P-621 into the Sri Lankan naval fleet. The ship is manned by 89 sailors and 13 officers led by Captain S.S. Ranasinghe.
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Fizzled tsunami leaves two dead during evacuation

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 March 2005, 20:08 GMT]
So far, there is no indication of unusual wave activity in the sea said TamilNet correspondent for Batticaloa who visited a coastal part of the eastern town around 3 AM Tuesday. A boy was killed in a an accident involving a lorry in Mavadippalli and an old women died while fleeing in Kalmunai, according to initial casuality reports from Amparai. First "Tsunami" wave reached Colombo at about 1am (local time) and is less than one foot (10") in height according to information received by US NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency) measured at location with coordinates 6-59N 79-51E in Colombo.
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Evacuation underway in NorthEast coastal areas

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 March 2005, 18:49 GMT]
As a precautionary measure to avoid a possible tsunami from a 8.2 richter scale aftershock near Sumatra, LTTE units are evacuating coastal village residents and refugees in transit camps to higher grounds, sources said. FM radio and TV stations continued to provide updates on the quake that hit Sumatra Monday at 16.10 hrs GMT. Temple bells in almost all villages were rung alerting people to evacuate.
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UK medical team concludes tsunami mission

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 March 2005, 04:57 GMT]
London medical team comprising 152 members and sponsored by London Sai Samithi after completing its humanitarian mission in tsunami affected coastal areas in the northeast and south, left Colombo Friday, sources said. London medical team conducted clinics in Mullaitivu, Killinochchi, Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Kalmunai in the northeast and in Kamburupitya, Matara and Galle in the south lasting fourteen days since its arrival, one of its three co-ordinators Mr.Anis Patel said.
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Greek floating hospital concludes its mission in Trinco

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 March 2005, 17:26 GMT]
The Greek floating hospital OCEAN MONARCH that arrived in the east port and berthed in Ashraff Jetty since February 05, has completed its humanitarian mission in Trincomalee. About two thousand patients from Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Jaffna and Matale obtained treatment from the floating hospital. The vessel is to leave Trincomalee port on Monday morning, health sources said.
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Kantalai hospital should be developed on par with Trinco - Health Minister

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 March 2005, 17:19 GMT]
Mr.Nimal Sripala de Silva, Health Minister in the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government said Saturday that the Kantalai base hospital should be developed on par with the Trincomalee general hospital. "Please do not forget about the development of Kantalai hospital," said the Minister when addressing a conference in the Trincomalee general hospital especially summoned to discuss about the development of the century old Trincomalee general hospital built under the British rule.
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65 million rupee ice plant to be constructed in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 March 2005, 02:16 GMT]
The Business Development Centre (BDC) network Wednesday signed an agreement with K.Thurairajah and Sons Private Limited headquartered in Trincomalee to establish a modern ice plant with the Chinese technology with a capacity to produce seventy tones of ice per day. The ice plant will be constructed at a cost of 65 million rupees in Nilaveli about sixteen km north of Trincomalee with machinery and technology imported from Dalian Group, China. The project is to commence production in January 2006, BDC sources said.
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NPC urges Colombo to disprove Government support to Karuna group

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 March 2005, 09:36 GMT]
Pointing out the existence of a camp manned by militants of the Karuna group in Government-controlled territory that borders the north east, the National Peace Council (NPC), a Colombo based Sri Lankan peace group, in a media release issued on Thursday, called on the Government to disprove the allegations regarding its support for the Karuna group immediately and ensure that no such camps are permitted to exist in the territory it controls. Cease Fire Agreement between the GoSL and the LTTE in its clause 1.8 prohibits armed paramilitaries in the NorthEast. The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has been accused of collaborating with paramilitaries to promote internecine violence in the east.
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Sri Lanka’s referendum blues

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 March 2005, 12:23 GMT]
Opposition fears that President Chandrika Kumaratunga is making serious moves to hold on to the reins of power were further exacerbated when thousands of posters calling for the immediate abolition the country’s executive Presidential system appeared in many part of the island’s capital and suburbs this week. The purple coloured posters were in the name of a nebulous organization called ‘People’s Movement for Democracy’. Sri Lanka’s main opposition United National Party (UNP) says President Kumaratunga is planning to change the constitution to illegally perpetuate herself in power.
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Tamil journalists still feel insecure - SLTMA

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 March 2005, 10:28 GMT]
"Tamil media journalists still feel insecure in the ceasefire situation and also they are facing discrimination language wise", said Mr.R.Barathi, General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance (SLTMA) in his annual report tabled at the annual general meeting of the SLTMA held during the weekend in Colombo.
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Injured Karuna Group cadres transferred to Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 March 2005, 06:17 GMT]
Three Karuna Group cadres injured in an attack on their camp in the early hours of Monday morning have been transfaerred to Colombo national hospital for treatment under tight security, Police said. Meanwhile, bodies of two persons killed during the predawn raid are yet to be identified and are lying at Polannaruwa hospital, Police said Tuesday. The assistance of the ICRC has been sought to identify the bodies.
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Three injured in predawn attack on paramilitary camp

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 March 2005, 05:12 GMT]
Three paramilitary cadres of the Karuna Group were wounded in a predawn attack by gunmen suspected to be Liberation Tigers Monday in Theevuchenai, an interior hamlet near the Batticaloa-Polannaruwa district border, Police said. The wounded paramilitary cadres, including a man identified as ‘Mangalam Master’, were admitted to Polannaruwa Base Hospital Monday morning, Welikanda Police sources said. On Sunday, Sri Lanka army (SLA) spokesman denied a report in a Colombo weekend paper that the Karuna Group was running a camp in Theevuchenai, an area controlled by the SLA.
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Colombo paper exposes paramilitary camp

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 March 2005, 10:55 GMT]
Colombo-based English newspaper, the Sunday Leader, in its latest edition, has exposed the presence of a paramilitary camp at Theevuchenai in the SLA-held area of the Polonnaruwa district. The paper said its reporters visited last week the village lying about 10 km north of the Harabarana-Valaichenai highway from Sevenapitiya.
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MBA students assist tsunami-hit Veloor villagers

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 March 2005, 06:50 GMT]
Students following Management and Business Administration (MBA) course in the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM) of the University of Sri Jayawardenapura have provided assistance to tsunami-affected villagers of Veloor, Adambodai and Kuchchaveli to restore livelihood. They also helped to improve the management of tsunami shelters located in these areas, sources said.
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Tamils risk turning violence inwards- Prof Uyangoda

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 March 2005, 11:20 GMT]
Although the three years of relative peace after the signing of the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) between the United National Party (UNP) and the Liberation Tigers (LTTE) has demonstrated that violence and war is not necessary to mediate relations between warring parties, the same period has "also proved that Tamil society ran the risk of turning violence inwards, against itself," writes Prof Uyangoda in an article appearing in the Saturday edition of Daily Mirror.
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Canadian delegation visits Trincomalee, sees WUSC activities

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 March 2005, 19:16 GMT]
A Canadian parliamentarian delegation led by Ms Maria Minna arrived in Trincomalee Thursday around noon on a fact-finding mission accompanied by Mr.Jean-Philippe Linteau, Political Officer of the Canadian High Commission in Colombo. Other members of the Canadian delegation were Mr.Derek Lee, Mr.Joe Comartin, both parliamentarians and a Senator Mr.Jospeh Day.
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Japanese hazard management team visits Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 March 2005, 18:23 GMT]
Issues related to establishing an Early Warning System (EWS) and Implementing Disaster Management methods in Sri Lanka were discussed when visiting Japanese experts met with Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunge and cabinet officials, a press release issued in Colombo Thursday by the Presidential Secretariat said.
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Thousands of university students protest in Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 March 2005, 11:49 GMT]
More than five thousand university students marched through downtown Colombo Thursday demanding that the Government of Sri Lanka drop plans for privatizing higher education. The massive protest march which winded through busy and traffic congested areas of the city to the University Grants Commission around Thursday noon was organized by the powerful Inter University Students’ Federation (IUSF), an arm of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the main coalition partner of President Kumaratunga.
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Thamilchelvan discusses post-tsunami reconstruction with German officials

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 March 2005, 04:25 GMT]
The LTTE delegation which is on an official visit to European countries arrived in Berlin on Wednesday and held talks with German Economic Cooperation and Development Minister Ms. Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul. The delegation led by Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, Head of the Political Section of the LTTE, also met Mr. Bernd Borchardt, South Asia Director, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Mr. Jürgen Weerth, German Ambassador to Sri Lanka. Germany is Sri Lanka's second-largest bilateral donor, next to Japan.
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Kumaratunga moves to clip JVP's strong media links

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 March 2005, 13:19 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga is reported to have taken over the administration of the Media Ministry, held by Minister Mangala Samaraweera, in a move widely seen as intended to limit the strong links the radical Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has with the State media institutions, especially the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Co-operation (SLRC), Independent Television Network (ITN) and the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC), political sources in Colombo said.
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