Karachi displaced given resettlement grants

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 September 2003, 15:08 GMT]
7130 of the displaced families from Karachi in Kilinochchi district who had applied for resettlement grants have been given financial assistance ranging from Rs. 25000 to Rs.3000, said Secretary of Karachi Pradeshiya Sabai, Pon.Nithyananthan.


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SLA bars cafetaria in HSZ Cancer hospital

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 September 2003, 14:23 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has refused permission for continued operation of the cafetaria run by the Tellipalai Multi-purpose co-operative society (MPCS) in Tellipalai Cancer Hospital located in the High Security Zone (HSZ), said S.Sivamaharajah, the president of the MPCS, Jaffna daily Uthayan reported.


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Jaffna HSZ to remain - Marapone

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 September 2003, 01:27 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Defense Minister, Mr.Tilak Marapone, said Thursday that until a permanent solution to the ethnic conflict is found, no concrete decision could be taken regarding the removal of high security zones in the Jaffna district, political sources said.
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Nagarkovil IDPs oppose relocation, demand resettlement

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 September 2003, 00:05 GMT]
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Nagarkovil in Vadamaradchi east in the Jaffna district, who were displaced during the 1999 military operation by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and are now living in a refugee camp close to the St.Lourdes Church in Point Pedro, are opposing the move by the Sri Lankan government to relocate them at a place called Punitha Nagar instead of resettling them in their own village, civil groups said Wednesday.
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Armed forces to cover for striking health workers

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 September 2003, 11:00 GMT]
The Sri Lanka's Health Minister Mr.P.Dayaratne Tuesday sought the assistance of Sri Lanka's three armed forces and the police to maintain uninterrupted health service in government hospitals through out the island to counter the strike threat by seventy five thousand strong Health Sector Trade Union Alliance demanding increase of salary and removal salary anomalies, government sources said.


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SLA, SLN firing exercises hamper fishing in North

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 September 2003, 00:05 GMT]
Jaffna district fisheries co-operative sources complained Tuesday that firing practices by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) along the coast of northern sea have rendered several areas dangerous for fishermen, sources said.


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SLA bars Halo Trust from de-mining HSZ paddy fields

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 September 2003, 15:35 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army said Tuesday that it would not allow demining groups to de-mine the released paddy fields for cultivation in the high security zones in Thenmaradchi south division in Jaffna district, and instead would use its own soldiers for the de-mining, security sources said.
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Akashi concludes Lanka visit, leaves to India

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 September 2003, 11:22 GMT]
Japanese special peace envoy Mr.Yasushi Akashi said that the donor countries are not prepared to spend the funds pledged at the Tokyo aid conference for the reconstruction and development of the northeast province until stalled peace talks resume, media sources said.


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Permission sought to deepen Vadamaradchi fisheries jetties

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 September 2003, 21:47 GMT]
The Divisional Secretary (DS) of the Point Pedro division Monday requested the Jaffna Commander of the Sri Lanka Army to give permission to deepen ten fisheries jetties in the coastal areas of Vadamarachchi north including the Koddady jetty which is close to the Point Pedro high security zone, fisheries sources said.
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LTTE-SLA meeting held in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 September 2003, 18:43 GMT]
A conference was held between the Jaffna district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Mr.C.Ilamparuthi, and the northern commander of the Sri Lanka Army, Major General Sarath Fonseka, around noon Monday at the Jaffna office of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, sources said.
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Verugal Murugan temple festival draws crowd

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 September 2003, 15:16 GMT]
The eighteen-day annual festival (Mahotsavam) of the several centuries old historic Verugal Sri Sithtiravelautha Swamy temple, which is located on the border of Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts in the eastern province, comes to a conclusion with the water cutting ceremony (Theertha Thiruvizah) on Tuesday, sources said.
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Thanthonreeswarar chariot festival draws thousands

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 September 2003, 03:16 GMT]
The chariot ('Ther') festival at the Thanthonreeswarar Sivan temple in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled area of Kokkadicholai in Batticaloa district took place between 4pm and 6pm Sunday, sources in Batticaloa said.
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Akashi holds talks with Thamilselvan

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 September 2003, 12:05 GMT]
The Japanese special peace envoy Mr.Yasushi Akashi Sunday morning arrived at Killinochchi grounds by a special helicopter of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) accompanied by HE.Mr. Soiiehiro Otsuka, Japanese ambassador in Colombo, and met the Head of the Political Wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) S.P. Thamilselvan at the LTTE's Peace Secretariat building, Vanni sources said.
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'HSZ prevents resettlement of 80,408 Jaffna families'

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 September 2003, 03:33 GMT]
In the Jaffna district, 80,408 families have been unable to resettle in their own lands for the last 13 years as the Sri Lanka Army has been occupying their lands in areas it has declared as High Security Zones, said the Consortium of Non-Governmental Organizations in Jaffna in a statement Saturday.
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Tamils' history to be taught to Jaffna students

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 September 2003, 20:09 GMT]
The Thamileelam Education Development Board (TEDB) is to introduce a new textbook to teach the history of Tamils in Sri Lanka to students in the Jaffna district from January next year, and in preparation to the implementation of the project, the TEDB is now engaged in holding a workshop on "Thamileelam social education and history" for teachers who teach Grade 6 and Grade 7 students in the peninsula, Jaffna education sources said.
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SLA soldier in Batticaloa remanded for sexual assault of girl

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 September 2003, 22:28 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army soldier who sexually assaulted a 13-year old girl in Pansala road in Batticaloa town was further remanded till September 25 by the Batticaloa Magistrate on Friday, court sources in Batticaloa said.
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PA, UNF trade charges over claims of new Trinco LTTE camps

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 September 2003, 14:37 GMT]
The main opposition in Sri Lanka's parliament, the People's Alliance, Friday rejected the claim by the ruling United National Front government that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has not constructed any new camp in the government controlled areas in the northeast except the Kurankupanchchan LTTE camp now in dispute, and reiterated its original claim of many new LTTE camps in Trincomalee in areas controlled by the Government of Sri Lanka.
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Emergency action plan to control HIV, AIDS in NE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 September 2003, 17:19 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Health Ministry is to formulate an emergency action plan to control and prevent the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in the northeast province. A high level conference to work out a comprehensive plan is to be held on Friday morning at the North East Provincial Health Ministry auditorium, which is to be attended by high officials from the central health ministry, health authorities said.
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'GOSL responsible for disappearance of Trinco youth' - HRC(UN)

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 September 2003, 14:43 GMT]
The Human Rights Committee of the United Nations, established under article 28 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, has said in a public statement that the Government of Sri Lanka is under an obligation to make a thorough and effective investigation into the disappearance and fate of J.Thevaraja Sarma, who disappeared after being arrested in Trincomalee by the Sri Lanka Army in 1990.
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'SLA destroyed houses in HSZ during ceasefire'

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 September 2003, 18:50 GMT]
Peoples' Organizations in Thenmaradchchi division in Jaffna district Monday accused the Sri Lanka Army of destroying their houses and other buildings in the villages of Maravanpulo and Kovilankandy, located in the high security zones, after the ceasefire between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam came into operation, sources said.
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