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A Sri Lankan couple back to business in a week

Dec 17 (WB) Traveling south along the coast on the Galle Road towards Hikkaduwa, a small restaurant between the 93 and 94 mile posts offers a welcome stop. The restaurant located at Daluwattemulla, in Thelwatte, the place tragically marked in last year's December tsunami by the wrecked holiday train, more..

More snapshots of the road to reconstruction

Dec 17 (WB) Mahamarakkalage Patabendi Malini is hanging clothes on a clothes line in front of her newly completed house. The freshly plastered house sits adjoining the temporary shelter, they were living in back in June. The Save the Fishermen sign is still nailed to the wooden boards, but inside the shelter is bare, with only some fishing nets. more..

Social responsibility integral part of corporate bodies

Dec 17 (AT) As Unilever Chairman Antony Burgmans has stated, ‘Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is not something we do to the society. It is an integral part of everything we do’. more..

MFA threats apparel workers –ALARM

Dec 17 (AT) The Apparel-Industry Labor Rights Movement (ALARM), which brings together unions and Labor NGOs and observer organizations affiliated to the apparel industry, was formed to fight for the rights of women workers in the industry. more..

Attempt to send Italian mobile surgical theatre to tigers foiled by S.L. Navy

Dec 17 (LT) A sophisticated mobile surgical theatre received from Italy, loaded in a 40 feet long container has been sent to Colombo Port to be transferred to Jaffna. This container with mobile Surgical theatre has arrived in the vessel ‘New York Shipping Line’ on the 13th December. more..

New SLA sentries in Mannar town

Dec 17 (TN) Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has established several new sentries in Mannar town and its suburbs, and has blocked the road leading to the office of the Superintendent of Police from use by the public as a part of strengthening the security of the district, sources said. more..

Weapon -carrying Tamil Tigers observed in cleared areas

Dec 17 (SLA) A GROUP OF ABOUT 40 TAMIL TIGERS (LTTE), clad in dark green wears were observed by Sri Lanka Air Force troops on route piquet duties in PANMEDAWACHCHIYA and WEPPANKULAM areas in TRINCOMALEE on 16 December 2005 around 5.00 p.m. Some of them were carrying T-56 weapons, according to troops. more..

Suspected Tamil Tigers demand ransom from Muslim civilian

Dec 17 (SLA) Three armed persons, suspected to be Tamil Tigers, have arrested and detained a bullock cart with two cattle belonging to a Muslim civilian in the general area of PUTTUR, BATTICALOA on 16 December 2005 around 8.00 a.m. demanding ransom. Those suspected LTTE men had demanded a ransom of Rs. 30,000/- (about US $ 312) from the Muslim villager, more..

Transport of essential items to un-cleared areas continues

Dec 17 (SLA) ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED and fifteen (1515) lorry loads of food and other essential items had been dispatched to un-cleared areas in the northern province during the period between 09 December 2005 and 05 December 2005. more..

Thondaman to form an alliance with LTTE 'his is our reply to those who seek to destroy us'

Dec 17 (LeN) The Ceylon Workers Congress is to form a political alliance with the LTTE. As an initial step CWE leader Arumugam Thondaman will visit Wanni tomorrow to meet Tiger political wing head Tamil Selvam for a preliminary discussion. more..

Better to stay at home than working in Malaysia

Dec 17 (LeN) Even though expatriate workers are Sri Lanka's main foreign exchange earner, expatriate workers in some countries are poorly paid and in some instances not even entitled for the minimum health facilities. more..

The 500 rupee increment proposed in the budget for pensioners is from next month

Dec 17 (SLBC) The Department of Pensions says 500 rupee increment proposed by the budget for pensioners will be added to the pension of the month of January. In addition, it has been proposed to provide a ten percent salary increment by adding the 1,250 rupee allowance to the basic salary. more..

Media Minister calims that media is harming the taste and sense of listener

Dec 17 (SLBC) Media Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa says the national bradcaster has the capacity to reder a great service in solving the ethnic conflict. The Minister made this remark when he attended the official ceremony of the SLBC to mark the 80th broadcasting aniversary of Sri Lanka, yesterday. more..

Norway best venue for truce talks - LTTE

Dec 17 (TN) Reiterating that they wished to engage in talks on the effective implementation of the February 2002 Cease Fire Agreement, the Liberation Tigers suggested Saturday that Norway would be the ideal venue to host such talks as Oslo was not only the facilitator of the peace process, but leading the monitoring mission supervising the truce. more..

Muslim leaders must be true to their faith — Prof. Badawi

Dec 17 (LM) Sri Lankan Muslims leaders must be true to their faith and act as peace makers within their own local communities, said renowned Islamic scholar Professor Jamal Badawi yesterday in Colombo. ‘One has to understand Islam properly' he said and not be carried away by extremists. more..

Govt. throws open doors for talks

Dec 17 (LM) The Government yesterday formally expressed its readiness to start talks with the LTTE immediately at any venue. Government spokesman and senior Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva told a news conference after the Cabinet meeting the government was also ready to discuss any thing be it the cease fire agreement or a final solution to the ethnic conflict. more..

Tamil Tigers 'violated ceasefire'

Dec 17 (BBC) The Tamil Tiger rebels were responsible for a "gross violation" of Sri Lanka's fragile ceasefire this week, international ceasefire monitors say. The monitors urged the Tigers to prevent similar incidents after an air force helicopter came under fire. The rebels deny responsibility. more..

Firing at SLAF chopper a violation - SLMM

Dec 17 (PIS) SLMM yesterday ruled that Wednesday’s firing upon an unarmed Sri Lanka Air Force helicopter was a violation of the cease-fire by the LTTE. In a letter to Tiger political chief, S P Thamilselvan, the SLMM underscored that the cease-fire agreement clearly barred all offensive military action including firing of direct and indirect weapons, armed raids and ambushes. more..

PLOTE appeals to diplomatic missions

Dec 17 (PIS) PLOTE is appealing to the international community to use its influence in securing the release of senior PLOTE member Sinnathamby Ganeshalingam believed to be in the custody of the LTTE. PLOTE leader D. Sitharthan in a letter addressed to the Heads of Foreign Diplomatic Missions in Colombo said: more..

President guarantees judges' protection

Dec 17 (SAMN) President Mahinda Rajapakse on Friday assured that an environment would be created for the judicial officers to dispense justice free from threats to life. Speaking at the opening of the annual conference of the Judicial Service Association (JSA) on the theme ‘Dispensing Justice in the 21st Century’ more..

Strong tidal waves hit Amakandawila

Dec 17 (SAMN) With memories of last December’s tsunami catastrophe still fresh, disaster struck in Chilaw when massive 10-foot high waves lashed a coastal stretch at Amakandawila. The resultant rough seas threw fishing boats loaded with fishing nets and equipment a few hundred yards inland. more..

Book-ship Doulos arrives

Dec 17 (SAMN) The gang way to biggest floating book fair in the world the MV Doulos now berthed in the Colombo Port will be lowered to book lovers from 10.00 a.m. More than 6000 titles and half a million copies are on display. Mrs. Shiranthi Rajapakse, First lady of the country was the Chief Guest at the opening ceremony. more..

Police to go night clubbing

Dec 17 (LNP) Police Headquarters is taking action to raid unlicensed night clubs countrywide. IGP Chandra Fernando said unlawful activities were reported to be taking place in these night spots, which are run without licences and police teams have already started raiding these places. more..

Hand grenades found buried in temple premises

Dec 17 (LNP) The Army Bomb Disposal Unit disposed two live hand grenades found buried under a jack fruit tree in the premises of the Karambewa Sri Bodhirukkarama Temple in Galakadawala, Anuradhapura on Wednesday, police sources said on Thursday. more..

Alleged fraud in vehicle import

Dec 17 (LNP) Customs officials have unveiled an alleged Rs. 4.4 million swindle on a Central Bank vehicle tender. A Customs official said the Central Bank early this year had called for tenders for a 15-seater vehicle for its poverty alleviation micro-finance project. more..

Police raids against CWC leaders

Dec 17 (wsws) Two police raids against the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) in the past three weeks appear to be part of a political operation by the newly elected President Mahinda Rajapakse to split the party and gain the support of some of its MPs to shore up his weak minority government. more..

Chinese help to solve Lanka's energy crisis

Dec 17 (DN) THE People's Republic of China will assist Sri Lanka in solving its current energy crisis. Chinese Ambassador Sun Guoxiang gave this assurance when he called on Power and Energy Minister W.D.J. Seneviratne at his Ministry recently. more..

Mahinda’s task difficult but not impossible -G.L. Peiris

Dec 17 (TW) I would like to begin, Mr. Deputy Speaker., by extending our warm congratulations and best wishes both on behalf of the United National Party and on my own personal behalf to His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa on his assumption of office as the Fifth Executive President of the Republic. more..

Sri Lanka's Indian origin Tamil party to form new alliance

Dec 17 (Xinhua) A political party representing the Tamil community of Indian origin is to forge a new broader political front, party officials said. The senior leaders of the Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC), a political party cum trade union, have traveled to the Tamil Tiger rebels-held Kilinochchi district in the northern province to have talks with the political leadership of the LTTE rebels, more..

Ceylon House Made Off-Limits to Pilgrims

Dec 17 (AN) The first flight-load of 278 Sri Lankan pilgrims arrived here last week by a special charter of Saudi Arabian Airlines, but Sri Lankan officials told Arab News that the property endowed to house them has been deemed off-limits by its caretaker. more..

Portraying minds and moods through light and shade

Dec 17 (HT) Sri Lankan producer-director Inoka Sathyangani's maiden venture Surang Kirilli (The Wind Bird) has been on a roll, bagging ten international awards in the past three years. The latest one is for cinematography in the feature film category at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival held in November this year. more..

Sri Lanka's newly elected president to visit neighboring India

Dec 17 (AP) Sri Lanka's newly elected president will visit neighboring India beginning Dec. 27 to strengthen bilateral ties, the government said Saturday. During his four-day stay, President Mahinda Rajapakse is expected to brief Indian leaders on his administration's progress in restarting peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebels, more..

Sri Lanka monitors blame Tigers for chopper attack

Dec 17 (AFP) Scandinavian ceasefire monitors in Sri Lanka blamed Tamil Tigers for shooting at an unarmed military helicopter earlier this week and said the attack seriously undermined the fragile truce. more..

Tigers reject Asian venue for Sri Lanka peace talks

Dec 17 (AFP) Tamil Tiger rebels rejected a Sri Lankan offer to hold peace talks at an Asian venue and insisted that any negotiations must be in the capital of the peacebroker Norway. The LTTE said any discussions with the Sri Lankan government must be in Oslo as originally proposed by Norway but rejected by Colombo. more..

Lost and found

Dec 18 (TA) IT HAS the status of a family heirloom now. Printed in the local language, the the year-old newspaper cutting documents the woes of M. M. Firdous, his sister and two young brothers. They were punished more severely by the tsunami than any other family they know. more..

Baby 81 finds his home and delivers a dream

Dec 18 (TA) IS this the luckiest toddler in the world? His doting parents believe so. In the aftermath of the Boxing Day tsunami, Abilash Jeyaraja also became the most celebrated survivor. He was "Baby 81" - rescued by a samaritan who found him alone, wrestling for life, in the rubble along the eastern coast more..

Human Rights Day in Kilinochchi

Dec 18 (TW) When human rights are discussed in the context of Sri Lanka’s peace process, they are generally seen in the area of LTTE violations, rather than those of LTTE celebrations, and as a pressure point. Despite four years of ceasefire, a wide range of human rights continue to be violated in the north east. more..

Healing and awareness through theatre

Dec 18 (TW) Ms Pathmini Sithamparanathan MP is currently in US on a speaking tour. Her husband Dr. Kandasamy Sithamparanathan, Head of the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Jaffna is also visiting the US. Many friends and well-wishers were dropping into see them, and TamilWeek spoke to Ms. Sithamparanathan, more..

'It took only few moments to shake the whole world'

Dec 18 (TW) "I feel guilty, that I could not save Arabi. I lost control and let her die. I am responsible for her death. I cannot forget her, because I loved her so much. I still can’t believe that she is dead. I carried her dead body from Mullaithivu to Mulliyawalai “says 13 years old Niranjala Balakrishnan more..

Iran, Sri Lanka study expansion of economic cooperation

Dec 18 (IRNA) Iranian Commerce Minister Massoud Mir-Kazemi here Saturday conferred with Sri Lankan Minister of Trade, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Jeyaraj Fernandopulle on expansion of economic cooperation between the two countries. more..

Construct mechanism to implement fertilizer programme -JVP

Dec 18 (LT) The programme to make available fertilizer at Rs.350/- per bag of 50 kg to farmers has run into tangle says Mr. Anura Kumara Dissanayake in a letter to President Mahinda Rajapakse. He states non availability of a mechanism necessary for the implementation of the programme at the grassroots level was the cause for the situation. more..

Tiger international monetary head killed

Dec 18 (LT) Yogarasa Douglas (28), known to be a close associate of tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, its intelligence chief Pottuamman and tiger theoretician Anton Balasingham was shot dead in London on the 12th. He is considered the international monetary chief of the LTTE. more..

Prabha scheming to create friction between Tamils & Muslims -Karuna

Dec 18 (LT) Tamil Elam People’s Liberation Tiger Organization (Karuna faction of the tiger organization) has asked wanni tiger organization to refrain from creating a conflict between the Tamils and Muslims in the North and the East. more..

UNP rebels to meet in Colombo

Dec 18 (LeN) A split in the United National Party is on the cards if a satisfactory solution was not found to the call made by an influential group in the party calling for a change in the party leadership. This group is to meet in the New Town Hall, Colombo on 20th Tuesday at 11.00 a.m as the UNP alternative group. more..

Three petitions against Chandrika in Supreme Court. One in Bribery Commission.

Dec 18 (LeN) Three petitions have so far been filed in the Supreme Court seeking write orders against the granting of privileges to ex-President Chandrika Kumaratunga in violation of the Presidential Entitlement Act. more..

Agitations in Colombo against WTO

Dec 18 (LeN) An agitation was held in Colombo Fort yesterday by several organizations deploring the detrimental effects on the third world countries as a result of the meeting of the World Trade Organization held in Hong Kong and urging the government not to enter into any agreement with the Organization. more..

Colombo move a ploy to isolate us: LTTE

Dec 18 (Hindu) The LTTE on Saturday termed the Government's proposal to hold talks in an Asian country as a "ploy" to "internationally isolate" it. S.P. Tamilselvan told journalists in rebel-held Kilinochchi that the group stood by its position that preliminary talks to discuss the implementation of the ceasefire agreement should be held in Europe, preferably Oslo. more..

The Muslim Factor

Dec 18 (AT) Muslims can probably live in a Tamil Eelam; but they cannot exist in a Tiger Eelam. As far as the Tigers are concerned any Muslim who is not content to be included in the ‘Tamil speaking people’ category is axiomatically a traitor. more..

Talking points for hardline Lanka President

Dec 18 (AT) Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse is coming to India a day after the Christmas in his first overseas visit. During his four-day state visit, he will take up the threads of discussions his foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera had with the Indian leadership and brief them of his plans to hasten peace process in the island nation. more..

LTTE - Govt at loggerheads over the venue of the peace talks

Dec 18 (AT) The LTTE turned down the proposal put forward by the Sri Lanka Government about holding the Peace Talks in an Asian country. S.P. Tamilselvan head of the Political Division of the Liberation Tigers described the move by the Sri lanka Government as a ploy to prolong the peace Talks. more..

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