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The Registrar of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka (EUSL) has resigned his post following harassments by a paramilitary operative, Julian alias Newton, who claims to be in charge of “educational affairs” of SLFP appointed Minister of National Integration, Vinayagamoorthy Muraleetharan alias Karuna. The resignation comes after the paramilitary person demanded two-thirds of the income [...]

The Sri Lankan government has handed over the administration of the refugee camps in the north to civilian authorities says minster for human rights

Sri Lanka Army (SLA) shelling killed 43 civilians throughout the day on Tuesday. 13 civilians, including 9 members of 2 families, were slain in Ampalavanpokka’nai and Valaignarmadam area in the morning. 3 of the killed were children. Four civilians were killed hit by gunfire. 120 civilians were wounded throughout the day, according to medical and [...]

At least 30 civilians have been killed in heavy fighting over the last two days in north-east Sri Lanka, health officials say

At least 30 civilians are killed in heavy fighting over the last two days in north-east Sri Lanka, health officials say.

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians representing the people of Batticaloa district, P. Ariyanenthiran, S. Jeyanandamoorthy, K. Thangeswary and T. Kanagasabai did not attend the Annual Batticaloa District Development meeting Monday in Batticaloa District Secretariat for fear of danger to their lives by the paramilitary men operating along with the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Special [...]

Sri Lanka Army (SLA) shelling on Monday claimed the lives of 70 civilians as Fifty Caliber gunfire from the SLA positions across the lagoon killed 18 civilians on the road, which links the makeshift hospital with IDP settlements. 21 of the slain victims and 31 of 156 wounded civilians were children. 63 tarpaulin huts were [...]

A Sri Lankan tea broker tastes teas in Colombo in 2008. Sri Lanka, the world’s biggest black tea exporter, saw its crop halve in February following a drought, officials said Tuesday.

Sri Lanka, the world’s biggest black tea exporter, saw its crop halve in February following a drought, officials said Tuesday.

Sri Lanka, the world’s biggest black tea exporter, saw its crop halve in February following a drought, officials said Tuesday.

Source: Reuters (For a related story and Q+A, click on [ID:nCOL402768] or [ID:nCOL428628]

By C. Bryson Hull

COLOMBO, March 31 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka’s president on Tuesday vowed no let-up in a military offensive …

Sri Lanka’s president on Tuesday vowed no let-up in a military offensive to crush the Tamil Tiger rebels, after the separatists again called for a truce while on the brink of a conventional defeat.

Heavily armed commandos have locked down a stretch of the southern Indian coast and began a house-to-house search for a group of suspected Tamil Tiger rebels from Sri Lanka, police said.

New Delhi: A majority of people in Tamil Nadu want the government to support the outlawed Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka, according to an opinion poll.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels appealed again Tuesday for a halt to fighting in their war against the government, though they denied they were on the brink of defeat despite being backed into an ever-shrinking pocket of land.

More than 1,500 public school principals marched and protested outside the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Colombo on March 25 to demand an end to longstanding salary anomalies.

The Economic Affairs Director of the Government Peace Secretariat said it was crucial that the private sector venture in to the north so that there can be sustainable development and lasting peace.

(Lanka-e-News, March 31, 2009, 7.55 PM) ‘Lanka-e-news’ learns that a ship called Wanni Mission is set to sail today from UK bound Sri Lanka with a shipment of medicine and other essential items…

Source: Reuters (For a related story and Q+A, click on [ID:nCOL402768] or [ID:nCOL428628] By C. Bryson Hull COLOMBO, March 31 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka’s president on Tuesday vowed no let-up in a military offensive …

A teacher identified as Rahini and one of her female students were killed and several sustained injuries when a tree fell on them while the teacher was conducting an outdoor class at Thiru Gnana Sampanthan Mixed School Tuesday noon, Police said.

Mar 31, Colombo: Sri Lanka Air Force fighter jets destroyed a LTTE long range artillery gun hidden in the in general area northeast of Puthukkudyiruppu, this morning, the military said.

Mar 31, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s annual average inflation rate declined to a recorded 18.6 percent in March from 20.3 percent in the previous month, the Central Bank reported today.

Sri Lanka on Tuesday rejected international calls for a truce with the Tamil Tigers saying that any let up would allow the cornered rebels to prolong their separatist war by another 25 years.

Mar 31, Colombo: Sri Lanka Navy yesterday assisted the International Committee of Red Cross to evacuate the sixteenth batch of 540 patients and civilians on board the MV Green Ocean sailing under the ICRC flag.

Mar 31, Colombo: Two more suspects charged with the killing of six-year-old Warsha Jude in Trincomalee, were shot dead by the LTTE today in Trincomalee, the police said.

Sri Lanka government says it is considering a humanitarian pause in the current offensive against LTTE in the north.

Rights activists call upon the authorities to immediately release Christian Council Secretary Shantha Fernando.

Mar 31, Colombo: A teacher and a student were killed and more than fifteen students injured when a branch of a tree fell on a school class in Vavuniya today.

Mar 31, Colombo: Sri Lanka Police are looking for Gampaha District United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MP Sarana Gunawardena, who has allegedly fired in the air and abducted a 12-year-old student after beating his father.

Mar 31, Colombo: Sri Lanka today said that it has withdrawn its troops from Internally Displaced Persons centers in Vavuniya, where thousands of civilians from uncleared area are housed.

Mar 31, Colombo: Sri Lanka today rejected the LTTE’s latest offer for a ceasefire call saying that the government will not go for any ceasefire with the rebels under any circumstances and the war is to be finished soon.

(Lanka-e-News, March 31, 2009, 5.15 PM) Shantha Fernando, the Executive Secretary of the National Christian Council was arrested by Terrorist Investigation Department…

(Lanka-e-News, March 31, 2009, 5.15 PM) Admitting the responsibility of arresting media persons, Defense Ministry Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse says that they have been jailed…

(Lanka-e-News, March 31, 2009, 5.55PM) Sri Lankan Army 58 Division yesterday (30) captured an LTTE TATA Cab mounted with 12.7mm Anti Aircraft machine gun during…

In response to pressure from the United Nations, Sri Lanka has withdrawn its troops from camps for thousands of civilians who have escaped the island’s vicious civil war, a minister said on Tuesday.

The Registrar of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka (EUSL) has resigned his post following harassments by a paramilitary operative, Julian alias Newton, who claims to be in charge of “educational affairs” of SLFP appointed Minister of National Integration, Vinayagamoorthy Muraleetharan alias Karuna. The resignation comes after the paramilitary person demanded two-thirds of the income [...]

March 31 (Bloomberg) — Sri Lanka won’t agree to a cease- fire proposed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the United Nations, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa , who attributed his forces’ delay in defeating the rebel group to the government’s concern for civilians trapped in the war zone.

COLOMBO (AFP)–In response to pressure from the United Nations, Sri Lanka withdrew soldiers from camps for thousands of civilians who have escaped the island’s civil war, a government minister said Tuesday.

After an LTTE artillery attack to Puthukudiyiruppu, SLAF and Army jointly destroys a 130mm LTTE heavy artillery gun-Military Spokesman-JNW

Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), a US-based activist group, filed a complaint against Secretary of the US Treasury, Timothy Geithner, and the US Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Meg Lundsager, in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to obtain a “declaratory judgment that a failure of the United States [...]

Consumer inflation measured by CCPI drops to 5.3% in March from 7.6% in February on a point-to-point basis-Census Dept-JNW

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians representing the people of Batticaloa district, P. Ariyanenthiran, S. Jeyanandamoorthy, K. Thangeswary and T. Kanagasabai did not attend the Annual Batticaloa District Development meeting Monday in Batticaloa District Secretariat for fear of danger to their lives by the paramilitary men operating along with the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Special [...]

March 31 (Bloomberg) — Sri Lanka’s inflation eased to the slowest pace in more than four years, giving the central bank room to cut interest rates to boost the island’s economy.

SRI LANKA SAYS MARCH ANNUAL AVG INFLATION AT 18.6 PCT VS 20.3 PCT IN FEBRUARY

In Trinco, two suspects in murder of a six-year old were killed & two policemen injured in crossfire between Police & LTTE-Police spokesman-JNW

(Reuters) - Sri Lanka’s military said on Tuesday that more than 1,800 people had fled the country’s war zone the day before.

Source: Reuters (For a related story, see [ID:nCOL402768])

By C. Bryson Hull and Ranga Sirilal

March 31 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka’s military said on Tuesday that more than 1,800 people had fled the country’s war zone …

The assault on a Pakistani police academy yestrerday echoes the brazen attack on Sri Lanka’s cricket team - and before that to the deadly Mumbai siege.

Source: Reuters (For a related Q+A on civilians click [ID:nCOL318185])

By C. Bryson Hull

COLOMBO, March 31 (Reuters) — Tamil Tiger founder Vellupillai Prabhakaran has done one thing better than anything else for …

The LTTE is not a movement believing that war is the only means to achieve the aspirations of the people it represents. But, political solution needs an environment conducive to it. The IC can play a positive role by adequately pressurizing Colombo for ceasefire and by promoting negotiations between GoSL and the LTTE as [...]

Police spokesman says special security arrangements now in place in Colombo & suburbs for upcoming New Year, requests public to be vigilant-JNW

COLOMBO, March 31 (Reuters) — Sri Lanka’s rupee hit a new life low of 115.80/116.00 versus the dollar on Tuesday on import demand for dollars, dealers said.

(Lanka-e-News, March 31, 2009, 9.15 AM) United National Party (UNP) National Organizer S. B. Disanayaka charges that the proposal of the eight-member committee of the UNP to appoint a senior leader and…

(Lanka-e-News, March 31, 2009, 9.15 AM) United National Party (UNP) National Organizer S. B. Disanayaka charges that the proposal of the eight-member committee of the UNP to appoint a senior leader and…

A Sri Lanka Ministry of Defence photo shows troops on patrol in the north-eastern district of Mullaittivu in early March.

Shocking news emanated from Yakkala on Sunday. An intra-party tussle of the ruling UPFA had ended in..

Two months after President Mahinda Rajapakse vowed that the Tamil Tiger rebels would be defeated within days, fighting rages on in Sri Lanka at the cost of escalating military, rebel and civilian lives.

Basnahira South, led by Sri Lanka’s stand-in Twenty20 captain Tillakaratne Dilshan, maintained their winning streak in the Inter-Provincial Twenty20 tournament with victories over Basnahira North and Schools Invitation XI over the weekend.

Another group of Sri Lankan house maids who faced severe hardships at their working places in the Mi..