The Lanka Academic
 
MARCH 12, 2002 EST, USA
 
A NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED BY LACNET
 
VOL. 2, NO. 340
TLA FEATURE CORNER
Headline Summary
F R E E      C L A S S I F I E D S
T  O  P      H  E  A  D  L  I  N  E
Ranil likely to visit Jaffna today
Gulf-News- Sinha Ratnatunaga, 13 March 2002. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is expected to make a surprise visit today to Jaffna, the first government leader to visit this war-torn northern citadel in over a decade.

The unannounced visit comes a day after Maha Sivrathri, a holy festivity for Hindus and in the wake of last month's ceasefire agreement between Wickremesinghe's government and the northern Tamil Tigers (LTTE) rebels, and is seen here as a symbolic gesture by the prime minister to show his keenness to unite the island fractured by two decades of civil strife. More...
Published: Tue Mar 12 16:50:27 EST 2002

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Commanding General of US 3rd Marine to visit Lanka
 Ranmali Wijesuriya in Colombo, SLT 10.30 a.m Wednesday 13 March. The American Embassy today announced that Brigadier General Timothy Ghormley, Commanding General, U... Back to the top
Tamil Tigers 'still recruiting children'
 BBC South Asia, Tuesday, 12 March, 2002, 11:45 GMT . The London-based human rights organisation Amnesty International has accused Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels of continuing to forcibly recruit child soldiers, going against the permanent ceasefire agreement it signed with the government last month... Back to the top
Brigadier General Ghormley, Commanding General, U.S. Marines Visits Sri Lanka
 US Embassy - Sri Lanka, 13 March 2002. Colombo, 13 March 2002: The American Embassy today announced that Brigadier General Timothy Ghormley, Commanding General, U... Back to the top
LTTE to march on the UN demanding Eelam
 Dushy Ranetunge, March 12. Several LTTE front offices in Europe, which operate as the “Tamil Co-ordinating Committee (TCC)”, are to organise a march on the UN in Geneva under the guise of a “peace rally”... Back to the top
Lankan woman caught with heroin
 Yahoo India, march 12. Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officials arrested a woman passenger bound for Colombo by an Indian Airlines flight and seized heroin worth Rs 1.7 crore from her baggage at the airport here last night... Back to the top
Anton Balasingham due in Sri Lanka
 Frederica Jansz in Colombo, 9 p.m. SLT Tuesday March 12. Two Tamil newspaper dailies today reported that the LTTE's chief spokesman Dr... Back to the top
Man abducted by LTTE found dead
 The Hindu NUS, Colombo, March 12. (PTI). Shortly after the LTTE denied US accusations of rampant truce violations, Sri Lanka's Defence Ministry today said a man allegedly abducted by the rebels two days ago was found dead with gunshot injuries in a jungle in the east of the country... Back to the top
Sri Lanka meets Pak in Sharjah Cup opener
 The Times of India, March 13. Sri Lanka will take on Pakistan in the opening match of the three-nation Sharjah Cup, to be held from April 8 to 17, according to the schedule announced by the Cricketers Benefit Fund Series of Sharjah... Back to the top
TNA to meet Indian PM in bid for Chennai talks venue
 Daily News, March 13, 2002. The Tamil National Alliance hopes to meet the Indian Prime Minister and the other mainstream Indian politicians in a bid to pursuade India to accept the Tamil Tigers' request for Chennai as the venue for the negotiations, TULF Vanni district Parliamentarian A... Back to the top
BASL Secretary indicted by AG
 Frederica Jansz in Colombo, 9.10 p.m. SLT Tuesday March 12. Secretary and Attorney-at-Law to the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, Bandula Wijeysinghe was today indicted by the Attorney General K... Back to the top
PM proposes truce with Chandrika
 Gulf-News, 13 March 2002. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has called for a 'ceasefire agreement' between his ministers and President Chandrika Kumaratunga as verbal exchanges continued on the eve of local council elections... Back to the top
AI condemns LTTE
 Frederica Jansz in Colombo, 8.45 p.m. SLT Tuesday March 12. Amnesty International in a statement released today has condemned the LTTE for forcibly conscripting children... Back to the top
Election violence decreases by 99%
 Frederica Jansz in Colombo, 8.30 p.m. SLT Tuesday March 12. The police elections secretariat said today that election violence has this time decreased by 99% as the country gears for local government polls... Back to the top
One killed, 24 hurt in Lanka grenade blast
 TOI, TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2002 8:11:13 PM . Two separate grenade explosions in central Sri Lanka killed one person and injured 24 others on Tuesday in what appears to have been a political dispute ahead of elections to be held later this month, the police said... Back to the top
Ceasefire overshadows Lanka local polls
 Times of India, TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2002 7:32:34 PM . In exactly a week, Sri Lankans will go to the polls to elect leaders to local governing bodies, but the election fever has been completely swallowed up by a ceasefire that has raised peace prospects in the country... Back to the top
U.S. presses Tamil Tigers over peace deal
 CNN Asia, March 11, 2002 . The United States has expressed concern that Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka may be jeopardizing the tenuous peace process in the country... Back to the top
Displaced Sri Lankans starve as politicians play
 Asia Times, Tuesday, March 12, 12:23GMT. PUTTALAM, Sri Lanka - It was unbearable hunger that recently drove hundreds of placard-carrying displaced people to protest outside the main government office in Puttalam, a fishing town 330 kilometers north of the Sri Lankan capital Colombo... Back to the top
U.S. Assistant secretary for South Asian Affairs to visit Colombo
 US Embassy - Sri Lanka, 12 March 2002. Colombo, 12 March 2002: The United States Assistant Secretary for South Asian Affairs, Christina Rocca, will visit Sri Lanka this week as part of a four-country South Asian tour... Back to the top
Tigers caught by military threaten to commit suicide
 gulf news, March 12. A group of Tamil guerrillas detected by the military in a government controlled area threatened to commit suicide by swallowing cyanide capsules, but were released in a bid to prevent upsetting the ceasefire between the government and the guerrillas under a Norwegian backed peace process... Back to the top
Ratwatte's copter rides spur new controversy
 gulf news, march 12. Helicopter rides given to former deputy defence minister Anuru-ddha Ratwatte to fly from the capital to attend courts in connection with the case of the massacre of 10 youth in central Sri Lanka has sparked off a controversy with authorities refusing to pay the bill for the rides... Back to the top
Sri Lankan Tamil Rebels Denies US Accusations of Truce Violation
 People's Daily, Tuesday, March 12, 2002. Sri Lankan separatist Tamil Tiger rebels Monday denied categorically the accusations leveled against them by the United States that it is involved in activities that could jeopardize the permanent truce with the government last month... Back to the top
CALL FOR PAPERS AND PROPOSALS FOR WORKSHOPS/TUTORIALS
 Infotel, 07 Mar 2002. In 1992 the Government of Sri Lanka embarked on a program of rapid export-oriented industrialization to accelerate economic growth and realizing the critical importance of Information Technology and Telecommunication sponsored for the first time, an International Conference & Exhibition in Colombo... Back to the top
EU Provides Assistance to Displaced People in Sri Lanka
 Nothern Light, Monday, March 11, 2002 12:04 PM EST . BRUSSELS, Mar 11, 2002 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- The European Union (EU) has decided to allocate a total sum of 1 million euros (880,000 U... Back to the top
Sri Lankan, Oman Air to touch city daily
 The Hindu (Southern States), 12-03-2002 . THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, MARCH 11. The hassles faced by air travellers to the Gulf, Far East and to Europe from the southern districts will be further eased with two foreign airlines increasing the frequency of their operations to the international airport here by the end of this month... Back to the top
Kachchathivu fete revived after 20 years
 The Hindu (International), March 11. After exactly two decades, in one of the first signs of returning normality in northern Sri Lanka, devotees from the Jaffna Peninsula and India flocked to this uninhabited piece of rock in the Palk Bay to witness the revival of an annual Catholic feast... Back to the top
LTTE denies accusations of truce violations
 TamilNet, march 11. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Monday denied categorically the accusations levelled against the organisation that it is involved in activities that could jeopardise the permanent truce reached between the Sri Lankan government and itself and which came into effect on February 22... Back to the top
Sri Lankan Ruling Party Confident of Winning Local Elections
 Nothern Light, Monday, March 11, 2002 8:06 AM EST . COLOMBO, Mar 11, 2002 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Sri Lanka's ruling United National Party (UNP) on Monday expressed its confidence of winning the local government elections scheduled to be held on March 20 and 25... Back to the top
Militants asked to surrender weapons
 The Hindu (International), 11 MARCH 2002. All ex-militant Tamil parties in Vavuniya have been ordered by the military authorities to surrender their weapons by tomorrow morning... Back to the top
Indian fishermen not fired at: Lankan Navy
 The Hindu NUS, Colombo, March 11. (UNI). The Sri Lankan Navy today denied reports in a section of Tamil Nadu-based newspapers that its sailors had fired on Indian fishermen going to the Kachchaitivu St Anthony's Church annual feast in Jaffna on Saturday... Back to the top
LTTE to open pol offices in govt areas
 South Nexus, Mar 11, 2002. In a move that marks the de facto end of the ban on the LTTE in Sri Lanka, the Tamil militant group is preparing to open political offices in areas controlled by the Sri Lankan Army... Back to the top
Wounded Pride Of Lions
 Outlook India, 11 March 2002. Our small but beautiful neighbour, Sri Lanka is burdened by her tragic flaw... Back to the top
More baggage, cheaper fares on India-Sri Lanka passenger ships
 IANS/Yahoo, 11 MARCH 2002. A 100 kg of free baggage and an overnight Indian Ocean cruise will be on offer when Sri Lankan shipping companies begin passenger runs to the Indian mainland, officials said... Back to the top
Sri Lankans create controversy over removal of covers
 Dawn, 11 MARCH 2002. Sri Lanka's over enthusiasm Saturday evening left the match officials on a tricky wicket as they battled to avoid the controversy dominate the proceedings of a rain-curtailed day... Back to the top
Sri Lanka crush Pakistan to win Asian Test Championship
 Yahoo India, Sunday March 10, 12:00 AM . Lahore, Mar 10 (ANI): Sri Lanka crushed hosts and defending champions Pakistan by eight wickets to win the Asian Test Championship (ATC) on the fifth and final morning here on Sunday... Back to the top
Sri Lankan women aim for bigger political voice
 Asia Times, 11:00 SLT. By Feizal Samath COLOMBO - Prior to hitting the campaign trail for local government polls to be held this month, Nimalka Fernando got another taste of the sexism that prevails in Sri Lanka's political culture... Back to the top
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