Sri Lanka News : InfoLanka News Room

Jan 27 (KGBT) They came seeking insight on tsunami devastation and rebuilding efforts, but several hundred students at American and British universities who joined a videoconference with Sri Lankan officials today got a lesson in bureaucracy. more..

Scientists to conduct first environmental assessment of Sri Lanka

Jan 27 (IN) For the first time since the tsunami devastated the southern coasts of Sri Lanka, a team of biologists will conduct a systematic survey of terrestrial, wetland, and marine national parks to assess the extent of the environmental damage and begin developing a plan to restore the natural resources that local communities and wildlife depend upon for survival. more..

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Jan 27 (GI) A Sri Lankan student lights a candle for tsunami victims in Colombo, 26 January 2005. more..

Sri Lanka rebuilding step by step

Jan 27 (BBC) If you want a symbol of how this country is trying to get back on its feet there's no better place to look than the railway line that once ran along the south coast of Sri Lanka. Some 1,500 people died when the Marthara Express was engulfed in the tsunami. more..

Sri Lanka still suffers a month after Tsunami

Jan 27 (UPI) One month since the killer waves struck the coastline of Sri Lanka the country is still grappling with the unprecedented devastation caused by the tsunami. While the people mourned the dead at ceremonies held across the island nation, the government was busy figuring out how to provide relief and succor to some million people affected more..

Mystery of Hanuman statue on South African beach

Jan 27 (IANS) Scientists and religious leaders have expressed doubts that a statue of Hindu deity Hanuman found on a beach in South Africa had been carried there from Sri Lanka by strong waves from the tsunamis. more..

Showing God’s love to tsunami survivors with food, Bibles

Jan 27 (BP) ”Southern Baptists are committed to serving Sri Lankans for the time it takes to make a significant difference in their lives,” a Southern Baptist assessment team member assured. more..

Pakistan gifts hangman’s rope

Jan 27 (TP) The hangman’s rope at Colombo’s Welikada prison, which was decayed due to years of disuse, was replaced last week with a rope gifted by the Pakistan government, Prisons Commissioner Rumy Marzook told the Island newspaper. The only hangman in service, who has still to perform his entrusted duty has now been given a new assistant. more..

Ranil to visit Norway

Jan 27 (TP) Sri Lankan Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe will be visiting Norway on January 29 as part of a European tour, the Daily Mirror said. He is scheduled to hold discussions in Oslo with Norwegian Prime Minister Bon Vik and others connected with the Sri Lanka peace effort. more..

Schools reopen in southern province

Jan 27 (TP) Schools in Sri Lanka’s southern province affected by the tsunami disaster re-opened for the new term on Tuesday on a disappointing note with less than 25 percent of the students turning up, the Daily Mirror reported. more..

Relief given or not given?

Jan 27 (BBC) The government of Sri Lanka said that they would not agree with the observations of the relief organisation Oxfam. Earlier, the Oxfam issued a statement saying the relief efforts in the tsunami hit areas are inefficient and disorganised. more..

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Jan 27 (GI) Sri Lankan woman Anuska (C) watches her relative filling a form to get compensation and aid while sitting among the rubble of their house in Seenigama village, some 90 km south of Colombo, more..

LTTE obtains two aircrafts, Colombo complains to Norway

Jan 27 (AT) The Government of Sri Lanka has complained to Norway that the Tamil Tigers had acquired two aircraft and build a runaway at Iranamadu in the LTTE controlled areas during the ceasefire. The government provided aerial photographs to prove their charges. It was pointed out that the LTTE action was a blatant violation of the CFA. more..

Anura Bandaranaike vows to fight the PM on the beach front

Jan 27 (AT) In an interview with the “Asian Tribune” Tourism Minister Anura Bandaranaike spoke on a range of issues covering tourism, the LTTE and the government’s coalition ally, the JVP whose strained-relations with the government has become more obvious of late. more..

Allegations of the extra-judicial practice of torture by Sri Lankan Police on the rise

Jan 27 (AT) Asian Human Rights Commission a Hong Kong based Human Rights organization alleges that Police officers habitually torture and threaten complainants, endangering the security of Sri Lankan citizens. more..

Commandos turn away top tiger

Jan 27 (SAMN) The STF had prevented a senior LTTE cadre from entering a tsunami welfare centre at Shanthi school, in Vinayagapuram Tuesday night, triggering tension in the area. Police commandos deployed outside the school premises had barred Kuileepan, believed to be the Tigers’ Ampara district political leader. more..

Parents to continue death fast?

Jan 27 (SAMN) Despite assurances by President Kumaratunga that the school admission crisis would be investigated, the parents remained firm on their decision to continue their fast unto death. more..

Ranil asks govt to honour public views

Jan 27 (SAMN) The Leader of the Opposition said when drafting plans to rebuild the lives of the people affected by the tsunami their views should be considered and given priority rather than doing it on the whims of officials who haven't the slightest idea of what is required. more..

Tsunami victim takes govt to task

Jan 27 (SAMN) A man who lost his wife and mother-in-law while travelling in the tsunami-hit train at Telwatta on December 26 filed a fundamental rights petition in the Supreme Court Wednesday citing the Geological survey and mines bureau and other government authorities as respondents. more..

Tsunami, LTTE's uproar put govt on defensive

Jan 27 (Dawn) Trudging along to secure some kind of normalcy after the devastating tsunami attack of December 26, the government of President Kumaratunge is finding itself bombarded by accusations from the LTTE and the opposition parties that it just isn't 'doing enough'. more..

People behind tsunami statistics -- fathers, grannies, sisters

Jan 27 (AFP) A total of 5,637 people are on Sri Lanka's list of the tsunami-missing. One of them is Kosgallana Durage, whose daughter Hemalatha has grown thin with her obsessive search for him. more..

Sri Lanka likely to face labor shortage for rebuilding

Jan 27 (DJ) Sri Lanka is likely to face a labor shortage in its largest ever reconstruction effort, following the devastating tsunami that struck last month, the island's treasury secretary said. The government has estimated the cost of reconstruction at $2 billion over four years. more..

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Jan 27 (Yahoo) Sri Lankans light oil lamps in the beach designed make a Sinhala word for 'tsunami,' during a commemoration of the tsunami that killed about 38,000 people more..

Fungus risk for tsunami survivors

Jan 27 (BBC) People who survived the Asian tsunami are facing a further risk - from a potentially fatal fungal infection. The Lancet reports the case of an injured Australian man who has since been treated for mucormycosis. more..

Co-chairs urge Govt.-LTTE unity

Jan 27 (PIS) The Co-chairs of the donor conference comprising the United States, Japan, Norway and the European Union have said the multi-million dollar international aid pledged as tsunami relief should be sensitive to and strengthen the peace process in Sri Lanka. more..

The school head (Sri Lanka)

Jan 27 (GU) LA Subsinghe, 63, principal of Dehiwala girls' school in Dehiwala, south of Colombo. We started at 7.30am and finished at 2pm. We had assembly, registration and their classes. We are trying to get the girls used to a normal timetable. more..

The engineer (Sri Lanka)

Jan 27 (GU) Simon Waller, 39, a water and sanitation engineer from Sheffield, working for Oxfam in Ampara district. Not a good day. I got up at 5.45am. We're tankering a lot of water at the moment and we were supposedly increasing our capacity from three to seven tankers. more..

The doctor (Sri Lanka)

Jan 27 (GU) Kalandhar Rais, 30, public health doctor in Ampara. I cannot remember when or where I slept or what I last ate. I spend my time looking after 65 families who are living in my family compound. We have five big houses and they are full with people. There is no place for my own family. more..

The fundraiser (Sri Lanka)

Jan 27 (GU) Charlie Anderson, 40, a property developer from Cornwall, raised £40,000 for local fishermen. I was in Negombo staying with Isham, my driver/ translator/right-hand man, in the house he shares with his wife, two-year-old daughter, father and mother. more..

Sri Lanka heads for record trade deficit

Jan 27 (AFP) Sri Lanka's trade deficit hit a record 1.95 billion dollars in the first 11 months of last year due to higher expenditure on oil imports, figures released by the Central Bank showed. more..

Tree planting, shramadana campaign mark remembrance day

Jan 27 (TN) Members of Trincomalee District Women Organizations and officials of the provincial ministry of education, provincial department of education and zonal education office Wednesday organized a shramadana campaign to clean the surrounding of Tsunami welfare centre located in the village of Sambaltivu, more..

Tamil plantation sector flood victims neglected for two years

Jan 27 (TN) Tamil plantation workers in the Sabaragamuwa Province were ignored in the flood relief assistance given to the people affected by the floods in 2003 and have not received any assistance during the last two years, said estate sources Thursday. more..

Navy soldiers assault fishermen in Jaffna

Jan 27 (TN) Two fishermen Wednesday lodged complaints with the Jaffna regional office of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) that they were assaulted by soldiers of the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) while fishing in Pannai Sea Wednesday afternoon around 2 p.m., close to Jaffna town, sources said. more..

State officials going for repairs not allowed in

Jan 27 (SLA) LTTE men at one of their roadblocks have denied entry to a group of state officials who were proceeding towards UPPURAI area for repair assessment work of a flood-damaged bridge on 23 January 2005 around 10.00 a.m.. more..

LTTE teenager returning from un-cleared areas arrested

Jan 27 (SLA) A nineteen-year old youngster, suspected to be a member of the LTTE was arrested at the OMANTHAI Entry/Exit point on 26 January 2005 at about 2.00 p.m. when he tried to enter cleared areas without proper identification documents. more..

Telephone calls threaten villagers

Jan 27 (SLA) Police took steps to strengthen security in the general areas of PALLIYAGODELLA, KAMBURANA, AKBARPURA and AHAMADPURA in MEDIRIGIRIYA on 26 JANUARY 2005 after an LTTE cadre identified himself as RAVEENDRAN had allegedly threatened villagers to vacate their homesteads through a couple of telephone calls. more..

Hand grenade explosion kills teenager

Jan 27 (SLA) The explosion of a hand grenade killed a sixteen-year old boy and injured another teenaged girl in the general area of SAMANTHURAI on 26 January 2005 around 1.30 p.m. The sixteen-year old boy YUSUF LEBBE died following the explosion. more..

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Jan 27 (GI) Sri Lankan women look at a display of photographs of tsunami victims at Karapitiya Base Hospital in Galle, some 120 km south of Colombo, 26 January 2005. more..

Jathika Hela Urumaya yesterday expressed a letter to UN Head office

Jan 27 (SN) Jathika Hela Urumaya yesterday expressed a letter to UN Head office to the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, and the attention being paid to the Holocaust in general. more..

A conspiracy to sell water resources -JVP

Jan 27 (LT) The legitimate responsibility of formulating a National water policy belongs to his ministry says Mr. Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation. In a media meeting held in his ministry Mr. Dissanayake said no other ministry has the legal right to do so. more..

New UNP organizers get appointments

Jan 27 (LT) Presentation of appointment letters to the new electoral organizers of the UNP took place yesterday in ‘Sirikothe’, the party headquarters. Ninety new organizers were presented with their appointment letters. The letters were presented by Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe, Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the UNP. more..

Reconstruction continue sans politics

Jan 27 (PRIU) The High Level Committee or Disaster Relief met today at the President’s Office. The Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers, Deputy Leader of the United National Party and representatives of other political parties reviewed all aspects of the ongoing relief operations in tsunami affected areas island wide. more..

Sri Lanka diary - after the tsunami

Jan 27 (SMH) I have arrived in Batticaloa. Some areas still have no drinking water, fear of contamination and disease is a bigger concern than the issues themselves, as sanitation and hygiene education groups struggle to communicate with nomadic refugees. more..

Frankfort nurse brings relief to Sri Lanka tsunami victims

Jan 27 (TS) She saw uprooted palm trees, people unwilling to leave half-demolished homes and a hospital crumbling down upon itself. But it was the tsunami-ravaged school on Sri Lanka's east coast that really stirred Betsy Egan's emotions. "Over 200 kids were swept away by the wave," the Frankfort nurse said. more..

Music festival for Sri Lanka tsunami funds

Jan 27 (IANS) A music record company here is organising a music festival on Feb 19 to raise funds for the tsunami victims in Sri Lanka. Evocatively titled Teardrop, the music festival is also being organised to clear misconceptions about Sri Lanka, said Paul Jacob, CEO of Bodhi Music. more..

Students discuss tsunami aid with officials from Sri Lanka

Jan 27 (DN) Students and humanitarian workers discussed the tsunami relief effort with Sri Lankan government officials and relief workers during a videoconference at 7 a.m. Wednesday in the Technological Institute. Sri Lanka was one of the countries hardest hit by the tsunami in December that killed hundreds of thousands in Asia and Africa. more..

Forensic experts blast Sri Lanka for hasty tsunami burials

Jan 27 (AFP) Sri Lankan forensic experts criticised authorities for hastily burying thousands of tsunami victims without identification, but ruled out mass exhumations. The Chief Judicial Medical Officer L.B.L. de Alwis said Thursday the speedy disposal of the dead could have serious legal implications more..

Sri Lanka says aid to cover $1.8 Billion reconstruction bill

Jan 27 (Bloomberg) Sri Lanka expects overseas aid to cover the estimated $1.8 billion cost of rebuilding areas devastated by the Dec. 26 tsunami, Treasury Secretary P.B. Jayasundera said. "We have about $500 million committed from donors this year," more..

Sri Lanka Jan-Nov trade deficit up 52 pct due to oil

Jan 27 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's trade deficit in the first 11 months of 2004 widened by 52 percent against the same period last year to $1.95 billion on higher global oil prices, the Central Bank said on Thursday. more..

Govt denies getting advance warning of tsunami

Jan 27 (Xinhua) Responding to related news reports,Sri Lanka's official Daily News said Thursday that the Hawaii Center did not give any advance warning of the Dec. 26 tsunami to Sri Lanka. The newspaper quoted sources of the Foreign Ministry as saying that the Hawaii Center did not issue an advance warning of the impending tsunami to anyone in Sri Lanka. more..