Tamil paramilitary leader Pillaiyan and a Sri Lankan army intelligence officer have been further remanded by a Sri Lankan court, over the 2005 murder of Tamil National Alliance MP Joseph Pararajasingham.

Pillaiyan, real name Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, was the former chief minister of the Eastern province and head of the government aligned TMVP paramilitary group. He was arrested over the murder of the parliamentarian in October last year.

Sri Lankan troops handed out dry rations and vegetables to the “needy people of Jaffna” in a military-run ceremony on Thursday.

The United National Party condemned remarks made by one of its MPs, the State Minister for Child Affairs , Vijayakala Maheswaran who praised the leadership of the LTTE head, V Prabhakaran, before reiterating the benefits of the 'good governance' government. 

“We condemn this statement,” UNP MP Hector Appuharmy told media on Thursday. 

Sasikala Natarajan has been appointed as the general secretary of the AIADMK party today, following the death of the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa earlier this month. 

Sasikala was previous known as a friend of the late chief minister, though she had no official role. 

She will officially take over on January 2. 

O Panneerselvam was appointed as chief minister of Tamil Nadu following Jayalalithaa's death on December 5. 

Fishermen of Thalvupada, Mannar, held a road-block protest against obstruction from the Sri Lankan Navy.

Tamils in Belgium marked Maaveerar Naal last month, with a ceremony held to remember fallen Tamil fighters.

Held at a festival hall in Antwerp, hundreds of people came together in commemoration of the lives lost.

Hundreds of Tamils gathered in Auckland last month at a ceremony held to remember fallen Tamil fighters.

Hundreds of Tamils in Scotland marked Maaveerar Naal last month, as part of commemorations held to remember those killed fighting for Tamil liberation.

Tamils in Helsinki observed Maaveerar Naal last month, as part of worldwide commemorations to remember fallen Tamil fighters.

The Mayor of Brampton intends to sign a Sister City agreement in the coming weeks, that will see the Canadian city twin with Vavuniya in the North-East.

“Brampton is one of Canada’s most culturally and linguistically diverse municipalities, and is home to a growing and dynamic Tamil community of approximately 20,000 residents who are actively engaged in commerce, politics and charitable activities,” said Mayor Linda Jeffrey in a statement released last week. 

The home of a journalist attached to the Theepam newspaper was reportedly attacked in the early hours of Monday.

The Island reports that the home of the paper’s Vavuniya provincial correspondent Kumarasingham Gokulan was damaged in the incident, but there were no injuries.

Sri Lankan police are reportedly launching investigations.
 

A group of Sinhala Buddhist monks and Sri Lankan soldiers from the 66 Division distributed school supplies to Tamil children in Ponnakari on Boxing Day, reports an official ar

The Sri Lankan army has held employment awareness workshops for the unemployed youth of Jaffna, "with the sheer intention of exploring possibilities of getting employment openings for the unemployed in the Jaffna Peninsula" according to the official army website.

The Sri Lankan military's 66 Division this week gave handouts to pregnant Tamil women in Poonakary, Kilinochchi. 

The army's website described it as "another step forward to provide community assistance and reconciliation among the nations and in order to expect wealthy child birth from rural and low income families pregnant mothers".