Entire Eastern coastal belt was part of the Kandyan Kingdom

As for the Eastern Province the entire Eastern coastal belt was part of the Kandyan Kingdom . When the Dutchman Admiral Van Spilbergen arrived in Batticaloa in 1602, he was greeted by a Dissawe of the King of Kandy (Wimaladharmasuriya I) whose kingdom extended to the East coast to include both Batticaloa and Trincomalee. A painting that was presented to the Dutch Burger Union by the Netherlands Armed Forces clearly proves this fact. It was the Kandyan King’s (Rajasinghe II) troops that captured Robert Knox and not an ‘army’ of some mythical Tamil King who ruled so-called traditional Tamil homeland. (Asiapost)

Sri Lanka: 18 Muslim armed groups exist in Batticaloa district

Eighteen Muslim armed groups are functioning in Kaaththankudi alone in Batticaloa district and the total number of persons in these groups is said to be about two hundred, according to a report compiled by a special police team handed over to the defense authorities.

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Batticaloa Distance from Colombo 303km

Batticaloa is a city in the Eastern province of Sri Lanka. It is the seat of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka. It is on the east coast, 69 miles south by south east of Trincomalee, and is situated on an island.

Batticaloa is a quiet little place, with a small but well-preserved Dutch fort surrounded by a large lagoon on three sides. The constantly shifting views of land, lagoon and ocean lend Batticaloa an interesting character. A visit to the Kalkudah and Passekudah beaches is a must in the route from Arugam Bay upto Polonnaruwa.

The award-winning French charity Handicap International has a small factory producing artificial limbs in Batticaloa in Sri Lanka’s eastern province

The charity, which has a small factory producing artificial limbs in Batticaloa in Sri Lanka’s eastern province, has opened an emergency unit at one of the centres for people who fled the fighting, and is working with other suppliers to meet what it described a “huge demand”.

The scale of civilian casualties who have been maimed in the war was disclosed by the award-winning French charity Handicap International, which works with the victims of war throughout the world.

Handicap International’s Sri Lanka director Satish Misra said the number of maimed could be “about 25,000 to 30,000 people”.

He said he had established an emergency centre at Vavuniya last year in anticipation of the demand, and that a team of specialist physiotherapists and occupational therapists were now working with the victims.

Their work has been hampered by a government ban on refugees leaving the camp which means the wounded cannot be taken to his factory in Batticaloa, on the eastern coast, where new artificial limbs are fitted and the patients are trained in their use.

set up more workshops at Anuradhapura, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Ampara and Kandy hospitals for the benefit of needy children who require artificial li

AmeriCares International has promised to grant Rs.100 million to upgrade the health sector of Sri Lanka within a period of two years. Country Director, AmeriCares, Lisa Hilmi announced this yesterday during the opening of new Prosthetic and Orthodontic workshop set up at a cost of Rs.35 million at Lady Ridgway Hospital Colombo, a Healthcare and Nutrition Ministry spokesman said.
The organization has planned to invest the money within a period of two years and it will also set up more workshops at Anuradhapura, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Ampara and Kandy hospitals for the benefit of needy children who require artificial limbs and other body parts.
Handicap is also funding a new building complex now being constructed at the Elpitiya General Hospital at a cost of Rs.450 million.
AmeriCares International also funds to provide medical equipment to nurses’ training schools, IDP camps and health centres. AmeriCares International is an U.S. based NGO engaged in social welfare activities in Sri Lanka and has contributed to upgrade the health sector in Sri Lanka significantly.

The Brandix factory in Punani, located in the conflict-recovering eastern district of Batticaloa,

The Brandix factory in Punani, located in the conflict-recovering eastern district of Batticaloa, is looking at doubling export output this year. The factory, yet to be given a name, has been in commercial operation since December last year. Brandix officials say the ‘Punani Project’ is performing well, although the group is experiencing a drop in export orders because of the global recession.

“We are currently producing 20,000 – 30,000 pieces of boys’ denim pants for a European buyer. We are looking at increasing output to about 50,000 – 75,000 pieces by about August-September this year,” the General Manager of Brandix Intimate Apparel, Theodore Gunasekera, told the Sunday Times FT on the sidelines of a press conference with the UNHCR last week. The country’s biggest apparel exporters called a press conference on Thursday to explain its involvement with UNHCR in assisting resettlement of displaced people.

However, the Brandix Punani Project is a separate, Rs 250 million investment by Brandix Lanka, made at the invitation of the government, to help generate jobs in the war-ravaged East. At the moment the factory employs around 220 people from all three ethnic communities.

A majority of the workers are women from families that were displaced due to the conflict and include about 40 rehabilitated ex-LTTE cadres.

Sri Lanka – MIC Newsline – June 19, 2009 – Dengue Casualties Rise – Six Killed within 24 Hours/ War Has Made 49,000 Widows in Eastern Province

Dengue Fever death toll in the country has risen up to 140 with six people dead within the 24 hours ending at 6.00 PM on Thursday the 18th instant. 10,417 people have been affected by this deadly disease according to the Health Ministry.

Gampaha district tops the list of Dengue casualties with 25 deaths followed by Kandy district with 24 and Colombo with 13 deaths. The disease is continuing to spread amidst various actions taken by the Ministry of Health.

According to the Health officials in Batticaloa, there are 317 people identified as dengue victims in the district with six people dead.

War Has Made 49,000 Widows in Eastern Province

“The three decades of war in Sri Lanka has made 49,000 women as widows in the Eastern Province” said Eastern Provincial Council Health Minister M.L.A.M. Hisbullah at a meeting held recently in Kattankudy.

“There are 25,000 widows in the Batticaloa district at present, out of them 12,000 women lost their husbands in the war during the recent past” the Health Minister said further. He said that the Provincial Council collected all these information.

Continuing his speech the minister said that the standard of living of these widows should be uplifted and be encouraged to improve their economic condition. ‘Self employed women in India have improved a lot and contributed towards the development of India. The same way the widows here too should be made to improve their economic status and develop the country’ he said.

Chief Minister’s Secretary Joins the Government Party

With the ending of the one year contract as Secretary to the Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan (TMVP) of the Eastern Provincial Council, yesterday, the former Secretary Mamangarajah has joined the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). He is to meet the Deputy President and the Eastern Province SLFP organizer, Minister Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan today to obtain his official membership with the SLFP.

DIG To Meet Traders, Jameathul Ulema and the Muslim Community of Kattankudy

The Batticaloa Deputy Inspector General of Police Edison Gunatileke is to meet the traders, Jameathul Ulema and the Muslim community of Kattankudy on Friday the 19th instant. It is learnt he is to discuss about the growing use of drugs, intoxicants and the increasing habit of smoking cigarettes among the youths under the age of 18 years.

He is also to discuss about youths using mobile phones for immoral acts such as viewing pornography films. It is learnt illegal weapons in the possession of a few people in Kattandy will also to be surrendered to the DIG on this occasion.