Undersea electricity line to link India, Lanka

India and Sri Lanka are working on a plan to lay a transmission line under the sea to connect the power distribution networks of the two countries so that electricity can be supplied by one when the other is running short.

An initial report prepared by the Indian state-owned transmission utility PowerGrid has pegged the cost of the project at Rs 2,292 crore and said it could be completed within 42 months of getting investment approvals.

The report projects laying a power cable under the Gulf of Mannar between Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu and Talaimannar on the left flank of the Mannar islands in Sri Lanka.

On the Indian side, the undersea cable will be connected to the southern grid at Madurai through an overhead transmission line. On the Sri Lanka side, the underwater cable will be linked to that country’s network at Anuradhapura through an overhead line.

The undersea link will be laid on the sea bed just as telecom and internet cables run across ocean beds around the world. It will have safeguards on both sides against electrocution in case of damage from ship anchors or sharks. An optic-fibre cable will also run alongside the main power cable to keep an eye on the link and also provide extra telecom capacity between the two countries.

The project, like any transnational energy link, will admittedly be a long-haul affair. But junior power minister Jairam Ramesh is quite gung-ho. The next stage will be to prepare a detailed report and both countries will share the cost.

"The idea is to use electricity as a tool of regional integration. This can be an ideal example. We are already working with Bhutan while Power Trading Corporation and private sector GMR have got projects in Nepal and we are looking at linking up with Bangladesh and Myanmar," Ramesh told TOI .

The report prepared by PowerGrid says the power supply scenario between India and Sri Lanka will allow them to exchange about 500MW of electricity in the short term, or by 2009-10.

Once the two sides settle down with this quantity, the flow of power can be ramped up to 1,000MW, roughly one-third of Delhi’s present consumption, in the medium-to-long term of 2011-12 through 2015-16. These are the time frames when the generation capacities in both countries are projected to improve, with surplus in the Indian southern grid.

At present, India is facing a 16% electricity shortage, with a peak demand of 1,07,000MW. The government plans to add 78,500MW capacity by 2012, with more envisaged in the captive and merchant segments by private investors.

Many other proposals such as the Krishnapatnam ultra-mega power project are in the pipeline, which, after taking into account the projected growth in load, suggests that there will be surplus of 6,000MW during peak hours and 12,300MW during lean periods.

In comparison, Sri Lanka has about 1,660MW of peak demand and does not have any appreciable surplus or deficit. Nearly half of the power generated in the country comes from hydro sources, while the remaining power comes from plants burning costly liquid fuels.

Though it has plans to add 3,080MW capacity by 2016, it faces a tough situation. Almost half of the total hydel potential of 2,000MW has been tapped and new projects will be difficult to implement due to social and environmental problems.

The existing hydel projects run low during poor monsoon and in the dry season. This means that if all the planned coal- and gas-fired plants come up, then the country will have a surplus of 1,500MW during off-peak hours. But if only half of them come up, then the country will face a shortage of 500-1,500MW peak shortfall.

It is clear that the planned interconnect between the two countries will provide hydel support to Sri Lanka, while India can seek thermal support from its neighbour in winters.

The difference in festival holidays and resultant drop in demand also provides good opportunity for exchange. The link will help Sri Lanka reduce use of expensive fuels and import cheaper power. For India, the link will open up a new market for its surplus.


Source: timesofindia

India to help build 150-bed hospital in Sri Lanka

India will help construct a 150-bed hospital in Sri Lanka and provide vocational training to the people in rural areas of the island nation under the two agreements signed here between the neighbouring countries.

The Sri Lankan government has provided three acres of land for construction of the district general hospital at Dickoya in Hatton in the Central Province.

The Rs (Sri Lankan) 918 million project will be implemented by the state-owned HSCC (India) Ltd, a company providing consultancy services in healthcare and other social sectors.

Another agreement between the two sides pertains to setting up of facilities at Rural Vocational Training Centre at Nagawillu in North-western Puttalam district. The estimated cost of the project is Rs (Sri Lankan) 55.7 million.

The project is to be implemented by India's state-owned HMT (International) Ltd., over the next six to eight months.

It will create facilities at the Training Centre by supplying equipment and providing training to carry out short-term, modular and full-time vocational courses for the people in Puttalam.

Source: Hindu

Air Force destroyed three LTTE Arms carrying sea tiger crafts - Mullaittivu

Sri Lanka Air Force fighter jets destroyed three LTTE sea tiger arms carrying craft in South of Mullaittivu lagoon this evening (April 19).

Air Force spokesperson Wing Commander Andrew Wijesooriya speaking to defence.lk said that Sri Lanka Sir Force launch hits reconnaissance air craft base on the information received from Naval patrol.

As it is observed three LTTE sea tiger craft beached in South of Mullaittivu lagoon SLA Fighter gets raided those craft, spokesperson added.

The targeted three LTTE arms carrying sea tiger craft were completely destroyed as pilots return following the precision air sortie around 5.40 p.m, spokesperson further added.

Source: defence.lk

PMK wants India to play 'active' role in Sri Lanka

The PMK, a member of India's ruling coalition, Saturday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that New Delhi must play an "active and constructive" role to help end Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict.

PMK leader S. Ramadoss said he and his party colleagues urged both the prime minister and Congress president Sonia Gandhi that India's active engagement was necessary in view of the "genocide against Tamils in that country".

"There are (1.5 million) internally displaced people in Sri Lanka living at the mercy of international donors and NGOs," he said.

Thousands have died in escalating violence in Sri Lanka in the past two years.

Source: newkerala

49 killed in fresh clashes in Sri Lanka

At least 48 LTTE rebels and a soldier were killed in fierce clashes in the restive Northern Sri Lanka, officials said on Saturday.

Two Tamil Tigers were killed at Illamarudankulam area in Vavuniya on Saturday, the army said.

At least 11 rebels were killed in Thachchanamaruthamadu and Chinnavalavankaddu areas of Vavuniya on Friday, the Defence Ministry said.

On the Mannar front, troops attacked LTTE bunkers in the Manipulikulam and Minukkad areas and killed six guerrillas in the confrontations on Friday, the ministry said.

In a similar clash in Minukkad and Malikaittidal areas of Mannar, troops gunned down three more LTTE rebels, it said.

One Tamil Tiger and an army personnel were killed in clashes at Kokkutuduvai, janakapura and Kribbanwewa in North-east Welioya yesterday, the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) said.

In a separate incident, at least 13 LTTE rebels were killed and three others injured when army troops captured six bunker in various artillery duels at Kanthankulam, Kaddaikulam and Manipulikulam areas of Mannar on Friday, the MCNS said.

At least 12 Tigers were killed and seven others injured in clashes at East of Madhu, Thathchanamarathamadu and Suleinamarathamadu area in Vavuniya district, it said.

Source: NDTV

Southern Sri Lanka facing rice shortage

While the Tamil-speaking north is being subjected to a full-scale war with night air raids, the predominantly Sinhalese-speaking south is facing a severe rice shortage and the highest rate of inflation in the history of Sri Lanka.

According to the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI), the current rate of inflation in Sri Lanka is a dizzying 24 per cent. Even the revised index (CCPIN) estimates it at 21.6 per cent. On both counts, it is significantly higher than in other countries in the region, where the rates of inflation vary between 5 per cent and 7 per cent.

The Island daily reported on Thursday that this year, the average increase in the price of rice varieties in Sri Lanka is 68 per cent. For example, the price of parboiled imported Indian rice has gone up from SLRs.40 to SLRs. 85 per kg in only a few weeks. Prices are expected to further rise because of an increasing local shortage due to bad weather, unwise import policies and increasing world prices.

Timely imports from neighboring India would have saved the country from the present plight, a knowledgeable trade source told this website’s newspaper. The government should have placed orders with foreign suppliers (ideally from India) when prices were low and a rise was on the cards, he said.

Interference in private trade by the Mahinda Rajapaksa government in recent times has harmed the economy and social welfare, traders said, as they shut down Colombo’s wholesale market on Thursday in protest against the new, uneconomical administered prices.

Rise in food prices is worrying because food accounts for 80 per cent of household expenditure in Sri Lanka. An average family has to spend as much as SLRs.4,000 ($37) per month on rice alone, making it unaffordable. Many may have to resort to cutting down on food, but this will only worsen the already worrying nutritional status of the population.

According to the Department of Census and Statistics, only half of Sri Lanka’s total population of 20 million receives the minimum daily intake of 2,030 calories. The actual intake is 1,696 calories per day in the case of the poor, and 2,194 in the case of others.

The Rajapaksa government proudly proclaims that Sri Lanka has a per capita income of US$1,599. But according to the UNICEF, 14 per cent of children under the age of five show signs of wasting or acute undernourishment, and 29 per cent are underweight.

The government this week began forcing traders to sell at prices it had fixed. But this is causing an enormous loss to trade. The controlled price of a 65-kg sack of “samba” rice is now SLRs.4030, but the purchase price is SLRs.5400, traders point out.

Source: newindpress

Lanka-IOC urges govt to revise petroleum prices upwards

The Sri Lanka subsidiary of the Indian Oil Corporation has urged upon the Lankan government to revise petroleum prices upwards in view of the global crude oil prices veering towards 110 dollars a barrel.
"We are losing 750 million Sri Lankan rupees (about 6.94 million dollars) a month due to the high international crude oil prices and look forward to a hike in petroleum prices in the Island country," Lanka Indian Oil Corporation (LIOC) Managing Director K Ramakrishnan told PTI.

The parent company, Indian Oil Corporation, is also worried over surging global oil prices and said it is losing Rs 320 crore (Indian currency) per day on fuel sales in India.

According to top officials of IOC, the oil retail marketing and the borrowings have already touched Rs 34,000 crore as on March 31, 2008.

Meanwhile, the Lankan IOC chief said the situation in 2007 was manageable in the Island country as the government raised petrol prices whenever the global prices surged and thereby saved the company from making high losses.

Ramakrishnan said currently LIOC was losing SLR 31 per litre on diesel which was a worrying factor.

According to the interim results, Lanka IOC has made a net profit of 282 million SLR for the quarter ending December, 2007 whereas it incurred loss of 327 million SLR in the same period during the previous year.

However, the profit was much lower than 677 million SLR, the company earned during three months ending September, 2007. In the nine months ending December 2007, the company made a net profit of 1,450 million SLR. Whereas the company registered a loss of 1,516 million SLR in the year-ago period.

Turnover of LIOC, during the period, is estimated to have risen to 32.3 billion SLR from 23.8 billion SLR during the same period of 2006.

Source: chennaionline

French relief organization pulls out of Sri Lanka

A French relief organization that operated in conflict areas in Sri Lanka and lost 17 of their local workers in a single incident two years ago has decided to withdraw, a statement from the organization said Friday.

Action contre la Faim (ACF or Action against Hunger) said it was withdrawing a decision by a group of international experts observing the proceedings of a presidential commission probing 15 violent incidents including the killing of the aid workers.

The international group cited the slow progress of the investigations carried out by the Presidential commission for its decision to pull out.

The ACF statement said it believed that the presence of the international grouping known as IIGEP was an essential condition for the credibility of the process of the commission.

The 17 local aid workers were killed when the military was taking over the rebel controlled area of Muttur, 260 kilometres north east of the capital on August 4, 2006.

Investigations have not established whether the Tamil rebels or the military killed them.

The ACF has been involved in providing relief to the war affected in the north and eastern provinces. Troops recaptured the eastern province last year and are currently fighting the rebels in part of the northern province.

Source: monstersandcritics

Vaiko meets PM on Sri Lanka Tamils issue

Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Vaiko on Thursday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here and requested the government to mount diplomatic pressure on the Sri Lankan government to stop its military offensive and initiate peace talks for a workable solution to fulfil the aspirations of Sri Lankan Tamils.

Mr. Vaiko told The Hindu that he had explained to Dr. Singh the outcome of an international conference on ‘Peace and Reconciliation in South Asia’ held in Oslo on April 10 and 11 under the auspices of the International Association for Human Values.

Mr. Vaiko said he had told the Prime Minister that the situation in Sri Lanka was becoming grave day by day, endangering the life and security of Tamils. Innocent Tamils were being killed by the military. He explained the plight and misery of Tamils living in jungles without food and medicine. He requested that India should not provide arms to Sri Lanka.

Mr. Vaiko said the Prime Minister told him about India’s stand —that there could be no military solution to the problem. Dr. Singh assured him, saying: “We are not supplying arms to Sri Lanka. I will discuss the matter with the Foreign Minister [Pranab Mukherjee] and see what best can be done.”

Mr. Vaiko said he would meet Mr. Mukherjee.

Mr. Vaiko, in a memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister, said: “I draw your kind attention to the most painful scenario of gross violation of human rights subjecting the Tamils to indescribable hardship and misery. There have been indiscriminate killings, abductions and disappearance of Tamils. The innocent Tamil youth, who are not engaged in armed struggle, are also not spared. They are abducted by armed forces and thereafter [there is] no further news about them. It is feared that they are murdered.”

Source: Hindu

Sri Lankan gov't says 399 rebels killed in April

The military in Sri Lanka said Thursday that 399 Tamil Tiger rebels have been killed in clashes with government troops in the north so far in April.

Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, the military spokesman, told reporters that 34 soldiers have also been killed while 236 soldiers injured in this period.

Nanayakkara added that 16 civilians were killed and 83 civilians were injured in the violence.

The spokesman said 75 civilians have crossed over to the government controlled areas in the north from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam LTTE) held regions so far this month totaling the number to 308 since January.

The Army is currently engaging the rebels in at least three different fronts in the north aimed at crushing the rebel group.

The government claims that the LTTE are now confined to just two districts in the north as the rebels have been completely evicted from the Eastern Province.

But analysts say the present military campaign may extend over a longer period with the rebels expected to put up stiff resistance than it was the case in the Eastern Province.

More than 70,000 people have died in the island's separatist armed conflict since the mid-1980s.

Source: Xinhua