123,000 fall below poverty line in Batticaloa district

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 October 2011, 18:58 GMT]
20.5 percent of the population in the Batticaloa district in the Eastern Province is beyond the poverty line, according to Sri Lankan Central Bank Advisor of the Poverty Abolishment Programme, R.Sri Pathmanathan. At an event held in Batticaloa last week, Mr. Sri Pathmanathan said Batticaloa district was one of the 14 poverty stricken districts in the island. The districts of Ki'linochchi, Vavuniyaa and Mullaiththeevu have not been included in the study, he said. 

The population of the Batticaloa district is about 600,000.

Sri Lanka is one of 149 countries that had signed a UN convention in 2004 with the assurance that poverty in the island could be reduced to half in five years’ period by the end of 2015.

But the level of poverty level has been increasing even after seven years.

3.9 percent people in Colombo district are living under poverty line.
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October 21, 2011

Australia's PM says regional relationships are very strong

Presenter: Joanna McCarthy, Canberra correspondent
Speaker: Julia Gillard, Australian Prime Minister


Australia's PM says regional relationships are very strong (Audio)

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GILLARD: The aims for this meeting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government are really three-fold. First to talk about the role of the Commonwealth in the age in which we live and how we can strengthen it for the future. Second, to focus on development. Of course, the Commonwealth has within it both developed and developing nations, so important questions like food security will be on the agenda. And third, of course, we want to make sure that this Commonwealth meeting has a focus on women as agents of change, that'll be a big part of the program that goes alongside the actual leaders of government meetings.

McCARTHY: Now Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse is attending. Will you publicly be calling for an international war crimes tribunal on Sri Lanka and following the lead of Canada and Britain?    Full Story>>>