Analysis by Amantha Perera

COLOMBO, Jun 14 2013 (IPS) - For the first time since Sri Lanka’s 30-year-long civil conflict drew to a bloody finish in May 2009, casting an eerie hush over the Northern Province that had grown accustomed to the sounds of war, there is a buzz in the air generated by the prospect of provincial elections that hold the promise of radical change.

Though it is yet to be announced formally, political circles in the capital, Colombo, are fixed on the prospect of an election in September.

COLOMBO, 11 June 2013 (IRIN) - Ahead of Sri Lanka's planned provincial election in a former war zone, the country's main ethnic minority Tamil party is pushing to have as much power devolved from Colombo as possible.

The island nation has grappled for decades with the question of the devolution of power to its nine provinces, particularly the Northern and Eastern provinces, considered by Tamils to be their homeland.

06/10/2013 14:06 GMT

COLOMBO, June 10, 2013 (AFP) - Naval boats and helicopters scoured seas off Sri Lanka on Monday for dozens of missing fishermen, as the death toll from heavy monsoon rains and strong winds rose to 40, an official said.

The bodies of 39 fishermen along with one victim killed on land have been recovered while another 30 fishermen caught in rough seas are missing, said a spokesman for the Disaster Management Centre (DMC).

06/09/2013 15:30 GMT

COLOMBO, June 9, 2013 (AFP) - Monsoon rain and strong winds in Sri Lanka have killed at least 27 people with many more wounded and missing, mostly fishermen caught in rough seas, an official said Sunday.

The navy and air force kept up a search for 29 fishermen listed missing since the monsoon lashed the south-western coast early Saturday, the spokesman for the Colombo-based Disaster Management Centre , Sarath Lal Kumara, told AFP.

“Pounds of Prevention” is a series of short articles that illustrate how disaster risk reduction works and why it is important. Take a behind-the-scenes look at aid work in action, long before the disaster occurs. How is that possible? Read on!

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