யாழ் திரைகடலோடி

Sri Lanka to crack down on terror but no rebel ban COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka will introduce tough emergency regulations to curb terrorist activities but will not impose a ban on Tamil Tiger rebels, the island's government said on Wednesday. ADVERTISEMENT The cabinet's decision comes after months of escalating violence between the army and the rebels, including bomb blasts in the capital, and amid fears a ban could sink hopes of avoiding a return to all-out civil war. Last week, a suicide attack in Colombo targeted President Mahinda Rajapakse's brother Gothabaya Rajapakse, who is also the island's Defense Secretary and escaped unscathed. "T…

Rights group wants S.Lanka ex-rebel charged in UK By Peter Apps LONDON, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Britain should look at trying ex-Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger rebel Karuna Amman, detained on immigration charges, for war crimes, Human Rights Watch said on Saturday. The former eastern Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) commander is accused by rights experts of child soldier recruitment, extortion and torture both before and after he split from the mainstream rebels in 2004. Britain's Home Office said late on Friday Karuna was detained after a joint operation between the police and immigration authorities, giving no further details. Human Rights Watch said the au…

LOSING the favour of the ruling Rajapaksa family is a cardinal error in Sri Lankan public life. Few in the press, especially not the mealy-mouthed state-run outlets, risk any criticism of the president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, or his powerful brothers. Parliamentary opposition, weak in numbers and leadership, rarely murmurs objections to those in office. Street protests by trade unions, students, religious leaders and Tamil activists are infrequent and usually brief. So it is remarkable to see the country’s chief justice in conflict with the president. Few expected Shirani Bandaranayake to be any sort of check on the ruling family’s efforts to strengthen its grip on power.…

Visiting Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister for South Asia Alistair Burt said yesterday that his country would support the planned procedural resolution by the United States on Sri Lanka at next month’s session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Addressing a seminar, Mr. Burt, referred to a wide range of issues. While acknowledging progress made by Sri Lanka in the post war period, he was critical of some matters including the impeachment of former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake. Meanwhile, the British High Commission in Colombo said that Mr. Burt, delivered a lecture on “Sri Lanka: 2013 and beyond” at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for Inter…

Liberal Leader Bob Rae made the following statement today on the Sri Lankan government’s impeachment proceedings against the country’s Supreme Court Chief Justice: “We are gravely concerned by the Sri Lankan government’s highly controversial and unconstitutional impeachment proceedings against the country’s Chief Justice, Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake. As recently raised by the Canadian Bar Association, the lack of due process and open attack on the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law are deeply troubling. They are part of a continuing deterioration of democracy in Sri Lanka and directly violate the Commonwealth’s fundamental values. The Liberal Part…

At least 50 people were killed in a massive explosion that shook the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Tuesday evening, the health minister said. The blast appears to have been centered on the city's port area. A CNN producer witnessed "chaotic scene" in Beirut emergency room following the explosion. Lebanon state-run NNA news reported that a major fire broke out near Beirut port and firefighting teams rushed to the scene and worked to put out the fire. https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/lebanon-beirut-explosion-live-updates-dle-intl/index.html 11 min ago Those responsible for Beirut blast "will pay for what happened," Le…

141 Tamil civilians killed in the week of 8-15 August In one of the worst weeks of killings since the CFA was signed (8 August to 15 August), 141 civilians were killed by Sri Lankan armed forces aerial bombing and shelling. This number includes.  50 civilians killed by aerial bombing in Kathiraveli, Trincomalee on 10 August  7 civilians killed by shelling in Muhamalai, Jaffna on 11 August  15 civilians killed in St Philip Neri church by shelling on 13 August in Allaipiddy, Jaffna  55 civilians killed by aerial bombing in Vallipunam school camp, Mullaitivu on 14 August The previous week, 17 aid workers from Action Against Hunger wer…

Warscapes in conversation with Shobasakthi Translation by Anushiya Ramaswamy Bhakti Shringarpure: Do give us some political and personal context with regards to your novel Traitor. Shobasakthi: On July 25, 1983, the Sri Lankan government planned and killed thirty-five Tamil political prisoners at Welikade Prison, with eighteen other Tamil prisoners slaughtered a couple of days later. The prison authorities were thoroughly complicit in the massacre even though Sinhala prisoners carried out the murders. In fact, it was prison officers who distributed the weapons to the killers. Before the murders began, the Prison’s chief commissioner had been sent out…

Sri Lankan born Kiwi girl takes GSK to court Shivangi Ambani-Gandhi Sunday, April 15, 2007 23:08 IST SYDNEY: In a modern day David and Goliath story, two New Zealand science students have embarrassed one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), with just a school science project. Anna Devathasan and Jenny Suo have proved that the black current drink, Ribena, which made claims of having 7mg of Vitamin C per 100ml, in fact had no detectable Vitamin C content. GSK, the maker of Ribena, has been fined AUD 2,17,500 after admitting it mislead customers about the vitamin C content of the blackcurrant drink. The company appe…

“There were massive war crimes in the last phase which were probably the biggest bloodshed of the twenty first century” said Erik Solheim. He made above remark at the Global Tamil Forum conference yesterday. Erik Solheim was one of the key international speakers who participated at the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) third anniversary celebrations held at the Committee Room 14, Houses of Parliament in the UK yesterday. Senior Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and former Conservative Party Chairman Baroness Warsi however referring to de-mining process, claimed progress had been made and international community could debate Sri Lanka’s achievement in…

அமெரிக்க அதிபர் பராக் ஒபாமா இந்தியா வந்து சென்றதைப் பற்றி நாம் பெருமையாகக் கருதிக் கொண்டிருக்கிறோம். ஆனால், அமெரிக்க மக்கள் அனைவரும் ஒரு தமிழரைப் பற்றி வியப்பாக பேசிக் கொண்டிருக்கிறார்கள் என்றால் நமக்கு பெருமை சேர்க்கும் விஷயம்தானே! அந்தத் தமிழர் பெயர் கே.ஆர். ஸ்ரீதர். இவர், சாதாரண தமிழர் அல்ல.. மின்சாரத் தமிழர். சற்று பீடிகையாக இருந்தாலும் மேலே படியுங்கள்... நீங்களும் பாராட்டத் தொடங்கி விடுவீர்கள்... உலகம் முழுவதும் மின்சாரப் பற்றாக்குறை என்பது தவிர்க்க முடியாத நிலையாகிவிட்டதால், மின் உற்பத்தியை எவ்வாறு அதிகரிக்கலாம் என அனைத்து நாட்டு வல்லுநர்களும் தீவிரமாக யோசித்துக் கொண்டிருக்கிறார்கள். ஆனால், ஒருவர் தனது வீட்டுக்குத் தேவையான மின்சாரத்தை வீட்டில் வைத்தே உற்பத…

1989 - First Maaveerar Naal Nihalvu [size="2"]LTTE Leader's First Maaveerar Naal Address[/size] From 'Tamil Eelam', (Voice 17) November 1989 - A journal published by the Political Section of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. English translation. [courtesy Eelamweb.com] It was the first time the Tamil people commemorated Heroes' day. So far, 1,307 LTTE fighters have sacrificed their lives for the advancement of the Tamil Eelam liberation struggle and for drawing world attention to it. The courageous death of each and every one of these fighters is a heroic chapter in the story of the Tamil Eelam liberation struggl…

From my seat in the Telegraph's Westminster hutch, I can look out over Parliament Square to the spot where several thousand British Tamils are now into their third day of protest over the Sri Lankan government's offensive against the Tamil Tigers. For three days, varying numbers of Tamils have been out there, banging drums, blowing horns, chanting and singing. They're accompanied by scores of police who have effectively surrounded them. Now, you can say a lot of bad things about this protest. The police say it's illegal, because it wasn't authorised in advance. London travellers, me included, could complain about the traffic disruption caused on the first day …

Halton deputy chief Nish Duraiappah selected as new chief of Peel Regional Police Peel Police Service Board selects Halton deputy chief after seven-month search Halton Regional Police Deputy Chief Nishan (Nish) Duraiappah. - Torstar file photo Peel Regional Police has chosen its new chief. Halton Deputy Chief of District Operations Nishan (Nish) Duraiappah has been selected as the incoming Chief of Peel Regional Police. He will assume his role effective Oct. 1. Duraiappah has an extensive record with the Halton Regional Police Service, where he serve…

US Tamil group to take Gota, Basil and Fonseka to courts -Mendaka Abeysekera from New York- A United States based organisation called 'Tamils for Justice' has launched a massive fundraising project to de-proscribe the LTTE and to bring to justice the three US citizens holding power in Sri Lanka for allegedly committing gross violations of humanitarian laws, and crimes against Tamils. According to 'Tamils for Justice,' Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's two brothers, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Presidential Advisor and Parliamentarian Basil Rajapaksa and Army Commander Gen. Sarath Fonseka are clearly subjected to US law and jurisdiction and …

Sri Lanka military vows to ‘annihilate’ LTTE in east then north [TamilNet, Thursday, 04 January 2007, 14:02 GMT] After taking control of the eastern province in the next two months, Sri Lanka’s military will recapture the areas held by the Liberation Tigers in the north of the island, the Army (SLA) Chief said this week. On Wednesday Lt. Gen. Fonseka visited the Army headquarters in the island’s east to set the military strategy in motion. http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=20807

OSLO (Reuters) - Sri Lankan rebel Tamil Tigers want European Union members withdrawn from a five-nation truce monitoring mission, mediator Norway said on Thursday. The EU last month listed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as a banned terrorist organisation after an upsurge in violence on the Indian Ocean island. "The LTTE has informed us that individual members of the EU cannot be members of the Nordic monitoring mission," Erik Solheim, Norway's minister for international development who brokered a 2002 truce, told a news conference. ... ..... http://uk.news.yahoo.com/08062006/325/tige...ors-norway.html LTTE continues dialogue with Norwegia…

[size=3] The bright white 70 meters (230Ft) tall bridge pylon can be seen from far away. Attached to the top are 24 cables that suspend a large bicycle roundabout, 72 meters (236Ft) in diameter, that seems to float over a large new junction for motorized traffic. This roundabout can be found in Eindhoven and it is called Hovenring. The exceptional piece of bicycle infrastructure was built to stand out. It is to be the iconic new landmark that signals ‘you are entering Eindhoven’. At night the slender bike ring is lit from below to further enhance that floating effect.[/size] [size=3] [size=2] A new landmark for Eindhoven/Veldhoven and Meerhoven: the Hovenring fl…

Mukesh Ambani is world's richest man Press Trust of India / Mumbai October 29, 2007 Billionaire Mukesh Ambani today became the richest person in the world, surpassing American software czar Bill Gates, Mexican business tycoon Carlos Slim Helu and famous investment guru Warren Buffett, courtesy the bull run in the stock market. Following a strong share price rally on in his three group companies, India's most valued firm Reliance Industries, Reliance Petroleum and Reliance Industrial Infrastructure, the net worth of Mukesh Ambani rose to $63.2 billion (Rs 2,49,108 crore). In comparison, the net worth of both Gates and Slim is estimated to be…

இது ஒரு நீண்ட கட்டுரை. சில வருடங்களுக்கு முன்னர் இலங்கை தமிழ் அகதிகள் இந்த தீவில் தவறுதலாக இறங்கியதும் பின்னர் அங்கிருந்து தம்மை வேறு நாடுகளுக்கு அனுப்புமாறு கேட்டு இருந்தனர் சில மேற்குலக நாடுகளிடம் புகலிடக் கோரிக்கையும் முன் வைத்து இருந்தனர். இத் தீவில் அமெரிக்க இராணுவத்தளங்களும் , ஐக்கிய இராச்சியத்தின் இராணுவத்தளங்களும் உள்ளன. எனவே மிக கடும் கட்டுப்பாடுகள் நடைமுறைப்படுத்தப்படும் தீவு இது. எவரும் இலகுவில் உள்ளே செல்ல முடியாது. இவ் நீண்ட கட்டுரை அங்கே பரிதவித்துக் கொண்டு இருக்கும் இலங்கை தமிழ் அகதிகளின் வழக்கு தொடர்பாகவும், கடும் கட்டுப்பாடுகள் கொண்ட, இந்த தீவு பற்றியும் சொல்கின்றது. Alice Cuddy BBC News …

(By Dinesh D. Dodamgoda) (The author of this article started his career as a journalist at LANKADEEPA newspaper and subsequently was appointed as a Member of Parliament when he was 21. He is a lawyer in profession and has obtained an MSc on Defence Management and Global Security from the British Royal Military College of Science (Cranfield University) Shrivenham, United Kingdom. He is reading for a PhD on Terrorism at the Centre for Study of Terrorism and Political Violence (CSTPV) in the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. In this article he expresses his views on today's strategic issues and the views of this article are solely those of the author.) The Sri L…

Diplomatic scandal over Karuna, ties with Britain dip From Neville de Silva in London Britain’s relations with Sri Lanka have taken a nose-dive after breakaway LTTE rebel leader Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias ‘Karuna Amman’ was arrested near London and found to have entered the United Kingdom on a Sri Lankan diplomatic passport issued by its Foreign Ministry and containing bogus bio-data. The Foreign Ministry in Colombo is reported to have issued a Third Person Note (TPN), a diplomatic letter of recommendation from one Government to another. The British High Commission in Colombo had readily issued a visa for Karuna’s entry into the UK based on this prot…

Visiting Canadian Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Jason Kenney today expressed concern over accountability, human rights and lack of political solutions in Sri Lanka. He also said these factors are reasons for an influx of immigrants to Canada. If Sri Lanka does not address issues related to human rights, accountability, political reconciliation, resettlement and judicial independence, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will keep away from the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka, he said. Minister Kenney said Prime Minister Harper had sternly emphasized that Canada would not compromise on its stance of maintai…