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2005
the doing, It's not how much we give, but how much love
we put in the giving" - Mother Teresa
all humanity is my
fraternity”
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Scientists warn that the warping of the Earth's crust during the Indian
Ocean tsunami may lead to more earthquakes in the region -- and
possibly another tsunami. Scientists are warning against "disaster
fatigue" and urging immediate installation of a tsunami warning system.
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By D.B.S. Jeyaraj
Hope has dawned across the Sri Lankan political horizon that a joint
mechanism between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam to oversee all post - tsunami rehabilitation,
resettlement and reconstruction activity in the North - Eastern province
will be set up by Sinhala - Tamil new year in mid - April this year.
The LTTE political wing head Suppiah Paramu Thamilselvan has
informed Norwegian Foreign minister Jan Petersen that his organization
is prepared to compromise on the Post - tsunami joint mechanism for the
North - Eastern province and accept diluted structural and functional
powers in the interests of the affected Tamil people. [Contd.]
who bowled over Murali
Tsunami
Management
Mechanism
would
strengthen
the Peace
Process”
[LTTEPS]
Rajasingham Jeyadevan
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj
The Castro - Shanthan - Seevaratnam axis with backing from Anton
Balasingham began a campaign - both overt and covert in nature - aimed
at bringing several Tamil administered British institutions under direct LTTE
control. Seevaratnam was to be the "front person" under whom most of
these were" legally "acquired. Given the fact that the LTTE is banned as a
terrorist organization under British law the tigers were bold indeed in
embarking on such a course. This brazen cocksureness is due to an
impression that there wont be a crackdown on them in Britain as long as
that peace process continues. [Contd.]
By Dr. Rajasingham Narendran
In the Sunday Leader (13th March’05), [and TamilWeek ]
D.B.S. Jeyaraj has described in graphic detail (with very few
inaccuracies), the extremely worrying episode involving the kidnap
and incarceration of my youngest brother, Jayadevan- a British
businessman, while on a visit to the Vanni, by the Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Ealam (LTTE). This episode has brought into sharp focus the
misuse of arrogated power by the LTTE, the sad plight of the Tamils living
under its authoritarian rule and the urgent need for immediate resolution of
the Sinhala Tamil conflict, reforms in the LTTE and democratic civil
governance in the Tamil homeland. [Contd.]
Premier Bob Rae says one of the barriers delaying a federal solution to the
conflict was LTTE's difficulty in transforming itself from a guerrilla operation
to a political party.
At the same time, he said, the government has had difficulty in developing
a resolution that recognizes Sri Lanka's pluralism and diversity.
[Forum sponsored event in Toronto]
that a small group of
thoughtful, committed
citizens can
change the world.
Indeed, it is the only
thing that ever has"
Dilemma of the disproportionately high
percentage tsunami widowers
- Thinakkural
workers...she makes all the endeavors to sell that day's catch that were
brought ashore. In the meantime she takes care of all the household chores
as well..Its very appalling to see so many widowers in the fishing
communities,"
- Professor K. Sivathamby.
Socio-Economic Development Organization in Trincomalee (SEDOT) funded
by the Tamil Welfare Association in Canada has launched a project to run
two homes in the Trincomalee district-one at Sambaltivu, north of east port
town and other at Mallikaitheivu, south of Muttur division for destitute
children affected by war and natural disaster, sources in Trincomalee said.
promise aid for NorthEast [Tamilnet]
The Candian Government will provide assistance to the people of NorthEast
to recover from the tsunami disaster, said Hon Ms Maria Minna, Member of
Parliament from Canada, when a delegation of Canadian Parliamentarian
met with Liberation Tigers officials led by Deputy Head of LTTE Political
Wing, S. Thangan in the Planning and Development Secretariat (PDS)
Wednesday 10.30 am, sources from Kilinochchi said.
lives but left humanity
ashore, its time now to
show humanity" -
Padmashree Kamal Hassan
Dushiyanthini Kanagasabapathipillai.
Narendra
Modi: India
condemns
US visa
decision [BBC]
In publicly expressing her concerns about the Iran-India gas pipeline during
her press conference here on Wednesday, the visiting United States
Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, made it clear that India's energy
security and the Indo-U.S. "strategic partnership" will matter less to
Washington than its policy of isolating and undermining the Islamic Republic
of Iran.
Dr. Rice also dropped a broad hint that the Indian aspiration for a greater
role in international affairs would be better served not through reform of the
United Nations — and a permanent seat in the Security Council — but
through ad hoc U.S.-led multilateral initiatives such as the controversial and
short-lived "core group" set up by Washington in the wake of last year's
tsunami.
Governments around the world have been urged to honour their financial
pledges to the countries worst-hit by the Indian Ocean tsunami.
The Asian Development Bank said there was a shortfall of more than $4bn
(£2.1bn) promised for rebuilding India, Indonesia, the Maldives and Sri
Lanka.
1447, Gerrard Street,
Toronto
Tel: 416-778-4542
Foreign journalists visiting the country can obtain visa “without any condition
or agreement of any kind” Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry said. In a statement
issued on Friday referring to a release by the Free Media Movement (FMM)
stating that a Canadian journalist has been asked “to provide a ‘letter of
agreement’ as a Sri Lanka visa condition”, the ministry said “foreign media
personnel are welcome to Sri Lanka at any time”. However, the ministry
added that foreign documentary film makers “need to obtain prior approval
as per the procedure laid down by the National Film Corporation”.
Day to Day music critic Christian Bordal relates the inspirational story of M.I.
A -- a young hip-hop artist who grew up in Sri Lanka and South London.
Her music bridges the gap between her war-torn past and her urban
present.
The first full-length CD from M.I.A -- born Maya Arulpragasam -- is called
Arular after her father, a Tamil revolutionary. And beneath the CD's veneer
of pop and dance beats are vivid, clashing images of war, cultural
displacement and party life.
M.I.A says she had an idyllic childhood until the civil war intervened -- her
father joined the Tamil fighters, and she and the rest of her family relocated
to Britain, settling in a housing project in the south end of London. She
blossomed in art school as a teen, and developed her own unique style of
music -- a "do-it-yourself" aesthetic inspired by the British club scene, with
stripped-down bass and drum rhythms driving catchy melodies.
Hear full-length cuts from MIA's latest CD: 'Fire Fire'
'Pull Up the People'; 'Amazon'
BINGO IN SWANSEA: Maya Arulpragasam’s world [The New Yorker]
Sri Lanka's historic mansion — the private residence of the Bandaranaikes
— will soon become a boutique hotel.
`Tintagel,' in the heart of Colombo, which Sri Lanka's first family called home
for decades, will join a list of handsome European and Indian castles and
palaces that are now elegant hotels. The sprawling size and costs of
maintenance were cited as the reason for the decision."This is far too big a
place for me to live [in]," the Sri Lankan President, Chandrika
Kumaratunga's sister, Sunethra Bandaranaike, was quoted as telling The
Sunday Times. The decision to convert the more than 12,000 sq ft mansion
into a hotel was endorsed by Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga and her brother,
Anura Bandaranaike, the newspaper said. The house, built in 1929 by a Sri
Lankan gynaecologist and writer, Lucian de Zilwa, owes its name to the
castle in which King Arthur is believed to have been born.
Teeming with known faces and packed with incidents, Spice Team
Entertainment's "London" (U/A), presented by Inspired Movies U. K., is an
assortment of levity and sentiment.
Siva (Prashanth) secures a job in London for which he has to shell out two
lakh rupees. The family is in dire straits with each member in need of money
for one reason or the other. Prashanth decides to take up the job with the
amount he gets after selling their house, and later help his widowed mother,
sisters and brother with his earnings. But his plans misfire miserably once
he lands in London.
There is a saying in Tamil, "Chukkukku mel marundumillai,
Subramanianukku mel deivamum illai," meaning there is no better medicine
than dry ginger (chukku), and there is no better God than Subramanya. This
reflects the glory, popularity, faith and belief people have in Lord
Subramanya and it is not surprising that Adi Sankara, while establishing the
six core faiths, viz., Shanmatha stabanam, made one for Lord Subramanya,
which he called as Kaumaram.
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darkness from earth circled by roaring waters. One is the flaming sun, single wheel bright as
lightning, the other is Tamil that has no like." — from the taNTiyalankârum [Berkeley Tamil]
applicable