“All the world is my world, all
humanity is my fraternity”
It wouldn't grow when the chaff is cast off.
Likewise, even if one possesses enormous strength
He cannot complete a task without the help of others "
- Avvaiyar, Sangam era poetess
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RALLY APPEALS TO OTTAWA TO PLAY A BIG ROLE IN PEACE TALKS [Toronto Sun]
THOUSANDS OF local Tamils proudly displayed Tamil Tiger flags yesterday during a
massive rally urging Canada to play a prominent role in the stalled Sri Lankan peace
talks. Organized by the Canadian Tamil Students Association, the first local "Pongu
Thamil" demonstration drew 10,000 Tamils to Queen's Park yesterday.
LTTE shows some flexibility [Sunday Observer]
LTTE's announcement that it would consider government's alternate proposals when
talks commence on the ISGA proposals and expressing satisfaction after meeting the
Jaffna Army Commander were defined as somewhat positive responses from the
LTTE. An editorial comment in a Tamil daily that political killings should be stopped
before commencing talks was hailed by Tamil leaders.
The LTTE peace secretariat in a statement said President Chandrika Kumaratunga
has only verbally promised to recommence peace talks but so far has failed to do
anything positive and added that the LTTE is not responsible for the delay, the
Thinakkural said on Monday. In a separate story the paper said the LTTE has
intimated to the government that they are willing to examine the government's
alternate proposals after commencing the talks on their ISGA proposals.
"Reggie and two more cadres have been killed," Tiger spokesman Daya Master said
by telephone from the rebels' northern stronghold of Kilinochchi. "We were not
involved."
The dissident LTTE leader, Col Karuna, has sworn to avenge the killing of his
brother and second-in-command "Reggie" by the mainstream LTTE in the Batticaloa
jungles earlier this week.
From a distance, it looks like the drinks aisle of a supermarket - 500 plastic bottles
that once contained Coca Cola or lemonade, stacked neatly on shelves in Jaffna's
Public Library.
But step closer and you notice that each of the bottles contains a fragment salvaged
from some of the houses burnt or destroyed during more than two decades of ethnic
conflict.
There are children's shoes, dolls, charred photographs of lost relatives and letters
that have never been read.
Some simply contain scraps of paper, scrawled with the word "hope".
The installation is the focal point of an exhibition dedicated to a war that claimed the
lives of more than 60,000 people.
The use of force and violence by a State should be the last resort to fight terrorism,
Sri Lanka’s President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga said.
Addressing a press conference at UN Headquarters in New York, the President called
terrorism "the most dehumanizing, the most horrendous phenomenon of our times."
Sri Lanka's first major overseas peacekeeping contingent has left to join the UN
mission in Haiti.
About 750 troops will join the effort to restore stability after Haiti's president was
forced out of power earlier this year.
It all started at one of those gatherings where villagers turn out by the thousands to
ask film star Vijaykanth -- known as the John Wayne of Tamil cinema -- to name their
babies.
After selecting some names, Vijaykanth told his supporters that he deplored the
political situation in their impoverished state of Tamil Nadu, pointedly wondering how
the son of the leader of the PMK, one of the region's big political parties, just was
appointed health minister.
for Central Florida Hindus [Orlando Sentinel]
Like countless generations of Indian artisans before him, Nagaratan Nagaratinam,
spends his days carving delicate, intricate sculptures of Hindu deities such as the
elephant-headed god Ganesh.
But the craftsman is thousands of miles from his home in the south Indian state of
Tamil Nadu. Since June of 2003, he and more than a dozen of his countrymen have
been working their marvels in Casselberry, building a lavish, $2.5 million temple for
the Hindu Society of Central Florida.
Malayalam actor Mamooty who made his presence felt in Kollywood with Azhagan
and actress Nandhita Das, who hogged the limelight in Azhagi come together for
their next film Vishwa Thulasi.
VIJAYAKANTH VIRTUALLY announces his entry into active politics in Evergreen
Movie International's "Gajendra" - another Vijayakanth product that deifies the hero.
Probable or improbable, the fan out there is thrilled when his hero brutally bashes up
the villains. And that's the psychology that makers cash in on.
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