humanity is my fraternity”
word of kindness is seldom spoken in vain. It is a seed which, even when
dropped by chance, springs up a flower.
CULTIVATE KINDNESS" - The Old Farmer’s Almanac 1853
"Vettenap Pesel" - Talk not harshly - Sangham era Saint-Poetess Avvaiyar
Jan 1, 2005
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[NPR AUDIO]
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Sri Lanka is under a pall of mourning. Casualty figures
compiled on the basis of information given by callers from
affected areas to radio stations in Colombo, indicate that well
over a thousand lives have been lost in the North and East
alone and that bodies continue to be brought in.
Merry Christmas and
Happy
New Year
ahilangal nanaiyave
athiruban
thondrinane...."
For the rain of love drench the
world, the divine figure
appeared
Arriving on the haystack
glittering like a diamond
- By Vairamuthu
[The Hindu]
The Tamil calendar is
punctuated with festivals.
In no other month does
the festival mood spreads
unbroken over one full
month like Margazhi.
Festivals like Vinayaka
Chaturti, Krishna Jayanti,
Dusserah and Skanda
Shashti is of unlimited
duration during the other
months.
Appeal for immediate international humanitarian
intervention [LTTEPS]
This is an urgent appeal to the international community and the
donor nations for immediate intervention in providing relief to
the disaster-affected areas in the Northeast. Tens of thousands
of people have been swallowed by the surge and thousands
have suffered major injuries. The medical institutions in the
Northeast are full of the injured. Tens of thousands of people
who’s dwellings and entire belongings have been swept away
by the sudden tidal surge, are now displaced and seeking
refuge in public buildings in safer places.
Christmas is then a season
of rejoicing and
re-experiencing the child in
us. It is a lesson in
simplicity and humility. In
order to confound the
power of the world, Jesus
came in the weakness of a
child and in order to set
naught its pride, he made
his bed of straw!
Including Paranthan Rajan
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj
In what appears to be a very puzzling development eight high
ranking leaders of the pro - Indian Tamil militant group Eelam
National Democratic Liberation Front including its leader
Gnanapiragasam Gnanasegeram alias Paranthan Rajan have
been arrested and detained in India since Dec 5th. [Contd.]
UNICEF Country Head meets with Tamilselvan
Mr.Ted Chaiban, UNICEF’s Country Head met with Mr. S. P.
Tamilselvan, Head of the LTTE political wing today 23
December 2004 at the Peace Secretariat in Kilinochchi.
Matters discussed included the alarming level of malnutrition
among school-going children and the deteriorating standard of
education due to lack of facilities and unfilled teacher
vacancies in many schools and the impact of flood caused by
recent heavy rain to the children of displaced families living in
welfare centres due to denial of access to their habitats by the
occupying military.
Remembered as
Father of Indian
Economic Reforms
[Voice of America]
PV Narasimha Rao, who
served as India's prime
minister from 1991 to
1996, died Thursday,
more than two weeks
after suffering a heart
attack. Mr. Rao will be
best remembered for
launching India's free
market reforms that
brought the nearly
bankrupt nation back
from the edge.
Mr. Rao is survived by
three sons and five
daughters. [Contd.]
Human Rights Watch expressed concern today about possible
threats to Sri Lankan Tamil human rights advocates in Toronto
following a public forum on child soldiers in Sri Lanka at the
Scarborough Civic Center on December 12. The forum drew
some 250 members of the Sri Lankan Tamil community for a
presentation of Human Rights Watch's recent report on the
recruitment and use of child soldiers in Sri Lanka by the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Dozens of presumed
LTTE supporters repeatedly disrupted the meeting with
shouting and heckling. Some members of the audience took
photographs and video of the participants.
Following the event, Human Rights Watch offices in both
Toronto and New York received phone calls from apparent
LTTE supporters threatening to expose the identities of local
Tamils who had contacts with Human Rights Watch in a manner
that would place them at risk.
"In light of past intimidation and violence by Tamil Tiger
supporters against Toronto's Sri Lankan Tamil community,
these ominous calls to our offices give us real cause for
concern," said Brad Adams, executive director of Human Rights
Watch's Asia Division. "We are confident the Canadian
authorities will take appropriate action to investigate the matter
and ensure the safety of the meeting's participants."
freed India from the
British Raj, Rao
liberated India from its
economic and socialist
woes." [BBC Have your Say]
Narasimha Rao death
[Tamilnet]
Shri Narasimha Rao
visited Sri Lanka at the
height of the anti-Tamil
pogrom in 1983 as the
special emissary of the
Prime Minister of India
Shrimathi Indra Gandhi.
It was after the visit of
Shri Narasimha Rao, that
the tide of violence
against the Tamil people
subsided.
"Shri Narasimha Rao
continued to take a keen
interest in the peaceful
resolution of the Tamil
question in Sri Lanka. He
was an erudite scholar.
To meet with him and
receive his wise and
mature advice was
always a privilege."
Denuding Nagarkovil of palmyrah [LTTEPS]
It is reported that the SLA from the high security zone (HSZ) in
Eluthumadduval is engaged in large scale felling of palmyrah
trees on a day and night process.
To fortify the Sri Lankan military complexes in Nagarkovil, east
of Point Pedro, Jaffna, the SLA personnel are engaged in
cutting down this traditional palm that gives everything to the
Jaffna citizens, within the high security zone (HSZ) of
Eluthumadduval. Denying access to the land owners and
sealing civilians off, the military is able to transport the felled
palmyrah logs through interior roads to Nagarkovil. The
civilians living in areas outside the HSZ hear the cutting down
and the movement of heavy weight trucks transporting the logs
to Nagarkovil. The military complexes are fenced to the height
of more than 15 feet with coconut leaves preventing visibility of
the fortifying activities that go on inside.
hold human chain
agitation [Tamilnet]
Constant clashes between Sri Lankan and South Indian
fishermen off the seas of Mannar reached dangerous heights
and, on and off, even the Sri Lankan Navy got involved in the
fracas. On the political front, Tigers are studying the new
proposals submitted by the Government through Norway to
break the deadlock on the stalled peace talks.
The Sri Lanka Freedom Party Central Committee which met on
Friday with President Kumaratunga in the chair gave her the
authority to make a decision on the proposed peace talks with
the Tigers, the Thinakkural reported on Monday.
It also reported that the SLFP working committee would hold
talks with the alliance partner JVP to reach a compromise since
it was opposed for talks on the ISGA basis.
1447, Gerrard Street,
Toronto
Tel: 416-778-4542
A poignant shift in a young husband's attitude to life and the
overriding humaneness of the climax are features that set S
Pictures' "Kadhal" (U/A) apart, from the otherwise run of the mill
story of calf love, elopement and the consequences thereof.
Balaji Saktivel (story, screenplay, dialogue and direction)
deserves full credit for the differently conceived drama in the
end, where very little is actually said — the body language
conveys it all.
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