Microsoft KB: January 2011

Battlelines drawn, DMK, AIADMK speed up seat talks

Monday, January 31, 2011

With alliances more or less firmed up, battlelines are being drawn in what could be one of the toughest assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, slated for May. While the DMK and the Congress are firmly together, the VCK and the Muslim League will team up with the DMK. On the AIADMK front, the MDMK and Left parties have already conveyed to J Jayalalithaa their plans to remain with her party. The PMK and the DMDK are likely to announce allegiance to the DMK and AIADMK respectively notwithstanding the subtle power dynamics at play.

Alliances are yet to be publicly firmed up and seats shared out. The AIADMK-led front's main poll plank could be the spectrum controversy, corruption, rising costs and the recent killings of fishermen allegedly by the Sri Lankan Navy. But corruption has never been the sole factor to determine poll outcome in the past except in the 1996 elections when the AIADMK was voted out of power following allegations of corruption in Jayalalithaa's first tenure. However, with the opposition focussed sharply on spectrum issue, it could well add heat to a high-decibel campaign.

The alliance arithmetic, caste factor and issues that dominate the forthcoming polls have political circles guessing though. "The problem is that arithmetic does not work in these elections. If arithmetic worked, Vijayakanth, whose DMDK contested on its own in the 2006 assembly elections would not have won in the Vanniyar-dominated Vriddhachalam assembly constituency, a PMK stronghold," said jo [...]

UN insists on freedom of expression in Sri Lanka

Freedom of expression and media is paramount, the United Nations said Monday when asked about reports concerning the treatment of the press in Sri Lanka.

Martin Nesirky, the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that freedom of the media is vital and journalists should be able to carry out their work without fear of attack or being harassed to do the work that they need to do.

Responding to query on a petition handed over to the UN office in Colombo by the wife of the missing journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda, the Spokesperson said they were not aware of a petition having been submitted.

Prageeth Eknaligoda, a columnist and cartoonist for the LankaeNews website, whose office was set on fire in the pre-dawn hours of Monday (31), disappeared over a year ago in January 2010.

His wife Sandhya Eknaligoda last week reportedly handed over a petition to the UN office in Colombo seeking the UN's help to find her husband.

Fishermen issue: Centre shares State's concern

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Monday said the Centre shared the the Tamil Nadu government's concern when Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi who met him here took up the issue of "brutal attacks" by the Sri Lankan Navy on the State's fishermen.

Mr. Karunanidhi, who is here on a three-day visit to participate in the conference on internal security and to hold seat sharing talks with the Congress, wanted the Centre to advise the island government "in strong terms to refrain from such uncalled-for attacks."

The Prime Minister, according to a press release issued here, told him that he had already directed External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna to depute a high-level delegation to Colombo to "personally convey our serious concern" to the Sri Lankan government. Accordingly a team, led by Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, was already there in Sri Lanka on Monday and taking up the issue, he pointed out.

On the Tamil Nadu government's request for release of Rs.1,832 crore from the National Disaster Relief Fund by the Centre to carry out relief and restoration works in the flood-affected districts, Dr. Singh assured Mr. Karunanidhi that a decision would be taken by the Central high-level committee very soon.

When the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister requested Dr. Singh to strengthen the presence of Indian Navy and Coast Guard in the international maritime boundary between India and Sri Lanka to prevent attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen, [...]

Domestic flight services are to be expanded in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Civil Aviation Authority sources they have received a number of applications to start domestic flight services.

The sources said that applications to start domestic flights are being considered from Macksons Holdings, Upali Aviation, Asian Aviation, and several other companies.

Meanwhile applications are also being considered from a number of companies to start expand the domestic helicopter services.

SriLankan Airlines has expanded its sea plane service further. Presently, the service is available to Randenigala, Victoria, Polgolla, Nilaweli, Beruwala and Koggala destinations.

A new sea plane service from Colombo Beira Lake to Yidanganawa in Buttala is to be launched by SriLankan Airlines soon, Civil Aviation Authority says.

The demand for domestic flights and helicopter services has gone up with the increase of tourist arrivals to the country after the end of war.

Sri Lanka says attack on LankaeNews is a malicious attempt to discredit government

The Sri Lankan government has said today that the arson attack on the office of a news website was carried out by persons trying to bring disrepute to the government.

Media Minister and government spokesperson Keheliya Rambukwella has told the media that the attack on the office of LankaeNews website was a malicious attempt to place the government in an intricate position and tarnish the government's image.

According to him, the attack has been carried out simultaneously to the commencement of election campaigning for the local government elections.

Rambukwella has noted that it has been a continuous practice of certain criminals to attack media personnel and media institutions whenever elections are forthcoming.

He has further noted that the intentions of groups like those who have attacked the LankaeNews office have been witnessed during the abductions and attacks on media personnel in the past.

Rambukwella has also assured that the government had no intention off creating trouble for media organizations or news websites, as it has supported the media to carry out their work.

Sri Lanka, India say use of force cannot be justified

Both Sri Lanka and India today agreed that the use of force cannot be justified under any circumstances and decided to fully investigate the incidents that led to the recent deaths of two Indian fishermen in the waters between the two countries.

India's Foreign Secretary Mrs. Nirupama Rao arrived in Sri Lanka on Sunday (30) and held discussions with President Mahinda Rajapaksa Minister of External Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris this morning on the Fishermen's issue.

Mrs. Rao also met Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga, Defence Secretary Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, and Secretary to the External Affairs Ministry Romesh Jayasinghe.

In a joint statement issued following the discussions, Foreign Secretary Rao has expressed the deep concern of the Government of India at the recent violent incidents in the waters between India and Sri Lanka, which had resulted in the tragic death of two Indian fishermen.

She has urged the Sri Lankan authorities to fully investigate the incidents and take all necessary steps to prevent their recurrence in future.

The Sri Lanka authorities have emphasized in this regard that it is the consistent policy of Sri Lanka to treat in a humanitarian manner all fishermen, including those from the Indian fishing community, who cross into Sri Lanka waters.

"Given the very close bilateral relationship between the two countries, any development which impacts on the wellbeing of the Indian fishing community pu [...]

Gadkari lambasts DMK and Congress

BJP president Nitin Gadkari launched a scathing attack on the Congress and its ally in Tamil Nadu, the DMK, charging them with looting the country and said that once the BJP formed the government at the centre, it would bring back the thousands of crores of black money stashed in Swiss Addressing a mammoth public meeting of BJP workers and activists to mark the culmination of its 41 day state wide Tamarai yatra on Saturday, the BJP chief described the Congress-DMK alliance as a partnership company that was perpetrating family rule, at the centre and in the state, and said that it was unfortunate that the people of Tamil Nadu too were suffering.

The presence of a huge crowd at the rally proves that BJP was a force in Tamil Nadu and it will show in the assembly polls too, he said, adding the assembly would have BJP representatives this time. Corruption and inflation, the BJP president said, were two faces of the same coin. Corruption led to price rise, he said.

Former telecom minister A Raja's involvement in the telecom scam has already sounded the death knell of the UPA and its ally, DMK, he said, but added "Raja could not have done this all by himself. The brain behind is the DMK leader," he said, without taking the name of Karunanidhi.

The DMK has become a partnership company, divided between the sons and daughters, while the Congress at the centre was a proprietary one in which no one else can become a president other than from the Gandhi fam [...]

Special court rejects defence counsel application in Jaya case

A special court today rejected application filed by the defence counsel seeking more time to point out "defects" in the translated evidences of all the 259 witnesses in the trial of the disproportionate assets case against former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. Rejecting application filed by defence counsel Navaneetha Krishnan on January 27, special court Judge B M Mallikarjunaiah, however, stated that wherever corrections are necessary,
it will be taken into consideration at an appropriate stage. Meanwhile, the judge directed the interpreter K S Harish to "have a look" at the "defects" pointed out by the defence in the translated evidences of 44 witnesses (out of the 259) and compare it with the orginal version (in Tamil) and if any mistakes are found, furnish the "mistakes, omissions" before the court in a week's time. Earlier, when special public prosecutor B V Acharya requested that the case be posted for questioning under 313 CrPC (under which the accused is required to appear before the court), the judge stated it was "not necessary at present" and posted the case to February 8 for further proceedings. On January 27, the defence counsel had submitted that since the prosecution had taken one year to translate the documents from Tamil to English with the help of 25 translators and they would need at least six months to point out the defects and give the correct version of the translated evidences of all the witnesses. This was termed as "higly speculative and [...]

Sri Lanka government and Tamil National Alliance to talk again

The second round of discussions between Sri Lanka's major Tamil party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Sri Lankan government to bring about political solutions is scheduled to take place on February 03, government sources say.

The discussions are to focus on seeking solutions for the problems of the Tamil community of Sri Lanka, especially, emphasizing the humanitarian work and reconstruction process in the North and East.

The Tamil National Alliance delegation is represented by MPs Suresh Premachandran, Mavai Senadhiraja and M.A.Sumanthiran.

The government is represented by Ministers Rathnasiri Wickramanayaka, Nimal Siripala de Silva, and Prof. G.L. Peiris.

The first round of discussions between the Government and the TNA were held on January 10 during which the two sides stressed the importance of having a dialogue.

These two parties are to function as a committee to further discussions. Galle district Parliamentarian Sajin Vas De Gunawardene will be the Secretary of this Committee.

Sri Lanka's Marxist student union says there are attempts to create unrest among university students

Sri Lanka's Marxist party, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) affiliated Inter University Students Federation (IUSF) has said that some elements are attempting to create unrest among university students.

IUSF President Sanjeewa Bandara has told the media that while two students from the Ruhuna University were attacked by an unknown group last Friday, the IUSF head of the Ruhuna University who had visited them in hospital had also been attacked by another group of unidentified persons.

The IUSF head of the Ruhuna University had been admitted to hospital for treatment.

However, Bandara has said the police arrested the IUSF head of the Ruhuna University while he was receiving treatment and released later.

Stalin greets Alagiri on eve of b''day

Seeking to put an end to speculationabout a rift with his elder sibling, Tamil Nadu Deputy ChiefMinister M K Stalin today called on Union Minister M K Alagirihere to greet him on the eve of his 60th birthday.Alagiri was wished by Stalin who was accompanied by Selvi,their sister.

"I came one day in advance..because Annan (brother) said hewill not be in the city tomorrow," Stalin said.

Alagiri, who had reportedly protested inaction by the partyagainst former Telecom Minister A Raja over the 2G spectrumscam, recently met his father and party chief M Karunandhi tosort out the differences.

After the meeting, he denied making any demand for actionagainst Raja.

On Thursday, Alagiri and his wife Gandhi exchanged garlandsin the presence of Karunanidhi and family members to celebratehis 60th birth day as per birth star.

Sri Lanka's child authority unable to care for the street children due to the lack of funds

Sri Lanka's National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) is faced with difficulties in caring for street children due to the lack of funds.

NCPA Chairperson Anoma Dissanayake has told the media today that the Authority did not have sufficient funding to provide the children with their requirements.

According to the Chairperson, the NCPA is faced with a problem in providing food and clothes for 21 street children taken under the authority's care.

Dissanayake has said the Authority could care for these children only for a few more days with the funds available to them.

Sri Lanka Reconciliation Commission holds hearings in LTTE attacked border village

Sri Lanka's Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) probing the events during the seven years before the end of the war in May 2009 will be holding public hearings this weekend in Weli Oya, the northernmost settlement of the majority Sinhalese community during the LTTE occupation of the North and East.

The LLRC appointed by the President Mahinda Rajapaksa to report on lessons to be learnt from the events in the period, February 2002 to May 2009 visited Weli Oya Saturday to hear the villagers' accounts during the period the border villages of north were under LTTE threats.

Giving evidence before the commission, Buddhist monks and civilians of Weli-Oya villages have recounted their terrible experiences and enormous hardships they encountered due to LTTE terrorist activities.

Remote villages in this area dwelt by Sinhalese people have come under the most brutal ethnic cleansing raids by the Tamil Tigers during the 2 decades before the group's defeat in 2009.

Several mortar attacks by the Tamil Tigers have killed a number of civilians and injured many others in this northern most edge of the Sinhalese settlements. In May 2008, Tamil Tigers fired mortars to the Athawetunaweva village in the Welioya Defense Colony displacing 1,118 individuals belonged to 310 families of the village.

The Commission expects to wrap up its hearings in Weli Oya tomorrow and plan to gather views from the people in worst affected villages of [...]

Indian Foreign Secretary meets Sri Lanka President for talks

India's Foreign Secretary Ms. Nirupama Rao who arrived in Sri Lanka late Sunday for a one-day official visit met President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the President's House this morning and held bilateral discussions on several issues. Ms. Rao was accompanied by the Tamil Nadu State Secretary S.K. Pandian and Additional Secretary to the Indian Foreign Ministry Mrs. P.S. Thirumoorthi.

External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L Peiris, Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga, Secretary to the External Affairs Ministry Romesh Jayasinghe, Indian High Commissioner Ashok K. Kantha, and Sri Lanka High Commissioner to India Prasad Kariyawasam were also present.

Among the issues focused during the discussion were the alleged killing of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy personnel, the attack on Mahabodhi temple, and the progress of the India-funded projects in the country.

Ms. Rao is also scheduled to have discussions on the alleged kiling of the Indian fishermen with the External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

India's Tamil Nadu politicians allege that two Indian fishermen were killed in two separate incidents within a fortnight by the Sri Lankan navy personnel.

India strongly condemned the killing and requested the Sri Lankan government to seriously investigate the incident.

Sri Lanka have denied that its Navy personnel attacked the Indian fisherman at sea and raised the suspicion [...]

AIADMK holds seat sharing talks with CPI

AIADMK today held seat-sharing talks with CPI for the coming Tamil Nadu Assembly polls at the party's headquarters here. A CPI team led by state Secretary D Pandian, Assistant General Secretaries C Mahendran and K Pazhanichami held discussions with AIADMK senior leader O Pannerselvam.
AIADMK had yesterday held seat-sharing talks with its allies by holding first round of talks with CPI(M). The left party's state Secretary G Ramakrishnan had handed over a wish list of 25 constituencies to the AIADMK team. The state committee meeting of the CPI-M on Tuesday had formally decided to forge an alliance with AIADMK to contest the Assembly elections.

25 arrested at California conservative meeting

Twenty-five people were arrested for trespassing Sunday as hundreds protested outside a strategy session of conservative political donors at a resort near Palm Springs, authorities said.

The mostly peaceful demonstration had been arranged with authorities, but some protesters crossed the street to the entrance of the Rancho Las Palmas Resort where they were met by deputies in riot gear, Riverside County Deputy Melissa Nieburger said. They were arrested without a struggle, booked at Indio Jail and released.

Sunday was the second day of the four-day, invitation-only conclave of about 200 wealthy conservative political activists. It was organized by brothers David and Charles Koch, whose Wichita, Kan.-based Koch Industries is one of the nation's largest privately held companies.

The brothers have held similar conclaves in the Palm Springs area and Aspen, Colo., for years, but this conference was met with increased scrutiny. Liberal groups have targeted the brothers for criticism because of their funding of the fight against global warming laws and their financial support of Americans for Prosperity, an organization that has worked closely with tea party groups.

The group did not say who was attending the conference, and reporters were not allowed inside the resort, but the strategy sessions in years past have included radio talkers Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, and Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, according to The New York Times.

Organizer Samantha Corbin told City News Service the protesters were there to "voice opposition to the Koches' funding of climate denial groups, far-right political candidates and anti-health care reform efforts."

Protesters carried signs reading "Troops Home Now," ''Medicare for All" and "Tea Party Founded and Funded By The Kochs."

Several dozen people dress [...]

Sri Lanka news website office set on fire

An unidentified group in the wee hours of Monday has broken in and set fire to the office of a Sri Lankan news website 'Lanka-e-News' located in a suburb of capital Colombo.

According to a brief posted on the website, the office located in Daham Mawatha, Malabe, has been set on fire around 2:00 a.m. by a group of unknown personnel who had broken into the premises.

"By now everything that was inside the building has been destroyed," the brief news item said.

The Sinhala language website says it has come under various threats and attacks since the presidential election January 2010 for its support for common opposition candidate former Army commander Sarath Fonseka.

Prageeth Eknaligoda, a journalist and a cartoonist of the Lanka-e-News website went missing without a trace just days before the presidential election last year.

Political Crisis Starts to Be Felt Economically

An army tank stands guard at the port of Alexandria to make sure no one gets in. The bigger problem is that next to nothing is going out.

For four days now, containers arriving on ships have been stacking up at Egypt's largest port, shipping company employees and truck drivers here said. With distribution networks barely functioning and the Internet down since Thursday night, much of business in Egypt has nearly ground to a halt.

While protests remain at the center of attention, as jets fly over Liberation Square and escaped prisoners instill fear in the public, the political crisis could turn into a humanitarian one if the current economic paralysis continues.

"A big part of the production system is government-run, and this is frozen, including many of the bakeries making the subsidized bread," said Hoda Youssef, an economist at the Arab Forum for Alternatives, an independent think tank, and a lecturer at Cairo University. "Here in the short term — today, tomorrow, the coming few days — we might have a serious problem with shortages of food, water and fuel," Ms. Youssef said.

Egypt was not a country with a wide margin between normalcy and crisis to begin with; it has long been susceptible to price pressures and rioting. And on Sunday there was anecdotal evidence that food prices were already rising.

At one Alexandria market in the western neighborhood of Agamy, the price of onions on [...]

A troubled future for Tamil Nadu

Sunday, January 30, 2011

The Telangana agitation is no longer confined only to Andhra Pradesh, but there are portends of its spilling over to Telugu-speaking regions in neighbouring states.

Karnataka has a reason to be worried because similar agitations are getting a boost, encouraged by the attention that the Telangana movement has received. "It will definitely embolden the forces that are advocating the cause of a separate state of northern Karnataka and Kodagu," says Prof Abdul Azeez from the Institute of Social and Economic Change (ISEC).

With political ambitions driving the leaders of all political parties, the Telangana movement goes way beyond its agenda of redressing the economic and developmental neglect of the region.

The former chief minister of Karnataka, HD Kumaraswamy, points to the strong support being extended to the movement by the BJP.

Struggling to find a toe-hold in Andhra Pradesh, the BJP sees the Telangana issue as a godsend. The party is competing with the Telangana Rashtra Samiti to share the spoils when the new state is carved out.So far as economic issues are concerned, Azeez feels the creation of Telangana could further complicate the inter-state water disputes like the sharing of Krishna river waters and implementation of several irrigation and hydro-power projects.

Meanwhile, the storm within the first family of neighbouring Tamil Nadu is bound to add more twists to this growing climate of uncertainty for business and development. Knowin [...]

Singer Chitra set to celebrate three decades in music industry

K.S. Chitra, popularly known as South Indian Nightingale, has completed three decades as a playback singer with more than 15,000 songs to her credit. Now she wants to focus on classical music.

The 47-year-old has sung for films in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Oriya, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Badaga and Punjabi languages.

Speaking to IANS, her husband Vijaya Shankar, an engineer by profession, said: 'She says she will like to continue singing but apart from singing film songs, she would like to concentrate on classical music. Of course, we are all happy the way she has progressed and we don't think there are any resolutions that have been arrived at as she completes three decades of singing.'

Over the years, Chitra has won six National Film Awards, five Filmfare Awards and more than 30 state film awards.

Born on July 27, 1963, in the capital city, she had her first music teacher in her father after which she was trained by K. Omanakutty in Carnatic music.

Chitra is a post graduate in music from the Kerala University and was first introduced as a Malayalam playback singer by M.G. Radhakrishnan.

Her first singing assignment was for the Malayalam movie 'Attahasam' in 1979, but it was released only in 1983. Her first recorded song was a duet with legendary singer Yesudas in 'Njaan Ekananu'.

She is the only female playback singer to have sung maximum number of songs for Oscar winning composer A.R. Rahman for Tamil and Telug [...]

Tamil Nadu Govt announces Kalaimamani awards

Kollywood actors Arya, Anushka and Tamannah will be the recipients of the 2010 'Kalaimamani' awards announced by the Tamil Nadu Government.

Chief Minister M Karunanidhi would present the awards at a function here on February 13, an official press release said.

Noted cinematographer Rajiv Menon, Comedian Karunaas and Chinni Jeyanth would also be presented the awards, it said.

Veena artistes Rajesh Vaidya and Srinivasan have also been selected for the award. Television actors Sakshi Siva and "Poovilangu" Mohan, actresses Revathi Sankaran, Rohini, Saranya and Malavika, were also selected for the awards.

Television soap Director Thirumurugan, Music Director Bharatwaj, TV artists "Robo" Shankar, carnatic vocalist Gayathri Sankaran, Gayathri Girish and V Narayana Perumal were among otherse selected.

'Dindigul' I Liyoni, carnatic vocalist T V Gopalakrishnan and playback singer Kalyani Menon would also receive the awards from Karunanidhi, the statement added.

IFRC President calls on Sri Lankan President

The President of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Tadateru Konoe paid courtesy call on President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees Friday.

Konoe arrived in the island on Wednesday (26) to assist relief operations in the flood-affected areas of the island.

He was scheduled to travel to the north, east, and the south of to assess the aftermath of floods and also to witness the work of the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society and the IFRC in these parts of the country.
During the meeting President Rajapaksa presented a book of Wild Life Sanctuary Photographs to the visiting head of the IFRC.
He was also expected to meet External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris, and the Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa during his visit.
Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga, Coordinating Secretary of Parliamentary Affairs to the President Kumarasiri Hettige, President of Sri Lanka Red Cross Jagath Abeysinghe, and Director General of Red Cross Tissa Abeywickrama also were present.

Two prisoners flee from Sri Lanka's Anuradhapura Prison

After days of protests two prisoners have escaped from the troubled Anuradhapura Prison in north central Sri Lanka Saturday, Prisons Commissioner General, Major General V.R. De Silva has said.

Major General de Silva has said the prisoners had escaped from the prison's open camp today.

The two prisoners had been imprisoned for minor offenses and the Anuradhapura police have deployed a special team to apprehend them.

The escape followed several protests held by prisoners within the prison premises from last Monday till Thursday.

The massive protest held on Monday (24) resulted in the death of a prisoner while 21 others were injured.

A few days later, another group of prisoners protested against what they called the inadequate facilities in the prisons.

President pays last respects to Central Bank Governor's mother

Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa paid his last respects to late Mrs. Trixi Cabraal, mother of Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal at his Bauddhaloka Mawatha residence on January 29, 2011. Minister Mervyn Silva and the family members of the late Mrs. Cabraal also were present.

Moscow bomber was 20-yr-old from Caucasus

The suicide bomber who killed 35 people and wounded 180 at Moscow's largest airport was a 20-yearold man from the volatile southern Caucasus region, Russian investigators said on Saturday. Breaking a five-day silence over the probe, federal investigators also said foreigners were deliberately targeted , marking an ominous new tactic in Russia's losing battle with extremism.

Islamist rebels from the Caucacus, a group of mountainous Russian provinces that are beset with an entrenched separatist insurgency , have been widely suspected in the attack at Domodedovo airport. Saturday's statement from federal investigators confirmed a suicide blast involving a bomb containing shrapnel. While authorities say they know the identity of the perpetrator , they suggested they still don't know who masterminded the attacks.

"Despite the fact that we know the name of the terrorist , we won't name him today ... since investigative searches are ongoing to identify and detain the organizers and accomplices of the terrorist act,'' the statement said. "According to the investigation, the terrorist act was aim first and foremost at foreign citizens,'' the statement added.

AIADMK MLA Sekarbabu defects to DMK

With the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls round the corner, DMK on Saturday received a shot in the arm when its arch rival, AIADMK's Chennai strongman and MLA P K Sekarbabu defected to the ruling party. Sekarbabu, who was recently removed as AIADMK's North Chennai unit Secretary, on Saturday called on chief minister and DMK chief M Karunanidhi and joined the party, becoming the fifth MLA to leave the principal opposition party since the last Assembly polls in 2006.

AIADMK General Secretary Jayalalithaa had replaced Sekarbabu with former minister D Jayakumar.

Talking to reporters, Sekarbabu said "When I felt orphaned, the DMK leaders were kind enough to adopt me."

Former minister Anitha S Radhakrishnan was the first to leave the party. He was followed by K Rajendran and L Radhakrishnan.

But AIADMK had not expelled Rajendran and Radhakrishnan from the party. Film comedian S Vee Sekar, elected on the AIADMK ticket, was sacked from the party. Anitha Radhakrishnan had resigned from his Assembly membership and was re-elected on a DMK ticket from Tiruchendur in the by election.

Cost of Sri Lanka's war a vital investment, Governor of Central Bank says

The cost of Sri Lanka's four-year war on terrorism from 2006-2009 amounted to 5.5 billion US dollars but it was a vital investment by the government and the people, the governor of the Central Bank, Ajith Nivard Cabraal has said.

Testifying before the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) appointed by the President to probe the events during the war, Cabraal has said many governments before the present administration did not pursue the military option to end the terrorism that plagued Sri Lanka for three decades due to the fears of massive cost a war would incur and as a consequence, tough economic decisions that would need to be taken.

The governor, presenting figures on the expenditure for the four years the government waged the war against the terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), has said that contrary to popular belief, Sri Lanka spent only about 4% of its GDP on defence over the 4 years, 2006 to 2009.

The expenditure that amounted to 605 billion rupees (5.5 billion US dollars) included cost of aircrafts, ships, tanks, ammunition, other equipment, training, food for soldiers, uniforms, etc., Cabraal has pointed out.

He has told the LLRC considering the victorious outcome of Sri Lanka's war and compared to what other countries in the world use for battling terrorism this amount for a country that has been plagued by terrorism for decades indicates that the government has used its resources efficiently and [...]

Sri Lanka prepares for Independence Day celebrations

Sri Lanka has organized a massive educational and development exhibition for the fifth time to coincide with the country's 63rd Independence Day celebrations to be held in Moneragala this year.

The national Independence Day celebrations are to be held on February 4th under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the annual 'Deyata Kirula' exhibition that showcases the development of the country will be held at Buttala in Moneragala District from February 4-11.

The exhibition held in a 160 acre land will have 400 stalls. Of them, 300 stalls belong to the government ministries and other institutes and they display the development under the Mahinda Chinthana policy manifesto.

Around 6,000 school children are to participate in a pageant held on the opening day of the exhibition.

The government has carried out infrastructure development work worth Rs. 20 billion in the Monaragala district in preparation for the exhibition. Infrastructure development projects included renovation of irrigation tanks and reservoirs, roadways, hospitals and other common facilities.

Meanwhile, the government has made arrangements to deploy over 5,000 police and armed forces personnel to provide security for the public attending the exhibition.

Karunanidhi's visit to Delhi to cement ties with Congress

Saturday, January 29, 2011

With the poll heat picking up in Tamil Nadu, chief minister M Karunanidhi's three-day Delhi visit, during which he will meet AICC president Sonia Gandhi, has gained significance. The meeting will kick off alliance talks and cement the Congress-DMK ties ahead of a tough assembly election. During his meeting with Sonia, Karunanidhi is likely to identify the panel of DMK leaders that will negotiate with the Congress for seats.

"The leaders may not discuss numbers and constituencies. But the meeting between the two will generate goodwill and send a clear signal to cadres and allies to be more accommodative and work together," said a senior Congress leader. "It is more important to strengthen the alliance by adding partners. We should keep this in mind when we demand seats. Naturally, we expect to be the second seniormost partner in the alliance," he said.

The Congress and the DMK are keen to rope in the PMK, the Kongu Nadu Munnetra Kazhagam (KNMK) and some minority and caste groups. While the PMK is demanding at least 30 seats, the KNMK, with its growing clout in the western belt, is keen on contesting at least 15 seats.

With the Congress deciding to stick with the DMK despite AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa's offer of support in the wake of the spectrum scam, battlelines have been clearly drawn in the state. Two main fronts, one led by the DMK and the other by the AIADMK, will slug it out in what political observers believe could be an evenly poised poll b [...]

Nirupama to raise fisherman issue

Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao will visit Colombo on Sunday to discuss the killing of an Indian fisherman allegedly by Sri Lankan security forces.

Terming the killing a human rights violation and tragic, official sources, however, said this was not an "open and shut" case of innocent Indian fishermen being targeted by the security forces of another country. At the same time, "the incident needs to be investigated. We don't know what happened that night."

Sri Lanka has promised to probe the killing but maintains that its forces were not involved in the incident. "The fact is that we checked and found the incident happened in their waters. If it is not the Sri Lankan Navy then who is it? They have to tell us," the sources said.

Meetings

Ms. Rao will hold meetings on Monday to precisely find out who shot at the fisherman, who, both sides acknowledge, was in Sri Lankan waters.

New Delhi believes it can't afford such killings to take place, especially because violent incidents involving Indian fishermen have repercussions in Tamil Nadu.

The sources said Sri Lankan Tamil fishermen have been protesting against incursions by Indian Tamil fishermen. Rendered dormant by the civil war, fishermen from Jaffna and Mannar were taking to their boats again and were not too pleased over encroachment on their turf by Indians.

"Strong lobby"

"The strong lobby of fishermen from [...]

Supreme Court stays death sentence in bus burning case

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the death sentence of the accused – Nedunchezhian, Ravindran and Muniappan – in the Dharmapuri bus burning incident, in which three college girls were killed. The death sentence, awarded by a trial court, was confirmed by the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court.

A Bench of Justices B. Sudershan Reddy and S.S. Nijjar, after hearing senior counsel K.K. Venugopal for the petitioners, also stayed execution of the sentence, while entertaining a writ petition filed by the three pleading for stay of the sentence on the ground that a petition seeking review of the August 30, 2010 judgment was still pending disposal.

Kokilavani, Gayathri and Hemalatha of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, were travelling along with 44 other students and two teachers, in the bus when it was torched on February 2, 2000, following the conviction of AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa in a case.

A Bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and B.S. Chauhan had expressed shock at the brutality of the incident and upheld the death sentence.

In the present writ petition, Muniappan and two others stated that all review petitions filed in death sentence cases should be heard in open court (normally they are heard in judge's chamber) with oral arguments and, if necessary, Supreme Court Rules, 1966, should be amended to bring about that change.

Further the petition said that as per the Law Commission's recommendation, all death penalty matter in the [...]

Sri Lanka court issues arrest warrants for six LTTE members

A Sri Lankan court has issued open warrants to arrest 6 prominent LTTE members believed to be living overseas.

The Colombo Magistrate court has issued the open the warrants on Friday to arrest the hardcore Tiger cadres who have fled the country. The court order will be implemented through the international police (Interpol).

The Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) has conducted investigations on these six LTTE members who were suspected of committing several terrorist activities.

The TID has furnished the court with the information obtained from their investigations and said arrangements have been made to apprehend the suspects through the Interpol.

The court ordered the TID to produce a report on the investigation at next hearing on April 22.

Indian Foreign Secretary to arrive in Sri Lanka today

Indian Foreign Secretary Ms. Nirupama Rao is to arrive in Sri Lanka Saturday to discuss the issue of fishermen killing by Sri Lankan Navy with the government.

Indian Foreign Secretary's visit is reportedly made on a directive from the Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna.

Rao is to have discussions with the President Mahinda Rajapaksas, Minister of External Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris and other government officials.

Sri Lanka's state-owned Sinhala daily The Dinamina stated that the talks with the Indian Foreign Secretary would focus on the alleged killings of Indian fishermen by Sri Lanka Navy, the attack on Mahabodhi temple and the India-funded development work in Sri Lanka.

India's Tamil Nadu politicians allege that two Indian fishermen were killed in two separate incidents within a fortnight by the Sri Lankan navy personnel.

India strongly condemned the killing and requested the Sri Lankan government to seriously investigate the incident.

Sri Lanka have denied that its Navy personnel attacked the Indian fisherman at sea and raised the suspicion that an unknown 'third party' may have been involved in the attacks to hurt the existing friendly ties between the two countries.

LinkWithin

Find What you looking for:

Link Box

On Facebook

Followers

Subscribe To

Archives

Total Pageviews

Popular Posts