TamilNet

[06.09.08]
UN's terror list breaches fundamental rights - European Court: Setting aside an earlier ruling of the Court of First Instance, the European Court of Justice (ECJ), Wednesday, annulled the Council Regulation freezing the assets of Yassin Abdullah Kadi, a resident of Saudi Arabia, and the Al Barakaat International Foundation of Sweden, part of the 'Hawala' banking system used by the Somali Diaspora to transfer funds internationally. The ECJ recognised that "the rights of the defence [of those in "terror list"], in particular the right to be heard, and the right to effective judicial review of those rights, were patently not respected."
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[27.08.08]
Catholic commission in Vanni highlights IDPs plight: Amid pouring rain and thundering blasts of artillery and mortar shells, more than 170,000 Internally Displaced Persons in Vanni are facing a great human tragedy, which is calculatedly concealed from the world outside, said Rev. Fr. James Pathinathan, the president of the Vanni branch of the Justice and Peace Commission (JPC) of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jaffna, in an urgent appeal to the U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, on Tuesday. "If the International Community doesn't act at once, it will be too late," he told TamilNet after handing over the memorandum to the Residential Representative of the UNHCR in Vanni.
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[22.08.08]
Sri Lanka officials complicit in Tamil Genocide? - Washington Times: Asserting that "[t]here is reason to believe that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has been complicit in a Srebrenica-like genocide or worse against Sri Lanka's Tamils on the installment plan. Since entering office in November 2005, he has been witness to the extrajudicial killings of more than 1,500 Tamils, torture, scores of kidnappings, countless arbitrary detentions and displacement of more than 250,000...," a commentary in the Washington Times, Wednesday issue, urged the U.S. Justice Department to lead a genocide investigation of Sri Lanka's Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, Lt.Gen. Fonseka, and Basil Rajapakse.
Related Story >>

[12.08.08]
U.S not safe haven for rights violators, says Secretary Myers: The United States Assistant Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in a press briefing in New York City said, "far too often we see that individuals who participate in these atrocities come and seek to hide in the United States, lie on their visa applications and try to blend in, in the [American] neighborhoods. Our work is designed to ensure that we identify these people, prosecute them criminally where we can and then remove them from this country, to make sure the United States is not a safe haven for these individuals."
Related Story >>

[11.08.08]
Portending danger for potable water in Jaffna: The news of re-opening the cement factory at Kaangkeasanthu'rai (KKS) in the Jaffna Peninsula has been received with serious concern by academics and environmentalists from Jaffna. According to them, the factory, when it was functioning earlier, was a health hazard to the densely populated surroundings. It affected horticulture as crops were covered by cement dust. Above all, exploitative quarrying of limestone has already portended the possibility of seawater coming inside and polluting the entire groundwater table of the peninsula.
Related Story >>

[19.07.08]
Sri Lanka's 'Tamil implementation': The Sri Lankan government and its agencies outside are bent on a propaganda programme of highlighting equal implementation of Tamil as an official language in Sri Lanka, as provided by the 13th amendment of the constitution, to argue the case against secession and to justify themselves to international opinion. But in actual practice there is a planned effort by the state to sinhalicise the very usage of Eezham Tamil itself.
Related Story >>

[14.07.08]
Making SAARC meaningful: What went wrong with the noble concept of SAARC, while similar regional formations such as the EU and ASEAN are successful elsewhere, discusses Opinion Columnist Chivanadi.
Related Story >>

[13.07.08]
Conversations in a Failing State: Towards the end of 19th century, the renowned American writer Mark Twain visited Colombo. While he was admiring the plurality of colour in the native dresses, somewhere in Pettah, he saw native children coming out of an English school, in line, in white uniform and in the same hairdo. ‘What an ugly scene’, he wrote, being sad at the way colonial institutions depriving natives of their pluralism. More than a century later, Patrick Lawrence, another American, comes to Sri Lanka to record the net results, a failed nationalism and a failed state, as consequences of the loss of pluralism.
Related Story >>

[09.07.08]
Sri Lanka's rank critical: Sri Lanka, which was positioned 25th among the most failed states during the last two years, ranked this year as the 20th in the Failed States Index (FSI), compiled by the Washington based think-tank, Fund for Peace (FfP) and Foreign Policy magazine. Sri Lanka's score further dropped this year in almost all of the 12 indicators in the FSI. The country was ranked 2nd worst, next to Sudan in one of the indicators, 'Group Grievances'.
Related Story >>

[07.07.08]
Scurried pact for oil off Mannaar: Cairn India, a subsidiary of Cairn UK Holdings Limited, on Monday signed a Petroleum Resources agreement to explore for oil and natural gas in the Mannaar Basin. The signing took place in front of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees between the Sri Lankan Minister for Petroleum and Petroleum Development Resources A.H.M Fowzie and the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Executive Director of the Cairn India, Indrajit Banerjee, who gave USD one million as signature bond to Rajapaksa government, according to informed sources.
Related Story >>

News 2008 September August July June May April March February January 2007 December November October September August July June May April March February January 2006 December November October September August July June May April March February January 2005 December November October September August July June May April March February January 2004 December November October September August July June May April March February January 2003 December November October September August July June May April March February January 2002 December November October September August July June May April March February January 2001 December November October September August July June May April March February January 2000 December November October September August July June May April March February January 1999 December November October September August July June May April March February January 1998 December November October September August July June May April March February January 1997 December November October September August July June Features Photo Features Opinion Development TN Transcription Web feeds Feedback About us Home	Civilian wounded in SLA shelling in Karaichchi [Mon, 08 Sep 2008, 11:10 GMT] A 56-year old civilian was rushed to Ki'linochchi hospital with severe injuries Monday afternoon when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops fired artillery shells towards Koa'naavil village in Karaichchi division of Ki'linochchi district. The SLA has also been continuing artillery barrage towards civilian settlements in Skanthapuram, Union-ku'lam, Gandhi Kiraamam, Oottuppulam and Puthumu'rippu in Karaichchi division of the district during nights after the SLA debacle in Vannearikku'lam. Full story >> Latest 15 Reports: Sep 08 11:10 Civilian wounded in SLA shelling in Karaichchi Sep 08 08:19 Uprooted families in Jaffna, still waiting action .. Sep 07 10:52 35 Tamil youths arrested in Trincomalee following .. Sep 07 10:43 SLA forms new battalion with marginally injured so.. Sep 07 10:19 Paramilitary kills 60-year-old man in Batticaloa Sep 07 09:14 Woman shot dead, youth beheaded in Jaffna Sep 07 00:25 Four SLA troopers killed in mistaken ambush in Bat.. Sep 06 12:42 Paramilitary abducts civilian, sets fire to house .. Sep 06 11:34 Police, homeguards detain 9 Tamils in Colombo Sep 06 07:02 'It is now the Tamil diaspora' Sep 06 06:42 SLA blocks NGO vehicles entry to Vanni Sep 05 17:15 Woman’s corpse washed ashore in Nedunththeevu Sep 05 17:14 Casualty toll: 85 SLA killed in Vannearikku'lam Sep 05 16:08 SLA Claymore attack kills civilian in Vavuniyaa Sep 05 11:45 Tissainayagam, PTA, and Humanitarian Crisis in Van.. << Flashback More Reports >> Uprooted families in Jaffna, still waiting action plan for resettlement [Mon, 08 Sep 2008, 08:19 GMT] Sri Lanka Army (SLA) officials who met the committee appointed by the Colombo Supreme Court to explore the possibility of resettling uprooted people from the High Security Zone (HSZ) of the SLA, told the committee on Friday that more than 600 families, outside the HSZ and the adjoining no-man zone, have been resettled, including the data as part of the uprooted families within the HSZ. 19,000 families have been uprooted from their houses within the HSZ in Jaffna. Only 24 houses have been cleared for resettlement within the 600 meter no-go zone, the SLA has informed the committee. Full story >> Paramilitary kills 60-year-old man in Batticaloa [Sun, 07 Sep 2008, 10:19 GMT] A paramilitary unit operated by Iniyaparathy, a close associate of Karuna, shot and killed a 60-year-old relative of an LTTE commander Saturday night around 7:45, at Eruvil in Ka'luvaagnchikkudi, located between Batticaloa and Ampaa'rai, residents said. Full story >> SLA blocks NGO vehicles entry to Vanni [Sat, 06 Sep 2008, 06:42 GMT] Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Oamanthai exit point to Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) controlled region in Vanni on Friday blocked vehicles belonging to Non Governmental Organisations from passing through the exit point, according to NGO sources in Vavuniyaa town. The move comes after SLA shells have begun targeting Ki'ilnochchi and the A9 Road. Full story >> Tissainayagam, PTA, and Humanitarian Crisis in Vanni [Fri, 05 Sep 2008, 11:45 GMT] The action taken by the Sri Lankan Government to indict Tissainayagam, for stating the truth and exercising the right of fair comment he enjoys as a journalist, make it impossible for any dissent from the governments point of view to be published by the press in Sri Lanka. Tissainayagam is the first journalist to be caught up under the Draconian twins, the Prevention of Terrorism Act No:48 of 1979 (PTA) as amended, and the Emergency Regulations (EMR). Full story >> Silence of IC indelible for Tamil memory - Fr. Emmanuel [Thu, 04 Sep 2008, 13:15 GMT] "The roles played by the major powers in overlooking the state terrorism and human rights violations of the Sri Lankan state, will stay permanent in the Tamil memory for ever," said Rev. Prof. Dr. S.J. Emmanuel, the former Vicar General of Vanni region, in an open letter from Germany, reacting to the silence of the International Community to the unfolding catastrophe of civilian sufferings in the districts of Mullaiththeevu and Ki'linochchi, overcrowded with IDPs seeking protection from the atrocities of the Sri Lankan forces. His statement comes as Sri Lanka Army's artillery shells reached Ki'iinochchi in the early hours of Thursday. Full story >> 7TH LEAD Tigers locate 29 SLA bodies, 75 SLA killed, 100 wounded in Vanni [Tue, 02 Sep 2008, 15:06 GMT] The Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam, on Wednesday recovered further 10 dead bodies of the SLA soldiers, in addition to the 19 bodies handed over to the ICRC, from the battlefield after Tuesday's heavy fighting on two fronts in Vanni. 45 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and more than 51 wounded in Naachchikkudaa when Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) confronted the SLA in a stiff fighting throughout Monday night, and on Tuesday, 30 more SLA soldiers were killed and 50 wounded in another front, between Akkaraayan and Vannearikku'lam, where Tiger fighters fought against the SLA from 5:30 a.m. till 6:00 p.m., on Tuesday, LTTE officials in Vanni told TamilNet. Full story >> SLA forms new battalion with marginally injured soldiers [Sun, 07 Sep 2008, 10:43 GMT] The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has formed a new battalion called Vanni Reinforcement Battalion this week by re-inducting marginally injured in infantry units in the war front, according to the Situation Report of the Sunday Times of September 7. The soldiers are being deployed for non-direct combat related tasks in Vanni. Full story >> Police, homeguards detain 9 Tamils in Colombo [Sat, 06 Sep 2008, 11:34 GMT] Nine Tamil civilians, including two women, were taken into custody Friday morning in a cordon and search operation conducted in Wellawatte area in Colombo district. The operation commenced Thursday evening and concluded Friday morning, sources said. Full story >> SLA Claymore attack kills civilian in Vavuniyaa [Fri, 05 Sep 2008, 16:08 GMT] Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Deep Penetration Unit troops triggered three Claymore mines Friday around 3:45 p.m killing a civilian and injuring another as they were riding on a motorcycle in Kurichuddaku’lam in Vavuniya district, sources in Vavuniyaa said. Full story >> 2ND LEAD (PHOTOS) 'It is now the Tamil diaspora' [Sat, 06 Sep 2008, 07:02 GMT] A conference on Sri Lankan diaspora that took place last week in Kuala Lumpur provided an opportunity to understand the broad perspectives of the Eezham Tamil diaspora, its universal aims and development agenda on one hand and to witness the subtle efforts by certain elements to nullify its identity and hijack its noble agenda to the diplomatic benefit of the Sri Lankan state on the other hand, according to a Malaysian Tamil scholar. Full story >> Woman shot dead, youth beheaded in Jaffna [Sun, 07 Sep 2008, 09:14 GMT] Unidentified armed men shot and killed a middle-aged woman in Aiyanaarkoayiladi in Kodikaamam Saturday early morning. Meanwhile, villagers in Ma'ndaan Karaveddi located a headless body of a youth, who was abducted the previous day, with severe torture wounds and hands and body tied. Full story >> Casualty toll: 85 SLA killed in Vannearikku'lam [Fri, 05 Sep 2008, 17:14 GMT] 85 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed in Vannearikku'lam and 280 wounded in the fighting on Monday and Tuesday, according to informed sources close to the hierarchy of the Sri Lankan military. Meanwhile, Jayaratna florist, one of the leading florists in Colombo, took in charge 56 remains of SLA soldiers on Wednesday, before the 29 dead bodies handed over by the Tigers had reached Colombo. The high toll was not anticipated by the top brass of the SLA, which deployed elite Special Forces (SF) with high-powered rockets and explosives during the offensive push at Vannearikku'lam on Monday. Full story >> 2ND LEAD (Correction, update) Buddhist monk desecrates Hindu temple in Colombo [Fri, 05 Sep 2008, 05:53 GMT] Colombo Additional Magistrate Ajith Anawaratne Wednesday ordered to remand the Chief Incumbent of Grandpass de Mel Watte Buddhagaya Viharaya, Sri Sapugasyaye Dhammanada Thero and three of his associates for destroying the adjoining Sri Muththumariamman Hindu temple in the early hours on Wednesday. Full story >> 3RD LEAD (Photos updated) Tigers seize large number of weapons from SLA in Vanni clashes [Wed, 03 Sep 2008, 15:40 GMT] The Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) defensive formations have seized large number of arms, ammunition and military accessories in the two-days fighting south and west in Ki'inochchi district in Vanni. Seven Light Machine Guns (LMGs), four RPG launchers, more than 25 AK / T-56 assault rifles, hundreds of LMG rounds, more than 120,000 of 7.62 mm rounds, more than 60 RPG shells, two Light Anti-Tank Weapons (LAWs), around 80 hand grenades and 15 Claymore mines were among the arms being stockpiled by the Tigers, according to the reporters who were allowed to photograph the collection. Full story >> 35 Tamil youths arrested in Trincomalee following LTTE air strike [Sun, 07 Sep 2008, 10:52 GMT] About 35 Tamil youths have been arrested in several suburbs in Trincomalee district since the air strike carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Thamil Eelam (LTTE) on the naval headquarters located in Trincomalee city, according to complaints received by the regional office of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL), sources in Colombo said. Full story >> Paramilitary abducts civilian, sets fire to house in Akkaraippattu [Sat, 06 Sep 2008, 12:42 GMT] Armed men of paramilitary operative, Iniyapararathi, associated with Karuna, entered the residence of a civilian, identified as Mr. Vadivel at Akkaraippattu 7 in Ampaa'rai district on Friday and set fire to his house around 8:00 p.m. on Friday, residents said. In the meantime, another civilian, whom the residents identified as Mr. Moorthy, has been abducted in the early hours of Friday allegedly by the paramilitary. Full story >> Woman’s corpse washed ashore in Nedunththeevu [Fri, 05 Sep 2008, 17:15 GMT] Nedunththeevu (Delft) police recovered the corpse of a woman without any clothes on, Friday, being informed by a fisherman who had found the corpse on the beach in Ward 4 area in Nedunththeevu, an islet of Jaffna. Oorkaavttu’rai (Kayts) magistrate, Ms. Joy Mahatheva, conducted the inquest into the death at the site where the corpse was found and directed the police to hand the body to Jaffna Teaching Hospital mortuary for post mortem examination and identification to be held, Oorkaavattu’rai police said. Full story >> Tamil civilian shot dead in Puththa'lam [Fri, 05 Sep 2008, 09:54 GMT] Unidentified armed men on motorcycle forcibly entering the house of a Tamil civilian Friday early morning, shot and killed him, at Aa’ndimunai, Udappu in Munthal police division in Puththa’lam district, according to the complaint lodged with Munthal police by the victim’s relatives. Full story >> Top Flashback: 2007: 2007 Sep 08 21:05 STF trooper killed, 5 injured in Thoppigala exp... 2007 Sep 08 18:44 Member of SLA Intelligence wing shot dead in Po... 2007 Sep 08 13:42 LTTE's Rights group draws attention to plight o... 2007 Sep 08 12:07 27 Tamil schools in Moothoor remain closed 2007 Sep 08 02:12 US Patriot Act provisions struck down by NewYor... 2007 Sep 08 01:46 Tamil youth shot dead in Moothoor 2007 Sep 08 01:22 Mu'l'likku'lam villagers forced to walk 20km se... 2007 Sep 08 01:01 SL Ministers visit PTA detainees in Boosa 2007 Sep 08 00:12 Ex-Policeman shot dead in Mannaar 2006: 2006 Sep 08 23:42 Civilians flee SLA offensive in Jaffna 2006 Sep 08 21:27 SLA soldier, civilian killed in Claymore explos... 2006 Sep 08 17:58 SL Navy arrests fleeing Trinco civilians via Ma... 2006 Sep 08 17:53 Five civilians slain in Jaffna on a single day 2006 Sep 08 17:51 2 Tamil civilians shot dead in Eravur 2006 Sep 08 17:35 JVP meets SLFP to decide on joining UPFA govern... 2006 Sep 08 12:13 Eight persons arrested in search operation in M... 2006 Sep 08 11:40 Three-wheeler explosion in Vavuniya injures fou... 2006 Sep 08 11:31 ‘Our people are suffering’: St. Patrick’s Rector 2006 Sep 08 11:28 UNP to nominate team for talks with Rajapakse G... 2006 Sep 08 10:49 Gunmen force Uthayan to carry their statement 2006 Sep 08 09:17 650 civilians caught in military travel arrange... 2006 Sep 08 06:01 Sri Lanka Navy Commander visits Jaffna 2005: 2005 Sep 08 23:18 Grenade lobbed at SLA sentry post in Batticaloa 2005 Sep 08 18:39 Mannar court releases refugees, orders remand f... 2005 Sep 08 14:31 Paramilitary cadre dies in police gunfire - SLA 2005 Sep 08 14:23 Two STF soldiers, policeman killed in two attac... 2005 Sep 08 12:12 Dead Batticaloa man identified 2005 Sep 08 12:02 Bomb scare in Katunayake airport, one passenger... 2005 Sep 08 09:46 "Talks venue must be acceptable to both parties... 2005 Sep 08 09:24 Rajapakse, JVP sign policy deal 2005 Sep 08 08:43 Aquaculture Division acts on post-tsunami fishe... 2004: 2004 Sep 08 18:35 TNA awareness campaign in Trinco district put off 2004 Sep 08 15:31 Major General Sunil Tennekoon meets Jaffna Bishop 2004 Sep 08 10:43 25% of NE Provincial Council vacancies not filled 2004 Sep 08 04:50 Sri Lanka army behind attack on border post- LTTE 2004 Sep 08 03:21 Time bomb on busy road in Batticaloa defused 2003: 2003 Sep 08 20:37 Tamil Eelam Netball team wins Championship 2003 Sep 08 19:52 Shortage of English language teachers in NE 2003 Sep 08 19:35 Tamil women's event concludes with plan of action 2003 Sep 08 18:50 'SLA destroyed houses in HSZ during ceasefire' 2003 Sep 08 18:22 Workshop on ‘Democratic Youth Leadership’ 2003 Sep 08 16:14 Tamil, Muslim MPs to meet to discuss eastern si... 2003 Sep 08 14:11 Sports meet for war affected children held in T... 2003 Sep 08 13:52 Sathurukondan massacre to be remembered 2002: 2002 Sep 08 20:22 Colombo gets ready for 'People's Power' rally 2002 Sep 08 20:20 Help displaced obtain documents, government told 2001: 2001 Sep 08 13:53 Kilinochchi rising from rubble 2000: 2000 Sep 08 18:52 Partial lifting of censorship said dubious 2000 Sep 08 18:28 Policemen sell their camp defences 2000 Sep 08 15:21 EPDP accused of intimidation 2000 Sep 08 09:41 EPDP cadres injured in grenade attack 2000 Sep 08 08:30 Fisherfolk protest in front of SLA camp 1999: 1999 Sep 08 12:34 Uproar in Parliament after editor's slaying 1999 Sep 08 12:26 Protests against Sarath's Chief Justice appoint... 1999 Sep 08 12:05 SLA, Tigers to observe days of tranquillity 1999 Sep 08 09:26 UNP youth wing protest 1999 Sep 08 06:53 Investigators find human skull 1999 Sep 08 03:43 Mother succumbs after forced home delivery 1998: 1998 Sep 08 19:42 UNP conspiring with the LTTE - President 1998 Sep 08 19:41 Hindu idols recovered from soldiers 1998 Sep 08 19:40 MPGA concerned for Chemmani evidence 1998 Sep 08 11:21 Canadian family formally detained 1998 Sep 08 11:17 President extends Emergency Regulations 1998 Sep 08 00:34 Youth found chained 1998 Sep 08 00:07 New access road to Vanni If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear. -George Orwell English Novelist and Essayist, 1903-1950	Know the Etymology: 109 Place Name of the Day: Chillaalai The hamlet of dangerous whirlpools in the sand banks off its coast (The place of) the treacherous sea passage Read more >> [06.09.08] UN's terror list breaches fundamental rights - European Court: Setting aside an earlier ruling of the Court of First Instance, the European Court of Justice (ECJ), Wednesday, annulled the Council Regulation freezing the assets of Yassin Abdullah Kadi, a resident of Saudi Arabia, and the Al Barakaat International Foundation of Sweden, part of the 'Hawala' banking system used by the Somali Diaspora to transfer funds internationally. The ECJ recognised that "the rights of the defence [of those in "terror list"], in particular the right to be heard, and the right to effective judicial review of those rights, were patently not respected." Related Story >> [27.08.08] Catholic commission in Vanni highlights IDPs plight: Amid pouring rain and thundering blasts of artillery and mortar shells, more than 170,000 Internally Displaced Persons in Vanni are facing a great human tragedy, which is calculatedly concealed from the world outside, said Rev. Fr. James Pathinathan, the president of the Vanni branch of the Justice and Peace Commission (JPC) of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jaffna, in an urgent appeal to the U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, on Tuesday. "If the International Community doesn't act at once, it will be too late," he told TamilNet after handing over the memorandum to the Residential Representative of the UNHCR in Vanni. Related Story >> [22.08.08] Sri Lanka officials complicit in Tamil Genocide? - Washington Times: Asserting that "[t]here is reason to believe that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has been complicit in a Srebrenica-like genocide or worse against Sri Lanka's Tamils on the installment plan. Since entering office in November 2005, he has been witness to the extrajudicial killings of more than 1,500 Tamils, torture, scores of kidnappings, countless arbitrary detentions and displacement of more than 250,000...," a commentary in the Washington Times, Wednesday issue, urged the U.S. Justice Department to lead a genocide investigation of Sri Lanka's Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, Lt.Gen. Fonseka, and Basil Rajapakse. Related Story >> [12.08.08] U.S not safe haven for rights violators, says Secretary Myers: The United States Assistant Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in a press briefing in New York City said, "far too often we see that individuals who participate in these atrocities come and seek to hide in the United States, lie on their visa applications and try to blend in, in the [American] neighborhoods. Our work is designed to ensure that we identify these people, prosecute them criminally where we can and then remove them from this country, to make sure the United States is not a safe haven for these individuals." Related Story >> [11.08.08] Portending danger for potable water in Jaffna: The news of re-opening the cement factory at Kaangkeasanthu'rai (KKS) in the Jaffna Peninsula has been received with serious concern by academics and environmentalists from Jaffna. According to them, the factory, when it was functioning earlier, was a health hazard to the densely populated surroundings. It affected horticulture as crops were covered by cement dust. Above all, exploitative quarrying of limestone has already portended the possibility of seawater coming inside and polluting the entire groundwater table of the peninsula. Related Story >> [19.07.08] Sri Lanka's 'Tamil implementation': The Sri Lankan government and its agencies outside are bent on a propaganda programme of highlighting equal implementation of Tamil as an official language in Sri Lanka, as provided by the 13th amendment of the constitution, to argue the case against secession and to justify themselves to international opinion. But in actual practice there is a planned effort by the state to sinhalicise the very usage of Eezham Tamil itself. Related Story >> [14.07.08] Making SAARC meaningful: What went wrong with the noble concept of SAARC, while similar regional formations such as the EU and ASEAN are successful elsewhere, discusses Opinion Columnist Chivanadi. Related Story >> [13.07.08] Conversations in a Failing State: Towards the end of 19th century, the renowned American writer Mark Twain visited Colombo. While he was admiring the plurality of colour in the native dresses, somewhere in Pettah, he saw native children coming out of an English school, in line, in white uniform and in the same hairdo. ‘What an ugly scene’, he wrote, being sad at the way colonial institutions depriving natives of their pluralism. More than a century later, Patrick Lawrence, another American, comes to Sri Lanka to record the net results, a failed nationalism and a failed state, as consequences of the loss of pluralism. Related Story >> [09.07.08] Sri Lanka's rank critical: Sri Lanka, which was positioned 25th among the most failed states during the last two years, ranked this year as the 20th in the Failed States Index (FSI), compiled by the Washington based think-tank, Fund for Peace (FfP) and Foreign Policy magazine. Sri Lanka's score further dropped this year in almost all of the 12 indicators in the FSI. The country was ranked 2nd worst, next to Sudan in one of the indicators, 'Group Grievances'. Related Story >> [07.07.08] Scurried pact for oil off Mannaar: Cairn India, a subsidiary of Cairn UK Holdings Limited, on Monday signed a Petroleum Resources agreement to explore for oil and natural gas in the Mannaar Basin. The signing took place in front of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees between the Sri Lankan Minister for Petroleum and Petroleum Development Resources A.H.M Fowzie and the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Executive Director of the Cairn India, Indrajit Banerjee, who gave USD one million as signature bond to Rajapaksa government, according to informed sources. Related Story >>
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