Wednesday, May 20, 2009

PRABHAKARAN DEATH Claimed, Long Live Tamil Ealam! India ACTION Plan Begins to Finish the Suffering Masses, Black Untouchables!

PRABHAKARAN DEATH Claimed, Long Live Tamil Ealam! India ACTION Plan Begins to Finish the Suffering Masses, Black Untouchables!

Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams, Chapter 235

Palash Biswas

2009 Lok Sabha election: Final tally

The EC has announced results for all the 543 elected seats of the Lok Sabha, giving the United Progressive Alliance 262 seats.

 

Manmohan gets Presidential nod for second term as PM

Manmohan Singh was on Wednesday appointed Prime Minister for a
second consecutive term, for which he will be sworn-in on May 22.

Somnath asked us to support N-deal: Amar Singh

Amar Singh has said that the Samajwadi Party supported the UPA
government on the nuclear deal at the behest of Somnath...

I wouldn't feel bad if not offered a Cabinet berth: Lalu

With Congress reluctant to accommodate him in the new government,
RJD chief Lalu Prasad appeared resigned to his fate. Akkriti death: Dikshit asks school to suspend nurse, teacherPak multiplying N-weapons, increasing their destructive powerCong downplays demand for Common Minimum ProgrammeMonsoon sets in over Andaman Sea, to reach Kerala soon
 http://www.expressindia.com/

Sri Lanka: Colombo celebrates "victory" holiday

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NEWS: Sri Lanka marked its victory over Tamil Tigers with a national holiday as the army carried out "clearing operations" in the island's north-eastern tip, where the Tamil Tigers made their last...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_HIXdrzMrk

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 Elections '09 | 26/11 coverage | Images | More
Tell PM what he needs to do! | Pick Your Cabinet
Rahul should thank his mom | Top 10 tainted MPs
Pix: Man of the moment | Mumbai's ageing lifeline
India hands over more 26/11 evidence to Pak
CPI attacking CPI-M? | Maya's coterie misled her
'Struggle won't end' | View: Blood on our hands
Bill seeking closer Indo-US ties introduced
Yoga guru Pattabhi Jois passes into the ages
Pix: Confirmed: LTTE chief is dead | Video
• The day I met Prabhakaran | India's Vietnam
Pix: How the stars fared in elections | Down South

http://www.rediff.com/

 

UN demands access to civilians in Sri Lanka

Reuters India - ‎1 hour ago‎
By Jonathan Lynn GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations on Wednesday accused the Sri Lankan authorities of blocking access to civilians trapped in the former war zone or who have fled to camps for displaced people.

Pakistan diary: Unity in adversity

Aljazeera.net - ‎2 hours ago‎
By Imran Khan, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Pakistan Imran Khan, Al Jazeera's reporter in Pakistan, will be filing regular dispatches from the country as the army battles Taliban fighters in the North West Frontier Province.

BJP admits it lost middle class, Sikh voters in Delhi

Business Standard - ‎3 hours ago‎
PTI / New Delhi May 20, 2009, 15:49 IST As it begins introspection into the worst electoral debacle in Delhi since 1984, BJP has admitted that it had lost influence in its stronghold of urban, middle and upper class voters along with Sikhs, ...
BJP votes dip too Times of India

India gives Pak more evidence on 26/11

Hindustan Times - ‎2 hours ago‎
India on Wednesday handed over to Pakistan a new dossier of evidence on the Mumbai terrorist attack, an official statement said. "MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) have today handed over to the Pakistani High Commission additional information and ...
Newstrack India - Indian Express - Forbes - Zee News हिंदी में

117 small-cap, 14 mid-cap stocks hit upper circuit limits

Economic Times - ‎2 hours ago‎
20 May 2009, 1800 hrs IST, PTI MUMBAI: The mid-cap and small-cap indices today significantly outperformed the benchmark index Sensex with as many as 117 small-cap stocks and 14 mid-cap stocks touching their upper circuit limits at the Bombay Stock ...

PNB Q4 net up 59% at Rs 865 cr, declares dividend

Business Standard - ‎15 minutes ago‎
PTI / New Delhi May 20, 2009, 19:56 IST Punjab National Bank (PNB), the country's second-largest public sector lender, today reported a 59 per cent jump in its fourth quarter net profit at Rs 865 crore on the back of high interest income.

Unitech sells office space for Rs 500 cr to repay debt

Business Standard - ‎36 minutes ago‎
Unitech, the country's second-largest real estate developer, said it sold an office space in Saket, New Delhi for Rs 500 crore as part of a plan to raise money from asset sales to repay debt.

Sri Lanka crisis deepens as Red Cross suspends aid! The blocking of access to the battle zone has raised fears for the fate of those civilians too sick or injured to flee the area by foot. Those who escaped had to wade through a mine-strewn lagoon, journeying several days to reach camps that are struggling to cope.The United Nations on Wednesday accused the Sri Lankan authorities of blocking access to civilians trapped in the former war zone or who have fled to camps for displaced people.

India to receive first Phalcon AWACS on May 24.

India Incs has issued guidelines for the Government of India led by Washington slave Dr Manmohan Singh to be sworn in for back to back Second Tenure! Congress leader Manmohan Singh will Friday be sworn in as prime minister of India for the second consecutive term after President Pratibha Patil invited him to head the government and asked him to advise her on the council of ministers.

 

SOME OF the commercial euphoria that has greeted the UPA victory is based on the sense of relief the country feels at finally having a stable, Communist-less government in place. But some of it also stems from the perception that this is going to be a reform-friendly government.

 

What a difference an electoral defeat can make. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is being targeted - this time, not by secular and civil society activists, but by senior leaders of his own party.

 

After shedding some of the baggage of demanding allies, a resurgent Congress is getting ready to give a new veneer to governance by splitting ministries which had been clubbed in 2004 to keep its partners in good humour.

 
Maoist Government led by PRACHANDA has been dislodged in Nepal with resurgence of Manusmriti Hegemony there.
 
United States of America tears apart the landscape as well as human scape in Pakistan.
 
AFPAK US Policy is the Key stone of south Asian politics and economy!
 
Desi Illuminati led by Zionist Hindutva, Civil society, Intelligentsia, Media and Bureaucrats Manipulated Caste Hindu Vote bank Mobilisation to Ensure Land slide mandate so that Economic Reforms may continue. PSUs are on SALE OFF! Hundred day ACTION Plan for Mass Destruction is already initiated even before shaping of the New government. Policy making and Governance is decided by Professional Business Management with THREE HUNDRED and Plus Millionaire MPS` strength!
 
The Projected face of the so called THIRD FRONT is now the face of UPA Subordination. Also subordinated have been DEVEGAUDA, CB Naidu, Sharad Yadav, Lalu and Paswan, Nitish and Patnaik as well as Jailalita and Mulayam Singh Yadav.
 

PARTIES CUTTING across the political spectrum are flocking to the Congress in the hope of stitching up alliances - from the Samajwadi Party to the Nagaland People's Front. JD(S) chief H.D. Deve Gowda spoke to Manmohan Singh, while his son H.D. Kumaraswamy met Sonia Gandhi, ostensibly to keep communal forces at bay.

 
Since CPIM General Secretary Prakash Karat has DECOUPLED the party with the national ruling Manusmriti Hegemony for the First Time after 1969, the LEFT is alone. But we may not EXPECT the Marxists to lead RESISTANCE whatsoever the Bengali as well Malyali Brahmin comrades are more interested to SAVE the RED Bastions in Bengal and Kerala and have finished Trade Union, Student and peasant movements in this part of the world.
 
Provided the Marxists lift themselves over Power Sharing and regional interests , even in a such situation, I am afraid our Comrades would not be able to mobilise the JUNK Party Organisation disabling the Regimented anti People Gestapo habitual in Ethnic cleansing and genocide culture!
 
Worse, our comrades now have CEASED to believe in Ideology and tagged the party with Capitalist Global Post Modern Zionist Corporate Order!
 
Manmohan Singh was today appointed Prime Minister for a second consecutive term, for which he will be sworn-in on May 22, after the UPA coalition staked its claim to form the government with the backing of 322 MPs. Apparently in view of the comfortable numbers the coalition has in the 543-member Lok Sabha, the President has not asked the Prime Minister to prove his strength in the House.

 

"I have pleasure to appoint you the Prime Minister and request you to advise me on the names of the others to be appointed to the council of ministers. "I propose to administer the oath of office and secrecy to you on Friday, 22nd May 2009 at the Rashtrapati Bhawan at a mutually convenient time," President Pratibha Patil said in her letter handed over to Singh when he called on her along with UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

 

Reading out the President's letter, Singh said "you will come to know in due course of time" when asked whether MPs outside the pre-poll allies would included in the new ministry.

Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is dead, the Sri Lankan government said Monday, ending the rebel chief's nearly three-decade mission to establish an independent state for minority Tamils.Sri Lanka's trade deficit for the first quarter of 2009 narrowed 54 percent as imports fell faster than exports, while its March-end foreign exchange reserves were sufficient only to finance 5 weeks of imports, the central bank said on Monday. The trade deficit in the first quarter narrowed to $644.6 million from $1.4 billion a year earlier.

Sri Lanka's share market jumped over 100 points or 5 percent on Monday, after the president this weekend said the nation had won its 25-year war with the Tamil Tiger separatists, stockbrokers said. "The market is up more than 100 points and the trades are very rapid after the war victory sentiment," said Hussain Ghani, associate director at Asia Securities.


There are nearly 2 million Sri Lankan Tamils living outside Sri Lanka. They have for years supported the Tamil political struggle. Even today pro LTTE websites are being run from outside Sri Lanka with images of Prabhakaran's dead body being flashed across the media.

he International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been forced to suspend the distribution of emergency supplies to as many as 300,000 people displaced by the Sri Lankan Army's victory over the Tamil Tigers after the Government blocked access to aid camps.

Fears have been growing over the welfare of those forced to flee the conflict zone – many of whom are sick or suffering from battlefield injuries – after tight restrictions were placed on the UN and other agencies trying to administer aid.


Urgently needed supplies of food and clothing had been suspended after access to the camps was restricted by the Government, an ICRC spokesperson told The Times this morning.


The ICRC had been the only neutral aid organisation allowed inside the conflict zone. It had between 20 and 25 staff on the ground in the northeastern region where the Tigers made their last stand over the weekend but has not heard from them since last week.



Further public offerings in companies with significant government holdings including Hindustan Copper, NMDC, Neyvelli Lignite, Power Finance Corporation, Indian Oil Corporation and others where government holding is above 85% is another option that government is expected to look into. Most of these stocks have rallied between 15% and 20% on Monday.

The AWACS will provide India means to track incoming missiles and look deep into the neighbouring countries under all weather conditions.On the other hand, The return to power of the Congress-led government in India will boost the bilateral "strategic partnership" between New Delhi and Moscow, a top Russian expert on India said on saturday.

Playing by the book, India has notified its decision to initiate investigations on the need to impose special import duties on hot-rolled steel, certain automobile parts, acrylic fibre and coated paper.The clear mandate handed to the Congress is good for business, good for trade and good for India, say business leaders involved in promoting business and trade ties between India and Britain.The multilateral trade talks at the World Trade Organisation is likely to gather steam after September 2009 when the new US government is expected to complete its internal review of the pact.

Meanwhile,China has lost its position as the world's lowest-cost components manufacturer to India and Mexico, a study indicated on Wednesday, in a blow for the Asian giant as it fights the financial crisis.

Crude oil futures climbed 1.05 per cent in early trade on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) on Wednesday as traders and speculators
indulged in creating fresh positions on expectations of a pick-up in demand amid a firming global trend.

At 1145 hrs on the MCX, crude oil for the most-active August-month contract rose 1.05 per cent to Rs 2,990 per barrel, with a trading volume of six lots. The oil for delivery in June gained 0.59 per cent to Rs 2,901 per barrel, with a trading volume of 3,819 lots.

Traders attributed the rise in crude oil on fresh buying by traders and speculators on expectations of a pick-up in demand amid a firming global trend.

Meanwhile, crude oil for July delivery rose 50 cents to USD 60.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Raising funds from the bourses may soon become a simpler, shorter process, as the market regulator plans an overhaul of existing norms,taking them closer to standard global practices.

According to an official close to the development, the Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) will rework the norms for instruments such as qualified institutional placements (QIPs), initial public offers (IPOs) and rights issues to enable companies to raise capital quickly, mitigating the risks arising out of sudden changes in market sentiment.

The proposals were discussed at a meeting of the Primary Market Advisory Committee on Monday, he said.

On the anvil is also a new entity called the anchor investor, who will get 25% of the shares out of the 60% reserved for institutional investors in a public offer.

This investor can be defined as "a strategic investor with a longer-term view compared to others". This will help the company raise a lumpsum amount at one go, but there will be no special pricing for the anchor shares.

 

It is the only Positive sign I detect, is the RESURGENCE of Girl power, the Women EMPOWERED who have been deprived of every Human right in manusmriti rule and the Half of the Humanity on thsi part of the globe, the ARYAVARTA had been branded as Shudra. Dr BR Ambedkar did draft the HINDU CODE Bill to LIBERATE The so called SHUDRAS , the Fair SEX! But Nehru was quite reluctant to pass the Bill in the parliament. However, the Law was ENACTED and we see the EMERGENCE of the Girl Power.
 
What the Women may dare to do, I have witnessed in Karnataka where the ladies run the Dalit panchayats and implemented Land reforms without any Ideology or party. They manage VILLAGE affairs with EFFICIENCY. They ABOLISHED the Practice of Untouchability whereever they work. The liberated the Bonded labour.
 
We witnessed WOMAN power in Nandigram, Singur,Lalgarh, Kalingnagar and Gorkhaland Insurrections. Personally I have been witnessing the achievement of Woman Power in Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Chhattishgarh and all over the Himalayan region including Entire North east.
 
I saw an ad in a Bengali daily publicising a JATRA, Folk Drama: AAJKER BOUMA ATOM BOMA! Means the Moderntimes Daughters in Law are ATOM BOMBS. Absolutely CORRECT.
 
The marxists do realise very well waht the VIRGIN ATOM BOMB Ms Mamata Bannerjee has done assisted by Mahashweta Debi, Shaoli Mitra, Anuradha Talwar,Medha patkar, Aparna Sen, KAKOLI Ghosh Dastidar,Rtna Nag,Sonali Guha, Shatabdi Roy and so on!
 
Let the WOMEN take the lead. Since the AXE Effected Male is vying for Luxuries and virtual reality!
 
Girls outshone boys in the Class X and Class XII examinations conducted by the Council for Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) this year. While 1,08,217 students, including 60,812 boys and 47,405 girls, had appeared in Class X (ICSE), about 52,552 students, including 29,207 boys and 23,345 girls, had written the Class XII (ISC) exam, conducted in March this year.

 

The results announced by CISCE showed that 98.05 per cent students got through the ICSE while 97.08 per cent students could pass the ISC. But girls have done better than boys. Their pass percentage is 98.14 in ICSE (Class-X) against 96.90 per cent pass rate of boys, Gerry Arathoon, Additional Secretary of CISCE said.

 

Similarly in ISC (Class-XII), the pass rate of girls is 98.18 per cent against 96.21 per cent by boys, he said. The highest aggregate mark is 99 per cent (English + best four subjects) at the ICSE Examination achieved by a boy.

 

While 1701 candidates, including 905 girls and 796 boys, have been awarded grade 1 in each of the seven subjects. The highest aggregate mark is 99.25 per cent (English + best three subjects) at the ISC Examination attained by a boy.

 

As many as 65 candidates, including 43 girls, have passed with grade 1 in each of the seven subjects. 

 Mamata yet to take decision on joining UPA cabinet

Wed, May 20 06:19 PM

Kolkata, May 20 (PTI) Upbeat over her party's good showing in the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee today said she wants to devote more time to the state assembly elections even as she is yet to take a decision on her joining the UPA cabinet. "I cannot cast aside the people of West Bengal, specially when atrocities are going on after the Lok Sabha elections here.

My party will be there (in the government). If I can find time to devote to the state, then I can take a decision about myself," she told reporters here.

Mamata wanted the assembly elections due in West Bengal in 2011 to be preponed. "The sooner the Left Front goes, the better it will be for West Bengal.

Nothing is moving in the state. Everything is at a standstill," the Trinamool chief said.

"I want the new UPA government to complete its full five-year term and take care of agriculture, industry, people's security and create employment opportunities," she said. PTI.



Manmohan Singh's second term: 100-day reforms blueprint ready


20 May 2009, 0710 hrs IST, ET Bureau

Key government departments have drawn up a slew of proposals to populate an ambitious reform agenda for the first 100 days of Manmohan Singh's second term, as the re-elected UPA coalition talks up expectations and sets itself up to be judged early into its new stint in power.

While Prime Minister Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi hold parleys with senior party leaders and alliance partners to put the new Cabinet in place, top bureaucrats in crucial economic ministries have been readying a 100-day policy timetable, aimed at giving growth a leg-up. By Tuesday evening, the specific plans of each of the ministries had reached the desk of cabinet secretary KM Chandrashekar at Raisina Hill.

"The prime minister will take up the comprehensive programme put together by the cabinet secretary as early as Wednesday," a top bureaucrat in a key economic ministry said.

After an unexpectedly strong showing by the Congress-led UPA coalition, which is just 11 seats short of majority in Parliament, the prime minister appears keen to make up for lost time. He had already prepared the broad contours of an economic revival plan to be taken up within days after the new government assumed office, a senior Congress leader said. Even as the election campaign was in full swing, a confident Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi had started work on an economic revival package, the Congress leader said.

A panel of experts from various sectors had been informally constituted and asked to be ready with an action plan for the first 100 days of the new government.

"The 100-day programme is expected to be taken up by the new Cabinet in its first meeting," commerce secretary GK Pillai, a favourite to become the Cabinet secretary when the incumbent retires in June, told ET.

Led by the Cabinet secretary, the key officials working closely on the plan include finance secretary Ashok Chawla, commerce secretary Pillai and agriculture secretary T Nandakumar.

While the Congress manifesto has provided the main blueprint for the 100-day agenda, the unfinished reform programmes of various ministries too find a place.

While recommendations to revive growth and ease the credit squeeze are likely to find a place in the plan, tax proposals are expected to be taken up as budget recommendations, a bureaucrat who has been involved in devising it said.

"The Congress manifesto has called for increased oil and gas production and we are working towards meeting these objectives by getting new projects on stream shortly," petroleum secretary RS Pandey said.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/Economy/Policy/Manmohan-Singhs-second-term-100-day-reforms-blueprint-ready/articleshow/4553815.cms

Mayur Shetty has writen in Economic Times:

he financial services sector, the worst-hit by the downturn, has high expectations from the new government. The United Progressive Alliance's (UPA) near-decisive mandate has improved the prospects of reform. The market remembers it was the government's disinvestment in Maruti that sparked off one of the longest bull runs in Indian capital market's history . In some public sector units (PSUs), particularly banks, disinvestment has improved efficiency and profits. This time around, it's widely perceived that the government will spur foreign fund inflows by increasing the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in insurance to 49% from 26% and also sell shares in PSUs. Public sector savings have turned negative in recent months.

But beyond these big-bang measures, there is a string of policy proposals that has been hanging fire for a long time. Moving ahead with these proposals will clear the roadblocks in the financial sector and keep the growth engine chugging . We are listing out some of them:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/quickiearticleshow/4554993.cms


Foreigners have been able to spot value better than Indians, at least as far as the stock market goes. FIIs have put in close to Rs 20,000 crore into Indian stock markets in the last 43 days since the bull rally began.

Gold exchange traded funds (ETFs), the best performing asset category in the last one year that gave stellar returns riding on the back of zooming gold prices, have hit a rough patch.

A clear majority of the Congress-led UPA government has improved the sentiment of the investor community. This is the first time since 1996 that the country has a stable government and ruling party doesn't have to depend much on the alliance. This new unexpected scenario has created a bullish sentiment in the market.

Consultancy firm IIFL in a report said that investors would expect faster pace of market-friendly reforms. It said the focus will be on new reforms initiatives, along with pursuing existing ones taking up pending bills like insurance bill to increase the foreign holding to 49% and pension fund bill to set up Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority.

IDFC India Research said that the government has been quite vocal about taking steps to arrest the slowdown and has also indicated to go for additional expenditure if needed. It is expected that the government will go full throttle on implementation of its stimulus packages as it enjoys a free hand in the new Lok Sabha and can go ahead with its expenditure plans.

Because of the stimulus packages, the fiscal deficit is likely to widen further. This will increase government's borrowings and put pressure on availability of resources to the private sector. Besides, this will also push the interest rates upwards, which could prove counter-productive in the revival of the economy.

However, as the Left parties will not be a part of new government, disinvestment programme can be carried forward. IDFC report said that the new government should go ahead with disinvestments in PSUS to raise funds and fill the fiscal gap created by its populist policies.

Ahead of their departure for Colombo, national security adviser M K Narayanan and foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon on Wednesday met

Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi and discussed with him issues that will come up during talks with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The two met Karunanidhi at Tamil Nadu house after which Narayanan said he came to seek his advice on issues.

"I will be leaving for Sri Lanka today and I will be holding talks there," Narayanan told reporters after the meeting.

The two envoys are expected to take up issues like devolution of powers to Tamils in the island and their immediate rehabilitation in view of their sufferings undergone during the current war.

To a question on Prabhakaran's fate, the NSA said "as per our information Prabhakaran is no more".

On Tuesday, Karunanidhi had refused to believe that the LTTE supremo was dead.

"The news is not yet confirmed. I have nothing to say now on this issue," Karunanidhi had said.

Two former top aides of Velupillai Prabhakaran flew into Sri Lanka's northern war zone and "positively identified" the body of the slain

LTTE supremo, who led a ruthless struggle for a separate homeland for Tamils.

Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan alias Karuna, who was the Eastern commander of the LTTE before he fell out with Prabhakaran in 2004, and Daya Master, who surrendered to the army recently, were taken by the government to Puthumatalan to identify the bullet-ridden body of Prabhakaran.

"The body is of Prabhakaran's... there is no doubt about this... Though I am bit saddened that he is no more but the fact is he never listened to anyone. He always believed that violence is the only solution," Karuna, who is now a federal minister, said.

"It is the same..there is no change in his body. He met with this fate for his own deeds," he said.




Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa has finally crushed the Tamil Tigers, with the reported death yesterday of Tiger chief Velupillai Prabhakaran and the collapse of his combat forces. "We have liberated the whole country from terrorism," army chief Lt.-Gen. Sarath Fonseka told the nation, touching off wild celebrations in Colombo, the capital and marking an end to one of Asia's longest civil wars. But while Sri Lanka's government may have prevailed in a brutal conflict that took some 75,000 lives, it is far from winning the peace. Bitter grievances fuelled the 26-year insurgency to carve out an independent state of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka's Tamil-dominated northern and eastern regions. Otherwise the Tigers would never have been able to seize control of much of Sri Lanka before this defeat, running a mini state with its own army, courts and taxes, or raise $300 million a year abroad for their cause. The war may be over, but the underlying conflict festers. Now, Tamil bitterness has been compounded by the deaths of perhaps 8,000 Tamil civilians during the Tigers' suicidal last stand, and fears in the Canadian Tamil diaspora and elsewhere for the welfare of 265,000 displaced Tamils who languish behind barbed wire in wretched refugee camps. These are stark truths Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government should raise with the Rajapaksa government. He has some leverage, given that Canada declared the Tigers to be terrorists for their history of political assassination and suicide bombings.

Reviled by human rights groups and Tamil sympathisers throughout the world as a hawkish leader who pursued a military solution to Sri Lanka's

ethnic conflict with no concern for civilian safety, president Mahinda Rajapaksa is basking in the adulation of his people for succeeding in his determination to wipe out 'terrorism' from his country.

Meanwhile,The crucial UPA meet to decide Cabinet berths concluded at 10 Janpath, the residence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, a while ago.

All the key pre-poll partners of the Congress attended the meeting.

The European Union on Monday (18 May) called for an independent inquiry into alleged human rights violations resulting from the conflict in Sri Lanka and demanded those responsible be held to account. However, at the same as issuing strong language condemning attacks on civilians, certain EU member states continue to arm the Sri Lankan authorities in breach of the EU's code of conduct on arms exports, according to the latest data from European governments. "The EU is appalled by the loss of innocent civilian lives as a result of the conflict and by the high numbers of casualties, including children, following recent intense fighting in northern Sri Lanka," said European foreign ministers in a statement following a meeting in Brussels on Monday (18 May). "The EU calls for the alleged violations of these laws to be investigated through an independent inquiry," the statement continued. "Those accountable must be brought to justice." A number of EU member states - including Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the UK, France, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Poland - have however continuined to arm the Sri Lankan government since the election of hardline president Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2005.

he World Food Programme (WFP) is boosting food stocks and preparing nutritionally rich food for women and children in order to meet the needs of people who have been displaced in the final days of Sri Lanka's 26-year civil war. WFP is already feeding 250,000 people in temporary transit camps in the northern areas affected by recent fighting, but the number of displaced persons is expected to rise to more than 280,000 in coming days. Over the last few months, more than 265,000 people have been displaced by battling between Sri Lankan government forces and the Tamil Tiger rebel movement. These include about 80,000 who fled the conflict zone over the weekend as the civil war came to an end. The majority of displaced persons have already passed through the government screening point at Omanthai, a town in the northern Vavuniya district. They are now in more than 40 temporary transit centres or welfare villages, primarily in Vavuniya. The displaced persons are currently completely dependent upon humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs.

Sri Lankan military killed thousands of Tamil civilians over the past few months (not to mention the years before) using the full might of its fire power by way of artillery and air strikes. It has, with intent, starved its own people by refusing to send food and medicine in sufficient quantities and in adequate frequencies. Crucially, this genocide by the Sri Lankan state has been enabled by the international community, including Britain. What is deeply disappointing is the fact that powerful liberal states which have long espoused human rights, the Geneva conventions and, most recently, the responsibility to protect, have all allowed thousands of innocent lives to be lost unnecessarily and with full knowledge. The slaughter went on every day, with many women and children being killed not just by the shelling but due to starvation and lack of medical care. Yet the international response, especially those of the UN and western liberal states, has been pathetic. Mere statements after statements were released by heads of states like Gordon Brown and Barack Obama and institutions such as the UN, EU and various non-governmental organisations such as Amnesty, HRW and Crisis Group. No one showed real leadership in stopping this genocide which took place in broad daylight. Even now thousands of displaced young Tamils are being abducted and disappeared, the wounded and injured are not given medical care and families are separated and abused in overcrowded barbed-wire-fenced camps. Thousands are still lining up at check points which have no independent observers present. International media has no way of reporting without government interference.

Birds have now stopped singing in a land called Vanni. Sun, moon and the stars in the sky have hidden their faces. Angel of death flew over the skies of Vanni and took the lives of more than twenty five thousand innocent Tamil men, women and children in a single day. Thousands of wounded are still crying out for help. They are bleeding to death on the streets. They have touched neither water nor food for days. Nobody has come to rescue them. Those who fight for the rights of the animals and those who preach about Buddha and Mahatma have no compassion for the dying Tamils. Chinese weapons, Indian intelligence, Sinhala Armed personals and racist Sri Lankan leaders came together to perform one of the most cruel war that has cost the lives of many thousands innocents. While thousands of innocent children and women are facing painful and slow death, Sinhala Buddhist extremists are celebrating victory with flags and fire crackers in the south of the country.


National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee, DMK chief M Karunanidhi, NCP president Sharad Pawar and leader Praful Patel were present, along with senior Congress leaders, including Pranab Mukherjee, P Chidambaram and A K Antony besides Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

While the LTTE may not be yet in a position to visualise a 'post-Prabhakaran' aspect to its struggle, remarks by its international affairs head

Selvarasa Pathmanathan suggest that for the first time in the last 22 years, it has accepted a role for other Tamil forces in finding a solution.

Having claimed that it is the "sole representative" of the Tamils in Sri Lanka since 1986, the LTTE appears to have climbed down from its inflexible stand that it is the only authentic force that the state as well as the international community should deal with.

The LTTE had achieved this 'status' primarily by decimating rival militant groups and key Tamil politicians, some of whom had participated in joint talks organised by India in 1986 in Thimpu for finding a negotiated settlement.

"We fully appreciate the role every Tamil person and Tamil political party has to play, both in the island of Sri Lanka and abroad, to ensure that the welfare and future of Tamils living in the island is foremost. We are willing to work with all parties to achieve this, including the Tamil parties functioning in India as well. We need to put the welfare of the Tamil people first," Pathmanathan said in an interview to Tamilnet.com.

With the top leadership wiped out in the last few days, Pathmanathan, identified by Sri Lanka's defence ministry as the same man wanted by Interpol in the name of 'Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP', the LTTE's chief arms procurer for more than two decades, has emerged as the face of the rebel group to the international community.

Pathmanathan was formally named head of its international affairs division a few months ago.

Sonia Gandhi was re-elected UPA chairperson during the meeting. Her name was proposed by Karunanidhi and seconded by Mamata, the Trinamool Congress informed mediapersons.

All eyes are now on the likely candidates who would head some of the most important ministries in the next Congress-led UPA government. The Ministry of Human Resource Development, headed by controversial Congress leader Arjun Singh could throw up a surprise. According to sources, a serious contender for the ministry is Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi. Kapil Sibal's name is also doing the rounds, according to TV channel

Congress sources mention May 22 as a probable date for swearing-in of the new government. The previous day, May 21, being the death anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi, the party leadership is keen to delay the launch of the new government by a day.

While numbers are no longer a big hurdle for the Congress-led alliance and the process appears to be a formality, working out the terms of power-sharing may create complications. Congress leadership got a reminder on Tuesday when the DMK leadership came up with big `wish list' for portfolios.

There is also the fear that the muscle-flexing may encourage similar demands from Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee. The Congress had initially estimated that the maverick partner may not insist on big portfolios because she would not like her colleagues to grow in stature. They are not so sure any more. The fear is that the arm twisting may incite the Trinamool leader to up her ante as she would not like to be seen as playing in a league below that of the DMK.

Congress may have a task on its hand if the Sharad Pawar demands that the representation of his contingent from the NCP should not be scaled down to be brought in line with the new numbers. Besides expectations of a suitable portfolio for Pawar, Congress will also have to manage demands for his associates like Praful Patel. Times Now.



Three doctors who told the BBC of various attacks carried out by the Sri Lankan government over the last few months have gone missing, according to Amnesty International. Amnesty International fears that they may be held in reprisal for providing information about civilians in the conflict zone between government forces and the Tamil Tigers, and is now deeply concerned over their safety. The three - Dr T Sathiyamoorthy, Dr T Varatharajah and Dr V Shanmugarajah - gave eyewitness reports from hospitals and makeshift medical centres. Their reports detailed the suffering of ordinary civilians, many of whom died from war-related injuries. They also highlighted the continuous shelling of areas with large concentrations of non-combatants. The three were last seen on Friday 15 May in a holding area at Omanthai checking point. They had been working for the government in the conflict zone in north-eastern Sri Lanka, treating the sick and wounded until they travelled out of the 'No Fire Zone' with approximately 5,000 other civilians. Amnesty understands that Dr Shanmugarajah and Dr Sathiyamoorthy, the regional director of health services in Kilinochchi, may be currently held at the Terrorist Investigation Division in the capital Colombo.

Monday early hours around 3:00 a.m. Vanni local time, the LTTE Political Chief B. Nadesan and LTTE Peace Secretariat Director S. Puleedevan telephoned their contacts in Europe and informed them to tell the ICRC Head Office that only around 1,000 wounded cadres, civil officials of the LTTE and civilians remained in the so-called safety zone and there was no firing from the LTTE side. They urged the ICRC to evacuate the wounded. A few hours later, Colombo's Defence Ministry website claimed finding the dead bodies of Mr. Nadesan, Mr. Puleedevan, Mr. Ilango (Tamileelam Police Chief), and LTTE Leader V. Pirapaharan's son Mr. Charles Antony. The LTTE is yet to confirm, but initial reports indicate a determined massacre by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA).

The UN has spoken of a "bloodbath". Ban Ki-moon, the secretary-general, was "appalled" at the killing of hundreds of trapped civilians and called for an immediate halt to the Sri Lankan army's indiscriminate shelling of the tiny coastal strip, the last hold-out on the island of the rebel Tamil Tigers. But the shelling goes on. A mortar bomb struck the only functioning medical facility in the war zone, killing 49 patients and bystanders and wounding more than 50 others. The figure cannot be verified, as army refuses to allow in any doctors, emergency workers or outsiders. But what is hideously clear is that huge numbers of people have been killed and that at least 50,000 are still trapped in appalling conditions as the bombs continue to explode among them. This carnage must stop. Already more than 6,500 civilians have been killed and 14,000 injured in the first four months of the year. Thousands of those who have managed to escape were on the brink of starvation when they arrived at the camps set up by the Sri Lankan government outside the combat zones.

Big selloff draw for PSUs
19 May 2009, 0243 hrs IST, Anto Antony, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: With the Left parties out of the government and the Congress manifesto favouring divestment, share prices of several state-owned
companies jumped sharply—up to 20% in many cases.

Key Congress leaders—P Chidambaram and Kamal Nath—on Monday only gave credence to the market expectations by reiterating UPA's disinvestment plans.

The Congress party had in its election manifesto said that if re-elected, disinvestment will be pursued though privatisation will not be followed.

"The Indian National Congress rejects the policy of blind privatisation followed by the BJP-led NDA government, but believes that the Indian people have every right to own part of the shares of public sector companies while the government retains majority shareholding," the Congress manifesto said.

Former commerce minister Kamal Nath told ET : "Disinvestment of government equity while maintaining management control will only improve the efficiency of some of these public sector undertakings."

Independent economists pointed out that this step by congress led government is well-timed. "We believe that the government will need to augment its financial resources through disinvestment of stake in government companies...although we do not expect aggressive privatisation in the form of transfer of management to private sector, the new government is likely to initiate more divestments," said Chetan Ahya, Managing Director, Research at Morgan Stanley.

Over the last five years, the UPA government's effort at augmenting resources through disinvestment has been poor due to the opposition from the Left parties which were a part of ruling coalition for a period of four-and-a-half years of the five-year regime.

By the time the Left Front withdrew support, the markets had tanked and companies which received regulatory approvals to tap the market developed cold feet on account of low investor appetite.

The major initial public offerings which are expected shortly includes NHPC, Oil India, Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES), Cochin Ship Yard, Telecommunications Consultants India, Manganese Ore India (MOIL), Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL) and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN). Some of these companies, including NHPC, Oil India and RITES which has all necessary approvals in place, can soon get listed.

With markets improving in the last few months, department of disinvestment has written to administrative ministries of different public sector enterprises which have received all regulatory approvals that they should try top get listed before the approvals lapse.

"If these approvals go lapse it will put the listing of these companies at least six month behind the schedule," said Rahul Khullar, secretary, department of disinvestment.

With market situation and investor appetite increasing companies with approvals are dusting off their listing plans.

"Things look good as far as stability of the government and its policies are concerned. The market has also reacted positively to the developments but the movements would have to be carefully watched before a firm date for IPO is finalised," said an NHPC official.

Further public offerings in companies with significant government holdings including Hindustan Copper, NMDC, Neyvelli Lignite, Power Finance Corporation, Indian Oil Corporation and others where government holding is above 85% is another option that government is expected to look into. Most of these stocks have rallied between 15% and 20% on Monday.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4549499.cms

3G, spectrum auctions top list
20 May 2009, 0328 hrs IST, Joji Thomas Philip, ET Bureau

India's telecom sector is the fastest growing in the world. To sustain the momentum, the sector needs major policy changes. Telecom secretary
Siddharth Behura

Siddharth Behura
Siddharth Behura, in an interview with ET, said he is confident that the new regime will look into that immediately. Excerpts:

What are the two key issues that the telecom ministry hopes to achieve?

Our first priority is to go ahead with the much delayed auctions for both third generation (3G) and WiMAX spectrum. Right now, I cannot predict if the entire process will be completed within 100 days. But if the government were to decide so, then we will ensure that the auctions are done.

The second is to have a new spectrum policy. We hope to finish the consultation process within the next three months. We are studying the spectrum panel report. It has far-reaching consequences as it proposes major reforms.

What about the listing of BSNL which was put off by the earlier regime?

We will see whether to revive the proposal within the first 100 days. In case we decide to do so, the process will take over a year.

Are there any other policy issues to be addressed immediately?

Yes, there are two important issues that are likely to be announced within the first three months. The first concerns the guidelines for Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) to launch operations in India. We have studied the TRAI report and the policy should be announced soon.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/Economy/Policy/3G-spectrum-auctions-top-list/articleshow/4553840.cms

 

HOW NOT TO LOOK AFTER THE POOR

Wed, May 20 05:35 PM

Three days after the Congress returned to power on its developmental and pro-poor agenda, one of its ministers in Delhi says he has no idea how to disburse Rs 300 crore collected for the poorest workers, constructing new infrastructure in India's capital. The Rs 300 crore - enough to provide scholarships to put 25 lakh children through school, or provide insurance coverage to three crore workers, or build 30,000 low-cost houses - is lying unused in a fund meant for Delhi's about 8 lakh construction workers.

By law, the funds are to be monitored and spent by a special board, headed by Delhi's Labour Minister Mangat Ram Singhal. "Just because money is there, it cannot be thrown at people," Singhal told HT. He had no idea what the board he heads should do, while his office would not respond to an HT questionnaire submitted five days ago.

The Rs 300 crore has been collected as a tax fixed at 1 per cent of a building or infrastructure project's cost, and it reflects Delhi's flurry of construction flurry ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The funds have doubled since 2007.

The tax has been collected after the Building and Other Construction Worker's Act was passed in 1996. It was to improve working conditions and provide workers, mostly landless rural migrants, a broad social-security net, from health insurance to pensions.

That can happen only if the government gets to work, getting the money to workers. The body Singhal heads is meant to meet at least once in two months.

Seven years since it was constituted in September 2006, it has met nine times; never since July 2008. It has no staff.

Contrast this with the work done by Madhya Pradesh (MP). Delhi's MP counterpart has registered 10 lakh construction workers, including migrants from as far as Andhra Pradesh.

MP has spent nearly Rs 50 crore on 10 welfare schemes that include medical and accident assistance, school and higher education scholarships, and maternity benefits. There is a dedicated staff and website that details how the fund operates.

"The minister and chairman, Suresh Sharma, takes a close interest in the law's daily operation, and that has made the critical difference," Basudev Sarkar, secretary of the MP Construction Workers' Board, told HT over telephone from Bhopal. In Delhi, 18,000 workers have registered but get few benefits, though Rs 240 is deducted from their earnings that average Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 a month.

For example, since the law began, the board has settled just one insurance claim, for Rs 15,000, and given a scholarship of Rs 100 to 50 school students. Things haven't changed despite criticism from the Supreme Court in 2008.

"What is the purpose of such acts?" asked a bench headed by Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan in response to a public-interest litigation seeking implementation of the construction workers' act. "Does the government want to have beautiful laws but never want to implement them?" The failure of the "beautiful law" is evident a few kilometers from the frantic construction activity for the 2010 Games at east Delhi's Akshardham site, at the JJ (jhuggi jhopdi) camp, a slum where construction workers from east Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh live.

"This year's schoolbooks alone cost me Rs 1,302," said Khargi. Thakurdas (34) has borrowed Rs 70,000 from moneylenders to fund three operations for his son Chandrashekhar this year, after he was run over by a speeding vehicle.

"I have registered under the act a year ago," he said. "But there is no aid available to us.

".

Chitrangada Choudhury

 

General

  • Hottest female CEOIndia Today - 04:49 PM

    Whoever thought boardrooms were boring hasn't seen Playboy's latest list of 10 hottest female CEOs across the US.

  • A Bank of America sign is seen in Virginia town of Leesburg in this January 18, 2009 file photo. REUTERS/Larry Downing/Files
    Bank of America prices 1.25 bln sharesReuters - 12:28 PM

    Bank of America Corp raised $13.47 billion through a share sale, marking a major step toward meeting the U.S. government's requirements for capital-raising following the recent "stress testing" of the bank.

  • Beauty business helps puts pretty face on recessionReuters - 11:48 AM

    As the economy gets ugly, droves of out-of-work Australians, male and female, are finding a career in beauty really pays.

  • Lupin gets US nod for levofloxacin tabletsReuters - 10:13 AM

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Lupin Ltd's anti-bacterial levofloxacin tablets in multiple strengths, according to the regulator's website.

  • A photographer takes a picture of a Chevy Malibu hybrid car on display on West Executive Drive at the White House in Washington in this April 22, 2009 file photo. REUTERS/Jason Reed/Files
    Green 'gold rush' seen in new U.S. auto standardsReuters - 08:40 AM

    The tough U.S. fuel economy standards announced by President Barack Obama on Tuesday represents a bonanza for companies that supply hybrid technology and other gas-conserving components needed to meet the new benchmarks.

India

  • Apollo Tyres completes acquisition of Dutch firm Vredestein Banden BVReuters - 05:53 PM

    Vredestein Banden has an estimated annual revenues of 300 mn which will make Apollo a $ 1.47 bn company.

  • Mahanagar Telephone Nigam workers call off strikeIANS - 05:52 PM

    New Delhi, May 20 (IANS) Some 8,000 employees of the state-run Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL), which runs telecom and Internet services in the country's two main metros, called off their agitation Wednesday after the management agreed to review their demands including wage hikes.

  • GE signs deal with L&T for nuclear plantsHT - 05:40 PM

    Advanced reactors and nuclear services provider GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) said on Tuesday the company will help in developing nuclear plants in India in collaboration with engineering and construction company Larsen & Toubro.

  • Affordable homes signal revival for big buildersHT - 05:40 PM

    After suffering a severe slump for almost six months, leading real estate firms are showing strong signs of revival on the back of affordably priced middle-income homes and flexible payment terms that are fuelling demand.

  • Punj bagsRs 264-cr Sikkim airport dealHT - 05:40 PM

    Delhi based infrastructure major Punj Llyod has won a Rs 264-crore contract to build Sikkim's first airport in Pakyong district. The project is likely to be completed in the next 30 months and the group will construct both the airside, including the runway and terminal building, as well as the city side of the airport.

International

Personal-Finance

  • Sensex tumbles 260 points but lesser scrips excelIANS - 05:10 PM

    Mumbai, May 20 (IANS) While benchmark indices at the equities markets slipped into the red at the closing bell Wednesday with a key index falling 241 points below its last close, mid- and small-sized firms outperformed blue-chip companies.

  • Sensex down 260 points, lesser scrips excelIANS - 03:45 PM

    Mumbai, May 20 (IANS) While benchmark indices at the equities markets slipped into the red at end of trading Wednesday with a key index falling 260 points below its last close, mid- and small-sized firms outperformed blue-chip companies.

  • Sensex ends above Monday's closeIANS - Tue, May 19

    Mumbai, May 19 (IANS) Indian equities markets consolidated their position Tuesday, with a key index shutting shop 17 points above its last closing figure after wildly fluctuating between the red and green terrains.

  • Markets on a see-saw, Sensex up over 318 pointsIANS - Tue, May 19

    Mumbai, May 19 (IANS) It was a see-saw trading session till noon Tuesday at the Indian equities markets, with a key index pulling back into the green after slipping more than 373 points in the morning.

  • Markets nose dive on openingIANS - Tue, May 19

    Mumbai, May 19 (IANS) The frenzied rise of the Indian equities markets seemed to have come to an end abruptly minutes after Tuesday's opening bell as a key index plummeted 289 points after opening 475 points higher.

Markets

Fighting for pride or Eelam?

Times of India - ‎17 hours ago‎
Velupillai Prabhakaran acquired an aura of invincibility with a combination of revolutionary zeal, passionate commitment to the Tamil Eelam' cause and ...

'Illam, not Eelam,' exults the Kaveri Delta

Hindustan Times - ‎2 hours ago‎
In this General Election, Tamil Nadu has shown where it belongs. Despite its misgivings about DMK family politics, despite 13 Tamils self-immolating since ...

Karunanidhi,Jayalalithaa woo Tamil voters with promise of separate ...

Thaindian.com - ‎May 7, 2009‎
While Karunannidhi said on Thursday: "As a next step, they (Sri Lankan Tamils) should get Eelam and I assumed responsibilities of making all efforts to ...

Sri Lankan issue fails to make an impact on TN poll results

Economic Times - ‎May 16, 2009‎
She announced that only Tamil Eelam is the solution to end the ethnic strife on the island. Not to be left out, the DMK too joined the chorus by demanding a ...

No global appetite for Eelam state, says Norwegian broker

SamayLive - ‎May 8, 2009‎
Colombo, May 7 : There is no global appetite for a separate Tamil Ealam state in Sri Lanka, the Norwegian peace broker into the conflict has said, ...

Tamil Eelam National Leader will emerge when his people are in need

Siber News Media - ‎3 hours ago‎
In 1988/99, when India's peace keeping forces are in lanka, then was a rumour that Prabakaran was dead. Then in later 1990's he appeared before people. ...

Q+A: Deciphering the end of Sri Lanka's war

Reuters - ‎May 17, 2009‎
First, President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) militarily defeated on Saturday. That was confusing, because at the ...

Met braced for further clashes with Tamil protesters

Independent - ‎15 hours ago‎
On Monday afternoon, at least 2000 demonstrators descended upon the square as news filtered out that the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam had ...

Karunanidhi meets Sonia, Manmohan

Hindu - ‎19 hours ago‎
He said the Tamil Eelam could be a long-term solution to this problem. Asked whether the DMK would ask for a change in the foreign policy, he said, ...

It's confirmed: Prabhakaran is dead

Rediff - ‎1 hour ago‎
... national television after Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam claimed that he was alive and that the group would continue to fight for a separate homeland. ...

 

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

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Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

The official emblem of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
Dates of operation May 5, 1976 – May 18, 2009
Leader Velupillai Prabhakaran
Motives The creation of a separate Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka
Active region(s) Flag of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka
Ideology Tamil nationalism
Major actions Numerous suicide bombings, Rajiv Gandhi assassination, crimes against life and health, attacks against civilians, use of child soldiers, acts of ethnic cleansing
Notable attacks Central Bank bombing, Palliyagodella massacre, Dehiwala train bombing and others.
Status Proscribed as a terrorist organization by 32 countries.[1]
Means of revenue Donations from expatriot tamils

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil: தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், ISO 15919: tamiḻ iiḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ; commonly known as the LTTE or the Tamil Tigers) is a militant organization based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976, it has actively waged a violent secessionist campaign that seeks to create an independent Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka.[2] This campaign had evolved into the Sri Lankan Civil War, one of the longest running armed conflicts in Asia, until the LTTE was militarily defeated by the Sri Lanka Army under the government of Mahinda Rajapakse in May 2009.[3][4] Since its inception, and until his death, the LTTE was headed by its founder, Velupillai Prabhakaran. The Tamil Tigers are currently proscribed as a terrorist organization by 32 countries (see list of countries).

The Tamil Tigers claimed to be fighting to protect the country's Tamil minority from discrimination at the hands of the successive Sinhalese majority governments that have ruled the country since independence.[5] They have extensive support amongst the Tamil diaspora and Tamils in Tamil Nadu, India.[6][7]

The Tigers, who during the height of their power possessed a well-developed militia cadre, are notorious for having committed atrocities against civilians, including abductions and targeted attacks,[8] for carrying out various high profile attacks, including the assassinations of several high-ranking Sri Lankan and Indian politicians like Rajiv Gandhi, and for recruiting child soldiers. The LTTE invented the suicide belt and pioneered the use of suicide bombing as a tactic.[9][10] They also pioneered the use of women in suicide attacks,[11] and have also used aircraft in some attacks.[12]

Over the course of the conflict, the Tamil Tigers frequently exchanged control of territory in north-east Sri Lanka with the Sri Lankan military, engaging in fierce confrontations in the process. They were also involved in peace talks to end the conflict four times, each time unsuccessfully, and at the start of the last round of peace talks in 2002, they had a large area under their control. However, after the breakdown of the peace process in 2006, the Sri Lankan military launched a major offensive against the Tamil Tigers, bringing a vast area under their control and limiting the Tigers to a 1.5 km2 area in the Mullaithivu District.[13][14] This area had previously been designated as a civilian safety zone in which fighters were not supposed to be.[15]

As a result of this offensive, the Sri Lankan government defeated the LTTE militarily.[16][17] Amid growing calls for the LTTE to surrender,[18][19] President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared military victory over the Tigers on May 16, 2009 after 26 years of conflict[20][21][22] and the rebel leader Prabhakaran was reported to have been killed by Government forces.[23] The LTTE finally admitted defeat on May 17, 2009, with the rebels' chief of international relations, Selvarasa Pathmanathan, stating on the website that "This battle has reached its bitter end ... We have decided to silence our guns. Our only regrets are for the lives lost and that we could not hold out for longer".[24][25]

Contents

[hide]

History

Founding

The LTTE was founded on May 5, 1976 by Velupillai Prabhakaran, as a successor to the Tamil New Tigers, a militant group most notable for the assassination of the Mayor of Jaffna, Alfred Duraiyappah in 1975[citation needed]. The LTTE attracted many supporters among disenchanted Tamil youth. They carried out low-key attacks against various government targets, including policemen and local politicians[citation needed]. .

The LTTE carried out their first major attack on July 23, 1983 when they ambushed a Sri Lanka Army troop transport outside Jaffna. 13 Sri Lankan soldiers were killed in the attack, leading the Black July riots against the Tamil community of Sri Lanka. The subsequent anger amongst the Tamil community resulted in numerous Tamil youths joining Tamil militant groups to fight the Sri Lankan government, in what is considered start of the insurgency in Sri Lanka[citation needed]. .

Rise to power

Initially, LTTE operated in cooperation with other Tamil militant groups which shared their objectives, and in April 1984, the LTTE formally joined a common militant front, the Eelam National Liberation Front (ENLF), a union between LTTE, the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO), the Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS), the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) and the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF).[26]

TELO usually held the Indian view of problems and pushed for India's view during peace talks with Sri Lanka and other groups. LTTE denounced the TELO view and claimed that India was only acting on its own interest. As a result in 1986, the LTTE broke from the ENLF. Soon fighting broke out between the TELO and the LTTE and clashes occurred over the next few months.[27][28] As a result almost the entire TELO leadership and many of the TELO militants were killed by the LTTE.[29][30][31] The LTTE attacked training camps of the EPRLF a few months later, forcing it to withdraw entirely from the Jaffna peninsula.[26][29]

The LTTE then demanded that all remaining Tamil insurgents join the LTTE. Notices were issued to that effect in Jaffna and in Madras, India where the Tamil groups were headquartered. With the major groups including the TELO and EPRLF eliminated, the remaining Tamil insurgent groups, numbering around 20, were then absorbed into the LTTE, making Jaffna an LTTE-dominated city.[29]

LTTE's practice such as wearing a cyanide vial for consumption if captured appealed to the Tamil people as dedication and sacrifice. Another practice that increased support by Tamil people was LTTE's practice of taking an oath of loyalty which stated LTTE's goal of establishing a state for the Sri Lankan Tamils.[27][32]

In 1987, LTTE established the Black Tigers, a unit of LTTE responsible for conducting suicide attacks against political, economic and military targets,[33] and launched its first suicide attack against a Sri Lanka Army camp, killing 40 soldiers.

IPKF period

In 1987, faced with growing anger among its own Tamils, and a flood of refugees,[26] India intervened directly in the conflict for the first time by initially airdropping food parcels into Jaffna. After subsequent negotiations, India and Sri Lanka entered into the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord. Though the conflict was between the Tamil and Sinahlese people, India and Sri Lanka signed the peace accord instead of India influencing both parties to sign a peace accord among themselves. The peace accord assigned a certain degree of regional autonomy in the Tamil areas with Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) controlling the regional council and called for the Tamil militant groups to lay down their arms. India was to send a peacekeeping force, named the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF), part of the Indian Army, to Sri Lanka to enforce the disarmament and to watch over the regional council.[34][35]

Although the accord was signed between the governments of Sri Lanka and India, and the Tamil militant groups did not have a role in the agreement,[27] most Tamil militant groups accepted it.[36] But the LTTE rejected the accord because they opposed the candidate, who belonged to the EPRLF, for chief administrative officer of the merged Northern and Eastern provinces.[35] Instead, the LTTE named three other candidates for the position, which India rejected.[36] The LTTE subsequently refused to hand over their weapons to the IPKF.[27]

Thus LTTE found itself engaged in military conflict with the Indian Army, and launched its first attack on an Indian army rations truck on October 8, killing five Indian para-commandos who were on board by strapping burning tires around their necks.[37] The government of India decided that the IPKF should disarm the LTTE by force,[37] and the Indian Army launched number of assaults on the LTTE, including a month-long campaign dubbed Operation Pawan to win control of the Jaffna peninsula from the LTTE. The ruthlessness of this campaign, and the Indian army's subsequent anti-LTTE operations made it extremely unpopular among many Tamils in Sri Lanka.[38][39]

After IPKF

The Indian intervention was also unpopular among the Sinhalese majority, and the IPKF became bogged down in the fighting with the Tamil Tigers for over 2 years, experiencing heavy losses. The last members of the IPKF, which was estimated to have had a strength of well over 50,000 at its peak, left the country in 1990 upon request of the Sri Lankan government. A shaky peace initially held between the government and the LTTE, and peace talks progressed towards providing devolution for Tamils in the north and east of the country.[citation needed]

Fighting continued throughout the 1990s, and was marked by two key assassinations carried out by the LTTE, that of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, and Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993, using suicide bombers in both occasions. The fighting briefly halted in 1994 following the election of Chandrika Kumaratunga as President of Sri Lanka and the onset of peace talks, but fighting resumed after LTTE sunk two Sri Lanka Navy boats in April 1995.[40] In a series of military operations that followed, the Sri Lanka Army re-captured the Jaffna peninsula, the heartland of Tamils in Sri Lanka.[41] Further offensives followed over the next three years, and the military captured vast areas in the north of the country from the LTTE, including area in the Vanni region, the town of Kilinochchi and many smaller towns. However, from 1998 onward the LTTE hit back, regaining control of these areas. This culminated in the capture of the strategically important Elephant Pass base complex, located at the entrance of the Jaffna Peninsula, in April 2000, after prolonged fighting against the Sri Lanka Army.[42]

Mahattaya, a one-time deputy leader of LTTE, was accused of treason by the LTTE and killed in 1994.[43] He is said to have collaborated with the Indian Research and Analysis Wing to remove Prabhakaran from the LTTE leadership.[44]

2001 ceasefire

An LTTE bicycle infantry platoon north of Killinochchi in 2004

In 2001, the LTTE dropped its demand for a separate state. Instead, it stated that a form of regional autonomy would meet its demands.[45] Following the landslide election defeat of Kumaratunga and the coming to power of Ranil Wickramasinghe in December 2001, the LTTE declared a unilateral ceasefire.[46] The Sri Lankan Government agreed to the ceasefire. In March 2002, both sides signed an official Ceasefire Agreement (CFA). As part of the agreement, Norway and the other Nordic countries agreed to jointly monitor the ceasefire through the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission.[47]

Six rounds of peace talks between the Government of Sri Lanka and LTTE were held, but they were temporarily suspended after the LTTE pulled out of the talks in 2003 claiming "certain critical issues relating to the ongoing peace process".[48][49]

In 2003, the LTTE proposed an Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA). This move was welcomed by the international community, but rejected by the Sri Lankan President.[50]

In December 2005, the LTTE boycotted the 2005 presidential election. While LTTE claimed that the people under its control were free to vote, it is alleged that they used threats to prevent the population from voting. The United States condemned this act.[51][52]

The new government of Sri Lanka came into power in 2006 and demanded to abrogate the ceasefire agreement, staying that the only possible solution to the ethnic conflict was military solution, and that the only way to achieve this is by eliminating the Liberation Tigers of Tamila.[53] Further peace talks were scheduled in Oslo, Norway, on June 8 and 9, 2006, but canceled when the LTTE refused to meet directly with the government delegation, stating its fighters were not being allowed safe passage to travel to the talks. Norwegian mediator Erik Solheim told journalists that the LTTE should take direct responsibility for the collapse of the talks.[54]

Rifts grew between the government and LTTE, and resulted in a number of ceasefire agreement violations by both sides during 2006. Suicide attacks,[55] military skirmishes and air raids took place during the latter part of 2006.[56][57] Military confrontation continued into 2007 and 2008. On January 2008, the government officially pulled out of the Cease Fire Agreement.[58]

Dissension

In the biggest show of dissent from within the organization, a senior LTTE commander named Colonel Karuna (nom de guerre of Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan) broke away from the LTTE in March 2004 and formed the TamilEela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal amid allegations that the northern commanders were overlooking the needs of the eastern Tamils. The LTTE leadership accused him of mishandling of funds and questioned him about his recent personal behavior. He tried to take control of the eastern province from the LTTE, which caused clashes between the LTTE and TEMVP. The LTTE has suggested that TEMVP was backed by the government,[59] and the Nordic SLMM monitors have corroborated this.[60]

Military Defeat

On January 2, 2009, the President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, announced that the Sri Lankan troops had captured Kilinochchi, the city which the LTTE had used for over a decade as its de facto administrative capital.[61][62][63] It was stated that the loss of Killinochchi had caused a substantial dent in the LTTE's image.[62] It was also stated that after the fall of Kilinochchi the LTTE was likely to collapse soon under unbearable military pressure on multiple fronts.[64] As of January 8, 2009, the LTTE was abandoning its positions on the Jaffna peninsula to make a last stand in the jungles of Mullaitivu, their last main base.[65] The entire Jaffna peninsula was captured by the Sri Lanka Army by January 14.[66] On January 25, 2009 SLA troops "completely captured" Mullaitivu town, the last major LTTE stronghold.[67] As a result of the offensive, there is increasing belief that the final military defeat of the LTTE is near, although the LTTE may launch an underground guerrilla campaign if it is defeated as a conventional force.[16][17]

Top LTTE leader Cheliyan, the second-in-command of the Sea Tigers, was killed in Kariyamullivaikkal on May 8, 2009 dealing another blow to the organization.[68] The Sri Lanka Government accused the LTTE of causing a human disaster by trapping civilians in the shrinking area under their control.[69] With LTTE on brink of defeat the fate of the leader of LTTE Velupillai Prabhakaran remained uncertain.[70] On May 12, 2009 BBC reported that LTTE was now clinging on to only about 840 acres of land near town of Mullaitivu which is roughly the same area as Central Park of New York.[71]

U.N secretary General Ban Ki Moon appealed on LTTE that children should not be held hostage , recruited as child soldiers or put in harms way.[72] Claude Heller of United Nations Security Council said 'We demand that the LTTE immediately lay down arms, renounce terrorism, allow a UN-assisted evacuation of the remaining civilians in the conflict area, and join the political process.' The council president, speaking on behalf of the 15 members, also said they 'strongly condemned the LTTE, a terrorist organisation, for the use of civilians as human shields and for not allowing them to leave the area'.[73] On May 13, 2009 the UN security council condemned the rebel LTTE again and denounced its use of civilians as human shields and urged them to acknowledge the legitimate right of the government of Sri Lanka to combat terrorism by laying down their arms and allowing the tens of thousands of civilians to leave the conflict zone.[74] On May 14, 2009 The United Nations acting representative for Sri Lanka, Amin Awad, said that 6,000 civilians had fled or were trying to flee, but that LTTE was firing on them to prevent them from escaping.[75]

President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared military victory over the tigers on May 16, 2009 after 26 years of conflict.[76] On the same day for the first time in their long struggle against the Sri Lankan government, the rebels were offering to lay down their weapons in return for a guarantee of safety.[77] Sri Lanka's disaster relief and human-rights minister Mahinda Samarasinghe stated 'The military phase is over. The LTTE has been militarily defeated. Now the biggest hostage rescue operation in the world has come to a conclusion, The figure I have here is since 20th of April, 179,000 hostages have been rescued.'[78]

On May 17, 2009, rebel official Selvarasa Pathmanathan conceded defeat saying in an email statement "This battle has reached its bitter end". Several rebel fighters committed suicide when they became surrounded.[79] On May 18 it was confirmed that the rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran had been killed along with several other high ranking Tamil officials. State run television interrupted its regular programing and a government information department sent a text message to cell phones across the county with the news. Mass celebrations erupted across Sri Lanka to the announcement as the death of Prabhakaran is key to preventing a new guerrilla offensive. From government reports it seems Prabhakaran was riding in an armor-plated van with several top deputies and rebel fighters headed directly towards the advancing Sri Lankan forces. After a two-hour firefight the van was hit by a rocket killing most if not all of the occupants and ending the battle. Troops removed and have identified the bodies of Prabhakaran as well as Colonel Soosai (head of the Sea Tigers), and Pottu Amman (the intelligence commander). [80]

Organisation and activities

Structure

The LTTE is organized into three main divisions: a military wing, a political wing and a fund raising wing. A central governing body oversees all of the divisions, which was headed by the LTTE leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran until his death in May 2009.

Military

Tamil Tigers in a truck in Killinochchi in April 2004

In the LTTE, recruits are instructed to be prepared to die for the cause, and are issued with a cyanide capsule to be swallowed in the case of capture.[81] The LTTE also has a special squad of suicide bombers, called the Black Tigers, which it deploys for critical missions.[82]

The military wing includes the following specific subdivisions, which are directly controlled and directed by the central governing body:

  • Sea Tigers - an amphibious warfare unit focusing on utilization of naval firepower and logistics, mainly consisting of lightweight boats.[83]
  • Air Tigers - an airborne group, consisting of several lightweight aircraft. It is known to be the world's first air force controlled by an organization proscribed as terrorists.[84]
  • Black Tigers - a suicide commando unit.
  • An intelligence wing.
  • A political wing.

Sea Tigers

Colonel Soosai of the Sea Tigers

The Sea Tigers is the naval force of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and is lead by Colonel Soosai.[85] It is believed to have about 2,000 personnel and has become a potent threat to the Sri Lankan Navy at Sea.[86] According to a 2006 publication of the Woodrow Wilson School of Politics and International Studies, the Sea Tigers has destroyed 35%-50% of the Sri Lankan Navy's coastal craft.[87][88]

Following its northern offensive, the Sri Lankan military reported that it captured Sea Tiger main base in Mullaitivu and several boat yards. In early February 2009, the military reported once again that it captured the last major Sea Tiger base, killing three senior commanders in the process[89] and thus limiting Sea Tiger operations. Several days later it was claimed that Sea Tigers leader Soosai and several top aids were killed in a Sri Lanka Air Force raid on a command center.[90]

Air Tigers

The Air Tigers is the air force of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The Air Tigers is believed to operate five light aircraft. The organization was revealed in 2007 when it conducted its first air raid on the Sri Lankan Air Force base. Since then, it has conducted another four air raids. With the Air Tigers, LTTE became the first non-state organization to establish an air force. Although the Sri Lankan Army captured Killinochi on January 2, 2009, it was not able to locate the LTTE aircraft.[91] Later, two LTTE aircraft were shot down in Colombo during a Kamikaze attack on the Sri Lanka Air Force headquarters and the Sri Lanka Air Force base hangars in Katunayake[92].

Administrative

Tamil Eelam territorial claim (green) and approximate de facto territory controlled at the time of the launching of the 2008–2009 Sri Lankan Army Northern offensive (yellow).[93][94] During the final army offensive, however, all of this area was recaptured by Sri Lankan forces.
Percentage of Sri Lankan Tamils per district based on the census from 2001 or 1981 (cursive), the last census year in Tamil regions.

Although the LTTE was formed as a military group, it later transformed into a de facto government. The LTTE controled sections in the north of the island, especially the regions lying around the cities of Killinochchi and Mulathivu.

The LTTE implemented a judicial system that consisted of courts to adjudicate in criminal and civil matters. The Tamil Eelam judicial system consisted of district courts, high courts, a supreme court and a court of appeal. The district courts handled civil and criminal cases. The two high courts handled criminal cases such as rape, murder, treason and arson. The supreme court had jurisdiction over the whole of Tamil Eelam. The courts were said to be effective,[95] and people who had a choice went to the Tamil Eelam courts rather than the Sri Lankan courts.[95] LTTE also released law books that were updated.[50][95][96][97]

LTTE also established a police force. The Tamil Eelam police was the other key factor in maintaining law and order. The police was formed in 1991 and, prior to the 2009 offensive, had its headquarters at Killinochi.[50] Police stations were established in all areas controlled by the LTTE. The LTTE claimed that its police force was the reason for the low crime rate, but critics of the LTTE claim that the police force was an integrated arm of the LTTE armed force and that the crime rate is low as a result of LTTE authoritarian rules. However, everyone agrees the police force and the judicial system was the reason for high degree of rule of law in the areas controlled by the LTTE.[95]

Another state function of the LTTE administration was social welfare. This humanitarian assistant arm was funded by tax collection internally.[95][96][97] LTTE also established an education and health sector that offered services to the people under their control.[50] It also created a human rights organization, called Northeast Secretariat on Human Rights, that functioned to advocate the rights of Tamils. Though not recognized by international government, it acted as a human rights commission. The commission communicated with the LTTE regarding complaints of child recruiting which resulted in the release of the recruit.[95] The Planning and Development Secretariat (PDS) was established in 2004 which acted as a needs assessment body responsible for studying the needs for people and formulating a plan for effective action in areas that needed humanitarian assistance. There were also many civil servants who worked in the LTTE-controlled areas who were directed by the LTTE but paid by the Sri Lankan government.[95][98][99][100] A customs service was operated at the "border" by the Tamil Tigers.[97][101]

In addition to the civil administration, LTTE also ran its own radio and television stations. These entities were named the Voice of Tigers and National Tamil Eelam Television respectively. Both the radio and television channel were aired from the areas under LTTE control.[96]

LTTE also ran a bank named the Bank of Tamileelam which used the Sri Lankan rupee as its currency but offered higher interest rates than any bank on the island.[102][103]

Following the Sri Lankan Army's capture of the claimed LTTE administrative capital Kilinochchi[104] on 2 January 2009, the LTTE's administration system has been dismantled.[105]

Humanitarian assistance

After the Asian Tsunami in 2004, the Tigers set up a special task force called the "tsunami task force" for humanitarian assistance to the people affected by the tsunami. The Planning and Development Secretariat (PDS) was responsible for needs assessments for various humanitarian organization to maximize effectiveness of resettlement reconstruction and rehabilitation. After the tsunami, the PDS was responsible of coordinating and directing the NGOs involved in tsunami relief work.[95] Furthermore, according to Tsunami Evaluation Coalition the key NGOs that responded also claimed that the LTTE forces provided extremely efficient and focused leadership and support to the relief effort in the areas controlled by the Tigers.[106]

During the second round of negotiation between Tigers and the Government of Sri Lanka, an agreement was reached for a joint Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure (P-TOMS). This mechanism would allow the government and LTTE to share funds for tsunami relief. However, this agreement was bitterly opposed by hardliners in the government and some moderates. As a result, the P-TOMS was challenged in the Sri Lankan supreme court. The court put the P-TOMS on hold.[95][106]

Political

The 2002 Cease Fire Agreement made the LTTE shift its struggle for self-determination from militant to more political means. The LTTE's own political wing was the result of this. This political wing also played a critical role in regard to both the peace process and local state building. However, LTTE's political wing did not participate in Sri Lankan parliamentary elections. The LTTE instead openly supported the Tamil National Alliance, which won overwhelmingly in 22 out of 25 electorates in the North-east and won over 90% of votes in the electoral district of Jaffna.[50][95][107]

Religion

Most Tamil Sri-Lankans are Orthodox Hindu by faith. In contrast, most of the ethnic Sinhalese are Buddhist by faith.

Women in LTTE

Sothiya Regiment of the LTTE - Female soldiers

In 1984, LTTE created an all-female unit called the Freedom Birds (Suthanthirap Paravaikal). This unit was the first group of women to be given military training in India. The LTTE advocates equality for women from both male oppression and social oppression.[108][109] This support for equality attracted many women into the LTTE ranks. As a result LTTE became the first Tamil militant group to employ women as soldiers in the battlefield.[citation needed] Tamil women believe that their participation in the armed struggle will bring them advantage in a future peaceful society and allow them to take part in "liberating" their society. The proportion of female combatants was small until June 1990, but increased rapidly afterward.[109] Freedom Birds' first operation was in October 1987 and the first woman combatant to die was 2nd Lt. Maalathi,[109][108] on October 10, 1987, in an encounter with the IPKF at Kopai on the Jaffna peninsula. An estimated 4000 women cadres have been killed since then, including over 100 in 'Black Tiger' suicide squads.[108] Apart from military roles, the female soldiers have also produced numerous publications and many of them are described as rich in culture and writing.[109][110][111]

List of commanders

Current and former senior LTTE commanders are listed below. Some of the names are aliases that don't reflect the person's religious background.

Shanmugalingam Sivashankar Thillaiyampalam Sivanesan Balasegaram Kandiah
Vaithilingam Sornalingam S. P. Thamilselvan Sathasivam Krishnakumar
Thileepan Ramalingam Paramadeva Colonel Jeyam[112]
Colonel Theepan[113] Colonel Ramesh[114] Kandiah Ulaganathan[115]
Colonel Bhanu[116] Colonel Sornam[117] Colonel Vithusha[118]
Colonel Thurka[119] Shanmuganathan Ravishankar[120] Captain Miller[121]
Maria Vasanthi Michael[122] Marcelin Fuselus[123] Sathasivam Selvanayakam
Charles Lucas Anthony Captain Pandithar Yogaratnam Kugan
Lt. Colonel Ratha Lt. Colonel Santhosham Lt. Colonel Pulendran
Ambalavanar Neminathan Colonel Pathuman Manickapodi Maheswaran
Lt. Colonel Kumarappa Lt. Maalathi Lt Colonel Appaiah
Lt. Colonel Akbar Thambirasa Kuhasanthan Gangai Amaran (LTTE)
Major Mano Balasingham Nadesan Irasaiah Ilanthirayan
V.Balakumaran (LTTE) Cheliyan Colonel Karuna

Other formations

Charles Anthony Brigade Jeyanthan Brigade Sothiya Regiment
Maalathi Regiment Kuti Sri Mortar Unit Victor Anti Tank and Armoured Unit
Imran Pandiyan Unit LTTE Anti-Aircraft Unit Kittu Artillery Unit
Ponnamman Mining Unit Ratha Regiment

Links to other designated terrorist organizations

As early as the mid-1970s, LTTE rebels were widely known to have trained members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in Southern Lebanon, where concepts of suicide bombings, taxation, and war memorials were imparted to PFLP fighters.[124] After the 1990 assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, Indian government officials claimed to have discovered a covert link between the PLO and the LTTE: the PLO had plead for Mr. Gandhi to accept a proposal from the LTTE. This advice raised eyebrows at the time, but was largely ignored until his assassination shortly thereafter.[124]

As late as 1998, the Tigers clearly stated:

... the LTTE has resolved to work in solidarity with the world national liberation movements, socialist states, and international working class parties. We uphold an anti-imperialist policy and therefore we pledge our militant solidarity against western imperialism, neo-colonialists, Zionism, racism and other forces of reaction.[124]

The Westminster Journal further states:

Intelligence agencies are well aware that the LTTE was involved in the 1990s in training the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) both of which are closely linked to al-Qaeda. In 1995 and 1998, an LTTE combat tactician and an LTTE explosives expert accompanying groups of al-Qaeda Arabs was recorded training members of MILF. In 1999, an LTTE combat tactician accompanying a group of al-Qaeda Arabs was recorded training members of the ASG. At the apparent behest of al-Qaeda, the LTTE is recorded training members of Al Ummah (An Islamic terrorist group formed in India in 1992, believed to be responsible for bombings in southern India in 1998) in Tamil Nadu, India.[124]

The Times of India, in a 2001 article, highlights an alleged nexus between al-Qaeda and the LTTE, and claims that "[al-Qaeda links with the LTTE] are the first instance of an Islamist group collaborating with an essentially secular outfit".[125] Additionally, the US-based research organisation "Maritime Intelligence Group" said the Indonesian group Jemaah Islamiya, which has known links to al-Qaeda, had been trained in sea-borne guerrilla tactics by LTTE Sea Tiger veterans.[124]

"Norwegians Against Terrorism", a one-man band led by convicted murderer Falk Rune Rovik,[126][127] further described how the Tamil community in Norway, at the behest of the LTTE, sold fake and stolen Norwegian passports to al-Qaeda members.[124] The LTTE itself acquired a fake passport for Ramzi Yousef, convicted mastermind of the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center in New York.[124]

A Council on Foreign Affairs article by Preeti Bhattacharji stated, "the secular nationalist LTTE currently has no operational connection with al-Qaeda, its radical Islamist affiliates, or other terrorist groups,"[128] but "In its early days, experts say the LTTE did train with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The group may still interact with other terrorist organizations through illegal arms markets in Myanmar, Thailand, and Cambodia."[129]

LTTE tactics in other terrorist organizations

Some of LTTE's attacks in Sri Lanka have similarities to attacks by, other proscribed groups. Some examples are:

  • The similarities between previous LTTE attacks against Sri Lanka Navy ships and the al-Qaeda attack on the USS Cole which killed 17 US Navy sailors.[130] The incident has raised suspicions of connections between the two groups. The "Maritime Intelligence Group" based in Washington DC claims to have unearthed substantial evidence that the LTTE trained Indonesian Islamists in the technique of maritime suicide bombings. The group, linked to al-Qaeda, is believed to have then passed the technique it learned from the LTTE to al-Qaeda itself.[124]
  • The website "South Asian Terrorism Portal" claimed that the LTTE provided forged passports to Ramzi Yousef, who was one of the planners of the first attack against the World Trade Center in New York in 1993.[131] The allegation has been backed by the Westminster Journal as well.[124]
  • The website "South Asian Terrorism Portal" also states that there are increasing intelligence reports that the LTTE was smuggling arms to various terrorist organizations, including Islamic groups in Pakistan and their counterparts in the Philippines,[131] using their covert smuggling networks. The London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies found that LTTE was building commercial links with al-Qaeda and other militants in Afghanistan, and that several cadres were spotted in Afghan militant camps.[124][132][133]
  • India's National Security Adviser, M K Narayanan, alleges that LTTE raises money by smuggling narcotics. A recent arrest of LTTE operatives in Colombia corroborates this claim.[124]
  • According to an "anti-LTTE" website, Glen Jenvey, a former employee of the government of Sri Lanka and a specialist on international terrorism, claimed that al-Qaeda has copied most of its terror tactics from the LTTE[136] He highlighted the LTTE as the mastermind that sets the pattern for organizations like al-Qaeda to pursue. The Maritime Intelligence Group in Washington DC even states that al-Qaeda learned the tactic through LTTE contacts teaching Indonesians the methods.
  • According to Asian Tribune, attacks on civilians in buses and trains in Sri Lanka were copied in the attack on public civilian transport during July 2005 bombings in London.[136]
  • The LTTE's ethnic cleansing campaigns against Muslims in northern Sri Lanka from 1985-1992 provided the inspiration for, and model by which, Kashmiri separatists would evict Hindus from Kashmir in late 1989-1990.[124]

Assassinations

The LTTE has been condemned by various groups for assassination of political and military opponents. The victims include Tamil moderates who coordinated with Sri Lanka Government, Tamil paramilitary groups assisting Sril lankan Army. The assassination of Ranasinghe Premadasa, who was the head of Sri Lanka, is attributed to LTTE.

LTTE sympathizers justify some of the assassinations by arguing that the people attacked were combatants or persons closely associated with Sri Lankan military intelligence. Specifically in relation to the TELO, the LTTE has said that it had to perform preemptive self-defence because the TELO was in effect functioning as a proxy for India.[137]

Human rights violations

The United States Department of State states that its reason for banning LTTE as a proscribed terrorist group is based on allegations that LTTE does not respect human rights and that it does not adhere to the standards of conduct expected of a resistance movement or what might be called "freedom fighters".[138][139][140][141] The FBI has described the LTTE as "amongst the most dangerous and deadly extremist outfit in the world".[142] Other countries have also proscribed LTTE under the same rationale. Numerous countries and international organizations have accused the LTTE of attacking civilians and recruits children.[143]

Attacks on civilians

The LTTE has launched attacks on civilian targets several times. Notable attacks include the Aranthalawa Massacre,[144] Anuradhapura massacre,[145] Kattankudy mosque massacre,[146] the Kebithigollewa massacre[147] and the Dehiwala train bombing.[148] Civilians have also been killed in attacks on economic targets, such as the Central Bank bombing.[148][149]

Child soldiers

The LTTE has been accused of recruiting and using child soldiers to fight against Sri Lankan government forces.[150][151][152] The LTTE was accused of having up to 5,794 child soldiers in its ranks since 2001.[153][154]

Amid international pressure, the LTTE announced in July 2003 that it would stop conscripting child soldiers, but both UNICEF[155][156] and Human Rights Watch[157] have accused it of reneging on its promises, and of conscripting Tamil children orphaned by the tsunami.[158] However, since 2007, the LTTE has claimed that it will release all of the recruits under the age of 18 before the end of the year. On 18 June 2007, the LTTE released 135 children under 18. UNICEF, along with the United States, states that there has been a significant drop in LTTE recruitment of children, but claims that 506 child recruits remain under the LTTE.[159] A report released by the LTTE's Child Protection Authority (CPA) in 2008 reported that less than 40 soldiers under age 18 remained in its forces.[160] However in 2009 a Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations said the Tamil Tigers "continue to recruit children to fight on the frontlines", and "use force to keep many civilians, including children, in harms way".[161]

The LTTE argues that instances of child recruitment occurred mostly in the east, under the purview of former LTTE regional commander Colonel Karuna. After leaving the LTTE and forming the TMVP, it is alleged that Karuna continued to forcibly kidnap and induct child soldiers.[162][163] Its official position is that earlier, some of its cadres erroneously recruited volunteers in their late teens.[citation needed] It says that its official policy is now that it will not accept child soldiers. It also says that some underage youths lie about their age and are therefore allowed to join, but are sent back home to their parents as soon as they are discovered to be underage.[citation needed]

Suicide bombings

The LTTE pioneered the use of concealed suicide bomb vests.[164] According to Jane's Information Group, between 1980 and 2000, the LTTE carried out 168 suicide attacks causing heavy damage on economic and military targets.[143]

Many of these attacks have involved military objectives in the north and east of the country, although civilians have been targeted on numerous occasions, including during a high profile attack on Colombo's International Airport in 2001 that caused damage to several commercial airliners and military jets, and killed 16 people.[165] The LTTE was also responsible for a 1998 attack on the Buddhist shrine, and UNESCO world heritage site, Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy that killed 8 worshipers. The attack was symbolic in that the shrine, which houses a sacred tooth of the Buddha, is the holiest Buddhist shrine in Sri Lanka.[166] Other Buddhist shrines have been attacked, notably the Sambuddhaloka Temple in Colombo that killed 9 worshipers.[167]

Relatively speaking, there have been fewer operations in the south where most of the Sinhalese live, including the capital Colombo, although such attacks have often engaged high-profile targets and attracted much international publicity as a result.[168]

The LTTE's Black Tigers has been attributed with the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, who was killed in 1991 using a prototype suicide vest, and Ranasinghe Premadasa, assassinated in 1993.[143]

Ethnic cleansing

The LTTE is responsible for forcibly removing, or "ethnically cleansing",[169][170] Sinhalese and Muslim inhabitants from areas under its control, and using violence against those who refuse to leave. The evictions happened in the north in 1990, and the east in 1992. Tamil sources openly state:

Islam, however, is not being practiced presently [In Tamil Eelam], as the Muslims have been asked to leave the Tamil Eelam territory until the independence of Tamil Eelam. The Muslims supported the aggressive Sri Lankan Sinhala and Muslim Military against the freedom of Tamil Eelam.[171]

Ironically, however, Muslim and Tamil communities in the North of Sri Lanka had participated together in the early days of the Tamil movement, and Muslim ironmongers in Mannar fashioned weapons for the LTTE, and local Tamil leaders were disturbed at the LTTE's call for the eviction of Muslims.[172] However, as Tamil intellectuals began viewing Muslims as outsiders, rather than a part of the Tamil nation as they had been referred to previously, the LTTE undertook its anti-Muslim campaigns.

In its 1976 Vaddukodai Resolution, LTTE condemns the Sri Lankan government for, as it claimed, "unleashing successive bouts of communal violence on both the Tamils and Muslims."[173] In 2005, the "International Federation of Tamils" claimed that the Sri Lankan military purposefully stoked tensions between Tamils and Muslims, in an attempt to undermine Tamil security.[174] As Tamils turned to the LTTE for support, the Muslims were left with the Sri Lankan state as their sole defender, and so in the eyes of the LTTE, the Muslims had legitimized the role of the state, and were thus viewed as Sri Lankans.[174]

Beginning in 1985, the LTTE forcibly occupied 35,000 acres of Muslim-owned farmland in the north of Sri Lanka, before systematically evicting the Muslims from areas under LTTE control.[175]

Although anti-Muslim pogroms had occurred in the north and east of Sri Lanka since 1985, the LTTE embarked on a campaign to expel Muslims from the North in 1989. The first eviction notice was sent to the Muslims of Chavakacheri on October 15, 1989, after the LTTE entered the local mosque and threatened Muslims a few weeks earlier.[172] Afterward, the houses of evicted Muslims were ransacked and looted.[172] On October 28, 1989, the Muslims of Mannar, in the North of Sri Lanka, were told,

"All Muslims living in Mannar island should leave by 28 October. Before leaving, they must seek permission and clearance at the LTTE Office. The LTTE will decide their exit route."[172]

The deadline was extended by four days after pleas from local Tamil Catholics, who were left to look after many Muslims' property in anticipation of looting by the Sri Lankan army - although the Catholics themselves were later robbed by the LTTE of both their own, and the Muslims' property.[172] On the 28th, while Muslims were preparing to leave, the LTTE barred Hindus from entering Muslim villages and dealing with them. The areas were reopened on the November 3, after Muslims had been packed onto the boats of Muslim fishermen and sent southwards along the coast.[172]

After a lull in ethnic cleansing, the LTTE on August 3, 1990, sealed off a Shiite mosque in Kattankady, the Meera Jumma and Husseinia, and opened fire through the mosque's windows, leaving 147 Muslim worshipers dead, out of 300 gathered for Friday prayers.[176] Fifteen days later, LTTE gunmen shot dead between 122 and 173 Muslim civilians in the town of Eravur[176][177]

Ethnic cleansing culminated on October 30, 1990 when the LTTE forcibly expelled the entire Muslim population of Jaffna. LTTE commanders from the east announced at 7:30 A.M. that all Muslims in Jaffna were to report to Osmania stadium, where they were to be addressed by two LTTE leaders, Karikalana and Anjaneyar.[172] After listening to the leaders denigrate Muslims for allegedly attacking Tamils in the east, the leaders explained to the community that they had two hours to evacuate the city.[178] The community was released from the stadium at 10 A.M., and by noon, and were only allowed to carry 500 rupees, while the rest of their possessions were seized by the LTTE after they were forced to report to LTTE checkpoints upon exiting Jaffna.[172]

In total, over 12,700 Muslim families, roughly 75,000 people, were forcibly evicted from LTTE-controlled areas on the Northern Province.[179]

In 1992, the LTTE embarked on a campaign to create a contiguous Tamil-Hindu homeland that stretched from the North of Sri Lanka, and downwards along the Eastern Coast. A large Tamil-speaking Muslim population inhabited a narrow strip of land between the two entities, and so a pattern of "ethnic cleansing" emerged in Eastern Sri Lanka, as was already done in the North. "The LTTE unleashed violence against the Muslims of Alinchipothanai and killed 69 Muslim villagers. This led to a retaliatory violence against the Tamils in Muthugala, where 49 Tamils were killed allegedly by the Muslim Home guards."[180] Later in the year, the LTTE attacked four Muslim villages (Palliyagodalla, Akbarpuram, Ahmedpuram and Pangurana) and killed 187 Muslims.[180] The Australian Muslim Times later commented on 30 October 1992: "The massacres, eviction and the atrocities by the Tamil Tigers are carried out in order to derive the Muslim Community from their traditional land in the Eastern province as they have done it in the northern province and then set up a separate state only for Tamils".[180]

In 2002, the LTTE leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran had formally apologized for the expulsion of Muslims from the north and asked the Muslims to return. Some families have returned and re-opened the Osmaniya College and two mosques are functioning now.[citation needed] Since the apology, TamilNet, which is widely seen as an LTTE mouthpiece, has featured numerous stories of Muslim civilians coming under attack from Sinhalese forces. However, the stories may simply reflect crime, and not the ethnic hatred that TamilNet suggest.[181]

The LTTE is also accused of organizing massacres of Sinhala villagers who settled in the Northeast under the dry lands policy.[182][183][184]

Anti-Muslim campaigns of 1990

During the summer of 1990, the LTTE killed over 370 Muslims in the North and East of Sri Lanka in 11 mass killings[180] Numerous mosques were attacked, and dozens of pilgrims from the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia were killed. The number of Muslims killed in individual attacks, rather than massacres and high-profile murders, remains unknown.

Proscription as a terrorist group

32 countries have listed the LTTE as a terrorist organization.[185][186] As of January 2009, these include:

The first country to ban the LTTE was its early ally, India. The Indian change of policy came gradually, starting with the IPKF-LTTE conflict, and culminating with the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. India opposes the new state Tamil Eelam that LTTE wants to establish, saying that it would lead to Tamil Nadu's separation from India though the leaders of Tamil Nadu are opposing it. Sri Lanka itself lifted the ban on the LTTE before signing the ceasefire agreement in 2002. This was a prerequisite set by the LTTE for the signing of the agreement.[197][198]

According to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, "LTTE has perfected the use of suicide bombers, invented the suicide belt, pioneered the use of women in suicide attacks, murdered some 4,000 people in the past two years alone, and assassinated two world leaders—the only terrorist organization to do so.[199]"

The European Union banned LTTE as a terrorist organization on May 17, 2006. In a statement, the European Parliament said that the LTTE did not represent all the Tamils and called on it to "allow for political pluralism and alternate democratic voices in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka".[200]

Criminal activities

One factor that has greatly benefited the LTTE has been its sophisticated international support network. While some of the funding obtained by the LTTE is from legitimate fund raising and extortion among Tamil diaspora,[201][202] a significant portion is obtained through criminal activities, involving sea piracy, human smuggling, drug trafficking and gunrunning.[203][204][205][206]

Sea piracy

The LTTE has been accused of hijacking several vessels in waters outside Sri Lanka, including the Irish Mona (in August 1995), Princess Wave (in August 1996), Athena (in May 1997), Misen (in July 1997), Morong Bong (in July 1997), MV Cordiality (in September 1997), Princess Kash (in August 1998) and MV Farah III (December 2006). The MV Sik Yang, a 2,818-ton Malaysian-flag cargo ship which sailed from Tuticorin, India on May 25, 1999 was reported missing in waters near Sri Lanka. The ship with a cargo of bagged salt was due at the Malaysian port of Malacca on May 31. The fate of the ship's crew of 15 is unknown. It is suspected that the vessel was hijacked by the LTTE and is now being used as a phantom vessel. Likewise the crew of a Jordanian ship, MV Farah III, that ran aground near LTTE-controlled territory off the island's coast, accused the Tamil Tigers of risking their lives and forcing them to abandon the vessel which was carrying 14,000 tonnes of Indian rice.[207]

Arms smuggling

The anti-rebel Mackenzie Institute claimed that one of LTTE's secretive international operations is the smuggling of weapons, explosives, and "dual use" technologies. The part of the LTTE responsible for these activities is nicknamed "KP Branch", taking the initials of its high level operative, Kumaran Padmanathan. The workers for the KP Branch are from outside the fighting wing of the LTTE, since the identities of those fighters are recorded and available to law enforcement and counter-intelligence agencies by India's Research and Analysis Wing, who had helped train many Tiger cadres in the early 1980s. The KP Branch operates secretively by having the minimum connection possible with the LTTE's other sections for further security. It hands over the arms shipments to a team of Sea Tigers to deliver them to the LTTE-dominated areas.[208]

The Mackenzie Institute further claimed that in order to carry out the activities of international arms trafficking, the LTTE operates its own fleet of ocean-going vessels. These vessels only operate a certain period of time for the LTTE and in the remaining time they transport legitimate goods and raise hard cash for the purchase of weapons. The LTTE initially operated a shipping base in Myanmar, but was forced to leave due to diplomatic pressure. To overcome this loss, a new base has been set up on Phuket Island, in Thailand.[208]

Furthermore, The Mackenzie Institute claimed that the most expertly executed operation of the KP Branch was the theft of 32,400 rounds of 81 mm mortar ammunition purchased from Tanzania destined for the Sri Lanka Army. Being aware of the purchase of 35,000 mortar bombs, the LTTE made a bid to the manufacturer through a numbered company and arranged a vessel of their own to pick up the load. Once the bombs were loaded into the ship, the LTTE changed the name and registration of their ship. The vessel was taken to Tiger-held territory in Sri Lanka's north instead of transporting it to its intended destination.[208]

Western countries are the main territory for fund raising activities of the LTTE. The money raised from donations and enterprises are transferred into bank accounts of the Tigers and from there to the accounts of a weapons broker, or the money is taken by KP operatives themselves. LTTE's need for resources is mostly fulfilled by the Tamils who reside outside Sri Lanka. In 1995, when the LTTE lost Jaffna, its international operatives were ordered to increase, by 50%, the amount raised from Tamils outside the island.[208]

See also

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    Business Standard - ‎4 hours ago‎
    PTI / New Delhi May 20, 2009, 15:49 IST As it begins introspection into the worst electoral debacle in Delhi since 1984, BJP has admitted that it had lost influence in its stronghold of urban, middle and upper class voters along with Sikhs, ...
    BJP votes dip too Times of India

    Suspense continues over Khanduri's fate

    Business Standard - ‎1 hour ago‎
    PTI / Dehradun May 20, 2009, 18:06 IST Suspense continued over the fate of Uttarakhand Chief Minister BC Khanduri who has offered to resign following BJP's rout in Lok Sabha polls, with senior party leaders today saying it was upto the high command to ...

    Shiv Sena will win back trust of Mumbaikars: Uddhav

    Indian Express - ‎2 hours ago‎
    Exuding confidence that the Marathi voters who favoured Congress-NCP combine in Mumbai during Lok Sabha polls would support Shiv Sena-BJP alliance during the assembly elections, Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray said on Wednesday that his party ...

    Patnaik to take oath as Orissa chief minister on Thursday

    Hindu - ‎5 hours ago‎
    Bhubaneswar (IANS): Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief Naveen Patnaik is set to take oath on Thursday as Orissa chief minister for the third term in a row.

    RJD, LJP kept out of UPA's first meeting

    Press Trust of India - ‎5 hours ago‎
    New Delhi, May 20 (PTI) The RJD and LJP, which fought elections against Congress, were today kept out of the first meeting of the UPA after the polls, perhaps an indication that they may not find a place in the government.

    Maya extends support to UPA

    Express Buzz - ‎4 hours ago‎
    LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Tuesday extended the "unconditional" support of 21 MPs of the Bahujan Samaj Party to the Congress- led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) for stability and with a view to prevent the BJP-led NDA from ...

    CPM feels left out post Trinamool win in Bengal

    IBNLive.com - ‎3 hours ago‎
    RED FLAGS ON THEIR WAY OUT? Trinamool has sent shock waves amongst the red brigade in Bengal. ibnlive.com is on mobile now. Read news, watch videos be a Citizen Journalist.

    Cong raises comfort level of NCP, reaffirms it is UPA partner

    Press Trust of India - ‎17 minutes ago‎
    New Delhi, May 20 (PTI) Congress high command today sought to raise the comfort level of NCP amid demands from party leaders in Maharashtra that it should dump Sharad Pawar's party and go it alone in the coming Assembly polls in Maharashtra.

    India's Congress Pledges to Add Power Capacity, Boost Nuclear

    Bloomberg - ‎May 19, 2009‎
    By Abhay Singh and Gaurav Singh May 19 (Bloomberg) -- India's ruling coalition, which returned to power last week with an increased majority in parliament, is likely to push for new generation capacity for the world's second-fastest growing major ...
    Finest Opportunity MorungExpress
    India roars ahead Financial Post

    New Sikkim government sworn in

    Times of India - ‎6 hours ago‎
    GANGTOK: The new Sikkim government of chief minister Pawan Chamling's Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) was sworn in by Governor BP Singh on Wednesday.

    Highest ever, 61 women elected to 15th Lok Sabha

    IBNLive.com - ‎6 hours ago‎
    New Delhi: After the General Elections 2009, politics is not just getting younger but fairer too. A record 61 women have been elected to the 15th Lok Sabha.

    Ex-DG of ordnance factory arrested on graft charges

    Times of India - ‎17 hours ago‎
    NEW DELHI: A former Director General of Ordnance Factories, Kolkata, who also served as the chairman of the Ordnance Factory Board, has been arrested by the CBI for accepting "illegal gratification'' from contractors who had won supply orders from ...

    Mothers and sons: Four Gandhis set for face-off

    Hindustan Times - ‎10 hours ago‎
    They belong to India's first political family. And now four famous Gandhis, mother-son duos at that, will find themselves sitting on opposite benches in parliament for the first time.

    TDP holds meeting to assess poll debacle

    Business Standard - ‎3 hours ago‎
    PTI / Hyderabad May 20, 2009, 16:35 IST TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu today held a meeting at the party headquarters to assess the party's debacle in Lok Sabha polls.

    Madu Koda extends unconditional support to UPA

    Press Trust of India - ‎5 hours ago‎
    New Delhi, May 20 (PTI) Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda today met Congress President Sonia Gandhi and announced unconditional support to the UPA.

    BJP demands re-introduction of ballot paper

    Times of India - ‎3 hours ago‎
    20 May 2009, 1644 hrs IST, PTI BHUBANESWAR: Dealt a humiliating defeat in the recently-concluded assembly and Lok Sabha polls in Orissa, BJP today blamed the electronic voting machines (EVM) for the debacle and sought re-introduction of ballot paper ...

    Modi eyeing BJP top job?

    Economic Times - ‎7 hours ago‎
    AHMEDABAD: Before the elections were declared, it was believed that Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi had set his sights on the next Lok Sabha polls in 2014.
    Indian Express - Hindu - Express Buzz - Times of India

    UN demands access to civilians in Sri Lanka

    Reuters India - ‎1 hour ago‎
    By Jonathan Lynn GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations on Wednesday accused the Sri Lankan authorities of blocking access to civilians trapped in the former war zone or who have fled to camps for displaced people.

    Gov't: 250000 Pakistani refugees expected in camp

    The Associated Press - ‎20 minutes ago‎
    WASHINGTON (AP) - Up to a quarter-million Pakistani civilians are expected to remain in refugee camps through the end of the year as a result of fighting between Pakistani forces and insurgents that has forced them from their homes, ...

    Speaker's exit fails to quell British reform calls

    Reuters - ‎1 hour ago‎
    By Adrian Croft and Frank Prenesti LONDON, May 20 (Reuters) - Reformists called for a fundamental shakeup of Britain's political system on Wednesday, saying the first ousting of a parliamentary speaker in 300 years was not enough to still public anger ...

    Suu Kyi allowed to talk to diplomats

    Times Online - ‎1 hour ago‎
    Aung San Suu Kyi was allowed to speak to foreign ambassadors at her trial today as Burma's military government made a rare concession to international pressure and allowed journalists and diplomats in.
    Suu Kyi show trial 'scripted sham' The Press Association

    Ahmadinejad: Iran Tests Missile that Could Reach Israel, Europe

    Voice of America - ‎59 minutes ago‎
    By VOA News Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says his country has test-fired a new advanced missile that reportedly can reach Israel, southeastern Europe and US bases in the Middle East.

    Indonesian military plane crashes killing at least 98

    Telegraph.co.uk - ‎3 hours ago‎
    A military aircraft carrying soldiers and their families has crashed in Indonesia killing at least 98 people in the latest of a long series air disasters in the country.

    House set to pass credit bill after Senate OK

    The Associated Press - ‎2 hours ago‎
    WASHINGTON (AP) - The credit card companies seem to have few friends on Capitol Hill these days, with even the most business-minded lawmakers siding with consumers in speaking out against steep rate hikes and fees.

    Abuse 'endemic' at institutions

    BBC News - ‎1 hour ago‎
    An inquiry into child abuse at Catholic institutions in Ireland has found that sexual abuse was "endemic" in boys' institutions.

    The Early Word: Setup to Detention Matters

    New York Times - ‎1 hour ago‎
    By Kate Phillips AND Janie Lorber With President Obama set to offer a major national security address on Thursday dealing with the issues of suspected terrorists, interrogations and detainees, the actions of worried Democrats and Republican critics ...

    California voters soundly reject budget measures

    Reuters - ‎1 hour ago‎
    NEW YORK (Reuters) - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers are facing the arduous task of closing a state budget gap of more than $21 billion after ballot measures aimed at bolstering the state's finances were soundly defeated by voters.

    US seeks Afghan executive post: Karzai spokesman

    Reuters - ‎1 hour ago‎
    By Sayed Salahuddin KABUL (Reuters) - US authorities have urged President Hamid Karzai to create a new executive post to help improve day-to-day governance in Afghanistan, Karzai's chief spokesman said Wednesday.

    Obama unveils 'historic' car efficiency standards

    AFP - ‎8 hours ago‎
    WASHINGTON (AFP) - President Barack Obama has unveiled "historic" efficiency and greenhouse gas standards for US cars, forging a rare moment of unity between auto firms and environmentalists on climate change.

    Police make arrests in Tori Stafford case

    CTV.ca - ‎3 hours ago‎
    Two people have been arrested in connection with the case of missing 8-year-old Victoria "Tori" Stafford, according to Ontario Provincial Police.

    Nepal Maoists move to oust President

    Times of India - ‎2 hours ago‎
    KATHMANDU: Failing to fire the chief of the army, Nepal's Maoist party Wednesday trained their guns on the man who had come to the aid of the beleaguered general, now seeking to oust the nation's first President, Dr Ram Baran Yadav.
    State of ferment The Hindu

    US Israel forming high-level working group on Iran: report

    Xinhua - ‎18 minutes ago‎
    WASHINGTON, May 20 (Xinhua) -- The United States and Israel are quietly forming a high-level working group to exchange studies over the issues of Iran, including intelligence about the country's nuclear program and progress of outreach to the country, ...

    UN Gaza inquiry 'to proceed despite Israel'

    BBC News - ‎4 hours ago‎
    A UN inquiry into possible war crimes in Gaza will go ahead even if Israel does not co-operate, says Richard Goldstone, who leads the inquiry team.

    Japan economy shrinks at record 15.2 percent pace

    The Associated Press - ‎1 hour ago‎
    TOKYO (AP) - Japan's economy shrank at a record 15.2 percent annual pace in the first quarter, dragged down by plunging exports, thinner factory output and wary shoppers.

    Britain to present new rules for Gurkhas

    Reuters India - ‎28 minutes ago‎
    LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will on Thursday outline new rules likely to allow more Nepalese former Gurkha soldiers to settle in Britain.

    Russia links nuclear talks to US anti-missile plan

    Reuters - ‎2 hours ago‎
    By Amie Ferris-Rotman MOSCOW (Reuters) - The United States must allay Russian concerns over its planned anti-missile system in Europe if the two sides are to achieve a breakthrough on cutting nuclear weapons, Russia's foreign minister said on Wednesday ...

    Air France-KLM to cut 3000 jobs

    BBC News - ‎4 hours ago‎
    Air France-KLM is expecting to shed 3000 jobs in its current financial year, in a bid to further cut costs. The cuts come in addition to 2700 posts eliminated in the fiscal year to 31 March 2009, as the airline industry suffers a fall in demand.
    Middle East North Africa Financial Network - WTOL - Chicago Tribune - Aircargo - Asia Pacific

    Manmohan hits home stretch, to take oath as PM on Friday

    Hindustan Times - ‎1 hour ago‎
    Amid jockeying for ministerial positions from partners of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), the decks were on Wednesday cleared for Manmohan Singh's second consecutive term as prime minister with President Pratibha Patil formally inviting him to ...

    YSR takes oath as Andhra Pradesh chief minister

    Economic Times - ‎9 minutes ago‎
    HYDERABAD: YS Rajasekhara Reddy of the Congress on Wednesday evening took oath as the Andhra Pradesh chief minister for the second consecutive term.

    BJP admits it lost middle class, Sikh voters in Delhi

    Business Standard - ‎4 hours ago‎
    PTI / New Delhi May 20, 2009, 15:49 IST As it begins introspection into the worst electoral debacle in Delhi since 1984, BJP has admitted that it had lost influence in its stronghold of urban, middle and upper class voters along with Sikhs, ...
    BJP votes dip too Times of India

    India gives Pak more evidence on 26/11

    Hindustan Times - ‎2 hours ago‎
    India on Wednesday handed over to Pakistan a new dossier of evidence on the Mumbai terrorist attack, an official statement said. "MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) have today handed over to the Pakistani High Commission additional information and ...

    I never asked Amar to support nuke deal: Somnath

    Indian Express - ‎31 minutes ago‎
    Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee expressed surprise at the statement of Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh that he had requested him to support the Indo-US nuclear deal, saying it was "without any basis or foundation".

    Goa students top in CBSE XII exam

    Sify - ‎2 hours ago‎
    Chennai: Goa topped the list of ten states and union territories in the CBSE Class XII results, which were announced today, registering a pass percentage of 98.37, as girls continued to outshine boys.

    Shiv Sena will win back trust of Mumbaikars: Uddhav

    Indian Express - ‎2 hours ago‎
    Exuding confidence that the Marathi voters who favoured Congress-NCP combine in Mumbai during Lok Sabha polls would support Shiv Sena-BJP alliance during the assembly elections, Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray said on Wednesday that his party ...

    Patnaik to take oath as Orissa chief minister on Thursday

    Hindu - ‎5 hours ago‎
    Bhubaneswar (IANS): Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief Naveen Patnaik is set to take oath on Thursday as Orissa chief minister for the third term in a row.

    TDP holds meeting to assess poll debacle

    Business Standard - ‎3 hours ago‎
    PTI / Hyderabad May 20, 2009, 16:35 IST TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu today held a meeting at the party headquarters to assess the party's debacle in Lok Sabha polls.

    Lalu says won't feel bad if denied Cabinet berth

    Times of India - ‎4 hours ago‎
    20 May 2009, 1613 hrs IST, PTI NEW DELHI: With Congress reluctant to accommodate him in the new government, RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Wednesday appeared resigned to his fate, saying he would not feel bad if he doesn't get a cabinet berth.

    CPM feels left out post Trinamool win in Bengal

    IBNLive.com - ‎3 hours ago‎
    RED FLAGS ON THEIR WAY OUT? Trinamool has sent shock waves amongst the red brigade in Bengal. ibnlive.com is on mobile now. Read news, watch videos be a Citizen Journalist.

    India's Congress Pledges to Add Power Capacity, Boost Nuclear

    Bloomberg - ‎May 19, 2009‎
    By Abhay Singh and Gaurav Singh May 19 (Bloomberg) -- India's ruling coalition, which returned to power last week with an increased majority in parliament, is likely to push for new generation capacity for the world's second-fastest growing major ...
    Finest Opportunity MorungExpress
    India roars ahead Financial Post

    Cong raises comfort level of NCP, reaffirms it is UPA partner

    Press Trust of India - ‎19 minutes ago‎
    New Delhi, May 20 (PTI) Congress high command today sought to raise the comfort level of NCP amid demands from party leaders in Maharashtra that it should dump Sharad Pawar's party and go it alone in the coming Assembly polls in Maharashtra.

    Godhra riots: Ex-Gujarat minister gets bail

    Rediff - ‎1 hour ago‎
    After remaining in jail for eight weeks, former Gujarat minister Maya Kodnani was on Tuesday granted bail by a local court in two post-Godhra 2002 riot cases where she also faced murder charges, with the judge saying her alleged involvement was shown ...
    Maya, Jaideep get bail Times of India

    BSF to get Rs 360 crore for raising 29 new battalions

    Hindu - ‎5 hours ago‎
    New Delhi (PTI): The Centre has approved a Rs 360 crore plan for Border Security Force to raise 29 new battalions within the next five years.

    New Sikkim government sworn in

    Times of India - ‎6 hours ago‎
    GANGTOK: The new Sikkim government of chief minister Pawan Chamling's Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) was sworn in by Governor BP Singh on Wednesday.

    Ex-DG of ordnance factory arrested on graft charges

    Times of India - ‎17 hours ago‎
    NEW DELHI: A former Director General of Ordnance Factories, Kolkata, who also served as the chairman of the Ordnance Factory Board, has been arrested by the CBI for accepting "illegal gratification'' from contractors who had won supply orders from ...

    B'lore varsity's unfair lady

    Daily News & Analysis - ‎7 hours ago‎
    Bangalore: State Lokayukta sleuths, on Monday, caught a Bangalore University syndicate member red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs2 lakh from a private college.

    Agni-II fired, jury still out on test's success

    Times of India - ‎17 hours ago‎
    NEW DELHI: In a step towards making the 2000-km-plus Agni-II fully operational, the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) conducted a "training test-firing'' of the nuclear-capable missile on Tuesday.
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