The DMK memorandum pointed out that three fishermen had been killed in February and seven grievously injured. The boats and the fishermen's catch were 'unlawfully' seized and a few of them 'illegally' arrested, it said.
Security in coastal areas of Tamil Nadu has been further beefed up following an anonymous telephone call about infiltration of terrorists, days after an intelligence alert that they could sneak in from Sri Lanka and attack Madurai, Mayiladuthurai and Rameswaram in the state.
The number of naval ships patrolling the area had been increased from two to four while an unmanned aerial vehicle was also keeping vigil.
Antony said the government would take all 'humanly possible' steps to protect the rights of fishermen.
The Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project, aimed at deepening the waters in Palk Straits, is a 'viable' one but will not be useful for the navigation of the big ships, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Suresh Mehta said in Chennai on Tuesday.
Union Shipping Minister T R Baalu would monitor the project to ensure that physical and financial targets were met and a separate mechanism was being set up in the Shipping Ministry to monitor the project.
A research scholar says why the Sethusamudram canal project must be stopped and why the Ramar Sethu must be declared a world heritage site.
Sri Lanka hasn't formally objected to the project and an official did not say what prompted the government to set up the experts' group.
The Centre has taken the controversial stand that Katchatheevu in the Palk Strait off Rameswaram coast in Tamil Nadu was never part of India, but a senior geologist and remote sensing expert says remote sensing satellite data shows that the islet was geologically linked to Indian land mass.
The 49 Indian fishermen, arrested by Sri Lankan navy recently, have been released and will return home in a couple of days, Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday said in Chennai.
The 34-year-old swimmer crossed the 40-km long Palk Strait, on Friday to complete the feat.
The issue of fishermen continues to be thorny in the relations across the Palk Straits as the Sri Lankan Navy is often accused of harassing the Tamil Nadu fishermen.
At least 34 Indian fishermen have been arrested and their boats seized by the Sri Lankan Navy for allegedly fishing in the country's waters, authorities in Colombo said on Tuesday.
Indian fishermen trawling near Katchatheevu were in for a big surprise on Sunday when Sri Lankan navalmen not only allowed them to fish but also offered them soft drinks and sweets.
Amidst stepped up pressure to secure the release of over 220 Tamil Nadu fishermen detained in Sri Lanka, 22 more were arrested by the island navy early on Sunday while fishing in the Palk Strait.
The fishermen along with their two mechanised boats had been taken to Kankesanthurai Port in northern Sri Lanka.
Dismissing opposition's claim that his government has given fishing rights to Indians, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has said he has issued clear instructions to the navy to seize boats that violate the country's territorial waters.
Sri Lankan Navy on Tuesday allegedly sank an Indian fishing boat by colliding against it near Katchathivu, and arrested 15 fishermen from this coastal town in separate incidents, police said.
The Lankan naval personnel cut fishing nets of about 70 boats and pelted stones and bottles forcing more than 2,000 fishermen to flee and return to the shore on Thursday morning.
BJP, AIADMK oppose the project while DMK and CPI(M) support the Sethusamudram shipping project across the Palk Strait. T E Narasimhan reports
Nineteen fishermen, who ventured into the sea from Pudukottai district of Tamil Nadu, were on Thursday arrested by the Sri Lankan navy when they went for fishing in the Palk Strait, officials said.
21 fishermen were arrested and five boats were seized at Kankesanturai while 33 others on five boats were arrested at Talaimannar on Saturday night.
The Hindutva social media continues to present the DMK especially as anti-god, anti-Hindu and anti-Brahmin. The strategy did not work in the past, it has not worked in the present, and would not work in the future, as a massive vote-getter, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
It maybe time for the Centre to take a closer look at Chief Minister Jayalalitha's innovative' solution to a long-pending problem, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Five Indian fishermen were given the death penalty by a Sri Lankan court on Thursday for alleged drug trafficking, prompting a response from India that it will appeal to a higher court against the judgement.
The project is currently under litigation after environmental concerns were raised against the plan of linking the PalkBay and the Gulf of Mannar by creating a shipping channel through the shallow sea, says Ruchika Chitravanshi.
Both Mahinda Rajapaksa and Modi have learnt from their past mistakes. Modi has understood that Rajapaksa is a 'forever politician' that India has to live with, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'For the Tamil Nadu protestors to openly ask popular film actor Vijay Sethupathi not to don Murali in 800 is a travesty in every sense. It may have given them a cause to tell the world, and the governments in New Delhi, Colombo and Chennai, that the Sri Lankan ethnic issue was still alive in the state -- more so, during the current run-up to two major events in the first half of 2021,' says N Sathiya Moorthy.
DRDO says it is working with the navy to fit the Rustom-1 with an Automatic Identification System that will identify Indian fishing vessels along the maritime boundary
Energy conglomerate Reliance Industries and its partner BP plc on Friday said they have made a second deep-water gas condensate discovery in the Cauvery basin, off the east coast.
The city has lost its favourite son, A P J Abdul Kalam. But his his legacy will live on forever.
The protesting fishermen have refused to accept the body of the fisherman unless a central minister visits the island and gives them an assurance that such incidents would not happen again, Rameswaram Fishermen Association President S Emiret said.
Any official-level talks between India and Sri Lanka, without any clear-cut understanding on the livelihood issues, could end up in India having to acknowledge bilaterally even more than what it had no hesitation in accepting in Parliament and outside, says N Sathiya Moorthy
Now that Tamil Nadu's tallest politician is no more, it remains to be seen how new political re-alignments could shape up, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Why is the BJP playing 'competitive politics' where there is scope or room for none? The release of 5 Indian fishermen on death row in Sri Lanka was a victory for India's quiet diplomacy of long years in the matter -- and not for loud politics by parties in the country.
Muthayya Fernandes, a fisherman from Rameswaram, was imprisoned in Sri Lanka for crossing the International Boundary in search of fish.
50 years after a cyclone wiped it out, Dhanushkodi is slowly finding its feet. A tourist attraction precisely for its desolateness, road connectivity could soon transform it. Saisuresh Sivaswamy, who spent a few hours there, comes back enchanted.
Sri Lanka's signals -- that it is ready for 'joint fishing' initiatives -- and Tamil Nadu fishermen's sticking to commitments have paved the way for a negotiated settlement on a long festering issue, says N Sathiya Moorthy
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