Though dubbed as the "war hero", the role of Rajapaksa in ending the conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam with the death of its supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran in 2009 is quite divisive as he stands accused of violating human rights, a charge he vehemently denies.
India captain Rohit Sharma was named the 'Men's International Cricketer of the Year', while former head coach Rahul Dravid was conferred with the 'Lifetime Achievement Award' at the Ceat Cricket Rating Awards 2023-24 here on Wednesday.
Twenty fishermen from Tamil Nadu were allegedly assaulted by Sri Lankan naval men while they were fishing near Katchathivu islet early on Monday morning, officials said.
Sri Lankan fishermen attacked the Indian fishermen with stones, before boarding the Indian boats.
A day after Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi stated that he viewed Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam supremo V Prabhakaran as a 'friend', Sri Lanka on Monday said that the Tamil Nadu chief minister was trying to exploit the issue for electoral gains. "Mr Karunanidhi is a Chanakya. He knows what to say and when -- not that he is not aware of Prabhakaran's attitude," Minister for Social Service Welfare Douglas Devananda said.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna arrived in Colombo on Thursday on a four-day official visit to boost up bilateral relations, amid growing Chinese footprints in Sri Lanka.
Temples across Uttar Pradesh were packed with devotees on Sunday for Ram Navami, with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath leading prayers at the Gorakhnath Temple. Heavy crowds were witnessed at temples in Lucknow, Gorakhpur, and Varanasi, where security was heightened. In Gorakhpur, Adityanath performed the traditional kanya pujan ritual, while in Varanasi, a 51-foot statue of Lord Ram has become a major attraction. The festival was celebrated with enthusiastic fervor across the state.
The demand for an independent war crimes investigations into the "massacre" during the final days of the civil war in Sri Lanka has been intensified amid outrage that Vijay Nambiar, a top aide to UN Secretary-General was aware that over 20,000 Tamils were killed by the army.
The refugees are safe from bombs, but not from their memories.
'The struggle for Tamil equality and justice for Tamils did not start with the LTTE and will not end with LTTE. I am not saying that the LTTE has come to an end.'
Bruce Fein, a former US deputy assistant attorney general in the Reagan Administration, has filed a 12-count indictment against Sri Lanka's defense secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and the country's army commander Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, for perpetrating genocide against Tamil civilians with US Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice.
Tamil Nationalist Movement leader, one of the most vocal supporters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and its supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran, speaks on the civil war raging in Sri Lanka.
Against the backdrop of hawkish demands and street protests, the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam-led government on Friday lashed out at the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, for not responding to the two-day ceasefire by the Sri Lankan government in the northern areas, to enable the safe passage of ethnic Tamils caught in the conflict zone.DMK, which has been turning the heat on the Centre to talk to Colombo to stop innocent Tamils becoming victims in the crossfire.
Rejecting reports of fresh talks, the LTTE said it would resume talks only on the basis of their "Interim Self-Governing Authority" plan unveiled in October last year.
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.
Fourteen construction workers from the majority Sinhala community had been abducted and shot by the LTTE, said the Army.
'I think he is a very talented actor and he will nail the bowling expressions.'
On a mission in Sri Lanka to ascertain the living conditions of displaced Tamils after the end of the war, a delegation of MPs from Tamil Nadu on Sunday visited them in camps, who expressed their keenness to return to their towns and villages during an 'emotional interaction.'
Former Telecom Minister A Raja, facing trial in the 2G spectrum allocation case, was Thursday allowed by a Delhi court to visit Tamil Nadu till November 25 from Friday.
India's tactical and operational response demonstrated its ability to prosecute tri-service operations, even without a formal tri-service doctrine or the higher command structure needed to coordinate it, points out Ajai Shukla.
The four accused are--Karunakaran Kandasamy also known as Karuna; Pratheepan Thavaraja also known as Raja Pratheepan, Thambi Sampras and Steeban; Murugesu Vinayagamoorthy also known as Dr Moorthy and Vinayagamoorthy Murugesu; and Vijayshanthar Patpanathan also known as Chandru.
Arson attacks continued on Wednesday and Muslim-owned businesses were targeted by the mobs.
The apex court, while noting that the petitioner intends to go back to Sri Lanka as and when he is released, directed that he shall be shifted to an appropriate transit camp as may be decided by the state.
The renewed attacks came as peace broker Norway failed on Friday to secure an agreement to end a blockade on the Jaffna peninsula where nearly half a million people are trapped by fighting.
The 136 fishermen from Tamil Nadu, who were detained in Sri Lanka for allegedly poaching in the island nation's waters, returned to Nagapattinam on Saturday.
Advancing Sri Lankan troops have intensified the battle near the LTTE-controlled headquarters of Kilinochchi amidst fierce resistance by the Tamil Tigers and are now consolidating their position near Mannar, officials said today.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's key ally in Tamil Nadu, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Wednesday slammed the saffron party alleging that it is anti-Tamil and claimed that the party could never grow in the state.
Besides heavy traffic congestion, the intermittent heavy rains led to inundation in several parts of the city and neighbouring districts of Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Chengelpet.
Sajith Premadasa, the 55-year-old leader of Sri Lanka's principal opposition party Samagi Jana Balawegaya, said on Tuesday that he was withdrawing from the race of President to provide support to Alahapperuma.
Muthayya Fernandes, a fisherman from Rameswaram, was imprisoned in Sri Lanka for crossing the International Boundary in search of fish.
The men, who are Australian citizens, were arrested and released without charge in November 2005.
The Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's support to the formation of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka was only moral in nature and "to show the world that Eelam Tamils are not orphans," party leader Vaiko said on Thursday night.
'With butterflies in our stomachs, but confident of our mission, we took off for Jaffna on the morning of 24 July 1987.' IAF Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe recalls a conversation with Air Vice Marshal Harpal Singh Ahluwalia (retd), then a wing commander and mission leader for the clandestine operation.
The actor had cancelled his visit after various pro-Tamil outfits including the VCK objected to it.
The blast is supposed to have been triggered by an army unit.
The US asked the Sri Lankan government to "take advantage" of the opportunity and accept an offer of a UN team that is probing alleged human rights abuses in the final months of the war with the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam. The UN on Tuesday announced that Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon had set up a three-member panel to look into alleged human rights violations during the final stages of the war against the LTTE in Sri Lanka.
