Beleaguered Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran has apparently agreed to a rescue mission by a "western country" to evacuate Tamil civilians trapped in war zone in Sri Lanka's north amid the government's announcement of a temporary 48-hour pause in fighting to enable thousands of displaced persons to move to safer areas.
He said the army has captured the entire Pudukudiriyirippu area that was under the control of the Tamil Tigers, who have lost many of their key leaders in the latest fighting. Important LTTE leaders killed in the clashes included Vidusha, Nagesh, Durga, Deepan and Patabi, Nanayakkara said, adding another senior rebel leader Banu was injured.
'Till date there have been 482 accidents on account of failure of this aircraft and 171 IAF pilots have lost their lives.'
At least 52 civilians were killed in shelling in Sri Lanka's embattled northern Wanni region, where a hospital came under attack for the fourth straight day today -- this time by a cluster bomb, forcing authorities to evacuate patients from one of the last functioning medical facilities in the war zone. "We have a confirmed report that 52 civilians have been killed in a shell attack at Suranthapuram (in Wanni region) on Tuesday evening," UN spokesman Gordon Weiss said.
Today, with China centrally seated and located, the Global South has an intriguing road ahead. Odds of it becoming a Chinese bloc in the emerging new bipolar world are higher than we'd wish them to be, observes Shekhar Gupta.
What could have been an immensely compelling survival drama is reduced to the pretty-girl-in-peril thriller, observes a disappointed Mayur Sanap.
'By not even acknowledging China's occupation of Indian territory Modi signalled to Beijing that he was not prepared to used forceful means to vacate the Chinese occupation, and that his government was reconciled to this loss of territory and accepted the fait accompli engineered by the PLA.'
"Apart from the way the Tiger leader got killed, the military is also still investigating intelligence wing leader Pottu Amman's death as they could not find his body among top level Tiger leaders," the State-run Sunday Observer said.
Tamil Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran is dead, the Sri Lankan army stated on Monday.Earlier in the day, the SL army, which had closed in on the last foothold of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, killed several top rebel leaders.The body of Charles Anthony, Prabhakaran' son, was found during mop-up operations in the last rebel-held territory in the no-fire zone on Monday morning.
As thousands of trapped civilians continued to flee the war zone, the Sri Lankan government today said the LTTE would be stamped out within the next 48 hours, signaling that a final offensive against Tigers was on.
On the verge of annihilation, the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam announced an unilateral ceasefire on Sunday, saying that that the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka's war zone can only be overcome by a truce, but the Lankan government quickly rejected the offer and instead asked the rebels to surrender.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has sent his Chief of Staff Vijay Nambiar, a veteran Indian diplomat, to Colombo to speak with the government there about the humanitarian situation in war zones of Sri Lanka's north and to express the world body's concern over the matter.
He also said "Chinese belligerence is evident in its continuing propensity to project power outside its region", in turn presenting a "threat to the rules-based international order".
The central government has told the high court that under 'Operation Ganga', in addition to commercial aircrafts, Indian Air Force flights have also been pressed into operation to evacuate the Indians who have crossed into Romania, Poland, Hungary and other neighbouring countries of Ukraine.
The Human Rights Watch called on both the Government and LTTE to allow thousands of civilians to flee the war zone. The rights group said the civilians in the area were at garve risk from the fighting.
In a week it will be a year since the 26/11 terror attacks convulsed Mumbai, but for the survivors the blood-curdling moments of their lives are etched in their minds forever.
All it took was a letter from Ayyadurai addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for sparks to fly. In the letter, he cried foul over the manner in which he had been asked to pack his bag for 'taking on the CSIR leadership'. Though the CSIR cites a high pay package demand from Ayyadurai as reason for his termination, the Indian-American scientist and entrepreneur believes he has been victimised. It is illegal and irrelevant, he claims.
In a significant move coinciding with the visit of a top United States official probing war crimes, the American embassy in Colombo on Thursday posted pictures of places where civilians had died allegedly during Sri Lanka's final war against rebel Tamil Tigers four years ago.
The 42-metre-high sandstone monument, sometimes compared to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris was laid down by Prince Arthur, the Duke of Connaught.
The infiltration bid was foiled by Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police early on Sunday morning.
India's solidarity with the Palestinian cause dates back to Mahatma Gandhi's time and its rising global stature and influence over all key players in West Asia make it well-placed to play a crucial role in defusing the crisis arising out of the Israel-Hamas conflict, Palestine Ambassador Adnan Abu Alhaija said on Tuesday.
The officials said that in the present environment where two communities are attacking each other, they may not find even a lawyer to defend them as all courts were within Imphal valley.
Sensing an imminent collapse of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Sri Lankan forces on Thursday encircled the last 8 sq km patch of area in the northern war zone, where they suspect Tiger supremo V Prabhakaran and his top aides are holed up. A naval blockade was put around northern Mullaittivu close to the areas where LTTE cadres still had access to the sea.
The Indo-Pak rivalry is set to move onto the cyber-world with the World Cyber Games in Mumbai.
Ruling out a ceasefire, Sri Lanka on Saturday said it was "hoping against hope" that the LTTE would abide by the 48-hour deadline set by it to release civilians in the war zone and warned the rebels of severe action if they failed to deliver.
"A NATO summit took place today. It was a weak summit, a confused summit, a summit that shows that not everyone considers the fight for freedom in Europe the number one goal," Zelenskyy said in a video message, as quoted by Russia's Sputnik.
There are altogether 80 teams of doctors and trained medical personnel with three teams in each hospitals.
Rabbi Sharon Garsulkar talks about his close friends Rabbi Gavriel Holtsberg and Rivka, who are held hostage in Nariman House.
'An ambassador may not be sure whether there would be a war next month, but prudence requires him to take action to see to it that people leave early.' 'Because once the war starts, it will be very difficult to move out.'
The notice for the adjournment motion was sent by BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi to the Rajya Sabha secretary general.
One Indian soldier was injured on Monday after shrapnel from Israeli bombing hit him.
The CAG also observed that the Indian Navy's auxiliary vessel strength was not increasing incommensurate with the rise in its combat fleet.
Briefing reporters on the ongoing evacuation mission 'Operation Kaveri', Kwatra said approximately 1,700 to 2,000 Indian nationals were moved out of the conflict zones and they included the citizens already evacuated out of Sudan as well as those who are on their way to Port Sudan from capital city Khartoum.
Kerala is the only state, other than West Bengal (2001 and 2007), in India to have reported Nipah virus cases. Kerala is the only state, other than West Bengal (2001 and 2007), in India to have reported Nipah virus cases. The previous outbreaks in the state were in May 2018, June 2019 and September 2021. This explains the anticipation and readiness this year, reports Shine Jacob.
'Just because the night passed and we survived does not mean the struggle is over for us. We are far from being in a safe zone. We did start walking but the railway stations were flooded with people and still haven't been able to board a train'
India's comments came hours after Russia claimed that some Indian students in Kharkiv were taken hostage by Ukrainian security forces.
The fresh batch of evacuees arrived in Bengaluru, a day after 365 people returned from the African country to Delhi.
Global rating agency S&P on Tuesday said even though the US and the Euro zone are headed to recession, India is unlikely to face the impact given the "not so coupled" nature of its economy with the global economy. "Indian economy is a lot decoupled from the global economy than we normally think of, given its large domestic demand, even though you (India) are a net importer of energy. "But you have enough forex reserves on one hand and your companies have managed to maintain healthy balance sheets," Paul F Gruenwald, S&P global chief economist and managing director, told reporters in Mumbai.
The plane, which took off from Jeddah around 11 am IST, landed in Mumbai at 3.15 pm, an official said.
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