Thai Pongal was celebrated across the Tamil homeland this morning, with festivities taking place despite bouts of flooding, coronavirus restrictions and a continued heavy Sri Lankan military presence.

Tamils around the world marked Thai Pongal, the traditional Tamil harvest festival, today as celebrations shone despite coronavirus restrictions.

Tamil Heritage Month began in Canada this week as politicians from across the political spectrum paid tribute to the Tamil community.

An online event with cultural performances was held on New Year’s day to mark the start of the month, which will see events held virtually throughout January.

_{UofT signing agreement with Toronto Tamil Chair Team}

The University of Toronto (UofT) has agreed to establish a ground breaking Tamil Chair, after signing an agreement with the Tamil Congress and Tamil Chair Inc. in 2018. The Chair  has received an outpour of community support and will be first of its kind in Canada.

Tributes have flooded in this week as yet another Tamil doctor passed away from coronavirus in the UK this week, as coronavirus infections rise across the country.

Dr Krishnan Subramanian, a Consultant Anaesthetist at Royal Derby Hospital, passed away on Thursday after contracting coronavirus. Dr Subramaniam joined the trust in 2014 as a Consultant Anaesthetist and was a well loved member of the medical team.

Deepa Mehta's 'Funny Boy' is facing calls for a boycott as criticism mounts over the lack of Tamil representation in the film and Mehta's links to the Rajapaksa regime. 

The film, which is based on the 1994 novel written by Shyam Selvadurai, follows a queer Tamil boy in the years leading up to the 1983 anti-Tamil pogroms in Colombo, when thousands of Tamils were killed by Sinhala mobs backed by the then UNP government and state forces.

Photograph by Gajan Bala 

Shan Vincent de Paul who goes by the moniker SVDP, is a Toronto-based Tamil rapper and director. His debut album "Saviors" was released in 2016, followed by his sophomore album "Trigger Happy Heartbreak" in 2017. Shan has released a song from his upcoming album "Made in Jaffna" - titled "One Hundred Thousand Flowers".

The 217th victory day of Pandara Vanniyan, the last sovereign of the Vanni chieftaincy was commemorated last month with fanfare across the Tamil homeland in the North-East. 

Proceedings began early morning in Vavuniya in the presence of Urban Council Chairman E. Gowthaman who also organised the event last month. 

Sri Lankan troops have been deployed at the Nallur Kandasamy Temple in Jaffna this week, as the temple’s annual festival – thiruvizha – began last month.

The new moon in Aadi (July) is one of the three most powerful new moons of the year. Devotees honour their ancestors by observing fasts, feeding crows and bathing in large bodies of natural water to rid themselves of their sins.