• Thai Pongal celebrated by Tamils worldwide

    Jan 16

    The Tamil festival of Thai Pongal was celebrated around the world and across the Tamil homeland on Tuesday.

    The secular festival gives thanks to the sun and for the harvest, and dates back in its current form to at least as far back as the Medieval Chola empire.

  • Canadian Prime Minister recognises success of Tamil community on Thai Pongal
    <p>Canada’s prime minister Justice Trudeau recognised the “many contributions Tamil Canadians have made to the success and prosperity of our country,” as he marked Thai Pongal this week.</p> <p>“This week, the Tamil community in Canada and around the world will celebrate Thai Pongal, the four-day harvest festival,”said a statement from the prime minister’s office.</p>
  • Meeting monks and war criminals – Sri Lanka's new navy commander pays his dues

    The newly appointed head of the Sri Lankan navy took up his post in recent weeks by paying visits to sacred Buddhist sites and giving offerings to monks, as well as meeting controversial military leaders, including an admiral wanted over involvement in the murder of 11 Tamil youths.

  • Indian fisherman found dead near Neduntheevu
    <p>The Sri Lankan navy <a href="http://news.navy.lk/eventnews/2019/01/13/201901131850/">announced</a> that it had recovered the body of a dead Indian fisherman that it had discovered off the coast of Neduntheevu in Jaffna on Sunday.</p> <p>The man has been identified as 55-year-old Karuppaiah Muniasamy&nbsp;from Ramanathapuram in India.</p>
  • Tamil family in Australia seeking asylum ‘are not refugees’ declares Australian minister

    Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has refused to reverse his decision to deport a Tamil family, declaring that “ at every single turn they’ve been found not to be refugees”.

    Nades,his wife Priya and their two daughters, Kopika and Tharunicaa, were refused asylum by Australian authorities and due to be deported later this year. They are currently being held in detention despite pressure from their local community to reverse the government's decision.

    Peter Dutton responded to the case by telling reporters, “The family has gone through multiple court processes. At every single turn they’ve been found not to be refugees”. 

  • UK Prime Minister celebrates British Tamils in Thai Pongal message

    The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Theresa May celebrated the contributions of British Tamils in a Thai Pongal message.

    “We should all celebrate our Tamil community,” the Prime Minister said.

    “Small in number but big in impact, every day and in every corner of the country you help make Britain the successful, thriving, diverse place it is today.”

  • TGTE calls for universal jurisdiction to be exercised against Sri Lankan leaders
    <p>The appointment of Shavendra Silva as chief of staff of the Sri Lankan army “is a staggering affront to the international community,” said the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE)&nbsp;, who called on the international community to exercise universal jurisdiction against those accused of crimes.</p>
  • IMF reschedules Sri Lanka meeting, with USD $1 billion due for repayment today
    <p>The International Monetary Fund has rescheduled a crucial meeting with Sri Lanka as a snowstorm hit Washington DC, with Colombo due to repay an estimated USD $1 billion today.</p> <p>Sri Lanka’s Minister of Economic Reform Harsha de Silva, who is in Washington with finance minister Mangala Samaraweera, tweeted details of the loan repayment figure, stating it was due today and confirming the meeting have been rescheduled.</p>
  • Sri Lankan navy arrests man in Mannar over alleged drug charges

    The Sri Lankan navy announced that it had arrested a man in Mannar, after it apprehended a haul of over 180 kilograms of Kerala cannabis.

  • Foreign minister calls on diplomats to improve Sri Lanka's image abroad
    <p>Sri Lanka's foreign minister, Tilak Marapana, called on diplomats to improve the country's image abroad through their diplomacy, the Sunday Times reports.&nbsp;</p> <p>Marapana, speaking at an awarding ceremony of the Public Diplomacy and Media Relations training programme on Friday, stressed the importance of presenting Sri Lanka as a civilised nation with untapped potential and talent.&nbsp;</p>
  • OMP officials to accompany Mannar bone samples to Florida

    Officials from the Sri Lankan government’s Office of Missing Persons (OMP) will join the chief investigator of the Mannar mass grave, where over 200 skeletons have been unearthed, in accompanying samples from the grave to a laboratory in Florida where they will be analysed.

  • Rajapaksa - govt has no legitimacy to change constitution, call election
    <p>The former president and now opposition leader, Mahinda Rajapaksa urged the government to call a new parliamentary election, stating that it did not have the legitimacy to change the country's constitution.&nbsp;</p> <p>"There should be legitimacy prior to introducing a new constitution. We doubt if the present government has that legitimacy," Rajapaksa told the Constitutional Assembly.</p>
  • Alleged war criminal's appointment confirms lack of will for justice - Adayaalam, PEARL
    <p>The appointment of the alleged war criminal, Major General Shavendra Silva as Sri Lanka's new Chief of Staff confirms the government's "lack of political will to address accountability and justice", the Jaffna based research group, Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research, and the Washington based group, People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL), noted in a joint statement.</p>
  • Jaffna youth found dead after assault

    A Tamil youth was found dead on Sunday night, after what locals say was an assault by unknown men. 

    Vasuthevan Amalkaran, aged 22 and from Katkovalam, Vadamarachchi, is understood to have been attacked by sharp instruments by his house, before the assailants escaped from the area. 

    The reason for the attack is not known. 

    Sri Lankan police are investigating the incident. 

  • 20 Indian fishermen arrested by Sri Lanka navy
    <p>The Sri Lankan navy has arrested at least twenty Tamil Nadu fishermen on Sunday for allegedly poaching fish, PTI reports.&nbsp;</p> <p>The fishermen were detained off the coast of Neduntheevu during the early hours of Sunday morning.&nbsp;</p> <p>Their boats have been impounded and the men taken to Karainagar for investigation. &nbsp;</p>
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