Monthly archive

Japanese Buddhist dignitary Dr. L. Kawamura, Director of Eastern Religions, Calgary University, was a special guest at the 2553rd Vesak Celebrations organized by the Sri Lankan community in Calgary, Canada on May 9. He delivered a thought-provoking speech on Buddhism and its impact on the modern world, at the event. The Sri Lankan Buddhist society enlivened the festival with a typical Sri Lankan Vesak night atmosphere and an attractive ‘thorana’ that was commissioned for the first time since the introduction of Buddhism to continental America. The celebrations saw the enthusiastic participation of a large gathering. Children of the Ehipassiko Dhamma School conducted a traditional religious procession or "Mal Perahara" at the commencement of the celebrations.

By Quintus Perera - Asian Tribune

Piyara Bakery (Pvt) Ltd, Moragoda, Gampaha is a family owned corporate entity and it won a prestigious award for the promotion of eco-friendly production process presented by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC). The process got the bakery industry closer to the nature, effluent water treatment got bio-gas to avoid the use of three LP Gas Cylinders per day, in addition to the prestigious award winning and winning the hearts of the neighbours.

By Janaka Alahapperuma-London

A suspected gang of Tamil Tiger supporters has once again attacked the Sri Saddhatissa International Buddhist Centre (SSIBC) popularly known as “Kingsbury Buddhist Temple-London” in the wee hours of Wednesday (Today) May 14th. This attack by Tamil Tiger supporters caused damage to the glass windows, panels and the building. No one, including the residing monks, was injured and London Metropolitan Police were called immediately to the temple premises around 3.15 am. This is the seventh (7th) time Kingsbury temple has come under physical attack and on numerous other occasions, suspects have stolen the Sri Lankan flag which is always displayed on the post in front of the temple, along with the British and Buddhist flags. Previous attacks caused severe damage to the building, glass windows and vehicles parked outside.

By a special correspondent from Toronto

When doctors ask them to exercise most people don’t want to follow because exercising is not their favorite subject. A well known LTTE money collector in Toronto Mr. Gunapalasundaram Veeragathipillai also known as Guna Veeragathipillai found a new method to loose his troubling fat in an easy and respectable way. Few days ago he sat in front of Toronto Queens Park area and told his Tamil Tiger friends that he is fasting until his leader Prabakaran rescued by International community.

By Gopal Ethiraj from Chennai

Polling to 39 parliamentary constituencies in Tamilnadu and for one in Puducherry ended today, and it is said to be moderate and somewhat peaceful, except for two incidents—one at Triplicane in Chennai and at Dindigul. Unofficial record says votes polled was more than 60 per cent. Polling was brisk throughout the day and there were failure of electronic voting machines (EVM) as soon as polling started in the morning in about 40 booths in the city and a few others across the State owing to malfunctioning the machines. However they were set right, and some time was lost. Many voters, including political leaders, most of whom claim to rationalists, choose to bid the inauspicious time, the yamagandam, that is from 7.30 am to 9 a.m., and came to vote after 9.

Daya Gamage – US Bureau Asian Tribune

Barrack ObamaThe United States president Barrack Obama made the following statement on the situation in Sri Lanka in the White House lawn Wednesday, 12 May. The President: Hello, everybody. Sorry to keep you guys waiting. Good to see you. I want to take a few moments at the top to talk about something that, with all the big issues going on, hasn't received much attention, but I think is worth talking about briefly. As some of you know, we have a humanitarian crisis that's taking place in Sri Lanka, and I've been increasingly saddened by the desperate news in recent days. Tens of thousands of innocent civilians are trapped between the warring government forces and the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka with no means of escape, little access to food, water, shelter and medicine. This has led to widespread suffering and the loss of hundreds if not thousands of lives.

By M Rama Rao, India Editor, Asian Tribune

Now that Indian electorate has delivered and sealed its verdict, guessing game has begun on who would be the next prime minister. The bookies are rooting for Manmohan Singh for the top job and are putting the odds against BJP strong man L K Advani though exit polls have put the Congress only slightly ahead of its rival BJP. Several other leaders like Sharad Pawar, Mulayam Singh, and Mayawati are also said to toying with plans to enter the PM race. Both parties are projected to fall short of the half way mark to form a single party government in 545 member lower house of Parliament. (Two of these seats are filled by nomination of Anglo-Indians). ‘Times Now’ television’s exit poll gave Congress 154 seats and its alliance, UPA, 198 seats. For the BJP, its count is 142 seats and its alliance, NDA 183 seats. CNN-IBN television projected 185-205 seats to the UPA, 165 to 185 to the NDA.

The UN Security Council has strongly condemned the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for its acts of terrorism over many years, and for its continued use of civilians as human shields, and acknowledges the legitimate right of the Government of Sri Lanka to combat terrorism. In a press statement on Sri Lanka was read out today by Council President Vitaly Churkin, which said that the members of the Security Council has demanded the LTTE to lay down its arms and allow the tens of thousands of civilians still in the conflict zone to leave. The statement further said that the members of the Security Council has also expressed deep concern at the reports of continued use of heavy calibre weapons in areas with high concentrations of civilians, and expect the Government of Sri Lanka to fulfill its commitment in this regard.

By Thalif Deen, Inter Press Service

Will the election of the United States to the 47-member Geneva-based Human Rights Council (HRC) make a significant difference to the cause of human rights worldwide, or will Washington be thwarted by the Council's politically-repressive countries accused of being serial abusers? Both questions will be put to a test when Washington takes a seat on the HRC for a three-year term beginning Jun. 19. Elizabeth Sepper, U.N. advocacy fellow at Human Rights Watch, told IPS: "We expect to see the United States bring energy and enthusiasm to the Council's work."