Monthly archive

M.A. Qader-Asian Tribune Correspondent in Bangladesh

Bangladesh finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith on Wednesday said budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year is at the final stages. "The budget drafting is expected completed within this month. Subsequent it will be sent to the press [for printing]," he said at his office yesterday. The budget session will start on June 4 and it will be presented at the parliament on June 11, he said.

By Wajid Ali Syed – Washington Correspondent for Asian Tribune

As the fighting in north-east Sri Lanka comes to an end, the scale of the challenges facing UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies on the ground become more apparent. "It is now estimated that up to 80,000 people have left the former fighting zone in the last three days, which brings the total who have fled the fighting in the last several months to 280,000." In a statement issued by the agency today, some 230,000 have been screened and registered and are currently accommodated in 41 sites spread across four districts. Another 50,000 people are undergoing screening and registration at various points and awaiting transportation to the sites.

By M Rama Rao, India Editor, Asian Tribune

DMK, NCP and other allies of the Congress allies are sulking even as the official formalities for the swearing in of Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister for the second term are completed. The big event will take place on Friday, Rashtrapati Bhavan announced on Wednesday after Manmohan Singh along with Sonia Gandhi met President Pratibha Patil and staked his claim. With every party outside the Left and BJP falling head over heels to be by his side, the government has the backing of 322 MPs. For a simple majority the government needs 272 members on the treasury benches. Pre-poll alliances gave the Congress 274 members.

Hilary Rajakarunanayake, Editor – Sri Lanka, Asian Tribune

Ceremonies to explain to all school children and to appreciate the good work done by the Armed Forces to unify the country by defeating the LTTE are taking place in all schools in the island this morning (21), an official of The Education Department said. The Ministry of Public Administration has requested that the National Flag be unfurled and the National Anthem be sung in all Government Departments and in all mercantile establishments at 9.30 am this morning(21) to whip up a sense of patriotism in the hearts of the people.

Hilary Rajakarunanayake, Editor – Sri Lanka, Asian Tribune

Prabah and KarunaVinayagamoorthi Muralidaran nom de guerre Karuna Amman, who is a State Minister of National Integration and Reconciliation today in the Sri Lanka Government and who until recently was LTTE chief Prabhakaran’s closest aide of 22 years as Colonel Karuna says he wants to meet Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi to explain to them the "circumstances that led to Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination". Vinayagamurthy Muralitharan alias Karuna, whose 2004 revolt played a vital role in the weakening of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), also said the Tigers would never rise again. He said there's no one left in the LTTE to carry out guerrilla attacks anymore.

Hilary Rajakarunanayake, Editor – Sri Lanka, Asian Tribune

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon will visit Sri Lanka tomorrow (22) for a firsthand look at displacement camps and the former war zone, and to to assess rehabilitation and reconstruction needs, the Foreign Ministry announced. "I am relieved by the conclusion of the military operation and now it is most important that every effort be undertaken to begin a process of healing and national reconciliation." Moon said he hoped to ramp up humanitarian aid for the country and help facilitate dialogue in the country.

Hilary Rajakarunanayake, Editor – Sri Lanka, Asian Tribune

The bodies of a woman Mathvathani Erambu, identified as Prabhakaran’s wife and a girl Duvaraka, identified as Prabhakaran’s daughter, and a young boy Balachandran identified as Prabhakaran’s younger son were found in the vicinity of the body of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran according to Army officials. These bodies which have now been sent for autopsy today (May 20), were found from among those retrieved from the Nandikadal lagoon yesterday (May 19), said military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara.

By Wajid Ali Syed – Washington Correspondent for Asian Tribune

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told senators Wednesday that if Iran obtains a nuclear weapons capability, it would trigger an arms race in the Middle East and beyond. She said the Obama administration is pursuing a diplomatic track on the issue with Iran but within a specific time-frame. In testimony before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee nominally devoted to the foreign affairs budget, she said, "a nuclear-armed Iran with a deliverable weapons system is going to spark an arms race in the Middle East and the greater region. That is not going to be in the interests of Iranian security and we believe that we have a very strong case to make for that."