Monthly archive

M.A. Qader-Our Correspondent in Bangladesh

The deadly cyclone ‘Aila’ that hit the country’s southwestern coastline on Monday night left more than 100 people dead so far and at least one hundred missing. It is the second storm in the Bay of Bengal in less than one month. Several people were killed and hundreds of thatched houses destroyed in Cox's Bazar on April 17. Unofficial death counts from cyclone 'Aila' has reached 102 until 8:15pm on Tuesday and local administrations say the figure may rise as more than 100 are missing. Of them, twenty-seven people died in Khulna, 20 in Satkhira, 10 in Bhola, nine in Barisal, six in Patuakhali, four in Narshingdi, 25 in Noakhali, two each in Chapainawabganj, Cox's Bazar and Naogaon, and one in Magura.

By Asif Haroon Raja

In the aftermath of Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979, Pakistan had to bear the burden of over 3.5 million Afghan refugees; 1.7 millions have still not returned. Besides the economic burden, they have inflicted huge damage to the social fabric of the society particularly where their influx has been the maximum. Large percentage of Afghan refugees who had not been confined to the camps is living in all parts of the country. They are being cultivated by foreign agencies based in Kabul to serve their sinister designs.

By M Rama Rao, India Editor, Asian Tribune

Six days after he constituted his second coalition government, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has decided to expand his ministry by inducting some 50 young and old faces on Thursday. There will be a dozen cabinet ministers, around seven ministers of state with independent charge and some 30 ministers of state. The first lot taken in on May 22 comprised 19 cabinet ministers. The expansion was initially slated for Tuesday evening itself but pulls and pressures from within the Congress forced party chief Sonia Gandhi and her core team of advisors to hold long sessions with the Prime Minister on balanced regional, and caste representation in the council of ministers.

Hilary Rajakarunanayake, Editor – Sri Lanka, Asian Tribune

Navaratne"The Government of Sri Lanka and the NGOs are now working towards a common goal to serve the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North and speed up their resettlement". "Senior Presidential Advisor and Parliamentarian Basil Rajapaksha who also holds the Chairmanship of the Special Task Force for Northern Development has instructed the Government Departments and the NGOs to achieve this goal within 180 days". Speaking to "Asian Tribune", the Chairman of the Sewa Lanka Foundation, Dr. Harsha Kumara Navaratne says that at present the Task Force is working with the NGOs, UN agencies and the government institutions to overcome the present difficulties of the welfare camps.

By Gopal Ethiraj from Chennai

KarunanidhiMillions of Tamils all over the world believe that the draft resolution now presented by the Sri Lankan government to the United Nations Human Rights Council is largely against the interest of Tamils in the island nation, said Tamil Nadu CM Karunanidhi today. Karunanidhi made this statement in his letter sent a letter to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, drawing his attention that India takes correct decision in the matters relating to Sri Lanka. The letter was sent on Tuesday after finalizing the seven names for the ministerial berths in the union cabinet yesterday, the copy of which was made available to the media persons.

By Gomin Dayasri

Exit of Prabhakaran has caused weird consequences- a meeting of minds between the Government and the Tamil Net. Both deem K.Pathmanathan(KP) as the anointed heir apparent. Nothing could have been further away from the mindset of Prabhakaran. He did not foresee or foretell a life for the LTTE after him. He was larger than the LTTE and he presumed there was no existence for the LTTE after his death. He was immortal, at least, until Elam was achieved. In the volatile shrinking small world of the LTTE, probably Prabhakaran was correct. But the Diaspora cannot afford to evaporate into thin air, with plenty of funds at their disposal. There are no replacements to find in the refugee camps. Operations have to originate from an overseas base from where terrorism has to be exported to Sri Lanka to activate the few sleepers currently anesthetised.

By Quintus Perera - Asian Tribune

Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka(FCCISL) in collaboration with the National Cleaner Production Centre (NCPC) held a workshop on Polythene/ Plastics . Tissa Jayaweera, Senior Vice-President, FCCISL inaugurated the workshop and the following resource persons discussed the various aspects of Polythene/Plastics: Ms Batuwitage, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources spoke on Why Plastic Management is necessary; Jayanetti, Central Environment Authority spoke on National Policy Regulations & Enforcement on Plastic & thin film; Nihal Cooray, Technical Manager, Indexpo Certification Pvt Ltd spoke on Application on CP & 3R Concept and Jagath Deva, National Cleaner Production Centre spoke on The Sri Lankan Cleaner Productions activities.