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Social welfare for all a pipe dream in India
Thursday, 1 March 2012 - 6:14 PM SL Time
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India shines in its malls but slips badly when it comes to ensuring the well-being of its millions.
India may well be the world`s fastest growing `free market` economy, but it is no competition to its neighbours when it comes to the social wellbeing of her people.
A comparison with the neighbouring nations shows that besides Pakistan, all others like Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and China are far better off in terms of various social welfare indicators.
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In a Report Published without publicity on the Web site of the United Nations Human Rights Council Faults NATO and Libyan Authorities
Sunday, 4 March 2012 - 5:07 AM SL Time
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BEIRUT, Lebanon NATO has not sufficiently investigated the air raids it conducted on Libya that killed at least 60 civilians and wounded 55 more during the conflict there, according to a new United Nations report released Friday.
Nor has Libya`s interim government done enough to halt the disturbing violence perpetrated by revolutionary militias seeking to exact revenge on loyalists, real or perceived, to the government of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, the report concluded.
Published without publicity on the Web site of the United Nations Human Rights Council, based in Geneva, the report details the results of an investigation by a three-member commission of distinguished jurists. It paints a generally gloomy picture of the level of respect for human rights and international law in Libya, while acknowledging that the problem is a legacy of the long years of violent repression under Colonel Qaddafi.
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Libyan rebels desecrated the graves of more than 150 British servicemen killed in WWII as a retaliation for the burning of the Koran by US soldiers in Afghanistan
Sunday, 4 March 2012 - 6:37 PM SL Time
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A year ago they begged for Britain`s help when Colonel Gaddafi`s tanks encircled their city, threatening annihilation.
Now former Libyan rebels in Benghazi liberated with the aid of the RAF last March have systematically desecrated the graves of more than 150 British servicemen killed in North Africa 70 years ago.
Headstones at the Benghazi War Cemetery have been torn down and crucifixes smashed with hammers by a mob of extremists, some carrying guns and dressed in combat fatigues.
More than 1,000 soldiers and airmen who lost their lives in the desert wars of Montgomery and Rommel are buried at the site in Eastern Libya.
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Karuna`s coordinating secretary arrested for involvment in human smuggling
Monday, 5 March 2012 - 10:23 AM SL Time
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Mar 05, Colombo: Colombo Fraud Investigation Bureau has arrested a coordinating secretary of Deputy Minister of Resettlement, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan.
The Minister`s official who surrendered to the Fraud Investigation Bureau on March 02 is accused of his involvement in human smuggling.
He has allegedly been collecting money from people of the Eastern Province to send them to Western countries for employment.
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Oxford University researchers find a cure for WeTamizhness..
Sunday, 11 March 2012 - 3:09 PM SL Time
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Heart drug `could cure racism`
Volunteers given the beta-blocker, used to treat chest pains and lower heart rates, scored lower on a standard psychological test of `implicit` racist attitudes.
They appeared to be less racially prejudiced at a subconscious level than another group treated with a `dummy` placebo pill.
Scientists believe the discovery can be explained by the fact that racism is fundamentally founded on fear.
Propranolol acts both on nerve circuits that govern automatic functions such as heart rate, and the part of the brain involved in fear and emotional responses. The drug is also used to treat anxiety and panic.
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LTTE`s Prabhakaran was shot dead after `surrender`
Tuesday, 13 March 2012 - 9:30 AM SL Time
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Just a day after the world reacted in horror to a video showing the body of LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran`s 12-year-old son, with five close-range gun wounds to the chest, it has emerged the Tiger leader himself was killed in cold blood after surrendering to the Sri Lankan army.
The surrender has long remained a secret because those who knew refused to let the Tamils know their leader had surrendered towards the end of the war.
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Enemies of the Internet - 2012
Wednesday, 14 March 2012 - 7:33 PM SL Time
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The last report, released in March 2011 at the climax of the Arab Spring, highlighted the fact that the Internet and social networks have been conclusively established as tools for protest, campaigning and circulating information, and as vehicles for freedom. In the months that followed, repressive regimes responded with tougher measures to what they regarded as unacceptable attempts to destabilize their authority. In 2011, netizens were at the heart of the political changes in the Arab world and elsewhere. They tried to resist the imposition of a news and information blackout but paid a high price.
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fishing in troubled water or sacrificing umbilical brothers(yet again)?
Saturday, 17 March 2012 - 4:40 PM SL Time
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Chennai: Voicing serious concern over continued attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen allegedly by Sri Lankan Navy, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Saturday asked the Centre to take up urgently the issue with the island government to ensure that no such `brutal incidents occur in mid-sea again.`
`I am also deeply pained to point out that the issue of attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen is not being treated as a national issue. No serious action is initiated whenever such attacks occur,` she said in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh drawing his attention to the recent incident when a boat carrying four fishermen of Rameswaram were attacked by `some Sri Lankan miscreants` who hurled petrol bombs.
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Iran buys US wheat again, trade set to grow: US export sources
Sunday, 18 March 2012 - 6:13 PM SL Time
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The US says Iran has purchased 60,000 metric tons of American wheat, reopening grain trade ties between the two countries amid Washington`s tough sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
According to a Reuters report published on Friday, it is the first time in three years that Iran has purchased US wheat. The industry sources said Iran was close to completing purchases of another 220,000 metric tons to be shipped as early as April, and in talks with exporters to buy another undisclosed amount.
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It`s all about the money..
Monday, 19 March 2012 - 8:25 AM SL Time
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WASHINGTON: Three days before the shooting rampage in Kandahar, Afghanistan, that killed 16 unarmed men, women and children, Staff Sergeant Robert Bales`s house in suburban Tacoma, Washington state, was put up for sale.
Years of overseas duty on a sergeant`s salary had squeezed the family`s resources to breaking point, and now Bales`s property was in disrepair and worth $US50,000 ($47,000) less than what the family paid for it.
The news was another blow to the 38-year-old father of two who was then three months into an Afghanistan assignment he had hoped to avoid. He had also been overlooked for a promotion last year to sergeant first class, which would have eased the family`s financial problems.
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Govt.responds to latest Channel 4 video
Monday, 19 March 2012 - 6:24 PM SL Time
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In its official response to latest Killing Fields documentary aired by Channel 4, the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development released a video which contains much of the footage from its previous ones but adds two major incidents which occurred during the final stages of the war.
Titled Shadows of Terror: Response of Channel 4 the document features Fr. James Paththinara, a resident priest of the St. Mary`s Church in Valayanmadam who spoke of how the LTTE forcibly recruited children who were hiding in the church during the final phase of work.
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jail to those who insult our troops
Wednesday, 21 March 2012 - 4:31 PM SL Time
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`People gassin about the deaths of Soldiers! What about the innocent familys who have been brutally killed.. The women who have.been raped.. The children who have been sliced up..! Your enemy`s were the Taliban not innocent harmful familys. All soldiers should DIE & go to HELL! THE LOWLIFE FOKKIN SUM! gotta problem go cry at your soldiers grave & wish him hell because thats where he is going..`
Sufficiently offended and terrified? Keep that fear in mind.
The above is a Facebook post made by a 19 year old who is currently facing a charge of a racially aggravated public order offence, the precise details of which I have yet to confirm.
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US lambasts UN rights body
Thursday, 22 March 2012 - 9:45 AM SL Time
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While demanding the right of the international community to intervene in Sri Lanka to ensure national reconciliation in the aftermath of the government`s victory over terrorism, the US yesterday told the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) sessions that a genuine peace between Israel and Palestine could only be realized between the two parties.
A US statement in Geneva quoted President Barak Obama as having told the General Assembly, `a genuine peace can only be realized between the Israelis and the Palestinians themselves. Ultimately, it is the Israelis and the Palestinians not us who must reach agreement on the issues that divide them.`
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Lanka blames strategic ties, domestic issues for UN resolution
Thursday, 22 March 2012 - 10:41 PM SL Time
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Sri Lanka on Thursday blamed strategic alliances and domestic political issues, an apparent reference to politics in Tamil Nadu, for the UNHRC resolution which was backed by India to censure Colombo for its alleged war crimes during the ethnic conflict with LTTE.
Responding to the adoption of the US-sponsored resolution by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, foreign minister GL Peiris said Sri Lanka had performed remarkably.
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Chennai forces India to split from Asia, censure Sri Lanka
Friday, 23 March 2012 - 7:24 AM SL Time
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NEW DELHI: Sri Lanka became the lastest victim of the UPA government`s coalition compulsions, as India voted against one of its closest neighbors at the UN Human Rights Council today on alleged human rights violations in a development that may have larger implications.
India`s unprecedented move to target a close ally could result in India losing strategic space to China, which voted against the resolution censuring Sri Lanka , along with others in the neighborhood, like Bangladesh and Maldives. All Asian states, except India, stood by Sri Lanka. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia voted with their strategic ally, US.
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Israel rejects cooperation with UN over settlements
Friday, 23 March 2012 - 7:36 PM SL Time
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Israel has reacted furiously to the UN Human Rights Council`s vote to send a team to probe Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank. The council has urged Tel Aviv to reverse its policy in the region.
On Thursday, the 47-member council adopted a resolution condemning Israel`s announcements of new settlement homes and ordering an investigation into the effects of the Israeli settlements on the human rights of Palestinians. It was passed with 36 votes in favor, 10 abstentions and only one the US against.
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Ed Sheeran - Little Lady
Monday, 26 March 2012 - 8:39 AM SL Time
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Listen, little lady,
This is just the worst way to spend your birthday,
It`s thirty degrees, Thursday.
You work late, you is with a perv making dirty fake love in his Mercedes.
Lady, the word rape sums up events that take place every night.
You wanna get up but you know your legs`ll ache if you try.
And you remember that your punter went crazy last night,
You drag yourself to the mirror to check your face, then you cry.
Forget the visit to the clinic you were booked in for,
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Has India lost the mango and the sack in the Maldives?
Monday, 26 March 2012 - 1:59 PM SL Time
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Democracy is rough road littered with potholes. Either you avoid them and play safe, or you fill them up for a smoother ride in the future. Mohamed Nasheed did both. First, he played safe and then he changed gears to take the problem head-on. But in doing so, he failed to avoid a collision that led to the toppling in a coup of the first-ever democratic government in the Maldives that he headed.
Clearly, Nasheed`s order to arrest Abdulla Mohamed, Chief Judge of Criminal Court, on January 16 was a political blunder. It brought a rainbow coalition of opposition politicians, mega-rich resort owners and radical Islamists out on the streets - united only by their opposition to a nascent, liberal democracy and the reforms it had brought about that are under genuine threat today.
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How Sunanda Robbed Money And Rs 30.9 million Unaudited FMM
Monday, 26 March 2012 - 9:53 PM SL Time
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Last week I reproduced Sunanda Deshapriya`s lies regarding his corruption. On December 28, 2008 Sunanda Deshapriya said to Lakbima News Namini Wijedasa There was no other alternative to do that. At the end of the project, we found that something was missing. So we discussed among ourselves and decided to do it the way we did, without cheating the money but by using the excess money for something else. Ninety per cent of NGOs work like this. I know that other NGOs have had much bigger issues and there has been internal disciplinary action. But Sara (Saravanamuttu) and some others have gone to the press. I accept their right to go to the media.
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Sunanda, NGOs and accountability.. to the tune of Rs.30million
Monday, 26 March 2012 - 9:55 PM SL Time
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By Uvindu Kurukulasuriya -
Last week I reproduced Sunanda Deshapriya`s lies regarding his corruption. On December 28, 2008 Sunanda Deshapriya said to Lakbima News Namini Wijedasa There was no other alternative to do that. At the end of the project, we found that something was missing. So we discussed among ourselves and decided to do it the way we did, without cheating the money but by using the excess money for something else. Ninety per cent of NGOs work like this. I know that other NGOs have had much bigger issues and there has been internal disciplinary action. But Sara (Saravanamuttu) and some others have gone to the press. I accept their right to go to the media.
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Israel cuts ties with UN Human Rights Council in dispute over settlements
Wednesday, 28 March 2012 - 8:11 PM SL Time
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The government of Israel has decided to cut ties with the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) a week after the council declared its intention to open an investigation into Israeli settlements across the occupied West Bank. The announcement was made by a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, who told Agency France Presse, `The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has taken a decision to cut working relations with the UN body.`
The spokesman added, `This means that the fact-finding team, which the UNHRC intends to send to the West Bank, will be denied entry to the [occupied Palestinian] territories and Israel.` He confirmed that Israel will continue to cooperate with other United Nations agencies.
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Global Tamil Forum taking legal action against William Hague
Saturday, 31 March 2012 - 2:31 PM SL Time
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An organisation representing the international Tamil diaspora is taking legal action against William Hague over the Foreign Office`s failure to confront a senior Sri Lankan diplomat accused of complicity in crimes against humanity during the final stages of the island`s civil war.
The Global Tamil Forum has instructed the law firm Birnberg, Peirce and Partners to bring a judicial review against the foreign secretary for his refusal to declare Major General Prasanna Silva now the military attache to the Sri Lankan High Commission in London persona non grata.
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Indian foreign policy: Foreign or provincial?
Sunday, 1 April 2012 - 3:27 AM SL Time
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CP Bhambhri
The democratically elected political executive and Parliament are held solely responsible for the formulation and implementation of foreign and defence polices. On the basis of this logic, the Constitution makers had clearly defined and demarcated jurisdictional boundaries by assigning foreign and strategic policy making roles only to the central government and limited the role of regional-state governments to deal with local law and order and developmental activities. So, in the more than six decades of post-Independence phase of democracy, foreign and defence policies have been pursued by the central government on the basis of its perceptions of national interests.
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