June 1-7: " As you get older it is harder to have heroes, but it is sort of necessary " - Ernest Miller Hemingway (1899-1961) American novelist
India, China compete in Indian Ocean
From The International Herald Tribune
This battered harbor town on Sri Lanka’s southern tip, with its scrawny men selling even scrawnier fish, seems an unlikely focus for an emerging international competition over energy supply routes that fuel much of the global economy. [TC]
Sri Lanka's war turns on civilians
By Frances Harrison
The use of two bus attacks in one day is clearly designed to spread fear in Sri Lanka which has seen a series of increasingly frequent attacks targeting civilians on public transport in recent weeks. [BBC]
Improved water retention measures needed to thwart floods
Flash floods that affected 418,000 people and left 23 dead and four missing this week in western Sri Lanka could have been avoided with proper water retention schemes, government irrigation engineers told IRIN. [TC]
Sri Lanka attacks “bad” war reporting
by Alan Johnston
[BBC, South Asia Desk]
The Sri Lankan Defence Ministry has launched a bitter attack on what it says is irresponsible media analysis of military affairs and the progress of the war in the north of the island. [TC]
Sri Lanka, Somalia, Islam and the West
By Dr.Ram Manikkalingam
I recently visited Somalia to attend a meeting of religious figures, clan elders and women leaders. Somalia is not a very stable place. But like all unstable countries, there are pockets of relative stability. [FI]
The leader of the opposition in Sri Lanka has described the powerful Defence Secretary as a traitor for leaving the country as war against the LTTE intensified.
Ranil Wickramasinghe said Gotabhaya Rajapaksa left Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to live in the United States while the SLA engaged with the LTTE in the north and the east. [TC]
By Dharisha Bastians
The abduction and assault of Keith Noyahar, Deputy Editor and Defence Columnist of The Bottom Line's sister publication The Nation was outrageous and brutal enough. Worse still is the deafening silence from quarters of the political firmament, especially those who have genuinely or otherwise retained a modicum of decency in a sea of corruption and abuse. [TC]
Communal violence disrupts relief efforts in the east
Communal clashes and ethnic tension between Tamils and Muslims have been disrupting humanitarian work in the eastern Batticaloa District of Sri Lanka since 22 May, UN and other relief workers said. [TC]
Sampur Thermal Power Plant: Cleansing for power
By Namini Wijedasa
Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) sources said last week that the proposed thermal power plant in Sampur will proceed on schedule despite strong rumblings over civilian displacement. [TC]
The Killing of T.M.V.P Leader Shanthan in Kaathaankudi
by D.B.S. Jeyaraj
The morning of Thursday May 22nd saw a comic scene being enacted in Colombo. Devouring humble “kanji” (porridge) before his excellency President Mahinda Rajapakse was the “honourable” Mohamed Lebbe Alim Mohammed Hisbullah. [TC]
Disregard pressure from chauvinists
by Dr. Vickramabahu Karunaratne
It was a new experience for me, to watch the Human Rights Commission sittings, chaired by Nissanka Udulagama. I know Nissanka as a soft but fast spoken person with a precision mind. A true noble, ever so humble and never gives into perks or pressures. Perhaps the truth will come out from this Commission. [TC]
Gota lays down his law to journos
Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa who is officially tasked to ensure the security of all Sri Lankans, had indirectly levelled death threats on two senior journalists last Monday. [FI]
All Lands Home
Isolated in Amazon, Visible From the Air
Survival International, an organization based in London whose mission is to help tribal peoples to “defend their lives, protect their lands and determine their own futures,” said the pictures were taken as part of several flights over the thinly populated upper reaches of the Amazon, in Acre, a Brazilian state. [NYTimes]
A two-day-old gorilla, who is unnamed, rests on its mother's belly at the Hanover Zoo in Germany [NYTimes]
Arts - Culture- Heritage
by K.S. Sivakumaran
Let's look at the cultural activities of the Eastern Lanka in particular around the country in general through a Thamil literary magazine (the 3rd issue) published in Maddakkalappu(Batticaloa). Its address: 19, Upstairs Road, Maddakkalappu, Sri Lanka. [TW]
nanthalala: One song, rendered by many
The Poet experiences Lord Krishna's divinity in everything from a crow's feathers to the branding fire [HA]
Arasangam has restored Vijayakanth’s glory at the box-office. sudhish kamath talks to the actor about his forthcoming films, politics and more [Hindu]