Is LTTE chief really dead?

Media reports say Prabhakaran has been killed but recently we received this picture/photo of him in our email that shows him sitting comfortably and watching his own dead body on a news channel! He is also holding a Tamil daily.

We were not sure about the picture, whether it is doctored or real.

If you have anything to say on this please leave it on the comment box.

Agatha Sangma: Youngest, hottest minister in UPA govt

Nationalist Congress Party general secretary and for former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma’s daughter Agatha Sangma is to become the youngest minister in the UPA governmmnet today (May 28, 2009).

The 28-year-old lady who had won from the Tura LS constituency in the recently concluded election has become a sensation even on the internet with thousands looking up Google for ‘Agatha Sangma’.

Agatha is not only the young face of the UPA government but also the hottest among them. Besides, being the first woman MP from Meghalaya also works in her favour. We will be seeing her more and more in the coming days, for there are many media houses following her every moves.

A rare opportunity given to a woman Memeber of Parliament from northeast India is definitely a welcome step.

We too nod our head in agreement that she is indeed the hottest among all MPs in the Indian Parliament. Hema Malini and Jaya Prada are now history!

However hot and happening she is, we looked forward to the quality of her work in the days to come.

Webtalkies Short Film Awards 2009

Webtalkies invites films, both fiction and non-fiction, across genres and languages. The only constraint would be in terms of the film duration which will have to be between min 3 to max 15 minutes. The shortlisted films will be screened on nautanki.tv and simultaneously judged panel of judges including filmmakers like Paromita Vohra and Amol Gupte, film editors like Deepa Bhatia and cinematographers like Mahesh Aney.

The best three films will be chosen by the jury as per the following categories and will be awarded prize monies as follows:

• Best Short Film : Rs 50,000
• Best Editor : Rs 25,000
• Best Cinematographer : Rs 25,000

In addition, the film that gets the highest number of views on nautanki.tv will be awarded the

• Audience Choice Award and a cash prize of Rs. 30,000.

Entries open 1st June, 2009 to 15th July, 2009.

There is NO entry fee.

The shortlisted films will be notified by mail on 1st August, 09 and the films will be put up on www.nautanki.tv

The best three films will be declared on 7th September, 09 and they will be screened at INOX, Nariman Point on the 27th of September 09 and the jury will present the cash prizes. For Further Information - Click here.

Do we need another nuclear-armed nation?

With North Korea announcing its second 'successful nuclear tests' yesterday the Korean peninsular crisis became much more complex rather than easing the ongoing reconciliation process.

North Korea proudly claimed: “The successful nuclear test is greatly inspiring the army and people of the DPRK [North Korea].”

“The test will contribute to defending the sovereignty of the country and the nation and socialism and ensuring peace and security on the Korean Peninsula,” it added.

The question the world community should now be asking is whether we need nuclear weapons to root-out our enemies. Also, why should we destroy the world as well as our enemies at the same time. We can at least be good to 'mother earth' who had given mankind so much. If we really wanted to settle score points with our enemies we can just keep the conventional ways, like, using our AK-47s or even kungfu fighting?

We have one world and now over seven nuclear-armed states all set to destroy it whenever they wanted to. Even in times of peace nuclear weapons are a danger. It is time leaders of the world seriously contemplate on behaving like a 'nuclear family' and sort out their differences in amicable ways without threatening the other.

[Image: joongangdaily.com]

LTTE admits Prabhakaran’s death

Colombo, May 24: Ending its stoic silence over the death of Tamil Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran, the LTTE on Sunday said the top rebel leader was killed in last week's final battle with the Sri Lankan military in the north.

 

We announce today, with inexpressible sadness and heavy hearts that our incomparable leader and supreme commander (Prabhakaran)... attained martyrdom fighting the military oppression," the LTTE's head of International Relations Selvarasa Pathmanathan said in a statement today.

"For over three decades, our leader was the heart and soul and the symbol of hope, pride and determination for the whole nation of people of Tamil Eelam," Pathmanathan said.

The Sri Lankan Army had on Monday last said it has killed Prabhakaran when he tried to flee in an ambulance. But, the LTTE immediately rejected the army claim, saying Tamil Tiger supremo was alive and safe.

The Tigers had dismissed the announcement by the Sri Lankan government about Prabhakaran's death as "engineered rumours".

"These rumours have been set afloat to confuse the global Tamil community which has been voicing support for the liberation of Tamil Eelam," a pro-rebel website had said, quoting Arivazhakan, the 'Head of International Secretariat of the Intelligence wing' of Tamil Tigers.

However, in today's statement, Pathmanathan said 54-year-old Prabhakaran died fighting military but did not give details of the circumstances that led to his death.

He also announced a week of mourning for their dead leader, starting tomorrow.

The statement calls on Tamils all over the world to "restrain from harmful acts to themselves or anyone else in this hour of extreme grief."

"Since the failure of the peace process and the escalation of the war forced upon the Tamil people, the LTTE was faced to confront the Sri Lankan military that was supported by the world powers.

"This deliberate bias and position taken by the international community severely weakened the military position of the LTTE," he said.

"Our leader confronted this threat without any hesitation. He would not waver in his desire to be with his people and fight for his people till the end," he said.

"His (Prabhakaran) final request was for the struggle to continue until we achieved the freedom," Pathmanathan said, adding "his legend and the historical status as the greatest Tamil leader ever are indestructible."

The Sri Lankan troops recovered Prabhakaran's body near a lagoon in the 'No Fire Zone' in the Wanni region. The Army had yesterday said that they have cremated the body.

I met one-handed rickshaw puller and I died with shame...

[From Deepshikha Shanker*, Mangalore University]

I met this guy who pulls rickshaw for a living and guess what I was never more ashamed about complaining on my status (complains about life)... I know most would kill for what I have while others would scorn, but this guy who lives by a rickshaw when he can beg and make better money.

 

Oh yes! I forgot to mention that he has just one hand.. So??? I found a new found dignity in lives of people who make their living every day...I have nothing more to say than that but i was not just ashamed of what he did, I was ashamed of why he had to resort to it... why he didn't have a system supporting his kind.. I don't know but will at least soon find out...

 

[*Deepshikha is now a journalist working with CNN-IBN, New Delhi]

 

Google Chrome 2.0 released!

Google chrome 2 has been released from beta version. Google claims that Google Chrome 2.0 is not only "Better, faster, Stronger from the previous version" but even from other browsers. If you want to update your Google Chrome to Version 2.0 you can also download it at http://www.google.com/chrome.

Prabhakaran's death is 'engineered' rumour: LTTE

May 23, 2009: Five days after the Sri Lankan government claimed that it had killed leader of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Velupillai Prabhakaran, Head of International Secretariat of the Intelligence Wing of the LTTE, Arivazhakan, on Friday said that Mr. Prabhakaran is "alive, totally safe" and he will emerge at an "appropriate time".

This is the second time LTTE has rubbished the Sri Lankan government's claim to pro-LTTE website Tamilnet.com.

Mr. Arivazhakan alleged that the Rajapaksa government through its media is spreading false propaganda and rumours about the death of the LTTE Leader only to misguide the people in Sri Lanka and the International Community.

Urging the global Tamil community not to believe such “engineered rumours”, Mr. Arivazhakan said, “Our beloved leader is alive and monitoring the situation. He will again emerge and contact with his people in appropriate time”.

“Time is coming when it will be proved that Colombo government is spreading false propaganda,” he further said, but did not reveal his location due to security reasons.

Other reliable LTTE intelligence sources said Pirapharan along with Pottu Amman and Col. Soosai had escaped through Kanchikudicharu a dense jungle in Mullaithivu.

The LTTE sources however had accepted that Charles Antony, B. Nadesan and Pulledevan were shot dead by Sri Lankan military.