TAMILNADU POLITICS: Jaya govt reverses yet another DMK decision!

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Press Trust Of India / ibnlive.in.com / Posted on Aug 23, 2011 at 04:26pm IST.

Chennai: Reversing yet another decision of the previous DMK regime, the Jayalalithaa government on Tuesday announced that the Tamil New Year would now be celebrated in April, instead of January.

The move followed a public demand that the New Year be reverted to 'Chithirai', Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said in the Assembly, while accusing the previous DMK government of not taking it into account the 'sentiments and opinion' of the people while effecting the change in 2008.

The DMK regime's decision was 'useless' and one that 'hurt' the sentiments of the people, she said while announcing the move which comes four days after her government decided to convert the Rs 1,200 crore new assembly-cum-secretariat complex into a multi-super-speciality hospital and a new medical college, overturning DMK chief Karunanidhi's pet project.

Jayalalithaa claimed the Tamil New Year had all along being celebrated in the month of 'Chithirai' and the previous regime had changed the system which was in vogue for many years with the sole intention of gaining 'publicity'.

Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Minister SP Shanmuganathan moved a resolution seeking to revert the New Year to Chithirai in the Tamil calendar.

Full Story at,

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/jaya-govt-reverses-yet-another-dmk-decision/177994-62-128.html

  

Sri Lanka: BJP’s Tamil cause fizzles out!

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August 8, 2011 / Correspondent, DC, Chennai.

The Eelam war might have ended on the northern beaches of Sri Lanka but across the Palk Strait, the island’s Tamil conflict continues to gather heat across Tamil Nadu amid scores of concerned politicians, human rights activists and youth. Not a day passes without at least one demonstration in some part of the state and the protesters demanding war crimes trial against the rulers in Colombo and speedy resettlement for war survivors.

The BJP is a recent player in the Eelam theatre. Keen on grabbing a bit of the Dravidian political space, the saffron party has been carrying out campaigns in support of the Lankan Tamils. And on Sunday, the lotus flags descended on Rameswaram with a large contingent led by national general secretary Muralidhara Rao and Pon Radhakrishnan threatening to cross over to the disputed Katchatheevu island to press for the fishing rights of Tamil Nadu fishermen in the Palk Strait. With no local fishermen willing to lend their boats, the BJP protesters gave up their programme after some slogan-shouting.

Full Story at,

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/south/bjp%E2%80%99s-tamil-cause-fizzles-out-263

Jaya announces Rs 1000 monthly dole to Lankan Tamil refugees!

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August 2, 2011 / PTI, chennai / DC.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa on Wednesday announced a monthly dole of Rs 1000 to 5,544 Lankan Tamils living in refugee camps in the state.

An order to this effect has been issued by the Chief Minister, an official press release said.

"The Chief Minister is concerned about the welfare of the Sri Lankan Tamils staying in refugee camps in the state and, therefore, in the Governor's address had also announced that various welfare measures will be extended to the Tamils," it said.

Jayalalithaa had taken up the plight of Sri Lankan Tamils lodged in camps in the island nation with the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she met her last month, the release said.

After the AIADMK came to power, the Tamil Nadu Assembly also adopted a resolution demanding economic sanctions to ‘rein in’ Colombo on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue.

Full Story at,

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/south/jaya-announces-rs-1000-monthly-dole-lankan-tamil-refugees-739

Sri Lankan Tamils sent to Chennai

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B.V.S. Bhaskar, The Hindu / RAJAHMUNDRY, July 31, 2011.

The Sri Lankan Tamils before being sent to Chennai by train from Tuni in East Godavari on Saturday. Photo: S. Rambabu - The Hindu.

They said they were duped by agents who promised them jobs in Canada

As many as 147 Sri Lankan Tamils, who were in the custody of Tuni Rural Police for the past three days, were sent back to Chennai by the Criminal Investigation Department of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu police on Saturday.

Their passports and identity cards issued by the refugee camps were verified. Superintendent of Police of East Godavari C. M. Trivikram Varma said all of them were sent by Circar Express to Chennai under police escort.

The Sri Lankans were taken into custody when they were moving suspiciously near the Talupulamma Lova shrine.

Police reported the matter to the CID, Hyderabad, who in turn informed Tamil Nadu police to check the antecedents of the Tamils.

The refugees told the police that they were duped by five agents who promised to take them to Canada and get jobs there.

Full Story at,

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2308777.ece

LONG JOURNEY: From Beijing to Villupuram, a radio station spreads its reach!

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Ananth Krishnan, The Hindu / BEIJING, July 30, 2011.

China’s Kalaiarasi: Zhu Juan Hua, the director of China Radio International's Tamil station, at a recording of their daily broadcast. Photo : Ananth Krishnan.

CRI's Tamil programmes, which enjoy a cult following , are set to grow bigger

S. Pandiyarajan was fiddling around with his shortwave radio set one hot summer evening at Villupuram, Tamil Nadu, when he stumbled upon a strange station.

At first listen, it was a language he couldn't identify. It sounded like Tamil, but spoken in an accent he could not recognise. He listened on, straining his ears. To his surprise, he discovered that the voices were coming from faraway China.

“I could hear two Chinese people speaking in perfect Tamil!” he said. “And this was Sentamizh [classical Tamil], which you never hear anywhere, anymore, even in Tamil Nadu.”

That evening, Mr. Pandiyarajan became the latest member of China Radio International's fast-growing overseas fan base. The station, run by the Chinese government, has, for more than six decades, been tasked with carrying news from China — from politics to arts and culture — to boost the country's image overseas.

With humble beginnings in the civil war-torn China in the 1940s, CRI today is at the centre of a massive multi-billion dollar effort to boost rising China's “soft power” overseas, sending out daily broadcasts in 63 languages, 24 hours a day, from its expansive multi-storey headquarters in west Beijing.

Remarkably, CRI's Tamil station enjoys the widest reach of all its channels. Its popularity underscores the quiet success China's “soft power” push is having in unlikely locations. The Tamil station, which broadcasts every day from a modest 12th floor office, has more than 25,000 registered listeners — besides thousands of others who tune in casually every day — in Tamil Nadu and the rest of India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, Germany, the United States and Japan.

The Tamil station started broadcasting in 1963. Since then, it has continued to beam its shows uninterrupted, building up an almost cult following overseas, with its fans even organising themselves into a network of listeners' clubs.

Full Story at,

http://www.thehindu.com/arts/radio-and-tv/article2308735.ece