4 Thursday 15th September, 2011 The Island Home News Lankan quintet on trial today !Accused of supporting LTTE Five Sri Lankan men go on trial goal of a free Tamil state in Sri Lanka LTTE. In case that they refused to pay today, in the Hague, accused of support- known as Tamil Eelam. This remains no there would be severe consequences for ing the LTTE, Radio Netherlands report- more than a dream following the death their relatives still living in Sri Lanka, ed yesterday. The indictees are accused of the LTTE’s leader Villupilai the report claims. of being members of a criminal organi- Prabhakaran [sic] and the end of the One of the accused is 46-year-old sation with terrorist intentions and of military struggle in the Spring of 2009. Srirangam R. from the Hague. He fled to raising funds for it, Radio Netherlands Operation Koninck eventually led to the the Netherlands over two decades ago reported yesterday. arrest of several Dutch Tamils, five of and is believed to head the Dutch divi- A Dutch police-investigation team whom are now being prosecuted in a sion of the Tamil Tigers. monitored Tamil meetings in The specialist war crimes chamber in The Victor Koppe, Srirangam’s defence Netherlands. In its subsequent report, Hague. counsel, has recently applied to the entitled ‘Operation Koninck’, it According to the Dutch police report, European Court of Justice to have the describes how certain Tamils raised each Dutch Tamil family was expected LTTE removed from the EU’s list of funds for their ‘ultimate war’ with its to ‘donate’ 2000 Euros per year to the banned terror organisations. The Government Nursing Officers Association staged a protest outside the National Sri Lanka, India join hands to Hospital yesterday against recruiting nurses with GCE A/L Arts and Commerce qual- ifications. The Union claimed that the move to recruit 200 nurses to serve in hospi- tals of the North and East from the two streams would downgrade the health service teach English in schools as they would not be competent enough to provide patient care as those who had sat their A/Ls from the science stream. (pic by Sujatha Jayaratne) R. K. RADHAKRISHNAN Sri Lanka and India have come togeth- er in a major initiative to expand teaching English in schools in this country. Though launched in 2009 after Meet the Director President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared ‘English as a Life Skill,’ the joint initia- tive, which has reached out to about Buddhadeb Dasgupta 23,000 teachers, will be expanded in a major way with the signing of a The Indian Cultural ‘Kahini Ananya Kabita’.” Memorandum of Understanding on Centre, Colombo hosted the Buddhadeb started his career Tuesday (13). programme Meet the Director as a economics teacher, at the “We remember with gratitude that the with prominent Indian film Shyamsunder College in Burdwan first country that came forward to offer Director Buddhadeb followed by City College, Calcutta. both technical and material assistance for Dasgupta, followed by a talk He started his film career with a the success of the Presidential initiative by him at the ICC auditori- ten-minute documentary in 1968, on English was India,” said Sri Lankan um, Colombo 7, on ‘The Continent of Love’; eventual- Minister for Education Bandula Wednesday. It was followed by ly he made his first full-length fea- Gunawardana, after he inked the MoU the screening of his Bengali ture film, ‘Dooratwa’ (Distance) in with High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Film ‘Lal Darja’ (Red Doors), 1978. His lyricism has been Ashok K. Kantha. with subtitles in English. extended to cinema as well. As part of the MoU, India will train 40 An ICC spokesperson said During the early stages of his film Sri Lankan English Teachers in the first that Buddhadeb Dasgupta career, Dasgupta made films batch, who will be the master-trainers for teachers. The teachers will travel to was a poet and prominent Buddhadeb inspired by Satyajit Ray’s realistic Hyderabad-based English and Foreign contemporary Indian film- Dasgupta films and later moved on to other Languages University,on the Indian Indian High Commissioner to Sri maker, most known for films forms, the spokesperson said. Technical and Economic Cooperation Lanka Ashok K.Kantha and Sri Funds for paddy such as Bagh Bahadur, Tahader Katha, ‘Lal Darja’ (Red Doors) features Dr. scholarship. India will help in establish- Charachar and Uttara. Five of his films Nabin Datta as a prominent dentist in Lankan Minister for Education ing nine Centres for English language Bandula Gunawardhana exchang- released to banks have won the National Film Award for Calcutta, 47, disengaged, with little training — one in each of the provinces. ing documents in Colombo on Best Film, Bagh Bahadur (1989), affect, and fearful that his hands and Soon after the ceremony,Mr. Kantha by Treasury Charachar (1993), Lal Darja (1997), feet are turning to metal. His wife leaves and Mr. Gunawardana were working on Tuesday. Photo: R.K. Mondo Meyer Upakhyan (2002) and him to live alone. His son, who is away sorting out the remaining formalities, to Radhakrishnan BY LAL GUNASEKERA Kaalpurush (2008), while Dooratwa(1978) at school, will not talk to him. He enable the teachers to travel at an early Mr. Gunawardana wanted India to The funds released on Tuesday (13) by and Tahader Katha (1993) won the searches for meaning: he seeks the help date. The Sri Lankan Ministry had help expand the programme using the Treasury to the Paddy Marketing National Film Award for Best Feature of a jolly but dismissive physician; he distance learning and e-learning tech- already selected the teachers, and was Board (PMB) has already being directed to Film in Bengali. He was given the talks to an underworld thug about hav- working on their visa request papers. Mr. niques, and wanted India to help the State banks to pay the farmers for the National Film Award for Best Directing ing his wife murdered; he delves into Kantha assured that the visa process establish English libraries in the nine twice, for Uttara (2000) and Swapner Din the life of his driver, the happy-go-lucky would be fast-tracked. centres. purchase of paddy. (2005). Dinu, who has two wives and a mistress, (The Hindu) Chairman of the PMB K. B. “Over the years Buddhadeb all three of whom love Dinu, all three of Jayasinghe told The Island that the farm- Dasgupta has published several works of whom Dinu cherishes; lastly he returns ers should have no fear regarding the pur- poetry including ‘Govir Araley’, ‘Coffin in his mind to the magical possibilities US announces... From page 1 chase of their produce by the PMB which Kimba Suitcase’, ‘Himjog’, ‘Chhaata of his childhood, when he could open will honour every single payment. Kahini’, ‘Roboter Gaan’, ‘Sreshtha doors using only a nursery rhyme. students during his visit an improvement in human He said that Minister of Cooperatives Kabita’, and ‘Bhomboler Ascharya’ and to Jaffna. In spite of armed rights. I discussed with rele- and Internal Trade Johnston Fernando paramilitary personnel not vant officials the importance has issued a directive to pay the farmers being seen in the Jaffna of disarming paramilitary without any delay for paddy that has been peninsula, Blake emphasised groups, on which progress is purchased. the need to take further being made. There is also a Meanwhile, 50,445 metric tones of AGM of Prince of Wales College OBA action to improve the post- need to put an end to the paddy has been purchased by the PMB at war security situation. The grease devil incidents, which a cost of Rs. 1,434 million so far. The 107th Annual General Meeting of Kasun Madusanka, Nimesh Chamika, State Department official many people in Jaffna on Prince of Wales’ College Old Boys Kasun Tharinda, Uditha Sanjaya and reproached the EPDP for Tuesday told me had given Jayasinghe said that it was a canard Association will be held on 17th Poorna Sachintha, all old boys of the interfering with his meeting rise to new levels of insecuri- spread by unscrupulous persons that stor- September 2011 at the College hall com- College, who participated the final rounds with Jaffna university students. ty. It is important to deploy Tamil age facilities were not available and even mencing at 5.00 p.m. followed by dinner at of dream star and super star competitions Reiterating his concern about police in the North, so the military if they were full, there were new storage the Sebastanites hall in Lunawa, will be in attendance. For further details facilities available. On Minister Moratuwa from 8,oo p.m. onwards with contact Anusha Fernando on 071-6853618. human rights, Ambassador Blake no longer needs to perform police said: “A very important part of the functions. And the US remains Fernando’s instructions paddy will be reconciliation and returning peo- deeply concerned about attacks on purchased from the farmers without any ple’s lives to normal in the North is journalists.” hindrance, he said. Congress cannot... From page 1 She ... From page 1 From page 1 Stating that as many as are hand-in glove with The caller was once Blake still... 22 murders occurred in the them,” he said. granted bail on the con- The statement was made in the issues in Sri Lanka to the UN past 100 days, Mr. On the Congress’ strate- dition that she would wake of President Obama’s Press Human Rights Council and UN Newspaper agents Narayanasamy said the gov- gy for the by-poll in Indira leave the man alone but Secretary Jay Carney acknowledg- Human Rights Commissioner, ernment had failed to check Nagar constituency, he said no sooner had she ing Osama hadn’t been armed at the underlined the need for a compre- the activities of anti-social a decision would be taken walked out than she time he was shot in his head and hensive national reconciliation meet today elements.