Eelam People's Democratic Party
The Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) is a Sri Lankan political party and a pro-government paramilitary organization. It is led by its founder Douglas Devananda. Background Douglas Devananda was one of the founding members of the Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS), one of the earliest Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups. In 1980, EROS split into two as K. Pathmanabha (Padmanaba) Varatharajah Perumal broke away and formed the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF). Devananda joined the EPRLF. By early 1986, disputes had arisen between Devananda and Pathmanabha, the EPRLF's political leader. The EPRLF leadership split into two factions: EPRLF (Ranjan) and EPRLF (Douglas). In 1987, the ''EPRLF (Douglas)'' faction formally split from the EPRLF. Devananda initially formed the Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front (ENDLF) with a breakaway faction of the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam led by Paranthan Rajan. The ENDLF collap ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Douglas Devananda
Kathiravelu Nythiananda Devananda, commonly known as Douglas Devananda (), is a Sri Lankan Tamil politician, Cabinet Minister and leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party. Originally a Sri Lanka Tamil militant who fought against the Sri Lankan government for an independent Tamil Eelam, he became a pro-government paramilitary leader and politician. Due to his strong opposition to and vocal criticism of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Tigers), they unsuccessfully tried to assassinate him over 10 times. Devananda is a proclaimed offender in India and is wanted on charges of murder, attempt to murder, rioting, unlawful assembly and kidnapping. He was sworn in as Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources on 22 November 2019. Early life Kathiravelu Devananda was born on 10 November 1957. His father was Subramaniam Kathiravelu, an employee of Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and his mother was Maheswary, a teacher at Jaffna Central College. He has three brother ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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People's Liberation Organisation Of Tamil Eelam
The People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) is a former Tamil militant group that had become a pro-government paramilitary group and political party. PLOTE's political wing is known as the Democratic People's Liberation Front. Origins PLOTE was founded in 1980 by an ex-surveyor Uma Maheswaran alias Mukundan, who became its general secretary. He was the chairman of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Tigers or LTTE) from 1977 to 1980. He was trained in Lebanon and later in Syria under the Palestinian nationalist organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. After a bitter rivalry with Velupillai Prabhakaran, Uma Maheswaran left the LTTE in 1980 and formed PLOTE. Coup in Maldives In late 1988, an attempted coup to overthrow the Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's government in Maldives with the help of mercenaries from PLOTE was foiled with assistance from the Indian Army and Navy. There have been suggestions that the PLOTE may have been promised one of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members and supporters around the world. The stated mission of the organization is to campaign for "a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments". The organization has played a notable role on human rights issues due to its frequent citation in media and by world leaders. AI was founded in London in 1961 by the lawyer Peter Benenson. In what he called "The Forgotten Prisoners" and "An Appeal for Amnesty", which appeared on the front page of the British newspaper ''The Observer'', Benenson wrote about two students who toasted to freedom in Portugal and four other people who had been jailed in other nations because of their beliefs ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jaffna Peninsula
The Jaffna Peninsula (, or ) is a region in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is home to the capital city of the province, Jaffna, and comprises much of the former land mass of the medieval Jaffna Kingdom. The peninsula was historically divided into the three regions of Vadamarachchi, Thenmarachchi and Valikamam, which today make up three regions of the Jaffna District. History Naga Nadu The Naga people were one of the ancient tribes of Sri Lanka, who were mainly concentrated in the Jaffna Peninsula. The peninsula was also known in pre-mediaeval era as ''Naga Nadu'', which means "''Land of the Nagas''" as mentioned in the twin epics of ancient Tamilakam, the Silappatikaram and Manimekalai. The Pali chronicle Mahavamsa also refers to the peninsula with the corresponding name as ''Nagadipa'', meaning "''island of Nagas''", where it is described as a Chiefdom with rulers named as ''Diparaja'', meaning "''King of Island''". Ptolemy, the Greek writer from 100 AD ref ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ranjan Wijeratne
General Ranjan Wijeratne (4 April 1931 – 2 March 1991) was a Sri Lankan planter and politician. He served in the Premadasa cabinet as Minister of Foreign Affairs and then Minister of Plantation Industries, while holding the office of State Minister for Defence during the time. Early life Ranjan Wijeratne was born on 4 April 1931, the son of Walpola Mudalige George Hercules Wijeratne and Rosalind Maria née Senanayake a first cousin of D. S. Senanayake. He was educated at S. Thomas' College, Gurutalawa and S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia. Plantation career Wijeratne began his career as a planter having apprenticed under Carlyle De Kretser on Kehelwatte Estate Plantation in Lunugala in the Badulla district and then joined Whitalls Plantation on 11 October 1950. Wijeratne had the rare opportunity to also understudy De Kretser on their rubber property Bibile Group which they had just acquired from the Dunlop rubber Company.Carlyle’s father Harris was instrumental in se ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Disappearance Of Stephan Sunthararaj
Sinnavan Stephan Sunthararaj was a child rights activist in Sri Lanka. He was the Project Manager of the Centre for Human Rights and Development and Coordinator for the Child Protection Unit of World Vision. He had reported on the pro government military Eelam People's Democratic Party's child prostitution racket in Malaysia and India with the help of corrupt of Customs and Immigration officials. He had provided information to the U.S. embassy in Colombo that: "Children are sold into slavery, usually boys to work camps and girls to prostitution rings, through EPDP's networks in India and Malaysia. Sunthararaj maintained that children are often smuggled out of the country with the help of a corrupt Customs and Immigration official at Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo." Background Stephan did his bachelor's degree in sociology from the Jaffna University. Later he worked as an Assistant Lecturer.Stephen later joined the a position in World Vision (Child Protection). He m ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Robert O
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, renown, godlike" and ''berht'' "bright, light, shining"). It is the second most frequently used given name of ancient Germanic origin.Reaney & Wilson, 1997. ''Dictionary of English Surnames''. Oxford University Press. It is also in use as a surname. Another commonly used form of the name is Rupert. After becoming widely used in Continental Europe, the name entered England in its Old French form ''Robert'', where an Old English cognate form (''Hrēodbēorht'', ''Hrodberht'', ''Hrēodbēorð'', ''Hrœdbœrð'', ''Hrœdberð'', ''Hrōðberχtŕ'') had existed before the Norman Conquest. The feminine version is Roberta. The Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish form is Roberto. Robert is also a common name in many Germanic languages, including En ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kodambakkam, Chennai
Kodambakkam (also known as K-Town or Kollywood) is a business and residential neighbourhood in Central Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The neighbourhood is served by Kodambakkam railway station of the Chennai Suburban Railway Network. Kodambakkam has a high concentration of film studios and has been known for its status as the hub of the Tamil cinema, Tamil film industry, lending its name to the industry's monicker Kollywood, a portmanteau of Kodambakkam and Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood. Location Kodambakkam is situated at 13.0481 N latitude and 80.2214 E longitude. It is one of the westerly located neighbourhoods of Chennai city. It is bounded by the neighbourhoods of Nungambakkam to the east, West Mambalam and T. Nagar to the south, Vadapalani to the west, Choolaimedu to the north and K. K. Nagar, Chennai, K. K. Nagar and Ashok Nagar, Chennai, Ashok Nagar to the south-west. Kodambakkam is located at a distance of 8 kilometres from Fort St. George. Etymology It is believ ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Indian Express
''The Indian Express'' is an English-language India, Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the Indian Express Limited, ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight years after Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split between the family members. The southern editions took the name ''The New Indian Express'', while the northern editions, based in Mumbai, retained the original ''Indian Express'' name with ''The'' prefixed to the title. History In 1932, the ''Indian Express'' was started by an Ayurvedic doctor, P. Varadarajulu Naidu, at Chennai, being published by his Tamil Nadu press. Soon under financial difficulties, he sold the newspaper to Swaminathan Sadanand, the founder of ''The Free Press Journal'', a national news agency. In 1933, the ''Indian Express'' opened its second office in Madurai, launching the Tamil language, Tamil edition, ''Dinamani''. Sadanand introduce ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian Newspaper of record, newspapers of record. , ''The Hindu'' is published from 21 locations across 11 states of India. ''The Hindu'' has been a family-owned newspaper since 1905, when it was purchased by S. Kasturi Ranga Iyengar from the original founders. It is now jointly owned by Iyengar's descendants, referred to as the "Kasturi family", who serve as the directors of the holding company. Except for a period of around two years, when Siddharth Varadarajan, S. Varadarajan held the editorship of the newspaper, senior editorial positions of the paper have always been held by members of the original Iyengar family or by those appointed by them under their direction. In June 2023, the former chairperson of the group, Malini Parthasarathy, w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kilpauk
Kilpauk is a semi residential area located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The distance from Chennai's city to Kilpauk is about 6 km. The region is situated off the Poonamallee High Road in the west. Adjacent areas of Kilpauk include Chetpet, Kellys, Egmore, Ayanavaram, Anna Nagar, Choolaimedu and Purasawalkam. The nearest railway station for Kilpauk is the one at Chetpet. This railway station lies to the south of Kilpauk and not more than a kilometre away. There are two metro stations which connects to Kilpauk, they are Nehru Park and Kilpauk (entrance of the Kilpauk Medical College). The Chennai Airport is about 18 km from Kilpauk. This place was a cantonment area for British troops before India's independence. Today this locality is known as "Little Korea" due to the Korean population residing in this area. The neighbourhood has a historical water-treatment plant. On the other end, to the west, is the Institute of Mental Health, one of the oldest mental a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sunday Leader
''The Sunday Leader'' was an English-language Sri Lankan weekly newspaper published by Leader Publications (Private) Limited. It was founded in 1994 and is published from Colombo. Its sister newspapers are the ''Iruresa'' (''Irudina'') and the defunct ''The Morning Leader''. Founded by brothers Lasantha Wickrematunge and Lal Wickrematunge, the newspaper is known for its outspoken and controversial news coverage. The newspaper and its staff have been attacked and threatened several times and its founding editor Lasantha Wickrematunge was assassinated. History ''The Sunday Leader'' was founded in 1994 by brothers Lasantha Wickrematunge and Lal Wickrematunge with the first edition being published on 19 June 1994. The newspaper was associated with Sleeping partner, silent partner and leading politician and presidential candidate Gamini Dissanayake who was assassinated on 24 October 1994. ''The Sunday Leader'' was shut down by the Sri Lankan government on 22 May 2000 using the recently ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |