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1998 Temple Of The Tooth Attack
The 1998 Temple of the Tooth attack was an attack on the Temple of the Tooth Relic, located in Kandy, Sri Lanka. The shrine, which is considered to be important to the Buddhists in Sri Lanka, houses the relic of the tooth of the Buddha and is also a UNESCO designated World Heritage Site. In 1998, it was attacked by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist militant organization which fought to create an independent Tamil state in the northern and eastern parts of the country from 1983 to 2009. Background During the latter part of the 1990s, Sri Lanka was at the height of a civil war. In 1995, Sri Lankan armed forces captured the Jaffna Peninsula at the country's Northern periphery, which was occupied by the LTTE for years. In 1996, the LTTE retaliated by taking the town of Mullaitivu, and inflicting heavy casualties to the government forces. The government launched the '' Operation Jayasikurui'', and captured several LTTE held areas in 1997. Amid fighting, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kandy
Kandy (, ; , ) is a major city located in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818, under the Kingdom of Kandy. The city is situated in the midst of hills in the Kandy plateau, which crosses an area of tropical plantations, mainly tea. Kandy is both an administrative and religious city and the capital of the Central Province. Kandy is the home of the Temple of the Tooth Relic (''Sri Dalada Maligawa''), one of the most sacred places of worship in the Buddhist world. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988. Historically the local Buddhist rulers resisted Portuguese, Dutch, and British colonial expansion and occupation. Etymology The city and the region have been known by many different names and versions of those names. Some scholars suggest that the original name of Kandy was Katubulu Nuwara located near the present Watapuluwa. However, the more popular historical name ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Suicide Attack
A suicide attack (also known by a wide variety of other names, see below) is a deliberate attack in which the perpetrators knowingly sacrifice their own lives as part of the attack. These attacks are a form of murder–suicide that is often associated with terrorism or war. When the attackers are labelled as terrorists, the attacks are sometimes referred to as an act of ''" suicide terrorism"''. While generally not inherently regulated under international law, suicide attacks in their execution often violate international laws of war, such as prohibitions against perfidy and targeting civilians. Suicide attacks have occurred in various contexts, ranging from military campaigns—such as the Japanese pilots during World War II —to more contemporary Islamic terrorist campaigns—including the September 11 attacks in 2001. Initially, these attacks primarily targeted military, police, and public officials. This approach continued with groups like al-Qaeda, which combine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TamilNet
TamilNet is an online newspaper that provides news and feature articles on current affairs in Sri Lanka, specifically related to the erstwhile Sri Lankan Civil War. The website was formed by members of the Sri Lankan Tamil community residing in the United States and publishes articles in English, German and French. It is Tamil nationalist and is described as a pro LTTE website. Tamilnet and non-governmental organizations such as Free Media Movement (FMM), Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and ARTICLE 19 confirm that the website is currently banned in Sri Lanka. Operations TamilNet was founded in 1995 by a group of Tamil diaspora professionals, including computer programmer K. Jayachandran from Norway, a systems analyst from the UK and several “dotcom” entrepreneurs from the United States to counter what they thought was a biased Western press coverage of the Sri Lankan conflict. In 1996 the journalist Dharmeratnam Sivaram was invited by the group to reform their w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anuruddha Ratwatte
General Anuruddha Leuke Ratwatte (14 July 1938 – 24 November 2011), frequently referred to as Anuruddha Ratwatte, was a Sri Lankan politician and a retired army officer. He was a Cabinet Minister and Deputy Minister of Defence. Early life Born in Kandy to the old Radala Ratwatte family, he was the sixth of nine children born to Harris Ratwatte Dissawa and Mallika Katugaha Kumarihamy. A colonial era politician, Harris Ratwatte was a member of the State Council in 1936 to 1947 for Kegalle and United National Party Member of Parliament for Mawanella 1947 to 1952 Anuruddha Ratwatte was educated at Trinity College, Kandy, where he played rugby for his school. Following his schooling, he volunteered in the Central Ceylon Youth Council, serving as the administrator of the Council office and library in Kandy in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He gained a commission as a volunteer officer in the rank of second lieutenant in the 2nd (V) Battalion, Ceylon Sinha Regiment (2CS ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asian Tribune
''The Asian Tribune'' is an online newspaper. Their funding is unknown, and critics, such as the Sri Lanka Guardian, consider their journalism to be of poor quality. The publication is owned by K.T. Rajasingham, who is also a writer for the publication. The online source provides news and editorial on the current affairs of Asia, with a special emphasis on South Asia but mostly concentrates its news on the current Civil conflict in Sri Lanka with questionable reliability. Publication began in 2002 and was then based in Bangkok, Thailand. Its print edition was discontinued in 2011. The publication is registered in Sweden as an online publication. Asian Tribune is currently based in Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by .... Defamation conviction A Swedish co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sri Lankan Tamil People
Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, form the plurality in the Eastern Province and are in the minority throughout the rest of the country. 70% of Sri Lankan Tamils in Sri Lanka live in the Northern and Eastern provinces. Modern Sri Lankan Tamils descend from residents of the Jaffna kingdom, a former kingdom in the north of Sri Lanka and Vanni chieftaincies from the east. According to the anthropological and archaeological evidence, Sri Lankan Tamils have a very long history in Sri Lanka and have lived on the island since at least around the 2nd century BCE. The Sri Lankan Tamils are mostly Hindus with a significant Christian population. Sri Lankan Tamil literature on topics including religion and the sciences flourished during the medieval period in the court of the Jaffna Kingdom. Since the beginning of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinhalese People
The Sinhalese people (), also known as the Sinhalese or Sinhala people, are an Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group native to the island of Sri Lanka. They are the largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka, constituting about 75% of the Sri Lankan population and number more than 15.2 million. The Sinhalese people speak Sinhala language, Sinhala, an insular Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language. Sinhalese people are predominantly Theravada Buddhists, although a significant minority of Sinhalese follow branches of Christianity in Sri Lanka, Christianity and Religion in Sri Lanka, other religions. Since 1815, Sinhalese people were broadly divided into two subgroups: the up-country Sinhalese of the Central province, Sri Lanka, central mountainous regions, and the low-country Sinhalese of the coastal regions. Although both groups speak the same language, they are distinguished as they observe different cultural customs. According to the ''Mahavamsa'', a Pali chronicle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chandrika Kumaratunga
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga (; ; born 29 June 1945), commonly referred to by her initials CBK, is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the fifth President of Sri Lanka, President of Sri Lanka from 12 November 1994 to 19 November 2005. She is the longest-serving president in Sri Lankan history. She led the Sri Lanka Freedom Party , Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) from 1994 to 2005. Born in 1945 into a prominent Sri Lankan political family, she is the daughter of two former prime ministers, S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and Sirimavo Bandaranaike. Kumaratunga entered politics in the 1970s, initially focusing on social welfare and rural development. After spending several years in exile following the assassination of her husband, Vijaya Kumaratunga, she returned to Sri Lanka in the late 1980s. In 1993, she was elected List of chief ministers of Western Province, Chief Minister of the Western Province. The following year, after becoming the leader of the Sr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are distributed to its members, major U.S. daily newspapers and radio and television broadcasters. Since the award was established in 1917, the AP has earned 59 Pulitzer Prizes, including 36 for photography. The AP is also known for its widely used ''AP Stylebook'', its AP polls tracking National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA sports, sponsoring the National Football League's annual awards, and its election polls and results during Elections in the United States, US elections. By 2016, news collected by the AP was published and republished by more than 1,300 newspapers and broadcasters. The AP operates 235 news bureaus in 94 countries, and publishes in English, Spanish, and Arabic. It also operates the AP Radio Network, which provides twice ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to a third country. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has 20,305 staff working in 136 countries as of December 2023. Background The office of High Commissioner for Refugees has existed since 1921, when it was created by the League of Nations with Norwegian scientist Fridtjof Nansen as its first occupant. The International Refugee Organization (IRO) was created in 1946 to address the refugee crisis that resulted from World War II. The United Nations established the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 1950 as the successor of the IRO. The 1951 Refugee Convention established the scope and legal framework of the agency's work, which initially focused on Europeans ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was established in London in 1851 by Paul Reuter. The Thomson Corporation of Canada acquired the agency in a 2008 corporate merger, resulting in the formation of the Thomson Reuters Corporation. In December 2024, Reuters was ranked as the 27th most visited news site in the world, with over 105 million monthly readers. History 19th century Paul Julius Reuter worked at a book-publishing firm in Berlin and was involved in distributing radical pamphlets at the beginning of the Revolutions of 1848. These publications brought much attention to Reuter, who in 1850 developed a prototype news service in Aachen using homing pigeons and electric telegraphy from 1851 on, in order to transmit messages between Brussels and Aachen, in what today is Aa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Tigers
The Black Tigers () was an elite suicide commando (special operations capable) unit of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a militant Tamil separatist organization in Sri Lanka. They were specially selected and trained LTTE cadres whose missions included direct action, irregular warfare, and mounting suicide attacks primarily against military targets. Economic and political targets were also attacked at times, among them Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa and former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Civilians were also killed during certain attacks, such as the bombing of the Central Bank and the Temple of the Tooth attack. Since their formation in 1987 until the defeat of the Tamil Tigers in 2009, more than 330 Black Tigers carried out suicide attacks on air, land, and sea, mostly in Sri Lanka. Experts estimated that the Black Tigers had carried out the most suicide attacks reported around the world by the time the Sri Lankan civil war ended in 2009. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
