UK intelligence agencies planned to spy on Commonwealth summit delegates

Top-secret document, prepared by GCHQ, contained proposals to target Commonwealth allies at heads of government summit

Ewen MacAskill, Nick Davies, Nick Hopkins, Julian Borger and James Ball- Sunday 16 June 2013

The Queen and Commonwealth leaders at the heads of government summit in Trinidad. Photograph: Luis Acosta/AFP/Getty Images

UK intelligence agencies planned to spy on delegates to the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in 2009, including being asked to obtain information to give UK ministers an advantage in talks with their Commonwealth counterparts, according to a top-secret document seen by the Guardian.

The meeting, which takes place every two years, was held in Trinidad in 2009. The UK delegation was headed by the Queen, with Prince Philip also in attendance, along with Gordon Brown, the then prime minister, David Miliband, then foreign secretary, and Douglas Alexander, then international development secretary.

A page from an internal top-secret intranet of GCHQ, shared with the NSA, discovered by the 29-year-old whistleblower Edward Snowden and seen by the Guardian, shows a list of "key intelligence requirements" set out for the summit.

Alongside notes to check for threats against the security of the UK delegation during the visit, the document lists "Intelligence to inform UK senior's [sic] Bi-lats", "Initelligence [sic] on South Africa's views on Zimbabwe prior to Brown/Zuma meeting" and "climate change reporting".

The revelation that UK intelligence agencies made plans to target ministers and officials from Commonwealth countries, as well as the targeting of G20 officials disclosed elsewhere, is likely to raise tensions among the Commonwealth nations, who may seek clarity over whether their officials were bugged, and if so to what extent.

The note, which was prepared in advance of the meeting, also sets out a schedule for different UK agencies to set up their activities in Trinidad. MI6 were tasked to set up several days before the event, with GCHQ's operation beginning with the arrival of delegates. The Guardian is not publishing the original document as it contains logistical details and some limited references to personnel.

The 2009 Commonwealth meeting, which was also attended by Nicolas Sarkozy, then president of France, appears to have been the first time MI6 – formally known as SIS, or the Secret Intelligence Service – had been asked to gather intelligence from a Commonwealth heads of government gathering.

"SIS have no past history of targeting this meeting," the document notes in an explanation of why operations might be limited in their scope.

As it was prepared in advance of the Commonwealth meeting, the memo does not confirm to what extent surveillance was carried out, or even whether planned operations actually took place.

However, it does stress to agency staff that "we will be measured on our ability to deliver".

The memo also shows that the agencies were preparing to brief senior ministers, and the prime minister, during the conference.

The memo noted that Lady Kinnock was available for briefings from 25 to 29 November, David Miliband could be briefed from 26 to 29 November, and Gordon Brown on 29 November only.

There is no indication as to whether the briefings actually took place, or whether the ministers were aware of the security services' plans for the summit.

Ekneligoda’s wife asks court to call Arundika as witness

New claims on missing journalist renews international media rights organisations’ interest 

Sunday, June 16, 2013

The wife of missing cartoonist Prageeth Ekneligoda is to request court to allow UPFA Puttlam District parliamentarian Arundika Fernando to be called as a witness when the Habeas Corpus case filed by her is taken up at the Homagama Magistrate’s court on Wednesday.
Sandya Ekneligoda told the Sunday Times she wanted the politician to disclose whatever details he knew about the whereabouts of her husband. The UPFA MP stirred a hornet’s nest by claiming in Parliament on June 5 that he had been introduced to Mr. Ekneligoda in France in January this year by journalist Manjula Wediwardena who lived in exile in Paris. Since then the politician has repeated his claim both in the print and electronic media.

“Some of the opposition MPs speak of journalists who have disappeared. One particular journalist you speak of is living in France in disguise. He left the country with the assistance of some embassies here. I have met with some of these journalists myself. The one I am talking of Prageeth Ekneligoda is living in France. The people who live there know about it. Please check and see,” the MP told Parliament.

However, Mr. Wediwardena vehemently denies that he ever met the politician in Paris. “I’ve lived in Paris for nearly three years and have never met Arundika. He and I studied in school but we are not friends,” Mr. Wediwardena said. The exiled journalist said that around March last year, Mr. Fernando had called him and had a chat with him after learning from a mutual friend he was living in France but they have had no contact since then.

Mr. Fernando is a frequent traveller to France where his parents have been residing for many years. Mr. Fernando told the Sunday Times that he would comment about the statement he made to Parliament and other media and promised to call back. However he did not call.

The new claims regarding the missing journalist also led to renewed interest in the Ekneligoda case by international media rights organisations. Bob Dietz, the Asia Programme Co-ordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) told the Sunday Times in an email interview that the so-called new revelations seem just another in a string of attempts by the government and its allies to muddle a tragic situation. “Resorting to such tactics only strengthens the suspicions that the government knows full well what has happened to Prageeth Ekneligoda,” he said.

Mr. Ekneligoda who worked for Lanka e News web site was last seen around 9 on the night of January 24, 2010. He had told colleagues he was meeting an identified friend and had the left office and has not been heard of since then. Mrs. Ekneligoda said that the investigations into her husband’s disappearance, which is now in the hands of the Colombo Crime Division (CCD) has drawn a blank with no headway made into ascertaining his whereabouts or what happened to him since that fateful day. “The Police have told me they have no information at all about what happened to Prageeth,” she told the Sunday Times.

When the Habeas Corpus case filed by Mrs. Ekneligoda was last heard in May at the Homagama Magistrate’s court, the investigating officer of the CCD who gave evidence told court that they had no new information about the whereabouts of the missing journalist. A CCD source told the Sunday Times that they were continuing the investigation but had no information about him being domiciled in another country.

Mrs. Ekneligoda is perturbed by the claim that her husband is living in France. “My husband does not have a passport. He has never travelled abroad. These claims seem to be an organised effort on the part of the Government to defuse questions that may arise regarding Prageeth’s disappearance when the UN Human Rights Commissioner visits Sri Lanka in August,” she said.

Commissioner Navi Pillai is scheduled to visit the country in August and the question of missing persons is likely to figure in discussions here. In March last year, Mrs. Ekneligdoa travelled to Geneva and addressed events on the sidelines of the Council’s session to draw attention to her husband’s disappearance.

Bob Dietz of the CPJ said he is not hopeful that in the wake of the new revelations, there will be enough international pressure on the Government to act to solve the case saying the UN had failed miserably at stepping in to help with this case. “Some of the Colombo diplomatic corps have pushed in the past, but the government’s tactic of stalling and using the Courts to tie up this case are proving to be effective. There is little or no outside push apart from some media support groups to resolve the case,” he said.

By Chandani Kirinde
ST

The Other Side Of Low Interest Rates And Central Bank Sponsored Lending Policies

By W.A Wijewardena -June 17, 2013 

Dr. W.A. Wijewardena

Sri Lanka’s interest rate cut against IMF warning

The Central Bank cut its lending rates – the rate at which it eliminates the banking system’s excess liquidity known as REPO rate and the rate at which it pumps money to banks known as Reverse REPO rate – by a mega 0.5% in May 2013. Thus, REPO and Reverse REPO now stand at 7% and 9% respectively.

The purpose of this rate cut was, as the Bank had announced is “to stimulate the domestic economy, particularly in the light of the gradual moderation in headline inflation and subdued demand pressures in the economy,” though the IMF had not viewed it in the same tone in its Article IV Consultation Report of May 2013 pertaining to Sri Lanka.

A decline in the whole savings rate structure

The Other Side of Low Interest Rates and Central Bank Sponsored Lending Policies by nelvely

30 Lankans in global database of secret accounts in tax havens

 June 17, 2013 

Nearly 30 Sri Lankan individuals and two companies have been named in a first of its kind worldwide publication of those having secret accounts in offshore jurisdictions.

The Lankan list is part of over 100,000 secret companies, trusts and funds created in 10 offshore locales such as British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cook Islands and Singapore.
The global data base was compiled by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The data are part of a cache of 2.5 million leaked offshore files ICIJ analysed with 112 journalists in 58 countries. Since April, stories have been published based on the data – the largest stockpile of inside information about the offshore system ever obtained by a media organisation.

30 Lankans in Global Database of Secret Accounts in Tax Havens by nelvely

Development As Development Of The Heart: Why Are We So Poor?

By Vagisha I. Gunasekara - June 17, 2013 

Dr. Vagisha Gunasekara

What is the biggest ethical challenge facing us today?  The reality that we have let economics guide our lives, and in doing so, we have devalued people and the associated virtues of respect, cooperation, empathy, and compassion.  The primacy that we have allotted to economics underlies and complicates daily challenges we face; do the following – “stressed and tired”, “juggling work and home”, “surrounded by selfish individuals”, “led by uncaring politicians”, “in strained relationships”, “constantly pressed for time”, “never enough money, even for the basics” sound familiar?  In other words, we have been carried away by the pragmatics of the “bottom line” dominate our decision-making, turning money, which is essentially a means, into an end in itself, while turning people, ethically understood as “ends in themselves” (according to Immanuel Kant) into mere means.  The idea that money is a resource that should be used to serve our ethical ends—ensuring that our society functions in a way that addresses the needs of everyone—is increasingly losing its allure; instead due to our collective preoccupation with money, we have discarded our responsibility to individual and societal development and lost touch with our values, morals, and relationships with our community and the environment.  This shift to market that aims at transforming society as a whole into a ‘market society’, has not only influenced the behaviour of individuals, government institutions, NGOs, and private organizations active in the domains of development, but also dampened intellectual diversity of ideas about human progress.

Development as Development of the Heart Why Are We So Poor by nelvely

Rajapaksa takes money from soldiers through insurance scheme

Monday, 17 June 2013 

The Mahinda Rajapaksa government that extorts monies from people in any possible way, especially through taxes that even burden beggars on the streets, has now introduced an insurance scheme to extort monies from military forces personnel.

The government has surreptitiously introduced this insurance scheme where Rs. 500 would be deducted per month from every soldier.

A sum of Rs. 1,000 is to be deducted from the soldier’s monthly salary as the first installment and then Rs. 500 would be deducted monthly. The monthly installments would be deducted until the respective military personnel retire from the service.

Interestingly, no money is to be provided at maturity of the insurance. A military person in the scheme would receive benefits only if he pays the entire amount due for an year in January each year.

According to clauses of the insurance agreement, funds would not be available for any surgery or serious illnesses while the insurance scheme is not applicable if a military person receives treatment at the Army Hospital.

Military personnel it is learnt are opposed to this insurance scheme.

Two PCs to be dissolved

By Gagani Weerakoon-2013-06-17

Amidst the ongoing debate on the 13th Amendment, President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to dissolve the Central and North Western Provincial Councils in the course of the week, government sources said yesterday.

According to these sources, both Provincial Councils would be dissolved on the same day, most likely, Friday 21 June.
"We are thinking of two likely dates. One is 21 June and other could be 27 June. The final decision whether both Councils will be dissolved on the a same day or on different days, is yet to be taken. While the focus is on 21 or 27 June, Monday 24 June has also come into the equation. However, the final decision will be taken once astrologers say which date would be the best," a source said, adding that in any event, both Provincial Councils will be dissolved before the end of the month.

Political sources also said that President Rajapaksa is keen on dissolving the two Provincial Councils and going for elections to appoint......new Councils in the North, Central and North Western Provinces before the brewing conflict among the UPFA constituents, in view of the different stances taken with regard to the 13th Amendment, escalates further.

Meanwhile, it is also learnt that President Rajapaksa has called for a special meeting with UPFA members of the Central and North Western Provincial Councils, scheduled to take place at Temple Trees, today.

The President, it is learnt, has planned to hold discussions with government members of the Central Provincial Council in the morning, and with members of the North Western Provincial Council in the evening, with the possible dissolution of both Councils being high on the agenda.

Vass allegedly extorted money from Mervyn Secretary-police

MONDAY, 17 JUNE 2013 

DIG Vass Gunawardena had allegedly extorted money from the coordinating secretary of Public Relations Minister Mervyn Silva, investigations revealed.

The DIG had allegedly taken money from the coordinating secretary “Singapore Sarath” to refrain from taking action against him for the possession of heroin and firearms. The DIG had also told Singapore Sarath that his name was on a list of drug traffickers who were to be killed.

The CID had conducted the investigations after a suspect in the killing of Bambalapitiya millionaire- Mohamed Shyam made a statement before Colombo Additional Magistrate Mohamed Shahabdeen. Colombo North DIG Vaas Gunawardena arrested by the CID under suspicion in connection with the abduction and murder of a businessman has been transferred to the Prisons Hospital from the Colombo National Hospital, Prisons Commissioner (Operations) G. B. Kulatunga said.

Commissioner Kulatunga told the Daily Mirror that he was transferred to the Prisons Hospital on Saturday evening and would remain there until his health condition improved.

Gunawardena was admitted to the Colombo National Hospital by the CID on June 13 due to ill-health resulting from diabetes, hypertension and cardiac issues. He was arrested on June 10 after being questioned under a 72hour detention order, on suspicion of abducting and murdering Mohammed Shyam, a Bambalapitiya-based businessman on May 22. Gunawardena was to be produced before the Magistrate Courts on June 25.(Manopriya Gunasekera-Courtesy Lankadeepa)

Singapore Sarath too has paid ransom to DIG Vaas

MONDAY, 17 JUNE 2013 

Investigations have revealed that murder suspect DIG Vaas Gunawardene has taken a ransom of Rs.13 million from ‘Singapore Sarath, a coordinating secretary of Minister Mervin Silva. It is revealed that a part of the money has been already paid to the DIG.

It is reported that ‘Singapore Sarath’, a suspect of the murder of Hasitha Madawala, a Member of Kelaniya Pradeshiya Sabha, had been promised that charges against him would be withdrawn and his drug business would be allowed to be carried out without any hindrance.

Also, it has been revealed that ransom had been taken from a large number of Tamil businessmen in Colombo stating he knew their connections with the LTTE and the ransom was to avoid arresting them on terrorist charges.

Disgraced DIG Vass is only the tip of the iceberg

Monday, 17 Jun 2013

The downfall of DIG Vass Gunawardena, once a star crime buster, known for his special relationship with the powers that be in the defence establishment is interesting, not so much for the extent of his alleged involvement in a myriad of killings and extortions, but for the strange reason that his political bosses and quasi-political bosses, especially, in the defence establishment, have let him down.

Disgraced DIG Vass is Only the Tip of the Iceberg by nelvely

Sri Lankan Champions Trophy protesters still struggling to be heard

The stylish and successful cricket team are heroes to some but others feel they should not be here at all

Kumar Sangakkara hits out during his 134 against England at The Oval, where there were protests against the Sri Lankan government. Photograph: Alastair Grant/AP

Andy Bull-Sunday 16 June 2013 

Kumar Sangakkara slipped into a smile, as smooth and easy as the shots he had played in the middle. For him the awkward question, which would have been uncomfortable for any other Sri Lankan player, was just another half-volley. "As a group of players from Sri Lanka we represent every Sri Lankan, both at home and abroad," he said, with a nod of his head. "We are very proud to play for Sri Lanka and very proud to be Sri Lankan. So I don't think the protests upset us or bother us at all. We are very happy and very proud to be here representing our country."

They say Sangakkara, like his two old team-mates Arjuna Ranatunga and Sanath Jayasuriya, may try his hand at politics once he is done playing. And that was a politician's answer. He and his team are proud to be representing Sri Lanka but not all Sri Lankans are proud to be represented by them. There have been protesters at both of Sri Lanka's games in the Champions Trophy so far and they will be there again at The Oval on Monday, when the team play Australia. When Sri Lanka played England last Thursday the protesters gathered around the corner opposite the Hobbs Gates. There were only a handful, fewer for sure, than had turned out to picket the Test match at Lord's in 2011, when they floated a red weather balloon above the pavilion. Their message is the same now as it was then. They are calling for a boycott of the Sri Lankan team by the international cricket community.

The aim, the leaflets say, is "to raise awareness about the atrocities that were committed by the Sri Lankan government and the on-going human rights abuses of Tamils in the north-east of the island. Boycotting Sri Lankan cricket is an effective way of applying pressure on the government to allow an independent investigation into its alleged war crimes."

The protesters strung out a banner beneath the window of a flat on the corner of Clayton Street, with a picture of Sri Lanka wrapped up in police tape labelling it a "crime scene". Absurdly, because the people who lived below did not want it hanging over their windows, the banner was so small it could not really be read. Aptly, it was also hidden by a bunch of trees and the large TV screen that sits above the stands, so it was invisible from most of the ground. This is a protest that few people hear and fewer still agree with.

Neville de Silva, Sri Lanka's deputy high commissioner in London, dismissed the protesters as the "tattered remnants of the LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam]", and he is right that several of the campaigners are proud in their support of the old terrorist organisation. Nothing is clear here and only the dogmatic would say who is right and who is wrong, only the strident fall on one side of the argument or the other. But that does not mean ears should be shut to the chants or the banners be ignored.

De Silva, an eloquent man who, once upon a time, worked for this newspaper, believes that sport and politics should be kept apart. "What on earth has the Sri Lanka cricket team got to do with all this?" he asks. "The team is here to play cricket, a game we learnt from the British. Let the players do just that and provide entertaining cricket, Sri Lanka style."

Fred Carver, the director of the Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice, disagrees with that, though the organisation is not joining the call for a boycott, feeling that to do so may alienate many Sri Lankans. "Our main focus at the moment is the Commonwealth summit, which Sri Lanka will host," he says. "But cricket is similar, in that it is one of these things that the regime uses to whitewash its reputation. They are basically goodwill ambassadors and they are very good at it."

Carver says "the Sri Lankan cricket team shouldn't ever visit England and these questions not be raised" but the British cricketing public remain mainly oblivious and the media largely indifferent. When Sri Lanka toured Australia at the start of the year the campaign calling for a boycott garnered more attention and inspired more debate than has ever been the case here in England. Which is odd, given all the attention focussed on the troubles in Zimbabwe in the 2000s.

"Politics," said Desmond Tutu in his 2008 Spirit of Cricket lecture, "impinges on sport as much as on any other aspect of life." That seems especially true in Sri Lanka, where the composition of the board is determined by the government, just as it is in Pakistan. It has been exactly two years since the ICC warned its members that they had two years to free themselves from this kind of political interference.

This was one of the key recommendations of the Woolf report into the governance of the game. The demand, announced with great fanfare, and the strong position which the ICC had adopted, were both quietly abandoned late last year. In the meantime the game carries on and the ever dwindling band of protesters continue their vigil, trying to interest the few passers-by who stop to listen.

Buddhism, Vegetarianism And Ahimsa

By Gananath Obeysekera -June 17, 2013 

Prof. Gananath Obeysekera

In an article in the Sunday Island of June 2 entitled “Political Watch” there is reference to Buddhist fanatics on the streets. I have no sympathy whatsoever towards fanatic monks as well as religious fanatics of whatever brand. Nor do I want to justify the suicidal response of the monk Bohowatte Indraratana who in committing self-immolation performed an act that fundamentally violates the Buddhist doctrine of non-hurt or ahimsa. Nevertheless it is important to recognize the sources of the monk’s actions even as we disagree with his gruesome strategy.

We know that female self-immolation or sati was occasionally practiced in parts of Hindu India and that the woman who commits sati at her husband’s funeral is supposed to achieve some kind of deification or salvific status. This model as far as we know has not been adopted by any monk in the long history of Buddhism until we come into modern times when monk immolation, whether in Vietnam or in contemporary Tibet, constituted a political protest against US or Chinese imperialism and political repression.

Buddhism, Vegetarianism and Ahimsa by nelvely

China asks U.S. to explain Internet surveillance

BEIJING | Mon Jun 17, 2013 6:15am EDT

(Reuters) - China made its first substantive comments on Monday to reports of U.S. surveillance of the Internet, demanding that Washington explain its monitoring programs to the international community.

Several nations, including U.S. allies, have reacted angrily to revelations by an ex-CIA employee over a week ago that U.S. authorities had tapped the servers of internet companies for personal data.

"We believe the United States should pay attention to the international community's concerns and demands and give the international community the necessary explanation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a daily briefing.

The Chinese government has previously not commented directly on the case, simply repeating the government's standard line that China is one of the world's biggest victims of hacking attacks.

A senior source with ties to the Communist Party leadership said Beijing was reluctant to jeopardize recently improved ties with Washington.

The explosive revelations of the U.S. National Security Agency's (NSA) spying programs were provided by Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee and NSA contractor currently holed up in Hong Kong, a China-controlled city.

Snowden told the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong's main English language newspaper, last week that Americans had spied extensively on targets in China and Hong Kong.

He said these included the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the site of an exchange which handles nearly all the city's domestic web traffic. Other alleged targets included government officials, businesses and students.

At the briefing, Hua rejected a suggestion that Snowden was a spy for China.

"This is sheer nonsense," she said, without elaborating.

It will likely be up to the central government to decide what happens if Washington requests Snowden's extradition, as Beijing controls Hong Kong's diplomatic affairs. The U.S. Justice Department is investigating the case but Snowden has not been charged with any crime.

In a poll on the website of the Global Times, a popular tabloid published by the Communist Party's official People's Daily, 98 percent of respondents said China should refuse to send him back to the United States.

"Unlike a common criminal, Snowden did not hurt anybody. His 'crime' is that he blew the whistle on the U.S. government's violation of civil rights," the newspaper said in an editorial.

"His whistle-blowing is in the global public interest. Therefore, extraditing Snowden back to the U.S. would not only be a betrayal of Snowden's trust, but a disappointment for expectations around the world. The image of Hong Kong would be forever tarnished."

The former British colony of Hong Kong is supposed to enjoy wide-ranging autonomy and broad freedoms denied to people in mainland China, including an independent judiciary and free press.

Since its return to Chinese rule in 1997, however, the city's pro-democracy politicians and activists have complained that Beijing has been steadily eroding Hong Kong's freedoms despite constitutional safeguards granting a high degree of autonomy.

(Reporting by Michael Martina; Writing by Terril Yue Jones; Editing by Ben Blanchard and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

State news: North Korea proposes high-level talks with U.S.

By K.J. Kwon and Greg Botelho, CNN- Mon June 17, 2013

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) — North Korea has proposed high-level talks with the United States to “ease tensions in the Korean Peninsula,” its state news agency reported early Sunday.

The topics that “can be sincerely discussed” include easing military tensions, changing a truce treaty to a peace treaty, and nuclear matters, according to a statement from the North’s National Defense Commission, as reported by the state-run Korean Central News Agency. It left some details — like where and when the talks might be held — up to Washington, and insisted U.S. officials should not lay out any preconditions for talks.

“(The United States should) not lose the opportunity that is laid out and should actively agree with our resolute step and good intention,” the commission said.

A spokeswoman for the National Security Council said the United States has always been willing to talk.

“We will judge North Korea by its actions and not its words, and look forward to seeing steps that show North Korea is ready to abide by its commitments and obligations,” Caitlin Hayden said.

A senior administration official said Washington will discuss the reports with Japan and South Korea at an upcoming meeting.

For years, North Korea has been at odds with many in the international community, including the United States, over its missile and nuclear programs.

Whether Pyongyang’s offer is accepted — and if so, on what terms — and whether the talks will happen remain to be seen.

Last Tuesday, North Korea called off what were supposed to be the first high-level talks between North and South Korean officials in years. That meeting was supposed to start the next day.

High-level talks between Koreas called off

South Korea’s Unification Ministry said the North dropped out after a dispute about who should be involved in the talks, after each side contended that the other wasn’t sending a sufficiently high-level official.

The talks were to focus on, among other things, reviving joint economic activities. Amid a spike in tensions, the North in April halted activity at the Kaesong Industrial Zone, a shared industrial complex and major symbol of cooperation between the two countries.

North Korea removes missiles from launch site, U.S. official says

It was not immediately clear what might be on the agenda if U.S. and North Korean officials meet. Washington has been at the forefront of those demanding an end to Pyongyang’s nuclear program, pushing for sanctions and rallying other nations to its side.

Tensions in and around the Korean Peninsula surged in December — one year after Kim Jong Un assumed power after his father’s death — when North Korea launched a long-range rocket, then conducted an underground nuclear test two months later.

Adm. Samuel J. Locklear, the top U.S. commander in the Pacific, said in April that North Korea’s missile and weapons programs posed “a clear and direct threat to U.S. national security and regional peace and stability.”

Why North Korean intelligence is so hard to read

That same month, North Korea set out demanding conditions for talks. They included calling for the withdrawal of U.N. sanctions against it and a permanent end to joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises.

The United States and South Korea “should immediately stop all their provocative acts against the DPRK and apologize for all of them,” the North’s National Defense Commission said in a statement carried by state-run media, using the shortened version of North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

But those talks never came to be, with South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Tai-young describing the North’s demands as “preposterous.”

The United States has said that, in order for it to engage in talks, North Korea would have to show a serious commitment to moving away from its nuclear program.

If new talks actually happen, it will be the second senior-level meeting between the U.S. and North Korea since Kim Jong Un took power.

The first talks were in February 2012, when North Korea’s first vice minister, Kim Kye Gwan, held talks in Beijing with Glyn Davies, the U.S. envoy for North Korea policy.

At the time, North Korea agreed to stop nuclear activity at its main facility in Yongbyon and impose a moratorium on nuclear tests and long-range missile launches in exchange for 240,000 tons of food assistance.

However, the agreement fell apart after the U.N. imposed sanctions in response to North Korea’s failed long-range rocket launch in April 2012.

Master of character roles Manivannan passes away

KARTHIK SUBRAMANIAN-une 15, 2013

R. Manivannan

KARTHIK SUBRAMANIAN-une 15, 2013

Actor and director Manivannan, who enlivened many Tamil films in the last two decades in character roles laced with comedy, died of a heart attack at his residence in Chennai on Saturday. He was 58. He is survived by his wife, daughter and son.

In a career spanning three decades, Manivannan went from being a story and dialogue writer for veteran director Bharathiraja to a successful director who thrived in experimenting with different genres, before becoming an actor who quite literally appeared in every second movie at the box office. It was only in the last three to four years that his health slowed him down. His career spanned over 400 movie credits as an actor and 50 as a director.

His 50th directorial venture ‘Nagaraja Cholan M.A., MLA,’ released last month to lukewarm response at the box office. He had finished acting in a few movies that are in various stages of post-production work. ‘Nagaraja Cholan M.A., MLA’ was in the same mould as his box office hit ‘Amaidhipadai’ (1994), starring close friend and actor Sathyaraj.

As an actor, the rustic looking Manivannan played mostly negative and comic roles. His strength was his dialogue delivery, which he admitted in various interviews was heavily influenced by veteran actor M.R.Radha. In a television interview, Manivannan said he considered himself a cultural heir of Radha, whom he also admired for his atheistic views.

An outspoken political activist, who did not think twice while taking on political and film industry bigwigs in public forums, Manivannan was a supporter of Tamil causes. He was also briefly a member of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

On Saturday, his body was kept in his residence at Nesappakam, where leading film industry personalities and politicians paid their respects.

In his condolence message, DMK chief M.Karunanidhi recalled that Manivannan had directed the 1986 film ‘Palaivana Rojakkal,’ for which he wrote the script. “A talented person has left us all too suddenly,” he noted.

Director to actor

Manivannan’s three-decade long film career could be split down the middle: the first 15 years as a technician – director, script and dialogue writer; and the next 15 mostly as a character actor.

As a director, he made movies in different genres – from romance to thriller to drama – often ensuring that no successive films of his belonged to the same genre. His most brilliant successes came from casting unlikely actors in negative roles: actor Mohan was known mostly for his romantic movies before he was cast as a psychopath killer in ‘Nooravathu Naal’; and Sathyaraj had only just gone on transitioned from negative roles to hero, when he cast him as Amavasai, a lowly political worker who uses guile to climb the rungs of power in the State in the film ‘Amaidhi Padai’ (1994), which has set the standards for political satire in Tamil cinema. The film proved a smash hit and benefited Manivannan the actor, as he had cast himself as a sidekick to the ambitious and street-smart protagonist.

As an actor, Manivannan is best remembered for his role as the tongue-in-cheek aide to the Chief Minister in Shankar’s “Mudhalvan,” the bumbling landlord in “Avvai Shanmugi” and his twin act in Sunder C’s “Ullathai Allithaa” as the millionaire Vishwanathan and the villainous Kasinathan.

His friendship with actor Sathiyaraj translated to several memorable moments on screen. Manivannan was known to be a voracious reader of books and along with Sathyaraj epitomised on screen what is colloquially known in Tamil as ‘nakkal’ (snideness).

Equation with ‘guru’ Bharathiraja

At many public forums, Manivannan has credited director Bharathiraja for teaching him the various facets of film-making. Bharathiraja had introduced Manivannan as a story and dialogue writer in his 1980 film ‘Nizhalgal’ that sunk at the box office despite its compelling story, music and performances. The follow up to that was ‘Alaigal Oiyvathillai’ the next year, which fetched awards both to Bharathiraja and Manivannan.

However, the two have had a very public falling out in recent years over political and personal reasons, and have both used public forums to hit out at each other. But in an emotional interview to FM radio station Radio City just a few days ago, Manivannan sought Bharathiraja’s forgiveness for all misgivings and insisted that no matter what he would always remain “Bharathiraja’s assistant”.

This article has been edited for clarity and a spelling error.

Manivannan, Artiste with a Passion and Mission

15 June 2013, 2:50 pm

By K. Thirukumaran

“Does the Wind have rest? Does it have?”

Tamil Actor and activist Manivannan passed away to the deep sadness of his fans and admirers after a cardiac arrest, today June 15.

Manivannan in ~ “Kugulaththil Seethai”

Lyric from song in Sangamam ~ “You made me to dance, without dancing ~ First worship to your feet which put anklet to my feet~”

T.M. Soundararajan: Leaving behind the devotion of his Tamil voice forever

26 May 2013, 9:57 pm

by K. Thirukumaran

Singer T.M. Soundararajan, lasting voice of Murugan devotional songs and popular stars in Tamil silver screen passed away today, Saturday, May May 25, 2013.

Thuguluva Meenatchi Iyengar Soundararajan (TMS)~(Mar 24, 1924-May 25, 2013)

Thuguluva Meenatchi Iyengar Soundararajan, born on March 24, 1923 has been rendering popular melodies for well over five decades.

Tribute to T. M. Soundararajan ~ Isaiyal Vasamaga Ithayamethu ~

Tribute to “Bhakthi Isai Paavalar” T.M. Soundararajan ~ In Remembrance of FeTNA 2013 Dedication of Rev Father Xavier Thaninayagam (BA, DD, MA, MLitt, PhD) & fitting in his telling quote ~ Tamil as “The Language of Bhakthi”

How one is to peruse among his hundreds of memorable songs, that constantly plays in our ears and daily routine?

T.M.Soundararajan- Thyagaraja’s ~ Seethapathe ~ Raga: Khamas