Buddhist temple fire heightens Sinhala-Tamil tensions

May 24th, 2009 TORONTO - A Saturday morning fire at a Sinhalese restaurant here further fuelled tensions between the two Sri Lankan communities in Canada. While the Sri Lankan consul general blamed Tamil Tigers for the fire, Tamil leaders hit back by asking Canada to expel him.

May 19th, 2009 TORONTO - The end of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) simply marks the beginning of a new phase in their struggle for independence, the Canadian Tamil Congress announced here Monday. Confirming the deaths of top LTTE leaders, the representative body of the largest Tamil diaspora group in the world said all Tamil representative bodies in Europe and Australia will announce their future course of action Tuesday.

April 13th, 2009 DHARAMSALA - The spiritual head of the Tibetan community, the Dalai Lama, Monday welcomed the Sri Lankan government's decision for a two-day pause in the operations against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year celebrations. 'It is with great relief that I welcome the truce that has been declared in the Sri Lankan conflict to mark the two-day Sinhala and Tamil New Year holiday,' the Nobel peace laureate said in a statement posted on his official website.

April 13th, 2009 COLOMBO - Sri Lanka's temporary truce with the Tamil Tigers to mark the Sinhala and Tamil New Year began Monday even as the rebels killed a soldier in sniper attack, the military said. Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fired a mortar shell wounding one soldier and killing another in Puthukkudiyiruppa area in Mullaitivu district.

April 13th, 2009 COLOMBO - Sri Lanka's temporary truce with the Tamil Tigers began Monday to mark the Sinhala and Tamil New Year even as the rebels killed a soldier in a sniper attack, the military said. Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fired a mortar wounding one soldier and killing another in a sniper attack in Puthukkudiyiruppu in Mullaitivu district.

April 12th, 2009 COLOMBO - Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa Sunday ordered his troops to adhere to 'defensive operations' against the Tamil Tigers during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year April 14, a statement from his office said. Sinhala and Tamil New Year is a national festival in the island.

April 12th, 2009 COLOMBO - Confident of defeating the Tamil Tigers in the near future, Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa Sunday ordered his troops to adhere to 'defensive operations' against the rebels during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year April 14, a statement from his office said. The Sinhala and Tamil New Year is a national festival in the island nation.

March 13th, 2009 CHENNAI - Shooting of the Tamil remake of Bollywood hit 'Jab We Met', being directed by Mani Ratnam's protege Kannan, has begun in the city. The shooting began Wednesday in a temple attached to the massive AVM studios in the southwest suburbs here.

March 8th, 2009 CHENNAI - In separate incidents, two Dalits were killed following a dispute over worshipping in a temple in Tamil Nadu, the police said Saturday. The victims were identified as K.

March 5th, 2009 PATNA - A young Buddhist monk committed suicide in the Mahabodhi temple complex in Bihar's Bodh Gaya town Wednesday, the police said. Vaninta, a monk in his 20s, committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree in the temple complex, the police said.

February 9th, 2009 COLOMBO - The BBC World Service Tuesday stopped providing radio news to Sri Lanka's state broadcaster because of what it calls 'deliberate interference' by government censors. A statement from the BBC said that its FM broadcasts to the Sri Lankan Broadcasting Corp (SLBC) had been suspended with effect from Tuesday.

February 7th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Drawing strength from parliament that three years ago declared the former Hindu kingdom of Nepal a secular state, Buddhist leaders are now demanding the construction of a Buddhist shrine at a famed 12th Century archaeological site, stoking afresh a temple versus monastery controversy. The new debate centres round Kakrebihar, a site in remote Surkhet district in midwestern Nepal that during excavation by the country's archaeological department yielded a treasure trove of sculptures and stone carvings.

January 15th, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - The daily rituals at 12th century Jagannath Temple in Orissa’s Puri city were delayed for over six hours Friday after a foreigner allegedly entered into the temple premises - an act seen as defiling the premises. The man who claimed himself to be Sebastian, 45, from Chile and a Hindu tried to enter the temple premises early Friday morning soon after the main gate opened, but was prevented by the policemen deployed there, the police said.

January 14th, 2009 PATNA - Muslims have joined hands with Hindus to lay the foundation of a new temple, dedicated to the sun god, in a Bihar town. The two communities got together to lay the foundation of a temple at Manikpur Bazar in Kurtha in Arwal district, about 80 km from the state capital.

January 12th, 2009 AHMEDABAD - Underlining the importance of the Buddha's teachings in the contemporary world, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday said he wished to build a Buddhist temple in the state. 'Gujarat has ancient structures of Buddhist temples.