Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination plot discovered

Velupillai Prabhakaran and his intelligence chief Pottu Amman marked the diabolical plot to kill former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi “silently” without the knowledge of anyone in the unit, a former close friend of the LTTE supremo said on Wednesday.

Karuna Amman, the LTTE commander of the Eastern region before he fell out with Prabhakaran in 2004, said he always wanted a political solution to the decades-old ethnic conflict, a view that was never denoted by the elusive Tamil Tigers leader.

“The plot to kill Rajiv Gandhi was hatched silently. None of us had any clue of this wicked plan. Only Prabhakaran and Pottu Amman planned it without taking anyone into confidence. I had always opposed such aggressive moves,” Karuna Amman, now a minister, said in an interview.

Gandhi was killed by a LTTE suicide bomber on May 21, 1991 while he was addressing an election rally in Sriperumbudur near Chennai. Prabhakaran and Pottu Amman are stated as criminals in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. It is alleged that Prabhakaran wanted to avenge the Indian leader’s decision in 1987 to deploy Indian peacekeeping force troops in Sri Lanka.

“When I once gave a suggestion letter on the need to turn away from violence and come to the negotiating table, Prabhakaran just tore off my letter. I was mortified,” Karuna said.

Karuna said it was with pain that he watched the fall down of peace talks with the Sri Lankan government, brokered by Norway, due to “non-cooperation” of Prabhakaran. He said Prabhakaran never subscribed to the view that the conflict can be resolved politically.

“Even Anton Balasingham (the ideologue of the rebel outfit) favoured negotiations… but Prabhakaran resisted,” he said.

Karuna, who formed the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP) quit the party following difference with his deputy leader Pillayan, and joined the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) as its vice president.

Sivanesan Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan of TMVP was sworn in as the Chief Minister after elections for the Eastern Province in May last year.

Karuna was recently made the minister for National Integration and Reconciliation in the Mahinda Rajapaksa cabinet.

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Swine flu could infect much British population

Among a red alert in Britain on swine flu, top health officials have warned that the deadly virus could infect up to 40 % of the UK population in the next six months if the outbreak becomes an epidemic.

“We might expect up to 30 % — 40 % of the population to become ill in the next six months if this truly turns into a epidemic,” said Professor Neil Ferguson, a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) unit which decided to raise its alert over the virus to level four.

Earlier, Britons were warned to avoid all but essential travel to Mexico as the WHO said the deadly swine flu virus can no longer be contained and raised its alert to two lower than the maximum of six, signifying a “significant increase in risk of a epidemic”.

“We don’t really know what size epidemic we will get over the next couple of months. It is almost certain that, even if it does fade away in the next few weeks – which it might – we will get a seasonal epidemic in the autumn,” Prof Ferguson told.

The Government today confirmed that 25 possible cases of swine flue had already been examined. A newly-married British couple who had gone to Mexico for honeymoon is being treated for the killer swine flue even as experts warned a epidemic was “predictable”.

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Dev & Freida were found to be Cuddling

Dev Patel and Freida Pinto of Slumdog Millionaire eminence are in love, Patel’s mother has confirmed.

The pair, who became fame with Danny Boyle’s Mumbai based pot-boiler earlier denied romance rumours but they were recently photographed cuddling up in Israel where the Indian actress is shooting for her upcoming film Miral.

“First it was the film and now everything else seems to have fitted into place. Life can’t get any better for him. Freida is really beautiful and I am really happy for them. Yes, we knew he was flying to Israel to see her,” said Dev’s mother Anita Patel.

Dev, 19 and Freida, 24, are said to have started a relationship on the sets of Slumdog Millionaire and they became increasingly close while travelling the world together to promote the film.

Romance rumours first started gaining weight after Slumdog Millionaire co-star actor Anil Kapoor said the young lovers had a “magical chemistry”.

Freida had neglected her fiancé, public relations executive Rohan Antao, earlier this year.

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29 Matches of 2011 Cricket World Cup to be played in India

The International Cricket Council has proclaimed that India will host 29 matches out of the 49 matches, including one semi-final and the final, in the 2011 World Cup. Sri Lanka will stage 12 matches and the other 8 matches will be held in Bangladesh. This was certain at a meeting of the tournament’s organising committee in Mumbai on Tuesday.

Bangladesh will stage the opening ceremony on February 18, followed by the opening match on February 19.

The matches will be held across 13 venues.

The ICC also declared to shift the Cricket World Cup Secretariat from Lahore to Mumbai.

Meanwhile, BCCI chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty was appointed the Managing Director of the 2011 World Cup.

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