New Delhi, Feb 18 : The Lok Sabha was adjourned for 25 minutes on Wednesday after Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) and Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) lawmakers raised a hue and cry over remarks made by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Mukherjee had stated in the house that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has caused "much damage" to the Tamil community and it should lay down arms.

Trichy (TN), Feb 18 : Tamil leader V. Gopalswamy, popularly known as Vaiko, came down heavily on the Central Government allegedly supporting the Sri Lankan offensive on Tamil rebels in the island nation.

Tamil Nadu has touched new heights in offering freebies to public, offering interest-free crop loans to farmers under a new scheme and cutting land revenue to its lowest level.

In yet another populist decision, the state government waived interest on all crop loans given by cooperative sector banks. The cooperative banks have already cut interest rate on such loans. The move is aimed to woo farm community, a significant vote bank of DMK, in the wake of forthcoming parliament elections.

Dharmapuri, (TN), Feb 16 : Sri Lankan refugees on Monday appealed to the Indian Government to save Tamils in the island nation.

"We demand from India to save our people in Sri Lanka. We also demand an immediate ceasefire so that people here can return there and peace can prevail," said Kumaran, a Sri Lankan refugee.

Calling for the return of peace to the region, they said: "Tamils are sacrificed like anything. But that''s our land, we are not living there, at least our children have to live there. This is what we want to appeal to the Indian Government to help us fight for our rights."

Chennai, Feb 16 : Siritunga Jayasuriya, a leader of Sri Lanka''s United Socialist Party, now on a visit to India, said that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), will retaliate if the Sri Lankan army continues the military war against them.

He asserted this in the course of an exclusive interview with ANI here on Sunday by contending the military action against the LTTE is not the permanent solution unlike a dialogue between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE.

Siritunga Jayasuriya said that winning the war by military means would not be an end to the Tamil problem. It will only strengthen Prabhakaran or the LTTE.

Chennai, Feb 12, : Over 50 lawyers staged a protest here on Thursday to demand the Central Government's intervention in stopping the war in Sri Lanka.

The lawyers started their protest from the Chennai High Court and went towards the regional military office in the city to stage a demonstration.

Chennai Advocate Association President Kanakaraj said that they wanted the Central Government to intervene to stop the war in Sri Lanka and said, "We will continue our protest for our Tamil brothers in Sri Lanka.