Before the western model brought by the British or the Church, there were ezhuthu pallis, or writing schools, run by ezhuthu ashans, or writing masters.

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The collapse of the Palestinian Authority, the result of Israel's 42-year refusal to implement a two-state solution, leaves the Palestinians no option but to unilaterally declare an independent state. Israel acted unilaterally when it announced independence in 1948.

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Lovely cartoon. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd issued a ... apology Monday to ... British children shipped to Australia with the promise of a better life, only to suffer abuse and neglect thousands of miles from home. At a ceremony ...

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The Danish People's Party (DF) has strengthened its immigration stance by securing an agreement to pay 'anti-social' foreigners 100,000 kroner to leave Denmark.

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RBI's decision to shore up its gold reserves needs to be seen in the context of other central banks across the globe increasing their gold reserves.

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Colonialism and developing countries

By Mobeen Chughtai

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Had Americans been able to stop obsessing over the color of Barack Obama's skin and instead paid more attention to his cultural identity, maybe he would not be in the White House today.

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But he said the continent was afflicted by an export of the "so-called 'first world'... [the] toxic spiritual rubbish" of materialism. "In this context, the political colonialism is never finished," the Pope said.

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I read "Things Fall Apart" many years ago, a very good - if not different - novel about the Igbo People. Fascinating stuff and the style of writing held a distinctive flavor in my mind.

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Protesters shout 'shame on France' as French police attempt to close Calais immigrant camp and drag camp dwellers away into buses.

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Citing a congressional study released on Friday, the Times said the United States was involved in 68.4 percent of the global sales of arms. U.S.

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The first requisite of a good servant is that he should conspicuously know his place. It is not enough that he knows how to effect certain desired mechanical results; he must, above all, know how to effect these results in due form.

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India's Hindu nationalist party has expelled one of its senior leaders for writing a book sympathetic to the founder of neighbouring Pakistan, a move that analysts say reflects the ascendance of the most hardline elements since the party's recent parliamentary election defeat.

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I don't agree with this Af-Pak solution at all because we are being bracketed with Afghanistan. Afghanistan hardly has any governance, it is out of control.

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a call has been given by Al Gore that there should be an immediate moratorium on coal fired power plants. Look at how this will impact India. More than half of the 8,00,000 mega watts of power India plans to produce by 2030 are to come from coal fired plants.

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"The government needs to look at this," Crowden said. "Budgets are being cut. If they don't do something, it's going to be a serious public-health risk." (via Coming to a bin near you: rat pack takes Britain by storm).

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One evening in early August 1943, Brigadier General Mortimer Wheeler was resting in his tent after a long day of poring over maps, drawing up plans for invasion of Siciliy.

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In the Islamic Republic it is illegal to execute a young woman, regardless of her crime, if she is a virgin, he explained.

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(Comment by Eric Albert)

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Trailing the Buddha

Photographer Benoy K Behl's pursuit of documenting ancient Indian art and the spread of Buddhism across the world does not show any signs of slowing.

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The Indian Community Centre in Belfast has received a threat letter from Protestant extremists asking immigrants to leave Northern ireland or face bomb attacks. Besides the Indian centre, the threat letter has been sent to the Belfast Islamic Centre and the Polish Association, …

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Malaysia will revert to using its national language, Bahasa Malaysia, to teach science and math starting in 2012, abandoning a six-year English policy that the government said had failed to improve student grades. The long-awaited decision, announced Wednesday, came after mont …

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Leaders of five developing countries — India, China, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa — who also met for summit level talks here had separately, called for expediting a global trade agreement that would stimulate the world economy. But for this to happen, they wanted develo …

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Two years ago, a historian, while researching traditional Indian methods of water harvesting, stumbled upon a series of ancient Buddhist caves in Borivli, which its custodians scarcely knew or cared about. Initially, she was scared that the historical caves would crumble under t …

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The West, most notably the United States, has been all too willing to dance with dictators in pursuit of perceived short-term goals.

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