Compiled by CHAN MAY THENG, R. ARAVINTHAN and LIEW JIA XIAN

       A NON-governmental organisation pushing for a new Tamil school in Serendah, Selangor, has chided two former deputy ministers, asking them to stop their “political drama” and instead give some clarification on the school’s building fund, Malaysia Nanban reported.

       Datuk P. Kamalanathan, who was the deputy education minister under the previous Barisan Nasional administration, and Teo Nie Ching, who held the same position under the Pakatan Harapan government, have been going toe-to-toe via press releases.

       Following claims that the Pakatan government had blocked a RM39mil allocation for 13 Tamil schools, Teo shot back, saying that the supposed allocation was just an empty promise by the previous Barisan administration.

       Kamalanathan retorted and claimed that he had directly handed over to Teo the documents for a RM50mil allocation for Tamil schools. He then asked her to clarify what the Pakatan government had done for Tamil schools during its 22 months in power.

       To this, Teo responded by asking Kamalanathan to explain what MIC has done in its 24 months in power since the collapse of the Pakatan government.

       Protect Serendah Tamil Schools’ collective leader, identified as Jeeva, and Kuala Kubu Baru activist K. Balachandar said such bickering would not help resolve the issues faced by Tamil schools in the country, including the Serendah Tamil school, which has been delayed for over a decade.

       They pointed out that the school building works have been suspended with just piling partially carried out.

       The Indian community in the area has been waiting for more than 10 years for the school’s completion since it received the green light with a RM6.4mil allocation.

       Jeeva and Balachandar said both Teo and Kamalanathan must clarify the status of the allocation instead of issuing press releases.

       > India has sent 40,000 tonnes of rice and 40,000 tonnes of diesel to help ease the shortages in Sri Lanka, the daily also reported.

       The island nation has erupted into chaos as affected residents began demonstrating and rioting in the streets, forcing the government to declare an emergency.

       India, as its closest neighbour, shipped the rice and diesel which have been reportedly distributed throughout Sri Lanka. The Indian government has also announced 76 billion Indian rupees (RM4.2bil) in aid to its southern neighbour.

       The entire Sri Lankan Cabinet of 26 ministers have resigned as the anti-government protests grow, leaving Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in charge.

       The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.