settlers, a smaller but still extant British and European community, as well as migrant Malayalee communities in the city. As the city is an important administrative and commercial centre, many others such as Bengalis, Punjabis, Gujaratis and Marwaris, as well as people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar migrated to the city and have contributed to its cosmopolitan nature. Today, Chennai also has a growing expatriate population especially from the United States, Europe and East Asia who work in the industries and IT centres. Since its establishment as a city in 1639, English was the official language of the city. However, from 1960s, the Central government started gearing up the use of Hindi in business and government. Therefore, from 1965 to 1967, the city saw agitations against this two language (Hindi and local language) policy, and witnessed sporadic rioting. Madras witnessed further political violence due to the civil war in Sri Lanka, with 33 people killed by a bomb planted by the Tamil Eelam Army at the airport in 1984, and assassination of thirteen members of the EPRLF and two Indian civilians by the rival LTTE in 1991. In the same year, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in Sriperumbudur, a small town close to Chennai, whilst campaigning in Tamil Nadu, by Thenmuli Rajaratnam A.K.A. Dhanu. Dhanu is widely believed to have been an LTTE member. In 1996, keeping with the recent nationwide practice of Indianizing city names, the Government of Tamil Nadu, then represented by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, renamed the city to Chennai. The 2004 tsunami lashed the shores of Chennai killing many. Today, modern Chennai, formerly known as Madras is a large cultural, commercial and industrial centre, and is known for its cultural heritage and temple architecture. Chennai is the automobile capital of India, with around forty percent of the automobile industry having a base there and with a major portion of the nation's vehicles being produced there. It is a major manufacturing centre. Chennai has also become a major centre for outsourced IT and financial services from the Western world. Owing to the city's rich musical and cultural traditions, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has included Chennai in its Creative Cities Network. Name Various etymologies have been posited for the name, Chennai or Chennapattanam. A popular explanation is that the name comes from the name of Damarla Chennappa Naick, Nayaka of Chandragiri and