Dr. Padeniya booted out by court goes berserk: attacks other Doctors

(Lanka-e-News- 31.July.2014, 11.30PM) Dr. Padeniya whose other name is ‘Dr. Pavadeniya,’ the former President of the Government medical officers association (GMOA) who was booted out on a court verdict , went berserk and attacked the medical officers at the Colombo National hospital yesterday(30) who were against corruption and him, according to eye witnesses.

Padeniya who entered into a dispute within the canteen situated in the vicinity of the Doctors’ official quarters with another medical officer who belongs to the faction that is averse and antagonistic to corruption , had turned belligerent and most violent ,and assaulted the other medical officer while hurling a volley of filthiest abuse. At that moment another medical officer who appeared on the scene had retaliated, and fiercely assaulted Padeniya and his supporter .

Since the dispute had spread and there were sporadic bouts of violence around the place , the Bank of Ceylon trailer equipment of self employment to serve the Doctors , near the Doctors’ hostel also was damaged.

Doctor Padeniya better known as ‘Rotter Pavadeniya’ used such vicious filthy language which even we at the media are fighting shy of reporting . The scene was so ugly and disgraceful that the visitors to the hospital were amazed to witness a Doctor behaving most shamelessly and like a hoodlum. Even his colleagues were angered and ashamed over Padeniya’s rowdy conduct most unbecoming of an educated professional. In any case , as usual , Gotabaya had provided security detail around Colombo national  hospital after the incident.

Mr. President, the murderer is in your lap

FRIDAY, 01 AUGUST 2014 08:31

It was on a day like yesterday (31st) that distinctive artist Premakeerthi de Alwis was murdered 25 years ago. A commemoration ceremony was organized at Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) complex. A large number of artistes including Victor Ratnayaka participated. The President was the special invitee. Premakeerthi’s widow Ms. Nirmala Alwis had told the President, “Mr. President, the murderer is on your lap.” Ms. Nirmala Alwis charges that the Chairman of SLBC Hudson Samarasinghe murdered her husband.

Speaking regarding this Ms. Nirmala Alwis later said, “Many commemoration ceremonies are held on behalf of Premakeerthi. However, only a few speak about his murder. After studying regarding this murder for 25 years I had come to a conclusion.  I told the President and others through various messages not to sell Premakeerthi’s death for political reasons and that the murder was not committed by the JVP. There was a case regarding the murder. However, it ended in a hilarious manner without even having an identification parade regarding the suspects arrested.

Today, a good ceremony had been arranged. The street between the SLBC and Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation was named after Premakeerthi de Alwis. When I was getting ready to come for the ceremony I got a message that there was an exhibition at the beginning of the road organized by Hudson Samarasinghe and it attempts to depict that Premakeerthi’s murder was committed by the JVP. I went for the ceremony. The President, before sitting at the ceremony, went to see the exhibition. I knew it was a scheme. I knew the effort I made for 25 years bearing sorrow and sickness to show that the murder was committed as a personal revenge and not by the JVP would be in vain. Fortunately I had brought the book ‘Premakeerthini’ in which the incident has been described. As I could not bear the injustice I wrote two sentences in the book. I wrote that ‘Mr. President, Premakeerthi’s murderer has taken refuge under you.’

As the President was passing me I spoke to him. He stopped. As I gave him the book I told him, “Mr. President, I won’t ask anything else from you. But do justice on behalf of Premakeerthi. For the murderer is under your refuge. I make this request in front of the world and I hope there would be justice”.

"Sir, the killer is sitting on your lap" - Premakeerthi's wife tells President

 Friday, 01 August 2014 

 

Yesterday (31) marked the 25th year anniversary of the departure of prominent artist Mr. Premakeerthi De Alwis, who was brutally assassinated in 1989. In commemoration of his memory, a ceremony was organized yesterday at the Sri Lanka broadcasting Corporation premises. A lot of well known veteran artists took part in this event which was held under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

However, Ms. Nirmala Alwis, wife of Mr. Premakeerthi de Alwis, who had been present at the ceremony, has complained to President Rajapaksa in public saying that the murderer of her husband is still serving under the President. She accuses that it is the current SLBC chairman Hudson Samarasinghe who is responsible for the death of her husband.

Expressing her views regarding the matter further, Mrs. Alwis said that although a lot of people try to commemorate Premakeerthi, still only a few have taken courage to talk about his assassination.

She said that even the court case that was filed to sort out justice, ended without even holding an identification parade in order to place the blame on the JVP.

Sri Lanka Police Is At Its Weakest: UNP

August 1, 2014 

Sri Lanka Police Service is presently undergoing its weakest phase since its establishment over a century ago and the sole responsibility of this situation has to be borne by the Rajapaksa regime, the UNP remarks.

Major General (Retd.) Nanda Mallawarachchi – Secretary to the MInistry of Law and order

Issuing a statement on the kidnapping of five year-old child from Meegalewa, the UNP has pointed out the incident is a reflection of the sorry plight Sri Lanka has come to.

“The situation has deteriorated to such a level that it is no longer possible to keep a child safe at home,” the statement reads adding that it is not simply the country’s economy, ethics or the judicial system that is in grave danger but the security of its citizens

The UNP has asserted the Rajapaksa-regime should bear full responsibility for collapse of rule of law in Sri Lanka, pointing out its a resultant effect of the Sri Lanka Police Service that bears the primary responsibility of maintaining law and order, turning into an extension of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party following the quashing of the 17th amendment.

“Independent, impartial and skilled official are no longer given a chance to full their duties,” he said.

Quoting statistics off a recent research in which it has been revealed at least five cases of child abuse occurs in Sri Lanka daily and the rise of murders, abductions and other crimes, the statement asserts hat dark shadows of politicians are luring behind these crimes.

Expressing concerns on the incident further, the statement has noted that those with the influence of politicos are convinced that the absence of rule of law and the irrelevance of laws for the powerful has made them invincible and will help them avoid any atrocity they have committed.

“These incidents should not occur in any civilized country and every possible step must be taken in order to ensure these crimes are curbed,” the UNP statement reads while calling upon the government and the law enforcement authorities to ensure the abduction of the five year-old boy or the distress of his aggrieved parents are not taken lightly.

Chanaka Amaratunga – Reflections After 18 Years

By Rajiva Wijesinha -August 1, 2014 

Chanaka Amaratunga died 18 years ago on August 1^st. Like Bishop Lakshman Wickremesinghe, he might have said that he had failed in everything he tried to do. But, like Bishop Lakshman, the impact of his thought continues, and with every day that passes the principles he enunciated seem more important.

Dr Chanaka Amaratunga

His masterwork was the volume of Ideas for Constitutional Reform which was based on widespread consultations with a range of parties and thinkers. He was a close friend of Gamini Dissanayake and Neelan Tiruchelvam, two exponents of liberal thought from different backgrounds, who were both victim of Tiger assassinations. These were lifelong friends, with whom he had much in common. But he was also close to Ranasinghe Premadasa, not only during what proved to be the last days of the latter, but also at the start of Chanaka’s own interest in politics.

This sprang from his deep affection for Dudley Senanayake, who he felt initially had been betrayed by J R Jayewardene. I myself thought then that J R had rescued the party from moribundity and introduced much needed reforms after his election victory in 1977, but Chanaka forcefully expressed a contrary view even in 1978. He told me then that he regretted that Premadasa had not gone on with his initial sympathy with the Dudley Front that UNP traditionalists had tried to develop.                                                                     Read More                             

சிறுமிகள் வன்புணர்வு; செப்டெம்பர் 4 வரை வழக்கு ஒத்திவைப்பு 

31 ஜுலை 2014, வியாழன்

காரைநகர் சிறுமிகள் வன்புணர்வு தொடர்பிலான வழக்கு மீண்டும் செப்டெம்பர் 04ஆம் திகதி வரை ஒத்திவைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

காரைநகரில் சிறுமி வன்புணர்வுக்கு உட்படுத்தப்பட்டதாக தொடரப்பட்ட வழக்கு விசாரணை யாழ். சிறுவர் நீதிமன்றத்தில் நீதவான் நீதிமன்ற நீதிபதி கறுப்பையா ஜீவராணி முன்னிலையில் இன்று எடுத்துக் கொள்ளப்பட்டது.

இன்றைய விசாரணையின் போது சந்தேகத்தில் கைது செய்யப்பட்டு பிணையில் விடுவிக்கப்பட்ட கடற்படை சிப்பாய்கள் 7 பேரும் ஆஜராகி இருந்த நிலையில் சிறுமியின் சார்பில் எவரும் மன்றிற்கு சமுகமளித்திருக்கவில்லை.

வழக்கு எதிர்வரும் செப்டெம்பர் மாதம் 4ஆம் திகதிக்கு ஒத்திவைப்பதாக நீதவான் உத்தரவிட்டுள்ளார்.

http://onlineuthayan.com/News_More.php?id=451363278501170803#sthash.mqbQ5oYv.dpuf

Body of a witness in Ananda Sarath Kumara’s case found from a well

August 1, 2014

The body of a school teacher who was said to be the fourth witness in the case where North-Western Provincial Councilor,  Ananda Sarath Kumara (UPFA) accused for assaulting and compelling a female teacher to kneel down before him for admonishing his daughter over a disciplinary matter, found inside a well, close approximate to the Navagattegama Navodya Vidyalaya, today, police said.

The autopsy of the deceased will be conducted at the Puttalam Base hospital, tomorrow. 

UN rights chief: Israel defying international law in Gaza, must be held accountable

Right Commissioner Navi Pillay says Hamas also violating humanitarian law by firing rockets indiscriminately, takes U.S. to task for opposing resolutions on Israel.

South African Navanethem 'Navi' Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in February 2011.Photo by AP

Jul. 31, 2014

The United Nations’ senior human rights official said on Thursday she believed Israel was deliberately defying international law in its military offensive in Gaza and that world powers should hold it accountable for possible war crimes.

High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay also said that Hamas militants in Gaza have also violated international humanitarian law by firing rockets indiscriminately into Israel, sometimes from densely-populated areas.

Israel has attacked homes, schools, hospitals, and UN premises in apparent violation of the Geneva Conventions, Pillay said, a week after her Human Rights Council resolved to open a commission of inquiry into Israel’s alleged crimes against humanity.

"Therefore I would say that they appear to be defying… deliberate defiance of obligations that international law imposes on Israel," Pillay told a news briefing. "This is why again and again I say we cannot allow impunity, we cannot allow this lack of accountability to go on." 

She also criticized the United States, Israel’s main ally, for failing to use its influence with the Jewish state to halt the carnage. 

"Many of my remarks have been directed to the United States since they are a party with influence over Israel to do much more to stop the killing, to bring the parties to the negotiating table. I’ve called also for an end to the blockade and an end to the occupation." 

Pillay said that she was appalled at Washington consistently voting against resolutions on Israel in the Human Rights Council, General Assembly and Security Council. 

"They have not only provided the heavy weaponry which is now being used by Israel in Gaza but they’ve also provided almost $1 billion in providing the ‘Iron Domes’ to protect the Israels from rocket attacks," she said. "But no such protection has been provided to Gazans against the shelling." 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, facing international alarm over a rising civilian death toll in Gaza, said on Thursday he would not accept any cease- fire that stopped Israel completing the destruction of militants’ infiltration tunnels. 

Gaza officials say at least 1,372 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed and nearly 7,000 wounded. Fifty-six Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza clashes and more than 400 wounded. Three civilians have been killed by Palestinian shelling in Israel. 

Israel says it is acting to stop the Hamas rocket attacks. 

Pillay said that as Israel prosecuted only four Israeli soldiers for its 2008/09 Operation Caste Lead, including one for alleged theft of a credit card, she did not expect it to investigate properly violations committed during its air strikes and ground assault on Gaza, now in its fourth week. 

"But international law is clear that where a state is unable or unwilling to carry out investigations and prosecutions, the international (criminal justice) system applies," she said. 

Previous UN commissions of inquiry into Israel incursions into Gaza have called for the UN Security Council to refer the situation to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), according to Pillay, a former UN war crimes judge. 

"Accountability and justice cannot be expected to be achieved through (Israeli) domestic proceedings. This is evident from the lack of adequate investigations by Israel and no attempt whatsoever made by the international community to implement the recommendations made by the Gaza fact-finding mission report," Pillay said. 

William James Martin: Hamas's Fighting against Israel Is an Honorable Defense

Fri Aug 01, 2014 6:23

TEHRAN (FNA)- American academic William James Martin believes that the retaliatory attacks by the Hamas fighters against the Israeli cities is a kind of honorable defense which the Israeli "brutalizers" cannot even imagine.

William James Martin Hamas's Fighting Against Israel is an Honorable Defense 

by Thavam

Extensive Hamas Tunnel Network Points to Israeli Intelligence Failure

• BY SHANE HARRIS-JULY 31, 2014 

Israel launched its bloody offensive in Gaza to stop Hamas from lobbing missiles at major cities like Tel Aviv. The biggest challenge to the vaunted Israeli army, though, is coming from the ground, not the air: a sophisticated network of Hamas tunnels that have surprised Israeli security officials, caused a huge number of military fatalities, and struck fear into the hearts of many ordinary Israelis.

Extensive Hamas Tunnel Network Points to Israeli Intelligence Failure by Thavam

Gaza conflict: Israeli soldier seized by Hamas

An Israeli soldier was captured by Hamas in an incident earlier today, shortly after a 72-hour ceasefire came into force.

FRIDAY 01 AUGUST 2014

Rumours began circulating about the captured soldier this morning, and at around lunchtime the Israeli military spokesman announced that they feared a soldier had indeed been taken.

The Israeli defence forces have named the captured soldier as Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, 23, from Kfar Saba.

Early reports today suggested he was a British-Israeli. The Foreign Office is investigating whether this is the case.

Channel 4 News understands the solider has links to the UK.

Rabbi Reuven Leigh, based in Cambridge, tweeted that Lt Goldin and his family had spent time in the city. The Jewish Chronicle is also reporting this.

'Kidnapped by the terrorists'

THE IDF spokesman said that around 9.30am Israeli soldiers came under fire in an area around the border of the southern Gaza Strip and "there's a fear" that during the incident a soldier "has been kidnapped by the terrorists".

The spokesman added that the family of the soldier had been informed. The military said the situation is still evolving and that the IDF is making "big efforts, operational and intelligence, to locate the soldier".

The 72-hour ceasefire had already broken down this morning but the reported kidnapping of the Israeli soldier will raise the stakes in the conflict to a completely different level.

Israelis were horrified when another soldier, Gilad Shalit, was previously kidnapped in the Gaza area and held by Hamas militants. He was released in October 2011 after five years and four months - but only in exchange for 1,027 Palestinains prisoners, including many linked to Hamas.

The names of four of the five Israeli soldiers killed by Palestinian mortar fire near the Gaza Strip border earlier have been released by the IDF. The number of Israeli military fatalities now stands at 61.

Thailand's ruling junta approves China rail links worth $23bn

Transport project further consolidates China's power in the region and will be finished by by 2021

Kate Hodal-Friday 1 August 2014 

Thailand's ruling junta has approved a $23 billion (£13.6bn) transport project that will see two high-speed railways link up directly with China by 2021, in a move seen as a further consolidation of Chinese power in the region.

The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), headed by Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha - who took control of Thailand in a bloodless military coup in May - unveiled plans this week connecting the northern border town of Nong Khai with Map Ta Phut, located south-east of Bangkok. Chaing Khong, just south of the Laos capital Vientiane, will also be connected to Ban Phachi, in the central Ayutthaya regions.

The railway lines will link up directly to Kunming, in China's southern Yunnan province, in what analysts have termed Chinese "high-speed railway diplomacy".

China is looking to build a 3,000km (1,860m) high-speed line from Kunming all the way down to Singapore, passing through Laos, Thailand and Malaysia — a project that would increase China's GDP and those of the involved nations by $375b, a former Chinese railway chairman told the China Daily.

According to China Railway Corp, it appears the Kunming-Singapore line will be constructed in four stages, from Kunming to Vientiane, Vientiane to Bangkok, Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur, and Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. Construction of the Thai lines is planned to begin next year as part of the new eight-year 741.4 billion baht ($23.3bn) infrastructure development project connecting Bangkok and other key cities with airports, seaports, border areas and cargo depots, the Bangkok Post reported, with some 106 new trains added to the existing fleet. Six dual-track railway lines will also be constructed under the same scheme.

The two routes comprise nearly 1,400km in total but unlike many other high-speed trains, which generally run at a speed of 200 km per hour, will only be able to run at 160 km per hour until further investment would allow a higher-speed system.

Chinese officials involved in the project have described the deal as a major scoop for the Chinese government, which had earlier struck a deal with former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra — only to see the project initially rejected by the junta when it came to power.

Now the military government has approved the project, "there will be huge room for cooperation [between China and Thailand]," Yang Yong of the China Railway Corp told China Daily, adding that Chinese engineers had been involved in feasibility research for the high-speed lines, and Chinese companies were directly helping to modernise Thailand's railway system.

The effect of high-speed rail is likely to change South-east Asia and the way it does business for good, says Geoff Wade of the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University.

"When the people of the mainland countries soon find, through the convenience of [high-speed railways], that Kunming is their 'closest neighbour' but a few hours away, the Yunnan capital will gradually emerge as the hub of the Greater Mekong Region and will eventually become, in effect, the capital of mainland Southeast Asia," Wade wrote on the Australian Strategic Policy Institute Blog.

Infographic: Thailand’s junta-appointed National Legislative Assembly

By Saksith Saiyasombut & Siam Voices Aug 01, 2014

On Thursday evening, Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej officially endorsed the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), whose 200 members are all appointed by the military junta. A clear majority is dominated by active and retired military officers, while the rest consists of businesspeople, academics, technocrats and former senators. Former politicians of recent governments are barred from eligibility as stated in the recently established interim constitution.

This is another step by the so-called “National Council for Peace and Order” (NCPO), as the junta formally calls itself, in its self-proclaimed “reform process” since the military coup of May 22, 2014, with the promise of new elections sometime in late 2015.

(READ: Bangkok Pundit’s take on the NLA and more background on key NLA members.)

After the establishment of the interim constitution last week and the endorsement of the NLA members, the legislature will convene for the first time on August 7 and nominate a prime minister, who will then be tasked to appoint members to his Cabinet. It seems almost certain that army chief and junta leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha will become interim prime minister and many members of the NCPO his cabinet ministers. The NCPO will remain in place and will still have ultimate power over the post-coup government.

(NOTE: If you spot any mistakes, please let me know on Twitter @Saksith. This infographic will likely be reviewed and updated accordingly.)

________________________
About the author:
Saksith Saiyasombut blogs about Thai politics and current affairs since 2010 and works as freelance foreign TV correspondent. Read his full bio onabout.me/saksith.

India's demands block $1 trillion WTO deal on customs rules

A labourer speaks on a mobile phone while lying on sacks filled with rice at the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) market yard, on the outskirts of Ahmedabad July 29, 2014.

BY DAVID BRUNNSTROM AND TOM MILES-GENEVA Fri Aug 1, 2014

(Reuters) - The World Trade Organization failed on Thursday to reach a deal to standardise customs rules, which would have been the first global trade reform in two decades but was blocked by India's demands for concessions on agricultural stockpiling.
India's demands block $1 trillion WTO deal on customs rules

 by Thavam

Isolated indigenous tribe make contact with outside world in Brazil

Video shows loincloth-wearing men from Panoan linguistic group accepting bunches of bananas from a group from a local village

8:31AM BST 31 Jul 2014

Isolated native people wearing loincloths and carrying bows and arrows have emerged from the Amazon rainforest and made contact with the outside world in a video released by Brazil's indigenous authority.

The video shows indigenous people from the Panoan linguistic group making contact with the Ashaninka native people of northern Brazil along the banks of the Envira River, near the Peruvian border.

In one scene, an ethnic Ashaninka in athletic shorts gives bananas to two loincloth-clad natives who appear wary of approaching, quickly grabbing the fruit and then retreating out of arm's reach.

Brazilian experts said the indigenous people likely crossed the border from Peru facing pressure from illegal logging and drug trafficking at home.

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After the native people made initial contact with the Ashaninka on June 26, a team from Brazil's National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) traveled to the area and filmed a second encounter on June 30, according to news portal G1, which posted the video online.

The people, identified as members of a group known as the Rio Xinane, at first emerged only briefly and then returned to the forest, said FUNAI official Carlos Travassos.

"They were whistling and making animal sounds," he said.

Two Panoan indigenous interpreters were then called in to speak with them on their next visit.

"They speak our language. I was so happy we could talk to each other," said one of the interpreters, Jaminawa Jose Correia.

He said the natives had come in search of weapons and allies.

"They described being attacked by non-native people and many died after coming down with the flu and diphtheria," he told G1.

Anthropologist Terri Aquino said the group had probably come in search of axes, knives and pots.

"This is a people looking for technology. It's important in their lives because there's an internal war among them and because of contact with non-indigenous groups," he said.

Another scene in the video shows the natives taking axes from the ethnic Ashaninka village of Simpatia.

FUNAI said the group had returned from the forest after their initial visit because they had contracted the flu. A government medical team was sent to treat seven from the group.

Rights group Survival International said the episode was extremely worrying, since influenza epidemics have wiped out entire tribes in the past.

The Brazilian Amazon has the largest number of uncontacted tribes in the world at 77, FUNAI estimates.

Source: FUNAI / Globo G1