UPDATE: Ship carrying weapons detained at Galle Harbour

January 18, 2015

A ship carrying containers of weapons has been detained by police at the Galle Harbour. Police Spokesman SSP Ajith Rohana said that investigations are underway. 

Twelve container loads of weapons were reportedly found onboard the Sri Lankan-flagged vessel ‘MV Mahanuwara’ which is said to be an Offshore Supply Ship registered in Sri Lanka.

However, according to the website of the Sri Lanka Shipping Company, MV Mahanuwara is a government-approved floating armoury operated by Avant Garde Maritime Services (AGMS). 

UPDATE: Ship detained at the Galle harbour is a floating storage armory belonging to a private company, which provides security for anti piracy operations. The police conduct further investigations.  

பிலியந்தலையில் மகிந்த புதல்வர்களின் லம்போர்கினி கார் மீட்பு?

[ ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமை, 18 சனவரி 2015, 06:37.11 AM GMT ]

Post by Sri Lanka Freedom Party.

பிலியந்தல பிரதேசத்தில் வீடொன்றில் இருந்து பிரபலமான அரசியல்வாதியின் மகனுக்கு சொந்தமானது என கூறப்படும் லம்போர்கினி கார் ஒன்றை மீட்டுள்ளதாக பொலிஸார் தெரிவித்தனர்.

அந்த வீட்டின் உரிமையாளர் ஓய்வுபெற்ற வங்கி ஊழியர், அவரது புதல்வர் இராணுவத்திற்கு வாகனங்களை விநியோகித்து வருபவர் எனக் கூறப்படுகிறது.

லம்போர்கினி கார் தனது மகனின் நண்பருடையது என வீட்டு உரிமையாளர் பொலிஸாரிடம் கூறியுள்ளார்.

ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சியின் மேல் மாகாண சபை உறுப்பினர் ஒருவர் மூலம் கிடைத்த தகவல் ஒன்றை அடுத்தே இந்த காரை பொலிஸார் கைப்பற்றியுள்ளனர்.

இந்த கார் பற்றி ஆவணங்கள் பொலிஸ் நிலையத்தில் ஒப்படைக்கப்பட்ட போதிலும் அவற்றை ஏற்க பொலிஸார் மறுத்துள்ளனர்.

முன்னாள் ஜனாதிபதி மகிந்த ராஜபக்ஷவின் புதல்வர்கள் லம்போர்கினி ரக கார்களை பயன்படுத்தி வந்தனர். லம்போர்கினி கார்கள் 10 கோடி ரூபாவுக்கும் மேல் பெறுமதியானவை என்பது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.

தந்தை மகனின் உருவப்படங்கள் பொறித்த 68000 கடிகாரங்கள் மீட்பு

 Sun, 01/18/2015 

சப்புகஸ்கந்த பொலிஸ் பிரிவிற்குட்பட்ட மாபிம பிரதேசத்தில் உள்ள துறைமுக களஞ்சியசாலை ஒன்றிலிருந்து முன்னாள் ஜனாதிபதி மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ மற்றும் அவருடைய புதல்வரும் நாடாளுமன்ற உறுப்பினருமான நாமல் ராஜபக்ஷ ஆகியோரின் உருப்படங்கள் பொறிக்கப்பட்ட 68 ஆயிரம் சுவர் கடிகாரங்களும் ஜனாதிபதித் தேர்தலுக்காக அச்சிடப்பட்டிருந்த ஒருதொகை போஸ்டர்களும் கைப்பற்றப்பட்டுள்ளன.

குறித்த களஞ்சியசாலையானது துறைமுக அதிகாரிக்கு 15 இலட்சத்துக்கு மேல் பணம் செலுத்தி பெறப்பட்டுள்ளதாக ஆரம்ப விசாரணைகளில் தெரியவந்துள்ளது.

SC judges to boycott if CJ who committed un-bailable offence of treason continues tomorrow : arrest on 20 th ?

(Lanka-e-News- 18.Jan.2015, 11.15PM) Based on reports from inside sources of the highest courts in Sri Lanka , all Judges of the supreme court and appeal courts have decided to demonstrate their opposition as professionals against the chief justice (CJ) Mohan Peiris who is accused of conspiring to rig the election results of the recently held Presidential elections, destabilize the country and capture power illicitly , and therefore guilty of treason by trying to deprive the fundamental democratic right to franchise of the people of a sovereign state.

Already the Bar association of Sri Lanka (BASL) , the only professional association which comprises nearly 30, 000 lawyers Islandwide adopted a resolution on the 17 th (Saturday) unanimously demanding the resignation of CJ Mohan Peiris.

Reliable sources from within the highest courts of SL reveal that if Mohan Peiris continues as CJ stubbornly despite these demands for him to quit , the judges of the supreme court have decided to boycott him , and they have notified him of this already.

According to another report , the judges of all courts including the Supreme court, appeal courts, high courts (high courts of the provinces too ), magistrate courts , district courts and Labour tribunals, have decided to boycott their professional duties on the lines of trade union action until the CJ resigns . However they have agreed that before they proceed with taking stern action Mohan Peiris be given some breathing space to leave of his own accord honorably.

Following the complaint made to the CID by minister of foreign affairs Mangala Samaraweera that when the Presidential election results were being released , a group including ex President Mahinda Rajapakse from Temple Trees conspired to commit a crime against the state via capturing power illicitly by imposing emergency regulations Islandwide and annulling the election results, the CID had launched an investigation now on the instructions given by the attorney general .

The legal fraternity and organizations of the legal sphere had decided that Mohan Peiris continuing henceforth as CJ and chief of the judicial service commission are therefore not only illegal , and immoral but is professionally unethical in view of the grave charges leveled against him of conspiracy to commit a most grace crime against the state -treason, informed sources at Hultsdorf disclosed.

After recording the statements of the IGP , attorney general and the army commander , which form part of the ongoing investigation , Mohan Peiris is to be arrested on the 20 th based on charges of conspiring to incite and create an environment that could have led to a de stabilization of the country and unleashing a blood bath , as well as for conducting himself in a manner that vilifies the legal profession and the judicial courts.

---------------------------
by     (2015-01-18 19:22:38)

விமானப்படைக்கு ரூ.830 லட்சம் செலுத்தாமல் ஏமாற்றிய ராஜபக்சே மகன், பசில்!

Posted Date : 11:17 (18/01/2015

கொழும்பு: கடந்த ராஜபக்சே ஆட்சியில் அவரது மகன் நாமல் ராஜபக்ச, சகோதரர் பசில் ராஜபக்சே மற்றும் அமைச்சர் விமல் வீரவன்ச ஆகியோர் இலங்கை விமானப்படைக்கு 830 லட்ச ரூபாய் கடன் செலுத்த வேண்டியுள்ளதாக தகவல் வெளியாகியுள்ளது.
 

கடந்த டிசம்பர் மாதம் முதல் ஜனவரி மாதம் 8ஆம் தேதி வரையில் ஹெலிகாப்டர்கள் மூலம் மேற்கொண்ட பயணங்களுக்காக இந்த பணம் செலுத்தப்பட உள்ளது.

இலங்கை விமானப் படைக்குச் சொந்தமான ஹெலிகாப்டர்கள் மற்றும் உலங்கு விமானங்களை பயன்படுத்திக்கொள்ள கட்டணமொன்றை செலுத்த வேண்டியது அவசியமானது.

ஐக்கிய மக்கள் சுதந்திரக் கூட்டமைப்பின் முக்கிய பிரமுகர்கள் கடந்த டிசம்பர் மாதம் முதல் ஜனவரி மாதம் 8ஆம் தேதி வரையிலான காலப்பகுதியில் 39 தடவைகள் உலங்கு ஹெலிகாப்டர்களை பயன்படுத்தி பயணங்களை மேற்கொண்டுள்ளனர்.

எனினும், இந்தப் பயணங்களுக்கான எவ்வித கட்டணங்களையும் இதுவரையில் செலுத்தவில்லை எனவும் இதற்கான மொத்த நிலுவை 830 லட்ச ரூபாய் எனவும் கூறப்படுகிறது.

அதிகளவில் நாடாளுமன்ற உறுப்பினர் நாமல் ராஜபக்சே உலங்கு ஹெலிகாப்டர்களை பயன்படுத்தியுள்ளார். பெல் 412 மற்றும் எம்.ஐ 17 ரக உலங்கு ஹெலிகாப்டர்கள் பயணங்களுக்காக பயன்படுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளன.

நாடாளுமன்ற உறுப்பினர் நாமல் ராஜபக்சே ட்டும் 24 தடவைகள் உலங்கு ஹெலிகாப்டர்களைப் பயன்படுத்தி பயணங்களை மேற்கொண்டுள்ளனர்.

ஹம்பாந்தோட்டை, கன்னொருவ, மொனராகல, புத்தல, தங்காலை, கல்குடா, யாழ்ப்பாணம், மன்னார், அரலகங்கவில, வீரவில, அலுத்கம மற்றும் கந்தளாய் போன்ற இடங்களுக்கு பயணம் மேற்கொண்டுள்ளார் நாமல் ராஜபக்சே.

இந்தப் பயணங்களுக்காக பணம் செலுத்துவதாக அறிவிக்கப்பட்ட போதிலும் இதுவரையில் கட்டணங்கள் செலுத்தப்படவில்லை என கூறப்படுகிறது.

PB’s Corruptions Reported To Corruption Commission

January 18, 2015

Complaint on gross abuse of office, concerning the tax-free permits by the former Secretary to the TreasuryP.B. Jayasundera has been reported to the Corruption Commission by the civil rights campaigner and Lawyer, Nagananda Kodituwakku, Colombo Telegraph learns.

PB Jayasundera

In the complaint the lawyer states that the abuse of tax-free permits for unjust enrichment was reported before by him on December 11, 2014 to the Corruption commission (under the previous regime) however the Commission set up for the purpose of enforcing law against frauds and corruption had miserably failed to initiate any action on the 100% accurate information provided on the tax-free car permit abuse, misappropriating hundreds millions of public funds committed with full knowledge and collusion of the former Secretary to the Treasury P B Jayasundera and the, then Director General of Customs Neville Gunawardana.

In the complaint the lawyer warns, D J De S Balapatabendi, the Chairman Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption the former Judge in the Supreme Court, since there is a regime change at least now to initiate enforcement action as required by law, failing which, to resign from office forthwith without wasting time by continuing to occupy the office, breaching the people’s trust placed in the Corruption Commission.

Related posts;

Exclusive: Why Rajapaksa Opened Flood Gates For Revenue Fraudsters And Restriction On Transfer Of Vehicle Permits Removed

Intelligence Chief Quits; Telephone Tapping Stops

( January 18, 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The State Intelligence Service (SIS) called a halt to monitoring land telephones soon after the election results were announced. Insiders say that the technical hand hired for the purpose has also been relieved of his duties. He was a serving officer who was later recruited to work in a temporary capacity.

The move came as SIS Director Chandra Wakista, DIG, quit his post yesterday. He made a brief two-minute speech to his officers before departing.

Senior Superintendent of Police M.H. Marso is acting for the Director until a new appointment is made.

Meanwhile, the local media revealed today how telephone records of prominent opposition politicians, media personnel, former UPFA Government’s own ministers, ‘unfriendly’ military, police officers, Colombo-based diplomats and other leading citizens were monitored blatantly violating the law. In terms of the law, a Court order has to be obtained by the Police before intercepting or tampering with the telephone records of subscribers. All mobile phone operators were issued written instructions by an official in the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development. They were directed to make available the monthly telephone bills of these persons to an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) in the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) for reasons of “national security.”

Every month, police officers would visit different mobile phone providers to collect these monthly bills. Thereafter, the ASP would supervise a team of police officers examine every bill to determine to whom their targets speak. Under the cover of “national security,” the telephone bills were systematically analysed and a report prepared for scrutiny by the higher-ups. The identification of those who are supporters of the present Government led to surveillance being mounted on them. There have been instances when some have even been threatened.

The Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) of the Police is located on the third floor of the new Secretariat Building. The headquarters of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is on the fourth floor of the same building. If “national security” is used as a cover to snoop into the mobile phone records of those considered “national security threats,” like for example a leading member of the opposition, is indeed damning, the fact that this became a regular practice in what was then touted as the ‘Wonder of Asia’ was laughable. When Sri Lankans go on holiday to any tourist hotel, the management there was required to report their name and national identity card numbers to the nearest Police station. The police would forward them to a unit under DIG Chandra Wakista, who headed the State Intelligence Service (SIS). He attended the first National Security Council meeting of the new NDF Government on Friday. Wakista quit his post yesterday.

Earlier, telephone analysis of genuine targets was carried out by either the SIS on grounds of “national security” or the CID in instances where crime is involved. Despite the end of the separatist war, the TID became a convenient cover to spy on the phone records of unsuspecting citizens who had hardly anything to do with terrorism. Even if these bills have been destroyed by those at the TID, the copies of letters issued to mobile phone providers by the MoD official and the copies of bills they issued are available with each one of them. There is no gainsaying that an investigation into this is imperative to lay bare the identities of those who tried to create an authoritarian state.

A senior TID officer who is familiar with the working of this illegal operation said even some Government officials who were considered supporters of the opposition political parties came under scrutiny. “It is only a fuller investigation that will bare this massive operation which invaded the privacy of citizens and outsiders,” the TID officer said. He added that those who violated the law should be prosecuted if the new Government wished to prevent such “anti-democratic” acts recurring under the pretext of “national security.”

The first meeting of the NDF Cabinet of ministers is due to discuss the appointment of tribunals to probe misdeeds of the former Government. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) this week handed over two different complaints to the Commission to Investigate Bribery or Corruption. CID detectives are probing many misdeeds of the previous administration. History has shown that as weeks and months pass by, the findings are forgotten and little happens. Making matters worse is the fact that the current probes are being carried out by those appointed to positions by the previous regime. As one witty political observer cautioned, it should not be a case of the “same bun remains. Only the flies have changed.” It behoves President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe to ensure this does not happen.

Corruption and abuse of power probes by special tribunals

By Our Political Editor-Sunday, January 18, 2015

:

New Maithri-Ranil administration must ensure that all offenders, top to bottom, are brought to justice
Major questions over KP’s millions, but Rajapaksa seeks protection for ex-LTTE kingpin alsoMagnitude of illegal telephone tapping shocking; blatant invasion of privacy by SIS and TID on pretext of national securitySLFP trio works out deal with Sirisena; Fonseka to be Field Marshal for life time
Corruption and Abuse of Power Probes by Special Tribunals by Thavam Ratna

Another corrupt official still at large  

Sunday, 18 January 2015

Some officials appointed by the UPFA Government are continuing to display their arrogance and might at members of the public though the presidential elections are over and Mahinda  Rajapaksa is ousted.

One such case is in the heart of the Government – at the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development.

Saman Dissanayake, a card carrying member of the SLFP, continues to harass the public visiting the Ministry offices at Renuka building along Chatham Street. The man is only an Assistant Secretary but is using his office to carry on business with a few traders in the Fort area too.

Like his former boss, Gothabaya Rajapaksa, this haughty and arrogant Dissanayake uses a “NO Caller” identification number in his mobile phone. This helps him to talk to traders and put through business deals without disclosing his identity.

Months ago, a young lady who went to the Ministry was  embarrassed when Dissanayake invited her to join him to go on a picnic. The girl protested and complained she would report him to his boss (Mrs Jayaratne). She later refrained from doing it because Mrs Jayaratne is operating hand in glove with Saman Dissanayake since both hail from Moneragala.

Dissanayake openls tells members of the public who go to transact business there that he only serves those supporting the UPFA. Ironically such people are still continuing in office after the National Democratic Front came to power.

Dissanayake is also the Director in charge of non-governmental agencies. Once he urged a less controversial NGO to arrange a foreign trip for him. They say it was not possible since he was a Government official. Some of the NGO representatives have been invited to his Nugegoda hom to transact business of giving approvals. He charged a fee of anything between Rs 5,000 to Rs 100,000.

It is time the NDF Government deals with such dogs who pose of as servants of the people.

Wele Suda’s statement exposes Duminda Silva!

Sunday, 18 January 2015

The CID has unearthed evidence adequate to arrest Colombo district MP Duminda Silva on charges of heroin dealing, reports say.

Gampola Vidanelage Don Wasantha Kumara alias Wele Suda, the number one heroin dealer in Sri Lanka, has confessed to the CID about his links with MP Silva and how they had engaged in heroin dealing.

Wele Suda fled the country in 2011 and had been in hiding in Pakistan, from where he was brought back through Interpol after the defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa. It was him who had sent container-loads of heroin to the country in recent times.  He has revealed, with evidence, that MP Silva had provided him government protection to engage in heroin dealing.

However, the CID has found to be false the rumour that Wele Suda had given, through MP Silva, gold worth Rs. 10 million at the wedding of the son of former defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

Although the CID is already investigating MP Silva, its officers are of the view that it would be difficult for them to arrest him. That is because, certain UNP figures, who had continued to receive monetary assistance from MP Silva even after he had joined the Rajapaksa regime as a provincial councilor just before the radio and television licenses of his brother were to expire, would continue to protect him, said CID officials who gave us these details.

DONOUGHMORE, BUNDESTAG, WESTMINSTER, OR ‘YAHA PAALANAYA’? AN ALTERNATIVE PROPOSAL FOR THE REFORM OF THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE SYSTEM

Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images, via Huffington Post

by Asanga Welikala

- on 01/18/2015 

According to President Maithripala Sirisena’s timetable for his 100-day reform programme, the Standing Orders of Parliament are to be amended on 20th January to reform the parliamentary committee system. According to the 100days.lk website,
Donoughmore, Bundestag, Westminster, Or ‘Yaha Paalanaya’ an Alternative Proposal for the Reform of the Parl... by Thavam Ratna

To regain lost credibility, Central Bank should act as ‘impartial spectator’ and not as ‘policy owner’

January 19, 2015 

The loss of credibility
The conduct of Sri Lanka’s Central Bank in the recent few years has drawn a lot of criticism from the concerned public. One such criticism has been that it has functioned as a branch office of the ruling party defending insanely every policy action taken by the Government.

To Regain Lost Credibility, Central Bank Should Act as ‘Impartial Spectator’ and Not as ‘Policy Owner’ by Thavam Ratna

US Lauds Steps Taken by New Lankan Government

SRI LANKA'S NEWLY ELECTED PRESIDENT MAITHRIPALA SIRISENA (AFP PHOTO)

 January 18, 2015 

WASHINGTON:  Lauding the steps taken by the new Sri Lankan government, the US has said it looks forward to to work with the administration of newly elected President Maithripala Sirisena.

"Our expectations from the new government are the expectations of the Sri Lankan people. We simply want to support the new government in fulfilling its campaign pledges to the Sri Lankan people," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal said.

"We are extremely heartened by the steps that they have taken in these early days. We welcome the very resilient and robust verdict on democracy in Sri Lanka," she told PTI.
"The fact that this was a very peaceful transition and the fact that the new government has come in and has already started implement many of the promises that they made in their campaign," Ms Biswal said.
"We look forward to engaging with the new government and we look forward to working with them," she added.
Sri Lankan voters ousted two-time president Mahinda Rajapaksa on January 8 from power and elected his one-time ally Sirisena, who defected to the Opposition camp on the eve of announcement of the elections.

Being A New Sri Lanka

By Sanjayan Rajasingham -January 18, 2015

Sanjayan Rajasingham

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead

Why Be?

A lot of us would like a different Sri Lanka. If what a society is like depends greatly on what its people are like though, we need to change. We need tobe a new Sri Lanka. And if we aren’t prepared to change, then, frankly, we shouldn’t expect our country to.[i]

There is more to it than that though. For instance, many of us were outraged by those government MPs who voted in favour of the 18th amendment and the impeachment. Particular ire was reserved for those MPs who knew these measures were wrong, but didn’t have the backbone to refuse them. This was their sphere, they had power, they could do something – but they didn’t. If that makes us angry, then we need to be different. We need to act to make things better in our spheres, where we have influence, where wecan do something.

We also need to act because who we are today determines, in part, who we are tomorrow. How we use our influence today shapes how we will use the influence we have tomorrow. If today we are too busy, or too fed up, or too cautious to do what we can to make things better or to stand up for what is right, then we’ll probably be the same tomorrow. And then, if we get into positions of responsibility, we will not have the moral strength to stand up for what is right. Moral fibre does not spring up overnight. It comes from consistently acting for the good, for what is right, even in the insignificant spheres of life. Only then will we, if we get into power tomorrow, be different to those in power today.Read More

Previous govt. bribed to shelve Senaka Bibile Drug Policy – Rajitha
January 18, 2015, 10:59 pm

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By Don Asoka Wijewardena

Health and Indigenous Medicine Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne yesterday claimed that 400 multinational drug Companies paid Rs. 2.5 million amounting to Rs. 1 billion each to the previous government not to introduce Prof. Senaka Bibile National Drug Policy.

Dr. Senaratne yesterday emphasised that a new code of ethics for all New Democratic Front parliamentarians would be introduced on February 2. Under it nepotism, thuggery, abuse of state power and property for personal use would be eliminated.

One of the principal aims of President Maithripala Sirisena was to change the current parliamentary system to cater to the needs of the people. It was obvious that in the absence of a code of ethics, parliamentarians had a tendency to disregard the law and had become a law unto themselves, he said.

Minister Senaratne said if any New Democratic Front parliamentarian was found to be involved in anti-social activities or sought self-aggrandizement, he or she would have to face severe disciplinary action according to the gravity of the offense or misdeed committed.

The Health Minister said Prof. Sarath Gunathilaka who had done a comprehensive research on chronic kidney disease had recommended some important recommendations to the previous government for immediate implementation. The recommendations were given to us. Then he submitted the final recommendations to the Cabinet. The recommendations included the ban on all kinds of agrochemicals imported to the country.

He along with some other Ministers went to the Cabinet to get the ban on such harmful agrochemicals approved, but it never materialized. In other words the then Cabinet did not want to ban of deadly agrochemicals. There were about 100,000 renal failure patients in Sri Lanka. The new government would establish a Special Kidney Treatment Unit to treat all CKD patients in Sri Lanka, Dr. Senaratne said.

He pointed out that around 21 per cent of child population had been suffering from malnutrition. The government had decided to distribute vitamins with midday meal to all schoolchildren to eradicate malnutrition and vitamin deficiency.

Regarding the Prof. Senaka Bibile National Drug Policy, Minister Senaratne emphasized that the fomer President Mahinda Rajapaksa did not want to introduce the Drug Policy. No Minister in Sri Lanka had a backbone to introduce the National Drug Policy. But President Sirisena had been leaving no stone unturned to introduce the Drug Policy. Some multinational drug firms had bought over the previous government. "The new government has decided to introduce the National Drug Policy within 100 days. We will submit the bill to the Cabinet and then to parliament.

Dr. Senaratne alleged that when the then Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena wanted 80 per cent pictorial warnings on cigarette packets. The former President Mahinda Rajapaksa sarcastically said that if the government introduced 80 per cent pictorial warnings on cigarette packets no foreigner would visit Sri Lanka. Around 225 parliamentarians approved the introduction of 80 per cent pictorial warnings on cigarettes. But the then President scolded the then Health Minister Sirisena and said that he would see the verdict changed by the court. The new government had also decided to introduce 80 per cent pictorial warnings on cigarette packets within the 100 days. The new government was positive that no force could buy the members of the new government and the government was ready to face any challenge.

A Village in the Jungle!

January 19, 2015  

“There are people who will tell you that they have no fear of the jungle, that they know it as well as the streets of Maha Nuwara or their own compounds. Such people are either liars or boasters, or they are fools, without understanding or feeling for things as they really are”
“It was a strange world, a world of bare and brutal facts, of superstition, or grotesque imagination; a world of trees and the perpetual twilight of their shade; a world of hunger and fear and devils, where a man was helpless before the unseen and unintelligible powers surrounding him”
– The Village in the Jungle, Leonard Woolf

Just when we had begun to think that the Rajapaksa dispensation would be the order of the day for the foreseeable future – the three arms of government in its firm grip, the Parliamentary Opposition only a distant challenge, big business prostrate before it, State media a mere mouth piece while all other major media institutions under its de facto control, the Government as solid as the rock of Gibraltar or perhaps as impregnable as the Sigiriya fortress in its glory days – the edifice collapsed with astonishing rapidity, peacefully, by the most effective instrument known to free men, the vote.

A Village in the Jungle! by Thavam Ratna

Ukraine troops 'reclaim most of Donetsk airport' from rebels

SUNDAY 18 JANUARY 2015
Ukrainian troops retake almost all the territory of Donetsk airport in the east of the country, officials say, as thousands take part in a peace march in tribute to victims killed on a passenger bus.

Credit: Army.SOS

The airport in eastern Ukraine had been lost to separatists in recent weeks, military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said.

"The decision was taken for a mass operation ... We succeeded in almost completely cleaning the territory of the airport, which belongs to the territory of Ukrainian forces as marked by military separation lines," he said in a televised briefing.

Lysenko said the operation had returned the battle lines near the airport to the previous status quo and that the Ukrainian army had thus not violated the Minsk 12-point peace plan agreed with Russia and separatist leaders last September.

Three Ukrainian soldiers are said to have been killed yesterday during the fighting, Kiev's military reported.

The heavy fighting is in spite of a 12-point peace blueprint mapped out in Minsk in early September which called for a ceasefire in the nine-month conflict in which more than 4,800 people have been killed, according to World Health Organisation.

As fighting subsided, thousands took part in a peace march in tribute to the victims on board a passenger bus, which came under fire near the town of Volnovakha, in Kiev.

Twelve civilians are reported to have been killed on Tuesday 13 January, as the passenger bus stopped at an army checkpoint.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko condemned the bus attack as an act that "chilled the heart" and blamed it on the forces of the separatist Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics.

"These deaths are on the conscience of the DNR and LNR gangs and on those who stand behind them," he said, promising to sign a decree on more troops for the front.

A planned meeting of representatives from Ukraine, Russia and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and separatist leaders on the Ukraine crisis failed to materialise in the Belarussian capital Minsk on Friday.

A meeting of the so-called 'contact group' is seen as vital for getting the warring parties to observe a real ceasefire.

Iran, world powers make "limited" progress at nuclear talks - diplomat

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry sits with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif before a meeting in Geneva January 14, 2015.

BY STEPHANIE NEBEHAY-Sun Jan 18, 2015

(Reuters) - Iran and major powers made "limited" progress on Sunday in narrowing differences over its nuclear programme, but agreed to step up efforts as the Obama administration lobbied to stave off fresh sanctions against the Islamic Republic, diplomats said.

The Geneva negotiations, held at the level of political directors, are the culmination of five days of diplomacy in the Swiss city and Paris, including lengthy meetings between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

"Substantive progress is limited, experts will continue tomorrow morning. It is fair to say that everybody is committed to stepping up efforts," a diplomat told Reuters as deputy ministers began a final session late on Sunday afternoon.

"There is a good atmosphere in the sense that we will probably be meeting more in the months to come to try to make progress."

Helga Schmid, EU political director, chaired the closed-door talks at the EU diplomatic mission in Geneva, attended by officials from Iran and Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.

Acting Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman led the U.S. delegation, while Iran was represented by deputy minister Abbas Araqchi. Neither spoke to reporters on arrival.

U.S. President Barack Obama warned lawmakers on Friday not to trigger new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme, saying such a move would upset diplomatic talks and increase the likelihood of a military conflict with Tehran.

"Time is running short and it's the hope of Beijing that all parties will seize that historical opportunity by racing against the time and by doing two things: first is to adopt a pragmatic and a flexible approach with wisdom and secondly is to demonstrate with possible and maximum political will, with resolute political decisions," China's envoy Wang Qun told reporters in Geneva on Sunday.

Negotiators failed in November to meet a self-imposed deadline for clinching an elusive agreement seen as crucial to reducing the risk of a wider Middle East war. The new deadline for a final deal is June 30, but officials hope to reach an understanding on key parameters by the end of March.

Under a 2013 accord between Iran and the United States, France, Germany, Russia, China and Britain, the Islamic Republic halted its most sensitive nuclear activity and took other steps in exchange for some easing of economic sanctions.

It was negotiated to buy time for talks on the final settlement of a more than decade-old dispute over Iran's nuclear programme, which it says is peaceful but the West fears may be aimed at developing a capability to produce nuclear weapons.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay and Marina Depetris; editing by Ralph Boulton and Susan Thomas)