Thursday, July 9, 2015

What went wrong for the ‘rainbow coalition’

July 9, 2015, 12:00 pm

Rajiva Wijesinha was one of the main figures in the yahapalana coalition that overthrew President Mahinda Rajapaksa in January this year. Before former chief justice Sarath N.Silva began to speak up against the yahapalana government, Rajiva was the most prominent yahapalana intellectual to openly express his discontent at what the new government was doing. He was also one of the first to cross the floor of parliament. In this interview, he speaks to C.

What Went Wrong for the ‘Rainbow Coalition’ by Thavam Ratna

Sirisena Has Dug His Own Grave

By Helasingha Bandara –July 9, 2015

I was reluctant to put pen on paper until I was certain that Maithripala has dug his own grave. I hesitated to comment as the nomination saga kept confusing everyone. It may be more or less clear now that Sirisena has given in perhaps not knowing what is to come.

First, this is not simply a betrayal of millions who looked forward for a peaceful, lawful and resourceful Lanka when they ousted the dictator a few months ago, but a total annihilation of the wishes of the majority of people to have good governance that can stop mass scale stealing of public funds that can be re-channeled for the public good. Rampant corruption amongst the politicians and the state officials is the decisive factor that keeps Sri Lanka under-developed and its people struggling to make the ends meet. All sufferers wanted this to stop. Their wishful thoughts now have been shattered by a gutless leader that they chose.

Led by Mhinda Rajapaksa, all sorts of bad elements are coming into rule us again. The best example is Johnston Fernando. Those who opposed MR at the previous election in the Kurunegala district wanted Jonny to be erased from the political landscape. Sadly an uneducated, unethical and uncultured goon like Jonny is going to be nominated from a party that we all expected to be cleansed with the arrival of Sirisena.

It was reported that MS has agreed to give conditional nomination to MR. It now is clear that MR was the one who imposed conditions upon MS. He was about to pull out if Prasanna Ranathunga and some of his cronies were not given nominations. Dashing all our hopes little Sirisena has succumbed to MR conditions it seems.

By Rathindra Kuruwita-2015-07-10

President Maithripala Sirisena has told nine representatives of the civil society on Wednesday (8) that he did not have total control over the nomination process of either the SLFP or the UPFA.
The civil society representatives met President Sirisena at the Presidential Secretariat at 9:00 p.m. The President had said if he resigned from the SLFP/UPFA, those who supported him and the MPs who obtained ministerial posts in the 'National Government' would not be even able to secure nominations.

"The gist of President's argument was that he was attempting to protect SLFPers/UPFA members who backed him," said one of the representatives who met him.
President Sirisena had also said he would make a public statement that he would not support any political party during the General Election. Civil society representatives had asked the President whether the move would not make the way for Rajapaksa to manage the UPFA election campaign; but the President had not answered that question.

The civil society representatives had then questioned whether the President had taken any action to prevent corrupt individuals from getting nominations. The President had said that he did not want to give nomination to 17 MPs, but that had been reduced to seven now. "Most of the UPFA members had told him that only three people should not be given nominations, the President said. Throughout the meeting, which lasted over 90 minutes, the President tried to explain his predicament. He also said he will remain neutral during the election campaign. However, the President was very vague about everything and did not reveal the name of anyone who might not receive nomination," the representative said.

Video: A murder committed by Namal’s henchman

THURSDAY, 09 JULY 2015

An agitation was held yesterday (8th) blocking Embilipitiy – Nonagama main road by residents and relatives of Amila, a youth shot dead by P.V.G. Kelum, the Chairman of ‘Nil Balakaya’ (Blue Brigade)of Murawesihena in Angunukolapelessa police division. The agitators, carrying the body of the deceased, demanded the immediate arrest of the murderer.

It is revealed that the suspect had murdered another person some time back. The incident is said to be when a father of a girl had come to rescue her from being raped by the murderer. Also, the brother of the deceased Amila had been struck with a sword by the suspect a few months ago. He was arrested for this offence and had been released on bail when he committed the latest murder.

Even after Mahinda Rajapaksa was defeated the murderer had made use of the power of the Rajapaksa family including that of Namal Rajapaksa to carry out various atrocities in Angunukolapelessa and Ambalantota areas say reports.

The OIC of Angunukolapelessa Police, who had spoken to the agitators, had promised that the murderer would be arrested without considering any pressure from politicians.

However, residents say the murderer was taken away to a safe place in a defender vehicle belonging to Rajapaksa family.

Maithri devastated our future: while calling others slaves abjectly surrendered to become a slave of slaves- Minister

(Lanka-e-News -09.July.2015, 11.00PM) It is Tissa Attanayake who occupies the Number one position in the name list of Maithripala’s national list of MPs, according to unofficial sources. Lest Maithri has forgotten , it is this Attanayake who after betraying the UNP during the presidential elections smoersaulted to the Mahinda Rajapakse camp which was determined to defeat Maithripala and bury him with his family six feet underground , In other words Attanayake was the number one enemy of Maithripala . Attanayake even went to the extent of preparing a fake agreement between UNP and the LTTE ( for which he was incarcerated ) to defeat Maithripala.

It is also learnt in Maithripala’s list of nominations ,a majority are pro Mahinda most corrupt candidates. It is a pity that the most honest group of SLFP have not obtained nominations, for instance in Galle district , 11 of the 13 candidates are the pro MaRa corrupt scoundrels.

It is Maithripala who by now has become most notorious for his pliant forked tongue , loudly and proudly claimed that he is following Bandaranaike policies and will steer them forward , in his characteristic hypocritical and double dealing style has axed Keerthi Mawella a most reputed politician and a private secretary of late Sirimavo Bandaranaike, and nominated Geetha Kumarasinghe , a half penny two penny politician cum wizened old actress who was defeated even in the provincial council elections.

Similarly in the nomination list of Matara , of the 11 candidates , only one is pro Maithripala . All others are pro MaRa corrupt scoundrels.

In Hambantota too , of the ten candidates , only one is pro Miathripala , and that is Mahinda Amaraweera , while all others are pro MaRa corrupt scoundrels.

In Kalutara ,except Rajitha (if Rajitha is seeking elections) , all others are pro MaRa crooks.

In the end , Maithripala who maligned and condemned others as slaves finally became a condemned slave of the Medamulana slaves . Obviously, the genuine SLFP ers are therefore in a state of rude shock over the egregious opportunistic and hypocritical conduct of Mathripala to whom however double crossing and betraying are as simple as a duck taking to water.

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by (2015-07-09 20:04:35)

Make Two Commission Reports Public – Friday Forum

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(Welikada prison riots in 2012)

09/07/2015

Friday Forum has requested president Sirisena to make public report of the committee to inquire into the Welikada prison riots in 2012 and the interim report of the Presidential Commission to Investigate into Complaints regarding Missing Persons (Paranagama Commission) without any delay. The statement issued by the Friday Forum regading the issue follows:

President Maithripala Sirisena.
President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.
Presidential Secretariat.
Colombo 1.

Dear President Sirisena

Report on Welikade prison riots; Paranagama Commission

The Friday Forum was pleased to read the report of the recommendations of the committee to inquire into the Welikada prison riots in 2012, which recommendations were released to the public on 25 June 2015. However we call on you, in the public interest, to release in full the report of the inquiry, as we have a right to know what took place inside the prison which caused 27 inmates to lose their lives.

The Friday Forum was also pleased to note the handing over to you of the interim report of the Presidential Commission to Investigate into Complaints regarding Missing Persons (Paranagama Commission) in early April. Here too we ask for its release and publication in the public interest. We welcome the actions of the Commission to facilitate issuing of death certificates, payment of compensation, intervention in employment and land matters etc over and above its mandate. However we note with concern the Commission’s regret that written requests to the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Justice to release to the Commission names of persons who were in custody of prisons, detention camps, refugee camps, and rehabilitation centres had not been complied with. We urge you to ensure compliance by these two Ministries in order to further facilitate the identification and location of missing persons.

Dr. G. Usvatte- Aratchi Ms. Suriya Wickremasinghe Ms. Shanthi Dias

On behalf of The Friday Forum

Dr. G. Usvatte- Aratchi, Ms. Suriya Wickremasinghe, Prof. Arjuna Aluwihare, Rev. Dr. Jayasiri Peiris, Mr. Faiz-Ur. Rahman, Mr. Ananda Galappatti, Ms. Damaris Wickremasekera, Dr. Selvy Thiruchandran, Ms. Manouri Muttetuwegama, Prof. Camena Guneratne, Ms. Shanthi Dias, Dr. Upatissa Pethiyagoda, Prof. Gameela Samarasinghe, Dr. Deepika Udagama, Mr. J. C Weliamuna, Dr. A.C. Visvalingam, Professor Ranjini Obeyesekere, Mr. Ahilan Kadirgamar, Rt. Rev. Bishop Duleep de Chickera, Mr. D. Wijayanandana, Mr. S.C.C.Elankovan and Mr. Chandra Jayaratne.

The Friday Forum is an informal group of concerned citizens pledged to uphold norms of democracy, good governance, the rule of law, human rights, media freedom and tolerance in our pluralist society

Ravi to report Hyatt project malpractices to

FCID

2015-07-09

The finance ministry is to make a formal complaint to the Police Financial Crime Investigation Division (FCID) on the large scale misappropriation of funds and malpractices said to have taken place in the construction of the Hyatt Hotel projects in Colpetty and Hambantota during the last regime.

The ministry said in a statement that the complaint would be lodged on the instruction of Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake.

The Hyatt hotel Project is owned by M/S Canwill Holdings Ltd which is a fully government owned public enterprise. 46 per cent of its shares are held by Sri Lanka Insurance while the rest is equally shared by the EPF and the Litro Gas Company under the finance ministry, each holding 27 per cent of the shares.

Soon after the new government came into office, the Canwill Holdings’ new management conducted a forensic audit on the affairs of the company.

The out sourced forensic audit firm has uncovered mass fraud and malpractices inclusive of the doubling the initial cost of the construction to Rs. 27 billion from Rs 13 billion. Canwill Holdings was previously managed by former President's Chief of Staff Mr. Gamini Senarath who has also held several other high profile offices in several other public enterprises including Litro Gas which is a stake holder of the owning company of the Hyatt Hotel Project.

According to present Litro Gas Lanka Ltd Chairman Mr. Shalila Moonasinghe, who is also the Canwill Holdings Director, a host of irregularities and mismanagements have been highlighted in the forensic audit which warrants further investigations by police.

The forensic audit report points out that the company of which Mr. Senarath was at the helm has had no regards to the laid down tender procedures and has engaged in surreptitious transactions blatantly violating all norms and regulations.

A payment of Rs.10 million has been made to a lawyer without any agreement, Rs.16 million losses were reported in steel purchases, Rs.80 million payment to a fitting supplier without the Board of Directors approval and entering into an international tender for USD 37 million the day before January 8, Presidential election are among the host of irregularities unearthed by the forensic audit.

The Hyatt Hotel Project has two components with other being the construction of another hotel in Hambantota. It has been revealed that Rs.300 million has been spent from the Rs.5 billion earmarked for the Hambantota Hyatt Project even without the foundation stone being laid for the project. - See more at: http://www.dailymirror.lk/79071/finance-ministry-to-report-malpractices-to-fcid#sthash.DtczTLpj.dpuf

The Invisible (Digital) War

Wherever there’s a political crisis, from Gaza to Ukraine, cyberattacks targeting the flow of information soon follow. A few brave computer programmers are fighting back.

BY DAVID KENNER-JULY 9, 2015

Every day, an invisible war is waged across the planet. Hundreds of gigabits of data bombard servers every second in nonstop digital warfare targeting the free flow of information.

The Invisible (Digital) War by Thavam Ratna

Suspected U.S. drone strikes kill key Islamic State figures in Afghanistan

An Afghan soldier screens passengers at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Jalalabad province on June 29, 2015. (Parwiz/Reuters)

By Sudarsan Raghavan and Tim Craig-July 9
KABUL — A key leader of the Islamic State and another top commander were killed in recent U.S drone strikes in eastern Afghanistan, according to intelligence officials here, the latest sign that the radical Islamist group is considered a growing threat in the country.
Suspected U.S. Drone Strikes Kill Key Islamic State Figures in Afghanistan by Thavam Ratna

Indian Ocean: A Zone of Benefits or Conflicts?

Russia’s role is significant in creating what nuclear-armed India is today. Russia as a major contractor of submarines, warships’ plans and missile technology to India is generating a suspicion in Chinese threat perception. There are relatively greater chances of naval arms race if we consider historical Indo-Russian naval cooperation and contemporarily increased exchange of naval collaboration between U.S. and India.

by Ahsan Ali Zahid and Hasan Ehtisham

( July 8, 2015, Islamabad, Sri Lanka Guardian) Indian Ocean can be saved from becoming a zone of conflicts if India stops thinking it would like to own it for its name. If the West allows New Delhi to build a blue water navy, it would be just a matter of time that their creation would become their nightmare. Indian Ocean ranks fifth largest, covering 20% of the water and approximately 60 islands owned by different states and hosts four major waterways – the Strait of Malacca, the Strait of Hormuz, Bab-el Mandeb and the Suez Canal.

Indian Ocean a Zone of Benefits or Conflicts by Thavam Ratna

Israel says two citizens being held in Gaza

Disappearance of Israeli-Ethiopian Avera Mengistu, who has been missing in Gaza along with a second man, came to light after a court lifted gag order

Israeli journalists report outside the apartment building of Avera Mengistu in Ashkelon. His disappearance was revealed after the Haaretz newspaper challenged the gag order in force since his disappearance 10 months ago. Photograph: Tsafrir Abayov/AP

Peter Beaumont in Jerusalem-Thursday 9 July 2015
An Israeli man has been missing in Gaza for almost 10 months – presumed held captive by Hamas – after climbing over a border fence from a public beach adjoining the coastal strip. He is one of two Israeli citizens held alive in Gaza.

Israel Says Two Citizens Being Held in Gaza by Thavam Ratna

North Korea's Kim Jong-un orders farmer's execution - after his favourite terrapins die

KIM JONG-UN has ordered a farmer to be ruthlessly executed - after his favourite terrapins died.

GETTY

The North Korean leader on a happier farm tour

By OLI SMITH-Wed, Jul 8, 2015

The North Korea dictator is believed to have been so shocked at the farm's treatment of the reptiles - where they were kept in dirty tanks and starved - he condemned its owner to death by firing squad.

Jong-un is also reported to have been outraged at the manager's excuse that "inadequate power supply and food" were to blame - viewing it as an insult to his regime.

The 32-year-old leader's brutal action came following an embarrassing tour at Taedonggang Terrapin Farm in May.

The farm holds a special place in the Jong-un's heart, as his father, Kim Jong Il, had personally opened and praised the farm in October 2011.

In a drive to provide the country with "tasty and nutritious seafood", the late leader of the country had sent freshwater lobsters to the facility for breeding.

During his recent visit, Jong-un also promised grave consequences" for not producing the lobsters that had been promised at the farm's opening, while he raged at the manager's "incompetence".

The portly autocrat was also aghast to see that the farm owner had "no room at the farm dedicated to honouring" his father.

The state's 'Supreme Leader' denounced the manager as "defeatist" and had him shot after the tour.

Professor Remc Breuker, an expert in Korean studies at Leiden University in the Netherlands, confirmed accounts of Jong-un's extreme reaction are likely to be true.

He said: "There's a good chance this happened.

GETTY

Kim Jong-Un is preparing his nation for the 70th anniversary of the country

"It's obviously very extreme and sounds unthinkable, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen."

The farmer's execution is just one more in a long line of bizarre and reckless executions ordered by the North Korean leader.

A recent South Korean report found that nearly 1,400 North Koreans were publicly executed between 2000 and 2013.

Last April, Jong-un ordered the execution of the 66-year-old Minister of Defence Hyon Young Choi for falling asleep during a meeting.

The general was "obliterated" with an anti-aircraft gun.

Jong-un is currently forcing the nation to work "around the clock" to provide "good presents" for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the party in October.

But, the leader's efforts are being hampered by the country's worst drought in a century, causing wide-spread malnourishment and disease.

Human rights, ‘structural adjustment’ and world ‘disorder’

July 8, 2015, 12:00 pm

An EU flag waves in front of the ancient temple of Parthenon atop the Acropolis hill in Athens on July 7, 2015. Eurozone leaders will hold an emergency summit in Brussels on July 7 to discuss the fallout from Greek voters’ defiant "No" to further austerity measures, with the country’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras set to unveil new proposals for talks. AFP

Human Rights, ‘Structural Adjustment’ and World ‘Disorder’ by Thavam Ratna

New BRICS bank to look at local, international borrowing - president

UFA, RUSSIA | BY KATYA GOLUBKOVA--Thu Jul 9, 2015

The New Development Bank being launched by the BRICS group of emerging economies plans to raise money both on local markets and internationally, its president said on Thursday.

The bank, with an initial capital of $50 billion, is being introduced at an organisational summit of the BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - in the Russian city of Ufa.

The summit is a showcase for Russian President Vladimir Putin, and comes at a time when Moscow's ties with the West are strained because of the Ukraine crisis.

Kundapur Vaman Kamath, 67, a former executive with India's largest private bank, ICICI Bank, was appointed president of NDB in May this year. The bank is headquartered in Shanghai, China.

The bank, which the BRICS countries see as an alternative to the World Bank, will have its capital expanded to $100 billion within the next couple of years. It plans to issue its first loans, yet to be agreed, in April - a plan K.V. Kamath said was on track.

"We will explore resource raising on various markets - hard currency markets and local currency markets," K.V. Kamath said in an interview in Ufa.

He added that the NDB will seek international and local agencies ratings - a necessary step for issuing debt.

"We are a clean sheet of paper, so I will get to Shanghai this week, (or) next week and we will sequence it," K.V. Kamath said when asked on timing for getting ratings cleared.

Russia has been hit by Western sanctions over its role in the Ukraine crisis, measures that limited access to foreign financing for many large firms and banks, such as the state oil company Rosneft (ROSN.MM), private gas producer Novatek (NVTK.MM) and Russia's biggest bank, Sberbank (SBER.MM).

K.V. Kamath said that the NDB should not be viewed as a tool to help sanctions-hit companies but said the bank will look at requests from Russian companies.

"We are not looking at it in that context at all ... We will look at any proposal that the government or entity in the country wants us to look at," he said.

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told reporters this week that some projects, such as a request by Rosneft for financial support, may be listed for possible NDB funds.

K.V. Kamath added that there were no specific deals yet in the pipeline and no limit had been set on the size of loans.

The size of the loan "will depend on what is the structure of the loan, what is a need of a borrowing country and then we will look at it," he said.

"Our mandate is very wide... We believe that development happens in infrastructure so primarily we are focusing on that."

(Reporting by Katya Golubkova; additional reporting by Darya Korsunskaya and Lidia Kelly; Editing by Lidia Kelly, Larry King)

K.V.Kamath gestures during the Reuters India Summit at his office in Mumbai November 25, 2008.

REUTERS/STRINGER/FILES

Syrian crisis: 4 million refugees and counting

09 JULY 2015

The number of refugees fleeing Syria has topped 4 million, according to the UN refugee agency, in what has been described as the world's biggest refugee crisis.

As the conflict enters its fifth year with no sign of resolution, the number of refugees is expected to continue to rise dramatically.

Since the war began in 2011, with rebels attempting to overthrow the regime of Bashar al-Assad, events have spiralled out of control and the country has been carved up by Islamic State forces, Kurds, Assad loyalists and al-Qaeda linked groups.

Most refugees from Syria's four years of war are in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt and Turkey, which has more refugees than any other country, with 1.8 million Syrians.

Almost 2 million Syrians have fled to Turkey while an additional 7.6 million are displaced inside Syria, according to the UN. Iraq has taken in a quarter of a million people - while Jordan has over 620,000 and Egypt has well over 125,000.

Lebanon has an estimated 1.7 million Syrians - the country's population stands at just over 4 million.

In Europe there have been 270,000 asylum applications by Syrians.

"This is the biggest refugee population from a single conflict in a generation. It is a population that needs the support of the world but is instead living in dire conditions and sinking deeper into poverty," UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said.

The UN World Food Programme has cut rations for refugees because of a lack of cash.

About 86 per cent of the 630,000 refugees in Jordan live below the poverty line of $3.2 per day, and more than half of the 1.173 million Syrians in Lebanon live in sub-standard shelters.

15 WAYS SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE APPROACH LIFE DIFFERENTLY

JEFF HADEN — 07/02/2015

In many ways successful people are just like unsuccessful people. They come from all sorts of backgrounds, all types of demographics, have all levels of education and experience and expertise….

15 Ways Successful People Approach Life Differently by Thavam Ratna