Sirisena Bribes Mano Ganesan With STF Security In Run Up To Colombo Election

author: COLOMBO TELEGRAPH–December 27 2017 

Colombo Telegraph is now in a position to reveal that President Maithripala Sirisena has ‘bribed’ Democratic People’s Front Leader Minister Mano Ganesan with Police Special Task Force (STF) security.


The President has given the order to IGP Pujith Jayaundara in an attempt to entice the Minister to support the Sri Lanka Freedom Party at the Colombo Municipal Council election.

According to election regulations, offering goods, money, perks, positions and privileges in the run-up to an election, based on decisions made during the election period, can be considered a bribe.

The Police Special Task Force security is a privilege enjoyed by only a handful of members of the ruling alliance.

The move comes in the wake of a minor fallout between Ganesan and the United National Party over nominations for the Colombo District. Party sources said the differences were mainly between Ganesan and former Minister Ravi Karunayayake, a UNP stalwart in the Colombo district.

“After the disagreement happened, the President saw an opening. He immediately ordered STF security for Ganesan and opened up a channel of communication with him,” a well-informed source from the Presidential Secretariat told Colombo Telegraph.

However, Ganesan has still not explicitly pledged his support to either of parties.

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Is the punishment considered appropriate for thecrime ?

Rs.1,000 fine for not declaring assets and liabilities

Ex-Parliamentarian Sajin de Vass Gunawardena pleaded guilty for not declaring his assets from 2011 to 2012 and was imposed a fine of Rs.1,000 by the Colombo Additional Magistrate on December 7, 2017.  

2017-12-27 

In April, former Defence Ministry Monitoring MP Duminda Silva was ordered to pay a fine of Rs.1,000 for each year that he failed to declare his assets and liabilities by Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court.  
Former Petroleum Industries Deputy Minister Sarana Gunawardena who pleaded guilty of two cases regarding the same offence while he was serving as Chairman of National Lotteries Board was ordered to pay a fine of Rs.2,000 in July this year.  
Any reasonable man would find this particular operation of crime and punishment rather ridiculous. Surprisingly or not so surprisingly, that is what our law provides for!  
The Declaration of Assets and Liabilities Law No. 1 of 1975 mandates that if any person who is under a duty to make a declaration of assets and liabilities fails to do so without reasonable cause, such person shall be guilty of the offence and be liable to a fine not exceeding Rs.1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both.  

• These types of fines encourage corruption.The whole world is laughing at this!

• At the moment Sri Lanka has no campaign finance laws

• Any reasonable man would find this particular operation of crime and punishment rather ridiculous!

• Does our law work towards encouraging corruption and malpractices instead of deterring them? 

At a first glance it is noticeable that the punishment of remaining in prison for one year outweighs paying Rs.1,000 as penalty by a large magnitude. It is also then evident that the laws related to fines are as usual slow to be revived as against the speed that the value of the rupee seems to be falling.  
The law requires such a person to declare the value of his assets and liabilities once found guilty. However, in the event that the offender is found guilty years later, after his or her position is now replaced with someone else, such a measure would be futile.  
What implications does this have on the functioning of law and order in this country? Does our law work towards encouraging corruption and malpractices instead of deterring them?  
Neville Guruge, Commissioner of the Commission to Investigate Bribery or Corruption opined that when comparing with other massive scale corruption that takes place in the country, non-declaration of assets and liabilities is a minor issue.  

"Rs.1,000 fine maybe compatible with the time that the law was passed, but when looking at the rate of malpractices happening in this country and currency evaluation, the fine can go up to 1 million – or even 10 million and there must be a minimum imprisonment of 10 years"

He admitted of a lack of a proper system to realize this law. He suggested that the head of departments need to have a systematic method of enforcing this law on an annual basis.  
“Corruption starts at the time of parliamentary campaigns. People fund politicians with the intention of receiving some favour. And once money is obtained, candidates are under an obligation. In the good old days, politicians used to sell their own properties and gather wealth to fund their elections.”  “It is very difficult for the Commission to Investigate Bribery or Corruption to investigate on these matters because we don’t have a strong cadre of investigators. Although more than 400 investigators must be there, at the moment there are only around 200. Investigators are usually taken from the Police Department, but the few officers who are up to standard are needed by the IGP. As a solution we now recruit freshers and train them to be investigators.”  
Asoka Obeyesekere, the Executive Director of Transparency International Sri Lanka pointed out the key areas in the antiquated Declaration of Assets and Liabilities Law that needs immediate attention.  
“At the outset, it is important to highlight the fact that there are two elements of punishment – the fine and the prison sentence. There have been a lot of public outcry around the Rs. 1,000 fine, and I believe that the government must take responsibility for that. On the one hand there is a need to revise financial penalties and on the other hand, a need to relax the prison sentence.”  
“There must also be revision of the secrecy provisions in the law. Countries like India allow full disclosure of assets to the public. Even Ukraine, which is a country far below Sri Lanka in the corruption index, allows full disclosure. It is ironic how, if a person who is required to preserve secrecy of the value of assets owned by someone to whom this law applies, discloses such information, such person can be punished with a Rs.2,000 fine and a prison sentence of two years” 
When inquired about the implication of the law to declare one’s assets and liabilities has in respect of financing campaigns for elections, Obeyesekere mentioned that everyone is aware that running for parliament in Sri Lanka is a financially illogical proposition.  
“The public must know where the money comes from. At the moment Sri Lanka has no campaign finance laws. We have even proposed that one of the basic things that can be done is requiring disclosure of details about campaign contributions “.  
Asoka Obeyesekere also stated that the time given for the Bribery Commission to investigate is insufficient and that the forms of regarding asset disclosure must be modernized by recognizing modern concepts like beneficial ownership and conflict of interests.   Dr. Prathiba Mahanamahewa, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Colombo took a strong position on making punishment more rigorous.  

"Corruption starts at the time of parliamentary campaigns. People fund politicians with the intention of receiving some favour. And once money is obtained, candidates are under an obligation. In the good old days, politicians used to sell their own properties and gather wealth to fund their elections - Neville Guruge"

“The Rs.1,000 fine maybe compatible with the time that the law was passed, but when looking at the rate of malpractices happening in this country and currency evaluation, the fine can go up to 1 million – or even 10 million and there must be a minimum imprisonment of 10 years. Civic status must also be terminated. If not, we can’t stop corruption in Sri Lanka, because at the end of the day, perpetrators are aware of the simple punishment and commit the 
offence anyway.  
“It is these types of fines that encourage corruption. The whole world is laughing at this. When people come to politics, they don’t even own a vehicle, by when they leave, they are certainly well off.  
A special amendment is needed, at least in relation to the punishment. However, I assure you that no one will come to 
parliament that day”.  
Dr. Mahanamahewa also emphasized on the need for a global network involving Interpol to prevent money laundering and trace assets in foreign banks and that Sri Lanka needs to ratify international conventions related to this. 

From manger to managers: Serenity of stillness

Tuesday, 26 December 2017

A manager in the little town of Bethlehem became world famous because of Christmas. It is not only a time to relax and refresh, but also to reflect and to reinforce. Despite the overly commercial coverage of Christmas, the true serenity associated with spirituality is still significant. As someone boldly said the other day, Christmas is certainly not the Santa’s Birthday. I think it is high time to be brilliant on basics in responding to the call to be spiritual. It supersedes traditional religious boundaries. In essence, Christmas invites us to awaken ourselves towards spirituality. I would call this a message from manager to managers. 

Overview

Let’s see what spirituality is from a management perspective. It involves a term for many beliefs and practices intended to develop one’s inner life. It is associated with a feeling of interconnectedness. In other words, it is the vital principle that gives breadth of life to physical organism. 

A time for living, a time for believing

A time for trusting, not deceiving,

Love and laughter and joy ever after

Ours for the taking, just follow the master.

The above is an extract from one common Christmas carol we hear, ‘Mistletoe and Wine’. It was made popular as a single by Cliff Richard. We observed how many corporates committed in organising Christmas carols during recent weeks. It has become not a mere annual ritual but a deeper organisational phenomenon in strengthening employee engagement. Participating in carols is a demonstration of unity, solidarity and team collaboration as a set of professional colleagues. In turn it helps the needy in the society as well. 

The essence here is synergy in action, leaving aside differences. This has clear connection to what management scholars termed as ‘spiritual intelligence’. 

Spiritual Intelligence in focus

The central point here is intelligence. As we discussed some time ago, intelligence comes from the Latin verb ‘intellegere’, which means ‘to understand’. It is an umbrella term used to describe a property of the mind that encompasses many related abilities, such as the capacities to reason, to plan, to solve problems, to think abstractly, to comprehend ideas, to use language, and to learn. 

We know for sure, intelligence is not only reading, writing and doing arithmetic. It goes far beyond. Emotional Intelligence has become quite popular in showcasing the power of harnessing positive emotions. The newest addition to the list is spiritual intelligence. 

What is Spiritual Intelligence? It is what all great religious leaders aptly demonstrated. It is what was available in leaders of all spheres life from time immemorial. It is what got repackaged by Dana Zohar, a quantum physicist in the late nineties. Interestingly, her work heralded an era where a whole new focus on spirituality linked to intelligence began. 

As Zoar vividly describes, spirituality is to ‘know’ who you are and spiritual intelligence is to ‘realise’ who you are and to live life in that awareness. You have always been who you are and, in truth, you can never be other than who you are, but it requires ‘realisation’ i.e. that moment when you ‘see it’, when you ‘get it’ and then you ‘be it’. 

Spirituality is different to being religious. You can go to all the religious places in the world but if you do not demonstrate values in your action, you are not spiritual yet. Being spiritual is essentially maintaining three connections. They are: Connecting to self, to others and to the universe (higher being). 

Components of Spiritual Intelligence

Based on the work done by Zohar and Marshall (1997), the following have been highlighted as key components: 

Self awareness

Knowing what I believe in and value, and what deeply motivates me. As Thich Nhat Hanh, a reputed Vietnamese monk said once, “Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor”.  

Spontaneity

Living in and being responsive to the moment 

Being vision and value led

Acting from principles and deep beliefs, and living accordingly

Holism

Seeing larger patterns, relationships, and connections; having a sense of belonging

Compassion

Having the quality of ‘feeling-with’ and deep empathy

Celebration of diversity

Valuing other people for their differences, not despite them

Field independence

Standing against the crowd and having one’s own convictions

Humility

Having the sense of being a player in a larger drama, of one’s true place in the world

Tendency to ask fundamental ‘Why?’ questions

Needing to understand things and get to the bottom of them

Ability to reframe

Standing back from a situation or problem and seeing the bigger picture; seeing problems in a wider context

Positive use of adversity

Learning and growing from mistakes, setbacks, and suffering

Sense of vocation

Feeling called upon to serve, to give something back.

Having looked into the components of spiritual intelligence, it will be interesting to see its connection to values.

Values as the core

Jim Collins’ best-selling book, ‘Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies’ conclude that truly great companies are visionary and value driven. In his latest book, ‘Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t’, Jim Collins researched 11 companies who made the transition from being good companies to being ‘great’ companies on par with the companies in ‘Built to Last’. A key finding was that each company had what he calls ‘Level 5 Leadership’ or in simple terms, leadership at its greatest level. 

The logical connection here is that great leaders seem to demonstrate most or all of the characteristics described as spiritual intelligence by Zohar. Great leaders showed a profound personal humility and a powerful faith that they and their company would prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties.

Spiritual intelligence as five-fold capacities

Robert Emmons (2000) illuminates us on five key capacities of spiritual intelligence. They are as follows: 

1.Capacity to transcend the physical and material.

This refers to mental action of thinking beyond what is seen. It involves a deep level of thinking.

2.Capacity to experience heightened states of consciousness.

This is essentially mindfulness; an area where conscious breathing can be of very high importance. 

3. Capacity to sanctify everyday experience.

In simplifying, this refers to accept things as they are rather than as they ought to be. It makes one positive and constructive.

4. Capacity to utilise spiritual resources to solve problems.

Relying on your ‘built in wisdom’ or trusting the gut in approaching problems where there is no precedence is what it means. 

5. Capacity to be virtuous.

The reference here is to be ethical in demonstrating values in action.

It seems the common thread that cuts across all above aspects is the connectivity. 

SQ and SI

SI as we already discussed is the acronym for Spiritual Intelligence. Then what is SQ? It is termed as Spiritual Quotient. In brief, SI is measured using SQ.

Spiritual Quotient (SQ) is still in its early development. Even though it is a conceptually rich area, practical dimensions also should be given due prominence. There are still some issues to be resolved. Among them the non-availability of one consistent way of measuring features prominently. It is also difficult to measure by traditional means. The solution would be to introduce a competency based SI assessment instrument. Spiritual Intelligence Self Report Inventory (SISRI) is one such major attempt. 

SI in action

Spirituality should be reflected in action. Four Zen-like principles which are simple as ideas yet so deep as actions shed light on this: 

Whoever comes is the right person

Whatever happens is the only thing that could have happened

Whenever it starts is the right time

Whenever it is over, it is over

By practicing spiritual intelligence, Seven Sins in the world as identified by Mahatma Gandhi can be overcome, at least where an individual has some influence:

•  Wealth without work
•  Pleasure before conscience
•  Knowledge without character
•  Commerce without morality
•  Science without humanity
•  Worship without sacrifice
•  Politics without principle

Spirituality in action

Spiritual Intelligence should be seen more in practice than in preaching. It applies to business managers and public administrators alike. It reminds me of one of my precious childhood memories in visiting a remarkable personality, and now I know that he was highly spiritually intelligent. 

I together with my parents visited Rev. Fr. Mercelline Jayakody, who was at the old Catholic Church of Pilapitiya, Kelaniya. His room had a beautiful scenic view of Kelani River. Perhaps he would have been influenced to write many Sinhala carols connecting natural beauty of Sri Lanka to nativity of Christ, when he wrote: “Dina dina wehi kalu barawenawa, Maweli ganga diya borawenewa, Naththaa Kath beda gene enawa, Wehibara Uduvapaye” (Christmas comes with loads of gifts in rainy December when waters of Mahaweli becomes murky”.

Way forward

Let me conclude with what Rev. Fr. Mercelline Jayakody, aptly hailed as the Priest of the Temple (Pansale Piyatuma), wrote in Sinhala highlighting the social reality of Christmas. My translation of it goes as follows: 

My Christmas is…

When poor is well fed

When ragged cloths are no more

When your hands are consoled

When sin “goes” to Church.

It is all about being humane. Let’s be human beings and not ‘human doings’ or ‘human undoings’. There is no better time than this week, just after Christmas, to reflect on ourselves. Let that inward journey be a truly meaningful one. 

(Prof. Ajantha Dharmasiri can be reached through director@pim.sjp.ac.lk, president@ipmlk.org or www.ajanthadharmasiri.info.)

Bribery And Corruption — Enemy of the Nation?

Obviously corruption and bribery cannot be completely eradicated and the attempts should be made to minimize it as far as possible. If the system is not effective short and long effective genuine methods are to be adopted and implemented to curb it.

by Sarath Wijesinghe-Dec 27, 2017

Bribery and Corruption

( December 27, 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Sri Lanka has come to 4th position in Bribery and Corruption with the first place as the largest cabinet in the world. “Yahapalana” came to power with the negative vote with lot of funfair to eradicate alleged corruptions and bribery of the previous regime still trailing to recover the missing/ misplaced and misappropriated billons siphoned and hidden in Dubai or other parts of the world. Few months after coming into power over a trillion was robbed to run over 30 years and now there are mega scams lined up from military ship deal, fertilizer scam, vacant building taken for the Agriculture Ministry onwards in the public domain are only a few when compared to many more deals by the Parliamentary Mafia on sale of permits and shady deals to be exposed by activists in the near future.

Bribery and Corruption - Enemy of the Nation.docx by Thavam on Scribd

Uncle Nihal Went To Nuwara Eliya

author: Udara Soysa

By Udara Soysa –December 27  2017 


Alcoholism in Sri Lanka is a real issue affecting the lives of thousands. Drunk on alcohol and arrogance many in road treat others with contempt and sheer disregard. Uncle Nihal who accompanied his family to Nuwara Eliya is such reckless individual.

I parked my car in a narrow car park which had minimum space in a small restaurant in Nuwara Eliya – then entered uncle Nihal with his two watti ammas.

“How dare you park near our vehicle – get it out,” he screamed with an over powering alcohol breath.

I was about to take my very first bite of the food I bought. The drunk uncle Nihal screamed non-stop.

I held up the situation for few minutes trying to recollect what exactly is going on – I calmly explained to the gentleman that he has enough space to get into his vehicle.

“You are disrespecting me and you are breaking the law,” he screamed. I explained to him that I am am a lawyer and no laws had been broken and he had more than a feet between cars. In his drunk state he insists that I should move the vehicle out despite him having ample space to move his.

I held my ground for few more minutes before his crew started jumping into the fray. Two ladies jumped onto the scene which resembles a scene from pettah market which indeed even put the most foul mouthed vatti Amma to shame.

Shortly the entire crew of drunk uncle Nihal had joined the fray with F bombs thrown all around the place.

A humble brigadier of Sri Lankan army intervened the situation by moving his Ford truck outside clearly space for myself to re-park the vehicle.

“I won” grinned the drunk uncle Nihal. All he wanted to do was to disturb myself from eating since he felt that I parked the car too close to him.

Drunk minds are not rationale I realized – but this episode made me realize the existence of a group of people equatable to scum of earth who have no humanity upon few sips of alcohol. The saddest part is not such drunkards but the family members who enable such rowdies.

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Colombo could be like Delhi soon

2017-12-27 

Colombo could face air pollution issue like New Delhi soon, Central Environment Trust Director Sajeewa Chamikara said yesterday.

He said that the city of Colombo could face an air pollution issue like New Delhi as a result of increased emissions.

“These emissions remain in the lower atmosphere with the increase of humidity and reduction of temperature as it is experienced these days. Emissions increase as a result of increasing vehicular activity and construction work.

“This situation could get enhanced with the urbanisation and industrialisation. All of these will be accumulated into an air pollution issue like in New Delhi,” he said.

Mr. Chamikara said filling of wetlands for construction could also create more environmental issues.

“Filling of wetlands has become severe in Colombo and suburbs,” he added.

In addition, he said the Port City project had also created some issues.

Among the major issues of the project, he said, was the sea erosion taking place in some areas.

He said there was severe sea erosion in the Bathiyawatte area in Negombo, while coastal areas from Wellawatte to Panadura was also facing increased sea erosion.

“We will fight against the project even after when it is completed,” he said. (Yohan Perera)

Will Gwadar go the way of Hambantota? Why Chinese loans to Pakistan are sparking takeover fears along the economic corridor

27 December 2017

Earlier this month, Sri Lanka officially handed over its strategically important port of Hambantota to China on a 99-year lease, after Colombo failed to repay its debts to Beijing. The move has raised concerns in Pakistan that its Gwadar port, built as part of a trade corridor with China, could meet with the same fate.

China is spending more than US$55 billion on different projects in Pakistan. Although the project agreements have yet to be publicised despite public pressure, experts claim that a major part of this amount is comprised of loans.

This could lead to a situation similar to Sri Lanka’s, and it is feared that Pakistan could end up handing over control of Gwadar port and other assets to China.

These fears are not unfounded, as proved by the developments around the 7th Joint Cooperation Committee meeting of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a key segment of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

First, Pakistan pulled back from receiving US$14 billion in Chinese funding for the Diamer-Basha dam. Islamabad withdrew its request to include the dam in the framework of the economic corridor because of strict conditions from China, including demands for transfer of ownership.

Secondly, China’s demand that the renminbi be allowed to be used as legal tender in Gwadar city has been rejected for now, amid severe criticism in Pakistan that it would be akin to making Gwadar an economic colony of China.

Once these demands were rejected, China also took some steps not liked by Pakistan. Just days after the joint cooperation meeting in November, China suspended funding for three key highways in northern and western Pakistan, until “new guidelines” were received from Beijing. This move was seen as an attempt by China to gain leverage for its demands.

Also, the revenue sharing and control agreement for Gwadar port shows that, for the next 40 years, China Overseas Ports Holding Company will get a 91 per cent share of the revenue, and the Gwadar Port Authority just the remaining 9 per cent. Although this is a 40-year BOT (build-operate-transfer) agreement, and technically different from a lease, Pakistan has still lost control of the port for the next four decades.

Pakistani officials have for now been able to reject a few demands of the Chinese but, as time passes and debt to the Chinese increases, that may change. Pakistan’s total external debt is around US$82 billion, and Chinese loans will further inflate this. It’s quite possible that, in the near future, Pakistan will be left with no choice but to hand over important assets like Gwadar port to China, even though the government of Pakistan rejects such fears.

Legality of a Begging Ban

By Faizer Shaheid-2017-12-27
(faizer@live.com)

Folk carrying begging bowls has been a constant irritation in and around the city of Colombo and has caused considerable annoyance among tourists. Moreover, many crimes have been committed by thieves in the guise of beggars. Beggars have been a regular sight and are often a nuisance to bystanders and tourists sauntering about the city. They would stand by your side at eateries gaping with outstretched hands or with a stick for support or begging bowl thrown at your face in the bus.

In some instances, outside religious places, they may grab your feet and plead for money and if it is a foreigner, they may follow the latter for as long as he or she walks until he is given some money. House-to-house begging has dropped to a great extent, mostly due to residents not acceding to their pleas and due to increased effectiveness of other modes of begging. Even then, scathing diatribes become inevitable at the hands of beggars sometimes.

It gets even worse when these beggars take to the roads when traffic lights turn red. They would tap the shutters of cars, each time the cars stop and hope passengers would be generous. Many an accident has been caused much to the detriment of innocent drivers due to the recklessness of beggars on roads.

Rackets

In today's context, many rackets are run by individuals and groups to collect as much money as possible. On occasions, these rackets involve smuggling and various other heinous criminal activities. One such racket that was frequently reported on social media was regarding three people including a child pleading with decent people of their inability to travel back to Nuwara Eliya.
The racket was exposed after the culprits were seen repeating the same story for many days in the same areas of Colombo.

Many such stories have been reported and thanks to social media, more and more beggars have been exposed over time. The use of children, particularly infants, has been reported to the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) but the practice continues. It gets even worse when those very children grow up to be trained beggars. It has also been pointed out in some of my previous articles how some beggars function in rings and gangs and how children become easy recruits.

The rings grow to become crime syndicates, very easily escaping the suspicion of victims.

Smugglers, kidnappers, robbers and extortionists are born of such begging rackets, and some of these rings often engage in transnational organized crime. Drug trafficking and human trafficking are common among such crime rings operating in the guise of beggars.

The Beggars Story

While beggars have indeed proved to be a nuisance, they have also proved to be a needy lot. Not all beggars operate in rings or become a part of crime syndicates. In fact, there are those who are genuinely needy. They too embark on similar 'expeditions' to earn money. They too eye gullible targets and nag them until they collect a large sum of money.

Some of them have medical conditions which prevent them from working and have families dependant on them , which means, they are compelled to beg. Others may have children languishing in hospitals with medical conditions and are desperate for money to fund operations, or perhaps some of them are older people who have become homeless, or former criminals who have been rehabilitated and have found it difficult to find a job.

The Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development has pointed out that there are approximately 3,600 beggars operating in Colombo, out of which only about 600 are said to be genuine beggars. That is one-sixth of the total figure. It proves how the begging industry has thrived over the years and proved to be enormously propitious to those who wish to exploit it.

Previous initiative

The decision to ban begging in the streets of Colombo may seem welcome, but it is not the first time such a mission was embarked on. A similar initiative was embarked on by the previous regime in February 2014 in an ambitious attempt to beautify Colombo. They were successful to a great extent and transferred many of the beggars to Rideegama in Ambalanthota. There had been many human rights concerns that were raised at the time, to which, the Government had apt responses.

For example, Article 14 (h) of the Constitution guarantees the freedom of movement to every individual who can identify as a citizen of Sri Lanka. Such a provision would in general guarantee that beggars could saunter around any park or any public road as they prefer. However, the rights guaranteed under Article 14 are restricted by Article 15 (7). The right can be restricted by law in the interests of national security, public order, and protection of public health or morality and to meet the requirements of the general welfare of a democratic society.

Being so, the Vagrants Ordinance becomes immediately operative in restricting the movement of beggars. Section 3 (1) (a) of the Vagrants Ordinance expressly prohibits any person who is able to seek employment but wilfully refuses to do so, from wandering about seeking alms or begging. It also prohibits the employment of any family member from begging too. An exception is availed only for priests and pilgrims pursuing their religious vows.

Further to this, Section 3 (2) also permits any Police Officer to arrest any person deemed to be idle and disorderly without any warrant.

The Vagrants Ordinance decrees a punishment of 14 days for a first time arrest, 30 days for a second time arrest and four months for a third arrest or subsequent arrest. As most of the persons will be first time arrestees, the rehabilitation programme could only be carried out for 14 days. However, the programme proved to be effective in striking fear into the hearts of beggars and therefore, begging had vastly reduced.

Although begging had reduced, the begging population in Colombo had once again begun to grow after the new Government in January 2015 became less concerned about Colombo's beautification.
Tourists had begun complaining, and the US even issued a travel advisory to all of its citizens regarding alleged scams when travelling to Sri Lanka.

For the whole of 2017, the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development speculated that beggars would be banned from Colombo at some point, and it was only early this month that the Ministry firmly announced that begging would be banned from Colombo from the beginning of January 2018.
However, there is a legal obstacle to this initiative. Unlike in the previous initiative, this initiative involves a ban. A blanket prohibition of begging in Colombo goes a step further than mere arrest and rehabilitation as required by the Vagrants Ordinance.

If it is the Vagrants Ordinance that the Ministry had implied, then it must be premeditated that he had only intended to enforce a law which had existed for over a century.

If the Ministry intends to go further than the present law, then the Ministry must introduce new laws. At best, the Ministry could issue a circular calling for the law on begging to be in full force in the city of Colombo. Anything more would require fresh legislation through the Provincial Councils or through Cabinet.

Persisting Issues

Whether the Ministry will seek to enforce existing legislation, or introduce fresh legislation, it can work to reduce begging on the streets. However, begging has become more and more sophisticated at present. However, the new art of begging has more 'dignified' people involved. Many scammers are running from door-to-door, sometimes intimidating, asking for funds to aid a non-existent charity programme or selling fake raffle draw tickets.

It is not to be mistaken that this too is a form of begging and must be dealt with at a higher level.
Although, it may be much easier to cleanse the city of Colombo of the poorer and less dignified persons who indulge in begging, begging at a more dignified level will not be easy to stop. Nonetheless, such acts too could be reported through the Vagrants Ordinance and it is paramount that members of a household report any such activity to the Police. It is paramount that the Ministry of Law and Order and Police, act on such scams to prevent crimes.

Conclusion

The initiative of the Ministry appears positive, although it is merely re-launching the programme initiated by the previous Government. Perhaps, the claimed refurbishment of the Rideegama Detention Centre in Ambalanthota may make a better impact. The problem is, it is still uncertain how the Ministry plans to introduce a ban and how the Ministry plans to enforce it. We have to wait and see how this project is deployed and how effective it will be.

(The writer is a political analyst and an independent researcher of Laws. He holds a Postgraduate Degree in Human Rights and Democratization from the University of Colombo and an Undergraduate Degree in Law from the University of Northumbria, United Kingdom)

The “lost two years” of SriLankan Airlines

By Sanjana Fernando-Wednesday, 27 December 2017

The airline business is highly susceptible to turbulent oil prices, which management has little or no control over. Under the previous management, the fuel prices were at record high levels but under this management the fuel prices were at their lowest levels. The last two years offered the best opportunity for the airline to show a paper profit and reinstate the popular misconception that the economy automatically prospers under a UNP government. Unfortunately, this handpicked controversial UNP Management Team and the board seems to have had no clue as to how to achieve it.

The true efficiency of the Management teams over the years can be easily measured by looking at the discipline of the operating cost margins, but excluding the non-management related fuel costs. So for the last 5 years are as follows:

New management:

•  2017–81% 
•  2016 – 78%

Previous management:

•  2015 – 69%
•  2014 – 73%
•  2013 – 68%

It can be seen that under the new management, led by a Pilot CEO, the operating efficiency has dropped by around 10% (that’s around Rs. 13 billion [$ 85 million] per year of wastage due to poor management).

In 2017, the fuel costs were only around 25% of revenue, almost half of that under the previous management. In fact, hypothetically, if the previous management had the benefit of the same low fuel cost margins, they would have surely succeeded in showing a net profit as shown below (even after debt servicing):

New management:

•  2017 – Rs. 14 billion loss (excludes lease cancellation costs)
•  2016 – Rs. 8 billion loss (excludes lease cancellation costs)

Previous management:

•  2015 – Rs. 5 billion profit
•  2014 – Rs. 1 billion loss
•  2013 – Rs. 8 billion profit

While this simple analysis did not adjust for the benefit of fuel surcharges by the previous management or the revenue impact due to airport closure by the current management, it still gives a good indicative picture of the catastrophic and embarrassing failure of the current management; a missed opportunity indeed.

In the backdrop, the Shylocks of the IMF are blackmailing the Chairman of the UNP to strangle the flag carrier out of credit and out of oxygen, in return for additional government funding (shark loans). The threats by President Sirisena to sack the UNP management team and the board a few month back were outmaneuvered by the PM, who appointed two committees, one with mostly corrupt Cabinet Ministers (Ministerial Committee) and the other with State Employees loyal to the PM (Official Committee). At the unofficial request of Charitha Ratwatte, the CEO, his brother in question was also later added into the Official Committee. These great minds later decided to appoint a UK aviation consultant with archaic views at a cost of over a million dollars, only to receive a preliminary report last week with basic and obvious recommendations.

Just like in the Bond Scandal, the only way to find a genuine solution to a problem of such national interest is for the President to immediately appoint a Special Committee led by the likes of Prof. Lalith Samarakoon under the National Economic Council. The NEC should also be tasked with putting together a new management team and appointing a fresh bunch of board members.

After global deregulation, it has been almost impossible for flag carriers around the world to make a profit. If they do, it has been razor thin margins. It is even more difficult for SriLankan Airlines with only 25 leased planes.

To be successful in the aviation business, any new management has to look pass the traditional business models and look at P&L optimisation strategies using financial engineering, digital technology and big data. That is the future of aviation.

(The writer is a former investment banker from London, with airline sector experience.)

Netanyahu embraces racist rabbis as EU lavishes support on Israel

EU Ambassador Emanuele Giaufret, left, raises a glass with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin in October. (via Facebook)

Ali Abunimah-27 December 2017

A day after meeting Zionist rabbis – who form the religious backbone of Israel’s West Bank colonization – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu awarded another big dollop of cash for settlements on occupied Palestinian land.

According to the newspaper Haaretz, Netanyahu had sought the rabbis’ support in the face of mounting corruption probes. Netanyahu’s office denies any quid pro quo.

Among those meeting the prime minister were Haim Drukman, one of the founders of the Gush Emumimsettler movement.

In 2012, Drukman, along with other senior rabbis and officials held a ceremony to bid farewell to a prison-bound settler convicted – a rare occurrence – of abusing a Palestinian by beating him up, firing a gun near his head, stripping him and leaving him naked by the side of a road.

Drukman led that ceremony along with Dov Lior, a rabbi from the notoriously extreme settlement of Kiryat Arba.

Lior has praised Baruch Goldstein, who gunned down 29 Palestinians in the 1994 Hebron massacre, as “holier than all the martyrs of the Holocaust.”

With a long record of violent incitement, Lior has also called on Israel to “cleanse” all Palestinians from territories it controls.

Lior was not reported to have attended the meeting with Netanyahu, but others on the guest list are scarcely less extreme. They include, for instance, Elyakim Levanon, who in 2014 called on the government to ban Arabs from driving cars.

Another, Eli Sadan, bears responsibility for institutionalizing the religious indoctrination and radicalization of Israeli youth before they enter the army.

Sadan, like other leading settler rabbis, is a graduate of Mercaz HaRav, a religious Zionist yeshiva, or school, which advocates keeping women out of institutions and rejects the state’s authority to withdraw from the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

For those still in denial, this meeting gives a true measure of how seriously to take Netanyahu’s professed commitment to “peace” and a “two-state solution.”

But these harsh realities have made no dent whatsoever in the perception and policies of the European Union.

“Out of the public eye”

On the very day the new funding for Israel’s ever-expanding settlements was announced, the EU’s ambassador in Tel Aviv took to Twitter to brag about “how deep and strong EU-Israel relations are.”

Emanuele Giaufret@EGiaufretEU

My article on the Jpost on how deep and strong EU-Israel relations are http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/The-real-story-of-the-EU-Israel-friendship-519935 …

2:28 AM - Dec 27, 2017 · La Spezia, Liguria

The real story of the EU-Israel friendship

The EU member states themselves are working to advance relations with Israel and combat antisemitism.

jpost.com

•  22 Replies
 
•  88 Retweets
 
•  1111 likes

Emanuele Giaufret tweeted a link to an article he penned for The Jerusalem Post defending the EU against claims that the bloc is somehow hostile to Israel.

“Relations are flourishing,” he writes, providing a laundry list of the support and “cooperation” the EU lavishes on Israel, including a staggering $550 million in “research” funding just since 2014.
That amounts to a $1 million reward for every child Israel killed during its 2014 assault on Gaza.
Giaufret admits that the EU “works closely with the Israeli government in all fields of cooperation – usually out of the public eye.”

This secrecy is not surprising since EU officials have admitted privately that ordinary Europeans strongly disapprove of the EU’s support for a government that violently deprives millions of Palestinians of their rights and freedom.

Mere “differences”

Giaufret does not mention Palestinians at all, but only alludes in passing to “differences on certain issues” between Israel and the EU.

There is no mention of settlements, evictions and home demolitions in Jerusalem, Israel’s systematic human rights abuses – including against hundreds of children like Ahed Tamimi who are in military detention – or of Israel’s wanton killings of Palestinian civilians like disabled protester Ibrahim Abu Thurayya.

Giaufret seems to be doing everything he can to persuade Israelis that the EU will never do anything to hold Israel accountable – though he did not go quite as far as his predecessor who last summer hired an advocate of genocide of the Palestinians to tout the benefits of EU-Israel trade.

It is true that most EU governments did anger Israel by backing the recent UN General Assembly resolutiondeclaring Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital to be null and void. But this is mere lip service in light of the EU’s steadfast policy of rewarding and incentivizing Israel’s crimes, including its colonization of East Jerusalem.

What Giaufret’s article confirms is that the fate of a people who have survived decades of occupation, settler-colonialism and apartheid does not even rate a mention in the European Union’s messaging to the Israeli public.

These are mere “differences” that can’t even be named.

The clear message from Brussels is that in the rush by Europe’s elites to embrace Israel’s ever more extreme government, Palestinian lives just don’t matter.

Another View On Jerusalem

By Mano Ratwatte –December 26 2017  

Background

A lot has been written about Trump’s decision to relocate the US Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel-Aviv. I am not sure why a lot of people are up in arms now when the US first recognized and declared that Jerusalem was the Capital City of Israel by passing a Congressional act in 1995. The Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 is a public law of the USA passed by the 104^th Congress on October 23, 1995. This has since been the position of the United States. This act was passed for the purposes of initiating and funding the relocation of the US Embassy in Israel no later than May 31, 1999. The act also called for Jerusalem to remain an undivided city and for it to be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel.(Source : Wikipedia entry verbatim)

Trumpism

 

There is no need to bash Trump because he pushed for it to actually happen because that act or public law already existed in US law. Trump did NOT do anything against US law and was fulfilling a campaign promise.  Trump somewhat significantly owes his victory to the rightwing white evangelical born again type Christians. This is a key element in their extreme ideology. Therefore all he did was deliver on a campaign promise to his base. They use some Biblical arguments to justify this because they believe in something called the “End Times” based on their religion and apparently that has to occur in Israel or the Holy Land.

Difference

The difference is, that Presidents Clinton(President from 1992 to 2000), George W Bush(2000 to 2008) and Barack Hussein Obama(2008 to 2016) chose NOT to carry out this controversial plan because of other considerations. They had smart knowledgeable advisors and they were very prudent and they were not egged on by religious forces within the US.

Should have abstained?

Perhaps Sri Lanka erred by not abstaining? Will it now be punished by the US? Trump is a vindictive narcissistic man who takes everything personally and has hysterical twitter rages almost daily. After his UN Ambassador, the former Governor of South Carolina(an Accountancy graduate with zero foreign policy or diplomatic experience before she was made Ambassador) said “we will be taking names” I am sure a lot of people in the US power circles in Colombo who seem to want to interfere with even the writing of a constitution in Sri Lanka, would be irritated by Sri Lanka’s vote too and perhaps the leaders have been reprimanded already(who knows?). 

 

The vote itself was symbolic to assuage the feelings of the Arab masses a lot of whom are in dictatorships or oppressive nations and lack resources or opportunities to be upwardly mobile because of many economic and resource reasons. 

Sovereignty

On one side, what the UN tried to do was tell a sovereign nation: the USA in this case, that it should model or adjust its internal policies to the will of the UN(sounds familiar when the UN overextends their writ? only difference is this time it is not like how they boss a  tiny weak Island nation that had a long civil war trying to assert its sovereignty but the most powerful nation on earth).

On the other hand, it was imprudent for Trump to do it now, because the final question of a 2 state solution and share capital has not ever been settled.  But the so called outrage in the Arab world was short lived as expected. Saudi Arabia in the throes of reform led by Mohammed Bin Salman(MBS), is signaling a willingness to work with their oldest western ally and protector the USA and Israel; their ideological enemy is the Persian Iran and they (and Israel) would love to get US involved in a war with Shia Iran.

Egypt and Jordan

One must realize that Israel has a right to exist despite Iranian threats to the contrary. It is important people in Sri Lanka know some facts:  The two prudent smart former Arab belligerents : one of which is the most powerful Arab military; namely Egypt, and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan both have fully fledged diplomatic ties with Israel.  They also have thriving trade between them. Egypt has an Embassy in Tel-Aviv and a Consulate in Eilat.  They too allowed the anger on the streets to manage an impression and let the youth vent their frustration. As feared, the protests dissipated quite quickly.

No matter how much the low information angry man in Sri Lanka shouts,  note Egypt(military dictatorship) is the second largest recipient of US Aid and military equipment after Israel. This is to maintain the balance of power in the region. 

Israel has committed many acts of violence against innocent Palestinians but nothing get accomplished by shouting “Death to Jews” and “Death to Israel” on the streets of feudal kingdoms or non-democratic Arab nations.  

A more pragmatic approach will be what the Saudis secretly advocate now as well under MBS: a gradual thawing of relations with Israel and cooperation in fields of technology, science and education with one of the world’s leading hi-tech nations.  

India

Please note, before someone bashes this author here, that India is in the same non-aligned ideological camp as Sri Lanka, has full diplomatic and booming military and trade relations(especially in the field of Agricultural and advanced military technology and Computers etc., with Israel(a democracy). India has had an Embassy in Tel-Aviv since 1992.  Please note India is a secular democracy that is host to the third largest Muslim(not Arab, 183 million Muslims) population in the world(only Indonesia and Pakistan have more Muslims than India).

  

Remember India also voted for the resolution while it has thriving relations with Israel and USA both. No one demands that India breaks off those ties.  Wish pragmatic Lankan leaders heeded what Late Chancellor Willy Brandt of West Germany meant when he said “Real politik”. Israel is here to stay as a thriving democracy.  Won’t Sri Lanka benefit as well if it follows big brother India rather than remaining overtly hostile to Israel?

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