New ban on epilepsy drug in pregnancy

24 April 2018

 An epilepsy drug that can damage unborn babies must no longer be prescribed to girls and women of childbearing age in the UK unless they sign a form to say that they understand the risks.

Drug regulator the MHRA says the new measures it's introducing will keep future generations of children safe.

Those already on valproate medication should see their GP to have their treatment reviewed.

No woman or girl should stop taking it without medical advice though.

It is thought about 20,000 children in the UK have been left with disabilities caused by valproate since the drug was introduced in the 1970s.

Affected families have called for a public inquiry and compensation.

Epilepsy charities say one in five women on sodium valproate are unaware that taking it during pregnancy can harm the development and physical health of an unborn baby.

Image captionThis warning has been on the outside of valproate pill packets since 2016 in Britain

And more than one in four have not been given information about risks for their unborn child.

The MHRA has changed the licence for valproate, which means any doctor prescribing it will have to ensure female patients are put on a Pregnancy Prevention Programme, which means:

• The patient can see her doctor every year to discuss the risks of this drug to an unborn baby
• She signs an acknowledgement form at least every year
• She is told about the importance of using contraception throughout treatment and having a pregnancy test if she thinks she could be pregnant

If valproate is taken during pregnancy, up to four in 10 babies are at risk of developmental disorders, and approximately one in 10 are at risk of birth defects.

Dr June Raine, from the MHRA, said: "Patient safety is our highest priority. We are committed to making sure women and girls are aware of the very real risks of taking valproate during pregnancy. However, we also know it is vitally important women don't stop taking valproate without first discussing it with their doctor.

"I would like to particularly thank the families involved in the Valproate Stakeholder Network who have shared their experiences and expertise with us. Their support will help keep future generations of children safe."

Simon Wigglesworth, deputy chief executive of Epilepsy Action, said: "We know there are still far too many women who haven't been made aware of the potential risks of taking sodium valproate in pregnancy.

"It is vitally important that healthcare professionals ensure that all women with epilepsy taking sodium valproate are reviewed in line with the new guidelines."

A land left behind

Mariyasuresh Isswary, 42

Something is stirring in Mullaitivu.

Walter Wuthmann-Tuesday, April 24, 2018

For years, this corner of northern Sri Lanka was a stronghold for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The LTTE had its own police here, its own courts. Its leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, had a house and a fortified bunker in Puthukkudiyiruppu, the area’s bustling little commercial centre.

A land left behind.docx by Thavam on Scribd

Report highlights UN failure in screening Sri Lankans for peacekeeping

23 APRIL 2018

The United Nations has come under criticism for allowing troops including a frontline commando from an elite police unit in Sri Lanka, alleged to have been involved in serious human rights violations, to be deployed among vulnerable communities.

Releasing their latest report “Sri Lanka’s Special Task Force” the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) says that it has credible evidence that this senior policeman serving as a UN peacekeeper had been involved in serious human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings.

YASMIN SOOKA

The ITJP has prepared a confidential list of more than fifty names of Sri Lankan paramilitary police from the Special Task Force (STF), who should be barred from serving in UN peacekeeping missions.

Individuals named are either alleged perpetrators or were involved in frontline combat in the final stages of the war when the UN says system crimes were committed by security force units, including the STF.

ITJP says that the list is being shared with the UN Department of Peacekeeping (DPKO) and Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva.

“One STF officer who appears currently to be observing in a UN peacekeeping mission in Africa is alleged to have ordered summary executions of Tamils in the East of Sri Lanka in 2006 - 7,” said ITJP’s Executive Director, Yasmin Sooka. “This shows the UN is still clearly failing in its obligation when it comes to the vetting of Sri Lankans for peacekeeping.”

Lt. Col. Wasantha Hewage

In February, the United Nations was alerted to stop a Sri Lankan military commander from going for a peacekeeping mission in the middle east.

Up until several rights watchdogs and Tamil organisations wrote to the head of UN peacekeeping urging to stop Lieutenant Colonel Rathnappuli Wasantha Kumara Hewage, he was scheduled for deployment to Lebanon on 18 February 2018.

Later, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) has complained that troops were deployed to Lebanon without their clearance, in violation of an agreement reached in 2016 that would see the Commission vet all Sri Lankan peacekeepers for their human rights record.

LT. COL. WASANTHA HEWAGE

However, there has been no transparency about what has happened subsequently to Lt. Col. Hewage’s bid to become a peacekeeper, says ITJP.

Insider witness

Their latest report released in London is the first to be based primarily on insider witnesses, which include several former Sinhala STF officers and Tamil paramilitaries.

One Sinhalese man had described his work in an STF “white van” abduction team in Colombo as “like a horror film”. Another interrogator active during the final years of the civil war in Colombo had said of his victims: “We would garrotte, strangle, stab or beat them to death”.

Witnesses speaking to ITJP had described the detention in STF camps of suspects who were then killed: “We tied their hands behind their backs, gagged them and covered their faces. There were villages around, so we had to gag them in order for them not to make loud sounds, crying for help… Once a suspect had been taken to an STF camp, they never got released, they would always be killed.”

Earlier, JDS released a joint report with ITJP, “Sri Lanka’s UN Peacekeepers: Let the Punishment Fit the Crime” that highlighted the lack of criminal accountability for more than 100 Sri Lankan peacekeepers sent home in 2007 in connection with allegations of systematic child sexual exploitation in Haiti.

The ITJP calls for a better vetting system to “do no harm” to the troop receiving countries whose vulnerable civilians deserve to be protected from sexual predators and alleged war criminals.

© JDS

Editorial: Island of impunity

24Apr 2018

A stinging new report from the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) has underscored the urgent need to clamp down on impunity in Sri Lanka. There is now abundant evidence that troops from the Special Task Force (STF), a foreign trained paramilitary unit, have committed atrocities, complete with testimonies from individuals involved in the crimes. Yet Sri Lanka has taken no action to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice – a failure that has appallingly led to an officer involved in these crimes to currently be deployed with the United Nations.

The report adds to an extensive collection that documents the brutality of Sri Lankan state violence. The details do not make for easy reading. Villagers were made to walk in to minefields, Sri Lankan sting teams practised abductions and executed bodies were burnt whilst officers drank arrack. The merciless violence deployed confirms once more what Tamils have been saying for decades, including what asylum seekers fleeing the island continue to testify to this day. Impunity on the island has allowed an alarming level of human rights violations to take place unabated.

The history of the Special Task Force in particular, is notorious. The fact that the UK trained these troops, and continues to do so, is indefensible. All such programs must be suspended. There is nothing gained in being associated with soldiers accused of such heinous crimes and who remain unpunished. However, Britain’s unwillingness to send a strong message to Colombo on its dismal lack of action on human rights, and instead allowing the controversial minister Liam Fox to meet with Sri Lanka’s president in London last week, only embeds its complicity further. By gifting Sri Lanka the international legitimacy and diplomatic recognition it craves, the UK is worsening its tainted legacy on the island.

Given the crimes Sri Lankan troops are accused of committing against Tamils and the fact that they were involved in the rape of children in Haiti whilst serving as peacekeepers, it is harrowing to learn that those responsible have been considered for missions with the UN without being subjected to a thorough screening process. The ITJP even identified an officer involved in executing Tamils, who is currently serving in Africa. Selecting those accused of personally directing such grotesque violence for the UN’s own missions completely undermines any faith that victims on the island - and across the world - are supposed to have in the global body.

Indeed, the continued deployment of unvetted Sri Lankan troops is emblematic of the international community’s approach to Sri Lanka. With less than a year to go to for Colombo to set up an accountability mechanism with foreign judges and meet its own already extended deadline at the Human Rights Council, the head of the Sri Lankan state has made it abundantly clear that this will not happen. Defiantly, the state has even sent those accused of torture as part of its delegation to the UN. Yet, despite this brazenness, the Council is despairingly powerless, unable even to get the government to respond to requests for information. Other member states have meanwhile chosen to warm their relations with Sri Lanka, seemingly rewarding “progress” and signalling that the lack of action on key issues is entirely inconsequential.

The ITJP report should be used as an opportunity to prove otherwise. Sri Lankan soldiers themselves have come forward to identify officers responsible for crimes and give detailed documentation. A list of names has been passed over to the global bodies responsible for peacekeeping. The first step would be to swiftly acknowledge their errors, identify all those involved, and begin criminal proceedings. If the UN system continues to fail its victims, then member states must take matters into their own hands and exercise universal jurisdiction to immediately begin prosecutions against suspected war criminals, some of whom have been given postings in capitals around the world.

As the ITJP details, Sri Lankan troops are audaciously instructed to “really ignore” talks on human rights and “not to take notice of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) input”.The soft handed international approach to this government has proven utterly futile. For years Tamils have been told to place their faith in the international system. But it continues to fail them. Having war criminals roam free across the heavily militarised North-East, and serve as part of the global body’s peacekeeping missions, belies all rhetoric on reconciliation and accountability. Instead it ensures that rights violations will continue and the island is kept in a constant state of crisis, as exhibited just last month. It is no coincidence that STF troops were amongst those assaulting Muslims during Sinhala mob violence in Kandy. Unless stern action is taken and impunity addressed, the abuses will carry on.

Sri Lanka: May Day and workers’ rights

 
Wednesday, 25 April 2018

May Day was declared a holiday in Sri Lanka in 1956 for the Government sector, bank and mercantile sectors. May Day celebrations have never clashed with the interests of or activities conducted during Vesak celebrations.

Despite this situation and without consultation, the President has unilaterally decided to postpone May Day on the pretext that there will be a ‘Vesak Week’ this calendar year. A gazette notification issued by Home Affairs Minister cancelled the May Day holiday which is due on 1 May.

The President’s postponement of the May Day celebrations in Sri Lanka to 7 May is allegedly because of a request made by Mahanayaka Theros. This is a crass political ploy of exploiting religious sentiment to inhibit protests of the working people by diverting their attention away from the burning issues of the day. Some of the parties and unions who are supposed to represent workers’ interests have already fallen in line with the Government. Others have decided to take their protests to the streets on 1 May, despite a municipal ban on marches.

Overlapping of May Day

with Vesak Day
The issue of overlapping of May Day with Vesak Day has arisen many times previously. The façade of religiosity becomes apparent at times when this occurs. In 1967, the UNP regime postponed May Day celebrations to 2 May. As quoted in news reports, the Communist Party (Peking Wing) opposed it and Maithripala Sirisena supported the Communist Party’s decision. Now he himself is displaying his opportunism by postponing May Day celebrations.

Several trade unions in Sri Lanka have strongly objected to this decision to postpone May Day, emphasising that it is a right of workers to celebrate international workers’ day on 1 May. The JVP has declared that they will go ahead with the May Day Rally but will hold the Colombo rally on 7 May. It is holding its 1 May rally in Jaffna, which is interesting. One could question whether this option is utilised not to confront the issue giving prominence to religion over workers’ rights.

According to the JVP, bringing large crowds to Colombo on May Day for celebrations would become an obstacle for Vesak celebrations that will be held in Colombo. This is not the first time the JVP seems to have wavered on this issue. In 2008, the JVP took the initiative to change the May Day from 1 May due to Vesak celebrations, by requesting the Government to do so.

This year, Vesak Day does not fall on 1 May. The clash is due to the declaration of a Vesak week this year. If the Vesak Week is turned into an annual event, it will be interesting to find out what the JVP position would be. One could easily interpret and equate the JVP position to “killing two birds with one stone”. Thus, they avoid having a May Day rally in Colombo on the May Day itself, despite the relevance of the International Working Day to the working people of the south of Sri Lanka, many of whom reside in Colombo.

Fragmentation

of workers’ unity

When we were released from prison in November 1977, the position of the JVP towards the mobilisation of workers was to organise them in a single workers’ federation, without being concerned of their individual political affiliations. The slogan was ‘One Trade Union for One Industry’. However, this did not materialise and the JVP then formed its own trade union under the banner of ‘Socialist Workers Union’. This fragmentation of workers’ unity along party lines can be seen in many countries including Sri Lanka and India.

In Sri Lanka, workers have joined ranks with capitalist political parties such as the UNP, the SLPP and the SLFP. Even those on the left are associated with and scattered around, many political parties and groups. These political entities, when they were in power directly or as constituents of capitalist ruling coalitions, have violently suppressed many struggles led by the workers and the youth of the country. Sectarianism among trade unions contributes to not having joint May Day events, thus contributing to the weakness of the workers’ movement. This is also one of the factors that has affected the legitimacy of the trade unions in the public eye and has also contributed to the apathy of some sections of the working people.

Workers instead of mobilising independently to safeguard their own interests, are now paying lip service to their cause. Meanwhile the regime is working on the advice and agenda of the IMF and the World Bank by stripping hard-earned workers’ rights, including the eight-hour working day. This situation will not change, until trade unions organise on the basis of ‘One Trade Union for One Industry’ policy. At the same time, the only guarantee for such unity will be to practice democracy within trade unions.

Apparently, one of the main trade unions that allow working people with diverse political views to come together for participative decision making is the Ceylon Mercantile Union that had been previously led by comrade, the late Bala Tampoe. However, despite workers with diverse political views being allowed to join the union, I note that during his long tenure, a solid grip was maintained on the union by the General Secretary till his demise.

Repressive action

Thus, this Government has declared May Day a working day. Furthermore, the Colombo Municipal Council controlled by the UNP has refused to grant permission to hold May Day rallies in public parks in Colombo on 1 May. This is clearly a ban on all May Day celebrations in Colombo.

The sort of repressive action this Government takes against those organising May Day events on 1 May, could very well be on par with the violent repressive action the previous regime took against e workers struggles at the time. As the United States and several other countries had done, the Government of Sri Lanka seems to have come forward to openly curb democratic rights of the working people.

Historic parallels

One could observe historic parallels; when many socialist groups came into being during the latter half of the 19th century. Some of them were political parties and others just choirs. Many socialists were even elected to represent their constituencies. However, big businesses and the state controlled the political process. Seeing that there was no way they could advance for a better future, many rejected the available political space, which had been designed to protect the wealthy. Most of them broke away from political organisations to become anarchists. They stressed the need for worker directed industries and cherished direct action over bureaucratic political processes.

May Day

Working people all over the world celebrate their traditions, histories and victories on 1 May, every year. The socialists and communists of the Second International commemorated the Haymarket Affair in Chicago on the first of May, which became May Day as we know it. It is now a public holiday in many countries with workers around the world including Sri Lanka celebrating May Day with protest rallies and marches. For many millennia, May Day has been a day celebrating rebirth and fertility.

Originally, it was a pagan holiday celebrating the start of summer. May Day is also related to the festival of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, and is associated with the spring festivals of the Renaissance, particularly in the northern hemisphere and to this day is celebrated in many cultures. Later, the pagan nature of May Day gave way to a more secular celebration in Europe and North America. In this sense, there is no contradiction or clash between the interests of those celebrating May Day as the International Working Day and those who celebrate it in a cultural manner.

Since the 1880s, it has been recognised as the International Worker’s Day. At the time, working class movements had been fighting for fair working conditions including standardised eight-hour working days and the rights of the trade unions. Under drastic and adverse working conditions, workers had to work 10 to 16-hour days with no holiday provisions. Due to unsafe work practices, death and injury were a commonplace occurrence. During this time, the working class was in constant struggle to gain an eight-hour work day. However, it was only in the late 1880s that organised labour was able to gain sufficient power to declare the eight-hour working day, without the consent of employers.

In 1884, Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions (which later became the American Federation of Labor) proclaimed that “eight hours shall constitute a legal day’s labour from and after May 1, 1886.” Many reiterated this proclamation and wished to support it with strikes and demonstrations. Initially, anarchists and radicals thought this was too reformist as it failed to strike “at the root of the evil.”

Despite these hesitations, “an estimated quarter million workers in the Chicago area became directly involved in the crusade to implement the eight hour work day”. With this, the radicals agreed to fight for the eight-hour working day, but with the realisation that greater issues than the eight-hour day existed.

The first May Day celebration

Meanwhile, 1 May 1886 was the first May Day celebration in the world. In Chicago, 40,000 went out on strike. Parades, bands and tens of thousands of demonstrators on the streets illustrated the workers’ strength and unity. Strikers responded to the police beatings by throwing rocks and the police responded with gunfire, killing several strikers and wounding many. The Chicago protests spread across Europe. Yet, many being not aware of this believe it is a day celebrated only by the communists and socialists. Despite this belief, May Day has continued to be associated with the objective of achieving social and economic fairness and justice for all working people.

Socialism became an attractive proposition to workers only at a later stage. The idea of working class control over production and distribution of all goods and services was new and very attractive. They came to the understanding that capitalism worked only in favour of owners of means of production by trading the labour and lives of workers for profit. With thousands of needless deaths of men, women and children at work, life expectancy was as low as early twenties in certain industries. When there was no hope but death and destitution, socialism offered them a humane alternative.

Nowadays workers in the West, coming from many faiths and ethnicities work together to protect the rights of immigrants and asylum seekers. For the past several years, immigration policy has been a focus for mobilising at May Day events. In the modern movement for worker’s rights, immigrants and their supporters march in the streets. Immigration has been compounded by the ruling classes into a divisive political issue; we need to transform it into a human issue.

Lessons from history

History teaches us that people fought for the rights and dignities we enjoy today. There is a lot more to fight for. If we remember that people were shot for us to enjoy the eight hour working day; if we recognise that homes were burnt down for us to have Saturday as part of the weekend; if we recollect child victims of industrial accidents who marched in the streets protesting working conditions and child labour only to be beaten down by the police and company thugs, then only can we understand that our current conditions cannot be taken for granted.

The sacrifices so many people made cannot be forgotten. Otherwise, we will have to fight all over again to gain the very same rights our forbearers won. That is the historical lesson we need to learn when celebrating May Day, which is vital.

Recurring Violence Against Muslims: What Is It All About? 

By Mohamed R. M. Farook –APRIL 25, 2018

Mohamed R. M. Farook

Peace is more important today than any of the earlier eras because of the positively advantageous characteristics in the post-modern world with its attendant advancement in technology, socio-political vibrancy and religious freedom. Yet violence erupts mainly either on political or religious issues. Violence is the antithesis of peace. If we desire peace, harmony and peaceful coexistence among communities then violence has no place and should be abhorred. Yes, the vast majority of people from all communities in Sri Lanka – Buddhists, Muslims and Tamils – are not inclined towards violence of any type or form. They love peaceful coexistence which is openly visible to everybody from their daily interactions among one another on an individual and collective scale in their personalized transactions in their neighbourhood, routine, social, purchasing / marketing / selling activities throughout Sri Lanka. What else we need to be inclusive and like / love and be kind to one another? Yet violence ‘exists’ and has emerged in recent times, particularly against Muslims, in different locations starting from Aluthgama (2014), Gintota (2017), Ampara, Digana, Teldeniya and few other areas in Kandy (2018). Can one find the causes / reasons for this sporadic ‘attacks’ on Muslims and their properties – homes and businesses? The answer is ‘YES’ and also ‘NO’. 

The world has changed from a religiously and culturally based internalized communities to high tech societies banging on the concept of Global Village and with that human thinking too has changed from human and humanely based thinking to technology- directed thinking which has given rise to self-seeking pursuits devoid of empathy and wellbeing of others within one’s own community and other communities. This is the scourge of the present day behavioural pattern particularly in the South Asian regions. The outcome (or output) of this phenomenon is that a large number of people from every community lacks the essential fundamental knowledge of their own religion and practise only rituals and thereby do not know the important aspects of treating / respecting the followers of other religions. Similarly the present generation does not know the cultural / traditional aspects that had transcended through years within the three communities that respected each other and was the cornerstone for peaceful living. Thus conflict leading to ad hoc chaos. We, for that matter any analyst / researcher, may not be able to identify all the reasons / causes of the violence or may miss out the vital ones as some of them may be known only to the perpetrators themselves. Yet we can point out some leading events that definitely could have contributed towards the unwanted calamity that got unfolded. 

A few years ago some Sinhala Buddhists (SB), for reasons known to them only, propagated the ‘false notion’ that Sri Lankan Muslims (M) will overtake the SB population by about 30 to 35 years in time due to SB families having lesser number of children than M families. With the official statistics of 70% SB and 09% M in a total Sri Lankan population of 21 Million, and assuming that the reproduction processes of SB and M are, say, two (2) and five (5) per family respectively, even by one hundred years from now, the Muslims will not be able to overtake the Sinhala Buddhists through population growth. Forget overtaking, the Muslims will not be able to reach even 12% of the population say within hundred years. It is the Sinhalese peasants who had a larger number of children per family than the Muslims. The one, two or three children per Sinhalese families are confined to their educated and elite class and never to their rural population. With the present day complex lifestyles, high cost of living, woes of bringing up children, the hassles of schooling and living as nuclear family, everybody, irrespective of race or ethnicity, is going for small – two / three – children families. The myth of Muslim population expansion gets exposed.

After this canard they started the Halaal issue and from stage to stage from Colombo, through Kandy, Kurunegala and other places, Buddhist monks indoctrinated the Buddhist audience present with falsehood against Islam and Muslims. While some would have believed in what these monks said, a reasonable majority of the SB rejected such propaganda and in fact were questioning the behaviour of the monks as per the teachings of Buddhism. Next came the interference in and incitement at Muslim businesses that got culminated in Aluthgama violence (in2014) followed by Gintota (2017), Ampara, Digana, Teldeniya and other areas in Kandy recently – a sad spectacle for the otherwise hospitable, helpful and kindhearted Sri Lankans in general and especially the Sinhala population in particular.

What all these show is that a very small minority of Buddhist monks has influenced a group of Buddhists (youth) to their (monks’) ways of thinking of initiating and developing hatred against Muslims – an unnecessary and uncalled for endeavour by this minority group of Buddhists. This goes on and is an unhealthy and dangerous social behaviour that affects not only the Muslims but also the perpetrators themselves, the Sinhala Buddhists at large, others and finally the Sri Lanka as a country in the long run. What have the Muslims done for you (the Buddhists) to go against them? They are in business because they could not get employed in the state sector or in established commercial enterprises as they did not have educational qualifications due to either their (or parental) neglect on school education or their inability to get admission to leading schools – and finally became drop-outs through de-motivation and / or frustration. 

Whereas the majority in a country especially in the South East Asian region are somewhat complacent with their strengths in their numbers, enjoy official / state patronage and have a perceived self-confidence in their livelihood, the minorities get into the notion that they have to be hardworking to survive economically / financially. This is the story everywhere in the world be it Britain, Belgium, America, Philippine, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, or Sri Lanka – minorities are hardworking and their business activities, small, medium or large have invariably helped the people and the economy of the respective countries – a plus point for any minority in any part of the world. Why be jealous of the Muslims of Sri Lanka? Benchmark them for your progress in your personal life as well as in business. Thereby together the Sinhalese, the Muslims and the Tamils can rise up morally and economically for the benefit and progress of all concerned! This may appear as a Utopian suggestion – yet let us give a try shunning violence and stretching the hands of friendship. 

Read More

IN SRI LANKA, NCDS ACCOUNT FOR THREE IN FOUR (75%) DEATHS.

24/04/2018

The UN Interagency Task Force (UNIATF) on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) is to visit Sri Lanka to critically assess the country`s action plan, review progress and provide further guidance on how to continue their fight against NCDs.

The UN office in Colombo said that the Task Force mission is scheduled for 23-27 April 2018.

Sri Lanka is among one of the leaders in a global movement striving to beat one of the largest health threats impacting our world today: non-communicable diseases. Typically regarded as conditions of the west, `the big 4’: cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes are now a major global health threat that cause over 14 million premature deaths per year.

In Sri Lanka, NCDs account for three in four (75%) deaths, with most deaths being attributed to cardiovascular disease (40%)2. More astoundingly, almost one in five (18%) die before their 70th birthday due to NCDs.

With an increasing number of Sri Lankans taking on the habit of using tobacco, together with the high consumption of alcohol and a lack of physical activity the population are faced with a steady rise in obesity prevalence and other related chronic diseases.

One quarter of the total population is overweight or obese. Excessive salt intake, as much as two to three times the recommended limits, makes hypertension a public health probelm.

These numbers are unacceptably high and with communicable diseases and vaccine preventable diseases entirely under control, NCDs are now Sri Lanka`s biggest public health threat. Modifiable risk factors account largely for the health burden that NCDs are causing Sri Lanka including tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and alcohol use which if not reversed, will reduce the productivity of the workforce, curtail economic growth and trap populations in poverty.

There is growing recognition of the health and societal challenges posed by NCDs, as well as the opportunities that exist for flicking the switch on these epidemics and other related conditions.

To achieve success in the efforts and generate global support and resources for NCD control and prevention, in 2013 the United Nations Secretary-General established the UN Interagency Task Force on NCDs (UNIATF), led by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Task Force first visited Sri Lanka on a joint programming mission in October 2015. Since then, there has been major progress in Sri Lanka`s fight against NCDs. With support from the UNIATF in working across all sectors, the country has shown powerful commitment in strengthening its fight against NCDs by implementing the National Multi-Sectoral Action Plan on the Prevention and Control of NCDs.

This action plan has seen the introduction of plain packaging for cigarettes, restrictions placed on alcohol availability and taxes placed on both, but there is still more work to be done.

In Sri Lanka, the UNIATF will continue to undertake the joint programming mission, teaming with the UN Country Team to support the Sri Lankan government in its efforts to implement robust, national responses to help the country meet its NCD-related targets in the SDGs.

The health and economic impacts of NCDs are well known. So too are the measures that can be taken to reduce the burden. These include implementing comprehensive programmes on tobacco control, reducing salt consumption, taxing sugary drinks and promoting healthy diets and physical activity, to enhance treatment of and palliative care for people living with a NCD. (Colombo Gazette)

Sri Lankan Muslims: the new ‘others’?

From the town of Digana, in central Sri Lanka’s Kandy district, where anti-Muslim violence erupted in early March this year.

BY TISARANEE GUNASEKARA-23 APRIL 2018

Afew days after Kandy District in central Sri Lanka experienced a spate of violent incidents targeting Muslims, resulting in deaths, injury and destruction of property, the country’s election commissioner made a startling observation. “The claim that a majority of Sinhalese were against the recent attacks on Muslims is wrong,” Mahinda Deshapriya said at a workshop on ethnic harmony; “Most Sinhalese are happy about the riots.” He then drew a parallel between this and the majoritarian reaction to Black July: “A majority of Sinhalese were happy to see the Tamils too being attacked in 1983, only to regret it a few years later.” He also spoke of an increasingly visible trend towards cultural insularity on the part of some Lankan Muslims, arguing that this was worsening the problem of communal distrust.

Sri Lankan Muslims the new ‘others’.docx by Thavam on Scribd

Policy before liberalisation says lubricant industry

• Chevron Lanka CEO Kishu Gomes says Govt. attempt to liberalise lubricant market hopeless without policy  
• Urges to give full authority to PUCSL to regulate lubricant market, warns getting ministry involved a conflict of interest
• Strongly objects to issuance of licence for new entrants 
• Believes focus of public consultation should not be limited to price, quality but the entire spectrum of the lubricant market
• 13 market players sold 65 kilolitres of lubricant in 2017, believes it could grow up to 85 kilolitres 
• Highlights need for independent lab facility for Customs to do spot checks  

 By Charumini de Silva-Wednesday, 25 April 2018

Sri Lanka’s lubricant industry market leader Chevron Lubricants Lanka Plc yesterday stressed it believed it was hopeless to attempt to liberalise the market without setting out a comprehensive policy document to regulate the sector beforehand.

“I really don’t understand the rationale in trying to open up the market without having the proper mechanism to regulate the market,” Chevron Lubricants Lanka Plc CEO Kishu Gomes said, speaking at a public consultation on the draft regulatory tools related to the quality and price of lubricants organised by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) at the BMICH yesterday.

He said the objective of a public consultation should be to discuss the safeguarding of those engaged and benefitting from the industry as well as to come up with suggestions covering the entire spectrum, rather than just limiting things to price and quality measures, to set out a policy framework for the development of the lubricant market in Sri Lanka.

Noting that the PUCSL was a shadow regulator of the lubricant industry, he suggested that full power needed to be vested with the commission and not with the Petroleum Resources Development Ministry.

“Currently the PUCSL is just a shadow regulator and only the ministry has the authority to take legal action. Therefore, we must first give full powers to the commission to be accountable for the lubricant market. Allowing the ministry to have authority is also leading to a conflict of interest as the Ceylon Petroleum Cooperation (CPC) comes under the purview of it,” he explained.

The lubricant market in Sri Lanka is regulated primarily under the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation Act No. 28 of 1961 by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources Development with the advice and assistance of the PUCSL.

Given the slow growth and market expansion in the trade, he strongly objected to the issuance of a licence to new entrants, insisting that Sri Lanka already had a competitive market.

“Sri Lanka’s average market prices are better than most of the regional players and the consumers have access to a steady supply of a top quality, branded range of products from the world’s best manufacturers. We are a very competitive market already and I don’t see any need to invite more players to add complexity to the system,” he added.

Highlighting the data published by the PUCSL, he said the market grew 3.1% on average during the past 15 years, while it grew 2.5% in the past 10 years and 2.2% in the last five years. In 2008 and 2009 the market recorded negative growth of 4%.

At present, there are 13 market players and 22 authorised lubricant brands in the country. These players sold 65 kilolitres of lubricant in 2017, which Gomes believes could grow up to about 85 kilolitres.

According to him, out of the 65 kilolitres in the market around 20 % are from lubricant adulterators, while 10% are engaged in unauthorised importation.

“I have personally reported about 30 cases to the relevant authorities via letters, visuals of adulterated products in the marketplace, addresses, but unfortunately the regulators have not taken any action to raid these places,” he stressed.

Gomes said anyone who was violating the existing rules and regulations would get a maximum penalty of about Rs. 1,000 or Rs. 2,000. Therefore he noted that he had doubts about the progress of the sector without having the fundamental guidelines in place.   

It was also pointed out that around Rs. 300 million in revenue was collected by these 13 players annually as licence fees from the Government. In addition, he said from his company alone the Government coffers got over Rs. 3 billion as taxes and duties on an annual basis.

Gomes outlined that brake fluid, coolants, various types of greases and power steering oil were not being regulated by the commission at present, urging the PUCSL to address these loopholes prevailing in the industry before opening up the market.

Pointing out that Sri Lanka still did not have an independent lab facility to detect the standards and quality of raw materials and finished goods, he asked how the commission was planning to regulate the market.

“There is a clear need for an independent lab facility at least for the Customs Department officials to randomly check on the products that are in the marketplace. I don’t know how the PUCSL thought it could be regulated when there was no mechanism in place,” he added.

He also noted that two filling station companies are blocking around 30% of the licenced lubricant players in the marketplace.

“Around 70% of the lubricant market is limited to 10 licence-holders, which is very unreasonable. Two major players are only selling their lubricant products, which needs to be addressed in the immediate future.”   

PUCSL to finalise regulatory framework on lubricants market by June

Considering local value additions, investments by local blenders; Public Utilities Commission (PUCSL) suggests to revise duty structure

DG agrees authorisation is required to import, export, blend, produce, distribute, supply or sell lubricants in SL

Over 300 participated in public consultation, 37 members of the public, industrialists, manufacturers, officials and experts express views on proposed mechanisms

The PUCSL, the regulator of the lubricant industry, yesterday said that it would finalise the policy and regulatory framework on the lubricants market by the end of June, a top official said.

“The commission expects to finalise the regulatory and policy framework for the lubricants market by 30 June,” PUCSL Director General Damitha Kumarasinghe said, speaking at the final phase of the public consultation on policy and regulatory framework for the lubricants market.

It was pointed out that the commission was ready to prepare regulatory tools addressing issues with regard to the price and quality of lubricants in the country.

The PUCSL proposed a mechanism to investigate and prosecute those dealing in adulterated lubricants, guidelines for re-refining used lubricants and guidelines to be strictly followed by relevant agencies such as the Import and Export Control Department, Sri Lanka Customs and market participants with regard to the importation of unauthorised lubricants.

Taking into consideration the local value addition and investment by local blenders in addressing the price differences between imported and locally produced lubricants, the PUCSL has suggested to revise the duty structure.

“PUCSL will revisit the proposed measures, taking the views of all the stakeholders present today into consideration and making necessary amendments or drafting more tools to address the issues and make recommendations to the Petroleum Resources Development Ministry by end-June this year,” Kumarasinghe said.

The public consultation process, which was opened for written submissions in March, yesterday saw more than 300 people participating in the discussion while 37 members of the public, industrialists, manufacturers, officials and experts expressed their views on the proposed mechanisms.

Acknowledging that the market was liberalised at present, he agreed that authorisation was required to import, export, blend, produce, distribute, supply or sell lubricants in the country.

“The necessity of having an effective and independent mechanism for ensuring product quality, fair prices, protecting the interests of consumers and market players have arisen. Hence, PUCSL decided to hold a public consultation on issues related to the same with a view to advising the Government on remedial measures,” Kumarasinghe added.

Sri Lanka has 13 market players and 22 authorised lubricant brands. The lubricant market comprises lubricants and greases derived from mineral oil or synthesised from chemical compounds for automotive, industrial and marine applications. It is regulated primarily under the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation Act No. 28 of 1961 by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources Development with the advice and assistance of the PUCSL.

Role Of Education In Nation-Building 

By Rifaq Azhar –APRIL 24, 2018

Rifaq Azhar

In modern days, the term called ‘Social reform’ has been exponentially grabbed much attention of various parties and also became the focal point of every discussion being held at various level locally and internationally. It is widely suggested by many intellectuals and experts that if any society desires to enrich its standard and livelihood and to be an exemplary society that succeeded tremendously in attaining its pinnacle in various spectrum of prosperity, must indispensably embark on self-evaluation first enabling it to clearly identify its areas of strengths and weaknesses, so that it will be able to come up with unique mechanisms to convert its weaknesses into strengths and brace itself enough to encounter future obstacles. 

It is obvious that when we engage in any form of self-evaluation or prioritize the list of weaknesses that we probably face in day to day life whether it may be personal or social, the norm called ‘ignorance’ will immediately down in our minds as a primary weakness. Hence, all forms of ignorance prevailing in a society are obviously a great curse threatening the existence and self-identity of particular society. In this sense, none of us will contradict with my point that this threat namely ignorance must be overwhelmingly expelled in any way and at any cost. Perhaps, some may argue that it is not rational to say that ignorance still exists amid our society while the estimated level of literacy in Sri Lanka exceeds more than 90 percent. It is true to certain extend, but here I suppose to point out relatively wider aspects of ignorance about which we never mind or let say we neglected to think of it. The real meaning of ignorance which I intend to highlight is ignorance about our nature and hidden inner potentiality about which we are still not ready to discover, ignorance about our indigenous instincts and aspirations towards which as Sri Lankans we are quickly adoptable and having strong bond and above all, ignorance about our glorious history where our ancestors were able to control the region economically and culturally to larger extend and be strong enough to lead a respectable and decent life while they were shining in every facet of life without undermining their abilities and capabilities and even depending on ‘others’ for their livelihood and protection. It is more appropriate if I describe this ignorance as primary ignorance about us and our self-identity, which is obviously a great threat we have been encountering nowadays. 

The primary objective of this article is to shed light on this perception about the ignorance and how we made ourselves forgotten by external and internal factors. Having comprehended this perception, we should clearly distinguish the areas in which this ignorance is reflected and still alive and how it controls the minds of indigenous people irrespective of their academic standard and social statues. Based on the meticulous observations and exhaustive researches conducted by experts and professionals, we can typically categorize the areas of ignorance into four. Those are education policy of our country; political and legal system prevails since colonial periods to this date; economic policies that were conceptualized by foreign minds and finally socio-cultural practices which were determined by North and have been willingly or unwillingly practicing by South.    

Here, I neither mean to criticize the contemporary systems that our country has adopted in all four aspects which remain for many decades nor to introduce new policies as alternatives. Instead, I intend to urge ourselves to conduct self-evaluation in all facets of life including above four aspects in order to eradicate this primary threat forever and foster in ourselves the thought of self-identities and indigenous aspirations while we involve in social reforms. In this great journey, education can play a significant role in attaining such noble objectives. At first, I would like to raise a preliminary question over the outcomes of present education policy whether it has really attained what it does mean or failed to do so. As we all know that the ultimate objectives of any education are predominantly to impart knowledge that enables each student to be creative and beneficial to their own society and then nation and also to instil in them the very basic ethics and moralities while discovering and developing their hidden talents and skills. 

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