Gnanassara embraces cobra –party symbol ; crawls with it after a ‘ kassipu shot’

(Lanka-e-News -30.June.2015, 10.30) The Bodhu Bala Sena (BBS) including Kasippu Gnanassara better known as the robed terrorists have launched a new political party ‘Bodhu Jana Sena,’ and chosen a most appropriate symbol ‘ Cobra’ for its party . In Sri Lanka serpents and cobras are not confined to the jungles after the advent of the BBS brutes . The sting of these  serpents are  more vicious and venomous than the serpents in the jungles.

These stupid idiots are  either so venomous or so foolish that they have chosen Cobra as their party symbol. Needless to mention the snake is a most virulent crawling serpent.

It is a universal truth that people are frightened of snakes, and they ought to be killed unmistakenly with a rod. In addition it must be burnt until it is charred in fear that it might revive. Certainly anybody who has even minimum  grey matter or human emotions will not therefore select cobra as their party symbol.

The Bebedhusena (drunkard) secretary of the Bodhu Bala sena the self proclaimed ‘Doctor’ had told Lanka deepa that they have chosen the snake as a symbol for the new party Bodhu jana peramuna , and they will field laymen only at elections , while the robed monks will serve as advisors . In other words they are striving hard as monks  to rid themselves of their pet name ‘junk’.

---------------------------
by     (2015-06-30 18:32:43)

Comparing Numbers; USA & Sri Lanka

By Mano Ratwatte –July 1, 2015 

Mano Ratwatte

USA is Sri Lanka’s new Best Friend Forever(BFF); USA has done a lot of preaching on racial diversity and representation and democracy. Thus it might be a good place to look at Uncle Sam’s numbers. Is there any nation where there is tremendous diversity of population such as in the US where there is single State Assembly or Federal institution that has equal numbers representing different ethnic groups?

The 114th Congress of the United States has the following makeup.

White: 79.8%

Black or African American 10.1%

Hispanic 7.8%

Asian 2.3%

The Senate which elects two Senators from each State (all having equal power). Percentages are the same as numbers because there are only 100 Senators.

White 94

Black/African American 2

Hispanic 3

Asian 1

Obama didn’t win a majority of white votes in most states but he won a significant minority percentage of the majority race; he won 98% and 95% of the Black votes in the States that mattered and a similarly high percentage of Hispanic voters. Similar to Mr. Sirisena.

Census statistic on Gender says the percentage of women in the US population is 50.8% yet the house is made up of only 19.4% Female Congressmen. Senate has 20 Female Senators; lopsidedly unequal and sexist. Similar to Sri Lanka. USA only uses FPP; is that terribly sexist, racist and unequal considering ethnic and gender percentages of the population?

Read More

Not the PM post, they should be in jail by now, says Chandrika

July 1, 2015

Despite our lives are in danger, we will fight any battle for the sake of the country, former President Chandrika Kumaratunga said.

The observation was made at a special event held in Negombo today (01).

“It is the responsibility of the people to safeguard the freedom of this country. Despite our lives are in danger, we will fight any battle for the sake of the country,” she said. 

Kumaratunga also pointed out that there is no political party in Sri Lanka, other than the SLFP, which never used ‘violence’ as a weapon to promote a political propaganda, expect during the past decade. 

“If the judicial system functioned correctly, some persons who demand the Prime Ministerial post should be in jail by now,” she added.

Polls chief’s intervention sought to stop formation of Drug Regulatory Authority

By Shamindra Ferdinando-July 1, 2015

The Government Medical Officers’ Forum (GMOF) has sought Election Commissi oner Mahinda Deshapriya’s immediate intervention to thwart the Health Ministry moving to establish a Drug Regulatory Authority (DRA) in violation of the Parliamentary Election law. The DRA is formed in accordance with the new National Medicinal Drug, Devices and Cosmetic Authority policy.

GMOF Secretary Dr Jayantha Abeyratne yesterday told The Island that new appointments as well as transfers couldn’t be made in the wake of President  Maithripala Sirisena calling for fresh parliamentary elections.

Dr Rukshan Bellana heads the GMOF at logger heads with the ministry over several contentious issues.

Responding to GMOF’s written complaint, the Elections Commissioner Deshapriya, too, has confirmed that such appointments couldn’t be made though there was no issue in case appointments were made within the health department. The Elections Secretariat has raised GMOF’s concerns with Health Secretary Dr D.M.R.B. Dissanayake and Director General of Health Services Dr Palitha Maheepala.

The Elections Secretariat confirmed receiving GMOF’s letter and follow-up action taken by the Secretariat

Dr Abeyratne alleged that in spite of the Elections Secretariat taking it up, the health ministry was going ahead with planned appointments today (July 2). The GMOF spokesperson said that Prof. Lal Jayakody and Prof. Crishantha Weerasooriya would receive appointments as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of DRA.

They are in their 60s and currently with the University of Colombo, with Prof. Weerasooriya nearing 70.

Acknowledging that the duo had the required qualifications, Dr Abeyratne alleged that qualified pharmacologists were deprived of an opportunity to join the proposed DRA. Alleging that Messrs Jayakody and Weerasooriya had been handpicked by Health Minister Dr Rajitha Senaratne, Dr Abeyratne said that no one should be allowed to take unilateral decisions.

Dr Abeyratne pointed out that Prof. Jayakody and Prof. Weerasooriya had been with the high level; Technical Advisory Committee as well as Drug Evaluation subcommittee for many years, therefore there could be a conflict of interests. The spokesperson said that a major industry player, namely Sri Lanka Chamber of the Pharmaceutical Industry (SLCPI) had strongly objected to the two appointments on the basis that they were well over the retirement age.

However, the Health ministry yesterday said that Minister Dr Senaratne was scheduled to participate in an official function today (July 2) at the DRA auditorium near Central Hospital. The Health Ministry media unit said that the event would take place as planned.

First General Election result from Rathnapura

 

Wednesday, 01 July 2015

Before handing over the nominations for the 2015 General Election the first election violence murder was reported from Dela area in Rathnapura. Former minister Thalatha Athukorala’s supporter Thushara

Dewalegama was killed. When the latter has travelling in his motor bicycle to organize the election campaign has been murdered.

 

Following the pronouncing of the date for the General Election this would be the first murder reported and there were few minor incidentsreported from Kurunegala and Anuradapura.

Photos by lankadeepa.lk

Hindu extremists beat up Muslim man in northern India: Video

In this picture, a Muslim man, identified as Riyaz, is being thrashed by Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal organization in Muzaffarnagar, northern India, June 19, 2015.

Mon Jun 29, 2015 

Footage has been released online purportedly showing members of an extremist Hindu organization thrash a Muslim man in India’s northern and most populous state of Uttar Pradesh.

Videos posted on social media networks show radicals from the Bajrang Dal organization, whose ideology is based on fundamentalist Hindutva, verbally abusing the victim as a fanatic mercilessly beats the man, identified as Riyaz, with a belt in the city of Muzaffarnagar, situated approximately 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of the capital, New Delhi, and in front of a large number of onlookers.

The ill-fated Muslim man is being tormented on the accusations that he was attempting to slaughter a cow in Shamli district of the city. Riyaz, however, has dismissed the claims and said he was just present at the site, where the cow was allegedly being slaughtered.

The video further shows Indian police forces arresting the victim, while taking no actions against Bajrang Dal extremists.

Meanwhile, local civil groups have blamed Samajwadi Party and Bharatiya Janata Party – the two major Indian political parties – of rekindling sectarian strife in Muzaffarnagar.

In September 2013, clashes between Muslims and Hindus in the Shamli and Muzaffarnagar districts of Uttar Pradesh state killed more than 50 and left 50,000 displaced. Many among the Muslim community fled their homes seeking shelter at relief camps. 

A total of 294 people were arrested over the violence, despite nearly 6,000 being named as suspects.

Displaced Indian Muslims said their makeshift homes were being demolished by the state government in order to avoid negative media attention, following a report that revealed 34 children had died in the relief camps.

MP/NN/HMV

ISIS-affiliated militants launch wave of assaults in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula

In this Nov. 6, 2014, file photo, an Egyptian army armored vehicle stands on the on the Egyptian side of border town of Rafah, north Sinai, Egypt. Islamic militants on Wednesday, July 1, 2015, unleashed a wave of simultaneous attacks, including suicide car bombings, on Egyptian army checkpoints in the restive northern Sinai Peninsula, killing dozens of soldiers, security and military officials said.(AP Photo/Ahmed Abd El Latif, El Shorouk Newspaper, File) (Ahmed Abd El Latif/AP)

By Heba Habib and Loveday Morris-July 1

CAIRO — Islamic State-affiliated militants unleashed a wave of coordinated strikes on security checkpoints in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Wednesday, in one of the most significant attacks on the restive province in recent years.

At least 10 soldiers were killed in the large-scale assault in the restive region, the Egyptian army said. However, other sources put the casualty figures much higher. The Associated Press reported that at least 50 soldiers were killed.

The north Sinai town of Sheikh Zuweid appeared close to slipping out of state control, with reports that gunmen were roaming the streets. Egyptian jets strafed the area as clashes continued on Wednesday afternoon, and Israel closed its border crossings with Egypt as a precautionary measure.

The breadth of the attack demonstrates the ability of militants in Egypt to maintain their reach in the country, despite years of battles with security forces. It came just two days after the country’s top prosecutor was assassinated in a bombing in the capital, Cairo.

The Islamic State has called for a “month of fire” during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, urging suicide bomb attacks. Strikes by the group and its affiliates or suspected sympathizers have since shaken France, Kuwait and Tunisia.

[The hidden hand behind the Islamic State]

A group named the Sinai Province, which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in November, claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s assault. Its fighters attacked 15 checkpoints and carried out three suicide bombings, the group said in a statement circulated on social media. One blast hit an officer’s club in the city of Arish, it said.

An Egyptian army spokesman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Samir Abdel Aziz, said in a statement that around 70 militants launched attacks on five checkpoints in the north Sinai town of Sheikh Zuweid. Thirty-nine militants were killed, according to the army.

The militants said they had surrounded the police station in the town. The siege was confirmed to Egyptian media by a local police commander.

The army dispatched reinforcements to the area, but highways were laced with roadside bombs, Egypt’s al-Ahram newspaper reported. It said injured soldiers were evacuated in armored vehicles because ambulances could not reach the town.

North Sinai, which borders Israel and the Gaza Strip, has been the site of heated battles between the military forces and militant Islamists for years. But attacks have been increasing in frequency since the military backed the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood, in July 2013. According to some military experts, the attacks also have been increasing in sophistication.

Sinai Province launched a similarly deadly attack in January on checkpoints in Arish and Sheikh Zuweid, resulting in the deaths of 44 army and police personnel.

The nature of the latest attack on Sheikh Zuweid is “new and worrying,” said Zack Gold, a visiting fellow at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies who specializes in the Sinai Peninsula.

“This isn’t one of their regular hit-and-run attacks; they seem to be setting up for a longer haul,” he said, adding that it is currently unclear whether the group is attempting to take the town or draw the military into urban warfare. “Either one is unprecedented,” he said.

However, if the group is looking to take territory as the Islamic State has done in Iraq and Syria, it is unlikely to be able to hold its captured ground, Gold said.

“Egypt isn’t Iraq; this isn’t Anbar,” he said, referring to the Iraqi province where Islamic State militants have seized major cities. “The military is more cohesive and has more firepower and has the capability to get them out. The question is how many civilians will be harmed in the process?”

Morris reported from Baghdad.

Loveday Morris is a Beirut-based correspondent for The Post. She has previously covered the Middle East for The National, based in Abu Dhabi, and for the Independent, based in London and Beirut.

North Korea’s new airport opens to much fanfare… and controversy

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju tour Pyongyang’s new international airport. Pic: AP.

By Asian Correspondent Staff Jul 01, 2015

North Korea opened its new airport in Pyongyang Wednesday. The reclusive state likes to showcase its achievements, and this week’s grand opening was no exception as it showed off the new airport’s fancy duty free shops and chocolate fondue fountain.

The event was somewhat overshadowed, however, by reports that leader Kim Jong-un executed the airport’s architect last year because of “defects” in the building.

The unveiling Wednesday underscores an effort to attract more tourists and to spruce up the country ahead of the celebration of a major anniversary of the founding of its ruling Worker’s Party in October this year.

North Korean Premier Pak Pong Ju officiated at the opening ceremony, which marks the completion of years of work at Pyongyang’s main Sunan airport.

But the event was overshadowed by the murkier side of life in North Korea, not least that Ma Won Chun, North Korea’s director of the Designing Department of the National Defence Commission and the airport’s architect, vanished last year and is believed to have fallen victim to one of Kim’s purges.

(READ MORE: Follow these Instagram accounts for a look inside the real North Korea)

‘The Diplomat’ reported he was killed “for corrupt practices and a failure to follow orders”.

Ma’s disappearance coincided with the discovery of problems with the airport, when Kim was quoted as saying: “Defects were manifested in the last phase of the construction of the Terminal 2 because the designers failed to bear in mind the party’s idea of architectural beauty that is the life and soul and core in architecture to preserve the character and national identity.”

Kim seemed to have put that all behind him last week when North Korea’s propaganda machine released images of him touring the new facility with his wife Ri Sol-ju touring the new facility. They look like they’re having a grand old time, apparently sporting US$600 Movado watches.

Kim Jong Un and his wife wear matching Movado watches worth $600 each

Just a handful of international flights come and go from Pyongyang every week, although since last year the frequency has increased.

Only two airlines have scheduled flights to Pyongyang — North Korea’s flag carrier, Air Koryo, and Air China.

Additional reporting from Associated Press

Greek debt: Merkel dismisses Tsipras's last-ditch compromise plan

German chancellor reiterates stance of no new negotiations with Athens until after Sunday’s referendum on bailout

Angela Merkel’s intervention closes the door on the latest attempt by the Greek PM to extend Greece’s bailout, which expired on Tuesday, leaving it unable to pay its debts. Photograph: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters

Jennifer Rankin in Brussels-Wednesday 1 July 2015

Germany has dismissed a last-ditch compromise plan from Greece that bowed to some key demands of its creditors.

In an address to the Bundestag, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, reiterated her stance that there was no point in having talks with the government of Alexis Tsipras before a referendum in Greece on an EU bailout plan.

Greek Debt Merkel Dismisses Tsipras's Last-ditch Compromise Plan by Thavam Ratna

Calling In Against Corruption

A Pakistani official set out to prevent bureaucrats from demanding bribes for providing basic public services. The solution: citizen feedback through mobile phones.

This article is an abridged version of a longer historical case studyproduced by Innovations for Successful Societies, a research program at Princeton University.

BY MOHAMMAD OMAR MASUD-JUNE 30, 2015

In early 2008, an irate government official walked into the office of Zubair Bhatti, the district coordination officer (DCO) of Jhang district, in Pakistan’s Punjab province. The official complained that, when he tried to register his property, the land registry employee had asked him for a bribe. Bhatti immediately conducted a surprise inspection of the district registry and launched a formal corruption investigation into the behavior of the accused employee. But he worried that few of Jhang’s 3.3 million residents were lucky enough to have the DCO intercede on their behalf when facing such demands from bureaucrats.

Calling In Against Corruption.odt by Thavam Ratna

U.S., Cuba restoring diplomatic ties after 54 years

Chief of Mission at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana Jeffrey DeLaurentis (L) talks to Cuba's interim Foreign Minister Marcelino Medina in Havana July 1, 2015.REUTERS/ENRIQUE DE LA OSA

HAVANA/WASHINGTON | BY DANIEL TROTTA AND JEFF MASON-Wed Jul 1, 2015

The United States and Cuba on Wednesday formally agreed to restore diplomatic ties that had been severed for 54 years, fulfilling a pledge made six months ago by the former Cold War enemies.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro exchanged letters agreeing to reopen embassies in each other's capitals, with the Cubans saying that could happen as soon as July 20.

"This is a historic step forward in our efforts to normalize relations with the Cuban government and people and begin a new chapter with our neighbors in the Americas," Obama said from the White House Rose Garden.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking from Vienna, said he would visit Havana later this summer to raise the U.S. flag outside the U.S. embassy, currently labeled the U.S. interests section under the protection of the Swiss government.

Obama and Castro seek to relegate to history 56 years of recriminations that have predominated ever since Fidel Castro's rebels overthrew the U.S.-backed government of Fulgencio Batista on Jan. 1, 1959.

"Cuba is encouraged by the reciprocal intention to develop respectful and cooperative relations between our two peoples and governments," Raul Castro, 84, Fidel's younger brother and Cuban president since 2008, wrote in his letter to Obama.

The Cuba deal marks a major achievement for Obama, who has been criticized for foreign policy stumbles, especially in the Middle East. It follows his recent victory in a congressional fight for fast-track authority that could undergird a landmark Asia trade deal and comes as Washington appears to be on the cusp of a nuclear agreement with Iran.

Following 18 months of secret negotiations brokered by Pope Francis and Canada, the two leaders announced separately but simultaneously in December that they planned to reopen embassies in each other's capitals and normalize relations. The agreement also included a prisoner swap.

With diplomatic relations restored, the United States and Cuba will turn to more difficult bilateral problems.

Cuba's Communist government said in a statement that to have normal overall relations, the United States must rescind its comprehensive economic embargo of Cuba and return the naval base at Cuba's Guantanamo Bay, which it has leased since 1903. Cuba wants the 45 square miles (116 square km) restored as its sovereign territory.

Obama, a Democrat, has asked the Republican-controlled Congress to lift the 53-year-old embargo, but the conservative leadership in Congress has resisted.

The Cuban statement said the United States also needed to halt radio and television broadcasts beamed into the country and stop "subversive" programs inside Cuba, which the U.S. says are intended to promote democracy in the one-party state.

Two years after Fidel Castro came to power, President Dwight Eisenhower closed the U.S. embassy in Havana on Jan. 3, 1961, less than three weeks before President-elect John F. Kennedy took office.

By April of that year, Kennedy would authorize the U.S.-organized invasion of Cuba by a force of Cuban exiles. The attack at the Bay of Pigs failed and reinforced Castro's standing at home and abroad.

In October 1962, Washington and Moscow nearly came to nuclear war over Soviet missiles stationed in Cuba.

Ever defiant toward his neighbor just 90 miles (145 km) to the north, Fidel Castro, 88, remained in power until 2008, when he handed off to his younger brother Raul Castro, 84.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta in Havana and Jeff Mason, Roberta Ramptonm Matt Spetalnick and Lesley Wroughton in Washington; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Lisa Von Ahn)

Everyday sexism: the reality of #Being Female In Nigeria

WEDNESDAY 01 JULY 2015

As Women in Africa's most populous nation use social media to highlight everyday sexism Yomi Adegoke says being a woman in Nigeria is radically different from being a woman from Nigeria.

Everyday Sexism the Reality of #Being Female in Nigeria by Thavam Ratna

How new drugs helping millions of Americans live longer are also making them go broke

Half a million Americans now take $50,000 in prescription drugs per year. Who ultimately pays the cost?

By Ana Swanson-June 30

If you pay for good health insurance, shouldn’t you be able to afford the medicine you need?

For Kristin Agar, a 63-year-old social worker in Little Rock, Ark., this has not been the case.

In 2008, Agar began experiencing strange symptoms. Her feet swelled, her joints ached, a rash appeared on her face, and every night she would get a fever that would disappear in the morning.

How New Drugs Helping Millions of Americans Live Longer Are Also Making Them Go Broke by Thavam Ratna

Ebola Returns To Liberia With A Mysterious Case Near Monrovia

Health workers wash their hands after taking a blood sample from a child to test for the Ebola virus. On Tuesday, the workers tested people in the village outside Monrovia where a 17-year-old boy died of the disease over the weekend.Abbas Dulleh /AP

MICHAELEEN DOUCLEFF-JUNE30,2015

Almost two months after Liberia was declared Ebola-free, the disease has cropped up again — this time in a rural town outside the capital city.

So far, there's only one new case, but health officials are rushing to stop its spread.

Liberia's deputy health minister, Tolbert Nyenswah, said Tuesday that a 17-year-old boy died of Ebola at his home in Nedowein, a village near the country's international airport.

"There is no need to panic. The corpse has been buried, and our contact tracing has started work," Nyenswah told Reuters. Health officials have already started quarantining homes near where the body was found.

But there are a few reasons why the case is worrisome.

First, it's not known where or how the teenager caught Ebola. "There is no known source of infection, and there's no information about him traveling to Guinea or SL [Sierra Leone]," the ministry of health told Science magazine in an email.

Second, health officials didn't know the teenager had Ebola until after he died. So he could have unwittingly spread the disease to his family and caretakers.

Finally, many international aid groups have left Liberia since cases plummeted to zero back in March. The case will test Liberia's ability to stop an outbreak largely on its own.

The World Health Organization declared the country Ebola-free May 9. But neighboring countries Guinea and Sierra Leone are still struggling to stop the virus. Last week, the two countries reported 20 cases total, the WHO said.

Since Ebola erupted in West Africa, there have been 27,443 reported cases, More than 11,000 people have died.