Anchor, Maliban and Diamond milk powder off the shelves

WEDNESDAY, 07 AUGUST 2013 

The Health Ministry today notified all milk powder suppliers whose products were suspected to contain dicyandiamide (DCD) to recall these stocks of milk powder from sales outlets with immediate effect and until further notice.

Following a decision taken by the Food Advisory Committee on Tuesday, Director General of Health Services Dr. Palitha Mahipala today requested Maliban, Fonterra and G.M Mohommad Ali and Company to remove their milk products, said ministry spokesman W.M.D Wanninayaka.

Meanwhile, the advertising of milk powder in print and electronic media and elsewhere has been banned until further notice.

Mr. Wanninayaka said that as tests conducted by the Industrial Technology Institute (ITI) had indicated the presence of DCD in random samples of milk powde5, the ministry had decided to stop the sale of the said milk powder until further notice.

The ITI has so far identified the presence of DCD in Anchor One Plus, Anchor Full Cream Milk Powder, Maliban Non-Fat Milk Powder and Diamond Milk. “The ministry has urgently called for the removal of these products immediately,” he said.

He added that ITI would conduct sample tests on other varieties of milk powder as well and that if any of them were found to be contaminated with DCD, companies would be asked to stop the sale of such items.

Meanwhile, the ministry has also taken a decision to take samples of milk powder from stocks stored in the ports and test them for the presence of Clostridium botulinum bacteria and to release milk powder stocks which did not test positive for the bacteria.

Food and supplements which contain high concentration of whey protein will be removed from the market and the sale of supplements which contain whey protein would be stopped with immediate effect, he said.

Samples of milk powder and supplements which contain large amounts of whey protein would be sent to the Medical Research Institute (MRI) to be tested for the presence of the Clostridium botulinum, he said.

All provincial and divisional Health Services directors, the Colombo Municipal Council’s Chief Medical Officer and the National Institute of Health Sciences have all been notified by way of a circular issued yesterday to ensure that the directives given are implemented with immediate effect (Olindhi Jayasundere)

VIDEO: FATHER’S FOOTSTEPS...

August 8, 2013  

Former DIG Vaas Gunawardena’s son, Ravindu Gunwardena who was arrested yesterday over the murder of a businessman, being escorted out of the Colombo Magistrate’s Court premises. The Colombo Additional Magistrate today (8) granted permission to the CID to detain Ravindu for an additional 24-hours for further questioning. (Pic by Sanjeewa Lasantha/Osanda Daham Nimsara)

Vass' son Ravindu netted

By Ishara Ratnakara, Premalal Wijeratne and Binoy Suriyaarachchi-Thursday, 08 Aug 2013

Colombo Additional Magistrate, Mohamed Sahabdeen, yesterday issued a detention order for 72 hours on Ravindu Gunawardena, to enable the CID to interrogate him over the killing of millionaire businessman, Mohamed Shyam. Ravindu, the son of former DIG, Vass Gunawardena, who was wanted by the police in connection with the abduction and murder of Shyam, and was absconding arrest, was found by the CID yesterday (7) at dawn, hiding in a house at Mayura Mawatha, Pepiliyana. His father, Vass Gunawardena, who is also a suspect, is already in custody.

A high ranking police officer revealed, another youth from Ahangama, who was with Ravindu in the house at Pepiliyana, was also taken into custody, on suspicion. The owner of the house had however managed to flee, and a special police investigation team is on his trail. The owner had bolted when the CID team had suddenly swooped on the premises.

During the interrogation of the six suspects including DIG Vass Gunawardena, by the CID, it had come to light that Vass' son, Ravindu, had also accompanied the alleged murderers to the place where Mohamed Shyam had ultimately been taken to, and murdered.

It had also been disclosed during investigations that Vass' son was also involved in the abduction of the businessman, the high ranking police officer added.

The CID is conducting a probe into other crimes of extortion and murders committed by the suspects, which had come to light during the investigations into the murder of the Bambalapitiya businessman. The Kaduwala Magistrate had also issued a warrant for the arrest of Ravindu, for absconding Court in the case filed against him, on charges of assaulting Nipuna Ramanayake, a student of the Computer Technology Institute, Malabe, sometime ago.

Since 1 June, a special CID team had been on the trail of the suspect, and several houses were searched in
Colombo, the suburbs and the South of the country.

Consequent to fresh clues emerging from the suspects already in custody for the murder of Mohamed Shyam, a special CID team had been assigned to follow the leads and continue with further investigations.

Packer is a bully, under threat Harsha complains in P’ment

By Ashwin Hemmathagama  Our Lobby Correspondent- August 8, 2013
Relentless criticism of a mega casino project in Colombo and the ongoing exposure of controversial deals between the Government and Australian casino mogul had resulted in threats and intimidation for Opposition lawmakers, UNP MP Dr. Harsha de Silva complained to Parliament yesterday.

De Silva, who has been a vocal critic of the James Packer casino development project on D.R. Wijewardane Mawatha Colombo, told the House he had been intimidated recently at a television station by those he called “henchmen of the casino king who had vested interests”. “This incident confirmed the dangers and threats hanging over the lives of those who expose controversial deals between the Government and casino king James Packer,” de Silva charged.

He said that the intimidation had taken place while he was waiting for a political debate to begin at a certain television station.
“A goon touched me to ask me what my next move was on the casino expose,” he explained.
Raising concerns about his security, De Silva said that James Packer should be held responsible if any harm came to him.
Last Monday, two of James Packer’s senior staffers – Crown Chief Executive Rowen Craigie and Chief Financial Officer Ken Barton – were here inspecting the proposed site at D.R. Wijewardena Mawatha and to continue further discussions with Government officials including Deputy Minister of Finance Dr. Sarath Amunugama about the project, according to a report in the Financial Review Australia.
Requesting the Government for a clarification, the UNP Legislator said that the officials had negotiated for a favourable tax and regulatory treatment for Crown Ltd.’s proposed casino during their brief stay in Colombo.
“However, having returned to Australia singing the praises of the island nation, these two have declined to give details of negotiations to build the casino complex,” he revealed.
He charged that because of his recent expose of the Government’s dubious land deals with Chelina NEB Lanka Ltd., President Mahinda Rajapaksa had decided to revoke the Cabinet decision taken to exclusively award the highly valuable 29 acre property in Maradana to a single investor in a 99-year lease.
“We at the Opposition have fought for the general public. Results of our struggle are visible from the change in Government plans at the last moment,” he added, striking a victorious note.
In response, Minister of Investment Promotion Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena agreed to answer Dr. de Silva’s queries after tabling the casino bill.
“Packer might be a billionaire and have very powerful friends in town but he can’t scare me or stop me from fighting against his tax free project to pollute our society,” De Silva told the Daily FT.

Our Zimbabwean Future?

by Tisaranee Gunasekara--:Thursday, August 8, 2013

“It is the President who has unleashed this wave of terror, of course he knows its going on, even if he leaves the details to underlings and never gets his own hands soiled”.

Denias Dombo (An anti-Mugabe activist)1

( August 8, 2013, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Robert Mugabe’s landslide victory barely caused a stir, internationally. When the predictable happens, it is not quite Breaking-News. The world seems to have realised that Mugabe will never relinquish power, voluntarily. The usual Western condemnations did emanate, but they were almost token protests, lacking in vigour, purpose or direction.

The Rajapaksas use carrot-and-stick methods to subjugate the SLFP/UPFA and control the military. Loyalists are rewarded; invertebrates tolerated; those who try to maintain even a vestige of autonomy are punished.

Our Zimbabwean Future by nelvely

Can tracking rape in conflict prevent genocide?

WOMEN UNDER SIEGE

By Alex Zucker/Guest Blogger — August 7, 2013

Just as rape and other forms of sexualized violence have historically been viewed as a “natural” part of war, they have often been recognized as occurring in genocide but not necessarily as an act of genocide in itself.

That changed in 1998, with the verdict of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in the trial of Jean-Paul Akayesu—who was found to have facilitated and encouraged acts of sexualized violence, mutilation, and rape during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The ICTR determined that these acts, in and of themselves, constituted genocide under Article 2 of the Genocide Convention: “causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.”

But the Convention’s definition of the term genocide, with its emphasis on perpetrator intent, makes it virtually impossible to be certain whether particular acts of violence amount to genocide until they’ve come to an end and been investigated, not to mention tried in a court of law. In other words, when it’s too late to prevent them.

Photos of Jewish victims at the Birkenau death camp. (Adam Jones)

Genocide typically involves a range of violations against members of a targeted group even before killing—or without any killing at all—and many of these can be identified in time to halt the process. One of the basic tenets for preventing genocide, after all, is the understanding that it is a process, not an event.

Today, genocide scholars, activists, and policymakers around the world recognize the need not only to end impunity and bring perpetrators to trial but, more important, to prevent these horrible acts from occurring in the first place. Still, this is more easily said than done.      more »

US: Walking a diplomatic tightrope in Egypt?

As Washington fails to condemn the military coup, we ask if it can defend democracy in Egypt.

Inside Story Last Modified: 08 Jul 2013 A military coup in Egypt is placing the United States in an uncomfortable position - how to be seen to be supporting democracy, and maintain its strategic interests in the region. The White House endorsed the elections which brought a Muslim Brotherhood-led government to power in Egypt. But by failing to condemn the coup, critics say it's condoning the military overthrow of a democratically elected government. In a statement released by the White House on Saturday, US President Barack Obama denied that Washington was supporting any political group or movement. "We remain committed to the Egyptian people and their aspirations for democracy, economic opportunity and dignity. But the future path of Egypt can only be determined by the Egyptian people," said Obama. The White House has been careful to avoid the use of the word 'coup' - an admission that could have serious repercussions for Egypt. The US is banned by law from giving aid to any country where a democratically elected government has been overthrown by a military coup. Egypt, however, has received annual aid worth $1.5bn from the US, most of which goes to the military. Republican Senator John McCain is leading calls for that money to be withheld. "We have to suspend aid to the Egyptian military because the Egyptian military has overturned the vote of the people of Egypt and we cannot set a precedent," he said. "Let me put it this way - we cannot repeat the same mistakes that we made at other times in our history by supporting the removal of freely elected governments and so I believe that the aid has to be suspended, that the Egyptian military has to set a timetable for elections and new constitution and then we should evaluate whether we should continue the aid or not." Egypt was described during the Clinton administration as the most prominent player in the Arab world and a key US ally in the Middle East. And it has been crucial where Israel is concerned. It was the first Arab state to officially recognise Israel, when the two signed a peace treaty in 1979, a deal Hosni Mubarak was keen to preserve when he came to power in 1981. And Egypt has good reason to co-operate - it has received more than $70bn in military and economic aid since 1948. So, why would the US administration refrain from characterising this as a military coup? And can the US defend democracy in Egypt while continuing to walk a diplomatic tightrope? Inside Story, with presenter Mike Hanna, discusses with guests: PJ Crowley, former US assistant secretary of state and now professor at George Washington University; Michael Stephens, a researcher at Royal United Services Institute (RUSI); and Semih Idiz, a foreign policy expert and columnist for Al Monitor online newspaper. "It does not really matter what the legal definitions are or are universally agreed upon or not agreed upon because I think if you look at it from a regional perspective actually this is viewed through the lens of politics rather than process." Michael Stephens, a researcher at Royal United Services Institute

Australia maps out smart energy plans

By Rowena Dela Rosa Yoon Aug 07, 2013 

Climate solutions think-tank Beyond Zero Emissions (BZE) and the University of Melbourneare launching a joint project that hopes to help developers build smarter buildings: eco-friendly and energy-efficient.

The Zero Carbon Australia Buildings Plan, to be unveiled Thursday, will showcase a blueprint aimed at helping existing buildings cut their energy usage by half. Residential and commercial buildings can achieve maximum energy efficiency in 10 years.

Australia Maps Out Smart Energy Plans by nelvely

Black July: A Note On Buddhism, Caste & The New Sinhalese Nationalism

By Rajan Hoole -August 7, 2013 |

Rajan Hoole

Sri Lanka’s Black July – Part 11 -

In South Asia in general the principal mark of identity is caste. Language and religion are transmutable. Thus when the Kandyan kingdom in the 18th century was in need of a Kshatriya prince to fill the throne, a Hindu Tamil-speaking Nayakkar from South India was made king and the protector of Buddhism. Such perceptions of identity still have considerable life as a survival from a feudal past. A passing fashion among Western scholars of the 19th century identified language with race and popular nationalism on both sides began to speak of Sinhalese Aryans and Tamil Dravidians. Kumari Jayawardhana in her work traces the use of new perceptions of identity to hate campaigns against Indian and Moor business competitors and Indian labour from the early 20th century.

The introduction of universal adult franchise with the Donoughmore reforms of 1931 found several members of the Sinhalese ruling class changing their religious allegiance from Christianity to Buddhism. Among the ‘Donoughmore Buddhists’ were Bandaranaike and Jayewardene who had been Anglican Christians. Jayewardene, the choirboy at St. Michael’s, Polwatte, was among the earliest to play the Buddhist card openly. Campaigning in the 40s against his opponent E.W. Perera for the Kelaniya seat, Jayewardene asked, “As much as I hold E.W. Perera in great esteem, how can this hallowed city of Kelaniya be represented by a Christian?”

Read More

Part one - Sri Lanka’s Black July: Borella, 24th Evening

Part two - Sri Lanka’s Black July: What Really Happened At Kanatte?

Part three - Black July: ‘Api Suddha Kara’ – JR’s Failure To Declare Curfew

Part four - Sri Lanka’s Black July: The Cover Up

Part five -  30th July 1983: The Second Naxalite Plot

Part six  - Black July: The Testimony Of Lionel Bopage, Then General Secretary Of The JVP

Part seven - Black July: Thondaman & Muttetuwegama

Part eight - What Was Behind Tiger Friday – 29th July? -The Significance Of The Pettah

Part nine - Tamil Merchants In The Pettah – Post July 1983

Part ten –  Sri Lanka’s Black July: A Family’s Tragedy In Colombo

*From Chapter 9 of  Rajan Hoole‘s “Sri Lanka: Arrogance of Power  - Myth, Decadence and Murder”. Thanks to Rajan for giving us permission to republish. To be continued..

All institutions under political influence and threat

by Sachin Parathalingam-Wednesday, 07 Aug 2013

Hulftsdorp is buzzing with activity following the summoning of controversially impeached Chief Justice, Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake, to Court after the Bribery Commission began investigating her alleged failure to declare assets as statutorily required. The impeachment of Dr. Bandaranayake, which was in defiance of a Supreme Court order, sparked widespread condemnation from the unofficial bar and the international community. Meanwhile, a ‘cold war’ appears to be brewing between the upper judiciary and the unofficial bar, sparked by the decision of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) to boycott the ceremonial welcome sitting for incumbent Chief Justice, Mohan Peiris, and the BASL’s exclusion from the ceremonial sitting to welcome Supreme Court, Justice Rohini Marasinghe. Ceylon Today spoke to President of the BASL, Attorney-at-Law, Upul Jayasuriya, regarding the notice issued on the former Chief Justice, the apparent rift between the BASL and Supreme Court, and the hurdles facing Sri Lanka’s legal system.

Following are excerpts:

All Institutions Under Political Influence and Threat by nelvely

Failed State Index Fails Sri Lanka

By Kaushalya Ariyathilaka -August 7, 2013 

Kaushalya Ariyathilaka

Sri Lanka has slipped down to the 28^th position in the 9^th Failed States Index (FSI), published annually by Washington DC based The Fund for Peace andForeign Policy Magazine. Sri Lanka had the 29^th position in the 2012 Index. This year’s drop owes to Sri Lanka’s poor performance in seven of the categories: Group Grievance, rise of Poverty and Economic Decline, Delegitimization of the state, Human Rights and Rule of Law, Fractionalized Elite and External Intervention.

Accordingly, Sri Lanka is in poor company, along with eighteen other countries including North Korea and Syria, and is designated to the “Alert” category. Sri Lanka’s South Asian neighbors have fared better than Sri Lanka in the Index, except for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

FSI ranking indicates how policymakers still find the ‘failed state’ concept to be important, despite being widely rejected by scholars. Policymakers find it convenient to have at least a rough empirical estimate at a global level to group countries into categories according to their performance as states. Supposedly FSI is to be a guideline for policymakers that are concerned about state failure; yet FSI fails insofar as it is applied for this purpose.

FSI attempts to measure 12 social, political and economic indicators from somewhat empirically measurable demographic pressure, human rights and external intervention to highly abstract and subjective measures such as group grievances and state legitimacy. Thus begins the manifold methodological flaws of the Index at its very conceptual level. While there is an lack of agreement over the very definition of state failure among the scholars, the Fund for Peace defines state failure as loss of physical control over territory or the monopoly on coercive forces; erosion of legitimate authority in making collective decisions; inability to provide public service; lack of international recognition as a state.                     Read More

FCO Minister urges protection of right to peaceful protest in Sri Lanka

Organisation:

Foreign & Commonwealth Office

Page history:

Published 6 August 2013

Policy:

Promoting human rights internationally

Minister:

Alistair Burt MP

World location:

Sri Lanka

Alistair Burt: I urge authorities to ensure the right to peaceful protest is protected and to ensure a swift and transparent investigation.

Speaking today, Foreign Office Minister, Alistair Burt said:

I note with serious concern emerging reports of the violent disruption of peaceful protests by the Sri Lankan security forces in Weliweriya on 1 August, in which at least 3 people died.

My thoughts are with the families of those who were killed or injured.

I urge the authorities to ensure the right to peaceful protest is protected and to ensure a swift and transparent investigation.

Further information

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Tamil contiguity to be wedged at district level in East

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 August 2013, 01:04 GMT]
The Eastern Provincial Council headed by Chief Minister Najeeb Abdul Majeed of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) is keeping mum while covert plan is being designed to carve out a separate Sinhala district called Seruvila district out of Trincomalee district, by selling lands in coastal areas to Sinhalese businessmen of the South. Valuable lands along the coastal areas in Trincomalee district are being appropriated to be given on lease and to be sold for outsiders by the Colombo government. While on one side the contiguity of the Tamil speaking people are wedged between the North and East provinces by the creation of the Weli-Oya division, on the other side, the contiguity is wedged even within the Eastern Province itself, between the Tamil-speaking people of Trincomalee and Batticaloa. Seruvila comes between Trincomalee and Batticaloa.

Already 558 acres of coastal areas from I'rakka'ndi to Kuchchave'li have been appropriated by the Colombo government under a special gazette notification that the stretch is to be sold to outsiders.

In the meantime, another 390 acres of lands along the coast of Moothoor and Ki'n'niyaa from Uppaa'ru and Mahaweli River are also to be appropriated by the Colombo government with the backing of the occupying Sri Lanka Army. These lands are also to be sold to ‘outsiders’.

The lands that are under appropriation by the Colombo government belong Tamils and Muslims of the district.

Tamils and Muslim sources say that it is the duty of the Eastern Provincial Council to preserve the identity of the Tamil-speaking peoples in the district. But, the council neither has the guts nor the powers to implement province-centric programmes. 

Trincomalee district is comprised of three electorates: Trincomalee, Moothoor and Seruwila. 

Seruwila came in to existence in 1952 when the then United National Party government led by the first Prime Minister D.S.Senenayake, carried out state aided colonization schemes and settled Sinhalese from the south of the country in the then Tamil dominated Trincomalee district. 

Informed sources say that the Colombo government has now planned to create a new administrative district called Seruvila before the next parliament election. 

Land appropriation in Trincomalee district is going unabated targeting for the creation of the new Sinhala district. 

Already the Ampaa’rai district in the Eastern Province is fast Sinhalicised. Now there will be yet another Sinhala district in the province, aiming for 50 per cent demographic control of the province, where before the so-called independence the percentage of Sinhalese was not even 5 per cent. 

Currently there are three districts in the province: Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampaa’rai. With the creation of Seruvila there will be four, and two out of then will be Sinhala districts.

The East will permanently lose the contiguity of Tamil-speaking people, and there will be only isolated pockets of subjugated Tamils and Muslims, if the New Delhi-Washington-London partnered genocide is not stopped by mass action of Tamils all over the world, said Tamil activists for alternative politics in the island.

Even after seeing the blatant demographic genocide, and knowing very well who are the ultimate culprits blessing the genocide, the so-called Tamil politicians continue listening to them and to the provincial council hoodwink of confirming the genocide, the activists commented. 

Whether one meekly listens to them, or don’t listen, if genocide is the course taken up by the ultimate culprits, why should one listen to them at all? Why not boycott them to their face? Declaring non-cooperation with them is not going make one lose anything with the kind of pre-determined injustice practised by them. By doing so, at least one registers the protest to the awareness of the world and inspires the next generation in addressing the struggle rightly. By not doing so, one only blunts even the future struggle at the behest of the ultimate culprits, the activists further said.

The Importance Of A Balanced And Principled Foreign Policy

By Jayantha Dhanapala, Danesh Casie Chetty and Tissa Jayatilaka - On behalf of Friday Forum

August 8, 2013 

Jayantha Dhanapala

The unflattering publicity Sri Lanka has received internationally in the lead up to and after the UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva in March 2013, and the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) meeting in London in April, is indicative of a significant failure of the Sri Lanka Government to exploit the opportunities of peace and reconciliation opened up by the end of the conflict. This failure is exacerbated by the deficiencies of its current foreign policy. Direction, depth, consistency and coherence are conspicuously absent in a series of ad-hoc decisions implemented by a staff riddled with mediocre political appointees at all levels.

In the globalized multi-polar world we now live in, we are called upon to interact pragmatically with other states, international organizations and non-state actors. In order to maximize the benefits of such an interaction, we do need to pursue a foreign policy that is balanced, principled and based on enlightened self interest.

It was, by and large, such a balanced, pragmatic and sagacious foreign policy that enabled Sri Lanka in the first three decades of post- Independence history, to exert an influence in the international arena disproportionate to her size despite a pro-Western tilt in the early stages and other inadequacies.

The environment with regard to foreign policy formulation and implementation changed dramatically during the 1980s largely on account of the long, festering and brutalizing conflict between the state and the separatist terrorist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the consequent deterioration of our foreign policy mechanisms into a defensive mode. Four years after the military victory of the Government over the LTTE we remain in that defensive mode failing to take advantage of the vast opportunities of peace and reconciliation accompanied by an intelligently conceived foreign policy conducted professionally.

Sri Lanka is scheduled to host the Commonwealth Summit in November. Canada’s Prime Minister is on record that he will not attend. The Canadian Government attempted to persuade the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) that met in London in April to evaluate the Sri Lanka Government’s human rights record on account of alleged transgressions of the Latimer House rules. Although diplomatic deals appear for the moment to have helped ward off an embarrassing change of CHOGM venue, the ultimate decision in this regard rests with the Commonwealth Heads of Government. November is some distance away and many developments are possible especially with domestic developments in Sri Lanka focusing on a fresh debate over the 13th Amendment, campaigns against minorities, suppression of dissent with lethal violence and a deteriorating law and order situation. At the same time we must beware of window-dressing before the Summit.

Read More

Journalist victimised for criticising Rajapaksha clan by Derana TV

Journalist victimised for criticising Rajapaksha clan by Derana TV

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Kelum dearana 410px 06-08-1An announcer in a famous FM channel in Sri Lanka says that he was given the job via a phone call and was fired via an SMS.

This comment was made by Mr. Kalum Amarasinghe, the recently sacked journalist from FM Derana, to BBC Sandeshaya.

He said that although he has not been given any official document confirming his appointment, his salary was given to him through the bank account maintained by the Derena institute in Sampath bank.

He said that the reason for firing him was his expressions made in the radio program when presenting two Lankadeepa news headlines regarding the Rathupaswala army assault.

He also said that his sacking was justified by the program director by saying that they have been ordered not to criticize anything About the President or the defence secretary.

However, the director himself had accepted that it was not informed to Kalum.

However, Kalum Amarasinghe says that the order has been given by a head in Derana institute named Dilith Jayaweera.

However attempts made to contact Mr. Shehan Baranage, the head of news division to get the Derena's response, was unsuccessful.

However, Mr. Amarasinghe points out that this clearly proves the self censorship that has been applied in the SriLankan media at present.

-BBC Sandeshaya/SLM