Towards A Family Policy Beyond Nepotism

By Sajeeva Samaranayake - October 11, 2014

Sajeeva Samaranayake

Since 2010 the Ministry of Social Services has been engaged in the development of a family policy for Sri Lanka. At face value this is a laudable task and one that should be supported by all. On closer examination however a number of fundamental issues arise which cannot be ignored if this exercise is to benefit its intended beneficiaries – those families which are struggling to make ends meet and live together and which are disintegrating as mainstream ‘development’ gathers pace with elements of ‘social engineering’ also thrown in.

Why a family policy?

State provision for families in Sri Lanka is now in a completely fragmented and scattered state. Areas like housing, transport, utilities, health, education, social services, probation & child care services are all divided and sub divided beyond all human attempts to bring them into a sane degree of coordination. Given this reality we must question the rationale of the Ministry of Social Services (MoSS) – the official body that is entrusted with the care of human beings largely beyond the pale of all other services – attempting an ambitious exercise like a ‘family policy’ when its actual mandate is limited to the rejects of society. In short what happens to many families is ‘pre-decided’ by policy decisions and other exercises of power that take place outside the ambit of influence of the MoSS. The MoSS as we know is simply there for the societal task of garbage disposal or garbage retention out of sight of the glitzy new metros that will soon adorn the island. What value can yet another policy document achieve within this scenario? Should the focus not be on more limited and strategic objectives that are doable within our limited capacity and resources? As professionals working for the deprived and vulnerable we should not waste time on abstract exercises which have no connection to the harsh realities of the world outside. There are other questions as to who wanted this family policy and why. There is no pretence that a weighty exercise of this nature looking into our fundamental social unit has mobilized sufficient social or political backing for its success. It has not. A piece of research on families exists giving an ostensible basis for the exercise but ‘data’ cannot take the place of living people who must be engaged openly, inclusively and democratically. The preparation of a family policy for a nation cannot be a technical exercise given over to ‘consultants.’Read More

Law; The Language Of The Elite

By Lakmali Hemachandra -October 11, 2014 

Lakmali Hemachandra

“Mr.Gajapathy, there are blacker sins in this world than a dropped vowel….” -  R. K. Narayan, The English Teacher

The Legal Council of Sri Lanka has made a decision to hold its examinations only in English, meaning Sinhala and Tamil medium students of Sri Lanka Law College will now be required to answer for papers in English, meaning a majority of students of Sri Lanka Law College will now be compelled to understand and write in a language that most Sri Lankans are not very familiar with, the colonial ghost that we all revere, English.

The argument against this decision is very plain, it violates the language rights of hundreds of current students of the Law College and thousands of future students who will be barred from entering into the Law College for the abominable crime of not knowing English, the source of all knowledge as most elite Sri Lankans mistakenly believe. The legal case against this decision can be explained using two articles in the Constitution, Article 12 and Article 18. Article 18 of the Sri Lankan Constitution declares Sinhala and Tamil to be National Languages of the country while adding that English will be a linking language. That should be enough to demand that the Law College wake up to the post independent Sri Lanka and to conduct its activities in both Sinhala and Tamil languages, declared National Languages under the Constitution. Article 12 of the Constitution guarantees that no personal shall be discriminated based on language, which has to mean that it is wrong and unconstitutional to make English a condition in entering the legal profession. In my simple knowledge of the law, that is discrimination based on language. Ironically, in this country we think that Sinhala is the language of the privileged majority and provisions like this are there to protect Tamil people from being discriminated. However, Law College and the Legal Council are making it abundantly clear as to the real language of the elite and the privileged, at least in law.Read More

Sri Lanka central bank cuts interest rates on pawn loans 

October 11, 2014 
Sri Lanka's central bank requested banks on Friday to cut interest rates on loans in which banks accept gold as collateral, or pawning, to 12 percent if they want to be eligible for a government credit guarantee scheme. Banks had been charging 15 percent interest on such loans.
 
The central bank in May announced a credit guarantee scheme for loans backed by gold as collateral, in a bid to boost credit growth which fell to a four-year low in March. Pawning is a widely used method of borrowing in Sri Lanka.
 
"The central bank has requested all banks who are participating in the credit guarantee scheme to reduce the applicable interest rate for such pawning advances to 12 percent from the current rate of 15 percent, with immediate effect," the central bank said in a statement. It said 12 banks had joined the scheme and those banks grant loans worth up to 80 percent of the value of the gold used as collateral.
 
The scheme, and other central bank measures to try and boost lending, have yet to lift credit growth in the private sector.
Banks lost huge amounts of money last year as the gold price plummeted because that encouraged banks to make smaller loans and as defaults left them with lower-value collateral.

Loans provided by pawning at Sri Lankan banks fell 13.7 percent last year to 292.9 billion rupees ($2.25 billion), according to central bank data. (Reuters)

S’gamuwa uni convenor accused provincial politico behind their attack

October 11, 2014 

The supporters of a ruling party politico are behind the attack on a Satyagraha campaign in Pambahinna, last night, says the Convenor of the Sabaragamuwa University Students Union, Rasindu Jayasinghe. 

“Some students have witnessed and we have received information that the group was accompanied by the supporters of a ruling party Provincial Councilor,” said Jayasinghe.   

Some 12 students who were engaged in the Satyagraha campaign were attacked by a group of unidentified persons with poles and sharp objectives. The students who were inside a tent came under attack at around 10.30 p.m. The suspects have fled the area after torching the tent, according to the police.

The wounded students were rushed to the Balangoda Base hospital. A source from the hospital said that six students were discharged, this morning, and the rest still receiving treatments for non life threatening injuries.

Police Spokesperson SSP Ajith Rohana said that two police teams have been deployed to conduct investigations, on this regard. “Some students have identified the suspects. Thus far, we have recorded statements from ten persons,” he added.

The police have also drawn their attention on two abandoned motorbikes that were found close approximate to the crime scene, this morning.

The Sabaragamuwa University was closed until further notice, following a tense situation which had prevailed within the university premises, last week. The university was closed after a group of female university students had forcefully entered a boys’ hostel.

Exposé: Centre For Policy Alternatives Defrauded And Hoodwinked Donors

October 10, 2014 

He was on his way home from work when someone threw acid on his face. He had to swallow acid to keep breathing, even though it damaged his lungs. Not only was he seriously disfigured he also lost an eye in the attack. Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) conferred the National Integrity Award on him in 2004 for his fearless service as an Audit Superintendent in the Auditor General’s Department.

Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu

He was none other than Lalith Ambanwela, an exemplary public servant. Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, the Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) was a TISL director at the time it was decided that Ambanwela deserved the Award.  Shelton Wanasinghe, a CPA director, was the judge who selected Amabanwela from the nominees.

Ambanwela was subjected to this acid attack while investigating corruption at the Education Department, Central Province. In addition to fraud committed in tender procedures, the inquiry also focused on embezzlement of funds amount to Rs 8 million for a series of workshops that were never held. Lalith Ambanwela stated that vouchers had been submitted to obtain money for these un-held workshops.

                                                  Read More

Welcome to theCentre for Policy Alternatives (CPA)

The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) was formed in 1996 in the firm belief that the vital contribution of civil society to the public policy debate is in need of strengthening. CPA is committed to programs of research and advocacy through which public policy is critiqued, alternatives identified and disseminated. CPA is an independent, non-partisan organization which receives funds from international and bilateral funding agencies and foundations.

Allegations on Colombo Telegraph website

10 October 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka: The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) is aware of an article in theColombo Telegraph website published on 10 October 2014.

The article contains a number of allegations against the organisation and certain members of the staff.

As the Executive Director is travelling on work, CPA will post a response to these allegations on his return to Sri Lanka in the next two weeks.

இலங்கை மீது ஏன் அழுத்தங்கள் கொடுக்கிறோம் என்பது இப்போது தெரிகிறதா- நோனிசிடம் uk அமைச்சா் கேள்வி

Global Tamil News-11 அக்டோபர் 2014

இலங்கை மீது ஏன் அழுத்தங்களை கொடுக்கிறோம் என்பது இப்போது தெரிகிறதா என கிறிஸ் நோனிசிடம் பிரிட்டனின் அமைச்சர் கேள்வி எழுப்பியதாக தெரிவிக்கப்படுகின்றது. இது குறித்து மேலும் தெரிய வருவதாவது.

சஜின் வாஸ் குணவர்த்தனாவினால் தாக்கப்பட்ட சம்பவத்திற்க்கு பின்னர், கிறிஸ் நோனிஸ், பிரிட்டனின் கொன்சவேர்ட்டிவ் கட்சியின் மாநாட்டில் கலந்துகொண்டுள்ளார்.

அந்த மாநாட்டின் போது கிறிஸ்நோனிசை சந்தித்த பிரிட்டனின் பொதுநலவாய அமைச்சர் ஹியுகோ சுவைர்  கிறிஸ் நாங்கள் ஏன் இலங்கை மீது சர்வதேச ரீதீயாக கடும் அழுத்தங்கை கொடுக்கிறோம் என்பது விளங்;குகின்றதா என பல இலங்கையர்கள் முன்னிலையில் கேட்டுள்ளார்.

அங்கிருந்தவர்கள் நொனிசின் பதிலை ஆவலுடன் எதிர்பார்த்த போதிலும் அவர் பதில் எதனையும் தெரிவிக்காமல் வெளியயேறிவிட்டார் என தெரிவிக்கப்படுகின்றது.

“Bando, do you remember when we last had a smoke together?”

 Saturday, 11 October 2014 

The above piece of conversation was overheard by one of our staff reporters in the garden behind the presidential election steering office at Gregory’s Road, Colombo 07 that had been opened by Basil Rajapaksa.

After the opening of the office, and partaking of the meals and doing the transactions are over, some of the participants had gone out to the garden to have a smoke. One of them, a professor who chairs a certain Sri Lankan institution, did so in order to calm down following a heated exchange of words inside the office.

That verbal exchange came after Willie Gamage, who is in charge of the election steering office, appointed the other person in the story to coordinate the work in Kandy district. The ‘professor chairman’, who was nearby, asked the appointee, “Machan, can you handle Kandy on your own?’ Angered by the question, he has replied with a question, “Do you think Kandy is too big for me?” The ‘professor chairman’ was rendered speechless, as the other has a longer history in the SLFP than himself.

The above conversation took place when both came out and were having a smoke. There, in front of all others, the other asked the ‘professor chairman,’ “Bando, do you remember when we last had a smoke together?” Astonished by the question, the ‘professor’ chairman said, “No Machan, I do not remember”.

“If you don’t, I’ll make you remember. The last time we had a smoke together was at the Rupavahini canteen. Those days, it was not like this. Smoking was allowed inside. It was late October in 2005. When Dr. Jagath Wickremasinghe and I came to speak about the economic plan under Mahinda Chinthana, you and Charitha Ratwatte came to explain the UNP’s ‘Reawakening Sri Lanka’ economic plan. Do you remember now?”

That left the ‘professor chairman’ dumbfounded, and he managed to stammer out, “No. No, Machan. You are wrong. I have never been with the UNP. I think you have mixed things up.”

When he was retorted, “We are not born again, Machan. We remember things well. The other thing is that UNPers like you are in top positions everywhere in this government. This is a UNP government with a SLFP leader,” the ‘professor chairman’ finished his cigarette in a haste and got vanished.

The ‘dramatis personae’ in this conversation are former chairman of the Ceylon Electricity Board and Bank of Ceylon Dr. Udaya Sri Kariyawasam and Foundation Institute chairman Prof. Ranjith Bandara, who gives economic advice to economic development minister Basil Rajapaksa today after submitting a research paper on ‘Wild elephants in Sri Lanka’ for his doctorate.

Samarasinghe exposes govt.’s LTTE dealings

SATURDAY, 11 OCTOBER 2014 

The Member of the Central Committee of the JVP Wasantha Samarasinghe made a special exposure regarding relationships, business dealings carried out by associates of Rajapaksas under the pretence of diplomatic missions.

He said he possessed all documents regarding the dealings and would take legal action. He also said he is prepared to expose those who were involved and the dealings to the media.

documents regarding the dealings and would take legal action. He also said he is prepared to expose those who were involved and the dealings to the media.

Govt. in a muddle after Samarasinghe’s exposure

The exposure made by the Member of the Central Committee of the JVP Wasantha Samarasinghe that the husband of Secretary to the Ministry of External Affairs Mrs Shenuka Seneviratne had had business dealings with the LTTE and had exerted pressure in Sri Lanka’s diplomatic affairs has created a serious situation within the government.

Responding to the situation Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, National List MP of the ruling Party, has told media that he too had forwarded a question to the Parliament regarding the issue.

He emphasized that the nation, country and the security forces need answers to the issue that has come up.

Who Is Kshenuka ? : Tigress Or Lioness

The real culprit in the Sri Lankan Diplomacy

Fowling story was originally published by the Sri Lanka Guardian in 2012.

| by Our Special Correspondents in Colombo and New Delhi

( January 17, 2014, Colombo/New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) 1. In November 2009, after her arrival as the new Permanent Representative to the UN, replacing Dr Dayan Jayatilleke, Kshenuka Senewiratne contracted an LTTE company Shelvazug to renovate the Official Residence for more than 150,000 Swiss Francs (i.e., more than 20 million Rupees).                      Read more…

http://oneislandtwonations.blogspot.ca/2014/01/who-is-kshenuka-tigress-or-lioness-real.html

Commuters move DC, derail train strike -

Injunction issued yesterday

By Don Asoka Wijewardena   -October 10, 2014, 6:53 pm 

The Fort District Court (1) issued an injunction order yesterday that the Railway Professional Trade Union Alliance (PTUA) stop its strike. A group of railway commuters has moved the court.

Although about 380 passenger trains operated a day usually throughout the country only 80 trains coud be run with the help of pro-government trade union members during the strike. 

Transport Ministry Media Secretary Sujith Vidanapathirana told The Island the Transport Ministry was grateful to the railway employees who had come forward to help restore the services.

Talks between the PTUA Finance Ministry Secretary Dr. P. B. Jayasundera on Thursday (9) had ended inconclusively, Vidanapathirana said. Although Dr. Jayasundera had promised to solve the issue within 14 days, the PTUA had not agreed to return to work, he said

PTUA Convener Janaka Fernando, contacted for comment, said the PTUA had not received the injunction order issued by the Fort District Court until last evening. The PTUA would honour the court order, he said.

He said that the governmnet’s failure to rectify the salary anomaly of the Supervisory Management Service personnel was the main issue. The government had been giving false promises for a long time. Even the discussion held with Finance Secretary on October 9 had not been successful and therefore the PUTA had decided against suspending the strike, he said.

The Politics Of (University) Violence

By Suren Rāghavan -October 11, 2014 |

Dr. Suren Rāghavan

The Greeks had no single term to express what we mean by the word ‘life.’ They used two terms that, although traceable to a common etymological root, are semantically and morphologically distinct: zoē, which expressed the simple fact of living common to all living beings (animals, men, or gods), and bios, which indicated the form or way of living proper to an individual or a group” - (Gerogoi Agamban 1998)

The news that a section of the faculty of University of Colombo had decided to stop their academic engagements to bring an end to the on-going rather inhuman ragging within their university (and other higher education institutions) is disturbing and welcoming.

Read More

The nauseating plot thickens.

 Saturday, 11 October 2014 

MP’s Rosy Senanayake & Sujeewa Senasinghe are gofer's of Politician, Presidential Pimp, Baggage Boy, Black Mailer, Fraudster & Con Artist - Sajin Vaas MP Sajin Vaas Gunawardena, is known as 'presidential pimp', ‘baggage boy’ 'black mailer', ' fraudster ' and 'con artist' to members of the ruling family, has created a serious split between the president and the first lady, according to a very reliable source has now made headlines again by mercilessly assaulting respected diplomat at a function in New york.

It is no secret that Sajin Vaas has been given the external affairs ministry supervisory MP position in order to facilitate carrying out his contract to fulfill the carnal needs of president Mahinda Rajapaksa during his foreign trips.

It is also Sajin Vaas who had given to UNP MP Sujeewa Senasinghe the file containing documents to raise in parliament the controversial Krrish deal against MP Namal Rajapaksa. Sajin Vaas has first given the file to MP Rosie Senanayake, with whom he is having a close friendship, asking her to hand it over to MP Senasinghe. It is on Sajin Vaas’ recommendation that Rosie’s daughter has been recruited to the Foreign Service. After studying the weaknesses of the president, Sajin Vaas is getting him to dance to his tune.

Knowing the pimp’s work being done by Sajin Vaas to be in the good books of the president, the first lady and the three children had severely reprimanded him on several occasions. In the meantime, Sajin Vaas is on a major media campaign to see that his brother Manoj Gunawardena replaces Nishantha Wickramasinghe as chairman of SriLankan Airlines. Manoj is presently based in London as the marketing promotion director of the airline in Europe.

As the first step of that campaign, Sajin yesterday (05f) got Mihin Air’s acting chairman Wickramesinghe, the brother-in-law of the president, replaced by Nishantha Ranatunga, a top class ‘dealer.’ It was Sajin Vaas’ brother Manoj who had been the chief executive of Mihin Air.

A top official of State Intelligence Service has reported about these developments to the first lady, after which anti-Sajin Vaas sentiments had worsened among the Rajapaksa family. As a result, the chairman of SriLankan Airlines is to be changed by the president soon. Sajin Vaas’ cat’s paw in this conspiracy is Kapila Chandrasena, the CEO of the same airline.

Sajin Vaas gets Chandrasena to send women to Wickramasinghe, A well known womanizer, and immediately disclose that to the media. That has worsened to such level that Sajin Vaas has been able to make Wickramasinghe’s family life a total wreck. Deceived by these conspirators, Wickramasinghe’s wife Dilrukshi has got separated from her husband and has gone to live with her younger son in Australia.

Furthermore, Sajin Vaas and his wife are getting female employees of SriLankan Airlines to file maintenance cases against their chairman, the SIS official has told the first lady. He has also pointed out to her with evidence that it was Chandrasena, with the knowledge of Sajin Vaas, who had given information to the media against the airline chairman. Although the first lady has told the president about all these, he is adopting a silent approach. According to documents received by us, the president is keeping silent amidst all these
because he fears that Sajin Vaas will expose his many nefarious deals, about which he knows very well.

After making her three sons aware of all these, the first lady has stressed to them, “One day, this baggage boy will ruin our family. Therefore, we should be cautious not about the opposition, but those who stab us from the back.’

Kurds urge more air strikes in Kobani; monitor warns of defeat

 Smoke rises after an U.S.-led air strike in the Syrian town of Kobani Ocotber 10, 2014. 

 Rabia Mustafa Ali, 67, mourns by the grave of her son Seydo Mehmud Cumo, 44, a People's Protection Unit (YPG) fighter who killed during clashes with ISIS in Kobani, at a cemetery in the southeastern More...
BY AYLA JEAN YACKLEY AND TOM PERRY-Sat Oct 11, 2014

(Reuters) - Kurdish forces defending Kobani urged a U.S.-led coalition to escalate air strikes on Islamic State fighters who tightened their grip on the Syrian town at the border with Turkey on Saturday.
Kurds Urge More Air Strikes in Kobani; Monitor Warns of Defeat by Thavam

US says Turkey will train moderate Syrian rebels but presses for details

White House says Turkish government has agreed to help but is yet to commit to allowing training on its soil

Turkish army tanks keep watch from their side of the border over the Isis-besieged Syrian town of Kobani. Photograph: Getty Images

Saturday 11 October 2014 

The White House is continuing to press Turkey on how it will train Syrian rebels for the fight against Isis but has said questions remain about the level of support Ankara is willing to give.

The US defence secretary, Chuck Hagel, said the US wanted to know how far Turkey was willing to go in helping train and equip moderate opposition fighters whose ultimate goal is to topple Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, including whether it will conduct training on its own land.

Turkey has agreed to support efforts to train and equip the Syrian opposition but the US has said it does not know whether Ankara is willing to do the training inside Turkey itself. Saudi Arabia has agreed to host training facilities for Syrian rebels on its territory. US officials are still discussing the details with Turkish officials.

“The specifics that go with train and equip locations, contributions, trainers will be part of that conversation,” Hagel said in Colombia during a tour of South America. “Part of those discussions will include how far Turkey is willing to go. Certainly one of those questions will be, will they be willing to provide training locations.”

Hagel said a joint team from US Central Command and US European Command would travel to Turkey in the coming week to meet with officials there and discuss the different ways Turkey could contribute to the effort to degrade the Islamic State group.

Assad’s forces continue to fight opposition forces but the Syrian civil war, now in its fourth year has, been eclipsed by the Isis militants’ onslaught and, in recent days, their battle to overrun the city of Kobani along Syria’s border with Turkey.

In recent months the extremists have taken control of territory across Iraq and Syria at lightning speed. US and coalition forces have been launching air strikes near Kobani, which officials believe could fall to the militants.

The US has been urging Turkey to get more involved in the battle against the extremists. Ankara has hesitated, persistently asking the US to set up a safe zone along Turkey’s border with Syria. Hagel said earlier that such a zone was not actively being considered, although US officials were open to discussing it.

Hagel said on Thursday that in addition to helping train the Syrian opposition, the US also would like to get access to the Turkish air base at Incirlik in southern Turkey as a base from which to launch strikes against the Islamic militants. Asked if Turkey had agreed to give the US access, Hagel said only that “basing rights would be helpful” and would be part of the discussions.

The head of the US-led coalition, retired general John Allen, and US pointman on Iraq, Brett McGurk, have spent two days in Turkey pressing the Nato ally to engage militarily against Isis.

After the meetings, US state department spokeswoman Marie Harf said: “Turkey has agreed to support, train and equip efforts for the moderate Syrian opposition.”

Allen and McGurk also met with leaders of the Syrian opposition in Ankara.

Harf said a US military team would visit Turkey next week to meet with their Turkish military counterparts. “Turkey is well positioned to contribute” to the coalition, Harf said, citing its potential to co-operate militarily with its well-trained and equipped armed forces, halt terrorist financing, counter the flow of foreign fighters into the region and provide humanitarian assistance.

Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report

Democracy and Education in the 21st Century and Beyond: An Interview With Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky (Photo: Andrew Rusk)

By Dan Falcone and Saul Isaacson, Truthout | Interview-Thursday, 09 October 2014 10:46

More than four decades of Noam Chomsky's writings are available in a new anthology from Haymarket Books. Get this collection from the master of opposing the hubris of US empire. Click here now.

History teacher Dan Falcone and English teacher Saul Isaacson spoke with Noam Chomsky in his Cambridge office on September 16, 2014, about education and indoctrination, the 1960s, the Powell memorandum, democracy, the creation of ISIS, the media and the way "capitalism" actually works in the United States.

Dan Falcone: We're in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with Professor Noam Chomsky. I am Dan Falcone with Saul Isaacson, and this is actually the third time I've visited you. So I wanted to thank you for that. And since I am a teacher, I wanted to start off by continuing on the themes of 

democracy and education.                      Read more...