North-East remembers victims of 2004 tsunami 26 December 2014Events were held across the North-East today marking the 10 year anniversary of the tsunami, which left thousands dead as it swept across the coast.

North-East Remembers Victims of 2004 Tsunami by Thavam Ratna

Fonseka told by his Army followers not to join govt.

 Friday, 26 December 2014 

Democratic Party leader, former Army commander Sarath Fonseka has been told by top military officers, who had left the service along with him and are looking after him while being in exile, not to join the government under any circumstance.

However, former deputy leader of the DP Jayantha Ketagoda is gradually getting people’s representatives of the party to join the government. Today (26), he took nearly 10 people’s representatives of the DP to Temple Trees in order to strengthen the hands of the president.

Ketagoda has assured the president that as is his promise, he would bring Fonseka to the government fold before the presidential election, after getting other DP members to cross over.

He has also said that he has handed over the speech he has drafted for Fonseka to deliver once he joins the government.  Ketagoda has explained to the president the content of that speech, according to which, Fonseka is to say that he is leaving the opposition alliance to protest the blatant betrayal of the war heroes who had rescued the motherland from the LTTE and that he was totally unaware of the content of the secret agreement signed by Ranil and Maithri. However, that speech will not say Fonseka will support the government, and will only ask the people to defeat the Ranil-Maithri agreement.

After getting to know about this somehow, his military followers have stressed to Fonseka not to jump into the abyss which Tissa Attanayake had jumped into, after January 08.

Fonseka on December 24 had lengthy discussions about this with opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and former president Chandrika Kumaratunga, where he said that he felt that his party and himself were being sidelined from the common opposition candidate’s election campaign (Tissa Attanayake too, felt the same way just prior to leaving the UNP). In response, both Ranil and Chandrika have told him that no one had demeaned Fonseka or his party. A senior MP of the UNP told us that all issues Fonseka had have now been resolved through discussion.

Previous articles

Fonseka told by his Army followers not to join govt.

The New Class In Sri Lanka

By A. M. Navaratne Bandara -December 25, 2014

Prof. Navaratna Bandara

“Man cannot fight or live outside of society. This is his immutable characteristic, one which Aristotle noted and explained, calling it ‘political being.’” Djilas, M. The New Class, p. 157

Prelude

In the last four decades or so, the people of Sri Lanka have witnessed a process through which politicians are emerging as a class that has established primacy over all other sectors in society. The most visible feature of this class is, that when in power, its members are able to appropriate a large portion of the national wealth by using their collective political power as a form of property.

What has taken place in the Sri Lankan political system is an emergence of a new ruling class as envisaged by Milovan Djilas who participated with Marshal Tito in the Yugoslav Revolution and was later one of his ministers. In his famous book New Class Djilas presented a theory that contradicted the claims of the then ruling communists who argued that their revolutions and social reforms had resulted in the extinction of any ruling class. Djilas’ observation as a member of a communist government in Yugoslavia was that “the communist party members, by using the collective political control that they exercised over the state system, had established a specific relationship to the means of productionand stepped into the role of the ruling class”. He argued that the collective political power that was being exercised by the ruling party members had become a ‘property form’ enabling the ruling party leaders to extract a considerable portion from the production process. Djilas identified this class as a problem which he believed should be corrected through a revolution. This revolution came and swept away the communist regimes in Eastern Europe in the 1990s.Read More

Pakistan kills school massacre 'facilitator'

Security forces kill Taliban commander who allegedly facilitated Peshawar school massacre, which left 150 people dead.

Pakistan has ramped up its anti-terror strategy in the wake of the slaughter at an army-run school in Peshawar [Reuters]

 26 Dec 2014

Pakistani security forces have killed a Taliban commander who allegedly facilitated the Peshawar school massacre, which left 150 people dead in the country's worst ever attack.

Officials on Friday said the fighter, named only as Saddam, was killed on Thursday night in a gunfight with security forces in the restive Khyber tribal area, which borders the northwestern city of Peshawar where last week's attack took place.

"Commander Saddam was a dreaded terrorist, who was killed in an exchange of fire with the security forces in Jamrud town of Khyber tribal region," top local administration official Shahab Ali Shah told a press conference in Peshawar.

"Six of his accomplices were injured and arrested."

He added that Saddam is believed to have facilitated the school attack, although the extent or capacity of his alleged involvement was not yet known.

"Authorities are currently interrogating the injured terrorists," Shah said.

He described Saddam as an important commander in the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and said he had masterminded several bomb attacks.

Saddam and his accomplices had been involved in several recent attacks on security forces that had resulted in heavy casualties, Shah said.

The Taliban and other fighters have taken refuge in Khyber from a major army offensive launched in June in North Waziristan, another restive tribal area on the Afghan border that has been a hub for al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters since the early 2000s.

Anti-terror measures

Meanwhile, a US drone strike on a Taliban compound in North Waziristan killed at least four fighters on Friday, officials said, the second such incident in a week.

Another drone strike in North Waziristan on December 20 killed at least five fighters, officials said.

The area is generally off-limits to journalists, making it difficult to independently verify the number and identity of the dead.

Washington pressed Islamabad for years to wipe out armed groups’ sanctuaries in North Waziristan, which have been used to launch attacks on NATO forces in Afghanistan.

The Pakistani military says it has killed more than 1,700 fighters so far in its heavy offensive in the tribal zone, with 126 soldiers having lost their lives.

Pakistan has ramped up its anti-terror strategy in the wake of the December 16 slaughter at an army-run school in Peshawar, where 134 children were among the victims gunned down by heavily-armed Taliban fighters.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has announced the establishment of military courts for terror-related cases in order to accelerate trials, and he has also lifted a six-year moratorium on the death penalty, reinstating it for terrorism-related cases.

Officials said Monday that Pakistan plans to execute around 500 fighters in the coming weeks.

India seeks help from Bhutan, Myanmar to hunt down militants

Tribal plantation workers burn houses belonging to indigenous Bodo tribesmen after ethnic clashes in Balijuri village, in Sonitpur district of Assam on December 24, 2014.

BY BISWAJYOTI DAS-GUWAHATI, India Fri Dec 26, 2014
(Reuters) - India has sought cooperation from Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh in an offensive against a tribal militant group that had shot dead at least 80 people in Assam this week, officials said on Friday.

Police believe that a faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), fighting for a separate state for ethnic Bodos, was behind coordinated attacks on tea plantation workers and their families this week, the deadliest in years.

Some militants may have fled to neighbouring Bhutan while their leader was believed to be in Myanmar, officials and police said, prompting calls for cooperation.

"We are determined to hunt down the rebels and destroy their base, both in the country and outside," Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju told Reuters.

Assam is one of the seven states that make up India's remote northeast, home to more than 200 tribes and dozens of insurgencies, some seeking greater autonomy and others secession.

The region has trailed the rest of India in economic development and the gap has widened in recent years, fuelling discontent. Residents accuse the central government of plundering the natural resources while ignoring development.

The latest attacks, in which half the victims were women and children, have shaken Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government that came to power promising economic growth as well as a militarily secure India.

"This is terrorism, there is zero-tolerance for terrorism," Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who flew to Assam to commiserate with the families of the victims, told reporters.

The northeast is wedged between China, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan, and militants are known to criss-cross borders that run through thickly forested mountains.

Assam police say the leader of the NDFB, I.K. Sonbijit, is based in Myanmar, from where he controls his cadres.

He is believed to have ordered this week's attacks in retaliation for a army offensive against his group in which he lost 40 men and a large quantity of arms and ammunition.

Some 7,000 villagers have fled their homes in Assam, fearing more attacks from the Bodo militants and are sheltered in relief camps guarded by the army and police.

(Additional reporting by Rupam Jain Nair in New Delhi; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Robert Birsel)

The Islamic State is failing at being a state

In Raqqa, Syria, where airstrikes have damaged buildings and infrastructure, observers say the Islamic State doesn’t have enough expertise to effectively provide services and govern the city. (Nour Fourat/Reuters)

By Liz Sly December 25

GAZIANTEP, Turkey — The Islamic State’s vaunted exercise in state-building appears to be crumbling as living conditions deteriorate across the territories under its control, exposing the shortcomings of a group that devotes most of its energies to fighting battles and enforcing strict rules.
The Islamic State is Failing at Being a State by Thavam Ratna

North Korea: The Assassination Nation

BY JEFFREY LEWIS-DECEMBER 24, 2014

Having been bullied in turns by the North Koreans and the Obama administration, Sony Pictures is now giving The Interview — the Seth Rogen-James Franco Kim Jong Un assassination comedy — a limited release on Christmas Day. Plenty of ink has been spilled on this picture, far more than Rogen and Franco’s publicists could have dreamed of when the film was first pitched. Throughout the saga, I’ve been asked one question more than any other: Why did The Interview prompt this reaction when, say,Team America: World Police did not?
North Korea the Assassination Nation by Thavam Ratna

Turkish schoolboy accused of insulting president is released from custody

16-year-old apparently denies his words were meant as an insult to the president but could still face trial

Mehmet Emin Altunses is seen at home with his parents and relatives after his release from prison. Photograph: -/AFP/Getty Images

Friday 26 December 2014 

A Turkish teenager has been released from custody after his arrest for allegedly insulting the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, caused uproar.

The 16-year-old student, Mehmet Emin Altunses, was taken away from his school on Wednesday and jailed for making a speech during a student protest in which he reportedly said Erdoğan was regarded as the “thieving owner of the illegal palace”.

It was a reference to a government corruption scandal as well as a controversial 1,150-room palace Erdoğan inaugurated in October.

A court in the central Turkish city of Konya agreed to free the boy from police custody on Friday, after dozens of lawyers petitioned for his release.

He was met by his parents as he left the main courthouse building in the city, the CNN-Turk channel reported.

His speech was delivered on Wednesday in Konya, a bastion of the ruling Islamic-rooted Justice and Development party (AKP).

The boy, who was arrested by police at school, denied links with a political party but confirmed he had made the statements in question.

Despite being released he still remains accused of insulting Erdoğan and faces trial at a date yet to be specified. He risks up to four years in prison if convicted.

The boy’s lawyer, Baris Ispir, had submitted a petition for his release to the court, together with around 100 colleagues who came from Istanbul in a show of support.

His arrest came amid growing concerns about freedom of speech in Turkey under Erdoğan following raids earlier this month on opposition media linked to the president’s top foe, exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen.

But the prime minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, had supported the court’s original decision to arrest the boy, saying: “Everyone must respect the office of president whoever he is.”

Saudi women defying driving ban sent to terrorism court

FRIDAY 26 DECEMBER 2014

Two women from Saudi Arabia have been referred to a court established to try terrorism cases, after being held for defying a ban on women driving cars.

Saudi Women Defying Driving Ban Sent to Terrorism Court by Thavam Ratna

Bar manager goes on trial in Burma amid rising Buddhist extremism

New Zealand citizen Philip Blackwood. Pic: AP.

By Mark Inkey Dec 26, 2014 5:02PM UTC

The prosecution of Rangoon bar manager Philip Blackwood for insulting Buddhism will come as no surprise to Burma watchers who have witnessed the steady rise of Buddhist fundamentalism and intolerance in Burma over the last few years.

Bar Manager Goes on Trial in Burma Amid Rising Buddhist Extremism by Thavam Ratna

Home Remedies For Acne Scars Removal

Dec 25, 2014

Addict yourself to several natural home remedies for acne scars removal and give your skin a much needed boost. No one is ugly but these blackheads, whiteheads, scratches and pimples are! And they make you ugly too.

Home Remedies for Acne Scars Removal by Thavam Ratna

ஜனாதிபதித் தேர்தலில் தமிழ் மக்களின் ஒத்துழைப்பு இல்லாவிட்டால் எமக்கு பாதகமாக அமையும்: விக்கிரமபாகு கருணாரத்ன

 PUBLISHED: 18:12 GMT, DEC 24, 2014

ஜனாதிபதித் தேர்தலில் தமிழ் மக்களின் ஒத்துழைப்பு இல்லாவிட்டால் எமக்கு பாதகமாக அமையும் எனன லங்கா சமசமாஜக் கட்சியின் தலைவர் விக்கிரமபாகு கருணாரத்ன தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.இன்று புதன்கிழமை கொழும்பில் நடைபெற்ற ஊடகவியலாளர் சந்திப்பில் இதனைத் தெரிவித்திருந்தார்.

தொடர்ந்து கருத்துத் தெரிவிக்கையில் தமிழ் முஸ்லிம் மக்களின் உரிமை தொடர்பில் அர்ப்பணிப்புடன் செயற்பட்ட தலைவர்கள் என்ற வகையில் நாம் உங்களிடம் கோரிக்கை வைக்க எனக்குத் தகுதி உள்ளது. நாம் முன்னெடுத்துச் செல்லும் சுதந்திரமானதும், ஜனநாயகத்திற்குமான இந்தப் போராட்டத்திலேயே நாம் அடியெடுத்து வைத்துச் செல்வதற்கான பாதை உள்ளது.

நாம் அந்தப் போராட்டத்தை வெற்றி கொள்ள வேண்டுமானால் ஜனாதிபதி வேட்பாளர் மைத்திரிபால சிறிசேனவிற்கு வாக்களிக்க வேண்டும். இதன் மூலமே அடுத்த கட்டம் நோக்கி பயணிக்க முடியும். இன்று கஜேந்திரகுமார் பொன்னம்பலத்திற்குக் கூறுகின்றோம் தெற்கு மக்களின் போராட்டமானாலும் உங்களுக்குப் பொறுப்பு உள்ளது.

தமிழ் மக்களின் சுதந்திரம்,தமிழ்மக்களின் ஜனநாயக உரிமை,தமிழ் மக்களின் தேசிய போராட்டம் குறித்து தொடர்ந்தும் பேசுவதற்கு தேவை இருக்கின்றது.அதனைப் பெற்றுக் கொள்வதற்கான வாய்ப்பு இந்த பாசிஷ இனவாத ஏகாதிபத்திய ஆட்சியை விரட்டினால் மாத்திரமே ஏற்படும்.

அதனை நோக்கி நகரும் எமது போராட்டத்திற்கு தமிழ் மக்களின் ஒத்துழைப்பு இல்லாவிட்டால் எமக்கு பாதகமாக அமையும்.அதனால் தமிழ் மக்களின் தலைவர்கள் இந்த தேர்தலில் வாக்களிக்கும் உரிமையைப் பயன்படுத்த வேண்டும் எனக் கேட்டுக் கொள்கின்றோம்.குறிப்பாக பொன்னம்பலம் அவர்கள் உட்பட தேர்தலை புறக்கணிக்குமாறு கேட்டுக்கொண்டுள்ள சகல தலைவர்களிடமும் கேட்டுக்கொள்கின்றோம் எனவும் அவர் தெரிவித்திருந்தார்.

Presidential Election, Tamils And Sedatives

By S. Sivathasan -December 24, 2014

S. Sivathasan

“They may have studied a thousand epics, but have failed to fathom the deep recesses of the poet’s mind” – Bharathi.

For anyone, whatever be the country, an election is quite demanding. It requires a study of issues and a good assessment of the principal contenders. Qualities of diligence and judicious judgment are called for from the voters. In Sri Lanka at this point of time, when issues of life and death seek examination and decision, the exercise needs far greater effort.

For eighty years and more we Tamils placed ourselves between the hammer and the anvil. In 2009 we were beaten to pulp. Yet the community demonstrated its resilience for resurgence. But failing to garner the benefit from this remarkable quality, a category of thinking, though insignificant and miniscule seeks to lead some people astray. They show the thoughtless path called BOYCOTT. On those of a sterner frame challenges sit lightly and make survival less difficult. To those traumatized for long by the travails of war, least resistance is an easier option. What is strange, those who have suffered most adversely are poised for resistance. It is the spurious interlopers who run for the comfort zone.

It is a senseless group identified by the Tamils as incapable of even following, leave aside leading, that is marketing Boycott. It calls itself Tamil National People’s Front, which in 2010 was decisively defeated and cast away with disgust. Unable to regain traction or territory it dreads the people’s endorsement of the TNAposition and by extension total acceptance of the TNA itself. Therefore at the Presidential Election, it takes to this course with motives that are sinister and dastardly.Read More

8th Jan: Liberating The Judiciary From ‘Servitude’

By Lukman Harees -December 25, 2014

Lukman Harees

‘The bedrock of our democracy is the rule of law and that means we have to have an independent judiciary, judges who can make decisions independent of the political winds that are blowing’.- Caroline Kennedy (US)

It has been a matter of regret that successive Post-1970 governments have been attempting to (and mostly succeeded) to subdue or enslave the Judiciary by various dubious means, to make their political dreams come true, least bothering about whether they impinge on people’s rights or not. How JRJ Government impeached the outspoken CJ Neville Samarakoon, and how the MR government impeached CJ Bandaranayake for not toeing their line ,were perfect examples of such political misconduct. On the other hand, there were/are characters like CJ Sarath Silva and Present CJ Mohan Pieris, both of whom were appointed to this highest office over others more deserving than them, chose to or continue to throw lifelines to those in power, the cumulative effect of which was the gradual erosion of public confidence in the Judicial process and Rule of Law in the country. This process of degeneration found its’ peak, during this MR Regime. Sri Lanka’s judges and magistrates then formally protested, its’ lawyers held candlelight processions to lament the “darkness that has descended” over the rule of law. The international legal fraternity too protested, but MR stood his ground. It was therefore not surprising that the people did not show any signs of shock, when the Supreme Court found that MR has no legal bars to contest for the third time.Read More

வெள்ளக்காடாக இலங்கையின் பல பகுதிகள் : 7 லட்சம் பேர் பாதிப்பு

இலங்கையில் கிழக்கு உட்பட பல மாகாணங்களில் தொடர்ந்தும் பெய்து வரும் கடும் மழை மற்றும் வெள்ளம் காரணமாக குறைந்தது 4 பேர் உயிரிழந்தள்ளதாக அதிகாரிகள் தெரிவித்துள்ளனர்.

24 டிசம்பர் 2014

மழையின் காரணமாக இதுவரை 4 பேர் பலி

மட்டக்களப்பு மாவட்டத்தில் 3 பேரும் அம்பாறை மாவட்டத்தில் ஒருவரும் என 4 பேர் மரணமடைந்துள்ள அதேவேளை திருகோணமலை மாவட்டத்தில் ஒருவர் வெள்ளத்தில் மூழ்கி காணாமல் போயுள்ளார்.
நாட்டின் பல பகுதிகள் வெள்ளத்தின் பிடியில் சிக்கியுள்ளன. இதன் காரணமாக சுமார் ஏழு லட்சம் மக்கள் நலன்புரி முகாம்களில் தங்கவைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளதாக அரச அதிகாரிகள் தெரிவித்துள்ளனர்.

மட்டகளப்பில் கூடுதல் பாதிப்புகள்

மட்டக்களப்பு மாவட்டமே மிகவும் மோசமாக பாதிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளதாக அதன் அரசாங்க அதிபர் பிபிசி தமிழோசையிடம் தெரிவித்தார்.
வடக்கே மன்னார் மாவட்டமும் மிகவும் கடுமையாக பாதிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது என்று தெரிவித்துள்ள அதிகாரிகள், இதன் காரணமாக அங்கு போக்குவரத்து சேவைகள் பெரிய அளவில் பாதிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளன எனவும் கூறியுள்ளனர்.
மன்னார் பகுதியும் வெள்ளக் காடாகக் காட்சியளிக்கிறது.கிளிநொச்சி இரணைமடு குளத்தின் நீர்மட்டம் உயர்ந்து வருவதால், அதன் மதகுகள் திறக்கப்பட்டுள்ளன.
அரச உதவிகள் போதுமான அளவில் இல்லை என்று குற்றச்சாட்டுக்கள்வெள்ளத்தின் காரணமாக பாதிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளவர்களுக்கு உணவும், படுக்கை விரிப்புகளும் அரசின் நிவாரண அமைப்புகளால் அளிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளன.
எனினும் இதுபோதுமானதாக இல்லை என்று மக்கள் கூறுகின்றனர்.
அடை மழை காரணமாகவும், அனுராதபுரத்தில் உள்ள அனைத்து குளங்களும் நிரம்பி வழிந்தோடும் மழை நீர் அங்கிருந்து அருவியாற்றின் ஊடாக மன்னார் மாவட்டத்தை வந்தடைவதனாலும், மன்னார் மாவட்டத்தின் பெருநிலப்பரப்பு வெள்ளக்காடாக மாறியிருக்கின்றது.
பல இடங்களில் ஆறுகள், குளங்கள் நிரம்பி வழிகின்றனஅருவியாற்றின் நீர் மட்டம் உயர்ந்து, வெள்ளநீர் கரைபுரண்டோடுவதனால் மடு ரோட் பகுதியில் இருந்து முருங்கன் நகரை அண்டிய பகுதி வரை கிராமங்களும் வயல் நிலங்களும் காட்டுப் பகுதிகளும் நீரில் மூழ்கியுள்ளன.