International audit firms tasked with probing Basil, Wimal 

What Happened to War Cram

By Shamindra Ferdinando-January 27, 2015, 12:00 pm

Housing and Samurdhi Minister Sajith Premadasa has engaged two internationally renowned auditing firms, Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers to probe Housing and Samurdhi portfolios previously held by National Freedom Front (NFF) leader Wimal Weerawansa and former SLFP National Organiser Basil Rajapaksa, respectively.

A senior spokesperson for the Housing and Samurdhi Ministry told The Island that Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers would probe Housing and Samurdhi portfolios, respectively.

Responding to a query, the official said that they had assured Minister Premadasa that the projects would be carried out free of charge.

Minister Premadasa said that the investigation was meant to identify those who had been responsible for waste, corruption as well as irregularities so that legal action could be taken against them.

The housing ministry and two institutions namely the Building Department and the government factory coming under the purview of that ministry would be investigated by Ernst & Young, the spokesperson said. The official said that altogether all institutions which had been placed under the Ministry of Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities would be probed by the same audit firm.

The official said that all institutions that had been under the then Minister Basil Rajapaksa would be probed by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Some of the worst irregularities had taken place in the Divineguma project handled by Basil Rajapaksa, he said. Several institutions had been brought under Divineguma in January last year and placed under the purview of the then Minister Basil Rajapaksa, he said.

The previous government passed the Divineguma Bill by a majority of 117 votes.

One Way Sri Lanka Can Shield its ex-Defense Secretary from a U.S. Criminal Prosecution

Duminda exposed

By Menaka Indrakumar- 2015-01-28

The police yesterday revealed that United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MP, Duminda Silva, had taken money from drug kingpins 'Wele Suda' and 'Kudu Lalith,' according information revealed by 'Wele Suda'.
Police Spokesperson, SSP Ajith Rohana said, "The politician identified as Arumadura Lawrence Romelo Duminda Silva was working with 'Wele Suda,' and this was revealed when we questioned the drug kingpin. Silva and the notorious drug businessman were caught on camera having a meeting at a star-class apartment-hotel in Colombo."

'Suda' has confessed to the Colombo Crimes Division (CID) that he had given money to Duminda Silva. He has added that the MP had also taken money from another drug kingpin who goes by the name 'Kudu Lalith' from Athurugiriya.

A Court Order was obtained from the Colombo Magistrate to inspect the bank accounts of suspects involved in the drug trafficking trade, including Silva's.
"The Financial Investigative Unit (FIU) has decided to investigate the accounts in Sri Lanka and overseas relating to the suspects," SSP Rohana said.

He added the Colombo Magistrate has ordered the passport of Silva to be seized, and if the suspect attempts to flee the country, under a different name, the immigration authorities are informed to take necessary action.

"Silva has been issued with a travel ban by the Magistrate, as the suspect was allegedly involved in assassination of Minister Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra and if he tries to leave the country under another name, the authorities will take action," he said.
The police had seized a Toyota Allion car belonging to 'Wele Suda' in Kotte, which was driven by his wife Gayani Priyadharshani.
The police are conducting further investigations and the suspect is being interrogated by the CID.

Plot to kill Wele Suda – JHU leader

Plot to kill Wele Suda – JHU leader-2015-01-28

Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) Leader, Ven. Omalpe Sobitha Thera, said there is a plot to kill drug kingpin, Wele Suda, who has been divulging information about the drug trade in Sri Lanka.

The Thera said they received information that Wele Suda has revealed a lot of information about the drug trade and those involved. In addition, he is to reveal much more information. Those who will be implicated by Wele Suda are attempting to kill him, the Thera warned.

The JHU leader has sent a letter to the IGP requesting him to provide the necessary security for Wele Suda, to ensure that he will not be harmed in anyway.

Handover of probe to Ravi Vaidyalankara, a case of ‘setting a thief to catch a thief’!

28 January 2015

It is a case of ‘setting a thief to catch a thief’ that senior DIG Ravi Vaidyalankara – removed from the CID due to proof of his involvement in seeking sexual bribes and in corruption despite being a good investigator of crime - has been appointed to probe incidents of fraud and corruption that are said to have taken place during the previous regime, say police department sources. 

The IGP had to disband the CID’s special unit set up to inquire into Undial illegal financial transactions after it transpired that the unit had obtained nearly Rs. 540 million of bribes from the racketeers.

The wedding of his son at Cinnamon Grand Hotel alone cost nearly Rs. 10 m, a sum which a DIG can ill afford, according to the police department.

Vaidyalankara has been accused of using policewomen under him for sexual favours, including an inquiry into his having had sex with a female inspector at his office when he was the DIG in charge of eastern province.

About a fortnight ago, he had gone to ‘Summer Hill’ lodge at Mt. Lavinia with several woman constables, where he got involved in trouble with its workers. After the workers complained to 119 police emergency, a sergeant had gone there to investigate, but was intimidated by the DIG, which is presently being investigated.

Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu & CPA Slip White-Collar Crime Under ‘Executive-Summary’ Carpet

January 28, 2015 

Painstaking efforts by the all-powerful Executive Director of the Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA) Dr.Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu have failed to cover up the organization’s white collar crimes, Colombo Telegraph can reveal today.

Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu

On October 10, 2014, Colombo Telegraph exposed corruption related to CPA – billing for un-held workshops, double billing scandals; i.e getting grants from two donors to do the same task and duplicating receipts, hotel bills and other bills to submit to donors (perhaps even submitting same bills to multiple donors), and hoodwinking donors by filing expenses under safe cost columns.

The particular Exposé was related to cheating two donors; the European Union (EU) and the United Nations’ Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Colombo Telegraph had continuously raised the issue with the CPA related to serious allegations – non compliances with standard procedures, fraudulent transactions and unethical practices committed – since 8th of June, 2014, giving the organization every opportunity to clarify and clear its name if indeed it had done no wrong. Unfortunately the CPA indulged in time-wasting tactics totally at odds with the organization’s rhetoric on transparency and accountability. The CPA never offered a comprehensive response.

Instead of responding to us, on December 13, 2014 the CPA denied any wrongdoing, supporting the claim by publishing an Executive Summary of a ‘forensic’ report by a company called Corporate Doctors (Pvt) Ltd,

Read More

New York Storm: A Reminder of Environmental Calamities

by Laksiri Fernando
( January 28, 2015, Sydney, Sri Lanka Guardian) I have posted the following on my Facebook yesterday, a recent venture on my part, about Juno – the winter storm in the US. It is still pounding.
“A severe Winter Storm is about to occur or in the offing in the US affecting New York, New Jersey and surrounding areas. Over thousand flights have been cancelled. Emergency has been declared. People have been asked to take their vehicles out of the streets and stay completely indoors. Metro service is also cancelled.

New York Storm a Reminder of Environmental Calamities by Thavam Ratna

Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah trade fire across border; at least 3 dead

Israeli soldiers carry their injured comrade, after his army vehicle got hit by anti-tank missile on the Israeli-Lebanese border. (Atef Safadi/EPA)

By William Booth and Hugh Naylor January 28 at 9:47 AM
JERUSALEM —Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia exchanged deadly fire Wednesday across a border region monitored by U.N. peacekeepers, killing two Israeli soldiers and one member of the U.N. force in Lebanon.

The Lebanese Hezbollah group claimed responsibility for firing a missile that targeted an Israeli military convoy on Wednesday, an attack that prompted Israel to fire at least 50 artillery shells into Lebanon.
Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah Trade Fire Across Border; At Least 3 Dead by Thavam Ratna

Saudi Dictator Abdullah

Collaborated with Judeo-Christian forces to destroy Muslim countries.

By Latheef Farook-JANUARY 27, 2015

Saudi Arabia’s 90 year old ruthless dictator Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud died on Friday 23 January 2015. Though ascended to the throne on 1 August 2005 Abdulla has been the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia since 1995 when his brother the king Fahd suffered a stroke.

Saudi Dictator Abdullah by Thavam Ratna

‘Whatever the Islamic State Wants, We Should Give Them’

As the crisis heats up over a captured Jordanian pilot, a father begs for his release, Islamist politicians want to pull back from the Syrian conflict, and a country questions its role in the war.

BY SUHA MAAYEH, DAVID KENNER-JANUARY 28, 2015

AMMAN, Jordan — From his home in the Jordanian capital, Safi al-Kasasbeh quietly reconstructed his son’s ordeal, searching for clues that God is on his family’s side.

‘Whatever the Islamic State Wants, We Should Give Them’ by Thavam Ratna

Jordan says ready to free militant in return for release of Isis hostage

Jordan agrees to free Sajida al-Rishawi from death row if Jordanian pilot Muadh al-Kasasbeh is released by Isis 

 A demonstration in Amman calling for the release of Muadh al-Kasasbeh. Photograph: Raad Adayleh/AP---Junko Ishido, mother of Kenji Goto, who is a Japanese journalist being held captive by Islamic State militants, listens to questions from reporters at her house in Tokyo January 28, 2015.—CREDIT: REUTERS/YUYA SHINO

Justin McCurry in Tokyo andMatthew Weaver in London-Wednesday 28 January 2015

Jordan has accepted a key demand of Islamic State (Isis) militants holding a Japanese journalist and Jordanian pilot by agreeing to release a prisoner in a proposed swap.

A government spokesman said Jordan had agreed to free Sajida al-Rishawi from death row if Jordanian pilot Muadh al-Kasasbeh – being held by Isis – is released.

There has been no word on whether Kenji Goto, a Japanese journalist who has appeared in videos released by the terrorist group, is involved in the proposed deal.

“Jordan is ready to release prisoner Sajida al-Rishawi if the Jordanian pilot Lieutenant Muath al-Kasaesbeh was released and his life spared,” Mohammad al-Momani, a government spokesman, was quoted on state television as saying. He did not make any reference to Goto.

On Tuesday, Isis militants said the hostages had 24 hours to live unless Rishawi was released.

Rishawi, 44, had been sentenced to death after being convicted for her part in an al-Qaida attack on a string of hotels in Amman in 2005 that killed 60 people.

Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, condemned as “despicable” the release of the video purporting to show Goto, accompanied by a warning that he and Kasasbeh had hours to live unless Rishawi was released.

Three days earlier Goto was heard in another audio clip announcing that his friend Haruna Yukawa, 42, had been beheaded after Isis’s 72-hour deadline forJapan to make a $200m payment expired.

The 1m 50s clip is accompanied by a photo of Goto holding what appears to be a Photoshopped image of Kasasbeh, whom Isis have been holding since his aircraft crashed during a US-led bombing raid over eastern Syria in late December.

The man in the clip says: “She [Rishawi] has been a prisoner for a decade and I’ve only been a prisoner for a few months. Her for me, a straight exchange.”

Abe said: “This was an extremely despicable act and we feel strong indignation. We strongly condemn that.

“While this is a tough situation, we remain unchanged in our stance of seeking help from the Jordanian government in securing the early release of Mr Goto.”

Argentina president vows to dissolve intelligence agency

TUESDAY 27 JANUARY 2015

Argentina President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner reveals plans to dissolve the country's intelligence agency, after the mysterious death of a prosecutor who was investigating government figures.Argentina President Vows to Dissolve Intelligence Agency by Thavam Ratna

VERY deep meditation: Mummified 200-year-old remains of Buddhist monk who is still in the LOTUS POSITION are discovered in Mongolia 

• By WILL STEWART FOR MAILONLINE-28 January 2015
• 
  
• Remains of a man found in the Songinokhairkhan province of Mongolia
• The 200-year-old human relic was preserved in animal skin, experts say
• Mummified remains found sitting in lotus position 'as if still meditating'
• Experts have started a forensic examination in the capital Ulaanbataar

The amazing mummified remains of a man apparently meditating in the lotus position have been unearthed in Mongolia.

A forensic examination is underway on the human relic which is believed to be around 200 years old, after being preserved in animal skin.

'The mummified body sits in a lotus position, as if still meditating,' said a report in The Siberian Times - citing Mongolian accounts of the discovery.

The amazing mummified remains of a man apparently meditating in the lotus position have been unearthed in Mongolia

'Experts that only had time to carry basic visual test say they believe the body can be about 200 years old.'

The body was found on 27 January in Songinokhairkhan province, said Mongolia's 'Morning Newspaper'. It was covered in 'cattle skin'.

The human remains are now undergoing forensic examination in capital Ulaanbataar.

Initial speculation is that the mummy could be a teacher of Lama Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov.

Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov, born in 1852, was a Buryat Buddhist Lama of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, best known for the lifelike state of his body.

His remains were reported not to be subject to macroscopic decay.

A forensic examination is underway on the 200-year-old human relic which was discovered in Mongolia (file picture, below)

Inside the most expensive boarding school in the world

Le Rosey, the £80,000-a-year Swiss Institute, is attempting to attract British students

Le Rosey school in Geneva

By Harry Mount-26 Jan 2015

It is known as the school of kings, counting among its alumni the Shah of Iran, Prince Rainier of Monaco and King Farouk of Egypt. Its catchment area was once the glittering palaces that housed the grandest families on the Continent: the Metternichs, the Borgheses and the Hohenlohes.

Inside The Elite Swiss Boarding School Where The World's Most Powerful People Send Their Kids

JULIE ZEVELOFF AND MATTHEW KASSEL-APR. 9, 2013

Many of the world's most wealthy and powerful people were educated in Switzerland's famed boarding schools, and have sent their children to those same institutions.

Inside the most expensive boarding school in the world.odt by Thavam Ratna

The gruesome footage of a smoker's blackened lungs that SHOULD stop you from lighting up again 

 By SALLY LEE FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA- 28 January 2015

• Footage shows the damaged lungs of a person who's smoked for 15 years
• It is compared to a video of the lung of a 30-year smoker 
• According to the anti-smoking campaign, 80 per cent of lung cancer cases are believed to be caused by long-term or passive smoking
• The videos were aired on Chinese television CCTV last Wednesday 
• The World Health Organisation reports that there are more than 300 million smokers in China
• A series of gruesome videos of damaged lungs have recently been released as part of an anti-smoking campaign.
  The footage was aired on Chinese television channel CCTV last Wednesday, warning long-term smokers and passive smokers of the dangers of tobacco smoke.
  The short clips show a close up of lungs which have been blackened by mould-like spots.
  Scroll down for video 
  

  A series of gruesome videos of damaged lungs have recently been released as part of a Chinese anti-smoking campaign
  The videos, which were shared through chinaSMACK on Friday, show the grave effects of tobacco smoke.
  The caption for the footage reads: 'Over 80 per cent of lung cancer cases are believed to be caused by long-term smoking or "second hand smoke"!'
  'In the images, the lung of someone who has smoked for 15 years is covered with large black spots, while the lung of a 30-year smoker is even more of a ghastly sight, where even the inside is covered with cancer causing substances.'
  China is believed to be the world's largest producer and consumer of tobacco products, according to the World Health Organisation.
  China releases GRAPHIC pictures of blackened smokers lungs

  
  

  The footage was aired on Chinese television CCTV last Wednesday, warning long-term smokers and passive smokers alike of the dangers of tobacco smoke
  

  According to the anti-smoking campaign, 80 per cent of lung cancer cases are believed to be caused by long-term or passive smoking
  

  China is the world's largest producer and consumer of tobacco products, according to the World Health Organisation
  

  There are more than 300 million smokers in China while about one in every three cigarettes smoked in the world is smoked in the country 
  

  More than one million people die in China ever tear due to tobacco while an estimated 100,000 people die as a result of exposure to second-hand smoke
  There are more than 300 million smokers in China while about one in every three cigarettes smoked in the world is smoked in the country.
  There are about 700 million people who are regularly exposed to second-hand smoke.
  More than one million people die in China ever year due to tobacco while an estimated 100,000 people die as a result of second-hand smoke.
  This means someone in China dies about every 30 seconds due to tobacco use which equates to about 3000 people every day.
  WHO warns if China's widespread use of tobacco is not reduced, the number of deaths relating to tobacco each year will increase to three million by 2050 in China.
  Read more:

  • Anti-Smoking Message with Blackened Smokers’ Lungs by CCTV – chinaSMACK