Seven hospitalised after J’pura students clash

February 5, 2015

Seven students were wounded and hospitalised follwing a clash between two student groups at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura this evening. 

The Police Spokesman’s Office said that the injured persons have been admitted to the Kalubowila Hospital while 2 university students have been in connection with the incident. 

‘Baba’ tries to keep ex-chairman’s vehicles after tinting them!

 Thursday, 05 February 2015 

Acting director general of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation Erananda Hettiarachchi alias ‘Baba’, has tried to get payment approval from the new chairman for tinting two vehicles that were given to the former chairman, while keeping the two vehicles for himself, say SLBC sources.

After inquiring into the matter, the new chairman has said that he wanted the  two vehicles.

Annoyed by that, ‘Baba’ is trying to bring SLBC employees together against their chairman.

For that he is seeking the willing support of an employee who had been transferred out of the sports division for selling information to outsiders.

Although ‘Baba’ gets a monthly fuel allowance of Rs. 50,000, he lives in an area which is less than five kms away  from the SLBC.

He also builds a house in Kandy, and at the weekends he goes there.

‘Baba’ showed gratitude to one Jayantha of Kandurata Service who had helped him to find masons to build his house by giving the acting controller position to him when the controller was away.

He is also making an attempt to get the director general position to a female officer friendly with him. It is not becoming of an institution coming under the SLBC to allow a corrupt person like him to take crucial decisions.

Casinos – The Unmaking Of UNP

By Muhammed Fazl -February 5, 2015 

Muhammed Fazl

“The best throw of the dice is to throw them away” – English Proverb

Though Mahinda Rajapaksa (MR) regime was defeated by a coalition of different political parties, the United National Party (UNP) seems to be in the driving seat for now. And for major changes to take effect, it would be only fair to give them a reasonable time frame. But when detrimental-to-society economic policies of the previous regime are being camouflaged and re-presented, I find myself being forced to write again interrupting my self-imposed hiatus.

Casinos and betting on horses, two deadly sins that had been a curse to thousands of my countrymen for decades, has been given approval to operate once again by the very same regime that campaigned on the promise of eradicating the ‘casino culture/economy’.

The moneyed and the powerful, strange bedfellows they make. It is no secret that Minister of Housing Mr.Sajith Premadasa’s friendship with the owner of Stardust/Marina Casinos Mr. Ravi Wijeratne dates back to the eighties. Knowing well the ‘permanent interests’ philosophy of Sir Winston Churchill, as much as close acolytes of MR they are, Mr. Wijeratne and Mr. Dhammika Perera of Ballagio/Ballys fame maintained a strong bond simultaneously with Mr. Premadasa and other top UNPers respectively. Having supported both sides during the recently concluded Presidential elections, it is now obvious that both Mr. Dhammika Perera’s and Ravi Wijeratne’s gaming empires would remain intact and unscathed, even from firebrand socialists and ‘holier-than-thou’ critics such as Mr. Patali Champika Ranwaka, Rev. Athureliya Rathana Thero of Hela Urumaya and Mr. Anura Kumara Dissanayake of JVP. While the stoic silence of Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe(RW) aligned prominent Muslim politicians and Buddhist monks seems to be adding insult to injury, serious questions may be raised should they decide to play a political/religious role in their respective communities in the future.

Casinos, state sponsored lotteries & betting on horses

Casinos – Introduced by the UNP government of Late J.R. Jayewardene and closed down by the Late R. Premadasa in the early nineties, only for it to be re-opened again by the Late D.B. Wijetunge in 1993, along came prostitution (local and foreign), alcoholism, drug addiction, crimes, immorality, financial ruin etc.

Ravi Wijeratne

Lotteries – State sponsored and in essence, a poor man’s method of indulgence in gambling with only a handful out of millions striking it big.

Betting on horses & sporting events – I always wondered why this business of betting that are monopolized by Mr. Thilanga Sumathipala of Sporting Star fame and by Mr. Lakshman Balasuriya of Sporting Times never caught the attention of no Finance Minister from no government in power in the last 3 decades when imposing taxes on gambling. With Yaha Palanayaat play, I was hoping that at least the new Minister of Finance Mr. Ravi Karunanayake would be intelligent enough to understand that even betting on horse races and sporting events is considered gambling.

Legislations & questions to Minister of Finance as per http://www.ird.gov.lk/bgl.html,

To begin with, NO CASINO LICENSE is in existence nor was one ever issued. And whatever legislation there is, it need not be surprising to see that instead of amending laws for the economy and society to benefit, the casino mafia has been the source of influence in drafting legislation which favored them from every government in power. At least now, I sincerely hope the following will get the attention of our new Minister of Finance Mr. Ravi Karunanayake,Read More

UN: Sri Lanka should protect migrants from abuse

UN migrant rights specialist tells Anadolu Agency that Sri Lanka needs to protect its migrant workers "abuse, exploitation and harassment."

By Dilrukshi Handunnetti-02 February 2015

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka

 With nearly 2 million of its citizens working abroad and their remittances providing the island's largest single source of foreign exchange, the protection of Sri Lankan migrants is an urgent issue, according to the U.N.. 

UN Sri Lanka Should Protect Migrants From Abuse by Thavam Ratna

Afghan troops fight insurgents near Pakistan border, 18 killed

(BY RAFIQ SHERZADReuters) - JALALABAD, Afghanistan Thu Feb 5, 2015

At least 18 militants were killed in a gun battle in a mountainous district of Afghanistan near Pakistan, police said on Thursday, in the latest fighting in the region since a Taliban massacre of school children in the nearby city of Peshawar late last year.

Video
The operation was in rugged Nangarhar province, where Osama bin Laden once had a base in the Tora Bora cave network and which has been the focus of air strikes in recent months.

Since the Peshawar attack in December, Afghan forces have stepped up operations against a Pakistani division of the Taliban, which claimed responsibility for the school killings and has bases in Afghanistan.

Azrat Hussain Mashriqiwal, a spokesman for Nangarhar's police chief, said 26 militants were injured and four captured, including three Pakistani citizens in the fighting that ended on Wednesday. One Afghan policeman was killed.

During the operation Afghan forces seized a cache of weapons and explosives from the insurgents, Mashriqiwal said.

"If we notice any insurgent activity in any district of Nangarhar, we are ready to launch operations against them," Mashriqiwal said.

The fighting was in Nazyan district, which borders Pakistan's tribal areas near Peshawar.

The Afghan Taliban on Wednesday said they had shot down a U.S. Chinook helicopter, killing and wounding dozens of Afghan troops in Nazyan district during "an offensive by the puppet forces". The report was denied by U.S. military officials.

(Additional reporting by Sayed Hassib in KABUL; Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Pakistan’s Killings Field

Enforced Disappearances And Speedy recovery of Bullet-ridden bodies in Balochistan

The following report issued by the the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP)

Introduction

( February 4, 2015, Karachi, Sri Lanka Guardian) Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) is purely a non-political organization which is formed by the families of missing persons on 27th September 2009. The organization VBMP bears duly the objective to seek the safe release of enforced disappearing loved ones by pacifically approaching the all forums built with aim to dispense the justice and defend the human rights, nationally and internationally.

Pakistan’s Killings Field by Thavam Ratna

Iran Is Trying to Shield Assad From Chemical Weapons Condemnation

Tehran is using back-channel diplomacy to try to shield Bashar al-Assad from American attempts to punish him for gassing his own people with chlorine

BY COLUM LYNCH -FEBRUARY 4, 2015 

Tehran has spent decades urging the world to bar the use of chemical weapons, citing the thousands it lost when Saddam Hussein gassed Iranian troops during the Iran-Iraq War. When it comes to Syria, however, Tehran is doing all it can to protect Bashar al-Assad from Western attempts to punish him for using the deadly weapons against his own people.

Iran is Trying to Shield Assad From Chemical Weapons Condemnation by Thavam Ratna

Merkel and Hollande to fly to Moscow in new effort to resolve Ukraine crisis

President Poroshenko presents an award to a wounded serviceman during his visit to a military hospital in Kharkiv. Photograph: Mykola Lazarenko/AFP/Getty Images

François Hollande and Angela Merkel in Paris in 2013. The leaders are heading to Kiev then Moscow for talks on the Ukraine crisis. Photograph: Imago / Barcroft Media

Shaun Walker in Kiev and Ian Traynor in Brussels-Thursday 5 February 2015

Surprise trip comes as US secretary of state John Kerry arrives in Kiev amid signals Washington may be open to providing military aid to Ukraine

Angela Merkel and François Hollande have announced a surprise European diplomatic intervention over east Ukraine, with the pair due in Kiev on Thursday and Moscow on Friday in an attempt to end the violence that has cost more than 5,000 lives.
Merkel and Hollande to Fly to Moscow in New Effort to Resolve Ukraine Crisis by Thavam Ratna

Thailand anti-vice efforts target prostitution and corruption

By Casey Hynes Feb 05, 2015 2:32PM UTC

The beach resort city of Pattaya is known for being Thailand’s den of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll, but the government is trying yet again to tone down the area’s reputation. Police shut down the Heaven Gentleman’s Lounge Club and Sport earlier this week, disrupting a night of partying for 100 foreigners and a number of Thai women, according to the Bangkok Post. The club is shuttered for 30 days, and authorities are investigating whether or not prostitutes were servicing customers there. There were several bedrooms in the club where police found used condoms but no patrons to arrest, the Bangkok Post reported.

The newspaper noted that the police raided 17 other Pattaya bars but didn’t turn up any evidence against bar owners for prostitution or human trafficking charges. In October 2014, Pattaya police went after transgender sex workers, blaming them for crime and other problems in the popular tourist city. The Wall Street Journal reported that police there took initiative to get tough on crime, or at least appear to be doing so, to prevent Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha’s government from intervening more harshly. Prayuth has spoken often about needing to reform or reinstate the moral fabric of the country.

That may prove difficult, considering that many foreign tourists, who bring with them millions in tourism dollars, come to Thailand seeking a chance to indulge their vices. Massive raves, an opportunity to score cheap drugs, plenty of cheap alcohol, and ample access to prostitutes attract many people to areas of Thailand known for their party scenes. The junta may have a tough time eliminating or downplaying these so-called vices while still remaining appealing to a certain segment of its tourist population.

Still, a reduction in crime would likely be welcome by locals and foreigners alike. Pattaya Pol. Col. Sukthat Pumpunmuang recently ordered police there to stop taking bribes and focus on preventing druggings and purse-snatching incidents. That Thai police elicit bribes is an open secret, and both Thais and foreigners often share stories of paying off the police or negotiating a bribe to be let off one minor offence or another. But Sukthat seems to want to put an end to that kind of corruption and to curb the high numbers of thefts seen in Pattaya. The city sees 30-50 bag snatchings each month, he said, according to the Pattaya Mail.

The anti-vice sentiment also affected Phuket, where police searched nearly 300 locations looking for underage workers and those trafficked and forced into prostitution, according toThe Phuket News. But no trafficking victims were found during the raids, which were presumably conducted in an effort to combat Thailand’s sinking status when it comes to human trafficking prevention.

The Royal Thai Police issued a command for all officers to crack down on venues where prostitution likely takes place and where trafficked people might be working, such as nightclubs and karaoke bars.

Advocates for the decriminalization of sex work may take issue with the anti-prostitution raids. Some have argued that decriminalizing prostitution makes sex workers less vulnerable to contracting high-risk diseases such as HIV/AIDS and less vulnerable to abuse. Thailand does need to improve its record on human trafficking, as it had a particularly shameful year in that department. It was alleged that the Thai Navy was involved in trafficking vulnerable Rohingya people from Burma, and the country was downgraded on the U.S.’ 2014 Trafficking in Persons report.

But a serious crackdown on corruption within the police, and a reduction in thefts and druggings would be a boon to the country’s reputation. A spate of foreign deaths on Koh Tao put Thailand in a harsh light, and the country will need to prove that it’s serious about safety and a reduction in crime to stay competitive as a tourism destination in the region.

Germany vs. Greece: ‘We agree to disagree’

LIVE: Greek Finance Minister Varoufakis meets Schäuble in Berlin

Holly Ellyatt | @HollyEllyatt-2 Hours Ago-FEBRUARY 5, 2015
Greece’s talks with its euro zone neighbors over its debt burden and bailout program came to a climax in Germany Thursday as the two countries’ combative finance ministers met for the first time.

Germany vs. Greece ‘We Agree to Disagree’ by Thavam Ratna

Guinea, the ground zero of the Ebola outbreak, now hopes the end is near

Hope for an end to the Ebola crisis in the country where it began

A year after the epidemic started in Guinea, there are signs it could be ending.

By Amy Brittain February 5 at 3:30 AM

MELIANDOU, Guinea — Deep within the forest region of Guinea, a tall, charred tree trunk stands at the edge of this village. A year ago, after a toddler became ill and death began to spread from home to home, villagerslearned that the bats in that very tree were likely the reason they had become sick.
Guinea, The Ground Zero of the Ebola Outbreak, Now Hopes the End is Near by Thavam Ratna

Fear the measles virus – not the vaccine, says virologist

The measles virus, a bundle of single-strand RNA, is highly contagious in several ways, says WSU molecular virologist Hector Aguilar-Carreno. Credit: Shelly Hanks, WSU Photo Services

by Linda Weiford-February 5, 2015

When it comes to the measles outbreak that originated at California's Disneyland, it truly is a small world after all.

The virus that took hold at the resort shortly before Christmas has journeyed beyond the "happiest place on earth" to sicken people in 14 states, including Washington, Oregon, Utah and Arizona.

The disease's swift spread comes as no surprise to molecular virologist Hector Aguilar-Carreno of Washington State University. Aguilar-Carreno researches the viral family Paramyxoviridae – of which measles and other respiratory diseases, including the deadly Nipah virus, are members.

"Measles is one of the most contagious viruses known on the planet, and in recent years childhood immunizations against it have been dropping," he said. "Add those factors to a crowded theme park and you've got prime conditions for the virus to spread among visitors and travel with them after they leave."

New case in Washington state

With the number of measles cases now exceeding 100, the nation is facing a possible "large outbreak," according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The majority of people infected are unvaccinated, officials said this week.

In Washington state, the most recent case involves an infant who was too young to receive an immunization, according to the state's health department. In the state's other two cases, an unvaccinated teenager contracted the disease after visiting Disneyland in December and then infected her brother after she returned home.

What makes this minuscule microbe – inert as a statue while outside a compatible host – so contagious?

Hard to outwit

Map of confirmed cases.

At the petri-dish level, the measles virus is extremely stable, said Aguilar-Carreno. Whether suspended in air space or waiting on a table top, it can survive and remain infectious for up to two hours, he explained.

"Unlike Ebola, measles is spread through the air," he said. "It can linger long after an infected person leaves a room and then be transmitted to another person who simply walks in."

If that person is unvaccinated, he or she will discover a week or two later that, even without complications, measles is typically not a mild illness. What's more, by the time the telltale red, itchy, skin rash erupts, the person will have been unknowingly dispersing the virus for several days.

"Until that rash appears, people can easily confuse the symptoms of fatigue, coughing, runny nose and fever with a bad cold or early flu," Aguilar-Carreno said. "All the while, they can be walking around and infecting people not immunized against measles."

Launching an attack

And there's more. Not only is the measles virus hardy in the environment and able to mask its contagiousness, but it also uses a "strategy of diabolic elegance" to exit onesick person and potentially infect many more, said microbiologist Roberto Cattaneo at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Cattaneo, like Aguilar-Carreno, studies the mechanisms by which Paramyxoviruses infect cell hosts.

In a well-known 2011 study published in the journal Nature, Cattaneo and his colleagues discovered that the virus lodges in the trachea, or windpipe, where it replicates millions of times. There, it induces spasms of coughing to launch virus copies out of the sick person and into a bystander – or possibly many bystanders.

"All those virus copies expelled from the infected host's trachea are in just the right position to ride out into the air – ionized into the finest droplets – to infect their next hosts," Cattaneo explained.

No cure; only prevention

All of which demonstrates that the measles virus has evolved to spread rapidly and efficiently among humans, said Aguilar-Carreno.

"This current outbreak illustrates what can happen as more and more people don't get immunized against the disease," he said. "Last month in this country, we saw moremeasles infections linked to Disneyland than we used to see in an entire year."

 Explore further: Q&A: Measles pops up in outbreak linked to Disney parks

Journal reference: Nature  

Provided by Washington State University  

Protesters across North-East call on government to return detained relatives

(Photos: Uthayan) 03 February 2015 Tamil protestors in towns in the North-East have demanded the return of relatives from state custody, the Uthayan reported. A demonstration in Vavuniya, organised by the Vavuniya Citizens Group and a civil society organisation from across the North-East called Naangal, was attended by parents, children and other relatives of people who were disappeared, who surrendered to the army during 2009 and other political

Protesters Across North-East Call on Government to Return Detained Relatives by Thavam Ratna

Freedom: Take III

Heads of armed forces salute President Maithripala Sirisena as he arrives to preside over the 67th anniversary of Sri Lanka’s independence from British colonial rule yesterday at Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte – Pic by Sudath Silva

Colombo’s streets are dressed up to mark this great day. For the island’s 6.5 million population it’s a public holiday. Behind the underlying festivity are the crowd’s somber faces; expectant but not overly excited. Ceylon is taking independence quietly – BBC, Ceylon Gains Independence, 4 February 1948

February 5, 2015

A few mornings a week, Independence Square receives a VIP visitor. He arrives in an unmarked, nondescript pickup truck, accompanied by two people. One is a personal trainer. The other, a bodyguard. In a glossy blue t-shirt, track bottoms and neon-laced sports shoes, President Maithripala Sirisena could be just another morning walker at the Square.

Freedom Take III by Thavam Ratna

New Paradigm Business Core Values Essential

By Chandra Jayaratne -February 4, 2015

Chandra Jayaratne

The 100 Day Programme

The newly elected government has initiated a 100 day programme aimed at bringing back good governance, rule of law, justice, equity, peace and harmony, meritocracy, integrity, simplicity, international acceptance in order to create a corruption minimized democratic society.

The Change is Essential and must be Sustained

This welcome change in the business environment, many felt was most essential, if democracy, ethno-religious harmony, equity, respect for the law and good governance were to be the fundamental drivers of growth and prosperity benefiting this nation and its entire people. This environment has now dawned, though many feared it was unlikely to be ever realized, the way socio-economic and political leadership landscape was carved out by our recent leaders in governance. These recent leaders had almost succeeded embedding their style of governance as an acceptable way of life of the citizens of this nation.

The change must now be given a fair chance to get firmly established. If not, uncertainty, dictatorial governance, and disruptive and underworld forces at play will be the order of the day, resulting before long, in anarchy, economic collapse and social degeneration. Business as a key stakeholder of society must play a leading catalytic role in facilitating, promoting and sustaining the proposed new environment. They must strive to have this environment to become an embedded culture in society, driven by shared values.

A New Business Paradigm

A new and recommitted to business paradigm, agreed to by all business leaders and Chambers and collectively embedded within the private sector must be the ‘Way Forward’, to mutually for all in society to benefit from the positive external environment and assure its sustainability.

A Committed To New Values and Management Culture

Chambers and business leaders should commit to a 365 day Programme, which should commence as soon as the new government’s 100 day programme ends. This 365 Day Programme of Chambers and Business Leaders should include the following twelve key Values Based Business Commitments, which the business leaders and chambers must collectively strive to have fully embedded within the private sector as a Committed to Business Culture.Read More