aMahinda’s monthly water bill Rs. 1.3 million ! never did so many toil so much to keep so few brutes in power for so long !!

(Lanka-e-News- 26.Feb.2015, 11.30) It is not just truly incredible but incredibly true that the charges for monthly water usage  of the President’s house during the brutal ,callous and profligate  reign of President Rajapakse who kept the subjects trampled  under his  ruthless iron boots  is   a whopping Rs. 1.3 million ! according to information unearthed by the government for good governance.

During the month of November 2014 the water bill charges  was Rs. 13, 242,26.26  . In December 2014, the monthly bill was  Rs. 10,37,650.21 (rupees ten million thirty seven thousand six hundred and fifty , and cents twenty one ). In contrast , the water bill of the president’s house after the new government took over on the 8 th of January 2015, is only Rs. 45,238.30 (rupees forty five thousand two hundred and thirty eight and cents thirty only ) only for the month of January 2015. In other words the  water  bill charges  has reduced by a rupees one million approximately!

The November 2014 bill, the December 2014 bill and the January 2015 bill have been paid by Bank of Ceylon cheques 608296 Mahinda , 647120  Mahinda and 647205 Mahinda respectively .

Moreover , when the prime minister met the Sangha prelates yesterday , he revealed to them , as  the vehicles purchased by the deposed  ‘dictator’ when he was President of the country are not on record at the Presidential secretariat. They had to be searched and decided only by inquiring from vehicle importers to obtain details and to ascertain how many  of them were purchased by the Presidential secretariat.

Based on information reaching Lanka e news, to probe the frauds , corruption and malpractices that raged in the Presidential secretariat during the Rajapakse regime the entire staff of the secretariat are working day and night .One of the officers told Lanka e news that if they start work at 630 a.m. they are finishing only at 8.30 p.m.  Moreover , the new Directress General too is there at 6.30 a.m. sharp.

Even when a call is given to the secretariat at 9.00 in the night , the staff are working . Besides , the leave facilities of the staff have been temporarily cancelled for two months. An inquiries officer of the secretariat told Lanka  e news that the entire staff there are working with commitment and dedication . It is an index that people are ready to make their maximum contributions to a government of good governance unlike when the country was ruled by barbaric brutes and  beasts.

---------------------------
by     (2015-02-27 00:52:33)

Is Shiranthi Rajapaksa ‘Above the Law’?

28/02/2015

The wife of former Minister Wimal Weerawansa, who had been charged of getting a passport with forged documents was remanded and released on bail. However, no legal action has been taken regarding Mrs. Shiranthi Rajapaksa, wife of former President Mahinda Rajapaska, who had used a fake identity card number to maintain a bank account of ‘Siriliya Saviya’ NGO.

Mrs. Shiranthi Rajapaksa has given 222222222V as her identity card number to maintain the account for the ‘Siriliya Saviya’ NGO in People’s Bank. Also, media had revealed that A.M.J.A. Kumari, a person who signs cheques for the NGO has given 111111111V as her identity card number.

Generally accepted norm is that ‘All are equal before the law’. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa once said in public that ‘law was equal for all’ except for him. He said this after former Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayaka was removed from office through a deceitful impeachment process.

What is being established now is that Mrs. Shiranthi Rajapaksa too is above the law.
Lanka Truth

Maithri brings down Mahinda’s 20 million to 5.9 million

SATURDAY, 28 FEBRUARY 2015

President Maithripala Sirisena’s Indian tour made this year (2015) cost only Rs. 5,232,709 while Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa spent Rs. 23,225,015 for the same tour he made in 2013 reveals statistics released by the Presidential Secretariat.

According to the statistics released Mr. Maithripala Sirisena’s tour to India has saved Rs. 16,000,000 of public money.

Mr. Rajapaksa had spent Rs.11,800,000 to charter an aircraft for his use and for the use of his entourage while Mr. Maithripala Sirisena spent Rs.900,000 for air tickets.

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa had in his entourage about 70 individuals including Shiranthi Rajapaksa, Namal Rajapaksa, Yoshitha Rajapaksa and Rohitha Rajapaksa.

However, only a team of representatives that included Mrs. Jayanthi Sirisena, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and four other ministers had participated in the Indian tour with Mr. Sirisena.

Iraq bombs kill dozens in three attacks north of Baghdad

A member of the Iraqi security forces takes up position with his weapon. Two checkpoints armed by Shia militiamen were attacked on Saturday. Photograph: STRINGER/IRAQ/REUTERS

Saturday 28 February 2015

Two suicide bombs target checkpoints near Samarra following attack near busy market in town of Balad Ruz

At least 27 people have been killed by car bombs targeting a crowded market and Shia militia checkpoints north of Baghdad, Iraqi authorities have said.

The first bombs exploded on Saturday near the market in the town of Balad Ruz, 70km (45 miles) north-east of Iraq’s capital, killing 11 people and wounding 50, police and hospital officials said.

A suicide car bomber later attacked a checkpoint manned by Shia militiamen near the city of Samarra, killing eight Shia fighters and wounding 15, authorities said. No one immediately claimed the attacks.

A second suicide bomber attacked another Shia militia checkpoint just south of Samarra, killing eight fighters and wounding 16, police and hospital officials said.

Samarra and surrounding areas have been under constant attacks by Islamic State (Isis) extremists, who hold about a third of Iraq and neighbouring Syria in its self-declared caliphate. Clashes between Iraqi security forces and Islamic State militants followed the attack around Samarra, 95km (60 miles) north of Baghdad.

The attacks came as the country’s prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, vowed to punish Isis militants who smashed rare and ancient artefacts in the northern city of Mosul. The militants hold Iraq’s second-largest city and the surrounding Nineveh province.

On Thursday, Isis released a video purportedly showing militants using sledgehammers to smash the statues, describing them as idols. The vandalism drew global condemnation.

The destruction is part of a campaign by the extremists, who have destroyed a number of shrines since last summer. Abadi added that the terrorist group were also believed to have illicitly sold ancient artefacts to finance their bloody campaign, and vowed to prevent the radical Islamists from smuggling them to market.

“Those barbaric, criminal terrorists are trying to destroy the heritage of the mankind and Iraq’s civilization,” Abadi said. “We will chase them in order to make them pay for every drop of blood shed in Iraq and for the destruction of Iraq’s civilization.”

All the items were marked and recorded, he said, and Iraq would seek to track them down with international help.

“We will chase them with the world on our side. This is a serious call to the security council and the United Nations and all peace-loving states to chase them all,” he said. “Damn them and their hands for what they are doing.”

The video, released on Thursday, showed men smashing up artefacts dating back to the 7th century BC Assyrian era, toppling statues from plinths, smashing them with a sledgehammer and breaking up a carving of a winged bull with a drill.

Irina Bokova, the head of the United Nations culture and education agency, (Unesco) said a cultural tragedy had struck Iraq. “I condemn this as a deliberate attack against Iraq’s millennial history and culture, and as an inflammatory incitement to violence and hatred,” she said.

But Channel 4 News reported that most if not all the statues in the Mosul museum are replicas not originals. Mark Altaweel of the Institute of Archaeology at University College, London, said the reasons the statues had crumbled so easily was that they were plaster replicas.

“You can see iron bars inside,” he told the programme, noting this was a sure sign they were not the originals.

Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov shot dead in Moscow

US President Barack Obama condemns the "brutal murder" of Boris Nemtsov, the most prominent opposition figure of Vladimir Putin's 15-year rule, who was found shot dead outside the Kremlin.

SATURDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2015
The US and British governments have called for an urgent and transparent investigation into themurder of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was shot in the back four times in Moscow.

Nemtsov was an outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia's role in the Ukraine crisis.
Russian Opposition Leader Boris Nemtsov Shot Dead in Moscow by Thavam Ratna

​Death on the Kremlin’s Doorstep

The killing of Boris Nemtsov heralds a new era of darkness for Russia’s already battered opposition. 

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL-FEBRUARY 28, 2015

It was always hard to ignore Boris Nemtsov. You couldn’t help but notice when he came into a room. The physicist-turned-politician was smart, pugnacious, brash.

And so it was when I last saw him, in November 2010. Almost inevitably our conversation turned to the topic of the violence that permeates Russian political culture. We talked briefly about the fate of Sergei Magnitsky, the lawyer and anti-corruption activist who met an ignominious death in prison in 2009. We discussed Anna Politkovskaya, the crusading journalist who wasshot to death in 2006 in the entryway of her home. Nemtsov noted that dozens of other reporters had died on the job in the years preceding — and lamented that the killers rarely faced any accounting for their crimes. “The murderers understand that killing journalists is not a problem,” he told me.

you?” I asked him. It seemed like a reasonable question." style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“So who protects you?” I asked him. It seemed like a reasonable question. After all, he was one of the most outspoken opposition figures in an era when Russia’s democratic institutions, never especially strong at the best of times, had withered dramatically. There was already plenty of bad blood between Nemtsov and then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who in 2009 claimedthat Nemtsov and other politicians of his generation had stolen “billions” during their heyday in the 1990s. (Putin also made a point of mentioning that some of their confederates were in prison.) Threats were a regular part of Nemtsov’s life.

My question made him shrug. “God, I don’t know,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t have bodyguards.”

Just a few hours ago, early in the morning of Feb. 28, Moscow time, unknown assailants gunned Nemtsov down on a sidewalk in front of the Kremlin. The killing, as veteran Russia-watcher Steve Levine notes here, had all the hallmarks of a contract hit. Speculation about the identity of his killers is already rife — and ultimately academic, since they will never be caught. In Russia they almost never are.

an interview in which he expressed the fear that Putin wanted to kill him." style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">On Feb. 10, Nemtsov gave an interview in which he expressed the fear that Putin wanted to kill him. It wasn’t an entirely crazy thought. Aside from the offense of expressing openly oppositionist views, Nemtsov was one of the few major Russian political figures who has dared to criticize Putin’s annexation of Crimea and Moscow’s support for the separatists in eastern Ukraine. (And, indeed, some are already speculating that those very separatists might have been behind Nemtsov’s death — although it’s hard to imagine that they would have dared such an act without explicit permission from the Kremlin.)

Nemtsov also had the extraordinary temerity to attack Putin for his lavish overspending on the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi (which happens to be Nemtsov’s birthplace). None of this was calculated to boost his popularity among ordinary Russians, who tend to find Putin’s tough-guy theatrics a thrill. Nemtsov’s periodic reports highlighting corruption and human rights violations certainly didn’t endear him to the Kremlin, either. And just hours before his death he was touting a planned opposition demonstration, scheduled for the coming Sunday, that looks as though it will now turn into a huge memorial service.

the weaknesses of Russia’s liberal opposition movement." style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It’s no stretch to say that Nemtsov’s career exemplified both the promise and the weaknesses of Russia’s liberal opposition movement. In the early 1990s, the young Nemtsov – then a governor of the region around Nizhny Novgorod — made a name for himself as an ardent supporter of President Boris Yeltsin’s reform course. In 1997, a year after Yeltsin’s re-election to a second term as president, Nemtsov joined his cabinet, part of a “dream team” of young reformers who were celebrated by western politicians and investors for their liberal economic policies and their embrace of democratic values. Nemtsov’s energy and charisma made him a particular hit with voters, and there was a time when he was even touted as the great hope of the reformist camp, perhaps even as a possible successor to the increasingly erratic Yeltsin.

Yet these were also the very years when the dream of a new Russia based on free markets and liberal values foundered fatally. Most Russians remember the 1990s as a decade of shocking industrial decline, salaries left unpaid for months or years, and savings lost to hyperinflation. Organized crime ran amok, and life expectancy plummeted. The newly minted “oligarchs,” the small circle of well-connected businessmen who benefited disproportionately from the privatization of the nation’s prime assets, paraded their wealth and influence.

The liberal politicians favored by Yeltsin either abetted these developments or proved powerless to stop them. Their dream ended with a bang on Aug. 17, 1998, when the government, headed by baby-faced Prime Minister Sergei Kirienko, devalued the ruble and defaulted on its debts. Nemtsov was Kirienko’s deputy prime minister, and it was a moment he would never quite live down. Amid the chaos, the general yearning for a “strong leader” became almost palpable. The Russian financial crisis marked the real start of Putin’s path to the presidency.

The liberals’ subsequent exile from power wasn’t made much easier by their own fractiousness and all-too-frequent contempt for political realities. Nemtsov himself played a starring role in one of the most notorious examples of opposition obliviousness. A 2003 campaign ad for his political partydepicted Nemtsov and his two colleagues, Anatoly Chubais and Irina Khakamada, flying over Russia in a cushy private plane as they discussed their plans for the country’s future. Few images could have better summed up the popular image of the liberal opposition as arrogantly detached from the gritty realities of everyday life.

In a truly democratic society, of course, politicians have the chance to learn from their mistakes, giving them the hope of returning, revived, to the give-and-take of honest competition. Russia’s Putin-era opposition has never had this luxury. Its adherents have been thrown into jail, hounded into silence, driven into exile. Yet even these crimes pale against the killing of Nemtsov, whose death presages a grim new era of darkness in the country’s political life.

During our last meeting, Nemtsov was characteristically unapologetic about his beliefs. He expressed deep skepticism about the “reset,” the Obama administration’s plan to find a new modus vivendi with the Kremlin based on the two country’s shared interests. “Putin has absolutely different values,” he told me. “Obama believes in freedom and the rule of law. Putin believes only in money, business, and power.” And while he welcomed American pressure on Moscow to observe the norms of human rights, he had no illusions about Washington’s ability to transform his country’s culture from afar. “I don’t think the American president or the American congress will establish democracy in our country. I think that’s our responsibility.”

He was right, of course. But that struggle, already difficult enough, will now become even harder in his absence.

 

Death threats and a late night dinner before Russia's Nemtsov was shot dead

A visitor holds a photo at the site where Boris Nemtsov was recently murdered, in central Moscow, February 28, 2015.

BY THOMAS GROVE-Sat Feb 28, 2015

(Reuters) - It was near closing time on Friday at the upscale Bosco restaurant that looks out onto the illuminated red-brick walls of Moscow's Kremlin. Boris Nemtsov and his young, dark-haired girlfriend were finishing dinner.

Death Threats and a Late Night Dinner Before Russia's Nemtsov Was Shot Dead by Thavam Ratna

Putin critic, Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov killed in Moscow

By Michael Birnbaum and William Branigin-February 28 at 8:27 AM
MOSCOW — Boris Nemtsov, a towering figure in Russian post-Soviet politics and a biting critic of President Vladimir Putin, was gunned down steps from the Kremlin late Friday, authorities said. The drive-by shooting had the potential to open a violent new chapter in Russian political life.
Putin Critic, Russian Opposition Leader Boris Nemtsov Killed in Moscow by Thavam Ratna

Burma journalist arrested for satirical post

By AP News Feb 28, 2015 

YANGON, Burma/Myanmar (AP) — Police in Burma have arrested a photojournalist who posted a satirical message on Facebook that mocked a historic battle and the country’s leader.

Police confirmed Saturday that Aung Nay Myo was detained on a charge of violating the 1950 Emergency Provision Act. If found guilty, he could face a maximum seven years in prison.

His post satirized the 1971 battle between government troops and communist fighters and wrote that it was directed by President Thein Sein.

The government often uses the draconian law to persecute dissidents and political activists.

At least nine journalists and several publishers and media owners are serving prison sentences from two to seven years and nearly a dozen others are facing charges, undermining

modest advances in media freedoms in Burma following a half-century military rule.

Maldives: Nasheed’s Arrest Illegal and Unjust: 

By Dr. S. Chandrasekharan-Dated 26-Feb-2015

On 22nd Afternoon, former President Nasheed was arrested from him home by the Police on fresh charges of charges of terrorism. This arrest is a blatant violation of all norms of justice and fair play and the international community have already shown concern and some have even condemned the arrest.

Supporters of Nasheed had crowded round his house at the time of his arrest.  Nasheed was badly manhandled and dragged some distance before being thrown into a vehicle.  In the process he was seen limping with a sling on his shoulder at the time of being produced before the court.

Earlier Nasheed was being tried at Hulhumale magistrate’s court on charges of illegally detaining a criminal judge while he was President in 2012.  Nasheed had challenged the jurisdiction of the Hulhulu Court and the case was being dragged on deliberately. 

All of a sudden, the Prosecutor General withdrew the charges and made out fresh charges for acts of terrorism which carry a heavy penalty or banishment of 10 to 15 years.

Nasheed had never missed the trial and had been staying in Male along, though going in and out of the country on his tours.  The arrest warrant said “terrorism charges have been brought against the fears that he may not attend the court or go into custody.”  The warrant has many flaws.

The court has ordered that Nasheed will be kept under detention until the completion of trial and I know for certain until his sentencing. 

President Yameen could not have been more cruel and vindictive.

Consider the background of the Prosecutor General and the three Judges appointed for the trial.  Aishath Velezine, a former member of the Judicial Service Commission has pointed out the following aspects.

• The current Prosecutor General is a former criminal judge who has worked under the Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Mohamed, the judge who was allegedly detained in 2012 on orders of the then President Nasheed.  Nasheed is being charged precisely for the same charges.
• Two of the judges were involved in a cover up of a misconduct of an appointed Judge.
• The third one has a criminal record.

These are the judges who are presiding over this trial.

The arrests have been made under the old archaic law of the penal code where any act can be termed as “terrorist.”  The old 1990 terrorist act states that kidnapping, abduction and attempt to kidnap or abduct as acts of terror. A new penal code is being drafted but the government would appear to be rather happy to go along with the old laws.

It may be recalled that in the dictatorial days of Gayoom, Nasheed was charged under terrorism when he made a “sit in protest” in the public square.  Maldives had in the past always misused the terrorism laws and charging Nasheed now for ordering the arrest of a criminal court judge for his misconduct three years ago is no surprise either!

Nasheed has been denied legal assistance.  The five lawyers who were defending Nasheed in the magistrate’s court had not registered in higher court of three judges and so were not allowed.  It takes two days to register and make all the formalities for registration.  Yet the court was not willing to wait and started the trial at 4 PM on 23d itself! Nasheed is being tried with no lawyer to assist him.

Police have also taken into custody MDP Chairperson Ali Waheed for no reason given.

It all started with the two major parties the MDP of Nasheed and Gasim Ibrahim of Jumhooree party.  Night protests have been going on since 11th February.

The immediate provocation appears to be a mass rally by the followers of the two parties on 19th night in a bid to rally supporters for a massive demonstration on February 27th.

It is hoped that India will respond in a more objective manner in this crisis rather than what it did in 2012 during the unofficial coup, when the government rushed post haste to recognise the new regime and the portraits of Nasheed were hurriedly removed within a few hours!

It is important to recognise who our friends are.

Monster black hole at cosmic dawn

A black hole 12 billion times more massive than our sun – at the heart of the brightest quasar in the early universe – as the dark ages of the universe were just ending.

Artist’s impression of a quasar with a supermassive black hole in the distant and early universe. Image via Zhaoyu Li/NASA/JPL-Caltech/Misti Mountain Observatory.

 FEB 27, 2015

The farther away we look in space, the deeper we are looking into the past. Astronomers looked 12.8 billion light-years from Earth – to a time only 900 million years after the Big Bang – to see what is currently the brightest quasar known in the early universe. They say it’s seven times brighter than the most distant quasar known. What’s more, it harbors a black hole with mass of12 billion suns. So it’s the most luminous quasar, with the most massive black hole, among all the known very distant quasars. As if that weren’t enough, this quasar and its monster black hole are located at a special place and time in our universe, at what’s sometimes called the cosmic dawn. An international team led by astronomers from Peking University in China and the University of Arizona announced these findings February 26, 2015 in the journal Nature.

Astronomer Xiaohui Fan at the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory, who co-authored the study, described the massive size of the black hole in a statement. He said:

By comparison, our own Milky Way galaxy has a black hole with a mass of only 4 million solar masses at its center; the black hole that powers this new quasar is 3,000 time heavier.

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The quasar is called SDSS J0100+2802 by astronomers. The monster black hole at its heart powers this quasar’s luminosity of 420 trillion suns. The very existence of these objects puzzles astronomers. Fan said:

How can a quasar so luminous, and a black hole so massive, form so early in the history of the universe, at an era soon after the earliest stars and galaxies have just emerged?

And what is the relationship between this monster black hole and its surrounding environment, including its host galaxy?

This quasar and its super-supermassive black hole are in a place and time that astronomers callepoch of reionization – when the so-called dark ages of our universe ended. It’s literally a cosmic dawn, the point at which light from the earliest generations of galaxies and quasars filled the universe and transformed it into the sort of universe we see today. Prior to this time, the universe was opaque or “foggy,” astronomers say. There was light but not the same light we can now observe through telescopes.

This very early era in the history of our universe is not easy to study, but quasars, first discovered in 1963, are the key to understanding it. That’s because we can see quasars over great distances. Powered by the black holes in their cores, they beam vast amounts of energy across space, which astronomers use to study the early universe. Astronomers have discovered more than 200,000 quasars, with ages ranging from 0.7 billion years after the Big Bang to today. According to Xiaohui Fan, this quasar – SDSS J0100+2802 – and its monster black hole will:

… provide a unique laboratory to the study of the mass assembly and galaxy formation around the most massive black holes in the early universe.

The astronomers also say their discovery marks an important step in understanding how quasars have evolved from the earliest epoch, only 900 million years after the Big Bang, which is thought to have happened 13.7 billion years ago.

Read more about the discovery of this quasar and its black hole from University of Arizona

Bottom line: An international team led by astronomers from Peking University in China and the University of Arizona announced the most luminous known quasar, with the most massive known black hole, on February 26, 2015 in the journal Nature.

More doctors moving towards adjunctive therapy

More doctors are moving towards adjunctive therapy - using more than one drug or treatment to treat an illness - as the ageing population in Singapore begins to suffer from more chronic diseases.

By Sara Grosse- 20 Feb 2015

SINGAPORE: Researchers said there has been a rapid increase in the use of adjunctive therapy as Singapore faces an ageing population who suffer from several chronic diseases. Adjunctive therapy refers to using more than one drug or treatment to treat an illness.

Last year, a team of researchers discovered that they could successfully fight respiratory diseases like pneumonia by combining several drugs. The team developed a drug formulation comprising several antibiotics and an agent that acts against mucus to kill bacteria in the lungs.

It was found that this combination, which is inhaled, is more convenient and effective than individual treatments.

Dr Desmond Heng, a scientist with the Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences, said: "Our combination consists of existing drugs not commonly given via the inhalation route as well as old drugs that were previously abandoned due to toxic side effects or were facing resistance when applied in monotherapy."

Similarly, an old anti-diabetic drug was also recently discovered to boost the efficacy of tuberculosis treatment without causing drug resistance.

Researchers said these adjunctive therapies are becoming more common as patients with multiple chronic conditions usually have to consume several medications. There are also more drugs on the market to choose from.

While the effects may be more successful than a singular treatment, researchers such as Professor Ranga Krishnan warn against over-treating. Prof Krishnan, who is the dean of the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore, said: "As people get older, they have many medical problems and before you know it, they take a bagful of medicines. So you need to always keep an eye on it so you don't overdo it. Always try to replace one with another rather than keep on throwing more.

"For the elderly, it is a problem because many older individuals are taking three to six different drugs. It is not only cost. Sometimes, they cannot remember when to take the different drugs."

Combination therapy - when more than one drug is combined into a pill - is one way around this. Also considered a type of adjunctive therapy, combination therapy has been used to treat conditions such as AIDS, cancer and high blood pressure. Because the medication is in a singular form, there is a higher likelihood of patient compliance.

However, there are risks associated with combination therapy. Researchers said that certain drug combinations may end up having more side effects for patients. At the same time, certain drugs may end up countering each other when mixed together. So researchers have to take these dangers into account before embarking on combination therapy. 

- CNA/ac

பௌத்த பிக்குகள் அனுபவிக்கும் சுகபோகங்கள்: சுட்டிக்காட்டிய சிங்கள நாளிதழ்

[ சனிக்கிழமை, 28 பெப்ரவரி 2015, 09:52.52 AM GMT ]

ஊருக்கு உபதேசம் செய்யும் பௌத்த பிக்குகள் தமது வாழ்வில் அவற்றை கடைப்பிடிப்பதில்லை என சிங்கள நாளிதழ் ஒன்று குற்றஞ்சாட்டியுள்ளது.

பௌத்தபிக்குகள் அனுபவிக்கும் சுகபோகங்களை பாருங்கள் என குறித்த பத்திரிகை நேற்று முன்தினம் சில புகைப்படங்களை வெளியிட்டுள்ளது.

சுவர்ணவாஹினி சொர்ணமஹால் நிறுவனத்தின் 40 வருட நிகழ்வில் திரைப்பட தயாரிப்பாளர் சோமா எதிரிசிங்கவினால் 150 பௌத்த பிக்குகளுக்கு அன்னதானம் வழங்கப்பட்ட போது எடுக்கப்பட்டதாக குறித்த பத்திரிகை தெரிவித்துள்ளது.

பன்றி இறைச்சி, கோழி இறைச்சி, மாட்டிறைச்சி, ஆட்டிறைச்சி, நண்டு, இறால், மற்றும் மதுபானம் உள்ளிட்டவற்றுடன் குறித்த பிக்குகளுக்கு அன்னதானம் வழங்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

மேலும் மலர்களினால் வடிவமைக்கப்பட்ட தோரணம், இளம் பெண்கள் உணவு பரிமாறல், உள்ளிட்ட புகைப்படங்களும், சோம எதிரிசிங்கவின் தங்க முலாம் பூசப்பட்ட புத்தர் சிலை அன்பளிப்புகள் ஆகிய புகைப்படங்களும் அந்த நாளிதழில் பிரசுரிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

மாட்டிறைச்சியை தடை செய்ய வேண்டும் என தெரிவித்து பௌத்த பிக்கு ஒருவரே தற்கொலை செய்து கொண்டார்.

ஆனால் அவர்களுக்கு பலதரப்பட்ட இறைச்சி வகைகளுடன் அன்னதானம் வழங்கப்படுகின்றது.

ஊருக்கு உபதேசம் செய்யும் பௌத்த பிக்குகள் தமது அன்றாட வாழ்வில் அவற்றை கடைபிடிக்க மறுக்கின்றனர்.

பௌத்த பிக்குகள் அனுபவிக்கும் சுகபோகங்கள் சுட்டிக்காட்டிய சிங்கள நாளிதழ் by Thavam Ratna

HRW Writes to President Maithripala on Human Rights in Sri Lanka

[The Free Media Movement of Sri Lanka presents its proposals for Media Reform to the President]

27/02/2015  

HRW says that ‘we welcome some initiatives your government has already undertaken, such as case-by-case reviews of those detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, the lifting of restrictions on media reporting, the end of Internet censorship, and the appointment of non-military personnel as governors to the North and East provinces. Also important were the removal of nongovernmental organizations from the oversight of the Ministry of Defence, and your pledge to form commissions to return land in the former war zones to their rightful owners. We hope your establishment of an inquiry into the 2012 deaths in Welikada prison is a shift away from the previous government’s unwillingness to tackle issues of accountability.’
HRW Writes to President Maithripala on Human Rights in Sri Lanka by Thavam Ratna

Muslim Secretariat Welcomes Cabinet Decision To Release Military Occupied Lands

February 27, 2015 

The Secretariat for Muslims welcomes the statements made by key figures in the Government declaring the Government’s commitment to release lands held by the military to their rightful owners. In particular the cabinet’s decision to release land in Valikammam North (Jaffna) and Raigamwela (Panama) is an important first step. While expressing support for this measure, the SFM would like to highlight the impact of occupation of civilian-owned land by the security forces and to call for further releases.

For persons whose land have been occupied, it has meant that even though they are citizens of this country, there has been a denial of their rights and a delay in effectively restoring normalcy in their lives some six years after the war. The failure to release their lands has obstructed their ability to reconstruct their homes, fully revive their livelihoods, regain access to ancestral religious and cultural sites and and rebuild their lives. This restriction on land and rights serves as a source of animosity and insecurity that polarizes ethnic relations and is hampering Sri Lanka’s transition from war to lasting peace. The military occupation of land owned and used by civilians is a problem that particularly impacts the Tamil community in the Northern Province, but also affects other communities in other parts of the country.

Further releases of land in a phased manner will help build confidence among communities in this Governments’ capacity to bring about a more sustainable peace and to ensure that rights are upheld. It will also serve as a first step towards reconciliation and will demonstrate the Government’s commitment to treating all communities equally. SFM, while acknowledging there are a number of areas that need to be released, is highlighting three such sites where the Muslim community is currently unable to regain full access to their land. We ask that the Government take immediate steps within the 100 Days to release such lands.

1)  Ashraf Nagar, Ampara District: In November 2011 the military moved into the village of Kashankerni in Ashraff Nagar and demanded that the 69 Muslim families in the area vacate, to make way for an army camp. While some families moved unwillingly, nine families refused and have continued to live in their homes. A few of them sought redress from the Supreme Court (SC/FR/NO. 192-2012) and their Fundamental Rights application is pending. These families have faced significant problems including harassment and they are unable to cultivate their lands on which they rely for their livelihoods. The army camp should be moved out and the land restored to these families.

2)  Silavathurai, Mannar District: Silavathurai was the most prominent town in the Musali division prior to 1990. In 1990 the approximately 280 Muslim families from Silavathurai were expelled by the LTTE along with the entire population of Northern Muslims. Some families returned following the ceasefire agreement of 2002 but were forced back into displacement in 2007 when the war recommenced. When the area was opened for resettlement after the end of the war, residents of Silavathurai found that what used to be the heart of the town was a navy camp. Key public buildings including the post office, the Pradeshiya Sabha building and the main mosque are off limits, as most of the residential neighbourhoods and shops. While small portions of land on the perimeter have been released over the past few years, much of Silavathurai remains restricted to civilian access and use. Similarly the Tamil village of Mullikulam is now used as a navy camp and in Marichchakatti village the mosque along with some houses are cordoned off by the navy. The security forces need to take steps to release these private properties and public buildings in the Musali division so that war affected people can attempt to rebuild their communities.

3) Karumalaiootru, Trincomalee District: Situated on Dead Man’s Cove, this village suffered both as a result of the war and the tsunami. While the community was able to build back after the tsunami on land away from the beach, this largely fishing community continued to maintain their access the beach and the mosque which is set on a small hill by the beach. The mosque is old and the community has legal ownership of the land, dating back to at least the British colonial period. In November 2009, the area adjoining the beach was cordoned off by the military. In August 2014 the mosque was demolished by the forces. In the lead up to the presidential election residents were allowed to finally visit the site where they noticed a temporary building had been constructed in place of the mosque which they are now allowed to use. The ziyaram or shrine linked to the mosque is still off limits. The area where these villagers were living has not been released for their occupation. The SFM calls for the release of the village and the mosque (including the shrine) in its entirety so that villagers can have full access to their lands.

*SFM Statement on the Release of Land held by the Military