Peace for the World

Peace for the World
First democratic leader of Justice the Godfather of the Sri Lankan Tamil Struggle: Honourable Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam

Friday, March 20, 2015

There is a hard road ahead

 March 20, 2015
“Little monk, little monk, you are taking a hard road!” were the warning words to Martin Luther before the first Diet of Worms in 1521, presided over by Emperor Charles V. “Worms” of course is not a reference to the can of worms this Government seems to have opened by investigating the former, but a little town on the Rhine.
Martin Luther was not to be deterred by the enormity of the odds against him. His resolution to stand by his convictions made him one of the most influential figures in human history. Then that was another time, another continent and another people.

Anura Yapa questioned by police over CPC losses

Anura Yapa questioned by police over CPC losses
logoMarch 20, 2015
UPFA MP Anura Priyadharshana Yapa is being questioned by the Police Special Investigations Unit (SIU) in connection with the Rs 35 million in losses incurred by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), during his tenure as Minister of Petroleum Industries.
The government had incurred the losses as a result of the small ship hired from the Luna Shipping Company to carry out ship-to-ship transfer of fuel after a buoy was damaged near the unloading facility by a ship supplying fuel to the CPC last year.
Yapa, who is the General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), was summoned to the SIU at around 10.30am this morning to record a statement regarding the losses, police said.   

Mervyn had imported 100 ethanol barrels a month!

etha

Friday, 20 March 2015
Making a statement in parliament yesterday (19), prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said four opposition MPs had imported ethanol. Although he did not name them, unofficial sources at his office say they are Mervyn Silva, Johnston Fernando, Arundika Fernando and Lakshman Wasantha Perera.
Of them, former public relations minister Mervyn Silva had personally been given a license by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa to import 100 ethanol barrels. The person who bought the ethanol from him say Mervyn had earned a net monthly profit of Rs. 5 million from ethanol alone.
He also said that although the license permitted Mervyn to import 100 barrels of ethanol only, he had deceived excise commissioner Hapuarachchi and brought down around 250 barrels. In a mark of gratitude, Mervyn has got Lanka Distilleries owner, wealthy businessman Harry Jayawardena, to pay a bribe of Rs. 5 m a month to the excise chief. Finance minister Ravi Karunanayake has asked the excise commissioner to resign, but he still remains in the job.

Dear Patali Champika, Do you think coal supply tender to Lakvijaya power plant is clean..?


LEN logo(Lanka-e-News -19.March.2015, 11.30PM) This continues the Power Mafia story published recently (http://lankaenews.com/news/282/en) on LEN around CEB and LTL Holdings. There we established the relationship between the L A S Fernando, AGM of CEB and LTL Holdings. And knowing that LTL Holdings is a subsidiary of CEB hence LTL Holdings couldn’t participate for any CEB related tender.
This time LTL Holdingsis trying to participate for the New Coal Supply Tender for Lakvijaya Power Plant. Lanka Coal Company has called the bids for this coal supply and Lanka Coal Company is a subsidiary of CEB. So, LTL Holdings couldn’t participate this tender legally and try to participate through their hidden firm LTL Projects.
LTL Holdings management never had a fear to send the son of L A S Fernando (He is an employee of LTL Holdings) to the pre bid meeting held on yesterday (18th March 2015) at Lanka Coal Company office premises at Kohuwala. We learnt that our CEB representatives at the head table on behalf of Lanka Coal Committee at this meeting were shocked to see the son of their AGM (CEB) as a bidder. Please check the pre bid meeting attendants and appointment of son of L A S under LTL Holdings and explain your point of view to CEB and general public as a so called clean leader.
Greater Colombo Transmission and Distribution Loss Reduction Project
As correctly predicted LTL Projects + Mitsubishi JV, Kinden + Viskus JV were prequalified to the aforesaid project. Siemens and ABB were disqualified. As an engineer you may know most of the substations in Sri Lanka made by Siemens and ABB. How come they can be a non-qualified party to this similar type of a project? There are few substation sites (Kerawalapitiya, Kolonnawa, Kelanitissa) to be augmented under this project. Those sites previously done by Siemens and ABB. So, CEB has no other option than assigning same Siemens and ABB for these augmentation sites. The products and proposals submitted by Siemens and ABB for augmentation sites and new sites under the project are almost same. But they were disqualified for new sites (Port City, Colombo L and Colombo M). What a surprise. Could you please attend and declare your good governance policy on this.
If you keep silence over these LTL corruptions anymore we opt to believe that you too a good friend of these frauds.
-A Good Governance Lover- 
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by     (2015-03-19 22:56:47)

Polls & Social Media During The Jan 8th Electioneering Process

Colombo Telegraph
By Ranga Kalansooriya -March 20, 2015 
Dr Ranga Kalansooriya
Dr Ranga Kalansooriya
The role played by the internet and social media during the January 08 Presidential Elections was repeatedly highlighted and widely discussed in many platforms that included both main candidates – Maithripala Sirisenaand Mahinda Rajapaksa – making comments in different tones on its impact on their respective successes and failures.
Rajapakse Api SoodanamThese discourses based highly on assumptions and hypothesis without in-depth empirical evidence. Of course the internet, mainly the social media was exceedingly active and it sometimes challenged the conventional media by its mere outlook. Noticing this extra-ordinary trend within the media landscape, predominantly the information sharing domain, this writer embarked on a primary survey research exercise two weeks before the elections day with a view to determine the usage of media by the general public during the electioneering process. This exercise precisely was an engagement with the media end-users.
It further intended to ascertain whether media content has impacted the decision of the voters, what was the most impacted media on the public in decision making – if it had done so, what was the most consumed media by the public during the elections period and to determine the public perception on the (ethical) conduct of the media.
The primary results shows that the internet, mainly the social media, is becoming game changer within the paradigm threatening the conventional media in a considerable way.
A structured questionnaire was distributed in Sinhala and Tamil languages among 250 persons in 14 districts and received 176 responses. The sample was randomly selected and the distribution of questionnaire was also conducted on random basis. The random selection was justified as the entire country becomes one single electorate during Presidential Elections.Read More
Death toll rises to 87 in Yemen mosque bombings - medical source
People carry the injured out of a mosque which was attacked by a suicide bomber in Sanaa March 20, 2015. 
People carry the injured out of a mosque which was attacked by a suicide bomber in Sanaa March 20, 2015. REUTERS-Khaled Abdullah
People react after being injured in bomb attack inside a mosque in Sanaa March 20, 2015. REUTERS-Khaled Abdullah
People help an injured man at the scene of a suicide bombing inside a mosque in Sanaa March 20, 2015. REUTERS-Khaled Abdullah
People react after being injured in bomb attack inside a mosque in Sanaa March 20, 2015. --- People help an injured man at the scene of a suicide bombing inside a mosque in Sanaa March 20, 2015. 
ReutersSANAA Fri Mar 20, 2015 8:03pm IST
(Reuters) - At least 87 people were killed when four suicide bombers blew themselves up in two mosques in the Yemeni capital Sanaa during Friday prayers, a medical source told Reuters.
The source said at least 260 people were wounded in the blasts.
Both mosques are known to be used mainly by supporters of the Shi'ite Muslim Houthi group which has seized control of the government.

(Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari; Writing by Rania El Gamal; Editing by Louise Ireland)

The Price Israel Must Pay

We no longer have a Netanyahu problem. We have an Israel problem.

President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Slate.comBy -MARCH 19 2015
Two weeks ago, the United States had a Benjamin Netanyahu problem. The Israeli prime minister seemed to have gone rogue. His ambassador to Washington had secretly negotiated with Republicans to have Netanyahu address a joint session of Congress. Against the Obama administration’s wishes, Netanyahu spoke on the floor of the House of Representatives against U.S. foreign policy. He told members of Congress that the speech wasn’t political. Then he went home and used video of their applause in an ad promoting his re-election.

Jerusalem at boiling point of polarisation and violence – EU report

Exclusive: Leaked report says city more divided than at any time since 1967 and calls for consideration of tougher sanctions over settlement building 


An ultra Orthodox Jewish man pauses in front of the al-Aqsa mosque, by Jews as Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Palestinian youth throw stones at Israeli forces during a clash at the entrance to Shuafat refugee camp in Jerusalem in 2014. 2014, a year characterised by an EU report as the violent and polarised in the city in recent memory.

 in Jerusalem-Friday 20 March 2015
A hard-hitting EU report on Jerusalem warns that the city has reached a dangerous boiling point of “polarisation and violence” not seen since the end of the second intifada in 2005.
Jerusalem at Boiling Point of Polarisation and Violence – EU Report by Thavam Ratna

Never Trust Netanyahu

The Israeli prime minister’s last-minute political ploys prove that he’s an opportunist of the worst kind. And the U.S. has to stop enabling his bad behavior.
Never Trust Netanyahu

BY LISA GOLDMAN-MARCH 19, 2015
Foreign PolicyIn recent weeks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shown once again that he will do pretty much anything it takes to stay in power. If that means weakening Israel’s relationship with the United States, its most important ally, he will do that. If it means sinking to the level of crude, Jim Crow-like race-baiting, he will go there. If it means telling a huge whopper of a lie that anyone with a reasonable level of intelligence can see through, he will tell that lie. The key to understanding Netanyahu’s personality is to take it as self-evident that he cares about only two things: staying in power and maintaining Israeli control over the Golan and the occupied Palestinian territories.

Scaling new heights to deliver cheat sheets

Family members and friends climb the wall of Vidya Niketan school in Mahnar village, 60kms from Patna, to pass on answer chits to the students appearing for SSC exams on March 18, 2015.
Top World News

Family members and friends climb the wall of Vidya Niketan school in Mahnar village, 60kms from Patna, to pass on answer chits to the students appearing for SSC exams on March 18, 2015

Return to frontpageAMARNATH TEWARY- March 19, 2015

Bihar Minister seeks public cooperation to end cheating in examinations

A day after shocking photographs emerged of friends and relatives scaling a high-rise examination centre in Bihar to pass answer chits to their wards, State Education Minister P.K. Shahi admitted on Thursday that stopping malpractices in Board examinations was a huge task.
Lalkeshwar Prasad, Chairman of the Bihar School Examination Board, visited the centre at Mahnar in Vaishali district, but he and his colleagues faced the wrath of parents and others.
“I have written to the administration in every district to keep strict vigil at the centres,” Mr. Prasad told The Hindu.
Mr. Shahi sought public cooperation for conducting free and fair examinations in the State.
“It is a big challenge to stop 100 per cent unfair means in the examination,” he said.
“I also want to ask people if it is not the responsibility of society as well to stop it?”
In Bihar, at least four or five people come to the centres to help the candidates, Mr. Shahi told presspersons. The Board examinations for Standard X students in the State began on March 17 and would conclude on March 24. Over 14.26 lakh students are appearing at more than 1,100 centres. Over 1,000 examinees have been expelled in the first two days for using unfair means. However, it was not the first time that such large-scale malpractices were taking place in the State.
Threats
The friends and relatives of examinees often hurl stones at authorities deputed to stop unfair means at the centres. They bribe policemen and teachers to pass on chits to their wards.
“If we try to stop unfair means at a centre, friends and family members of the examinees gang up to intimidate us,” Saroj Sinha, a schoolteacher at Vaishali, told The Hindu. Even on Thursday, people scaled walls to hand over chits to examinees at centres in Sharsha and Khagaria districts.
Video: Parents caught helping Class 10 Board examinees cheat in Bihar

As spring arrives, avoid buying chicks, ducklings

baby chickbaby ducklings
Jonathan Modie
OHA Public Health971-246-9139

Baby poultry may carry dangerous salmonella bacteria

Spring is the season when people purchase "baby chicks" for their backyard poultry flocks or to give as Easter gifts, but one public health expert advises caution around these cute, fuzzy birds.

The problem: Baby poultry carry salmonella bacteria that can cause serious illness.

"Salmonella bacteria often contaminate adult chickens, ducks and other live poultry, so it goes without saying that their offspring often carry it, too,” says Emilio DeBess, D.V.M., Oregon Public Health veterinarian.

“What’s worse is that because of their size and cuteness, these birds often are picked by children, who will put them close to their faces and kiss them," DeBess says. "In most cases, children may not wash their hands after handling them.”

Since 2010, nine outbreaks of illnesses caused by salmonella bacteria from chicks have occurred, affecting at least 37 confirmed salmonellosis cases and many more suspected cases. A third or more of the cases were children, DeBess said. The last major salmonellosis outbreak, in 2013, occurred after people handled, kissed and kept poultry inside the home.

Salmonella infections can cause diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever symptoms lasting three to seven days, DeBess said. Anyone with compromised immune systems, the very young and elderly people could become very ill and die of the infection.

 “We don’t think they are appropriate Easter gifts," DeBess says, "especially for young children – those younger than 5 – who are particularly vulnerable to serious illness from salmonella contamination because of their underdeveloped immunity.”

Many people purchasing baby poultry also don’t realize the responsibility involved with raising chicks and ducklings as the animals grow up. “These birds require space to roam and food to eat, and these factors can be expensive,” DeBess says. “As a result, they often are abandoned after they become adult chickens and ducks.”
   
Tips for preventing salmonella infection from baby poultry:

  • Don’t give live baby birds to children. Instead, give stuffed animals.
  • Always wash hands with soap and water, and thoroughly clean surfaces after handling any animal or coming in contact with animal waste.
  • Keep chicks in an appropriate outdoor area.
  • If chicks are handled, never nuzzle or kiss them.
  • Never allow poultry inside the home.

For more information about baby birds and salmonella, visit the Oregon Public Health baby birds and salmonella website.

Additional information:
 

Deep in the jungle, hunting for the next Ebola outbreak

Cameron looks at film footage from the trap where he hopes to catch wild pigs. Nichole Sobecki/For The Washington Post
Deep in the jungle, hunting for the next Ebola outbreak - The Washington Post
Deep in the jungle, hunting for the next Ebola outbreak - The Washington PostDeep in the jungle, hunting for the next Ebola outbreak - The Washington Post
Meat on display in the market in Brazzaville. The market is a source of bush meat, which is one of the ways Ebola travels from animals to humans. Nichole Sobecki/For The Washington Post
March 19 at 6:17 PM


NOUABALE-NDOKI NATIONAL PARK, Congo Republic — More than 3,000 miles from the fading Ebola crisis in West Africa, a team of U.S.-funded researchers is hunting deep in a remote rain forest for the next outbreak.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Munasinghe, leader of navy white van killer squad arrested : ex Navy Commander Karannagoda was fully aware of the operation


LEN logo(Lanka-e-News- 19.March.2015, 11.00PM) The killing of ten   Sinhala, Muslim and Tamil students  residing at Matakkuliya and Trincomalee who passed the GCE adv. Level and had the eligibility requirement to enter Universities during the period 2008-2009  ,after having them abducted by the white Van  , (though 38 students were abducted there is evidence in respect of ten students only) were committed  by the Navy white van leader , ex Navy media spokesman, Commodore D.K.P. Dassanayake  , as revealed by the police media spokesman on March 2 nd had been proved half true .  These innocent children were killed by the navy white van murder squad after obtaining  extortion money from the parents of the children. Moreover , the actual leader of this ruthless murder squad is  the Flag officer Captain Munasinghe, the personal assistant to  the ex navy Commander Vasantha Karannagoda. The former had already been arrested, and is to be produced before court today or tomorrow , according to reports  reaching Lanka e news inside information division.
On that date  the police media spokesman said , Karannagoda provided the  information to the police , and that murder group was operating on the sly without his knowledge.
However based on the information unearthed by Lanka e news , the factual situation is :
The aforementioned Navy white van operations have been carried out under ex defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse and with the full knowledge of Vasantha Karannagoda , the navy commander at that time . It is on this account  , Sampath Munasinghe , the personal assistant to Karannagoda and most  close to him was chosen as the leader of the murder squad by Karannagoda himself.
12 Navy murderer officers  including Commodore D.K.P.D Dassanayake , Lieutenant Commodores Ranasinghe and Hettiarachi constituted this murder squad.
Later , Sampath Munasinghe has had an illicit affair with the spouse of Karannagoda, and when the latter came to know of this , Munasinghe had fled and gone into hiding. Karannagoda had then given orders to Dassanayake , the navy media spokesman to track down  his wife ‘s paramour and kill him somehow. Dassanayake however ,instead of abiding by Karannagoda’s order had arranged for Munasinghe to flee the country. Karannagoda who got wind of this attempt , in order  to take revenge on these two officers had complained to the CID  along  with the identity cards of the murdered children alleging that these two naval officers killed the children after abducting them.
When  Munasinghe heard of this , he had decided to disclose the truth . That is , by informing former army commander General Sarath Fonseka who was angry with  Karannagoda at that time of the actual events  via  a confession . Munasinghe had exposed that the white Van operations were carried out with the knowledge of Karannagoda , while pleading with Fonseka to provide him  ( Munasinghe) with security  knowing well his own vulnerability to retaliation.

Fonseka had advised Munasinghe, the only way he can be rescued  without getting  killed  is to surrender to the police , and handed over Munasinghe to the CID. At that time the media reported Navy Sampath who was involved in the white van operations was arrested. ‘Navy Samapath’ is this  Samapath Munasinghe. 
Sampath Munasinghe  was at that time married to  the daughter of Raja Collure an ex M.P. and a communist party politburo member.
Munasinghe , because of this relationship and since he murdered on behalf of Gotabaya , was held in police custody for a while until the public outcry and protest died down , and later released exonerated of all charges.
Now , it is this same incident that has surfaced again. Yet the police are only revealing part of it. That is, whitewashing Navy commander Karannagoda’s  criminal implications on the false premise that he knew nothing about the crimes , and fastening the blame entirely on his ‘buddies’ and lackeys while also taking advantage of the media reports about the abduction , extortions and murders of the children by the navy media spokesman . The reasons for this are many. One reason is : the moment Karannagoda’s criminal involvement is highlighted , naturally and obviously the spotlight also  falls on Gotabaya , the other accomplice if not direct murderer .
Like how it is very evident the president is currently not taking action against the Rajapakses over their criminal acts and involvements , another similar drama is in the making to make the inferior officers the scapegoats and liable for the stark murders  while safeguarding  the higher ups who gave the orders to commit the crimes.
In any event , a most incriminating evidence against Karannagoda had come to light . That is , during that period when the children were abducted  , when minister Felix Perera had inquired from Karannagoda about the fate of these innocent children ,  the latter had stated ,they are in the custody of the naval force. This is cogent and substantive evidence proving  that Karannagoda was fully aware of the whereabouts of the children and other details. 
It is most rudely shocking that despite  availability of such copious and cogent evidence , the deputy solicitor general Shavenndra  Fernando of the Attorney general’s  (AG) department  , it is learnt ,is acting in a manner that is militating against a fair investigation and favoring  the murderers , according to reports reaching Lanka e news. 
No matter what , Sampath Munasinghe the leader of the white van squad  is now held in custody by the CID. But what is intriguing and mystifying about this episode is , why this is not being revealed


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by     (2015-03-19 18:53:42)
பாடசாலையில் நஞ்சுகலந்த நீர் அருந்திய 26 மாணவர்கள் அவசர சிகிச்சைப் பிரிவில் 
news
ஏழாலை மயிலங்காடு சிறிமுருகன் வித்தியாலயத்தில் கல்வி பயிலும் 26 பாடசாலை மாணவர்களும் பூச்சிமருந்து கலந்த நீரை அருந்தியதால்  அவசர சிகிச்சை பிரிவில் அனுமதிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளனர்.
 
 
logonbanner-1இன்று காலை பாடசாலை மாணவர்கள் தண்ணீர் அருந்துவதற்காகச் சென்றுள்ளனர்.எனினும் தண்ணீரில் துர்நாற்றம் வீசியுள்ளது.சிலர் தண்ணீரை அருந்தவில்லை.சிலர் தண்ணீர் அருந்தியுள்ளனர்.தண்ணீர் அருந்தாத மாணவர்கள் தண்ணீரில் துர்நாற்றம் வீசுவதாக உடனடியாக அதிபர் கவனத்திற்கு கொண்டு செல்லப்பட்டதையடுத்து குறித்த நீர்த்தாங்கியின் மேல் ஏறி பார்த்த பொழுது பயிர்களுக்கு அடிக்கப்படும் பூச்சிமருந்து போத்தல் இருந்தது கண்டறியப்பட்டுள்ளது.
 
உடனடியாக பூச்சிமருந்து கலந்த நீரை அருந்திய  மாணவர்கள் 26 பேரும் தற்பாதுகாப்பு நடவடிக்கைக்காக யாழ்.போதனா வைத்தியசாலைக்கு கொண்டு வரப்பட்டனர். அவர்களில் சிலர் வைத்தியசாலைக்கு கொண்டு வரும்போது மயக்கமடைந்தனர்.
 
இதனால் நீர் அருந்திய 26 பேரும் அதிதீவிர சிகிச்சை பிரவில் அனுமதிக்கப்பட்டு சிகிச்கையின் பின்னரே அவர்கள் சாதாரண விடுதிக்கு மாற்றப்பட்டு வருகின்றனர்.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Delimitation and its effects on minorities



BY Shaahidah Riza-2015-03-19
With talks of electoral reforms taking centre stage in the political arena and civil society platforms, Ceylon Today spoke to an expert on demarcating electoral boundaries, delimitation and its effect on minority communities.

Despite What We Say, We Are All Like Crabs In A Boiling Pot Of Water: President

 Maithripala 2015 March
Colombo TelegraphMarch 19, 2015
By“Despite what we say or do, at the end of the day we are all like crabs dancing in a boiling pot of water,” said President Maithripala Sirisena as he added that it is his experiences during the past two months as the President that made him understand the true nature of politics.
“I have had the opportunity to meet the Indian Prime Minister, the British PM and the Queen of England. Those meetings made me realize that there are a lot of challenges that Sri Lanka has to face and we cannot do it alone,” he said addressing a meeting organized for the SLFP electoral organizers earlier this week (17.03.2015) in Colombo.
The President, in a very strong and emotional speech criticized certain aggressive and racist statements made by some SLFP MPs in public rallies and to the media as he described them as ‘primitive statements’ and warned them to prevent Sri Lanka from being pushed into another war.
“It was PM Bandaranaike that showed us that it’s impossible to establish a government only through Sinhala Buddhist votes. In this country, the Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities all have to come together – without such unity this country cannot be taken forward, there will be no future for this country, please understand that,” he said.
The President addressed certain factions of the SLFP who have started openly challenging and criticizing him and said, “You all have made various statements about me but none commended the deferral of the OISL report which was achieved following my election. I can say for sure the deferral of the report was granted due to my election as the President. If that report had been tabled in March, it is the very people you campaign for and hold in high regard that would fall into trouble…”
President Sirisena went on to state that since it was upon the invitation of the former SLFP Chairman and the party members that he assumed duties as the SLFP chairman, he should be allowed to fulfill his duties.
“This is not a position that one can come into by force or coercion. During the past two months I have brought about democracy into the party and because of that, many are freely making statements and for the first time, has started challenging the Chairman of the party. While I observe the freedom of speech as a positive development I also urge you all to allow me to continue my work,” he said.
Meanwhile, speaking of the upcoming elections, the President said the SLFP should cast aside primitive slogans that stir racial hatred and sideline certain communities and adopt a slogan that fits the party and ensures the well being of the country and its people.
Watch the full speech;