Thursday, April 16, 2015

தனது ஏழு ஏக்கர் காணியை இராணுவம் விடுவிக்க வேண்டும் : தாய் ஒருவர் உண்ணாவிரதம்

15 ஏப்ரல் 2015, புதன்

கிளிநொச்சி, பரந்தனில் அமைந்துள்ள தனது 7 ஏக்கர் காணியை இராணுவம் அபகரித்து வைத்துள்ளது. அதனை விடுவித்து தன்னிடம் ஒப்படைக்க வேண்டும் என்று கோரி தாய் ஒருவர் தனது காணியின் முன்பாக உண்ணாவிரதப் போராட்டத்தை ஆரம்பித்துள்ளார்.

பரந்தன் - முல்லைத்தீவு வீதியில் மக்கள் தொடர்பு அலுவலகம் அமைந்துள்ள காணியையே விடுவிக்க கோரி அந்தத் தாயார் போராட்டத்தை ஆரம்பித்துள்ளார்.

5 பிள்ளைகளின் தாயாரான திருமதி இந்திரா யோகேந்திரன் என்பவரே இவ்வாறு உண்ணாவிரதத்தை ஆரம்பித்துள்ளார்.

SL Minister's men occupy lands of uprooted Tamils in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 April 2015, 21:27 GMT]
Around 100 uprooted Tamil families from Thaangkiyadi in Mannaar have been denied resettlement in the lands where they were living before they were uprooted in 1990. The relatives of SL Minister Rishad Bathiudeen at Thaaraa-puram have occupied the 48-acre land. There is no one to voice for the resettlement of the poverty-stricken families from the lower echelon of the society, rights activists in Mannaar said. “No-one dares to fight with Rishad Bathiudeen who hails from Thaaraa-puram, the nearby village,” a displaced Tamil villager, who visits the temple once a week, told TamilNet on Wednesday. The small temple is the only trace of the Tamil settlement at Thaangkiyadi situated 7 km north of the city on Mannaar - Thalaimannaar A14 Road.

The Saiva temple at Thaangkiyadi

The SL Minister's men who have occupied the lands now claim that they have ‘original land deeds’ for the lands appropriated from the Tamil families.

The Tamil families were living at Thaangkiyadi for several decades since the establishment of railway line to Mannaar by the British colonial government.

Most of these families, numbering around 90 units, were labourers employed in the Ceylon Government Railway to look after the railway track. 10 other Tamil families, practicing soothsaying and basket weaving, had also joined them in the settlement at Thaangkiyadi, which is also known as Kaangkiyadi.

The so-called Jihad paramilitary, which was collaborating with the occupying SL military chased out the Tamil villagers from their settlement in 1990 at a time when the genocidal State in Colombo had succeeded in creating armed Muslim paramilitary groups against the Tamils and the LTTE evicting the Tamil-speaking Muslims from Jaffna and Mannaar.

SL Minister Risath Bathiudeen's men, who claim to be the owners of these lands, have put up border stones and fenced off the land.

Thaangkiyadi is situated 7 km north of Mannaar city and 90 km from Medawachiya

UN Security Council report notes increased sexual violence against Tamils in Sri Lanka post-conflict

15 April 2015

The UN Security Council noted in a report published Monday, the ongoing incidents of sexual violence against Tamils in Sri Lanka, stating that there were "indications that abduction, arbitrary detention, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence have increased in the post-war period" in Sri Lanka and that acts of sexual violence were being targetted specifically at those perceived to be associated with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The report, by the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, on 'Conflicted related sexual violence', urged the UN Security Council to take action to prevent and ensure accountability for sexual violence in conflict. It examined ongoing concerns of sexual violence since 2014 in 19 countries, including Sri Lanka.

"One of the major unaddressed issues is impunity for conflict-related sexual violence," the report said on Sri Lanka.

It further noted:

"There are indications that abduction, arbitrary detention, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence have increased in the post-war period. Notably, Tamil women and girls have reported sexual abuse in the context of the ongoing militarization of their areas of residence."

"Allegations of sexual violence by the Sri Lankan security forces against members of the Tamil community in the closing months of the war and in the post-conflict period have been extensively documented, but rarely addressed."

"Testimony of women released from detention in 2014 indicates that acts of sexual torture were accompanied by racial insults and specifically directed against individuals perceived as having been linked to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam."

In his recommendations, Mr Moon said:

"I call upon the newly elected Government of Sri Lanka to investigate allegations of sexual violence, including against national armed and security forces, and to provide multi-sectoral services for survivors, including reparations and economic empowerment programmes for women at risk, including war widows and female heads of household."

See full report here.

s 2015 203-Conflict-related Sexual Violence by Thavam Ratna

Sri Lanka: Can Sirisena Deliver on Reforms?

What has Sri Lanka’s Maithripala Sirisena manage to achieve in his first three months in office?

By Taylor Dibbert-April 14, 2015

In early January, Sri Lanka’s Mahinda Rajapaksa was thrown out of office. Rajapaksa, a two-term president who had ruled since 2005, allegedly abused state resources throughout the election campaign and few predicted he would lose. Though Rajapaksa still won a majority of Sinhalese votes (the overwhelming ethnic majority in a country whose population exceeds 20 million), Sri Lankans from all walks of life were simply fed up with a regime that had been plagued by corruption, nepotism, and heightened authoritarianism. Maithripala Sirisena campaigned on a bold agenda that pledged to stop the rot. But is Sirisena’s governing coalition really committed to meaningful change? Might reform in Sri Lanka be on the rocks?

Sri Lanka Can Sirisena Deliver on Reforms by Thavam Ratna

The ethical dilemma of corrupt practices and good governance

Can corporates draw the fine line?-April 10, 2015

I am certain that most of youhave heard of the Enron scandal which led to the bankruptcy of the Enron Corporation, an American energy company based in Houston, and the dissolution, in 2002, of Arthur Andersen, one of the five largest audit and accountancy partnerships in the world.
Enron, through the use of accounting loopholes and poor financial reporting, hid billions of dollars in debt from failed deals and projects. It became the first non-financial company to use the mark-to-market accounting method to account for its complex long-term contracts.

The Ethical Dilemma of Corrupt Practices and Good Governance by Thavam Ratna

How Ranil-Bashing Can Fall On Its Face

By Shyamon Jayasinghe –April 16, 2015

Shyamon Jayasinghe

Dayan Jayatilleka (DJ) baffles me so often, making me wonder what really goes on in his head. I am not just employing a rhetorical pose to devalue the man. Let’s face it, there is not a week that passes where he doesn’t write against Ranil Wickremesinghe, our Prime Minister, on one ground or another. I get copies of loads of email written by him where a negative reference to Ranil is almost always on the cards.

I am aware that Ranil Wickremesinghe has been demon to quite a lot of persons on the Rajapaksa side of the divide. The simple reason is that the single-most effective obstruction to their power goal has been and is Ranil Wickremesinghe. That this political leader has been single-mindedly able to defend himself and his side from a myriad of conspiracies over the last decade is eloquent testimony to his unique ability.

Dayan Jayatilleka is often careless with the facts and careless with the contextual side of quotes that seems to flow out of his pen in abandon. He only wants to get on with the job of bashing Ranil. When DJ’s blemishes are pointed out, he self-inflicts an amnesia and proceeds with the next episode of Ranil- bashing.

Dayan Jayatilleka is not even disheartened by the obvious fact that Ranil makes no reference to him, ever. But DJ must go on. A paranoia drives him. He is often off reality because of this paranoia. Obsessive personality delusions are never built on rock or on hard sand. They can morph into malignant aggression.

Take the latest: Writing to the Colombo Telegraph of 15th April under the rubric, “Ranil’s Real Agenda Revealed,” DJ makes reference to a piece written by Ranil Wickremesinghe under the caption, ”Winning Sri Lanka’s Peace,” published on the 8th of April in The Japan Times. DJ starts off with an absolute lie when he states that Ranil in this particular article “uses the phrase ‘…resetting our strategic position in the world.’ I read that issue in the Japan Times and nowhere found such an assertion by Ranil. Read More

Naxals getting arms from Sri Lanka?

India's Central intelligence agencies have launched a major investigation into a “specific tip-off” that Naxals were now getting sophisticated weapons through the sea route from Sri Lanka, The Asian Age reported.

Top intelligence sources claimed that they had received information some time back that Naxals were routing arms and ammunition through the sea route through an arms cartel which was suspected to be earlier providing weapons to the LTTE as well. It is suspected that the weapons are coming through Sri Lanka using the sea route, sources added.

Till now it has been confirmed that Naxals were primarily getting weapons, mostly of Chinese origin, either through the Nepal route or through some terror outfits operating in the Northeast, like the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) and even the ULFA, who would bring in weapons via Myanmar.

But intelligence officials are worried about this new “supply route” being used by the Maoists to procure sophisticated weapons, including the AK-series rifles, landmines, grenade launchers, communication equipment and even Night Vision Devices (NVDs).

“We have been getting specific inputs that some arms dealers who had been involved with the LTTE earlier are now sourcing weapons to the Naxals as well. This arms cartel has been operating via the sea route since the LTTE days and the same channel is now said to be used for the providing weapons to Naxals also. This indeed is a worrying trend since Naxals are slush with funds and if they get access to state-of-the-art weaponry then they can cause problems for out security forces,” a senior intelligence official informed this newspaper.

The Naxals have been on the offensive over the past few days launching at least three major attacks on the security forces.

Somawansa resigns from JVP to form new party

April 16, 2015
Former Leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Somawansa Amarasinghe today said that he will resign from the JVP and form a new party.

Amarasinghe said he resigned to form a new party to give leadership to the masses who were not satisfied with the current JVP.

Elaborating on the surprising decision, he said that with the prevailing political situation in the country the JVP is the only party which can win over the people.

However, he said the JVP continues to miss these opportunities and therefore he decided to quit the party and form a new one.

Making the shocking announcement at a special press conference in Pelawatta this afternoon, the veteran leftist leader said that he will officially submit his resignation letter to the party in a future date.

Meanwhile sources say that JVP Propaganda Secretary Vijitha Herath who was also present at the press conference, which was held at the party head office in Pelawatta, was later requested to kindly leave by Amarasinghe.

Speaking to Ada Derana, Herath said that the JVP does not agree with Amarasinghe’s decision to resign and that they will do their best to keep him in the party.

Responsible for rebuilding the party after almost all of its top leaders were eliminated in 1989/1990, Somawansa continued to be the leader until his retirement in February 2014. He held the leadership for nearly 20 years.

MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake was appointed as the new leader of the Sri Lankan Marxist party, which is also known as the People’s Liberation Front, at its seventh convention.

Somawansa Amarasinghe, who had offered to step down from the leadership at a politburo meeting due to the declining electoral fortune of the party, continued to remain in the central committee of the party and also served as its international affairs secretary.

However, Amarasinghe has been absent from party events such as rallies and meetings in the recent past, giving rise to speculation regarding a possible split in the party.

SLFP Agrees On New Electoral System

Wednesday, 15 April 2015

Cabinet Spokesperson Dr. Rajitha Senaratne told that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party agreed to a mixed electoral system where 165 Members of Parliament will be elected under the first past the post system while 85 will be elected in proportional representation systems.

Speaking to BBC Sandeshaya, he said that 165 members will be elected from 160 constituencies, since several of them will be multi-member constituencies. He added that 60 MPs will be elected in a District based PR system and 25 MPs will be appointed from the national list. The number of MPs will increase to 250.

Senaratne added that the Elections Commissioner had earlier suggested several alternatives but this is the only system which could be used without redrawing the electoral map. He added that SLFP wants to see the implementation of electoral reforms before the next election so that the election could be held under the new electoral system.

Why the Good Governance including Mangala is quiescent against the corruption of Jaliya?

16 April 2015

Sri Lankans living in the United States has written a letter to the foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera disclosing all discrepancies of the cousin brother of the former president, Jaliya Wicramasooriya when he was serving as the ambassador of Sri Lanka in the United States.

They have requested the minister to conduct an independent inquiry into the alleged discrepancies of the latter and to acquire the lost reputation of Sri Lanka

Following is the letter.

Sri Lankan Airlines & Weliamuna Report: Prosecution Of Negligent Auditors & Directors?

By Amrit Muttukumaru -April 16, 2015

Amrit Muttukumaru

Large-Scale corruption will continue to thrive so long as professionals – particularly auditors and lawyers (i) are not held accountable (ii) ‘named & shamed’ (iii) punished – for dereliction of duty and wrongdoing. Can any large-scale corruption occur without the complicity of professionals? Are not accountants and auditors the first line of defense against corruption in all entities dealing with financial resources?

This is precisely what is avoided even by purported good governance activists and the media in Sri Lanka. Although they talk the hind legs off a donkey on the evils of corruption, they fail to bite the bullet in regard to ‘naming & shaming’ professionals and bigwigs in the corporate sector.

Based on the Prime Minister’s statement, the J.C. Weliamuna Report into alleged corruption and abuse of power in Sri Lankan Airlines confirms this malady.

The Report which confirms in shocking detail what the discerning public has long suspected appears to have missed the wood for the trees by neglecting to give due attention to the fact that the alleged corruption and abuse of power by Chairman, Nishantha Wickramasinghe, Kapila Chandrasena (CEO) and others took placeunder the watch of the airline’s long standing auditors – Ernst & Young and its Board of Directors which included Messrs. Susantha Ratnayake, Nihal Jayamanne PC, Sunil G Wijesinha, Sanath Ukwatte and Manilal Fernando – many of them also in its Audit Committee – some even as Chairmen!

*Picture courtesy SriLankan Airlines Facebook page

Arjuna Mahendran questioned at Bribery Commission

April 16, 2015

The Bribery Commission has recorded a statement from the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Arjuna Mahendran, in connection with the treasury bonds issue.

Mr Mahendran gave a statement at the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption from 9.00am to 3.30pm today, his lawyers said.

The Sri Lankan-born international banker was appointed to the helm of the central bank in January, after Maithripala Sirisena was elected as President.

Mr Mahendran has been in the spotlight recently due to the controversy surrounding a Treasury bond issue by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL).

There had been rising concerns in bond markets over controversial deals made by Perpetual Treasuries, a firm connected to Arjun Aloysius, the son-in-law of Governor Arjuna Mahendran.

In March, the President appointed a three-member committee to investigate alleged irregularities surrounding the bond issue.

The money markets were in an uproar on February 27 when the CB announced it was accepting bids worth Rs. 10 billion at 9.50-12.50 per cent whereas clients and most primary dealers had made bids between 9.50 and 10.50 per cent, not in the 11-12 per cent range. Only a few bids, including those by Perpetual Treasuries were made in the 12 per cent range.

The JVP had called for the Governor to step down until the probe launched into the bond issue is concluded.

However, Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe informed the Parliament that same week that Mahendran will be on leave until investigation on the treasury bonds issue is concluded.

PM’s secretary responds over ‘Mr. 10 pc’!

Thursday, 16 April 2015

Secretary to the prime minister E.M.S.B. Ekanayake has emailed a response to the article published by us yesterday (15) titled ‘Who is Mr. 10 pc at PM’s office?’

That response says the said article is false and baseless, and that it is unfair to level such allegations. The PM’s secretary requests that the name and the position of the person in question be made public. Or else to remove the article.

Editor’s note: First, we thank secretary to the PM Saman Ekanayake for sending us a quick response even during the New Year holidays. What we can say about the article in question is that it is correct and is based on facts. If a hint is wanted about the identity of the person involved, what we can say is that he has been a senior officer at the opposition leader’s office in the past, and the PM’s office now. If you need further hints, we propose to find out about the person in the picture below and get further details from him.

Who is ‘Mr. 10 per cent’ at PM’s office?

FORMER CIA AGENT: “THE ISIS LEADER ABU BAKR AL BAGHDADI WAS TRAINED BY THE ISRAELI MOSSAD”

BY ANAS CHIHAB- JUL 17TH, 2014

The former NSA and CIA agent Edward Snowden revealed that the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi was trained in Israel, various Iranien sources reported.

Snowden added that the American CIA and the British Intelligence collaborated with the Israeli Mossad to create a terrorist organization that is able to attract all extremists of the world to one place, using a strategy called “the hornet’s nest”.

The “Hornet’s nest’’ strategy aims to bring all the major threats to one place in order to track them, and mostly to shake the stability of the Arab countries. The NSA agent revealed that the ISIS “Calif”, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadiwent trough intense military training in the Israeli intelligence “Mossad”.

Besides military training, Al Baghdadi studied communication and public speaking skills in order to attract “terrorists” from all the corners of the world.

Related Post: “Al-Baghdadi Should Take Off his Mask and Declare Loudly and Clearly that He Is a CIA Agent,” Chechnya President Kadirov

The Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), an independent non-profit organization in the province of Quebec, Canada, which focuses on research and media, relayed a story about this as well, adding that “three countries created a terrorist organisation that is able to attract all extremists of the world to one place,” using the aforementioned “the hornet’s nest” strategy.

“The only solution for the protection of the Jewish state is to create an enemy near its borders,” Snowden was reported to say.

Related Posts:

(Video included) Israeli Sniper Shoots and Kills a Wounded Civilian Palestinian Literally Like “a Dog in the streets”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Time Magazine has released on July 19, 2014 an article arguing that this story, which was reported by many Iranian sources including Iran News Agency, is a conspiracy theory from Iran and that it is not true. Nevertheless, it is worth pointing out that though the piece of news went viral on the net, Snowden did not refute the claims of the Iranian News Agency.

Burnt alive: violence against migrants in South Africa

In the past 48 hours at least five immigrants have been killed in the latest in a string of xenophobic attacks in Durban, South Africa. Most of the pictures are too graphic to show.

WEDNESDAY 15 APRIL 2015-JAMAL OSMAN

In one video a group of migrants are rounded up and burnt alive - including a child. In another a man is dragged on the streets naked and then stoned.

Some migrants are too scared to go out, and others have armed themselves trying to protect their livelihoods.

800 police officers have been deployed on the streets of Durban, and their presence causes tension and chaos. They try to reassure immigrants about their safety - but with their dismal record, there isn't much trust.

There is evidence that the violence is spreading outside of the city. On Wednesday in Johannesburg an Ethiopian man was attacked before others came to his rescue. The city was the epicentre of a similar violence in 2008 in which about 60 people died.

'Pack their bags'

Immigrants are blamed for taking jobs and opprtunities from locals. Many of them have been forced to close their shops.

Reported comments by the Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini - that foreigners should "pack their bags" and leave - are thought to have stoked the fires of hatred. Many of those rioting were heard chanting "the king has spoken".

The government has refused to categorise these attack as xenophobic, instead warning against spreading false information.

This is seen as a terrible tragedy of memory by South Africans who endured racial intolerance under apartheid. Africans, who supported the country's liberation, are being rewarded with beatings and burnings.

A disappointing failure of the African brotherhood.

Russia-Japan relations over disputed islands unchanged after Crimea - Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures as he meets with journalists after a live broadcast nationwide call-in in Moscow April 16, 2015.-REUTERS/MAXIM SHEMETOV

Thu Apr 16, 2015

(Reuters) - Russia's relations with Japan over disputed Pacific Islands have not changed following Moscow's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

Tokyo and Moscow have been involved in a decades-old dispute over islands north of Hokkaido, known as the Kuriles in Russia and referred to as the Northern Territories in Japan.

"Our relations with Japan ... concerning this territorial issue have not changed at all in connection with Crimea," Putin said during his annual televised call-in show.

Putin said he was ready to discuss the issue but blamed Japan for a lack of dialogue.

In line with the United States and the European Union, Japan imposed visa bans on a number of Russians after Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula last year.

(Reporting by Denis Pinchuk; Writing by Jack Stubbs; Editing by Jason Bush and Alison Williams)

The Kickback That Killed Brazil

Itaboraí was once a petro-boomtown; it’s now an empty shell. How the Petrobras mega-scandal is destroying ordinary lives and bringing down the rich and powerful.

BY BRUCE DOUGLAS-APRIL 15, 2015

RiO DE JANEIRO — Underneath the tiled awning of her whitewashed veranda, Cassia Gonçalves Moreira, 46, scoops clumps of damp pastry from a large plastic tub, rolls them between her hands, and methodically lines the bottom of a dozen or so small tins arranged on the table in front of her.

The Kickback That Killed Brazil.odt by Thavam Ratna