Impossible Possibilities for Good Governance

by Sarath Wijesinghe
Views expressed in this article are author own

Good Governance

( April 17, 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian)  Good Governance is indications on how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage resources belong to the public.  Often, Good Governance focuses on a set of rules and requirements that confirms to organizational agenda.   To promote Good Governance, State, Private Sector and Civil Society will have to work hand in hand, with one word, vision and a mission.

Impossible Possibilities for Good Governance by Thavam Ratna

Pingo loads of political desperation

April 17, 2015, 7:17 pm 

"Negam Yaama" or the visiting of family, relatives and friends is an important tradition of the Sinhala & Tamil New Year festivity. It helps strengthen existing relations, promotes goodwill, erases enmities and draws new people into the circle of relatives and friends.

With politics, embracing almost all aspects of life in Sri Lanka, it is not surprising that in the past decades, politics did play a major part in the "Negam Yaama" tradition, with political leaders in any area, be they Ministers, Members of Parliament, Provincial Councillors or Pradeshiya Sabha members being at the centre of these events; with a good market for betel leaf that is a necessary part of this special ritual of meeting and greeting for the New Year. Many, who did not bother to visit their close family relatives at Avurudu time, did make it a point to visit to their political sponsors, with sheaves of betel leaf, plenty of traditional sweetmeats, and other gifts that would ensure them more gifts and favours in the coming year.

In the old days "Negam Yaama" saw the carrying of pingos loaded with traditional Avurudu sweetmeats and plenty of other gifts to be shared with the family relatives and friends, and to make up with those one had fallen out with in the past year. It was a lovely tradition, indeed.

There was a big revival in the political "Negam Yaama" at this Avurudu season, with the large number of politicians of the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), who are now out of power, making a special Negam visit to their defeated leader, Mahinda Rajapaksa, at Carlton in Tangalle. There are no reports of any pingos of special gifts being taken on this visit, but instead there were loads of political desperation, and a large attendance of the media, to take the message of this special Arurudu reunion to the country.

This special "Deshapalana Negam Yaama" or political visiting exercise has given a new boost to the buzz about the future plans of Mahinda Rajapaksa, especially in the context of the coming general election. The fifty plus politicos who made this trek to their defeated leader gave much hope to those who still hope and pray, especially at Buddhist temples, for a Rajapaksa return, at least as Prime Minister, that their prayers would indeed be answered.

An interesting aspect of this political "Negam Yaama" is to know whether those did make the trip had the courage to make some criticism of the Rajapaksa regime that has thrown both him and them out of the pleasures and prizes of office, or whether they remained silent about all the corruption that is spoken about in the country today.

There are some who think it was an effort to seek a return to some positions of power that would help hide their own corrupt practices for even longer, under the great expectation of second Rajapaksa premiership, which would give him much more executive power than what he had as PM earlier.

If they did bring a gift back from his special Negam gathering it was the agreement that the leader of the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP), Dinesh Gunewardena, son of the red-red Philip Gunewardena who ended with the greens, would be the next Leader of the Opposition. One is uncertain how much of an impact this would have among the people, but it must have been a cause of concern for the current Leader of the Opposition, Nimal Siripala de Silva. He must be now busy trying to arrange a special, even belated, Negam event at his residence in Badulla, to make sure that he keeps this office of little purpose today.

This Negam tradition opens up many interesting new opportunities, especially to those who have fallen out or criticized others in the past to make up for what they must now consider their past mistakes, and build up new friendships. A good case is that of Wimal Weerawansa or Brave-clan, who was highly critical and even called for the removal of the former Secretary to the Treasury P. B. Jayasundera. This is the time to go with a loaded pingo to meet Jayasundera and patch up any differences, especially after the man has been asked to meet people at the Commission on Bribery and Corruption. Many reunions of similar types are said to take place there these days.

Weerawansa could also make a special request from the Government to go carrying a pingo to New York, to meet with Ban Ki-moon and make up with him for that farce of a fast that he performed in front of the UN Office in Colombo, some years ago; when a sip of Rajapaksa juice saw him end a so-called fast unto uncertain death. There are many questions asked about why there were no political Negam events, where members of he SLFP paid Avurudu visits to the leader of the party, President Maithripala Sirisena, and the other patron of the SLFP, former President Chandrika Kumaratunga. It would appear that the political realties of today did not call for such Negam events; and even if some of it did take place they may have been with the traditional pingos of goodwill and not with loads of the media.

There is also an interesting and curious silence about any Negam visits to the UNP leader, who is also Prime Minister today. The thinking is that he does not need people, even his own supporters or former critics within the UNP, to come to him crawling or carrying pingos of political alliance, because he has the assurance of the green light of success in the coming months; especially with political "Negam Yaama" to Carlton ensuring a divided opposition in the coming general election.

The weeks and months ahead will see much more of political "Negam Yaama" taking place, having nothing to do with the Sinhala and Tamil New Year.

Massive revenue losses on the imports of tyres

Friday, 17 April 2015

The Government is incurring massive losses in revenue in the import of automobile tyres due to malpractices and irregularities at the department of customs.

The following letter has submitted to the Department of Customs in Sri Lanka to reveal losses.

Sri Lankan Airlines: Over Rs. 712 Million Duty Free Total Loss In Last Three Years & Still Continues

April 17, 2015

A group of airline professionals have confirmed that the loss Sri Lankan Airlines has incurred due to the ‘fraudulent’ duty free deal signed between the airline and its supplier Phoenix Duty Free Services exceeds way over Rs 712 million as opposed to the findings as highlighted by the Board of Inquiry into the misappropriations of the airline and headed by Lawyer J.C. Weliamuna and his team.

The panel headed by anti-corruption advocate and senior lawyer J. C. Weliamuna has said; “There is a major difference in the original draft agreement forwarded by M/S Phoenix when compared with the agreement SLA actually signed with M/S Phoenix. This difference caused a significant loss of revenue that SLA would otherwise have received”.

However a group of airline professionals who wished to remain anonymous revealed that the besides the contract being amended in 2013 to write off over US $ 2.5 million in the first three years of its operation, the airline failed to factor the fuel cost to carry the weight of duty free on board.

On the 14th of April 2015 ‘Colombo Telegraph’ exposed part of that loss pertaining to a sum of US $ 2,596,398 or Rs. 338 million in its story titled “Sri Lankan Airlines Rs 338 Million Fraud: In Flight Duty Free ‘Day Light Robbery’ Still Continues”.

The Board of Inquiry revealed in their concluded report that the Sri Lankan Airlines had also lost out a monumental amount of US $ 1.8 million as well in the first two years since the operation began due to the formula that the guaranteed payments were worked out.    

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Are Islamic Extremists Poised to Swallow Bangladesh?

[Killing of Avijit Roy]

By Bhaskar Roy.-17/04/2015

The assassination of two liberal bloggers in quick succession in February and March raises some very disturbing questions.

First was that of Avijit Roy, a Bangladeshi-American, who came to attend the “21st February” book fair where a couple of his books were on sale. Machete wielding assailants killed him while his wife Rafida Bonna was injured. Policemen watching the incident simply walked away, ignoring Rafida’s pleas for help.

Are Islamic Extremists Poised to Swallow Bangladesh by Thavam Ratna

Colombo Port City causing "unimaginable" environmental harm
by Sajeewa Chamikara-04/17/2015

Expert tells AsiaNews about the consequences of the Chinese-funded project, which violates Environmental Impact Assessment rules. Sand and granite mining are destroying the local coral reef and marine life, as well as the livelihood of 30,000 fishermen. Beachfront erosion will likely cause damages to coastal houses and hotels as well.


Colombo (AsiaNews) – The new Colombo Port Cityshould  be scrapped because the “sovereign, economic, social and environmental costs of the project far outweigh whatever benefits” it might bring, this according to a public tribunal hosted by anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International Sri Lanka (TIS), which is opposed to the project funded by the China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCCL).
Construction is currently halted, but fishermen and activists with the People's Movement against the Port City Project are concerned that the government might backtrack on its promise to shelve the project and allow work to resume.

Colombo Port City Causing Unimaginable Environmental Harm by Thavam Ratna

South Africa violence provokes anger of a continent

South Africa is not like any other country - it has a special place in the hearts of ordinary Africans. But that could change after the recent fatal attacks on immigrants.

JAMAL OSMAN-FRIDAY 17 APRIL 2015
Africans worldwide have taken to social media to show their anger against the xenophobic attacks in South Africa, writes Channel 4 News reporter Jamal Osman.

At least five immigrants have been killed in the latest attack. Many others have closed their businesses for fear of their safety.

Zimbabweans, Mozambicans, Malawians, Congolese, Somalis and Ethiopians have borne the brunt of the attacks.

People will be appalled by any killings. But what makes this particularly chilling is the beatings and burnings of fellow Africans - captured on cameras and then posted online. It's important to note that some of the videos circulating are not recent.

Not like any country

However, South Africa is not like any other country in the continent. It has a special place in the hearts of Africans. Many feel united by its past and invested in its uncertain future. The struggle against the apartheid regime was seen as an African battle. Most nations helped South Africans through military training, political backing or moral support.

South Africa is also Nelson Mandela's home country - a man that Africans regard as a father figure, a hero.

Even the Pan-African Parliament is based in the country. It is mission is "to provide a common platform for African peoples... on the problems and challenges facing the continent."

Backlash begins

That is what people expected from Mandela's successors. Africans are not only angry, but the backlash against South Africans has already began.

South African engineers working in Mozambique have been taken to secure camps after threats of reprisal xenophobic attacks.

In Nigeria, a protester was quoted as saying: "If they force our brothers out of their county, they should remember that what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. We would not hesitate, not by force but progressive agitation to tell South Africans in Nigeria to leave".

Here in Britain, South African musician Kelly Khumalo has been forced to cancel to performances in Manchester and Coventry after threats to disrupt her gigs over the xenophobic attacks in her country.

A country that was looked upon to help solve the continent's problems has rewarded with killings. It feels to many like a betrayal of the African brotherhood. South Africa's place in the hearts of ordinary Africans may never be the same again.

​Genocide Under Our Watch
Newly declassified White House documents place Richard Clarke and Susan Rice at the forefront of U.S. efforts to limit a robust U.N. peacekeeping operation before and during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. 

BY COLUM LYNCH-APRIL 16, 2015

Nearly two weeks into the 1994 mass killings in Rwanda that would ultimately be called genocide, Eric P. Schwartz, a human rights specialist on the National Security Council, wrote a memorandum to his White House colleagues voicing alarm over reports of tens of thousands of slaughtered ethnic Tutsis.

​Genocide Under Our Watch by Thavam Ratna

US-EU Nuclear Deal with Iran Exposes Western Hypocrisy

By Latheef Farook  -April 17, 2015 

The United States and  its European countries have finally managed to force Iran to agree to a nuclear deal by using sanctions and other ruthless means crippling Iran’s economy and causing sufferings to its people. However this is not the end as key issues need to be resolved before a final agreement by June 30. However no such immoral methods were used to force Israel which is reported to be, not developing, but having around 400 nuclear bombs threatening the entire region?

US-EU Nuclear Deal With Iran Exposes Western Hypocrisy by Thavam Ratna

Yemen crisis: Al-Qaeda seizes southern airport

AQAP's advance comes amid the continuing air strikes campaign against the Houthis

16 April 2015

Militants from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) have seized an airport in southern Yemen, officials say.

Troops guarding the site in the major port city of Mukalla, Hadramawt province, have fled, they said.

AQAP has exploited the chaos gripping the country, overrunning Mukalla earlier this month and freeing inmates from a prison.

A Saudi-led coalition has been bombing Shia Houthi rebels, who have been advancing across the country.

The Houthis swept into the capital Sanaa last September, eventually forcing President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi to flee abroad.

AQAP fighters have also reportedly took control of a sea port and an oil terminal in southern Yemen.

As the coalition strikes continue against the Houthis, Yemeni Vice-President Khaled Bahah said he did not want a Saudi-led ground offensive.

With the raids failing to stop the rebels, there has been speculation a ground campaign could be launched.

Yemen's Vice-President, Khaled Bahah, does not want to see a ground offensive 

But Mr Bahah said: "We are still hoping that nothing will happen, and we are not expanding the war, but we are trying to stop the war."

Earlier, it was announced the UN's special envoy to Yemen, Jamal Benomar, has stepped down from his post.

The UN said it would name a successor "in due course" and "spare no efforts to relaunch the peace process".

The Moroccan diplomat is believed to have come under pressure to resign from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states after he failed to get the warring Yemeni factions to attend peace talks.

Who is fighting whom in Yemen?

Houthis - The Zaidi Shia Muslim rebels from the north overran Sanaa last year and then expanded their control. They want to replace Mr Hadi, whose government they say is corrupt. The US alleges Iran is providing military assistance to the rebels.

Ali Abdullah Saleh - Military units loyal to the former president - forced to hand over power in 2011 after mass protests - are fighting alongside the Houthis.

Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi - The president fled abroad in March as the rebels advanced on Aden, where he had taken refuge in February. Sunni Muslim tribesmen and Southern separatists have formed militia to fight the rebels.

Saudi-led coalition - A US-backed coalition of nine, mostly Sunni Arab states says it is seeking to "defend the legitimate government" of Mr Hadi.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula - AQAP opposes both the Houthis and President Hadi. A rival affiliate of Islamic State has also recently emerged.

Deadly car bomb targets U.S. consulate in Iraq's Erbil

Smoke rises from the site of a bomb attack in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdistan region, April 17, 2015.-REUTERS/STRINGER

BY ISABEL COLES-Fri Apr 17, 2015

(Reuters) - A car bombing at the entrance to the U.S. consulate in the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan region killed at least one person and wounded five others on Friday the local mayor said.

The State Department said no U.S. personnel were killed in the blast that it said was caused by a “vehicle-borne improvised explosive device” that went off right outside the entrance to the heavily guarded compound.

Semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan is an important partner in a U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State militants who have seized swathes of Iraq.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

A Reuters witness heard the blast which was followed by brief gunfire. Such attacks are rare in Erbil, a haven of relative safety in a country torn apart by insurgency and sectarian strife where, in many areas, bombings are a daily occurrence.

“A car bomb exploded outside the entrance to the U.S. consulate,” Nihad Qoja, the mayor of Erbil’s city centre, told Reuters. “It seems the consulate was the target.”

He said the bomber had killed one person and wounded five others. It was not immediately clear who had been killed.

The blast produced a plume of black smoke that rose high above the Ankawa district, a predominantly Christian neighbourhood packed with cafes that is popular with foreigners.

Kurdish peshmerga fighters have driven back Islamic State in northern Iraq with the help of U.S.-led coalition air strikes.

The last major attack in Erbil was in November, when a suicide car bomber blew himself up outside the entrance to the governor’s office in the heart of the city, killing five. Islamic State claimed responsibility

(Writing by Oliver Holmes and Robin Pomeroy; Editing by Alison Williams)

RETIRED CIA AGENT CONFESSES ON DEATHBED: “I KILLED MARILYN MONROE”

 by Barbara Johnson-March 25th, 2015

Norfolk, Virginia| A 78-year old retired officer of the CIA, Normand Hodges, has made a series of astonishing confessions since he was admitted at the Sentara General Hospital on Monday. He claims he committed 37 assassinations for the American government between 1959 and 1972, including the actress and model, Marilyn Monroe.

Mr. Hodges, who worked for the CIA for 41 years as an operative with top-level security clearances, claims he was often employed as a hitman by the organization, to assassinate individuals who could represent a threat to the security of the country.

 Trained as both a sniper and a martial arts expert, Mr Hodges says he also has significant experience with more unconventional methods of inflicting harm upon others, like poisons and explosives.

Mr. Hodges swears he remembers vividly, each of the assassinations he committed for the CIA.  He claims that all 37 of the murders he committed on the American soil, were ordered by his commanding officer, Major James “Jimmy” Hayworth.

The elderly man claims he committed his assassinations between August 1959 and March 1972, at a time when he says “the CIA had its own agenda“. He says he was part of an operative cell of five members which carried out political assassinations across the country. Most of their victims were political activists, journalists and union leaders, but he also claims that he killed a few scientists and artists whose ideas represented a threat to the interests of the United States.

Mr. Hodges says that Marilyn Monroe remains unique among his victims, as she is the only woman he ever assassinated. He claims he has no regrets, however, as he says that she had become a “threat for the security of the country”  and had to be eliminated.

“We had evidence that Marilyn Monroe had not only slept with Kennedy, but also with Fidel Castro” claims M. Hodges. ” My commanding officer, Jimmy Hayworth, told me that she had to die, and that it had to look like a suicide or an overdose. I had never killed a woman before, but I obeyed orders… I did it for America! She could have transmitted strategic information to the communists, and we couldn’t allow that! She had to die! I just did what I had to do!”

Marilyn Monroe died between midnight and 1 AM, on August 5, 1962. Mr Hodges claims he entered her room while she was sleeping and injected her with a massive dose of chloral hydrate (a powerful sedative), mixed with Nembutal (a short-acting barbiturate), causing her death.

The 78-year old man was placed under custody by the FBI, which is taking Mr Hodges’ confession very seriously and has opened an investigation to verify his allegations. The investigation might be very complicated, however, as very few written files are available on such secret activities and most of the actors implicated in the various cases are already dead.

The most important witness in the story after Mr. Hodges himself, his alleged commanding officer, Major James Hayworth, died of a heart attack in 2011. Two of the other three “CIA assassins” identified by Mr Hodges are also dead, and the last one, Captain Keith McInnis, went missing in action in 1968 and is presumed dead.

Brazil's 'bullets, beef and bible' caucus wants to imprison 16-year-olds

Bolstered by rising resentment toward President Dilma Rousseff, Jair Bolsonaro and other rightwing politicians want to lower age of criminal responsibility

 Brazilian legislator Jair Bolsonaro: the country’s social assistance programmes have encouraged ‘irresponsible paternity’. Photograph: Fernando Bizerra Jr./EPA

Bruce Douglas in Rio de Janeiro-Friday 17 April 2015

Among Brazil’s weak and demoralised leftwing members of Congress, they are known as the “Bancada BBB”: Bullets, Beef and Bible Caucus.

These conservative hardliners – from Brazil’s security forces, agricultural sector and evangelical churches – triumphed in last October’s legislative elections, whilePresident Dilma Rousseff, of the leftwing Workers’ Party (PT), only narrowly won re-election.

Brazil's 'Bullets, Beef and Bible' Caucus Wants to Imprison 16-Year-olds by Thavam Ratna

Veteran Chinese Journalist Gao Yu Sentenced to 7 Years

FILE - In this June 9, 2012 file photo, Chinese journalist Gao Yu attends an opening ceremony of Chinese artist Liu Xia’s photo exhibition in Hong Kong. A court in Beijing on Friday, April 17, 2015 sentenced Gao to seven years in prison for leaking a… View Full CaptionThe Associated Press 

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN and ISOLDA MORILLO Associated Press

 Apr 17, 2015, 12:16 AM ET

A Beijing court sentenced a veteran Chinese journalist to seven years in prison Friday after convicting her of leaking a document detailing the Communist Party leadership's resolve to aggressively target civil society and press freedom as a threat to its monopoly on power.

The sentence against Gao Yu, 71, comes amid a widening clampdown on free speech that highlights the gap between China's vision of rule of law and Western notions of civil liberties and judicial fairness. The document Gao was convicted of leaking, deemed a state secret, underpins the clampdown under the 2 ½-year-old administration of Communist Party leader Xi Jinping.

The court verdict appears to confirm the authenticity of the leaked document, which had been reported since June 2013 but never was discussed openly by the leadership.

It verifies widely held assumptions about X's distrust of any social organization outside party control, recently manifested in the more-than monthlong detentions of five women's rights activists detained after planning to start a public awareness campaign about sexual harassment.

Gao had denied the charges, which could have carried a life sentence.

Gao's lawyer Mo Shaoping said Gao was convicted of leaking state secrets by giving the strategy paper, known as Document No. 9, to an overseas media group. The document argued for aggressive curbs on the spread of Western democracy, universal values, civil society and press freedom, which the party considers a threat to its rule.

Another of Gao's lawyers, Shang Baojun, said Gao did not speak during the verdict and sentencing, but told her brother, Gao Wei, that she could not accept the result. "We will definitely appeal," Shang said.

Speaking to The Associated Press, Gao Wei said his sister appeared thinner and frailer than before her detention a year ago.

The court seemed to disregard Gao Yu's defense lawyers but heard only the prosecution, Gao Wei said, a common complaint in such cases where the outcome is usually determined before the court meets.

"I'm very angry and concerned for my sister," Gao Wei said.

Police patrolled the perimeter of Beijing's No. 3 Intermediate Court where the verdict was delivered. Journalists and foreign diplomats gathered at the court but were denied entry to the hearing.

"We're obviously disappointed with the verdict," said U.S. Embassy First Secretary Dan Biers.

Gao, who wrote about politics, economics and social issues for media in Hong Kong and overseas, has already served time in prison on state secrets charges more than two decades ago.

In a statement, human rights watchdog Amnesty International said that Gao was the victim of vaguely worded and arbitrary state secrets law that is often used against activists to quell freedom of expression.

"This deplorable sentence against Gao Yu is nothing more than blatant political persecution by the Chinese authorities," William Nee, the group's China researcher, said in the statement.

The Hong Kong magazine to which Gao is alleged to have leaked the document, Minjing Monthly, issued a statement reiterating its contention that the charges against Gao were false. The magazine first reported on the document in August 2013.

The magazine suggested the document already had been circulated at the time when Gao is alleged to have leaked it. It also said the information contained neither military nor economic secrets, but was merely a "correct guidance" on ideological matters.

"This unjust judgment of an outstanding Chinese journalist utterly destroys Xi Jinping's commitment to 'rule according to law'," the magazine said.

3 Powerful Beverages To Treat Arthritis & Joint Pain Naturally

March 5, 2015

If you have arthritis, it means that something is wrong with the joints, and what exactly is wrong depends on the type of arthritis you have. It may be the case that your cartilage is worn out, that you have a lack of synovial fluid, autoimmune infection or combination of different factors.

Whatever the causes of arthritis are, it comes with quite severe pain, therefore we will now introduce a natural way to get rid of the pain caused by arthritis.

                                                                                                      Treat Arthritis with juices

Juices are, according to many, a great long-term therapy to relieve pain in the joints. They are very effective, and there are no unintended consequences or side effects.

One of the advantages of this method of treatment is that in addition to eliminating pain, it has a holistic effect on the whole body as well, rejuvenates and provides energy. There is no need to worry about the dosage, because overdosing is completely safe.

Natural juices can be used as a deterrent, but also as a medicine in cases of patients whose joints have already been affected by arthritis. Here is a list of juices which are most effective in this case:

Pineapple juice

Pineapple juice is very good for the health of joints since it contains natural enzymes called bromelain, known for its anti-inflammatory properties.

Pineapple juice is very effective in sports injuries, joint pain and postoperative swelling. Besides this, it is a great fuel for your body, and contains almost all the necessary minerals and vitamins. It is recommended to consume 300-350 milliliters of pineapple juice a day.

Cherry juice

Cherries contain a chemical known as anthocyanins, which acts as a potent anti-inflammatory agent and relieves pain caused by arthritis. It contains beta carotene, and copper, which are very effective in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

The juice of raw potato

This juice is one of the most effective natural medicines for problems caused by arthritis, used for centuries for these purposes. The traditional method of preparing the potato juice is to cut the potatoes into very thin slices, together with the bark and put them in a glass full of water and leave the mixture over the night. Drink this water in the morning on an empty stomach.

Note:

You can prepare juices from raw fruits with the help of a juicer or blender, since the bought juices of pineapple or cherries can’t be used as medicine.