Cat is out of the bag!

 Saturday, 23 May 2015

Given below is the original of an email we received from the website truthgossipnews.blogspot.com.

It exposes that the senior management of Sirasa is soliciting sexual bribes. We have vast information to prove that Sirasa Media Network is a sexual slave camp. The bottles of arrack and unused condoms found from a studio are evidence of this. However, since it is taking place with the consent of both parties, it is not hot news for us. Therefore, we will give an assurance that we will not expose sexual bribes being solicited at Sirasa. What is new for us is what is politically and socially important incidents only.

Just one more thing. We do not publish this with any hatred towards fellow journalists at Sirasa Media Network. We highly value their support in making these exposures. The senior management of Sirasa still has the opportunity to rectify itself.

The article on website truthgossipnews.blogspot.com:

Plan to expose sexual bribes solicited by Sirasa senior management

A plan is reported to Truth Gossip News regarding the throwing of mud at the senior management of Sirasa.

Derana TV, Neth FM, Lanka News Web and Magenta Advertising are involved in this plan.

The mastermind of this plan is Prashanth Subramaniam, the director of a leading advertising agency.

He has advised his copywriters and editors to secretly arrange the plan to attack Sirasa.

Truth Gossip News has come to know that this plan will be based on allegations of sexual bribes.

They say only the new female announcers and female reporters who agree to give sexual bribes to the senior management get promotions.

In addition, they are planning to build a public opinion that Sirasa is obtaining media bribes by way of threatening companies over the negative aspects of new projects.

Recently, Derana news also carried various views regarding this.

http://truthgossipnews.blogspot.com

Handing Over Arms To The LTTE

By Rajan Hoole –May 23, 2015 

Dr. Rajan Hoole

Law Enforcement and the Security Services: Politicisation and Demoralisation – 14

Formal talks between the Premadasa Government and the LTTE commenced in May 1989. Present at these sessions along with Premadasa, were Defence Secretary General Attygalle and cabinet ministers, among whom were, Ranjan Wijeratne, Wijayapala Mendis, Festus Perera, A.C.S. Hameed and Ranil Wickremesinghe. About July 1989 President Premadasa asked Attygalle to hand over to the LTTE a consignment of arms in accordance with a hand-written list, apparently given by the LTTE. Attygalle averred that this had not been discussed at the talks and that he had deleted heavy artillery and mortars from the list. He named Colonel T.M. Bohran and SSP Lionel Karunasena, Commandant STF, as among those who took part in arms deliveries and that Wanasinghe had got orders from his superior officers. The event also reveals Premadasa’s style of doing the important business secretively, through the back door.

Formal talks between the Premadasa Government and the LTTE commenced in May 1989

According to Colonel Bohran who was then the Army’s Civil Co-ordinating Officer at Weli Oya, Defence Secretary Attygalle had once called him and asked him to ‘turn a blind eye to the LTTE’s activities in Weli Oya and not to care about their attacks’. In effect, this meant, ignore attacks on Sinhalese settlers. Later, he was called by General Cyril Ranatunge, who was in charge of Operational Head Quarters, and sent to the Army Commander (Wanasinghe). Wanasinghe had asked him to hand over a consignment of arms to the LTTE and keep it a secret. The total consignment passed on through several points included a thousand or more rifles, several hundred thousand rounds of ammunition, hundreds of RPGs etc. The Defence Ministry also cleared imports for the LTTE, which included communication spares, along with handcuffs and finger cuffs for its famous detention camps.

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​Lankan driver jailed over jogger death in UK



2015-05-23
An "extremely tired" van driver who hit and killed a jogger near Epsom after working a 12-hour night shift has been jailed for four years, in the United Kingdom. 

When his vehicle fatally struck Louisa Gammie in Worcester Park on a morning last November, 34-year-old Shamugarasa Vinayagasivampillai had only slept for only around four hours, having just worked a 12-hour night shift for the previous seven days.

 Vinayagasivampillai was sentenced at Guildford Crown Court on Friday having previously pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving. 

He was behind the wheel of a Nissan Primastar van in Old Malden Lane on Saturday November 8 2014 when he veered across the road, missed the oncoming traffic, but hit Ms Gammie. 

The 39-year-old sadly died in hospital the next day. 

The court heard that the defendant, of Meadway in Surbiton, held down two jobs - a 12-hour night shift for seven days a week, plus an afternoon job four days a week. 

He had worked both before the tragic incident and had just run an errand for his uncle when he struck Ms Gammie, who was running along the verge. 

Prosecutor Rossano Scamardella said: "Police officers at the scene noted that, notwithstanding what had just happened, the defendant kept falling asleep. 

"He could not remember what had caused the collision. The first thing he knew he heard a bang and saw people getting out of their cars in his mirror.

" Mr Scamardella told the court the defendant had previous convictions for drink driving and driving without insurance from 2012. 

Defence counsel Nicholas Barraclough said his client had been financially responsible for his mother in Sri Lanka, from where he had come as a refugee in 2000, as well as his two sisters, who's weddings and dowries he had recently funded shortly before the accident. 

"Nothing can be said at this stage on his behalf to make this tragedy any better for the family," he said. 

"All he can do through me is humbly and sincerely apologise for his actions

." Sentencing the defendant, Judge Christopher Critchlow said: "You have brought a tragedy to the family who sit in this court as a result of your driving when you were plainly too tired. 

"You should not have been anywhere near a motorcar. 

"Nothing I can say can bring back to her family a talented woman: an HR adviser; a young mother and partner. It was an awful day for that family which they will never forget.

" Judge Critchlow also disqualified the defendant from driving for six years. 

Following the sentencing, Detective Sergeant Gary Wright said: "This was a tragic incident which resulted in a woman losing her life, and our thoughts and sympathies remain with her family and friends. 

"Shamugarasa Vinayagasivampillai's reckless actions by getting behind the wheel that morning when he was extremely tired had catastrophic consequences, which Louisa Gammie's family will have to live with for the rest of their lives.

" And in a clear warning to other motorists, DS Wright added: "If you know you are tired, the answer is simple – do not drive.”(getsurrey)

Secret of glyphosate container release exposed: importation banned

Saturday, 23 May 2015 

President Maithripala Sirisena told a function at the BMICH in Colombo yesterday that the importation of the agrochemical glyphosate, which contains arsenic and heavy metal, will be banned with immediate effect.

He said, “Certain businessmen asked me to let them sell the glyphosate already imported. But, not even a single person more cannot be allowed to be victimized to kidney disease. Therefore, the importation of this pesticide is banned.”

Previously, our website reported that 15 containerloads of glyphosate were released at the port. Therefore, it is clear that action has been taken to ban the importation of glyphosate after allowing the clearance of the stocks and selling of the same. If president Sirisena, as the first head of state from Rajarata, is so considerate of the farmers of his area, he should have banned the importation without allowing the clearance of these stocks.

When we contacted coordinator of the Environment Studies Cente Ravindra Kariyawasam, he said, “The government banned the importation only after releasing 15 containerloads of glyphosate at the port. Those 15 containerloads are enough to fulfil about 10 years of requirement. Therefore, the importation ban will not

prevent the harm being caused to this country. After this chemical enters the soil and the water, its effects remains there for about 20 years. Also, banning glyphosate is not enough. All fertilizers and pesticides containing nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium should be banned. This process of banning the importation makes it clear that rather than the Rajarata farmers, this ‘yaha paalana’ government is considerate of the businessmen

My big fat Israeli arsenal

With Washington's latest gift — thousands of smart bombs, missiles and bunker busters — our pace of armament continues to spiral, yet I don’t feel any safer.

An Israeli soldier at a mobile artillery unit carries a shell to be fired at the Gaza Strip during last August's confrontation. Photo by Reuters

By Uri Misgav | May 23, 2015

It warms the heart to hear of the Pentagon’s “compensation deal” with Israel in exchange for the agreement with Iran.

The deal consists of 8,000 smart bombs, 14,500 smart bomb guidance systems, 50 bunker busters, 4,100 “small” bombs (only 110 kilograms of explosives) and 3,000 Hellfire missiles for the Apache helicopters. The overall cost is $1.8 billion. This does not include separate deals for another 3,000 bomb guidance kits and enlarging the F-35 stealth bomber fleet.

What is all this armament intended for and where? To ensure an Israeli attack in Iran, immediately after the powers sign an international agreement with it? Perhaps just to replenish stockpiles after the last war rampage in Gaza, which broke all the Israel Defense Forces' records in ammunition use?

The Pentagon announced that these deals reflect the “American commitment to Israel’s security.” Funny thing, the pace of armament keeps increasing, yet I don’t feel any safer over the years. History has proved that reckless armament doesn’t lead to security. It leads mainly to wars. Since 2006, when Israel began to base its warfare almost exclusively on fire power and pounding from the air, we’ve had one war in Lebanon and three in Gaza. Four wars in less than a decade.

That’s why it appears to me that these deals reflect mainly the American commitment to the American arms industries. One suspects that Israel is indeed “the American aircraft carrier in the Middle East.” But not as a metaphor or a simile — a real aircraft carrier. An enormous arsenal. An impenetrable bunker whose scope is impossible to discuss, not to mention its very existence.

According to this bitter logic, the Americans won’t help us end the conflict, at the most they’ll help us manage the flames. The conflict produces just too many jobs for them and their politicians. The Germans won’t save us either. Guilt-ridden, they compensate us with nuclear submarines and missile boats to safeguard Yitzhak Tshuva and Noble Energy’s oil rigs. This is good for their tormented conscience and also produces income and jobs at the shipyards in Kiel.

But passing the guilt on is not enough. In this case the cows may want to nurse, but the calf craves to suckle ravenously. Following the seminal traumas of the Holocaust and the War of Independence, Israel is a captive of its own armament obsession. This is reflected not only in wars. Somehow, after every peace agreement or strategic arrangement we hasten to “compensate” ourselves with planes and tanks and missile systems and bombs and military bases. This is how you raise a child with eating disorders – you give the kid some “compensation” that only exacerbates his condition. Just so he stops yelling.

Nothing can stop this bulimia. Not even the nuclear potential, which was supposed to serve as a calming deterrent. Mordechai Vanunu revealed at the time that Israel had more than 200 nuclear warheads. Thirty years have passed. I wonder how many it has today and who exactly they’re intended for.

The complex permeates all the way down, from the Pentagon and Dimona reactor to the streets of our cities. Mayors of big towns have set up “local police forces” in the past year, armed of course. Is it any wonder that peace has become a four-letter word? This is what remains of the Jewish genius: smart bombs, student trips to the Warsaw Ghetto and swearing-in ceremonies for military recruits in Masada.

History has proved that reckless armament doesn’t lead to security. It leads mainly to wars.

Officials: Mexico shootout leaves dozens dead

By Joshua Partlow-May 22
MEXICO CITY — A shootout between members of a powerful drug cartel and Mexican security forces in the western state of Michoacan left at least 40 people dead Friday, according to Mexican officials.

The violence unfolded in the morning near the town of Tanhuato, along Michoacan’s border with the state of Jalisco, a troubled region where two drug cartels have waged a long-running battle and where attacks against Mexican authorities have recently spiked.

Mexican authorities offered few details Friday afternoon about the killings, which involved the New Generation cartel of Jalisco and a convoy of federal police and soldiers. The governor of Michoacan, Salvador Jara, said on a radio address that at least one policeman died, as well as 42 gunmen, although those numbers were not confirmed. Photographs from the scene showed authorities had recovered dozens of high-powered rifles.

A federal police official confirmed that at least 40 people had died.

A priest at a nearby church, Manuel Navarro, said that he and his parishioners could see black smoke rising at the scene of the violence but that the townspeople continued to work and go out in the streets.

“The people must be scared,” he said. “But what are we going to do?

“Everybody knows there were killings, but the people just say, ‘God help us,’ ” he added.

The New Generation cartel has grown into one of the country’s most powerful drug gangs and has been involved in several large-scale attacks against authorities in recent months. In April, the group ambushed a convoy of state police officers as they drove through a rural gorge, killing 15 of them. This month, gunmen shot down a Mexican military helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade, killing six soldiers.

Over the past two years, the gang has battled Michoacan’s dominant cartel, the Knights Templar, as well as members of the citizens militia group that emerged there to combat the drug gangs’ killing and extortion. Authorities in Jalisco have expressed concern that they are not getting enough help from the federal government to halt the expansion of the New Generation cartel.

Gabriela Martinez contributed to this report.

Read more:

Military helicopter shot down as drug violence surges in western Mexico

Is the New Generation becoming the most powerful cartel in Mexico?

Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Joshua Partlow is The Post’s bureau chief in Mexico. He has served previously as the bureau chief in Kabul and as a correspondent in Brazil and Iraq.

Why did the Taliban go to Tehran?

In the fight against Isis, the Taliban has softened its approach toward Iran and Shia groups, says veteran Afghan journalist

Mohammad Tayyab Agha, seated in the center, led an official delegation to Tehran this week. In this file photo, the special assistant to Mulla Mohammad Omar, addresses a press conference in Spin Boldak on 21 November 2001. Photograph: Banaras Khan/EPA

Farhad Peikar for Tehran Bureau-Friday 22 May 2015
Reports of an official Taliban delegation’s clandestine visit to Iran this week raised eyebrows in both Kabul and Tehran: why would Iran, a Shia powerhouse involved in proxy wars with several Sunni states and sectarian groups in the Middle East, host a radical Sunni militant group on its soil?

Why Did the Taliban Go to Tehran by Thavam Ratna

Egypt’s Sisi Is Getting Pretty Good … at Being a Dictator

But will the army continue to back the president if the economy starts to tank?

BY THANASSIS CAMBANIS0-MAY 22, 2015

The outrageous death sentences in Egypt over the weekend, and the muted reaction from Western governments, suggest that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has cemented a ruling coalition that will propel him out of a transitional phase into a long-term project of power consolidation.

Egypt’s Sisi is Getting Pretty Good … at Being a Dictator by Thavam Ratna

The Latest on Rohingya: Burma rescues over 200 boat people

By AP News May 23, 2015

Burma says its navy has rescued 208 migrants aboard two fishing trawlers off the western coast.

According to the director of the president’s office, Zaw Htay, the migrants are Bangladeshi men.

They were found off the coast of Rakhine state, where most of the Rohingya minority Muslims have been fleeing persecution in the majority-Buddhist nation and thousands became stranded in the Andaman Sea.

Rohingya refugees. Pic: AP.

Authorities in Burma do not recognize the Rohingya, refer to them as Bengalis and consider them to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

About half of the more than 3,000 migrants who landed on the shores of Indonesia and Malaysia are Rohingya from Burma and the other half from Bangladesh proper. They share the same language and religion.

Htaw says the Burma navy will provide humanitarian assistance, conduct verification and return them to where they came from.

— Aye Aye Win, Yangon, Myanmar/Burma

___

10 a.m. (0300 GMT)

The U.N. refugee agency is estimating that over 3,000 Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants — or even more — could still be adrift in the Andaman Sea.

The exact numbers are not known, but the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees says it triangulated reports in the media and other sources and estimates the current number could be over 3,000 — or more that no one knows about.

More than 3,000 Rohingya minority Muslims fleeing persecution in Burma and Bangladeshi economic migrants also on the boats with them have already landed in Indonesia and Malaysia, and over 100 in Thailand.

Only Rohingyas are being given a one-year temporary shelter while Bangladeshis face repatriation.

Malaysian navy chief Abdul Aziz Jaafar says four vessels are searching for any migrant ships that could still be out at sea, and three helicopters and three combat boats are on standby.

___

3 p.m. (2200 GMT)

The U.S. military says it is preparing to help countries in the region address the humanitarian crisis of the Rohingya migrants stranded at sea.

Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Jeffrey Pool told The Associated Press Thursday that the Department of Defense “is responding to this crisis and taking this seriously. We are preparing to stand up maritime aviation patrols throughout the region and working with local partners to help with this issue.”

It was the first indication that the U.S. military is ready to take direct role. Washington has been urging governments in the region to work together to conduct search and rescue and provide shelter to thousands of vulnerable migrants.

— Martha Mendoza, Santa Cruz, California

____

10 a.m. (1400 GMT)

A bipartisan group of 23 U.S. lawmakers is urging the Obama administration to prevent Southeast Asian seas from becoming a “graveyard” for thousands of Rohingya boat people.

The lawmakers made the appeal in a letter to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry late Wednesday, ahead of discussions on the crisis between Myanmar’s government and the No. 2 ranking U.S. diplomat, Anthony Blinken, in Naypyitaw, Burma’s capital.

The members of the House of Representatives said the United States should provide support in search and rescue and humanitarian assistance for migrants in imminent danger in the Andaman Sea after fleeing “systematic repression” in Burma.

The U.S. should also work with Southeast Asian nations and address the “root cause” of the crisis, it says. The letter is strongly critical of President Thein Sein’s government for pursuing “hate-filled” legislation against minorities in Burma. It recommends targeted U.S. sanctions against those who incite violence against the Rohingya if the situation continues to deteriorate.

The top-ranking Republican and Democrat on the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee are among the signatories of the letter, which was provided Thursday to The Associated Press. Lawmakers provide oversight, but don’t set U.S. foreign policy.

— Matthew Pennington, Washington, D.C.

Through The People's Lens: Modi's 

Development Model So Far

By Dr Rahul Pandey, Bobby Ramakant and Dr Sandeep Pandey-23 May, 2015

Citizen News Service - CNS 

Story of Modi’s development model so far: Cutting health and education expenditure, forcing land acquisition, buying expensive jets and unsafe nuclear power, benefitting Big Business, diluting employment guarantee, fanning communal fires, exploiting Ganga, curbing dissent and shielding governance from public scrutiny.

Through the People's Lens Modi's Development Model So Far by Thavam Ratna

Early results show Ireland on course for resounding yes vote

SATURDAY 23 MAY 2015
The first results from Ireland's historic gay marriage referendum show the yes campaign is heading for an emphatic victory.

An official overall result is expected early this evening but campaigners are already claiming victory.

The first handful of results from the 43 constituencies were all in favour of introducing gay marriage. In Waterford 60 per cent of people voted yes, in Sligo North Leitrim it was 53.6 per cent, in Wicklow 68.4 per cent and in Meath West 60.1 per cent.

Early Results Show Ireland on Course for Resounding Yes Vote by Thavam Ratna

Jayalalithaa returns as chief minister of Tamil Nadu

J. Jayalalithaa, chief minister of Tamil Nadu and chief of Anna Dravida Munetra Khazhgam (AIADMK), addresses her party supporters atop a vehicle during an election campaign rally in Chennai April 19, 2014.-REUTERS/BABU/FILES

Sat May 23, 2015

One of India's most powerful politicians, Jayalalithaa Jayaram, was sworn in as chief minister of Tamil Nadu following a nine-month break, after a court overturned her conviction in a corruption case.

Jayalalithaa was forced to resign as chief minister last year after being convicted of holding 530 million rupees ($8.3 million) in unaccounted cash and property. But a higher court scrapped the case against the former film star last week.

Tamil Nadu Governor K. Rosaiah administered the oath in Tamil to Jayalalithaa and 28 ministers. Defying tradition, ministers took the oath in chorus in two batches of 14 each in a process that lasted a little less than 30 minutes.

A bevy of film stars and prominent industrialists attended the ceremony, in which a beaming Jayalalithaa was clad in a simple green chiffon saree.

Delighted members of her All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) party hailed the event as a turning point for the state.

"It is an historic moment," said AIADMK spokesman Rabi Bernard. "All through her life she has overcome difficulties through her hard work, perseverance and faith in God."

In the last few months, when she was out of power, political uncertainty gripped the state, affecting developments such as the inauguration of Chennai’s much-delayed Metro Rail project.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been trying to boost his Bharatiya Janata Party in the state, which has been dominated by film stars and scriptwriters for four decades, using cinema to promote Tamil culture and language and win support.

Outside the venue, supporters and fans of Jayalalithaa celebrated. "Good times are in store for Tamil Nadu again," 70 year old Y.S. Velusamy sang as he banged away on a native drum.

"Our Amma is back and she has won justice," he sang in a reference to a 19-year-old corruption case in which Jayalalithaa was acquitted on appeal earlier this month.

As well as a cult-like following in Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa wields national influence, with AIADMK holding the third largest number of seats in the Lok Sabha.

She has endeared herself to millions of voters by giving away laptops and food processors. The state assembly elections are due in less than a year.

($1=63.6100 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Sandhya Ravishankar; Editing by Manoj Kumar and Mark Potter)