Somawansa from garbage bin and Weerawansa from loony bin form unholy alliance !

(Lanka-e-News -08.Nov..2015, 6.30 PM)  The former JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe characterized by   senile mental decay and loss of memory  has preferred to jump into his grave from a garbage bin close by , despite having  the better option of retiring and leading an honorable pensioned life . It is a pity , this is the first time a politico owing to  his own folly ,by deciding to join with  NFF leader another Wansa (Weerawansa)  the   notorious passport fraudster from the loony bin, is voluntarily seeking to  make   his final journey from the garbage bin to the grave without allowing  his remains to be  respectfully carried  by the people  on their shoulders.

It was passport fraudster Wansa alias Weerawansa who made this announcement first at a media briefing. He stated , he is inviting Somawansa to form an alliance, which was subsequently okayed by the latter. Both being of the same ilk this unholy alliance springs no surprise.

Earlier on Somawansa recalled how Weerawansa was with him when he  formed an alliance with Mahinda Rajapakse, while loudly  criticizing America. He screamed   what was done to Libya by America is being  repeated by America  in regard to Syria today. Even in respect of  Sri Lanka this is what is going to happen, Somawansa predicted in keeping with his squint eyed vision. He also proudly said , he is forming an alliance with Weerawansa who  is with Mahinda Rajapakse opposed to  American imperialism. In other words already mentally retarded  and presently nationally rejected  Somawansa  betrayed that  he is with the ISIS terrorists in Syria who are slitting the throats of humans most brutally and gruesomely.

It is a well and widely  known fact  that Somawansa has earned a most abominable notoriety for running with the hare and hunting with the hounds , despite   screaming from roof tops all the time against foreign  imperialism . Believe it or not ,  his only  son is today living in imperialist England . Therefore Somawansa  will be well advised , if he first gets down his son to Sri Lanka before he forms unholy alliances with the other so called  anti imperialist Weerawansa , the infamous double tongued  double passport  fraudster. 

It is common knowledge that when people grow old , they are apt  to lose their memory power . In the case of Somawansa, his   senile decay is most acute and  manifest unlike in others going by his stupid aims, actions  and agendas. 

On 1 st May 2015 , he staged a fast at independence square against the Rajapakse government that  hatched a traitorous conspiracy against the country on 8 th January , while also maligning  the JVP for failing to take any action. Somawansa’s past and present conduct only go to  further confirm he is suffering not only from senile decay but also from   Alzheimer’s disease (loss of memory). Naturally , to Somawansa ailing  from memory loss  , the traitors of May 1 st  who conspired against the state naturally  are now  anti American patriots . 

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by     (2015-11-08 13:53:10)

Police brutality in the dock

Brutality claims: Hakmana residents stage a street protest on Monday over the wounded boy's claims he was badly assaulted while in police custody

Sunday, November 08, 2015

Today the Lankan Police is placed in the nation’s dock, publicly indicted with the charge of resorting to inhumane and primitive methods to wring confessions out of suspects in police custody.

The time has arrived for the Chief of Police to publicly take cognizance of

the allegations made by the victims, to take note of the concerns raised by various human rights groups and to make his own confession — voluntarily, of course — of the rotten state of affairs that exists in his department and affirm to the nation his vow to clean his barracks: not cover up his mess. The good name of the police is at stake; and, as the head of the khakied Sam Browne force under his command, the baton stops in the Police Chief’s hands.

Police Brutality in the Dock by Thavam Ratna

Thajudeen’s bones missing

Nov 08, 2015

Reports reaching us confirm that Rugby player Wasim Thajudee’s bones are missing. The missing bones are identified to be the thigh bones. Thajudeen’s body was exhumed and taken for forensic analysis before.

The pair of thigh bones perhaps would be removed during the first postmortem. The bones would have been removed in order to destroy evidences. The forensic team believes the thigh bones would have been fractured due to an assault or a gunshot injury causing a scar to the bones.

A captain in the army is suspected for this murder and currently he is serving in an army camp in the north. This army captain was serving as a security member of the president’s wife. 

PM weighs in with pre-budget visioning; Marapana lashes out at police for serving "new masters" 

by Rajan Philips-November 7, 2015, 

The onset of the budget season precipitated quite a few seminar showers and media commentaries. They were all timely and critically enlightening. The Finance Minister’s revenue and expenditure estimates and the indicators about the state of the economy are of grave concern to all economy watchers. The Second Reading of the Budget that will unveil the government plans to deal with the budgetary gap is set for Friday, November 16. But on Thursday, November 5, Guy Fawkes Day in England and also the birth day of Felix Dias, Sri Lanka’s most swashbuckling finance minister ever, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe weighed in with his, or the government’s, vision for the nation’s economy. Some might say the PM stole the thunder out of his Finance Minister’s budget show. Whatever it might be, make no mistake that without any of Felix Dias’s aristocratic bluff or the upstart clumsiness of the Rajapaksas, Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe is quietly but deliberately leaving his stamp on everything that matters in the state of Sri Lanka at the present time. On everything that is, but the matter of investigating corruption under the previous regime.

PM Weighs in With Pre-budget Visioning Marapana Lashes Out at Police for Serving New Masters by Thavam Ratna

Role Of NPC In The Economic Development Of The North

By S. Thavarajah –November 7, 2015

S. Thavarajah

Before I delve into the subject matter given to me to address today i.e. “Role of Northern Provincial Council (NPC) in the Economic Development of the North”, let me first look into what is meant by Economic Development. Economic Growth is often misconstrued as Economic Development. Economic Growth is measured in terms of increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or Gross National Product (GNP) and in terms of increase in GDP or GNP per capita, means per person.

Whereas, Economic Development is a policy intervention endeavour for economic and social well-being of the people. It is really the growth of the standard of living of the people of a country. Its scope includes the process and policies by which a country improves the economic and social well-being of its people. In fact, Economic Growth is only one aspect of the process of Economic Development.

Economic Development is measured in terms of ‘Human Development Indicators (HDI)”. The UNDP in 1990 introduced the indicators for measuring the HDI. Number of items such as Education, Poverty, access to Technology etc. is listed by the UNDP as the measure of HDI.

For example the economic growth or for that matter the GDP of China and India are much higher than Singapore, New Zealand and Belgium. But in terms of Economic Development or HDI it is vice-verse.

Having said that let me now look into the factors that influence the Economic Development of a country. Any text book on economy would reveal that access to capital, availability of natural resources, conditions of foreign trade, political system, economic policies/system adopted by the Government, availability of human resources including skills and technical know-how etc. are the factors that contribute towards the Economic Development of a country.

But here we are not talking about a country; we are only talking about an entity within the country. NPC is an entity created under the 13th amendment with limited powers. 13th amendment is intended to grant devolution of powers to provinces, but in reality it is delegation of powers. It has very limited financial resources. It depends on annual Government grant.

For example, if we look at the National Budget for the year 2015 the total Recurrent Expenditure of the Government is Rs. 1,547,910 million, out of which the allocation to all the nine provincial councils is Rs. 189,600 million which amounts to 12.24 percentage of the total expenditure. Similarly the total Capital Expenditure is Rs. 1,857,090 million, out of which the allocation to all the nine provincial councils is Rs. 34,077 which amounts to 1.83 percentage of the total expenditure.                             Read More

The curse of Sri Lanka’s political leadership

Sunday, November 08, 2015

At one time, we had women survivors of rape and abuse in Sri Lanka praying that the Goddess Kali may visit their attackers when they failed to get justice in courts. Probably they still do. But in that most singular of ironies, we now have Ministers joining those ranks of the vengeful as they prayed to God in Parliament this week to punish gross corruptors, given that the law has been rendered virtually silent.

Anti-corruption claims only ‘rhetorical’
This is despite grandiose assurances by their own ministerial colleagues that the drive against corruption is not ‘pure rhetoric’ as they committed to anti-corruption treaties abroad with the requisite fanfare. Yet such claims are useless, merely proving the self-defeating nature of classically circuitous arguments.

For, on the face of it, what we have so far is only rhetoric which explains why some Ministers have started praying. That failure cannot be remedied by more and more rhetoric. Indeed, the so-called ‘yahapalanaya’ (good governance) battle against corruption has apparently been reduced to a secretive game of smoke and mirrors, with basic legal procedures being disregarded to calamitous effect amidst key state agencies fighting with each other. What greater nonsense is this? Do Sri Lanka’s leaders believe that its citizens are like gullible children, to be beguiled with sweet words even as political roguery prevails?

From his Medamulana hideout, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa must be laughing uncontrollably no doubt.

Confusion in regard to ministerial functions
An excellent example of this monumental confusion emerged from this Wednesday’s adjournment debate in Parliament on the floating armoury maintained in Galle by a private maritime security company, Avant Garde during the Rajapaksa regime

Regardless of disputed facts and counter-facts which are pending before court, there are core questions in issue. The first question concerns the propriety of Minister of Law and Order Tilak Marapana carrying a brief (as it were) for Avant Garde in his ministerial capacity on the floor of the House, referring moreover to information that had come into his hands when functioning as a counsel for Avant Garde. The Minister had, on his own admission, appeared as counsel for Avant Garde in January 2015.

Minister Marapana’s explanation was that his onetime client had given him permission to speak. But fundamental questions in regard to this defence of a former client under cover of parliamentary privilege and in a ministerial capacity no less, remains of paramount public interest. Second, the Law and Order Minister’s allegation of grandstanding by police officers acting on ulterior motives in regard to the Avant Garde arms controversy immediately raises eyebrows. The impact of such a negative statement by the Minister on the morale of the Department of the Police coming under his own Ministry will almost certainly be devastating. Unsurprisingly this ministerial denunciation drew a brisk commendation from former President Rajapaksa soon thereafter.

Need for legitimate criticism
Justice Minister Wijedasa Rajapaksha’s sentiments in regard to the controversy were no less problematic. On his own admission, he had intervened to prevent the arrest of former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa based on a ‘legal assessment’ of the issue.

So are the Ministers of Law and Order and Justice speaking and performing in their capacities as lawyers or as ministerial functionaries? This is a perfectly legitimate question. The agencies tasked with deciding to arrest or not as the case may be, are the prosecutors and the police. A ministerial intervention into a legal process, emanating from the knowledge (or otherwise) of that particular functionary, infringes on the remit and extent of his authority. This would have been scandalous in any jurisdiction respecting the Rule of Law. Not so in Sri Lanka, it seems.

The legality of the Avant Garde floating armoury remains to be ruled upon by the court. Nonetheless, it is disturbing to hear government representatives say that criticism of the relevant prosecutorial or legal process leaves the country vulnerable to outside allegations that Sri Lanka’s domestic processes are subverted to the extent that they are no longer workable. This is an argument that sounds remarkably similar to attacks made by Rajapaksa propagandists on critics of the former regime not so long ago. Such crippling language should change at least now. The national effort should be to critique and improve domestic processes rather than stifle scrutiny based on disingenuous reasons.

Cabinet responsibility cannot be shirked
Equally at odds were the passionate defences mounted by the two Ministers (one a former Attorney General at that) of the Department of the Attorney General, referring copiously to their own legal practice and experience thereby. Again, the public is left uncertain as to whether the two Ministers were speaking as lawyers or as ministerial functionaries, which latter capacities were certainly what they were purporting to represent in the House.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet spokesman stated later in a poor damage control exercise that the two Ministers did not speak for the Government. This is an unacceptable claim. In what parallel universe can two senior Ministers disassociate themselves from government while expressing sentiments in Parliament in their ministerial capacities? Has Sri Lanka’s political establishment become completely blind to the principle of collective Cabinet responsibility?

The Government’s answerability to the people in whom sovereignty resides, as our Constitution optimistically tells us, is disregarded at will. As of now, the euphoria of January 2015 seems very far away indeed for the ordinary citizen standing aloof from these bizarre happenings.

Defeating the people’s victory
Sri Lanka’s tragic curse is that its political leaders have historically been shrewd, communalistic and opportunistic on the one hand or inept, helpless and ineffectual on the other. Unfortunately this ruinous dynamic still continues, defeating and indeed mocking the democratic gains achieved this year.

Indeed, if the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration wants to pave the way towards its own fall, it cannot (uncannily enough, just as much as the Rajapaksas did), act with greater aplomb to ensure precisely that very result. This is not limited to the Avant Garde issue but embraces the entire spectrum of anti-corruption action or lack thereof. Whether swift action will be taken to arrest increasing public anger in this respect still remains to be seen.

In the alternative, dangerously uncertain times loom ahead for this country and its people.

Sri Lanka’s Three ‘Vice’ Men?

08/11/2015 

ECONOMYNEXT – President Maithripala Sirisena’s loyalists have identifid three men who have the potential to split the national unity government with their conduct over the Avant Garde armns scandal.

None of them have been proved guilty, but lawmakers and politicians both inside and outside parliament have accused them of wrong doing.

Tilak Janaka Marapana: Appointed to parliament as a national list MP from the UNP. Currently the minister of Law and Order and Prison Reforms. One of the few to appointed on the national list for a second time. Was defence minister in the unsuccessful UNP government of December 2001. Sacked by President Chandrika Kumaratunga for inefficiency and ineffectiveness in November 2003. Arguably, one of the key people responsible for the eventual downfall of Ranil Wickremesinghe’s government at the April 2004 elections. Lawyer for Avant Garde.

Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe: Member of parliament from Colombo district. Currently Minister of Justice and Buddhist Affairs. Is a cross over artiste having been in both the SLFP and the UNP. Was the head of the Press Council and ruled in 1999 that lesbianism equals sadism. In a 1999 decision, Rajapakshe said: “Lesbianism itself is an act of sadism and salacious.” (See full report here: http://www.island.lk/2000/06/03/islnews.html #Sherman de Rose’s complaint against The Island dismissed) Rajapakse is now a government envoy to the UN Human Rights Council in addition to being Justice Minister!

Vajira Abeywardena: UNP district leader for Galle. Current Minister of Home affairs. Close friends with several judges, including Kusala Sarojini Weerawardena who granted bail to former president’s secretary Lalith Weeratunga and ex-TRC chief Anusha Palpita who were accused of misappropriating LKR 600 million. 

Abeywardena is regarded by many as a fixer. Parliamentary colleagues say his election campaign was hugely funded by questionable businesses interests. Many question his loyalty to the UNP.

ENS

President declares he will abide by stand taken by majority of Cabinet

A new alliance emerges as Avant Garde controversy rocks govt

by Shamindra Ferdinando-November 7, 2015,

With the Maithripala Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government in deepening crisis over the stinking Avant Garde affair, a last-ditch-effort is being made to reach a consensus on the issue, political sources said

President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will meet warring members of the cabinet on Monday morning (Nov 9) to discuss a way out of the turmoil. With those wanting to clear Avant Garde of any wrongdoing and other demanding action expected to stick to stand, Monday’s meeting is likely to be a stormy affair.

Well informed sources told The Sunday Island that the majority seemed to backing the stand taken by Ministers Rajitha Senaratne and Patali Champika Ranawaka that the Avant Garde enterprise should be thoroughly probed and those responsible for violations punished.

Addressing a public rally at the Laggala police grounds on Friday, President Maithripala Sirisena revealed his strategy to tackle the worst political crisis since his victory at the January, 2015 presidential polls. Emphasizing his resolve to go ahead with investigations into the Avant Garde enterprise as well as other transactions, President Sirisena declared that the cabinet would be authorized to decide on the matter.

"As always, I’ll work according to the opinion of the majority," he said.

Pledging that he would do everything possible to tackle waste, corruption and irregularities, the president vowed not to allow anyone to reverse January 8 revolution. He insisted that the corrupt wouldn’t be given an opportunity to pursue their projects and also ruled out his meeting those corrupt elements.

Ongoing investigations into corruption and irregularities involving Avant Garde Maritime Services during previous SLFP-led UPFA administration had sharply divided the ruling coalition with Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, PC, and Law and Order and Prisons Reforms Minister Tilak Marapana strongly defending the controversial enterprise widely accused of receiving unprecedented state patronage during the previous Rajapaksa administration.

A veteran politician told The Sunday Island that the grouping that campaigned for Maithripala Sirisena’s victory at the presidential election was in tatters with an influential section of the UPFA (Rajitha-Patali team) Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka as well as the JVP demanding action against Avant Garde and its supporters within the ruling coalition.

Democratic Party leader Field Marshal Fonseka last Thursday accused Justice Minister Rajapakshe of receiving bribes from Avant Garde boss retired Army Commando Major Nissanka Senadhipathi. Denying the accusation at a special media briefing on Friday noon at the Justice Ministry, Rajapakshe declared his intention to file a Rs. 500 mn law suit against Fonseka, who hit back at the minister later in the day.

Fonseka told a public rally at Kiribathgoda: "I receive Rs. 50,000 pension therefore I lacked the resources to pay Rajapakse. He may even move court demanding a much bigger damages. But, whatever happens, I cannot pay him."

Recalling his two and half year imprisonment during former President Mahinda Rajapaksa administration, the war veteran warned Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe that he couldn’t be silenced under any circumstances.

Meanwhile, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, also on Friday joined the fray with a strong endorsement of Minister Marapana’s stand with regard to the Avant Garde affair.

Addressing a public rally at Walasmulla, Kurunegala District MP Rajapaksa said that former Attorney General Marapana knew what he was talking about. National List MP Marapana, much to the astonishment of his colleagues as well as those on the Opposition benches declared in parliament that there was absolutely no basis for raid on Avant Grade vessel.

Marapana accused the police of cooking up a story to appease their masters and went to the extent of comparing police action with the raid on a safe-house operated by the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) in January 2002.

The former president said that investigations launched by the Yahapalana government into Avant Garde as well as other issues were the same. Rajapaksa loyalist and National Freedom Front (NFF) leader Wimal Weerawansa, too, endorsed Marapana’s stand.

Political sources said that both the UNP as well as the SLFP parliamentary groups had been divided over the Avant Garde affair with the Rajapaksa loyalists basically backing the stand taken by Messrs Marapana and Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe.

The Justice Minister said that his stand was based on the Attorney General’s Department’s stand. During Friday’s meeting, the minister claimed that both President Maithripala Sirisena and PM Wickremesinghe had directed the AG to do the right thing and not to be influenced by anyone.

When The Sunday Island pointed out to the Justice Minister that his position on Avant Garde was contrary to what the Yahapalana leaders said, the minister said that it wasn’t a corrupt deal though the previous government committed many.

Field Marshal Fonseka told The Sunday Island that he would pursue the matter until all those who had benefited from Avant Garde were exposed. The people have a right to know what was happening, the former Chief of Defence Staff said.

Fonseka insisted on tangible action against all those responsible regardless of their standing in society or clandestine relationships and understanding among various parties. He called for Major Senadipathi’s arrest forthwith and a thorough investigation meant to expose those involved in the lucrative business.

Of pirates and a privateer with a Midas touch

Avant-Garde Maritime Services Chairman Nissanka Senadhipathi (right) with former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa  

Monday, 9 November 2015

The Minister of Justice and the Minister of Law and Order are eminent practitioners of the law. They both had good reasons to say what they said during the Avant-Garde floating armoury debate.
The Minster of Law and Order Tilak Marapana is a former Attorney General. The Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe is a former Chairman of the Bar Association. 

Of Pirates and a Privateer With a Midas Touch by Thavam Ratna

Gota falls into pit he dug for Anura!

Nov 08, 2015

Commenting on this, several criminal lawyers told ‘Lanka News Web’ that this was yet another foolish remark by Gota. That is because – if people are abducted merely because told to do so, that happens only in countries where there is lawlessness and the law of the jungle prevails. Doing it and accepted to having done so is a foolish act by the ex-defence secretary. In criminal law, this is an adverse admission and gives the inference that many similar instances had taken place.

 

Legal experts say Gota has fallen into the pit he had dug for Anura. Gota has fallen for the trap laid by the journalist who conducted the interview for ‘Sathhanda.’ With a smile, he has fallen for the trap.

 

The most hilarious thing here is that the JVP, disregarding all these, is trying to take Gota to courts. It is in the same manner that Gota had made a mess of the white flag case. That is why our ancestors used to say that the fool is wise as long as he keeps his mouth shut.

A Load Of Piffle Parading As “Policy”

By Emil van der Poorten –November 8, 2015

Emil van der Poorten

On my checking out the web edition of a prominent English-language daily on November 5th, I was “greeted”, if that is the appropriate term, by unmitigated rubbish which, if the writer is to be believed, was about to be delivered by probably the most powerful man in the country – Ranil Wickremesinghe, our Prime Minster – in the form of a landmark policy announcement.

This spoke to a great and noble enterprise that invoked the late Robert Knox’s contention that, if you washed the mud off him, a Sri Lankan peasant was fit to occupy the throne. If one seeks the pith of that proposed wondrous policy it is little more than that which, during World War II, when the international sea lanes were utilized by the allies to transport troops and materials essential to the conduct of war, when we had, of necessity, to grow our own food if we were to avoid dying of starvation. This appears to be yet more proof positive that those who do not read history are doomed to live by the consequences of such self-imposed ignorance. The unfortunate part here is that those of us not contributing to this application of monumental ignorance are fated to suffer the consequences of their stupidity.

I cannot recall the number of times that I have spoken to the complete devastation of any efforts by rural people, particularly in the mid-country, to grow anything resembling food. There is literally no crop – root, vegetable or tree – that is safe from complete devastation by wild pigs, porcupines, monkeys, giant and flying squirrels and even muntjac or barking deer.

Apart from those plants traditionally treated as fruit or vegetables, a friend recently informed me that he had abandoned something like 30 Acres of cardamons because the monkeys had developed a taste for cardamom shoots and the sambhur had finished off what the simians had begun!

I am aware that, not so long ago, a meeting of academics and specialists – those engaged in trying to deal with the monkey menace – determined, unanimously, that the only means of dealing with the menace as killing them. It is interesting that those proceedings have never been exposed to the public and the only way I have knowledge of them is because an attendee told me about what had transpired at that meeting in Kandy!

                        Read More

Global Uncertainty and Chinese Capitalism

Towards a more integrated but conflict prone world

by Kumar David-November 7, 2015, 8:57 pm 

Class struggle and economic difficulties have multiplied in the developed world in the last seven years (since autumn 2008) and the economic downturn has spread to China whose headlong rush to capitalism has been thwarted by powerful internal impediments (monopoly power in the hands of a Communist – sic! – Party and the strength and size of its working class and peasantry). China’s economy slowed down precipitously in 2014-15. The Middle East is a boiling cauldron of devil’s broth; sort out the Iran nuclear imbroglio and IS shatters the region into a dozen imploding fragments! The Middle Eastern and North African refugee flood into Europe (a rising proportion are economic migrants) may pass the three million mark before it abates; it is already transforming the social face of the continent and firing up its political temperature.

Global Uncertainty and Chinese Capitalism Towards a More Integrated but Conflict Prone World by Thavam Ratna

London Appointments : Yahapalana Monitoring Governor marches on

 Nov 08, 2015

Despite all round criticism against the appointment of his British citizen son-in-law Manoj Warnapala as a Counselor to the London High Commission, the Yahapalana Monitoring Governor Austin Fernando is going ahead with his plans to ensure his daughter’s husband is well settled down in the High Commission.

Austin’s plan was to make sure that his daughter’s husband has a good job so that his daughter’s family will be well off. Austin using his personal relationship with President Sirisena thought the best thing to do will be to get the struggling lawyer Warnapala appointed as the Head of the Consular Section so that Warnapala’s family law firm also can benefit. So he got round the President and got his son in law appointment. What he did not expect was that there will be technical issues for such an appointment and also that there will be such a lot of opposition to it. Warnapala has left Sri Lanka because he thought that there was no future for Sri Lanka and UK is better. He renounced his Sri Lankan citizenship and gave an oath to be a loyal subject of Her majesty the Queen. Instead of ‘Namo Namo Matha’ he started to sing ‘God Save the Queen’. Later he got his dual citizenship. But he is still living in UK. His wife is working there and his children are studying there. This itself shows where his loyalty will be if he has to choose between Sri Lanka and UK.  

 

When these issues were raised as reported by Lanka News Web Austin started to make his moves. The first was to justify the appointment saying that during Rajapaksa regime lawyers were appointed as Head of the Consular Section. People did not chase the Rajapasas away and elect a Yahapalana government for the same thing to continue. Austin has done one better. None of the Rajapaksa stooges who were appointed as Head of Consular Section were British citizens.     

 

The next was to dangle the carrot of getting an extension and then the High Commissioner post to Foreign Secretary Chitrangani Wagiswara who retired in September. He manged to push and get Wagiswara extended by another year. Now Wagiswara is a political appointee and has to dance to the tunes of Austin or she will have to go home.  The deal for the High Commissioner post was also made and it came in the newspapers. But with the regular exposures by Lanka News Web Wagiswara took a back turn and even got the Ministry to issue a statement stating that there is no truth in the reports that she is going to London as the High Commissioner. If it is a lie then Wagiswara without getting the Ministry involved should have asked the newspapers to publish and apology or should have sued the newspaper. But as the truth can come out if she demands an apology she got the Ministry to issue a statement and just stop at that.

 

The next problem Austin and Wagiswara had was the acting High Commissioner who was not dancing to their tunes. He did not appoint Warnapala as the Head of Consular Section. So they had to get rid of him and appoint one of their people who will do as they ask. Suddenly the Acting High Commissioner was transferred out of London though he was asked to stay for few more months and a handpicked lackey was immediately sent to make sure that Warnapala is well looked after. Sugeeshwara Gunaratna who is the newly appointed ‘nanny’ to Warnapala has worked for the Canadian government while holding his Sri Lankan Diplomatic passport and on leave from the Ministry. It is also alleged that he has obtained Canadian PR/cititizenship. Gunaratna has been on leave for a few years and has to work in the Ministry for a few years before being considered for posting. The Yahapalana government should have conducted an inquiry on these matters. But the Yahapalana Monitoring Governor managed to have his way and get Sugeeshwara  Gunaratna appointed to London. Gunaratna who was desperate to go on a posting wasted no time and rushed to London as he was worried that the Government might initiate inquiries on his activities.  With Sugeeswara ‘Nanny’ Gunaratna appointed now Warnapala is well set to be appointed as the Head of the Consular Section.  

 

But the community is up in arms with the developments and recently when Minister of Finance Ravi Karunanayaka was in London for the Investor Forum the UK UNP Branch had an urgent meeting with him and protested against the appointment of Warnapala and the actions of Austin Fernando. According to community sources Karunanayaka has lamented that this basterd ruined them last time and is doing the same thing this time. He has assured that the Prime Minister will be briefed about this issue.

 

It looks like actions of Rajapaksa regime are replayed by the Yahapalana government. It is the Monitoring Governor who is running the Foreign Ministry like the time of infamous Monitoring MP Sajin Vaas while the Foreign Minister has to play a second fiddle. It would be better for the Foreign Minister to send off Austin Fernando as the High Commissioner to UK with Wagiswara as his Deputy with Gunaratna continuing as a Minister and Warnapala  as a Counselor making it one big happy family. Although London will be a big mess at least it will be good riddance of bad (in this case worst) rubbish for the Ministry. 

Death toll from Pakistan factory collapse rises to 26

Excavators dig rubble of a collapsed building looking for survivors in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. Pic: AP.

by AP News-7th November 2015

SLAMABAD (AP) — A spokesman for a Pakistani rescue agency says hopes are starting to fade for finding more survivors in the rubble of a four-story factory which collapsed this week in the eastern city of Lahore. At least 26 people were killed.

Jam Sajjad Hussain, a spokesman for the Punjab Emergency Service, says the 400 rescuers have saved the lives of 102 workers since Wednesday, when the building suddenly caved in.

He says rescuers are cutting steel and picking through concrete on Friday, for the third day, to reach several workers believed to be still trapped.

The cause of the collapse is yet to be determined. It happened just over a week after a magnitude-7.5 earthquake hit Pakistan, killing 273 people and damaging nearly 75,000 homes.

Egyptian intelligence charges leading journalist with 'spreading false information'

Hossam Baghat's recent investigative reporting has prominently featured the country's military intelligence service 

Tom Stevenson-Sunday 8 November 2015

One of the best known journalists and activists in Egypt has been summoned by Egypt's military intelligence agency and is set to be charged with “publishing inaccurate and false information that harms national interests”.

Hossam Bahgat, who is currently working as an investigative reporter for the local independent news website Mada Masr, was summoned from his Alexandria home early Sunday and held inside the military intelligence headquarters from 9am (7:00 GMT). 

He was kept inside the compound for more than seven hours, according to Heba Morayef, the former director of Human Rights Watch's Egypt office, who waited outside the headquarters building near Rabaa square in Cairo, the site of the 2013 Rabaa massacre.

Morayf said that after several hours, Bahgat's lawyers finally were able to visit him.

“Still waiting for him to come out,” Morayef said early in the day. 

Bahgat was a veteran opposition activist. In 2002, he founded one of Egypt's leading human rights institutes, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, which documents human rights abuses by the government and conducts research on infringements that result from flawed public institutions.

In 2011, he was awarded Human Rights Watch's Alison Des Forges Award for “courageous and tireless” human rights work.

Bahgat was recognised both for his rights work and journalism, having worked on human rights issues during the Mubarak years, participated in the 2011 uprisings, and continued to scrutinise the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, Morsi and Sisi governments.

Over the past two years, Bahgat has published a series of investigative reports for Mada Masr on subjects ranging from Mubarak-era corruption, to Egypt-Gulf relations, to secretive military trials.

In early 2014, Bahgat exposed that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) under Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi had been responsible for releasing dozens of convicted militants from Egypt's jails.

In September 2014, he produced a detailed investigation into the military trial of suspected members of Ansar Bayt al-Maqdes - now known as Islamic State's Sinai Province - in the “Arab Sharkas cell” case.

His most recent investigation, “a coup busted”, looked into the military trial of 26 army officers accused of plotting a coup against the Sisi government. Those convicted included Major Momen Mohamed Saeed Abdel Aty, the brother of General Ragai Saeed, one of the country's most senior generals. The report prominently featured Egypt's military intelligence service.

"Hossam Bahgat is one of Egypt's most internationally and nationally celebrated human rights defenders and investigative journalists,” said Hisham Hellyer, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council in DC and the Royal United Services Institute in London.

“Summoning any civilian for interrogation to military intelligence is one thing on its own - summoning Bahgat, and interrogating him for so long, is quite another. Many in Egypt's media and civil rights communities will read that as a particularly strong message - but not an especially new one."

Bahgat's summons comes at a time when the Egyptian government has been targeting dissenters with renewed vigour.

In September, Amr Ali, the head of the April 6 Revolutionary youth movement, one of Egypt's largest opposition political groups, was subject to enforced disappearance by the internal intelligence agency. Hundreds of civilians have been disappeared by Egypt's security services this year.

According to the Commitee to Project Journalists, at least 18 journalists are currently imprisoned in Egypt.

“Despite the increased scrutiny surrounding the Russian plane crash in the Sinai peninsula, Egypt appears to remain impervious to international public opinion and criticism,” Michael Hanna, Egypt analyst and senior fellow at the Century Foundation, told Middle East Eye.

“That they proceeded with this interrogation, which would inevitably bring negative attention to the country, exemplifies the way Egypt's government has become totally unconcerned with negative fallout,” he said.