Governors Have No Right to Exclude Syrian Refugees

Syrian migrants walk from their landing site toward police authorities after arriving to Lesbos, Greece, July, 27, 2015. Republican governors, presidential candidates and members of Congress pledged Monday to oppose or even defy President Barack Obama's plan to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees, as the party's bigotry over illegal immigration and border security reached new heights. (Sergey Ponomarev / The New York Times)

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By Marjorie Cohn, Truthout-Thursday, 19 November 2015

As the world reels from the horrific terrorist attacks in Paris last week, more than half of US governors began lining up to scapegoat Syrian refugees fleeing violence in their country. Of those 27 governors, all but one are Republicans. Democrat Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire joined the gubernatorial group and called for the United States to refuse to admit those fleeing Syria. Many proclaimed they would deny entry to the refugees. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott wrote to President Barack Obama: "I write to inform you that the State of Texas will not accept any refugees from Syria in the wake of the deadly terrorist attack in Paris."

Governors Have No Right to Exclude Syrian Refugees by Thavam Ratna

Global Massacre and Its Root Cause

Any specialized education in any discipline cannot be forced onto a child.

Javed Ahmad Ghamid-Photo courtesy: daralahadith.blogspot.com

Nov-22-2015

(ISLAMABAD) - After the recent Paris, attack, I had a chance to speak on TV live show on Roze TV, “Debate with Nasir”. I was among the three panelists, one political analyst Jan Achakzi and another was a journalist.

Unfortunately instead of criticizing those attacks in Paris and this type of terror activities in the world, those two were arguing in the favor of terrorist and giving reasons.

Since I am writing, my struggle is against this mind set, it is not a matter or fight against Islam or its terrorist organization like Al-Qaida, Taliban, ISIS, Laskher-e-Tiybba, Jeshe-e-Mohammad, etc etc. we are fighting against the mind set and its proclamation.

Though it is said that every Muslim is not terrorist and not directly involves in these organizations but most of them are having the same mind set. We are witness to many incident/persecution against minorities in the country.

In Pakistan the discriminatory activities against the marginalized portion of the society clearly shows the mindset of the Islamic proclamation.

Since 9/11 attacks in USA there is series of attacks in different areas and subsequently attacks on the bases of those organizations in the world. Many of the people give baseless excuses but forget that in every act tool is from the Muslim faith.

I want to ask them why Muslims are involve in these type of activities around the world, in Philistine, Kashmir, some African countries, Middle East and other parts of the world. (Genesis 16:11-12) European and American have to think before doing any humanitarian activity for Muslims like taking in these Syrian and Egyptian refugees.

Muslims are enjoying every single right in the name of humanity but not ready to give liberty to other religion in their countries. They (Muslims) go and preach Islam in other country but don’t allow to read Bible in Saudi Arabia.

We have seen this practice and one Muslim religious scholar Javed Ahmad Ghamidi endorsed and given the solid root cause of these terrorist activities.

Javed Ahmad Ghamidi said that the root cause of terrorism that is being committed by some Muslims today is the religious thought which is being preached in the Muslim medressahs and being propagated through their political movements.

Almost every single medressah and religious scholar is teaching the four main doctrines of their religious thought. They may not be doing it publicly, but they are doing it nevertheless – they surely are!

First: polytheism, kufar, or apostasy (someone abandons Islam) committed anywhere in the world, they are all punishable by death and we have the right to implement this punishment.

Secondly: they preach is that non-Muslims were born to be subjugated. None other than Muslims have the right to govern. And if there is someone ruling, every non-Muslim government is illegitimate. We shall overthrow any such government whenever we have the capacity.

The Third teaching is that all the Muslims of the world should be under the rule of a single Islamic government that is called The Caliphate. Their independent, states have no legitimacy.

The Fourth doctrine is that the modern nation state is the form of kufer and there is no room in Islam for it.

These are the four basic tenets of current religious thought. Pakistani government and its citizens should confront the current religious thought, this religious narrative.

It is to appreciate that the education system of the religious seminaries (medressahs) violates humans’ rights. Any specialized education in any discipline cannot be forced onto a child.

It is the right, very basic right, of every child to have twelve years of broad based education. Thereafter, he may choose to become a scholar or a scientist.

Muslim religious seminaries work on the principle of transforming a 5-7 years old child into a religious scholar. No one has the right to do this; or to force them to become a doctor or an engineer.

After a broad based education of 12 years, they many choose to become whatever they may wish to. This practice must be abandoned. For this to take effect the civil society must prepare itself and people must educate themselves.

The Muslims government must be pressurized not to allow any institution to take students for specialization before twelve years of broad based education. Or we need to draw a line before any humanitarian activities.

China says won't cease building on S. China Sea isles

ASEAN leaders gather for a family photo with U.S. President Barack Obama (5th L) after a US-ASEAN meeting at the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, November 21, 2015.-REUTERS/JONATHAN ERNST

BY MEGHA RAJAGOPALAN AND PRAVEEN MENON-Sun Nov 22, 2015

China said on Sunday it will continue to build military and civilian facilities on its artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea and the United States was testing it by sending warships through the area.

"Building and maintaining necessary military facilities, this is what is required for China's national defence and for the protection of those islands and reefs," Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin told a news conference in Kuala Lumpur.

China planned to "expand and upgrade" the civilian facilities on the islands "to better serve commercial ships, fishermen, to help distressed vessels and provide more public services", Liu said, adding that China rejects the notion that it is militarising the South China Sea. He said China has mostly built civilian facilities.

Liu's comments at the annual East Asia Summit, this year hosted by Kuala Lumpur, were some of the most forceful explanations that China has given regarding its position on the South China Sea.

Washington was testing Beijing with its insistence on "freedom of navigation" patrols in the strategic waterway, Liu said.

China, which claims almost the entire energy-rich South China Sea, has been transforming reefs into artificial islands in the Spratly archipelago and building airfields and other facilities on some of them. That has prompted concerns in Washington and across the region that Beijing is trying to militarise its claims in the South China Sea.

Earlier this month, U.S. B-52 bombers flew near some of the islands, signalling Washington's determination to challenge Beijing's claim. At the end of October, the USS Lassen, a guided-missile destroyer, sailed around one of them.

"This time, in a very high profile manner, the U.S. sent military vessels within 12 nautical miles of China's islands and reefs," Liu said. "This has gone beyond the scope of freedom of navigation. It is a political provocation and the purpose is to test China's response."

Obama on Saturday called on countries to stop building artificial islands and militarising their claims and said the United States would continue to assert its freedom of navigation rights in the sea.

Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have territorial claims in the South China Sea.

CONFRONT ISLAMIST EXTREMISTS

Leaders from 18 countries including the United States, China, India, Russia, Japan and Southeast Asia who gathered for the summit issued strong calls for action after a recent spate of attacks by Islamic State in Paris, Mali and Lebanon.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Russia and the United States on Sunday to cooperate in rooting out terrorism and said he would unveil a comprehensive plan to fight extremism and violence early next year.

"We need to show global solidarity to address ... the common enemy of ISIL, Daesh, some other extremists and terrorist groups," he said, referring to Islamic State.

Obama told a news conference at the end of the summit the United States and its allies would not relent in the fight to combat Islamic State extremists and would hunt down their leaders and cut off the group's financing.

"Destroying (Islamic State) is not only a realistic goal, we're going to get it done," Obama said. "We will destroy them. We will take back land they are currently in, take out their financing, hunt down leadership, dismantle their networks, supply lines and we will destroy them."

Obama said it "would be helpful" if Russia directed its focus on tackling Islamic State and he hoped Moscow would agree to a leadership transition in Syria that meant its president stepping down.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said countries with large populations of Muslims, including Russia, should unite to fight against Islamic State.

Medvedev said "it is now clear we can only fight this threat by bringing our forces together and by working through such international institutions as the United Nations”.

The U.N. Secretary-General said he "highly commended the leadership of the Russian Federation together with the United States to address some of the roots causes of terrorism".

Ban said the United Nations is now gathering ideas and experience from its member states. "Early next year, the U.N. is going to present a comprehensive plan of action to defeat violence and extremism."

ECONOMIC COMMUNITY

Before the start of the East Asia Summit, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations formally established an ASEAN community. It attempts to create freer movement of trade and capital in an area of 625 million people with a combined economic output of $2.6 trillion.

"In practice, we have virtually eliminated tariff barriers between us," said Najib, the summit host. "Now we have to assure freer movements and removal of barriers that hinder growth and investment."

(Reporting by Megha Rajagopalan and Praveen Menon; Editing by Bill Tarrant.)

Iran sentences Washington Post journalist to prison

Iran has sentenced detained reporter Jason Rezaian to an unspecified prison term following his conviction last month on charges that include espionage

Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian Photo: Vahid Salemi/AP

By Richard Spencer, Middle East Editor- 22 Nov 2015

An Iranian-American journalist working for The Washington Postnewspaper has been jailed in Iran, officials confirmed, the first news of his fate since the end of his secret trial at the beginning of October.

No details of the sentence handed down to the reporter, Jason Rezaian, were given by the judiciary spokesman, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, speaking to a regular news conference in Tehran.

"Serving a jail term is in Jason Rezaian's sentence but I cannot give details," he said.

The vagueness of the statement along with that of the charges he faced will worry his family and his employers.

Neither the American state department nor the newspaper have been updated on the trial, saying they had no more information than that released by the Iranian state news agency, IRNA.

"His trial and sentence are a sham, and he should be released immediately,” the paper’s foreign editor, Douglas Jehl, said.

Mr Rezaian, 39, who holds both American and Iranian passports, was arrested in July last year. He was subsequently accused of spying and disseminating "propaganda against the establishment".

The Iranian authorities said he had “contacted a hostile government”. His family said that referred to a letter he wrote to President Barack Obama on his first election victory in 2008 offering to help improve US-Iran relations.

• Iranian-American businessman arrested in Tehran

His family had hoped the signing of a nuclear deal between Iran and the western powers, brokered by America, might bring the two nations closer together and earn his release.

However, it has been followed by a hardening of Iran’s political positioning, both as regards internal dissent and towards the United States.

Some campaigners on his behalf say he has become a pawn in faction fighting by parts of the Iranian establishment over whether to accede to closer US ties.

It is also possible he is being held as a possible exchange for Iranian citizens held in US jails.

At least two other Iranian-Americans are currently in prison.

'More money needed' to beat TB, health agencies warn

Amy McConville, now 31, from west London was diagnosed with TB in 2005. She is still recovering from the effects of the illness, which caused her left lung to collapse.

20 November 2015

More investment is needed to beat tuberculosis - the joint most deadly infectious disease in the world - a coalition of health agencies has said.

The Stop TB Partnership said it would take $56bn (£36bn) to "eliminate" the curable disease.

'More Money Needed' to Beat TB, Health Agencies Warn by Thavam Ratna

The vehicle which abducted the students found in the Trincomalee army camp

Nov 21, 2015

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has able to find a wagon type vehicle in the Trincomalee army camp which was used to abduct and kill 28 students belong to the rich families for extortions in the Trincomalee and Colombo in 2010.

The Wattala police received a complaint in 2010 of an abduction of six students following a party of an international school student leaving to the UK for further education with the same vehicle of the students travelling after the party. The CID was able to find the said vehicle from the navy camp now. Following the abduction the said vehicle was used under a navy vehicle number plate for many years.

This abduction was carried out by a unit attached to the navy intelligence in order to demand extortions from the parents of the abducted students.

When the CID officers has gone to the navy camp to take the vehicle into custody the navy officers have obstructed. Following an explanation of the legal obligation to the navy commander the vehicle was taken into custody.

The main allegation of abducting and killing theese students is targeted to the former eastern province commander vice admiral Jayantha Kolambage. However the UN has already confirmed about a secret detention camp used for torture in the Trincomalee naval camp.

The UN committee who came to Sri Lanka recently in search of the enforced disappearance disclosed their visit to this secret torture camp situated in the Trincomalee navy camp to the media last Wednesday 18th.

Chief of the UN committee Bernard Duhaime said they got credible evidence that the abducted people were detained for a long time. They denied the claim made by the army that only 11 people were detained. They said when they consider the amount of rooms within it is clear that there were more people detained.

Malaysian MP urges international community to continue pressure on Sri Lanka

November 21, 2015

The international community has been urged to continue to put pressure on the Sri Lanka government and the United Nations (UN) to ensure the alleged wrongs endured by Tamils during the civil war are righted.

Malaysian MP Lim Kit Siang said no efforts should be spared until the Tamils in that country were restored to their human rights and the truth.

He said the reconciliation process as called for by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) investigation into Sri Lanka (OSIL) should be justly and meaningfully completed.

“The future lies in concrete and meaningful steps in Sri Lanka supported by the international community which upholds justice, truth and reconciliation,” he said today in his keynote speech at the International Forum on Human Rights Violations in Sri Lanka.

Speakers at the one day forum include Indian politician V. Gopalsamy, popularly known as Vaiko, Parti Amanah Negara (PAN) president Muhammad Sabu, Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari and Ipoh Barat MP M. Kulasegaran.

In his opening speech earlier, Deputy Chief Minister II P. Ramasamy postulated that the UN resolution on the matter deviated from the OSIL recommendations due to geopolitical considerations.

He said the USA-backed resolution was to strengthen domestic inquiry processes instead of setting up tribunals to try those implicated in war crimes as recommended by OSIL.

Ramasamy also got those present laughing when he said someone attempted to stop the forum by sending Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng a letter to link him to terror networks related to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE).

“The forum is not so much on violations but about bringing truth, justice and reconciliation to the Tamils in Sri Lanka,” he said.

Launching the forum was Guan Eng who said human rights violations and violence must be condemned wherever they occurred and cited the recent Paris attacks and Mali hostage situation as examples.

“If we keep quiet by not speaking up then we will lose that part of humanity. So, we must at least speak up,” he said while urging people to resist extremism.

Source: The Sun Daily

Mystery surrounds death of ex-LTTE member in Maanthai West

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 November 2015, 15:18 GMT]
A 40-year-old former member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who witnessed a four-member squad attempting to murder a person at Moon'raam-piddi on Friday, was found dead Saturday morning with his neck tightened by a piece of cloth, news sources in Mannaar said. Mystery surrounds his death as the family and those close to him have dismissed suicide as the cause of his death. The deceased was identified as Thanapalasingham Veerasingham, a father of three, who was living at Moon'raam-piddi in Iluppaik-kadavai of Maanthai West in Mannaar. Thanapalasingham was sleeping in front of his house, as he was to leave for fishing Friday morning around 4:00 a.m., the family said. 

Thanapalasingham Veerasingham

Thanapalasingham was not found hanging, but on the bottom of a swing, which he had put up for his 4-year-old child inside the residential premises. The piece of cloth used to tighten his neck was a Nilex Saree from the swing itself, according to his close friends who discovered him dead around 4:30 a.m. He had no personal enemies, according to the family and his friends. 

Thanapalasingham, who hails from Kaithadi in Jaffna, joined the LTTE in 1990 and left the movement in 1999. He was married and settled in former LTTE administered Iluppaikkadavai in Maanthai West. 

During the last phase of the war, Thanapalasingham served as a combatant in the border defence force of the LTTE. He has served in the battlefronts from Vanneari to Pokka'nai as a full time fighter.

As Thanapalasingham was bearing battle scars, he was filtered away from his family by the SL military at the barbed-wire internment camp in Vavuniyaa and was subjected to so-called military rehabilitation in 2009. He was released from the genocidal custody in 2011. 

The SL police has detained the four men who were involved in the attempted murder on the previous day, to which Mr Thanapalasingham was a witness, have been detained on Saturday. 

Last year, killers linked to the civil administration of the occupying Sri Lanka were behind the assassination of a former Tamil Eelam Police officer, Krishnaswamy Nakuleswaran, who was a father of two. Those alleged of involvement in the assassination were detained, but were later protected or released on bail through the involvement of a Sri Lankan minister serving the Rajapaksa regime. The same minister alleged of land grabs and instigation of communal disharmony in the district, continues to serve the regime of Srisena and Wickramasinghe.

Effective Peacekeeping in the 21st Century

by Samantha Power

The following article based on the speech delivered by the Ambassador Samantha Power, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, U.S. Mission to the United Nations, in New Delhi, India

( November 21, 2015, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) Hours before India gained its independence on August 15, 1947, Nehru delivered what you and the world now know as his “tryst with destiny” speech. Most great independence speeches look inward – setting out a vision for a people who, for the first time, have won the right to define who they are and who they aspire to be. But what distinguished this speech, and the national product that Nehru so eloquently set out, was that, from its genesis, India looked outwards as well as inwards – seeing its responsibilities as extending to people far beyond its borders.

Effective Peacekeeping in the 21st Century by Thavam Ratna

‘Dockyardgate’ Finally Comes To End

‘Dockyardgate’ finally comes to an end: Colombo Dockyard concedes liability and pays all levies with 10 million penalty

November 21, 2015 

The Colombo Telegraph can now reveal that the Colombo Dockyard case, one of the major Customs revenue frauds that severely tested the integrity and commitment to honour the rule of law regarding Customs, the Attorney General’s Department and the Judiciary, has finally come to an end.

Mohan Pieris

It was made possible purely due to the persistent efforts for justice by the lawyer and pubic interest litigation activist Nagananda Kodituwakku. This was a long overdue Customs case (P/Misc/93/2000) initiated on 07th Feb 2002 against the Colombo Dockyard Ltd, which customs had been forced to abandon due to undue interference of unimaginable scale.

When this customs case was reinstated on 07th Aug 2015 the Colombo Dockyard admitted the guilt of willful violation of the Customs Law by selling marine craft manufactured with tax-free raw materials without the prior approval of Customs and pleaded for mitigation.

Then the Colombo Dockyard Ltd was ordered to pay all Customs levies for the marine craft sold with an additional penalty of ten million rupees. The company promptly paid all levies and the penalty in full.

In 2010, when the lawyer Nagananda Kodituwakku challenged the undue interference of Mohan Pieris in this case (SCFR/536/2010) before the Supreme Court in 2010 case, it came to light that the Director General of Customs (DGC) had given clear instructions (letter dated 03rd Aug 2010) to AG Mohan Pieris that it was case of fraud amounting to colossal loss of revenue and therefore it should be defended in Court. However the Attorney General, Mohan Pieris, had abused the office of the AG to withdraw the case (SC/SLA/100/2009) on 30th Aug 2010 despite DGC’s written instructions.

It was also brought to light that the Mohan Pieris had further deceived the DGC with a letter delivered by handon 31st Aug 2010, in which the date had been surreptitiously recorded as 26th Aug 2010. It was very clear that the letter had been initiated on 31st Aug 2010 only after the withdrawal of the case under his instructions. Apparently it was a failed attempt by Mohan Pieris to give the  impression that the said case was withdrawn with the consent of the DGC.

However, this fraudulent act by Mohan Pieris was exposed by the DGC in the written observations presented to the Supreme Court wherein the Court had been informed that the letter had been delivered only after the case was withdrawn.

However, due to various delaying tactics adopted by the AG, the lawyer Kodituwakku was never allowed to support the case filed in the Supreme Court, until Mohan Peiris was appointed to the office of the Chief Justice.

Then on 31st Jan 2013 the case was taken up for support before the accused Mohan Pieris himself whilst he was the Chief Justice. However, after objections were raised against the case being heard before him it was put off for the following day (01 Feb 2013) to be heard by a Bench, headed by S Hettige, a strong confidant of Mohan Peiris.                                                                         Read More

Some relief for masses

*PAYE tax threshold increased from Rs. 750,000 to 2.4 mn a year

*400 g powdered milk price reduced to Rs. 195

*Prices of ten other essential items also reduced

*Duty free vehicle permit scheme abolished, including that for MPs

* Mahapola University to be set up in Malabe

*Budget deficit stands at Rs. 740 billion

*Interest free three-year loan for undergrads to buy laptops

*Additional Rs. 10,000 Mn for Pubudamu Polonnaruwa Project

*A lump sum payment per person of Rs. 250,000 to July strikers

*Rs. 1 million insurance scheme for fishermen

*100,000 houses to be built in five years for slum dwellers

*EPF, ETF amalgamation only with the consent of workers, TUs

*Wholesale and retail trade to be exempted from VAT

November 21, 2015, 7:54 am 

Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake presenting the Budget (Pics by Kamal Bogoda, Dimuthu Premaratne and Saman Abesiriwardena)

by Saman Indrajith

Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake yesterday delivered what the government called a progressive and budget. He took away the duty free vehicle scheme generally enjoyed by the government sector while granting much needed relief to the hard working private sector by raising the PAYE tax threshold. He requested that a pay hike of Rs 2,500 be given to the private sector workers.

Some Relief for Masses by Thavam Ratna

De-listing of Diaspora Organisations & Individuals: The Gazette

( November 21, 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The list of Designated Persons published in the Gazette Extraordinary No. 1854/41 of March 21, 2014, is hereby amended by the repeal of the Schedules thereto and the substitution therefor of the following Schedules.

Download (PDF, Unknown)

Pressure exerted for Rajitha to resign

Nov 21, 2015

Report reaching us confirm that MP’s and ministers are exerting pressure to health minister Rajitha Senarathna to resign from his ministerial position following the exposure of his illegal financial dealings between him and the owner of the Avantgarde company Nissanka Senadipathi.

Since there is a complaint in the Bribery & Corruption against Rajitha about a transaction with the owner of the Avantgarde the latter’s continuous involvement in Avantgarde matter is causing serious suspicion. Therefore many ministers have informed the President and the Prime Minister that Rajitha should not involve himself any more for this matter.

Many ministers have expressed their views about this during the last Wednesday’s cabinet meeting. Since Rajitha Senarathna has gone abroad he has not participated. The ministers have raised their concern that a person who has been alleged for bribes cannot be a cabinet spokesperson.

Ministers has pointed out as a cabinet spokesperson many issues spoken by Rajitha Senarathna has brought negative impact of the government. The ministers have told there are many instances that Rajitha has pretended statements as the cabinet and presidents official announcements based on his personal disputes. However the president has not told his opinion about this so far.

Mangala’s opinion
During the media communiqué held last Wednesday foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera gave the following opinion.

“Thilak Marapana is a straight forward person. He is one of the ministers who resigned after 28 years. We cannot even dream that fraudsters would resign. However Thilak Marapana resigned from his ministerial position creating a new political culture. Others also should abide by this.

A special exposure of the transaction between Rajitha Senarathna and Avantgarde owner would be  published in the coming Sathhanda newspaper on the 22nd.

Exposé: President Sirisena In The Thick Of A Multi Billion Kickback Scandal

November 21, 2015

President Maithripala Sirisena has effectively violated all norms of good governance, gone back on several key election pledges including a vow to end nepotism and cronyism, and severely dented investor confidence in moves associated with a deal between the troubled telecommunication service provider Hutch and Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), the latter now chaired by his brother Kumarasinghe Sirisena. The process revealed by the newspaper ‘Ravaya’ will no doubt disappoint the international community which saw in Sirisena a symbol of change, a champion of democracy and a harbinger of good governance.

Kumarasinghe Sirisena is set to strike a deal that would see Hutch being bought by SLT for almost double its current market value. Colombo Telegraph learns that President Maithripala Sirisena is in the thick of this scandal which could yield kickbacks of a magnitude that would make the Central Bank Bond Issue scam seem like a petty theft.

To this end, the President, on the bidding of his brother, has appointed to the SLT Board, two ‘safe’ persons (Rohan De Silva and K.H. Wegapitiya), both former Rajapaksa loyalists and beneficiaries of the previous regime and owners of questionable track records. Rohan De Silva used to be a staunch Rajapaksa supporter who after January 8 struck up a friendship with Harin Fernando. The duo has now replaced the ‘troublesome’ Krishantha Cooray and Firo Farook. Meanwhile Thusitha Haloluwa, a person who played a key role in Maithripala Sirisena’s presidential election campaign and an outspoken political activist, was removed from the Mobitel Board of Directors. He was replaced by Heshana De Silva, a partner of Rohan De Silva and the son-in-law of Udaya Nanayakkara. He used to be a close friend of the Rajapaksas’ and is currently one Harin Fernando’s main financiers.

Hutch, which has been in the market for a while, is in the unenviable position of there being no takers. With Dialog being out of the picture, SLT remains the only viable buyer and is excellently positioned to dictate the purchasing price. Experts in the industry claim that Hutch has been unable to sell even at US $ 60 million. Sirisena, however, wants to start bidding at around US$ 95 million envisaging a purchase in the region of US $ 130 million.

Interestingly, this deal was first dreamed up during the Rajapaksa Presidency. However, Lalith De Silva, the former Group CEO hesitated because there was division in the Board with regard to the then upped-price, which at the time was in the region of US $ 135 million. Some Board members thought that the purchase should actually be at half this figure.                                Read More

AG and BC asked to take legal action against Sarath Kumara 

2015-11-21
The PRECIFAC has requested the Bribery Commission (BC) and the Attorney General’s Department (AG) to take legal action against former Deputy Minister of Fisheries Sarath Kumara Gunaratne and two others with regard to misusing of Fisheries Corporation funds, an official of the commission said.

 A senior official of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry to Investigate and Inquire into Serious Acts of Fraud, Corruption and Abuse of Power, State Resources and Privileges (PRECIFAC) told Daily Mirror that the commission had received a complaint against Mr. Gunaratne with regard to misusing of Fisheries Corporation funds. 

 Mr. Gunaratne was earlier summoned by the Commission on a complaint that he had obtained funds from the Fisheries Corporation for former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s election campaign during the last presidential election.(Ajith Siriwardana)