Hong Kong’s ‘missing persons’ cases: ‘Malicious gossip’ or an attack on media freedom?

by Jo Lane-5th January 2016

THE “missing persons” case of five booksellers from Hong Kong who specialized in mainland-related political titles has led to a range of theories, not least of which is the fear that Beijing is tightening its grip on the Chinese special administrative region (SAR) in matters such as freedom of the press and expression. However critics of these theories have said that the unconfirmed rumours of mainland involvement are harming Hong Kong and its relations with China.

Hong Kong’s ‘Missing Persons’ Cases ‘Malicious Gossip’ or an Attack on Media Freedom by Thavam Ratna

Taiwan: Release Wang Guang-Lu

Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou cheers with the audience during National Day celebrations marking the 101st anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China, in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei, Taiwan, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012. Ma pledged greater efforts to fix the island’s economy, now limping along at about a 2 percent annual growth rate. (AP Photo/Wally Santana)

William Gomes

Taiwan has tried to position itself as a champion of indigenous rights in recent years.

(LONDON) - President of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
Ma Ying-jeou
Office of the President
No. 122, Sec. 1, Chongqing S. Rd
Zhongzheng District
Taipei City 100
Taiwan (R.O.C)

Your Excellency,

I am William Nicholas Gomes, Human rights defender and Freelance journalist.

I would like to draw your attention to the following case.

Wang Guang-Lu (Tama Talum), a 56- year old man of the indigenous Bunun tribe of Taiwan, began a 3 and a half year prison sentence on December 15, 2015, as punishment for hunting. His 94-year-old mother had asked him to give her some game meat.

After hunting a small deer and a mountain goat for her, he was arrested, tried and convicted. His appeal to the charges of illegally carrying a weapon and illegally hunting protected wildlife was refused by Taiwan’s Supreme Court on October 29, 2015.

This is a humanitarian case, since he will no longer be able to take care of his mother, or his children, and is himself in poor health. A long prison sentence causes their family unnecessary hardship. It should be noted that both animal species hunted are considered to be of “least concern” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Hunting, fishing, and gathering have been integral parts of indigenous culture, ritual and identity to the Austronesian peoples of Taiwan for millennia.

In most tribes, hunting is an important coming-of-age ritual for young men. For men of all ages, it is an important spiritual practice of communication with the ancestors and mountain spirits. Since the Republic of China came to Taiwan in 1945, they have labeled these subsistence and ritual practices as savage and criminalized them.

Taiwan has in recent years tried to position itself as a champion of indigenous rights. The government has promised to take into consideration indigenous cultural practices when dealing with such legal cases, even establishing indigenous hearing chambers for such cases. The state, however, continues to violate the right of indigenous people to hunt.

International law on indigenous peoples supports the right of indigenous people to their traditions of hunting, fishing and gathering.

Article 20 of the United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples says that “Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and develop their political, economic and social systems or institutions, to be secure in the enjoyment of their own means of subsistence and development, and to engage freely in all their traditional and other economic activities.”

Article 19 of Taiwan’s own Basic Law on Indigenous Peoples states that indigenous persons may hunt, but only “for traditional culture, ritual or self-consumption.”

Taiwan’s Basic Law on Indigenous Peoples, passed in 2005, calls for all relevant laws to be revised to permit the implementation of indigenous rights as promised in the law. Yet, Taiwan continues to violate the inherent rights of its indigenous peoples.

As international supporters of indigenous hunting rights in Taiwan, I ask you to immediately file an extraordinary appeal to the Supreme Court on behalf of Wang Guang-Lu.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this pressing matter.

Yours sincerely,

William Nicholas Gomes

Human Rights Defender & Freelance Journalist

Note : 1. http://thracanada.blogspot.ca/2015/12/thrac-writes-letter-to-president-ma.html 2.https://www.change.org/p/prosecutor-general-yen-da-ho-taiwan-free-wang-guang-lu-and-legalize-indigenous-hunting-in-taiwan

Yours sincerely,

William Nicholas Gomes
Human Rights Defender & Freelance Journalist

______________________________

Salem-News.com Human Rights Ambassador William Nicholas Gomes is a Bangladeshi journalist, human rights activist. As an investigative journalist has written widely for leading European and Asian media outlets. William Gomes concentrates on humanity; his advocacy of human beings in dangerous, preventable circumstances does in fact lead to some of our most vital reports, because they give a voice to the voiceless.
William Gomes said, "I am against any form of intolerance alongside xenophobia and antisemitism. I am and will always stand strong in combating all forms of racial discrimination and intolerance any where." Read his letters and reports to see what the new generation of world journalists are doing to preserve human rights worldwide.

Twitter @wnicholasgomes
Email: william@williamnicholasgomes.com
www.facebook.com/williamnicholasgomes

'Male' and 'female' brains aren't real: time to rethink gender stereotypes

A STUDY HAS FOUND THERE IS NO SHARP DIVISION BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE BRAINS. CREDIT: ALAMY

•  Glenda Cooper -1 DECEMBER 2015 • 6:30PM

Last week, when I was wielding the cordless screwdriver and swearing at the flatpack desk from Amazon, and my husband fussed around the kitchen putting the finishing touches to the evening meal, I wondered idly whether my well-thumbed copy of John Gray’s Men Are From Mars, Women are From Venus might not be the sacred text we all were led to believe.

Yesterday, science confirmed my suspicions (and the fact that I’m undoubtedly going to get a Black & Decker in my Christmas stocking).

Researchers who analysed more than 1,400 brain scans have come to the conclusion that when it comes to gender and the brain, there is no sharp division between male and female – it’s all a bit of a grey area.

The study undermines the contention that men and women are biologically wired to think differently.

Yet the contention that men and women think differently has been one of the most cherished beliefs in science – and on Valentine’s Day – for many years.

Scores of studies have aimed to prove our dissimilarities, including one of my favourite pieces of research earlier this year which concluded you had a male brain if you liked “to do” lists and answering the question “Does my bum look big in this?” honestly.

Another study discovered special neurons in the brains of male nematode worms which suggested that men’s brains were wired to pick sex over food.

Presumably this is why men are said to have also developed better map-reading skills, after Utah researchers found that men’s sense of direction allowed them to travel further simply to find more women to have sex with. 

Men are better at reading maps so they can find more women to have sex with, according to a study.

It’s enough to make the stereotypical female mind get completely overemotional in frustration. But thankfully, yesterday’s study isn’t the only one to challenge these kind of assumptions.

Earlier this year, an analysis of more than 76 papers found no difference in the size of men and women’s hippocampus – the part of the brain that controls memory and emotions to the senses, and which is often used as an explanation as to why women are supposedly better at making small talk at the school gates or taking on the chore of writing the family Christmas cards.

"It would be wrong to deny that men and women aren’t identical. Men’s brains, as a rule, are larger than women’s – but that’s no different from the fact that men on average are taller"

 

 

The truth is that many of the reasons we believe that men and women’s brains are fired up so differently is because it’s convenient for us to believe this – and it’s likely our cultural assumptions could have influenced how the studies were conducted and interpreted.

At this moment, someone always steps in to point out loudly that anyone who has brought up children has seen boys who prefer guns and girls who prefer dolls no matter how young they may be.

Have children been socially conditioned to pick gender stereotypical toys?

And true, at a children’s party at the weekend, while the girls conscientiously stayed in lane at a bowling alley, the seven-year-old boys indulged in an impromptu wrestling match.

But surely that’s because by that age they’ve been socially conditionedto act in this way? Yet my mother, a true 1970s woman who had raised two girls to enjoy playing with Lego bricks as much as Tiny Tears, had her faith in gender blindness shaken when my baby brother handed a doll, took it by the hair and used it as a car – complete with loud and enthusiastic engine noises.

Still, as Cordelia Fine’s 2010 book Delusions of Gender points out, even that is not as conclusive as it might seen.

"Only eight per cent of people had brains consistent with their sex. The rest of us enjoy writing to-do lists, find reading maps easy as well as making a point of chatting to people they’ve never met"

 

 

Fine tells the story of a woman who conscientiously gave her daughter tools in place of dolls, only to discover the child “undressing” a hammer and singing it to sleep.

The mother came to the conclusion that there could only be innate differences – “at least, until [she was] asked who had been putting her daughter to bed”.

Of course, it would be wrong to deny that men and women aren’t identical. Men’s brains, as a rule, are larger than women’s – but that’s no different from the fact that men on average are taller.

Experiments have shown that men have different hormones affecting their brains, and different parts of female and male brains may light up during neuroimaging scans.

Despite scans showing that different hormones affect men's brains, this isn't enough to prove men and women think differently.

The problem is that you can’t extrapolate from that that any of this has much bearing on whether men and women act, think or feel differently – as yesterday’s study makes clear.

In this study, only eight per cent of people had brains consistent with their sex. The rest of us enjoy writing to-do lists, find reading maps easy as well as making a point of chatting to people they’ve never met.

But, most importantly, that also leaves us without future excuses that some of us secretly rather like. There can be no more justifications for men to stand around in the pub lamenting that they will never understand women, or for women to share a bottle of prosecco in order to moan that men are incomprehensible.

I can now thankfully hand over responsibility for the annual round robin – but can no longer weasel out of driving on long road trips.

No longer can any of us claim that of course men and women are different because otherwise my other half would be more or less genetically engineered to pick clothes up off the floor or maxing out the credit card in the sales.

Nothing to do with inborn gender differences – it’s just the simple fact we are all different.

DO JUSTICE, NO DIVISIONS

Chathuri Disanayake-JAN 05 2016

As the Leader of the Opposition and leader of the Tamil National Alliance, R. Sampanthan holds a unique position to contribute towards reshaping Sri Lankan’s political culture and constitutional parameters within which the government should operate.

Do Justice, No Divisions by Thavam Ratna

Meeting expectations necessary to maintain support for reconciliation

By Jehan Perera-January 5, 2016, 7:59 am 

The government has been responsive to public pressure in multifold ways. It amended the budget in 16 different areas due to protests by trade unions and affected groups even though the budget deficit grew by more billions. It is investigating a case of abduction by one of its members. It has been responsive to concerns expressed by civil society about the absence of participation in both the constitutional reform and transitional justice processes. Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe has appointed a 24-member committee from political and civil society to obtain views on constitutional reforms from the public. This Committee will seek oral and written submissions from the public and a report will handed to a Cabinet Sub Committee on Constitutional Reforms. In addition Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera has appointed an 11-member committee to discuss and provide input on issues pertaining to the Geneva process.

Meeting Expectations Necessary to Maintain Support for Reconciliation by Thavam Ratna

Last Chance For Settling The Festering Ethnic Question

By Veluppillai Thangavelu –January 5, 2016 

Veluppillai Thangavelu

President Maithripala Sirisena will be completing a year as President on January 08, 2016. A year ago he was the Minister of Health in Mahinda Rajapaksa’s cabinet. He was first elected to parliament in 1989 representing Polonnaruwa and was re-elected in 1994, 2000, 2004 and 2010. In 1997, he was appointed as the General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) but was beaten in 2000 following which he became one of the Deputy Presidents of SLFP. He staged a come back as General-secretary of the SLFP in October 2001 following Dissanayake’ s defection to the United National Party (UNP. President Kumaratunga appointed Sirisena as Minister of River Basin Development and Rajarata Development in the new UPFA government in April 2004. He belonged to a family which settled down in Polonnaruwa as colonists during DS Senanayake’s time and, therefore, not a politician from the political elite and socialites. Throughout his political career, he remained an unflashy and a low profile politician.

In November, 2014 Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned from his post as President and announced his candidature two years ahead of schedule. The news of his resignation took everyone by surprise, including his close confidants, advisors and even the opposition. The only exception was Rajapaksa’s trusted Astrologer of over 30 years who gave him the go ahead telling him that according to his horoscope he is an invincible personality and a blessed man. He will win a third term resoundingly.

Since first elected as President in 2005 by defeating Ranil Wickremesinghe from the UNP, Mahinda Rajapaksa has consolidated his political power beyond anyone’s expectation.  The 18th Amendment virtually made him an elected dictator more powerful than JR Jayewardene the godfather of the executive presidential system of government. The 18th Amendment further strengthened the presidency at the expense of the legislature, the judiciary and the citizens, thereby exacerbating the imbalance inherent in the system. Mahinda Rajapaksa did away the two terms limit to continue his rule in perpetuity. As executive president he along with his siblings, controlled 80% of the budget expenditure. His cousins and nephews who had little education were appointed as Ambassadors, Heads of Corporations etc. Some one produced a Rajapaksa’s facility tree that depicted about 250 relatives working at the Temple Trees.                                    Read More

Torture Camps in Recently Released Valikamam North – People; Army Denies

05/01/2016

The Army has denied reports, on the existence of torture camps, in the areas released a week ago in Valikamam North.
700 acres of land area has been released for the resettlement of IDPs by the security forces in the North. President Maithripala Sirisena is expected to officially hand over the documents confirming the land ownership of their original lands, at a function coinciding with ‘Thai Pongal’ celebration on 15 January, sources said.

After the handing over of the 700 acre land to the Jaffna Government Agent last week, IDPs were allowed to see their original places. Some of the IDPs had reported that they saw the rooms and other areas inside their houses were made up in a manner of operating torture camps with rooms being covered with barbed wire sources said.

However, the Army Media Unit have denied the allegations of running torture camps in the areas which were in their possession in Valikamam North and pointed out that stories have been fabricated to tarnish the reputation of the Army.

“The Army did not have any torture camps, nor secret detention camps in the areas released for resettlement and we had no need to run torture camps,” the military spokesperson said on Sunday (3).

Locals in Valikamam North suspect two houses returned to them last week after 25 years of military occupation were used as torture cells.

Meanwhile, the IDPs returning after twenty five years to their original places in Valikamam North, have now started clearing the over grown shrubs and bushes which were even covering roads and lanes beyond identification, sources said.

IDPs have also pointed out that most of their houses were now in a dilapidated state with the roof tiles, doors, windows and their frames being removed. The furniture which was left behind when they evacuated their original places have also been either removed or damaged. Even after they were allowed to return to their original places, some of the looters were nabbed red-handed when they were attempting to take the leftovers from the abandoned houses.

On the request of the IDPs returning to their original places police patrols have are also now in place to prevent untoward incidents sources said.

BY S.S.Sakthi
CT

Keppappilavu villagers demand return of land, protest army occupation

05 January 2016

Mullaitivu villagers protested against militarization and demanded the return of their occupied lands on Monday.

Keppappilavu residents demonstrated against the occupation of 475 acres of their land and called out slogans demanding the army get out.

Placards saying "we want our land" and "we need our land" were held by the protesters.

The protest was led by TNPF's Mullaitivu co-ordinator Mrs Inthirani Vivekananthan.

Police were seen at the protest photographing demonstrators.

Since 2012 Keppappilavu villagers have been living in a so-called model village developed by the Ministry for Resettlement, because according to the ministry they "could not be resettled in their land due to their land in the village being required for the Security Force Headquarters in Mullaitivu."

The model village was inaugurated by LTTE defector and former deputy resettlement minister Karuna in March 2013.

See our previous posts:

526 acres of land grab announced. (28 Apr 13)

Keppapulavu IDPs 'resettled' into forests (27 Sep 12)

See also report by sundaytimes.lk: IDPs trapped in ‘model village’ fear permanent exile

617 acres of land to be acquired for construction of Navy camp in Mulaitivu even though war is over

(Lanka-e-News -05.Jan.2016, 6.30AM) While a group of officers of the Navy were preparing to acquire  a land 617 acres in extent at Mulaitivu purportedly to build a new Navy camp , the owners of the land had mounted their opposition against it.

When an  additional secretary lands , traveled to Mulaitivu from Colombo to hold preliminary discussions with a view to securing lands from the residents of Malaitivu , only 48 owners of lands participated. 

All of them had told the officers that they are not under any circumstances prepared to give their lands for the construction of the new Navy camp . They have also given a letter in writing to that effect to the Mulaitivu district secretary 

The residents of Mulaitivu say , the officers are requesting back those lands which were used by the security divisions during the period of the war , and were released to the people  after the war concluded . These are lands for which the residents have the relevant documents. These lands are requested by the Navy for the construction of the new Navy camp .

Anthony Jeganathan  the vice president of the northern provincial council (PC) , and a land owner of Vattuval who attended the dscussion said , the Navy had wanted the land extending from Mulaitivu Wattuwal bridge up to Pudukudiiruppu town , and on the other side from Nandikadal zone to the seashore  which is a huge area. 

When the land owners argued that land of such great extent is not necessary to establish a Navy camp, the officers had explained that it is not certain whether the proposed land in its entirety will be taken. However Jeganathan said , if the government needs those lands for its purposes , even if the owners oppose ,the government can acquire them .

This land in Mulaitivu is very important from the point of view of the tourist Industry  , and the final phase of the war was fought in this area ,meaning that there is a histroic value for it, whereby the land values are shooting up. Hence , the land owners pointed out to the officers they are suspicious that  some group is trying to appropriate these lands with deceitful motives by cheating the land owners .

The residents have nevertheless decided that their lands cannot be given for the construction of a Navy camp even if  alternative lands are offered  or on payment of compensation.

When the Navy media headquarters and  the army media headquarters  were contacted to gather more information on this porpsed land acqusition , the officers there said , any information in this regard can only be obtained from the secretary to the ministry of defense.

Dinasena Rathugamage from Vavuniya
Translated by Jeff 

---------------------------
by     (2016-01-05 01:11:18)

Sri Lanka: it is Very Much Business as Usual – Yasmin Sooka

( Press release: “Silenced: survivors of torture and sexual violence in 2015”  )

05/01/2016

Johannesburg: New evidence has emerged of on-going torture and sexual violence by the Sri Lankan security forces one year after a new government came to power promising a radical clean up. “Sadly Sri Lanka’s notorious ‘white vans’ are still operating; it’s very much business as usual,” said ITJP’s Yasmin Sooka, “this demonstrates there can be no accountability without urgent security sector reform that leads to the dismantling of the state’s machinery of repression”.

Twenty Tamil survivors in four countries around the world gave detailed testimony about brutal and repeated torture and sexual assault while in the custody of the Sri Lankan military and police units during 2015. Details of these witnesses have been withheld for their protection and that of family members still in Sri Lanka, all of whom have faced repeated reprisals throughout 2015.

The report by ITJP provides graphic details of the torture and rape of both men and women by members of the Sri Lankan security forces under the period in office of the new government. This abuse occurred in both secret and identified sites, including Joseph Camp in Vavuniya, which ITJP named in previous reports as a torture site. The most recent “white van” abduction involving torture and sexual violence known to ITJP occurred as recently as December 2015.

According to ITJP, several Tamil politicians, ICRC, and diplomats in Sri Lanka are aware of the on-going violations. The report sets out steps that the Government of Sri Lanka could immediately take to investigate these cases if it is serious about stopping torture and sexual violence. It also warns Tamils formerly connected to the LTTE who are now abroad about the risks of returning to the country.

The ITJP report notes the importance of security sector reform, law reform and the establishment of an effective witness protection programme if the Sri Lankan government is serious about accountability processes in accordance with the 2015 Geneva resolution.

“It is hard to see how a war survivor could safely testify to a Truth Commission in this atmosphere of ongoing repression and intolerance,” commented Yasmin Sooka, “one year on it’s time for the Government of Sri Lanka to take urgent meaningful action”.

7th January 2016.

Read the full report by the International Truth and Justice Project :  Silenced (jan 2016)

Constitution Making In Sri Lanka: Why Should The People Be Vigilant?

By 
Siri Gamage

 –January 5, 2016

Dr. Siri Gamage

At a time when the parliament is to convert itself to a Constituent Assembly for the purpose of preparing a new constitution for Sri Lanka, it is useful to reflect on what a new constitution means for a country and its future as well as its varied functions. Constitution is ‘a contract’ among people and with the people. It provides a blueprint and a legally enforceable guide to how the country should be governed, by whom and for what end? A constitution also defines the nature and limits of power held by key office holders of government as well as the basic rights and responsibilities of citizens. In addition, it contains a vision and an indication of fundamental values that reflect the social and cultural fabric of society. For example, democracy, coexistence, equality, non-alignment and justice. A constitution helps the legislature, the executive government and the judiciary in their deliberations to avoid unnecessary confusion and conflict in performing their respective roles. Thus, the constitution making process will bring to focus what our basic values are for co- existence, harmony and move forward as a country with its governance structure and procedures defined. The process of constitution making will, however, bring to light conflicting ideas on how to govern the society, what key institutions should be there, and their nature, responsibilities and powers as well as inter-linkages.

Constitution making process, though undertaken by elected representatives to the current parliament for drafting a bill for the purpose, is not only a legal process. It is a much broader sociological exercise involving all citizens as the outcome can bind everyone for the foreseeable future once instituted. Yet the new constitution will be determined by way of a two-thirds majority in the parliament as elected members are the people’s representatives.                                                 Read More

Sri Lanka seeks ways to turn El Niño pain into gain for farmers

A man teaches his son how to prepare rice fields using a tractor, near the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, in this April 2010 file photo. REUTERS/Andrew Caballero-Reynolds

Author: Amantha Perera-Tue, 5 Jan 2016

POLONNARUWA, Sri Lanka, Jan 5 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Rice farmer Weerasinghearchchilage Darmarathana is used to periodic flooding in his low-lying village of Galella in central Sri Lanka.

The 60-year-old has lived all his life on the flood plains of the country's longest river, the Mahaweli, in Polonnaruwa District, some 250 km (155.34 miles) northeast of the capital Colombo.

"It used to be maybe twice, three times a year the road would go under, but the last year has been insane," said the paddy farmer. In his recollection, Galella has never been flooded with the same frequency as in the last two months of 2015.

The village was hit six times in less than two months, Darmarathana said, after unusually heavy rains battered the region in November and December.

Over a million people were marooned in Sri Lanka's Northern, North Central and Eastern Provinces, and over 400 homes and other buildings were destroyed.

An advisory issued by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in early December attributed the rains to the current El Niño weather phenomenon, likely to be the strongest since 1997-1998.

Extreme rainfall also caused havoc in India late last year, including extensive flooding in the city of Chennai.

"The consensus that strong El Niño conditions has led to abnormal rainfall during the northeast monsoon season in South Asia indicates that El Niño had a part to play in the sequence of extreme weather events in India," the ESCAP advisory said.

Excessive El Niño-linked rainfall across southern India and northern Sri Lanka was expected to continue into early 2016, it added.

Sri Lankan authorities said they were prepared. "Historically El Niño has meant more rains in this region, so we have been making our predictions on those lines," said Lalith Chandrapala, head of the island's Department of Meteorology.

Chandrapala said the country could be in a position to benefit from the El Niño-induced rains, which began in mid-November on the back of a weak monsoon he assessed to be 75 percent below average.

"We have been telling agencies like the Department of Agriculture to advise farmers to prepare for rains," he said.

CHANGING MINDSETS

The ESCAP report also noted that the waters from the current bout of rains could be used for the upcoming planting season.

As the heavy rains struck when there was no harvest, agricultural losses have been negligible.

Pradeep Koddiplili, deputy director at the Disaster Management Centre, said no warnings had yet been issued for potential El Niño-related crop damage, mainly because the rains had coincided with the preparation of fields for planting.

But disaster risk experts working in rural areas say awareness of changing weather patterns remains low and could prevent farmers making the most of the unseasonal rains.

Sarath Wickramasinghe, a disaster risk reduction specialist with the Sri Lanka Red Cross who works in North Central Province, said people in the country's dry zone lacked sufficient infrastructure and knowledge to adapt to shifting rains.

"They are traditionally geared for the monsoon, which comes twice a year - even some officials are," he said. "That mindset needs to be changed."

Farmers must adjust to long dry spells, like that experienced in parts of Sri Lanka between June and October 2015, broken by heavy rains. "Right now the cultivation cycles follow the traditional monsoon," he added.

Farmer Darmarathana from Galella has worked according to the monsoon since he started farming in the 1970s.

"I don't know any other timetable," he said. "Someone needs to teach me the new methods, if there are any."

Wickramasinghe said the approach of traditional farmers needed to evolve "if we are to gain any kind of advantage from the changing rain patterns".

The Red Cross and the U.N. Development Programme have launched a pilot project in Polonnaruwa District to help farmers adapt to uncertain weather and climate conditions.

Targeting 100 families in Nagastenne village, it provides them with assistance including seeds and technical knowledge to develop sustainable agriculture methods, such as water harvesting, and to restore degraded land.

(Reporting by Amantha Perera; editing by Megan Rowling. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit www.trust.org)

An attempt to bring a retired person to the Attorney General post

 Jan 05, 2016

Reports reaching us conform that a retired person who worked at the Attorney General department is to be appointed to the Attorney General post.

The current Attorney General Yuwanjan Wijethilake is to be retired on the 8th of January and therefore this retired person is supposed to be appointed.

This position is to be appointed when already there are suitable people available at the Attorney General department. However attorney general’s department learns that the current solicitor general Suhada Gamlath should be appointed as the attorney general

Crisis In Oluvil: The Perils Of Politicisation, Desultory Policies, & Privatisation

By Elijah Hoole –January 5, 2016

Elijah Hoole

The Makings of the Oluvil Misadventure: A Case Study in State Negligence

Following the Z-score fiasco of 2011, the government hurriedly opened up an engineering faculty in the South Eastern University of Sri Lanka (SEUSL),Oluvil, to absorb an additional hundred engineering students. In the subsequent years, two more batches joined the faculty without improvements in human or physical resources to render it commensurate with established engineering faculties.

Despite multiple forewarnings from the students, the authorities concerned failed to arrest the situation. The result was a crisis that threatened the futures of three hundred engineering students and the proud heritage of state engineering education: the faculty largely operated during weekends with visiting lecturers sharing the bulk of teaching duties; the authorities singularly failed in attracting quality human resources; electrical and computer engineering departments functioned without department heads casting an impossible burden on relatively inexperienced lecturers and demonstrators – leaving the students at a loss in a low quality learning environment; lack of links to the engineering industry meant the absence of familiarisation opportunities and exposure for the students. The faculty administration’s inability to run the academic programme to schedule compounded the problem further: parallel batches in other engineering faculties lead by a full year.

The SEUSL engineering faculty had seriously flawed origins and is a case study in state negligence and the callousness with which university education is being treated in the country.

First, the Z-score fiasco of 2011 that led to the establishment of the engineering faculty in SEUSL was the result of a basic mathematical error committed by the Department of Examinations’ – one of treating two characteristically distinct populations as the same when calculating the z-scores – and required the intervention of the Supreme Court for a remedy.                                 Read More