Race to understand Zika link to baby microcephaly

By Michelle Roberts-2 February 2016

An urgent global race is under way to establish how and why the Zika virus could be causing a devastating spike in cases of babies being born with underdeveloped brains in South America.

Brazil has reported around 4,000 cases of microcephaly since October - an unprecedented number.

The World Health Organization has declared a global public health emergency in response.

But experts are unsure what exactly is behind the rise.

Dr Anthony Costello, the WHO's expert on microcephaly, says finding an answer quickly is imperative.

"We must assume, given global travel and the like, that this could spread into many other populations as well.

"What we have picked up is a surge in cases of microcephaly in two areas where Zika virus has broken out. First in French Polynesia last year and now, to a much greater extent, in Brazil.

"We do not know about cases yet in other areas."

Zika virus has now hit more than 20 countries and the WHO believes it is likely to spread "explosively" across nearly all of the Americas, making the need for fast answers clear.

Dr Costello says there will be a lag time of several months to know if pregnant women in these newly affected countries are safe.

The race is on to find a better diagnostic test and a vaccine and treatment for Zika as well as establishing what is making these babies ill.

Microcephaly is not a new condition. In the US, official reports suggests two to 12 babies per 10,000 born each year have microcephaly - that's around 25,000 babies a year.

It can be caused by other infections caught in pregnancy, such as rubella.

Drug and alcohol abuse by expectant mothers are also factors.

And it can also be caused by rare genetic conditions.

The difficulty facing scientists is establishing what is behind each new case.

Research using animal models is needed to determine if Zika causes damage to an unborn infant when infection occurs in pregnancy and at what stage, as well as studies of pregnant women who have unfortunately been infected with Zika virus to determine the outcomes of their pregnancies.

Dr Costello said: "We desperately need to have better diagnostics for Zika virus so that we can look very carefully, if you get pregnant and you get infected, at what is the risk of getting microcephaly.

"At the moment we don't exactly know what the risk is."

He said although many pregnant women would, understandably, be very scared at the moment, they should remember that the risk of their baby having microcephaly was still very low.

"This is still a relatively rare occurrence and even if the rates increase, most women are going to get through pregnancy absolutely fine."

Babies born with microcephaly can grow up to have few or no complications. The impact it will have on their life depends on its severity.

An underdeveloped brain can lead to seizures, developmental delays, intellectual disability, problems with movement and balance, hearing loss and visual problems.

Because it is difficult to predict at birth what problems may lie ahead for a baby with microcephaly, they need close medical follow-up.

There are things pregnant women, or those who are likely to be pregnant, can do to protect themselves against the potential risk:

• to consider delaying travel to areas affected by Zika
• seek advice from a physician if they are living in areas affected by Zika
• protect themselves against mosquito bites by wearing repellent and covering up

Unemployed graduates protest in Jaffna over jobs
01 February 2016

Unemployed graduates protested in Jaffna on Monday morning over the ongoing lack of jobs.


The protest, organised by the 'Northern province unemployed graduates group', began at 11am and took place in front of the Jaffna District Secretariat.


The graduates handed over a petition to the Jaffna district secretary, Nagalingham Vethanayagam. 

SRI LANKA/WORLD: A Suggested Overall Framework for Reconciliation Discourse

By Basil Fernando-February 1, 2016

The author is sharing this writing, with a suggested over all frameworkfor reconcilation discourse in Sri Lanka. It is meant to provoke thought and discussion. Responsiblity for this view is the author’s alone.

I
The village where I was born, for all purposes, looked very quiet and peaceful. However, an internal structure of discrimination was inbuilt into the social ethos of this village. The structure of internal violence was built on the basis of caste discrimination.

A classification of people as lower and higher was built into the very structure of the social ethos and, I think that, over many centuries, it had also been transmitted into the deepest recesses of the psyche, into the very soul of the people. People were therefore deeply divided.

This deeply divided people, both socially and psychologically, lived in peace. The external acts of violence, such as murder or even quarrelsomeness, did not have an expressed presence and visibility in this village. People were not friends; at the same time, they were not overt enemies. It was just that they were divided; they were not one. That was the source of constant inner violence, which was inbuilt deep into this village ethos.

The rules of the inner division were well known and well accepted by everyone. The rules were underwritten into the inner structure of everyone living in the village. As these were so deeply internalized, there were hardly any breaches of these rules.

That was the source of the absence of external conflicts. It could be said that there was a certain harmony but that harmony did not mean friendship, love, or any kind of respect for each other. 

The absence of respect of one person for the other in the system of hierarchy was taken for granted. It was thought and felt that they had to treat each other differently and there was no dispute about that matter.

The division did not mean hate. The rules were so deeply internalized and psychologically accepted that it did not leave any room for hate. Thus, there was no love or hate in the relationships among these people.

There was some kind of an etiquette that was entrenched so deep that the observance of that etiquette could be taken for granted. Each one behaved towards the others on the basis of that inbuilt etiquette. As there were hardly any occasions when the rules of etiquette were broken, it could be said that there were no externally expressed conflicts in this society.

On some rare occasion, some one or another, tried to undermine the age-old rules. It was then that conflict became externalized and the retaliation very cruel. The division into lower and higher allowed those in higher positions to greater and disproportionate force. It was on those occasions that the cruelty of the internalized structure became visible. Such moments of overt violence was the way the old order was restored, and then things returned to normal, “peaceful”.

This indicates that the order that prevailed, and still prevails, was produced by the use of extreme violence, whereby some accepted the idea of being lower and remained in that position. So long as the lower group accepted this position, there was no external conflict and there was “peace”. That shows that the inner foundation was builtin fear; this cement still holds. Internalized fear, not love or hate, created this“peace”.

From a rational point of view, there may be nothing to legitimize this social arrangement.

But, it persists.

Habits live long.

II
A look into some of the more frequently asked questions will illustrate the impact of cast as the inner structure. Here are a few such questions:

Why do we not get outraged in the face of blatant acts of injustice and violence?

Why do we not speak out on behalf of each other?

Why do police beat up poorer people in routine and never the more powerful, despite the powerfulcommitting even greater crimes?

Why aren’t State officers courteous to ordinary folk?

Why is there a practice of disproportionate violence, such as beating a man to death for stealing of a bunch of bananas or killing a person after arrest?

The culture of silence and culture of violence cannot be explained, save by reference to the inner structure of our social ethos, which is one based on caste.

III
A similar situation exists among the Tamils too. Their “bond”is also cemented by caste. There is no greater love or hate between the lower and the higher among the Tamils.

IV
Race relationships in Sri Lanka are conditioned on the same basis as caste. Race relationships in Sri Lanka are an extension of caste relationships.

V
The basic argument made above is that Sri Lankan society is created on the basis of the internalized structure of caste. The very silence about the caste-based inner structure is itself a product of caste.

VI
The talk about reconciliation has not made much impression on many people, because, the inner structure of violence which is caste-based has not been brought forward as an integral part of process of reconciliation. The more sensitive part of the wound has remained untouched.

VII
Presenting two races, Sinhalese and Tamils, as two integrated units engaged in conflict, is artificial. Both groups are deeply divided, by the very inner structure of each.

VIII
In racial conflicts as well as caste conflicts, persons who undergo the most painful events are, for the most part, the “lower” groupsin the caste ladder. But, those who are engaged in reconciliation matters are the “upper” layer. Naturally, no real talk on reconciliation can begin that way. Those who have suffered direct pain must speak, if reconciliation is to begin. But, the very law of caste denies the lower group the right to speech. So, reconciliation talks never get to a start.

IX
Instead, under the pretext of reconciliation, upper”groups of both races are seeking greater power for themselves. As the “lower”groups of both races are not participants and by the very nature of the inner structure of each race, will never be allowed to participate till caste has its influence felt, “the Lower Groups”will see no benefit to themselves from the political games playrf by “the ÜPPER Groups”

X
It is only with the eradication of the inner structure based on caste – amongst the Sinhalese as well as the Tamils – that the talk of reconciliation will become a living dialogue.

The way to break the inner structure based on caste is through the creation of modern institutions, the basic democratic institutions, with adequate resources to remain functional, and making them the inner structure of Sri Lanka, a structure that will serve both the Sinhalese and the Tamils and other communalities.

Replacement of a caste-based inner structure with modern democratic institutions as the inner structure can do the magic of reconciliation. Among the democratic institutions that can make practical equality possible, both within each race and among the races, are the law enforcement agencies and judicial institutions.

What is meant by law enforcement agencSies is the police and the corruption control agency. Using the term judicial institutions implies the Supreme Court and the upper courts, which enjoy all judicial powers, inclusive of constructional powers, such as judicial review.

The most important consideration is that these institutions should have adequate funds to function efficiently.

The Political Challenge Of Carrying The People Through Transitional Justice

By Jehan Perera –February 1, 2016

Jehan Perera

President Maithripala Sirisena’s rejection of foreign involvement in the judicial accountability process in Sri Lanka has once again brought to the fore the difficult issue of war crimes in the course of the war. The most controversial aspect of the UN Human Rights Council resolution that was co-signed by the Sri Lankan government last October was the need for international participation in the judicial accountability mechanism. The UNHRC resolution stated that it “affirms that a credible justice process should include independent judicial and prosecutorial institutions led by individuals known for integrity and impartiality; and further affirms in this regard the importance of participation in a Sri Lankan judicial mechanism, including the Special Counsel’s office, of Commonwealth and other foreign judges, defence lawyers, and authorised prosecutors and investigators.”

It was the issue of accountability for war crimes and other serious human rights violations that from 2009, the very year that the war ended, pitted the Sri Lankan government against the Western –led international community. The position of the former government was one of total rejection of any international role in looking at the past. The former government claimed that no war crimes had occurred and, in any event, the war was an internal one and the international community had no role in deciding how to deal with issues that had arisen from it. However, the government failed to impress enough members of the UN Human Rights Council, which ensured that Sri Lanka faced repeated defeats when it came to the passage of resolutions that called upon the Sri Lankan government to delve credibly into the past.

In the face of the deadlock in positions of the government and UN Human Rights Council, the question was when the Western-led international community would impose punitive sanctions against the Sri Lanka. Travel bans on Sri Lankan leaders and economic sanctions became possibilities. Both of these sanctions were put into effect to some degree. Military personnel who had been accused of committing war crimes were denied visas to attend training programmes abroad. The loss of the EU’s GSP Plus tariff concession was a major blow to the garment industry which was the second biggest earner of foreign exchange to the country and resulted in the closure of hundreds of small factories. The EU cited Sri Lanka’s failure to meet human rights conventions relevant for benefits under the scheme. If the country is to regain these benefits it will be necessary for the government to show satisfactory progress in meeting its human rights obligations.

Political Concerns                                                                             Read More

Policing Sri Lanka’s Police Force

T
he question before us is the seriousness of the United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG) on very issues of the society.

by Wimalanath Weeraratne
Courtesy: The Sunday Leader

( February 1, 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) It seems that Sri Lanka Police never learns a lesson. Although it has the Dharmachakra (Wheel of the Dharma) in its insignia and has Dhammo bhave rakkathi dhammachari (One who lives by Dhamma is protected by the Dhamma’; the police does not seem to adhere to Law and in fact takes Law unto its own hands.

In November 2015, we heard of heroic actions of a pregnant Woman Police Constable (WPC) in Kandy who saved the life of a six-year-old child about to be thrown onto an oncoming train by his own mother, disregarding her own safety. Despite there being many instances where the police personnel have helped civilians, actions of a handful of unscrupulous police officials are a discredit to the whole Police force.

According to Dr. George Katsiaficas, Professor of Sociology of Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston, something is really rotten in the so-called ‘Democratic Socialist’ Republic of Sri Lanka. Since 1971, tens of thousands of people have been tortured, killed or disappeared by State-led terrorism and anti-government militants. When diving deeper into State-led killings and torture, one can understand, Sri Lanka Police is the main arm used by the political establishment to perpetrate these crimes.

“Daily abuse of civilians by police and military personnel is now routine — and goes unpunished. Sexual torture through sticks and hot pepper powder is widely practised. Families who complain about such torture are themselves subject to interrogation. Old mothers who speak out are pushed in the mud,” laments Dr. Katsiaficas.

Embilipitiya incident

On January 7, 29-year-old Sumith Prasanna died after ‘falling’ from the third floor of a building during a clash in Embilipitiya. According to media reports, when the Police arrived at the party in response to a call that using loudspeakers at the party had not been authorized, the officers had requested liquor in order to turn a blind eye to the complaint. The organisers of the party complied and provided them with hot beverages. When the Police had arrived the second time they were told that the party had run out of liquor and a volley of words ensued. The Police arrived again for taking revenge. At the time, the deceased – Sumith Prasanna Jayawardana was having his dinner, it was reported.

According to his wife 29-year-old Munasinghe Arachchige Shashika Nishamani Munasinghe, her husband was thrown from the top floor when both of them pleaded with the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) not to throw him over the building. She further states that she too was subjected to highly abusive language at gunpoint and was pushed away by the Police officers.

                                    Read More »  

Sergeant Major and Corporal spill the beans

FEB 01 2016

A Sergeant Major and a Corporal arrested in connection with journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda’s disappearance have given statements to the CID linking a senior official of the previous administration to the incident.

They confessed to the Police that they got involved in the case as a Lieutenant Colonel attached to the intelligence wing - who is also in remand - dragged them into the incident saying it was an “order” given by the official.

Asked whether the former official would be questioned in connection with the investigations, a highly placed Police source said a statement alone was not enough to initiate action against a possible suspect.

“Scientific and other evidence should also substantiate such claims. When they tally, the Police can initiate action against an individual irrespective of their positions,” the sources added.

They said the official who played a pivotal role in the previous administration, maintained close links with some Buddhist monks who went on the rampage near the Homagama Magistrate’s Court early last week.

“One can suggest it is a well-orchestrated plan to disrupt the investigation and save those top-brass members of the previous regime from law enforcement authorities inquiring into the matter,” they explained.

Authoritative Police sources said the investigators had made some progress in determining the fate of the disappeared journalist, who was abducted two days before the Presidential election in January 2010.

“Earlier, there were speculations that the journalist had been killed and his body had been dumped to the sea off Trincomalee. So far, the investigators have not found evidence to support that claim. Probably, they will soon find solid evidence to determine the fate of the journalist, after his abduction. It will be a major breakthrough in the case,” they revealed.

The Army, two weeks ago said, it dispatched a special Military Police group to the Girithale camp to provide the reports requested by courts.

Army Spokesman Jayanath Jayaweera also said that some cupboards at the camp, which contained documents related to the investigations into the disappearance of journalist Eknaligoda, were locked and sealed by this group. 

AG Blocks Legal Action Against Army Chief In Eknaligoda Case

By Shalika Wimalasena- Monday, February 01, 2016

The Attorney General’s office has instructed the CID to refrain from taking legal action against the Army Commander Lieutenant General A. W. J. C. De Silva on allegations of failing to assist in the investigations into the disappearance of journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda.

The CID had recently sought the advice of the AG with regard to initiating legal action against the Army Commander.

A senior officer of the CID told The Sunday Leader that an informal message had been sent to the CID to delay the legal action to be taken against the Army Commander.

However the CID officer said that the investigations with regard to the disappearance of Eknaligoda will be carried out despite the drawbacks, and added that they will seek the advice of the President in the future. Meanwhile, sources said that the issue had been taken up at the Security Council meeting and the majority view of the security heads had been that legal action against the army commander should be delayed.

Sources further stated that the security heads were of the view that if they failed to delay the legal action against the Commander, certain factions would capitalize on the situation and instigate the masses.

The President however had stated that the investigations on the disappearance of Eknaligoda will be carried out unhindered.

Singing National Anthem in Sinhala, Tamil no issue: Minister 


2016-02-01
Home Affairs Minister Vajira Abeywardana today said singing the National Anthem at the 68th Independence Day celebrations at Galle Face in Sinhala and Tamil was not an issue because the Constitution clearly states that Sinhala and Tamil are national languages and as such it could be sung in both languages at any State function. 

He told the media at the Prime Minister’s office that the singing of the National Anthem in Tamil was not a new phenomenon because the National Anthem was sung in Tamil at the first Independence Day celebrations in 1948 and at many State functions since then. 

“One must realize that there is no use of singing the National Anthem in Sinhala in Kilinochchi or in Tamil in Matara. The government has done much for reconciliation and promoting communal harmony following the electoral victories of January 8 and August 17 last year. The 68th Independence Day celebrations will be a catalyst to the positive developments in the country,” the minister said.

 He said the official 68th Independence Day celebrations will be held at Galle Face Green on Thursday from 8.00 am to 12.00 noon. 

The main ceremony will be more colourful with the singing of the National Anthem, Jayamangala Gatha and ‘Devo Wassathu Kalena’ by a bevy of girls from 13 schools. 

Nearly 8,917 personnel from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Police and Civil Defence Force will take part in the march past. 

There will be a 21-Gun Salute to President Maithripala Sirisena by the Sri Lanka Army and a 25-gun salute to the Nation by the Sri Lanka Navy. 

The Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and Muslim religious ceremonies for the 68th Independence Day celebrations will be begin today with an all-night Pirith chanting ceremony at the Independence Hall. 

The Traffic Police has put in place a special traffic plan effective from Tuesday to Thursday.

 Defence Secretary Karunasena Hettiarachchi and Police Chief N.K. Illangakone were present at the news briefing. (Sandun A Jayasekera)

Hausmann and Govt. in the hot seat

• Consult two economists and get a multitude of opinions 

Ricardo Hausmann - AFP

Monday, 1 February 2016

Economists are a funny species. You speak to two and get three opinions. But in today’s context, this may be a very fair statement about them. That is because when you speak to two of them, you are likely to get more than 100 opinions. 

This is not a new problem with economists. Kautilya, the fourth century BCE guru on economics, gave a fine piece of advice to his king in the Arthashastra on how to tackle economists. He said consult them because it is better than making decisions alone. But do not consult many because you are likely to get many contradictory and inconsistent opinions. Hence, like a profit maximising producer who minimises the costs, minimise the number of economists to be consulted. But the practical problem is to decide on this ideal minimum number to be consulted. 

When one looks at the reaction of many economists based on Sri Lanka as well as abroad to engaging the Harvard University-based Ricardo Hausmann as an economic advisor, it appears that the present Government is also faced with this practical problem.

Harvard monopoly over Sri Lanka Economic Forum 2016

When organising its maiden Sri Lanka Economic Forum in 2016, the Government had heavily relied on Harvard University’s Center for International Development or CID for advising it on how Sri Lanka’s future economic policy should be framed. 

The mandate given to Hausmann was clear: diagnose the ailments from which Sri Lanka’s economy is suffering today and provide a set of sustainable policy prescriptions based on the country’s capacity as well as the emerging global developments. 

He was accompanied to the forum by another distinguished economist, Joseph Stiglitz of the Columbia University, who had been an ardent advocate of government-sponsored stimulus policies for taking slow-growing world economies out of recession. Stiglitz is a unique case, having been the recipient of the prestigious Nobel Prize twice, once for his work in the field of economics and again for his efforts with respect to the environment. 

There is clearly an American bias in seeking policy advice here. But it is understandable since the Government had been helped in bringing these eminent economists to the country by another US organisation called the Open Society Foundations, initiated by its founder George Soros, master strategist and billionaire philanthropist. Thus, the three bigwigs at the Sri Lanka Economic Forum were Ricardo Hausmann, Joseph Stiglitz and George Soros, all US-based thinkers. 

Sri Lanka is notorious for consulting foreign experts and then dumping their suggestions 

This is not the first time Sri Lanka has sought advice from foreigners to make decisions about its economic destiny. In the late 1950s, the Bandaranaike government invited a dozen key economists of the day to do the same job which the Soros-Stiglitz-Hausmann trio is required to do today. The papers which these economists submitted to the Bandaranaike government were published under the title ‘Papers by Visiting Economists’ by the National Planning Secretariat headed by another distinguished economist, Gamani Corea. 

READ MORE 

TISL Perturbed by the Finance Minister’s “No Questions” Policy

February 1, 2016

Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) is perturbed by the recent moves of the Minister of Finance, encouraging inward remittances in to Sri Lanka from investors (local, foreign and even ’mystery’ investors) on a “No Questions” asked basis, as a first step in creating a “Financial Centre” in Sri Lanka. He invited investors to “park” their deposits, including funds presently in Switzerland and other tax/investment havens, in Sri Lanka as “special deposits” and offered a premium investment return of 2% per annum, with “no locked in investment period”. He has subsequently declared that a single “mystery” Belgian national working with a Sri Lankan partner had already remitted USD 500 million under this scheme and the balance of the promised total transfer of USD one billion will follow soon. Officials have separately announced that remittances under this scheme have topped USD 1.5 billion.

In announcing the modalities of the deposit scheme, it has been stated that the remitting banks overseas would have already cleared the customer and associated due diligence; and hence there is no requirement for “Know Your Customer” (KYC) and associated validation processes to be repeated in Sri Lanka, though so required under international conventions to be carried out by the recipient Banks. Bank officials, who appear not to have received specific guidelines in connection with this scheme, believe that the scheme is akin to an “amnesty” being declared, exempting the receiving Banks from requirements under local statutory provisions and international guidelines.

This move is contrary to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act requirements. Accepted regulatory frameworks could be exploited to ‘park’ in Sri Lanka “Black Money” and funds gained through trading in narcotics, dangerous substances and illegal arms, as well as funds associated with serious financial crimes, bribery and corruption and terrorism. It is well recognized that investors of such funds seek new havens to launder their money; and such investors could be attracted by the scheme on offer, which in addition have the attractions of a “No Questions” policy, and provides them with attractive investment returns with no lock-in period stipulations.

These funds can very easily move back/out to other destinations whenever thought fit by the investors, especially after serving the objectives of laundering the money by the using the temporary “parking option”. Such actions could result in very serious macro economic and financial stability consequences for Sri Lanka in the future.

Sri Lanka is a signatory to international standards on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism Proliferation (FATF Recommendations), and this move by the Minister of Finance could lead to Sri Lanka being internationally penalized. Such a situation will deter serious and honest foreign investments, which can add significant and sustainable value to Sri Lanka and its people, from coming into the island.

The FATF recommendations stipulate compliance procedures to be in place to ensure customer due diligence, ranging from record keeping and reporting suspicious transactions to strict regulation and supervision of financial institutions. In terms of the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), Sri Lankan Banks operating within the framework of this new “No Questions” scheme may risk being barred from the US banking system.

The scheme now introduced without transparency and public discussion, will regrettably create an investment framework operating outside acceptable and desirable best practices, and is likely to leave the country, its business sector and citizens exposed to dangers of penal international sanctions.

Manickavasakar: A Living Symbol Of The Continuity Of The Tamil Struggle

By Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran –February 1, 2016 

Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran – PM – TGTE

It is not only a privilege but also a moral and political imperative for me as a Tamil and as the Prime Minister of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) to write this letter stating Mr. M. K. Kanagendran’s service to the Tamil nation at large and to the TGTE in particular.

Mr. Kanagendran (a.k.a M. K. Eelaventhan) has been an elected member of the TGTE since its inception on May 18, 2010. He participates in each and every Parliamentary sitting and committee meeting.

The TGTE is a democratically elected Transnational Government of a million strong Tamils (from the island of Sri Lanka) living in several countries around the world. TGTE was formed after the mass killing of Tamils by the Sri Lankan Government in 2009.

The TGTE has twice held internationally supervised elections among Tamils around the world to elect 132 Members of Parliament. It has a bicameral legislature and a Cabinet. It held one of its Parliamentary sittings in the British Parliament.

The TGTE is leading a campaign to realize Tamils’ political aspirations through peaceful, democratic and diplomatic means. The constitution of the TGTE mandates that it should realize its political objective only through peaceful means.                                                      Read More  

Indo-Lanka Kidney Fiasco

by Sarath Wijesinghe

Amazing Kidney is a precious organ in the human body

( February 1, 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Kidney is one of the main precious organs in the human body making urine, remove excess water, controls body chemicals/ toxins, controls blood pressure, keep bones healthy, help make red blood, controls mineral potassium, blood acidity and many other factors for a healthy life. For long and healthy life Kidney is as important as the Heart that pumps blood for the body to function. Many external and internal factors responsible for the damages caused to the Kidney leading to kidney failure which was somewhat rare in the past. Today it has become dangerously high due to imbalanced food/water artificial life against nature, excessive intake of chemicals and other undetected and unidentified causes researched worldwide due to the threat to the human kind. It is the duty of the human being to take precautions for the maintenance and safety of the precious Kidney pressured due to excessive use of chemicals, external articles and many other factors causing short and long term damages to this vital organ. Sri Lanka is the most recent victim of this disastrous epidemic.

Kidney Diseases in the Word and in Sri Lanka

Due to the rapidity of the increase of the kidney diseases governments and non-governmental organizations have set up foundations, advisory centres and worldwide network on educating the citizens on safety and preventive measures. Medical researchers have found the main causes of Kidney diseases to be due to Diabetes, Blood Pressure, Hypotension, Chemicals, Food Pattern and many connected factors. Diabetes is spreading fast worldwide including Sri Lanka with the increase of Kidney patients. About 10% of the world population is affected by Chronic Kidney Diseases(CKD) with 6% Asian diabetic patients and death of 1.5 million citizens per year worldwide. There are 400,000 sickened kidney Patients and 4 million diabetic patients in Sri Lanka out of 21 million. 382 million diabetic patients in the world will rise to 592 million in 2035 which is a frightening health risk for the future population.

Kidney diseases were presumed to be prevalent among farmers and Chena Cultivators initially which is now spreading length and breadth of the country including NE, North Central North and urban areas. The affected people were 15% of the population rapidly increasing now at an alarming rate. There are 22000 CKD patients and 300 deaths ever increasing with 1100 patients every month. It is suspected that the cause of this is due to water contamination, excessive unregulated fertilizer wrong food patters and contaminated food/water with excessive chemicals, Potassium and cadmium in the water polluted with fertilizer, and many undetected reasons. Ministry of Health, UN, and many NGOs and professionals have researched this disaster to which no proper and longstanding solution is forthcoming.

Kidney Transplant and Dialysis                        

                                  Read More »  

Yoshitha identified as the chairman of CSN – Police

- Feb 01, 2016

The police said despite the former president alleged that arresting his son was a political revenge, it was clearly identified that Yoshitha Rajapaksa is the chairman of the CSN networks.

Although Namal Rajapaksa and the former chief executive officer Nishantha Ranathunga continuously emphasized that Yoshitha Rajapaksa was not the chairman of the organization there were ample evidences that Yoshitha has taken decisions behalf of the administration, the police said.

It was stated in the announcement compiled by the police spokesperson yesterday 31st about arresting Yoshitha Rajapaksa, Nishantha Ranathunga and few others and producing them to the courts on Saturday.

234 million
Police said from the investigations, it has been revealed that Rs. 234 million has been invested as capital investment to the CSN network and only seven million has been raised by issuing shares.

Police statement indicates that when investigating how the balance capital was invested it was revealed that money has been earned through forged deals and illegally remitted from a foreign country.

Unable to prove how the company obtained funds and unreliable information's has led the police investigation team to conclude the capital has been raised through money laundering.

During witness investigations when they were not proved un-guilty, under statutory provisions they were arrested and produced before the court, said the police.

Apart money laundering creating forge documents, criminal breach of trust, criminal misappropriation, violation of custom act and many other allegations including the misuse of state properties were the allegations charged against the defendants, were included in the announcement of the police media spokesperson.