Courts send summons to Wimal Weerawansa

Feb 20, 2016

The Colombo Magistrates court issued summons to parliament MP. Wimal Weerawansa, including seven other suspects to appear before the courts for obstructing the road leading to the UN headquarters in Colombo.

The magistrate gave the order following the complaint made by the Cinnamon Garden police.

The Cinnamon Garden police producing a report to the Colombo Magistrates Court said the suspects obstructed the roads around the UN headquarter office in Colombo and conducted a protest when the UNHR high commissioner prince Zaid Al Hussain toured Sri Lanka.

Due to the protest heavy traffic congestion was encountered and the public was severely inconvenienced

The courts considering the facts sent summons to the suspected parliament MP Wimal Weerawansa and Jayantha Samarasinghe to appear before the courts on March 18th.

Inland Revenue Dept To Investigate SriLankan Airlines’ Crew Allowance Fraud

February 20, 2016

The Inland Revenue Department of Sri Lanka says that SriLankan Airlines has been practicing illegal methods to defraud EPF/ETF and Tax payments.

SriLankan Airlines has over the years been paying flying meal allowances in the billions of rupees annually to both its pilots and cabin crew at overseas hotels for long trips and also as a payment locally for short trips which is not highlighted in their salary slips.

Also Pilots and Cabin Crew have not been paying taxes to the government for these received funds.

When Colombo Telegraph contacted Inland Revenue Department official Mahinda Gunaweera, he said “a thorough investigation ought to be carried out in this regard if the details exposed by Colombo Telegraph were true”.

This faux pas made by the airline was highlighted by default when an unelected body of Flight Attendant Union Ex-Co Members sent a letter of demand to the airline’s management seeking EPF/ETF contributions for these said allowances.

An approximate sum of US $ 1000 – 1200 is paid to both the pilots and cabin crew in the form of meal allowances per month. When on overseas flights they get paid this allowance in the relevant country’s local currency. For flights operated such as short day trips where they return to base, these allowances are then paid in an separate pay slip which is not taxed.

The cabin crew basic salaries are relatively low compared to the actual amount of money they pocket at the end of the month.

Besides the basic salary, both pilots and cabin crew are paid meal allowances ranging between US $ 95-105 per day when on duty. This full payment is paid despite the fact that meals are provided on board for them whilst on duty.                                           Read More

Video shows execution of Palestinian in Jerusalem

Maureen Clare Murphy-19 February 2016

The apparent execution of a Palestinian in occupied East Jerusalem was caught on video by Al Jazeera on Friday.

Israel says that the young man was carrying out a stabbing attack on Israeli Border Police officers when he was killed at the Damascus Gate to Jerusalem’s Old City.

But video of the incident released by Al Jazeera indicates that the young man did not pose an immediate threat to anyone’s life when massive lethal force was used against him.

The video shows a Border Police officer shooting at the man, who falls to the ground. Then several other heavily armed officers shoot dozens of bullets into the body of the man as he lies on the ground and as passersby hurry away from the scene:

The video is a shocking display of Israel’s routine and reflexive use of lethal force, which has resulted in the slaying of approximately 170 Palestinians, including dozens of children, since a new phase of violence began in October last year.

Al Jazeera media workers who were at the scene to film a field report told the Ma’an News Agency that “six Israeli officers on site surrounded the Palestinian and ‘fired almost 50 bullets’ after he had already been shot twice and fallen to the ground.”

An Israeli police spokesperson told Ma’an that the Israeli forces opened fire on the young man after he drew a knife on them. Two officers were lightly wounded after being stabbed in the upper body and taken to hospital.

Palestinian media reported that a Palestinian bystander was wounded by shrapnel in her foot and was taken to hospital for treatment.

Read More

Sabotaging Privacy: The FBI’s Battle Against Encryption

by Binoy Kampmark

Specifically, the FBI wants us to make a new version of the iPhone operating system, circumventing several important security features, and install it on an iPhone recovered during the investigation.
— Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, February 16, 2016

( February 19, 2016, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) The world of security and the world of capital can be unfriendly to each other. The incentive to make money is not necessarily one that works well with law enforcement, if one is to believe the arguments made by such entities as the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The latter insists on eliminating all risk, while those insisting on privacy as they make money out of it beg to differ.

The encryption debate continues to gather pace over attempts made by the FBI to force Apple to assist its efforts in gaining access to Syed Rizwan Farook’s iPhone 5C. Farook, along with his wife, was responsible for the deaths of 14 individuals at a holiday party in San Bernardino last year. It was a battle Apple lost in the US District Court for the Central District of California, with an order that effectively makes the company sabotage the security of its product by building a back door.

The FBI’s argument hinged on an archaic law, that of the All Writs Act of 1789. It is a statute permitting federal courts to issue writs that mandate third parties to assist in the execution of another court order. 

What the FBI has effectively done is make Apple construct a new code to enable access to the device, part of which could only be authenticated by Apple’s own private key. The result of it is a deactivation of the security features of the device. “This,” argues Ashley Carman of The Verge, “essentially amounts to the FBI requiring Apple to lie about its security checks”.

This onerous requirement goes beyond the mere instance of, as Susan Hennessey of Brookings explains, “sticking a key in the door and turning it.” It has all the hallmarks of being unduly burdensome, an engineering feat that goes well and beyond the legal request for information. This unprecedented use of the All Writs Act is bound to be challenged through the appellate process.

The White House reaction has centred on a narrowing quibble. According to spokesman Josh Earnest, the FBI request did not even amount to the creation of a “back door” so much as an engineering adjustment specific to that phone. “They are simply asking for something that would impact on this one device.” Naively, the White House sees no consequences ensuing from this order.

Others see this as less significant, in actual fact “a testament,” argues Peter Bright of Ars Technica, “to how good encryption is.” The iPhone operating system in terms of encryption is not being circumvented. 

“Rather, [the order is] asking Apple to do the one thing that Apple alone can do: use the iPhone’s built-in method of installing firmware written by Apple.”

Tim Cook of Apple, dubbed by The Economist a “privacy martyr”, issued an irate customer letter in the wake of the ruling, calling “for public discussion, and we want our customers and people around the country to understand what is at stake.”

Cook, in condemning this instance of “overreach by the US government” charts the total dimension of such technologies as the smartphone, effectively a massive data base of one’s private world. “Compromising the security of our personal information can ultimately put our personal safety at risk. That is why encryption has become so important to all of us.”

Google CEO Sundar Pichai is similarly troubled. “We build secure products to keep your information safe and we give law enforcement access to data based on valid legal orders.” That, he insists, is a different prospect to “requiring companies to enable hacking of customer devices and data.”

Technology giants have proven at stages to be inconsistent on the privacy line. No less a person than Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook has done wonders to reduce the status of privacy to that of a mistreated rag doll, cast aside as unloved and irrelevant. Facebook has infamously done its share to undermine the world of privacy while giving the impression that it is all a matter of habit: privacy is dead because we wished it to be. Post-Snowden, and his tune has changed, if only because it looks bad for business.

The problem here is how the US political classes will respond. Mantras on security sell, even if they suggest nothing about how effective new measures to access private data might be. Presidential contender Donald Trump has already added his misinformed contribution, taking to Apple’s desire to fight the ruling. “Who do they [Apple] think they are? They have to open it up,” he blustered to Fox News on Wednesday.

Continued losses on the encryption debate will have the effect of turning people away from some technologies while they embrace others. It will also see the very companies so treasured by the US Chamber of Commerce and various other arms of the US government take a hammering in their profits. No one, in short, will be trusted, and getting an Apple product will provide more than just food for thought. Bad business for US companies but a boon for their overseas rivals.

Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne and can be reached at: bkampmark@gmail.com.

Turkey’s increasingly desperate predicament poses real dangers

A protester launches firecrackers towards a Turkish police water cannon during clashes in Istanbul, between police and people protesting against security operations against Kurdish rebels in southeastern Turkey on Feb. 14. (Cagdas Erdogan/AP)

By Liz Sly-February 20

ISTANBUL — Turkey is confronting what amounts to a strategic nightmare as bombs explode in its cities, its enemies encroach on its borders and its allies seemingly snub its demands.

As recently as four years ago, Turkey appeared poised to become one of the biggest winners of the Arab Spring, an ascendant power hailed by the West as a model and embraced by a region seeking new patrons and new forms of governance.

All that has evaporated since the failure of the Arab revolts, shifts in the geopolitical landscape and the trajectory of the Syrian war.

Russia, Turkey’s oldest and nearest rival, is expanding its presence around Turkey’s borders — in Syria to the south, in Crimea and Ukraine to the north, and in Armenia to the east. On Saturday, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced the deployment of a new batch of fighter jets and combat helicopters to an air base outside the Armenian capital, Yerevan, 25 miles from the Turkish border.

Blowback from the Syrian war in the form of a string of suicide bombings in Istanbul and Ankara, most recently on Wednesday, has brought fear to Turkish streets and dampened the vital tourist industry.

 

[Kerry arrives in Jordan to discuss Syrian civil war, battle with ISIS]

The collapse of a peace process with Turkey’s Kurds has plunged the southeast of the country into war between Kurds and the Turkish military just as Syrian Kurds carve out their own proto-state in territories adjacent to Turkey’s border.

The economy is in the doldrums, hit by fears of instability and by sanctions from Moscow targeting such goods and revenue sources as Turkish tomatoes and tourism in retaliation for the downing of a Russian plane in November.

Worries that the tensions could escalate further are spreading, both in Turkey and in the international community, prompting French President François Hollande to warn on Friday that “there is a risk of war between Turkey and Russia.”

“Turkey is facing a multifaceted catastrophe,” said Gokhan Bacik, professor of international relations at Ankara’s Ipek University. “This is a country that has often had problems in the past, but the scale of what is happening now is beyond Turkey’s capacity for digestion.”

Read More

Russia vows to keep fighting 'terrorism' in 

Syria, dashing Munich hopes

The announcement comes despite an agreement in Munich on 12 February that there would be a 'cessation of hostilities' within a week

Syrian girls react following a reported Syrian government air strike in a rebel-held area of Aleppo (AFP) - 


The aftermath of a Syrian government or Russian airstrike in Aleppo on 14 February, 2016 (MEE / Thaer Mohammad)

Linah Alsaafin-Simona Sikimic-Saturday 20 February 2016

The announcement comes despite an agreement in Munich on 12 February that there would be a 'cessation of hostilities' within a week

Russia will continue to give assistance to the Syrian armed forces to fight against "terrorists," Moscow said on Saturday. 

"Russia is continuing a consistent line to provide assistance and help to the armed forces of Syria in their offensive actions against terrorists, against terrorist organisations," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.

He said Russia's intervention will provide "stability in the fight with terrorism, to preserve the teritorial integrity of the country [Syria] and the region".

The announcement comes despite an agreement at Munich on 12 February that there would be a "cessation of hostilities" within a week. 

However, the International Syria Support Group talks, attended by US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, failed to agree to an end to Russian air strikes, which had been a key opposition demand. 

The High Negotiations Committee (HNC), an umbrella group formed of political opposition bodies and rebel factions, said on Saturday that it would accept a temporary truce as outlined by world powers in Munich but that it would only do so if Syrian government foreign and its Russian and Iranian allies did so first. 

"The rebel factions agreed in principle on the possibility of reaching a temporary ceasefire provided it is done with international mediation and with guarantees obliging Russia, Iran and their sectarian militias and mercenaries to stop fighting," HNC chief Riad Hijab said in a statement.

The statement, issued after a meeting of the HNC, said the opposition "wants to respond positively to international efforts to stop the Syrian bloodbath".

"But ... there will not be a truce unless fighting stops simultaneously on the part of all the belligerents, sieges are lifted, humanitarian aid is delivered to those in need, and prisoners, particularly women and children, are released," it said. 

Read More

India — Skewed Nationalism: Who is a patriot?

by Aditi Chatterjee

“Vande Mataram”
“Bharat Maata Ki Jai”

( February 20, 2016, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) I hope now that I have established myself as a nationalist my piece can be read by everyone including my nationalist friends as I could possibly (or intentionally) not hurt any national sentiments after such open display of my nationalist fervour. I can definitely run amok in the streets of the Capital defying the orders of the apex court and beating students, professors, media and anyone who “looks or dresses up like a JNU student or a left sympathiser.” That off course cannot be termed as sedition, because how can blatantly defying the orders of the Supreme Court and provoking a group of people to resort to violence in the premises of a lower court be a seditious act. That can be termed as a mere scuffle which can be investigated upon when the police deems it fit to be. However, when a group of students resort to sloganeering within their own University premises they can be termed as terrorists and charged with sedition as they definitely pose more threat to the nation than a bunch of people who are violently abusing and thrashing students, professors and media personnel inside the court premises.

I have been brought up in a way to love my country unconditionally, and when I see a patriotic movie or a light and sound show in the Port Blair Central Jail, tears roll down in pride for freedom fighters who have fought for our freedom. I celebrate when India wins a match against Pakistan and sing the national anthem with immense passion on every Independence and Republic Day. Being said that I also empathise with my fellow Indians in Kashmir, in Manipur, in Nagaland. It is easy to take pride in statements like “Doodh mangoge to kheer denge, Kashmir mangoge to cheed denge” without having an iota of knowledge as to what the real situation of Kashmir is, how our fellow Indians in Kashmir have bled for decades in continuous battles between two nations. Talk to your friends from the North-East and ask them what they have been through in their states and how in the name of state protection they have been subjugated to the tyrannical activities of the AFSPA. Also ignorantly terming them as ‘cheenkis’ (implying that they are Chinese) is no less an unpatriotic act my friends. So when Kanhaiyya Kumar speaks for them as a well aware and well read student’s representative, then don’t term him as anti-national because he has more knowledge of the subject than you do. Just because he is aware of the plight of his fellow Indians and expresses them publicly does not make him a terrorist.

When you make fleeting statements about your patriotism, I urge you my friends that discuss, engage, read, understand and feel the pain of your fellow citizens. Do not trust what the politicians (of all parties) want you to believe; they have been fooling us since decades and playing with our patriotic emotions. When they are unable to control the rates of inflation, create jobs for us, lessen the life threatening levels of pollution (which might kill us sooner than any impending terror attack) or reduce poverty, they resort to our patriotic nerve. They are well aware that Indians would not tolerate anti-national slogans even if the economy and conditions of survival in India are beyond tolerance level.

Lastly I would like to tell the government (and not just this government) that do not tell us whether we are patriots or anti-nationals. I and my fellow citizens love our nation enough to have tolerated your nuisance for decades. Our patriotism is not bound for your certificates on how to be a nation lover. Our patriotism is one where we discuss and debate about every national and international event. Had we resorted to showcase our anger on the way we have been treated for decades the Indian nation would have disintegrated by now. It is because we love our country that we have tolerated the way you have governed us and so the concept of India as a democratic nation is still vibrant, so please don’t make a mockery of our democracy through your false patriotism. We as teachers/professors/scientists/parents teach thousands of children/students across the country and educate them, as police/army/navy/air-force/border protection officials fight for our nation and protect our citizens, as doctors/nurses/fire-fighters save scores of lives daily, as sweepers/maids keep our streets and houses clean, as construction workers/ farmers build our nation, as actors/cricketers provide endless entertainment, as economists/ bankers/engineers/business professionals run the economy, as lawyers/bureaucrats/clerks help in governance and law making; as students/ media professionals discuss, debate and enlighten millions; and thus prove our patriotism to our nation every single day without chanting nationalistic slogans. So don’t tell us that we are anti-nationals because your view of nationalism might be skewed, but we love our country enough to tolerate and accommodate every voice of dissent.

P.S.: This article does not intend to hurt any national sentiments or incite any sort of violence. I hope expressing my views on patriotism is not an act of sedition.

( Aditi is a Doctoral Student in the School of International Studies, JNU.)

Uganda's Museveni wins election; opposition cries foul

Supporters of Uganda's president Yoweri Museveni celebrate as the electoral commission declared Yoweri Museveni winner of the presidential election in the capital Kampala, February 20, 2016

Electoral officials count votes at a polling station in Uganda's capital Kampala February 18, 2016 as voting closes.

 BY EDITH HONAN AND ELIAS BIRYABAREMA-Sat Feb 20, 2016

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni extended his 30-year rule on Saturday, winning an election that international observers said lacked transparency and his main opponent, under house arrest, denounced as a sham.

One of Africa's longest-serving leaders, Museveni won 60.8 percent of the vote, while opposition candidate Kizza Besigye secured 35.4 percent, according to the electoral commission.

"We have just witnessed what must be the most fraudulent electoral process in Uganda," Besigye said in a statement, calling for an independent audit of the results.

Besigye, who had been detained three times this week, said he had been placed under house arrest. A Reuters reporter saw his home encircled by police in riot gear and media were barred from approaching it.

The United States on Friday urged Museveni to stop the security services harassing his opponents. Another of Museveni's rivals, former prime minister Amama Mbabazi, had also been put under house arrest but was later released, his spokeswoman said.

"This election was fundamentally flawed and ... results were not a reflection of the will of the Ugandan people," Mbabazi said in a statement.

Museveni, 71, has presided over strong economic growth but is accused at home and abroad of repression of dissent and failing to tackle rampant corruption in the nation of 37 million people.

Museveni's ruling National Resistance Movement party said the veteran leader's victory showed that "opponents failed to offer any alternative apart from empty promises".

European and Commonwealth observers criticised the handling of Thursday's vote.

The EU observer mission said it had been conducted in an intimidating atmosphere, while Commonwealth observers said the poll "fell short of meeting some key democratic benchmarks".

Eduard Kukan, chief observer for the EU mission, told reporters in Kampala the poll had been undermined by a "lack of transparency and independence" at the Ugandan electoral commission.

"State actors created an intimidating atmosphere for both voters and candidates," he added.

Besigye urged the international community to denounce the poll win by Museveni, who has won favour with the West by sending Ugandan troops to Somalia to battle Islamist militants with ties to al Qaeda.

"Please reject the temptation to ratify this sham election," said Besigye, who was Museveni's personal doctor in the 1980s.

FACEBOOK, TWITTER BLOCKED

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called Museveni on Friday to voice concern over Besigye's detention, the harassment of opposition figures and the shutdown of social media such as Facebook and Twitter on election day.

"(Kerry) urged President Museveni to rein in the police and security forces, noting that such action calls into question Uganda's commitment to a transparent and credible election process free from intimidation," the U.S. State Department said on Friday.

Museveni replied to Kerry that Besigye had tried to assault a police officer and had not been arrested but rather escorted home by police, according to Ugandan media.

"I told Kerry not to worry a lot about the internal affairs of Uganda because we know how to handle the issues," the Daily Monitor newspaper quoted the president as saying.

Besigye's detention on Friday contributed to a day of chaos in some parts of Kampala, with opposition supporters hurling rocks at police and erecting street barricades.

Police officers set off stun grenades and fired tear gas at crowds outside the headquarters of Besigye's Forum for Democratic Change, where senior members of the party accused organisers of rigging the vote.

Museveni brought calm and stability to Uganda after decades of chaos under leaders Idi Amin and Milton Obote, but many opposition voters accuse the former guerrilla fighter of becoming increasingly autocratic and wanting to rule for life.

The opposition had tried to tap into mounting anger among young voters, especially in urban areas, where unemployment is high and many are frustrated by the poor state of schools and hospitals.

"We are disappointed, the election has been rigged," said 23-year-old Brenda in Kampala, who declined to give her second name out of concern for her security. "I have never seen another president and it seems it will be like that until he dies."

(Additional reporting by Ben Makori; Writing by Drazen Jorgic; Editing by Andrew Roche and Digby Lidstone)

Calais orders up to 1,000 residents of Jungle camp to leave by Tuesday

French authorities order migrants and refugees in part of camp to remove makeshift homes and move to new accommodation in shipping containers

About 4,000 migrants live in the Jungle, many of whom are hoping to travel to Britain. Photograph: Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty Images

Nadia Khomami-Saturday 20 February 2016

Up to a thousand migrants and refugees living in part of a camp on the outskirts of of Calais known as the Jungle have been told they must leave in the next three days or face eviction.

Under an expulsion order issued by the state authority in the French port, 800-1,000 people have been told to remove their makeshift homes and possessions by 8pm local time on Tuesday or be forcibly removed by police. Local aid workers say this figure could be considerably higher.

The provisional structures that have been built in the area, including shops, cafes, churches and mosques, will all be razed as part of efforts to clear regions of the camp next to a motorway leading to the port, where there have been clashes with police.

Plans to move people to heated shipping containers elsewhere in the camp and centres around France were announced by Fabienne Buccio, the top official in France’s northern Pas-de-Calais region, who said this month: “It’s time to tell the migrants of Calais who live in undignified conditions, and give Calais an image that isn’t dignified either, that we have a solution for each of you.”

But the migrants, many of whom are Syrian or Iraqi refugees, have previously said they would resist the move, insisting they wanted to stay in their tents despite poor living conditions.

Eight associations working in the camp, including Doctors of the World, have warned that the alternative accommodation is not suitable. In a protest letter to the French interior minister, the association wrote that the move is “very far from answering the needs of the problems encountered”.

Pascal Froehly, who volunteers for the relief organisation Caritas, spoke of his concerns of heightened tensions being created if bulldozers move in to level the site. He said: “I find it extremely annoying and unfair to move these people away from what they have created, including churches, shops and restaurants.”

Froehly added that the plans to move migrants to heated containers elsewhere in the camp offered them no chance to socialise. “It’s just a bed for them,” he said.

But the mayor of Calais, Natacha Bouchart, said dismantling the camp would keep migrants and refugees away from activists bent on causing disruption. She said it was a “sensitive situation” that required “necessary firmness”, and that the conditions endured at the Jungle were “unworthy of human nature”.

About 4,000 migrants live in the Jungle, many of whom are hoping to travel to Britain. A census carried out by the charity Help Refugees last week counted 440 children living in this particular section of the camp, 291 of whom were there without their parents.

On Thursday, some of Britain’s most prominent actors and writers, including Jude Law, Benedict Cumberbatch and Idris Elba, signed an open letter to David Cameron urging him to allow children stuck in the camp to enter the UK.

The letter asked the prime minister “to persuade the French authorities that the decision to destroy further parts of the camp in Calais is postponed until all the minors currently residing there are either given full child protection within the French system or enabled to reunite with their loved ones in Britain”.

It added: “This is a humanitarian crisis that needs to be acknowledged as such, and it is imperative that we do everything we can to help these innocent and highly vulnerable refugees, especially the minors, as swiftly as is humanly possible.”

Law, who visited the camp himself, said: “They are desperate. One little boy grabbed me and pleaded with me, that the Jungle was not a good place, and he didn’t want to be there.”

Last month, protesters staged a die-in at St Pancras station in London against plans to clear the area of the Jungle. Meanwhile, Eurotunnel has asked the British and French governments to reimburse it £22m for lost revenue during the cross-Channel migration crisis.

The Channel tunnel operator faced heavy disruption to its services last summer as migrants based at the Jungle made repeated attempts to cross to Britain.

Germany Says ‘Nein’ to Sex With Animals

BY SIOBHÁN O'GRADY-FEBRUARY 19, 2016

At least two Germans were disappointed to hear Friday that yes, it is in fact still illegal to have sex with animals in Germany.

The two unnamed animal-lovers filed a claim with Germany’s constitutional court in Karlsruhe asking the court to reverse a ban on humans having sex with four-legged creatures. Both claimed the rule is unconstitutional because they are naturally sexually attracted to animals, and that the law as stands bans them from sexual self-determination.

The court wanted nothing to do with the defendants’ argument, and threw out the claim after determining animals’ safety from sexual assault trumped humans’ desires to have non-consensual sexual relations with them.

Although bestiality was — and remains — illegal in Germany, other European countries have been slow to ban the controversial practice. In 2011, a Danish Justice Ministry survey found that 17 percent of veterinarians had treated an animal they believed was forced to have sex with a human.

Last year, after reports that Denmark’s lax policies on bestiality were attracting visitors who came to the country explicitly to have sex with animals, lawmakers there finally passed a provision to ban it.

Previously, it was legal so long as the animal didn’t get hurt — a clause animal rights advocates said was arbitrary because it is difficult to prove whether and how animals may have been hurt.

“Animals have to be treated with respect and care and they have a right to special protection because they cannot say no,” Denmark’s agriculture minister, Dan Jorgensen, said in a statement in 2014.

In Germany, humans who force animals to participate in “unnatural behavior” could face fines of more than $27,000. In Denmark, offenders could now face up to a year in prison, or two years if they are convicted more than once.  

Photo Credit: ULI DECK/AFP/Getty Images

The Dangers Of Heartburn And Acid Reflux 
Drugs They Never Tell You About

February 14  2016

Do you take acid-inhibiting drugs to treat heartburn or acid reflux? You are not alone; more than 20 million Americans are currently taking some type of drug to control these types of symptoms.

Unfortunately, for most people, the risks of taking these drugs far outweigh any benefit they have to offer. There are plenty of natural means to eliminate heartburn without the serious side effects. We will talk about some of those later on in this article.

Research has shown that these drugs, called proton pump inhibitors, or PPIs, such as Prevacid, Prilosec, and Nexium, are not only overprescribed, but they are also terribly misused.

PPIs were never intended to treat heartburn. Seriously. However, they are one of the most commonly prescribed drugs today, with annual revenue running into the billions of dollars. PPIs were actually made to treat a limited range of problems, such as bleeding ulcers, excessive stomach acid production, and severe acid reflux. We are talking severe acid reflux, the type where an endoscopy has confirmed that damage has occurred to the esophagus.

These drugs were never intended to treat heartburn or acid indigestion. However, estimates are that about 70 percent of people who are consuming these drugs are using them for simple heartburn.

You should know that if you are taking one of these drugs, you are only treating the symptoms and not actually fixing the underlying cause. Although you might be thinking to yourself, “So what?” the truth is that you are opening yourself up to other more potentially dangerous health problems.

If you have ever read the label on any of these drugs, they often state that they should only be taken for 7 to 14 days. They used to be prescription only, but many are now sold over the counter and consumed with great frequency.

These drugs also state that you should only use them for a maximum of 14 days at a time, no more than three times a year. How many people do you know who take them daily for years on end? This can have serious consequences. Just some of the consequences of staying on these drugs are:

• Hip fractures
• Severe bone loss
• Pneumonia
• Infection with clostridium difficile (a harmful type of bacteria that infests the intestines)
• 
  

Although it is true that PPIs suppress stomach acid production, and that this can be helpful for some people short term, the majority of cases are actually caused by too little stomach acid, not too much.

 This means that these drugs are only making your condition worse the longer you take them. Low levels of stomach acid reduce your primary defense mechanism to fight food borne pathogens, which means that you can get food poisoning much more easily. Also, keep in mind that PPI drugs do absolutely nothing when it comes to fighting ulcer pain.

Worse than that, however, is the result of a recent study that has linked continued use of PPIs to an increased risk of heart attack, even if there is no heart disease present. This study was done at Stanford University in California. This study found that subjects who had GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) and consumed PPIs had a 16 percent increased risk of having a heart attack. Survival analysis found that subjects who did have a heart attack had a twofold increase in the risk of mortality.

So what actually causes heartburn?

Full article:

Even As UN Softens Its Stand, Sri Lanka Has Tough Challenge At UNHRC – Analysis

By Sugeeswara Senadhira*-FEBRUARY 17, 2016

The visit of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Al Hussein to Sri Lanka last week marked a definite shift in the UN stand on the call for an international probe on the alleged human rights violations in the last phase of the armed conflict between the government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May 2009. He emphasized that it is for the Sri Lankan government to finally decide on the composition of the court which has to be appointed to probe if there were violations of human rights in the last phase of the conflict or not. He also clarified that it is not a ‘war crime’ investigation.

Although many government supporters are jubilant over this development, objective analysts are of the view that it will not be prudent for Sri Lanka to become complacent, thinking that all is well. Colombo should understand that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is only a bureaucrat and the final authority lies with the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). Although the top bureaucrat’s report would influence the Council, the powerful members of this 47-nation body will have to be satisfied that Sri Lanka is moving in the right direction with total commitment.

Gestures such as the singing of the National Anthem in Tamil, pardon given to the LTTE cadre who had attempted to assassinate President Sirisena when he was a minister have been highly appreciated as evidence of government’s ability to take bold and reconciliatory steps.

However, Sri Lanka cannot ignore the fact that the Commissioner had once criticized the judicial and law enforcement systems in Sri Lanka in a bid to support his argument for foreign participation in the probe. He had called the Sri Lankan judiciary highly politicized, unbalanced and unreliable and had said the police, all too frequently, continued to resort to violence and the size of the military force in the North and the East could be reduced. He had also urged the authorities to return some of the land acquired by the military to rightful owners in the Northeastern part of the country.

Although Commissioner Hussein has reiterated the need for implementation of the UNHRC resolution co-sponsored by Sri Lanka, he has simultaneously told the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to act with patience. In other words, the High Commissioner wants to give time and space for the government to act but not allow it to slide on the slope of complacency. The government leaders had complained to the Commissioner that if some unpopular measures unacceptable to the vast majority are taken in a hurry, there could be mass resistance unleashing chaos and instability and which could consequently create obstacles in the path to national reconciliation.

To the utter disappointment of those who had expected UN Human Rights chief to rebuff President Sirisena’s bold statement that Sri Lanka will not need foreign judges, Commissioner Hussein said it was the sovereign right of Sri Lanka to decide on the accountability process. He praised the new Sri Lankan leadership and said the government had shown a will to bring about great changes and that Sri Lanka had many excellent judges, lawyers and law enforcement officials.

While assuring the government’s intention to cooperate with the UN, President Sirisena explained the need for proceeding on this front in a steady and cautiois manner. Sustenance of peace and political stability in the country, the President noted is required to create an atmosphere conducive for the successful and implementation of the programs for reconciliation and economic development in Sri Lanka.

Having demonstrated its intention to reconcile the disaffected communities with the mainstream Sri Lankan society, the media statements delivered Commissioner Hussein suggest that this specialized UN agency sees pragmatism in the reasons elucidated by the President related to the pace at which the government wants the peace program to unfold in this island nation.

Answering questions on the government’s political will for the implementation of the UNHRC proposals, the Human Rights High Commissioner said that he was reassured when he heard both President and the Prime Minister state their firm commitment in this regard.

The leaders of TNA during their meeting with the Human Rights High Commissioner had highlighted the need for the UNHRC resolution to be fully implemented through a credible process. After listening to them patiently, Commissioner Hussein urged them to be patient. Hence the TNA as well as the Tamil People’s Council (TPC) led by Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran will now have no option but to be satisfied with an internal judiciary process for the probe into the alleged disappearances and other violations of human rights.

After his meeting with President Sirisena at the Presidential Secretariat on February 9, Prince Hussein praised the steps taken by the government during the last 12 months. In his media briefing he refrained from insisting on the involvement of foreign judges in Sri Lanka’s accountability process. “There was no invocation of an international investigation, and the process is going to be a Sri Lankan one,” he said.

No sooner than the Human Rights High Commissioner left the shores, Sri Lanka received another respite from another high-ranking official of the World Body. Pablo de Greiff, the UN Special Rapporteur on Truth, Justice, Reparation and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence, has said that Sri Lanka should not be hasty in trying to meet its commitments to the UNHRC in regard to issues of transitional justice.

Pablo de Greiff visited Sri Lanka from January 26 to February 1 and issued report after his return to the Headquarters. “There is no country that can accomplish all this in a short period of time. Sri Lanka has embarked on an ambitious process that should not be prepared, let alone implemented, in haste,” he stated in his report.

The UN Special Rapporteur added that those that are familiar with transitional processes in different parts of the world do not expect Sri Lanka to adopt measures for the sake of demonstrating compliance with commitments that the country has made.

There were positive as well as negative aspects in the statement made by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Instead of gloating over positives or gloom over negatives, Sri Lanka has to prepare for the March Session of the UNHRC. Sri Lanka is likely to gain more time at the March Session, but the Session of September 2016 will not be a cake walk.

UN Special Rapporteur on Truth, Justice, Reparation and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence noted that the Lankan government has simultaneously taken up a variety of tasks, including constitutional reform, and all these will need time to complete. However, he felt that some things can be done in the short term to create confidence. Among tasks which can be done immediately, he mentioned the return of lands held by the military; launching of victims’ assistance programs; giving psycho-social support; toning by the judicial system, and tracing missing persons.

As President Sirisena said earlier this month, Sri Lanka has to face to UNHRC resolution in order to save the pride of the country and its people and the pride and honour of the armed forces. Hence, Colombo needs to take concrete steps towards speedy reconciliation.

*Sugeeswara Senadhira is the Director (Research & International Media) at the Presidential Secretariat, Colombo. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached at:sugeeswara@gmail.com)

Good Governance Or Efficient Public Administration

By R.M.B Senanayake –February 19, 2016

RMB Senanayake

All governments must be efficient in addition to being representative. There is no formal thinking about efficiency in governance in our politics or administration. There is also little or no reflection on the process of efficient governance, although keep condemning it as full of red tape.

Much of our Public Administration including the Ministerial level is not planned. But the people know when there is efficient governance and when there is not. Hardly anybody would say that the so-called “Yaha Palanaya”, the latest political slogan means the same thing as efficiency. Instead the concept of ‘Yaha Palanaya’ refers more to the genuineness or ethical nature of the administration. But those engaged in administration know that the administration is not efficient and they invariably blame political interference to be the bane of efficient public administration.

Inefficiency in administration has a cost- a cost in terms of resources which go to waste or are inadequately utilized. The burden of the cost is ultimately on the people.

The efficiency of the Administration is important for the welfare of the people. It is the people who suffer from the inefficiency of the government administration. Public Administration encompasses the activities of the Executive branch of the Central Government, the Provincial Councils, the Pradesiya Sabhas and the so-called independent Boards and Corporations. Specifically excluded from the scope of Public Administration are the Judicial and Legislative Agencies of the State although they too have administrative problems of their own in their fields. But Public Administration in theory confines itself to the Executive branch excluding the legislative and judicial branches.

There is a widespread conviction not only in Sri Lanka but even in the West that what governments do is done inefficiently and hence there is a demand for privatization of some public service handled by a government department or agency.   Read More