Sunday, March 6, 2016

U.S. military invites pre-approved experts to 'Hack the Pentagon'

A man types on a computer keyboard in Warsaw in this February 28, 2013 illustration file picture. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Files

BY ANDREA SHALAL- Wed Mar 2, 2016

The Pentagon on Wednesday invited outside hackers who have been vetted to test the cyber security of some public U.S. Defense Department websites as part of a pilot project next month, the first such program ever by the federal government.

"Hack the Pentagon" is modeled after similar competitions known as "bug bounties" conducted by many large U.S. companies, including United Continental Holdings Inc (UAL.N), to discover security gaps in their networks.

Such programs allow cyber experts to find and identify problems before malicious hackers can exploit them, saving money

and time in the event of damaging network breaches.

"I am confident that this innovative initiative will strengthen our digital defenses and ultimately enhance our national security," Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in a statement unveiling the pilot program.

He told reporters it was time for the Pentagon to learn from best practices across industry, especially since the military was "not getting good grades across the enterprise" for its level of cyber security.

"We can’t just keep doing what we’re doing. The world changes too fast; our competitors change too fast," he said during a public discussion at the RSA conference.

DJ Patil, the White House's chief data scientist and a former executive with eBay and LinkedIn, said bug bounties had become the fastest and most efficient way of securing networks at a time when software was becoming increasingly complex and more difficult to test.

He said other federal agencies were watching the Pentagon project and could follow suit, which would further enhance collaboration and result in greater economies of scale

"When people hear 'bug bounty,' they think we are just opening ourselves to attack, but what people forget is, we are always in this day and age under attack," he said. "By bringing crowds to the problem ... you're getting a jump on the curve."

The Pentagon has long tested its own networks using internal "red teams," but this initiative would open at least some of its vast network of computer systems to cyber challenges from across industry and academia.

Participants must be U.S. citizens and will have to submit to a background check before being turned loose on a predetermined public-facing computer system. The Pentagon said other more sensitive networks or key weapons programs would not be included, at least initially.

The initiative is being led by the Pentagon's Defense Digital Service, set up last November to bring experts from the tech sector into the military for short stints.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Paul Tait, David Gregorio and Alistair Bell)

Thalidomide 'caused up to 10,000 miscarriages and infant deaths in UK'

Former head of the Thalidomide Trust says many mothers would not have known drug was the cause of miscarriage or stillbirth

A thalidomide survivor in therapy at Chailey Heritage in East Sussex. Photograph: Jane Bown

James Meikle-Sunday 6 March 2016

The thalidomide scandal may have led to 10,000 miscarriages, stillbirths and infant deaths in Britain, according to the former director of the trust that oversees payments to hundreds of people disabled by the drug taken by their pregnant mothers.

Martin Johnson said many families would not have known their babies had been affected by the drug.

“Virtually none of those who suffered miscarriages would have known and that would have applied to around 90% of those suffering stillbirths. The babies were hidden and there was no birth defects register,” Johnson, a former head of the Thalidomide Trust told the Sunday Times.

He believes about 6,000 were miscarried, 2,000 were stillborn and a further 2,000 died in infancy. He based his figures on a number of small-scale studies and comparison with another drugs with chemical similarities.

“There was no criminal trial in Britain and Enoch Powell (health minister between 1960 and 1963) flatly refused a public inquiry,” Johnson said.

Thalidomide, which worldwide maimed an estimated 20,000 babies and killed 80,000, was widely used in Britain between 1958 and 1962 as a wonder drug against morning sickness, but caused severe birth defects. It was manufactured in Germany.

A total of 531 people, 64 of whom have died, have been helped by the trust. A documentary film about the scandal, Attacking the Devil, and the storyline of the BBC’s Call the Midwife , have recently significantly raised awareness of the blunders more than 50 years ago.

The current beneficiaries of the trust are between 51- and 57-years-old. Sixteen people have reportedly contacted the trust since January, seeking to find out if they were affected by the drug.

The trust was established in 1973, part of a legal settlement between the Distillers Company – distributors of thalidomide under the name Distoval – and disabled children whose mothers had taken the drug during pregnancy.

This followed a series of revelations in the Sunday Times under the editorship of Sir Harold Evans, which led to Distillers vastly increasing a support package for those affected. The funds are now provided by Diageo, the company formed by a merger of Grand Metropolitan and Guinness, which took over Distillers in 1990.

The four UK governments also provide grants whose funds are distributed through the trust.

Name a single country that has given ethno-religious minorities privileges as Sri Lanka has done

Name a single Christian/Islamic country that has reciprocated by issuing a stamp in honor of the world’s greatest visionary/philosopher Buddha or any country other than Russia and Austria that has given official religious status to Buddhism?

by Shenali D Waduge

( March 6, 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) When global powers are in the hands of Christian West and their media, human rights and other spokesmen come out in a chorus to say that Sri Lanka’s majority Sinhala Buddhists are the wrong doers, the world believes them without looking at the facts. For the majority Sinhala Buddhists to accept guilt they must know the allegations with evidence. So far other than a tirade of name calling there is nothing to show that legally, constitutionally & legislatively minorities suffer grievances because they are a minority. Will countries entertain demands to change national anthem, national song, national flag, insidious campaigns of baseless allegations, demands for homelands when minorities show no indigenous roots and now even the demand to change the country’s constitution to fulfil their aspirations?

Name a country that has given status to minorities in the country’s national flag as Sri Lanka has with orange symbolizing Tamils and green symbolizing Muslims. The original national flag did not have the two strips and these were incorporated as an act of good will. How have minorities reciprocated?

Name a country that has violated the constitution to sing the national anthem in Tamil instead of the language it is to be sung in? Those that said singing the anthem in Tamil ushered unity cannot explain why Tamils created a party seeking separatism in 1949 and are now asking for a separate state in 2016 via a new constitution even after singing in Tamil.

Name anything legally, constitutionally and legislatively denied to minorities which legally, constitutionally and legislatively is allocated to only Sinhalese.

Name any insistence where the law and the judgment has been changed because a person was a minority

Tamils came from Tamil Nadu. Muslims came from Middle East & the Christians/Catholics of both Sinhalese & Tamils arose after forced conversion following the arrival of the 3 colonial invaders. Globally there are 76million Tamils, 1.3billion Muslims and 2.2billion Christians. Their institutions are rich and expansionism of their faith is the job of their religious institutions through their religious heads. Inspite of this minorities of Sri Lanka have freedom to practice their religion. They cannot expect individual religious freedom to be entangled with the global mission of conversion through their religious institutions.

There are only 14.8million Sinhalese. They built the nation as is evident from archaeological and historical data. They built the civilization and developed the nation to what it was when colonials arrived to take over it.

Four Tamil hunger strike protesters serious

- Mar 06, 2016

Reports reaching us confirm the condition of the four inmates arrested suspected to be connected to LTTE , who are on a hunger strike is said to be serious.

Tamil prisoners who are arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and kept at several prisons were on a hunger and drug strike.

Lawyer Mangaleshwary Shankar who visited the Magazine prison to check the condition of the inmates said that she discovered that two inmates are discharging blood with urine.

The protesters who are serious is denying to take saline.

The lawyer alleged the Attorney General department for taking action against these Tamil inmates who are imprisoned for a long time without filing action.

Not serious

She said despite taking a long time to take a decision against these inmates their health condition is deteriorating.

However the prisons department spokesperson Thushara Upuldeniya said the condition of the inmates are not serious.

He said although the inmates are taking food they are taking water and other liquid under doctor’s instructions.

He said that the prisons doctors are regularly observing the protesters and their conditions are not serious to be hospitalized.

Prisons spokesperson Thushara Upuldeniya said yesterday three protesters were taken to the prisons hospital and brought back following checkups.

Did expose of Justice Ministry deal, too, influence govt. move

Lacille’s removal reverberates

by Shamindra Ferdinando-March 5, 2016, 9:23 am

High profile investigations into setting up of an International Arbitration Centre (IAC) as well as thwarting of an alleged attempt by Lanka Sathosa Limited to release a consignment of rice rotting in storage facilities are widely believed to have influenced the controversial government decision to remove Lacille de Silva, Secretary to PRECIFAC (Presidential Commission of Inquiry to Investigate and Inquire into Serious Acts of Fraud, Corruption and Abuse of Power, State Resources and Privileges).

The IAC project was launched in 2012 by the then SLMC leader and Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem, who now holds Urban Development, Water Supply and Drainage portfolios in the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government. The IAC was established in the West Tower of the World Trade Centre (WTC).

About Rs. 140 mn was spent on the IAC project according to documents with the PRECIFAC.

Having recorded a series of statements in respect of transactions regarding the IAC, the PRECIFAC recently directed the Justice Ministry to remove Anusha Munasinghe, Senior Additional Secretary (Legal) over her alleged complicity in the wrongful project.

Minister Hakeem switched his allegiance to Maithripala Sirisena in the run-up to January 2015 presidential election.

Minister Hakeem has recently inquired from Lacille de Silva about PRECIFAC leaking information pertaining to IAC project.

The PRECIFAC directed the removal of Ms Munasinghe after having examined transactions involving the Justice Ministry, Board of Investment (BoI), Overseas Realty (Ceylon) Private Limited, a Singaporean Company and the Handicraft Board. The Justice Ministry fully cooperated with the investigation.

Minister Hakeem is expected to be summoned by the PRECIFAC soon.

Asked whether he had complained to government in this regard, Minister Hakeem told The Island that he didn’t complain to anyone. The minister said that he considered filing action for defamation.

The former PRECIFAC Secretary also incurred the wrath of some government leaders be over his refusal to release part of the detained container-loads of imported rice rotting due to improper storage and exposure to moisture. Lacille de Silva has strongly opposed a move to release part of the consignment to the market.

Lacille de Silva also called for wider powers for PRECIFAC to inquire into all petitions including those that dealt with irregularities, waste and corruption during the present regime. The outspoken official also urged investigations into complaints directed at the Parliament.

PRECIFAC investigated over a dozen politicians and top officials including former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

De Silva told The Island yesterday that a statement issued by the Presidential Secretariat in the wake of his dismissal had jolted him. A disappointed De Silva said that the statement had justified his removal on the basis that senior retired civil servant H.W. Gunadasa had been brought in to conduct PRECIFAC investigations successfully and efficiently. De Silva said that in other words whoever who had drafted that statement had questioned his efficiency.

The former official said that he struggled for nearly five months to secure the required number of police to assist the investigation. "In spite of PRECIFAC being brainchild of President Sirisena, the police contingent wasn’t made available. PRECIFAC managed to secure required contingent in late July last year. Securing of vehicles for the team, too, hadn’t been an easy task. It took nearly three more weeks", he said.

Asked whether the powers that be had been upset over his relationship with the Rajapaksas, De Silva said that he wasn’t influenced by the marriage of his cousin, Pushpa to Basil Rajapaksa. Government leaders were aware of that and it hadn’t influenced the decision to remove him, De Silva said.

"Former President Rajapaksa, too, inquired from me about my unexpected removal from PRECIFAC."

Asked whether he was satisfied with the progress made by the PRECIFAC, De Silva emphasized that the outfit’s performance could be compared with that of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) and the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID).

The former PRECIFAC Secretary said that he briefed the media in respect of investigations involving former President Rajapaksa, former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa as well as members of yahapalana government. "As far as the media was concerned in my capacity as Secretary, PRECIFAC, information was released."

De Silva stressed that he couldn’t identify any particular investigation as the one that prompted the government to terminate his services. He said that during his tenure as Director General (Administration) of Parliament he was suspended. De Silva said that the then Speaker W.J.M. Lokubandara felt that he was responsible for various media reports in respect of malpractices in parliament. "I had to move the Supreme Court to regain my position." Lacille de said that the media largely ignored his plight during the UNP-led UNF administration (2002-2004).

He said some people must have been upset by some of his articles to both state-run and private media over the past several months. "I genuinely felt the need to take tangible measures against waste and corruption. No institution, including parliament should be exempted from investigations", De Silva said.

67 Achievements re Human Rights, Rule of Law & Reconciliation Process in Sri Lanka

SRI LANKA: HUMAN RIGHTS, RULE OF LAW AND RECONCILIATION PROGRESS

January 2015 – February 2016

Prepared by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Sri Lanka
________________________________________________________________
March 2016

1. The Cabinet of Ministers, on 2 March, approved Sri Lanka’s accession to the Mine Ban Treaty (Ottawa Convention)

February 2016

2. Sang the National Anthem in both Sinhala and Tamil at the Independence Day celebrations for the first time in 67 years. TNA MP, M.A. Sumanthiran, referred to it as a “giant step”.

3. Agreed to dates proposed by the following Special Procedure Mandate Holders to visit Sri Lanka:

a. Joint visit proposed from 29 April to 7 May by

i. SR on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers
ii. SR on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment & punishment

b. SR on Minority Issues – September 2016

c. SR on Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression – first semester of 2017

4. Received the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein (6-9 February) and facilitated wide-ranging meetings with victims, Opposition, key Ministers, the President and Prime Minister, key officials including the Defence Secretary and the Heads of Security Forces and Intelligence; facilitated his travel to Jaffna and Trincomalee.

5. The Minister of Foreign Affairs extended an invitation to Ms. Yasmin Sooka (International Truth and Justice Project Sri Lanka – ITJP) to visit Sri Lanka (letter dated 13 February 2016). This invitation was extended in response to a number of cases highlighted in the reports of the ITJP regarding ongoing torture and sexual violence.

March 5, 2016, 7:07 pm

Last Friday, for the first time since the present government assumed office, a special cabinet meeting was held to discuss the economic situation and a proposal to increase taxes. No official statement has yet been given out about the decisions made at that cabinet meeting or whether a final decision was arrived at all. However news that has leaked out to the press indicates that the government intends increasing the Value Added Tax from the present 11% to 15%. Furthermore, VAT exemptions for telecommunications, private health and private education will be removed. The Nation Building Tax is supposed to remain at the present levels. It is assumed that the present level referred to is the 2% that is still being charged even though the NBT was increased to 4% in the 2016 budget. In addition to this a new tax that will be introduced is the capital gains tax which had been abolished some time ago.

The capital gains tax was introduced along with the quasi-socialist reforms of the S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike government and abolished as the free market economic policy became the norm. Capital gains are the profits that an investor realizes when he sells the capital asset for a price that is higher than the purchase price and capital gains taxes are only triggered when an asset is realized, not while it is held by an investor. An investor can own shares that appreciate every year, but the investor does not incur a capital gains tax on the shares until they are sold. The government needs to demonstrate its ability to pay back the loans they expect to obtain from the IMF as well as on the open market – hence this increase in taxes. In the meantime the corporate income tax rate is also to be retained at the previous level of around 28% without being reduced to 15% as proposed in the Budget for 2016.

The large private business houses have been having a bad time since the present government came into power. Last year, all these conglomerates had to fork out amounts ranging from hundreds of millions to two or three billion rupees each depending on their profits for the past year – for no reason all except to keep the yahapalana government afloat. They had to pay this one off super gains tax over and above their usual tax commitments for that year. This amounts to the same kind of expropriation that was practiced by the 1970 SLFP led government of Mrs Sirima Bandaranaike. At that time whole businesses or estates were taken over by the government. The only difference this time is that the establishments themselves were not taken over, but huge amounts of money equivalent to the value of many smaller businesses have been taken by the government.

Mendacious murderous machiavellian chief to visit Rathupaswala – ‘welcome’ that will teach a lesson of his lifetime awaits him

(Lanka-e-News -05.March.2016, 11.45PM) The previous murderous commander in chief of the forces who gave ruthless orders to kill two young students and a youth in Rathupaswala when they were demanding clean water for drinking , is due to visit Rathupaswala based on his assumption that the docile people of Sri Lanka have a short memory lasting two weeks only.

The ex president Mahinda Rajapakse the ‘Rathupaswala murderer’ is scheduled to meet with the public on the 7 th of March near the home situated in Gampaha of former chairman of Gampaha pradeshiya sabha Ranjith Gunawardena.( A poster in that connection is herein)

This is the chief whose family was paid illicit commissions by the factory which poisoned the water of Rathupaswala residents , and who gave heartless brutal orders to kill his own people , while also ruthlessly assaulting some others . It is therefore being questioned whether this murderous mendacious machievellian chief who indulged in all these cirminalities and brutalities is now seeking to visit Rathupaswala with his dress on or in naked state after committing those cold blooded murders ? for if he is human having a sense of shame he must feel shy over his inhuman actions and go naked before those people of Rathupaswala and invite them to stone him to death as an act of penance.

This murderous, mendacious , machiavellian chief who is now existing on a profusion of concocted lies wherever he goes in order to deceive the people again and gain , is to be accorded a rare ‘welcome’ by the people of Rathupaswala which would teach him an unforgettable lesson of his life time , it is learnt.

The present government has also come under scathing criticisim for delaying the enforcement of laws against the murderers in the Rathupaswala tragedy.

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by (2016-03-06 01:11:47)

Saturday, March 5, 2016

Improving media freedom

MAR 05 2016

No country has witnessed a perfectly peaceful relationship between the media and the Government and Sri Lanka is no exception. Press freedom is guaranteed by the Sri Lankan Constitution itself which proclaims that every citizen has the "the freedom of speech and expression including publication" (Article 14(1)a). But there is always friction between the two. The media acts as a watchdog, scrutinizing the Government's actions and pronouncements by its representatives. Sometimes, the parties in question take umbrage at the press in those instances. That is part and parcel of the political process and there are mechanisms to address any genuine grievances.

However, only a few politicians ever admit that they have sometimes been rough with the media. We say this in the context of Higher Education and Highways Minister Lakshman Kiriella's open admission that he "may have spoken forcefully" to some journalists, but had not allowed any problems with journalists to linger.

As the Minister has said "there is always a very close rapport between media personnel and politicians, but it is natural for certain small misunderstandings to occur between them". These misunderstandings can be easily ironed out, the minister pointed out. However, we witnessed an era when such "misunderstandings" ended in killings and disappearances of well-known journalists.

Minister Kiriella had recalled that era of the "white van culture". Indeed, 2005-2014 was one of the bleakest periods in history as far as the media was concerned. This does not mean that journalists were not attacked and killed during other previous regimes, but this was by far the worst period for local journalism and journalists. Among the many incidents were: killing of Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickramatunga; killing of journalist D. Sivaram; disappearance of journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda; assaults on journalist Poddala Jayantha and Keith Noyahr; torching of Siyatha and Sirasa TV stations and Lanka e-News offices and the jailing of journalist J. Tissanayagam (he was subsequently released). While these are high-profile incidents, there was a general air suppression and intimidation directed at the media. Many websites operating from within and outside Sri Lanka which were critical of the Government were blocked.

In fact, Sri Lanka is still placed sixth on the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) list of 14 countries where at least five journalists have been murdered without a single perpetrator being convicted. The index covers murders that took place between September 1, 2005, and August 31, 2015. Many of these attacks have not been fully investigated. After the present Government came to power, the Lasantha Wickramatunga and Prageeth Ekneligoda investigations have been revived and several arrests have been made in the latter. All unsolved attacks on journalists must be investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice.

Sri Lanka also has an unenviable record in the overall press freedom rankings, though there has been an improvement in media freedom since this Government came to power. On the Reporters Sans Frontiers (Reporters Without Borders) 2015 Press Freedom Index Sri Lanka was ranked 165th out of 180 countries, with no change from the 2014 position despite the positive improvements on the ground.

These positive improvements include the lifting of the previous ban on websites, a general air of freedom for all media, no instances of attacks against journalists and a better working relationship between the Government and the media. The Government media, which were completely under the yoke of the Government (with zero coverage of opposition figures and activities) during the previous regime have regained their freedom and credibility up to a great extent. This newspaper itself is a prime example. The State media may still not be 100 percent free and impartial, but it is a world of difference from those dark days when all opposition news was automatically taboo.

But there is a lot more to be done to improve media freedom in Sri Lanka, which could see a bigger change in our press freedom ranking this year. The Government should bring in the Right to Information (RTI) Bill without delay. Although not primarily aimed at the media, this will no doubt help the Government to be more transparent about its work and the media too will be able to enlighten the public on those matters. Sri Lanka is the only country in the region which does not have a RTI system and our international image will also improve if that is brought in.

The media must also behave with responsibility when it comes to national and sensitive issues, because media freedom is a two-way street. Many commentators rightly found fault with newspapers and TV stations for the graphic manner in which they reported the recent Seya Sadewmi and Vidya Sivaloganadan rape cases. In India, where a similar incident happened some time back, the media did not even report the girl's name. Many websites and even mainstream media regularly ignore media ethics and opt for sensationalism in order to increase their readership/viewership. Balancing readership numbers/ratings and ethical considerations is a challenge for the media in a fast-changing media landscape in a globalised world. But the media must evolve with the times and be always aware of its responsibility to the society.

Wahhabism Is Power-Worship

By Izeth Hussain –March 5, 2016

Izeth Hussain

I want to argue in this article that Wahhabism is not as generally thought an atavistic movement designed to take Islam back to the middle ages in reaction to modernity but a movement meant to cope with modernity, and that its strategy for that purpose is to transform Islam into an ideology of power-worship. My thinking on this subject has in its background the fact that I read some decades ago in a great novel by Montherlant, something to the effect that the typical modern man, bereft of the dimension of the transcendental, has two legs one of which is a drive for money and the other a drive for power, the two legs on which the terrible fellow stomps along wreaking the unparalleled destruction that the world has witnessed since the beginning of the First World War in 1914.

But first of all I must clear up some confusions. I concluded my last article on a case for extirpating Wahabism by stating that the crucial question that has to be addressed is whether or not it is the IS, not Saudi Arabia, that practices Wahhabism in its full authentic form. I wrote further that that question can be resolved only by establishing whether or not characteristic IS practices, such as sex slavery, have their warrant in what Wahhab actually preached. If not, there would be a case for extirpating just the IS but not Wahabism itself. If, on the contrary, the IS is the full-blown authentic manifestation of Wahhabism the case for the international community persuading Saudi Arabia to abandon Wahhabism becomes, I think, unanswerable. It is pertinent to recall that in 2013 the EU officially declared that Wahhabism was the greatest source of international terrorism. We can safely assume that that declaration was backed by studies made by scholars and specialists. Therefore there was a case for the EU to persuade Saudi Arabia to abandon Wahhabism.

However, Muslims who have been influenced by Wahhabism in Sri Lanka and elsewhere will give no weight at all to what the EU says. For that matter they give no weight at all to what the scholars of orthodox Islam have to say. What the latter have to say is more or less along the following lines. The Wahabis and their clones are utterly unscrupulous in finding substantiation for their tenets in the Koran and the hadiths and the Sunna. When it suits their purposes they read Koranic texts literally, ignoring the contexts that give full meaning to those texts. They are capable of perverse misreading of texts. They are given to using hadiths of very doubtful authenticity that are not included in the six canonical books of the hadiths. And so on. Consequently it can hardly be expected that finding warrant for IS tenets and practices in what Wahhab preached will lead to any useful conclusion. The Wahabis and their clones believe what they want to believe and they use texts towards that end.

(Lanka-e-News -04.March.2016, 11.30PM) During the reign of Medamulana Mahinda Rajapakse , that is the period he kept the people trampled under his iron despotic boots, in order to speak in Sinhalese without reading a paper and to hide his faltering delivery in Sinhala , as well as to make speeches in the languages Tamil and English which he does not know , he had spent about Rs. 25 million of public funds , according to an accidental discovery made by the present officers of the Presidential secretariat.

Mahinda Rajapakse the most notorious megalomaniac with a view to show off that he knows all three languages , has used a teleprompter device spending Rs. 24 million , based on the figures available with the accounts miantenance of the presidential secretariat .

This came to light because the incumbent president on the contrary does not falter when he speaks , and has no need to say ‘aney apoiy’ falteringly. Hence as the teleprompter fell into disuse , an inquiry was conducted.

This teleprompter spending Rs. 24 million has been got down not by the Media ministry , Information department, Film Corporation , or any other State Institution associated with them , and there isn’t any mention to whom the payment was made, but the expenditure towards this has been clearly made mention in the accounting records .

Since the teleprompter is not worth Rs. 25 million , it has triggered suspicions that there has been a sizeable illicit commission collected somewhere in this connection down the line .One who committed robbery even in respect of bouquets committing robbery via teleprompter is not a matter for surprise.

Medamulana Mahinda was actually making speeches in Tamil , the language he does not know without even reading a note to impress that he is a veteran to the people, only by looking at the transliterated Sinhala version of the Tamil Language using large letters ,and after that is displayed on the teleprompter screen . This is of course akin to Mohideen Baig singing sinhala songs. Since Baig could not read Sinhalese , he wrote the songs in Tamil and sang them. That is why he pronounced the words in the sinhala song as ‘Obe ragee mana kelambedho.’ Perhaps, the Tamil people did not laugh at Mahinda’s Tamil speech based on the same grounds that tolerated Mohideen Baig’s sinhala pronunciation. However it cannot be forgotten , Mahinda who struggled hard and stammered to speak Tamil to impress , convince and win over the Tamil people , could not hide his baser instincts and gross hypocrisy which he betrayed clearly when he opposed the singing of the national anthem in Tamil.

The teleprompter aforestated had two screens. Though to the cameras Mahinda was looking at the people on both sides when he was speaking , he was in fact looking at the two teleprompter screens kept hidden not known to anyone. The screens were carefully concealed among flowers.

Unfortunately , on one occasion , a teleprompter screen camouflage leaked out via a photograph published by the Lake house media , thereby exposing Medamulana’s behind the scene racket . Medamulana who is so vociferous on behalf of media freedom today , turned vicious and venomous then against the media so much so, he immediately threatened the photographer who was responsible for that mistake. That victimised journalist by the name of Malaweera is the husband of Vineetha M Gamage of Lankadeepa.

Interestingly, Mahinda Rajapakse first got down this teleprompter because he could not speak Sinhala smoothly without stammering. Though State leaders of the world used teleprompters when making only important speeches , Mahinda on the other hand used it for every speech of his , without which he was stranded on the crossroads. Being a megalomaniac who is as hollow as is shallow , resorted to all the subterfuges and camouflages to speak without reading a paper , because he wanted to puff himself with the false pride he is a great orator .

His inability and weakness are now clearly borne testimony to by the blabbering and stammering of his when he is speaking without the aid of teleprompters. This is because , he has not ‘heard and learnt’ in his life, and not read books. Instead of making reading books a habit (a habit of great men and encouraged by great teachers) he made setting fire to books his habit like how he did to the precious library of Lanka e news website portal , and the Colombo Kacheri .

In Jathaka tales it is revealed those who set fire to books are born as dumb and deaf in their next birth. Therefore when Mahinda Rajapakse is born in the next birth as a deaf mute- while hoping we shall not have the misfortune of meeting him in that birth , might we warn him , no teleprompter can help him no matter how much money in millions and billions he spends on it !

By Mukary Mudiyanse
Translated by Jeff

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by (2016-03-05 02:14:55)

Public Service Under Yahapaalanaya: A Rant

Featured image courtesy Sanka Vidanagama, Getty images

by Shadrach F
- on 03/05/2016

When I entered the Ministry of External Affairs to get my education certificates validated, I was pleasantly surprised to see the orderly queue the crowd had formed. It was, admittedly, a form of musical chairs without the music, but it worked. The queue moved along regularly, and I was getting closer to the lady who would give me my application form.

What happened next may not come as much of a surprise to you. As it was about to be my turn, a burly Special Task Force man, decked out in full uniform including cap, stepped in front of me and shoved his documents through the window. I paused, thinking there must be good reason for this intrusion; perhaps he was on urgent state business. Instead, he summoned his ‘nangi’ from somewhere outside the queue and told the lady behind the counter that the documents belonged to his sister. I was irritated to say the least but held my peace. Fortunately for all, the disruption of the process was short-lived and within a few minutes I was attended to.

However, the next stage in this authentication process for everyone getting documents validated at the ministry was to go down two floors, and hand over their application forms at another set of counters. I was given token number 216, and alas they were only at number 98 when I arrived. Like everyone else in the room, I sat down and patiently waited my turn. Once again, what happened next does not require much imagination, although it is depressing that we have become so accustomed to it. The STF member strolled in whilst number 111 was called up, with his sister in tow, and ambled straight up to a counter. There he weaseled his way next to a customer being served, and once again shoved his documents through.

At this point I said something to the lady sitting next to me, about the blatant disregard for queuing, order and process in general. Apparently I wasn’t the only one fuming at his exploitation of whatever authority his uniform gave him, as those in front of me turned and echoed similar sentiments. Some people had been waiting for almost an hour, and watched helplessly as someone in power showed them the rules apply unequally. I can safely assume this STF officer angered, to some extent, at least 105 people, who from their seats in the queue, observed this unfolding. However, short of marching up to him and asking for his staff number there was really nothing we could do.

What upset me the most was that this culture of impunity- whether arbitrarily arresting people, or having no consideration for those who have waited their turn for a government service- appears not to have sufficiently changed with the change in government. This despite ‘ending a culture of impunity’ being at the centre of its many promises. When I voted for change I voted for law and order. However, when those officers representing the law have absolutely no concern for order, it sends a disheartening message to the ordinary man watching.

Audio: Education Minister Akila Viraj Suffering From HIV Phobia; Threatens To Separate Kuliyapitiya Mother From Child

March 6, 2016

In a new twist to the controversial incident involving a six year old child from Kuliyapitiya who has been deprived of a school due to rumours that he is infected with HIV, it is learnt that Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam has been behind the incident and had also ordered provincial authorities including Zonal Education Director A. S. K. Jayalath against finding an amicable solution to the problem.

Kariyawasam appears to be suffering from the HIV phobia himself, and has also threatened to take a court order and separate the child from the mother, because as Sri Lanka is a tropical country and as the child sleeps next to the mother, he too can contract HIV.

Photo – Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam with his child

Speaking to the media soon after visiting Malvathu Viharaya yesterday, Kariyawasam said that the Zonal Education Director has confirmed that the child’s father had died from HIV, and even the child’s mother is HIV+.

“This is a tropical country and there are ways the child can contract it as he sleeps next to his mother. So we have requested the mother to hand over the child to probationary services, but if she doesn’t then we will get a court order and take him away,” he said.

He blamed the media for making a fuss about the incident and trying to use the event as a commercial venture. Kariyawasam also alleged that certain human rights organisations have gotten involved in the issue and have influenced the mother by putting ideas into her head, which has led to the issue going a step further.

Incidentally, Kariyawasam himself was born in Kuliyapitiya, and attended the Kuliyapitiya Maha Vidyalaya. He has also come under heavy criticism for his failure both as a resident of Kuliyapitiya and the education minister to not play a more proactive role in helping find the child a school.

Meanwhile, President Maithripala Sirisena blamed the illiteracy of society to the current situation. Speaking to the child’s mother over telephone on Saturday, Sirisena also assured to provide the child with a school.

“We will help you, and we will get him a school, don’t worry. The society doesn’t have an understanding about this issue, this is why such a situation has happened,” Sirisena said.

The mother of the child has also filed a fundamental rights violation petition citing Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, Provincial Education Director J. G. N. Tilakarathna, Zonal Education Director A. S. K. Jayalath, Education Ministry Secretary, Attorney General, the Inspector General of Police as well as the Principals of Bohandiya Primary School, Sripathi Royal College, as respondents.

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