Thursday, March 17, 2016

ANALYSIS: 'This is a new Syria, not a new Kurdistan'

Co-leader of largest Kurdish party says new north Syria federation is a not an autonomous homeland - it is a blueprint for the country's future

Kurdish leaders says the new federation is committed to equality and democracy (AFP)

Syrian Kurds and Arabs announce their plans for federalism (AFP) -

SyriaWar-Thursday 17 March 2016

SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq - They have been locked out of Syrian peace talks, and by extension a future Syrian government, despite controlling much of northern Syria, being the only force to successfully oppose the Islamic State and having the favour of both the United States and Russia.

On Thursday the Syrian Kurds decided on their answer to this outsider status: the formation of a new Federation of Northern Syria that would take in Kurdish-majority areas of Jazeera, Kobane and Afrin, knowns as Rojava, plus Arab towns currently under Kurdish control.

Syria's government, opposition and regional powers have rejected the new system, saying the Kurds have no right to carve up Syria for their own purposes.

But Salih Muslim Mohammed, the co-leader of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the largest Kurdish party in Syria, said the federation should not be seen as an autonomous Kurdistan region, but rather a blueprint for a future decentralised and democratic country, where everyone is represented in government.

“There is no autonomous Kurdish region, so there is no question of recognising it or not," he said. “It is part of a democratic Syria, and it might expand all over Syria. We want to decentralise Syria, in which everyone has their rights.

"The name is not important, we call it a democratic Syrian federalism,” he told Middle East Eye.

“The federalism we talking about is not a geographical line. Maybe tomorrow it’s going to be expanded to [IS-controlled] Raqqa, and other places," he added. "Maybe even the people of Daraa will join it."

On Thursday, two hundred members, delegates and party members including Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen, and Christians from the Kurdish areas of Syria and Syrian towns including Manbij, Aleppo, and al-Shahbaa, elected a council of 31 members for the Democratic Federal System for Rojava and Northern Syria.

Hediya Yousef, a Kurd, will represent Rojava, and Mansur Selam, an Arab from Tal Abyad, will represent northern Syria. There will be six months of work on establishing federalism on the ground.

"This is considered the first system like this in the region,” said Abdulsalem Mohammed, a Kurdish teacher and activist from Qamishli. “This is after the failure of the dictatorship regimes, that ignore the rights of other nations apart from themselves,”

Jacob Zuma denies influence of wealthy Gupta family in South African cabinet

President rejects claim that family of industrialists handed out ministerial posts amid growing corruption scandal

Emma Graham-Harrison-Thursday 17 March 2016

The South African leader, Jacob Zuma, has denied letting a family of wealthy industrialists hand out posts in his cabinet, as he battles to contain a snowballing corruption scandal that could threaten his presidency.

Ahead of a key meeting of the ruling party’s leadership this weekend, a top power-broker from Zuma’s own African National Congress has warned that the country risks becoming a “mafia state” if corruption is not tackled.

At the heart of the controversy is the relationship between Zuma, his allies and associates, and the wealthy, influential and colourful Gupta family, who once used a military airforce base to fly in guests from India for a glitzy wedding.

On Wednesday the country’s deputy finance minister, Mcebisi Jonas, said in a public statement that members of the Gupta family had offered him the ministerial post in December, after the incumbent, Nhlanhla Nene, was abruptly sacked.

He said he had rejected the job “out of hand”, because the offer of a cabinet post from someone outside government “makes a mockery of our hard-earned democracy”. The Guptas denied the allegation, saying it was “totally false” and “just more political point scoring between rival factions” within the ANC.

Nene, who had a combative relationship with Zuma, was instead replaced by a virtually unknown backbencher, but he lasted for less than a week. As the rand and government bonds were battered on global markets, top ANC powerbrokersreportedly forced Zuma to backtrack and appoint an experienced former finance minister.

Jonas’s claim this week prompted one of the ANC’s top power brokers to warn that the country risked sliding into a “mafia state” if a web of corruption and influence peddling that critics say has been spun around the government was not untangled.

“We need to deal with this. It will degenerate into a mafia state if this goes on,” the ANC secretary-general, Gwede Mantashe, told Bloomberg.

“The fact we are talking about this so boldly now shows that things are going to change.”

But in a combative appearance before parliament, Zuma rejected accusations that he had delegated control of the finance ministry to the Gupta family.

“I am in charge of the government, I appoint in terms of the constitution,” Zuma said, to cheers from ruling party parliamentarians. “There is no minister who is here who was ever appointed by the Guptas or by anybody else.”

Jonas is not the only politician to allege the Guptas brokered top jobs in South Africa. Former ANC member of parliament Vytjie Mentor earlier this week said in a posting on Facebook that she had been offered the post of minister of public enterprises while she was in the Gupta mansion in 2010, when Zuma was in a nearby room. Zuma’s office have denied this, Reuters reported.

Opposition party members have also claimed that the sports minister was helped into his job by the Guptas, allegations he has denied.

The Gupta family emigrated from India in 1993, seeking business opportunities in post-apartheid South Africa, and now preside over a wide range of corporate interests from mining to IT and media.

They have denied any role in deciding any ministerial jobs. In their statement on Wednesday they said:

“Any suggestion that the Gupta family or any of our representatives or associates have offered anyone a job in government is totally false.”

Brazilians protest as Lula, under investigation, gets cabinet position

Protesters mobbed the streets outside Brazil's presidential palace after President Dilma Rousseff appointed embattled former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as her chief of staff amid a corruption probe. (Reuters)

By Dom Phillips-March 17

RIO DE JANEIRO — Thousands of Brazilians took to the streets Wednesday at the end of an extraordinary day in a worsening political situation as a political corruption scandal threatened two of their most powerful leaders.

Many were protesting the decision by President Dilma Rousseff to make her predecessor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva her chief of staff. Others, in smaller numbers, defended her Workers’ Party government. The protests came just days after hundreds of thousands of Brazilians had called for Rousseff’s impeachment and an end to corruption in massed street demonstrations across the country.

Lula, as the former union leader and two-time Workers’ Party president is known here, is being investigated for his alleged role in a multibillion-dollar scheme in which kickbacks and bribes were paid on fat contracts at the state-run oil company, Petrobras.

[As ex-president Lula faces charges, a divided Brazil wonders what’s next]

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court accepted testimony from the former leader of Rousseff’s Workers’ Party in the Senate in which he alleged that dozens of politicians were involved in this and other corruption schemes and that Rousseff and Lula had attempted to interfere in investigations. Brazilians were stunned at the allegations, which also cited Aécio Neves, a leading opposition senator who ran against Rousseff in the 2014 election. Neves has denied the claims.

The move to appoint Lula was widely seen as an attempt to protect him from the investigation because ministers and lawmakers can be tried only by Brazil’s Supreme Court. Lula was being targeted by Sergio Moro, a federal judge on a lower court who is beloved by anti-government protesters for his crusading role in the Petrobras investigation.

The situation became even more inflamed in the early evening after Moro authorized release of the recording of a telephone call between Rousseff and Lula.

In the short call, Rousseff told Lula that she was sending the papers confirming his ministerial role “in case of need.” Prosecutors said this, and other wire taps of phone calls made and received by Lula that were also released, showed attempts to interfere in investigations.

A statement from Rousseff’s press secretariat said the terms of office were delivered to Lula to sign because it was not certain he would able to attend an official ceremony planned for Thursday.

Police said more than 5,000 people demonstrated near the presidential palace in Brasilia. Thousands more protested in Sao Paulo — where a huge banner in Brazilian colors was unfurled on the same central avenue where at least half a million took part in a protest last Sunday. Police estimated 5,000 were at another demonstration in Porto Alegre.

[Hundreds of thousands protest throughout Brazil]

Smaller protests, some with just a few hundred people, broke out at least 18 Brazilian states, according to the G1 news site. Various cities also saw episodes of protesters banging pots and blaring car horns.

An online petition protesting Lula’s appointment as a minister began circulating, along with calls for a general strike on April 30.

“How wonderful,” tweeted João Woerdenbag Filho, a rock signer known as Lobão. “We know that the Workers’ Party will leave as the biggest villains in the history of Brazil.”

But as Brazilian media began publishing the phone transcripts and recordings, others argued that Operation Car Wash — as the corruption investigation is known — has lost its neutrality in what has become an increasingly polarized battle.

Nana Queiroz, a journalist and feminist activist in Brasilia, wrote on Facebook that Moro had made it “clear that he has a side and a bias in this story instead of being an impartial judge, as his job demands.”

Many were stunned when newsreaders on TV Globo’s nightly news program read out selected excerpts in somber voices.

“Comedy and tragedy occasionally go together. How embarrassing!” tweeted the Rio columnist and author Luiz Simas.

There were flashes of tension during the night. Police used pepper spray and stun grenades when a group of protesters in Brasilia approached the Congress, Brazilian television reported. The CBN radio station posted a video of a young couple who were shoved and hit by protesters in Sao Paulo for apparently disagreeing with the demonstration. Brazilian media reported that police separated pro- and anti-Lula protesters outside his house on the outskirts of Sao Paulo — even though he wasn’t there.

[Brazil’s new hero is a nerdy judge who is tough on official corruption]

Many of the phone calls revealed Lula railing against the investigation in a blur of four-letter words. But in one conversation from March 4, he appeared to ask Jacques Wagner, the outgoing chief of staff and a former defense minister, to suggest to Rousseff that she attempt to influence a Supreme Court judge.

“Democracy is a free society that demands that those governed know what those who govern them do, even when they seek to act protected by the shadows,” Moro wrote in his decision to release the wire taps.

“All the judicial and administrative means available will be adopted to repair the flagrant violation of the law of the Constitution of the Republic, committed by the judge who was author of the leak,” Rousseff’s statement said.

Pro-government demonstrations against what the Brazilian left argues is an attempted institutional coup are planned for Friday in a number of cities.

Thai man who stole Blue Diamond from Saudi palace becomes monk to ‘redeem karma’

Thai Buddhist monks. Pic: AP.

bad karma

17th March 2016

A THAI national at the center of a diplomatic spat over a decades-old jewel heist, including the famous ‘Blue Diamond’, from a Saudi Arabian palace embraced Buddhist monkhood on Thursday in an effort to “redeem [his] bad karma.”

In 1989, Kriangkrai Techamong worked as a gardener at the palace of Saudi Prince Faisal bin Fahd. According to Vice News, he sneaked into a palace bedroom one night, broke open a safe, and grabbed 200 pounds of jewelry collectively worth about US$20 million.

A rare 50-carat blue diamond was among the stolen gems, lending its name to the long-running case (the “Blue Diamond Affair”) that has seen countless twists and turns over the years.

According to AFP, Kriangkrai told local media that the theft brought great suffering and misfortune to him and his family, alleging that the blue diamond is cursed.

“I am confident that all my misfortunes are the result of a curse from the (blue) Saudi diamond I stole, so I’ve decided to enter the monkhood for the rest of my life to redeem my bad karma,” AFP quoted him as saying.

According to Thai television station Channel 7, Kriangkrai received a monk name that translates to “He Who Has Diamond Knowledge”.

Kriangkrai served five years in prison for the theft, but Thai police only recovered and returned some of the gems – and Saudi officials asserted that even those were mostly counterfeits. In any case, the blue diamond, the most valuable of the stolen gems, is still missing.

At one point, local Thai media was abuzz about pictures taken at a charity gala that showed wives of bureaucrats wearing new diamond necklaces that looked similar to ones stolen by Kriangkrai. That fueled suspicions among Saudi authorities that Thai police, along with members of the elite, kept the stolen items for themselves and engaged in a cover-up.

Those suspicions were only compounded when a businessman sent by Saudi Arabia to investigate the case disappeared in Bangkok. Only days before his disappearance, three Saudi diplomats were gunned down, execution style, in the Thai capital.

A senior police officer, Somkid Boonthanom, and four others were eventually charged with the murder of the Saudi businessman. But in a curious twist, the Thai government promoted Somkid as he was facing charges, bumping him from regional police commissioner to assistant national police chief. Predictably, this triggered outrage in Riyadh, and Somkid eventually declined the promotion in a bid to relieve tensions between the countries.

Then in 2014, Bangkok’s Criminal Court dismissed the charges against Somkid and the other defendants over a lack of evidence. Predictably, Saudi Arabia harshly criticized the verdict, calling it “disappointing and unfair.”

Today, Thailand-Saudi Arabia relations remain poor. Riyadh does not retain an ambassador in Bangkok and bans its citizens from visiting Thailand as tourists.

India Assures the US It Will Not Issue Compulsory Licences on Medicines

The government appears bent on decisively abandoning the earlier consensus of adherence to public health goals.

by Amit Sengupta

Courtesy: The Wire

( March 16, 2016, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) In what is widely being hailed as an extraordinary victory for the multinational pharmaceutical industry over the Indian government, the US-India Business Council (USIBC), in its submission to the United States Trade Representative (USTR), reports that the Indian government has “privately assured” the industry that it would not use compulsory licences (CLs) for commercial purposes. Since it came to power in 2014, it has been speculated that the NDA government is keen to accommodate objections of the USTR and the US based pharmaceutical industry regarding the use and implementation of a number of health safeguards in domestic laws on intellectual property rights designed to promote affordable access to medicines in India. We now have confirmation that the government is willing to travel the extra mile in order to placate the US and that the Big Pharma’s vicious campaign after the first CL was granted in India has been a success.

Striking at the heart of India’s Patent Act

Mukesh Aghi, president of the USIBC that claims to represent “more than 350 of the largest global companies investing in India”, writes in his submission to the office of the USTR on February 5, 2016, “Overall, the U.S.-India Business Council believes there have been important developments related to the Intellectual Property policy in the last 12 months in India that have paved the way for substantive improvement in India’s IP environment”. He further adds, “…the level and frequency of engagement between the U.S. and Indian governments was encouraging and many have noted that they had not seen this level of engagement with the Government of India before”. Aghi goes on to compliment Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “several public statements reaffirming his commitment to a strong and robust intellectual property regime” and also notes with approval that “(the) Government of India has denied several compulsory license applications”. Particularly disturbing is his assertion that “the Government of India has privately reassured India would not use Compulsory Licenses for commercial purposes”. Curiously, David Hirschmann, the senior vice president of the US Chamber of Commerce, uses exactly the same phrase regarding “private reassurance” in his submission to the USTR.

BY SETH KADISH-MARCH 17, 2016
Since 1989, labs around the world have initiated more than 2,200 clinical trials testing gene therapies, but only a few studies have resulted in government-approved applications. The United States has led the way in this research to treat or prevent disease, but Washington has authorized not one therapy for commercial development.

In October, Philadelphia-based Spark Therapeutics announced that it was applying for U.S. regulatory approval after it treated an inherited eye disease that causes blindness. If given the green light, the treatment will join the likes of China-approved Gendicine, the world’s first gene therapy ever to see the commercial light of day (in 2003); Neovasculgen, approved by Russia in 2011; and Glybera, which the European Commission approved in 2012. And that’s where the list seems to stop.

Why are there so few approved therapies? Developing them is extremely complicated; their application also presents serious risks. (U.S. trials nearly halted after 18-year-old Jesse Gelsinger died in 1999 during gene therapy treatment for a rare liver disorder.) Moreover, there are endless ethical questions: How can a push for “designer babies” be avoided? What will happen if genetic changes are inherited by generations to come?

These questions may never get firm answers, but that won’t stop people from dreaming of a future free from a slew of genetic disorders — and thus a healthier world.
Who’s Treating What?

The target of a whopping 64 percent of gene therapy studies since 1989, cancer has consistently been the focus of clinical trials, with North America leading the charge. But the continent is also responsible for the majority of all clinical studies across each category (save infectious diseases and healthy volunteers). It has exclusively conducted 64 percent of them and dwarfs Europe, which has initiated only 27 percent.

Boom and Bust

Prior to the year in which China approved the world’s first gene therapy, only 13 trials had been conducted in Asia. Since then, the continent has picked up its pace: Of the 104 trials it has ever conducted (with known initiation dates), more than half were launched after 2011—and 36 percent between 2014 and July 2015. In contrast, the figures for North America and Europe have stayed relatively unchanged since the late 1990s.

Data were collected on Feb. 3, 2016, from the Journal of Gene Medicine, which included a total of 2,210 clinical trials in the database. Data range from 1989, when scientists conducted the first human gene therapy trial, to July 2015, when it was last updated. A version of this article originally appeared in the March/April issue of FP.

Photo credit: Getty/Guang Niu

Domestic violence 'doubles risk of premature birth'

Survey into detrimental effects of abuse on pregnant women highlights importance of swift preventative action, says survey

Among women abused during pregnancy, pre-term birth was 2.3 times more likely and low-birth weight 2.5 times more likely compared with those who did not suffer abuse. Photograph: Katie Collins/PA

Haroon Siddique-Wednesday 9 March 2016

Domestic violence by a partner or ex-partner during pregnancy doubles the risk of pre-term birth and low birth weight, according to a study.

Researchers from the University of Iowa also found that domestic violence, which includes physical, sexual, financial, psychological or emotional abuse, slightly increased the risk of a baby being small for gestational age.

They said their meta-analysis of 50 studies, encompassing more than 5 million children from 17 countries, illustrated the importance of identifying abuse quickly and taking effective action to stop it.

The report’s lead author, Audrey Saftlas, professor in epidemiology at the University of Iowa, said:

“Domestic violence by a partner or ex-partner is of particular concern during pregnancy when not one, but two lives are at risk. Although rates of domestic violence differ across the world, the detrimental effects of abuse on pregnant women are very clear and we must continue to establish effective interventions globally in order to prevent violence and to support women who report abuse.”

Domestic violence by a partner or ex-partner can directly affect the growing foetus, through physical or sexual trauma, or indirectly due to increased stress, inadequate nutrition and poor prenatal care. Abuse can also lead to alcohol or drug use – associated with adverse birth outcomes – by women.

More than one in four women in England and Wales has experienced at least one incident of domestic violence at the hands of a partner or ex-partner since the age of 16 and more than 1 million women a year suffer at least one such episode.

The study, published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, found that risks were even greater for women who experienced two or more types of domestic violence during their pregnancy.

Among such women, pre-term birth was 2.3 times more likely and low-birth weight 2.5 times more likely compared with those who did not suffer abuse during pregnancy.

Prof Lesley Regan, vice-president for strategic development for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), said: “Healthcare professionals have an important role to play in tackling the problem and are often the first and only point of contact that the isolated and vulnerable victim reaches out to. All of us working in health and social services need to be trained to recognise the signs of domestic violence and abuse and know how to act and who to refer to, to ensure the woman’s safety.”

The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has chosen Women’s Aid, which campaigns to end domestic abuse against women and children, as its charity of the year.

The RCM’s professional policy adviser, Janet Fyle, said midwives had an essential role to play but needed to be able to spend more time with women.

“Midwives can often be the only contact the woman has with health services, and the midwife’s role is crucial in recognising signs of domestic abuse or violence and supporting or signposting women for further advice and support as appropriate,” she said.

“However, midwives need to be able to spend time with victims of domestic abuse and violence, to gain their trust, and provide them with information, and support women to report the abuse or violence. This is one of the reasons that continuity of care and carer is so important in maternity care.”

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

KILLING OF 5 STUDENTS AT TRINCOMALEE: IT MUST BE THE STF WHO KILLED THEM, SAYS HRC-SL REPORT

( A commemoration for five students)

Dr. Manoharan at UNHRC on 6th death anniversary of his son (c) s. deshapriya

16/03/2016

“ Thus it would be seen that though the evidence of the STF personnel who arrived at the scene almost immediately after the grenade explosion do not speak of having fired any of their weapons, the Police who arrived immediately afterwards and dispatched the dead and the wounded to the hospital. It is therefore hard to imagine that anyone other than the STF could have shot those who were at the Gandhi Statue. This is also confirmed by the evidence of Yoganathan Pooncalalon who stated that about 10 to 15 uniformed persons arrived soon thereafter. They had then put those who had been injured into their jeeps, assaulted them with their weapons while they were in the jeep, and then pushed them out of their jeep. Soon thereafter he had heard repeated gun shots two of which struck him on his thigh and back of chest” says a newly released report of the Special Rapporteur on the Conflict Related Human Rights Violations appointed by Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka in 2006.

Killing of 5 Students at Trincomalee It Must Be the Stf Who Killed Them, Says Hrc-sl Report by Thavam Ratna

Depoliticize Election Process & Ensure Democratic Transparency

By Somapala Gunadheera –March 16, 2016

Somapala Gunadheera

According to the amended Local Government Elections Ordinance, which was passed unanimously in Parliament along with the Local Authorities (Special Provisions) Bill recently, a National Delimitation Committee consisting of five persons has been appointed by the Minister of Local Government, to delimit the electoral wards involved. The Minister derives that power from Section 3A. (1) of the Local Authorities Elections (Amendment) 1 Act, No. 22 of 2012 which reads, “The Minister shall, upon the coming into operation of this section, by Order published in the Gazette, establish a National Delimitation Committee which shall consist of five persons to be appointed by the Minister”.

Under Section 3C of the said Act, upon receipt of the report of a National Delimitation Committee, the Minister shall by a Notification published in the Gazette, publish the number of wards the boundaries, names and the numbers assigned to each ward so created on the recommendation made by the National Delimitation Committee in respect of each respective local authority. These provisions leave the power to appoint the Delimitation Committee and to implement its recommendations entirely in the Minister’s hand. Any delay in finalizing the process, naturally leaves room for his political opponents to blame the Minister for manipulating the election process to the advantage of his Party. The United Opposition is capitalizing on the delay to hold local authorities elections by alleging that the Government is deliberately postponing elections for fear of losing them, taking cover under the delimitation process.

In India, delimitation is a function of an independent commission. Section 3 of the India Delimitation Act 2002 states, “As soon as may be after the commencement of this Act, the Central Government shall constitute a Commission to be called the Delimitation Commission which shall consist of three members as follows: – (a) one member, who shall be a person who is or has been a judge of the Supreme Court, to be appointed by the Central Government who shall be the Chairperson of the Commission; (b) the Chief Election Commissioner or an Election Commissioner nominated by the Chief Election Commissioner. ex officio”. The Constitution of Pakistan charges the Election Commission with Delimitation of constituencies.

Trade between Sri Lanka and India, which was only US$ 557 million in 2000 has now shot up to US$ 2.7 billion, solely due to the Indo-Lanka Free Trade Agreement, said Prof. G. L. Peiris, Minister of Export Development and International Trade. He stressed that through the implementation of the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), bilateral trade relations in the service sector would be further strengthened.

by Upul Joseph Fernando

( March 16, 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) A close analysis of how the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime dealt with India and the contradictory policies and statements that emanate, at present, from former Ministers like Prof. G.L. Peiris amply demonstrate that they are playing politics for their advantage using proposed agreements between Colombo and New Delhi. The analysis records that former Sri Lankan High Commissioner to New Delhi under Mahinda’s administration, Prasad Kariyawasam made a controversial statement against Tamil Nadu urging the Central Government of India to take action against Tamil Nadu politicians who had links with the LTTE. New Delhi appeared disturbed by Kariyawasam’s statement. On the contrary the Rajapaksa administration endorsed the statement made by Kariyawasam claiming that the latter made that statement in the interests of the Colombo Government.

Indian High Commissioner in Colombo Y.K. Sinha recently made a serious statement against Opposition politicians in Sri Lanka who attacked the proposed ETCA with India. He expressed shock and dismay over the same politicians who supported the CEPA with India now taking an opposing stand to ETCA. In response to Sinha, Prof. G.L. Peiris who earlier supported CEPA said Sinha was trying to play the controversial character of one of his predecessors J.N.Dixit. Dixit was a controversial character before and after the Indo-Lanka Accord was signed in July 1987 between former Indian Premier Rajiv Gandhi and former Sri Lankan President Junius Richard Jayewardene.

March 15, 2016, 7:41 pm

General President’s Address, Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science, delivered by

Prof. C. Deepal Mathew

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo

Sri Lanka is a low middle income country. To progress towards a high income country we have to commercialize our natural resources. We must market them not as raw materials but as finished products.

Industrial chemical resources in Sri Lanka include Graphite, limonite, Rutile Quartz, Feldspar, Clay, Kaolin, Apatite (Phosphate rock) silica sand, Garnet sand, Mica, Calcite and Dolomite. Pulmuddai beach sand deposit is the most important non- ferrous minerals reserve in Sri Lanka to date. This deposit contains minerals including one of the most expensive and sought after metals in the world – titanium. However we still export this sand as a raw material and have not developed value added products.

Eppawala phosphate reserve is estimated to contain 60 million tons of apatite. Quartz, ball clay, silica and feldspar are utilized in the ceramics and glass industries. This is a success story and our porcelain is ranked among the best in the world.

Graphite exports in Sri Lanka date back to 1675. Sri Lankan Graphite has high purity and is used in graphite lubricants, flake graphite, carbon brushers, and midget electrodes and in nanotechnology. However Sri Lanka only exports graphite as a raw material.

Sri Lanka produces 70 varieties of Colored gemstones. We are one of the five most important gem bearing nations of the world. Sri Lankan gems and jewelry has been mentioned in literary works for back as 250 BC. Blue sapphires of Sri Lanka adorn the British crown. Sri Lanka today is not successful at producing high value cut and polished gemstones and jewelry to the up market customers in developed countries.

Our main export agriculture products are tea rubber and coconut. We still export most of our tea as bulk tea. Sri Lanka is successful in the rubber industry, utilizing 70% of production for industrial products. A major portion of coconut production is used for local consumption. Sri Lanka ranks fourth in the export of kernel products and is number one in export of brown fiber. New products of virgin oil, coconut cream are now exported directly to supermarkets in other countries.

UN SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR RITA IZSÁK SAYS SINHALESE, TAMILS AND MUSLIMS ARE CASTS IN SRI LANKA

(Rita Izsák, Image from face book)

12279183_887031138045050_8500904770857156185_n

16/03/2016

United Nations Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Rita Izsák in her report to the on going 31sst session of Human Rights Council says that three parallel caste systems (Sinhala, Sri Lanka Tamil and Indian Tamil groups) coexist in Sri Lanka. The government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has responded tot his completely inaccurate statement and invited her to visit Sri Lanka to find out the real situation.

Making a statement at the 31st session the GoSL has said that “especially in the context of factually incorrect reference to Sri Lanka in the Report, we welcome the visit of the Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues to Sri Lanka, as such a visit will certainly enable the Special Rapporteur to engage with all concerned in my country to obtain the factual position in this regard and accurate information which will clarify and clear misconceptions pertaining to the areas mentioned in this report”

The paragraph of the Rita Izsák’s report on Sri Lanka follows:

In Sri Lanka, three parallel caste systems (Sinhala, Sri Lanka Tamil and Indian Tamil groups) coexist; caste discrimination is found in each one. Within the Sinhala system, lower-caste groups, including the Rodi, have low levels of education, suffer extreme poverty and lack of assets and are under continued pressure to pursue hereditary caste occupations, such as removing dead animals and dirt.(19)

In the Sri Lanka Tamil caste system, the bottom stratum is comprised of a myriad of groups collectively labelled as Panchamar and regarded as “untouchables”. Population displacement due to war and the 2004 tsunami has resulted in a large internal displaced population in the Jaffna peninsula, with a disproportionate presence of Panchamar groups now in camps for internally displaced persons.(20)

The caste system among Indian Tamils traces its origins to their arrival to the plantations as indentured labourers during the colonial era and presents unique characteristics, which differ from the traditional Indian caste system. Some features are common, however, including the avoidance of inter-caste marriage and the link between lower castes and greater levels of poverty.

19 Kalinga Tudor Silva and others “Caste discrimination and social justice in Sri Lanka: an overview ” working paper series, vol. III, No. 6 (Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, 2009), pp.3–6.

20 Paramsothy Thanges and Kalinga Tudor Silva, “Caste discrimination in war -affected Jaffna society” in Kalinga Tudor Silva and others, Casteless or Caste -blind? Dynamics of Concealed Caste Discrimination, Social Exclusion and Protest in Sri Lanka (International Dalit Solidarity Network Indian Institute of Dalit Studies and Kumaran Book House, 2009), pp.50-77.

The government statement further says that ” it is completely incorrect to state that people in Sri Lanka are under pressure to follow caste based employment. Untouchability, as stated in the report is not a feature one would find in Sri Lankan society at all. The term “Dalit” has no relevance whatsoever in the context of Sri Lanka. There is no community or caste identified by such nomenclature in Sri Lanka. As pointed out in Paragraph 110 of the Report, the Constitution of Sri Lanka in Article 12(2) specifically prohibits discrimination based on the grounds of race, religion, language, caste, sex, political opinion, place of birth or any such grounds”

IDSN