Thursday, April 21, 2016

'Honey, we’re better than the Supremes': Sudan's girl band going strong 45-years on

The country’s favourite trio remember the ‘vibrant’ 70s and explain why they are finally ready for a world tour

Sisters Amal, Hadia and Hayat Talsam were known in their heyday as the ‘Sudanese Supremes’
Photograph: Ashraf Shazly/AFP/Getty Images

Fans enjoy The Nightingales at a concert in Khartoum in April Photograph: Ashraf Shazly/AFP/Getty Images

Agence France-Presse-Thursday 21 April 2016

Stepping onto stage in Khartoum and launching into their first song, The Nightingales – Sudan’s best-loved girl band – still raise cheers from adoring fans, 45-years after their debut.

Sisters Amal, Hadia and Hayat Talsam were known in their 1970s heyday as the “Sudanese Supremes” with their stylish bobs, matching dresses and soulful ballads, which changed the image of female artists in Sudan forever.

Their outfits have changed a bit since – at the January concert in Khartoum, the sisters appeared in long robes and loose headscarves – but the audience’s adoration has only increased.

Their vintage brand of Sudanese pop, songs of longing and youth blending elements of folk music aim to show the world another side to Sudan.

“We want to travel the globe and offer our art to all the peoples of the world,” Amal said after the concert, sitting beside her sisters.

“We could show a beautiful side of Sudan to the outside world” added Hadia, the oldest of the three. Although they haven’t got round to planning their global tour just yet.

The vibrant but conservative 70s

The Nightingales were formed in 1971, when a family friend visited their home in Omdurman – Khartoum’s twin city – to ask their father if he could pick three of his seven daughters to perform one of his songs.

The trio performed so well that they made the arrangement permanent and they were picked to tour Sudan with then president Jafer al-Nimeiri, a socialist-leaning army officer who seized power in the revolution of 1969.

“It was a very, very vibrant period for culture and art,” explained Hayat.

Amal was 15, Hadia 17 and Hayat just 13 years-old when they started touring, attracting fans across the region.

But in socially conservative 1970s Sudan, not everyone was pleased to see three young women travelling unaccompanied and singing and dancing in front of crowds.

But the sisters won general acceptance with support from their family. “The Nightingales changed the way people looked at female artists in Sudan,” said Hadia.

The group didn’t change the act and even sang one of their songs on the state broadcaster – other female artists had preceded them but their music had been more traditional.

As their fame grew. Neighbours, friends and even some relatives criticised their father, traditionally the head of the household, for their appearances.

“[He] wasn’t interested in any of that and he used to encourage us a lot,” Hadia said proudly.

“We were able to stand firm... our progress and our presence on stage proved that there was nothing wrong with it,” Amal added.

By the 1980s, the group had cemented their reputation as one of the country’s best loved groups, but Sudan was changing.

Nimeiri grew increasingly paranoid and repressive toward the end of his 16-year reign, declaring sharia law in 1983 and igniting another civil war between the north and the south.

The Nightingales kept going but in 1988, all three tied up with other commitments, they played their final concert in Khartoum.

Amal and Hadia left for the Gulf with their families, before moving to the US, and Hayat stayed in Khartoum.

By 1989 the current president Omar al-Bashir had come to power in an Islamist-backed coup and his military authorities imposed a curfew that lasted for years – effectively banning musical performances.

The reunion

Fast forward 20-years and Hadia and Amal were invited to perform at a festival of Sudanese music in New York’s Central Park. It was a hit and people urged them to return to Sudan for a full reunion with their sister.

Hadia and Amal returned the following year and organised a concert with Hayat at the officers’ club in central Khartoum.

They were apprehensive, unsure whether their fans would remember them, but on arrival, the streets were jammed with expectant fans.

“The only thing that changed was they liked us much more,” Amal said.

Now, the Nightingales tour Sudan when they are all in the country together, drawing hundreds of fans of all ages to their shows.

They still sing in matching outfits, with performances punctuated by mid-set costume changes – and a quick cigarette break.

Amal, Hadia and Hayat are now confident they can win more fans abroad and are keen to arrange their tour.

Would the comparison with the Supremes help draw foreign crowds in?

“Honey, we’re better than the Supremes,” Amal shot back in American-accented English.

Calgary woman defrauded out of almost $20k in iTunes CRA scam

By Melissa Ramsay-April 21, 2016

CALGARY – Police are warning the public to be cautious of a so-called CRA scam which recently cost a Calgary woman thousands of dollars.

The victim received a phone call from a man claiming to be from the Canada Revenue Agency on April 20. He told the victim she owed money for income taxes and as such, a warrant had been issued for her arrest and liens placed on her home, car and investments.

The fraudster instructed the victim to purchase iTunes gift cards from a nearby grocery store as a way of paying off her debt. He remained on the phone with her as she purchased the cards. She then told him the activation codes.

READ MORE: Ontario woman defrauded of more than $12K in iTunes gift cards in CRA scam: police

She then repeated the progress at a different grocery store.

The fraudster told the victim he was at the courthouse attempting to have the warrant dropped, but claimed it was re-issued. At this time, he told her more money would be needed to have the warrant dropped.

The victim withdrew additional money at a bank and contacted a family member to ask for some cash.

The family member, however, contacted police who located the victim and stopped her from completing the task.

In total, the victim was defrauded of nearly $20,000 before police intervened.

READ MORE: Tax season brings tax scams, warns CRA

Anyone who believes they may have lost money to one of these scams is asked to call police or contact Crime Stoppers.

Malaysia: Court awards man who ate cockroach in hospital US$17,233

Image via Wiki Commons.

21st April 2016

A COURT in Malaysia has awarded a customer service officer with RM67,000 (US$17,233) in damages on Thursday after it found a private hospital negligent for serving him food containing a cockroach.

38-year-old Wan Hailmey Mahrawi, an employee at the Malaysian hajj pilgrims fund Tabung Haji, won the amount following the incident when he was warded at KPJ Selangor Specialist Hospital.

Wan Hailmy was seeking treatment for cervical disc disorders when he was served the awful ingredient in his food.

The meal contaminated by the cockroach. Image via The Star Online.

According to The Star Online, Sessions Court judge G. Ramesh said Wan Hailmey had proven his case after hearing evidence from witnesses and the defense.

The company that runs the hospital, Selangor Specialist Hospital Sdn Bhd, was ordered to pay him RM7,000 over his abdominal pain and diarrhea for five days, and another RM60,000 in exemplary damages.

Wan Hailmey, who was warded at the hospital for five days from May 18 last year, said he was served lunch on May 20 last year, where he found that his vegetable dish contained a cockroach, the paper reported.

The suit was filed on Aug 6 last year.

Wan Hailmey said he accidentally ate the limbs of the cockroach which lead him to to suffer dizziness, vomiting, loss of appetite, stomach pain and fever. He claimed he was later traumatized by the experience.

He alleged the hospital was negligent in its duty of ensuring that patients were served food that was safe and clean from contaminants such as dirt and insects. He also lodged a report on the incident with the Health Ministry’s Food Safety and Quality division on June 1.

In its defense, the hospital claimed Wan Hailmey had concocted the story and lied about the resulting symptoms, adding the claims could not be trusted.

The doctor who treated Wan Hailmey for the stomach pain had testified for him while two other witnesses provided evidence for the hospital.

Acne needs to be taken more seriously, say charities

Acne before and after photoshopping and make up

By Felicity Morse-20 April 2016

Acne is not taken seriously enough, despite the bullying and stigma people face, say charities.

James Partridge, founder and chief executive of disfigurement charity Changing Faces, says attitudes desperately need challenging.

"We need to show respect, help people cope, not belittle and stigmatise.

"Every year there are instances of suicide due to people's distress around acne," says James. "Self harm is also very common."

Because it's not life threatening, money and research is going into other areas, the British Skin Foundation argues.

Spokesperson and Consultant Dermatologist Dr Anjali Mahto tells Newsbeat: "The anxiety skin disease creates often gets neglected.

"Because it's not going to kill you, it falls at the bottom of a list of what needs to be done."

Image captionDr Mahto has struggled with acne herself

People with acne are often overlooked - told to 'get on with it' or that they'll grow out of it.

"I often see patients who refuse to make eye contact. People who grow their hair so it covers their face. People who refuse to go out, go to work or to go to school," says Dr Mahto.

The psychological impact of acne can last beyond the spots themselves.

"If you've grown up with the mindset you're a spotty teenager, the negative body image can stay with you for many years afterwards," she says.

Image captionAcne is commonly linked to the changes in hormone levels and is known to run in families. It's caused by grease-producing glands next to the hair follicles in the skin producing too much oil

Michael Willocks, who suffered with severe acne for years, wants schools to make discussing skin issues routine. He thinks this could help young people suffering with skin conditions.

His project, school derm time, aims to show teachers how acne can affect behaviour.

During his school years he bottled everything up because he thought nobody would understand.

"All I needed was a prompt from the school, anything that resonated with how I felt," he explained.

Looking at myself would make me feel sick

Jordan Grey is 22 and had acne at school.

Image captionJordan when he was younger

"I would go into the changing room and kids would ask: 'What's wrong with you?' It was degrading.

"It stopped me from going out. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I felt sick. My face felt pus-filled and disgusting."

Image captionJordan now

He thinks better awareness of acne amongst teachers would have helped him.

Katy Gilroy, 22, feels the same.

"Had we been taught, in science or PSHE, what the causes of acne are or that it's a medical condition like any other, then people would not have felt the need to comment negatively on it."

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Poor quality of decision-making main cause for destruction of Regional Plantation Companies

Is there hope for Sri Lanka’s mismanaged plantations industry?

Thursday, 21 April 2016
Through a series of newspaper articles during the past few months, we have been stressing on the systematic killing of the world renowned Plantations industry of Sri Lanka. These articles covered the gist of the evolution of the plantations industry of Sri Lanka since the first nationalisation of lands by the then Minister of Agriculture and lands, the late Hector Kobbekaduwa under the Sirimavo Bandaranaike government way back in 1972, to the present times, covering more than 40 years.

We thank all those newspapers wholeheartedly for a yeoman service to the nation, by publishing them amidst fierce propaganda by a small yet powerful group of anti Sri Lankans claiming to be the industry leaders. They propose handing over the plantations to the workers with a different name tag called ‘revenue sharing’ and furthermore getting these poor workers to pay for the sins committed during a long period of time by the senseless top rung of the RPCs.

They seem to be thinking that this handover (revenue sharing model) is the only viable option to overhaul and to turn around the loss making plantations managed by RPCs. However, some RPCs have undertaken this task already. Can they get those lands back from their current recipients, the workers? The failure to do so will definitely lead to the cannibalisation and destruction of the lands. Was it a collective decision by all the RPCs? No, it was not! Then, how can such a poor mechanism be implemented without the knowledge of the golden share? Isn’t this an instance of poor quality decision making again?

Depleted resources

Most of the tea and rubber fields in many RPCs are in the process of becoming uneconomical due to the fact the desired level of replanting had not taken place on time. Either they are more than 30 years in production, hence, past their prime or, in the case of rubber; the bark is fully gone, due to poor quality decisions by the top management. So how on earth can the poor workers be expected to increase labour productivity when the bush and the tree both have reached an age of senility, on top of the fact that the soil on which these crops grow have been left to be eroded and hence depleted of nutrients?

Ranking 2016-April 20, 2016

Four Tamil journalists based in the northern cities of Mannar and Vavuniya were summoned for questioning by the police in Colombo yesterday, just days after another journalist received a similar summons that resulted in his being charged with publishing false information.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS) are concerned that the Sri Lankan authorities are resuming practices designed to intimidate Tamil journalists.
No reason was given for the summonses that the Colombo Crime Division issued yesterday to Anthony Thevarajan Mark of theRupavahini Corporation, Jude Pelistis of ITN, freelancer Lambert Rosairo and Ponnaia Manikkavasagam, who works for the BBC and the Tamil daily Veerakesari.
But harassment of the Tamil media has been growing in recent days. Journalist James Joseph Fernando was summoned by the police on 26 April and questioned about articles published in 2009 in Veerakesari that criticized actions carried out by the government as part of its policy of resettling the north.

The then resettlement minister is the current government’s trade and industry minister.
Police in the northern city of Jaffna arrested N. Logathayalan, a freelance journalist working for the newspaper Uthayan, on 8 April because of an article implicating Jaffna-based officers in a case of police violence. He is to appear before a judge on 29 May. Two other journalists have reported being the victims of police aggression.

“This increase in acts of intimidation against Tamil journalists is disturbing,” said Benjamin Ismaïl, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Asia-Pacific desk.

“President Maithiripala Sirisena’s first 100 days in office have just ended without any attempt to keep promises to improve respect for media freedom. We urge this government not to repeat the authoritarian errors of the previous government led by the Rajapaksa family, and to refrain from harassing independent news media and Tamil journalists in particular.”

Sri Lanka is ranked 165th out of 180 countries in the 2015 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.

After the 8 January election, RSF and JDS asked the newly-elected President Sirisena to end the policy of violence against journalists that had been pursued by his predecessor, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and to combat impunity for this kind violence.

TID arrests another Tamil man on return from abroad – VIDEO

April 19, 2016

Another Tamil man who returned from a Middle Eastern country early last week has been arrested by the Colombo Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) on Tuesday.

Muthulingam Jeyakanthan of Muthaiyankaddu in Mullaitivu was questioned by the TID at the Katunayake International Airport on his return from Doha on April 12, for several hours before being released.

“He was asked to come to the TID office at the 2nd Floor in Colombo this morning. Around 2.15 pm, the TID has informed his sister that he has been arrested. But his family has not been given any document with regard to his arrest,” his lawyer Dominic Premanand toldCeylon News on Tuesday.

The father of two went to Doha in 2013 to work and returned to the country to visit his family.

Pointing out that this is second such arrest to have been made in April, lawyer Dominic Premanand said the family has lodged a complaint with the Jaffna Human Rights Commission in this regard.

Last week, Kireniyar Sebadasan from Adamban in the Mannar district who returned to the country on April 10 was questioned at the airport. He too was asked to come to the TID office on Monday where he was interrogated for several hours before being released.

Commenting the arrest, Jeyakanthan’s sister Sasikumar Ranjinidevi said that her brother went abroad after the war seeking employment to look after his family.

“He returned on April 12 and was questioned at the airport for nearly 7 hours by the TID. He was later released and asked to come today for further interrogation. They took my brother in around 11.15 and around 2.15 they informed me that he has been detained,” she said.

Like many others in the Mullaitivu district, Rajinidevi is also badly affected by the war and her husband and two brothers are missing since the end of the war.

“They refused to show him today, and told me to come and see him on Sunday. My family is already suffering very badly. I also have two children. My brother’s wife with two children is not well. I do not know how to explain our plight,” she said.

Tamil youths who disappeared held by Rajapakses in Maldive prison ; 3 of them brought back leak out information

(Lanka-e-News- 20.April.2016, 11.45PM) Three Tamil youths of the north who supposedly disappeared in 2005 were in the prison camp in Maldives , it has come to light. The relatives of the youths said , these three youths were fetched from the Maldive prison camp , and after bringing them here they were last week incarcerated at Welikade prison while informing them they will be soon released.

One such youth who disappeared is from Katkuli , Vavuniya and his name is Ramesh Ramachandran . His sister Gowriraja Kavitha said , when he went missing in 2005 his age was 22 years, and now he is 33 years old. After he went missing , he had once spoken in 2009 and said , he is in the Maldive prison, Kavitha revealed.
.
Last week Ramesh has again spoken to her from the Welikade prison and told her to come as swiftly as possible and meet him. When she went with some relatives and met Ramesh at Welikade prison , he had told them , three youths along with him were brought to Sri Lanka .

Ramesh had told Kavitha that when they were being brought from Maldives they were told ,they would be released immediately , but now nothing about is being mentioned.

Kavitha stated , there was a large group of youths along with Ramesh who were in the Maldive prison , but she could not gather details because she did not have adequate time to talk with her brother at the Welkade prison.

Our efforts to learn of the reasons as to why such Tamil youths arrested in the North were held in custody in the Maldive prison , and who were holding them in custody proved futile because no officer was prepared to give answers .Every officer said , they have not received any information in regard to that incident.

BY Dinasena Rathugamaga from Vavuniya
Translated by Jeff

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by (2016-04-20 23:33:35)

US Tamils want Gota arrested

By W. K. Prasad Manju-2016-04-21

In an urgent appeal to President Obama, two major Tamil groups in the United States 'Tamils for Obama' and the 'American Tamil Forum' urged the...... United States to arrest former Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa who is reported to be currently visiting the US, the two organizations said in a statement yesterday.

"The US should not miss the opportunity to arrest and prosecute one of the main war criminals in recent times visiting the US. Failure to do so would encourage others to commit abuses amounting to war crimes," said these two organizations.

The UN Human Rights Council, led by the US, last year passed a Sri Lanka resolution to hold a credible investigation to punish those responsible for war crimes.

"The United States should take the same leadership it took at the UN to initiate investigations into the visiting Sri Lankan war criminal," said these two organizations.
(Agencies)

The Joint Opposition Is A Bunch Of Asylum Seekers & Debris Of A Rogue Regime

By Vishwamithra1984 –April 20, 2016

“There is no den in the wide world to hide a rogue. Commit a crime and the earth is made of glass. Commit a crime, and it seems as if a coat of snow fell on the ground, such as reveals in the woods the track of every partridge, and fox, and squirrel.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

They call themselves the Joint Opposition. They are a twice-defeated, once at the Presidential and then at the parliamentary elections, lot of parliamentarians and two or three-time Ministers, who ransacked the country’s economy and its invaluable assets of youth and school children. Instead of taking these avaricious political parasites one by one and decimating them to pieces, the writer would prefer to deposit them into one bunch and tear the fabric apart so that the thread that holds all of them would give way.

A majority of those who identify themselves as major players in this irreverent ‘tent’ are facing very grave charges of corruption, nepotism and political mayhem; they have been alleged to have abused their political power to enrich themselves and their kith and kin; some have even been alleged to have committed criminal deeds such as possessing multiple passports; names of a few have been mentioned in murder charges. Whatever may be proven in a court of law, they surly have desecrated every grain of soil they claim to worship. They are a stain on the nation’s past and present. Whatever they were capable of, they indeed have proven to be very able sinners.

Questions of Haste, Urgency and Consultations in Transitional Justice

AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena, via Asian Correspondent

NIRAN ANKETELL-on 04/20/2016

On a recent visit to the United States, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera made a revealing series of comments in response to a question at a forum organized by the United States Institute of Peace. When asked about the government’s timeline to introduce what the government calls “reconciliation mechanisms”, his response reflected his view that controversial Transitional Justice (TJ) mechanisms must be initiated quickly, without much delay. Citing Margaret Thatcher, he claimed that the most controversial aspects of a government’s agenda must be implemented within “a year or two” of its assumption of office. He said the government had “set itself a target of one year” to establish the mechanisms, and this was why the consultation process was supposed to take place within “three months”. He also revealed that he believed some mechanisms could be established even before the consultation process was concluded.

A brief survey of the TJ landscape in other countries demonstrates the wisdom of Minister Samaraweera’s political calculus. In countries that have come to be known for successful Transitional Justice processes, the time lapse between the initiation of the first TJ mechanisms and the “transitional moment” has been very short. Activists from Latin America often speak of the rapid urgency with which they urged their respective governments to move on TJ related issues, despite the numerous obstacles. By avoiding protracted consultation processes, and in cases such as Peru, by opting for Truth Commissions established by Presidential decree rather than ones established by legislative enactment which they imagined would involve considerable delay, they were able to maximize the energy, potential and momentum of the political transition to deliver results. In contrast, processes characterized by lengthy consultations—for instance, the process in Nepal took as much as 18 months—cannibalized exceedingly valuable momentum and political time. Today, the process in that country is floundering, and while these failures may be attributed to a number of causes, the loss of political momentum is indubitably a factor. While undue haste is never useful, neither is interminable delay, especially when success depends on utilizing steadily diminishing political space.

In Sri Lanka, the nascent pre-TJ process cannot possibly be accused of haste. Indeed, as the graph below demonstrates, Sri Lanka may already be an outlier in terms of the time lapse between the political transition in January 2015 and the initiation of TJ mechanisms. The government only publicly identified the TJ mechanisms it said it would implement in September 2015, just prior to the UN Human Rights Council session at which the OISL Report was released. The consultation process in this case was supposed to commence with a government-appointed Task Force assuming office in January 2016. The Task Force then constituted at least two committees to advise it on a range of issues, one on which I serve. It is expected to now constitute more Zonal Committees to conduct the actual consultations. Despite the Minister’s commitment to a three month consultation process, more than three months since the appointment of a Task Force, and nearly seven months since the passage of the UN Human Rights Council resolution in Geneva, consultations on the ground have yet to materialize. While the Task Force has sought the views of the public electronically and in writing, focus group discussions and community meetings have not been conducted yet.

This situation is rapidly approaching the critical. As time lapses and the government’s honeymoon with the public ends, bread and butter issues will assume centre stage, the country will revert to politics as usual, and the space for introspection and TJ will close. If the comparative lesson from other countries is to avoid delay, the particularities of Sri Lankan politics calls on an even more heightened sense of urgency. Implementing the most challenging parts of the Geneva resolution requires, at a minimum, some measure of Sirisena-Wickremasinghe (or SLFP-UNP) consensus. As those relationships fray and Sri Lanka looks to move beyond a brief interlude of cohabitation towards a more traditional SLFP vs UNP configuration, the prospect of success on TJ will be rendered more unlikely.

To expend all of the enormous potential of the limited political space opened up by the change of 2015 into a meandering process of consultations is a grave error of judgment and politics. Such an approach will inevitably give rise to allegations of deliberate sabotage. Consultations must be about producing action, not a substitute for it.

What then of consultations? Should we wait for its report before embarking on any measures? I would suggest not. For one, we simply cannot afford that luxury at this stage. The Minister is right: the legislative provisions to birth TJ mechanisms do not have to wait for the Task Force to conclude its work, whenever that may be. The design of a Missing Persons Office and a Special Court combine technical and political considerations. Many of the political factors relevant to the Court—the special court design, a special prosecutor, the retroactive incorporation of international crimes and the mixed nature of the court which should include foreign and national personnel as judges, lawyers, prosecutors and investigators—have already been negotiated in Geneva, before consultations even began. As long as the government fully and sincerely implements the Geneva consensus, it cannot be faulted. Other issues of a more technical nature require legal and technocratic solutions and are unlikely to benefit from the outcome of a public consultation process. With the Missing Persons Office, the major issues are largely technical, and the government has consistently maintained that it expects to establish the Office quickly. Second, both these institutions—the Court and the Office of Missing Persons—could however benefit from a consultation process in terms of how its officers operationalize the existing laws. For example, a Special Prosecutor could be assisted a great deal by the consultation process in crafting a prosecutorial policy. Thus, the adoption of legislation prior to the consultation process concludes does not render the consultation process irrelevant; it merely acknowledges that the major value of the consultation process will be for the animators of the mechanisms, not necessarily for its creators. Third, results from consultation processes are in any event often complex, multi-layered and lend themselves to further debate and discussion. They are thus unlikely to conclusively resolve any of the fundamental political differences concerning TJ.

The government should now utilize the opportunity of the Human Rights Council session in June by passing at least some pieces of special legislation to establish TJ mechanisms. Two in particular – the Missing Persons Office and the Special Court – do not have to wait. Instead, further delay in establishing the building blocks for these mechanisms jeopardizes the prospects of success, and the rapidly diminishing prospect of robust mechanisms.

The time to act is now.

POLICE OFFICER ARRESTED FOR SUPPRESSING EVIDENCE RE THAUDEEN MURDER CASE

( File photo)

20/04/2016

Sri Lanka’s police arrested one of their own men for allegedly suppressing evidence in the high profile Thajudeen murder within hours of new Inspector-General Pujith Jayasundara assuming duties on Wednesday.

The former Crime OIC of the Narahenpita police station, Inspector Sumith Champika Perera, was arrested by the Criminal Investigations Department, the police said in a statement.

“He was arrested on a charge of suppressing evidence in the Thajudeen murder case,” the statement said.

The police had earlier claimed that the former Sri Lankan Rugby captain Wasim Thajudeen burnt to death in a road accident at Park Road in May 2012.

After the President Maithripala Sirisena came to power in January last year, police reopened the case and a magistrate had Thajudeen’s body exhumed for a fresh autopsy after the initial forensic report appeared to be a cover up.

The couirts have now ruled that Thajudeen did not die in a road accident but in fact had been murdered and that suspects should be arrested.

The then Senior Deputy Inspector-General Anura Senanayake was implicated in a cover up, but investigators said he had closed the case as a road accident with the approval of then IGP N. K. Illangakoon.

Economynext reported in August that an alleged cover-up stretched to the then IGP Illangakoon who retired on April 11. (see stories here: )

The latest arrest of the junior-most officer suggests there could be more arrests of now retired senior officers who were a party to a cover up to protect members of the former ruling family.

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s legislator son had denied he was involved in the Thajudeen case.

The sudden police action to revive the Thajudeen case, which had been in limbo pending video analysis of CCTV footage, came after the new IGP’s assurances of speedy action to revive the pending high profile cases.

Detectives uncovered evidence suggesting that a Land Rover defender registered in the name of Sri Lanka Red Cross had been used in the abduction and killing of Thajudeen.

Later, it transpired that the Red Cross had “gifted” the vehicle to former first lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa’s Siriliya charity. She had been questioned by the authorities and investigations are still underway. (Colombo/April 20 2016)

(Original caption: Sri Lanka’s new IGP hits the ground running)
EN

Resign honorably before label of rogue is fastened: All unions urge corrupt SLT chairman who faces 13 grave charges !

(Lanka-e-News- 20.April.2016, 11.20PM) All the trade unions of SLT -Mobitel have addressed a letter on the 18th to the corrupt chairman of the SLT Mobitel urging him in one voice to resign honorably from the post before the label of rogue is fastened on him. Copies of this letter which lays down 13 grave charges against him had been sent to the president, Prime Minister, Minister of SLT, Minister of Finance, the speaker and the chairman of the COPE committee.

Kumarasinghe Sirisena, since his appointment as SLT chairman had caused damage to the image of the SLT group , and done nothing ethically and empathically for the benefit of the SLT. From the day he was appointed as the chairman , he had continuously and unceasingly been involved in a number of corrupt and fraudulent activities thereby bringing disgrace on the respected Institution , all the unions charged in unison.

One of the charges mounted by the all the unions was the ban imposed within the SLT on the employees from accessing Lanka e news website precluding the employees from reading the chairman’s corrupt scandals.

The letter sent by the unions is appended . It can be read after magnification.

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by (2016-04-20 22:46:11)

Chandra Demands For Information On Treasury Bond Issuance

April 20, 2016

Exercising his ‘Right to Information,’ good governance activist and former Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Chandra Jayaratne has demanded the Secretary of the Central Bank’s Monetary Board to furnish him within 14 days all information pertaining to the recent Treasury Bond issuance from the Central Bank.

Chandra Jayaratne

In a letter addressed to the Secretary of the Monetary Board of Sri Lanka on April 19, Jayaratne said that in recognition of the provisions of Article 14 A of Chapter III (Fundamental Rights) of the Constitution of the Sri Lanka, dealing with the right of access to information and also in recognition of the Right to Information Bill tabled in the Parliament, he was exercising his fundamental right to receive the information on several matters from the Monetary Board of Sri Lanka, being the body responsible for making all policy decisions related to the management, operation and administration of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

“Kindly submit to me in English, within 14 days from the receipt of this letter, information in respect of Government Treasury Bond Issues,” the letter which was also copied to Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran and members of the Monetary Board said.

The full text of the letter is below;

19th April 2016. By Registered Post

The Secretary,
Monetary Board of Sri Lanka,
Central Bank of Sri Lanka,
Janadhipathi Mawatha,
Colombo 1.

Dear Sir,

Exercise of Right to Information in Terms of the Constitution of Sri Lanka and Pending Legislation on Right to Information

In recognition of the provisions of Article 14 A of Chapter III (Fundamental Rights) of the Constitution of the Sri Lanka, dealing with the right of access to information and also in recognition of the Right to Information Bill tabled in the Parliament of Sri Lanka, in which the preamble reads as “WHEREAS the Constitution guarantees the right of access to information in Article 14A thereof and there exists a need to foster a culture of transparency and accountability in public authorities by giving effect to the right of access to information and thereby promote a society in which the people of Sri Lanka would be able to more fully participate in public life through combating corruption and promoting accountability and good governance”, I hereby serve due notice on you, that I wish to exercise my fundamental right to receive the information hereinafter set out in this letter from the Monetary Board of Sri Lanka, being the body responsible for making all policy decisions related to the management, operation and administration of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, in terms of the Monetary Law Act No 58 of 1949 as amended.

Although China helped Mahinda during the 2015 presidential election it was Maithri who won. What Maithri and Ranil had to do was to shoulder the Chinese Debt Trap which Mahinda had created. Mahinda counted the days when he would come back to power while watching the Maithri-Ranil Government being destroyed due to the Chinese Debt Trap. Ranil criticized the Chinese Harbour Project during the 2015 presidential election similar to how JR mocked Indira in 1977.

by Upul Joseph Fernando-

( April 20, 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) There is an amazing similarity between the trip to Sri Lanka by Rajiv Gandhi to sign the Indo-Lanka Agreement in 1987 and the visit to China by Ranil to escape from the Chinese Debt Trap. Ranil’s uncle JR agreed to sign the Indo-Lanka Agreement in 1987 because there was nothing else to do to escape from the Eelam War, India set as a trap to Sri Lanka. JR had set the trap himself. During the 1977 general election, JR ridiculed the former Prime Minister of India and her son politically.

The reason was the Government of Indira which was in power was helping beyond diplomatic limits Madam Bandaranaike’s Government which was in power in Sri Lanka at that time, to secure their political powers. Then Opposition Leader JR knew very well that the strength required by Prime Minister Bandaranaike to suppress JR and his opposition was being provided by Indira. JR predicted that, similar to the loss experienced by Indira-Sanjaya mother-son couple at the 1977 elections in India, the Sirima-Anura mother-son couple would also lose at the general election in Sri Lanka. JR mocked Indira thus, thinking that she would not come back to power. However, before long she did come back to power.

At that time her friend Madame Bandaranaike was in the Opposition. Madame Bandaranaike knew that Indira had something against JR in her mind and sought Indira’s assistance to destroy JR. She pointed out that the foreign policy of the JR Government which was American friendly was a threat to Indira’s India which was friendly towards the then Soviet Republic. Indira’s Government decided to help the Tamil militants in the North and East of Sri Lanka to destabilize JR’s Government and to destroy JR. The war which was created in the North under the blessings of Indira succeeded in destabilizing JR’s Government.

Fortunately for JR, during the midst of the war in the North, Indira was assassinated. JR laid a net to build a new relationship with Rajiv Gandhi who became the new Prime Minister of India. Rajiv got caught to JR’s net. Those who advised Indira to be careful when dealing with JR regarding Sri Lanka mentioned the same thing to Rajiv as well. However Rajiv, through his special representative Romesh Bandhari turned a new page in Indo-Lanka relations with JR.

Somehow discussions between JR and Rajiv proved to be successful. JR agreed to sign the Indo-Lanka Agreement and handed over the war to India itself which had created the war themselves, making Madame Bandaranaike who dreamt of coming back to power because of the war, helpless. She did not tolerate Rajiv signing agreements with JR. When bombs were exploding in Colombo during the time Indira was alive, Madame Bandaranaike said that she would be able to talk with India and solve this problem. She said that since JR fell out with India, India would not help JR. However, Indira’s son Rajiv helping JR was a huge surprise for her. From then onwards she started attacking India. It was JR who made use of that.

A massive financial crisis

Similar to India helping Madame Bandaranaike during 1970-77, within the period 2005-2014 China helped Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Government. The Chinese President visited Sri Lanka during the time that the Uva Provincial Council election was being held. Mahinda realized that it would be difficult to win Uva only in the midst of preparations for the election. The Chinese President promised to assist Sri Lanka to reduce the price of fuel providing a political advantage to Mahinda. Even by that time there was a massive financial crisis within the country and a situation had arisen, where Mahinda was unable to present a Budget prior to contesting the presidential election. It was China who helped out Mahinda in the 2015 Budget as well. China helped Mahinda because Mahinda trapped Sri Lanka in a Chinese Debt Trap. Mahinda obtained loans at high rates of interest from China to maintain white elephants such as Mattala Airport and the Hambantota Harbour which did not bring in any income.

This hurt China. Mahinda believed that China will trap the Maithri-Ranil government deeper in the Chinese Debt Trap. However, just like JR began a new journey together with Rajiv Gandhi, Ranil also embarked on a new journey with China and agreed to a loan transaction with China. JR captured Rajiv through the Indo-Lanka Board of Administration of Cricket. Ranil captured China through a PR Company in Hong Kong. The question is whether, similar to India trying to save Sri Lanka from the war trap,they themselves set up, China would be willing to save Sri Lanka from the Debt Trap they themselves had set up. A Chinese scholar named Zhuang has told the Global Chinese Times newspaper that China should carefully study Ranil’s proposal and approval should not be granted at once. This is similar to the advice given to Rajiv by Indira’s advisers, while Rajiv was engaged in discussions with JR. Everyone is waiting and watching as to what China’s response will be to Ranil’s proposals.