Sadiq Khan elected mayor of London

Labour's Sadiq Khan breaks the Conservatives' eight-year grip on the London mayoralty by beating his Tory opponent Zac Goldsmith.

FRIDAY 06 MAY 2016

Mr Khan, Labour MP for Tooting and a former government minister, succeeds Boris Johnson to become the capital's first Muslim mayor.

He had been cautious about the result, which he said could have been affected by the recent row over anti-Semitism in the Labour party.

During the campaign, Mr Khan was heavily criticised by Mr Goldsmith for his alleged links to Islamist 'extremists', accusations David Cameron repeated in the Commons.

This strategy was attacked today by Andrew Boff, Tory leader on the Greater London Assembly, who said: "I was supportive of the whole campaign apart from one element and that one was where it seemed to attribute radical tendencies to people of orthodox religious views.

"I think that is a complete misunderstanding of the patchwork of faiths there are in London, and has the potential to alienate people and say that people who do have orthodox religious views, conservative religious views, are for some reason not welcome and won't be listened to."

'Vile'

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the Conservatives had run a "vile" campaign and had tried to "smear" Mr Khan, adding: "So many people are just revolted by what was said about Sadiq. Yesterday they came out and voted for us."

Mr Johnson thanked the capital for his eight years in office as he sent his final messages from the official London Mayor Twitter account. He tweeted: "It's time to sign off from City Hall - it's been the most amazing privilege to be your mayor."

In England's council elections, Labour fared better than many commentators had expected, but did not do as well as opposition parties need to at this stage of the electoral cycle if they hope to win a general election in four years' time.

The party was trounced in elections to the Scottish Parliament, where the SNP won a third term in power, albeit without a majority.

Labour was forced into third place behind the Conservatives, but won a fifth term in office in Wales.

Burma: Anti-Muslim activist arrested over remarks against Suu Kyi on Facebook

(File photo) Nay Myo Wai, center, chairman of Peace and Diversity party, talks with landless farmers in Burma. Pic: AP.

6th May 2016

ACCUSED of posting a provocative statement on Facebook, a prominent anti-Muslim activist in Burma was arrested after making comments against the nation’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and its army commander.

Nay Myo Wai, Peace and Diversity Party chairman, was arrested Wednesday after a complaint was filed against him for a Facebook post saying that army commander Min Aung Hliang had not seized power because he wanted to marry Suu Kyi, a baseless assertion.

Win Ko Ko Lat, chairman of Myanmar National Network, on Thursday described the arrest as unfair.

If convicted, Wai could face up to three years in jail and a fine on charges of using a telecommunications network to extort, threaten, obstruct, defame, disturb, inappropriately influence or intimidate.

The arrest appears to run contrary to Suu Kyi’s announcement in April on her government’s plan to free all political prisoners in Burma “as soon as possible”.

SEE ALSO: Suu Kyi announces plan to release all political prisoners in Burma

The declaration was her first act in her newly created position as state counselor, which effectively allows her to oversee the rest of the government.

At the time of the announcement, about 100 political prisoners were still left over from the military-backed government that was recently replaced by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party.

Shortly after the declaration, newly-appointed civilian president, President Htin Kyaw, vowed to continue efforts to release the remaining political prisoners in the country even as he signed a pardon for 83 detainees.

SEE ALSO: Burma’s new president vows to release political prisoners, pardons 83

Additional reporting by Associated Press

Congress rallies in show of defiance against Modi

Congress party president Sonia Gandhi (C), former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (blue turban) and Congress party vice president Rahul Gandhi (top-C) take part in what the party calls as a 'Save Democracy' march to parliament in New Delhi, May 6, 2016.REUTERS/ADNAN ABID

Congress party president Sonia Gandhi addresses her supporters before what the party calls 'Save Democracy' march to parliament in New Delhi, May 6, 2016.REUTERS/ALTAF HUSSAIN

 BY DOUGLAS BUSVINE-Fri May 6, 2016

Opposition Congress party staged a show of defiance on Friday, with Sonia and Rahul Gandhi leading a rally and march to parliament to resist what they called Prime Minister Narendra Modi's bid to destroy democracy.

The opposition party hit back after facing a slew of corruption accusations leveled by Modi's ruling party over a helicopter order made when Congress was last in power.

Addressing the Save Democracy March, Congress leaders accused Modi of trampling on civil rights and of failing to alleviate the impact of a drought under which 400 million Indians are suffering.

"The Indian National Congress will never bow down before injustice," said Sonia Gandhi, 69, who party strategists say may soon cede the Congress leadership to her son, Rahul.

Rahul said Modi had promised 20 million new jobs every year but in reality the Indian economy had created only 130,000.

"Modi talked about good days to come but today the country is reeling under drought and farmers are committing suicide," said the 45-year-old heir apparent, whose father, grandmother and great-grandfather all served as prime minister.

"But Modi ji has nothing to say."

Slideshow: Congress protest in Delhi reut.rs/26ZmzqX

Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dismissed the rally as an attempt to divert attention from the helicopter scandal, known as "Choppergate", that has dominated news headlines for weeks.

"The Congress is accusing Modi ji because we have proof to show that the Gandhi family was involved in series of scams," Shrikant Sharma, BJP national general secretary, told Reuters.

"They stand exposed."

Congress has rejected accusations from Modi's allies that Congress leaders were either complicit in, or blocked investigations into, corrupt payments linked to an order of a dozen helicopters from Italy.

A Milan appeals court recently sentenced the former bosses of Finmeccanica and its AgustaWestland unit to jail terms for false accounting and corruption in the $640 million order that was scrapped just before the 2014 general election.

The Supreme Court on Friday heard a petition brought by a New Delhi lawyer calling for it to set up a special investigation team to open a judicial probe. It gave the government and Central Bureau of Investigation four weeks to respond.

(Additional reporting by Rupam Jain and Suchitra Mohanty; Editing by Robert Birsel)

IMF threatens to pull out of Greek rescue

Christine Lagarde issues warning in letter leaked three days before eurozone finance ministers discuss help for Athens

 Greek prime minister Aleixis Tsipras addresses Syriza parliamentarians in Athens on Friday. Photograph: Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters

Helena Smith in Athens-

Friday 6 May 2016

Hopes of an end to the impasse between Greece and its creditors have appeared to evaporate after asurprise intervention from the International Monetary Fund.

In a letter - leaked three days before eurozone finance ministers are scheduled to discuss how best to put the crisis-plagued country back on its feet – IMF chiefChristine Lagarde issued her most explicit warning yet: either foreign lenders

agree to restructure Greece’s runaway debt or the Washington-based organisation will pull out of rescue plans altogether.

“For us to support Greece with a new IMF arrangement, it is essential that the financing and debt relief from Greece’s European partners are based on fiscal targets that are realistic because they are supported by credible measures to reachthem,” she wrote, lamenting the lack of structural reforms underlying Athens’ abortive adjustment programme so far.

Six years have elapsed since Greece, revealing a deficit that was four times higher than previously thought, received its first loans from a bailout programme that has since exceeded more than €240bn (£190bn) in emergency funding. Since a third €86bn bailout last summer, talks have been largely deadlocked.

Laying bare the differences of view prevailing among those consigned to keep the insolvent nation afloat, Lagarde said it was imperative that a lower primary surplus goal was achieved.

“We do not believe it will be possible to reach a 3.5% of GDP primary surplus [in 2018] by relying on hiking already high taxes levied on a narrow base, cutting excessively discretionary spending and counting on one-off measures as has been proposed in recent weeks.”

The IMF managing director’s intervention came after the surprise decision of the leftist-led government in Athens to put unpopular pension and tax changes to a vote on Sunday.

The prospect of such controversial measures being passed so urgently unleashed a wave of civil unrest with a 48-hour general strike by private and public sector unions bringing Greece to a standstill. Unionists said the measures were a “barbaric” eradication of hard-won rights and would be “the last nail in the coffin” for workers whose salaries have already been savaged by relentless rounds of gruelling austerity.

“They are the worst so far,” said Odysseus Trivalas, president of the public sector union ADEDY. “At some point, Greeks won’t be able to take anymore and there will be a social explosion.”

Rallies are planned to protest against measures that include instituting a national pension of €384 a month, raising social security contributions and increasing income tax for high earners. The overhaul of the pension system is among the most contentious reforms to date.

In a repeat of the drama that dominated the eurozone last year, Athens faces the spectre of default if its fails to honour maturing European Central Bank bonds and IMF loans in July.

Long overdue rescue loans worth €5bn are at stake. Receipt of the funds depends on completion of a first progress report, or evaluation, of the economy that has been drawn out for the past nine months and has stalled over lender disagreement. With discord over Athens’ ability to achieve fiscal targets, creditors recently upped the ante, demanding an additional contingency package of €3.6bn, the equivalent of 2% of GDP.

“While creditors fight this out, the political and social situation in Athens will deteriorate,” said Mujtaba Rahman, head of European analysis at risk consultancy Eurasia Group. “Time is running out for creditors to come to an agreement.”

The Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, unexpectedly called Sunday’s vote before the conclusion of the negotiations in order to placate creditors and increase his bargaining power at Monday’s meeting of eurozone finance ministers.

In a first, the ministers are to discuss Greece’s debt load – which at more than 180% of GDP by far the highest in Europe – in addition to fiscal adjustment measures that could amount to 5% of GDP if contingency reforms are taken. The extra policies, as yet unspecified, will only be enacted if targets are not reached but, with its narrow three-seat majority, the Greek government has argued they will never get through parliament.

“Tsipras is looking to demonstrate to Greek voters that he and his government have done their part, and that the ball, namely that of debt relief, now lies squarely with the Europeans,” said Rahman.

“The subliminal message to creditors [in Sunday’s ballot] is therefore this: if you insist on contingency measures, you will end up with the collapse of my government and early elections.”

Along with Britain’s 23 June referendum on EU membership, that could end up being a “big headache” for Europe, he added.

Son Says He Forgives Father Who Injected Him With HIV at 10 Months Old

By Sherley Boursiquot,-May 4, 2016

Brryan Jackson, a St. Louis native, did not have an easy upbringing.

At only 10 months old, his father, who was a technician at St. Louis hospital, injected him with HIV-tainted blood.

At the age of five, Jackson was diagnosed with AIDS.

According to court documents obtained by Fox5, Jackson’s father, Brian Stewart, didn’t want to pay child support after he and his son’s mother parted ways. 

“You won’t need to look me up for child support … because your son is not going to live that long,” he told her, according to court documents.

In 1998, Stewart was sentenced to life in prison for the malevolent act.

The judge was incredibly upset with Stewart. He said:

“I believe that when God finally calls you, you are going to burn in hell from here to eternity, and maybe that’s the only justice that will come of this when you are finally gone. My thought is that injecting a 10-month-old child with the AIDS virus really puts you in the same category as a war criminal, as the worst war criminal. The maximum I can do with you is life in prison. I don’t really think that is a very fair sentence, not with what your son is going to have to go through. He is going to die. We all know that.”

At 7 years old, Jackson had fevers, a swollen liver, chronic ear infections and fungus growing under his fingernails; The disease destroyed his immune system, thus forcing him onto 23 oral medications, according toGQ.

ABC13 reported Jackson suffered 80% hearing loss, and still takes a daily pill.

MORE:

• Your Grudges May Be Killing You, What Science Says About Forgiveness

However, just like the judge who sentenced Jackson’s father 18 years ago, physicians also did not expect him to survive. 

But he did.

Jackson, now 25, is a motivational speaker and AIDS activist.

He also runs a nonprofit organization called “Hope is Vital,” with a mission is to inspire others to “overcome adversity and become empowered to make a difference in their own lives and the lives of others.”

MORE:

• Shen Yun ‘Gives me hope for humanity after all’

Jackson said he has not reached out to his father in jail. In fact, at the age of eight, Jackson changed his name from “Brian,” the name he shared with his dad, to “Brryan.”

“I don’t really feel anything about him,” Jackson said. “I don’t know what he thinks of what he does, but since I’ve forgiven him, that’s all I can do. Just live my life and show him what I’m made of.”

Why the weight loss study everyone has been sharing is misleading

(Amy Cavenaile/The Washington Post; iStock)


By Tamar Haspel May 5

You lose weight, and then you gain it all back. That grim reality is a mainstay of our obese society. But a new study of contestants from the reality TV show “The Biggest Loser” suggests that, for them, that re-gain was all but pre-ordained. Contestants were severely obese and exercised and dieted competitively for 30 weeks. The unusual circumstances (most of us don’t lose weight with the whole world watching) led to unusual weight loss — over 100 pounds on average. But the process slowed their metabolism in such a way that it left them having to eat much, much less — 500 calories a day less — than other people just to maintain that weight loss. It’s not surprising that, after six years, all but one regained significant amounts of weight, and four ended up heavier than before the competition. But what does that mean for the rest of us who want to lose weight? Is weight loss always futile?

It isn’t. Although the study was a damning indictment of the show, it doesn’t apply to those of us trying to lose weight with less extreme measures. There’s a substantial body of research on whether, and how much, your metabolism slows after weight loss, and the “Biggest Loser” study is a definite outlier. No other study shows such a large slowdown over such a long period of time.

If you’re trying to lose weight, the message from that body of research is that all is not lost. Most people who manage to lose weight aren’t looking at a lifetime of 500 fewer daily calories. Metabolism may slow somewhat, but not that much, and probably not for that long.

The question isn’t whether you burn fewer calories after you lose weight, because you absolutely do. There’s less of you to move around, to pump blood through, and to keep at 98.6 degrees. Smaller people burn fewer calories than larger people. The question is whether your metabolism goes into a mode where it tries to be thrifty, to conserve calories and do all those basic functions using less energy. If it does, it means you have to eat less than someone who is the same weight but didn’t have to drop pounds to get there. Is there a metabolic penalty, in other words, for getting lighter?

Much of the evidence shows that there is some, but the amount varies. And some of the evidence shows none.

In the none category, there’s a study of women who lost 5 percent of their body weight (with a high-protein diet and exercise) with no metabolic penalty. And two studies of people who underwent bariatric surgery, all of whom lost significant weight, showed no disproportionate decrease in metabolism. Sometimes, there’s a temporary metabolic penalty that disappears after a while. A 2012 meta-analysis that looked at data from nearly 3000 subjects from 71 different studies found no penalty.

Among research that does find a metabolic penalty, the numbers run much lower than the 500 calories that “Biggest Loser” contestants experienced. Several studies find penalties in the 20-100 calories/day range, and several more are in the 100-200 range.  The ones that track the penalty over time often find that the penalty decreases, at least a little, after a year.

Is your body mass index a useful measurement? Kevin Hall, creator of the NIH Body Weight Planner, dispels some myths about shedding pounds. (The Washington Post)

What’s a dieter supposed to do? “There are many variables,” and calculating the expected decrease in metabolism is tricky, says Eric Doucet, professor at the University of Ottawa and co-author of several papers on the subject. “There are different formulas,” he explains, and some studies base their estimates on body weight, some on fat-free mass, and some use complicated calculations involving things like how much your liver weighs. Nevertheless, he says, most of the scientists working on the subject — “six or seven labs around the world” — are all finding that a slowed metabolism is an expected consequence of weight loss.

Just how much, and for just how long is a question we don’t have all the evidence to answer precisely, according to Doucet. And there’s so much variability among individuals that an average wouldn’t be helpful in predicting what one particular person could expect. The range in most of the research is between nothing and a couple hundred calories a day, and many studies show that number decreasing after about a year. It’s a bummer, certainly, but it’s not the death knell for weight loss.

The most telling indication that the high metabolic price “Biggest Loser” contestants paid isn’t a dieter’s destiny is a study that followed 13 pairs of subjects, matched for gender, weight and age. In each pair, one was a “Biggest Loser” contestant and the other a bariatric surgery patient. At the seven-month mark, the contestants showed an average penalty of 419 calories (and they weren’t followed after that point). After six months, the surgery patients showed a 201-calorie penalty, but after a year it disappeared.

If you lose weight, it’s reasonable to expect to pay a metabolic penalty. That’s the bad news. But the good news is that it won’t be huge and it may be temporary. And the best good news is that you lost weight.

Remembering Karl Marx

Remembering Karl Marx

5. May 2016 Zain Raza


“Remembering the immortal Karl Marx whose teachings remains so relevant a century and a half later. Karl Marx peered deeply into the struggles of the working-class of his day and observed carefully the structures of exploitation. It was in Capital (1867) that Marx laid out his theory of capitalism – a theory that moved millions to clarify their struggles for a better world. Without theory there can be no precise revolutionary movement; without struggle there can be no definite theory. “Communism is for us not a state of affairs which is to be established, an ideal to which reality will have to adjust itself” wrote Marx and his friend Engels. “We call communism the real movement which abolishes the present state of things.” [1]

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acTVism Munich has attained permission from the University of Arizona to translate an event into multiple languages that hosted Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald and Noam Chomsky, who talked about the issue of privacy. This event took place on the 25th of March, 2016, and was organized by the University of Arizona College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Remembering Karl Marx 

Secondly, acTVism Munich mobilized volunteers in New York to record an event that was organized by the New York Public Library (NYPL) which hosted Yanis Varoufakis and Noam Chomsky. This event took place on the 26th of April, 2016, and focused the discussion, amongst other issues, on the state of democracy in Europe as well as the economic and social problems confronting it.
Remembering Karl Marx

Lastly, acTVism Munich plans to cover the demonstration that will take place on the 11th of June, 2016, against the US-military base in Ramstein, which is known for conduction drone operations worldwide. We are planning on creating a public awareness video in which experts, that have worked extensively against U.S foreign bases such as John Lindsay, Bruce Gagnon, Wilbert van der Zeijden, Joseph Gerson and Noam Chomsky, will talk about the how such bases impact the environment, economy and safety of the communities surrounding them.

Unfortunately, acTVism Munich has very limited financial resources and requires your immediate support to materialize these projects. From transportation, lodging, food, production, translation, and other costs, given our capacities, it will be a very difficult task for us to execute as a non-profit and volunteer-based organization.These projects depend only on you – please support us today by donating via PayPal or Bank transfer by clicking here!

Tamil UNP minister pledges to build memorial in Mullivaikkal

05 May 2016

The UNP's State Minister of Child Affairs Vijayakala Maheswaran has pledged to build a memorial hall in Mullivaikkal, despite government opposition to public Tamil remembrance of the war dead.

“In remembrance of the 100,00 people who were massacred in the war, a memorial hall will be constructed at Mullivaikal with the support of Northern Provincial Council. I will accomplish this within the next five years.” the Tamil MP for Jaffna said.

“Nobody can oppose the construction of the memorial hall in remembrance of our deceased relatives. I do not care, even if I am dismissed.” she added.

Ms Maheswaran said in an interview at a Mullivaikkal memorial in 2015 that a memorial hall will be constructed, and was reminded of her statement by reporters.

“We have lost thousands and thousands of our near and dear. We lit lamps and paid homage in their remembrance. By then, we vowed to construct a memorial hall this year. However, we could not accomplish it this year. However, we will certainly erect a memorial pillar over there.

“As the area comes under the jurisdiction of Northern Provincial Council, we will get this done through the council and there is no doubt about it.” the MP asserted.

"Even this year, I will participate in the Mullivaikal commemoration day and pay homage. Let the consequences be whatever they may be, I am least worried. The deceased are our relatives. The government would not prohibit us from paying homage and lighting lamps in their remembrance", she said.

The minister's husband, also a UNP MP, was assassinated by pro-government militia in 2008.

Electoral Reforms & Political Minorities

By S. Sivasegaram –May 5, 2016

Dr S Sivasegaram

Electoral reforms will be a bigger bone of contention in the drafting of the constitution than key issues facing the country. Each political party will be interested in securing its strength in future parliaments. Equally there will be personal ambitions at play. What is unfortunate about electoral reforms proposals thus far is that it they merely concern implications for the parliamentary strength of certain political parties and not democratic representation.

First Past the Post Scheme (1947-1977)

Until the passage of the constitution of 1978, the electoral scheme of the country was based on the “first past the post” (FPP) scheme for all elected bodies. It offers the benefit of stable parliamentary government in the context of a few serious rivals for power, but at the price of representation not being in fair proportion to the votes received by the parties and a severe bias against representation of all small political parties except those with regional power bases. The data below illustrates some of the worst disparities between the votes and seats secured by parties. For simplicity I have combined the data for the left parties contesting in their party names and that for the two main Tamil political parties of the time. The percentage of votes is shown after the party name and percentage of seats in parentheses.

(Note: SLFP refers to the MEP alliance in 1956; Left refers to all left parties contesting in their names; Tamil refers to combined TC & FP from 1947 to 1970 and the TNA in 1970. In 1947, independent candidates polled 29.2% of the vote and won 22.1% of the seats.)

Disparity existed all along between votes received and seats secured. The UNP suffered injustice in 1956 and 1970 and the SLFP even worse in 1977. This disparity is also distorted by strategic contests, electoral pacts and regional patterns of voting, mostly based on ethnicity. Since 1952 (results not shown), the FPP scheme has been disadvantageous to the loser among the main parties (and alliances). All small parties except Tamil nationalist parties— with a strong regional base in the North and East —suffered.

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Buddhist monk threatens protestors in Amparai

05 May 2016

A protest held in Amparai earlier today, highlighting ongoing arrests and abductions by the government, was interrupted by a mob led by a Buddhist monk, Ceylonews reports.

Protestors urged the government to stop terrorising the North-East with the detentions, urged the release of those arrested and to stop abducting those it wants to detain.

The protest, organised by the Association of Families of Disappeared, was making its way towards the Amparai District Secretariat office when a mob led by a local monk stopped and threated the participants. At least one of the men was wearing a t-shirt with the racist "Sinha-le" slogan. The protestors were accused of working for foreign NGOs, aiming to tarnish Sri Lanka's image for financial gain, Ceylonews further reported.

One woman protestor was threatened with assault, while police stood by.

ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCE OF PERSONS IN SRI LANKA: LEGACY AND ONGOING CHALLENGES – M.C.M. IQBAL

[Families of the disappeared has been on the street for a long time campaigning for justice (c) sunanda deshapriya, Aug 2016]

05/05/2016

Enforced disappearance of persons remains one of the widely known human rights violations in Sri Lanka. The war that ended in May 2009 took the figure of the alleged abductions and disappearances to alarming proportions. However, the end of the war did not bring such incidents to an end. Whether they would come to a full stop still remains to be seen despite the change in the leadership of the country in 2015. The machinery that had been set up during the past to perpetrate such incidents appears to have slowed down specially as a consequence to the passing of a Resolution at the UNHRC in September, 2015 following a Report of an UN investigation regarding accountability of the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE to human rights violations beginning from February, 2002 till November, 2011. However the machinery could be switched on again if those in authority could shine a green light. The presence of this machinery with its operators still in place is a legacy the current government has to deal with. Dismantling it and destroying the remains, is a challenge the government has to face ignoring the sabre rattling by the extremists in the country.

Disappearances Legacy and Challenges Edited 1 by Thavam Ratna

180 police witnesses in Thajudeen case!

- May 05, 2016

Statements are to be recorded from nearly 180 policemen, who are witnesses in the case into the murder of rugger player Wasim Thajudeen, reports say.

Accordingly, more than half of the policemen who had been on duty at Narahepita police by May 2012 have already given statements to the CID.

 

Senior SP Chula de Silva, the officer in charge of Narahenpita police division at the time, gave a statement on May 03, while a statement was recorded from DIG of Colombo traffic division Amarasiri Senaratne yesterday (04).

 

Key figures in the case, the then OIC of Narahepita police Chief Inspector Damien Perera and retired senior DIG Anura Senanayake, who gave instructions to him, are yet to be summoned to the CID for questioning.

 

Although interested parties allege a delay in justice in connection with the Thajudeen murder case, the attorney general’s department has instructed the CID to file charges concrete based on unbreakable evidence even though it takes time.

Parliamentary Blows & The South Asian Buddha: The Case Of Dignity In Sri Lanka

By Asanga Abeyagoonasekera –May 5, 2016

Asanga Abeygoonasekera

“On this World Press Freedom Day, I urge all Governments, politicians, businesses and citizens to commit to nurturing and protecting an independent, free media. Without this fundamental right, people are less free and less empowered. With it, we can work together for a world of dignity and opportunity for all.” ~ Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

World Press Freedom Day

The 3rd of May marks the world press freedom day. Among other factors, unimpeded violence against the press culminated in the Silent Revolution one year ago. Of this violence included injustice toward media giants, press freedom fighters such as Lasantha Wickrematunge and many others who were brutally assassinated. The contribution of Sri Lankan journalists over decades of civil war and before remains immense. Despite multifold limitations to freedom they continued work which needs to be appreciated. I remember the words of Ariyarathna Dombagahawatta senior journalist and Sunday Lankadeepa editor sometime ago, he said during the insurrection in 1989 he fled the country to India as the assassins targeted to kill him and he only returned after this horrific time. A politician who was kind to him helped him to save his life by calling his contacts in India.

According to the Freedom of the Press Report 2016 by Freedom House, Sri Lanka is ranked at 64th place. This is not a positive rank comparison to our neighbours with India at 41 (Nepal 54, Bangladesh 61, Pakistan 64 and Afghanistan 62). Sri Lanka is categorized out of Free, Partially Free and Not Free categories as a country “Not Free” for the press, the report confirms. The report explains “Unlike its neighbors, Sri Lanka experienced a marked improvement in press freedom conditions after a new government took power in early 2015. Journalists faced fewer threats and attacks than in previous years, investigations into past violence made progress, a number of websites were unblocked, and officials moved toward the adoption of a right to information bill.”

Another report is Press Freedom index by Reporters without borders which ranks Sri Lanka at poor 141st place, before us ranks South Sudan and on par with us sits Ethiopia.

Read More

What’s the best answer? The Jurassic Parks of Print Regulations



2016-05-06

Abolishing the aged Press Council and  adopting a modern democratic system in print regulation is recommended 

With several celebrations taking place to mark the International World Press Freedom Day, media issues dominated the socio-political platforms this week. Added to this was the controversies that surrounded the Secretary to Media Ministry. 

Looking at the main topics that echoed from many platforms, two issues that dominated those deliberations;  ‘media regulation’ and ‘professionalism’. A well-known media critique the Prime Minister himself repeated his strong sentiments at two platforms this week –firstly at the twentieth anniversary celebrations of the Muslim Media Forum and then at the launch of the report “Rebuilding Public Trust” published by the Secretariat for Media Reforms at the Kadirgamar Centre on Press Freedom Day.  

His basic criticism was on the subject of news reporting by some newspapers. He accused that some reports were biased and challenged their accuracy. On one occasion he said that the journalist in question  had  not contacted the main player of their story – referring to no other than the leader of the opposition.  

These accusations, if carefully analysed were directly related to basic ethics in journalism. One- hundred per cent accuracy and impartiality are among the four main pillars of ethical journalism. The other two are accountability and minimising harm. If the accusations are true, those news reports have violated all four norms – the fourth one minimising harm  being the biggest concern as those news items were linked to the subject of ethnic harmony in the country.

 At the Muslim Media Forum function, the Prime Minister challenged the Press the Complaints Commission (PCCSL) to take necessary action on those news reports. The CEO of the PCCSL, Sukumar Rockwood was also present at the occasion. Out of curiosity I asked Sukumar yesterday as to what action has been taken with regard to this issue as there was an open requests to the PCCSL by the Prime Minister in a public speech. “We will be writing to him [ the Prime Minister) explaining the procedure regarding complaints,” said Sukumar explaining that according to PCCSL procedures, there exists a process that any complainant should adhere to. Either the PM’s office on behalf of the government or the Leader of Opposition could lodge a complaint following the procedure and then an inquiry will begin he added.  

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