Wimal admits to mass grave in North but rebuffed by Malwatte Mahanayake

UPFA Parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa met the chief prelate of the Malwatte chapter, Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddartha Sumangala Thera

Sunday, 18 September 2016

President Maithripala Sirisena hosted a dinner for some leading civil society activists and trade union leaders, at the President’s House, on Wednesday night.

Leaders of the National Movement for a Just Society, Puravesi Balaya and some prominent trade unions attended the event. Most of them were instrumental in President Sirisena’s successful election campaign in January, last year, and had strong links with the ruling alliance.

However, many civil society and trade union leaders had mixed reactions about the government’s progress, over the past 16 months. Although they unanimously agreed that the ‘January 8 change’ had made a positive impact on the government, there were some concerns about the national unity government’s commitment to some key promises given at the Presidential election campaign. One of them was the government’s pledge to take stern action on those who embezzled billions of public money, under the previous regime.

‘It’s true that the government has made some steps to investigate into those cases of corruption. But, we cannot be happy about the overall progress of the inquiries.

There has to be a special mechanism to fast-track this process. Otherwise, the people will lose faith in the government,” a prominent civil society leader told others, before the arrival of the President.

However, they welcomed the verdict in the Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra murder case, saying it restored the people’s faith in the judiciary. The President ran late for the meeting as he attended the launching ceremony of a book written by Parliamentarian Malith Jayathilleke.

The Parliamentarian’s book was based on the ‘January 8 turnaround’ and the President seemed to be in a good mood when he walked into the meeting at the President’s House.

Ministry allocation

The civil society and trade union leaders, speaking to the President, highlighted their key issues, including the composition of the current cabinet.

They said the allocation of ministries had not been done in a scientific manner. They were also of the view that the current allocation of ministries had left space for underperforming ministers. Therefore, they demanded an urgent reshuffle to tie up the ‘loose ends’ in the Cabinet of Ministers.

They also stressed the need for setting up a special judicial process to look into cases involving large-scale 

corruption and abuse of power. They said the current process was time consuming and the patience of the public was wearing thin.

They also handed over a special letter to President Sirisena, highlighting their key demands and grievances.

Addressing the gathering, however, the President did not give any undertaking. But, he promised to look into the problems and take necessary action to address the issues raised by the civil society groups.

“I am not a perfect person. There can be mistakes on my part,” the President said, addressing the gathering.

“Other presidents who ruled this country did not have many problems during their initial phases. People allowed them to work. But my situation is different. I had to face various issues since the day I assumed office,” the President added, explaining his position. He also said that nothing would stop him from delivering on the promises he made at the last Presidential election.

“Some say it’s hard to get appointments to meet me. You don’t need appointments to see me. Come to my Paget Road residence at 8.30 in the morning, even without an appointment. That’s the best place to meet me,” the President told the invitees.

Duminda

Before attending the meeting with the President, Prof Sarath Wijesuriya, a stalwart of the National Movement for a Just Society, stirred a hornet’s nest when he addressed a book launch in Battaramulla. Speaking at the event, Prof Wijesuriya made a revelation about former Parliamentarian Duminda Silva who was recently convicted for the murder of Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra.

“There was a time when Duminda Silva’s family ran a boutique. I’ve bought lunch packets from him. After joining politics, he became one of the wealthiest politicians. Where did this money come from?” Wijesuriya asked.

“It is this system that protects corrupt politicians. That’s why we need to correct the system. For instance, Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra’s murder case could have gone on for years if Hirunika Premachandra did not have the civil power to push the process. In this context, what is the plight of an ordinary citizen?” Wijesuriya said, alarming the social activists on the current state of affairs in the country.

The judgment against Silva, however, made it clear that everyone was equal before the court of law and gone are the days when politicians were larger than the judiciary.

Following the verdict, however, Hirunika Premachandra, the slain politician’s daughter has now launched a fresh war against Duminda Silva saying the latter misled the judiciary by giving false medical reports on his injuries.

Duminda Silva was admitted to the Colombo National Hospital in October 2011, following the shootout in which Premachandra was killed. Hospital authorities at that point, said the parliamentarian’s condition was critical as there were gunshot wounds to his head. After initial surgeries in Colombo, Silva was taken to Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore for further treatment.

Silva recovered miraculously in Singapore and returned to the country. He was later arrested by the Police while in a private hospital and released on bail. After being granted bail, Silva, whose brain was ‘severely damaged’ following gunshot wounds walked out of the hospital, smiling.

After his release, Silva led a perfectly normal life and he even attended parliamentary sessions. He also applied to contest the last parliamentary election on the UPFA ticket, but the party rejected his nominations. Silva, however, remained an ally of the former President who led the campaign of the party at the last Parliamentary election.

With the aim of questioning Silva’s medical reports, Hirunika Premachandra on Sunday, published a picture of her father which was taken shortly after the shootout. Premachandra was shot in the head and the photograph clearly showed the cavity created by the gunshot.

“Every time I see this picture I don’t think it’s real, because I only remember his handsome face with a smile on. For the first time in my life I am posting this picture, not for your sympathy but for you to understand this is how a ‘shot in the head’ looks like. It’s impossible to live even a second after a shot like this... something to think about,” the Parliamentarian posted, while publishing the photo. Her remark was directed at former parliamentarian Silva who also claimed that he was shot in the head by Premachandra’s supporters. Her post went viral on social media platforms over the weekend and many websites reproduced the photograph.

By making the statement, Premachandra has requested authorities to investigate into the conduct of Dr. Maheshi Wijeratne, a Consultant Neurologist who treated Duminda Silva after the incident. The Premachandra family has indicated that they will proceed with their battle against Silva and his allies.

Surgery

A day after Premachandra published the photograph of her father, Dilini Silva, Duminda Silva’s sister, published some photos of Silva, taken during a brain surgery. She said Silva had to go through an open skull surgery after the shootout and was under medical supervision. It was clear that Silva’s sister was trying to respond to Hirunika’s claims by publishing several pictures of her brother.

Speaking to our sister paper, the Daily News, after Dilini Silva’s response, Premachandra said she was glad that the former went on to publish the pictures of her brother’s surgery.

“There were doubts about his medical reports. Many people assumed that he would not be able to lead a normal life, after being shot in the head. That was why certain questions were raised about his health condition,” Premachandra said, commenting on the matter.

“On the other hand, there were questions about the conduct of the doctor who treated him. In that context, we had a doubt whether she concealed information,” she added.

“Therefore,” she said, “I am glad that Duminda Silva’s sister published the pictures of her brother’s brain surgery. It is a positive development. We can now ascertain the veracity of the reports before the country’s judiciary.”

Meanwhile, Duminda Silva’s lawyers were doing groundwork to file an appeal against the verdict. They will challenge the High Court’s verdict before the Court of Appeal and seek bail for the former Parliamentarian.

Weerawansa debacle

UPFA Parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa ran into a trouble when he met the chief prelate of the Malwatte chapter, Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddartha Sumangala Thera, last week to discuss about the government’s plans for a new constitution.

Weerawansa, speaking to the Mahanayake Thera, said the new constitution was being drafted to fulfill the needs of separatist elements, including the Tamil National Alliance.

He also said, through the new constitution, the government was trying to allow foreign judges and prosecutors to examine into war crimes during the final phase of war.

He urged the Mahanayake Thera to intervene the government’s efforts to formulate a new constitution, dubbing it as a great threat to the country’s sovereignty.

It looked as if the Mahanayake Thera did not even take Weerawansa’s arguments seriously. “The new constitution has not been even drafted yet,” the Mahanayake Thera said, responding to Weerawansa’s allegations.

“The President and the Prime Minister have reassured, multiple times, that they would not cause any harm to the country by introducing a new constitution. So, what’s the point in panicking unnecessarily at this stage?” the Mahanayake Thera asked. His question, without doubt, put Weerawansa on the ‘back foot’.

“Apey Hamuduruwane, please look at this matter with an open mind. We are not trying to create an unnecessary fear over the new constitution,” Weerawansa told the Mahanayake Thera, in a desperate attempt to save face.

Mass grave

In his efforts to convince the prelate of the necessity to stop the current government from changing the Constitution to allow an enquiry into the final phase of the war, former MP Wimal Weerawansa inadvertently let slip the location of a mass grave his former bosses - former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa – used to bury bodies from the end of the war.

“For example,” the former MP told the devoutly attentive prelate, “a camp was moved out of Kilinochchi recently…Now that ground was what was used, during the end of the war, to bury the LTTE. Now there is the possibility they will dig up this area. The minute they dig it up they will find thousands of bodies. 

Who can prove if these are the bodies of LTTE cadres, or others?”

The former MP said that by moving people out of camps there was the danger that these mass graves would be unearthed and proof be gathered to support the accusation that war crimes were committed by the Rajapaksas at the final stages of the battle with the LTTE.

Weerawansa went on to add hype to the situation by telling the prelate, Ven. Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thera, that should evidence be gathered from this grave to support the accusation that the Rajapaksas committed war crimes, it would be enough to have the North separated from the rest of the island - “Much like Serbia and Kosovo.”

“Under the current constitution there is provision for war crimes,” he said.

“But it is not applicable to the past. What they are doing is changing the Constitution to allow war crimes to be tried on events from the past,” before telling the prelate that he was presenting ‘true facts’ and would in no way ‘even dream of lying.”

However, the Mahanayake Thera did not seem convinced and the entire exercise bounced back on Weerawansa and his supporters.

Undeterred by the incident, Weearawansa’s party is now preparing to hold seminars across the country to make the public aware of the government’s new constitution.

We‘ve no private agendas ! Chandrika pledged and said to trust you - Leaders of 49 civil organizations to Maithri : Message hereunder..

(Lanka-e-News -18.Sep.2016, 11.30PM)  It is an unequivocal truth 49 civil organizations which were with Late Ven. Sobitha Thera extended their support to the incumbent president Maithripala Sirisena during the rainbow revolution of the 8 th of January 2015 , uncaring for their own lives and even were ready to die . 

It is with the leaders of those organizations the president had a most cordial discussion recently.

The Civil Organization leaders forwarded  a ‘ message’ to the president on the occasion requesting him to purge the Cabinet of corrupt  and inefficient ministers , and to establish a special court to uninterruptedly continue with the investigations against the crooks and corrupt of the nefarious decade . The president in return  pledged to implement the proposals in the message after discussing with the Prime Minister .  Lanka  e news has therefore decided to publish the ‘message’ for the benefit of our viewers ……

His Excellency , the President , 

Maithripala Sirisena esq., 

This is the message of the civil society that participated in the victory of the Rainbow revolution of January 8th at the request of Ven . Sobitha Thera and on his advice. 

His Excellency , the president ,

As representatives of the civil society who  engaged in the campaign leading to the victory of the Rainbow revolution on 8 th January , we wish to express our gratitude to your Excellency  for the efforts taken by you to restore the democratic rights and freedom of all citizens of this country amidst grave complicated odds and obstacles.

Your Excellency’s measures and action to extricate  the country from international pressure and winning the respect of the  international community is indeed laudable.  . Our blessings are with  your Excellency in your efforts so that your Excellency will have the strength and courage  to safeguard the country for its betterment. 

After forming a consensual government , with the aim and objective of resolving long drawn out  national issues , and seeking to formulate a new constitution with unrelenting courage have won our appreciation. 

The SLFP a revered party  that ruled the country  was corrupted by feudal and sectarian forces .However your Excellency as a veteran politician taking a humane approach and a stance against sectarianism; and  standing by that stance   honestly even after taking the presidential oath while  working with commitment towards those  goals have earned our admiration and appreciation.
 
Your Excellency ,

We are aware it is not possible to reverse the political culture immediately that underwent degenerative changes   over a long period of time . However , the way some ministers  and State  officials are conducting themselves is most regrettable , when they should on the contrary  contribute to the efforts of the good governance government to restore the country to its past glory. Your Excellency’s  attention shall be focused on the Ministers who are  continually accused of  corruption and misuse of public funds ;Ministers  who are poking their fingers on behalf of the Rajapakses into the investigations into frauds and corruption ;and officials who are working to serve  the agendas of the Rajapakses . We therefore urgently request your Excellency to discuss with the P.M. with a view to carry out the cabinet re shuffle most expeditiously.

The passage of the Audit enactment   being delayed again and again is a matter for serious concern.  It is very clear that the delay is because of obstacles created by the pro Rajapakse  secretaries.  Under no circumstances should corrupt officials be allowed to hold the government to ransom.

It is our conviction that there are officers who are ready to work with commitment abiding by the laws . Hence ,we request your Excellency  to take bold and necessary measures against the officers responsible for undermining the  ministries and State departments in order to make  those places earn  the displeasure and dissatisfaction of the public.

Your Excellency , 

Following the judgment delivered against Duminda Silva recently , no doubt the government won the respect and admiration of the society owing to the government’s actions. It underlined that the laws of the country are being duly enforced and dispensed. It is the time honored  aspiration of the people that justice shall prevail in   the country .

We like to emphasize ,not only in the interests of the government’s reputation but  even   administration wise   , cases of frauds and corruption shall be expeditiously concluded .  We therefore most humbly request that a methodology be evolved  to expeditiously hear via special courts the main cases that are now inundating the courts , like how Duminda Silva’s  case was heard  uninterruptedly .

Your Excellency 

As civil society representatives we are critical of certain actions of the government because it is our honest view that we have   a responsibility to safeguard the government .Whenever there is an opening  for Mahinda Rajapakse to capture  power or Gotabaya Rajapakse to form  a military government  ,we shall not remain uncritical.

When Ven. Sobitha Thera recommended your name as the common candidate  to the civil society of which Ven. Sobitha  was the leader  ,Chandrika a  former president keeping her hand on her  chest gave a pledge to Ven . Sobitha Thera that her word shall be believed , and you shall be implicitly trusted. We are still rallying around you based on that trust.

We respectfully expect your Excellency to lead the government of good governance. We hereby reiterate we shall extend our fullest support to  your Excellency at every opportunity.

We are not in pursuit of fulfillment of personal agendas. Hence ,we respectfully request your Excellency to please give due consideration to our just and reasonable criticisms  , and pay attention to our proposals appropriately  .

Yours faithfully,

Prof Sarath Wijesuriya 
Convener
Movement for Just society

Saman Rathnapriya
Convener
National trade Union collective 

K.W. Janaranjana
Joint convener
Citizen’s Force

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by     (2016-09-18 22:43:40)

ROTTEN SPECIALISTS, KILLER PROFITS PLAGUE SRI LANKA DRUG MARKET

(Biosimilar, a cancer drug by  Roche of Switzerland sold LRS 280,000 per dose came down to 155,000 after arrival of Russian equivalent)

17/09/2016

A court case filed by a drug company seeking a de facto monopoly for an expensive cancer drug has exposed a corrupt nexus between medical specialists and the larger drug mafia which is throttling hapless patients.

A Court of Appeal has rejected an action by Roche of Switzerland preventing the sale of a Russian-made drug and lifted a stay order which the court admitted should never have been granted in the first place.

Following the June court order, the national medicines Regulatory Authority this week announced it had followed due process in registered Russian-made ‘biosimilar’ of trastuzumab, a cancer drug in Sri Lanka clearing all obstacles for its use.

“Biosimilar” means the drug is similar to reference product, but may not be identical.

However, the Russian biosimilar cancer drug is 144,000 rupees compared to Roches’ which was sold to the health ministry for 280,000 rupees.

However, with the introduction of the Russian medicine, Roche agent in Sri Lanka, A Baur and Company had quoted 165,000 rupees for their product which they earlier sold for 115,000 rupees more at 280,000 per dose.

The drug regulator said in a statement this week that they are also in talks with an Indian manufacturer of another biosimilar product and the overall prices should come down further.

Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said the intervention of the drug regulator had seen a drastic reduction in prices and noted that an Australian drug which was bought by the ministry at 30 dollars each had come down to just three dollars after the regulator allowed a similar product to get into the market.

Monopolies and high prices are usually created by government restrictions that create barriers to entry and prevent competition. These include, government approvals, import licenses and import duty protection.

The minister said they had found many instances when prices had been inflated more than 10 fold because of virtual monopolies he was determined to end.

“By granting monopolies to certain drugs, we have had to pay huge prices,” the minister said. “I am going to break this monopoly so that we can reduce the costs and use the savings to provide better health care at state hospitals.”

The June Court of Appeal decision made scathing findings against the 4th respondent, President, College of Oncologists, Cancer Hospital, Maharagama who supported the stand of the Swiss manufacturer although he was cited as a respondent. The president of the College of Oncologists at the time was Dr. Pujitha Wasalaarachchihchi.

“It is to be observed that even the assertion that ‘the 4th Respondent or the College of Oncologists by no means is seeking to promote the Petitioners’ drug Herceptin or encourage a monopoly for them’ has not been supported by any affidavit and thus it is not difficult for this court to reject it totally.

“Similarly all those factual positions narrated by the learned counsel for the 4th Respondent (Dr. Wasalaarchchi) must also be rejected as they clearly amount to either hearsay material or mere third party’s opinions of a given set of facts.

“Such opinions should not have a place in these proceedings as this court is not interested in the opinions of third parties about the issues that it ought to consider in a case before it.”

The court also warned that the counsel for oncologists could only represent his client and act in court to safeguard his client’s interests, but he was not entitled to either attack or assist any other party’s factual position or interest without first taking up a position in that regard in his pleadings.

The landmark judgment by Court of Appeal judge P. Padman Surasena and President of the Court of Appeal Vijith K. Malalgoda agreeing vacated an exparte order banning the sale or administering of the Russian-made biosimilar drug obtained by Roche in March. (COLOMBO, Sept 17, 2016)

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Pujith was partial towards Upasaka Liyanage

Sep 18, 2016

Incumbent IGP Pujith Jayasundara has acted in a biased manner in dealing with activities of Kandy police when he was the senior DIG in charge of central province, it has now been revelaed. He has given special privileges to his friends and contemporaries. Due to this biased conduct by the then DIG, 18 cases being heard at the Kandy high court had been affected.

One of the recipients of the privileges from him was leading businessman in Kandy, Upasaka Liyanage. Kandy police had acted in a biased manner with regard to the 18 cases filed by Sisira Bandula Gunasekara against Upasaka Liyanage and his wife in the Kandy magistrate's court. Also, in the case filed by Bandula Gunasekara against lawyer Anura Jayasundara in the Kandy magistrate court (no. 33345), the DIG had acted partial towards the lawyer.

 

A resident of Hewaheta in Kandy, Bandula Gunasekara says Pujith Jayasundara had acted in biased manner, sometimes towards the complainant and other times towards the accused, in complaints filed with Kandy police. He says he has informed the president, PM and the attorney general about this. During the period Pujith Jayasundara was the senior DIG, the advisory committee of the Kandy police had businessman Nimal N. Peiris as its member. Peiris is one of the key suspects in the Hantana sexual abuse case.

 

(Daya Nettasinghe – Sathhanda)

Three Buddhisms & The Isolation Of The Philosopher

By Shyamon Jayasinghe –September 18, 2016

Shyamon Jayasinghe

There are three Buddhisms operating in the world today. I am not referring to Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana. The latter are basically perceived as unopposed to each other and their followers are observed to worship together in many an instance. The reference here is to three different kinds of Buddhism often running in contradiction to each other and extending their coverage across the Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana streams themselves. My three Buddhisms represent a fundamental differentiation. What are they? They are Buddhism as philosophy, Buddhism as religion and Buddhism as a tribal badge of identity.

There is much evidence to believe that the Buddha was, to begin with, a philosopher of ancient times like Socrates, Plato or Aristotle. An extraordinarily intelligent man, he was given to deep thinking and reflection about the existential condition of the human being;found it unsatisfactory and searched for a way out of the crisis. The Buddha’s focus, though, was different to that of Aristotle and particularly Plato who were theory builders. If comparisons be appropriate, the Buddha was more akin to Socrates. The latter was also interested in focussing on the human being and he went round seeking to get people to clarify their assumptions about issues like life,happiness and justice. The Buddha also adopted a questioning approach similar to Socrates and he loved to talk to people. In a very real sense their feet were on the ground and not in the air of an allegedly’ transcendent reality.’

The basic teaching of the Buddha related to ethical philosophy. In his principal doctrines-the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path he tried to diagnose the personal existential crisis of mind and delineated a moral path that could lift him out of that crisis. While the Abrahamic religions of Christianity and Jewish directed followers to rally round God and worship him and part to him for deliverance the Buddha gave the task of ‘deliverance’ to man himself. The Buddhist philosophy was sharply human-centric. “Be a light unto yourselves,” Buddha advised Ananda in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta on the eve of his passing away. Man is not helpless and he need not seek the help of any divine being for his liberation. By own effort he can do it himself. This was Buddha’s basic philosophical approach. It was dominantly empirical and not dependent on a transcendent entity like God.

In explaining the nature of things (res natura) the Buddha eschewed the divine and resorted to the causal theory of Paticca Samuppada (Dependent Origination). “With this arising that will arise. “ Every phenomena is conditional upon other phenomena. Hence, there is no phenomena that could be deemed to stand on its own- no ‘uncaused cause.’ The Paticca Samuppada impliedly dismisses the belief of a God creator. Professor KN Jayatilleka (Facets of Buddhist Philosophy) points out how Makkhali Gosala had come out with a creation theory and how the Buddha repudiated the latter. Thus, once creation goes off and the creator is also off, so would be the heavens.

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President’s coordinating secretary who sells president’s name and honor !

Exploits his position with venal and selfish aims saying ‘President told’

(Lanka-e-News -18.Sep.2016, 11.30PM) Information regarding a President’s co ordinating secretary who is ‘selling the name and honor’ of the incumbent President Maithripala Sirisena in order to rescue the Blue Brigand rogues and rascals has been unearthed by the inside information division of Lanka e news. 

The slimy shallow scoundrel is none other than Miyuru Bashitha Liyanage, the president’s co ordinating secretary for parliamentary affairs.

Nobody knows where this nincompoop was before he took up the present  appointment . But some time ago , he is supposed to have  got close to the president through singing ‘viridhu’  (folk songs). Yet everybody by now knows that this stinking ‘rat’ is nibbling at the roots of the administration by trying to take over the role of the most corrupt notorious  Kumarasiri Hettige who was the coordinating secretary to ex president Mahinda Rajapakse in relation to parliamentary affairs. Hettige had the moronic and morbid habit  of getting the police officers to salute him ,and now this sly and slimy  ‘rat’ who is up to all the mischief  too has inculcated  that habit . That is because of the close ties with IGP Poojitha .

When investigations are being conducted into the corruption and frauds against those of the Rajapakse nefarious decade , this destructive rat like how a mouse is at play when the cat is away , is pressurizing and giving instructions to the high rung officers who are conducting investigations against the corrupt and the crooked  while alleging ‘ President said this and that ‘ when in fact  neither the president nor the Prime Minister has interfered in those investigations. Because the officers do not take the trouble to make verifications , Miyuru the odious  rat is carrying on his treacherous and sly activities unhindered and unhampered . Of course ,he does not engage in these illicit activities without ulterior motive – collection of kickbacks. Large sums of money had been collected by him from the culprits , it is learnt.

Lanka e news was having this destructive corrupt rat under surveillance for some time , and now (17 th) following the discovery that he had appeared on behalf of the notorious Blue Brigand crook Mahindananda Aluthgamage too while falsely alleging ‘President told,’ it  has become imperative to expose  this venal, disruptive and destructive rascal . Though the president is totally unaware of these ‘Miyuru rackets’  , Miyuru on the other hand had been exerting unrelenting pressures on behalf of most notorious crooked and corrupt Mahindananda.  Miyuru unbelievably has even been  interfering with the Courts , which is a most serious  offence specially when the present  government is adhering to  good governance and  is trying to refurbish the image of the courts which was dented and destroyed during the Mahinda Rajapakse regime.

Miyuru despite being up to all the mischief and malpractices , in addition to being the president’s coordinating secretary  is holding two more posts : He holds positions in the Marine  environment authority and Pharmaceutical Drugs  Corporation . We have already received information about his wheeler dealer activities exploiting those positions  in association  with   businessmen . 

Please await a detailed exposure of Miyuru the rat’s  surreptitious activities .

Another favorite hobby  of this rascal is exploiting his position as president’ s coordinating secretary , to solicit sexual favors from ‘cuties’ . He is most  active  nocturnally when it comes to this activity - pendulums swing better in the night. He takes calls to women and tries to lure them by threats and force. A number of such victims have complained to us in  this regard -we have even a recorded tape of one such incident. 

In conclusion , let us warn this rascal that president Maithripala Sirisena was installed  in power on the people’s mandate to apprehend  and punish the culprits including the crooked and corrupt presidential co ordinating secretary for parliamentary affairs of the nefarious corrupt decade , and not to rescue them. Hence , it is best if Miyuru Bashitha the president’s co ordinating secretary for parliamentary affairs remembers and understands this most clearly . By trying to interfere with people’s mandate  he is courting disaster not only to himself but to the entire nation .  Therefore with  the first backlash to annihilate him , he may have  to face worse consequences than the culprits he is seeking to rescue . 

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by     (2016-09-18 22:32:53)

Two cops suspended as suspect commits suicide


September 18, 2016


A Sub Inspector and a Police constable attached to the Pussellawa Police Station have been suspended from duties over a death of a suspect who was in custody, police said.

 This came after a suspect in question had committed suicide by hanging himself inside a cell at the police, early hours of this morning.

  The man had used the shirt he had been wearing to hang himself and was pronounced dead upon admittance to the Pussallawa Hospital.

  The deceased, a 30-year-old resident of the same area, was arrested and detained in the police cell over a warrant issued against him, an official said.

  The suicide victim’s body will be handed over to relatives following the completion of the postmortem examination.

Tender fiasco at Transport Ministry

 Sep 18, 2016

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Transport Ministry has awarded a tender to M.S. Technologies, an inexperienced and unqualified company, to re-install the CCTV camera system at the Katunayake International Airport. M.S. Technologies has given as its address the same address of another company whose bid was cancelled at the opening of the bids. Therefore, it is clear M.S. Technologies is only a nominal company ‘created’ entirely for the purpose of getting this particular tender. The bid by Just In Time (Pvt.) Ltd. was cancelled as it had failed to submit the relevant documents. Giving the same address that of Just In Time Ltd., M.S. Technologies was able to get the tender for Rs. 191.99 million.

The address given by both companies is no. 370, Galle Road, Colombo 03. Just in Time (Ltd.) is notorious for bribing ministry officials to obtain tenders. M.S. Technologies has had no previous experience in installing CCTV cameras. It was an underhand dealing with the authority in the ministry that awarded the tender to a high bid by this inexperienced company, although many renowned companies had placed lower bids. Among them are Softlogic, DIMO, Hayleys and Metropolitan companies.

 

The basic qualification for submitting bids was previous experience in installing a CCTV camera system for not less than Rs. 200 million. M.S. Technologies has not fulfilled that requirement. The ministry authority has audaciously disregarded the other requirements – a compulsory five year experience in installing CCTV cameras and the availability of three years of audited financial statements.

 

Ministry sources reveal that the experiences and the audited financial statements of the rejected Just In Time Ltd. had been given as that of M.S. Technologies in order to obtain the tender. Surprisingly, the tender by M.S. Technologies is a low-cost video monitoring system with a video data storage that is not even up to the minimum standards and not suitable for an international level airport. Therefore, it is very clear that an act of corruption has taken place in the ministry’s acceptance of the bid.

 

The latest is, finding that it is unable to reinstall the CCTV cameras on its own, M.S. Technologies is seeking assistance from other companies for the purpose. The other bidders have asked COPE to investigate the awarding of the tender, but the committee is adopting a lethargic approach.

 

Safety-wise, the Katunayake airport is one of the key nerve centres of the country. Such a location could be targeted by international terrorists. For instance, ISIS terrorists are likely to use airports to achieve their political objectives. In view of such a threat, the new CCTV camera system to be installed at the Katunayake Airport should be very effective and powerful. Also, modern equipment should be there to identify people clearly. For that, the CCTV camera system should be a modern internet protocol camera system. What M.S. Technologies is going to install are not of that quality and are of very low standard.

 

Relevant authorities should immediately investigate the awarding of this tender secretly and if any unlawful act has taken place, strong measures should be taken against the culprits. That is because this tender fiasco has paved the way for making the Katunayake Airport an insecure place.

Israel linked to suspension of Palestine course at UC Berkeley

Nora Barrows-Friedman and Ali Abunimah-16 September 2016

The University of California, Berkeley – an institution synonymous with free speech protests in the 1960s – has shut down a student-led course on Palestine.

The censorship is one of Nicholas Dirks’ last acts as chancellor of the college. His administration decided to suspend the course after Israel-aligned organizations demanded that he do so.

Israel Linked to Suspension of Palestine Course at UC Berkeley by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

New York bombing: suspect at large after 29 injured and second device found

• About 1,000 extra police and national guard to be deployed in city
• Investigators examine online posting under name ‘the NY bomber’

CCTV shows moment of New York City explosion

Jon Swaine and David Taylorin New York-Sunday 18 September 2016

Counter-terrorism officials were on Sunday searching for a bomber at large after 29 people were injured by a roadside blast in New York and a suspected unexploded second bomb was found nearby by police.

Investigators were examining a device inside a pressure cooker, apparently wired to a mobile phone, which was discovered inside a plastic bag a few blocks from where a powerful explosion fired shrapnel at pedestrians on Saturday night.

“Whoever placed these bombs, we will find and they will be brought to justice,” New York governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters at the scene. “We will not allow these kinds of people and these kinds of threats to disrupt our life in New York.”

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to authorities. “We do not know the motivation,” New York mayor Bill de Blasio said at a press conference at NYPD headquarters.

All those hospitalised by the blast were said to have been released by late on Sunday morning. Significant damage to surrounding buildings was reported, with windows being smashed as passersby screamed and ran for cover.

“When you see the damage, I think we were fortunate that there were no fatalities,” Cuomo said.

The governor and other officials said no evidence had been found linking the bombs to major international terrorist groups. Such an intentional explosion in a public place was, however, “generically a terrorist activity”, Cuomo said.

New York governor says Manhattan explosion a ‘nightmare scenario’

The explosion and second device were being investigated by the NYPD, New York state police, the FBI and a joint terrorism taskforce made up of officials from dozens of different local and national agencies.

CCTV video footage from around the two sites was being pored over for potential leads. The discovery of the still-intact pressure cooker and mobile phone offered the prospect that the purchase of the items may be traceable, leading investigators to a possible culprit or culprits.

Investigators said they were also examining an online posting from someone claiming to be “the NY bomber”. It was not clear if the posting was genuine.

Bill Sweeney, a senior FBI agent in New York, said at the press conference alongside de Blasio that authorities would not be disclosing details of the inquiry’s initial findings so as not to “inform the subjects”.

ABC News reported that investigators believed the exploded bomb had been made from Tannerite, a powdered substance designed to make exploding targets for shooting practices that is easily bought online.

About 1,000 additional state police officers and national guard officials will be deployed to monitor New York’s transport system and other important sites, Cuomo said, to ensure that “New York is up and running” for the working week.

The bombing occurred as New York prepared for the opening of the United Nations general assembly on Monday. The annual conference draws thousands of foreign leaders and diplomats to Manhattan, creating complicated security demands.

The explosion rang out soon after 8.30pm Saturday, on West 23rd Street between 6th and 7th avenues in the Chelsea section of Manhattan. The area, which mixes residential properties, shops and restaurants, was bustling with people enjoying a warm evening.

Officials told reporters the bomb appeared to have exploded either inside or beside a construction dumpster on the street outside a small hotel and a facility for blind people.

The pressure cooker was discovered about three hours after the first explosion, four blocks to the north, by officers seeking potential secondary bombs. The device drew comparisons to pressure cooker bombs that exploded amid crowds at the 2013 Boston Marathon, killing three people and wounding dozens of others.

Directions for how to build pressure cooker bombs in a home kitchen notoriously featured in the first issue of Inspire, an English-language online magazine affiliated with al-Qaida.

The first device in New York exploded on Saturday just hours after a pipe bomb blast in neighbouring New Jersey shortly before thousands of runners were due to take part in a charity 5km race for the benefit of US Marines and sailors.

The explosion tore through a plastic garbage can in the borough of Seaside Park at about 9.30am, according to authorities. No injuries were reported and no surrounding buildings appeared to be damaged.

Chelsea resident Soleil Philomena speaks about Manhattan explosion

Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey said on Sunday that no evidence had yet been found linking the pipe bomb in his state with the later explosions in New York. Cuomo said: “The bombs that were in Seaside, New Jersey, appear to be different than the ones in Manhattan.”

“They are terrorism, though, there’s no doubt about that,” Christie told CNN. “They’re terrorism – who is responsible is something else, and what the motive was is something else that hopefully we’re going to find out.”

Also on Saturday, eight people were stabbed by a man at a shopping mall in Minnesota. Responsibility for the non-fatal stabbings were claimed online by supporters of the self-styled Islamic State.

One witness to the New York explosion, Deborah Griffith, told the Guardian she had seen the blast “like a volcano”.

People were running everywhere, she said, and “it was real loud”. The explosion was red in the centre, she said, producing a wall of flame. Griffin thought it was a gas explosion: she was shopping at Home Depot and was seven doors away when the blast happened.

“The explosion was so big,” she said. “People were running for their lives.”

Another witness, Soleil Philomena, a Chelsea resident, said she had just stopped at a grocery store to buy a magazine.

“I came back out,” she said, “and I heard ‘boom!’ I thought it was fireworks, but everything was shaking, the buildings, my body was shaking. I looked up there was a big cloud of smoke. I saw smoke, it was like a mushroom cloud of black smoke.

“People started running past me and I started running with them. Then we were hugging each other, everyone was so shocked.”

India blames Pakistan as Kashmir attack kills 17 soldiers

 Troops die in India army base raid

By Fayaz Bukhari | SRINAGAR, INDIA- Sun Sep 18, 2016

India accused Pakistan of being behind Sunday's separatist attack on an army base near their disputed frontier that killed 17 soldiers, in one of the most deadly attacks in Kashmir in a quarter-century-old insurgency.

Four commando-style gunmen, armed with AK-47 assault rifles and grenades, burst into the brigade headquarters in Uri at 5:30 a.m. (midnight GMT) and were killed after a three-hour gunfight, a senior Indian army officer said.

The incident sharply increased tensions between the bitter, nuclear-armed rivals and will raise fears of a potential military escalation. Indian and Pakistani troops are in close proximity in many places along one of the world's most heavily militarised frontiers, and exchanges of fire are not uncommon.

Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh told reporters in New Delhi that Sunday's attack bore the hallmarks of Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed. Evidence gathered at the scene indicated the attackers were foreign and their equipment bore Pakistani markings, he added.

"Our men are ready to give a befitting response," Singh said in response to a reporter's question. He did not elaborate.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly condemned what he called the "cowardly terror attack".

"I assure the nation that those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished," Modi said in a series of Twitter posts.

The raid came as tensions were already running high in India's only Muslim-majority region, which has faced more than two months of protests following the July 8 killing of the commander of another Pakistan-based separatist group.

At least 78 civilians have been killed and thousands injured in street clashes with Indian security forces, who have been criticised by human rights groups for using excessive force.

In an even stronger response, Home Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted: "Pakistan is a terrorist state and should be identified and isolated as such."

Pakistan rejected allegations that it was involved. "India immediately puts blame on Pakistan without doing any investigation. We reject this," foreign ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria told Reuters.

India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since independence from Britain in 1947 over Kashmir, which is divided between them. Both claim the former princely state in full.
CHOPPERS FLY IN, SMOKE RISES

Most of the fatalities happened in a tent that caught fire, Singh, the Indian army's director general of military operations, told the briefing in New Delhi.

He had informed his Pakistani counterpart of his findings, which linked the attack on Uri to a similar raid in January on an Indian Air Force base in Punjab that India also blames on Jaish-e-Mohammed.

Reuters television footage showed helicopters flying in to evacuate the injured as an operation continued to secure the area. Smoke rose from the compound, set in mountainous terrain. The Defence Ministry earlier put the number of wounded at 35.

Singh, the home minister, chaired a crisis meeting in New Delhi and cancelled trips to Russia and the United States. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and the army chief of staff headed to Uri, roughly halfway between Indian Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar and Islamabad, to investigate the attack.

"There are definite and conclusive indications that the perpetrators of Uri attack were highly trained, heavily armed and specially equipped," Singh said in a series of strongly-worded tweets that were confirmed as genuine by his office.

U.S. ambassador to India, Richard Verma, also "strongly condemned" the Uri attack, which comes weeks after Secretary of State John Kerry visited New Delhi.

After that meeting Kerry urged Pakistan to do more to combat terrorism, while also announcing the resumption of trilateral talks with India and Afghanistan this month in New York, leaving Islamabad looking isolated

 WORST BODY COUNT IN YEARS

The military death toll was one of the worst it has suffered in a single incident during years of conflict in Indian-ruled Kashmir.

Before this attack, 102 people had been killed in separatist attacks in India's part of the Himalayan region this year. Among them were 30 security personnel, 71 militants and one civilian, according to a tally by the New Delhi-based South Asia Terrorism Portal.

Modi recently raised the stakes in the neighbours' decades-old feud by expressing support for separatists in Pakistan's resource-rich Baluchistan province.

Pakistan has, meanwhile, called on the United Nations and the international community to investigate atrocities it alleges have been committed by Indian security forces in Kashmir.

The UN is preparing to hold its annual general assembly in New York, where Kashmir is likely to come onto the agenda amid concerns that India's tough rhetoric could herald a military escalation between the old foes.

Senior Indian journalist and commentator Shekhar Gupta said Pakistan would be "delusional" to think that India would not respond. "This India has moved on from old strategic restraint," he said.

Relations between India and Pakistan have been on edge since the New-Year attack on the Pathankot air force base in Punjab, near the border with Pakistan, that killed seven uniformed men.

India has blamed Pakistan-based militant groups for that and a string of other attacks - including one on Mumbai in 2008 that killed 166 people. After initial progress, an attempt to conduct a joint investigation into the air base attack lost momentum and a tentative peace dialogue has stalled.

(Additional reporting by Rupam Jain in NEW DELHI and Suvashree Choudhury in MUMBAI, Mehreen Zahra-Malik in ISLAMABAD; Writing by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Robert Birsel and Alex Richardson)