Peace for the World

Peace for the World
First democratic leader of Justice the Godfather of the Sri Lankan Tamil Struggle: Honourable Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam

Friday, June 2, 2017


 
The Paris climate agreement was a step forward. President Trump's decision to withdraw from the landmark agreement was several giant steps in the opposite direction.
That's the underlying message of former president Barack Obama's statement on his successor's controversial move.
Brief and to the point, Obama never mentions Trump by name. Instead, he pointedly refers to the “absence of American leadership,” a jabbing phrasethat for many Trump critics extends beyond the climate agreement.
Statement from President Barack Obama on the Paris climate agreement:
A year and a half ago, the world came together in Paris around the first-ever global agreement to set the world on a low-carbon course and protect the world we leave to our children.
It was steady, principled American leadership on the world stage that made that achievement possible.
[Transcript: President Trump’s remarks on leaving the Paris climate deal, annotated]
It was bold American ambition that encouraged dozens of other nations to set their sights higher as well. And what made that leadership and ambition possible was America’s private innovation and public investment in growing industries like wind and solar — industries that created some of the fastest new streams of good-paying jobs in recent years, and contributed to the longest streak of job creation in our history.
Simply put, the private sector already chose a low-carbon future. And for the nations that committed themselves to that future, the Paris Agreement opened the floodgates for businesses, scientists, and engineers to unleash high-tech, low-carbon investment and innovation on an unprecedented scale.
[Trump announces U.S. will exit Paris climate deal]
The nations that remain in the Paris Agreement will be the nations that reap the benefits in jobs and industries created. I believe the United States of America should be at the front of the pack.
But even in the absence of American leadership; even as this Administration joins a small handful of nations that reject the future; I’m confident that our states, cities, and businesses will step up and do even more to lead the way, and help protect for future generations the one planet we’ve got.
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Thailand’s ‘solar gold rush’ could see public selling rooftop power from September
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Thailand is Southeast Asia's leading solar market. Source: Chayantorn Tongmorn/Shutterstock

 

THAILAND may allow households and factories with solar rooftops to start selling excess electricity to the national power grid from September, in a bid by the kingdom to slash power bills and increase emphasis on renewable energy.

Thailand is already Southeast Asia’s leading solar market; there were 2.75GW of new solar power installations by the end of September 2016, a marked increase from 722MW installations in 2015 and 470MW in 2014, according to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
The kingdom’s integrated energy blueprint and focus on renewable power sources will ensure these numbers will grow over the year and beyond, says Legal Business Online.


A report by Bangkok-based law firm Pugnatorius Ltd titled Thailand Solar Outlook 2017 forecast that 2017 will be the kingdom’s “second solar gold rush”. World-leading PV inverter manufacturer Sungrow, in a December 2016 release citing the report, said further industry growth is expected “as technologies continue to improve and costs fall”.

Recognising the rush, the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency (DEDE) proposed September as the date from which members of the public and businesses can start selling excess power generated from their solar rooftops, according to Bangkok Post.

DEDE director-general Praphon Wontharua said household and factory solar generators could be selling an estimated 100MW of power to the national grid provider, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), once the scheme takes off.

This is expected to help reduce the public’s power costs and provide the grid with additional power especially during peak demand periods, on top of promoting use of renewable energy.

Chulalongkorn University will determine the details of the project and present them to the Energy Ministry and the National Energy Policy Council for approval.


Via the Alternative Energy Development Plan, EGAT hopes to increase the kingdom’s use of renewable energy to 30 percent of the total final energy consumption by 2036. On the supply side, recent revisions to Thailand’s Power Development Plan (PDP2015) states that renewable power will account for up to 40 percent of the country’s total power output, writes Ampai Harakunarak, a research director for Sustainable Development at the Thailand Development Research Institute, in a Bangkok Post opinion article last month.

“The increasing target for renewable energy reflects growing confidence in renewable energy technologies, as well as increasing estimated potential,” the researcher said.

Thailand’s Energy Efficiency Plan also has an energy saving target of reducing energy intensity by 30 percent, compared to 2010 targets.
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Canadian nurse pleads guilty to killing eight seniors in nursing homes

  • Elizabeth Wettlaufer says she injected eight people with insulin for no reason
  • Nurse pleads guilty to eight counts of murder and four of attempted murder
  •  Elizabeth Wettlaufer worked as a nurse at the Caressant Care home in Woodstock, Ontario, among other nursing homes. Photograph: Peter Power/Reuters
  • Thursday 1 June 2017
  • A former nurse has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the deaths of eight nursing home residents, in one of the worst serial killer cases in Canadian history.
    Elizabeth Wettlaufer also pleaded guilty to four counts of attempted murder and two counts of aggravated assault.
    The 49-year-old, who appeared in a Woodstock, Ontario, courtroom, acknowledged under questioning from the judge that she injected the eight people who died with insulin for no medical reason.
    All the incidents allegedly occurred between 2007 and 2014 in three Ontario long-term care facilities where Wettlaufer worked as a registered nurse, and at a private home.
    The victims were James Silcox, 84; Maurice Granat, 84; Gladys Millard, 87; Helen Matheson, 95; Mary Zurawinski, 96; Helen Young, 90; Maureen Pickering, 79, and Arpad Horvath, 75.
    The attempted murder victims have been identified as Wayne Hedges, 57, Michael Priddle, 63, Sandra Towler, 77, and Beverly Bertram, 68. Court documents say Wettlaufer injected those six alleged victims with insulin. Wettlaufer was charged with aggravated assault against 87-year-old Clotilde Adriano and 90-year-old Albina Demedeiros.
    The police investigation into Wettlaufer began last September after Toronto police became aware of information she had given to a psychiatric hospital in Toronto that caused them concern. She was arrested and charged in October. 
    Some family members of Wettlaufer’s victims broke down in the courtroom as Wettlaufer entered her pleas.
    Friends and relatives of the seniors who died said earlier on Thursday that they were warned the hearing would reveal information that might be difficult for them to handle. Some, however, expressed relief that the case would come to a swift conclusion.
    Andrea Silcox said before the court hearing that she was worried about what she would discover about her father’s last moments, but said she’d be grateful to avoid a lengthy trial. “I will forgive her, I have to forgive her. My father would want that,” she said. “Forget? I’ll never forget what happened.”
    Arpad Horvath Jr, whose father was also among Wettlaufer’s victims, said everyone who lost a loved one will have to live with the pain forever. “She took away my best friend and my hero and I can’t forgive that,” he said.
    Records from the College of Nurses of Ontario show Wettlaufer was first registered as a nurse in August 1995 but resigned on 30 September 2016, and was no longer a registered nurse.
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Global diarrhoea deaths down by a third


Child in India
BBC
2 June 2017
The number of children dying worldwide of diarrhoea fell by a third between 2005 and 2015, researchers have found.
The study says better access to clean water and sanitation is key, with fewer weak and malnourished children becoming infected.
New vaccines have also had a positive impact.
However, diarrhoea is still the fourth-biggest killer of children globally, with almost 500,000 a year dying before their fifth birthday.
This figure could well be a significant under-estimate because of the lack of data in sub-Saharan Africa, where most cases occur.

Preventable and treatable

Diarrhoea is also indirectly responsible for large numbers of deaths, through exacerbating the effects of other diseases, such as pneumonia and measles.
The US researchers, who analysed data from the new Global Burden of Disease study, found well over a third (42%) of deaths happen in Nigeria and India.
Diarrhoeal diseases, such as rotavirus and cholera, are spread by water contaminated with faeces. They are preventable and treatable.
"Diarrhoeal diseases disproportionately affect young children," said lead author Dr Ali Mokdad, from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.
"Despite some promising reductions in mortality, the devastating impact of these diseases cannot be overlooked."

Diarrhoea cases in 2015

  • 2.39 billion episodes of diarrhoea
  • Almost half of those (957.5 million) involved children.
  • 1.3 million deaths
  • Including 499,000 child deaths
  • The highest death rates were in Chad and Niger
Source: Lancet Infectious Diseases
While deaths from diarrhoea have dropped by just over 20% overall, and 34% in children, the rate of infection has been falling far more slowly.
For children it dropped by just over 10% between 2005 and 2015.
Of all the diarrhoeal diseases, rotavirus remains the biggest killer of under-fives, according to this study.
But death rates for the disease were down by 44% in 2015.
The researchers attribute much of this to a relatively new vaccine.

'Unacceptable'

"We're encouraged to see fewer children dying of diarrhoea," said Yael Velleman, senior policy analyst on health and hygiene at WaterAid.
"But it is unacceptable that diarrhoea still claims the lives of nearly half a million children under five each year.
"Up to 50% of under-nutrition is linked to chronic infection, diarrhoea and worm infestation caused by dirty water and poor hygiene."
She said those children's life chances were limited by preventable illness - "all for the lack of conditions we have been taking for granted in the UK for over 100 years".

How to prevent diarrhoea

  • Access to safe drinking-water
  • Improved sanitation
  • Hand washing with soap
  • Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life
  • Good personal and food hygiene
  • Education about how infections spread
  • Rotavirus vaccination
SOURCE: World Health Organization
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SRI LANKA:PERPETRATORS OF HATE CRIMES SHOULD BE SWIFTLY BROUGHT TO JUSTICE; AMBASSADORS EXPRESS SOLIDARITY MUSLIM COMMUNITY.


Image: Ambassadors and representatives of the diplomatic community visiting the Dewatagaha Mosque in the wake of attacks targetting the Muslim community.

Sri Lanka BriefCOLOMBO, 01 June 2017 .-01/06/2017

The Heads of Mission of the European Union, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa and Switzerland together with other diplomatic representatives today visited the Dewatagaha Mosque to meet leaders of the Muslim community. The visit followed in the wake of attacks on mosques and businesses owned by people in the community.

The ambassadors expressed their solidarity and welcomed the clear condemnation for these hate crimes from HE President Sirisena and Hon Prime Minister Wickremesinghe. They emphasised the importance of the rule of law and called for prompt action to ensure that the perpetrators of these crimes were swiftly brought to justice.

EU Ambassador Margue said: “Sri Lankans know all too well the consequences of religious and ethnic hatred. These reprehensible actions are intended to sow discord at a time when national reconciliation and tolerance is moving forward. It is important that the Government and the Police ensure that there is no impunity for hate crimes. It is important that religious communities are at the forefront of efforts to promote understanding and oppose the spreading of hate.

–  press release issued by EU Sri Lanka office.
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Fugitive Gnanasara Thero – Protected By A VIP?

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By Hilmy Ahamed –

Hilmy Ahamed
A dear friend of mine said “A VIP (Very Idiotic Person) is suspected of protecting this violent fugitive monk Ven. Galagoda Atte Gnanasara Thero from the long arm of the law.” He has caused over 25 incidents of hate, intimidation and violence against Muslims during the last month alone. He has blasphemed Allah, the holy Prophet and Islam in the crudest possible manner that no Muslim can forgive. I suspect that the so-called VIP is from our hallowed Parliament, and is hiding this elusive monk to use him to harness Buddhist votes, little realising that President Mahinda Rajapaksa committed the same blunder. The many police teams deployed on presidential orders to the Inspector General Of Police have not traced his whereabouts, and the president is silent.  Is it just one ‘VIP’ or a group or political party that is hiding this so-called monk, who certainly is a disgrace to the noble teachings of Lord Buddha? The Police have to extricate itself from this quagmire, when one arm of the Government orders the arrest, a group within acts contrary to the decision of the President, Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Ministers. Is this what the voters for a government of good governance expected in 2015? This extremist has been causing so much mayhem throughout the country- intimidating and causing violence against the Muslim community that forced the Cabinet of Ministers to intervene. The Cabinet decision to hold the officers of local police stations responsible for any breach of peace in their police area is a welcome move. This could lead to violation of fundamental rights applications filed directly against the OICs of police stations. Regretfully, the majority of the Sinhala media who seem to be supportive of Buddhist extremism has decided to play this cabinet decision down.
Media reports claim that several police teams have been deployed to arrest and produce the fugitive monk before the court of law. A travel ban has been imposed on him so that he does not leave the country. He could, using his connections, cross over to India by boat and move towards Myanmar, but I am confident that Myanmar will not host this fugitive, as it has already placed their “Face of Buddhist Terror” Ashin Wirathu under house arrest.
It is regrettable that our super efficient cyber crimes police force who were able to trace the young student who had hacked in to the President’s web page and prosecuted him within days, has not been able to trace Ven. Gnanasara Thero despite his regular appearance on social media; this is ample evidence that there is VIP patronage at the monk’s current safe house.
It has long being suspected that some rogue elements within the Police department were conniving with Bodu Bala Sena and Ven. Galagoda Atte Gnanasara Thero on his racist mission against the minorities. Clear evidence of this is the access this venerable monk has had to the complaint made at Police headquarters by three cabinet ministers, two parliamentarians and a former provincial councillor.  Within hours, he had access to the detailed complaint made by these legislators, and he made a counter complaint/charge at Police Headquarters responding to the Muslim complainants and demanding that the Police takes action against them. It is a well-conceived plan orchestrated with the support of some rogue police officers to sidetrack his arrest.
The chandi venerable monk who only a few days ago claimed that he does not fear the Police nor the Judiciary, is on the run. All exit points of the country have been alerted through court orders that he should not be allowed to leave the nation’s shores. Yet, Ven. Gnanasara Thero’s regular posts on social media have not been tracked.  His outgoing and incoming phone calls have not been investigated, and the location from where he posts his social media messages have not been checked. His recorded messages broadcast can easily be traced if the police seek the assistance of the phone company through the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRC). Further, the civilian head of Bodu Bala Sena, Dr. Dilanthe Withanage states on his Facebook page that Ven. Galagoda Atte Gnanasara is being kept in a safe house. Why have the police not questioned Dr. Withanage or the many other Facebook warriors who claim to be in touch with this fugitive? Will the police be as lethargic as they are now if a man with a cap had insulted lord Buddha the way Ven. Gnanasara Thero insults Allah and the Muslims? It didn’t take 24 hours for the Muslim community to hand over to police the Sri Lanka Thowheed Jamath’s Abdul Razick when he blasphemed lord Buddha.

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Anti-Muslim paradigm prospers under ‘yahapalanaya’

By Alhaj A.H.M. Azwer(Former MP / Minister and General Secretary Sri Lanka Muslim Progressive Front)
2017-06-01
Deaf, dumb and blind – this is the slumbering mood of the present government towards the anti-Muslim attacks unleashed throughout the island. It is sweeping the landscape like a Tornado. Aghast!
That inflammatory and vitriolic speeches now going viral on the social network internationally delivered by that Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera, had literally providing a handle to rabble-rousers, hooligans and looters who are causing damage, destruction in Muslim villages everywhere today.
The citizenry are almost daily awake to hear the heart breaking news of attacks on mosques, madrasas, and boutiques. The apathy of the Yahapalanaya Rajaya is not only a mystery but utterly bewildering. Shame!
Pious promises given by the government to get rid of such gangsterism and hooliganism against the Muslim community – and even other minorities – to woo their votes at the last presidential and general elections – have been cast away into the now proverbial "Meethotamulla garbage mountain." Nauseating!
Bodu Bala Sena
If the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) and its associates are not banned (the ministers are asking for it), it would very clearly expose the hypocrisy of the Yahapalana Government that proclaims peace, but really harbours an inimical, hidden agenda towards destruction and death, diametrically opposed to the vision of transforming this island into the Wonder of Asia!
I am reminded of a salient passage in an article written by that historian cum political analyst, S .Effendi (of Ottoman fame), during the Aluthgama mayhem, which is currently so important. I quote: "that inflammatory and vitriolic speech, now going viral on YouTube internationally, delivered by Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera literally roused the hooligan rabble, the looters who caused such damage, destruction and murder. His ranting on that podium in Aluthgama reminded me of a potty Julius Strecher, the Nazi Jew-Baiter, raving like a mad dog in the precincts of the Reichstag in Berlin in the 1930s, and who was sentenced to death by the international War Crimes Tribunal and hanged with the other criminals on 16 October, 1946.
The latest – rather breaking news – comes from Kohilawatte (at a kissing distance of Meethotamulla), Panadura, Eluvila, Wennappuwa, Onegama in Polonnaruwa (President's home district), Maharagama, Elpitiya, Kahawatte..
It is a perfect scenario for a Beverly Hills film-maker to shoot a Hollywood picture.
After coming to power on the back of 95 per cent of Muslim votes (as they claim), the first episode was shot at the Borella Jamiul Alfar Jumma Mosque on 30 May 2015.
Muslim habitations
There onwards, the attacks on Muslim habitations continued unabated without a single case being probed or any culprits being taken into custody (so much for the indebtedness shown to the Muslims by the Maithripala Sirisena Yahapalanaya. During the 24 days from 16 April 2017 to 23 May 2017 alone, 22 such attacks have been reported (BBC Channel 4 Macrae/NCC/Al-Jazeera take note). It runs like the falling of wickets at the ongoing Indian Premier League Twenty-20 matches. Hold your breath and read on.
16 April 17 – Early in the morning, petrol bombs were thrown at Muslim boutiques in Godapitiya, Akuressa (the place where the last LTTE bomb explosion was recorded, near the Mosque called Poruwa)
17 April 17 – Walls around the Ziyaram of Sheikh Salih Waliullah at Fort-Galle (a national heritage site, protected by the army) were damaged.
20 April 17 – 2-1/2 acres of land belonging to the Muslims at Mayakkalli in Irakkamam, Ampara, were forcibly occupied by elements shouting anti-Muslim slogans.
25 April 17 – Ven.Gnanasara visits the place and makes a vitriolic speech in which he even attacked Allah and the Holy Quran.
3 May 17 – HMM Haris, Deputy Minister of Sports visits the area and calls for the arrest of this monk to avoid disturbances in the area.
8 May 17 – The Thera calls a media conference and alleges that the Myanmar Muslim refugees be deported as they had come to invade this country in the garb of refugees.
10 May 17 - Defamatory speeches were made at the same place on the day of Vesak, a sacred day for Buddhists.
14 May 17 – The said Thera visits Onegama,Polonnaruwa, the President's home base, demolishes huts and other dwelling places of Muslims who were living in peace and harmony in the area since the days of the Sinhalese kings, and demands that the Muslims leave the place under threat of being repatriated to Saudi Arabia.
15 May 17 – A Mosque in the Panadura town comes under a petrol bomb attack in the early hours of the morning (thahajjud time).
16 May 17 – Attacks on Al-Ibrahimiyya Jumma Mosque in Kohilawatte by a gang of eight people, causing damage to the windows and doors.
16 May 17 – Muslims at Neenakerny, Selvanagar, Toppur (in Trincomalee District}, were forcibly evacuated by a gang of 200 persons (this was the area recaptured during the Mavil Aru Operation during former President Mahinda Rajapaksa's watch, and Muslims were resettled, as promised by him, just before the Ramazan Fast began that year).
17 May 17 – A bakery and telecommunication centre belonging to the Muslims in Eluvila, Panadura came under the familiar petrol bomb attack.
18 May 17 – The Last Chance Electric shop at Wennappuwa was attacked and set on fire at 2 a.m.
31 May 17 – At 3.30 am six goons who came on three motorbikes flung seven petrol bombs at the Jumma Mosque in Mallawapitiya-Kurunegala, causing damage to the rear of the Mosque and its windows (This has been recorded in the CCTV cameras fitted at the place.
21 May 17 – A perfumery shop belonging to a Muslim at Elpitiya-Bentota was set on fire and completely destroyed (this too is recorded on CCTV camera footage)
22 May 17 – A Carpet sales centre on the Maharagama-Nugegoda road belonging to a Muslim was broken into in the early morning hours.
23 May 2017 Two shops belonging to a Muslim and Tamil respectively in Kahawatta in the Ratnapura district was set on fire and completely destroyed.
Atrocities
How many more atrocities before even a pretense of action is taken?
The Muslim Minister and MPs have expressed their vehement protest. Muslim organizations are hurriedly summoning their membership at emergency meetings to discuss this dangerous situation. The Jammiathul Ulema has issued a call to all Muslims to recite Qunooth in their five-time daily prayers to save Muslims from further disaster caused by racial hate mongers. The international community is disturbed. Deeply alarmed, loved ones of Muslims domiciled or employed abroad are making frantic calls to their family members in Sri Lanka, concerned about a worst-cae scenario that could erupt. Muslims spread out in far flung villages throughout the country have pleaded with the Police to guard their houses and public places of worship.
In actual fact, the Muslim community is gripped today in a fear-psychosis as never experienced before. Why should this be?
Here is a community that has lived in complete harmony with the majority community throughout history. Although they lived among the Tamils (in the North and East) speaking the Tamil language, they never clamoured for a separate state (Ealam). As a result Prabhakaran masterminded the biggest ever ethnic cleansing of Muslims in the North ever witnessed in any part of the country.
Solution
What is the solution? The Muslim ministers and Members of Parliament are performing acrobatic dances – they are daily conducting media carnivals to ask the President and the Prime Minister to stop this criminal anti-Muslim drive. It is comical because it is they who sustained the Rajapaksa- bashing during the last election campaign and blinded the Muslims to the truth and got President Maithripala and Prime Minister
They elected Wickremesinghe and their Yahapalana government. So, it is their moral and Islamic duty to put up a joint effort (forgetting their political, regional and other differences) to meet the President and the Prime Minister and demand that they issue firm orders to the Army and police to quell this dastardly mayhem that is being unleashed against the Muslims, right now.
If the 21 Muslim MPs in Parliament feel shy to do so, we of the Sri Lanka Muslim Progressive Front, request them to address a joint communiqué to President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and give it to us to present it to the two of them to get them an appointment to thrash out this issue.
This is a huge national imperative.
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