Worker rights vs people’s rights

Oct 22, 2017

Commuters took engine drivers to task not because they were against the strikers’ demands, but they were high and dry due to the strike at an hour when the bus services were also fast sagging.
Who can contest these demands? At the same time who can justify their intended blockade of Colombo as a mode of struggle?

Newspapers carried a picture of several Policemen risking their lives in saving a locomotive engine driver of the Sri Lanka Railways at the Fort Railway Station during a surprise strike on October 11 by the railway employees. 
The engine driver had been manhandled by the furious rail commuters, who had been stranded on their way home in the evening by the surprise work stoppage. The commotion lasted for several hours and the strike had to be called off next morning.The incident gained significance as one contrasting to another incident where a high ranking Police officer had been caught on camera days ago while slapping a person demonstrating in Hambantota against the proposed leasing out of Mattala airport to a foreign firm. 
Apart from that it is a noteworthy picture as it apparently generalises the current attitude of the ordinary people towards the so-called “struggles” by various groups that inconvenience them.
The commuters took the locomotive engine drivers to task not because they were against the strikers’ demands, but they were high and dry due to the strike at an hour when the bus services were also fast sagging.
A few months ago a group of people created a similar din at a Government hospital in the North-western Province protesting against the Government doctors striking against the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM). Again several incidents were reported from the streets in Colombo recently where ordinary people had resorted to challenge the demonstrators who had blocked the roads creating traffic snarls.When the army barged into the Kolonnawa oil terminal of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) in August to crack down on an indefinite strike by the CPC employees, people in the country, except for those craving to overthrow the government, were happy. 

Also people were unmoved when thugs apparently mobilised by the politicians of the area attacked the striking CPC workers after the army’s takeover of the Kolonnawa oil facility. 

No media criticised the high-handed measures taken by the Government or the individual politicians, since the mood of the common man was against the strike.Is the attitude of the ordinary people towards the “struggles” trending? It is quite possible, given the number of demonstrations and strikes witnessed in recent years, on a daily basis.
The irony of these struggles is that they must exert maximum pressure on the hapless ordinary people who are not in any way responsible for their problems so that the authorities would feel heat
However, the general public was not against the rights of those demonstrating on roads or launching strikes. In many occasions they do not know what the doctors are striking work for or the students are demonstrating for. 

It is their rights to move freely on roads, or to be treated at Government hospitals maintained with the taxes they pay they were concerned about. Given the fact that many issues have been politicised ordinary people are more confused about the demands of the demonstrators and the strikers.

For instance, it is public knowledge that it was the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government that provided all assistance including loans and scholarships to establish and maintain the SAITM. 

When the doctors and the medical students, who meekly submitted during that Government wage an indefinite “war” now demanding the abolition of that private medical college, especially with the political backing of the same Rajapaksas, only a politically motivated person can justify that “struggle.” 

Besides, Government media is cleverly exposing the hypocrisy of those against the SAITM including former Chairman of the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) Professor Carlo Fonseka by telecasting their speeches made during the Rajapaksa regime. And irrespective of whether those struggles are justifiable or not, how long can the people tolerate the life threatening strikes by the doctors is the question remains.Not a single day is being passed nowadays without a demonstration by some group obstructing the main roads in Colombo, especially at peak hours. The protesters must undeniably have the right to express their protest and demand what they deem as the solution to their problems. But why should others who do not know an iota of the problem, leave alone being responsible for it, suffer due to their struggles?Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Parliamentarian Sunil Handunnetti had claimed recently that the people had to put up with the temporary hardships they faced in times of demonstrations and strikes, as those struggles involved the rights of those agitators and sometimes every citizen of the country. 

True, this contention seems to be sound on moral grounds. However, going by the number of protests and demonstrations taking place in Colombo almost on a daily basis people might hesitate to agree with the idea. So many “temporary” difficult situations would accumulate into a permanent chaotic situation.

Tens of thousands of vehicles were trapped for more than four hours in an evening due to a sit-in-protest by Thotalanga squatters on the Japanese Friendship Bridge in March last year and many people, who were on their way to Katunayake airport to travel abroad had to reschedule their foreign trips. 

Thousands of people including students, women and young girls returning home had to haplessly languish in packed vehicles for nearly four hours without knowing what they should do. Hundreds of patients travelling to hospitals for treatment and those returning from hospitals were also among those trapped.

One cannot deny the grievances of the squatters and their demand for redress. However, what was the right they had to take tens of thousands of people hostage in order to win their rights? In the same month the trade union leader of the JVP K.D. Lal Kantha had threatened the Government (in fact the people) on various platforms to besiege Colombo city by bringing in thousands of farmers to the city from all over the country and making them block the six main entry points to the city, unless the Government met the farmers’ demands.

The farmers had been demonstrating then in various parts of the country demanding the fertiliser subsidy that the Government promised during the Presidential Election and a proper mechanism to be set up for them to sell their paddy harvest at a reasonable price.

Who can contest these demands? At the same time who can justify their intended blockade of Colombo as a mode of struggle?

The irony of these struggles is that they must exert maximum pressure on the hapless ordinary people who are not in any way responsible for their problems so that the authorities would feel heat. A strike by the doctors is considered successful if maximum number of patients suffered and as many patients as possible die due to the strike. In respect of a Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) employees’ strike maximum loss to the country’s economy and healthcare is expected. For the same reason peak hours are chosen for demonstrations, creating chaotic traffic jams.

This is not different from the LTTE’s intention when they were cornered into a small area in Mullivaikkal in April and May, 2009. They wanted maximum number of casualties among the civilians to put the blame on the Government troops and thereby invite foreign intervention. Therefore they attacked the armed forces from among the civilians.Trade unions always expect the people’s support for their struggles. They distribute leaflets in public places such as the Fort railway station and display placards with their demands written on them for this purpose. Some Leftist political parties mobilise their trade unions to prove the workers that the bourgeois governments were not interested in solving problems of the workers and the “proletariat” in general and thereby persuade them for revolutionary regime change.

However, at the same time, they antagonise the ordinary people by their unreasonable modes of struggle. Hence, they cannot expect the wholehearted support for their struggles from the masses. It is high time for them to think afresh and find a way to strike a balance between the workers’ rights and the rights of other masses.

By M.S.M. Ayub
- Daily Mirror

Bribery case against Weerawansa

October 22, 2017 by

It is reported that the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption is preparing to file a case against Wimal Weerawansa, former Minister of Mahinda Rajapaksa regime to find out how he obtained funds to build a three-storied mansion at Mangala Mawatha Hokandara as the manner he obtained such funds is suspicious.

According to the exposure by the 20th December, 2009 edition of ‘Ravaya’ the value of the 30 perch land Parliamentarian Weerawansa had bought at Mangala Mawatha, Hokandara at the time it was bought was about Rs.7.5 million. It would have cost to build the mansion with all the luxury amenities about Rs. 70 million. 

The income Mr. Weerawansa earns as a Parliamentarian and the money spent for the project and finding such funds to build a big mansion was the talking point at the time.

Jayampathy Wickramaratne Caught With Pants Down For Selling Duty Free Land Cruiser

OCTOBER 22, 2017

UNP National List MP Kodagoda Hitige Jayampathi Rohanakumara Wickramarathna alias Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne PC who was a vociferous campaigner against the corruption of the Mahinda Rajapaksa led former regime has been accused of selling his duty free car permit.

Jayanpathy is also a politbureau member of Lanka Samasamaja Party (majority group) and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

On February 13, 2017, Rs 95,27,562.50 ( USD 62,500.00 X 152.4410) worth a brand new Toyota Land Cruiser was imported using Wickramaratne’s duty free car permit by Bestair Services (PVT) ltd. The vehicle was registered with the Commissioner of Motor Traffic on June 14, 2017 and transferred to the name of the vehicle permit buyer Yaden International (PVT) ltd. on August 22, 2017.

According to the custom’s declaration form the total tax waived off for Jayanapthy’s vehicle is Rs 31,774,450.00.

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121 days of Treasury Bond Commission

BY Kavindya Chris Thomas-2017-10-22

The days of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Treasury bond auction of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka are numbered.

With the 27 October deadline on the horizon, officers of the Commission, the Attorney General's Department and the defence counsel are caught in a tight race against time to make their final leap in the case. However, the three commissioners are confident after interviewing and listening to over 50 witnesses, stock load of documents, text messages and extracted phone call recordings – a pioneering moment in Sri Lanka's judicial history – to claim that there is adequate evidence to compile the final report, according to the Commissioner, Supreme Court Justice Prasanna Jayawardene.

One would not presume to know what the final report might include and one would not risk assuming either. Whatever the report may announce – be it the damnation of all the wrongdoers, the specific condemnation of the scapegoats or the denial of any wrongdoings whatsoever – we can be sure that the content will make headlines in the country. With less than a week left in the ticking clock, here is a recap of what happened at the proceedings since its inception.

On 17 October (Tuesday ) the official recording of evidence at the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Treasury Bonds auction at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka came to a conclusion. The Commission Chairperson Supreme Court Justice K.T. Chitrasiri marking the final evidence examined noted that the Commission may reconvene if testimony arising from any additional material evidence calls for more hearings.

Official request

He also said an official request has been submitted to President Maithripala Sirisena to extend the 27 October deadline, in view of this matter.

Commissioner Chitrasiri pointed out that since the establishment of the Commission in January 2017, which commenced hearing evidence on 21 February 2017, it has spent 121 days listening to evidence put forward by 64 witnesses and has collected 450 documents. The Commission proceedings also record the forensic act of extracting information from electronic devices as a pioneering moment in the judicial history of the country.

Despite the evidence hearing commencing in February, it was only in March the Commission proceedings started peaking public interest again, after being in hiatus. This was when retired Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, W.A. Wijeywardene claimed that the government's long-term loss for the next 30 years, would be Rs 10 billion due to the failure of not meeting the appropriate terms in the process of issuing treasury bonds which took place on 27 February 2015.
His personal computation had also indicated that the immediate loss after the issuance of the bonds incurred to the government was Rs 532 million. Later a similar view was shared by Wasantha Samarasinghe of the Voice Against Corruption Movement.

In June, Auditor General Gamini Wijeysinghe was summoned to give evidence before the Commission. In his testimony the Auditor General claimed that the decision to go for a 30-year bond at a high interest rate, cannot be rationalized since the Ministry of Finance had previously explained that the government wanted borrowings largely to settle the interest payments of the previously issued bonds.

Primary auction

Initially, the government needed borrowings amounting to Rs 13. 5 billion by 2 March 2015 and subsequently, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) had originally intended to sell Rs 1 billion of 30-year bonds at the primary auction held on 27 February in expectation of obtaining funds for the government via bond auctions.

The Auditor General revealed that 10 billion out of the requirement was generated due to the amount payable as interest payments for previously issued Bonds.

He said there was no need to raise money solely from the bond auction because the funds could have been raised using Direct Placement Method from the Employee's Provident Fund and by means of short-term Treasury bills.

However, in his most controversial report to Parliament he stated that relevant authorities at the CBSL should be responsible for the loss totalling Rs 1.674 billion incurred. Referring to the two Treasury bond auctions held on 27 February 2015 and 29 March 2016, he claimed that the government losses were avoidable and explained that the value of the bids offered by the CBSL initially at the auction was Rs 40 billion but had unusually accepted Rs 77.732 billion bids exceeding Rs 37.732 billion.

However, the funds requirement of the government at the time was around Rs 80 billion. He claimed that the decision to raise funds solely from the bond auction was irrational because it could incur financial losses to the Direct Placement Method.

Direct Placement Method

The CBSL could have stopped accepting bids at the 40 billion cut out and raise other funds requirements of the government through using Direct Placement Method.

Later that month it was revealed that the Auditor General's Department had not conducted a single audit relating to the domestic debt management at the CBSL over the years in relation to the government securities. Wijesinghe clarified that the nondisclosure of data relating to government securities by the Public Debt Department of the CBSL was the cause of the failure.

In July, Deputy General Manager of the Pan Asia Bank (PABC), R.A.B. Dias revealed that the owner of Perpetual Treasuries Ltd, Arjun Aloysius, had asked him "to conceal vital information" when testifying before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry.

"Arjun phoned me on 30 June and wanted to meet me, and he was pleading to meet me, I also wanted to meet him to get clarifications, and when we met he said next two weeks are crucial to him, therefore, need my support at PCoI proceedings ", the witness said in his earlier evidence.

July also saw the evidence by Anika Wijesuriya surfacing. Testifying before the Commission, she claimed that Former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake and his family leased out a penthouse at Monarch Residencies for eight months with the monthly lease rental Rs 1.45 million being paid by Arjun Aloysius.The witness said she entered into a lease agreement with the company called Walt and Row (Pvt. ) Ltd to which the Rs 7.3 million was transferred by the Perpetual Capital Holdings (Pvt.) Ltd to be paid to her. The Rs 145 million used in making the initial payment of Rs 16.5 million and thereafter to pay the monthly loan installment of Rs 11 million for the controversial purchase of the Monarch Residency Penthouse was revealed to have had no origin nor has it been accounted for.

This information was revealed by B.R. Chinnaiya, Chief Financial Officer of Global Transportation and Logistics (Pvt.) Ltd (GTLPL) owned by Onella Karunanayake, daughter of the former Finance Minister.

Mobile devices

Meanwhile, the Commission took custody of mobile devices used by Aloysius and the former CBSL Governor Arjuna Mahendran.

While Mahendran cooperates with the Commission, Aloysius refuses to give passwords and other information to the authorities.

He later went on to claim that he has forgotten his passwords, prompting the Commission to proceed without his cooperation.

Then Finance Minister, who prior to August is appointed as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ravi Karunanayake arrives at the Commission to testify in August. Here he pleaded complete unawareness about the matters relating to the Penthouse rental and the subsequent purchase, as they were conducted through a company, in which his wife and daughter were directors and they had taken decisions excluding him. He also said he did not know until accusations surfaced in Parliament that he was occupying an apartment which was rented by Aloysius' company.

Attorney General's Department submitted travel details between September 2016 and April 2017, pertaining to Aloysius and the Minister and said there were 13 visits to Singapore by both with coinciding dates.

When questioned whether he had met Aloysius in Singapore, the minister said he had met Aloysius there on a few occasions. The minister said he met Aloysius at the Finance Asia Conference, which was sponsored by the Perpetual Treasuries Ltd. and on the Christmas in 2016.

The minister said he did not travel to Singapore to meet Aloysius.

In August, Sachith Devathantri, the IT executive of Perpetual Treasuries Ltd today admitted that he had deleted several phone recordings from its data on the instructions of the Chief Dealer of PTL, Nuwan Salgado on 5 July 2017.

Previously, on two occasions, Devathantri had recorded statements with CID officials attached to the PCoI and in the second statement he admitted that he had lied in the first statement.

Later PTL Chief Dealer Nuwan Salgado went on to become a crown witness for the case after revealing that he had given orders to Devanthatri upon the instructions of his CEO Kasun Palisena. Salgado later revealed that the company earned profits in excess of Rs 11 billion due to Arjun Aloysius' possession of confidential inside information regarding bond auctions.

Individuals being referred to as RK, AM and PM in recorded- deleted or otherwise- phone calls, text messages and emails made a continuous reprisal during Commission proceedings in the last two months. After its first appearance back when former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake was under examination, the references to these unknown individuals continued until the final witness- Steve Samuels, personal assistant to Aloysius- was under examination. All individuals claimed that they were unaware of the true identities behind the references. However, by and large the matters were rather apparent to the Commission as well as to the general public seated for the proceedings.
This month also saw the evidence examination of Arjuna Mahendran, alongside several chairpersons from several state banks.

More importantly, on the final day of hearing evidence, AG's Department notified that Anika Wijesuriya has been forced to flee the country due to threats on her life. And in her absence, her family members continue to receive death threats from an individual who had identified himself as Shanil Nethicumara. Nethicumara had made unambiguous threats on the Wijesuriya family based on the testimony they had given regarding Karunanayake penthouse apartment. This has now resulted in a criminal investigation against Nethicumara, as ordered by the Commission, on the charges of criminal intimidation.

Need for strengthening weed control practices

National food production drive:

By Dr. L. Amarasinghe, Former senior weed Scientist and a Director, Department of Agriculture.-

October 22, 2017, 9:31 pm 

The overall productivity of both the arable and plantation crop sectors has been seriously affected by the recent droughts experienced across the whole country, reported to be the worst overthe last 40 years. This has left large extents of paddy lands, both irrigated and rain-fed, as well as other annual crops of the country, under extended fallow periods, affecting a substantial decrease in the national food productivityof the country compelling the government to import rice and other basic food items such as onions, maize etc. to fulfil the national needs. Productivity in the plantation sector has also been seriously affected.

Consequences of recent droughts in the country

According to a recent article published in a daily newspaper it is quite disheartening to note the results of a recent survey conducted by the Sri Lankan UN office indicating that over 300,000 families in drought affected areas are only fed a single meal per day while the National Disaster Management Center has declared that close to 1,989,572 people in 17 districts are seriously affected by extreme drought conditions.

In this context, President Maithripala Sirisena has rightly advised all government departments to give the highest priority to a national food production programme. The President has further declared that all cultivable land in the country should be brought under cultivation under the national food production programme. Thus, it is the responsibility of all concerned to make the proposed national agricultural production programme success.

We hope the following discussion would help realise the importance of basic land preparation prior to planting of crops to increase the overall productivity in plantation and agriculture.

The arable food crop sector

The preliminary obstacle faced by the arable crop farmers is the establishment of annual crops in lands that have been under extensive weed growth due long fallow periods experienced over several seasons. As we all know, a seed bed free of weeds is a compulsory pre-requisite for the successful establishment of any crop. Usually, this is achieved through land preparation either using animal or mechanical power. Water is adopted as a supplementary factor along with tillage in lowland rice cultivation. The duration to complete the whole process is determined largely by many factors among which initial standing weed biomass becomes a crucial one.

Over the last several decades, farmers have resorted to effective herbicide use to expedite weed killing, facilitating land preparation. In fact, 60 to 80 percent of rice farmers in major rice growing areas have adopted recommended herbicides in the past. There were then only two herbicides recommended to kill weeds prior to initiation of tillage during land preparation. However, this practice has come to an abrupt halt recently after the only two herbicides widely used by farmers, Paraquat and Glyphosate, were banned without providing suitable alternatives. As a result farmers have to resort to increased tillage practices, excessive use of water and labour to control weeds established during fallow periods.

Despite the ban, heavy illicit inflow of Glyphosate is reaching the country and unscrupulous parties/traders are involved in selling such glyphosate at highly exorbitant prizes, usually three to four times the usual prize, exploiting the poor farmers. The farmers are compelled to buy this glyphosate because of excessive labour costs for weeding. This situation applies particularly to tea estates in the plantation sector as well.

The plantation crop sector

Weed management on tea plantations is a critically important operation, particularly, during early establishment and post pruning phases. Weeds on tea estates range from soft annual dicotyledonous weeds to perennial grasses which are highly competitive. The most common method of removing weeds in the past, prior to 1960s, had been scraping. Scraping breaks down the soil structure leaving a loose layer of top soil which is readily washed away by rains. The loss of soil nutrients is considerable. The use of herbicides has substantially reduced soil erosion. It has been observed that chemical weed control is superior to manual weed control with respect to changes in some soil physical and chemical properties such as total pore space, percent aggregation, water retention total availability of water, texture, organic carbon, CEC and the percentage of total nitrogen in the long run. Further no adverse effect on micro- organisms and earthworm population has been observed with application of paraquat, in contrast to the application of systemic herbicides.

It has been reported that bimonthly application of paraquat at 0.125lb/ac is quite effective on controlling young emerging broad leaves, grasses and sedges in tea plantations. However, repeated application becomes necessary to suppress the regenerating grasses having underground propagules such as rhizomes and tubers. There is no danger of paraquat being available for root absorption at the above levels of application. No difference was recorded in yields between two monthly manual and paraquat weeding. Thus, large tea plantations heavily dependended on this chemical to control weeds due to labour shortages for manual weeding.

Despite the wide scale adoption of the two leading herbicides, Paraquat and Glyposate, over decades on tea plantations, recent steps taken to ban the two herbicides without providing alternatives dealt a serious blow on chemical weed control. Glyphosate was legally banned in 2015 on the premise that it had a role in the chronic kidney disease of uncertain aetiology (CKDu) reported from agricultural areas in North Central Province, but there has been no acceptable scientific evidence to establish it.

It has not been banned in any other country having CKDuor , for that matter, anywhere else in the world. Parquet has been banned legally in 2014 due to the risk intentional poisoning from voluntary intake.

The serious problems faced by farmers on total weed control in agricultural and plantation sectorsafter banning of these two herbicides have been seriously highlighted invarious technical forums, by university academics and other scientistsand even severalministers at the parliament. But all these efforts have been in vain. With the current labour shortage and extensive weed growth in fallow lands, mere mechanical tillage or manual labour- intensive methods becomes relatively inefficient to accomplish the expected level of initial weed control during land preparation in agricultural lands or weeding in tea plantations, unless an effective herbicide is used.

Backed by the long term experience after working with Paraquat and considering factors that led to banning of the two herbicides, Paraquat and Glyphosate, we strongly propose that Paraquat is the most proven herbicide with minimum hazards on the environment and the applicator as well. However, farmers should be educated on its safe use.

Paraquat herbicide and Regulatory status

Paraquat is a relatively non-selective, foliage-applied contact herbicide. Soils of various types are capable of adsorbing vast quantities of paraquat. Clay content is important, but even for lighter soils the adsorption capacity in the top few centimeters is capable of deactivating many kilograms of paraquat per hectare.

It is inactivated on contact with almost all naturally occurring soils and as a result no biologically active residues remain in the soil, thus allowing planting or sowing to be carried out almost immediately after spraying.

No leaching or run-off drainage to ground water.

When used as recommended, paraquat is not hazardous to fish or invertebrates because it cannot leach into water. Extensive ecological studies have shown that paraquat is not a risk to aquatic environments.

Like other pesticides, paraquat concentrate can be fatal if swallowed in sufficient quantities. Utmost care should always be taken to avoid ingesting pesticides. Minor exposure is possible from contaminated fingers or gloves, or sprays drift, but in negligible amounts and this exposure would not be expected to cause harm in any normal practice.

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have adopted an international treaty in 1998 called Rotterdam Convention on the Prior informed consent Procedure for Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, for managingchemicals that pose serious risks to human health and environment through banning or imposing severe restrictions.

The Chemical Review Committee (CRC) of the Rotterdam Convention has reviewed the notifications made by several countries against Paraquat to include in the list of chemicals subject to the Prior Informed Consent procedure (PIC). The Committee declared that the notifications did not meet the specified requirements to include Paraquat in PIC list.

Because of unintentional poisonings and absence of an antidote, Paraquat has been banned or restricted in a number of countries. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) allows its purchase and use solely by certified applicators. More than 100 crops worldwide are sprayed with paraquat, including in the U.S.

In developing countries, where health hazards of pesticides are pronounced, paraquat is minimally restricted. In Indonesia, its use is restricted to large estates and certified applicators. Paraquat is recommended to use over a number of crops including, rice, maize, potato, tea and cotton in India.

Immediate interventions

Immediately lift the ban on paraquat and make all necessary actions to import adequate amounts of the herbicide. Extend all assistance to the pesticide industry to expedite the importation of the herbicide and the necessary product stewardship.

Benefits and Beneficiaries

All farming community in the country who are involved in agriculture and plantation sector would be greatly benefited even through a temporary lifting of the ban imposed on Parqauat for a limited number of growing seasons at this national crisis situation

1. Over 1.0 million resource poor rice farmers in the Island, both in the dry and wet zones

who are confronted with excessive weed growth in their fallow paddy fields in current situation.

2. Land preparation in more than 40-50% of paddy lands in the wet and intermediate zones covering Matara, Galle, Ratnapura, Hambantota, Kalurtara, Gampaha, Kegalla and Kurunegala districts would be facilitated.

3. Thousands of small- scale sugarcane farmers engaged in contractual growing of

sugarcane and the major plantations run by the companies who adopt chemical weed control close to 80% of their cultivated extents due to heavy labour shortage.

4. Total tea cultivation extent of the Island approximates 0.21 m ha of which around 40% is managed by the large plantation companies while the rest 60% by small holders. Among the key issues relevant to management of tea plantations, effective control of weeds in both young plantations and after pruning is vital for sustained production. Although a large number of labour is required for manual weeding, because of the heavy shortage of labour in the tea sector, manual weed control has become almost insufficient incurring a considerable reduction in the profit margin for the producer. The reasonable alternative is the adoption effective herbicides along with supplementary manual weeding.

Israelis arrest Palestinian after Facebook translates 'good morning' as 'attack them'

No Arabic-speaking police officer was consulted before the man was arrested on suspicion of incitement

A Palestinian man looks at his phone as Israeli border police officers stand behind him (Reuters)

Sunday 22 October 2017

Israeli police mistakenly arrested then released a Palestinian man, who had posted "good morning" in Arabic on Facebook, after software mistranslated his words as "attack them," Haaretz has reported.

Police confirmed only that a Palestinian had been released after being mistakenly arrested following suspicions of incitement. A report in Haaretz newspaper provided further details.

According to the report, which police would neither confirm nor deny, the Palestinian man posted a picture of himself leaning against a bulldozer at the Israeli settlement of Beitar Ilit, where he works, in the occupied West Bank.

The original Facebook post that led to the arrest (Screengrab/Haaretz)

Along with the picture, an Arabic phrase meaning "good morning" was also posted. Facebook's translation software interpreted the post to mean "attack them" in Hebrew and "hurt them" in English, Haaretz reported.

It was unclear how such a translation error could have been made as there are no apparent similarities between the Arabic expression used for "good morning" and the phrases in Hebrew or English.

The police were notified and the man was arrested last week, but no Arabic speaking officers were consulted prior to the arrest, the report said. The man was released after a few hours when police realised the mistake.

Police officers suspected the man planned to use the bulldozer he was photographed next to in a hit-and-run attack, as has been done before, the report said.

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri told AFP: "A few days ago, a Palestinian was detained for questioning on suspicion of incitement through his Facebook page."

She said he was "immediately released" after the suspicions turned out to be false.

The Facebook post has since been deleted.

Video: Women’s baseball in Gaza

16 October 2017

There are no baseball diamonds in Gaza. And the players train with tennis balls.

Some oppose women even playing the sport.

But the Women’s Baseball Team in Gaza, the first of its kind in Palestine, aims to bring more people to the game.

“It’s an American sport we used to see in films and TV shows,” says one player, Mariam Siyam.

A friend got her interested in the sport, the rules of which she admits she didn’t fully understand at first.

“It is a very enjoyable game,” Siyam adds.

“Nothing should prevent us from playing.”

Video by Ruwaida Amer for The Electronic Intifada.

Malta: thousands rally to demand justice for murdered journalist

Anti-corruption blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed in a car bombing last week



A woman holds a banner with a quote from murdered Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia at a rally. Photograph: Matthew Mirabelli/AFP/Getty Images

Monday 23 October 2017 

Thousands of people flocked to a rally on Sunday to demand justice for murdered Maltese journalist and anti-corruption blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Crowds packed roads in the capital Valletta as the “national demonstration for justice” began in honour of the 53-year-old, killed in a car bombing on Monday.

Initial shock at the slaughter of a woman whose work investigated the murky corners of Maltese politics, rattling the government and opposition alike, has since given way to demands for a united front for justice.

President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca led local dignitaries at a rally organised by civic groups who urged participants to turn up with Maltese flags but no emblems of party political loyalty.

She then received a group of organisers who handed her a written list of concerns and demands, including that the police commissioner and public prosecutor resign.

“We want justice. We are living a constitutional crisis. There is fear in the country. There is a surplus of criminality,” said one of those who met Preca, referring to a rise in organised crime. “Malta is under the influence of bullies who do whatever they like.”

Demonstrator Manuel Delia, like Caruana Galizia a blogger, praised the murdered reporter.

“Daphne was not killed for lying. Daphne was not killed for offending someone with her words.

Daphne was killed because she alone uncovered the illness that has weakened this country where greed rules and the garden of fairness has been burnt down to make way for the tower of desire for money at all costs,” he said.

At the start of the rally, marchers converged on the City Gate, Valletta’s main entrance, bearing slogans such as “Journalists will not be reduced to silence”, “We are not afraid” and “Crooks are everywhere”.

Although citizens mourning the murder say Malta’s deeply-ingrained tribal politics must be laid aside to enable to the shaken island nation to heal its wounds, some berated the political class over the killing.

“The authorities have blood on their hands,” one demonstrator, Francesca Aquilina, said, saying what happened to Caruana Galizia “could happen to anybody”.

Newspapers published a common front page all bearing the slogan “the pen conquers fear”.

Caruana Galizia was often described as a “one-woman Wikileaks” for unflinchingly bringing political dirt to the surface with dogged research into alleged financial corruption by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s inner circle, largely based on the Panama Papers leak.

 

But she also delved into the dealings of Adrian Delia, the new leader of the opposition Nationalist Party.

The government says it will leave no stone unturned in bringing the killers and their masters to justice, offering a one million euro ($1.2m) reward for information.

Many of Sunday’s marchers paid their respects to Caruana Galizia at a makeshift shrine outside Valletta’s Palace of Justice. “Seeing this demonstration makes us realise what struggles have been undergone to preserve democracy,” said Geraldine Spiteri, a lawyer.

Muscat said last week Caruana Galizia was his “biggest adversary” but noted she had also targeted his rival, Delia, whom she had accused of having an offshore account in the Channel Island of Jersey.

Trump plans to release JFK assassination documents despite concerns from federal agencies

 President Trump on Oct. 21 tweeted that he will release the final batch of files related to former president John F. Kennedy's assassination. (Joyce Koh/The Washington Post)

By Ian Shapira October 21 at 2:00 PM

President Trump announced Saturday morning that he planned to release the tens of thousands of never-before-seen documents left in the files related to President John F. Kennedy’s assassination held by the National Archives and Records Administration.

“Subject to the receipt of further information, I will be allowing, as President, the long blocked and classified JFK FILES to be opened,” Trump tweeted early Saturday.

Experts have been speculating for weeks about whether Trump would disclose the documents. The 1992 Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act required that the millions of pages, many of them contained in CIA and FBI documents, be published in 25 years — by Thursday. Over the years, the National Archives has released most of the documents, either in full or partially redacted.

[Pressure grows on Trump to release the JFK files]

But one final batch remains, and only the president has the authority to extend the papers’ secrecy past the deadline.

In his tweet, Trump seemed to strongly imply he was going to release all the remaining documents, but the White House later said that if other government agencies made a strong case not to release the documents, he wouldn’t.

“The president believes that these documents should be made available in the interests of full transparency unless agencies provide a compelling and clear national security or law enforcement justification otherwise,” the White House said in a statement Saturday.

In the days leading up to Trump’s announcement, a National Security Council official told The Washington Post that government agencies were urging the president not to release some of the documents. But Trump’s longtime confidant Roger Stone told conspiracy theorist Alex Jones of Infowars this week that he personally lobbied Trump to release all of the documents.

[Roger Stone is the man the media can’t ignore]

Stone also told Jones that CIA Director Mike Pompeo “has been lobbying the president furiously not to release these documents.”

Some Republican lawmakers have also been urging Trump for a full release. Earlier this month, Rep. Walter B. Jones (R-N.C.) and Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, brought forward resolutions calling on Trump to “reject any claims for the continued postponement” of the documents.

“No reason 2 keep hidden anymore,” Grassley tweeted earlier this month. “Time 2 let American ppl + historians draw own conclusions.”

On the 50th Anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination, author James Swanson shares the stories he learned while writing his book, "The End of Days: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy". (The Washington Post)

Though Kennedy assassination experts say that they do not think the last batch of papers contains any major bombshells, the president’s decision to release the documents could heighten the clarity around the assassination, which has fueled so many conspiracy theorists, including Trump.

In May 2016, while on the presidential campaign trail, Trump gave an interview to Fox News strongly accusing the father of GOP primary opponent Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) of consorting with Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald right before the shooting.

Some Kennedy assassination researchers think that the trove could shed light on a key question that President Lyndon B. Johnson tried to unsuccessfully put to rest in 1963: Did Oswald act alone, or was he aided or propelled by a foreign government?

The records are also said to include details on Oswald’s activities while he was traveling in Mexico City in late September 1963 and courting Cuban and Soviet spies, as well as the CIA’s personality profiles written of Oswald after the assassination.

But some experts fear the history that may be lost forever in unreadable documents in the trove. One listed as “unintelligible” is a secret communication from the CIA to the Office of Naval Intelligence about Oswald in October 1963 — weeks before the assassination. Oswald had been honorably discharged from the Marine Corps in 1959, but it was later changed to a dishonorable discharge. He was outraged and made threats late in 1963 when he learned the military had rejected his appeal of its decision.

[JFK’s last birthday: Gifts, champagne and wandering hands on the presidential yacht]

Phil Shenon, who wrote a book about the Warren Commission, the congressional body that investigated Kennedy’s killing, said he was pleased with Trump’s decision to release the documents. But he wonders to what degree the papers will ultimately be released.

“It’s great news that the president is focused on this and that he’s trying to demonstrate transparency. But the question remains whether he will open the library in full — every word in every document, as the law requires,” Shenon said. “And my understanding is that he won’t without infuriating people at the CIA and elsewhere who are determined to keep at least some of the information secret, especially in documents created in the 1990s.”

There are about 3,100 previously unreleased files that hold tens of thousands of pages of new material. The National Archives also has another 30,000 pages with information that has been disclosed before, but only partially and with redactions.

Jefferson Morley, a former Post reporter who has studied the Kennedy assassination records for years, said that the last tranche of material is also intriguing because it contains files on senior CIA officials from the 1960s — officers well aware of Oswald’s activities in the days before the assassination.

He specifically pointed to the files of former CIA officers William K. Harvey and David Phillips.
Morley said Harvey led the agency’s assassinations operations and feuded constantly with Kennedy’s brother, Robert F. Kennedy, over the administration’s crisis with Cuba. Phillips, Morley said, oversaw the agency’s operations against Cuban President Fidel Castro and was deeply familiar with the CIA’s surveillance of Oswald in Mexico City.

“What’s in those files could tell us how those men did their jobs,” said Morley, who wrote a 2008 book on the agency’s Mexico City station chief. “There might be stuff on why we were interested in the Cuban consulate, how we surveilled the consulate, how we did our audio work, and how did we recruit spies there? We might understand much better why they were watching Oswald.”

John Wagner and Carol D. Leonnig contributed to this report.

Spy agency flags rising threat of Chinese infiltration of Australian universities

"We continued to identify and investigate harmful espionage and foreign interference directed against Australia." Source: Reuters/Thomas Peter

20th October 2017

AUSTRALIA’s top spy agency has said it is combatting foreign governments’ “covert influence” in the country, as commentators and senior politicians raise fears regarding the Chinese Communist Party’s influence over Australian business, politics and university life.

In its annual report released this week, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) made a number of statements which – while not explicitly mentioning China – seem to allude to the Communist Party’s attempts to exert influence over business and political in Australia.

“We continued to identify and investigate harmful espionage and foreign interference directed against Australia,” read the report. “Ethnic and religious communities in Australia were also the subject of covert influence operations designed to diminish their criticism of foreign governments.”

A security agent takes position at the Great Hall of the People during the opening session of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing, China October 18, 2017. Source: Reuters/Thomas Peter

SEE ALSO: China ‘very’ actively spying on Australia – defence official

The report was released amid concern regarding the influence of the Chinese Communist party on Australian university campuses and a warning from ASIO earlier this year that political donations from Chinese businessmen could be compromising the country’s democracy.

“These activities—undertaken covertly to obscure the role of foreign governments—represent a threat to our sovereignty, the integrity of our national institutions and the exercise of our citizens’ rights,” said ASIO.

Australian security agencies are reportedly at the forefront of efforts by the so-called Five Eyes intelligence partners – along with the UK, US, New Zealand and Canada – to combat the Chinese intrusion in western universities.

Earlier this week, Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop issued a warning to Chinese students that “this country prides itself on its values of openness and upholding freedom of speech, and if people want to come to Australia they are our laws,” as quoted by the ABC.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop. Source: Reuters/Lean Daval Jr

SEE ALSO: Census reveals Australia more Asian, less religious than ever

Counter-espionage and foreign interference efforts will be a “major focus” for ASIO in the coming years, said its report. “While we had a number of successes in identifying and degrading the harmful effects of espionage and foreign interference, the scale of the threat to Australia and its interests is unprecedented.”

Some 200,000 Chinese students were enrolled in Australian universities in 2016, and 1.2 million Chinese have visited the country as tourists over the past year.

Chinese agents are said to be placed on campuses in Australia, reporting on Chinese students who do not conform to the Communist Party’s ideological agenda. Student associations are used to tow the Communist Party line.

“Because many Chinese students have internalised the need to align with official views, maintaining Australia’s standards for free and open debate will remain a daunting challenge,” wrote Merriden Varrall, the director of the Lowy Institute’s East Asia Program recently.

Last year, the Australian Financial Review raised concerns regarding Communist Party-funded infrastructure for several Australian tertiary education institutions, claiming there was a “concerted campaign to promote Beijing’s strategic interests.”

The newspaper pointed to the University of Technology Sydney receiving an entire library from the Chinese government and an additional AUS$1.8 million (US$1.3 million) for the Australia-China Relations Institute from the Chinese-owned Yuhu Group.

The Yuhu Group also donated AUS$3.5 million (US$2.6 million) to the University of Western Sydney to set up a new Chinese cultural institute.

“We identified foreign powers clandestinely seeking to shape the opinions of members of the Australian public, media organisations and government officials in order to advance their country’s own political objectives,” added ASIO’s report.

SEE ALSO: Australia spying on China’s embassy, harassing citizens – Chinese state media

Speaking earlier this month at the Confucius Institute at the University of Adelaide, Australia’s Foreign Affairs Secretary Frances Adamson emphasised that “Australia’s university campuses have a proud history of supporting free debate – of enabling the robust exchange of viewpoints.”

“Here I want to address my remarks to those of you who are international students: We want you to experience our contest of ideas and participate fully in it, as it is part of what constitutes an authentic Australian education,” said Adamson.

“The silencing of anyone in our society – from students to lecturers to politicians – is an affront to our values.”

This article was originally published on our sister website Study International.