Two journalists who went to cover President's rally say they were 'threatened'

Sun, Jan 28, 2018, 09:31 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Jan 28, Colombo: Two journalists, who went to cover the UPFA and SLFP election rally in Badulla under the patronage of President Maithripala Sirisena on Sunday (Jan. 28), have complained to the police that they were threatened and chased away from the rally.

Kapila Kuruppuarachchi and Jayalath Dissanayake, who had gone to cover the rally for the media institutions Sirasa and Derana, said they were threatened and chased away by the Public Relations Officer of the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Nimal Siripala de Silva Ajith Hikkaduwa Liyanage.

Journalist Kapila Kuruppuarachchi told BBC Sinhala Service that the reporting the incident of Uva Chief Minister Chamara Sampath Dassanayake forcing the Principal of the Tamil Girl's School to kneel down is the reason for the hostility.

Ajith Hikkaduwa Liyanage, however rejecting the allegation said he only asked the journalists why they did a one-sided report on the kneeling incident.

The Uva Chief Minister has been accused of having called Principal of the Badulla Tamil Girls' School R. Bhavani to his official residence and forced to kneel before him reprimanding her for not admitting a student to 1st grade as per his order.

The Public Relations Officer of the Minister had also sent a letter to the principal requesting to admit the student to the school.

"We do not want media like, you are the ones who worked against us in the past, so do not come here," Minister's Public Relations Officer has told the journalists.

"Today, I make the welcome address of this meeting. If you are there I will say that the two people who opposed us are here and they are the ones who attacked the Chief Minister. Then we don't know what people will do. Even your homes will be in trouble, we will not be responsible for that," Journalist Chandana Kuruppuarachchi quoted the Minister's aide as saying.

Following the altercation, the journalists have turned away without going to the meeting and have made a complaint to the Badulla Police.


Commenting on the allegations, Public Relations Officer of Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva Ajith Hikkaduwa Liyanage said that he only asked the journalists why they made a biased report on the kneeling incident since the Uva Provincial Council Chief Minister Chamara Sampath Dassanayake is a friend of his and they are involved in political activities together.

SL-Singapore FTA comes with Govt’s ‘Look East’ policy: What does it mean?

Singapore Trade and Industry Minister S. Iswaran and Minister for Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama are signing the FTA in the presence of Singapore Premier Lee Hsien Loong and President Maithripala Sirisena -file photo

 2018-01-29 

Last week saw back-to-back visits to Sri Lanka by two South East Asian leaders, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsieng Loong and Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo. Both visits were described in terms of strengthening bilateral relations, promoting trade and investment and a desire to develop ties with ASEAN. In fact the identical language was used in the two joint statements on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding these visits, each saying that the respective head of state “…encouraged Sri Lanka to enhance its engagements with ASEAN and the ASEAN Regional Forum.”  
During Lee’s visit Sri Lanka signed a Free Trade Agreement with Singapore, said to be the first ever inked with a South East Asian country. It was showcased as “being part of a broader ‘Look East’ strategy of the government.”This description was used in statements from the Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade and in subject minister Malik Samarawickrema’s public remarks. What could ‘Looking East’ mean for Sri Lanka?  
‘Looking East’ is terminology generally associated with India in its economic relations with South East Asia, and had its origins in the early 1990s. More recently it includes also the more strategic objectives associated with countering Chinese influence in the region, according to analysts.The US supports India’s ‘Look East’ policy, particularly in the context of developments in the South China Sea which has become a flashpoint.  
“… Since 2014, India has been working not only to Look East but to Act East as well. And it appears the government has taken substantial positive steps towards building close relationships with India’s ‘East’ partners,” says a comment on the London School of Economics blog site from two months ago. According to Vaishnavy Mulay: “When looked at, with regard to China, the Act East policy appears to be a whole different ball game. The Act East policy goals then appears to be two-pronged: boost India’s standing as a regional power by initiating increased cooperation in the region, and act as a counterweight to the increasing strategic influence of China.”  
The fact that India means business when it comes to ‘Acting East,’ was on full display last Friday (26) in New Delhi where all ten ASEAN leaders were present as chief guests at India’s Republic Day parade. This was preceded by a summit with the ASEAN leaders to celebrate 25 years of India-ASEAN relations.  
Notwithstanding the tensions, India’s relations with its giant neighbour and rival cannot be seen as hostile, given the significant trade relationship between the two, and India’s collaboration with China in projects like the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the BRICS group of 
emerging economies.   

• FTA - part of a broader ‘Look East’ strategy of the government

• Singapore’s investment in SL amounted to only $658 million from 2015 to 2017

• SL’s relationship with China is not comparable with that of India

• India’s relations with its giant neighbour and rival cannot be seen as hostile

• As for the Sri Lanka–Singapore FTA, by all accounts there seems to have been little public discussion on it ahead of the signing

• All of these factors including developments in the external strategic environment set out above, leave many unanswered questions

Mulay points to ASEAN states’ complex responses to tensions in the their region when she says:“The states in China’s vicinity can be said to be seeking to expand their strategic space by reaching out to other regional and global powers. In this case, smaller states in the region, such as Vietnam and the Philippines, look to India to act as a vital actor to counter increasing Chinese hegemony. Strategically this is a clever move as officially India does not follow a policy of containing China, cloaked by the Act East policy, India is able to assert its presence in the region while at the same time this goes hand in hand with India’s efforts to strengthen ties with ASEAN.”  
However Sri Lanka’s relationship with China is not comparable with that of India, or that of the ASEAN states. Sri Lanka has no border disputes with China nor has it faced any type of aggression from this ‘all-weather friend,’ who supports Sri Lanka in international forums.China has now become the biggest investor in Sri Lanka’s post-war infrastructure development. China cannot very well be blamed for the problems resulting from excessive debts voluntarily incurred by Sri Lanka, or for the domestic anger over government give-aways of freehold property rights. Was it not Sri Lanka’s prerogative as a sovereign state, and the duty of Sri Lanka’s political leadership, to negotiate more skilfully in the 
national interest?  
There would seem to be no clear explanation for Sri Lanka ‘Looking’ or ‘Acting’ East – if the term is taken to mean pursuing ties with ASEAN in order to ‘counter Chinese influence.’ If Sri Lanka seeks to engage more closely with ASEAN it would be for the intrinsic benefits of strengthening those relationships, and not as part of any counterbalancing strategy.   

"Sri Lanka signed a FTA with Singapore, said to be the first ever inked with a South East Asian country"

So what does the government mean by ‘Looking East?’ Is it simply a buzz-word thrown in for good measure, in the process of marketing the Singapore FTA to the public? Does it point to some confusion at a policy level? Or is it terminology advised by external forces guiding policy?  
It is perhaps relevant to note that US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis in Washington on 19th Jan. revealed the Trump administration’s new national defense strategy,marking a shift in emphasis from ‘terrorism’ to ‘great power rivalry.’ Mattis flagged China and Russia as the main threats, reportedly noting that China is using ‘predatory economics’ to intimidate its neighbours, while ‘militarising features in the South China Sea.’The speech came ahead of his visit to Indonesia and Vietnam.“Mattis wants to increase maritime cooperation in the region, and Indonesia - the connection point between the Indian and Pacific oceans - is key to that” said a US defence department news report. The state visit to Sri Lanka by Indonesia’s president and the calls for Sri Lanka to enhance engagement with ASEAN countries, come against this background.  

"There would seem to be no clear explanation for SL ‘Looking’ or ‘Acting’ East – if the term is taken to mean pursuing ties with ASEAN in order to ‘counter Chinese influence"

As for the Sri Lanka–Singapore FTA, by all accounts there seems to have been little public discussion on it ahead of the signing. Although the government says there have been consultations with all stakeholders, a large collective of trade unions and professional associations has publicly opposed it, alleging ‘corrupt processes’ and ‘conflicts of interest.’ By the government’s own admission, Singapore is not a significant export market for Sri Lankan goods, and Singapore’s investment in Sri Lanka amounted to only $658 million from 2015 to 2017. The government seems set to introduce a raft of new laws and amendments to existing laws in the near future, to enable the FTA to be implemented. It would appear that once these changes (that the government has committed itself to) are in place, the newly liberalized policies will become applicable to all comers.   
All of these factors including developments in the external strategic environment set out above, leave many unanswered questions regarding the nature and purpose of the much-hyped Sri Lanka-Singapore FTA.   

How To Groom Intellectuals For The Future? Two Contrasting Views From Thailand & Sri Lanka

By W A Wijewardena –January 29, 2018

Two views to groom intellectuals for the 21st century

Two intellectual discourses have recently taken place in Thailand and in Sri Lanka, one month apart from each other, relating to the development of intellectuals in the respective countries for the 21st century.

The first was an address by Professor Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai, President of the Asian Institute of Technology, popularly known as AIT, before the Royal Society of Thailand or RST in December 2017. The title of Worsak’s address was ‘Grooming the Intellectuals to be Global Citizens in the 21st Century’.

 

The other was a discourse delivered by young and daring media person Chapa Bandara in two sessions, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon, before a group of students reading for a special degree in economics at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura or USJ in January 2018. The theme of Chapa’s multilogue with students was the state of Sri Lanka’s economy today and the future economic strategies to be adopted.

A summary of Worsak’s discourse is presented in his FaceBook page. Chapa’s two sessions could be accessed at YouTube:
And

 

A common goal for Thailand and Sri Lanka

Both Thailand and Sri Lanka have the same economic goal today. That is to become a rich country within the next generation. Of course, Thailand with a per capita GDP of slightly more than $ 6000 and categorised as an upper middle income country, has started the race much ahead of Sri Lanka. In contrast, Sri Lanka is still at the threshold of joining that group with a per capita income of about $ 3900.

Thailand is fast becoming an industrial powerhouse with about 20% of its manufactured exports representing high-tech exports in 2015 according to World Bank data. The comparable figure for Sri Lanka is a little less than 1%. Hence, the challenge for Thailand is to consolidate its power in the export market. Sri Lanka is just an infant in this trade and, therefore, has to first crawl on knees before starting to walk on its two feet. But, there is a promise for Sri Lanka.

That is due to the inclusiveness of technology, which the futurist Peter Diamandis has called ‘democratisation of digitisation’. Accordingly, an infant today can rise quickly on its feet and start running along with other racers without waiting for so many years to get itself ready for the race.

Framing the educational policy vs. micro treatment of students 

The audience addressed by Chapa had consisted of undergraduates at USJ who in the education industry are called ‘throughputs’. A firm in the industry like USJ takes students as throughputs, subjects them to a transformation within the institution during a specified study period and releases those throughputs as ‘intellectuals’ to society.

Hence, the guest lecture arranged by USJ with Chapa is a midway treatment of the throughputs similar to the injection of muscle-growing hormones to broiler chicken by a poultry farmer. In economics, it is called micro-treatment.

In contrast, the discourse of Worsak before RST is to educate those in Thailand who are charged with the task of deciding on the methodology and technology to be used to transform the throughputs to be taken by all the higher educational institutions in the country. Thus, Worsak’s attempt was to enlighten the country’s top policy makers as to how they should frame the future education policy of the country.

In this article, we look at Worsak’s wisdom. In the next one, we look at that of Chapa.

Worsak, the highly qualified engineer turned academic 

Worsak became the President of AIT, a position equivalent to that of the Vice Chancellor of USJ, in 2014. He is an engineer who had his undergraduate training at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand. He completed a Master’s degree in engineering at AIT and a doctorate in the same subject at the University of California, Berkley.

Before becoming the President, he had held numerous positions at AIT including the post of the Dean of the School of Engineering.

Worsak is a fellow member of RST which has a history of close to 100 years. It is the national academy of Thailand that advices the government on academic matters. Hence, his education of fellow RST members will certainly help Thailand to frame its future education policy to meet the requirements of an emerging era.

From digital natives to global citizens

Worsak has presented the concept of ‘global citizen’, the emerging trend that unifies the peoples of the world. The present young generation, according to him, are ‘digital natives’ who are to evolve into global citizens one day.

Of course, this is not the first attempt or the first tactic used to unify the peoples of the world. As documented by Yuval Noah Harari in his Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, there had been three other attempts at unifying peoples of diverse origin and dispersion through money, empires and religion.

The new attempt at doing so has been the modern technology which has created a completely different Homo sapiens. According to Worsak, a gap between the educators and students has arisen in the new digital age ruled by students categorised as digital natives.

Digital natives more inclined to use the web

In his FaceBook page, Worsak has noted: “Many students of current generation, known as “digital natives”, keep wondering why they are expected to take notes in the classroom when they can acquire the same knowledge directly and comprehensively from the web. In fact, some students today are using their mobile phones to search and verify teacher’s contents on the screen. Any university that refuses to recognise and prepare for the reality of change will be out of the business soon.”

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Making principal kneel puts Uva CM in a soup

BY Methmalie Dissanayake-2018-01-28

Incidence of politicians interfering in the schools admission process is not so uncommon in Sri Lanka. No matter how shameful it may seem, if you have a letter from a politician and bundle of currency notes you can gain many things in this country. Political interference came to a climax when a provincial politician forced a lady teacher to kneel during school hours in 2013, after illegally entering the school premises.

That incident occurred during the Rajapaksa regime. It later became a topic harped on during political campaigns when the general election was called in 2015. Pioneers of the 'good governance' government assured the country that such incidents would never occur when they come to power. Two years after establishing the 'good governance' Government history has repeated itself.

Chief Minister and the Principal

On 9 January, addressing a public rally, JVP Uva Provincial Councillor Samanatha Vidyarathna made a shocking revelation. He claimed that Uva Chief Minister Chamara Sampath Dassanayake had summoned a principal of a girls' school in Badulla and ordered her to kneel before him for not enrolling a student he had recommended.

"The CM tried to enroll a student by sending a letter to the principal. But, when she rejected it, the CM had through provincial and zonal education administrative officers, summoned her to his house and forced her to kneel in front of him," the JVP Councillor alleged.

Following this revelation, the Uva PC meeting became heated on 12 January as both Vidyarathna and Provincial Councillor Sachithanandan began to question the CM over the incident. The CM calling a press conference on the same day vehemently refuted the allegations levelled at him by Vidyarathna.
The next day, R. Bhavani, the principal in question, giving a statement to the media, also refuted the reports regarding the alleged incident.

What really happened?

A few days later, UNP MP Vadivel Suresh paid a visit to Bhavani's school. During that meeting, the emotional principal accepted that Vidyarathna was correct.

"The CM summoned me to his residence and began to scold me badly. I was confused because I did not have any clue about what was happening. Then I had to kneel in front of him saying that I deliberately did nothing wrong," she then broke down.

She said that she was forced to deny to the media that the incident took place by the CM and the Provincial Education Secretary Sandya Ambanwala.

Role of the Police

This incident caused an uproar in the whole country and it worsened when the police got involved.
Police then tried to direct the principal to the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) of Badulla Hospital to test her mental status. It was reported that the Police tried to take her to the CM's residence before taking her to hospital. This incident saw several protests taking place in front of the hospital and the Police Station.

Following the uproars, President Maithripala Sirisena on 21 January ordered IGP Pujith Jayasundera to immediately launch an investigation into the incident.

The CM had to resign from his provincial Education Ministerial portfolio until the conclusion of the investigation.

Education Secretary Ambanwala was also removed from her post.

On 23 January Dassanayake surrendered to the Badulla Police but was released on bail by a Magistrate because the Police did not object to bail.

Mammoth HRCSL inquiry

The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) following complaints filed by Campaign for Free and Fair Election (CaFFE) Executive Director Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon and the All Ceylon Teachers' Union (ACTU) General Secretary Joseph Stalin, on 25 January summoned Sandya Ambanwala and six others, including the Provincial Education Director, the Zonal Education Director and a media official working at the provincial council.

The OIC of the Badulla Police was also summoned. However, he was not present but had sent another officer to represent him. Principal Bhavani also gave a statement to the Commission.
The inquiries were conducted for over 10 hours, in what is probably one of the longest, if not the lengthiest, HRCSL inquiry in recent history.

Briefing the media about what happened during the inquiry Tennakoon said that that the witnesses contradicted themselves under cross examination.

He said, "It clearly showed that the Educational Secretary and other witnesses had delivered their statements by heart. When we cross examined them they could not answer properly. Also, they only remember certain parts of the story. For an example, they remember the principal coming to meet the Chief Minister, but they cannot remember the way he talked to her and what happened afterwards. The CCTV records also seemed to be incomplete."

Tennakoon added, "This is a clear example of how much the education system of this country has been corrupted by politicians and education authorities. It is a shame that the administrative officials help politicians to harass teachers."

Stalin said they would stand by Bhavani till justice is done by her. "Such incidents should never happen again. We will fight to the end to protect the dignity of teachers."
He added, "What we told the country about this shameless incident was proved again during the inquiry. Police played a significant role in this whole scenario. We suspect that they tried to take the Principal to the hospital without a complaint. They have filed the 'B' report incorrectly. It seems that they were under political influence."

However, Ambanwala and the other officials refused to speak to the media.

Bhavani told the journalists, outside the HRCSL, that she hopes that she will receive justice.
So does the whole country!

Recommendations of the Commission on ‘bond scams’: some comments

By Usvatte-aratchi-January 28, 2018, 9:25 pm 

I was much gratified to read the Recommendations of the Bond Commission, published in this Newspaper on 18th January. It pretty much confirmed what I wrote on 9th January in The Island on ‘Bond scams: ….’ It was so close that even the figure for losses to government from the bond sale on 27th February 2105, which I showed for illustration, was in the same ballpark as the estimates of the Commission. They found, as I did, that the nub of the charges lay in ‘insider trading’ perpetrated by an identified primary dealer. The Commission’s findings also put paid to the false notion propagated by politicians and celebrated by TV channels that what took place was a ‘highway robbery of the Central Bank (maha banku man kollaya)’.

On Jan. 23 the President spoke of ‘a maha banku bandum kara mankollaya’. The Central Bank had no bonds sold in the market. The scandal was in respect of government bonds. The ‘losses’ were in respect of government bonds. Was this a disingenuous trap to smear those that were in charge of the Central Bank? Politicians as well as TV journalists ought to re-think the degree to which they permit their prejudice to mislead the public, throwing good judgment to the winds.

One must question how far the qualifications of a candidate for this position can be stipulated in the law; one must leave something for the discretion of persons with high levels of responsibility. John Exter, in his report on the appointment of a Governor, used pretty much the same language as the Commission: a person of competence and unquestioned integrity (quoting from memory). The book on central banking by de Kock (M. H. de Kock, Governor of the Reserve Bank of South Africa?) that the Commission has quoted was written some time before the last European war (1939-1945) and we read it as undergraduates, in1956 and I never went back to it. Nor have I seen it cited it in the recent literature on central banking. The book was well written and read well but was short on deep insights. We were so relieved when the Radcliffe Committee Report on banking came out in 1957/58. We were already familiar with the Macmillan Report of 1931; but that had been before a quarter century of creative change in central banking. The Radcliffe Report helped us to understand many problems which de Kock had left unanswered. Allen Binder (Princeton and Fed) or Charles Godhart (LSE and the Bank of England) or Bimal Jalan (Governor RBI, whose book, I am familiar with only from reviews) would have been far surer guides. The Commission’s comment that ‘There have been 22 piecemeal Amendments to the Monetary Law Act since1949, but these Amendments have only addressed specific issues’, is not congruent with facts. The Monetary Law (Amendment) Act, No. 32 of 2002 constituted a major revision of the MLA of 1949. It revised the objectives of the Bank, established a Payment and Settlement System and 28 sections of the MLA (1949) in all were amended. Whether these amount to addressing ‘specific issues’ alone is a matter of judgment.

Two of the most significant observations made by the Commission are that our capital markets are governed by the Registered Stock and Securities Ordinance of1937 and the Local Treasury Bills Ordinance of 1923. These are wholly inadequate. I was astonished by that revelation. When the Rajapaksa government and the Sirisena government spoke of a Finance Hub in Colombo, they must have been either joking or out of their minds. Sometime in 1979 or 1980,I was in charge of a small group who provided, on request, Technical Assistance in matters of Public Finance. One morning someone from the Chinese Embassy came to see me to request that UN mount a programme of Technical Assistance to draft legislation on capital markets. (I was not unaware that the Shanghai Stock Market pre-dates 1940.) I informed him that we did not have the expertise and that I would talk to my superiors and let him know whether we could seek expertise from outside the UN. I spoke to two reputed firms of lawyers in Manhattan and found that their fees would exhaust my total annual budget a few times over. Eventually, the Chinese government hired lawyers from outside. That is the degree of care that a government, serious about financial sector reforms, gives to the relevant laws. We are all in debt to the Commission for their wise observations.

Major amendments to MLA were not all that Governor A.S. Jayawardena worked for in the Re-structuring Project 2002-2003. All senior officers of the Bank partook in the exercise and there were many seminars and visiting experts who helped the Bank to formulate their ideas. Taken all together, it was a period of excellent training and learning. W. A. Wijewardena and Ranee Jayamaha were leaders in this enterprise and know more about it than anyone else. I was a Consultant on Public Finance and Economics at that time. (The President was also the Minister of Finance; that, I find, is a bad idea, which President Rajapaksa emulated and, I hope, President Sirisena would avoid as it creates an anomalous situation where the President would advise himself as to who should be appointed as Governor of the Central Bank!) The Governor tried hard to convince the President the Public Debt Department and the EPF Department should cease to be part of the Central Bank. The reason was that the objectives of the Public Debt Department (to minimize interest cost to government) and of EPF Department (to maximize interest earned by EPF) were inherently in conflict in themselves and fundamentally antagonistic to Central Bank policies to achieve macro-economic stability. Now, in addition, the Bank has had to suffer the opprobrium of association with crooked dealers in capital markets. Trade Unions, in particular, as in 1958 when the EPF Act was adopted, opposed the proposal to move to EPF from the care of the Central Bank on account of the unquestioned integrity of the Bank. Now that that Teflon cover has been blown and that EPF has functioned for 60years under the care of the Central Bank, it is time for Trade Unions to manage their members’ accumulated savings. Who would take better care of one’s wealth than the owner herself? The Public Debt Department manages the debt of the state as agent of the government. That arms’ length arrangement creates problems for the Central Bank and offers no advantages to government. It is wise to leave the Central Bank alone to manage monetary policy and safeguard the banking system. (It is odious that the Central Bank, in the person of the Governor, talks for the government on economic growth, a practice which began with Governor Cabraal. It is not his business but stability of prices and the banking system is. In any case, the Central Bank does not have the instruments with which to leverage the rate of economic growth. Spokesmen for the government must be a dozen a dime.) One would not consult Keynes’ ‘General Theory ….’ about economic growth any more than Richard Nelson’s ‘Sources of Economic Growth’ about stabilization. All the literature that we and visiting experts produced 2002-2004must lie with the Bank.

Reading the Report of the Commission, one recalls the petition which three citizens of this country, with the help of a leading attorney in Colombo, made to the Supreme Court as early as March 2015, in which they requested the Court, among other things, to direct the Monetary Board to carry out an independent inquiry by a panel of professionals well versed in the rules, the systems, procedures and processes applicable to public debt management, under the supervision of the Court. The petitioners in paragraphs 21to 30 of the petition articulated the reasons for requesting the Court for do so. The reasonare pretty much the same as now presented in the Report of the Commission. The Supreme Court after hearing Counsel for three days denied the requests of the petitioners. Had the Court decided to permit the petitioners to proceed, we would have got to the bottom of the scam a good two years earlier and certainly at less cost and even less misinformation doled out to the public.

The Commission recommends that ‘… consideration be given to recovering the costs of this Commission of Inquiry from …’, the alleged wrong doer. I think this is an unwise idea. What if at the end of an inquiry the suspected allegations came out untrue? Would the government then come under obligation to compensate the accused his costs? What if only 30 percent of them were true? The Commission was not a court of law and they had no power to find any one guilty. What is just in asking an errant dealer to pay for a service that it did not buy nor had control over the manner in which it was provided? Will a court hold that as fair and just? Besides, it looks as if essential functions of government were being outsourced to private litigants.

What would have been highly desirable is for the Commission to have kept accounts of how much was spent on the work of the Commission. In 1969, I was appointed by Minister C. P. de Silva as a member of the Gal Oya Project Evaluation Committee with four others, one of whom, B. H. Farmer of St. John’s College in Cambridge and a renowned geographer, was Chairman. At our first meeting, on the initiative of Farmer, we decided to ask our young Secretary (Tissa Devendra, CAS) to keep an account of all our expenses. Public funds were being spent on the work we undertook. At our last meeting we received a statement as requested, thanks to the Secretary and the cooperation of the Gal Board accounting office. (I reproduce it here from the Report, Ceylon Sessional Papers, 1969.) It was our hope that Commissions and Committees that came after us would emulate that salutary example. Hopelessly vainly. This present Commission, with a member who was an experienced accountant and auditor, would have done itself proud had it given the public a first-cut estimate of their expenditure. It is still not too late to do that. After all, they spent public money.

Leaving that aside, I, for one, am very grateful to the Commission for the speed with which they completed the Report and the clarity of statement of recommendations. I had feared that their Report would suffer the same fate as many of the several reports on the Welikada Jail Murders had. I am grateful to the President and his office for putting it out to the public that soon. It is not too late to improve their performance on that score. I look forward to the debate in Parliament on the Report and hope that MPs would discuss the problems uncovered and solutions recommended by the Commission and not resort to fisticuffs which is culturally their forte`.

It would be very useful, if a month after the issue of the Report in Sinhala and Tamil, the President’s office were to commission a Survey to find out how many people had read it, at least in part.

Bank accounts of 28 PTL companies frozen

• By Namini Wijedasa-Sunday, January 28, 2018

Central Bank's Financial Intelligence Unit takes urgent steps to prevent money laundering

The operations of bank accounts of all 28 companies within the Perpetual Group– associated with Arjun Aloysius, a key suspect in the controversial Central Bank bond scams—have been frozen with immediate effect by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), authoritative sources told the Sunday Times.

The directive was issued on Wednesday to banks in which the accounts reside and was pursuant to available “intelligence” that Perpetual, beneficiary of questionable bond transactions that are under investigation, was taking steps to siphon funds. The suspension means that none of the 28 companies within the group can carry out financial business of any sort through their bank accounts.

The authorities will now begin vetting each of the accounts so that the suspension could be eased to facilitate the group’s routine activities such as payment of salaries to employees. Lawful transactions will be permitted, the sources said, adding that the action taken this week was an urgent move to prevent money laundering.

Among the companies in the group are Perpetual Treasuries (Pvt) Ltd, Perpetual Asset Management (Pvt) Ltd, Perpetual Capital Holdings (Pvt) Ltd, W M Mendis & Co Ltd and Integrated Media Networks (Pvt) Ltd. The concern also has large shareholdings in various other listed entities. The fresh order supplements an earlier Monetary Board directive freezing PTL’s two accounts that were maintained to trade in Government treasury bonds. Those assets amount to a total of Rs 12.5bn, including Rs 7.5bn in cash and the rest in securities. The company’s effort to have that suspension overturned by court was unsuccessful.

The FIU implements anti-money laundering regulations and administers the provisions of the Financial Transactions Reporting Act. Its order this week has a wider ambit than the Monetary Board action which caused a suspension of trading in both the primary and secondary markets of treasury bonds by PTL. The FIU order suspended all debit transactions–withdrawals or transferring out of monies–of all accounts of the entire Perpetual Group.

The CBSL issued a media statement explaining the November 2016 directions of the Monetary Board. It said PTL’s levels of operation in the primary and secondary market were curtailed and that the alienation of funds was prevented. Further directions were issued from time to time, it said. The company’s business activities are suspended and PTL is prevented from the disposal of assets, distribution of profits and making payments without the prior approval of CBSL till July 6, 2018. The Securities and Exchange Commission was also requested to take appropriate action with regard to PTL assets coming under its purview.

The regulator is yet to issue a statement on the latest developments.

‘President Sirisena , kill us by hanging if you wish but use the sword properly.’ If you don’t woe betide ! Harin (video)

(Lanka-e-News - 28.Jan.2018, 6.50 AM) ‘President Maithripala , if you wish you may  kill us by hanging. That is no issue. But, if you do not use the sword duly , we from Badulla would  like to tell you, we  shall be starting a massive revolution .  You have to take a decision,’ Digital Minister Harin Fernando who is most hurt over the un-doings of Maithripala warned in Badulla. 

It will not be wrong if it is said , this warning from Harin Fernando is an outburst  of his  deeply hurt feelings over  Maithripala Sirisena’s repugnant conduct which is not in the best interests of the nation.   Maithripala who is now launching unrelenting   attacks targeting the  forces responsible for  the 2015 rainbow revolution which in fact elevated him to the presidential throne (contaminated by him now) , has proved beyond any doubt he is by far the  most ungrateful human  or rather  ‘talking animal’  that ever trod this soil.

Harin made the above comments in a fit of rage over the  brutal assault launched on UPFA members  Ganeshamurthy and Upali Senaratne of the Uva Provincial council (PC)  who joined the UNP .These members  were most ruthlessly attacked by the goons of Senthil  Thondaman and minister Chamara Dassanayake  who are Maithri’s uneducated barbaric scoundrels.  Chamara Dissanayake was also the rascally minister who treated a lady principal  of a school most disgracefully and made her to kneel down . (The video footages of the merciless  attack obstructing the victims from participating in the Uva PC sessions , and Harin Fernando’s emotional speech are hereunder) 

Harin went on to make his indignant comments as follows : 

“The cursed shawls of the Rajapakses were removed. It is those who were clinging on to those shawls,  now are  inside the sarong of Maithripala. This is most sorrowful , and most painful to us.  It is we who propelled  Maithripala to the presidential throne . The chief minister today is one who was crawling inside the  loin cloth of Mahinda Rajapakse.  We know , those who worked for Mahinda Rajapakse with heart and soul are today yelling out from within Maithripala’s sarong. This is extremely hurtful and agonizing  to us.

Your  excellency, if you want kill us by hanging .That is no issue, but you belong to us. It is we who made you the president  .We say this loudly. 

Your  excellency , we are most hurt and ashamed when we see goons coming  to our district and polluting the environment  , our teachers are made to kneel down  and our members are being assaulted. Of what worth are these portfolios in these circumstances? We feel ashamed to tell these . We are most  ashamed. 

We still trust you though you are requesting votes for freedom . We are also clamoring for freedom from the top of the elephant .But ,please use your sword correctly. If you don’t,  we wish to tell you , we shall be launching on a huge revolution at Badulla. 

Your  excellency , we wish to  tell a thing to you . That is, when we took  you into our embrace  , we held rallies reposing trust in you. The estate votes were cast  on the faith they had in you. The Muslim population voted for you because they believed you.

When rascals like  Dilan Perera  who is doing your sordid biddings now  is casting aspersions on  us, how can we just wait? Dilan is the same individual who showed the cup of poison to  you during the last presidential elections. When that foe who showed poison cup to you is feeding you with candy balls like a friend  today ,what can we say? 

How long are we to remain silent and tolerate this?  Without revealing this , how can we keep our mouth shut every day? Therefore your  excellency please take a decision. 

Comrades , don’t forget some on stage of the SLFP say, because Ranil Wickremesinghe cannot seek presidential election  we substituted Maithripala. This is because they have forgotten  a salient fact : Can you remember the posters we printed and displayed? Our posters clearly stated ‘Maithri is president , Ranil is Prime Minister.’ If there is any SLFP er  who cast the vote for Maithripala , he/she  must have been sure if Maithripala  is president ,the following day , Ranil Wickremesinghe will be the P.M. 

Therefore this is not something new or  novel. All knew about it and came. Please  remember , 6. 2 Million people voted with the intention to make Ranil Wickremesinghe the P.M. Though every riff-raff thinks Ranil Wickremesinghe can be chased out, and pipedreams, that will not happen . Understand that well . That  game cannot be played in this area any day by anyone. 

These  are the riff-raffs who worked for Mahinda Rajapakse and did his sordid biddings, who after 2015-01-08 clung on to our sarong and crept in .Hence , can they say things like that to us ?

Hence , your excellency, 

This is  not a  local administrative body election alone ,it is our most valuable franchise and rights. Please therefore keep in mind , this election is to protect our rights , to decide on our future, and safeguard  the dignity and image of our UNP party ‘’

The video footage is hereunder 

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by     (2018-01-28 01:48:33)

Alcohol and Brain: The Science behind getting drunk

2018-01-29

We all know that when people drink alcohol they behave in a certain way. Either we have seen this or have experienced it ourselves. Unfortunately, we hardly explore the science behind effects of alcohol. This is an opportune time to do this given the prevailing discourse on alcohol. I have written about the same topic many years ago, and today let us revisit and revise same.   

The ‘drunk’ behaves weird; amuses himself, others

They start to talk louder, excessively; act aggressively, jovially; and sing and dance, too. People who do not usually sing and dance will start to sing or dance. Inhibitions disappear. A liveliness and arousal emerge. One sees and hears the drinker being aroused by alcohol apparently.   

Alcohol is a chemical that acts on the brain

Swallowed alcohol goes to the brain, and it acts on neurons, which are the cells that make up the brain,to cause intoxication; apparently, a state of arousal as described above.   

Is alcohol a brain stimulant?

Well, you only need to read any book on neurobiology or do a quick search on the internet. Alcohol is a potent CNS depressant!   

What is CNS?

It’s the Central Nervous System: The brain and the spinal column   
Well, we just concluded that alcohol apparently functions as a brain stimulant. But when we check the chemical properties of alcohol, we find out that it is a -   

 

• A powerful brain depressant:   

• A chemical that slows down the brain.   

• And it’s opposite of a brain stimulant.   

If alcohol is a powerful brain depressant, how do those who consume it appear to be stimulated?

Brain depression would cause the person to talk slowly, walk slowly and feel depressed; but after drinking alcohol the person talks loudly, dances enthusiastically, and feels lively.   

How is this explained?

How can we explain the features of alcohol intoxication? Before answering this question, I like to post yet another question.   

How fast does alcohol reach the brain and ‘intoxicate’?

Sometimes people start showing the effects of alcohol intoxication as they start to plan an alcohol-consuming session. Many will show signs of stimulation while they open the bottle pour the liquid and start drinking. Most people will show signs of stimulation after they have had a few ‘shots’.   

Alcohol to exert its effects needs to reach the brain in sufficient volume

Alcohol is absorbed from our stomach and intestines and then passed through the liver. The liver then removes most of the Alcohol from the blood, a process that actually harms the liver. Liver cells quickly become damaged in the process. A few sips of alcohol would be sufficient enough to cause this damage. As the liver removes alcohol from the blood, it takes a while for alcohol concentration to build up in the blood. Obviously, you need to drink with reasonable interval so than the rate of the liver that does its faithful job. Therefore, it takes quite a while for enough alcohol to reach the brain.  How can we explain the fact that certain people start showing signs of alcohol intoxication during the time that enough alcohol has not yet reached the brain? That is, when the first few sips are consumed? Difficult, right?   
Furthermore, there is no way to explain the behaviour of people who start showing signs of alcoholic effects, even before the first drink!   
We have now answered the question ‘How fast does alcohol reach the brain and produce intoxication?’   
Hang on! we are left with a puzzle: Why do people develop effects of alcohol intoxication before alcohol actually reaches the brain in sufficient volume? Here goes another question we need to address, before answering any of these questions. ...can effects of alcohol intoxication be reversed? The obvious answer is, yes.   

• A man groping and shouting at his wife under intoxication quickly shuts his mouth when his mother enters the room.   

• A local villager, who was apparently drunk and shouting in filth, instantly becomes well-behaved when a Cop appears in his vicinity.   

• However, when the Cop leaves the scene, he goes home and become aggressive again to his wife and children.  

• The doctor who was relating stories of his undue behaviour of breaking hospital rules and norms, suddenly, completely and skilfully, changes the topic as the Director of the Hospital unexpectedly joins the party.   

So, there you are!

If the verbosity, aggression, frolicking and poor judgement were due to alcohol, why would they suddenly disappear? Surely, alcohol concentration in the blood cannot be fluctuating greatly and hurriedly in response to environmental cues!   

Another unanswered question...

Let us summarise all these unanswered questions mentioned above: Why do effects of alcohol seem to be readily reversible without change in blood alcohol concentration? How come alcohol appears to exert its effects on the brain very quickly (sometimes even before drinking has started) while it takes a while for the blood alcohol concentration to build up? How can we explain alcohol’s stimulating effects knowing that it is a powerful brain depressant?   
There is only one answer to these three questions. But let us explore one more issue, ‘learning’, before we go further.   

What is ‘learning’? 

Learning is something we do all the time. Education involves complex learning. However,the psychological phenomenon called ‘learning’ is a term used with a particular meaning in Psychology and is considered a cornerstone of modern Psychology.  One of the simplest forms of learning is ‘association’. This was beautifully demonstrated by Physiologist Ivan Pavlov, a Russian, over a century ago.   
Pavlov fed dogs, his lab animals with meat powder. In one of his experiments, which he designed after an accidental finding, he fed them as a bell was rung. And he did this repeatedly. After a while, he rang the bell, but he had no meat powder. He saw the dogs starting to salivate as soon as they heard the bell ringing. Just imagine! A dog is salivating when a bell is rung?   
As the ringing of a bell and salivation (originally due to the smell of meat powder) were coupled a few times, the dogs learnt to salivate at the clang of the bell.   
This is learning of a new behaviour (salivating in response to a bell ringing) with association - bell and meat powder - which was not there before (dogs did not salivate in response to ringing of bell before this).   
Not only new behaviours, new emotions, too, could be learnt.   

Now let us explore the application of ‘learning’ in alcohol consuming

We do not drink in isolation under despairing conditions, generally. At least not at the beginning of a person’s drinking career. We usually drink with friends and relatives during celebrations. Delicious food in a comfortable environment, friendly conversation, light humour and memories come to the surface. All these and more are shared.   

 

• We feel pleasure   

• We feel stimulated   

• We behave ecstatically   

• We talk a lot   

• Sing   

• Dance   

• and, have fun.   

After a while, alcohol alone brings us joy, pleasure, songs, and nice memories. We seem to have our brains stimulated.However, what we do not understand is that this apparent brain stimulation is the ‘salivation’ and alcohol is the ‘bell’!   We really feel the fun and the joy as we become ‘intoxicated’ with alcohol.   
We really behave as if we are stimulated and we really are the ‘dogs’ in the lab of Pavlov! Learning, which is even more complicated than the simple mechanism given above, is one powerful way to describe many effects (including sudden disappearance of such effects) of alcohol. That seems to be the conclusion. What an anti-climactic end to this discussion!   
So we act the ‘Pavlovian Dog’, and we ‘salivate’ when the ‘bell’ is rung. The only difference is that the ‘bell’ is alcohol. The ‘salivation’ is the nonsense we do and feel.   
The ‘dog’ means us; and ‘Pavlov’ is the alcohol industry!  

The writer is a Consultant Psychiatrist and Director of the Centre for Combatting Tobacco (CCT)

If receives support of 96 UPFA MPs Maithri says will form SLFP Govt

By Ravi Ladduwahetty-2018-01-28

President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday threatened to form an SLFP Government, claiming that he was ready to do so, if all the 96 UPFA Members of Parliament were with him from now on.
"I can easily form an SLFP Government with all the 96 MPs, who were elected at the 8 August, 2017 Parliamentary elections supporting me, he told a Local Government polls rally in Ratnapura yesterday.

He also invited those, who were saying that they would support him, while having formed, to return to the SLFP, their original Party. He also said that what he had was the SLFP Blood and that he was vehemently opposed to crony capitalism, rampant corruption, feudalism and family bandyism.
He also said that he was taking action against corruption and not against the UNP or the SLFP.

He also said that he would be definitely appoint another probe commission to study the rampant corruption which took place at SriLankan Airlines and Mihin Air and that he would be issuing the gazette notification in that regard next week.

He added that he would be changing the institutional structures, so that the corrupt could be punished and he would be doing everything to fortify the SLFP after the 10 February Local Government polls. A large number of former UNP supporters and heavyweights in the Ratnapura District pledged their support to the President and joined the SLFP.

Qatar turns to Israel to escape Saudi squeeze

US President Donald Trump meets Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in New York, 19 September 2017.

Kevin LamarqueReuters
Tamara Nassar-26 January 2018

The Qatari government has been sponsoring trips for right-wing Americans and staunch supporters of Israel in an apparent bid to salvage the emirate from its regional isolation.

Earlier this month, Israel apologist Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz made a trip to Doha at the invitation of Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the emir of Qatar, who financed the trip.

Dershowitz, one of the Israel lobby’s most prominent US figures, wrote an article upon his return in which he reflected on numerous meetings with Qatari officials.

But he first professed to being surprised at learning that an Israeli tennis player was to participate in a Doha tournament and that Qatar is open to welcoming the Israeli national soccer team, should it qualify for the World Cup which Qatar will host in 2022.

He contrasted this with Saudi Arabia’s refusal to grant a visa to an Israeli chess player, concluding that “the Saudis were not necessarily the good guys in their dispute with Qatar.”

“The Israel of the Gulf”

Dershowitz’s take on the Qatar blockade also referenced Israel: “I observed that Qatar is quickly becoming the Israel of the Gulf states, surrounded by enemies, subject to boycotts and unrealistic demands, and struggling for its survival.”

Dershowitz reiterated repeatedly that he did not verify any of the information he was given, but was only relating what he was told. In this vein, he suggested that Qatari-Israeli normalization is on the horizon.

“I heard a lot of positive statements regarding Israel from Qatari leaders, as well as hints of commercial relationships between these isolated nations.”

Dershowitz also told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that he asked the emir, Sheikh Tamim, and other top Qatari officials to help release the bodies of two Israeli soldiers, Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, who were killed during Israel’s 2014 assault on the Gaza Strip, and two other Israeli citizens currently being held there.

“They told me they’re trying,” Dershowitz said of the Qatari officials.

State-sponsored trips

Mike Huckabee, the Christian Zionist former governor of Arkansas also made a trip to Qatar this month.

Huckabee, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016, is the father of Donald Trump’s White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Huckabee opposes any Israeli withdrawal from Jerusalem and has suggested Israel should annex the West Bank, which he calls “Judea and Samaria.”

In a tweet, he described Qatar as “surprisingly beautiful, modern and hospitable.”

Gov. Mike Huckabee

✔@GovMikeHuckabee

Just back from a few days in surprisingly beautiful, modern, and hospitable Doha, Qatar I will appear on @FoxNews at 9am ET and @Varneyco on @FoxBusiness at 8:45 to bring Fancy Nancy some "crumbs" to sprinkle on her caviar topped @FiveGuys burger.

7:55 AM - Jan 12, 2018

Conservative radio host and Israel supporter John Batchelor was also invited by the Qatar government to broadcast his show from Doha earlier this month, where he was joined by former Republican congressman Thaddeus McCotter.

Batchelor released a series of episodes from Doha, some of them in conversation with top Qatari officials.

In one of the episodes, defense minister Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah discusses the illegality of the regional isolation of Qatar.

John Batchelor

✔@batchelorshow

On the Road to Doha: Conversation with His Excellency Dr Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah, Minister of State for Defence Affairs of Qatar.https://audioboom.com/posts/6589798-on-the-road-to-doha-the-known-unknowns-of-the-crisis-in-the-gulf-cooperation-council-his-excellency-dr-khalid-bin-mohamed-al-attiyah …

4:18 AM - Jan 13, 2018

John Batchelor

✔@batchelorshow

My conversation with His Excellency Dr. Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry, State of Qatar.https://audioboom.com/posts/6592798-on-the-road-to-doha-small-country-big-lng-plans-for-the-21st-century-dr-mohammed-bin-saleh-al-sada …

12:30 PM - Jan 16, 2018

In a short episode upon his return, titled, “Qatar as an island of stability and good cheer,” Batchelor reveals that “what they wanted to know was how America views Doha, Qatar.”

He expressed that “they’re an ally if we want them. They love [Secretary of State Rex] Tillerson too.”
Shortly after Dershowitz published his article, and Huckabee and Batchelor returned to the US, the White House announced that President Trump spoke with Sheikh Tamim, thanking him for “Qatari action to counter terrorism and extremism in all forms” and that they “discussed areas in which the United States and Qatar can partner to bring more stability to the region, counter malign Iranian influence and defeat terrorism.”

All agree on Israel

Qatar has been at the center of regional grievances because of its support for the Palestinian political and resistance movement Hamas, whose leaders have long been hosted in Doha, among other reasons.

Yet despite these deep divisions, the regional states apparently still see eye to eye when it comes to cozying up to Israel.

In September, Haaretz reported that a Washington lobbying firm hired by Qatar was trying to arrange meetings with major American Jewish groups for the emir while he was in the US for the annual United Nations General Assembly.

This looked like an attempt to use Israel lobby influence in Washington to help Qatar push back against the efforts to isolate it.

“Engagement with Qatar can only be in the best interests of the United States and the Jewish community, as we cannot allow Qatar to be ostracized by its neighbors and pushed into Iran’s sphere of influence,” Nick Muzin, the lobbyist from the firm Stonington Strategies which was reportedly receiving $50,000 a month for its services, explained.

Conflicting reports

In Jordan, the Israeli embassy is set to reopen after a six-month crisis caused by an Israeli embassy guard shooting and killing two Jordanian nationals at a residential building in Amman in July.

According to Jordanian government spokesperson Muhammad al-Momani, Israel expressed its “deepest apology” over the incident.

But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed that he did not apologize, but merely “expressed regret.”

Netanyahu confirmed that “Israel will pay the Jordanian government compensation for the death of the two citizens, but will not award compensation to the family of the victims,” according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

The Jordanian government subsequently transferred the compensation – $5 million – to the families of the victims.

Jordanian officials also contested reports that Israel won’t prosecute the gunman, Ziv Hai Mordechai Moyal.

According to the Jordanian AlGhad newspaper, officials said the Israeli government had committed to pursuing legal measures against Moyal.

The Jerusalem Post, meanwhile, reported that the Israeli ambassador to Jordan, Einat Shlain, would be promoted and reassigned.

Moyal fatally shot 16-year-old Muhammed al-Jawawdeh as well as property owner, Bashar Hamarneh.

The shooter was then spirited back to Israel under cover of diplomatic immunity before there could be a proper investigation.

Moyal was given what Jordan saw as a hero’s welcome by Netanyahu.

The Israeli prime minister also thanked Trump advisers Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt for their “behind-the-scenes efforts, which helped solve the crisis,” according to The Times of Israel.

Despite the rift, Royal Jordanian is one of three carriers – the others being Turkish Airlines and Ethiopian Airlines – that will reportedly help Israel deport African refugees, after El Al pilots refused to do so.

Jordanians overwhelmingly oppose the reopening of the embassy, and there is also continued strong opposition to a deal Jordan signed last year to import gas from Israel.