One World One Ummah
A draft treaty on the transfer of sentenced prisoners between India and Sri Lanka is in the advanced stages of negotiations and is expected to be finalized shortly, the Indian High Commission in Colombo said.
Indian High Commission spokesman Dinkar Asthana told Daily Mirror the draft treaty will facilitate the return of sentenced prisoners of the two countries back to their home country for serving the reminder of their sentences.
A senior officer in the Army has died following a road accident in Kurunegala.
Col. Duminda Amarasekara of the 611 Brigade has succumbed to the injuries suffered in the incident.
The vehicle in which he had been travelling in had collided with a parked police truck yesterday morning (Oct. 20).
Four other soldiers were also wounded and admitted to hospital.
The North Western Province Deputy Inspector General of Police has been summoned to Parliament today for a meeting of political party leaders to discuss about the investigations on the recent attack on UNP MP Palitha Range Bandara in the Puttalam district.
The move comes amidst strong protest by Mr Bandara claiming that police have failed to act on the available incident.
Mr. Bandara is in possession of a photograph of one of those who allegedly set fire to his house and office two weeks back. The suspect had been injured in the fire and was admitted to the Kalubowila Hospital, he claimed.
The State Engineering Corporation has agreed with the Government of Libya to build housing schemes in Libya, Minister of Construction and Engineering Services Rajitha Senaratne said at the media briefing held at the Ministry of Mass Media and Information today (20).
If the Libyan Government appears satisfied with the above project, it is expected to give another construction of 7500 houses to the Sri Lankan Engineering Corporation, he added.
The longest bridge has been built across a lagoon in Kinniya. The Irakkandi Bridge was another dream of the Eastern polity. These two bridges were declared opened by President Mahinda Rajapakse a short while ago.
The new Kinniya Bridge was a long felt need of the people of the Eastern Province. It is the longest bridge to be built across a Lagoon. It links Horoi-Adi and Kinniya in Trincomalee. Construction work has been completed meeting the needs of the Eastern people. The work was carried out under the supervision of Senior Presidential Advisor and Parliamentarian Basil Rajapaksa and at the behest of the President.
The project cost 789 Million Rupees. It was built by China Oto Kaik Limited Construction Company, a Chinese firm and with financial assistance from the Saudi Development Fund. The Bridge which is 396 metres long has two lanes. The work was launched in 2004 when the President was serving as the Prime Minister. It will be of great relief to the people who earlier used to traverse across the Lagoon through a ferry service.
The Irakkandi Bridge which was devastated by the Tsunami has been rebuilt. Former Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle launched the work last year. The Government accelerated the construction work to facilitate people of several areas in the East. The allocation made for the Irakkandi Bridge and two other Bridges is 1.8 Billion Rupees.
Children of several leading schools in Kandy town and suburbs have been infected with the H1N1 novel influenza virus (swine flu), tests by the Medical Research Institute have confirmed.
An awareness programme for schoolchildren and teachers was conducted yesterday (Oct. 19) to prevent the outbreak from reaching epidemic proportions, chief medical officer of Kandy Dr. Asoka Senarath has told the media.
Provincial directress of health services Shanthi Samarasinghe said this viral disease was not fatal, but could worsen into pneumonia without proper medical care.
Government Minister Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan (Karuna Amman) has slammed the conditions under which Sri Lankan refugees are kept in Tamil Nadu (TN) saying that the Tamil Nadu government has not made any effort to improve the conditions for the people who have been there for well over a decade
Irresponsible web sites which resort to distorting facts to create a rift between the government and ‘other’ parties would be black listed and publicized through the provisions available through the state media, the government information department said today quoting a Minister.
A North Western Provincial council UPFA members vehicle was attacked and damaged last night by a group of supporters of his own party in Kalpitiya, Puttlam
M.E.M.Thaheer who is UPFA members Council member was returning from Norochcholai area when his vehicle was attacked. He was unhurt in the incident.
three persons have been arrested.
An armed gang stormed the residence of the Deputy Chairman of Puttlam the Urban Council Ali Khan and threatened him to withdraw from politics, police said.
At least 14 persons, most of them carrying T56 weapons scaled the wall of Mr. Khan’s residence to enter the premises and said that he should step down from politics.
Mr Khan who was elected as UPFA member to the council later crossed over to the SLMC. However there was speculation that he was trying to return to the UPFA.
Mr Khan suspects that a deputy minister in the area who was against his return to the UPFA was responsible for sending the armed gang.
by Kusal Perera
Its funny in a way, that the Oslo based Nobel Foundation decided to award the Peace Prize 2009 to a President of a country that lives on profits from military hardware sales and services. Its funny too, for them to think, this President, Barak Obama of USA, is making “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples”, when he is heading a State that fuels conflict more than promote freedom.
“For many, war is synonymous with Iraq or Afghanistan, but our research enumerates 25 ongoing conflicts throughout the world. In the last decade, the U.S. has transferred some $8.7 billion in arms and military services to these war zones, $970.5 million in 2003 alone. During that year (the last year for which full data is available) the United States transferred weapons and military hardware into 18 of 25 conflict zones. This is despite the fact that these transfers appear to violate the spirit (if not the letter) of the Arms Export Control Act and the Foreign Assistance Act, which bar the transfer of U.S.-origin military equipment into active areas of conflict.”
[U.S. WEAPONS AT WAR 2005: PROMOTING FREEDOM OR FUELING CONFLICT? http://www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms/reports/wawjune2005.html ]
That is reason why the splendid orator he is, Obama sounds aggressive against Pakistan for not waging war against the Talebans. He is consistent with his cold phrased threats against Pakistan, ignoring that Pakistan is an independent and sovereign, foreign country. He said US must be willing to strike Al Qaeda targets inside Pakistan, “with or without approval from Pakistan,”(Reuters – 01 August, 2007) even during his campaign for Democratic presidential nominations.
He did so without Pakistani approval, as US President. US drone attacks inside Pakistan began again, just 03 days after Obama took oaths as President of the USA on 20 January, just the way Bush had ordered them. He thereafter signed orders to send 17,000 US army fighting cadres to Afghanistan on 18 February, within 01 month of being President of the US.
“This increase is necessary to stabilize a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, which has not received the strategic attention, direction, and resources it urgently requires,” Mr. Obama was quoted as having said after he signed the order, by the Christian Science Monitor.
He is marching on for war, with a new brand of oratory that can not in any way camouflage the same old war. Barak Obama is meanwhile awarded the world’s most prestigious peace prize by the Nobel Foundation for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples”. That too wouldn’t make any difference to the Afghan and Pakistani tribal people, who would have to duck to save their lives from US drone attacks.
The fact is, no US president could do otherwise, with or without a Nobel Peace prize. Obama as all other US Presidents has to continue SOUTHCOM operations, with a 600 million dollar administrative budget, to service Latin American military assistance, that annually tops over USS $ 120 million. That is not what is more important in Obama being awarded the Peace Prize. It’s the US economy and its heavy dependence on military hardware and armaments. This US economy is an economy that is heavily dependent on waging war, to sustain their heavy armament industry.
According to SIPRI Yearbook 2008, of the TOP 10 military and armaments companies, 06 are US companies and their profits for year 2007 totalled US $ 14,702 million. These companies on the other hand have employed 578,200 Americans, a number that can not be allowed to join the laid off lot in a struggling economy. In this recession or even otherwise, no Obama can forget all of them and decide US foreign policy. Foreign policy for US is simply dealing with conflicts any where in the world, for their own advantage and benefit.
The dilemma of the Head of State of the USA in saving his country’s recession hit economy does not stop with the 06 companies in the Top 10 military hardware manufacturing group. If one goes down the list to the next Top 10 to make it a total of Top 20 in the military hardware and armament industry in the world, one would find 14 US companies slotted in sharing a massive profit of US $ 45,582 million and an employment figure of 1,435,980 persons.
All of it is not the total share of the US economy in waging war. There are 46 top US companies listed among the Top 100 companies in the world, manufacturing military hardware and armaments. These companies no doubt have a very big chunk in the US economy and any blockade to sale of their war products would hit the US economy far worse than any recession or meltdown. A blockade on their war products would mean any peace initiative to on going armed conflicts any where in the world, that would produce positive results in sustaining a “cease fire” leading to a possible sustainable peace process and not necessarily a permanent end to conflict right now.
What it also means is, the US economy is not an economy that could sustain itself in a conflict free, peaceful world. It needs conflicts and big conflicts too. It also needs to now shift its axis of war from the “war weary” Mid East to some where else, to allow some respite to the Israeli – Pan Arab world. This coalition the Obamian regime would try to foster for a respite in Mid East, leaves out Iran. And it drags in Afghanistan too. Thus the Obamian long term commitment from the presidential campaign times, to shift the war from Iraq to Afghanistan.
What it also means is that South Asia, by default could be the next theatre of war, for US companies to sell their destructive military hardware and armaments. Any escalation of the Afghan war will have Pakistan held responsible for Taleban activism. Talebans, as we know are of very many shades and ideologies. They work with very many fundamentalist armed groups in Pakistan, some covertly supported by the Pakistani ISI as well. Between Pakistani ISI and the Indian RAW is another conflict that exports armed conflicts across borders. Not only across Pak – Indo borders but across Afghan borders into Kabul as well. Such rivalry and ideological battles have made cross border conflicts an inherent feature in inter State dealings in South Asian conflicts.
Thus, all manipulations by Obama to have the Afghan war going despite its public statements in bringing democracy to the Afghan people, would have its extension to Pakistan and then into India. The present Indian regime has any way decided to accelerate its war against Maoists and would be militarising the Indian society. There are 03 Indian manufacturers listed among the Top 100 companies that has gained a listed profit of over 500 million US dollars during the year 2007. They would also need more conflicts to grow on their profits.
We in South Asia are thus heading into the future with economies that live on armed conflicts, with Obama heading the biggest such economy and is awarded the Nobel Peace prize, the money he says would go for charity. Charity after all is a by product of all conflicts.
transcurrents
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) as signed between Sri Lanka and Iran for the purchase of drugs.
The signing ceremony took place at Temple Trees in the presence of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Iranian Foreign Minister Mottaki and his Sri Lankan counterpart Rohitha Bogollagama singed the MoU.
The agreement will lead to mutual awareness of the two countries and also symbolizes the friendly ties between the countries.
Iran’s Ambassador Mahmoud Rahimi Gorji and Health Secretary Dr. Athula Kahandaliyanage were present.
Muslims in Sri Lanka and South India have expressed their serious concern on the report of Souht Indian MPs made after their visit to Sri Lanka last week. This report has made no reference to the 20 years old expelled Mulsim refugees from the North despite the MPs being briefed on the plight of these Muslim refugees. This fatal omission of another victimised community has made the report, a biased report, lamented a senior member of the expelled Muslim refugees in Puttalam. “The Indian MPs failed to visit the expelled refugees in their camps in Puttalam despite repeated requests. Now they have failed to make reference to them in their report. This proves their partisian approach”, he added.
The visiting South Indian MPs visited refugee camps in Vanni during their 5 days stay in Sri Lanka. They also visited the hill country and met people of Indian origins. Thier visit to the Eastern province was cancelled due to political reason. They were met by representatives of the Muslim community including an SLMC delegation led by its leader Rauff Hakeem. ACMC leader and Minister Rishad badi ud din also had meeting with them with expelled Muslims from Northern province.
These leaders have appraised them of the plight of forcibly evicted Muslims in 1990 by the LTTE. Minster Rishad himself is one of the expelled Muslim refugees. They requested the delegation to visit the refugee camps of expelled Muslims in Puttalam. This could not be made due to the tight schedule of the delegation, some diplomatic sources said.
Sources of the All Indian Muslim League, Soth Indian branch also expressed shock on the omission of reference to the expelled Northern Muslims bythe South Indian MPs.
psm
Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Telecommunications Corp., or Etisalat, said Saturday it acquired a 100% stake in Tigo Sri Lanka, a wholly-owned unit of Luxembourg-based Millicom International Cellular S.A. (MICC), for $207 million as it continues its expansion into new markets.
“Expelled Muslims from Jaffna have been denied access to Jaffna penisula by land for the past 20 years. This could be acceptable during the war situation. Now the normalcy has returned and A9 high way is open to public transport. So it is not justifiable asking the expelled Muslims to have access to the penisula only by sea or air”, charged Chief of Muhammadiya Jummah Mosque M.U.M. Thahir.
The Muslims who were forcibly evicted from Jaffna in 1990 by the LTTE are languishing in the Vavuniya district and elsewhere as refugees. They have been able to obtain national identity cards from the region they are currently living in and the NICs only mention Jaffna as the place of birth. In this context, when they try to return to their original homelands, they have been turned down at Vavuniya and told to go by sea or air since the NIC has been registered outside the Jaffna district.
Whether they travel by sea, air or land their destination is the same. So why are they turned down by charging them of being aliens to their own native places? This is an absolute violation of their human rights.
“Relevant officials and the Government Agent should immediately turn their attention to this serious offence and facilitate smooth transport for these people to and from their birth place”, Mr. Thahir further said in his statement.
PSM
At least 150 school children from Meerakerny Macan Markar Vidyalaya in Eravur, Eastern Sri Lanka have been admitted to the hospital this morning after consuming iron and vitamin tablets at school.
According to the hospital sources the tablets used by the school children have been distributed by Medical Officer of Health (MOH) office in the area. MOH, Dr. M.H. Mohamed Thariq told the media that the main reason for this situation was that the children consumed the tablets on empty stomach without having breakfast. After consuming the tablets most of the students have complained that they are suffering from severe headaches, vomiting and dizziness.
The venture is an initial investment of US $ 150,000. This is located in Colombo and it will initially provide employment for 20.
The venture will provide electronic communication and wireless broadband services to government and commercial corporations in Sri Lanka. “The company will provide BlueCherry Service, a form of BlackBerry provided over GSM phones integrated with email facilities” stated Mr. Ng See Nguan, Managing Director of NEO iTopia.
Presidential advisor Basil Rajapaksa is to resign from his national list parliamentary seat to lead the presidential election campaign, ‘Lankadeepa’ reports.
Southern provincial councilor elect Hemal Gunasekara is likely to take his place and be given a non-cabinet ministerial position, said the newspaper in a report by Ranjith Ananda Jayasinghe.
A date is expected to be announced next month for the presidential polls tipped to be held early next year.
The government had changed an earlier decision to appoint Mr. Gunasekara as south chief minister, after ex-CM Shan Wijayalal de Silva polled the highest number of preferential votes at the October 10 polls.
The report also says that labour minister Mervyn Silva had been asked to resign to give way for Mr. Gunasekara.
The 396 meters long and 10 meters wide bridge on the A-15 highway links Trincomalee, with Kinniya. The bridge has two pavements each 1.5 meters wide for the pedestrians. The project to build the bridge was initiated under a directive of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to alleviate the difficulties faced by the civilians in the region for a long time.
Currently the public use ferry transport to cross the Kinniya Lagoon to reach Kinniya and Muttur areas in the Trincomalee District.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday ordered that the ultra modern seven storeyed kidney unit built at a cost of Rs 450 million at Maligawatte, which had remained idle for the last several months, due to a tug-o-war between the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) and the Health Ministry, be commissioned immediately.
The unit was to be commissioned in January. The President has directed that arrangements be made to treat the first kidney patient at this unit, before the end of this month.The GMOA wanted the unit for the use of doctors to treat patients and was opposed to university professors conducting kidney related medical research in it.
This led to the unit remaining noncommissioned for months despite being equipped with expensive machinery. It has 25 dialysis machines, CT scanners, operating theatres for kidney transplants and medical and surgical intensive care units
A Health Department survey has revealed that the North Central, North Western and Uva provinces have about 30,000 chronic kidney patients and the Anuradhapura District in the North Central Province alone has 17,000. Though these patients have to undergo dialysis every week, provincial hospitals lack facilities, the Health Ministry survey has revealed.
Healthcare Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva held urgent discussions with President Rajapaksa about the Maligawatte Kidney Unit on Monday night.
Meanwhile, yesterday Colombo hosted a high level summit on kidney ailments where all South Asian nations participated.
the Island
The new Kinniya Bridge constructed at a cost of Rs. 720 million will be opened for general public on 20th October, Ministry of Highways and Road Development said.
The bridge one of the longest bridges in Sri Lanka was funded by the Saudi Arabian Government. The residents of Kinniya said the dream of the people in the area has become a reality because of this new bridge.
This is a great achievement and a clear evidence of the Government’s efforts for reconciliation and development in North and East.
The public transport from Muttur to Pottuvil will also be hassle free via this bridge. Meanwhile, the construction work of the Oddamavady Bridge is also nearing completion and it will be handed over to the public by the officials of the Highways Department, Batticaloa.
Recent attempts at putting up fences in the Muslim majority village of Kuduwil situated in the Irakkamam DS Division in the Ampara district by wildlife officials has created a sense of fear amongst the villagers again, said SLMC General Secretary and Parliamentarian Mr. Hasen Ali in a complaint made recently to the Ampara Government Agent. He urged the GA to immediately stop this action by the relevant officials.
The said wildlife officials are currently engaged in the act of putting up fences in a land area used by the villagers as the main burial grounds and which was acquired after much struggle and effort by the villagers. The fencing is to prevent wild elephants from entering the village from the Deegavapi jungles, the officials say.
However, Kuduwil is situated between Irakkamam and Addalaichenai and is not connected to Deegavapi in anyway.
This is yet another attempt at chasing out the Muslims from the village and establish Sinhala settlements. According to the wildlife officials, the fencing has been initiated following discussions with Divisional Secretaries but when the said officials were contacted they denied any involvement in such discussions and that they were not aware that such a process was being undertaken in the area.
PSM
General Sarath Fonseka Chief of Defense Staff addressing officers and men of the Sri Lanka Army at the 60th Army Anniversary Parade in Colombo said it was the last time he was making an address of that nature. He said he has finished his obligations dedicated to the Army.
Well-known civil lawyer M.U.M. Ali Sabry was recently awarded the prestigious Jaycees TOYP 2009 award (Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the Year) for the category Law.
A product of Kalutara Muslim Maha Vidyalaya and Zahira College Colombo Sabry enjoys a lucrative and voluminous practice in original and appellate courts specializing in civil law.
In the recent past Sabry has appeared in many landmark cases including a ground breaking action brought in for Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, wherein he successfully obtained an interim injunction preventing Sunday Leader from continuing to defame his character, a clear departure from hitherto known remedy of post publication action for damages.
In a series of action brought in for Rohitha Bogollagama, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardene, Neomal Perera and Abdul Baiz all members of Parliament, Sabry successfully challenged their expulsion process from the party in the original court as pre-emptive action to prevent expulsion from the Parliament virtually opening a new jurisprudence in the arena.
A skillful exponent of the Constitutional remedies for the betterment for the society, Sabry successfully invoked the writ jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal to prevent gem mining in tea estates to preserve the Minneriya forest reservation to put a halt to construction of motels in the Horton Planes and to preserve the Uma Oya in Badulla District for the future generation.
Committed to transcending boundaries and opening new vistas in his chosen field, Sabry voluntarily withdrew all technical objections which could have otherwise taken to permit a witness in United States to testify in a Sri Lankan court via video conference opening a new chapter in Sri Lankan judicial history.
Thus Sabry became the first Counsel to cross examine a witness via internet, in a Sri Lankan court. The versatility in Sabry as a lawyer was brought in to limelight in a recent significant intellectual property right case, to prevent the publication and sale of the book Neththa Wenuwata Aththa (inside story of the JVP power struggle) authored by Wimal Weerawansa MP. The action brought in lime with famous English case of Ashdown Vs. Telegraph Group Limited is considered as a milestone in intellectual property jurisprudence in the country.
Meaningfully expanding accountability and transparency towards the private sector, he brought an action against the Touchwood management alleging insider dealing in the share trading and an action against Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) for breach of duty of care relating to the same saga, perhaps first of its kind in the country.
A much sought after civil practitioner Sabry appeared in several other leading civil cases in the recent past such as Gunadasa Kapuge damages case, Fedrick Obeysekara last will case, Upali Wijeyawardena property case, Television Regulation case, Waters Edge compensation case, Edna Melamine case and Multivision licence case etc.
During his Law College days Sabry was the General Secretary of the Law Students’ Union and the deputy leader of the Sinhala debating team.
A former diplomat Sabry was the Sri Lankan Consul General in Jeddah Saudi Arabia during 1997-2000 and the founder of the Sri Lanka International School in Jeddah. He was also a Board Director of the National Youth Services Council and led the Sri Lankan delegation to the 8th Ship for World Youth (Nippon Maru). Sabry is the current Treasurer of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka. Previous winners of the prestigious award in the category include Romesh De Silva PC and Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe PC, MP.
Sabry is the son of late M.S.M. Uvais and Zareena Uvais of ‘Mudaliyar Villa’ Katukurunda, Kalutara.
dailynews
At least one person was killed and two others injured when a vehicle driven by a driver of Deputy Ministre K.A. Baiz met with an accident at Madurankuliya on the Colombo – Puttalam Road, yastaday , police said.
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