By President Mahinda Rajapaksa
The global economic crisis taught us many lessons that varied across nations. All countries learnt both common and individual lessons, from this crisis, which left behind a trail of serious damage across nations and shook the very foundations of the financial structure of the world. It is therefore, clear that if we are to safeguard the world economy in the future, we would need to build a new financial order and a model that will better equip us to face crises of this nature, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his inaugural address to the 49th South East Asian Central Bank Governors’ (SEACEN) Conference, in Colombo today (25).
Commenting on the theme of the conference - “Post-Global Financial Crisis: Issues and Challenges for Central Banks of Emerging Markets” - he said that in seeking to build a new financial order much attention has been paid to regulate and supervise financial institutions which are considered to be “too big to fail”. This is indeed commendable, since the fall of major global financial institutions damages the international financial structure in a permanent manner.
“By the same token, it is also necessary for the worldwide financial community to focus upon the management of economies that have a global impact, and therefore have become “too big to fail”, he added.
Among the distinct causes that aggravated the Global Economic Crisis identified by President Rajapaksa in his address at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka were: “The blatant application of double standards; the obvious policy contradictions and inconsistencies; the stubbornness of large economies to face realities; the unfortunate attempts to politicize multi-lateral financial organizations; and the lethargy in handling urgently needed financial bail-outs”.
Referring to the search for ways to manage the current turmoil in the world economic environment in a sustainable manner, he said that “in order to be truly successful, we have to solve the economic problems of our people, who are our ultimate stakeholders. The people of our respective nations have entrusted their Governments with authority and resources to provide them with a safe economic environment where they can achieve their economic hopes and aspirations. When a country establishes a Central Bank, the people transfer a significant part of that duty and responsibility to you as well. Accordingly, as Governors, you are also responsible to the people of your respective countries”.
President Rajapaksa also said the “recent crises also taught us that existing global currencies in the SDR basket such as the US Dollar, Euro, Sterling and Yen were probably insufficient to play the role of reserve currency in turbulent times. The search for alternatives led to the price of gold and other commodities rising, creating a new set of challenges. In that scenario, we welcome the suggestion by the IMF to include market currencies such as the Chinese Renminbi in the SDR basket. However, given the distinctive nature of emerging markets, which are still to reach near optimum levels of development, it may be wise to approach this issue without pre-conditions, so as to fast track these necessary reforms in the global financial architecture”.
Referring to the regional contribution towards building a new financial order, he said: “Our region offers a wealth of experience and knowledge to the world. Let us get together and deliver upon the expectations placed upon us. Let us pledge to do all in our power to ensure that this world, with all its knowledge, technology and understanding, will never have to experience another economic crisis of this magnitude or nature again”.
Here is the text of the Address by President Mahinda Rajapaksa:
At the outset, let me thank the Board of Governors of SEACEN for inviting me to inaugurate the 46th SEACEN Governors’ Conference and High Level Seminar. It is indeed a pleasure and privilege for me to do so, and I must thank all of you for selecting Sri Lanka as your host country for this most important event. I see your presence here today as a celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, and as an acknowledgement of the elimination of terrorism from our midst. In this background, we do hope you have an excellent conference and fruitful meetings so that you may carry wonderful memories of our people’s progress, ability and friendship.
It is clear that the SEACEN group has become a highly influential group in the world economy today. With the very recent entry of the People’s Bank of China to this group, it has further strengthened its reach and impact across the world, and I believe SEACEN’s voice would now be even stronger.
My dear Governors, you have selected “Post-Global Financial Crisis: Issues and Challenges for Central Banks of Emerging Markets” as the theme for your deliberation at this year’s Board of Governors’ Conference. As we all know, the serious studies that have taken place on this broad topic among many central bankers, economic stakeholders, analysts and others have been extensive and wide. I believe the main reason for such in-depth attention on the subject has been that, almost all nations have suffered immensely through the crisis. Many would also carry the scars of this massive financial disaster, for many years to come.
At the same time, historians would record that Asian economies came out of this painful era in better shape than their western counterparts. Perhaps the Asian crisis in the late 90s and the subsequent counter measures implemented by the Asian economies enabled them to develop the resilience, strength and wisdom to face the new crisis in an appropriate manner. This ground reality then suggests that a better prepared country with sound macro-economic fundamentals and a strong financial system would be able to face shocks in a more successful manner, than those who may be less prepared.
My dear friends, the global economic crisis taught us many lessons. The lessons varied across nations. But all countries learnt common as well as individual lessons, from this crisis. In general, the crisis left behind, a trail of serious damage across nations and shook the very foundations of the financial structure of the world. It is therefore, clear that if we are to safeguard the world economy in the future, we would need to build a new financial order and a model that will better equip us to face crises of this nature.
In this endeavour, a lot of attention has been paid to regulate and supervise financial institutions which are considered to be “too big to fail”. This is indeed commendable, since the fall of major global financial institutions damages the international financial structure in a permanent manner. By the same token, it is also necessary for the worldwide financial community to focus upon the management of economies that have a global impact, and therefore have become “too big to fail”. We all know that certain national economies are so large and wide, their financial well-being is vital for the global economic health. In that context, it is essential that such globally influential economies should act in globally responsible manner, so as to not place themselves and indeed others, with whom they have dealings, in danger.
We may perhaps reflect on a recent case study which illustrates this position clearly.
Of late, many economic analysts have pointed out as to how the world has been anxiously watching while massive quantities of new money were injected by certain advanced nations into their economy, and through such infusion, into the entire world. It is widely expected that such infusion, while possibly stimulating growth and employment within the issuing nation, would have a massive negative impact on the rest of the world in time to come. Hence, they argue that it may have been more appropriate, if such intervention was done in consultation with multi-lateral institutions and other key players. It would have ensured that a coordinated approach could have been agreed upon, rather than being a unilateral intervention on the part of a single nation. A similar approach in relation to currency values, trade practices, country bail-outs and other structural interventions are also being advocated for the greater health of the world economy.
Your Excellencies, my dear Governors, a deep study of the crisis would reveal many defects and inconsistencies in the world economic system. The blatant application of double standards; the obvious policy contradictions and inconsistencies; the stubbornness of large economies to face realities; the unfortunate attempts to politicize multi-lateral financial organizations; and the lethargy in handling urgently needed financial bail-outs, will probably surface as distinct causes that aggravated the crisis.
We must also not be fooled into thinking that the crisis is now over. What we see at the moment is perhaps a relative calm in the world’s financial landscape, as a result of the interventions of multi-lateral organizations such as the IMF, many Governments and Central Banks. It is vital that this “calm” be made use of to implement sustainable and carefully thought-out policies to avoid a repeat of a similar or any other crisis. In my view, the highly eminent group of very senior leaders of multi-lateral institutions and influential Governors such as yourselves, would be the proper forum to deliberate such matters. The economic world therefore looks to you to propose a satisfactory way forward in the future, and we are very confident you will deliver.
My dear friends, at the end of World War 2, the IMF and the World Bank were created to safeguard the world economy and the economies of member countries in the event of an economic crisis, and to stimulate development. At the same time, nations created Central Banks in their respective countries as key financial and economic policy institutions to guide the respective countries towards stability and growth while dealing with shocks that may affect the economy. In that context, we welcome the recent efforts of the IMF to enhance the role of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) as a major reserve asset, in order to enhance worldwide currency stability.
The recent crises also taught us that existing global currencies in the SDR basket such as the US Dollar, Euro, Sterling and Yen were probably insufficient to play the role of reserve currency in turbulent times. The search for alternatives led to the price of gold and other commodities rising, creating a new set of challenges. In that scenario, we welcome the suggestion by the IMF of including emerging market currencies such as the Chinese Renminbi in the SDR basket. However, given the distinctive nature of emerging markets, which are still to reach near optimum levels of development, it may be wise to approach this issue without pre-conditions, so as to fast track these necessary reforms in the global financial architecture.
Your Excellencies, my dear Governors, it is very refreshing that we are all here in Colombo to search for ways to manage the current turmoil in the world economic environment in a sustainable manner. In order to be truly successful, we have to solve the economic problems of our people, who are our ultimate stakeholders. The people of our respective nations have entrusted their Governments with authority and resources to provide them with a safe economic environment where they can achieve their economic hopes and aspirations. When a country establishes a Central Bank, the people transfer a significant part of that duty and responsibility to you as well. Accordingly, as Governors, you are also responsible to the people of your respective countries.
At the same time, when sovereign nations subscribe to the collective objectives of a multi-lateral financial institution that pledges to maintain global economic and financial stability, a part of the sacred trust of billions of human beings, pass onto those multi-lateral institutions as well. Hence, such organizations too, shoulder a great responsibility towards the billions of people who indirectly rely upon them to make the right decisions to improve their lives. We all know that within these multi-lateral organizations whose decisions affect the entire world, those with a larger investment wield greater authority and power. Accordingly, in an indirect manner, the entire world places great trust in large powerful economies. Hence, it is perhaps time for the world economic community to remind such powerful economies that with such authority and rights, onerous duties and responsibilities also arise.
My dear friends, as the SEACEN group, it is our wish that you will be at the forefront to rebuild the world economy and proactively reform the international monetary system. Our region offers a wealth of experience and knowledge to the world. Let us get together and deliver upon the expectations placed upon us. Let us pledge to do all in our power to ensure that this world, with all its knowledge, technology and understanding, will never have to experience another economic crisis of this magnitude or nature again.
May the Blessings of the Noble Triple Gem, be with you always.
Thank you.
69 comments:
It speaks VOLUMES of the GOOD SENSE of the ordinary Tamil residents of the North & East that they are WARY of former LTTE combatants who enslaved them. They are now FREE to express their dislike of their tormentors and STAY AWAY from them.
It will take a longtime for the horrific memories of LTTE torture and deprivation etched deep within the minds of these Tamil citizens to subside. Until then, these former LTTE cadre, now released without due punishment in the interest of "reconciliation", will have to lie in the bed they themselves made and beg forgiveness from their victims.
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SRI LANKA: Fewer "I do's" for former female rebels
IRINNews.org
February 23, 2011
KILINOCHCHI- Former female combatants in northern Sri Lanka face a tough time returning to civilian life, with fewer marriage, education and job prospects due to stigma, say aid workers and activists.
"Former female child soldiers are just not being perceived positively by society," said Thaya Thiagarajah, a senior official with the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India, noting how cultural and social barriers are the biggest barriers to their smooth reintegration.
Marriage prospects for female former rebels who fought with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are bleak, said Selvanayagam Selvantha, a local aid worker with the same church, located in the former conflict zone.
"Tamil society is very traditional. Parents do not want their sons to marry women ex-fighters," he added, noting how important marriage is to being accepted in the community.
Stigma will be the biggest hurdle in reintegrating female fighters, said women's rights activist Sunila Abeysekara, based in Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo.
"Women cadres are seen as women who [value] marriage [less because they] took up arms," she added. As a result, most female ex-combatants are "struggling to find normalcy" due to the weight of such judgment and suspicion.
She estimated there were about 3,000 female former rebels, but could not say how many were single.
"LTTE [was] a violent organization; many in society had suffered because of LTTE. Now LTTE is not there, society is free to express themselves against people who have been linked with LTTE. This problem is common for both men and women [ex-fighters]," Abeysekara said.
But it is women who are criticized most harshly, she noted.
Tamil Tiger separatist rebels waged a decades-long war - declared over in May 2009 - that displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians in northern Sri Lanka.
Female ex-combatants face social stonewalling even at the earliest stages of their return to civilian life, according to Clive Jackniek, a disarmament, demobilization and reintegration senior programme manager with the International Organization for Migration.
"The biggest challenge I faced after returning home was the lack of employment, educational and future options to live a good life," said Jeya Kamalrajan, 18, who fought with the Tamil Tigers from 2007 to 2009.
"People do not want to hire me because they see me as a bad woman who joined the Tigers... I do not have a lot of plans - I want to live a decent life forgetting everything that happened in my past," she said.
Nalini*, 19, from Mullaitivu District, told IRIN she feared the Tamil Tiger "label" would be "stuck" with her for ever.
"I really want to move on - but I am not sure how to in this cultural setting because people distrust me for something I am not."
A Manifestation of a National YEARNING for increased Law & Order?
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Sri Lankans want the death penalty reinstated
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 24, Colombo: Sri Lanka's state owned The Dinamina newspaper reported today that a recent survey pointed to the fact that 88% of the Sri Lankans want the death penalty enacted.
Sri Lankan courts deliver death sentences but the President as the head of the state traditionally does not consent to the implementation of the death sentence.
However, with the recent spate of violence, there is a public opinion that the death penalty must be enacted to arrest it.
The Ministry of Prisons and Rehabilitation conducted the survey among a sample of people selected from various social strata, the Ministry sources said.
The report of the survey has been handed over to the President who is the ultimate competent authority to implement the death penalty.
Sri Lanka's first Eye Bank opens
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 24, Colombo: Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa this afternoon declared open the first National Eye Bank constructed at a cost of 300 million rupees at the National Eye Hospital premises.
The construction of the hospital was funded by the Lee Foundation of Singapore through Asia Cornea Foundation and Singapore National Eye Centre with the cooperation of the Sri Lankan government.
The main objective of the Eye Bank is to provide corneas with high standard to local hospitals as well as to foreign hospitals.
The President also inspected the laboratory of the Eye Bank and had cordial discussions with the patients in the hospital.
The Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena participating at this function has said the opening of the eye bank is an important threshold in the health sector of Sri Lanka. The Minister also has pointed out the importance of proper management of the resources of the health sector.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa presented a memento to the Director of Singapore National Eye Centre Professor Donald Tan for his support.
Deputy Minister Lalith Dissanayake, MP Thilanga Sumathipala, Secretary of Health Dr. Ravindra Ruberu, Director of General Hospital Dr. Hector Weerasinghe, Eye Surgeon Dr. Charith Fonseka and the doctors and the staff of the Eye Hospital were also present.
THERE IS NO COMPARISON between the dictatorships and monarchies of the Middle East and Sri Lanka.
From the DAWN OF INDEPENDENCE in 1948, however inefficient and imperfect, Sri Lanka has been a FUNCTIONING DEMOCRACY with governments FREELY ELECTED by its people.
The Present GOSL has been Re-Elected by LANDSLIDE MAJORITIES because it serves the intrinsic interests of the great majority of the people of Sri Lanka.
Should it become INSENSITIVE to the wishes of the people in the future, it will be VOTED OUT long before it acquires dictatorial powers.
The PEOPLE of Sri Lanka VALUE THEIR FREEDOM and will NEVER TOLERATE DICTATORSHIPS.
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Sri Lanka's Provincial Minister says there would not be turmoil in the country like Tunisia or Libya
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 25, Colombo: Sri Lanka's Western Provincial Council Minister and Buddhist nationalist party Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) member Udaya Gammanpila has said the opposition political parties are trying to create turmoil in the country.
Gammanpila has told the media that the opposition was trying to create turmoil like in Tunisia and Libya and that they would not be allowed to do so.
According to Gammanpila, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been voted into office unlike the leaders of countries like Tunisia and Libya where leaders ruled for decades without elections.
Gammanpila has added that those leaders were militarily influenced and were oblivious to the needs of the people while President Rajapaksa was a sensitive leader who understood the wishes of his people.
Recently, Thirumavalavan was deported by Sri Lanka's Immigration when he tried to enter Sri Lanka to attend Parvathi Prabhakaran's funeral. On returning to Tamil Nadu, he was arrested by TN Police.
Now, that irrespresible demagogue Vaiko, and his fellow Tamil Racists Pandian and Nedumaran, are vacationing in JAIL after their attempt to exploit Mrs. Prabhakaran's death to enrich the Greater Dravida Nadu agenda was nipped in the bud by TN Polic!
Rich! Just too Rich for Words!
Birds of a Feather do like to Stick Close Together!
A Pox on All their Houses!
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Tamil Nadu leaders arrested while trying to stage protest against Sri Lanka
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 28, Chennai: The Tamil Nadu police in India have arrested MDMK leader Vaiko and CPI's Tamil Nadu secretary D. Pandian along with 400 party workers for trying to stage a protest in Chennai against Sri Lanka, the Indian media reported today (28).
The protest has reportedly been organized over the alleged disrespect caused to the mortal remains of slain LTTE chief Prabhakaran's mother, Parvathi Velupillai in Sri Lanka.
Those taken into custody also included Tamil Nationalist Movement leader P. Nedumaran.
The protesters have alleged that the Sri Lankan Army had "caused disrespect" to the remains of Parvathi, who died at a government hospital in Jaffna recently following a lengthy illness.
Her cremation site has been desecrated with dead dogs, hours after her body was cremated, relatives have said.
The protesters have reportedly demanded closure of the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission and tried to march towards it but they were not granted permission for the protest, the Chennai police have said.
Why are these TREACHEROUS Norwegians STILL allowed to set foot in Sri Lanka?
We don't need their toxic "aid" in Sri Lanka for ANYTHING, much less "tightening control" over it!
Bid them Good Riddance and Give them the Good Old HEAVE HO!
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Norway tightens financial control over SL projects
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Island.lk
February 27, 2011
Norway is making an effort to tighten financial controls on Sri Lankan projects implemented through the government and NGOs.
A senior embassy spokesman says action to thwart mismanagement of funds and ensure better control of its development funds is high on their agenda .
According to the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), the total Norwegian development cooperation with Sri Lanka amounted to approximately NOK 2.5 billion during the period 1997-2009. Of this amount, about NOK 100 million had been spent on the peace process, including the Sri Lankan government (Secretariat for Coordinating Peace Process) and the LTTE (Peace Secretariat).
Among the other recipients of Norwegian funds are the National Peace Council, the Centre for Policy Alternatives and the Sri Lanka Press Council.
In the first phase (1997 to 1999), Sri Lanka and Norway agreed that the latter should support a negotiated settlement to the conflict. It was followed by the second bid in the period from 1999 to 2002, when Sri Lanka and the LTTE invited Norway to play the role of facilitator. The third phase (2002-2006) saw the parties to the CFA agreeing to explore a federal solution, and in the fourth phase between 2006 and 2009, Norway made a series of abortive attempts to revive the peace process.
The Island raised several issues with the Norwegian embassy including the ongoing evaluation of the failed peace processes, spearheaded by successive Norwegian administrations.
The Island: The Norwegian Embassy recently invited proposals for a Consultancy Assignment on ‘Advisory Service on Financial Management and Audit Issues of Development Projects’. Is this a new initiative and if so, what prompted the new Ambassador to tighten financial controls?
Have you already picked an agency? We understand there have been many shortcomings in projects earlier funded by Norway and at least one key recipient of Norwegian financial assistance was investigated for misappropriation of funds.
Norwegian embassy: The Consultancy Assignment has been going for more than three years. The purpose is to enhance the capacity of the embassy on evaluating audit and financial statements. The consultant should also do on the job training of the staff as well and assist the staff in evaluating budgets. It is not a position at the Embassy but a consultancy service that is provided from outside the Embassy as and when required. We are in the process of evaluating the applications. Nobody has been selected for the assignment so far.
The Island: What is the status of the ‘evaluation of Norwegian peace efforts in Sri Lanka 1997-2009?’ According to the tender document, regarding the ‘evaluation of Norwegian peace efforts in Sri Lanka 1997-2009,’ the draft of the final report was to be ready by Jan. 30. 2011. Is it ready?
In keeping with the tender document, will Sri Lanka receive a copy on March 7, 2011; for comments? Will you be releasing the final report in April this year?
NE: This is an independent evaluation commissioned by the Evaluation Department of the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD). It was put out to international tender and awarded to a consortium lead by the Chr. Michelsen’s Institute, in Bergen, Norway. The final report is expected to be ready by May 2011. It will then eventually be published and available both in print and electronically from NORAD’s website (www.norad.no/evaluering).
Norway tightens financial control over SL projects
....continued....
The Island: We understand, the head of the inquiring team, Gunar Sorbo, had an opportunity to meet UNP leader in Oslo late last year. Did Sorbo meet or discuss the issue at least over the phone/Skype with any other Sri Lankan officials in Colombo, including former president CBK or the SL embassy in Oslo?
NE: The detailed work programme during the course of the evaluation is the sole responsibility of the evaluation team, and neither we nor the Evaluation Department in NORAD know the details of this at this point in time.
The Island: Norwegian tender document says Oslo spent approx. NOK 2.5 b from 1997-2009. Of this amount, NOK 100 m was allocated for activities directly connected with the peace process, including SLMM and Peace Secretariats of both parties. Has there been constant monitoring of spending and a breakdown of funds allocated?
NE: For Norway, work to prevent the mismanagement of funds is high on the agenda and efforts to ensure better control of our development funds have been intensified. Our projects are monitored financially to prevent corruption, irregularities and the misuse of funds. The projects are also followed up to see the objectives being fulfilled.
How the LTTE spent Norwegian funds received through its Peace Secretariat has not yet been revealed.
Sri Lanka recently rejected a move by Chr. Michelsen’s Institute to visit Colombo to meet some of those involved in the peace process.
New TIGHTER RULES for Dual Citizenship.
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Strict new criteria for dual citizenship
Present holders to be interviewed and their status reviewed
By Anthony David
SundayTimes.lk
February 27, 2011
Foreign nationals now holding dual citizenship in Sri Lanka are to have their status reviewed. For this purpose they will be required to face an interview where their eligibility under new criteria will be examined.
“These are some of the new aspects now under consideration,” Immigration and Emigration Controller Chulananda Perera told the Sunday Times. He said the new procedures for granting dual citizenship would be discussed by him and his officials with President Mahinda Rajapaksa shortly.
On February 15, the government announced that it would suspend the dual citizenship scheme. More than 3,500 people of Sri Lankan origin who hold citizenship in foreign countries have enjoyed the dual citizenship status so far. The cases of a further 750 applicants, who want to obtain dual citizenship as Sri Lankans, are still pending.
“The dual citizenship scheme is not serving its purpose. It was introduced with a different intention. We are now concerned over who is obtaining dual citizenship,” Controller Perera said.
Other sources in the Department of Immigration said that the existing dual citizenship scheme had not benefited the country. In some instances, people holding dual citizenship as Sri Lankans had returned to Sri Lanka only to buy properties and avoid paying higher taxes. Foreign nationals are required to pay tax to the value of the property they acquire. It has also come to light that several persons who had left Sri Lanka years ago and sought asylum in foreign countries had become dual Sri Lankan citizens.
“The new criteria will ensure those seeking dual Sri Lankan citizenship make a contribution to the country’s economy,” another senior official of the Department said.
At present, a person seeking dual citizenship in Sri Lanka is required to hold a university degree or at least a two-year diploma. They are required to have a deposit of Rs 2.5 million for over a year in a bank account in Sri Lanka. In the alternative, they are required to adduce proof of wealth including land in Sri Lanka valued at Rs 2.5 million. Holders of Non Resident Foreign Currency (NRFC) accounts with US $ 25,000 also qualify. Another category who are granted dual Sri Lankan citizenship are persons of stature, like for example, the late Arthur C. Clarke.
The main applicant, according to the scheme now suspended, is required to pay Rs 200,000. The spouse and children under 18 years are required to pay Rs 50,000 each.
A Climate Change National Policy for Sri Lanka to be Developed.
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With support from UN-Habitat: Lanka goes for new climate change policy
by Uditha KUMARASINGHE
SundayObserver.lk
February 27, 2011
The Environment Ministry has taken steps to formulate a National Climate Change Policy (NCCP) with support from the UN-Habitat.
A team of consultants has been selected and agreements have been signed to formulate the NCCP. The NCCP framework was prepared and finalised following several meetings with Ministry officials and other stakeholders, a Ministry spokesman told the Sunday Observer.
He said that climate change is a complex challenge. The absence of a national policy on climate change has become a major obstacle in the country in implementing activities related to climate change in Sri Lanka.
One of the main objectives of the Climate Change Secretariat is to facilitate climate change related research and distribution of research results to trigger policy reforms and actions, he said. According to a spokesman four research studies were identified by 19 research proposals submitted to the Climate Change Secretariat. They were studies on carbon sequestration by coconut plantations in Sri Lanka, establishing the solar radiation potential in regions where tea processing factories are located, investigation on climate change trends in different Agro-Ecological Regions of Sri Lanka and mapping and establishing an inventory within the vulnerable areas of the one metre sea level rise along the Western coast from the Kelani River to Negombo.
Of these the first, second and third studies have already been completed and the fourth is in progress, he said.
Meanwhile, the Environment Ministers of all eight nations of SAARC have adopted a three-year Action Plan on Climate Change.
This plan was adopted at the SAARC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change, which was held in Dhaka from July 1-2, 2008.
The action plan, covering 2009-2011 focuses on seven thematic areas-from adaptation of climate change to the regional stance for international negotiations, he said.
He said the action plan has emphasised policies and action for climate change mitigation, technology transfer, financing and investment mechanism, education, training and awareness, monitoring, assessment and management of impact risks due to climate change, the spokesman said.
The Cabinet of Ministers has granted approval to implement national obligations under the SAARC Action Plan on Climate Change in collaboration with the relevant line Ministries and other agencies, the spokesman said.
WESTERN POWERS cast off their collective sheepskin, and moves to intervene in Libya under the guise of helping "democracy"!
When their "essential interests" ... aka as "oil" in this case ... are THREATENED ... they shed ALL PRETENSES!
Haven't they still learned that they are not trusted by citizens of former colonies and will only cause further destruction and death ... including their own? Is this "neo-colonialism" at work? No "revolutions" except those going "our way"?
Let the Libyans FIGHT IT OUT if they must .. because it is not yet clear who the "puppeteers" behind these "democracy" demonstrators REALLY are!
Western Powers should STAY OUT OF THESE conflicts .. they will only make them worse!
NEVER FEAR, ultimately the INDIGENOUS PEOPLE will INHERIT these countries .. greedy foreigners stirring the pot will LOSE their LITTLE ALL!
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Pro-Gadhafi forces close in on rebel-held cities
By MAGGIE MICHAEL
February 27, 2011
TRIPOLI, Libya – International pressure on Moammar Gadhafi to end his crackdown on opponents escalated Monday as his loyalists closed in on rebel-held cities closest to the capital. The U.S. moved naval and air forces closer to Libya and said all options were open, including the use of warplanes to patrol the North African nation's skies and protect Libyans threatened by their leader.
France said it would start flying aid to the opposition-controlled eastern half of the country. The European Union imposed an arms embargo and other sanctions, following the lead of the U.S. and the U.N. The EU was also considering the creation of a no-fly zone over Libya. And the U.S. and Europe were freezing billions in Libya's foreign assets.
"Gadhafi has lost the legitimacy to govern, and it is time for him to go without further violence or delay," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said. "No option is off the table. That of course includes a no-fly zone," Clinton added. British Prime Minister David Cameron told British lawmakers: "We do not in any way rule out the use of military assets" to deal with Gadhafi's regime.
Gadhafi, who has launched the most brutal crackdown of any Arab regime facing a wave of popular uprisings, laughed off a question from ABC News about whether he would step down as the Obama administration is demanding.
"My people love me. They would die for me," he said. ABC reported that Gadhafi invited the U.N. or any other organization to come on a fact-finding mission.
The turmoil in the oil-rich nation roiled markets for another day. Libya's oil chief said production had been cut by around 50 percent, denting supplies that go primarily to Europe.
The uprising that began on Feb. 15 has posed most serious challenge to Gadhafi in his more than four decades in power. His bloody crackdown has left hundreds, and perhaps thousands, dead. But clashes appear to have eased considerably over the past few days after planeloads of foreign journalists arrived in the capital at the government's invitation.
Pro-Gadhafi forces close in on rebel-held cities
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The two sides are entrenched, and the direction the uprising takes next could depend on which can hold out longest. Gadhafi is dug in in Tripoli and nearby cities, backed by his elite security forces and militiamen who are generally better armed than the military. His opponents, holding the east and much of the country's oil infrastructure, also control pockets in western Libya near Tripoli. They are backed by mutinous army units, but those forces appear to have limited supplies of ammunition and weapons.
Gadhafi opponents have moved to consolidate their hold in the east, centered on Benghazi — Libya's second largest city, where the uprising began. Politicians there on Sunday set up their first leadership council to manage day-to-day affairs, taking a step toward forming what could be an alternative to Gadhafi's regime.
The opposition is backed by numerous units of the military in the east that joined the uprising, and they hold several bases and Benghazi's airport. But so far, the units do not appear to have melded into a unified fighting force. Gadhafi long kept the military weak, fearing a challenge to his rule, so many units are plagued by shortages of supplies and ammunition.
On Monday, pro-Gadhafi forces retook control of the border crossings with Tunisia in the west after they had fallen under opposition control and bombed an ammunition depot in the rebel-held east, residents in the area said. The Libyan Defense Ministry denied the bombing.
Regime forces also moved to tighten their ring around two opposition-controlled cities closest to the capital Tripoli — Zawiya and Misrata — where the two sides are locked in standoffs.
An Associated Press reporter saw a large, pro-Gadhafi force massed on the western edge of Zawiya, some 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of Tripoli, with about a dozen armored vehicles along with tanks and jeeps mounted with anti-aircraft guns. An officer said they were from the elite Khamis Brigade, named after one of Gadhafi's sons who commands it. U.S. diplomats have said the brigade is the best equipped force in Libya.
Residents inside the city said they were anticipating a possible attack.
"Our people are waiting for them to come and, God willing, we will defeat them," one resident who only wanted to be quoted by his first name, Alaa, told AP in Cairo by telephone.
In Misrata, Libya's third largest city 125 miles (200 kilometers) east of Tripoli, pro-Gadhafi troops who control part of an air base on the city's outskirts tried to advance Monday. But they were repelled by opposition forces, who included residents armed with automatic weapons and defected army units allied with them, one of the opposition fighters said.
No casualties were reported and the fighter claimed that his side had captured eight soldiers, including a senior officer.
The opposition controls most of the air base, and the fighter said dozens of anti-Gadhafi gunmen have arrived from further east in recent days as reinforcements.
Several residents of the eastern city of Ajdabiya said Gadhafi's air force also bombed an ammunition depot nearby held by the opposition. One, 17-year-old Abdel-Bari Zwei, reported intermittent explosions and a fire, and another, Faraj al-Maghrabi, said the facility was partially damaged. The site contains bombs, missiles and ammunition — key for the undersupplied opposition military forces.
Pro-Gadhafi forces close in on rebel-held cities
.....continued 2.....
State TV carried a statement by Libya's Defense Ministry denying any attempt to bomb the depot. Ajdabiya lies about 450 miles (750 kilometers) east of Tripoli along the Mediterranean coast.
Gadhafi supporters said they were in control of the city of Sabratha, west of Tripoli, which has seemed to go back and forth between the two camps the past week. Several residents told The AP that protesters set fire to a police station, but then were dispersed. Anti-Gadhafi graffiti — "Down with the enemy of freedom" and "Libya is free, Gadhafi must leave" — were scrawled on some walls, but residents were painting them over.
Global efforts to halt Gadhafi's crackdown escalated on Monday.
In Washington, the Pentagon said it was moving some naval and air forces closer to Libya in case they are needed. The U.S. has a regular military presence in the Mediterranean Sea and farther to the south has two aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf area.
The U.S. Treasury Department said that at least $30 billion in Libyan assets have been frozen since President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on Libya last week.
France promised to send two planes with humanitarian aid the eastern opposition stronghold city of Benghazi, hoping to give it the momentum to oust Gadhafi. The aid to included medicine and doctors, would be the first direct Western help for the uprising that has taken control of the entire eastern half of Libya. French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said it was the start of a "massive operation of humanitarian support" for the east and that Paris was studying "all solutions" — including military options.
The EU slapped its own arms embargo, visa ban and other sanctions on Gadhafi's regime, following sanctions imposed by the U.S. and the U.N. in the past week. And Europe was also considering the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya to prevent any air attacks by the regime on rebellious citizens.
Clinton met in Geneva with foreign ministers from Britain, France, Germany and Italy to press for tough sanctions on the Libyan government.
Sri Lanka Navy-built patrol craft handed over to Coast Guard
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Mar 01, Colombo: Sri Lanka Navy has handed over a craft built by the Navy to the Sri Lanka Department of Coast Guard.
The patrol craft, equipped with all the modern facilities was built entirely by Sri Lanka Navy personnel. The value of the craft is around Rs. 20 million.
The handing over of the craft to the Coast Guard Department took place today at the Sri Lanka Navy Western Command under the patronage of the Commander of Sri Lanka Navy Vice Admiral Somathilake Dishanayake, Sri Lanka Navy sources said.
The Navy Commander recently said in an interview with The Sunday Observer newspaper that small boats are required for coastal patrolling and the Navy is continuing with the ship building project.
"We are planning to experiment and improve the conditions of the fighting boats as multipurpose boats to make use of them as passenger boats for tourist purposes and to be used in shallow waters, close to harbours when there is a necessity. If the Navy gets any offers from other countries we have the capacity and expertise to undertake such orders," he said.
New Air Force Chief assumes duties: Air Force to effect self-repairs
By Hemanthi Guruge
DailyNews.lk
March 01, 2011
New Air Force Commander Air Marshal Harsha Duminda Abeywickrama said yesterday that the Air Force would handle all its aircraft repair and maintenance activities in the near future.
He assumed duties as the Air Force Commander at the Air Force Headquarters yesterday.
He said that a large amount of the country’s foreign exchange is being wasted for repairing and servicing aircraft.
This action has been taken to save this unnecessary expenditure.
He added that there are clever people in the Sri Lanka Air Force whose skills can be used for this purpose. Steps will be taken to set up a domestic air services in Sri Lanka to develop the tourism industry in the country too, he said. The newly appointed Air Force Commander requested his men to provide a better service to the people and perform an honest job.
Air Marshal Abeywickrama had his education at Royal College, Colombo and joined the Sri Lanka Air Force as a Cadet Officer in the General Duties Pilot branch on April 19, 1980.
He has received the Rana Wickrama Padakkama and the Rana Sura Padakkama for acts of bravery during flying missions in the North-East conflict zones, and the Utthama Seva Padakkama in recognition of his services.
We offer our deep sympathy to the family, friends and colleagues of this defender of the nation.
He will not be forgotten.
................
SLAF Investigates into Kfir Crash
AirForce.lk
March 01, 2011
Sri Lanka Air Force lost one of its brave Kfirs pilots, when 2 Kfir fighter jets belonging to No 10 Jet Squadron of Sri Lanka Air Force Base Katunayake, crashed this morning on 1 March, 2011 off Yakkala en route to take part in the fly past rehearsal for the SLAF 60th anniversary.
Flight Lieutenant Monath Perera succumbed to his injuries as a result of the crash which completely destroyed the two aircraft. Flight Lieutenant Monath Perera was enlisted to the Air Force i 2004 and served valiantly in the Humanitarian Operations His untimely death is a great loss to No. 10 Jet Squadron.
The 2 jets took off from SLAF Base Katunayake at around 9.10 am for fly past rehearsals and crashed at 9.30 am, 6 km off Yakkala near Kirindiwela Road. Preliminary reports indicate a possible collision as a cause for the crash of the two fighter jets which were flying in tight formation at the time of the accident.
Squadron Leader Vajira Jayakody who was manning the other Kfir received minor scratches and has been transferred to Colombo National Hospital for observation.
The Commander of the Air Force has appointed a Board of Investigation headed by Air Vice Marshal Kapila Jayampathi to look into the causes of the accident.
Tribute to Flight Lieutenant Monath Perera
Flight Lieutenant Monath Perera was born into this world on the 13th of October; 1982.After competing his education at Mahinda College, Galle, Moanth’s passion for flying led him to enlist with the Sri Lanka Air Force on the 1st of August in 2004.
His outgoing personality made him a friend amongst many of his batch mates and this aspiring young pilot moved a step closer to his dreams when he was commissioned as a Pilot Officer on 08th of July in 2005. Barely two years later Monath Perera was promoted as Flying Officer in 2007, January.
Commencing his profession as an SLAF pilot in the Flying Training Wing, Monath took a daring and challenging decision to test waters in the fighter squadrons. This saw him firstly flying the K-8 fighter jets and soon moving on to the F-7 in the No. 5 Jet Squadron.
Monath was a valiant pilot who decided to push his boundaries even further for the sake of serving his motherland when he joined the iconic No. 10 Attack Jet Squadron to fly the Israeli built Kfirs which he has been attached to since 12 October, 2007, participating bravely in the Humanitarian Operations.
It was in the very same domain, high up in the skies where he untimely ended his life, leaving behind grieving family and friends. But his immeasurable service will never be forgotten.
Sri Lanka Air Force salutes this brave pilot whose memory and service will be always cherished.
Blogger Ananda-USA said...
It speaks VOLUMES of the GOOD SENSE of the ordinary Tamil residents of the North & East that they are WARY of former LTTE combatants who enslaved them. They are now FREE to express their dislike of their tormentors and STAY AWAY from them.
*****
Former... you mean former tormentors.
The present tormentors and enslavers are just as nasty as the previous batch of thugs.
"...Same as the old boss"
~PT
}{MI}{
Acknowledging their existence is NOT ENOUGH!
A well-funded force able and dedicated to identifying, tracking and delivering these miscreants, where ever they hide, into the arms of the law in Sri Lanka, or in the host country, should be our goal.
IF WE DON'T ACT, NO ONE ELSE WILL!
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'LTTE international network continues its criminal activities' - Sri Lanka Minister tells HRC
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Mar 01, Geneva: At the fifteenth session of the United Nations Human Right Council that commenced on Monday in Geneva, Sri Lanka with deep concern noted that remnants of the defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) international network continued its criminal activities and its secessionist agenda.
Addressing the HRC, Mahinda Samarasinghe, Minister of Plantation Industries cautioned that in several countries the LTTE network has engaged in criminal activities such as extorting money from the Tamil diaspora.
"I would hasten to strike a note of caution against being lulled into a sense of complacency as we have learned that the unlawful activities of the group [LTTE] continue to this day," he said.
Describing few incidents in some countries where the authorities have arrested the LTTE members engaging in unlawful activities, the Minister said the complete removal of Emergency Regulations in Sri Lanka must be considered cautiously.
"Against this backdrop clarion calls for complete roll back of our emergency regulations must be considered," he said adding that the Sri Lanka has taken extensive measurements since the end of the conflict to repeal nearly 80 percent of the provisions in the Emergency Regulations.
The bare minimum that remains are required as safeguards against such ongoing unlawful activities of the LTTE, the Minister told the HRC.
He said the Sri Lankan government is continuing to closely monitor the situation in order to repeal the remaining provisions of the Emergency Regulations in a manner that does not compromise national security. Sri Lankan authorities will be the best to make that judgment to conclude the Emergency Regulations in an appropriate and timely manner, he added.
Speaking of reconciliation process, Minister Samarasinghe said the government and the mainstream Tamil political parties are fully engaged in a dialogue. The Tamil Political Parties' Forum is continuing the dialogue with the government on economic development and legal and constitutional reforms, the Minister said.
Apprising the HRC of the situation in the North regarding the war-displaced, the Minister said there are about 12,000 displaced persons are remaining in three camps in Vavuniya and Jaffna and those will be resettled as soon as the demining of their home areas is completed.
Minister Samarasinghe said Sri Lanka's steadfast commitment to further the promotion and protection of human rights was enshrined in the proposed National Action Plan which will be approved by the Cabinet and implemented in near future.
The Bureau of the Commissioner-General of Rehabilitation had been further strengthened with a full time Commissioner-General vested with the special mandate of rehabilitating and reintegrating 11,696 ex-combatants, including 594 child combatants, the Minister informed the Council.
Sri Lanka had started to reap the dividends of peace exemplified by a large number of development programmes to enable the economic uplift of the people, which would then underpin and sustain their eventual political empowerment, Minister Samarasinghe told the HRC.
HOW WE LOOK from WHERE THEY SIT!
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FACTBOX - Key political risks to watch in Sri Lanka
By C. Bryson Hull
March 1, 2011
COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka has flagged rising oil prices as the only risk to economic growth the central bank forecasts at a record 8.5 percent this year, a threat now made real by crises in Libya and elsewhere in North Africa and the Middle East.
Following is a summary of key risks to watch in Sri Lanka:
FOOD AND FUEL PRICES
Although official numbers for inflation are low, there is almost universal agreement that food prices are among the highest in recent memory, prompted by the global rise in commodity prices, to which the island nation is acutely sensitive.
Although there have been complaints about the cost of living since late 2009, none of it has bubbled up into serious agitation. Sri Lanka has no real history of food riots, but the opposition has threatened that it could become a possibility.
On top of that, he government has said that at least 35 percent of the rice crop was destroyed by two rounds of flooding in January and February, but assured that it has adequate reserve stocks to prevent any supply shocks.
Added to that is the spike in oil prices after the Middle East-North Africa unrest.
The government is also removing fuel subsidies paid to the state-run power generation company, which will inevitably mean even higher power prices for consumers.
The government has structured billing so most of Sri Lanka's poor and middle class will be spared big increases, but that has infuriated industrial leaders who see their costs rising.
What to watch:
-- Any signs of organised political agitation over food prices, and the government's response. The central bank has said it may intervene if supply-side inflation spikes
-- Further military involvement in food distribution, or any application of subsidies which could affect the government's plans to tame its budget deficit gap under a $2.6 billion International Monetary Fund loan programme.
-- Impact on industrial output, and if the government will give in to demands made by factory owners and industrialists that it cushion the shock.
FACTBOX - Key political risks to watch in Sri Lanka
.....continued.....
POLICY RESPONSES
The flooding came soon after the central bank surprised almost everyone by cutting its monetary policy rates even further and pushing commercial banks to cut the interest rate spread.
Even though the government says it expects inflation to remain between 4 percent and 6 percent this year, many economists and analysts believe it will rise further than that, especially after the rice crop was damaged and oil leapt Libya's crisis.
The government will change its inflation basket again this year, a move the main opposition United National Party (UNP) says is a ruse to artificially lower inflation numbers and cool rising discontent over spiralling food prices. Crucially, both the energy and food portions of the basket are expected to be lowered.
What to watch:
-- Any shift in the central bank's monetary policy toward tightening.
-- Signs that external investors or analysts are beginning to question official numbers, which could erode confidence Sri Lanka's government has worked hard to build since the end of its three-decade separatist war in May 2009.
INVESTOR PERCEPTIONS
Sri Lanka's 2011 budget, released in November, was full of tax and regulatory changes designed to make it easier for offshore investors, while doing away with the blanket tax holidays that existed under the old investment promotion scheme.
Foreign direct investment fell in 2010, despite post-war economic optimism and sound macroeconomic fundamentals, plus some big-ticket tourism deals.
The IMF forecasts it will rise to $725 million this year.
Some analysts believe the government has been inconsistent in its investment promotion message and too slow to give assurances that investments will not be subject to political interference. That has kept wealthy local investors wary of committing capital in the post-war environment.
Most foreign investors have stuck with treasury securities. Even the booming Colombo Stock Exchange has seen foreign outflows since the end of the war in May 2009, partially fuelled by lack of confidence in regulatory oversight.
What to watch:
-- More big investments by private foreign companies, a clear sign of growing investor comfort.
-- The pace and scope of bilateral investments from countries such as India and China, which are competing for influence.
-- The enforcement of new regulations in capital markets, and whether that prompts more foreign inflows.
West must allow self-determination for Libya - Putin
RT.com
February 25, 2011
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has warned Western countries against attempts of meddling in the Arab world to try to impose democracy.
Speaking after talks with the EU leadership, he said that previous efforts along those lines had led to victories for governments the West is now fighting to contain.
“Today, we say we're concerned about things happening in Libya. But the North African cell of Al-Qaeda is also concerned about what is happening in Libya. Do you think this is a coincidence?” the Russian PM asked.
“I would like to go back in history a little bit. The former leader of the Iranian revolution – where did he live?! He lived in Paris and as a whole he was supported by the Western community. Now the entire Western community fights against the Iranian nuclear program,” Putin pointed out.
“I remember just recently our partners were very active in supporting democratic elections in the Palestinian autonomy. And Hamas won. And immediately they declared Hamas a terrorist organization and started fighting against it. We need to give people a chance to determine their future themselves. We need to give them an opportunity to take a natural way without any foreign interference to build their future,” he concluded.
Why not say "There will be a CIVIL WAR if the radical "democracy agitators" don't end VIOLENCE"?
So what if there is a civil war in which the Libyans will sort their problems out? Didn't the US have a civil war that sorted our problems out for the better? Did foreigners impose a "solution" in that war?
Why are we taking sides, when the TRUE AGENDAS of the players are as CLEAR AS MUD?
The US & EUROPE should BUTT OUT of this!
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U.S. warns of civil war in Libya unless Gaddafi goes
By Maria Golovnina
March 1, 2011
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya could descend into civil war unless Muammar Gaddafi quits, the United States said on Tuesday, its demand for his departure intensifying pressure on the longtime leader after news of Western military preparations.
But Gaddafi remained defiant, dispatching forces to a western border area amid fears that the most violent Arab revolt may grow bloodier and spark a humanitarian crisis.
His son, Saif al-Islam, warned the West against launching any military action to topple Gaddafi, and said the veteran ruler would not step down or go into exile.
"Using force against Libya is not acceptable. There's no reason, but if they want ... we are ready, we are not afraid," he told Sky television, adding: "We live here, we die here."
In Moscow, a Kremlin source suggested Gaddafi, whose authority has unraveled in much of the vast desert country, should step down, calling him a "living political corpse."
In prepared testimony to lawmakers in Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: "Libya could become a peaceful democracy or it could face protracted civil war."
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said Washington would apply pressure on Gaddafi until he bows out, working to stabilize oil prices and avert a humanitarian crisis.
She stopped short of saying the Obama administration was ready to impose a no-fly zone over Libya that would prevent Gaddafi using aircraft against rebels fighting against him.
On Monday the United States said it was moving ships and planes closer to the oil-producing North African state.
The destroyer USS Barry moved through the Suez Canal on Monday and into the Mediterranean. Two amphibious assault ships, the USS Kearsarge, which can carry 2,000 Marines, and the USS Ponce, are in the Red Sea and are expected to go through the canal early on Wednesday.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe sounded a note of caution, saying foreign military intervention in Libya would not happen without a clear United Nations mandate.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said it was unacceptable that "Colonel Gaddafi can be murdering his own people using airplanes and helicopter gunships."
General James Mattis, commander of U.S. Central Command, told a Senate hearing that imposing a no-fly zone would be a "challenging" operation that would mean actual attack.
"You would have to remove air defense capability in order to establish a no-fly zone, so no illusions here," he said. "It would be a military operation -- it wouldn't be just telling people not to fly airplanes."
U.S. warns of civil war in Libya unless Gaddafi goes
.....continued.....
Analysts said Western leaders are in no mood to rush into conflict after the troubled, drawn-out involvements in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"They will be desperate not to place themselves in that situation, unless not doing so would result in even worse massacres," said Shashank Joshi of London's Royal United Services Institute.
Suspicions grew that Gaddafi, a survivor of past coup attempts, did not grasp the scale of the forces against him.
"All my people love me," he told the U.S. ABC network and the BBC on Monday, dismissing the significance of a rebellion that has ended his control over much of oil-rich eastern Libya.
REBELS CLAIM STRENGTH GROWING
Rebel fighters claimed the balance of the conflict was swinging their way. "Our strength is growing and we are getting more weapons. We are attacking checkpoints," said Yousef Shagan, a spokesman in Zawiyah, only 50 km (30 miles) from Tripoli.
A rebel army officer in the eastern city of Ajdabiyah said rebel units were becoming more organized.
"All the military councils of Free Libya are meeting to form a unified military council to plan an attack on Gaddafi security units, militias and mercenaries," Captain Faris Zwei said.
Rebels guarding a munitions store near Ajdabiyah said they feared a direct hit by Gaddafi's warplanes could cause destruction for miles around.
But despite the widespread collapse of Gaddafi's writ, his forces were fighting back in some regions.
A reporter on the Tunisian border saw Libyan troops reassert control at a crossing that was abandoned on Monday, and residents of Nalut, about 60 km (35 miles) from the border, said pro-Gaddafi forces deployed to retake control there.
Mohamed, a resident of rebel-held Misrata, told Reuters by phone: "Symbols of Gaddafi's regime have been swept away from the city. Only a (pro-Gaddafi) battalion remains at the city's air base but they appear to be willing to negotiate safe exit out of the air base. We are not sure if this is genuine or just a trick to attack the city again."
Across the country, tribal leaders, officials, military officers and army units have defected to the rebels. Sanctions will squeeze his access to funds.
U.S. warns of civil war in Libya unless Gaddafi goes
....continued 2....
BREAD QUEUES
Tripoli is a clear Gaddafi stronghold, but even in the capital, loyalties are divided. Many on the streets on Tuesday expressed loyalty but one man who described himself as a military pilot said: "One hundred percent of Libyans don't like him."
There were queues outside bread shops on Tuesday morning. Some residents said many shops were limiting the number of loaves customers could buy.
In Geneva, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on world powers to fully implement a U.N. Security Council resolution on Libya. The text, adopted on Saturday, includes a freeze on Muammar Gaddafi's assets and travel ban and refers his regime's brutal crackdown to the International Criminal Court.
Libya's National Oil Corporation said output had halved because of the departure of foreign workers.
Brent crude prices pushed above $115 a barrel as supply disruptions and the potential for more unrest in the Middle East and North Africa kept investors on edge.
At Ras Jdir on the border with Tunisia, Tunisian border guards fired into the air to try to control a crowd of people clamoring to get through a frontier crossing to escape the violence.
About 70,000 people have passed through the Ras Jdir frontier crossing in the past two weeks, and in the last few days the rate has increased to up to 15,000 per day, said Ayman Gharaibeh, an officer with the U.N. refugee agency.
Revolutions in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt have helped to ignite resentment of four decades of often bloody political repression under Gaddafi as well as his failure to use Libyan oil wealth to tackle widespread poverty and lack of opportunity.
Kfir pilot’s death due to parachute failing to open
By Pushpakumara and Ananda Jayakody.
DailyMirror.lk
March 02, 2011
The preliminary magisterial inquiry into the death of a pilot in the Kfir collision was held yesterday at Udututthiripitiya.It transpired during the inquiry that his parachute had failed to open.
Attanagalla Magistrate and Additional District Judge D.A.Ruwan Pathirana visited the scene and held the magisterial inquiry. The magistrate inspected the wreckage of the two planes and the dead pilot’s seat and parachute which were lying in a pineapple plantation in Nelligahamula.
The pilot’s body had struck against two coconut trees during his descent.
The magistrate ordered the Weeragula Police to conduct further inquiries and submit their report to him.
Weeragula Police OIC K.Gnanaratne, Dompe Police OIC Prabath Paranavithana and several senior officials of the Sri Lanka Air Force and Police STF were present at the inquiry.
Which ASININE country would "release on bail" terrorists who were caught while "fleeing"?
RIDICULOUS REQUEST!
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Sri Lankan court refuses bail to fleeing LTTE suspects
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Mar 04, Colombo: A Sri Lankan court Thursday has refused to grant bail to 17 suspected LTTE rebels who were arrested when they were trying to flee the country last month.
The Colombo Magistrate's Court has refused bail to the suspects and ordered them to be further remanded until March 17.
The Sri Lanka Navy arrested the 17 suspected rebels on February 19 when they were heading toward Australia onboard a multi-day fishing trawler in the sea 20 nautical miles off Hambantota.
The counsels for the suspects have asked the court to release them on bail when they were produced before the Magistrate but the Criminal Investigations Department conducting the investigations had told the court that they have yet to complete the investigation.
When House Building can be done well by Sri Lankan firms why do we need Russian firms.
The answer must be: Russia aid tied to the proposal.
Instead, why don't we get Russian aid to introduce technologies to Sri Lanka that we don't have?
Unlike the West which wants to maintain their monopolies, Russians have ALWAYS BEEN WILLING to help with advanced manufacturing and infrastructure building technologies.
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Russian firm to build houses in Sri Lanka
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Mar 04, Colombo: Sri Lanka's Ministry of Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities, is to implement a low cost housing project under the 'Jana Sevana' programme with financial assistance from the Russian government.
Representatives of MSK Engineering institute, a leading construction company in Russia, met President Mahinda Rajapaksa today (4) at Temple Trees to discuss the project.
Housing Minister Wimal Weerawansa said 2,512 houses for commercial purposes and another 1,000 houses for the low-income people will be built under the project.
The houses for commercial purposes which will be available for expatriates and other workers employed abroad are built as a move to earn foreign remittance. The buyers who pay through their NRFC accounts will receive various other benefits.
The houses for the low-income people will be granted to 1000 families free of charge.
According to authorities, construction costs and time for this project are very low compared to other housing projects and 16 acres of land in Colombo will be made available for building houses for commercial purposes.
With the establishment of a building manufacturing plant at the end of the 1st phase of the project, Sri Lanka will acquire latest technology to implement similar projects in future, the government said.
Russian Ambassador to Sri Lanka Vladimir Mikhaylov and other Russian officials also attended the meeting.
Construction of the Hambantota International Airport at Mattala to be completed in 2012.
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Sri Lanka's new international airport to provide over 50,000 jobs
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Mar 04, Colombo: The Speaker of the Sri Lankan parliament Chamal Rajapaksa says that the new international airport that is being built in Mattala in the Hambanthota District of Sri Lanka's Southern Province will open 1,500 direct and 50,000 indirect job opportunities.
The Speaker, who was the former Minister of Ports and Aviation, ceremonially inaugurated the construction of the access road to the airport Thursday.
Speaking at the occasion, Speaker Rajapaksa said the entire country will receive the benefits of developing the Hambantota district under the Mahinda Chinthana programme.
According to the government, when completed, the new airport, alternative to the Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake, will support both international and domestic travel and air-sea cargo transshipment in conjunction with the Hambantota Harbor.
The airport, being built at a cost of US$ 209 million with the financial assistance from the Chinese government, will be a key component in the development efforts of the Eastern and Southern coasts.
The state-of-the-art airport is being built to be compatible with the landing of the latest Airbus A380 aircraft. It has been designed according to recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organization.
The airport will consist of a 3.5 kilometer long and 75 meter wide runway that can handle landing of 10 air planes.
The airport is being built on a 2,000 hectare land. A passenger terminal that can accommodate 10,000 passengers will be constructed. The airport will have the capacity of handling 45,000 metric tons of cargo.
The airport is to be opened for flight operations in by the end of 2012.
Sri Lanka's Southern expressway to be opened in July 2011
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Mar 04, Colombo: The first stage of Sri Lanka's Southern expressway will be opened probably by July this year, the Chairman of the Road Development Authority R.W.R. Premasiri has said.
The first stage of the Southern Expressway toll road is from Pinnaduwa in Galle to Kottawa in Colombo district.
The construction of the second stage from Pinnaduwa to Godagama in Matara has been held up due to a funding problem. However, the government sources say that the Exim Bank of China will fund the project.
The 126-kilometer expressway comprises 11 entry points. The first fueling point and the resting place are to be constructed at Dadangoda in Kalutara.
The authorities have decided to ban motorcycles, trishaws, tractors and overloaded trucks on the country's first toll road.
FOOD SECURITY should be a National Priority for Sri Lanka.
As global population grows, and standards of living rise, FOOD will become the most EXPENSIVE and VALUED of traded commodities.
Shortage of FOOD and HIGH FOOD PRICES are key determinants of political instability.
Therefore, Sri Lanka must EMPHASIZE not only SUSTAINABLE SELF-SUFFICIENCY in FOOD PRODUCTION, but also the LUCRATIVE INCOME to be derived from FOOD PRODUCTION for EXPORT.
As a National Food Security measure, farmers must be protected against cheap food imports .. to prevent permanent abandonment and diversion of farm land to other uses. For the same reason, Japan, for example, has a long-standing policy of sustaining local production of rice and the United States gives subsidies to farmers.
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The UN Food and Agriculture Organization warns of rising global food prices
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Mar 04, Rome: The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Thursday said the global food prices keep rising and prices of all food commodities except sugar rose for the eighth consecutive month in February.
The Rome-based agency warned that the unexpected spikes in oil prices could exacerbate an already worsened situation in food markets.
The FAO Food Price Index averaged 236 points in February, up 2.2 percent from January, the highest record in real and nominal terms, since the agency started monitoring prices in 1990.
International cereal (grain) prices have increased sharply with export prices of major grains up at least 70 percent from February last year, the agency noted in a news release.
The Cereal Price Index, which includes prices of main food staples such as wheat, rice and maize, rose by 3.7 percent in February (254 points), the highest level since July 2008.
The agency expects the global grain inventories for 2011 to fall sharply due to the growing demand and a decline in global grain production last year.
According to the FAO, diary prices increased by 4% and meat prices rose by 2% in February.
Sri Lanka's Central Bank reported the contribution to the monthly increase of 1.2 per cent in the inflation for February came mainly from price increases in the sub category of Food and non-alcoholic beverages.
Within the Food sub category, the Central Bank said prices of vegetables, rice, coconut, coconut oil, red onions, and green chilies went up mainly due to the supply shortages resulted from heavy rains and floods. The Bank however expects the prices to return to normal once supplies resume.
Coast Guard joins Navy to tackle poaching in Sri Lankan waters
Rear Admiral Daya Dharmapriya eyes enhanced role for SLCG as the government makes key policy change
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Island.lk
March 03, 2011
Director General of Sri Lanka Coast Guard (SLCG) Rear Admiral Daya Dharmapriya (retd) says the SLCG will have an important role to play in the post-war era. One of the vital tasks for the SLCG will be the development of a capability to join the SLN in the northern waters to thwart poaching by Indian fishing fleet.
In an interview with The Island, Rear Admiral Dharmapriya said that deployment of SLCG units would help the country counter unsubstantiated allegations levelled against the SLN of indiscriminate attacks on the Tamil Nadu fishing fleet.
Dharmapriya retired in 2006 after a 36-year career.
The SLCG celebrates its first anniversary today (March 4).
"We are essentially a civilian authority empowered to carry out law enforcement at sea," the naval veteran said. Dharmapriya emphasised that the SLCG would operate alongside the SLN, which had battled poachers during the war under extremely difficult conditions. What the SLN had achieved with available assets deployed to deny the LTTE freedom to operate across the Indo-Lanka maritime boundary was tremendous, Dharmapriya said. He caused a simmering controversy during the CFA by declaring that the armed forces could no longer turn a blind eye to provocative LTTE acts. Addressing a passing out parade at Poonewa, the then Director General Operations said that they should be prepared to face the LTTE’s challenge fearlessly.
Asked whether the SLCG was ready to launch patrols in the north, the retired Vice Admiral said that soon after receiving instructions from Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa at a meeting also attended by Navy Chief Vice Admiral Somathilake Dissanayake late last month, he moved two patrol boats previously deployed in the South to the North. Dharmapriya said that the pair of boats (formerly with the SLN’s Fast Attack Squadron) would be joined by four more craft of the same type before end April. According to him, of the four vessels, the SLCG would take delivery of one pair in March and the other in April.
The SLCG Chief said that there were two Inshore Patrol Craft at the Colombo Port and two more small craft at Mirissa.
He said that SLCG on March 1 took delivery of an IPC constructed by the SLN at a cost of Rs. 20 million. The craft is 14.5m in length and 3.5 m wide. It is powered by two 35- horse power engines. The craft is equipped with a modern radar system, GPS system and electronic compass.
The Rear Admiral said that Sri Lanka could obtain assistance from several countries, particularly those trying to stem the flow of illegal immigrants. He expressed confidence that the SLCG could closely work with Australia, a key target of would be illegal-immigrants and many other countries, including India, Japan and the US.
According to him, the SLCG would need about 4,000 officers and men and adequate number of vessels, including a capacity to engage in off-shore patrolling, which would enable what he called the police at the sea to perform its task.
Gaddafi calls President Rajapaksa
By Saroj Pathirana
BBC Sinhala service
Col Gaddafi has informed Mr Rajapaksa about 'conspiracy' against national security
The Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa received a phone call from Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, officials said.
Director General of President’s Media Unit Bandula Jayasekara told BBC Sandeshaya that the Libyan leader was requested by President Rajapaksa “to establish peace in the country as soon as possible.”
President also requested Col Gaddafi “to safeguard the lives of the Libyan people,” he added.
A state-owned Libyan TV station on Thursday reported that the two leaders discussed the situation in Libya over a phone call.
'Full solidarity'
The state run Al-Jamahiriyah TV said: “The Sri Lankan president asked the brother leader to inform him about the current developments in Libya.”
"The Sri Lankan president expressed his and Sri Lankan people's full solidarity with the Libyan people in the face of this conspiracy"
State-run Al-Jamahiriyah TV
The TV said the Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi informed President Rajapaksa “about the extent of the conspiracy which targets the security, stability and national unity of the Libyan people.”
President Rajapaksa for his part “expressed his and Sri Lankan people's full solidarity with the Libyan people in the face of this conspiracy,” the report added.
President Rajapaksa twice visited Libya in April and August 2009.
The President’s eldest son, Namal Rajapaksa, MP, led a parliamentary delegation to Libya on 16 January, this year.
He was accompanied by Sajin de Vass Gunawardena, MP and Coordinating Secretary to the President, Duminda Silva, MP, Lohan Ratwatte, MP, Dilhan Tharanath Basnayaka, MP, and Indika Karunajeewa, Senior Assistant Secretary to the President.
Let the FARMERS who play the central part in National Food Security, prosper in their Govi-livelihood.
The Govi occupation has been recognized as the most important in Sri Lanka from times immemorial!
Let it be so again .. by enabling them to thrive in their occupation while preserving the nation!
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Sri Lanka launches program to uplift the living standards of farmers
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Mar 03, Colombo: The Sri Lankan government has launched a programme with a future vision to uplift the life standards of the country's farming community, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said today addressing the National Farmers' Convention held at the Temple Trees this afternoon under his patronage.
Under an initiative of President around 7,000 farmers from 21 districts of the country attended the convention held under the theme "Family nutrition and economic uplifting".
The conference, aimed at enhancing agriculture and development of the economy, was organized by the Ministry of Agrarian Services and Wildlife to coincide with the launch of Divi Neguma program today by the President to establish one million home gardening units island wide.
The President said the program will be carried forward with full strength to uplift the farming community and crown the farmers. The government plans to launch the Divi Neguma program island wide on March 12.
President Rajapaksa also distributed a starter unit for the home gardening to the farmers.
The program aims to uplift the economic and nutritional level of the family unit by providing technical and physical assistance to the families who wish to initiate projects in fields ranging from agriculture to fishing industry.
Under the first phase of the project the government will provide technical and physical assistance to hundred families in each Grama Niladhari division to initiate agriculture projects.
Agrarian Services and Wildlife Minister S.M. Chandrasena has explained that there are 14,000 Grama Niladhari divisions in the country and under the programme, 100 houses will be assisted on a daily basis to commence the cultivation of food items.
The houses will be provided with plants, seeds and fertilizer to commence the programme. The residents could use the produce for their consumption.
The Divi Neguma programme would be assisted by the Agriculture Ministry and the Agrarian Services Ministry.
During the convention, the farmers also discussed the devastation caused by the recent floods and rains to their crops and the compensation for those famers who lost their crops.
Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Agrarian Services and Wildlife S. M. Chandrasena and the Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga were also present at the occasion.
Let us REVERSE the Ethnic Cleansing of the North & East by the Tamil Tigers!
ALL CITIZENS should have the FREEDOM to settle in and live wherever they please in Sri Lanka.
One Nation, One People, One Destiny!
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SRI LANKA: Government shifts focus to displaced Muslims
Most Muslims evicted from the north during a civil war now reside in Puttalam fishing village
COLOMBO, 3 March 2011 (IRIN) - The government of Sri Lanka has renewed its pledge to resettle Muslims evicted more than two decades ago from the war-affected north.
In 1990, during their struggle for increased autonomy, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels forced out the entire Muslim population, estimated to be at least 70,000, from northern Sri Lanka, suspecting them of collaborating with government intelligence services.
Since then, between 8,000 and 10,000 have returned, according to the government.
Ismail Ahmed, 61, was in his early forties when LTTE cadres announced over loud-hailers that all Muslims should immediately leave Jaffna district in the Northern Province, a rebel stronghold.
"We did not have time to get ready. We left the north within less than 24 hours. I took my wife and daughters [aged 12 and 10] and fled," Ahmed told IRIN from Mannar Island, separated by a bridge from mainland Sri Lanka, where he has resettled.
"I have lived as a refugee for almost 20 years. I want to go back to my home," Ahmed said.
Rishad Bathiudeen, a senior minister from the ruling government party, told IRIN that while no timeline had been announced, the government was now making an "all-out" effort to resettle displaced Muslims.
"It is an urgent need to resettle the Muslims and we are treating it as a major priority."
Since the return process began in August 2009 for the overall displaced population, more than 300,000 have left Menik Farm - the country's largest camp - and some dozen others hastily set up in the final days of the conflict between government forces and the defeated rebels.
"We have successfully completed the resettlement of most IDPs [internally displaced people] who were displaced by the last stages of war in 2008 and 2009 so now we are also shifting our focus to resettlement of Muslims who were displaced decades ago," said a senior military administrative official, who spoke to IRIN on condition of anonymity.
About 80 percent of the displaced Muslims now live in Puttalam - a small fishing town on the north-western coast - with the rest scattered throughout the country, he added.
But for at least one resident of Puttalam, the returns are not happening quickly enough. "Now the war is over and there is no LTTE, I do not know why we cannot go back to our old lands," said Baiz Lebbe. He said authorities "are not paying enough [attention] to facilitate the return process of Muslim IDPs".
This underscores the need for regular medical checkups ans stress-tests for critical military personnel ... such as PILOTS!
A valuable life was lost, and two very costly fighter planes were destroyed. It could have been far worse had the planes crashed in populated areas.
We cannot afford to have such slip-ups in the future .. so let us implement the necessary preventative medical programs.
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Sri Lankan Air Force Kfir pilot had a mid-air heart attack, medical officer says
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Mar 03, Colombo: The pilot of the Kfir fighter jet that collided with another in midair had a heart attack during the flight, the Negombo Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) Channa Perera has concluded.
According to local media reports, the pilot, 28-year-old Flight Lieutenant Monath Perera has suffered a heart attack during the flight losing control of the aircraft and colliding with the other jet.
The mid-air collision happened 20 minutes into the flight destroyed both aircraft in Yakkala area of Gampaha district on Tuesday.
Perera succumbed to his injuries after failing to eject while the other pilot, Squadron Leader Vajira Jayakody who has managed to eject himself from his aircraft has survived with minor injuries.
The two Kfir jets have taken off from the Air Base at Katunayake and were flying in tight formation rehearsing a fly past in preparation for the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Sri Lanka Air Force.
The Commander of the Air Force has appointed a Board of Investigation headed by Air Vice Marshal Kapila Jayampathi to look into the causes of the accident.
The funeral of Flight Lieutenant Perera will take place on Saturday in his hometown of Galle.
Tiger, Tiger Burning Out!
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Rajaratnam trial jury jeopardized by SEC: defense
By Grant McCool
March 03, 2011
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lawyers for Galleon hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam accused U.S. market regulators of polluting the jury pool for his insider trading trial by filing charges, a week before jury selection, against a friend who is also a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc director.
The criminal trial of the Sri Lankan-born Rajaratnam, 53, is scheduled to start on March 8 in Manhattan federal court, part of what U.S. prosecutors call the biggest probe of insider trading at hedge funds.
The long-running case took a new turn two days ago when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged former Goldman director Rajat Gupta with providing inside information to Rajaratnam.
The SEC said this included making a hurried phone call to Rajaratnam just minutes before the public learned of a $5 billion investment in Goldman by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc at the height of the financial crisis in September 2008.
Gupta's lawyer called the charges baseless. Rajaratnam has pleaded not guilty to charges including securities fraud and conspiracy in the criminal case.
"The overwhelming publicity from this action by the SEC has seriously jeopardized Rajaratnam's ability to seat an impartial and unbiased jury," defense lawyers from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP said in a motion to U.S. District Judge Richard Holwell, who oversees Rajaratnam's criminal case.
"There was no need to file these charges just one week before jury selection," the lawyers said.
According to the defense's court papers, the office of Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, which is prosecuting the criminal case, asked the SEC "to refrain from commencing an action but we have not seen any official correspondence to that effect."
SEC spokesman John Nester declined to comment. Ellen Davis, a spokeswoman for Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, declined to comment.
Rajaratnam's lawyers also asked the judge to allow additional questioning of potential jurors and to give them more instructions.
A panel of 12 jurors and several alternates will be selected from a pool of 300 New Yorkers.
Rajaratnam was charged in October 2009, and his trial is expected to last as long as two months. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.
The SEC's civil administrative proceeding against Gupta also accused him of tipping Rajaratnam about quarterly earnings at Goldman and Procter & Gamble Co.
Gupta was a director at P&G before resigning on March 1. He is also a former worldwide managing director at consulting firm McKinsey & Co.
The case is USA v Raj Rajaratnam et al, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 09-01184.
Cracking the Coconut Oil Myth
By Eric Steinman
March 04, 2011
In Sri Lanka nearly everything has its origins in coconut. Not exactly as exaggerated as the island caricature set forth by pop culture touchstones like Gilligan’s Island’s coconut radio and coconut car, but it is pretty damn close. And cooking with coconut, whether it is coconut meat or coconut milk is a ubiquitous staple. Despite the fact that coconut oil, and many coconut products, have a longstanding bad rap in mainstream, health-conscious, culture, Sri Lankans, as well as many South Asians in the region, subsist off of copious amounts of coconut derived products. As one who has been scared away from coconut, because of its naturally high levels of cholesterol and saturated fat, would presume, any culture eating its weight in coconut oil would probably be plagued with heart disease and a general low mortality rate – not so. Is it possible that what we know, and have been told, about coconut oil and coconut-based products is not the whole truth?
According to The New York Times, distinctly coconut oil’s bad reputation caused a panic at the concession stands back in 1994, when the Center for Science in the Public Interest put out a study claiming that a large movie-theater popcorn, hold the butter, delivered as much saturated fat as six Big Macs. This was enough to turn off a good percentage of the population and make coconut oil a big greasy no-no. Nearly two decades on, coconut oil has experienced a bit of a resurgence, as reported by Melissa Clark for The New York Times. Annual sales of coconut oil in the natural food sector have boomed, and this is not because people are searching out a sure-fire way to raise their cholesterol levels. Despite previous reports about coconut oil being the devil riding a tidal wave of trans fats, certain health professionals are touting the many health benefits of coconut oil (everything from weight loss to reducing the susceptibility of developing HIV and cancer).
Some of the confusion around coconut oil resides in the initial data. Seems the studies and reports that labeled coconut oil as entirely unhealthy had been done with partially hydrogenated coconut oil, which is high in trans fats, and is known for destroying many of the good essential fatty acids and antioxidants naturally contained in virgin coconut oil (the raw form of the more processed partially hydrogenated coconut oil). Therefore the results from this data branded coconut oil, in general, as something to be avoided at all costs (the ultimate cost most likely be your life). But new research has shown that virgin coconut oil does not possess any of the same qualities found in partially hydrogenated coconut oil, and, while it is a saturated fat, it is actually a relatively healthful and fairly delicious alternative to animal fats and nut oils. Vegans and those with nut allergies are especially enthusiastic because, while virgin coconut oil is nutty and rich in flavor, it is also free of animal products and nut-derived oils. And cooking with coconut oil lends a buttery and near-sweet flavor to just about everything. While this should not give you license to eat coconut oil by the spoonful, it does provide some comfort that this maligned cast off possesses something more than just a bad reputation.
Norway will ALWAYS STAB Sri Lanka in the BACK!
Having failed to ENGINEER A PARTITITION of Sri Lanka through the LTTE, they are now streaming money to REGIME CHANGE AGITATORS in Sri Lanka.
Kick the Norwegians PERMANENTLY OUT OF Sri Lanka!
NEVER TRUST THEM!
WILL WE EVER LEARN?
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Foreign funds galore for three NGOs : Over Rs. 600 mn. received in 3 yrs; Norway leading dono
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Island.lk
March 04, 2011
A government investigation has found that in spite of the conclusion of the war in May, 2009, a section of the international community is still pouring money into Sri Lankan NGOs like the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) and National Peace Council (NPC). Transparency International Sri Lanka is another major recipient of foreign grants during the 2008 to 2010 period. According to banking sources, the CPA has received Rs. 272.31 million during the three-year period. The NPC and TI have received Rs. 171.23 million and 174.79 million, respectively.
Sources said that the funding sources included Meyers Norris Penny Ltd RM (Canada), Canadian International Development Agency, Berghof Foundation (Germany), Facilitating Local Initiatives for Conflict Transformation (Germany), Stichting Cordaid (The Netherlands), Norwegian Embassy, Commission Des Communautes (Norway), ICT for Peace Foundation (Switzerland), Dep. F. Auswaert, Angelegenheiten (Switzerland), Swedish Embassy, Swedish International Development Agency, Goldman Sachs Grant (UK), Minority Rights GRP Ltd BCA (UK), European Commission, Transparency International Division (UK), Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (UK), European Union, Diakonia (US), Forum of Federations/Forum Des (US), International Media Support (US), the Ford Foundation (US), Fredskorpset Bergen (US), National Endowment for Democracy (US), Partnership for Transparency Fund (US) and Academy for Educational Development (US).
Of Rs. 618.33 million received by the CPA, NPC and TI during the three-year period, Rs. 111.48 million had been donated by various other sources.
Recently, the Norwegian Embassy, in response to a query by The Island said that the it had launched an initiative three years ago to ensure accountability in Norwegian funded projects.
According to available data, the Norwegian Embassy is the largest single donor. It has granted NGOs Rs. 148.11 million during three-year period and the NPC is the recipient of the single largest grant from them; it received Rs. 70.48 million.
The TI has received its largest single grant from Norway amounting to Rs. 63.28 million, whereas CPA’s single biggest contribution came from the European Commission (Rs. 43. 27 million).
Foreign funds galore for three NGOs : Over Rs. 600 mn. received in 3 yrs; Norway leading donor
....continued....
The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) has revealed that of NOK 2.5 billion spent on development cooperation during the period 1997 to 2009 in Sri Lanka, NOK 100 million was allocated for the peace process.
The European Commission (Rs. 55.61 million) and the Swedish International Development Agency (Rs. 43.11 million) are the second and the third major contributors.
The country’s banking system has no records of the exact amount of funds received by NGOs over the past two to three decades. Sources said that an enormous amount of funds had been received by NGOs since Feb. 2002, with some countries and the UNDP providing funds to the LTTE Peace Secretariat.
Responding to a query by The Island with regard to foreign funding received by the NPC, it Director Dr. Jehan Perera said: "NPC was set up to address the ethnic conflict in our country that had led to war. The NPC has consistently stood for a political solution. Our work is essentially in this spirit. Our belief is that there must be a political solution to the ethnic problem that has the people’s understanding and support. Most of our work is educational. Our work is with the people and in the public domain. We hold workshops, seminars and conferences. In addition, since we believe in first hand learning, we take groups from the South to the North and vice versa. These groups have included community activists, journalists, clergy and also local level politicians. We also engage in advocacy, such as media releases, advertisements and opinion columns. There is a lot of responsiveness amongst the people, but also lack of knowledge of the reality of others’ lives especially across ethnic lines. We believe in engagement in the spirit of reconciliation and peace building even when it has seemed hopeless."
Government sources said that a mechanism was needed to monitor funds channelled through the banking system as well as other means from foreign donors to local agencies.
British Special Air Service (SAS) unit captured in cladestine operation in Libya!
Who says Western Powers are not engaging in gunboat diplomacy even today?
When their "oil supply" is threatened .. "democracy", "national sovereignty" and "human rights" take the back seat.
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Gaddafi launches counter-offensive on Libya rebels
By Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy
March 05, 2011
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Troops loyal to Muammar Gaddafi launched counter-offensives against rebel-held towns on Sunday, increasing fears that Libya is heading for a protracted civil war rather than the swift revolutions seen in Tunisia and Egypt.
The Gaddafi government proclaimed sweeping overnight victories over what it called terrorist bands.
But after what residents said was a day of fierce fighting with artillery, rockets and mortar bombs, rebel forces announced they had fought off Gaddafi's forces in the towns of Zawiyah, to the immediate west of Tripoli, and Misrata to the east.
"Today Misrata witnessed the toughest battle since the beginning of the revolution. Horrible attacks," one resident, who did not want to give his name, told Reuters by phone.
"They came from three sides and managed to enter the town from the west and south but when they reached the center of Misrata the rebels pushed them back," he said.
Misrata, with a population of 300,000, is the largest town controlled by rebels outside the rebel-held east of the country.
If rebel soldiers were able to continue their fitful advance westwards, Misrata could be a stepping stone to reaching the capital, Gaddafi's principal stronghold.
Opposition rebel council spokesman Hafiz Ghoga told a Benghazi news conference: "We would like to put the people of this great nation at ease...because the regime is spreading rumors."
"Both Zawya and Misrata are secured, liberated cities."
Gaddafi's troops, backed by tanks, artillery, warplanes and helicopters also attacked positions near the oil port of Ras Lanuf, 660 km (410 miles) east of the capital.
Rebels were forced to retreat from Bin Jawad which is on the road to Sirte, Gaddafi's hometown, under heavy fire.
"Gaddafi's cut us to pieces. He's firing on us with tanks and missiles. I don't know what we're going to do now," Momen Mohammed told Reuters.
One fighter returning wounded to Ras Lanuf from Bin Jawad was asked what he had seen.
"Death," he replied, too distraught to say any more.
Loyalists had poured into the streets of Tripoli at dawn on Sunday firing into the air and holding portraits of the leader who has headed the OPEC oil and gas producer for 41 years.
"These are celebrations because government forces have taken control of all areas to Benghazi and are in the process of taking control of Benghazi," spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said, referring to Libya's second city, situated in the far east.
But the celebrations appeared to be premature as Benghazi remained firmly under rebel control while insurgents stood their ground at Zawiyah and Misrata.
FIGHT BACK
Rebels surrounded by troops near the center of Zawiyah, 50 km (30 miles) west of Tripoli, faced another attack after repelling two assaults by tanks and infantry the day before.
"This morning, there was a new attack, bigger than yesterday. There were one and a half hours of fighting ... Two people were killed from our side and many more injured," spokesman Youssef Shagan said by telephone.
"We are still in full control of the square," he added.
Gaddafi launches counter-offensive on Libya rebels
.....continued 1....
Elite brigades under Gaddafi's son Khamis also launched an assault on Misrata, 200 km (125 miles) east of the capital.
"The brigades tried to reach the center of the town but revolutionaries managed to repel them. They retreated to the airbase," said a resident who declined to be named.
"The revolutionaries captured 20 soldiers and seized a tank. The town is now fully in the control of the youths," he said.
At least 18 people, including a baby, were killed in the fighting in Misrata on Sunday, a doctor told Reuters by phone.
"We have 18 martyrs but the figure is not final. We also have many people wounded, I cannot even count them," said the doctor, who works at Misrata main hospital, adding that the dead included rebels and civilians.
Rebels first took Bin Jawad on Saturday, but later withdrew. Army units then occupied local homes and set up sniper and rocket-propelled grenade positions for an ambush.
"It's real fierce fighting, like Vietnam," rebel fighter Ali Othman told Reuters. "Every kind of weapon is being used. We've retreated from an ambush and we are going to regroup."
When the rebels returned, a fierce exchange of rockets and mortar bombs ensued just outside Bin Jawad with the army also using heavy artillery. Behind rebel lines, hundreds of fighters armed with machine guns and assault rifles waited to advance.
"The firing is sustained, there is the thud of shells landing, the whoosh of rockets, puffs of smoke and heavy machine gun fire in the distance," a Reuters correspondent there said.
The rebels said they had shot down a helicopter on Sunday and Reuters was shown the wreckage of a warplane on Saturday near Ras Lanuf that rebels said they had brought down.
Doctors at Ras Lanuf hospital said two dead and 22 wounded had arrived from the fighting. A French journalist was shot in the leg, a doctor said, and four rebels were seriously wounded and unlikely to survive.
BRITISH TROOPS SEIZED
Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Sunday that what he called a British diplomatic team that had been captured in the eastern city of Benghazi had now left Libya.
The Sunday Times earlier reported a British Special Air Service (SAS) unit had been captured during a secret diplomatic mission to make contact with opposition leaders backfired.
"They (the rebel army) did capture some British special forces. They could not ascertain if they were friends or foes. For our safety we are holding them and we expect this situation to be resolved soon," a rebel source in Benghazi said.
Western leaders have denounced what they call Gaddafi's brutal response to the uprising, and the International Criminal Court said he and his inner circle face investigation for alleged targeting of civilians by his security forces.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in a newspaper on Sunday that the United Nations security council should launch fresh sanctions against Gaddafi.
"Selective sanctions are necessary against those who are responsible for crimes against the Libyan people," he told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper. "The flow of money must be cut off."
The International Energy Agency said the revolt had blocked about 60 percent of Libya's 1.6 million bpd oil output. The drop, due largely to the flight of thousands of foreign oil workers, will batter the economy and have already jacked up crude prices abroad.
What Karzai, "You want More Soup"?
The US criticizes every other nation embroiled in violent conflicts about "human rights", "democratic values" and "civilian casualties", yet has not invented a way to conduct its own wars without casualties!
What is wrong with this picture?
I think the US needs to RETHINK its policy positions ... GET A REALITY & CONSISTENCY CHECK before its DOUBLE STANDARDS become a GLOBAL JOKE!
The United States will not be able to defend itself with these inconsistent policies, nor will other nations be able to preserve their national integrity with our inconsistent interference in their internal affairs.
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U.S. apology for Afghan deaths "not enough": Karzai
By Hamid Shalizi and Jonathon Burch
March 6, 2011
KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai told General David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, on Sunday his apology for a foreign air strike that killed nine children last week was "not enough."
At a meeting with his security advisers at which Petraeus was present, Karzai said civilian casualties by foreign troops were "no longer acceptable" to the Afghan government or to the Afghan people, Karzai's palace said in a statement.
Civilian casualties caused by NATO-led and Afghan forces hunting insurgents have again become a major source of friction between Karzai and his Western backers.
In the meeting, Petraeus apologized for the deaths of the nine children in eastern Kunar province last Tuesday, saying the killings were a "great mistake" and there would be no repeat.
"In return, the president said the apology was not enough and stressed that civilian casualties caused during operations by coalition forces were the main cause of strained relations between the United States and Afghanistan," the palace said.
"The people of Afghanistan are fed up with such horrific incidents and apologies or condemnation is not going to heal their wounds," it quoted Karzai as saying.
Hours before Karzai's statement, hundreds of people chanting "Death to America" protested in the Afghan capital against the recent spate of civilian deaths, in a sign of the simmering anti-Western feeling among many ordinary Afghans.
International concern over civilian casualties has grown, and the fallout from the recent incidents is even threatening to hamper peace and reconciliation efforts, with a gradual drawdown of the 150,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan to begin in July.
U.S. apology for Afghan deaths "not enough": Karzai
.....continued......
"DEEP REGRET"
Last Tuesday, two attack helicopters gunned down nine Afghan boys as they collected firewood in Kunar after a nearby foreign base had come under insurgent attack.
The incident, in a volatile area that has seen a recent spike in foreign military operations, prompted rare public apologies from Petraeus and his deputy.
President Barack Obama also expressed "deep regret" over the killings and the United Nations called for a review of air strikes.
There have been at least four incidents of civilian casualties by foreign troops in the east in the past two weeks in which Afghan officials say more than 80 people died.
Demonstrators marched through the center of Kabul, some carrying banners bearing pictures of blood-covered dead children they said were killed in air strikes by foreign forces.
"We will never forgive the blood shed by our innocent Afghans who were killed by NATO forces," said one protester Ahmad Baseer, a university student.
"The Kunar incident is not the first and it will not be the last time civilian casualties are caused by foreign troops."
Dozens of women were also among the protesters, a rare occurrence in a country where women are largely banned from public life. Using loudspeakers, some of the women chanted: "We don't want Americans, we don't want the Taliban, we want peace."
PROTESTERS BLAME BOTH SIDES
U.S. and NATO commanders have tightened procedures for using air strikes in recent years, but mistaken killings of innocent Afghans still happen, especially with U.S. and NATO forces stepping up operations in the past few months.
Although civilian casualties caused by foreign forces have decreased over the past two years -- mainly due to a fall in air strikes -- aid groups last November warned a recent rise in the use of air power risked reversing those gains.
Civilian casualties in Afghanistan rose 20 percent in the first 10 months of 2010 compared with 2009, according to U.N. figures, with insurgents responsible for more than three-quarters of those killed or wounded.
In the latest attack by insurgents, 12 civilians were killed on Sunday when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in southeastern Paktika province, governor Mohebullah Sameem said.
But while insurgents are responsible for the large majority of civilian deaths, it is those by foreign forces which rile Afghans most. Many Afghans say militant attacks would not happen if international troops were not in Afghanistan.
"Killing civilians, whether it is the Taliban or foreign forces, is a crime," said protester Shahla Noori.
"Both the Taliban and Americans are responsible for the killings of thousands of civilians," she said.
My Comment at HindustanTimes.com:
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President Rajapaksa is the popular leader of Sri Lanka re-ELECTED by the majority of its people in a landslide victory. This PATRIOT eradicated terrorism from Sri Lanka, and is making every effort to develop the country and improve the lives of all Sri Lankan citizens, without regard to communal affiliations.
He will establish alliances with any and all foreign nations without demonizing their leaders in the best interest of Sri Lanka ... especially when our traditional "democratic" allies in the West, and "warriors against global terrorism" who undertake illegal wars in foreign countries to preserve their own interests, incessantly criticize Sri Lanka attempting to convince us to abandon our sovereignty to terrorists.
There is NO SIMILARITY between Mahinda Rajapaksa and Moammar Gaddafi ... None at All .. despite such assertions by Tamil Eelamists commenting here!
Also, don't be too sure that we know who the "Libyan revolutionaries" really are, or that Gaddafi is destined to lose this struggle. This is a man who understands his country well and will not give up easily, notwithstanding Western nations advocating his departure in their anxiety about their oil supplies. Gaddafi held Libya together for 41 years against centrifugal tribal and neo-colonialist forces with a decentralized form of govt that devolved much power to local communities. The average Libyan today is quite well off, having benefited mightily during Gaddafi's tenure, unlike many in other Arab dictatorships.
Don't be fooled .. the West cares only about maintaining its stream of oil from Libya ... not about the Libyan people. If they can destabilize Libya, make it a dependent nation, and profit in the process .. so much the better. The biggest joke is that Italy,, which inflicted a genocide on Libya that killed over 100,000 Libyans is now sending "humanitarian aid" to Benghazi aboard an Italian warship!
It seems that the colonial foxes are gathering to manage the hen house ... again!
Italian citizens have a right to take prudent steps to preserve their nation's integrity .. unaltered significantly by immigrants.
Requring proficiency in the national language is essential for national integration and cohesion: it helps the natives, the immigrants and the nation as a whole. Failure to do so would, in time, lead to alienation of the immigrants and communal strife with the natives.
The immigrants are granted a great benefit in being allowed to live and work in the host country by the citizens of that country. If they are wise, they would GLADLY SATISFY this minimal requirementand blend into the host society; that will be in their own interest in the long-term. Failure to do so will only demonstrate their selfishness and ingratitude to the nation that gives them refuge, and their undesirability as permanent residents.
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Italy makes immigrants speak Italian
By FRANCES D'EMILIO, Associated Press
March 6, 2011
FLORENCE, Italy – Svetlana Cojochru feels insulted.
The Moldovan has lived here seven years as a nanny to Italian kids and caregiver to the elderly, but in order to stay she's had to prove her language skills by writing a postcard to an imaginary friend and answering a fictional job ad.
"I feel like a guest," said Cojochru. She had just emerged from Beato Angelico middle school where she took a language test to comply with a new law requiring basic Italian proficiency for permanent residency permits following five years of legal residence.
Italy is the latest Western European country turning the screws on an expanding immigrant population by demanding language skills in exchange for work permits, or in some cases, citizenship. While enacted last year in the name of integration, these requirements also reflect anxiety that foreigners might dilute fiercely-prized national identity or even, especially in Britain's case, pose terror risks.
Some immigrant advocates worry that as harsh economic times make it harder for natives to keep jobs, such measures will become more a vehicle for intolerance than integration. Others say it's only natural that newcomers learn the language of their host nation, seeing it as a condition to ensure they can contribute to society.
So far, Italy is only giving a gentle turn to the screw. Cojochru and other test-takers described the exam as easy. No oral skills were tested.
Italy makes immigrants speak Italian
.....continued 1...
In Austria, terms are tougher. There, where native speakers have been sometimes known to scold immigrant parents for not speaking proper German to their children, foreigners from outside the European Union need to prove they speak basic German within five years of receiving their first residency permit. Failure to do so can bring fines and jeopardize their right to stay.
The government argues that foreigners who master German can better integrate and help foster understanding across cultures. But, like in Italy, critics say it's a just a pretext for erecting barriers.
"The German language is increasingly being used as a marginalization tool," said Alev Korun, a Turkish-born member of the opposition Greens party who immigrated to Austria when she was 19.
Austria's Cabinet approved new rules requiring most immigrants to have elementary German skills before they even enter the country. They're part of a plan to create a new "red-white-red card" — the colors of the Austrian flag — for a work permit for qualified non-EU citizens aimed at filling gaps left by an aging work force. The legislation now goes to parliament for consideration.
Critics say requiring people to speak basic German before they set foot in Austria would be an unreasonable barrier for people from poor, rural areas who can't afford or access German classes.
"I think this is a very clear form of discrimination of certain type of immigrants," said Barbara Liegl, head of the Austrian anti-racism organization ZARA. "I see massive disadvantages for specific groups."
Terrorism pushed Britain to start strictly enforcing a requirement for English-language competency for prospective citizens. Three of the 2005 London suicide bombers were native Britons of Pakistani descent while the fourth was born in Jamaica.
Since 2005, would-be citizens and permanent residency holders have been asked to prove their command of "Britishness" by answering multiple choice questions, in English, on British history, culture and law, from explaining the meaning behind the fireworks-filled Guy Fawkes Night, to knowing which British courts use a jury system.
Britain's government has pledged to dramatically cut immigration, and the language requirement is effectively a tool to put a cap on the number of newcomers, said Sarah Mulley, an immigration expert at the Institute of Public Policy Research, a London think tank.
Home Secretary Theresa May, who aims to cut immigration to below 100,000 by 2015, said language tests will help weed out those who don't plan to contribute to British life. She has singled out spouses seeking marriage visas to join English-speaking partners as a particular concern.
"There is a concern about long-established communities in the U.K. who are not well integrated, for examples, some of the Pakistani (and) Bangladeshi communities, and that's largely linked to language limitation," Mulley added.
But Mohammed Reza, a Pakistani on a student visa who is studying for Britain's citizenship test, saw language as a path to integration.
"If I'm wearing traditional clothing on my way to the mosque, everyone on the tube (subway) looks at me funny and gives me wide berth," Reza said. "It's hard to beat the stereotype, but speaking English is probably the most important thing for fitting in. That's why I read as much as I can and try to learn the lingo here."
In Italy's case, there has been a much weaker tradition of immigration and no major Islamic terror attacks. Still, a strong spike in newcomers in recent years — along with the very newness of the immigration phenomenon — has fueled a xenophobia surge and boosted the popularity of the anti-immigrant Northern League, Premier Silvio Berlusconi's main coalition partner.
Italy makes immigrants speak Italian
......continued 2....
In 1990, immigrants numbered some 1.14 million out of Italy's then 56.7 million people, or about 2 percent, according to the state statistics bureau, ISTAT. At the start of this year, foreigners living in Italy amounted to 4.56 million of a total population of 60.6 million, or 7.5 percent, with immigrants' offspring accounting for an ever larger percentage of births in Italy.
Amid the trend, Northern League leader Umberto Bossi's influence in government has grown ever stronger, his rhetoric often laced with a racist tinge. Bossi once referred to immigrants as "bingo bongos" and has suggested that migrant smugglers' boats off Italy's shores be fired upon with cannons.
Last year, a Northern League lawmaker proposed extending the language requirement to all non-EU citizens who want to open a store or other business in Italy, but the move died in Parliament.
Bossi "represents the extreme" in stands on immigration, said Manuele Bacci, 38, one of a fourth generation of butchers running a shop in Florence's cavernous San Lorenzo covered market. The other extreme, he said, is absolutely no restrictions.
"We need to take a step toward them and they need to take a step toward us," was Bacci's formula for integration.
But many immigrants say they'll be rejected no matter how hard they try to fit in.
Cojochru, the Moldovan nanny and caregiver, hoped obtaining permanent residence would help her bring her two teen children to Italy; they live with her sister in Moldova, where wages are among the lowest in Europe. She was skeptical that the language requirement would encourage integration.
Italians always "see me as a foreigner," an outsider, despite her years in the country and despite her flawless command of the local language, she said.
My Comment #2 at HindustanTimes.com:
President Mahinda Rajapaksa is Sri Lanka's Abraham Lincoln who rescued Sri Lankans from the ravages of terrorist violence and war, reunified the nation, and set it on the path to becoming the next Economic Wonder of Asia.
He will bind and heal the wounds inflicted by the murderous war criminals of the LTTE who ethnically cleansed the North and East of non-Tamils; murdered all Tamils who dared to oppose their violence; enslaved Tamils turning the youth against their parents; kidnapped and conscripted children as child soldiers brainwashing them into cyanide capsule swalling zombies; shot, hanged, hacked and bombed to bits over 100,000 people in Sri Lanka; assasinated government officials in India and Sri Lanka; engineered a mass refugee exodus from Sri Lanka to serve as a captive tax base in foreign nations; created a global criminal mafia engaged in worldwide human smuggling, gun running, drug smuggling and credit card scams to fatten their personal fortunes and cause death and destruction in Sri Lanka.
These are the Tamil Eelamist murderers and war criminals who are wailing here as permanent victims now that their best-laid plans to dismember Sri Lanka has blown up in their faces. They seek to keep the Eelamist pot boiling to extract still more funds from their diaspora tax base. The affrontery of these people levelling war crimes charges against others is simply monumental, unbelievable! THE TRUTH IS TURNED ON ITS HEAD!
They bribe government officials of Western Nations with campaign contributions and vote banks to keep their own stream of funds flowing from the Tamil diaspora with the promise of reversing their abject defeat and eradication of the LTTE in Sri Lanka. To that end, they are trying to paint President Mahinda Rajapaksa as a war criminal.
If President Rajapaksa who rescued the Tamils from the human shield and enslavement by the LTTE can be cast as a war criminal, I wonder what punishment we should inflict on President George W. Bush and British PM Tony Blair who orchestrated an illegal invasion and war in the foreign nation of Iraq under false pretenses. Also, instead of honoring Abraham Lincoln for his devotion to the American people, should we today malign him as a war criminal as he was labelled by the Confederates in his day? If President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to be labelled a war criminal, as Tamil Eelamist posing under various pseudonyms propose here, then let us add Winston Churchill, President Franklin Roosevelt, Charles De Gaulle, President Eisenhower as well to the roster. It seems that any and all leaders who successfully waged war to defend their own country in the cause of freedom and survival of their people would qualify while we sanctify the terrorists and mass muderers to as victims and saints! Bah!
Double Standards are at issue here: it seems only the rich and powerful nations are allowed to wage war in the defense of their nations while poor and weak nations are expected to follow the dictats of the rich and powerful nations spouting self-serving policies from the sidelines.
NGO Skullduggery EXPOSED: Huge Payoffs, LTTE terrorist links, links to national political parties!
What could be more humanitarian than "Humanitarian Organizations" helping themselves to the LOOT ... FIRST!
Bloody Crooks taking the GULLIBLE PUBLIC for a RIDE!
.............
SL calls for probe into NGO funding
By Shamindra Ferdinando
March 06, 2011
The Sri Lankan government says the recent revelation that former Secretary General of the London headquartered Amnesty International, Irene Khan and her deputy Kate Gilmore received a staggering 533,000 and 325,244 pounds, pay-off packages, respectively, should prompt a worldwide scrutiny of NGO operations.
Khan, a Bangladeshi and the first Asian to head the AI, assumed duties in 2001.
During her tenure as head, AI targeted the Sri Lankan cricket team during the last World Cup in the Caribbean in 2007 over the country’s war against LTTE terrorism.
Although Khan and Gilmore quit AI on Dec. 31, 2009, they remuneration remained undisclosed until Feb. 2011. The British press reported the issue last week.
Evidence has surfaced that the LTTE obtained the services of former AI personnel. Their connection came to light in Oct. 2005, when Francis Boyle, a former bigwig of AI (1988-92) represented the LTTE at a meeting with the EU in Brussels, close on the heels of the EU imposing a travel ban on the LTTE leadership based in Sri Lanka. Boyle was joined by V. Rudrakumaran, now the self styled Prime Minister of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE).
A top level government spokesman told The Island on condition of anonymity that AI had been involved with the LTTE for some time and during Khan’s stewardship, an AI delegation had visited the LTTE-held Vanni in June 2002.
The then UNP-led UNF government facilitated meetings between the AI delegation led by Derek Evans, a former Deputy Secretary General of AI.
On their return from the Vanni, AI called a press briefing in Colombo, where it declared that the LTTE wanted its expertise to streamline its ‘judicial’ system and ‘police’ service. Evans said that AI was ready to assist the LTTE on the lines of its activities in Afghanistan.
Sources said after Khan’s exit, AI hadn’t appointed a successor thus allowing Claudio Cordone, Senior Director for Research and Regional Programmes, to run the show from Jan. to June 2010.
Salil Shetty, an Indian, was appointed as AI’s eighth Secretary General last July. Shetty had been Director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign from 2003 to 2010.
Sources said that under Shetty’s leadership, AI, together with Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the International Crisis Group (ICG) last October condemned the appointment of Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) set up by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
SL calls for probe into NGO funding
.....continued....
A foreign affairs analyst told The Island that such acts re-confirm the long held suspicion that organisations like AI were no longer objective critics of human rights abuse, but selectively targeted countries and situations, to serve the interests of their pay masters. "In fact, they increasingly show a tendency to draw attention to issues as part of the propaganda campaigns of vested interests, but refuse to subject their assertions to public scrutiny, as observed when AI refused to appear before the Sri Lankan LLRC," he said.
UNP MP Harsha de Silva told The Island that it was unbelievable that AI ran on donations from millions of supporters across the world and had paid such huge sums to its outgoing Secretary General and her deputy. However, in its defence, AI has said that the situation was unique and had arisen due to an unexpected legal complication when attempting to end the contract with its Secretary General.
MP de Silva said: "It is true that AI has not been in the good books of the Government of Sri Lanka in the recent past, particularly over its campaign to ensure accountability for alleged human rights violations committed during the last stages of the conflict. But that should not be reason to discount all the good work AI has been doing all over the world for almost 50 years, fighting for the abused and tortured, even winning the Nobel Prize for its dedication and commitment. While I sincerely hope the Government would work in a realistic manner with all stakeholders, local and foreign, to arrive at a solution that is acceptable to all and heals this open wound with obvious and unbearable pain of mind to hundreds of thousands if not more, it must ensure that basic human rights are protected of all citizens of Sri Lanka. This must include the investigations on abductions, enforced disappearances and killings and ensure that the perpetrators are identified and brought to justice and tried in full conformity with international standards. The Government must also ensure that the harassment, intimidation and other attacks against human rights defenders, journalists and other peaceful critics are stopped immediately. It is now just about a month since I was personally targeted in the brutal Independence Day attack on the UNP protest but to date not a single perpetrator has been identified, let alone brought to justice."
SL calls for probe into NGO funding
......continued 2....
UPFA National List MP Prof. Rajiva Wijesinghe told The Island that he had been trying to get the government to thoroughly investigate funds received by various NGOs and for what purpose, how projects were coordinated with the government and how their results were monitored. He said: "Recently, I was delighted that one of my dedicated parliamentary colleagues, Dr Sudharshani Fernandopulle, also asked relevant questions, though she too did not receive satisfactory answers. If we check on these carefully, ensure accounts are filed with relevant authorities (Directorate of Companies or NGO Secretariat or whatever), reports are submitted and read and discussed, and tax paid, we can also develop more productive relationships with hard-working capable NGOs. Unfortunately, our government structures are as loose about accountability as most of their critics.
With regard to Amnesty International, I have long been prejudiced in their favour since Amnesty dates from the days when Human Rights was not fashionable, and was not used deliberately as a political tool. However, though I do not know details of what happened with regard to Irene Khan, I believe that recently it has had divergent approaches. One was what I would call the old Amnesty approach, which I appreciate, and which I felt was represented by its Geneva Representative Peter Splinter, and also Irene Khan. As the article you sent suggests, she was also concerned about economic rights, ie she worried about human beings, not about political arrangements. She was not against Sri Lanka herself ,and when we met in Geneva, she expressed appreciation of what Sri Lanka had achieved in this regard, in particular our successful efforts to extend health and education rights to the entire population.
However, during her time, Amnesty began to approximate more to those human rights groups that have emerged recently, and which are heavily funded by countries as well as individuals, keen on political interventions. Thus we had the preposterous cricket campaign against Sri Lanka, by a strange individual called Jim McDonald, who was really very stupid indeed, as even his colleagues came to realise. He may have been well intentioned, but when he claimed that Sri Lankans might have stolen cluster bombs from the Tigers and then used them, to justify an assertion he had made which the United Nations repudiated, we realised that we were dealing with an old loony.
More recently, Amnesty International hired a man called Sam Zarifi who had previously worked for Human Rights Watch, and who seems to be one of those Iranian expatriates with a visceral hatred of the current regime in Teheran. I believe he is one of the leading figures in efforts by proponents of Western interference to transform Amnesty International into another political tool. In such a context, I would assume that Irene Khan had to be sidelined.
If she demanded a large price to be got rid of, that is entirely understandable. She will probably find it difficult to get a similar job again, given her apolitical approach, and her refusal to look at things in black and white in terms of particular political agendas. It is understandable therefore that she should have got from Amnesty a package that will compensate her for difficulties about finding similar employment in the future.
Sadly, given increasing sophistication with regard to propaganda and communication tools, organisations like Amnesty will find it difficult to survive without massive funding from sources that will expect conformity to their political agendas. I believe Mrs Khan was not such a conformist, unlike for instance Mr Zarifi, who is sinister, and Mr McDonald, who is foolishly idealistic and therefore can be used by more sophisticated players of the human rights card in a much more complex world."
Here we go AGAIN... Military Involvement in a MURKY CONFLICT with UNCERTAIN ALLIES ...
Based on Assumptions .. woefully unverified Assumptions!
Also, More Double Talk:
For Others: Libya is under military embargo .. don't you send Gaddafi any arms!
For the US: We are exploring sending arms to the "democracy revolutionaries" via Saudi Arabia!
Arms Embargo on everyone, by everyone except us!
And who are these "allies by assumption"? Well, we don't really know ... but we hope they will be ours!!!
Onwards ... Jump from the Frying Pan into the Fire!
Monumental Idiocy! We have learn't NOTHING from Iraq!
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US, allies edge toward military options for Libya
By Matthew Lee And Bradley Klapper
March 7, 2011
WASHINGTON – The U.S. and its NATO allies edged closer Monday to formulating a military response to the escalating violence in Libya as the alliance boosted surveillance flights over the country and the Obama administration signaled it might be willing to help arm Moammar Gadhafi's opponents. Europe, meanwhile, kick-started international efforts to impose a no-fly zone.
It still appeared unlikely that U.S. warplanes or missiles would soon deploy in Libya, which may be sliding toward civil war, but the ongoing violence increased pressure on Washington to do something or spell out its plan.
The violence "perpetrated by the government in Libya is unacceptable," President Barack Obama declared as he authorized $15 million in new humanitarian aid to assist and evacuate people fleeing the fighting. And he warned those still loyal to Gadhafi that they will be held to account for a violent crackdown that continued Monday with warplanes launching multiple airstrikes on opposition fighters seeking to advance on Tripoli.
"I want to send a very clear message to those who are around Col. Gadhafi," Obama told reporters in the Oval Office alongside Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who is in Washington for meetings. "It is their choice to make how they operate moving forward. And they will be held accountable for whatever violence continues to take place."
The president spoke as U.S. military planes shuttled between Europe and Tunisia, ferrying in supplies and taking out some of the hundreds of thousands of people who have fled across the Libyan border. As international humanitarian efforts stepped up, Obama said NATO was consulting about "a wide range of potential options, including potential military options, in response to the violence that continues to take place inside of Libya."
As a first step, NATO agreed on Monday to increase AWACs surveillance flights over Libya from 10 to 24 hours a day to give the alliance a better picture of both the humanitarian and military situations on the ground, U.S. Ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder told reporters. NATO's governing body is meeting over the next two days to come up with contingency plans for military operations to be considered at a Thursday meeting of the alliance's defense ministers in Brussels, he said.
Meanwhile, Britain and France were drafting a U.N. Security Council resolution that would authorize a no-fly zone over Libya aimed at protecting Gadhafi's foes from military air strikes, diplomats said. U.S. officials said a no-fly zone remains an option but suggested there was little enthusiasm for such a complex and expensive operation and questioned whether it would actually serve its intended purpose.
"When you really look at what is going on, we have actually seen a decrease in both fighters and overall air activity over Libya," Daalder said. "The kinds of capabilities that are being used to attack the rebel forces and indeed the population will be largely unaffected by a no-fly zone."
US, allies edge toward military options for Libya
.....continued....
White House spokesman Jay Carney said a military response was no more likely now than it was before the surge in violence. But, he said arming the rebels was a possibility even as officials denied a report that the U.S. had asked Saudi Arabia to provide weapons to rebels fighting Gadhafi and other officials noted it would violate a U.N. arms embargo imposed on Libya last week.
"It is one of the range of options that is being considered," Carney said of the idea. Yet, he cautioned that there were still many unanswered questions about what groups comprise those forces and whether it would be prudent to arm them.
"I think that it would be premature to send a bunch of weapons to a post office box in eastern Libya. We need to not get ahead of ourselves in terms of the options we're pursuing," Carney said.
At the State Department, spokesman P.J. Crowley pointed out that arming the rebels would be illegal unless the U.N. arms embargo were modified or lifted.
"There is an arms embargo that affects Libya, which means it's a violation for any country to provide arms to anyone in Libya," he said. "That is not permitted. But, depending on how events unfold, there are a wide range of options available to the international community."
Hundreds of people have died since Libya's uprising began, although tight restrictions on media make it nearly impossible to get an accurate tally.
The U.S. and United Nations have imposed sanctions on Gadhafi's regime, and U.S. military forces have also moved closer to Libya's shores to back up demands that Gadhafi step down.
Caring Hands to serve elders, expatriates
By Ramani Kangaraarachchi
DailyNews.lk
March 08, 2011
Another first of its kind company has been set up to serve Sri Lankan expatriates with local interests. Caring Hands Lanka CEO Lasantha de Silva told Daily News Business that according to a market survey done by him there are 800,000 Sri Lankans living abroad with local interests and most of them do not have a mechanism to attend to their needs in Sri Lanka.
Lasantha de Silva with an
elderly recipient.
“This is an emerging market with a huge potential and our plan is to explore this,” he said.
De Silva who has lived abroad for many years will invest over Rs 50 million in foreign exchange to commence business initially. The second stage will be a day care centre for aged people.
De Silva himself had experienced difficulties in getting various things done in Sri Lanka while living abroad and found at least ten percent of expatriates will need the services of somebody in Sri Lanka to attend to their interests such as looking after aged parents, settling of various bills and maintaining properties.
The company has employed about 80 people in different areas and this will increase in time to come. A growing number of senior citizens in Sri Lanka are living alone as their children live abroad and there is a need to cater to this market.
“Sri Lankans are known for their caring nature but due to unavoidable circumstances they are unable to fulfil these requirements,” he said.
Services are provided by independent contractors with quality assurance guarantees in place and work is supervised by Caring Hands personnel. All transactions are done on line.
SL to share its war experiences: 54 countries to attend seminar organised by Army
By Supun Dias
DailyMirror.lk
March 08, 2011
Sri Lanka will share the experiences of its counterinsurgency campaign with 54 countries, including the USA, Russia, China and Britain, and enumerate the factors that contributed to its militarily defeating the LTTE, said Army Commander Jagath Jayasuriya yesterday.
He said that the Army would conduct a three-day seminar on ‘Defeating Terrorism: the Sri Lankan Experience,’ scheduled to be held from May 31 to June 2.
The panel presenting the Sri Lankan Experience will share their knowledge of counterinsurgency, Contd. from A1
emphasizing the predominance of the political effort, military effort, efficient politico military gearing and rapid resettlement as the core contributors to the success of the campaign.We will endeavour to propose adequate measures to manage and counter global terrorism, and discuss strategies for nation building while introducing the Sri Lankan perspective on counter terrorism, he said.
According to the Army, a comprehensive and effective counter terrorism strategy, operational and tactical level lessons covering intelligence, field engineering, medical aspects, and operations behind enemy lines, and the evolution of tactical level training would be discussed extensively during the seminar.
The role of human rights in counterinsurgency operations, rehabilitation programmes to integrate ex-combatants into society, and measures taken to mitigate factors that might lead to a resurgence of violence, and political reforms to accommodate all ethnic communities, and nation building would be the other key topics that would be touched on by the guests and also by the Sri Lanka Army during the seminar, the Army said.Meanwhile, the Army Commander launched a web site www.defseminar.lk yesterday, to enable the delegation members to register online for the summit and also to obtain a general view of the seminar.
British Bunglers Booted from Benghazi!
More Erroneous Assumptions!
What, no WMD?
...............
Libya stalemate: Now what?
By Laura Rozen
March 07, 2011
British intelligence operatives sought, and failed spectacularly, to open up preliminary negotiations with rebel forces over the weekend--a reversal that has Western powers once more uncertain about how to handle the de facto civil war between insurgents and Muammar Gadhafi's brutal regime in the North African nation.
Operatives with England's SAS/MI6 team in Libya wound up being detained by the rebel leaders to whom they were trying to open a line of contact. Their humiliation has left the broader international community stymied on Monday as pro-Gadhafi forces and rebels appear locked in a strategic stalemate.
Anti-regime forces organized a rebel council in their eastern Libyan stronghold of Benghazi over the weekend--but early international efforts to open talks on possibly assisting them had a rocky start. The rebel forces arrested the eight-man British intelligence and commando team that had helicoptered into eastern Libya last week to start a quiet dialogue.
"The eight Britons had been detained and questioned since Thursday by rebel leaders who had suspected they were mercenaries," the Guardian reported. "Challenged by guards at a wheat farm, they were forced to open bags containing weapons, reconnaissance equipment, and multiple passports, then herded into a dormitory before they were handed over to the rebels."
British foreign secretary William Hague acknowledged Sunday that the members of what he called the British "diplomatic team" had left Libya after experiencing "difficulties," the paper wrote.
Some analysts suggest that episodes like the British setback point out just how little Western analysts know about the rebel forces -- a knowledge gap that makes international intervention on Libya less likely.
"I would argue the case for American intervention has now diminished," said former U.S. Middle East peace negotiator Aaron David Miller on Monday. "The context within which Libya is now unfolding has fundamentally altered. It is no longer remotely the Egyptian-Tunisian [peaceful protesters] context. It has now morphed …into a civil conflict between two armed camps about which we know very little. ... This is now a grind, a civil conflict."
"What happened [with the British team] over the weekend has reinforced the sense of caution many people already feel," said Robert Danin, the former Middle East Quartet deputy envoy.
"The larger point when considering military force now is this is not something the Arab world wants," Danin, now with the Council on Foreign Relations, continued. "I would say there is no consensus view about what to do from air... People are saying a no-fly zone is a step on a slippery slope."
Libya stalemate: Now what?
.......continued........
Other analysts argue, however, that it would be a mistake to generalize the SAS/MI6 snafu into a rationale against intervention.
"There are a lot of different things one could do, some of which are relatively cheap and easy," said former Defense Intelligence Agency Middle East analyst Jeffrey White.
"We could provide the rebels ... with tactical intelligence about these movement of [pro-Gadhafi] forces," White, now a defense fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said. "We could … probably provide them with air warning, okay a couple planes took off from Tripoli."
"We could also do things like put in a field hospital that provides traumatic wound care and emergency medical assistance to combatants," he said. White also suggested that "we could provide air defense for Benghazi, which is a relatively much smaller area and simpler problem. … We're not talking about the Luftwaffe or Soviet air force."
A no-fly zone is "not the only option for what one could do," Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) told CBS's Face the Nation Sunday. "One could crater the airports and the runways and leave [pro-Gadhafi forces] incapable of using them for a period of time."
The White House for its part still sounds cautious about increasing military intervention in Libya. "Lots of people throw around phrases like no-fly zone," White House chief of staff Bill Daley told NBC's Meet the Press. "They talk about it as though it's just a video game."
Some Libya experts predict that despite the battle for territorial advantage between pro- and anti-Muammar Gadhafi forces, some sort of negotiations are likely to get under way.
"The Libyans are great deal-makers," a former U.S. official who has worked on on Libyan issues said Monday on condition of anonymity. "They put you up against the wall until your nose is smashed"--then make a deal.
By way of precedent, the former official cited the deal Gadhafi struck behind the scenes with British MI6 and the CIA to give up his weapons of mass destruction program in exchange for the international community not pushing for regime change in 2003.
The onetime official added that intermediaries such as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair--who has reportedly developed a rapport with Gadhafi since leaving office--are well-placed to "sense when Gadhafi is ready to make a deal. The [Gadhafi] boys will cut a deal. Free passage, a little bit of money, no [International Criminal Court] prosecution, they will cut a deal."
Libyan officials also signaled interest in negotiations with the rebels. Former Libyan Prime Minister Jadallah Azous Al-Talhi appeared on Libyan state-controlled television Monday to appeal for a "national dialogue to end the bloodshed," the Washington Post reported. "Opposition sources said the regime had made private overtures about launching negotiations"--which the rebels said to date they had rebuffed.
Separately, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Sunday named former Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdelilah al-Khatib to be his special envoy to Libya. Libya's foreign minister and former intelligence chief Musa Kusa reportedly granted permission for the UN team to arrive in Tripoli for talks on the humanitarian situation.
As I predicted, Libyan Govt Forces are pushing back the "democracy revolutionaries" on all fronts.
It Ain't Over till the Fat Lady Sings!
I hope the "oil addicted" Western Powers will not interfere in this internal Libyan conflict under the PRETEXT of concern for "humanitarian rights".
As Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman intoned "War is Hell" ... but those with the will to fight will win.
When the rebels seemed to be winning, Saif Gaddafi, son of Muammar Gaddafi, stated:
"We have Three Options.
Option A is to live and die in Libya,
Option B is to live and die in Libya, and
Option C is to live and die in Libya!"
People will rally around committed leaders like that who will not cut and run when the going gets tough and death is likely!
Let the Libyans decide the issue for themselves .. according to their levels of popular support from within their own country, just as the Union and Confederate supporters decided the outcome of the US Civil war .. for the better for the American people as a whole. Foreign perspectives are IRRELEVANT!
Neo-colonialists BUTT OUT!
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Gaddafi tanks, jets strike deeper into rebel heartland
By Mohammed Abbas and Alexander Dziadosz
March 10, 2011
RAS LANUF, Libya (Reuters) – Libyan tanks fired on rebel positions around the oil port of Ras Lanuf and warplanes hit another oil hub further east Thursday as Muammar Gaddafi carried counter-attacks deeper into the insurgent heartland.
In the west, Gaddafi's army laid siege to try to starve out insurgents clinging to parts of the shattered city of Zawiyah, strategically significant because it is close to his powerbase in the capital Tripoli, after fierce see-saw battles this week.
But the rebels took an important step toward international legitimacy when France recognized their national council.
While oil prices have been kept high by the bombardments in the east of the Arab North African state, there was no clear sign of deliberate intent by Gaddafi to ruin oil infrastructure.
NATO and the European Union were looking into imposing a "no-fly" zone over Libya to stop the government using jets and helicopters against the outgunned rebels, who seized a string of cities east and west of Tripoli early in the three-week-old war to end Gaddafi's 41 years of iron-fisted rule.
Despite rebel appeals to take the skies away from Gaddafi's forces, no quick action was expected as NATO has made clear it needs wider, United Nations endorsement for such a move.
More than 500 km (300 miles) east of Tripoli, Gaddafi's warplanes and gunboats off the Mediterranean coast bombarded rebels around Ras Lanuf, with projectiles crashing close to a building of the Libyan Emirates Oil Refinery Company.
There was a series of air strikes, and insurgents fired anti-aircraft guns toward warplanes and rockets out to sea toward Gaddafi's naval forces, without visible effect.
Two rebel fighters said they saw Ras Lanuf's residential area, including the vicinity of its hospital, get bombed and that government forces had fired rockets from sea, air and ground. There was no apparent damage to the hospital.
Gaddafi tanks, jets strike deeper into rebel heartland
....continued 1....
Later, at least two tanks were seen bearing down on ragged rebel lines outside Ras Lanuf and opening fire.
The rebels also reported an air strike on Brega, another oil port 90 km (50 miles) east of Ras Lanuf, indicating that Gaddafi loyalists had not only halted a westwards insurgent push in its tracks but were making inroads into the rebels' eastern centers.
State television said rebels had been ousted from the port and airport of Es Sider, a further oil terminus about 40 km (25 miles) up the coast west of Ras Lanuf.
OPEC member Libya was turning away tankers from ports as storage depots dried up because of supply disruptions caused by the fighting. Libya's oil trade has virtually been paralyzed as banks refuse to clear payments in dollars due to U.S. sanctions, cutting off major importers such as Italy and France.
The intensified fighting near oil installations kept crude prices hovering near recent 2.5-year highs, with Brent crude trading at $114.55 a barrel.
FADING REBEL FORTUNES?
The rebels, hitherto bursting with confidence that they would soon charge hundreds of km (miles) up the Mediterranean desert coast, overwhelming any resistance, to capture Gaddafi's main bastion Tripoli, now conceded they were struggling to hold ground against the government's vastly superior firepower.
"(Gaddafi) might take it. With planes, tanks, mortars and rockets, he might take it," said rebel fighter Basim Khaled.
"A no-fly zone would be great," said rebel fighter Salem al-Burqy, echoing the view of many beleaguered cohorts.
Gaddafi's counter-offensive has stymied a rebel advance from their eastern power base of Benghazi. They were forced to withdraw from the front-line town of Bin Jawad, just west of Ras Lanuf, after coming under heavy shelling earlier this week.
One fighter said rebels had retaken the heart of Zawiyah, the closest city -- 50 km (30 miles) west -- to Tripoli, from the army overnight. Zawiyah's center appeared to change hands twice during the day in a fierce battle.
"We fought until after three in the morning. It's all quiet here this morning," said the insurgent, named Ibrahim, by phone.
Mohamed, a Libyan in exile abroad who got through to a relative on the outskirts of Zawiyah Thursday morning, said it was simply not clear who was winning the battle for the city but the army had it under siege to break the rebels' will.
"Yesterday (rebel sympathizers) tried to bring food and medicine from Subratha but failed. Government troops surround Zawiyah from everywhere. It is unclear who controls the center. It changes all the time. It's street to street fighting."
Authorities have kept journalists away from Zawiyah.
Gaddafi tanks, jets strike deeper into rebel heartland
.....continued 2....
FRENCH RECOGNITION
France became the first significant country Thursday to recognize the rebel Libyan National Council as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people.
An official at President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said France would send an ambassador to Benghazi and receive a Libyan envoy in Paris. He was speaking after Sarkozy met officials from the Libyan National Council.
Britain's Foreign Office suggested it could make the same opening as France, saying Libyan National Council members were "valid interlocutors" and Gaddafi should step down now. "The UK recognizes states, not governments. The interim national council are valid interlocutors, with whom we wish to work closely," a Foreign Office spokesman said.
The U.S. Defense Department said it was preparing a "full range" of military options for Libya, including a no-fly zone. NATO ministers were to weigh up options at talks in Brussels on Thursday. Military officers said a zone could be set up quickly.
Rebel forces have appealed to Washington and its allies to impose a no-fly zone to deny Gaddafi's forces the advantage of using warplanes and prevent him moving troops by helicopter.
A no-fly zone could also help protect civilians who have been caught in the fighting, with scores if not more people reported killed so far in cities like Zawiyah. A burgeoning humanitarian emergency could hasten a no-fly decision.
CALL TO AVOID SHOOTING AT CIVILIANS
In Geneva, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Libya had descended into civil war with increasing numbers of wounded civilians arriving in hospitals in the east.
ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger called on Libyan authorities to grant the humanitarian agency access to western areas including the capital Tripoli and reminded both sides that civilians and medical facilities must not be targeted.
General Raymond Odierno, commander of the U.S. Joint Forces Command, said the U.S. military was probably capable of establishing a "no-fly" zone over Libya "within a couple of days" if the international community so decided.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has made it clear imposing a no-fly zone is a matter for the United Nations and should not be a U.S.-led initiative. Russia and China, permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, oppose the idea, which could entail bombing Libyan air defenses as a first step.
Russia said Thursday military intervention would be unacceptable, but acted to help isolate Gaddafi by banning all weapons sales to Libya, effectively suspending major arms contracts with his government.
Italy, whose bases could play a critical role in any military action, has said it will back any decisions taken by NATO, the EU or the United Nations, clearing the way for U.S. naval forces based in Naples to be deployed if needed.
Two members of Libya's opposition council visited the European Parliament Wednesday and said they wanted EU moral support, political recognition and a no-fly zone shielding the territory they hold -- but not any form of military intervention in a country sensitive about former colonial domination.
Counter-attacks by Gaddafi loyalists suggest the flamboyant leader, in power since a 1969 coup, will not go as quietly or quickly as fellow leaders in Egypt and Tunisia did in a tide of popular unrest rolling across the Arab world.
Just as well .. the Buddhist tolerance and compassion of the Dalai Lama shackles attempts to restore the independence of Tibet.
Let him minister to the spiritual needs of his people .. an area in which he excels. There he can function without spiritual conflicts.
................
Dalai Lama plans to quit as Tibet political leader
By Abhishek Madhukar
March 10, 2011
DHARAMSALA, India (Reuters) – The Dalai Lama said on Thursday he would step down as Tibet's political leader, a move seen as transforming the government-in-exile into a more assertive and democratic body in the face of Chinese pressure.
By devolving his powers, the Dalai Lama would give the prime minister greater clout as the region seeks autonomy from China. Tibetans will vote for a new prime minister this month, with the elections seen as ushering in a generation of younger, secular leaders and strengthening the movement's global standing.
"As early as the 1960s, I have repeatedly stressed that Tibetans need a leader, elected freely by the Tibetan people, to whom I can devolve power," the Dalai Lama said in his annual speech marking 52 years since he fled Tibet after a failed uprising against the Chinese.
"Now, we have clearly reached the time to put this into effect," he told a subdued crowd of 2,000 monks and Tibetans.
The Dalai Lama, whose announcement was widely expected, will remain Tibet's spiritual leader and continue to advocate "meaningful autonomy" for Tibet from the northern Indian town of Dharamsala, where he has lived in exile since 1959.
The prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile, Samdhong Rinpoche, told reporters on Thursday it was not clear if the parliament would accept the Dalai Lama's resignation and warned of a constitutional deadlock.
China, which regards the Dalai Lama as a dangerous separatist responsible for stirring unrest in Tibet, denounced his resignation as a "trick".
"The Dalai Lama uses religion as a disguise and he is a political exile who has been carrying out separatist activities for a long time," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu.
"For years he has been expressing his intention to retire. We think these are tricks to deceive the international community."
UNREST IN TIBET
By divesting his political powers, Dalai, 75, Lama has made it more difficult for China to influence the course of the independence movement after his death, analysts say.
The Chinese government says it has to approve all reincarnations of living Buddhas, or senior religious figures in Tibetan Buddhism. It also says China has to sign off on the choosing of the next Dalai Lama.
Tibetans fear that China will use the thorny issue of the Dalai Lama's succession to split the movement, with one new Lama named by the exiles and one by China after his death. A new Dalai Lama would need decades before they could lead the movement.
On Monday, China insisted the Dalai Lama had no right to choose his successor, but must follow the historical and religious tradition of reincarnation.
"There is a lot of talk that the Chinese are waiting for the Dalai Lama to die, thinking that without him the movement will stall," said Kanwal Sibal, former Indian foreign secretary.
"By democratizing the movement, he is trying to steer Tibet's leadership in a direction that will make it difficult for the Chinese to dictate the dialogue."
Dalai Lama plans to quit as Tibet political leader
.....continued.....
Some Tibetans fear that a reduced role for the Dalai Lama, who won the Nobel Peace prize in 1989, could diminish the larger independence movement. The charismatic and media-savvy leader balances his spiritual duties with courting high-profile support from Hollywood superstars.
But analysts say he is still likely to wield a large amount of power over the parliament-in-exile due to his global renown and the devotion of ordinary Tibetans.
The three main contenders for the prime minister's post, to be contested later in March, are all secular, not monks like the incumbent, adding to a sense of modernization of the exiled movement.
The favorite is Lobsang Sangay, a Fulbright scholar with a doctorate in law from Harvard. In 2007, he was selected as one of the twenty-four Young Leaders of Asia by the Asia Society.
China has ruled Tibet with an iron fist since Communist troops marched in 1950. It says its rule has bought much needed development to a poor and backward region.
Rights groups accuse China of failing to respect Tibet's unique religion and culture and of suppressing its people.
By devolving his political leadership, it could also make it easier for the Dalai Lama to travel and be hosted by leaders in Western capitals, where often there is reluctance to meet amid worries it could upset diplomatic and trade ties with Beijing.
Tibetan protests led by Buddhist monks against Chinese rule in March 2008 gave way to torrid violence, with rioters torching shops and turning on residents, especially Han Chinese, who many Tibetans see as intruders threatening their culture.
At least 19 people died in the unrest, which sparked waves of protests across Tibetan areas. Pro-Tibet groups overseas say more than 200 people were killed in a subsequent crackdown.
Is it beginning ALL OVER AGAIN?
These possibilities UNDERSCORE the need for Sri Lanka to maintain a strong defence.
WE NEED a 500,000 man strong Sri Lanka Defence Force (SLA, SLAF, SLN, CG).
To support the SLDF, WE NEED a 3-million man National Guard comprising EVERY man and woman capable of bearing arms .. with SERVICE in the National Guard COMPULSORY as in Switzerland, Israel and Taiwan.
After the NEED ARISES, it will be TOO LATE to develop a viable National Defence. Let us be PREPARED! That is a COST we MUST BEAR .. failure to do so will be MUCH MORE COSTLY in lives, treasure and opportunities lost!
DETERRENCE through PREPARATION is the KEY!
Deterrence, Deterrence, Toujours Deterrence!
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India denies Sri Lanka PM's claim of LTTE camps in Tamil Nadu
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Mar 10, Chennai: India today vehemently rejected the Sri Lankan Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne's claim that the defeated terror group LTTE is operating camps in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
In a press release Thursday Tamil Nadu's Director-General of Police Letika Saran called the reports of LTTE camps are "baseless and devoid of any reality."
"There are no LTTE camps in Tamil Nadu. The press reports appearing in this regard are baseless and devoid of any reality," Ms. Saran has said.
Sri Lankan Premier during the parliamentary debate to extend the Emergency Regulations told the parliament that the LTTE is operating three camps in Tamil Nadu near the border with Kerala and in one of the camps the LTTE cadres are being trained to assassinate VIPs.
The Tamil Nadu Police Chief said the state is strictly watching the coastal areas of the state and it has been on the high alert with regard to any information on the activities of LTTE on Indian soil.
"The intelligence wing of the State is fully geared up and constantly monitoring such information, and the State police, including the Coastal Security Group, are keeping a vigil in coastal areas of Tamil Nadu," the police chief said.
"The police were taking action immediately on any report or intelligence input received from any quarters," she added.
The DGP also dispelled the claim that the pro-LTTE leaders, V. Rudrakumaran of the U.S. and Nediyavan and Vinayagam of Norway are running the LTTE training camps.
Referring to the attack on the Maha Bodhi Society Temple in Chennai that injured four Sri Lankan Buddhist monks, the Police Chief asserted that the LTTE is not behind the attack.
"The Maha Bodhi temple in Chennai was attacked by the sympathizers of Sri Lankan Tamils, and the real accused have been arrested. The LTTE has no role in this affair and their very presence in Tamil Nadu is denied," the police chief stressed.
During the early years of the LTTE's existence in the 80's India provided training and safe haven to the terror group in Tamil Nadu.
Too bad .. we should replace them with Kfirs, rather than shift over to another model of comparable performance such as the less-expensive MiG29. Some diversity in sourcing fighter planes should be maintained.
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Sri Lanka Air Force not to purchase new Kfirs to replace crashed aircraft
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Mar 09, Colombo: Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) sources say that it has no intention of replacing the destroyed two Kfirs in its aircraft fleet.
Sources said that the SLAF has adequate fighter and transport aircraft in its fleet. The end of war against the Tamil Tigers has also minimized the needs of fighter planes for the SLAF.
SLAF used Kfirs purchased from Israel to combat the Tamil Tigers in the last phases of the war.
Two Kfirs last week clashed during a rehearsal in mid-air killing one pilot and completely destroying the two aircraft.
Flight Lieutenant Monath Perera succumbed to his injuries as a result of the crash while Squadron Leader Vajira Jayakody who piloted the other Kfir received minor injuries.
Commander of the Air Force, Air Marshal Harsha Abeywickrama has appointed a Board of Investigation headed by Air Vice Marshal Kapila Jayampathi to look into the causes of the accident.
The SLAF team is now probing the crash and the report is to be submitted to the Air Force Commander within a couple of weeks.
These camps MUST have the support of SOME Tamil Nadu politicians.
WE KNOW WHO THE TN CULPRITS ARE .. don't we?
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Sri Lankan Premier says LTTE operating camps in Tamil Nadu
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Mar 09, Colombo: The Sri Lankan Prime Minister has told the parliament today that the defeated terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is trying to re-organize itself and are secretly operating camps in Tamil Nadu.
Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne while moving the motion for the extension of emergency regulations in parliament has said that that Indian intelligence reports have revealed that three LTTE camps are secretly operating in Tamil Nadu in South India.
According to Jayaratne, the LTTE members are being trained to carry out VVIP assassinations.
The camps are said to be operated by Pulendran Master, who was a close associate of the former LTTE intelligence wing head Pottu Amman.
The Premier has said that that the camps are aimed at re-establishing LTTE bases in Sri Lanka.
He has added that these cadres once trained are expected to target Indian political leaders as well.
A recent Indian intelligence report said the LTTE, still active overseas, is trying to regroup, and planning to launch spectacular strikes on high-profile targets like Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister P Chidambaram, and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi.
Great! But the GOSL should set apart these funds in a separate INVIOLATE PENSION ACCOUNT invested in investment assets that cannot be used for ANY OTHER PURPOSE.
It should NOT BE either a PONZI SCHEME where current contributors pay for current retirees, NOR a fund whose assets can be raided to balance the national budget. Contributions from the employee and the employer should invested to pay for the retirement income of that worker, without the need for Govt subsidies. The Govt should make the employer contribution for Govt employees only.
The Pension Account must be able to cut or raise pensions if income from the invested assets decline or increase.
Guaranteed levels of benefits supported by the ability for the GOSL either to raise tax, or to borrow money, is a recipe for BANKRUPTING THE NATION as we are seeing in the United States.
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Sri Lanka sets up pension schemes for all employment sectors
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Mar 09, Colombo: The Sri Lankan government as proposed in its 2011 budget has decided to set up pension schemes for retirement benefits to all employees to ensure the well-being of the people who reach non-working age.
The government will set up three separate Contributory Pension Funds from May 01, 2011 for the private sector, the expatriate workers and for the self-employed, the government announced today.
Accordingly, Employees' Pension Benefits Fund, Foreign Employment Pension Benefits Fund and the Self-Employment Pension Benefits Fund will be set up separately through legislations.
Under the proposed scheme, Employees' Pension Benefits Fund will apply to any employee not covered by the government's pension scheme.
Foreign Employment Pension Benefits Fund will recognize the significant contribution made by the expatriate workers to the country's economy. Any Sri Lankan in foreign employment can join this Pension Scheme.
The government is provide one billion rupees to the fund as an initial capital and any funds lying to the credit of the Foreign Employment Bureau as of April 30, will be credited to this Fund, the government said.
According to the government the remittances from the expatriate Sri Lankans amount to over three billion US dollars and it has helped to maintain the macro economic variables in a favourable manner.
Self-Employment Pension Benefits Fund will provide retirement benefits to the self-employed in the country. The government has allocated one billion rupees as an Initial to this Fund.
Kerala tightens vigil on T.N. border to curb LTTE activities
TheHindu.com
March 11, 2011
Intelligence inputs say cadres tried to set up camps in Idukki forests
The Intelligence Bureau is keeping a vigil on the movement of suspected persons in the border areas of Tamil Nadu after it received inputs that members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam had reportedly tried to set up camps in the forest areas near Idukki district.
Highly placed sources said there were chances of setting up such camps in the forest areas and adjoining villages as it would give them cover, adding Sri Lankan Tamils could be easily identified in Tamil Nadu by their dialect.
The chances of using airports in Kerala for transit were monitored after Sri Lanka clamped down on the group's activities. The sources said the airports could be used by certain overseas sponsors of the group to keep channels of communication open.
Idukki's forest areas bordering Tamil Nadu in the Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) could be used by the cadres to regroup. It is estimated that about 1,000 Sri Lankan Tamils live in Pachakkanam Gavi inside the PTR where they had been repatriated as part of a rehabilitation pact signed by the then Sri Lankan Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike and her Indian counterpart Jawaharlal Nehru. They work in the cardamom plantations of the Kerala Forest Development Corporation Ltd.
Intelligence sources said a large number of repatriates had migrated to Tamil Nadu and there was a remote chance of communication between them and members of the LTTE.
George Will, respected columnist, has the SAME OBJECTIONS to the impending headlong plunge by the US into military involvement in Libya!
Should we not LEARN from our past MISTAKES?.
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On Libya, too many questions
By George F. Will
WashingtonPost.com
March 08, 2011
In September 1941, Japan's leaders had a question for Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto: Could he cripple the U.S. fleet in Hawaii? Yes, he said. Then he had a question for the leaders: But then what?
Following an attack, he said, "I shall run wild considerably for the first six months or a year, but I have utterly no confidence" after that. Yamamoto knew America: He had attended Harvard and been naval attache in Japan's embassy in Washington. He knew Japan would be at war with an enraged industrial giant. The tide-turning defeat of Japan's navy at the Battle of Midway occurred June 7, 1942 - exactly six months after Pearl Harbor.
Today, some Washington voices are calling for U.S. force to be applied, somehow, on behalf of the people trying to overthrow Moammar Gaddafi. Some interventionists are Republicans, whose skepticism about government's abilities to achieve intended effects ends at the water's edge. All interventionists should answer some questions:
* The world would be better without Gaddafi. But is that a vital U.S. national interest? If it is, when did it become so? A month ago, no one thought it was.
* How much of Gaddafi's violence is coming from the air? Even if his aircraft are swept from his skies, would that be decisive?
* What lesson should be learned from the fact that Europe's worst atrocity since the Second World War - the massacre by Serbs of Bosnian Muslims at Srebrenica - occurred beneath a no-fly zone?
* Sen. John Kerry says: "The last thing we want to think about is any kind of military intervention. And I don't consider the fly zone stepping over that line." But how is imposing a no-fly zone - the use of military force to further military and political objectives - not military intervention?
* U.S. forces might ground Gaddafi's fixed-wing aircraft by destroying runways at his 13 air bases, but to keep helicopter gunships grounded would require continuing air patrols, which would require the destruction of Libya's radar and anti-aircraft installations. If collateral damage from such destruction included civilian deaths - remember those nine Afghan boys recently killed by mistake when they were gathering firewood - are we prepared for the televised pictures?
* The Economist reports Gaddafi has "a huge arsenal of Russian surface-to-air missiles" and that some experts think Libya has SAMs that could threaten U.S. or allies' aircraft. If a pilot is downed and captured, are we ready for the hostage drama?
* If we decide to give war supplies to the anti-Gaddafi fighters, how do we get them there?
* Presumably we would coordinate aid with the leaders of the anti-Gaddafi forces. Who are they?
* Libya is a tribal society. What concerning our Iraq and Afghanistan experiences justifies confidence that we understand Libyan dynamics?
On Libya, too many questions
.....continued.....
* Because of what seems to have been the controlling goal of avoiding U.S. and NATO casualties, the humanitarian intervention - 79 days of bombing - against Serbia in Kosovo was conducted from 15,000 feet. This marked the intervention as a project worth killing for but not worth dying for. Would intervention in Libya be similar? Are such interventions morally dubious?
* Could intervention avoid "mission creep"? If grounding Gaddafi's aircraft is a humanitarian imperative, why isn't protecting his enemies from ground attacks?
* In Tunisia and then in Egypt, regimes were toppled by protests. Libya is convulsed not by protests but by war. Not a war of aggression, not a war with armies violating national borders and thereby implicating the basic tenets of agreed-upon elements of international law, but a civil war. How often has intervention by nation A in nation B's civil war enlarged the welfare of nation A?
* Before we intervene in Libya, do we ask the United Nations for permission? If it is refused, do we proceed anyway? If so, why ask? If we are refused permission and recede from intervention, have we not made U.S. foreign policy hostage to a hostile institution?
* Secretary of State Hilary Clinton fears Libya becoming a failed state - "a giant Somalia." Speaking of which, have we not seen a cautionary movie - "Black Hawk Down" - about how humanitarian military interventions can take nasty turns?
* The Egyptian crowds watched and learned from the Tunisian crowds. But the Libyan government watched and learned from the fate of the Tunisian and Egyptian governments. It has decided to fight. Would not U.S. intervention in Libya encourage other restive peoples to expect U.S. military assistance?
* Would it be wise for U.S. military force to be engaged simultaneously in three Muslim nations?
Bloggers,
I have posted a new article on the disaster in Japan. Please shift over to it. Thanks.
Ananda-USA
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