By Rasika Somarathana
DailyNews.lk
July 31, 2012
President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday emphasized that he will not allow petty minded politicians to benefit by harping on the ethnic issue. “Petty politics shattered the harmony and peace which existed 30 years ago, among all communities be it from North or South. Now with terrorism being a thing of the past, those bonds, once wounded are getting stronger again”’
“We have gained nothing but loss from disharmony. It is unity, not ethnic division which will define our success”, he said addressing a large group of rehabilitated former LTTE ex-combatants and their families at Temple Trees.
The event was organized to provide soft loans to socially re-integrated trainees to start their own employment. The loans up to a maximum of Rs.250,000 were provided through state banks with government releasing an initial allocation of Rs.300 million for the purpose.
The President after distributing the cheques among loan recipients said the government has also released Rs.400 billion for development work in the north carried out for the benefit of the public.
He told the gathering that it was the government that took care of the people and not ones from the outside. He told them that the diaspora what ever they say does not genuinely care about their needs .
Recalling the past, President Rajapaksa said 30 years ago, people from all communities lived in brotherhood both in the South and North “In our School holidays we went on visits to the North. We shared our rooms with Tamil students from the North.
“We went together to the Temple and Kovil” “We had strong bonds, be it cultural, religious or others. However, we lost all that. It is now time to rebuild that harmony we lost due to petty politics” he said.
He told the rehabilitated trainees that their childhood, youth, happiness had been lost to the gun culture which they were forced to embrace and added it was time for them to begin a new life with hope and vigour for a brighter future.
He told the trainees that they had been rehabilitated in accordance with established humanitarian practices and it was now time for them to rise as productive and erudite citizens.
“By working with commitment and dedication the loan recipients could become successful entrepreneurs, he added.
The President pointed out to the rehabilitated ex-combatants that some of their colleagues were now engaged in employment both in state and private sectors. Some have gone abroad for jobs and others are pursuing professional careers in arts, sports etc. he added.
“Also the government has taken steps to recruit 5000 rehabilitated ex-combatants to the civil security department, he noted explaining them the livelihood opportunities they have,” he said.
He reminded them that they are now going to a socially and economically rapidly developing environment which was quite opposite to the one they formerly occupied.
He urged the loan recipients to use the facility to the maximum and become successful partners of the country’s development.
“The country needs to go forward as one nation, driven by one powerful development thrust from which the whole country equally benefits,” he added.
The government has reintegrated 10,375 former combatants from the North and East into the society following the successful completion of the rehabilitation programme.
The socially reintegrated have received vocational training as a part of the rehabilitation process to enable them to be self-employed.
During the event Minister Chandrasiri Gajadeera also spoke. Senior Ministers A.H.M.Fowzie, D.E.W.Gunasekera, Ministers Rishard Baththuideen, Douglas Devananda, other politicians, ambassadors, High Commissioners, government officials, state bank officials, military officers too were present.
69 comments:
While President Rajapaksa Calls for Ethnic Amity handing out loans to rehabilitated terrorists, Sri Lankan MP Somasuntharam Senathiraja plots with that old demagogue, DMK chief M Karunanidhi in Tamil Nadu, to promote a separatist EELAM state in Sri Lanka through "conferences".
If this is not TREASON ahgainst Sri Lanka, I don't know what is!
WHEN is Sri Lanka going to PROSECUTE such TRAITORS and PUNISH them with DEATH or LIFE IMPRISONMENT?
The Lives of hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankan citizens is at STAKE. Already over 150,000 Sri Lankans have died on this ALTAR OF TAMIL RACISM.
If we have learned anything in the last 30 years, is that SEPARATISM must be confronted head-on, as soon as it raises its head, with the greatest SEVERITY. The failure of successive governments to deal with the enormous threat of Tamil Terrorism in the early years, led to an existential threat to the nation two decades later.
Anything less will compromise the safety of Sri Lankans and the integrity of our beloved Motherland.
Scotch this TREASON NOW, and Scotch it HARD!.
That is the only language these unrepentant RACISTS understand.
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Sri Lankan MP meets DMK chief Karunanidhi
Mon, Jul 30, 2012, 07:31 pm SL ColomboPage.com
July 30 (TOI) CHENNAI- Senior Sri Lankan parliamentarian Somasuntharam Senathiraja met DMK chief M Karunanidhi on Sunday for an hour and discussed the themes of the Tamil Eelam Supporters Organization (TESO) conference, which will be held in the city on August 12.
The visit assumes significance as Karunanidhi's flip-flop on the agenda of TESO generated criticism among Tamil leaders. The Centre had advised Karunanidhi against passing a resolution in support of Tamil Eelam at the conclave.
Senathiraja is the general secretary of The Ilankai Thamizh Arasu Katchi, which is the chief constituent party of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).
"Though some leaders in Tamil Nadu try to block Tamil leaders from Sri Lanka and other countries, we are getting good response from most of the seniors in the Tamil diaspora. Senathiraja met Kalaignar and conveyed TNA's participation in the conference. Not only Tamil leaders from Sri Lanka, but a few Sinhala leaders who have been working for Tamil's rights like Vikrambahu Karunaratne have also confirmed their participation," a DMK leader said.
Sri Lanka remains concerned of LTTE's overseas financial network
ColomboPage.com
Aug 01, Washington, Dc: The government of Sri Lanka, although not immediately concerned over a possible resurgence of the defeated Tamil Tiger terrorist organization Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), remains concerned over its overseas financial network, a United States government report said.
'Country Reports on Terrorism 2011', an annual report mandated by the U.S. congress, issued Tuesday (July 31) by the State Department reviews the counterterrorism events worldwide last year.
The report, which provides an assessment of trends and events in international terrorism revealed within the last year, continues to list the LTTE as a U.S. government designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.
The report said that in 2011, there were no incidents of terrorism in Sri Lanka and most counterterrorism activities undertaken by the government targeted possible LTTE finances as the government remained concerned that the LTTE's international network of financial support is still functioning.
The possible resurgence of domestic militant Tamil groups is not an immediate concern, but efforts were underway to address possible growing Tamil radicalism in the north and east, the U.S. State Department noted in the report.
The State Department noted that despite the military defeat of the LTTE, the Sri Lankan government is of the belief that sympathizers and organizational remnants continue to raise funds in many countries.
According to the report, since LTTE had used a number of non-profit organizations for terrorist financing purposes, including the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), during 2011, the government has actively searched for other financial links to the LTTE and remained suspicious of non-governmental organizations, fearing they would be used by the LTTE, the report described.
"The Sri Lankan government has used the fear of the possible reemergence of the LTTE to maintain a strong military presence and role in the post-conflict areas, although the military's continued heavy presence in the north feeds Tamil resentment."
The Sri Lankan government cooperated with other countries on regional counterterrorism issues but the counterterrorism cooperation and training with the United States in 2011 was minimal due, in part, to statutory and policy restrictions imposed by the U.S. government over concerns of alleged human rights abuses committed by Sri Lankan security forces during the war.
According to the terrorism report, the Sri Lankan government remained committed to the counterterrorism efforts of international bodies such as the United Nations.
Sri Lanka Buddhists in Ayutthaya
BankokPost
August 1, 2012
Ayutthaya province, in cooperation with the Sri Lankan Embassy in Thailand, is organising an event to commemorate Sambuddha Jayanthi, the 2,600th anniversary of Buddha's enlightenment.
Entitled "Ayutthaya-Sri Lanka Relationship", the three-day festival will be held at the former Ayutthaya provincial hall from Thursday to Saturday.
It will showcase the replica of the Buddha's tooth which will be temporarily transferred from Kandy to Ayutthaya for Thai Buddhists to pay homage to.
It will be a rare chance to witness the Esala Perahera, or the procession of the tooth, which is a grand festival in Sri Lanka.
Important documents related to the Siam Nikaya (a branch of Buddhism) and Phra Upali Maha Thera, the head of the religious diplomats sent by King Borommakot of the Ayutthaya Kingdom (1732-1758) to re-establish Buddhism in Sri Lanka, will also be exhibited alongside palm leaf manuscripts carrying Buddhist scriptures.
The event will feature art, music and cultural performances from the two countries. The programme from Thailand will include a performance of Buddhist contemporary dances by the internationally-awarded Komonlagoon Dance Troupe. It portrays the beauty of Buddhism through dance, multimedia and a light and sound show.
Sri Lanka will also present several rarely seen classical dances from all regions of the country.
The line-up includes Ves Dance, Ana Bera Nonchi Kolama, masked dances performed to a drum orchestra, traditional puppet shows, a mini contemporary art film festival and a demonstration of arts and handicrafts.
There will also be booths selling Sri Lanka's world-renowned products such as Ceylon tea, jewellery, and other decorative items, as well as delicious food and desserts.
The Ayutthaya-Sri Lanka Relationship festival will take place at Ayutthaya’s former provincial hall in Pratoo Chai subdistrict of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya district, on Thursday5pmto10pmand Friday and Saturday from noon to 10pm. Admission is free. For more details, call 089-484-9894.
The Dear Old SunGod worshipper, DMK Chief Karunanidhi should wake up from his permanent STUPOR, and consider why Sri Lanka finds it necessary to have China as a close friend and ally, and recognize his own culpability in making that a reality.
If he overcomes his AMNESIA sufficiently long to recall his persistent support for a Separate State of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka, that would be good start.
If he throws in his detailed maps of the Greater Tamil Nadu that includes the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka, that is a prescription like Hitler's "Mein Kampf" for dismembering sovereign Sri Lanka in the future, he would be getting closer to the answer.
The poems he wrote praising the late unlamented Velupillai Prabhakaran as he sliced and diced innocents in Sri Lanka to Karunanidhi's cheers, he would be getting closer to the answer.
Karunanidhi's current efforts to reignite Tamil Terrorism in Sri Lanka by presenting himself as the new "Tamil Savior" is only exceeded by the antics of his erstwhile enemy Chief Minister Jayalalitha.
If he reads his own letters to the Central Govt of India demonizing and accusing Sri Lanka of genocide at the United Nations, he would be well on his way to completing his enlightenment on this issue.
All of these RACIST Tamil Nadu Politicians find Sri Lanka bashing a convenient tool to gain votes in Tamil Nadu. Most non-Tamil Indians KNOW THIS. They should blame Tamil Nadu Politicians, and other Indian Leaders such as Indira and Rajiv Gandhi with their imperious bullyoing attitudes, for alienating and driving Sri Lanka into the arms of China.
Sri Lankans resent Indian interference in Sri Lanka that drove us away from our Indian cousins,but we are very happy that it has given us the incentive to throw-off the suffocating Indian embrace, and firmly grasp the hand of friendship extended by China.
China is by far a more reliable and loyal ally for Sri Lanka.
To India we echo the poet of the Young Lochinvar thus:
We long wooed your daughter,
Our suit you denied,
Love swells like the Solway,
And ebbs like its tide!
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Chinese presence in Lanka threat to national security: Karuna
DNAIndia.com
Aug 1, 2012, 19:02 IST
Terming reports of Chinese presence in Sri Lanka a threat to India's national security, DMK chief M Karunanidhi today said the August 12 conference of the pro-Eelam body TESO would discuss it among other things and bring it to the attention of the Centre.
Citing reports in a section of the vernacular media, he alleged that Sri Lanka was setting up a "temporary camp," with the assistance of the Chinese Navy in international waters near Dhanushkodi.
"Should not such issues, a threat to India's security, be discussed and taken up with the Centre for a solution? We are holding TESO (Tamil Ealam Supporters' Organisation) meeting for this purpose only (among others)," he said in a letter to party workers.
Explaining the rationale behind the first meet of the defunct organisation he founded in the 1980s and recently revived by him, Karunanidhi said the conference was an attempt at healing the "wounds sustained by Tamils," due to the ethnic clash in Sri Lanka.
Union Ministers Sharad Pawar and Farooq Abdullah and JD (U) leader Sharad Yadav among a gamut of national and international leaders besides Tamil diaspora will participate in the meet, he added
Sri Lanka tells world:
‘Deport all illegal migrants’
Chamikara WEERASINGHE
DailyNews.lk
August 4, 2012
In the wake of rising numbers of illegal migrants who try to enter foreign countries as asylum seekers from Sri Lanka, the External Affairs Ministry called on foreign governments to “deport” illegal Sri Lankan asylum seekers.
Mass Media and Information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella on Thursday said they have asked governments faced with the challenge of an inflow of illegal migrants from Sri Lanka who try to settle in their countries as asylum seekers, to effect ‘deportation” as a solution to their problem.
Rambukwella said the number of Sri Lankan Tamils trying to migrate to Australia as asylum seekers increased drastically this year.
The government understands that these human smuggling activities are being carried out with the support of some political elements.
These elements belong to pro - LTTE diaspora that have close political connections with some political groups based in Sri Lanka.
“There are two such persons already in the custody of the police. They were arrested while trying smuggle hundreds of Tamil people to Australia via sea,” he said. “They are doing this with the financial support of the well placed pro LTTE elements in other countries,to paint a picture to say that the country is not safe for Tamil people,” he explained.
“They have increased the number of Tamils being taken by them to Australia illegally as part of their human smuggling campaign to discredit the government in the background of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review sessions, which the government will participate in November,” he explained. Key organizations of diaspora have come up to defend those involved in these illegal activities, to pressurize the foreign government’s over not retaining those who come to their countries as asylum seekers from Sri Lanka.
He further stated, “the continuous outflow of boats carrying Sri Lankans as asylum seekers is no longer to be considered as an activity that has been carried out by human smugglers as a lucrative trade for mere financial gains by smugglers.” “Its perpetrators have a sinister political agenda, which is unfolding as with the recent arrests made by Sri Lanka Navy with steps being taken by the government to intensify border security of the sea,” he added.
Country marching forward with new vigour -Defence Secretary
Disna MUDALIGE
DailyNews.com
August 4,2012
The future generations must be ready to exploit new employment opportunities unveiled before them after the dawn of peace, ending decades of turbulence, Defence and Urban Development Ministry Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said.
A student of the Defence Services College speaking to Defence and Urban Development Ministry Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa before performing a traditional dance at the Viru
Sisu Pradeepa ceremony at the Defence Services College auditorium yesterday. Picture by Nissanka Wijeratne
The Defence and Urban Development Ministry Secretary was addressing the Viru Sisu Pradeepa ceremony.
It was organized for the seventh time by the National Defence Fund under the Defence and Urban Development Ministry and held at the Defence Services College yesterday.
He observed that a wide range of new employment opportunities have been created with the massive development taking place in numerous spheres. He noted that the country has been able to march forward with new vigour after the defeat of terrorism.
He noted that the entire nation is grateful to the war heroes who sacrificed their life and limb to save the country from ruthless terrorism, adding that their sacrifices paved way to the rapid progress in the country.
The ceremony was organized to grant financial and and gifts to the children of 285 military and police personnel who passed the Grade Five scholarship examination in 2010 and 2011.These military or Police personnel had either sacrificed their lives or limbs during the battle against the LTTE.
Service appreciation certificates were also awarded to the teachers of the Defence Services College for recording the highest pass percentage from the Western Province in Grade Five scholarship examination last year.
The Defence and Urban Development Ministry Secretary noted that the Defence Services College established in 2007 is equipped with modern facilities which even superior schools in Colombo do not possess. The college now has classes up to the grade 6.
He said another Defence Services College is being set up in Kurunegala while Kotalawala Defence University facilitates higher education.
He said these facilities were given to provide a brighter future for the children of military and police personnel.
He advised the children to grow up as good citizens with leadership qualities to lead the country towards prosperity in the future.
Education Monitoring MP Mohan Lal Grero, Defence and Urban Development Ministry Additional Secretary S Hettiarachchi, Chief of Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Roshan Gunathilake, Army Commander Lt Gen Jagath Jayasuriya, IGP N K Illangakoon and distinguished guests participated.
Sri Lanka's National Languages Ministry to expedite building a bi-lingual society
ColomboPage.com
August 4, 2012
Aug 04, Colombo: The National Languages and Social Integration Minister of Sri Lanka is to set up provincial language centers in all provinces to expedite the building of a bi-lingual society in the country.
National Languages and Social Integration Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara has said the aim is to create a bi-lingual society in the country within the next five to 10 years.
He has explained that a bi-lingual society would remove the language barrier and create peace among all communities.
Nanayakkara has pointed out that the teaching of Sinhala language to the Tamils and vice versa is recommended in the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).
According to Nanayakkara, the first provincial language center is to be set up shortly in Kilinochchi in the Northern Province.
It is NOT SUFFICIENT for us to criticize Tamil leaders in Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lankan Tamil Leaders plotting with them to create a Separatist state of Eelam for Tamils-only in Sri Lanka.
The GOSL should take FIRM steps to PROSECUTE, CONVICT and PUNISH the TREASONOUS ACTIVITIES of Sri Lankan Tamil Leaders against their own motherland.
There is not much we can do about Tamil demagogues in Tamil Nadu.
But, there is MUCH we can do to DISSUADE and PUNISH racist separatist Tamil Leaders in Sri Lanka for their TREASON: PROSECUTE, CONVICT and PUNISH them with LIFE IMPRISONMENT or DEATH, NOW!
Much less TREASON than this EARNS US Citizens a long vacation in Prison (the "American Taliban" for example) or even DEATH (Julius & Ethel Rosenberg, for example). Even FOREIGN CITIZENS resident abroad are not immune from prosecution and punishment for terrorism against the US under US Law (for example, Sheik Khalid Mohamed of Al-Quaida).
The national security of Sri Lanka is an URGENT CONCERN to Sri Lankan citizens no less than the National Security of the US is to US citizens.
PROSECUTE, CONVICT & PUNISH these TRAITORS we can easily take into custody NOW!
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Sri Lankan minister asks politicians not to create divisions among communities for political gain
ColomboPage.com
Aug 06, Colombo: Housing, Engineering Services and Construction Minister of Sri Lanka Wimal Weerawansa says politicians should not create divisions among communities for political gain.
Addressing an event in the Ampara District, Weerawansa has said there are several political parties in the country that are acting in an extremist manner.
He has said that such extremist parties were present in the government as well as in the opposition.
He has pointed out that politicians in Tamil Nadu were promoting the concept of an Eelam without working for the betterment of the Tamil people and the push for an Eelam is not done in the best interest of the Sri Lankan Tamils.
He has pointed out that Tamil Nadu politicians were speaking about the Sri Lankan Tamil when the Tamils in South India were suffering.
Jayawewa, Sri Lanka!
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Sri Lanka to add 30 MW wind power to national grid
ColomboPage.com
Aug 06, Colombo: The Power and Energy Ministry of Sri Lanka announced today that another 30 megawatts of electricity through wind power will be added to the national grid from Thursday (09).
According to the Ministry, 30 megawatts of power is generated through three wind power plans in Kalpitiya of northwestern coast. The three plants will generate 90 gigawatts hours per year.
The government aims to increase the wind power generation capacity to 63 megawatts with the expertise of local engineers. The estimated local investment is 7.2 billion rupees.
The Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka says the government will develop the wind power as an energy source to meet the country's requirement, especially to supply power to many remote villages.
Accordingly, the government hopes to add 400 megawatts of wind power electricity to the national grid by the year 2020.
Sri Lanka's national energy policies and strategies aim to produce 10 percent of the country's electricity requirements by 2015through nonconventional renewable-energy sources such as wind power, solar power, and bio gas.
Sri Lankan Tamil parties wary about attending TESO meet
By P K Balachandran
NewIndianExpress.com
August 06, 2012
Sri Lanka’s Tamil political parties are wary about attending a meeting of the Tamil Eelam Supporters’ Organisation (TESO) to be held in Chennai on Aug 12.
On the record, the spokesmen of various parties say that their executive committees will meet and take a decision on the matter.
But party leaders privately say that there is no motivation to attend. The reasons cited are varied.
An important functionary of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), the main component of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), told Express on Sunday that if the ITAK or the TNA attended the meeting (organised by DMK leader M Karunanidhi), AIADMK leader and Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa might get annoyed and go against them as the late MGR did in the 1980s.
MGR had helped the LTTE and ignored other militant groups because the latter had accepted a donation from the DMK leader, and the LTTE had not.
“We have to be mindful of the way our issue is looked at in Tamil Nadu. It is entangled with local party politics and we have to play accordingly,” an ITAK functionary explained. However, since the DMK is part of the Central Government, the ITAK feels that it cannot, off hand, reject Karunanidhi’s invitation.
“We are aware that without India’s support we can achieve nothing,” the ITAK leader quoted above said.
A top leader of the EPRLF, which is a constituent of the TNA, said that the EPRLF was not enthusiastic about TESO because there was no clarity about the purpose of the conference. “Neither the DMK chief nor any of the TNA leaders has any idea as to what the conference is going to focus on, and what it might lead to. Karunanidhi has changed his original stance and is now saying that there will be no call for Eelam. But neither he nor any one of us here has a clue as to what is going to be asked instead,” the EPRLF leader said.
According to him, the general feeling in his party is that it should neither oppose nor participate in the conference.
A leader of the Democratic National Front (DNF) said that his party was unlikely to attend the meet as it was only meant to serve the interests of the Indian government.
The reluctance of Sri Lankan Tamils to attend the TESO meeting organized by the old demagogue Karunanidhi should not be the repercussions among Indian leaders such as Jayalalitha, or even the Govt of India, but repercussions arising from the Government of Sri Lanka.
If the Government of Sri Lanka announced that attendance at this meeting, to discuss the creation of a Tamils-Only Separatist State of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka, amounts to HIGH TREASON, and that Sri Lankan attendees would be PROSECUTED for TREASON upon their return to Sri Lanka .... that would send a cold chill down the spines of putative attendees.
That is the way to Scotch these events: Preemptively, using the TOOLS available to the GOSL.
The GOSL should monitor and record the proceedings and attendance at these events, and use that information to PROSECUTE Sri Lankan attendees. The GOSL should set up a separate permanent branch of its foreign intelligence service for undertaking this aspect of national security. The COST of doing so would be minimal in comparison to a COST OF WAGING FUTURE SEPARATIST WARS.
Indeed, the GOSL should not "Protest" ... just announce that all Sri Lankan attendees, Tamil, Sinhalese or Moslem, will be subject to PROSECUTION for HIGH TREASON upon their return to Sri Lanka.
That is "Protest" enough!
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Sri Lanka government does not need to protest the Eelam conference - Minister
ColomboPage.com
Aug 06, Colombo: Sri Lanka Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Rajitha Senaratne says that the government does not need to protest the Tamil Eelam Solidarity Organization (TESO) conference to be held in Tamil Nadu under the aegis by DMK leader Muthuvel Karunanidhi.
The Minister expressed these views in response to a statement by the government coalition Sinhala Buddhist party Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) which says Sri Lanka government needs to protest the conference.
JHU spokesman Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe has said that the Tamil Nadu politicians are trying to revive the struggle to truncate Sri Lanka to establish a separate state of Eelam and the Sri Lankan government that crushed the armed struggle for Eelam appears to be turning a blind eye to this ominous threat.
It is confirmed that the conference will be held in Chennai on August 12.
It has already been confirmed that Democratic People's Party leader Mano Ganesan, New Left Front leader Dr. Wickramabahu Karunaratne and United Socialist party leader Siritunga Jayasuriya will attend this conference while major Tamil constituency Tamil National Alliance has not still taken a final decision on their participation.
What a Bloody Liar this Old Demagogue Karunanidhi is!
Only a month ago he was spewing hell, fire and brimstone about creating a separate state for Tamils only in Sri Lanka to ignite Racist feelings within Tamils to get them to accept him as the "New Tamil Saviour" cast in the same mold as the laqte unlamented SunGod ... Velupillai Prabhakaran, and restore Tamil Nadu to his Dynasty.
Now, he is concerned that the GOSL may Scotch his best laid plans for the TESO meeting by scaring-off his Sri Lankan attendees .... and he is back pedaling in a hurry!
Do we believe this unrepentant serial Liar?
Heck NO!
Just the Name of the meeting "Tamil Eelam Supporter's Organization" gives his intentions away ... unless, of course, his befuddled aging mind has lost track of the fact that "Eelam" refers to the now defunct Tamils-only Valhalla the SunGod wanted to create in Sri Lanka.
When are the voters of Tamil Nadu going to tar and feather this arrant idiot pandering to Racists, and demonizing Sri Lanka, in search of Votes?
All he wants is to displace Jayalalitha from the helm of Tamil Nadu!
A POX ON BOTH THEIR HOUSES, I say!
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TESO meet not against Sri Lanka
ColomboPage.com
Aug 09 (Hindu) DMK president M. Karunanidhi on Wednesday asked Tamils across the world not to fall a prey to the campaign of the Sri Lankan government that the Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation (TESO) conference was against that country and that the participation of the Sri Lankans in the conference would be monitored.
Recalling Sri Lankan Minister Keheliya Rambukwella's remarks that his government would watch the Sri Lankans who were going to take part in the conference, Mr. Karunanidhi said there was no basis for the allegation that the conference was against Sri Lanka.
"The conference is organised only to ameliorate the living conditions of the Tamils. It is a matter of regret that Sri Lanka has failed to understand it. I request Tamils not to get carried away by the propaganda of the Sri Lankan government," he added.
Swamy asks Jaya to visit Sri Lanka
DeccanHerald.com
Chennai, Aug 11, 2012, (PTI)
Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy today asked Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to visit Sri Lanka to "help foster Sinhala-Tamil" reconciliation as he took jibes at DMK chief M Karunanidhi for going "bankrupt" on ideas on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue.
"I urge Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to visit Sri Lanka and help foster the Sinhala-Tamil reconciliation instead of engaging in competitive Tamil sectarian chauvinism with Karunanidhi who is now bankrupt of ideas," he said in a statement.
Swamy, who had earlier visited Sri Lanka to attend a seminar besides meeting the top brass of the island nation government including President Mahinda Rajapakse, said a visit by Jayalalithaa will promote reconciliation.
"The Sinhala-Tamil animosity based on the bogus British imperialist Aryan-Dravidian divide has plagued the two communities and this needs to be rectified now," he said.
A visit by Jayalalithaa to Sri Lanka at this juncture will promote reconciliation and foster India-Sri Lanka bonding, he added.
He warned Karunanidhi against any talk of "Eelam", saying it would attract action under Indian Penal Code including abetment of secessionist forces against Sri Lanka which "is a friendly country (to India)".
Then there is NO PROBLEM, because all Tamils have always enjoyed equal rights, and CONTINUE TO DO SO NOW, in Sri Lanka.
The problem is that SOME Tamils, the Eelamists, want to have special rights, unavailable to other citizens of Sri Lanka, IN AN EXCLUSIVE TAMILS-ONLY REGION OF SRI lANKA.
That will NEVER be allowed!
Sri Lanka is ONE NATION of ONE PEOPLE sharing EQUAL RIGHTS under ONE System of Law!
Equal rights for ALL CITIZENS will remain the enduring PERMANENT Law of Sri Lanka.
Now on the other hand, the situation is quite the reverse in India.
Do Moslem Kashmiris have EQUAL rights? They claim they do not. Should India give them an independent state?
What about those persistent pests .... the Naxalites?
Should India grant EQUAL RIGHTS to the Naxalites to flout the law, and engage in murder and mayhem across a wide swathe of India where 850 million Indians live?
Do those Dalits discriminated against in in Tamil Nadu and denied access to the schools and colleges they are enrolled in, have EQUAL RIGHTS? I dare say not!
Should those Dalits have EQUAL ACCESS to live wherever they please, draw water from the same wells, go to the same schools, and enjoy the same public services as others?
We think they should .... as they do in Sri Lanka.
The racist politicians of Tamil Nadu, and the pompous leaders of India should attend to uplifting their own people, at least to the standards we have enjoyed since Independence in Sri Lanka, before they start pointing fingers at Sri Lanka.
Let India remove the rafters in its own myopic eyes, before attempting to inserting imaginary splinters in Sri Lankan eyes!
Bloody Hypocrites, All!
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Congress also wants Tamils to live safely in Sri Lanka: Vasan
Coimbatore,Aug11 (PTI) The Centre and Congress wanted Tamils to live safely and lead a secure life with equal rights in Sri Lanka, Union Shipping Minister G K Vasan said today. Vasan evaded a direct reply when asked about the ban on the conference of Tamil Eelam Supporters Association, convened by the forum's founder leader and DMK chief M Karunanidhi tomorrow at Chennai, but said his party wanted all Tamils across the globe to be protected. Replying to a specific question on the conference, Vasan told reporters at the city airport on his way to Erode that the association also has the similar goal and fighting for the cause of well-being of Tamils in the Island Nation. Both the Centre and Congress have taken various measures to protect the rights of Tamils there, he said. Congress, a key ally of DMK in the ruling UPA, has dissociated itself from the conference.Police have refused permission for the TESO meet. To a question on corruption and agitation by Anna Hazare and Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev, Vasan said people saw "the real face of Team Anna, and people would also know the intention of Ramdev soon," he said.
It is a fact of life that Tamil Nadu Leaders will remain UNREPENTANTLY RACIST & POLITICALLY OPPORTUNISTIC and India will from time-to-time exploit these sentiments to pursue its own global interests as well.
Sri Lanka should CUT itself off from India's STIFLING EMBRACE because India will not learn that neighborliness REQUIRES active defence of the essential interests of neighboring countries.
Sri Lanka should DISCOURAGE movement of people and money between the two countries, and avoid the EMBEDDING of dependencies that Sri Lanka cannot sever for security reasons without severely damaging the Sri Lankan economy.
Let each country go its own way! These Hypocrites will Never Learn!
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Tamil Nadu's Sri Lanka Eelam conference running into snags
ColomboPage.com
Aug 11, Chennai: A conference organized by the DMK and other Tamil parties in the state of Tamil Nadu sympathetic to the Eelam cause in Sri Lanka appears to be running into problems.
Both the Central government of India and the Tamil Nadu state government have raised objections to certain aspects of the Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation (TESO) conference to be held in YMCA grounds at Royapettah in Chennai Sunday, August 12, a PTI report said.
The Central government has told the Madras High Court that the organizers cannot use the word 'Eelam' in the heading of the international conference.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs in a communication has told the organizers that the Ministry has no objection, from a political angle, to the proposed international conference with foreign participants, provided that the word 'Eelam' may be dropped from the title of the conference.
The Tamil Nadu government has raised objection to the venue of the Eelam conference saying that it may deny permission to hold the conference as the venue chosen by the organizers is not big enough to hold the crowd the organizers are expecting.
Originally the conference was planned at Villupuram, 160 km from the city, for August 5, but the venue and the date were changed for the convenience of foreign delegates, the Hindu reported.
A senior state official has said that the TN government may deny permission since the YMCA ground was located near a government hospital.
The organizers expect over 100,000 people and the ground can occupy only 8,000 people, the official has said.
The official s fear the large number of crowd and with about 1250 vehicles would cause traffic jams and chaos in the area and cause inconvenience to the hospital and general public.
The DMK leader M. Karunanidhi has revived the defunct TESO recently and organized its first conference to be held on Sunday.
Indian media reported that although the organizers had invited scores of foreign leaders besides some Sri Lankan Tamil leaders, the foreign participation is unlikely as the Indian missions have reportedly refused them visas.
We agree with President Rajapaksa: India is playing a deep double game INIMICAL to Sri Lanka, no matter how much Sri Lanka tries to accommodate India's legitimate security interests.
We do not accept that those interests should include those of the Tamil Eelamists in Sri Lanka.
The time is coming to bid ADIEU to our Indian cousins before this family spat kills Sri Lanka!
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Mahinda: Is India doing its best in its dealings with its neighbours?
TheIsland.lk
By S Venkat Narayan
NEW DELHI, August 11: President Mahinda Rajapaksa has made public his disappointment with India for its contentious vote on the resolution against alleged human rights abuses in Sri Lanka towards the end of Eelam War IV in 2009 in the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva last March. "But Sri Lanka will not do anything that will hurt India’s interests," he declared.
"The region looks up to India but India must examine itself whether or not it is doing the right thing in its dealings with its neighbours... whether what they are doing is the best thing or not," Rajapaksa said in an interview he gave in Colombo to The Times of India published here today.
Asked about India’s vote and how it seemed to have fuelled an anti-India sentiment in the island nation, he said: "All I can say is that we are not a nation and people without feelings.India and Sri Lanka share common cultural and historic values and so we can feel deeply about such moves."
Rajapaksa did not fully agree with India’s contention that it had helped tone down the resolution. "Any good intentions and actions are always appreciated. But I must add that if India stood by us and supported Sri Lanka’s request for more time and space, who knows, there may not have been a resolution at all."
However, he stressed that the two countries need to move on. He doesn’t see the vote as changing the dynamics of ties between the two countries. "Past is past, let’s look at the future now," he said, reiterating his comment in the past that Indians will remain like "relations" and that the two countries remain "much more than good neighbours’’.
The president said that India’s fears about Sri Lanka’s relations with China are unfounded. "We recognize that India is a land of considerable importance to Sri Lanka. But the many fears that the Indian establishment may be having about Sri Lanka’s growing relations with China are unfounded."
Yes, there is increased Chinese investment in Sri Lanka. "These are all commercial transactions. We need to catch up with our lost development opportunities of a three decade period and we need to explore funding sources that make low cost funds available to us," he explained.
Asked if Sri Lanka’s seeming strategic drift towards China could hurt India’s interests in the region, he pointed out that China’s recent investments in Sri Lanka far preceded the UNHRC vote. It is necessary to look at these matters in the correct perspective and not rush to conclusions.
Mahinda: Is India doing its best in its dealings with its neighbours?
Continued......
"India has undertaken to build the northern Kankesanturai Harbour, while China builds at Hambantota in the southern extreme. India will be rebuilding and expanding the Palaly Airport in the North. India is investing in the Sampur Coal Fired Power Plant in the East. India is also building the railways in the North and South. Who undertakes development in the Colombo Port that is much needed, has been decided on a global tender, and it is a Hong Kong-based company that won the contract. It is wrong to say that Sri Lanka offered these contracts to China. India too could have participated in this tender. But they did not," Rajapaksa said.
He went on: "When we had to fight the most brutal terrorist outfit in the world, yes, we had to buy arms and ammunition from legal entities that were ready to sell them to us at the best terms. Sri Lanka has no reason to do anything that would hurt India’s interests in this region. There is no rationale for us to do such things, and we also believe that India also would not do anything that would harm Sri Lanka. Our best neighbourly relations will remain, and there are many more areas for investment that India could be interested in." Whether it is Sri Lanka’s exports or imports, wholesale business or investment in land and hotels, it is India which is the main power involved. It is only India which is involved in the telecom sector too. "Sri Lanka will not hurt India’s interests in the region and that any such fear is unfounded," he declared. Hambantota was first offered to India. Even in the case of Colombo port, the contract for which went to a Hong Kong-based company, it was India which did not show any interest. "India could have participated in the tender but it did not. These are commercial interests and not a sign of any Sri Lankan strategic drift," he said.
"It is important to look at things in the right perspective and not rush to conclusions. India has undertaken to build the northern Kankesanturai harbour as China builds at Hambantota in the south. India is also rebuilding Palaly airport in the north," he said. He described India’s decision to allow the sacred Kapilavastu relics to travel to Sri Lanka for the first time since 1978 as a gesture that will be regarded with highest esteem and gratitude."
Indeed, the Sri Lanka Armed Forces must be maintained in a high state of readiness and capability .... PERMANENTLY.
In addition, we URGE the Government of Sri Lanka to introduce a system of universal conscription and military training of ALL ADULTS capable of bearing arms .... as in Israel, and Switzerland for example.
The READINESS of an ENTIRE PEOPLE TRAINED TO DEFEND THEIR NATION is too awe inspiring a deterrence for any enemy, foreign or local, to CONTEMPLATE taking on in battle.
As long as Sri Lanka remains a neighbor of Tamil Nadu, that existential threat will remain.
As Gondwanaland gives no indication what ever of splitting from the Asian continent and migrating Southwards, Tamil Nadu will remain Sri Lanka's implacable foe for the foreseeable future!
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Terrorist threat to Sri Lanka still prevails - government
ColomboPage.com
Aug 12, Colombo: Sri Lanka government stressed today that the terrorist threat to the country still prevails and the country needs to act accordingly.
Addressing a gathering at Horana today, the senior Minister of Good Governance & Infrastructure Facilities and former Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake said the government needed to arm the three armed forces with modern arms and increase the defense expenditure since the threat of dividing the country still prevails as the elements that obstruct the freedom of the country are active both locally and internationally.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Minister of External Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris also said today at a press briefing that the events like Tamil Eelam Solidarity Organization (TESO) conference prove that the LTTE remnants are trying to re-network and terrorist threat still prevails.
He rejected the argument that the government had not taken adequate measures to prevent TESO. He said that both the central government of India and the state government of Tamil Nadu were against the TESO.
The Minister urged the public to give utmost support to the government at the forthcoming provincial council elections to give a strong message to the LTTE sympathizers.
The Old Racist Demagogue Karunanidhi has reversed himself again .... and now calls for the realization of his "unfullfilled dream" : Tamil Eelam.
Didn't we say it was only a matter of time before Karunanidhi reverts to his old swan song?
These "Karunidhi" antics will increase in intensity .... as the TESO "conference" goes down in flames along with the "Tamil Eelam" lever to propel the Old Demagogue into the Chief Ministership of Tamil Nadu!
Paw Aney!
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Eelam in Sri Lanka is Tamil Nadu leader's 'unfulfilled dream'
ColomboPage.com
Aug 12, Chennai: Describing Eelam, a separate Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka, is his 'unfulfilled dream', the leader of Tamil Nadu's DMK party M. Karunanidhi Sunday said that he will continue to struggle towards realizing his dream.
Addressing the Tamil Eelam Solidarity Organization (TESO) conference in Chennai Sunday the, patriarch of the party said he will strive for a separate homeland with the help of other stakeholders.
Despite the call by the Center not to issue any "declaration or outcome calling into question the sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity of any foreign country with which India has diplomatic relations," the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu called for India's central government to move UN to pass a resolution to apply pressure on the Sri Lankan government to grant full rights to the Tamils in Sri Lanka for self-governance.
The TESO conference passed several resolutions at the conclave today seeking greater UN intervention to pressure Sri Lanka into granting self-governing rights to the Sri Lankan Tamils.
Tamil Nadu politicians have been calling for UN to intervene to hold a referendum in Sri Lanka's North and East to allow the Tamils to decide establishing a separate homeland.
The Central government earlier objected to using the 'Eelam' in the title of the conference but within a day reversed its decision.
The DMK chief said the resolution passed today can be used to press the Indian government to end its inaction against Sri Lanka
"This resolution itself is to pressure Government of India," Karunanidhi said.
The TESO conference was held to revive the defunct organization founded by the DMK chief in the 80s.
What Ho!
Should Sri Lanka host "Kashmir Liberation Front" conference to promote the inalienable rights of Moslem Kashmiri's to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness??
That should teach India that fostering interference in the internal affiars of other countries is a nasty two way street.
India, with its unsolved internal problems, is the most unstable of all major countries today. THose living in glass houses should not throw stones at others!
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Sri Lanka nationalist organizations protest India's Eelam conference
ColomboPage.com
Aug 12, Colombo: Sri Lanka's Collective of Nationalist Organizations staged a demonstration march in the capital Colombo today to protest the Tamil Eelam Solidarity Organization (TESO) Conference that was scheduled to be held in Chennai today by the leader of the Tamil Nadu political party DMK.
The Chairman of Sri Lanka's Sinhala nationalist Patriotic National Movement Gunadasa Amarasekera called the TESO Conference an attempt by India's Tamil Nadu politicians to divide the country and is launched with the support of the central government of India.
Patriotic National Movement was an active participant of the agitation held this morning before the Indian High Commission in Colombo in protest of the TESO conference.
The activists carrying placards and shouting slogans marched to the High Commission and set fire to effigies of DMK leader M. Karunanidhi and Sri Lanka's Tamil National Alliance Leader R. Sampanthan.
The Chairman of the Sinhala nationalist organization linked to government coalition party National Freedom Front added that their doubt is proved by the fact that Central government of India allowing to use the word 'Eelam' which means a 'separate homeland ' with the conference.
India's central government Saturday reversed its earlier edict and told the court that it had no objection to using the word 'Eelam' in the title of the conference.
India's Ministry of External Affairs a communication to TESO, however, has asked organizers to ensure the meet does not issue any "declaration or outcome calling into question the sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity of any foreign country with which India has diplomatic relations."
Amarasekera also commended Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa' recent statement calling upon the Indian government to have a relook at its dealings with its neighbors.
In an interview with Times of India, President Rajapaksa, publicly displaying the disappointment over India's voting for the UN resolution against Sri Lanka in March, has suggested that India could be abdicating its leadership role in the region.
"The region looks up to India but India must examine itself whether or not it is doing the right thing in its dealings with its neighbors... whether what they are doing is the best thing or not," the President has said in the interview.
The UNRELIABILITY of Electric Power Supply in Sri Lanka is ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE!
It is LUDICROUS that after nearly a decade of the present Government being in Power, Minister Champika Ranawaka blames previous Governments for the failure to assure the citizens of Sri Lanka a reliable Electric Supply!
Even a strong Supporter of this Patritic Government like me simply cannot stomach these excuses!
What is becoming patently clear is the absolute INCOMPETENCE of the leaders in the Power Ministry and the Ceylon Electricity Board.
FORWARD PLANNING of electricity production, the effective management of LABOR RELATIONS, and the enforcement of laws against the wholesale theft of electricity by criminal consumers, are in PATHETIC DISARRAY.
PLANNING should include anticipating periodic shortages in hydroelectric power production due to changing weather patterns and rainfall. It should not be an unanticipated calamity .... everytime!
Why is the Power Ministry dilly-dallying on anticipating these events and the persistently rising price of imported fossil fuels, and not harnessing Solar and Wind renewable power supplies on a large scale?
WE NEED THAT TO BE DONE IMMEDIATELY, so we can benefit from the bountiful renewable energies Sri Lanka is endowed by Mother nature.
The recurring problems besetting the newly constructed MASSIVE Thermal Power Plants is quite DISHEARTENING and constitutes an APPALLING waste of PUBLIC FUNDS.
HEADS should ROLL, irrespective of their positions. If those in charge cannot make the system work, FIRE THEM NOW and open the doors to those who can.
These interminable EXCUSES MUST END! This is NOT Rocket Science but the deployment of TRIED and TESTED Technologies.
These INCOMPENTENTS are HOLDING BACK the Progress of Sri Lanka towards its goal of becoming the New Wonder of Asia within this decade.
More than that: they are making us look like INCOMPETENT FOOLS to the entire world; Fools totally incapable of managing this CRITICAL SECTOR of our economy.
LET US HAVE NO MORE EXCUSES!
DISCE' AUT DISCEDE' !
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Massive power crisis inevitable in Sri Lanka if monsoons don't start by September
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Aug 11, Colombo: Power and Energy Minister of Sri Lanka Champika Ranawaka says that the power crisis in the country would further increase if the monsoon rains do not commence by mid-September.
Ranawaka has said that a continuous power supply could not be provided to the consumers if the monsoons fail next month.
He has explained that the water levels of all main reservoirs have dropped drastically affecting the hydropower generation.
Generation of hydropower from Victoria and Randenigala reservoirs would have to be stopped if an adequate rainfall does not take place in the catchment areas in the next few days, the Minister alerted.
Since the shutdown of the Lakvijaya thermal power plant in Norochcholai on August 08 due to a mechanic failure, the hydropower generation has been raised to supply 27.7 percent of the power demand depleting the reservoir storage to 20.0 percent.
According to Ranawaka, the thermal power generation in the country is not sufficient to meet the current demand.
The Minister blamed the failures of the past administrations to envisage a possible power crisis in future and take necessary steps to address such an eventuality.
Debt Trap
LankaBusinessOnline.com
August 12, 2012
Sri Lanka’s debt-ridden power utility seeks more loans
August 12, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s power minister has sought cabinet approval to raise state-run Ceylon Electricity Board’s borrowing limit to 74.2 billion rupees to meet increasing fuel needs, settle debts and pay independent power producers, a report said.
Minister Champika Ranawaka told his cabinet colleagues that the state power utility owed 16 billion rupees to independent power producers and another 15 billion rupees to state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, the Colombo-based Sunday Times newspaper said.
The higher borrowing limit will be used to meet:
- Overdraft and term loans – 45 billion rupees
- Provision for letters of credit -- 10 million rupees
- New guarantees for independent power producers -- 19.2 million rupees
The minister blamed the heavy costs on the prevailing drought that has limited hydro power generation. The CEB is now depending on expensive thermal power to provide uninterrupted electricity supply to the country.
“As payables to independent power producers have reached peak level, purchasing of fuel from CPC for thermal generation has been limited. IPPs have utilised their credit limit to maximum level,” Ranawaka was quoted in the report.
The CEB has secured a 20 billion rupee short-term loan facility from state-run People’s Bank PLC during past few months, to settle these liabilities to CPC, the independent power producers and to import coal.
The short-term loan was used to settle:
- Overdraft of 800 million rupees
- Term Loans of 5.410 billion rupees
- Short Term Loan Facility (Bill Discounting) of 20.454 billion rupees
Ranawaka said a 10 billion rupee Letter of Credit/Guarantee has been fully utilised. Only a standby letter of credit facility of 18 billion rupees has not been utilised.
As a temporary measure, the CEB had approached People’s Bank for a term loan facility, to partly settle the CPC and the independent power producers.
However, People’s Bank had rejected the request since it goes above the single borrower limit enforced by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
“Hence Minister Ranawaka wants his ministerial colleagues to approve his request to ask the Governor of the Central Bank to increase the single borrower limit to the CEB to 74.2 billion rupees,” the report said.
Ranawaka said the CEB was in “severe financial crisis” despite imposing a fuel surcharge between 15 percent to 40 percent in February to trim losses.
The minister said there were broadly four reasons for the financial crunch:
1. Increase of cost of independent power producers and CEB fuel due to increase of fuel prices by CPC and increase of thermal generation due to prevailing drought situation in the country.
2. Additional revenue on Fuel Adjustment Charge is not sufficient to cover the increased fuel cost.
3. Non-receipt of subsidy from the Government for 2011.
4. Use of CEB funds for capital works for which Government funds were not received.
Ranawaka’s shocking disclosure comes as CEB trade unions are once again demanding a substantial pay hike.
Karunanidhi Proposes, Lanka Opposes!
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Lanka opposes 'Eelam Conference'
Chamikara Weerasinghe
DailyNews.lk
August 13, 2012
Indian Police have denied permission to the DMK to hold a forum titled 'Eelam Conference' at YMCA grounds at Royapettah in Chennai on Sunday.
Some members of Tamil National Alliance, who had been invited to take part in the conference, yesterday said they had decided not to attend the conference. Another invitee to the conference Nawa Sama Samaja Party Dr Wickramabahu has reportedly told the media that he may not be able to participate in the conference because of a visa problem.
According to diplomatic missions in India, the Indian missions in foreign countries have denied visas to those planning to go to Chennai to attend the conference.
On being asked about the 'Eelam Conference' and the impact that such meetings could have on Sri Lanka, External Affairs Ministry Secretary Karunathilaka Aqmunugama yesterday said,
"Parleys such as these are organized to discuss and induce separation in other sovereign states can only create tensions.
"We have informed our High Commissioner in Delhi and Deputy High Commissioners in Chennai that this conference is in no favour of Sri Lanka and it stands to do no good." "Meets of this kind have a greater potential for producing negative effects. They could emerge as a serious threat against the country's ongoing national reconciliation efforts," he explained. "We have taken diplomatic measures to resolve the matter," he said. Indian External Affairs Ministry has reportedly said in a communique to Karunanidhi and TESO, the organizers that they have no objection to the proposed international conference with foreign participants, provided the word "Eelam" is dropped from the title of their conference.
Tamil National Alliance MP M A Sumanthiran yesterday said on being asked about their participation at the TESO- organized conference. " We have been invited to the conference, but we have decided not to take part in it."
" TNA MPs decided against participating in the conference about a week ago mainly because of the Eastern Provincial Council election," he said. Asked to give other reasons that influenced their decision, Sumanthiran said, " there were uncertainties about the conference being held."
The conference was originally planned to be held on August 5 at Villupuram, which date was changed by the organisers to facilitate foreign participation. DMK Chief Karunanidhi has announced if the ban on their conference should persist they will hold the conference at Anna Arivalayam. However , the participation of foreign leaders, including several Tamil political leaders from Sri Lanka, is unlikely at the conference as the Indian missions have refused visas to them, Indian media reported.
30MW of Wind Power is Good, but NOT Good Enough!
We needed 500MW of WIND and SOLAR yesterday!
Instead of spending money on fossil energy plants dependent on imported fuels, Sri Lanka should increase its WIND AND SOLAR capacities deployed in multiple-use forms that do not displace other uses of land and environmental resources.
Countries like Brazil can insulate themselves from rising energy prices by using their vast lands to produce biofuels like sugar-cane-based ethanol. In contrast, Sri Lanka has limited densely populated land that cannot be devoted to such energy crops.
We need to deploy renewable energybproduction methods that make dual-use of land resources such as wind-turbines in tea-estates and offshore, and roof-top solar farms on individual building roofs ... however small. Every bit will help. We must instill the concept of energy self-sufficiency in the minds of our people.
Because only a small fraction of the existing on-demand generation capacity can be met by these transient fluctuating energy sources without destabilizing the power grid, Sri Lanka should also focus on developing ENERGY STORAGE plants.
FIRST, pumped water storage hydroelectric power plants is the low-hanging fruit in meeting that need for energy storage in Sri Lanka.
Unlike once-through hydroelectric power generation that wastes water needed for other uses during droughts, if the water is pumped to and fro between reservoirs at high and low elevations in a stored energy cycle, no net water needs to be released from power generation to flow to the sea, thus conserving the net water used for drinking and agricultural uses.
SECOND, Sri Lanka can develop Hydrogen gas based systems for storing renewable energy and producing power, thus removing the current system-stability related limits on the percentage of power that can be derived from transient forms of renewable energy, such as WIND and SOLAR.
In such a hydrogen-based energy storage scheme, electricity produced by wind and solar plants can be used to produce Hydrogen by electrolysis of water. The produced Hydrogen gas can be later be on-demand to power non-polluting fuel cells that produce electricity and water as the only byproducts.
If the GOSL is truly visionary, it should be looking forward to the future use of Hydrogen as a transportation fuel in Hydrogen powered fuel-cell vehicles, thus displacing oil imported for transportation purposes.
Gradual transformation of Sri Lanka's transportation vehicles to electric vehicles powered by electrochemical batteries or fuel cells should be an important part of Sri Lanka's strategy goal for attaining energy independence.
The produced hydrogen gas can be stored as a compressed gas, adsorbed on various metal hydrides from which the gas can be released by mild heating, by hydrogenating various hydrocarbon gases to a higher state, or less efficiently by liquifying the gas to cryogenic liquid form.
Is ANYBODY in the Government of Sri Lanka strategizing in these ways to make Sri Lanka self-sufficient in energy to support a vibrant economy?
ANYONE? HELLO?
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Sri Lanka Doubles Wind Power Capacity With Three New Farms
By Natalie Obiko Pearson
Aug 13, 2012
Sri Lanka has doubled its wind power generation capacity with the addition of three new parks, according to the Power and Energy Ministry.
Three farms of 10 megawatts each were connected to the grid last week, ministry spokesman Dhanushka Ramanayaka said by phone from Colombo. Sri Lanka’s total power generation capacity is 3,120 megawatts.
Sri Lanka Doubles Wind Power Capacity With Three New Farms
Continued......
The plants, located in Puttalam district in northwestern Kaplitiya, were built at a cost of 7.2 billion rupees ($54.6 million) and will sell their power to the state-run Sri Lanka Electricity Board.
Sri Lanka has set a target of getting 20 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020, including 400 megawatts of wind capacity. It plans to add another 10 megawatts of wind by the end of the year.
The project owners are Daily Life Renewable Pvt., Nirmalapura Wind Power Pvt. and PowerGen Lanka Pvt., Ramanayaka said. PowerGen was formerly owned by India’s Orient Green Power Co. (OGPL), which sold its Sri Lanka unit last month to Colombo-based Windforce Pvt., according to a July 26 company filing.
To contact the reporter on this story: Natalie Obiko Pearson in Mumbai at npearson7@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net
Self-Sufficiency in food is an important National Goal.
Sri Lanka must develop its agricultural resources now to provide for its growing population in the future.
Furthermore, in the next few decades, food will emerge as a costly global traded product for which competition between nations with growing populations will become fierce.
The UNPREPARED HAVE-NOTS of the world will face famine and extinction.
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Construction of Yan Oya reservoir in Eastern Sri Lanka to begin Thursday
ColomboPage.com
Aug 14, Colombo: Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa will inaugurate the construction of the Yan Oya Reservoir Project in North Central Province on August 16, government sources say.
The reservoir is constructed building a dam across Yan Oya which flows to sea from Pulmoddai in the Eastern Province.
The project would be capable of solving water problems for areas in the North Central Province including Kebithigollewa, Padaviya, Welioya, and Medawchchiya.
China CAMC Engineering Corporation in November 2011 signed a contract with Sri Lanka's Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources Management to build the Yan Oya water reservoir.
The project includes two main irrigational channels along the banks of Yan Oya and an anicut dam to release surplus water to the nearly 20 kilometers long channels. Once completed the anicut scheme would be able to feed more than 50 medium and micro scale tanks.
The reservoir with a capacity of 254 million cubic meters is expected to provide water to 5000 hectare and to benefit directly 10,000 farmer families who are currently affected by acute drought throughout the year.
According to the Ministry, the project, estimated to cost US$ 176 million, will boost agricultural production and inland fishery development benefitting the local economy and creating more employment opportunities for the local youth in the Northeast.
India's declining growth rate may not be a bad thing.
With LESS GROWTH, perhaps India will have to attend to alleviating its own poverty rather than INTERFERING in Sri Lanka's internal politics.
An abundance of wealth creates excessive hubris promoting unwarranted AGGRESSION towards others.
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India PM Manmohan Singh urges economic investment boost
BBC.com
August 15, 2012
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh waves as he leaves after delivering his speech on India"s 66th Independence Day in New Delhi on August 15, 2012 Mr Singh says the government has taken steps to boost infrastructure
Indian PM Manmohan Singh has said urgent steps must be taken to boost the country's ailing economy.
In a speech marking Independence Day, he said growth should be regarded as a matter of national security, and promised to make it easier for foreign companies to invest in the country.
India's economy expanded at an annual rate of 5.3% in the first quarter - the slowest pace in nine years.
Mr Singh confirmed plans to send an Indian spacecraft to orbit Mars.
Media reports suggest that the mission will cost more than a $100m (£640,000), and the unmanned spacecraft will be launched in November next year.
Critics say the government should focus its resources on alleviating poverty and developing infrastructure.
'Encourage investment'
Amidst fears that growth of the Indian economy may slow further in the near term, Mr Singh said he expected growth this fiscal year to be "a little better" than last year's 6.5% - an estimation higher than recent projections of 5.5%.
In a televised speech, he said India "cannot do much about the conditions that prevail outside our country... But we must make every effort to resolve the problems inside our country so that our economic growth (is)... again speeded up".
The Indian government would "leave no stone unturned to encourage investment", he said.
"To attract foreign capital, we will have to create confidence at the international level that there are no barriers to investment in India."
Foreign companies wishing to invest in India have frequently complained of being held back by red tape and corruption.
Mr Singh said a domestic environment also needed to be created to ensure rapid growth and shield the economy from the global slowdown.
"We are not being able to achieve [the environment]... because of a lack of political consensus on many issues. Time has now come to view the issues which affect our development process as matters of national security."
Mr Singh said the government had taken measures to improve infrastructure, and deal with a deficient summer monsoon, which had led to drought like conditions in some states.
Bravo .. GOSL!
No mediation by South Africa ... or ANY OTHER BUSYBODY ... is necessary.
TNA can decide to comply with the laws of a unitary undivided Sri Lanka, or they can choose go to prison for violating those laws.
In fact, what is needed is to hold these serial traitors ACCOUNTABLE for their PAST TREASONOUS ACTIVITIES, and NEW TREASONS they are committing on a daily basis.
For example, PROMOTING Eeelamist activities within Sri Lanka, and plotting with Tamil leaders in Tamil Nadu to create a separatist state of Eelam in Sri Lanka for Tamils-only, is TREASON .... pure and simple.
There is plenty of IRREFUTABLE evidence of these TREASONOUS ACTIVITIES in the historical record.
TNA leaders, as Sri Lankan citizens, should be PROSECUTED, CONVICTED and PUNISHED with DEATH or LIFE IMPRISONMENT for doing that.
That is how the United States protects itself.
Let us also ban, and declare TREASONOUS, all political organizations advocating "Eelam" in their constitutions and having the "Eelam" label in their organization names.
Why is the GOSL still dragging its feet on this issue, allowing these unrepentant racist separatists to flout the law engaging in TREASON unhindered & unfettered?
Why?
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SL won’t accept S. African offer Post-war mediation offer by South Africa
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Island.lk
August 15, 2012
The government will not accept any third party mediation to bring the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) back to the negotiating table, The Island reliably learns.
There is no need for an external role in essentially a domestic political process, External Affairs Ministry sources said, responding to a recent offer made by South Africa to assist Sri Lanka in the post-war reconciliation process.
A senior foreign ministry official said that assistance had been offered by a South African government delegation which met External Affairs Minister G. L. Peiris in Colombo last Friday.
South Africa’s Deputy Minister of International Relations and Co-operation Ebrahim Ebrahim and former Minister of Constitutional Affairs Roelf Meyer met Prof. Peiris to discuss ongoing efforts to achieve peace.
The South African offer is believed to have the blessings of the LTTE groups based in Europe and America.
The SLFP and the TNA launched a special negotiating process on Jan 10, 2011 to iron out differences. After several rounds of talks, the TNA quit the negotiating process on Aug 4, 2011.
The foreign ministry official pointed out that South Africa had never accepted foreign mediation or facilitation on the basis that it was the principal political forces, in the country itself, that had the deepest interest in arriving at a durable solution, which had necessarily to be constructed in keeping with local sentiments and aspirations.
Sinhala settlers accuse Tamils of land grab in Eastern Sri Lanka
ColomboPage.com
Aug 16, Trincomalee: Sinhala settlers in Sri Lanka's eastern district of Trincomalee say that a conspiracy is underway to evict them from the land they have been living for a long time.
The settlers in the Andankulam area of Trincomalee have held a protest Wednesday (15) at the Mihindu Pura junction in Trincomalee demanding the government to grant land licenses to 154 families that had been living in the land for over 45 years.
Buddhist monks who led the agitation urged the government to take measures soon to prevent the Sinhala settlers from losing their land where they have been living for decades.
They said the different Tamil groups are claiming rights for the land and creating communal tensions again. It has become a threat to the peace in the area, the monks pointed out.
The settlers say that Tamil persons, who have been living in foreign countries during the 30 years of war, have come to claim rights for the lands. The Sinhala families have settled in the land during the war time and they claim the rights to the land now.
The settlers say they have been paying assessment taxes to the Trincomalee Urban Council and the Kadawathsathara Pradeshiya Sabha for years under their names but recently the authorities of the two local bodies, further disclaiming their rights, have prevented the settlers from paying the taxes.
They say the authorities have inserted Tamil names in place of their names in the land registers.
The Sinhala settlers accuse a politician of the major Tamil party, Tamil National Alliance, is behind the attempt to grab their land. Tamil National Alliance controls both local government bodies in the district.
Sri Lanka Tamil party confident in setting up an administration with UNP in the East
ColomboPage.com
Aug 16, Colombo: Sri Lanka's major Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has expressed confidence in setting up an administration in the Eastern provincial Council that will be led by the opposition political parties.
TNA Leader R. Sampanthan has said the TNA and the main opposition United National Party (UNP) together would be able to form an opposition-led administration in the Eastern Provincial Council following next month's election.
He has predicted that the TNA was likely to get 13 seats in the Eastern elections and if the UNP wins seven seats, the two parties could join forces and form the administration in the Council.
There are 35 seats in the Eastern Provincial Council and a majority would mean over 17 seats.
According to Sampanthan's calculation, the TNA and the UNP together would have 20 seats in the Council.
Sampanthan has expressed these sentiments during a meeting with the Tamil Welfare Association in Trincomalee.
Well, looks like Dravdians are ethnically cleansing the Aryans in India!
Should Sri Lanka call for military intervention by the UN?
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Thousands flee violence threats in Indian city of Bangalore
BBC.com
Augustv16, 2012
A crowd of people from India's north-eastern region at Bangalore railway station on 15 August 2011
Nearly 4,000 people from the north-east have joined the exodus from Bangalore
Thousands of people from India's north-eastern states have fled the southern city of Bangalore amid fears that they will be targeted in attacks.
Indian Home Secretary RK Singh blamed the mass exodus on "rumour mongering".
He insisted there was was no threat to anyone from the north-east living anywhere in the country.
Correspondents say the rumours of attacks may be linked to clashes in the north-eastern state of Assam last month.
More than 300,000 people fled after fighting between indigenous Bodo tribes and Muslim settlers in Assam.
Fresh violence between the two sides was reported on Thursday when a mob burnt down a bus and a road bridge, reports say.
Police said local Muslims blocked a highway in protest against an overnight incident in which a group of Bodos set a car on fire near Rangiya, 60km (40 miles) west of Assam's main city of Guwahati.
'All frightened'
The main railway station in Bangalore was flooded with migrant workers from north-eastern states after rumours spread on Wednesday.
Map
The railways ran special trains to the north-east to cope with the rush, officials said.
There are 250,000 people from the north-east living and working in Bangalore, which is often referred to as the Silicon Valley of India.
Many of them are students, security guards and workers in the hospitality sector.
Around 4,000 fled on Wednesday, a senior police officer in the city told the BBC.
He said that rumours about possible violence were spread by text messages.
"We will soon catch hold of people who sent out these messages," said the police officer.
Karnataka Chief Minister Jagdish Shettar said that he had reassured Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that there were "no untoward incidents nor any threat to people of north-eastern states [living in Bangalore]."
He added: "I promised that [the] necessary steps would be taken to give protection to these people."
Manoj, a security guard from a north-east state, told the BBC that residents of the region were "all frightened".
"My friend [from the region] was threatened by a knife-wielding man saying that he should leave the city if he cared for his life," he said.
A worker at a city restaurant from the region said there were "rumours that people from the north-east would be attacked".
The rumours came a day after a 22-year-old Tibetan student was allegedly attacked in Mysore city near Bangalore by two people who suspected him of being from the north-east.
Many young people from the restive north-east region have migrated to the cities of Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore in search of better jobs and education.
Jayawewa!
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Lanka to own communication satellite by 2015
Shirajiv SIRIMANE in Kandy
DailyNews.lk
August 16, 2012
Sri Lanka would own its own communication satellite by 2015.This would be South Asia’s most modern and largest communication satellite and the first to be owned by the private sector in the region. Supreme Sat would own and operate this satellite from their space centre in Kandy for which the foundation stone was laid on Tuesday.
China Great Wall Industry Corporation, Wang Zhongmin.
Picture by Saliya Rupasinge
Deputy Managing Director, China Great Wall Industry Corporation, China,Wang Zhongmin in an exclusive interview with the ‘Daily News Business’ said that the agreement to build the satellite would be singed in October in China in the presence of senior political leaders of both countries. “We would start building the satellite in January next year,” he said.
He said that the idea of having an own satellite for Sri Lanka was the brain child of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and he spelled it out when he was in China recently. Zhongmin disclosed that currently India owns around five communication satellites while last year Pakistan too built a communication satellite. The value of the SuprmeSat would be US $ 300 million and it would have three bands, X. C and KA and when completed it would be orbited from Beijing and would be placed over Sri Lanka waters in the Ocean. The SupreSat control centre in Kandy BOI zone would also be equipped with state- of- the- art space technology and would be the up linking position for the satellite.
The investment for this venture would be around US $ 60 million. The academy would consist of a “state- of- the- art” Satellite Ground Station situated at “Pallekele BOI Zone” which will provide “on the job” training for Sri Lankans who could interact with the already co-branded satellites of SupremeSAT/Chinasatcom as a preparatory measure to be geared to handle the fully owned satellite of SupremeSAT
China Great Wall Industry Corporation also built a communication satellite for Pakistan recently and over 80 % of space for this has been sold out.
The fleeing of North Indians from Bangalore (India’s “Silicon Valley”) in fear of their lives is being engineered by some party wanting to profit from pitting Dravidian South Indians against the non-Dravidian (Aryan) North Indians.
Who would want to profit from such a calamity for India, and as I point out below, for Sri Lanka as well.
India’s international enemies, such as Pakistan and China are obvious suspects, but I doubt they are the culprits.
When the text messages that triggered this exodus are fully investigated, I would be willing to bet that they will find racist Tamil Eelamists at the bottom of it., hoping to trigger a fear of secession of the Dravidian South from the Indian Union, and get the Government of India to lean harder on Sri Lanka.
Alternatively, having failed to get their Eelam in Sri Lanka, are they trying to get it in India? These myopic Tamil Eelamists are racist enough to resort to anything! Their vision of a Greater Dravida-Nadu … led by Tamils of course … can be achieved only if they get out from under the Indian Union.
Either eventuality is BAD NEWS for Sri Lanka.
If India disintegrates, the Balkanization of South Asia will then become a reality. History may repeat, and our problems in containing a Tamil Nadu led Dravida-Nadu will become far worse than now.
We may have to follow the example set by our ancestors in their bid to survive by driving wedges between the constituent Dravidian states of Chola, Pandya and Kerala now restrained and held together only by the Indian Union, and ally ourselves with one or more of them.
All of these are possible scenarios that Sri Lanka will have to PREPARE TO CONFRONT by developing a strong defensive force and a vibrant economy that is not overly dependent on India.
Mystery of the NE exodus: Why Bangalore?
by Lakshmi Chaudhry
August 16, 2012
There are bloody riots in Assam, which in turn triggers violence at a rally in Mumbai, followed by attacks on students in Pune and stabbing in Mysore. The chain of events triggers a panicked stampede in Bangalore?
On the face of it, this cosmopolitan city appears to be the most unlikely location for such widespread panic. Surely, Northeasterners in Mumbai had better cause to flee given the widely circulated images and video clips of militant Muslims on a rampage in the city. Or perhaps in Delhi where people from the North-East face constant harassment and discrimination, and therefore are more likely to feel more insecure. Even Pune where there were actual attacks has not experienced any such exodus.
MPs from North Eastern states addressing the media during Parliament’s monsoon session in New Delhi on Thursday. PTI
Bangalore, in contrast, has been entirely peaceful. “Not even a single case of physical assault or verbal threat them has been reported in the state. However, as a precaution, police chiefs of all districts have been directed to take necessary steps to prevent such incidents,” DG Pachuau said at a press conference (barring the attack in Mysore on a Tibetan by unknown assailants, which he fails to mention).
Even so, everyone who looks even vaguely northeastern—be it Nepalis, Assamese, Nagas or Mizos—were quick to head to the train station. As of now, up to 6,000 of the 2.5 lakh NE populace is reported to have left town.
It’s not an overwhelming number, but it raises the question “Why Bangalore?”
One possible answer is a systematic campaign to create fear, using social media, SMSes, and regional media to spread rumours of attacks. There are no reports of similar campaigns in any city other than Bangalore. The Hindu reports: “When contacted, student unions, representing different northeastern communities, were unable to cite a single registered case of violence. However, they claimed that incidents of violence had been reported in Neelsandra, Anepalya and some parts of Wilson Garden and Ejipura.”
More potent were rumours of a planned “reprisal” from the Muslim community, as reported by the Indian Express: “Some employees referred to direct threats of violence after Ramzan being made to them, others referred to an alleged video of a brutal attack in Assam being circulated among Muslims for which reprisals are being planned, while still others referred to alleged warnings from the police itself.”
What’s also striking is that the panic isn’t limited to any one section of these communities. Everyone from chowkidars to IT professionals to students to salon workers is part of the exodus. All the evidence points to a planned campaign, though its unclear who exactly is orchestrating it. Government officials speak of unnamed “fringe elements” but remain vague as to their identity and motives.
But why would such a campaign be so effective in a city not known to be a hotbed of anti-North-East sentiment? No place is immune from its share of bigotry, but it’s fairly muted in Bangalore compared to, say, Delhi. Or does this response prove otherwise? A number of quotes betray a sense of vulnerability, the idea that authorities have little or no interest in protecting people from the North-East.
“We do not want to take any risk as nobody comes to our rescue when we are attacked,” says one woman waiting at the railway station.
“When there is panic and fear we cannot sit back and wait for something to happen. If something happens who will save us,” asks a beauty parlour worker.
This sense of being alone is not unexpected or unique to Bangalore. The racist attitude of the Delhi Police toward Northeastern women is widely known. In Bangalore, the police mishandling of the death of college student Richard Loitam perhaps had greater impact than suspected.
Continued ....
But more importantly, the lack of faith also has to do with attitudes about the current government, which has a notoriously poor track record when it comes to protecting its minorities. This is the same government that has stood idly by fringe Hindutva groups routinely attacked Muslims and Christians, routinely torching churches and beating up interfaith couples. The various incidents of moral policing and harassment of women has added to the sense of living in a hooligan raj.
Minorities in Karnataka can hardly be blamed for believing that the authorities have little interest in protecting anyone who does not belong to one of their favoured constituencies. That the BJP government is also now widely regarded as just plain incompetent and in complete disarray also likely does little to inspire confidence. Why would any community believe Jagadish Shettar—BJP’s third chief minister in four years—when he promises to protect them?
It’s particularly ironic that rightwing thugs like Tajinder Bagga, leader of Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena (who made headlines for beating up Prashant Bhushan), is now tweeting out messages of support to his “Northeastern brothers and sisters.” More so, since the right-wingers like him have been eager to spread inflammatory warnings about Muslims on the rampage. “Fatwa issued by Local Muslims to North East Brother’s & Sister’s to leave Bangalore till 20 or ready for Riots,” reads one such Bagga tweet. How helpful then that the BSKS has now established a North East Students Help Line.
Bagga’s real agenda becomes crystal clear in his Facebook updates which cut to the chase: “Dear Supporters of Bangladeshi Migrants, The Things You are doing with our North-East Brother’s & Sister’s in Pune, Bangalore & Hyderabad, don’t try in Delhi. Otherwise we will Cut Your Hands & Legs.”
The RSS too has been quick to jump on the bandwagon, sending 250 swayamsevaks to the station to offer “full security to all North-East Indians”. This is the same RSS that has been alleging that the North-East is a hotbed of secession due to missionaries determined to convert hapless tribals — which was also the excuse used to justify the 2008 church attacks in Karnataka by none other than then CM Yeddyurappa who called it a “natural reaction to forced conversions”.
One can only wonder why our “Northeastern brothers and sisters”—many of whom are Christians and therefore likely attend church in Bangalore—fail to be reassured by such expressions of support.
It would be expedient to dismiss the Bangalore exodus as a bizarre anomaly, or the over-reaction of a minority community, or a lesson in the perils of the internet. More comforting still to ignore what it reveals: a chronic sense of insecurity and fear that simmers just beneath the surface of this cosmopolitan and diverse city, easily triggered by the first hint of violence. People run when they feel unsafe and unprotected. The exodus is the legacy of the past four years of violence, harassment and wilful government apathy; of moral policing, religious intolerance, and bad governance. We ignore it at our peril.
My Profuse Apologies for shooting from the hip, without verifying the facts first!
The exodus of North Indians from Bangalore and other South Indian cities to save their lives has NOTHING to do with the Eelamists, although what I wrote about Eelamists wanting to undermine the Indian Union is perfectly true. Mea Culpa … my friends … mea culpa!
It turns out that the threats issued against North Eastern Indians, such as the Assamese, now residing in South Indian cities, was in retaliation for the attacks launched by Assamese against Moslem illegal immigrants from Bangladesh who have forcibly entered Assam and are settling there despite the protests of the indigenous people of Assam.
It seems plausible that the threats are made by Moslem Bangladeshis themselves.
The North Easterners, including those from the Bodo tribe, have been waging a long standing struggle to secede from India. The inundation of Assam by economic refugees from Bangladesh (aka Bangladeshi Kallathonis) exacerbates long standing opposition by these people to the settling of even other Indians, their fellow citizens, in the North East, while they themselves ASSERT & ENJOY the right to settle and live anywhere in India. This is a right guaranteed by the Constitution of India.
Does this ring a bell regarding the parallel situation in Sri Lanka, where Eelamist Tamil assert an exclusive right to the Northern & Eastern provinces, while the most of Tamils live elsewhere in Sri Lanka among the majority Sinhalese?
While I support the Assamese, and of ALL INDIAN CITIZENS, in their opposition to the entry of foreign Kallathonis, the Assamese should have no opposition to the settling of other Indian citizens in Assam, since they are accorded the SAME RIGHT TO SETTLE anywhere else in India.
They should not be allowed to monopolize their Assamese cake, and the cakes of other Indians too.
However, the Govt of India should prevent ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION into the country by foreigners, just as Sri Lanka should prevent ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION by Indian or other Kallathonis into Sri Lanka, for that constitutes a creeping invasion of the nation.
Sri Lanka to set up eight domestic airports at Rs. 750 million
ColomboPage.com
Aug 19, Colombo: The Sir Lankan government is to set up eight domestic airports in the country at a cost of Rs. 750 million.
Civil Aviation Minister Priyankara Jayaratne has said that eight domestic airports would be set up in Koggala, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Sigiriya, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Ampara, and Palaviya.
Minister Jayaratne has said that out of the Rs. 750 million, some monies would be used to develop the Ratmalana airport.
According to the Minister, Sri Lanka Air Force will handled the construction work of the airports while the Road Development Authority is to build the runways, each two kilometers in length, in the airports.
Ha! Ha!
Wickramabahu Karunaratne PELTED WITH ROTTEN EGGS by Farmers in Dambulla, driving him off the stage upon his return from the TESO conference in Tamil Nadu!
At least Sri Lankan FARMERS know how to welcome TRAITORS!
Bravo! That is the way to DISCOURAGE TREASON!
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TESO Conference – Wedding without the bride
By S.Selvakumar
Nation.lk
August 19, 2012
The Tamil National Alliance was unanimous in its decision not to attend the controversial Tamil Eelam Supporters Organization Conference called by former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi and held in Chennai last Sunday.”It was like a wedding without the bride” some Tamil Nadu dailies poked fun and pointed out that the main party for whose sake it was held was a notable absentee. It left Karunanidhi with egg on the face, some dailies said.
When asked why the TNA failed to attend the TESO conference despite Karunanidhi’s pleas, Alliance spokesman and Jaffna District parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran said that he did not wish to comment.
However, a TNA insider who did not wish to be quoted said ultimately saner counsel prevailed and it was decided not to attend considering the ramification it would get back in the country. He cited the situation faced by NSSP leader Dr.Wickramabahu Karunaratne when he attended the TESO conference. He was pelted with rotten eggs by a section of farmers at a meeting in Dambulla on Friday where he was highlighting their plight due to the prevailing drought. As a precautionary measure he was ultimately led out of the stage.
TNA parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran told The Nation that the alliance had decided not to attend since there was uncertainty whether the TESO conference would go ahead as planned because of the Police ban on the conference held in Chennai. This ban was imposed after the Madras High Court giving the Police the option to permit the meeting or ban it. Another reason was none of the TNA parliamentarians was available to attend the conference due to the forthcoming Eastern provincial council elections which keeps them very busy these days.
Enhancing TRAIN SERVICE is a MUST for Sri Lanka, but a Strategic Decision on the TYPES of ENGINES to be deployed ISLANDWIDE must be made sson, to minimize use of imported fuels.
Electrification of all lines is the best way, PROVIDED we can develop a RELIABLE POWER SYSTEM for delivering the required Electricity at LOW-COST.
I have written about Energy Strategy before: We need to develop renewable energy power plants coupled to Hydrogen Electrolyzer/Fuel-Cell/Hydrogen Storage and Pumped Hydroelectric Energy Storage systems to achieve energy self-sufficiency in the future.
An efficient low-cost electrified railway system should be part of the mix of transportation technologies deployed in Sri Lanka in the future.
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Sri Lanka to test run five Chinese-made trains
ColomboPage.com
Aug 18, Colombo: Sri Lanka Railway says that five locomotives that were imported recently from China will be put on track for test runs from today.
These trains include four power sets and a luxury train. The four power sets are to run on the Kelani Valley Line from Colombo to Avissawella while the luxury train will run on upcountry railway line.
Sri Lanka Railway has also planned to import eight more trains from China. They include another luxury train and six power sets.
The consignment of trains is to arrive in the island before the end of this year, Sri Lanka Railways says.
The locomotives are to be deployed to enhance the state run railway services of Sri Lanka as the country is rebuilding hundreds of kilometers of railway lines unused for decades in the former war zones.
Bravo ... Govt of Sri Lanka!
As an island nation surrounded by a limitless Ocean, there is NO REASON why Sri Lanka cannot become self-sufficient in FISH to feed our own population. Furthermore, we must produce FISH for EXPORT to feed the hungry world as well!
As I have often stated at this blog, the day when FOOD becomes more valuable than GOLD is just over the horizon.
Let Sri Lanka become self-sufficient NOW in nutritious wholesome foods to feed our people without becoming dependent on foreign food imports which will soon join oil in rising beyond our nation's grasp!
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Sri Lanka opens the third canned fish factory tomorrow
ColomboPage.com
Aug 18, Colombo: Sri Lanka Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa and Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne will declare open the third largest canned fish factory tomorrow in Peliyagoda in the outskirts of Colombo city.
The factory "Tess Mackerel" has been established under the Tess Group of Companies with an investment of Rs.170 million.
The canned fish factory has the capacity to produce 48,000 cans of fish per day.
This is the third and the largest of the planned canned fish factories and the other two which have the capacity of producing 10,000 cans each per day are now operating in Galle in the South and Mundalama in Puttalam district with the assistance of the Ministry of Fisheries.
On average Sri Lankans consume around 50,000 fish cans per day and the government spends over Rs. 4 billion annually for canned fish imports.
The government expects to produce 40,000 fish cans per day by the three factories initially and curtail the imports at least by 30 percent.
The government says it will save a massive foreign expenditure that flows out of the country for canned fish and also will be able to provide a high quality product while providing employment for the local youth.
Exploring Sri Lanka's tea estates
By Ali Naafiz,
Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Haveeru.com
August 19, 2012
Sitting back with a cuppa, you could hardly be further away from the tea estates and their green oceans which cover the slopes in and around the city of Ratnapura in Sri Lanka. Haveeru's Ali Naafiz goes on a two-day journey to search for some unique blends of pure Sri Lankan Tea.
When I was asked by a friend to join him and his crew on a trip to document the tea plantations in Sri Lanka, I was so excited to see the much-hyped estates for the first time. With just a pair of denims and a couple of t-shirts in my backpack, I hurried to my friend's house in order to leave to Ratnapura. As we rode in the bus to the small town of Nittambuwa, where we were supposed to meet the rest of the crew, I could picture nothing but the amazing scenes of tea estates I have seen in countless documentaries.
The makeshift road to Ratnapura was bumpy to say the least, with lush green seas of tealeaves lined on either side of the road. The early morning mist and frequent showers made it difficult to see through the windows of the van. And yet, the breathtaking view of the tea estates with the famous Adam's Peak visible from behind was a sight that could not be missed.
Located some 100km southeast of capital Colombo, Ratnapura is home to alluvial soils rich in precious gemstones, including sapphires, rubies and moonstones. The 'land of gems' is also the largest tea-growing region in Sri Lanka. Its relative importance has increased since the end in 2009 of the country's 26-year long civil war and the expansion of markets for tea in the Middle East.
'Two leaves and a bud'
Sri Lankan tea, commonly referred to as Ceylon Tea, is known all over the world for its golden colour and rich, intense flavour. This unique characteristic is achieved with the hard work of thousands of female workers who come to the estates early in the morning despite the cold weather.
"We use an approach called 'two leaves and a bud'. An immature bud from the plant is plucked along with its two leaves. We also don't use any machineries to pluck the leaves. That's what makes Ceylon Tea special," Jayasinghe, a senior official from RTS Holdings that owns several tea estates in Ratnapura, said.
Large baskets attached to their backs, the workers pluck every available bud and their leaves from the plant before moving on to the next. And they would not see the same plant for another seven days.
"The leaves are plucked in a seven-day cycle. This ensures that the plants get enough time to grow new leaves. Unlike other countries, the bud and leaves are handpicked which means that the process doesn't cause any harm to the coarse leaves," Jayasinghe explained.
Exploring Sri Lanka's tea estates
....Continued
Workers bring the buckets of plucked tealeaves to the muster sheds where they are weighed in and checked for quality. Once the initial quality inspection is complete, the leaves are transported to the factory to be withered using large blowers. Withering removes the moisture from the leaves making it easier to be refined for further manufacturing processes.
"In the next step, we've to cut the withered leaves. This brings out the juices and begins the fermentation process. Fermentation is the most important step," a senior supervisor at the RTS-owned Hidellana Tea Factory said.
Fermentation requires extra care with special equipment installed at the factory to control the humidity, temperature and fermentation time. These conditions have to be well monitored and controlled or the flavour is lost.
"The fermented leaves are then fired to lock in the flavour, to dry it and to improve the quality. We don't add any preservatives or artificial flavouring in the manufacturing process," the supervisor said.
Before the final product is packed and taken to the auction, the fermented tealeaves are classified in order to remove the leaves that do not comply with the stringent quality standards employed by the factory. The final product is graded according to the size and appearance of the leaves.
The next level
Ratnapura also houses the Low-country Regional Centre of the Tea Research Institute (TRI), the institute responsible for enriching Sri Lanka's tea industry through professional research findings. Experts at the centre with knowledge and years of experience in growing tea plants study matters related to agronomy, plant breeding, entomology and processing technology. The findings are disseminated to the planters via publications, workshops and other awareness methods.
Companies also have their own quality-testing methods. RTS Holdings, for instance, has a dedicated 'Tea Testing Room' at its Hidellana Tea Factory where experts conduct routine quality checks. The company's chairman Lalith Liyanage regularly tests the more than 30 varieties of tea produced at the factory, which has a capacity of 25,000kg per day.
Sri Lankan Tea is unique due to its exotic flavour, colour and character that cannot be readily found elsewhere. The humidity, temperature, sunshine and rainfall in the country's central and southern highlands provide the perfect environment for the manufacture of one of the finest blends of tea available anywhere in the world.
Yet for the high quality of the tea manufactured in Sri Lankan tea factories, its most memorable aspect may well be the natural beauty of the tea estates. The calm environment and greenery of the never-ending tea plantations, coupled with spectacular sceneries of the nearby hills, would definitely dazzle a newcomer.
Note: Arshad Najumudeen from Sri Lanka's Independent Television Network (ITN) contributed to this story.
Sacred Kapilavastu relics arrive in Sri Lanka
ColomboPage.com
Aug 19, Colombo: Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa accompanied by the Maha Sangha ceremonially received the Sacred Kapilavastu Relics arrived in a special Indian aircraft today at the Colombo International Airport in Katunayake.
A special Indian delegation led by the Minister of Culture, Kumari Selja brought the sacred relics to Sri Lanka in a special Indian Air Force aircraft.
The President received the relics from the Indian Minister and carried to the VIP lounge where about 100 Maha Sangha chanted Pirith to receive the blessings from the relics.
Following the ceremony, the sacred relics were transported in a special motorcade to the Manelwatte Viharaya in Kelaniya where it will be displayed for public viewing from today until August 21.
After the motorcade left, the President held a bilateral discussion with the Indian delegation and thanked the Indian Minister for bringing the relics to Sri Lanka. India's High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Ashok K. Kantha also was present at the meeting. The exposition of the Sacred Kapilavastu Relics will run from August 19 to September 4 at several locations.
The sacred relics will be displayed at Pelmadulla Raja Maha Viharaya on August 22-23, at Jayanthi Viharaya Anuradhapura from August 24-26, at Aggrabodhi Viharaya Kantale on August 27 & 28, at Naranwita Sri Sambuddhathwa Jayanthi Viharaya Gampola on August 29 & 30, at Sri Sumangala Pirivena in Wariyapola on August 31 and September 1, and at Kotikagoda Raja Maha Viharaya in Matara from September 2-4.
The Exposition is organized in Sri Lanka at the request made by Sri Lankan President to the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to provide an opportunity to the Sri Lankan Buddhists to pay homage to the Kapilavastu Relics.
The Sacred Kapilavastu Relics traveled to Sri Lanka from India's National Museum in New Delhi for the second time since their discovery 113 years ago. The first exposition of Sacred Relics in Sri Lanka was in 1978.
The first director of the Archaeological Survey of India Alexander Cunningham excavated the Relics in the late 19th century from ruins in Piprahwa, in present day Bihar. Piprahwa was known as Kapilavastu in ancient Indian history.
The exposition of the Kapilavastu Relics is one of the activities organized by India jointly with Sri Lanka to celebrate the 2600th Sambuddathwa Jayanthi anniversary.
(Photos by Sudath Silva)
India accuses Pakistan of sending the text messages that created an exodus of Assamese from South Indian cities!
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Pakistan seeks proof of India exodus messages
BBC.com
August 19, 2012
Pakistan has asked India to provide evidence for its claims that threatening messages sent by mobile phone and over the web to migrant workers mostly came from Pakistan.
Thousands of people fled the cities of Bangalore and Pune in recent days.
Officials have blamed the exodus on "rumour mongering" linked to clashes in the north-eastern Assam state.
More than 300,000 people fled after fighting between indigenous Bodo tribes and Muslim settlers in Assam.
Last week's exodus of workers from north-eastern region living in Bangalore, Pune and Mumbai was triggered off by messages threatening revenge attacks against them by Muslims.
Over the weekend, India said the bulk of these messages and video clips had their origin in Pakistan.
India's Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told his Pakistani counterpart Rehman Malik to crack down on "elements" who were sending the messages.
"We have no information about this. I requested him [Mr Shinde] to provide evidence in this regard to us and we will take care of it," Mr Rehman told reporters in Islamabad.
On Friday, the Indian government imposed a ban on bulk text messages to try to stop the panic.
At least 78 people have died in clashes between Bodo tribes and Muslims in Assam.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said those who were fanning the rumours should be punished, saying "communal harmony" was at stake.
There are 250,000 people from the north-east living and working in Bangalore, which is often referred to as the Silicon Valley of India.
Many of them are students, security guards and workers in the hospitality sector who have migrated to the southern cities in search of better jobs and education.
Muslim Brotherhood led Egypt, threatened by fear of destabilization by the US-Israel axis, is reaching out to China and Iran.
Moreover, Egypt is rejecting the Sunni-jihad against Shiites, and is moving to minimize Sunni-fear of Iran and normalize relationships with that country.
These fresh initiatives by Egypt have the potential to break the political deadlock in the Middle East on Palestine, and defuse the looming war by Western Powers against an unfairly demonized Iran.
Bravo, Egypt!
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Egypt thumbs the nose at US
By M K Bhadrakumar
Asia Times
August 21, 2012
The gloom in Washington must be deepening. Egypt is careering away from the alliance with the United States - and the bitter truth cannot be hidden or obfuscated anymore.
This is not how Washington expected the "right side of history" to play out. The Arab Spring has borne a strange fruit in Egypt - a pure breed, unlike the hybrids in Tunisia, Libya or Yemen.
Consider the following. President Barack Obama was one of the first statesmen to greet Mohammed Morsi on his election victory in May. Obama broke protocol and phoned to congratulate him,
signifying the anxiety in Washington to have a splendid chemistry with him.
Then, Obama wrote a letter to Morsi and he deputed Deputy Secretary of State William Burns to fly to Cairo and deliver it in person. Burns was followed to Cairo by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, again for an audience with Morsi. That, in turn, was followed by the visit to Cairo by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. All this, within the first month of Morsi's presidency.
Panetta came back to Washington greatly pleased that the Egyptian military leadership, which has been the anchor sheet of the US regional strategy and the custodian of the US' interests in Egypt, and Morsi were not only getting alone fine but they even had a common agenda.
The rest is history. Within days or weeks of Panetta's optimism, Morsi unceremoniously sent the military back to the barracks from the corridors of political power. Washington had no choice but to put a brave face on it, almost spreading a canard that Morsi consulted the Obama administration before cracking down on the Egyptian military.
However, in the weekend, the truth is out. The US may be facing across a huge setback to its robust efforts to influence Morsi's presidency. The letter that Burns carried a month ago apparently contained an invitation from Obama to Morsi to visit Washington.
And Morsi is instead travelling to China and Iran.
This was announced on the Egyptian president's official website on Sunday. Morsi is apparently combining the visits to China and Iran. It seems he will pay a three-day visit to China next Monday at the invitation of President Hu Jintao and from Beijing he proposes to travel to Tehran on Thursday to attend the summit meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement.
Beijing is yet to announce a visit by Morsi. The government-owned China Daily, in fact, featured a commentary on Monday exclusively titled "Morsi's visit to Iran could reshape political landscape", which pointedly sidestepped any suggestion that the Egyptian president's itinerary would include Beijing as well.
However, Egypt's flagship newspaper Al-Ahram has reported that Morsi and Hu "plan to discuss crucial issues facing the Arab world, such as the Syrian situation and the Palestinian question. The two presidents will also discuss ways of enhancing commercial exchange between their respective countries, in addition to increasing Chinese investment in Egypt."
Al-Ahram summed up: "The two visits may mark changes in Egypt's foreign policy, given that both countries [China and Iran] have tense relations with the United States, to whom Egypt has been a loyal ally, especially under the rule of ousted president Hosni Mubarak."
Egypt thumbs the nose at US
......Continued 1....
Nobody's poodle
Indeed, the Middle East is waking up to the fact that the Americans are in the dog house in Cairo. Without doubt, this decision bears the stamp of the Muslim Brotherhood. What are the calculations?
First, Brothers know that this will go down extremely well with the public mood in Egypt, which is vehemently demanding a new foreign policy orientation that jettisons the Mubarak-era partnership with the US and Israel and a return to the country's independent foreign policy.
Second, Morsi does not want to depend too heavily on the dole-outs by the International Monetary Fund and/or the wealthy Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, which he is hard-pressed to accept while knowing that they come with political strings attached.
The International Monetary Fund is dictating tough terms for a US$3.2 billion loan for Egypt. The Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank agreed to give Egypt $2.5 billion in financing. Qatar is depositing $2 billion in the Central Bank of Egypt aimed at alleviating Egypt's foreign exchange shortage. Last year in May, Saudi Arabia announced aid to Egypt totaling $4 billion in "soft loans, deposits and grants". A US-led struggle was keenly underway to buy off Egypt's soul.
Conceivably, Morsi eyes China as a potential investor in the Egyptian economy because Beijing attaches no strings to economic cooperation and plays generally by the market rules, attuned to the neo-liberal policies that Morsi would be largely pursuing. The point is, Brothers know pretty well that the GCC countries - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia - but especially Saudi Arabia, view them intrinsically with distaste and disquiet as posing an existential danger to their authoritarian regimes. Saudi Arabia, in particular, has had a troubled relationship with the Brotherhood.
The late Crown Prince Nayef used brutal methods to suppress the activities of the Brotherhood in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi establishment daily Asharq Al-Awasat displayed its antipathy toward Morsi as recently as Saturday, when in a signed article the daily's senior editor Osman Mirghani wrote,
The blow that Mursi struck [at the military], allowing him to seize power, was completely unforeseen, not just on the part of the SCAF leadership, but for the Egyptian people as a whole ... These decisions were akin to a coup d'etat ... Brotherhood has attempted to dominate the political arena since they hijacked the revolution and rode the revolutionary wave into government, despite the fact that they joined this revolution quite late ... Brotherhood has sought to undermine all other parties and therefore purposely refused to cooperate or coordinate with them during the transitional period prior to the elections.
'Egypt is now being governed by declarations and "constitutional" decisions that are issued by a president who has far more powers than Mubarak ever did ... If some people are saying that Mursi ... has liberated himself and the presidency from the army's custody and intervention, then the question that must be asked here is: will this be followed by Mursi liberating himself from the Brotherhood, which seems to be present in all his decisions and measures?"
Egypt thumbs the nose at US
......Continued 2....
It is useful to bear in mind that this sharp criticism appeared within a month of Morsi's visit to Riyadh at the invitation of King Abdullah and within two days of the extraordinary summit of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) in Jeddah, which Morsi attended.
The narrative has been that Morsi while addressing the OIC summit called for "regime change" in Syria - implying that Egypt is a dutiful camp follower of the line set by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. But in actuality, Morsi snubbed the troika by proposing a solution to the Syrian crisis by forming a Contact Group comprising Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran and Egypt, which could mediate a Syrian dialogue and reconciliation leading to peaceful political transition in an atmosphere free of violence.
Handshake across Arabia
Of course, Morsi's inclusion of Iran in the proposed Contact Group amounted to a snub to Saudi Arabia, which hosted the OIC summit. Then, there was the body language, which counts heavily in intra-Arab parleys. On the sidelines of the OIC summit, Morsi exchanged handshakes and kisses with Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and spoke with him amidst much manifest warmth.
Tehran promptly welcomed Morsi's proposal, which in turn prompted an appreciation by the Brotherhood in Cairo that saw in Tehran's warm reaction an unmistakable confirmation that Egypt is beginning to regain some of the diplomatic and strategic clout it once held in the region. A sort of mutual admiration society formed between Cairo and Tehran across the arid deserts of the Arabian Peninsula.
Three things emerged from Morsi's performance at the OIC summit. First, Morsi signaled that Egypt intended to pursue a foreign policy that would be independent of Western or oil Gulf countries' agendas. That is to say, Egypt will not meekly follow their footsteps any more or accept an inferior position.
Second, Egypt does not see Turkey as a role model, notwithstanding the high-decibel Western propaganda ever since the Arab Spring appeared that the Islamism of the kind that the present government led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan espouses is what the doctor would also prescribe for the ailing Middle East. Erdogan came back from a visit to Cairo last year imagining he was a a rock star for Egyptians, but Morsi apparently doesn't think so.
Third, Morsi's decision to include Iran as a partner in the search for peace in Syria meant a rejection of the Western and Saudi-Turkish approach. On the sidelines of the OIC summit, Egyptian foreign minister Mohammed Amr also met his Iranian counterpart Al Akbar Salehi to urge that Tehran should assist in solving the Syrian crisis.
Indeed, these are early days but Morsi's decision to visit Iran (with which Egypt doesn't have diplomatic relations) can only be seen as a strategic move with profound implications for regional security and global politics. It needs some explanation.
For one thing, Iran is the first Muslim country after Saudi Arabia that Morsi will be visiting in the Middle East. The Arab Street will take note that Egypt's Brothers reject the notion (propagated by Saudi Arabia and the West) of an Iran-led "Shi'ite crescent" posing a threat to the Sunni communities of the Muslim Middle East.
Egypt thumbs the nose at US
......Continued 3....
Clearly, Egypt intends to normalize its relations with Iran, whereas Mubarak's Egypt was awash with Manichean fears of Iranian plots to destabilize it. Things have changed. The deputy leader of the Brotherhood, Mahmoud Ezzat, recently told Associated Press, "The old regime used to turn any of his [Mubarak's] rivals to a ghost. We [Brotherhood] don't want to do like Mubarak and exaggerate the fear of Iran."
From Tehran's viewpoint, this comes as a diplomatic and geopolitical breakthrough at a difficult time when the P5+1-Iran talks are in an impasse. Simply put, the Middle Eastern equations have been suddenly thrown into a state of flux. It was all meant to be a neat little logarithm of "Tehran's camp" (Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas) versus the "American camp" (Saudi Arabia, Israel, Turkey and Qatar). But Morsi is nonchalantly crisscrossing that geopolitical barrier.
Could a big shake-up of regional politics be under way? At a minimum, the kaleidoscope is shifting and all of a sudden it seems that the situations in Syria, Lebanon or Gaza might be fraught with new possibilities. (By the way, Morsi made it clear at the OIC summit that any focus on the Syrian crisis should not detract attention from the Palestinian problem, which is the core issue for the Muslim world.)
The big question is what is prompting Egypt's Brotherhood? The conventional wisdom is that the Brothers are a cautious lot and will take their own sweet time to reset the power calculus in Cairo, leave alone tamper with the compass of Egypt's foreign policy. But through the past eight-day period, a different picture of the Brothers has begun emerging. What explains it?
No return to Mubarak era
In retrospect, Morsi's crackdown on the military a week ago was a pre-emptive coup. The Brothers estimated that their best bet would be to ride the wave of high expectations in the public opinion favoring fundamental changes in national policies and that any delay and procrastination in doing so would result in the military gaining the upper hand and turning the tables politically on Morsi's leadership.
Equally, the Brothers harbor distrust of the US' role and its real intentions toward Morsi's leadership. It is useful to remember that the Brotherhood (and Hamas) pointedly accused Israel's Mossad of being responsible for the terrorist strike in Sinai on August 5.
What made the Brothers come to this conclusion is unclear, but Sinai has been a lawless land for decades and it is inconceivable that Israeli intelligence paid no attention to the Islamist militant groups present there. In fact, what really happened on August 5 remains anybody's guess and it needs a willing suspension of disbelief to accept that the Bedouins could mount such a highly professional operation.
Besides, something else was jarring. The terrorist strike in Sinai followed Morsi's meetings with the Hamas leadership in Cairo and his decision to partially ease the restrictions at the Rafah crossing (which of course made a mockery of Israel's "blockade" of Gaza.
Be that as it may, the attack in Sinai came even as the US was piling pressure on Morsi to optimally resuscitate the Mubarak-era security and military tie-ups between Cairo, Washington and Tel Aviv. Both Clinton and Panetta tried hard to persuade Morsi to recapture the spirit of the tripartite US-Egypt-Israel security cooperation over Sinai.
But the Brothers would see that any such reversion to Mubarak-era policies towards Israel would be deeply resented by the Egyptian public - Islamists and "secularists alike - and in turn discredit the Brotherhood and erode the credibility of Morsi's presidency - in sum, it will be suicidal politically. The Brothers would also know that any configuration of Egypt's regional strategies with the locus resting on terrorism would preclude all possibilities of any creative policy rethink on Gaza.
Egypt thumbs the nose at US
......Continued 4....
In sum, Morsi's decision to open a line to Beijing and Tehran needs to be weighed against a big backdrop. The Brothers apprehend a US-Israeli plan to destabilize Morsi's government if it doesn't fall in line with Washington's diktat. Therefore, they are looking for ways and means to whittle down the current level of Egypt's over-dependence on the US and its Persian-Gulf allies by diversifying the country's external relationships and adding countervailing partnerships that would help enhance the country's strategic autonomy.
Next week promises to be a defining moment in Middle Eastern politics and inter-Arab alignments when Morsi travels to Beijing and Tehran. With Egypt drifting away, the US' regional strategies are in great disarray. The immediate question will be what is gained, after all, by conquering Damascus with such mindless brutal violence and bestiality if Cairo and Baghdad have already been lost.
Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar was a career diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service. His assignments included the Soviet Union, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kuwait and Turkey.
Sri-Lanka's National Armed Forces Is the Envy of Foreign Private Contractors
By Shenali8 Waduge
Eurasia Review
September 3, 2012
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Bravo, Shenali! You say it like it is!
Indeed, the "democracy" purveyors of the West, destabilizing and initiating civil wars in developing nations opposed to their economic and military hegemony, are committing vast crimes with impunity all over the world.
Although their illegal interventions plunge nations into chaos depriving people of what little they have, the GOALS of the West are not being achieved. Instead, they are being frustrated everywhere.
Iraq has been handed over to its Shiite majority aligned with Iran, Egypt to the Moslem Brotherhood making overtures to China and Iran even as we speak, and the "Democratization" of Afghanistan is unravelling fast.
When will the West learn that although they can conquer national armies in the field of battle, they cannot confront and defeat determined enemies with popular support in asymmetric warfare in foreign lands without ultimately spending themselves into insurmountable debt? Are we witnessing the rise and the fall of an overextended West?
Do they think that the affected peoples in these countries are so stupid as to not be able to figure out who is responsible for their accumulated pain and suffering?
Instead of winning "hearts and minds", the hypocritical "leaders" of the West are sowing the wind with seeds of enduring enmity among vast masses of people in this world; they will reap the whirlwind.
If you doubt me, ask the Syrian people!
IN ADDITION, let the GOSL issue an alert to Indian citizens from Tamil Nadu that they should cease and desist from visiting Sri Lanka, because their safety in Sri Lanka cannot be guaranteed given the feelings of Sri Lankans inflamed by the activities of Tamil Nadu politicians.
Let us also DISCOURAGE Tamil Nadu BUSINESSES from doing business in Sri Lanka. After all, we can certainly grow our own Onions & Parippu!
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Sri Lanka warns its nationals visiting Tamil Nadu after Catholic pilgrims mobbed in the state
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Sept 03, Colombo: The Sri Lankan government today strongly condemned the harassment of Sri Lankan nationals visiting the Tamil Nadu state of India and urged the Sri Lankan public to not to visit Tamil Nadu until further notice.
The announcement by the Sri Lanka's External Affairs Ministry follows an incident of a mob attack today on 184 Sri Lankan Catholic pilgrims to the state.
The Sri Lankan government said it regrets the increasing number of instances of intimidation of Sri Lankan nationals visiting Tamil Nadu for the purposes of tourism, religious pilgrimages, sporting and cultural activities and professional training.
"These visits are a reflection of people to people contact between the polity of two countries which are bound by age old friendly ties and traditions," the Ministry said in a statement.
The Ministry said 184 Sri Lankan pilgrims visiting the Poornimatha Church in Thanjavur have been mobbed today and become refuge in the church.
The Sri Lankan government said it has taken all steps required through the Indian Government to seek the safety of these pilgrims.
The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J. Jayalalithaa yesterday ordered the state officials to send back two Sri Lankan school soccer teams which were in Chennai to play friendly matches with two schools in the state.
Since the election of Jayalalithaa as the Chief Minister of the Tamil Nadu state the anti-Sri Lankan sentiment is growing and there is an increasing hostility towards the Sri Lankans.
The Ministry statement said the government is "constrained to request Sri Lankan nationals in the interest of their security to desist from undertaking visits to Tamil Nadu until further notice."
The Sri Lankans, who has a compelling reason to visit Tamil Nadu, should inform the Sri Lanka Deputy High Commission in Chennai prior to their visit, the government cautioned.
However, travel to all other states in India is safe for Sri Lanka nationals, the Ministry noted.
We have said PRECISELY THIS till we are BLUE IN THE FACE!
Only Indian Government Officials need further proof: There are NONE SO BLIND AS THOSE WHO REFUSE TO SEE!
The Govt of India should launch an federal investigation into who is behind these activities in Tamil Nadu to gather the legal evidence needed for prosecution.
They will discover the likes of Karunanidhi, Jayalalitha, Vaiko, Ramadoss and other RACIST DEMAGOGUES orchestrating these crimes to precipitate a conflict with Sri Lanka!
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Fishermen faking attacks, claims TNCC
By Express News Service - CUDDALORE
03rd September 2012 08:35 AM
State Congress Committee president Gnanadesikan has questioned the veracity of the repeated incidents where Tamil Nadu fishermen are subjected to attacks by Sri Lankan Navy off Rameshwaram, Speaking at the Congress party’s public meeting in Cuddalore on Saturday night, he said, “Tamil Nadu fishermen issue is being projected as repeatedly occurring incidents. In 500 boats, around 4,000 fishermen venture into the sea for fishing at a time. Each boat carries eight fishermen normally. While there is such a huge contingent of TN fishermen on the high sea, how could a few Sri Lankan navy personnel beat just five TN fishermen in a boat?”
He further said that there was a need to delve deeper into the matter as there is something more that meets the eye.
“We will leave for New Delhi with a team of representatives of Rameshwaram fishermen to discuss a permanent solution to this problem,” he added.
On SL armymen training in Tamil Nadu, he said, “Only two SL officers are undergoing training. We also flagged the demand to send them back from our country. But, Vaiko is doing a propaganda as if the entire SL army is undergoing training here.”
On the Cauvery issue, he said, “The prime minister is taking measures to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu as per the interim order of the tribunal even though a case regarding this is pending before the Supreme Court. But, some people are still blaming the prime minister, although he is discharging his duties.”
Let Sri Lanka BOYCOTT Tamil Nadu in retaliation.
Sri Lanka buys FAR MORE goods from Tamil Nadu than Tamil Nadu buys from Sri Lanka.
Let us SEIZE THIS OPPORTUNITY to stop ALL dealings and travel with Tamil Nadu.
If India cannot control its own "states", then Sri Lanka must take the necessary action to defend itself against a declared enemy state.
Let them cut-off their own noses!
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Tamil Nadu CM suspends official for allowing Sri Lankan school team to play a soccer match in Chennai
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Sept 02, Colombo: The Chief Minister of India's Tamil Nadu state, J. Jayalalithaa in yet another punitive move against Sri Lanka has taken disciplinary action against an official for allowing a Sri Lankan school team to play a soccer match with a Tamil Nadu team at a stadium in Chennai.
The CM has suspended the stadium official who authorized the teams to play the soccer match alleging him of insulting Tamils.
She has also ordered the officials to send back the two Sri Lankan school soccer teams which were undergoing training in Chennai, Indian media reported.
The Chief Minister has issued the order after she learnt that one of the teams, Royal College of Colombo played a match against the Chennai Customs team at the Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Friday.
The other team, Hilborn International School from Ratnapura was scheduled to play with students from the Velammal International School in Chennai.
In a statement released in Tamil today Jayalalithaa has instructed that no competitions were to be held for the Sri Lankan teams and that they were to be sent back.
Her latest action follows her angry demand to the central government to send back the Sri Lankan defence personnel receiving training in India.
In a letter to the Indian Prime Minister last week, the CM blasted the government's decision to continue providing training to the Sri Lankan officers.
"This betrays the total insensitivity on the part of the Government of India towards the views of my Government as well as the sentiments of the people of Tamil Nadu," Jayalalithaa wrote.
She reiterated her demand that the Government of India should give up such a "condemnable attitude and show more consideration and regard for the sentiments of the people of Tamil Nadu by sending the Defence personnel back to Sri Lanka immediately."
Hinduism is a Great and Compassionate Religion.
Why do Hindus allow a few of their temple priests to practice the BARBARIC PRACTICE of ANIMAL SACRIFICE still?
NO GOD demands DEATH of LIVING BEINGS!
HINDUS of SRI LANKA .... RISE UP, PROTEST, and END THIS BARBARISM NOW!
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Animal sacrifice to take place in Sri Lanka on September 16
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Sept 02, Chilaw: The Hindu priests of Sri Lanka's Sri Badra Kali Amman temple in Munneswaram created another controversy today by announcing that the animal sacrifice at the temple will take place on September 16.
The authorities of the temple announced that the animal sacrifice would take place on September 16 after the exhibition of the sacred Kapilavastu relics of Buddha ends.
The temple authorities agreed to suspend the sacrifice which was scheduled to be held on September 01 due to the display of sacred relics brought over to island from India.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa made a request from the priests of the temple not to sacrifice animals while the relics are on display and they agreed to it.
The exposition of Kapilavastu relics will end on September 12.
Controversial Minister of Public Relations Mervyn Silva and animal right organizations also rallied against the animal sacrifice. It is expected they would rise again.
The temple authorities are now accepting animals for sacrifice. Hundreds of goats and fowls are slaughtered in the annual ritual.
Are Indian Companies dumping Radioactive Contaminated Products on Unsuspecting Sri Lankans?
All Imports should go through automated radioactivity and toxic chemicals detection portals.
We need to make a substantial investment in these protective measures, without automatically assuming that they are safe.
This applies especially to countries belonging to the former Soviet Union, our nuclear capable allies such as Pakistan, India and China, and other emerging nuclear nations.
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Radioactive contaminated cargo detected
September 15, 2012
A consignment of stainless steel and aluminum products contaminated with an artificial radioactive element has been detected at the Colombo harbor.
The release and distribution of the contaminated products has been halted with immediate effect, Sri Lanka Atomic Energy Authority (SLAEA) stated. SLAEA Chairman Dr. R L Wijayawardena speaking to Daily Mirror said the cargo, imported from India had contained about 125 units stainless steel and aluminum products contaminated with cobalt 60 – an extremely hazardous, artificial radioactive element.
Upon further analysis carried out by the Radiation Protection Division of the SLAEA, a decision has been made to halt the release and distribution of the contaminated products.
“We have not yet explored any grounds to take legal action against the Indian company. But a decision has been made to instruct Sri Lanka Customs to return the consignment to India and to inform the Atomic Energy Commission of India and the International Atomic Energy Agency concerning the products,” Dr. Wijayawardena added.
The contaminated cargo is currently held at Sri Lanka Ports Authority. (Lakna Paranamanna)
LTTE gold sneaking into India
V.P. Raghu and P.A. Jebaraj
AsainAge.com
Spurt in gold smuggling from Colombo after the ethnic war got over in Sri Lanka has forced some officials in Indian customs intelligence to believe that a lot of illegally-held gold is being smuggled out of the island nation.
“It is possible that someone had found LTTE’s gold reserve which is now being smuggled out in slow manner,” sources said.
Since January this year, the customs and DRI officials had made 29 seizures of smuggled gold at the Chennai airport. Out of this, 22 were from air passengers arrived from Colombo.
Earlier smuggling gold from Dubai and Singapore to Chennai was very rampant. “But now we see a sudden change in pattern. AS high as 75 per cent of gold smugglers are arriving from Colombo, a place, which is not a big commercial hub and it is also not a location from where gold is available in abundance,” a customs official noted.
The increase in cases of smuggling from Colombo had forced the customs intelligence to look into the pattern seriously and enquiries by them had indicated that somebody was trying to push illegally stashed to India where gold is always in demand.
There were unconfirmed reports which said that the during the war between LTTE and Lankan army, the defence force had found 6,000 kg of gold kept as reserve by the Tigers.
“Maybe a huge quantity of gold detected had gone to the hands of private persons who are sending it to India,” sources in customs department said.
It is also believed that the gold ornaments collected from the dead bodies of Tamil women killed by the Lankan army during the war could be also finding it way to India through smugglers.
“In most cases we found the smugglers from Colombo brings in 24 carat gold in biscuit or in melted form. We found a Lankan woman carrying an umbrella with its central pole made of gold. It was painted in black. Similarly another Lankan passenger was found carrying a trolley bag with its handle made of gold.
"We know only what we have seen or detected. But we are sure a lot of gold must have reached through various south Indian cities from Colombo in one form or the other without being noticed by the enforcement agencies," sources added.
Sri Lanka: A different approach for a better society
14 September 2012
In the hilly terrain of central Sri Lanka lies the small village of Tholangamuwa. Recently these green hills and rolling meadows played host to a group of young people who used the calm surroundings to engage in a week-long training comprised of workshops, discussions and debates as well as a range of more unconventional activities such as yoga, drama and dance.
The training was part of the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society’s flagship ‘Youth as Agents of Behavioral Change’ programme, a global initiative launched by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), which works to encourage young people to play a greater leadership role in society by inspiring a positive transformation of mindsets, attitudes and behaviors within themselves and their local community.
The focus is on providing young people with non-formal values- and skills-based education. Participants were trained to promote social cohesion and emotional well-being through a ‘heart to mind approach’. In the context of Sri Lanka which has recently emerged from a bitter 26 year war, the programme provides an opportunity to create a platform for inter-cultural dialog, a vital step in the reconciliation process between divided communities.
Akshy Athukorale, from the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society, was one of the participants of the workshop. “I think I learned how we can be a source of leadership in our own communities in order to change the old ways of thinking, which will lead to a more harmonized community.”
The programme emphasizes the training of peer educators - celebrating the idealism, enthusiasm and creativity of youth, and encouraging people to lead by example and make an active contribution to the development of their communities.
Bob McKerrow, the IFRC’s head of delegation in Sri Lanka, said it was tremendous to see participants putting on dramas, dance, music and movies on themes ranging from anti-discrimination, peace-building and social inclusion. “We had trainers and participants from Lebanon, Philippines, Afghanistan, and Malaysia,” he said. “This helped the 25 participants from Sri Lanka to not only look at their local context but to go beyond and learn from the experience of other people from various parts of the world.”
One of the major outcomes of the workshop was that participants developed a clear action plan on how they can roll out what they learnt at the workshop in their respective branches and communities.
T. Ariyaratne - Sri Lanka Red Cross Society OD Specialist: “The action plans that were developed will be shared with the national headquarters and the management of the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society, and will also become part of the programme process of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement.”
Mahieash Johnney is communications manager, International Federation of Red Cross.
Former LTTE explosives supplier in India still engages in illegal supply of explosives, for seemingly peaceful purposes.
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Prime suspect in explosive seizure case has links with LTTE
By Santhosh Christy
NewIndianExpress.com
September 14, 2012
The prime suspect in the incident in which 17,000 kg of ammonium nitrate was seized from Vazhikadavu in Malappuram district in July has links with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), according to the police.
The suspect, Ismail, for whom the explosive was brought, had served six months jail term in Tamil Nadu in a case related to the supply of explosives to the LTTE.
Ismail, a native of Vazhayoor in Malappuram district, was the sixth accused in the case with crime number 657/2006 registered in Madurai.
He was sentenced under the National Securities Act. The Kerala police got this information when he was arrested from Thenhipalam in 2010 for stocking gelatin sticks and detonators. He gave testimony to the police about his involvement in the explosive supply to the LTTE, which was recorded on May 11, 2010.
“The police are trying hard to nab Ismail. We haven’t got any clue to link the ammonium nitrate seizure with any extremist organisation, though it can’t be ruled out. A conclusion can be reached only after interrogating Ismail,” police sources said.
The police are also investigating the financial sources of Ismail. He started the explosive business in 1974 and his wealth has multiplied in a short span of time.
The police doubt that his connection with extremist groups helped him to amass such a huge amount of money within a short period. Ammonium nitrate is mostly exported to the country from Ukraine. There are two agencies, one in Nagpur and the other in Vishakhapatnam, for supplying it to other dealers.
States like Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have liberal laws regarding stocking of explosives.
The ammonium nitrate that was seized from Vazhikadavu came from Hyderabad via Bangalore. The stock was loaded onto another lorry in Bangalore. The police seized the explosives following a tip-off.
It was sent from a Hyderabad-based agency to Alungal Enterprises in Vazhayoor, which is owned by the father of Ismail.
The licence of this company had expired in 2006. The State Special Branch also conducted an inquiry into the case and found that the explosives are used in quarries around Kondotty.
They, too, did not find any clue that connects the smuggling of explosives with extremist groups.
A Brief Peek at:
Who are Sri Lanka's Major Exporters?
What are Sri Lanka's Major Exports?
Where are the Opportunities for Export Growth?
What are our projected Export Targets?
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US $ 12 b export target
DailyNews.lk
September 15, 2012
Despite a reversal in the rate of exports decline and evidence of some improvement, Sri Lanka is actively moving to help its exporters to face the global downturn -with a challenging new $ 12 billion export goal set for 2012, said Industry and Commerce Ministry Secretary Anura Siriwardene.
"Since exporters, who account for nearly 80 percent of Sri Lanka's export earnings possess valuable understanding, experiences, suggestions and comments which we believe could be
very useful for our national drive, we respectfully invite your valuable feedback to us today to turn our export performance around further and place it back on track to sustain our global competitive advantage. To this end, let me energise you with Minister Rishad Bathiudeen's new export target of $ 12 billion for 2012. Let us face take on this challenge jointly to meet $ 20 Bn by 2020"
Siriwardene was addressing titans of Sri Lanka's exports on September 12 at Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Colombo. The export giants, who almost oversee 80% of Sri Lanka's annual exports, were invited to the Grand by
Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen's Export Development Board to jointly map strategies to accelerate export earning targets for 2012 (Minister Bathiudeen was indisposed at the event due to his tight schedule).
Secretary Siriwrdene announced: "Minister Bathiudeen has now revised the national export goal for 2012 to $ 12 billion from the previous $ 10.1 Bn."
"All the sectors of export were present -including apparel, rubber products, gems and jewellery, spices, food and beverages and IT/BPO/KPO. Among the sectoral leaders and associations present were the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF- the pioneer association of apparel export industry in Sri Lanka), Hirdaramani Industries Ltd, Omega Line Ltd, Orit Trading Lanka, MAS Holdings, Brandix, Akbar Group of Companies, Jafferjee Brothers, Loadstar (Pvt) Ltd, Ansel (Lanka) Ltd, Eu -Retec (Pvt) Ltd, Lalan Rubbers (Pvt) Ltd, Nithyakalyani Jewellers, Ellawala Exports Pvt Ltd, Ishana Exports (Pvt) Ltd, Spices & Allied Product Producers' and Traders' Association, the Spice Council, Edna Group of Companies, Prima , Virtusa (Pvt) Ltd, IFS Solution Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, Colombo Dockyard PLC, Neil Marine (Pvt) Ltd and various trade chambers such as the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka, Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL), National Chamber of Exporters and Exporters' Association of Sri Lanka.
Almost all export leaders present praised the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and its Export Development Board for the timely initiative. "We are happy that the government has understood our needs and called us to meet.
"This is very timely" said Chairman of Spice Council Sarada De Silva addressing the meet. "And now we need action" he said and added:
"The spice export sector views devaluation of the rupee positively. I am sure that many other exporters feel the same. We also welcome development finance support as well as endorsement of Madrid Protocol and Lisbon Agreement for our sector."
"Most exporters -across almost all sectors-expressed that imp-ex levies and taxes, strong need for training and development and human resource strengthening, research and development capacity upgrade with tax relief for R and D expenses given to private sector, fuel/energy and labour costs control support, biomass energy support, global branding and market development assistance, links to newly opening markets such as Myanmar, technology upgrade to sustain high value additions, are welcome assistance for them.
US $ 12 b export target
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Secretary Siriwardene said: "our exports grew strongly during the year 2011 registering a commendable growth of 22.1% continuing the upward trend of 2010.
This positive trend also showed that the export development vision of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, is working well. However, as you may have experienced already due to the global downturn, our export earnings up to June 2012 registered a slight drop of 2.5 percent as against the same period in 2011. Still, I should stress that this is an improvement against the 5.4% fall in export earnings during January to May 2012.
"I am pleased to state that despite the difficult international markets, thanks to you-our export community's committed efforts- we predict that our total exports in 2012, to be around dollar 10.1 billion.
To uplift our export revenue, the Export Development Board under my Ministry is now actively focusing on diversification of export products and markets, value addition, brand promotion, productivity improvement, product adaptation, market communication and market development efforts, " he said.
"However, we need your valuable support and input for our efforts. While thanking you for accepting our invitation today, since you, the distinguished exporters, who account for nearly 80% of Sri Lanka's export earnings also have valuable understanding, experience, suggestions and comments in this, which we believe could be very useful for our national drive, we respectfully invite your valuable feedback to us today to turn our export performance around and place it back on track thereby sustaining our global competitive advantage."
Siriwardene added: "I am also pleased to announce that we have succeeded in our discussion with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka for focused Development Banking support to our exports and exports manufacturing sector. We are now working on this and Full details will be announced when the process is ready, " Siriwardene said.
ECN Cahairman/CEO Janaka Ratnayake said, Of the more than 3,500 of our exporters, six percent-that is 210- exporters handle 85% of our exports, which is around $ 9 Bn.
"We are here to address your issues specially at a time when the international market climate is tightening." Ratnayake added: "Our market diversification is taking place and we are on track. Our current market diversification is aimed at India, China and Far East, among others, and in fact, exports to India has risen by 17%. We are also in a positive situation as for Madrid Protocol and Lisbon Agreement."
While the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert O. Blake nonchalantly preaches devolution to defeated terrorists in Sri Lanka, let us now see how the US deals with new terrorists killing US citizens in "Arab Spring" countries.
Who wants to bet that for every terrorist killed by drone attacks, hundreds of innocent people will die?
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US scrambles to rush spies, drones to Libya
By KIMBERLY DOZIER
President Barack Obama, accompanied by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, speaks during the Transfer of Remains Ceremony, Friday, Sept. 14, 2012, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., marking the return to the United States of the remains of the four Americans killed this week in Benghazi, Libya. Obama said in a Rose Garden statement after the attack that those responsible would be brought to justice. That may not be swift. Building a clearer picture of what happened will take more time, and possibly more people, U.S. officials said Friday. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)Enlarge Photo
Associated Press/Carolyn Kaster - President Barack Obama, accompanied by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, speaks during the Transfer of Remains Ceremony, Friday, Sept. 14, 2012, at Andrews Air Force …more
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Libyan followers of the Ansar al-Shariah Brigades chant anti-U.S. slogans during a protest in front of the Tibesti Hotel, in Benghazi, Libya, Friday, Sept. 14, 2012, as part of widespread anger across the Muslim world about a film ridiculing Islam's Prophet Muhammad. One of the leading suspects in an attack that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans is the Libyan-based Islamic militant group Ansar al-Shariah, led by former Guantanamo detainee Sufyan bin Qumu. The group denied responsibility in a video Friday but did acknowledge its fighters were in the area during what it called a “popular protest” at the consulate, according to Ben Venzke of the IntelCenter, a private analysis firm that monitors Jihadist media for the U.S. intelligence community. (AP Photo/Mohammad Hannon)Enlarge Photo
Libyan followers of the Ansar al-Shariah …
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is sending more spies, Marines and drones to Libya, trying to speed the search for those who killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans, but the investigation is complicated by a chaotic security picture in the post-revolutionary country and limited American and Libyan intelligence resources.
The CIA has fewer people available to send, stretched thin from tracking conflicts across the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Much of the team dispatched to Libya during the revolution had been sent onward to the Syrian border, U.S. officials say.
And the Libyans have barely re-established full control of their country, much less rebuilt their intelligence service, less than a year after the overthrow of dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
US scrambles to rush spies, drones to Libya
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The U.S. has already deployed an FBI investigation team, trying to track al-Qaida sympathizers thought to be responsible for turning a demonstration over an anti-Islamic video into a violent, coordinated militant attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi.
Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other embassy employees were killed after a barrage of small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars tore into the consulate buildings in Benghazi on Tuesday, the 11th anniversary of 9/11, setting the buildings on fire.
President Barack Obama said in a Rose Garden statement the morning after the attack that those responsible would be brought to justice. That may not be swift. Building a clearer picture of what happened will take more time and possibly more people, U.S. officials said Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation publicly.
In a statement posted Saturday on Islamic militant websites, Al-Qaida's branch in Yemen praised the killings and called for more attacks to expel American embassies from Muslim nations, suggesting the terrorist organization is trying to co-opt the angry protests over a film produced in the United States denigrating the Prophet Muhammad.
US scrambles to rush spies, drones to Libya
Continued 2....
Intelligence officials are reviewing telephone and radio intercepts, computer traffic, satellite images and other clues from the days before the attacks — the kinds of material routinely gathered in a conflict zone where al-Qaida affiliates are known to operate — and Libyan law enforcement has made some arrests. But investigators have found no evidence pointing conclusively to a particular group or to indicate the attack was planned, White House spokesman Jay Carney said, adding, "This is obviously under investigation."
Early indications suggest the attack was carried out not by the main al-Qaida terror group but "al-Qaida sympathizers," said a U.S. intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly.
One of the leading suspects is the Libyan-based Islamic militant group Ansar al-Shariah, led by former Guantanamo detainee Sufyan bin Qumu. The group denied responsibility in a video Friday but did acknowledge its fighters were in the area during what it called a "popular protest" at the consulate, according to Ben Venzke of the IntelCenter, a private analysis firm that monitors Jihadist media for the U.S. intelligence community.
The U.S. had been watching threat assessments from Libya for months but none offered warnings of the Benghazi attack, according to another intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about U.S. intelligence matters.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, questioned whether the consulate had taken sufficient security measures, given an attempt to attack the consulate in Benghazi a few months ago.
Carney said that given the 9/11 anniversary, security had been heightened.
"It was, unfortunately, not enough," he said.
That paucity of resources also applies to the intelligence officers available to monitor Libya on the ground.
With ongoing counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen, as well as the civil war in Syria, the CIA's clandestine and paramilitary officer corps is simply running out of trained officers to send, U.S. officials say, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the deployment of intelligence personnel publicly. The clandestine service is roughly 5,000 officers strong, and the paramilitary corps sent to war zones is only in the hundreds, the officials said.
Most of the CIA's clandestine and paramilitary team that had worked with Libyan rebels to bring about the fall of Gadhafi is now arrayed at the Syrian border, working with rebels there to try to hasten the fall of Syrian president Bashar Assad, the officials said.
The CIA normally hires extra people to make up for such shortfalls, often retired special operators with the requisite security clearance, military training and language ability. But the government mandate to slash contractor use has meant cutting contracts, according to two former officials familiar with the agency's current hiring practices.
To fill in the gaps in spies on the ground, the U.S. intelligence community has kept up surveillance over Libya with unmanned and largely unarmed Predator and Reaper drones, increasing the area they cover and the frequency of their flights since the attack on the consulate, as well as sending more surveillance equipment to the region, one official said.
But intelligence gathered from the air still needs corroboration from sources on the ground, as well as someone to act on the intelligence to go after the targets.
US scrambles to rush spies, drones to Libya
Continued 3...
The Libyan government, which U.S. officials say is eager to help, has limited tools at its disposal. The post-revolution government has been slow to rebuild both its intelligence capability and its security services, fearful of empowering the very institutions they had to fight to overthrow Gadhafi. They have made a start, but they lack a sophisticated cadre of trained spies and a large network of informants.
"The Libyans in just about every endeavor are just learning to walk, let alone run," said Paul Pillar, a former senior CIA official and author of the book "Intelligence and U.S. Foreign Policy."
"There is confusion and competing elements within the new provisional government which complicates the task of creating new institutions, including the intelligence service," he said.
"There are still some aspects of the intelligence services that still work," says Barak Barfi of the New America Foundation think tank, including eavesdropping on cellphone calls and spying on computer traffic using equipment from the Gadhafi era. Barfi spent months with members of Libya's transitional government as they tried to rebuild the nation's services and infrastructure.
But the Libyans have not yet even taken full command their own security services almost a year after Gadhafi's fall, Barfi said. That's given the tens of thousands of militiamen who helped overthrow Gadhafi the time they needed to organize and seek new targets, especially Western ones, he said.
Another canned fish factory in the offing
by Mohammed NAALIR
September 16, 2012
Sri Lanka imports nearly US$ 141 million worth of canned, dried and smoked fish annually. Our exports are worth about US$ 190 million and consists mainly of shrimp, tuna and other fish, according to Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Ministry sources.
The first canned fish factory was set up in Galle under a private-public partnership and the second was at Peliyagoda.
The third plant will be set up shortly.
Sri Lankans consume 100,000 cans of fish daily.
"European Union countries are Sri Lanka's major market and 43 percent of our aquatic products are exported to these countries, 18 percent to Japan and nine percent to USA. We are now in the process of actively diversifying our products and markets to cushion our industry from various market shocks. Considering the good domestic market prices, the export of some items has become less and less attractive exporters. As such, value addition has become a necessity in this sector", the sources said.
With a vast coastal area at its disposal, and as a sea-faring nation from time immemorial, Sri Lanka has a relatively large, vibrant fishing community. Fisheries provide direct employment to about 220,000 people while another 400,000 are employed in ancillary industries.
It is estimated that about 2.6 million, almost 12 percent of the population, is engaged in fishing-related livelihoods.
Thus it has become important to ensure the social welfare of this sector, the sources said.
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