JKRSOTHY

U.S. calls for Sri Lanka to investigate attacks on press

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 01 May 2013 08:28:00 +0000

The United States Tuesday said it remains extremely concerned about threats to freedom of expression in Sri Lanka and urged the Sri Lankan authorities to conduct thorough investigations into all attacks and killings of journalists and to bring the perpetrators to justice.
"The United States calls on Sri Lankan authorities to demonstrate their commitment to the rule of law and freedom of expression by conducting thorough investigations into all attacks and killings of journalists and bringing perpetrators to justice," the U.S. State Department spokesperson Patrick Ventrell told the media at the press briefing Tuesday. "The necessity of upholding this fundamental right was not only a component of the UN Human Rights Council resolution in Geneva this March, but it was a central recommendation of the Sri Lankan Government's own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission," the spokesperson pointed out. Continuing the Free the Press campaign, the spokesperson highlighted the repeated attacks on Sri Lanka's Tamil daily Uthayan which sustained severe damage to its printing machines in a recent arson attack in addition to that attacks on the newspaper's personnel last month. The assault on a free press in Sri Lanka extends beyond Uthayan, the spokesperson said pointing out that the BBC Tamil-language service has had its programs about Sri Lanka and the Human Rights Council censored. "Reporters have been physically assaulted and murdered in years past, and a prominent political cartoonist has been missing for three years," he noted. The spokesperson mentioned that the U.S. has seen the Amnesty International report released Tuesday and noted that it echoes many of the concerns raised in the State Department's own Human Rights Report released last month. Ventrell reiterated that the U.S. remains extremely concerned about threats to freedom of expression in Sri Lanka and continue to support the need for justice and accountability for serious human rights abuses in Sri Lanka. "We urge Sri Lankan authorities to protect freedom of expression," he said. "The necessity of upholding this fundamental right was not only a component of the UN Human Rights Council resolution in Geneva this March, but it was a central recommendation of the Sri Lankan Government's own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission," the spokesperson noted. Responding to media queries, the spokesperson replied that the U.S. will continue to work with the Sri Lanka bilaterally on the issue. "We're going to continue to work with interested parties that include a number of people quite frankly in the international community who are deeply concerned. And so we'll continue to do so bilaterally, but we'll also continue to do so with other members of the international community and that's certainly been the case with the - at the UN Human Rights Council and in other fora. So we'll continue to press our concerns very directly," he said.

Union leader of Sri Lanka Marxist party calls on public to join the struggle to win rights

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 01 May 2013 08:25:00 +0000

Sri Lanka's Marxist party Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) says the people in the country have a responsibility to join a broad struggle to win rights. JVP politburo member and head of the National Trade Union Center (NTUC), K.D. Lalkantha said that while a broad programme with common causes has to be identified, people also have a responsibility to join in these struggles. "We have continued our struggle and have given leadership to such struggles. The people also have a responsibility to join in these struggles," he noted. He explained that people cannot just wait expecting someone else to fight their battles. "We can give the leadership like we have been doing all this while, but the people also need to support the struggles. We can now point a finger at the people because they are also responsible for the current situation. It is their silence that has led to this situation," Lalkantha said. "When we carried out struggles to win the rights of the working masses, some people even ridiculed us and spoke against us. Today, they have understood their mistake. People need to at least at this late stage come out and support," he added. Speaking of some of the common areas that a joint front could struggle, Lalkantha said that everyone could agree on a fair salary for the public sector, increase in the minimum salary of the private sector, a pension scheme for the private sector, lands for estate sector workers, gazetting of the cost of living index and a 6 percent budgetary allocation for the education sector, etc. "However, there are much broader areas as well like media freedom. Our messages would not go out if there's no media freedom, it is therefore essential. There is also the issue of judicial independence. This issue has affected badly on many efforts of the trade unions. The independent commissions also need to be established. All these issues could be taken into account," he said. He explained that the NTUC and other trade unions have agreed in principle to the need to form a broad front to fight for common demands and trade unions that have worked on diverse views have discussed on the need to form a broad coalition to fight for common causes. "This is a positive sign. The JSS and trade unions affiliated to it have discussed of a joint trade union action with the JVP. No one would have earlier believed such a situation could take place. Nevertheless, it has happened," Lalkantha said. A programme is currently being drawn up for the purpose and is to be made public after the May Day, he said. -->

The 20th death anniversary of former Sri Lankan President tomorrow

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 01 May 2013 08:20:00 +0000

The 20th death anniversary of former Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa who was killed in a Tamil Tiger suicide attack, falls tomorrow. A commemoration ceremony will take place in front of his statue at Hulftsdorp in Colombo, tomorrow morning. Senior lecturer in Sinhala studies at the Peradeniya University Attanayake M. Herath will deliver commemoration lecture at the Sri Sucharitha Hall in Colombo at 7:00 p.m. tonight. Buddhist religious rituals will take place at several places in the island to commemorate the late President. A Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) suicide bomber blew himself up during the May Day parade in 1993 killing the former President, his aide and several bodyguards.

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Hezbollah hints at possible Syria intervention

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 01 May 2013 08:17:00 +0000

The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group said on Tuesday that Syrian rebels will not be able to defeat President Bashar Assad's regime militarily, warning that Syria's "real friends," including his Iranian-backed militant group, were ready to intervene on the government's side.
In Damascus, a powerful bomb ripped through a bustling commercial district, killing at least 14 people and bringing Syria's civil war to the heart of the capital for the second consecutive day. Hezbollah, a powerful Shia Muslim group, is known to back Syrian regime fighters in Shia villages near the Lebanon border against the mostly Sunni rebels fighting to topple Assad. The comments by Sheik Hassan Nasrallah were the strongest indication yet that his group was ready to get far more involved to rescue Assad's embattled regime. "You will not be able to take Damascus by force and you will not be able to topple the regime militarily. This is a long battle," Nasrallah said, addressing the Syrian opposition. "Syria has real friends in the region and in the world who will not allow Syria to fall into the hands of America or Israel." Hezbollah and Iran are close allies of Assad. Rebels have accused them of sending fighters to assist Syrian troops trying to crush the 2-year-old anti-Assad uprising, which the UN says has killed more than 70,000 people. Deeper and more overt Hezbollah involvement in the Syrian conflict is almost certain to threaten stability in Lebanon, which is sharply split along sectarian lines, and between supporters and opponents of Assad. It also risks drawing in Israel and Iran into a wider Middle East war. Nasrallah said on Tuesday there are no Iranian forces in Syria now, except for some experts who he said have been in Syria for decades. But he added: "What do you imagine would happen in the future if things deteriorate in a way that requires the intervention of the forces of resistance in this battle?" Hezbollah has an arsenal that makes the group the most powerful military force in Lebanon, stronger than the national army. Its growing involvement in the Syrian civil war is already raising tensions inside the divided country and has drawn threats from enraged Syrian rebels and militants. Nasrallah also said his fighters had a duty to protect the holy Shia shrine of Sayida Zeinab, named for the granddaughter of Islam's Prophet Muhammad and located south of Damascus. He said rebels have captured several villages around the shrine and have threatened to destroy it. "If the shrine is destroyed things will get out of control," Nasrallah said citing the 2006 bombing of the Shia al-Askari shrine in the Iraqi city of Samarra. That attack was blamed on al-Qaida in Iraq and set off years of retaliatory bloodshed between Sunni and Shia extremists that left thousands of Iraqis dead and pushed the country to the brink of civil war. While there has been growing speculation about Hezbollah's role in the conflict next door, the violence inside Syria has raged on, including in the capital, where a bomb on Tuesday struck the Marjeh neighborhood, a busy commercial area near the Old City of Damascus. The state news agency said 14 people were killed and 103 wounded in the attack. A day earlier, Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi narrowly escaped an assassination attempt after a car bomb targeted his convoy as it drove through a posh Damascus neighborhood. The bombings appear to be part of an accelerated campaign by opposition forces to hit Assad's regime in the heavily defended capital. "I heard a very loud bang and then the ceiling collapsed on top of me," said Zaher Nafeq, who owns a mobile phone shop in the Damascus Towers, a 23-floor office building near Tuesday's explosion. He was wounded in his hand and his mobile phone shop was badly damaged in the blast. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but car bombs and suicide attacks targeting Damascus and other cities that remain under government control have been claimed in the past by the al-Qaida affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra — one of scores of rebel factions fighting to oust Assad. The target of Tuesday's attack was not immediately clear, although the explosion took place outside the former interior ministry building. Inspecting the site of the blast, interior minister Mohammed al-Shaar, who himself escaped a car bomb that targeted his convoy in December, told reporters the back-to-back attacks in the capital were in response to the "victories and achievements scored by the Syrian Arab Army on the ground against terrorism." In recent weeks, government troops have overrun two rebel-held Damascus suburbs and a town outside the capital. They also have captured several villages near the border with Lebanon as part of their efforts to secure the strategic corridor running from Damascus to the Mediterranean coast, which is the heartland of the president's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam. As the regime has pushed back against opposition fighters, it has come under allegations of using chemical weapons. Damascus denies the charges, saying Syrian rebels are trying to frame it. In Washington, President Barack Obama signaled Tuesday he would consider US military action against Syria if "hard, effective evidence" is found to bolster intelligence that chemical weapons have been used in the civil war. He added, however, that while there is evidence that chemical weapons were used, "we don't know when they were used, how they were used. ... We don't have a chain of custody that establishes" exactly what happened. The White House said last week that intelligence indicates the Syrian military has used the deadly nerve agent sarin on at least two occasions. Speaking to reporters, Obama reiterated that he needed more certainty before acting, but said that if it is determined that the Assad regime used chemical weapons "we would have to rethink the range of options that are available to us." In Tehran, Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi said that use of chemical weapons in Syria would also be a "red line" for Iran, but suggested rebel forces should be investigated rather than the Islamic Republic's allies in Damascus. In the latest alleged attack, activists in the town of Saraqeb in northern Idlib province claimed the government bombed the town late Monday with chemical agents. It said the attack caused respiratory problems and other symptoms among a few residents that it claimed were consistent with a chemical attack. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was unable to confirm the purported use of chemical agents. The Syrian state news agency offered a different narrative, saying "terrorists" brought bags of an unknown white powder to Saraqeb and opened them, causing respiratory problems among those exposed. It said the terrorists then transported the injured to Turkish hospitals to "accuse the Syrian armed troops of using chemical weapons." Border authorities in Turkey decontaminated a group of Syrians wounded in the Saraqeb attack and hospital staff treating them wore protective equipment, according to an aide to the governor of Turkey's Hatay province, which borders Syria. The aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity citing government rules that bar civil servants from speaking to journalists, told AP there was no indication that chemical weapons were used in the Saraqeb attack.

Sarabjit Singh slips into non-reversible coma: Official sources

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 01 May 2013 08:11:00 +0000

Indian national Sarabjit Singh, severely injured in a brutal assault last week, has slipped into a "non-reversible" coma and doctors in a hospital here are struggling to save his life, official sources said on Wednesday.
The deterioration in Sarabjit's condition could lead to "brain death", the sources said. His measurements on the Glasgow Coma Scale, which indicates the levels of consciousness and damage to a person's central nervous system, had dropped to a "critical level", the sources said. A source said Sarabjit's heart is beating "but without brain function" because of the extensive head injuries he sustained when he was assaulted by prisoners at Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore on Friday. Sarabjit is completely unresponsive and unable to breathe without ventilator support. The sources said the medical board supervising Sarabjit's treatment was not in a position to declare him brain dead without consulting his family and Pakistani authorities. The sources further said Sarabjit could not be removed from the ventilator without his family's consent and the approval of the Pakistani government. Sarabjit's wife Sukhpreet Kaur, daughters Poonam and Swapandeep Kaur and sister Dalbir Kaur, who went to Lahore on Monday to see him, returned to India today. His family said they would try to meet UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and other leaders. Sarabjit's wife Sukhpreet Kaur, daughters Poonam and Swapandeep Kaur and sister Dalbir Kaur crossed over into India from Lahore through the land border. The family had gone to Pakistan on a 15-day visa on Sunday, two days after Sarabjit was attacked in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail. Yesterday, doctors treating Sarabjit at the state-run Jinnah Hospital said that his condition had further deteriorated though he had not been declared brain dead. They said his blood pressure was being maintained with support and his chances of survival were very slim. Sarabjit, 49, sustained several injuries, including a fractured skull, when six prisoners attacked him in jail on Friday afternoon. He was hit on the head with bricks and has been comatose in hospital since then. He was convicted of alleged involvement in a string of bomb attacks in Punjab province that killed 14 people in 1990. His mercy petitions were rejected by the courts and former President Pervez Musharraf. The previous Pakistan People's Party-led government put off Sarabjit's execution for an indefinite period in 2008. Sarabjit's family says he is the victim of mistaken identity and had inadvertently strayed across the border in an inebriated state. -->

Sri Lanka gets busy making arrangements to hold Commonwealth meeting

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 08:41:00 +0000

Arrangements to hold the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo in November this year are well under way by a special task committee, Director of the Public Information Unit of the Ministry of External Affairs Sarath Dissanayake says.
The Commonwealth Heads of State Summit will be held on the 15th, 16th and 17th of November at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) in Colombo. Australian Prime Minister, the current President of the CHOGM, will officially handover the presidency to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on the 15th of November. This is the first time Sri Lanka gets the presidency of the Commonwealth Heads of State Summit. The State Leaders' Summit, Foreign Ministers' meeting and Foreign Secretaries' meeting will be held in Colombo while the Youth Forum will be held in Hambantota. The Peoples' Forum is scheduled to be held in Dambulla. The organization activities will be done by a special task committee comprising representatives of Ministries of Defence and External Affairs. Meanwhile, Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the BMICH Bandula Ekanayake said the renovation of the BMICH will be completed by next October before the summit. Leaders of 54 nations in the Commonwealth and the head of the Commonwealth, the Queen or a representative of the Queen are expected to attend the main summit. Despite Canada's strong opposition and call to boycott the summit in Colombo, all other members of the Commonwealth have decided to attend the CHOGM in Sri Lanka. Australia's Foreign Minister Senator Bob Carr said Australia will not boycott the CHOGM while New Zealand Prime Minister John Key confirmed that it will attend the meeting in Sri Lanka later this year despite the controversy over the allegations of human rights violations. The Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Kamalesh Sharma said that he is satisfied with Sri Lanka's progress in addressing the issues and reiterated the Commonwealth's support for Sri Lanka to improve in all the areas of human rights, of rule of law, of governance, and institution building and strengthening. He confirmed that no member government had indicated that it wishes to change the venue despite Canada's vehement opposition to holding CHOGM in Colombo. -->

Three police officers arrested in Sri Lanka for a killing attributed to LTTE in 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 08:28:00 +0000

Sri Lanka police have arrested three police officers under suspicion of killing three people in a former conflict area in 2008. A confession of a person involved in the murder has led to the arrests. The police officers included an inspector, a sergeant and a constable. They were arrested from Thambalagamuwa, Serunuwara and Anuradhapura Udamaluwa police stations. The three police officers have allegedly killed three civilians in Gomarankadawala in Trincomalee district in 2008. The Police believed the killings were committed by members of the Tamil Tiger terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who were active in the area at the time. -->

Japan confers distinguished honor on Sri Lankan Professor

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 08:24:00 +0000

The Government of Japan today conferred one of its distinguished honors "The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays" on Dr. Sabhapathi Mudiyanselage Punchi Banda, Senior Advisor at the Sri Lanka office of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The honor recognizes Dr. Punchi Banda, a professor of the University of Colombo, for his outstanding contributions in enhancing relationship between Japan and Sri Lanka. Commenting on the award Ambassador of Japan to Sri Lanka Nobuhito Hobo said that Dr. Punchi Banda has played an important role in improving the effectiveness of Japan's social and economic development cooperation to Sri Lanka, which enabled the strengthening of friendship and goodwill between the people of Japan and the people of Sri Lanka.
Some of the major contributions of Dr. Punchi Banda are promotion of Japanese agricultural technology and Japanese language in Sri Lanka and the many initiatives in training of Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers working in Sri Lanka. Dr. Punchi Banda was also instrumental in forging strong links between the two countries as a Vice President, Japanese Graduate Alumni Association in Sri Lanka (JAGAAS). The 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Sri Lanka were celebrated last year, where JAGAAS was actively involved in organizing several commemorative events with the efforts of Dr. Punchi Banda. "The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays", one of the decorations of Japan, is awarded by the Emperor of Japan to foreign nationals who have made notable contributions to enhance bilateral relations with Japan. The ceremony to confer the official decoration on Dr. Punchi Banda will be held in late May, 2013 at the Ambassador's residence.

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Aircraft crash at Afghan airbase kills 7: Nato

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 08:20:00 +0000

A civilian cargo plane crashed shortly after take-off at a huge US-run airbase in Afghanistan on Monday, killing all seven crew members on board, officials said.
Rescue teams rushed to the scene after the plane smashed into the ground inside the boundaries of Bagram airfield, a key transport hub for US-led military operations in Afghanistan. "All seven of the crew on board died in the accident," a spokesman for the Nato military coalition told AFP, adding that there was no reported insurgent activity in the area at the time. The spokesman said that the flight out of Bagram airbase, 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Kabul, had been operated by the US-based National Air Cargo company. Aircraft crashes are fairly frequent in Afghanistan, where the 100,000-strong international military mission relies heavily on air transport as it battles the Taliban insurgency across the country. A Nato plane crashed in the south on Saturday, killing four US service members in another incident that the coalition said was not due to insurgent fire. The NATO-led mission to Afghanistan is winding down before a deadline at the end of next year when all foreign combat deployments will finish, but airbases such as Bagram still support a huge multi-national military operation. Afghan police and soldiers are taking over responsibility for fighting the Taliban, but there is growing concern over the war-torn country's prospects after 2014. In one sign of Afghanistan's difficulties in developing its independence, the New York Times reported on Monday that the CIA has delivered tens of millions of dollars in cash to the office of President Hamid Karzai over the last decade. Karzai confirmed that his office had received some money from the US intelligence agency, saying the funds had been put to good use such as helping sick and wounded Afghans. The newspaper, citing anonymous officials, said the CIA money had fuelled corruption and funded warlords as the US tries to secure stability in Afghanistan before international troops pull out. The revelations will add to fears about Afghanistan's progress towards becoming a sovereign country after more than 11 years of international intervention. Taliban militants have battled the Western-backed government and US-led foreign troops ever since their 1996-2001 government was toppled. Billions of dollars in aid have been pledged to help Afghanistan after Nato troops withdraw, but only on condition that corruption is brought under control. -->

CBI's independent position must be restored: SC on coalgate

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 08:16:00 +0000

In a big embarrassment to the government in the coalgate case, the Supreme Court on Tuesday termed as "very disturbing" the CBI affidavit on sharing its report with the law minister and others and slammed the agency for having kept the court in the dark on the issue.
Hearing the coal blocks allocation scam case in a packed courtroom, the bench said "suppression" of the fact that CBI has shared its probe report with the government is "not ordinary". A bench headed by Justice R M Lodha observed that there was a "very disturbing feature" in the affidavit filed on April 26 by CBI director Ranjit Sinha and the agency must be restored to its independent position. Sinha, in his two page affidavit filed in the apex court, had said that the agency's status report on coal allocation scam was "shared" with law minister Ashwani Kumar and senior officials of PMO and coal ministry "as desired by them". The apex court said that sharing of information with the government about the probe into the scam has "shaken the entire process" and CBI need not take instructions from "political masters" on their probe. "Our first exercise will be to liberate CBI from political interference," the bench said. The SC asked the CBI what authority did the law minister and joint secretaries in the PMO and coal ministry had to summon status report of an ongoing probe looked into by the court. The SC wanted to know from the CBI director by Monday who others had seen the report apart from the minister and two joint secretaries in the PMO and coal ministry. The apex court asked the CBI to file a fresh affidavit. The SC has put the next hearing in the case on May 8. The SC also sought details of the officers of the CBI engaged in investigating coal scam and did not approve of the supervising officer Ravi Kant being allowed to be transferred to the intelligence Bureau. The apex court also issued a warning to the coal ministry after the CBI said that it was not getting relevant materials regarding the coal block allocation from the ministry. In his affidavit, the CBI director had said, "I submit that the draft of the same (status report) was shared with law minister as desired by him prior to its submission before the Supreme Court. Besides the political executive, it was also shared with one joint secretary level officer each of Prime Minister's Office and ministry of coal as desired by them." The CBI director had also assured the apex court that the agency will not share further status reports in this case with any member of the political executive. Sinha's affidavit had contradicted the claim made by additional solicitor general Haren Raval on behalf of CBI on March 12 that the probe report in the scam has not been shared with any member of the government and it has only been shared with the apex court after being vetted by the CBI director. The affidavit was filed in compliance with the Supreme Court's order which, in an unprecedented move on March 12, had directed the CBI director to assure the court that the status report in the coalgate scam is not being shared with the government. Today's hearing came a day after Raval shot off a letter to attorney general G E Vahanvati in which he alleged that he has been made a "scapegoat" in the matter. Raval is also believed to have accused Vahanvati of trying to interfere in CBI's probe report. Earlier, the CBI and the Centre had clashed over the coalgate scam. The agency had told the court that there have been "arbitrary allotments without scrutiny" in the coal blocks allocation during the UPA-I tenure. The government had refuted its findings saying that the "CBI is not the final word on this." In the status report filed by CBI on March 8, the agency had said that the coal block allocation during 2006-09 was done without verifying the credentials of companies which allegedly misrepresented facts about themselves and no rationale was given by the coal ministry in giving coal blocks to them. Meanwhile, Congress core group is meeting to chalk out a plan to deal with the crisis. The CBI officials are also engaged in an emergency meeting to discuss the SC observations. (With inputs from PTI) -->

Sri Lanka's Opposition Leader to present list of missing people's names in parliament

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 07:08:00 +0000

Opposition Leader of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremasinghe prepares to present to parliament a list of names of missing persons in the Northern Province. The list reportedly comprises names of 472 people who had gone missing during the period of the war in Mannar. Bishop of Mannar, Rt. Rev. Rayappu Joseph and the Association of Families Searching for Disappeared Persons have requested Wickremasinghe to table the list of names in parliament. However, Wickremasinghe has reportedly said that he would he would take the matter up in parliament, but could not guarantee that the government would address the matter. The Association president has said that the families of missing persons are seeking closure so that they can conduct religious rites. -->

Successive governments in Sri Lanka failed to address power sector issues - former Power and Energy Minister

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 07:04:00 +0000

Former Power and Energy Minister of Sri Lanka Patali Champika Ranawaka says that successive governments have failed to address issues in the power sector. Ranawaka said that the lack of a proper mechanism to determine the exact cost per unit of power and a tariff revision mechanism have resulted in the current issue over electricity tariff hike. He told the media that it is vital to conduct a technical audit in order to ascertain the exact cost of power generation, as the private power suppliers are currently providing electricity to the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) at their own prices. Irrespective of who is in power the issues related to electricity have not been solved, he said. "In order to figure out where the losses are taking place, hydropower generation, thermal and renewable energy should all be individually evaluated," he explained. According to Ranawaka, the main reason for the issues related to electricity rate hikes is the lack of a proper policy for the revision of rates and even the Public Utilities Commission has not evaluated the current situation properly prior to the increase in electricity tariffs. He added that the electricity hike has become a campaign slogan for all parties in the country today but no solution has been brought forward by anyone so far.

Sri Lanka ruling party MP accused of murder to return to parliament

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 06:58:00 +0000

Sri Lanka Parliament sources say that the ruling party parliamentarian Duminda Silva who was an accused of the killing of presidential adviser Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra would return to the parliament soon.
The legislator was on leave from parliament from October 2011 after he got severely injured in an election day shootout in Kolonnawa, a suburb of Colombo. During the gun battle Premachandra and four others were killed and MP Silva sustained severe injuries to the head. He received treatment for his injuries at the Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore before his return to the country last month. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) filed four counts of charges on February 19 against 13 suspects including MP Duminda Silva before the Colombo Magistrate's Court. The suspects were charged with murder, conspiracy, attempted murder and unlawful assembly with a common intention. MP Silva is the 11th suspect of the multiple murders and he was remanded on March 05, 2013 as he returned to Sri Lanka and admitted to Nawaloka hospital. He was granted bail last week and he left the hospital yesterday posing to media for the first time after the shootout. A large crowd gathered outside the Nawaloka Hospital to greet the popular parliamentarian. The MP's counsel Hemantha Warnakulasuriya who maintained that the MP needed to be kept under intensive medical care told a Sunday newspaper that the MP had memory on the politics but he has lost memory about the murder. The lawyer also confirmed the return of the MP Silva to politics. -->

Pyongyang glitters, but rest of North Korea still dark

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 06:50:00 +0000

North Korea: The heart of this city, once famous for its Dickensian darkness, now pulsates with neon. Glossy construction downtown has altered the Pyongyang skyline. Inside supermarkets where shopgirls wear French designer labels, people with money can buy Italian wine, Swiss chocolates, kiwifruit imported from New Zealand and fresh-baked croissants. They can get facials, lie in tanning booths, play a round of mini golf or sip cappuccinos and cocktails while listening to classical music. More than a million people are using cell phones. Computer shops can't keep up with demand for North Korea's locally distributed tablet computer, popularly known here as "iPads." A shiny new cancer institute features a $900,000 X-ray machine imported from Europe. Pyongyang has long been a city apart from the rest of North Korea, a showcase capital dubbed a "socialist fairyland" by state media. A year after leader Kim Jong Un promised in a speech to bring an end to the "era of belt-tightening" and economic hardship in North Korea, the gap between the haves and have-nots has only grown with Pyongyang's transformation. Beyond the main streets of the capital and in the towns and villages beyond, life is grindingly tough. Food is rationed, electricity is a precious commodity and people get around by walking, cycling or hopping into the backs of trucks. Most homes lack running water or plumbing. Health care is free, but aid workers say medicine is in short supply. And while the differences between the showcase capital and the hardscrabble countryside grow starker, North Koreans feel the effects of authoritarian rule no matter where they live. It's illegal for them to interact with foreigners without permission. Very few have access to the Internet. They calibrate their words. Most parrot phrases they've heard in state media, still the safest way to answer questions in a country where state security remains tight and terrifying. For decades, North Korea seemed a country trapped in time. Rickety streetcars shuddered past concrete-block apartment buildings with broken window panes and chipped front steps. But in 2010 and throughout 2011, as then-leader Kim Jong Il was grooming son Kim Jong Un to succeed him, Pyongyang was a city under construction. Scaffolding covered the fronts of buildings across the city. Red banners painted with slogan "At a breath" - implying breakneck work at a breathless pace - fluttered from the skeletons of skyscrapers built by soldiers. Often, the soldiers were scrawny conscripts in thin canvas sneakers, piling bricks onto stretchers or hauling them by hand. In 2011, soldiers working on the Mansudae District complex set up temporary camps along the Taedong River, makeshift shantytowns decorated by red flags. After tearing down the tents, the soldiers built a playground for children where their encampment once stood. Their work was focused downtown, on Changjon Street, where ramshackle cottages were torn down to make way for department stores, restaurants and high-rise apartments. Today, the street would not look out of place in Seoul, Shanghai or Singapore. Indeed, many of the goods - Hershey's Kisses, Coca-Cola and Doritos - on sale at the new supermarket were imported from China and Singapore. Changjon Street reflects a change of thinking in North Korea. For years, foreign goods and customs were regarded with suspicion, even as they were secretly coveted, especially by those who had traveled abroad or had family in Japan or China. Kim Jong Un has addressed their curiosity by importing goods and by quoting his father in saying North Korea is "looking out onto the world" - a country that must become familiar with international customs even if it continues to prefer its own. "What is a 'delicatessen'?" one North Korean at the new supermarket asked as a butcher in a white chef's hat sliced tuna for takeaway sashimi beneath a deli sign written in English. Upstairs, baristas were serving Italian espressos and bakers churned out baguettes and white wedding cakes. English, language of the North's archenemy, is outstripping Russian and Chinese as the foreign language of choice. Over the past six months, a new TV channel, Ryongnamsan, has aired "Finding Nemo," "The Lion King" and "Madagascar" in English - the first broadcasts of American cartoons on North Korean state TV. Kim has not made it significantly easier for North Koreans to travel, channel surf or read travelogues posted online, but he is arranging to bring the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben to them in the form of a miniature world park slated to open later this year. And Pyongyang now has a parade of fashionistas in eye-popping belted jackets, sparkly barrettes clipped to their hair, fingernails painted with a clear gloss. At one beauty salon, the rage is for short cuts made popular by singers from the all-girl Moranbong band who have jazzed up North Korea's staid performance scene with their bobbed hair, little black dresses and electric guitars. "There are so many young women asking to get their hair done like them," hairstylist Chae Cho Yong said. Around her, a cavernous barber shop was empty. An employee explained that most North Koreans are at weekly propaganda study sessions on Saturdays, the only day of the week foreigners are allowed inside. The most coveted housing in North Korea, where homes and jobs are doled out by the state or the powerful Workers' Party, is an apartment on Changjon Street. One new resident, Mun Kang Sun, gave The Associated Press a tour of the apartment she and her husband were given in recognition for her work at the Kim Jong Suk Textile Factory. A framed wedding portrait hangs on the wall above their Western-style bed. There's a washing machine in the bathroom, an IBM computer in the study and a 42-inch widescreen TV. Mun said she was an orphan who began working in factories at age 16. She earned the title "hero of the republic" after exceeding her work quota by 200 percent for 13 years. She says she accomplished that by dashing around the factory floor operating four or five machines at once. "When we heard the news that we'd get a nest where we can rest, and we got the key for our apartment and took a look around, we were totally shocked because the house is so nice," her husband, Kim Hyok, told AP. "It's still hard to believe this is my home; it still feels like we're living in a hotel." Though the apartment has faucets, old habits die hard. The bathtub was still filled with water, a bucket bobbing in the tub, as in countless homes across the country where water is pumped from a well, carried in by hand and used sparingly. One by one, North Korean buildings are getting upgraded but most are still drafty, the walls poorly insulated. Elevators and heat are rare. North Koreans are accustomed to wearing winter jackets and thermal underwear indoors from October to April. Power cuts have been less frequent in Pyongyang as electricity-generating capacity has grown, but it's still common for the lights to go out in the middle of dinner. Most people just carry on drinking and eating. Outside Pyongyang, the power grid offers little relief from the darkness. West of the capital in the town of Ryonggang, lights were out as soon as the sun set. At one inn, two women stood chatting quietly in a lobby lit with a candle as a shrill voice from a radio broadcast chortled from loudspeakers nearby. Even North Korea's second-largest city, Hamhung, has little of the capital's urban feel. Few private cars ply the streets in the city, which is the industrial heart of the country. Hamhung's bus line is largely limited to one main route through town. Soldiers cram into the backs of trucks powered by wood-burning stoves that send smoke billowing behind them. Some people live in relative comfort. Kim Jong Jin's farmhouse in Hamhung is simple but spotless, the papered floors clean enough to eat from. Water is piped into a well in the kitchen. Heat comes from the traditional Korean "ondol" system of feeding an underground furnace with wood. Waste is turned into methane gas for cooking. Electric service is spotty, but the family has a generator, so they're able to watch movies at night on the TV they carefully cover with a frilly lace veil. That is luxurious living compared to the poverty that is evident in the countryside. A mother huddles over a child as she sits shivering by the side of the road. Barefoot boys in a village destroyed by summer flooding are dressed in little more than underwear, the splotchy faces and gaunt frames of young soldiers who do not get enough to eat. Bicycles are piled high with bundles of firewood, sometimes even a dead pig. Old men sit crouched by the side of the road with bike pumps, offering to fix flats. Oxen plod past pulling carts. Paved highways pocked with potholes radiate from Pyongyang. But beyond these roads in dire need of repair, there are no roads between the denuded mountains, just dirt paths that become dangerously muddy with rainfall and treacherously slippery in winter. Villagers struggle to clear snow with makeshift shovels crafted out of planks of wood. Life in the North Korean countryside would be familiar to South Koreans old enough to recall the poverty in their nation just after the Korean War. Indeed, into the 1970s, North Korea was the richer of the two Koreas. Now, more than a quarter of North Korean children are stunted from chronic malnutrition, the World Food Program reported last month. North Korea blames its growing international economic isolation on the US, which has led efforts to punish it for developing its nuclear weapons program. But in the capital, the effects of that isolation are less apparent, thanks largely to goods from China, the North's most important ally, and other countries such as Singapore and Indonesia. Shelves are stocked with goods, computer labs filled with PCs, streets crowded with VWs. While millions can't afford meat or fish, and subsist on a few potatoes or a bowl of cornmeal noodles each day, the well-to-do in Pyongyang with extra sources of income can buy beef, pomegranates and vine-ripened tomatoes. There's even a growing cosmopolitan vibe. At one European-style restaurant Friday, a young couple on a date sipped cocktails topped off with Maraschino cherries and feasted on pizza, their cellphones rattling beside them from time to time.

Parliament disrupted again over coalgate

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 06:45:00 +0000

The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were again disrupted on Monday, losing the crucial question hour, as opposition members created a ruckus over the contentious issue of coal blocks allocation.The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were again disrupted on Monday, losing the crucial question hour, as opposition members created a ruckus over the contentious issue of coal blocks allocation.
The Lok Sabha was adjourned minutes after the day's proceedings began at 11am as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members advanced to the speaker's podium demanding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's resignation over the issue. Speaker Meira Kumar's efforts to calm BJP members proved futile and she adjourned the house till 12 noon. The speaker is holding an all-party meeting to break the logjam. Disruptive scenes were witnessed in the Raya Sabha too, where BJP members shouted slogans against the Prime Minister. In the midst of the pandemonium, Chairman Hamid Ansari adjourned the house till noon. Parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath appealed to the opposition to allow the house to function. Both the houses have seen repeated disruptions by opposition parties over the allocation of coal blocks and 2G spectrum. The Bharatiya Janata Party has said that it will not let parliament function till Manmohan Singh resigns over the alleged involvement of his office in the irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks and 2G spectrum. The Lok Sabha was adjourned minutes after the day's proceedings began at 11am as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members advanced to the speaker's podium demanding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's resignation over the issue. Speaker Meira Kumar's efforts to calm BJP members proved futile and she adjourned the house till 12 noon. The speaker is holding an all-party meeting to break the logjam. Disruptive scenes were witnessed in the Raya Sabha too, where BJP members shouted slogans against the Prime Minister. In the midst of the pandemonium, Chairman Hamid Ansari adjourned the house till noon. Parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath appealed to the opposition to allow the house to function. Both the houses have seen repeated disruptions by opposition parties over the allocation of coal blocks and 2G spectrum. The Bharatiya Janata Party has said that it will not let parliament function till Manmohan Singh resigns over the alleged involvement of his office in the irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks and 2G spectrum. -->

Commonwealth reiterates support to Sri Lanka despite Canada's stance

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 15:44:00 +0000

The Commonwealth has reiterated that a decision made by leaders of its member states in 2009 and confirmed in 2011 to hold the 2013 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka still stands and as planned the summit would be held in Colombo in November.
Addressing the media following the 39th Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) at Marlborough House in London Friday, the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Kamalesh Sharma confirmed that Sri Lanka, which is not on the formal CMAG agenda, had been discussed at the meeting under 'matters of interest'. He said that no member government had indicated that it wishes to change the venue despite claims of Canada's vehement opposition to holding CHOGM in Colombo. However, John Baird, Canada's foreign minister has told the UK Guardian that Canada was disappointed and appalled that Sri Lanka seems poised to host CHOGM and to be chair-in-residence of the Commonwealth for two years. Mr. Sharma said that Commonwealth plays a pivotal role in assisting Sri Lanka in practical ways through his Good Offices engagement by providing technical support to enhance the independence of the Human Rights Commission and the Electoral Commission. "As the Commonwealth, we try to be practical in offering our assistance, and have embedded action for beneficial changes as far as the members are concerned," the Secretary-General said. He said the assistance given by the Commonwealth will continue for months to come and he is confident of positive results in all the areas of human rights, of rule of law, of governance, and institution building and strengthening Highlighting the participation of Sri Lanka in next week's Commonwealth workshop on reconciliation, Sharma said sharing the experience of other countries in reconciliation at the workshop will give further impetus to what the Commonwealth can do in partnership with Sri Lanka, to help the country in all the other very deep, ingrained issues. According to the Secretary-General, Sri Lanka has agreed upon a road map the Commonwealth had developed. The road map includes technical support to Sri Lanka in respect of the appointment and dismissal of senior judges, based on examples of good practice across the Commonwealth. "From this exercise, we will be able to make recommendations as to what needs to be done moving forward in order to have those immediate measures, whether systemic of legislative, so that the kind of constitutional crisis which arose earlier and the polarity and the excuse for confrontation never arises again," he said.Transcript of CMAG Press Conference 26 April 2013

New Supreme Court judge sworn in Sri Lanka

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 15:40:00 +0000

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A Senior Judge of Sri Lanka's Court of Appeal Justice Rohini Marasinghe was sworn in as a Judge of the Supreme Court before Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees Friday.
Justice Marasinghe, a 30-year veteran of the judiciary, was the President and Secretary of the Judicial Services Association and also President and Secretary of the High Court Judges' Association.Sri Lanka Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice Mohan Peiris now has four female judges.

Terrorism wherever and in whatever form should be eliminated - Sri Lanka envoy to UN

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 15:27:00 +0000

Sri Lankan Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York Ambassador Major General Shavendra Silva said that the United States and other western countries should understand that terrorism wherever and in whatever form is terrorism and it should be eliminated. Speaking to the national radio today Major General Silva said bombs used in the Boston attack are similar to the bombs used by the Tamil Tiger terrorists in Sri Lanka. The Ambassador said the people of U.S. commended their security services for apprehending the terrorists connected with this attack. Noting that security forces of a country are responsible for safeguarding the people from terrorism Major General Silva said Sri Lankan forces protected the country eliminating the Tiger terrorism. He pointed out that Sri Lanka has rehabilitated and socialized over 11,000 LTTE cadres and extremist groups could misuse these youth with minor attempts. Highlighting that still arms and ammunitions are being recovered from the former battle fields in the North and East, the UN envoy said placing security forces in those areas is not a matter to be considered in a different perspective.

Iraqi PM points to Syria over deadly 'sectarian' unrest

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 15:20:00 +0000

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki pointed a finger on Saturday at the civil war in neighbouring Syria for the return of sectarian strife to Iraq, as a five-day wave of violence has killed 215 people.
And the head of the Sahwa anti-Qaida militia forces threatened war on militants if those who have killed Iraqi soldiers are not turned over. Sectarian strife "came back to Iraq, because it began in another place in this region," Maliki said in televised remarks. A civil war pitting mainly Sunni Muslim rebels against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a member of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam, has killed more than 70,000 people. In Iraq, Sunni-Shia sectarian violence, which peaked in 2006 and 2006, killed tens of thousands. This week, 215 people have died in a wave of violence. "Sectarianism is evil, and the wind of sectarianism does not need a licence to cross from a country to another, because if it begins in a place, it will move to another place," Maliki said. "Strife is knocking on the doors of everyone, and no one will survive if it enters, because there is a wind behind it, and money, and plans," he added, two days after warning of the danger of a return to "sectarian civil war." A wave of violence began on Tuesday when security forces moved in against Sunni anti-government protesters near the northern Sunni Arab town of Hawijah, sparking clashes that left 53 people dead. Subsequent unrest, much of it apparently linked to the Hawijah clashes, killed dozens more and brought the death toll to 215 by Saturday. Iraqiya state television today quoted Sahwa chief Sheikh Wissam al-Hardan as saying that if those who have killed soldiers are not handed over, "the Sahwa will take the requested procedures and do what it did in 2006." Sahwa militiamen fought pitched battles against Sunni militants from 2006, helping turn the tide of the Iraq war. On Saturday, gunmen killed five soldiers from army intelligence and five anti-Qaida militiamen. One group of soldiers were driving near the site of a long-running anti-government protest near Ramadi, west of Baghdad, when they were stopped by gunmen. They shot one of the gunmen, wounding him, and clashes broke out in which four of the soldiers were killed and another wounded, a police lieutenant colonel and a doctor said. Gunmen also killed a soldier and wounded another in a similar incident involving a second vehicle in the same area, the same sources said.

Narendra Modi can say anything: Shinde

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 15:14:00 +0000

Apropos Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi's comments on Sarabjit Singh issue, Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Saturday said nobody can stop the BJP leader from speaking, but "speaking without knowing the facts" was wrong. "Modiji can speak anything, who will stop him? But anybody speaking without knowing the facts is wrong," Shinde said here, when asked about Modi's criticism of UPA government's foreign policy over the issue of Sarabjit Singh, the Indian convict who was assaulted at Lahore jail on Friday. Modi on Saturday called Centre "weak" and said it had suffered a "total blackout" in foreign policy, and failed on all fronts, which was reflected in incident at Lahore. Shinde was in the union territory here to lay foundation stone of its first police training school. He also took on Modi on the condition of roads, saying, "Modi talks about development, but condition of Gujarat roads between Daman and Dadra Nagar-Haveli is indicator of the development. They are in very bad shape, and home ministry will write a letter to Gujarat government on the issue." -->

Sri Lanka Navy busts Indo-Lanka drug smuggling racket

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 16:02:00 +0000

Sri Lanka Navy said today that it busted a drug smuggling racket across the border between India and Sri Lanka bringing a cannabis consignment into Sri Lanka and arrested four Indians and two Sri Lankans . Sri Lanka Naval Ship 'Udara', attached to the Northern Naval Command, while on routine patrol has spotted a suspicious Indian dhow moving in the seas north-east of the Katchatheevu Island on Thursday (April 25). Upon investigation the Sri Lankan Navy personnel had found 4 bags of approximately 100 kilograms of cannabis (Kerala Ganja) hidden inside, the Navy said. The Navy had arrested the four Indians in the GPS-fitted dhow and upon questioning the Indians have revealed their plan to arrive at a pre-determined location to meet the two Sri Lankans. The Navy also arrested the two locals who arrived in a fiber glass dinghy to take away the contraband. The Navy has handed over the arrested persons along with the cannabis and the craft involved to Delft Police for further investigations.

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No discussion on Sri Lanka at Commonwealth ministerial meeting

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:58:00 +0000

The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) concluded its 39th meeting in London Friday with no discussion on Sri Lanka.
Secretary to the Sri Lanka Ministry of Foreign Affairs Karunathilaka Amunugama said Thursday that any matter pertaining to Sri Lanka was not included in the agenda of the meeting. Various international groups critical of Sri Lanka's human rights record had attempted to include Sri Lanka in the CMAG's agenda for discussion asking the Group to consider shifting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Colombo in November this year. However, the CMAG meeting, chaired by Bangladesh Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Dipu Moni, reviewed developments in relation to the country currently on its formal agenda, Fiji. Sri Lanka earlier said that there is absolutely no justification to introduce any issues related to the country into the CMAG's agenda after the country had made a substantial progress in the challenges faced following the end of the war. The CMAG, which was given an enhanced mandate at the CHOGM in Perth, Australia in 2011, has the authority to suspend a member country from the association. In concluding remarks, the CMAG said it welcomes the recent adoption by Heads of Government, and signature by The Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, of the Charter of the Commonwealth, encapsulating the core values and principles of the Commonwealth. It noted that the Charter reaffirmed the Commonwealth's commitment inter alia to democracy, human rights, the rule of law, separation of powers, freedom of expression, good governance, tolerance, respect and understanding and the role of civil society. As the custodian of the Commonwealth's fundamental political values, the Group pledged to continue to promote these commonly agreed goals. The meeting was attended by the Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamlesh Sharma and CMAG's nine members including CMAG's Vice Chair, Foreign Affairs Minister of Australia Senator Bob Carr, Foreign Affairs Minister of Canada John Baird, and Foreign Affairs Minister of Maldives Dr. Abdul Samad Abdullah. Several international groups, including the New York-based Human Rights Watch, and London-based International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute, have called on the CMAG to raise the issue of Sri Lanka's suitability to hold the CHOGM and assume the Chair of the Commonwealth for the next two years. They asked the CMAG to shift CHOGM meeting from Colombo, unless Sri Lanka makes prompt, measurable and meaningful progress on human rights. Sri Lanka says the aggressive international campaign against hosting the CHOGM in Colombo and to move the international event from Sri Lanka is backed by the pro-LTTE diaspora not due to the concern for human rights but to humiliate the country and especially the present government which defeated the terrorist group in 2009.

Opposition Leader of Sri Lanka calls for a civil Governor for the North

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:54:00 +0000

Leader of Sri Lanka's Opposition and the main opposition United National Party (UNP) Ranil Wickremasinghe, who is currently touring the North said his party would contest the Northern Provincial Council election. Wickremasinghe has also called on the government to appoint a civil Governor for the Northern Province in place of the current governor who is a retired army major general.
He said before the government holds election for the Northern PC, it has to fulfill four conditions and appointing a civil governor was one of them. He explained that a civil Governor would give credibility during the Northern Provincial Council election. According to Wickremasinghe, the government should also appoint the independent commissions for elections, police, public service and judiciary before the Northern Provincial Council election. He said the government should stop actions that endanger the independence of the judiciary and remove the officials who are responsible for those actions. Wickremasinghe also called for inviting foreign poll monitors for the Northern Provincial Council election and added that the foreign monitors should also include a team from Commonwealth. He said if the government holds elections for the Northern PC after taking these measures, it will be the first step in resolving several other important issues. The Opposition Leader, accompanied by several party representatives, will be touring the North until the 28th. The delegation is due to visit Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu on Friday and Saturday.

45 dead as Afghan bus hits tanker wrecked by Taliban

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:47:00 +0000

A passenger bus in Afghanistan collided on Friday with a wrecked fuel tanker left on a road after a Taliban insurgent attack, killing at least 45 people, officials said. The accident occurred before dawn in the Maiwand district of Kandahar province when the packed bus ploughed into the tanker, which had been burnt out in a Taliban strike several days ago. "Tragically, around 400am, the passenger bus collided with a fuel tanker," Javid Faisal, spokesman for the Kandahar provincial governor, said. "We have 45 passengers dead in this accident and ten others wounded." "The wreckage of a truck, which was put alight by the Taliban, was left there for several days, and the bus collided with it." Many of those hurt were travelling to join the short "neishtar" harvest season, when villagers from across southern Afghanistan work in poppy fields during one of the most lucrative times of the year for casual labourers. A neishtar is the small lance used to make incisions on poppy plants to let out the resin, which dries into solid opium residue. Faisal had earlier denied reports that the wrecked tanker had been set on fire by Taliban insurgents, who are highly active in Kandahar province, one of the hotbeds of the insurgency fighting to oust the US-backed Kabul government. The bus had just crossed the border into Kandahar from Helmand province when it hit the tanker. "We were more than 50 passengers in the bus. Most of the passengers were men," Faizullah, one of the passengers who survived the accident, said. "Our vehicle caught fire. I broke the glass of the vehicle and then jumped. I heard people yelling for help." Afghanistan has some of the most dangerous roads in the world and traffic accidents are common. In September, 51 passengers including women and children, were killed after their bus also collided with a fuel tanker in Ghazni province.

Chinese troops have erected tents 19km inside Indian territory: Govt

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:41:00 +0000

The government on Friday told a parliamentary committee that Chinese troops have pitched tents 19km deep inside the Indian territory in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir and that efforts are underway to ensure that the status quo is maintained.
Defence secretary Shashi Kant Sharma and some other senior officials informed the parliamentary standing committee on defence that India has deployed forces to "keep a close watch on the border", sources told . Sharma and other officials appeared before the committee after BJP members Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Prakash Javadekar wanted to know the actual ground situation in Depsang sector of Ladakh where the Chinese incursion took place in Daulat Beg Oldie area a week ago. The meeting of the committee was cut short as members were dissatisfied with the insufficient information provided by the officials and they were asked to report back at the next meeting on May 30 with appropriate and exact details of the situation. The officials told the committee that Indian Army patrols reported on April 16 the presence of Chinese People's Liberation Army in Depsang, pitching tents 19km inside the LAC, the sources said. They told the panel that as per the established mechanisms, the issue has been taken up at the level of flag meetings and through diplomatic channels to maintain status quo and resolve the issue through existing mechanisms. The defence ministry officials told the committee that China disputes the international boundary with India and there is no commonly delineated LAC between the two countries. They said there are a few areas along the border where India and China have differing perceptions of the LAC, the sources said. Incidents of transgression due to differences in the perception of LAC are taken up with the Chinese side through established mechanisms such as border personnel meetings, flag meetings, hotlines and diplomatic channels, the officials told the panel. The agenda for today's was welfare of armed forces personnel but the issue related to incursion in Ladakh was added after Naqvi and Javadekar demanded to get the clear picture of the situation and on how the government is handling it. Naqvi and Javadekar wrote to standing committee chairman Raj Babbar on THursday, saying the situation in Ladakh is "very serious" but the government is not taking it seriously. -->