UK help for military dangerous: GL

Accepting UK help for military reforms dangerous: GL
2015-12-09 17:21:13  1  2105
   
An offer by the UK to provide  six million pounds to upgrade Sri Lankan Armed forces and a move followed by the offer to appoint the Military Attaché of the UK High Commission in New Delhi to oversee these reforms were detrimental to the national security of the country, former External Affairs Minister Professor G.L. Peiris said today.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron had made an offer to President Maithripala Sirisena six million pounds to upgrade the Sri Lankan military during his visit to Malta.

Prof. Peiris said a government which had self-respect should not accept such offers given by any country to reform its own Armed forces. He said the requirement to reform the armed forces should come within a country and not from outside.

“A government should spend for the requirements of its own armed forces. Accepting funds to reform armed forces from other countries without any prior request is very dangerous. Apart from the offer, the UK will appoint its Military Attaché of the UK High Commission in New Delhi to observe as to how the funds should be spent, when reforming our armed forces,” he told a news conference held at the Dr. N.M. Perera Centre in Borella (Lahiru Pothmulla)

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சீர்திருத்தம் வேண்டிப் போராடும் சிங்கள விவசாயிகள்.

Farmers take to streets of Tambuttegama against Budget
December 9, 2015, 8:41 am

By Subashini Samaranayake

Farmers of the All Ceylon Farmers’ Federation (ACFF) yesterday staged a protest at Tambuttegama, Anuradhapura against what they termed the government’s discriminatory policies towards the agricultural sector as evident from its 2016 budget proposals.

National Organiser of ACFF Namal Karunaratne said that the agricultural sector and farmers in Sri Lanka would undergo much suffering and hardships due to 2016 budget proposals.

The budget had proposed to give farmers Rs. 25,000 each per hectare instead of the fertiliser subsidy for the two cultivation seasons in the country. Thus, according to new proposals the farmer had to incur an additional expenditure of Rs. 6,000 in each season. The previous government had provided fertiliser at Rs. 350 per 50 kg bag, which cost Rs. 3,500 and the farmers had to spend only Rs. 2,000 extra, Karunaratne pointed out.

Earlier, the subsidy had been given for five acres of land, but this time it had been restricted to 2.5 acres, he added. The guaranteed price of Rs. 50 per kilo of samba rice in the 100-day budget had been reduced to Rs. 41 by the new budget, he said. "We urge the government to restore the fertiliser subsidy and increase the guaranteed price for paddy."

He said the proposal to hand over the underdeveloped state lands to the private sector as an incentive would deny most seed farmers of their arable land.

The ACFF would also hold demonstrations in Ambalantota, Ampara, Mahiyangana, Kurunegala, Polonnaruwa and Trincomalee, the National Organiser said.
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Farmers island-wide are conducting protests, marches and satyagrahas in all farming districts owing to the Government scrapping the fertilizer subsidy, the All Ceylon Farmers' Federation (ACFF)/All Ceylon Peasants' Union (ACPU) noted.
JVP North Western Provincial Councillor and National Organizer of the ACFF/ACPU, Namal Karunaratne said that the farmers were against the proposal to give them financial assistance instead of the fertiliser issued on a subsidised basis. They also ask that the government open a pensions fund for farmers.

Ranil insists new deal with India

PM insists no CEPA, new deal with India, China

December 9, 2015 10:01

RANIL_WICKRAMASING_2521384fPrime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today insisted that Sri Lanka will not sign the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with India.

He told Parliament that the Sri Lankan Government is negotiating a new agreement on economic and technological cooperation with India.

The Prime Minister said that the Government hopes to sign a similar agreement with the Chinese Government as well.

However he said that before the agreements are reached, the Government will have talks with local trade unions on the proposals.

“There is no CEPA agreement. Some are attempting to say there is one and create instability in the country,” he said.

The Prime Minister denied claims made by the Government Medical Officer’s Association (GMOA) with regards to the proposed agreement with India.

He said the GMOA had attempted to give the impression Indians will get employment in Sri Lanka and that Sri Lankans will lose job opportunities locally.

The Prime Minister said that under the new proposed agreement with India, local youth will get more job opportunities in Sri Lanka.

Wickremesinghe also accused the GMOA of not backing the revolution in Sri Lanka which led to establishing democracy.

He also accused some members of the GMOA of backing former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. However he insisted that the Government will not allow the silent revolution to be reversed.

Opposition member Dinesh Gunawardena urged the Prime Minister to have a discussion with the opposition before the new agreement is finalised with India.

The Prime Minister agreed to the request and said he will have a meeting with the opposition before December 19 to discuss the new deal. (Colombo Gazette)

சிங்களத்தில் சட்டத்தின் ஆட்சி!

இயற்கை அனர்த்தத்தின் இரகசியம்!

A Complete Overview of Chennai's Waterways

  

இயற்கை அனர்த்தத்தின் இரகசியம்;

சென்னையின் நீர்மூலப் பாதைகளான

1) நான்கு ஏரிகள் 2) மூன்று ஆறுகள் 

3) ஒரு கால்வாய் 4) வங்காள விரிகுடா என்றமைந்த நான்கு நீர்ப் பொறிமுறைக்கு என்ன நடந்தது?

என்ற கேள்விக்கான விடையைக் காணுவதில் தான் அடங்கியுள்ளது.

Release of remaining hardcore Tigers poses serious threat – Gota

Release of remaining hardcore Tigers poses serious threat – Gota

பக்ச பாசிஸ்டுக்களும்,ரணில் மைத்திரி பாசிஸ்டுக்களும் இலங்கையை, உலக மறுபங்கீட்டு மூன்றாம் போர்க்கால கட்டத்தில் அமெரிக்க இந்திய அணியின் இராணுவத் தளமாக மாற்றிவிட்டனர்.

இதை விட இலங்கையின் தேசிய பாதுகாப்புக்கு அச்சுறுத்தலை ஏற்படுத்தியவர்கள் வேறு யாரும் இல்லை, நிச்சயமாக 

தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள் இல்லை!

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Release of remaining hardcore Tigers poses serious threat – Gota
‘UPFA govt. freed over 16,000 LTTE cadres’

December 9, 2015, 12:00 pm

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has alleged that among those LTTE cadres expected to be released soon by the government are two hard core undercover operatives responsible for executing all major attacks in Colombo and its suburbs.

Rajapaksa said one of them was known as Morris, the kingpin of LTTE terror project in Colombo. Morris had masterminded the abortive assassination bid on then Army Chief Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka on the afternoon of April 25, 2006, he added. The other operative has been identified as Giri.

Addressing a gathering at the Sunethradevi pirivena, Pepiliyana, Rajapaksa said that Morris had personally taken the woman suicide cadre tasked with assassinating Fonseka on the pillion of a motorcycle into the Army headquarters.

Former Defence Secretary yesterday told The Island that those who had been pushing for a general amnesty for all LTTE cadres in custody weren’t even aware of the circumstances leading to their detention. When it was pointed out that during his tenure as the Defence Secretary, he had released over 16,000 LTTE combatants and suspects, Rajapaksa said out of them about 12,000 had been taken in during the closing stages of the eelam war IV. Almost all of them had been released after rehabilitation, he added. In addition to those, there had been approximately 5,000 in state custody; they were gradually released in batches. Fewer than 300 remained in custody at the time of the last presidential election in January this year, Rajapaksa said. Those who remained behind bars were the hardcore ones whose release could pose a severe security threat, the former Defence Secretary stressed.

Acknowledging that over 16,000 LTTE combatants and support personnel had been released since the conclusion of the conflict in May 2009 to January 1, 2015, Rajapaksa emphasised that the previous government held the remaining 300 due to the high level of threat they posed.

Rajapaksa said that some of those in custody had been in touch with LTTE intelligence wing leader Pottu Amman.

Asked whether released hard core cadres could pose a threat, Rajapaksa said that during a study conducted some of the hard core LTTE cadres had reiterated their commitment to original tasks given to them by the LTTE. Rajapaksa said that such LTTEers could influence thousands of rehabilitated cadres. "Don’t forget among the rehabilitated could be even suicide cadres and those who had served specialised branches such as the intelligence and explosives experts."

Rajapaksa said that intelligence services had worked very hard to arrest top LTTE operatives assigned for missions in Colombo.

Parliament was recently told the impossibility of granting a general amnesty to all categories of terrorists, including the likes of Morris and Giri.

The former Defence Secretary urged the government to take notice of the plight of Western governments due to sharp decrease in security measures. Recent incidents in France, the US and the UK as well as the targeting of a Russian passenger aircraft highlighted the growing danger of extremism, Rajapaksa said. Although, the LTTE’s conventional military capability had been eliminated hardcore cadres, once released, could reorganise the outfit, Rajapaksa said.

They would first pose a threat to Tamil politicians now clamouring for the release of assassins sent by Prabhakaran, Rajapaksa said. Tamil politicians, in their haste to gain some temporary political mileage had forgotten the situation they had earlier faced, the one-time frontline combat officer said.

' IS அழிப்பும்` ஆயுத வியாபாரமும்!

Syrian strikes boost shares in arms makers

BAE Systems among firms to profit as US and Britain increase defence spending.

When the stock market opened the next morning, shares in British defence companies soared,BAE Systems, the £16billion company that is Europes biggest weopens manufacturer, rose by four percent points.The shares have risen by 13% since the terrior attacks in Paris on 13th November.

British companies such as BAE, Chemring and Cobhan are seen as likely to gain from a long aerial campaign.

Source: The Guardian, Additional graphics ENB.

Russian air strikes 'killed over 400 Syrian civilians'

Russian air strikes 'killed over 400 Syrian civilians'
At least 97 children among casualties of military operations which began in late September, two monitoring groups say.

23 Nov 2015 08:22 GMT | War & Conflict, Middle East, Syria, Syrian crisis, Russia

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the death toll from September 30 - when the strikes were launched - until November 20 stood at 403 civilians, a figure that includes 97 children.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), another monitoring group, said at least 526 were killed, including 137 children, since Russia launched its first air strikes.

Syria: What the bombing has caused

* Over 400 civilians killed since September this year, including 97 children.
* The Syrian Network for Human Rights puts the figure at at least 526, including 137 children. 
* Since last October, at least 42,234 air strikes have been documented.
* Over 22,370 'barrel bombs' have also been dropped in that period resulting in the death of 6,889 civilians, including 1,436 children, and injuring another 35,000 civilians.
* At least 100,000 people have fled from Aleppo, while another 1,000 fled an Atma displaced camp in Idlib's suburbs.
* The Syrian conflict has killed at least 250,000 people, according to the UN.

Sources: Syrian Observatory for Human Rights & Syrian Network for Human Rights

Russia's air force flew 141 sorties and hit 472 targets in Syria over the weekend, the RIA news agency quoted the country's defence ministry as saying on Monday.

Russian jets hit targets in Aleppo, Damascus, Idlib, Latakia, Hama, Raqqa, Homs, and Deir Az Zor provinces, the ministry said.

On Sunday, Syrian government air strikes killed at least seven people, including three children, in Douma just outside of the capital Damascus, SOHR said.

It said at least seven civilians were killed on Saturday in government air strikes in Aleppo.

On Friday, Russia fired cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea for a fourth day against what it described as ISIL targets.

Russian and Syrian officials said their jets hit 50 ISIL targets in Deir Az Zor province, the most intense air raids since Russia began its air strikes.

Since last October, at least 42,234 air strikes that targeted farms, villages, towns and cities have been documented, according to SOHR.

It said over 22,370 so-called barrel bombs were dropped across the country in that period resulting in a total of 6,889 civilians deaths, including 1,436 children.

Another 35,000 civilians have been injured.

At least 100,000 people fled from Aleppo due to Russian air strikes, SNHR said, while another 1,000 fled a camp for the displaced in Atma, in Idlib city's suburbs.

Russia says the goal of its military operation in Syria is in response to a request by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and on the basis of a decision granted by its parliament.

Growing up in Aleppo: 'We are scared of the bombs'

The Syrian conflict has killed at least 250,000 people, according to the UN, and more than half of Syria's prewar population of 22.4 million has been internally displaced or have fled abroad.

Assad said what is happening in Syria was not a civil war but a war, he told Phoenix, a Chinese television channel.

You can say this is a civil war when you have a certain line that divides between different components of a certain society, whether sectarian or ethnic or maybe political line, something that we don't have in Syria," he said on Sunday.

"Civil war has internal factors, not states supporting terrorists who come to Syria while they announce publicly that their aim is to change the state or, like what they call it, the regime."

Assad also said that following the Russian intervention, the situation in Syria had improved in a "very good way".

Source: Al Jazeera

US army denies coalition jets hit Assad forces in Syria

US army denies coalition jets hit Assad forces in Syria

Syrian government accuses US-led coalition of striking its army for first time, killing three soldiers.

07 Dec 2015 21:00 GMT | War & Conflict, Syria, Middle East, Syrian crisis

Eastern Syria is the scene of air strikes carried out by many air forces operating in the country
A series of air strikes killed three Syrian soldiers in the country's east, Syria's government said on Monday, accusing the US-led coalition of responsibility for the attack.

The US military denied any involvement. 

If confirmed, it would be the first time coalition warplanes had hit Syrian government forces.

Air strikes hit the Saeqa military camp near the town of Ayyash in Deir Ez Zor province, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group. The observatory earlier reported that four soldiers were killed.

 It was impossible to confirm which of the many air forces operating in the country was responsible for the attack.

The area is largely under the control of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and the US-led coalition has regularly targeted the group in the eastern province.

Syria's air force is active in the region and its ally Russia also began launching strikes in the country in late September.

Syria's foreign ministry said on Monday four fighter jets from the US-led coalition targeted a Syrian army camp with nine missiles - killing three soldiers and wounding 13 others.

The ministry said it sent letters to the United Nations denouncing the attack on its forces.

"The Syrian Arab Republic strongly condemns this flagrant aggression by the US-led coalition forces, which blatantly violates the objectives of the UN charter," said a ministry statement carried by state media.

The US military told Al Jazeera in an email that it conducted four strikes in Deir Ez Zor on Sunday - "all against oil well heads" - and 55km away from the town of Ayyash.

"We did not strike any vehicles or personnel targets in this area. We have no indication any Syrian soldiers were even near our strikes," the US military said. " We take all allegations of potential collateral damage seriously and will look into every allegation we receive."

A US military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington was "certain" that it was a Russian air strike that hit the camp, Reuters and AP news agencies reported.

There was no immediate comment from Russia's defense ministry.

Syria's foreign ministry announcement was the first publicly declared incident of its type since the United States and allied countries began bombing ISIL more than a year ago.

The observatory said the Syrian military camp was hit about 2km from an area controlled by ISIL.

In Deir Ez Zor city, another air strike overnight on Sunday killed a woman and two of her children, said the observatory, which relies on a network of activists, medical staff, and fighters on the ground for information.

Also on Sunday, at least 32 ISIL fighters were killed in apparent US-led coalition raids, as Syria's President Bashar al-Assad slammed Britain's decision to join the fight.

The observatory said the ISIL members were killed in about 15 strikes on the group's stronghold of Raqqa province in northern Syria.

The monitoring group's director Rami Abdel Rahman said air strikes hit an ISIL headquarters and bases to the north, east, and southeast of Raqqa city - its de facto capital.

Syria's conflict has taken the lives of more than 250,000 people, and another four million have been forced to flee the country since it erupted in March 2011.

Source: Agencies

Iraq occupation create ISIL

Did the US occupation create ISIL?

US Ambassador Paul Bremer, former administrator of Iraq, discusses whether his policies led to the rise of ISIL.

Did the US occupation create ISIL?
US Ambassador Paul Bremer, former administrator of Iraq, discusses whether his policies led to the rise of ISIL.

In this Head to Head special from Washington DC, Mehdi Hasan challenges Paul Bremer, who was appointed by President George W Bush to run the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority in the wake of the Iraq war, on whether his policies led to the rise of ISIL.

As the man in charge of the so-called reconstruction effort in post-Saddam Iraq, Bremer ordered the disbanding of the Iraqi army and banned members of the Ba'ath Party from holding public office. These measures, critics say, were directly responsible for Iraq's descent into chaos.

With no panel or audience, we discuss the US track record in Iraq and the region, from the 2003 invasion to the rise of ISIL. We ask him how personally responsible he feels for the birth of ISIL and whether the US should put a significant number of soldiers back on the ground in the region.

Did the US occupation create ISIL? with Paul Bremer will be broadcast on Friday, December 4 at 2000 GMT and will be repeated on Saturday, December 5 at 1200; Sunday, December 6 at 0100; and Monday, December 7 at 0600.