Two more persons have been arrested for propagating Wahhabism and extremist ideologies through social media, says the Police Spokesperson DIG Ajith Rohana.
Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) had made the arrest on Friday (April 02).
The suspects, aged 28 and 29 years, were identified as residents of Kattankudy area in Batticaloa.
The duo had been deported from Qatar along with four other individuals on the 21st of November 2020. The TID arrested the other four suspects on Thursday (April 01).
According to the police spokesperson, the suspects in question, while they were residing in Qatar, had propagated Wahhabism and extremist ideologies through a WhatsApp group named ‘One Ummah’.
They had used the said social media group to establish a dogma that is contrary to that of the traditional Sri Lankan Muslims, DIG Rohana said further.
It was also revealed that the six suspects in question were involved in releasing the pledge-taking video of Zahran Hashim and other suicide bombers to the internet shortly after the Easter Sunday terror arracks.
The police spokesperson added that the accused, who studied the ideology of the Islamic State (IS), had been incarcerated in Qatar prior to deportation.
The two suspects who were arrested on Friday are expected to be detained by TID under the provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). All six suspects who were deported from Qatar are now under the custody of the TID, the police spokesperson said further.
Chief Epidemiologist Dr Sudath Samaraweera says that the programme to administer the first dose of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine has been temporarily suspended in Sri Lanka.
He stated that the programme to administer the first dose was suspended in order to commence providing the second dose of the AstraZeneca COVISHIELD vaccine.
Speaking at a press briefing in Colombo today (02), he said that thus far Sri Lanka has received a total of 1,264,000 doses of the vaccine and that as of this morning 923,954 of those doses have already been administered.
He stated that therefore the second dose of the jab has to be provided now to those who received the first one and in order to this they will temporarily suspend administering the first dose of the vaccine.
Dr Samaraweera stated that they are expecting to receive the AstraZeneca COVISHIELD vaccine doses ordered and purchased by Sri Lanka as well as the doses expected through the COVAX facility by the end of April or beginning of May.
He said the inoculation drive would recommence as soon as these vaccine doses are received.
Russia has officially resumed flights to Sri Lanka and several other countries, namely, Germany, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Venezuela and Syria on April 1, according to a decision made by the country’s anti-coronavirus crisis center last week.
The crisis center noted that regular flights would be resumed in a limited format. Most quotas have been allocated for routes to and from Germany: flights will depart from Moscow to Frankfurt am Main five times a week, from St. Petersburg to Frankfurt am Main – three times a week and from Moscow to Berlin – five times a week.
Furthermore, as many as two flights a week will operate from Moscow to Caracas. As for all other destinations, there is a quota of one flight per week between the capitals (except for Sri Lanka, where one can depart from Moscow to Colombo).
The frequency of flights from Moscow to Cuba will be increased from April 1 to seven flights a week, whereas a regular flight Kaliningrad – Minsk has been agreed for travellers to Belarus.
Airlines can now carry out one flight a week from Russia’s regions to Azerbaijan, Armenia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
Meanwhile, the list of regions, from which international flights can be resumed, added 13 more cities: Barnaul, Belgorod, Volgograd, Voronezh, Kaluga, Krasnodar, Lipetsk, Nalchik, Orenburg, Saratov, Sochi, Tyumen and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.
Not everyone eligible
Currently, no Russian company has officially announced plans to resume regular flights to these countries. However, according to Deputy Director of the Civil Aviation Agency under Tajikistan’s Government Aziz Nabizoda, regular flights will be launched between Dushanbe and Moscow from today, as operated by Tajikistan’s Somon Air and Russia’s Utair. Tajikistan’s borders are still closed for tourists though, with only citizens and diplomats being allowed to cross them. All visitors will need to undergo a 14-day quarantine.
The same goes for Germany that banned tourists from entering the country – only citizens of the EU or several other countries, which do not include Russia, will be allowed in. As for Russians, they can fly to Germany only on a work or educational visa with a residence permit.
Tourists will be also banned from entering Venezuela.
Uzbekistan, on the contrary, even canceled a mandatory express test for COVID-19 antibodies, requiring only a 72-hour PCR test. Currently, Uzbekistan is open for tourists as well as Sri Lanka.
Countries open for air travel
On August 1, there began a gradual lifting of restrictions on international flights. Russia’s government allowed to resume limited flights to the UK (they are now temporarily suspended again due to the epidemic situation), Tanzania and Turkey. Currently, flights have been resumed to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, India, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Greece, Singapore, Ethiopia, Qatar, Kyrgyzstan, South Korea, Egypt, the UAE, Turkey, Switzerland, Tanzania, Serbia, Finland, Japan, the Maldives, Cuba and Seychelles.
A container truck has been seized from Dambulla on Thursday night (April 01) on suspicion of carrying a consignment of coconut oil containing carcinogens.
The vehicle in question was taken into custody by a team of officers of Dambulla Police, acting on a tip-off received by the Mayor of Dambulla Jaliya Opatha.
The said container truck was found while parked at a private warehouse located behind the Dambulla Dedicated Economic Center.
The health authorities will subject the samples of the seized coconut oil stock for testing to ascertain if they are suitable for human consumption.
According to Dambulla Mayor, a permit or any sort of legal document allowing the transportation or storage of the coconut oil consignment in question has not been found during the raid.
Colombo, April 1 (Daily Mirror) – The government yesterday said that despite several difficulties faced within the past few weeks from ‘unexpected influencers’ to bring down the Sinopharm vaccines from China, the government had finally been successful.
State Minister of Pharmaceutical Production, Supply and Regulation Prof. Channa Jayasumana said that Sri Lanka faced many difficulties within the last two to three weeks from certain unexpected influencers from various parties to bring the vaccines to Sri Lanka, but the government had been able to overcome all this and had ultimately been able to make it a success.
Jayasumana said this even while the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) is yet to issue a clearance to administer the vaccines on locals, as officials await a document from Beijing with the English translation.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday officially accepted 600,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccines after it arrived from Beijing at the BIA and was accepted by China’s Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong. Jayasumana said the donation was a very important milestone in the friendship shared between China and Sri Lanka and thanked the Chinese President and government on behalf of the Sri Lankan government.
Ambassador Qi said the Chinese side appreciated that the Sri Lanka government had decided to include Chinese nationals in its vaccination plan.
To this regard, on behalf of China, I would like to extend our highest appreciation for this most friendly gesture,” the Chinese envoy said.
The Daily Mirror learns that Chinese nationals in Sri Lanka have already begun registering to receive the vaccine nearly 5,000 Chinese nationals reside in the country. The vaccination program will commence for Chinese nationals as soon as possible while after approval is issued by the NMRA the vaccines will be administered to locals.
Sinopharm also requires to be administered in two doses per person, similar to the Astra Zeneca vaccines.
COLOMBO, April 1 (Xinhua) — A batch of Sinopharm vaccines arrived in Sri Lanka from China on Wednesday as part of a donation by the Chinese government to the island nation.
The vaccines arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport on Wednesday where it was officially handed over to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa by China’s Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong.
Several Ministers including Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and Minister of Tourism Prasanna Ranatunga were present at the occasion.
The President, the Chinese envoy, Minister and the Sri Lankan air crew. Photo: Tang Lu/Xinhua
Workers transport packages of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo, Sri Lanka, March 31, 2021. (Sri Lankan President’s Media Division/Handout via Xinhua)
An official certificate signing ceremony took place between the Chinese Ambassador and Sri Lanka’s State Minister of Pharmaceutical Production, Supply and Regulation Channa Jayasumana, after which the vaccines were handed over to President Rajapaksa.
Speaking at the ceremony, Jayasumana thanked the Chinese government and its people for the donation and said this was a very important milestone in the friendship between Sri Lanka and China.
Ambassador Qi, at the ceremony, said the arrival of the vaccines once again demonstrated the brotherhood between Sri Lanka and China and once again implemented the commitment of China in making the Chinese COVID-19 vaccines a global public good.
Chinese envoy Qi Zhenhong, and Lankan Ministers Channa Jayasumana and Sudarshani Fernanndopulle at the certificate signing ceremony. Photo: Tang Lu
It also once again declared that solidarity is the only right way for the international community to defeat the pandemic at an early date and build a global community of health for mankind,” the ambassador said.
He further added that Sri Lanka was among the first countries to which China donated the vaccines.
It is particularly worth mentioning that the Sri Lanka government has decided to include Chinese nationals in its vaccination plan. In this regard, on behalf of China, I would like to extend our highest appreciation for this most friendly gesture,” Qi said.
Withstanding the test of the pandemic, the ambassador said, he firmly believed the China-Sri Lanka strategic cooperative partnership based on sincere, mutual assistance and ever-lasting friendship would elevate to a new level. Later the day, the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE)
Colombo, April 1 (newsin.asia): The High Commission of India, Colombo, invites applications for the following ICCR scholarships for 2021-2022 academic sessions: Nehru Memorial Scholarship Scheme: This scheme covers all Undergraduate courses (except Medical/Paramedical& Fashion Design course) including Engineering, Science, Business, Economics, Commerce, Humanities and Arts.
Maulana Azad Scholarship Scheme: Masters Degrees courses (except Medical/Paramedical& Fashion Design course) including Engineering, Science, Economics, Commerce, Humanities and Arts. However, preference would be given to the fields of Engineering, Science and Agriculture.
Rajiv Gandhi Scholarship Scheme: Undergraduate courses in the field of ‘Information Technology’ leading to a B.E or B.Tech Degree.
Commonwealth Scholarship Scheme: PhD Degrees in all subjects except Medical/ Paramedical& Fashion Design course.
The Government of India selects meritorious Sri Lankan nationals for award of these scholarships. Selection of candidates is done in consultation with the Ministry of Education, Government of Sri Lanka, to pursue undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD Degrees in some of the topmost universities in India. All scholarships cover full tuition fees for the entire duration of the course, monthly sustenance allowance, and annual grant for books & stationary. The Selected candidates would also be provided hostel facility inside the campus.
Besides, all ICCR scholars in India are provided, air fare to the nearest destination in India and an annual grant for educational tours to various parts of the country, apart from several other auxiliary benefits.
The necessary details are available in the website of the Ministry of Education at www.mohe.gov.lk. Prospective students are advised to approach the Ministry of Education,Sri Lanka or High Commission of India, Colombo to learn more about the eligibility criteria and selection procedure.
Sri Lanka’s foreign policy posture is to balance the US and China, being part of both BRI and the Indo-Pacific.
In Geneva, a tough resolution on promoting reconciliation, accountability, and human rights in Sri Lanka was passed with 22 votes out of 47 countries supporting the resolution. The current resolution gives more teeth to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to investigate and collect evidence of human rights violations, not limiting to the past unaddressed concerns by the government but also to the future concerns in President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government, which is explained by Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger, speaking on behalf of the European Union at United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). Backed by the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, he ‘called on the Council to adopt resolutions due to Sri Lanka’s lack of accountability for war crimes.’ Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena was quick to respond soon after the vote, The UN Core Group failed to secure 25 votes from the 47 member UNHRC,” calculating the nations who did not support and abstained as one group; an illogical victory was projected. The result at UNHRC was quickly weaponised by the government in their favour, catering to their majoritarian voter base. The ultra-nationalist political view of the government is a readily available feature that could be used to call it an attempt by Western countries to bully countries such as Sri Lanka.
It has been 12 years since the end of the Civil War and all subsequent governments have failed to implement a domestic mechanism that could win the Tamilian and the international community.
This projection itself gives a bad start to work towards the resolution; the need of the hour is correcting the path towards addressing minority concerns, not narrating an alternative view with unacceptable arguments and rejecting the resolution. Before the vote in Geneva, Sri Lankan foreign secretary assured India will vote for Sri Lanka, this was his own assessment and not a commitment that came from New Delhi. India abstained, with the Tamil Nadu election on the cards and much pressure from the Tamilian polity due to the present Sri Lankan government’s unfulfilled commitments where nothing substantial was spoken or achieved on Tamilian concerns. India to abstain from voting at UNHRC is justifiable due to the internal pressure from Tamilian polity and non-commitment from Sri Lankan government towards the devolution of power and absence of a genuine reconciliation process, clearly highlighted by minister Jaishankar’s visit in early January. It has been 12 years since the end of the Civil War and all subsequent governments have failed to implement a domestic mechanism that could win the Tamilian and the international community. The trust deficit has widened from co-sponsorship of its own resolution in 2015 to a complete withdrawal by the present government. This was due to an inconsistent policy on reconciliation and multiple voices of several foreign ministers pledging its support from different solutions, speaking at previous UNHRC sessions in Geneva. The new feature of the present resolution not only limits to the Civil War, thus giving more emphasis to the last two years of the deteriorating human rights environment, adding new concerns such as on militarisation of the present government.
The danger of this resolution is two-pronged. First, if the Sri Lankan government completely rejects the resolution, which was referred by Sri Lanka’s Ambassador in Geneva, C.A. Chandraprema as unhelpful and divisive.” A similar rejection was expressed after the vote by Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa expressed his displeasure pointing out to geopolitics and India’s devolution plea I will not allow these countries to achieve their geopolitical needs by introducing separatism under the guise of power devolution.” The complete rejection of the resolution could directly impact the relationship with the west and deteriorate Colombo’s commitment towards international norms, moving the foreign policy balance away from rules-based order, Indo-Pacific norms, and its allies. Second, it could impact the overall country’s exports to the western nations, with the EU and the US being its largest export markets. This would also impact the country’s image to attract western investments, initiating an inexorable drift of Sri Lanka towards China.
The new feature of the present resolution not only limits to the Civil War, thus giving more emphasis to the last two years of the deteriorating human rights environment, adding new concerns such as on militarisation of the present government.
Anchorage to IOR
United States (US) Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, and National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, met with China’s most senior diplomat, Yang Jiechi, and State Councilor, Wang Yi, in Anchorage, Alaska, marking the beginning of the Biden administration’s China policy. Both parties were to exchange their views to ease the US-China tension that had exacerbated in the last few years. The US position on China was clearly articulated, highlighting China’s aggressive behaviour and violation of human rights in several geographies. According to senior US diplomat Richard Haass, the discussion was mishandled and a terrible start” to the de-escalation efforts, where both sides accused each other on their respective policies.
A day before the Alaska summit, the US escalated its sanctions on China over its crackdown of political freedoms in Hong Kong. According to Wang Yi, Chinese people are outraged by this gross interference in China’s internal affairs…this is not supposed to be the way one should welcome his guests…this is miscalculated and only reflects the vulnerability and weakness inside the US. And this will not shake China’s position.” Adding to that, Yang Jiechi said, the time had passed when a small group of wealthy Western nations could dictate the shape of the global order and the US no longer represents world opinion…” While both sides depicted the same hostility, it is perhaps a deliberate recalibration, well-orchestrated by the US to continue the anatagonism to build strong relationships with her allies, which is a priority for the Biden administration. A Japanese scholar Satoru Nagao argues that ‘the more China escalates the situation, more the defence capabilities of the Quad will be institutionalised.’ In the meantime, due to US administration’s unfavourable China policies, Beijing is charting a course ahead that depends less on the West, with its ‘dual circulation’ economy which is a more self-reliant economic model.
The recent tripartite agreement between Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and India is considered to be a move in the same direction of minilateral successes.
The tense US–China posture in Anchorage will impact the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). China’s belligerence could propel nations to expand their security footing in the IOR. Strengthening Prime Minister Modi’s Security and Growth for All the Region (SAGAR), the Indian Foreign Minister Dr Jaishankar made repeated visits to the Maldives to establish the coast guard naval operational base in at Sifvaru–Uthuru Thilafalhu (UTF), which will be developed and supported by Indian naval assistance, further extending US$ 50 million credit line for defence. Sifvaru, which is geographically situated closer to the southern Indian shores, is a perfect location for Indian logistics, HADR efforts, and maritime security operations. The Maldives has been a strategic location even during the British Empire where Gan (Addu Attoll) in the Maldives was used for a similar purpose by the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. The second leg of Dr Jaishankar’s visit was to Mauritius where security and defence cooperation was further strengthened. The northern island of Agaléga in Mauritius has already been developed by India for military use. A P-8I reconnaissance aircraft could easily land on the newly built runway. All these, and more security partnerships such as those with Japan to access Djibouti are clear security expansions made in the western IOR by India. The recent tripartite agreement between Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and India is considered to be a move in the same direction of minilateral successes.
During the Quad leaders’ summit with India, US, Australia, and Japan, where Joe Biden, Scott Morrison, Yoshihide Suga, and Narendra Modi pledged their commitment to safeguard the interests of democratic nations and to sustain a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific where Chinese aggression is a concern to the Quad. The US commitment to a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific was reiterated in Sri Lanka by the most senior US General, Kenneth S. Wilsbach, who visited the island after a decade. The US, along with Quad commitment and the role of the Quad has strengthened due to the assertive behaviour of China in the Indian periphery, the only Quad member who shares a land border with China. In this geopolitical equation, it is vital that India strikes a balance and deter Chinese expansion, especially towards the IOR. Indian scholar, Brahma Chellaney, correctly observed, ‘it is imperative that the Quad gain strategic heft so as to bring an expansionist China under pressure.’
The growing Chinese space in India’s periphery will be of great concern for New Delhi.
Sri Lanka’s foreign policy posture is to balance the US and China, being part of both BRI and the Indo-Pacific. Neither can it afford to move away from India nor the rules-based alliance, where Sri Lanka could play an important strategic role rather than a passive partner, silently accommodating China’s expansion in the island. However, there are clear signs that the Rajapaksa administration will continue to tilt in favour of China in certain sectors due to China’s unconditional support in defending the Sri Lankan administration on its human rights record in Geneva, questioning the OHCHR report. Along these lines, China will support the domestic political position on minority concerns taken by the Rajapaksa regime to make strategic inroads into the politics of the island. Few days ago, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa thanked President Xi for China’s support at UNHRC over the recent telephonic concertation they shared. During which President Xi also gave a firm pledge to stand by Sri Lanka in case of undue pressure exerted by western countries.
This growing Chinese space in India’s periphery will be of great concern for New Delhi. Sri Lankan foreign policy bureaucrats and advisors should clearly understand the geopolitical concerns, not limiting to mere rhetoric of ‘India first’ approach from the front door while welcoming ‘China preferred’ approach from the back door. While the Sri Lankan government has drafted a 20-point Foreign Policy Directive in an attempt to have a more consistent foreign policy, approved by the cabinet without inputs from the Parliament, that is privy to only a few ministers, needs a broader view and a collective approach to calibrate the balance.The views expressed above belong to the author(s).
bySONIA PAUL Courtesy The San Francisco Public Press
With food insecurity predating COVID-19, nonprofit groups see opportunity in subsidizing hybrid business models during the crisis
Some restaurants have altered their business model to help feed the poor in the face of coronavirus restrictions. Tilly Tsang, former owner of Washington Bakery, prepares dinner plates of pumpkin fish and rice for Sunday meal distribution in Chinatown. Every Friday, seven people cook more than 300 traditional Chinese cuisine options for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
On a sunny weekday morning in March just shy of the one-year anniversary of San Francisco’s shelter-in-place order, Brian Fernando, the chef and owner of the Michelin-rated modern Sri Lankan restaurant 1601 Bar & Kitchen, was in a rush. He and his only colleagues still working at the restaurant — his wife and one line cook — were busy transferring 105 individual brown paper bag lunches to the trunk of his car. He would then drive them from western SoMa, where his restaurant is located, to Lombard Street, the site of that day’s delivery. The lunches they had prepared were not the restaurant’s typical Sri Lankan-inspired dishes sourced from the foods of his childhood but, as requested by the community-based organizations working to feed residents facing food insecurity, American comfort food.”
We’ve totally transitioned into basically a soup kitchen from normal restaurant operations,” Fernando said.
[Reporter Sonia Paul guest-hosted our daily podcast and radio show, Civic,” this week, interviewing restaurateurs and nonprofit leaders working to save small businesses while addressing hunger. Listen to the three shows on this page or subscribe to the podcast.]
1601 Bar & Kitchen is one of 189 small restaurants working with the pandemic-born nonprofit SF New Deal. Spearheaded by Jacob Bindman, the group’s director of operations, and Lenore Estrada, CEO of the pie-baking business Three Babes Bakeshop, SF New Deal is a grassroots organization that sourced seed money from philanthropy — a $1 million investment from Twitch CEO Emmett Shear — to employ restaurant workers to feed the hungry. The nonprofit serves as a direct-services mediator between restaurants and community-based organizations that have long been doing the work of feeding vulnerable populations, and it continues to add restaurants to its roster on a rolling basis.
But as the coronavirus vaccine rolls out and San Francisco’s commercial eviction moratorium extends at a piecemeal rate — it was scheduled to lift at the end of this month but has now been extended to meet the duration of California’s commercial eviction moratorium through the end of June — questions about the future of SF New Deal and similar programs, and the future of the city’s restaurant industry, are becoming louder.
Organizers in the restaurant industry, including SF New Deal, are well aware that food insecurity is a symptom of a much larger rot — poverty and systemic racism — and that the restaurant industry was in crisis before the pandemic. It is one of the largest employers in the U.S. yet pays the lowest wages out of any industry, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Restaurant profit margins are slim. Workers already driven out of San Francisco because of its high rents can barely afford to work in the industry.
Yesica Prado / San Francisco Public PressChelsea Hung, owner of Washington Bakery, bags breakfast, lunch and dinner meals for distribution through the SF New Deal program.
Against this context, the restaurant industry has suffered more than any other sector in the pandemic. The National Restaurant Association found that as of Dec. 1, 2020, more than 110,000 eating and drinking places in the U.S. had closed either temporarily or for good, and that 2.5 million restaurant jobs had disappeared. In San Francisco, 112 restaurants have shuttered, according to a non-exhaustive list compiled by The Infatuation. The Small Business Administration recently announced it would roll out the $28.6 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund grant program, part of Congress’s recently passed American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, within 30 days, although the exact details on when and how restaurants can apply for direct aid are still unclear.
Struggling restaurants, meanwhile, are hanging by a thread. The California restaurant industry employs about 1.6 million people, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, making it one of the largest private-sector groups in the state, and sales from the California restaurant industry generated an estimated $97 billion in 2018, according to the National Restaurant Association. A recent report from San Francisco’s Budget and Legislative Analyst’s Office — based on data from a number of real estate reports and rent surveys — estimates that from April to December 2020, the retail sector, excluding hotels but including restaurants and bars, may have accounted for 89% to 98% of unpaid commercial rent in San Francisco, and that the total amount of unpaid rent from all retail properties may be between $18.5 million and $39.8 million per month. The city instituted a commercial eviction moratorium in March of 2020, soon after it announced shelter-in-place orders.
Our expectation is that SF New Deal alone is not enough to keep small businesses afloat, but what we’ve heard is that for the majority of the businesses participating, it is enough to close the gap.”
Jacob Bindman
The city allocated about $46 million to address COVID-19-related food insecurity, and SF New Deal is one of a few nonprofits the city is supporting in this response, said Shireen McSpadden, executive director of the San Francisco Department of Disability and Aging Services. While San Francisco has an overall policy to support organizations that distribute food in the community, McSpadden said circumstances will change as more workers go back to their jobs, kids go back to school and older adults return to senior centers.
Right now, our thought is that we will be scaling back a little bit in the next fiscal year, on some of this food support,” she said.
In addition to government contracts from the city, private donations also help to keep SF New Deal funded. This in turn allows the nonprofit to distribute anywhere from $6,000 to $8,000 a week to each participating restaurant for a minimum of 12 weeks, Bindman said.
Our expectation is that SF New Deal alone is not enough to keep small businesses afloat,” he said. But what we’ve heard is that for the majority of the businesses participating, it is enough to close the gap.”
That is the case for Fernando at 1601 Bar & Kitchen. Neither transitioning to takeout nor setting up outdoor dining were viable options for his business, which he said he believes is the only brick-and-mortar Sri Lankan restaurant in San Francisco. It was always a destination restaurant where patrons paid for the atmosphere on top of the cuisine. Support Fernando has received from SF New Deal is the main reason his business survived the past year, he said.
Yesica Prado/San Francisco Public PressBrian Fernando brings out salad dressing from his walk-in refrigerator at 1601 Bar & Kitchen in San Francisco, which distributes meals through SF New Deal. He prepares all his food from scratch.
He has continued to pay all his fixed costs throughout the pandemic including rent, thanks to income from SF New Deal, and has recently requested a rent reduction from his landlord, the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation. At the time of reporting, the only response he had received was essentially a copy and paste of the city’s commercial eviction moratorium, a policy that is both beneficial and frustrating, he said.
We’re not making any money, we’re getting the money that we’re supposed to be paying now waived to some later date in the future,” Fernando said. In the meantime, there’s no means for us to make up for that money lost.”
Fernando gestured to structural damage in the interior of the restaurant from a car ramming into it at the end of last year, which the landlord has yet to repair. He said it is obvious why so many places are closing: The simple arithmetic of what they are earning versus what they owe gives owners few revenue-positive options.
Providing grants to restaurants to feed people for free isn’t ultimately going to make them sustainable. What is going to make them sustainable is that people in their communities, in their neighborhoods, can afford to eat out, have the ability to consume and eat out. And ultimately, that requires raising wages and increasing equity.”
Saru Jayaraman
Fernando said he would like to see food support programs like SF New Deal embedded in the larger fabric of the restaurant industry long term, and would be glad to make it a part of his business model. But that does not eliminate the stress of trying to stay in business, or worries about the potential displacement of restaurants once the commercial eviction moratorium lifts this summer, despite a number of rent repayment options San Francisco has instituted that extend beyond June 30.
That points to a burgeoning catastrophe within a catastrophe, and organizers are trying to think beyond the pandemic. While food support programs are a worthy cause, Saru Jayaraman, director of UC Berkeley’s Food Labor Research Center and president of One Fair Wage, emphasized that they do not actually tackle the root of the issues.
Providing grants to restaurants to feed people for free isn’t ultimately going to make them sustainable,” she said. What is going to make them sustainable is that people in their communities, in their neighborhoods, can afford to eat out, have the ability to consume and eat out. And ultimately, that requires raising wages and increasing equity.”
Jayaraman is one of the co-founders of High Roads Kitchen, another food program initiated in the pandemic. It offers cash grants to restaurants that commit to participating in the organization’s gender and equity program and providing free meals to the community. While High Roads Kitchen currently has a limited presence in San Francisco, operating in 10 cities nationwide, it started in California. It was launched with the support of Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Now we’re in conversations with the Biden administration about making it a federal program,” Jayaraman said.
Yesica Prado/San Francisco Public PressOn a Monday morning in March, José Mcha of 1601 Bar & Kitchen assembles 65 turkey and pasta dinners for the next day’s charity food delivery. He is the sole line cook, preparing hundreds of meals weekly with owner Brian Fernando.
As organizers try to influence the future of the industry, restaurant owners are still reeling over how the past year has reshaped their present operations. Over Hong Kong-style milk tea at Washington Bakery in San Francisco’s Chinatown, owner Chelsea Hung, who took over the restaurant from her parents, said she started observing a difference in the neighborhood back in January 2020. While more people are emerging now, the situation is hardly normal.
We’ve noticed a huge decline in foot traffic here,” she said. A lot of it had to do with misconceptions of the virus, a lot of xenophobia and people just avoiding Asian communities.”
Hung, who previously worked in the tech industry, said she had a much bigger appreciation for the sacrifices her parents made to build the restaurant after a roller-coaster year. She has had to lay off and rehire staff, negotiate rent, figure out delivery apps and innovate the menu to offer items people would want in a pandemic, like meal kits for popular noodle soups. SF New Deal is not the only program Washington Bakery is participating in. It is also involved with Feed + Fuel, a program run by the Chinatown Community Development Center.
I really do hope that this program can be long term or permanent,” Hung said of SF New Deal in particular, and food-support programs more generally. She added that her restaurant also used to serve office workers who may be inclined to work from home beyond the pandemic.
I hope that as this becomes long term, more restaurants can be involved, because so many restaurants — it’s going to take them years to recover from this,” Hung said. We’re still currently in this situation.”
Audio segments from our radio show and podcast, Civic.” Listen daily at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on 102.5 FM in San Francisco, and subscribe on Apple, Google, Spotify or Stitcher.
Darshana Sanjeewa Balasuriya Courtesy The Daily Mirror
The officers of the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) had arrested four suspects in connection with the offences of spreading extremist ideologies and Wahabism with the help of social media platforms, police spokesman DIG Ajith Rohana said.
He said the two suspects, a 31-year-old man from Wellampitiya and a 32-year-old male from Thihariya.
They returned from Qatar after working there for a couple of years, he said.
During their tenure in Qatar, they had created a WhatsApp group known as ‘One Umma’ and had circulated various ideologies connected to extremism and Wahabism among the Sri Lankans who were in their group, the spokesman said.
Investigations have brought to light that they had promoted Zahran Hashim’s ideology on extremism and Wahabism, he said.
Accordingly, the Sri Lankan authorities alerted the Qatar authorities about their activities through the social media group which they had created.
Upon the investigations conducted by the Qatari authorities, the suspects had been deported.
Following investigations by the TID, the suspects were arrested yesterday.
Investigations also disclosed that one of the men was involved in publishing the Zahran’s oath-taking of Baiyath soon after the Easter Sunday attack, the police spokesman said.
Also found that he had involved in publishing various photographs and videos relating to extremism and Wahabism.
The suspects are being detained by the TID under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).
Meanwhile, another two suspects (38, 37) have been arrested in Muthur. The investigations said that the duo has conducted instructions and classes in 2018 for schoolchildren who had done their G.C.E. Ordinary Level (O/L) examination. The classes were conducted by the followers of Zahran Hazim.
The duo was also brought to the TID for further investigations.
A male teacher from Ananda College in Colombo has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, Public Health Inspectors’ (PHI) Union Secretary M. Balasuriya said.
He told the Daily Mirror that the teacher had tested positive yesterday after being subjected to a PCR test. Balasuriya said the teacher was attached to the school hostel and PCR tests were underway even today on the students.
The PHIs were tracing the associates of the infected teacher.
01. The deceased is an 80-year-old female resident from Katugasthota. She died on 31.03.2021 while undergoing treatments at a National Hospital Kandy. The cause of death is mentioned as lung infection and Covid-19 pneumonia.
02. The deceased is an 80-year-old male resident from Eheliyagoda. He was diagnosed as infected with the Covid-19 virus while undergoing treatments at Base Hospital Eheliyagoda and transferred to Base Hospital Homagama where he died on 31.03.2021. The cause of death is mentioned as Covid-19 pneumonia, sepsis, and acute kidney injury.
03. The deceased is an 85-year-old male resident from Panadura. He was diagnosed as infected with the Covid-19 virus while undergoing treatments at National Hospital Colombo and transferred to Base Hospital Homagama where he died on 01.04.2021. The cause of death is mentioned as Covid-19 pneumonia and fractured neck of femur.
The results of the 1956 election baffled even the
architects of its victory, said analysts. The MEP was stunned by its
victory. SWRD was not expected to win. He had no proper candidates
and the MEP coalition lacked financial resources. The 60 MEP
candidates were facing a solid phalanx of 76 UNP, many of them sitting members.
But MEP did win a landslide
victory. The momentum was unstoppable.
We were left speechless, said Bradman Weerakoon. Unlike in
previous elections, in this election there had been only a few instances of
bribery, violence or impersonation, added Bradman.
The 1956 General
election was
a historic event in the post-colonial world too. This is not well known. The General
election of 1956 was the first peaceful transfer of power from the legatee at
independence to another party, in any
part of the British Empire, said historian KM de Silva. (KM de Silva, Sri Lanka, Come wind come weather”. ICES
(2015) p xvii)
Bandaranaike became head of state at a time when Ceylon and other
post-colonial states were very newly independent. Post-colonial democracy had
not yet been tested, and there were few political models around, said analysts. SWRD understood
this, and called 1956 a period of transition.
When
the MEP government took office, there was a sense of freedom and liberation in
the air among students, peasants, urban workers and the intelligentsia, said
Meegama. It was a time of great happiness. It was Ape Aanduwa.
Analysts point out however, that 1956” did not happen overnight. The Buddhist
Revival and the Left movement also
helped pave the way. People had worked hard for long years to usher in this change, said
Ananda Meegama.
The 1956
Parliament met for the first time on 20th April 1956, amid scenes of
unprecedented popular enthusiasm. Supporters of the government, mainly lower middle and working class crowded
the public galleries. There were enthusiastic cheers as Prime Minister took his
place.
When
Parliament had finished its business, those in
the public galleries, came down into the Parliament area and took turns
to sit on Speakers seat. SWRD, as Prime Minister said ‘let them in.’
This was a once in a lifetime experience for the island and SWRD realized
this. This is a historic event and it
should be recorded as such. It is not something to be sneered at.
1956
was a major event in the political history of Sri Lanka
said Wiswa Warnapala. A
change that this country badly needed at that point of evolution. it was a watershed
in the modern history of Sri Lanka, said I.D.S. Weerawardena.It changed the political landscape, agreed Meegama.Even the Marxist parties saw the 1956
as an advance to further democratic changes in the country.
1956
saw the first real change of regime the young state had ever faced, observed
Bradman Weerakoon. it brought about a total transformation in the political culture of the
country. A new
political leadership emerged.
A
new set of politicians who did not belong to the urban based English educated elite came
to the forefront and began dominating the political landscape. They came from the
rural intelligentsia and were Sinhala
educated. Many came to Parliament straight
from the village. Their manners, life style and leadership style showed their
rural origin.
The rural
intelligentsia, led by the chief priest of the village temple, the village
school master and the Ayurvedic physician, also now came to the forefront of
the political scene. This intelligentsia had become a political force in the
rural areas long before, thanks to the State Council. They now graduated to the
national platform.
1956
gave new life to the village. Neglected and impoverished, the village nevertheless had continued to function as a stable community.
Its social values were intact, observed Wiswa. Language,
religion and culture were emphasised in 1956 election campaign. This generated a great deal of
popular enthusiasm.
In this new
political culture, the common man became important. HM Gunasekera recalls that at the opening of the
Kelani new bridge in 1957, SWRD invited a highly surprised worker in the
audience to perform the opening. There was thunderous applause.
The
common man for the first time found that he could change the government of the
country peacefully, through ballot. He became a
formidable factor. He now found that his
grievances were addressed seriously by the politicians. His
aspirations were taken into account by the new set of legislators who
themselves came from the village and therefore could identify with the ordinary
man.
The public
institutions became more responsive to the needs of the ‘common man’. The Police,
headmen, and Kachcheri officers now found that they had to treat the ‘villager’
with respect and not roughly as they used to do.
The 1956
change of government also led to a cultural
renaissance in literature, cinema, drama and arts. The long neglected Sinhala culture got
recognition only in 1956, observed Sarachchandra. Dance, music, kavi and other forms of the
arts were given an important place in 1956.
The
English speaking intelligentsia had persons who were supportive of Sinhala
culture and wanted to strengthen it. Their products also appeared in 1956. Rekawa” by Lester James Pieris was shown in
cinemas in 1956. Sarachchandra’s Maname” appeared on the stage. Sinhalese
Social Organization by Ralph Pieris, Society
in Medieval Ceylon by MB Ariyapala
and Traditional Sinhalese culture” edited by Ralph Pieris, appeared in bookshops in 1956. These products were
received enthusiastically by an appreciative audience, who saw straightaway
what this elite was trying to do.
The 1956 MEP government unleashed
a process of change which was unprecedented in the history of Sri Lanka. A series of people oriented
policies were introduced. The reforms were
far reaching and made a fundamental impact on public
policy. The changes they introduced reverberate today. The ideas they initiated are now a part of
accepted policy, said analysts.
The political
and social upheaval caused by the 1956 government received a mixed reaction in
Sri Lanka society. It had different connotations for
different groups. For the English
speaking elites in Colombo and a large section of the English educated group in the
island, the world turned upside down. For the first time since
independence Tamils were not included in the cabinet.
To
others it heralded the beginning of a new dawn. It ended the
privileges of the English speaking minority.
The Sinhala educated had long objected to the ‘Mahaththaya’
culture, which treated them as inferior to the anglicized English educated
middle classes. (Continued)
Resolution A/HRC/46/L.Rev.1 dated 16 March 2021 has been adopted by the UN Human Rights Council based on procedures and practices adopted by Committees of the General Assembly. Of the 47 Members in the Council, 22 Member States cast an affirmative vote, 11 members opposed it, and 14 abstained. The procedure adopted does not recognize the number of votes that abstained. Therefore, adoption of the Resolution was based on 22 affirmative votes, which is less than half the 47-members in the Council. This outcome should be a cause to fault the Council for adopting a procedure that permits a Resolution to be adopted even when more than half of its members decided not to support it for whatever reason.
However, other agencies of the UN adopt other procedures. For instance, the 15-member Security Council requires nine affirmative votes for a decision to be adopted. Others who see a moral obligation to the institution they represent require half plus one for a decision to be adopted. Simple majorities in most Parliaments require half plus one of its elected members for a Bill to become Law. Therefore, there is nothing comical if perceived from another perspective, that the resolution did not secure a majority of the 47 Member Human Rights Council and furthermore, that 25 Members did not affirmatively support the Resolution. The lesson, in particular for the Human Rights Council, is that the basis for adopting a Resolution should be revisited, because the current practice allows Resolutions to be adopted by less than half the number in the Council. This is not good enough a threshold for a UN institution as vital as the Human Rights Council where much is at stake for all States.
Notwithstanding all of the above, the hard reality is that the Resolution was adopted. Another hard reality that is of serious consequence is that the adoption of the Resolution comes at a great cost to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter. In fact, having stated at the very outset that the Resolution is Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations …” the Resolution goes on to violate Article 1(2) and Article 2(7) of the Charter. In addition, it recalls co-sponsored Resolutions of 2015, 2017, and 2019, despite withdrawal from co-sponsorship because they violate Sri Lanka’s Constitution; a right granted under the Vienna Convention and furthermore, violates the mandate granted to the Human Rights Council under General Assembly Resolution 60/251. Under these circumstances, such a flawed Resolution should not be adopted, particularly with votes less than half the membership in the Council.
Article 1(2) states: To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect of the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples…”. AND Article 2(7) states: Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state…”.
Article 1(2): Right of Self-Determination
The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights AND the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights state in Article 1 of their respective Covenants:
All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development”.
In view of the people’s right to freely determine its political status, the Resolution of the Core-Group states: …to ensure that all provincial councils, including the northern and eastern provincial councils, are able to operate effectively, in accordance with the thirteenth amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka” (Preamble to the Resolution)
COMMENT: This is a violation of the right of self-determination of a people to freely administer and govern themselves because it binds the people of Sri Lanka to a particular form of internal Government, and denies them the opportunity to self-determine a form of Local Government that best serves them. Therefore. this provision amounts to a denial of the fundamental freedom of a Peoples to govern themselves under a form of Government of their choosing. For the Human Rights Council to impose restrictions on how a Member State should govern itself is a denial of their fundamental right to self-determination.
The Preamble states: Noting the enactment of the twentieth amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, while stressing the importance of democratic governance and independent oversight of key institutions”.
COMMENT: The need to remind the people of Sri Lanka the importance of democratic governance and oversight key institutions” is an insult in view of the fact that the amendment is a product the people of Sri Lanka have determined in keeping with their right of self-determination. Furthermore, Sri Lanka is not the only country to function under a Presidential system of government under provisions of separation of power and the internal arrangements in each are different as they are with the systems of governance in each state that supported the Resolution. Under the circumstances, the need to draw special attention to arrangements in Sri Lanka is a slur on what Sri Lanka has rightfully determined for itself.
It is indeed comical for the U.K. as the sponsor of the Resolution to stress the importance of democratic governance”, when three-fourths (¾) of U.K. Parliament was for staying in the European Union whereas the majority of the people of U.K. wanted to leave the EU, thus laying bare the U.K.’s deficit in democratic governance.
Article 2(7): Domestic Jurisdiction
Section 2 of the Resolution states: …implement the recommendations made by the Office and to give due consideration to the recommendations made by the special procedures ….”
Section 7 of the Resolution ‘expresses serious concern at the trends emerging over the past year, which represent a clear early warning sign of a deteriorating situation of human rights in Sri Lanka, including the accelerating militarization of civilian government functions; the erosion of the independence of the judiciary and key institutions; ongoing impunity and political obstruction; policies that adversely affect the right to freedom of religion or belief; increased marginalization of persons belonging to the Tamil and Muslim communities; surveillance and intimidation of civil society; restrictions on media; freedom, and shrinking democratic space; arbitrary detentions; alleged torture and sexual and gender-based violence’.
COMMENT: Section 7 of the Resolution is influenced by the Report of the Office of the High Commissioner. It contains comments and observations that violate provisions of Article 2(7) of the UN Charter in respect of issues that are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state” cited above.
Unlike under normal circumstances, the literal interpretation of Article 2(7) that prohibits UN from intervening in issues domestic as enunciated by Professor Kelsen and others of similar view, is justified under the extremely extraordinary background that Sri Lanka and the rest of mankind had to face due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This view was underscored by the UN when it decided NOT to intervene in issues domestic relating to how member states coped with the COVI-19 pandemic. What the Resolution addressed instead was the situation that prevailed in Sri Lanka in the background of a terrorist attack by Muslim extremists in 2019, and the measures adopted to cope with the pandemic in the absence of international guidelines that the UN should have spearheaded.
The extraordinary circumstances referred to above started with a new President being elected in November 2019. A bare two months later, starting January 2020, Sri Lanka encountered its first COVID-19 patient. Until August 2020 when a new Parliament was elected, it was the Executive that had to deal with the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19 pandemic.
In fact, most countries were at a loss as to what strategies to adopt to deal with the pandemic. Furthermore, a fact that should not be overlooked is that during the period of review by the Council, the Legislative and Executive Branches of the government in Sri Lanka had existed only for four months.
At the end of the day, governments have to make hard choices. In the background of a raging pandemic the choice is whether to implement strict controls by deploying personnel known for their ability to ensure strict adherence to health guidelines, or to relax them. Those countries that have decided to leave it to individuals as a matter of individual choice have experienced far more deaths than countries such as Sri Lanka that decided otherwise. Are they guilty of fratricide? To fault elected representatives for the choices they made in the fulfillment of their responsibilities to their people, is to place individual choice at a premium over state-initiated guidelines to contain a global crisis. Not to recognize the positive results in terms of lives saved because of the measures adopted by the government is not to recognize the most fundamental of all human rights which is right to life.
The impression conveyed upon perusing the list of societal shortcomings cited in Section 7 is that they are unique to Sri Lanka. On the other hand, over the span of one year there would be instances of societal shortcomings similar to those cited in Section 7, in every country. For instance, in other countries too, policies exist that affect freedom of religion or belief; marginalization of persons or groups; restrictions on media freedom; shrinking democratic space; sexual and gender-based violence etc. Such shortcomings exist, albeit to different degrees, in all of the 22 countries that supported the Resolution despite the existence of independent institutions, or how liberal and democratic their policies are. Therefore, what is so special or unique about Sri Lanka for it to deserve special attention?
Mandate of the Human Rights Council
Section 6 of the Resolution states: Recognizes the importance of preserving and analyzing evidence relating to violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes in Sri Lanka…and to develop possible strategies for future accountability processes for gross violations of human rights or serious violations of international humanitarian law…and to support relevant judicial proceedings in Member States with competent jurisdiction”.
COMMENT: The Human Rights Council has NO MANDATE nor the COMPETENCE to collect evidence relating to international humanitarian law or to support judicial proceedings in Member States. The Council is expected to function within the mandate stated in UN Resolution 60/251. The relevant provisions are:
3. Decides also that the Council should address situations of violations of human rights, including gross and systematic violations, and make recommendations thereon. It should also promote the effective coordination and the mainstreaming of human rights within the United Nations system;
4. Decides further that the work of the Council shall be guided by the principles of universality, impartiality, objectivity and non-selectivity, constructive international dialogue and cooperation, with a view to enhancing the promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development…”.
The mandate of the Council does not authorize it to share its findings with other Member states for them to engage in judicial proceedings because it violates the principle of equal sovereignty” (Article 1(1) of the Charter. If they do, what about the evidence sequestered for thirty years? Instead, what the Council is supposed to do, is to make recommendations to the states concerned. By focusing on Sri Lanka, the Council is being selective, thus violating the principles it is supposed to follow as stated in Paragraph 4 cited above.
A fact that should be borne in mind is that no investigations that could lead to a prosecution would be possible, using any evidence gathered for the purpose of future accountability exercises because access to victims and witnesses would not be possible due to Paragraph 25 of the OISL Report relating to confidentiality in the OISL Report.
CONCLUSION
Resolution A/HRC/46/L.Rev.1 dated 16 March 2021 has been adopted by the UN Human Rights Council based on the procedures and practices adopted by Committees of the General Assembly. Since the procedure adopted does not take into account the 14 abstained votes, the 22 members who supported the resolution prevailed over the 11 that opposed. Consequently, the procedure adopted enabled the Council to adopt the Resolutions based on votes that were less than half of the 47-member Council.
While the procedure adopted by the Council is acceptable for Committees of the General Assembly, the Human Rights Council is in a league by itself. Since its decisions impact on nearly every aspect of human life, the procedures and practices it adopts should be unique and stand alone. Another Council of similar standing is the Security Council. The procedure adopted by them is that out of its fifteen members at least nine should vote affirmatively for a decision to be adopted. Democratic Parliaments require half plus one of its members for a Bill or decision to have any legitimacy. Therefore, Sri Lanka should take the initiative to table a Resolution in the General Assembly calling on the Human Rights Council to take a fresh approach in the adoption of Resolutions. The outcome of such an approach should as a minimum be that even if the abstaining votes are not recognized, no Resolution should be adopted without half plus one of its members casting an affirmative vote for it to have any legitimacy i.e., more than 24 affirmative votes.
Having stated at the very outset that the resolution is Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter”, the Resolution goes on to violate Article 1(2) and 2(7) of the Charter, right of a State to withdraw from an undertaking if it is in conflict with the internal law of fundamental importance” to the State based on a right granted under Article 46 of the Vienna Convention, and violates the mandate granted to the Human Rights Council. If a Resolution violates the stated purposes and principles of the UN Charter, the General Assembly should take note and declare such a Resolution unadoptable.
The call on the Sri Lankan government to hold Provincial Council elections and to ensure that all Provincial Councils operate effectively in accordance with the 13th Amendment is a violation of Article 1(2) because it denies the right of self-determination to institute local government arrangements that suit them best and to bind the people of Sri Lanka to internal arrangements of governance set by external entities.
Article 2(7) does not authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state…”. In keeping with this provision the UN did NOT intervene in the decisions taken by member states to handle the enormous challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. Having stayed in the sidelines they have decided to single out Sri Lanka to document what the Council determines as shortcomings in the manner Sri Lanka coped with the crisis presented by the COVI-19 pandemic in a background of a Muslim terrorist attack that denied the fundamental right to life of hundreds.
The resolution is not binding on Sri Lanka. Furthermore, as stated above it violates certain provisions of the UN Charter and holds Sri Lanka to commitments it withdrew from on legitimate grounds. What Sri Lanka could do is table a Resolution in the General Assembly highlighting the issues at stake and seek redress. In addition, such a Resolution should propose a revision on the lines suggested above to the procedures adopted by the Human Rights Council in respect of how it decides to adopt Resolutions since current procedures are totally inappropriate for an all-important institution as the Human Rights Council.
Politicians bellow rhetoric, making propaganda mountains out
of molehills of achievements, whilst our beautiful island nation of
phenomenal potential aimlessly drifts, forever the land of tomorrow. Given
recent talk about granting licences to Indian fishermen (i.e. CRIMINALS) and
holding elections for parasitic PCs, one wonders when Sri Lanka will be allowed
to thrive.
Let’s have one law and actual progress for Sri Lanka. I
believe that these two Constitutional proposals submitted by concerned citizens
(members of the public) would be of interest for genuine patriots to read and
share. If nothing else, one can enjoy reading them and think of what is
possible. They can be accessed online via the weblinks below:
Why should one trade one tyrant five thousand miles away for
five thousand Indian bootlicking political parasite tyrants one mile away? Hold
a Referendum on such systems instead of pandering to the anti Sri Lankan
agenda.
3. settles Sinhalese, Tamils, Moors and Burghers across the island
such that there is social mixing, communal harmony and zero ethnic enclaves
4. imposes one law across the entire country and restores Section
29 of the Soulsbury Constitution preventing any form of discrimination or
privilege conferred on one that is not applicable to another
5. imposes the Rule of law
6. restores sanity, meritocracy and independence to all branches
of the public service and obliterates politicisation of the country
7. bans ethnic parties
8. bans the criminal, or the corrupt from holding seats, or
official positions
9. ensures lean government
10. ensures recognition of Sinhala as the de jure national
language, the Buddhist philosophy and the unitary state structure. Adopts
Singapore’s official language policy approach and utilises English as a medium
of instruction and official and working language
11. Option 1 has a directly elected ceremonial President that is
reserved/rotated amongst all communities (like in Singapore). Option 1 has an
Executive Prime Minister** (like in Singapore).
12. ensures a limited Cabinet of 18 Ministers (with no more than 9
Parliamentary secretaries/deputies),
13. a Parliament of 101 (first past the post) and Senate of 60 (a
revising chamber akin to the House of Lords). There is zero devolution
whatsoever. There is an age limit on contesting any election.
14. adopts the principle of “to be, not to be and to no
longer be” with rules for qualifications and disqualifications to be an
MP. Crossovers are forbidden and result in a by election.
15. Option 2 has an Executive President (with Cabinet picked from
outside the Legislature to ensure separation of powers)
16. Restores the original Lion flag and name of the country
They also categorically protect property rights, ensure efficiency
in administration and sound business laws to get this nation moving again. With
such a system in place, we
can become another East Asian style powerhouse in next to no time.
Enough is enough
with endless mediocrity. I encourage patriots to read those Constitutions. May
this country finally achieve her potential.
For the first time in their lives, Sri Lankans Nalayini and Chinniah were earning enough money to eat three meals a day and pay for their kids’ education – thanks to one cow and a lot of hard work.
Nalayini and Chinniah, both in their 50s, have overcome more obstacles than most couples do in a lifetime.
They didn’t have an easy life before the civil war in Sri Lanka. They were living in poverty, raising their five children, and were only able to afford one meal a day instead of the usual three.
My husband worked as a labourer in the paddy fields and cut firewood, while I was at home with the children,” says Nalayini.
Life was very difficult…we didn’t have a traditional house with all the furnishings. We lived in a small place made from coconut leaves and slept on a mat on the ground. We would always get wet when it rained. We lived like that for a long time,” she says.
When the civil war started in Sri Lanka, Nalayini and Chinniah with their children fled for their lives. We moved from place to place because the bombs were falling everywhere. We hid in bunkers to protect ourselves. We were convinced we would die.”
The couple managed to make it to one of the camps for displaced people where they stayed for a year.
We were given food and water and other basics, but we couldn’t go anywhere. All we wanted was to go home.”
When the war was over, the family returned to their home village, but they were traumatised.
We were scared all the time. We feared the bombing would start up again—that the whole war would start all over.”
Not only that, when the family returned there was nothing left – home was destroyed and goats and cows were gone.
Nalayini and Chinniah rebuilt their lives step-by-step with determination. They didn’t have any other choice.
At first, we built a kind of makeshift house. After a couple of months, we were able to get some supplies to make our house a little stronger. After three years, we managed to build a sturdy, brick home for our family.”
At the same time, the couple joined Tearfund’s dairy farming programme. They had owned cows before the war and knew the basics of how to care for livestock.
We received a pregnant cow, attended various training sessions on how to care for and raise the cows well so we could increase their milk supply.”
Chaturanga Samarawickrama Courtesy The Daily Mirror
The health sector in the country is now facing a threat of spreading non-communicable diseases and according to the latest records, 64 cancer patients are being detected and 38 patients lose their lives due to cancer every day, Power Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said.
He indicated the vision of ‘Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour’ of the President and while giving priority to localism, a trend has been created to manufacture medicines against cancer.
While drawing the attention of the President, special attention was also drawn to implement a mechanism for early detection of cancers, he said.
Also said that a special proposal in this regard was extended to cabinet ministers.
A total number of 30,000 cancer patients seeking treatment within a year and only 1,600 patients receive treatment.
People in this country are less likely to go abroad for cancer tests and treatment. The Government spends Rs.45,000 on a single cancer patient for importing radioactive drugs from India. If the said drug is manufactured locally, it would cost only Rs. 14,000 per patient.
Most of the main radioactive drugs are imported from India.
Therefore the Government has decided to establish a cyclotron base radioactive drugs centre in the country to minimise the cost and to protect the effectiveness that occurs while importing them.
Sri Lanka on Wednesday (March 31) received a consignment of 600,000 doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines donated by China.
According to Ada Derana correspondent, a special flight chartered by the national carrier SriLankan Airlines (UL869) carrying the China-made vaccines touched down at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake at around 11.28 am.
The vaccine consignment was ceremonially handed over to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the airport premises.
State Ministers Prof. Channa Jayasumana and Dr. Sudarshini Fernandopulle, Ambassador of China to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong and several other officials were also present at the airport premises to receive the vaccine stock.
Chinese nationals residing in Sri Lanka are expected to be given priority under the first phase of Sinopharm inoculation drive in the country.
Administration of the Sinopharm jabs to these Chinese nationals will thereby commence next week at four locations; Colombo, Kandy, Puttalam and Hambantota, Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Sudath Samaraweera said.
Sri Lanka on Wednesday (March 31) confirmed another 88 fresh cases of the novel coronavirus in the country as total infections detected within the day reached 244.
This brought the total number of Covid-19 confirmed in the country thus far to 92,706.
According to the Epidemiology Unit, 2,887 patients infected with the virus are currently under medical care at designated hospitals and treatment centres while total recoveries have reached 89,251.
The death toll due to the Covid-19 pandemic in the country stands at 568.
An individual from Chavakachcheri in Jaffna has been arrested on charges of money laundering by hacking into the accounts of banks in the United States.
The 41-year-old has been taken into custody by the officers of Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Police Spokesperson DIG Ajith Rohana said.
Investigators have uncovered that the suspect had hacked into U.S. bank accounts and transferred Rs. 13.4 million to his account in a private bank in Sri Lanka.
The police spokesperson said the suspect’s accomplices are based in the U.S. had aided and abetted him to transfer money from U.S. bank accounts. In return, the suspect had offered a commission to his accomplices.
According to DIG Rohana, since the 20th of April last year, nearly Rs. 140 million had been transferred through similar rackets to local bank account holders based in northern and eastern parts of the country.
In the meantime, nearly 30 suspects who were linked to offences of similar nature were also taken into custody during this period.
The suspect who was apprehended by the Criminal Investigation Department is to be produced before the court under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the police spokesperson said.
Further investigations into the incident are underway, he added.
30th March 2021An invasive water weed has decimated the wildlife and economy of one of Cameroon’s most significant lakes. But a tiny, ravenous weevil could reverse the region’s fortunes.A
A flock of water birds scavenges for insects on the dense, leafy weed that covers much of Lake Ossa, one of Cameroon’s largest lakes. The water weed is so closely packed that it looks like wide, flat green pasture, and the sure-footed birds pick their way freely across it as if they were walking on land.
The thick layer of vegetation is Salvinia molesta, a species known locally as kariba weed or simply Salvinia, and it is the cause of this dearth of life in the lake. The invasion has been declared a “conservation emergency” by the IUCN.
Salvinia, a free-floating, green-brown freshwater fern, has already invaded more than 40% of the lake’s 4,000-hectare (15.4-sq-mile) surface, according to the African Marine Mammal Conservation Organisation (AMMCO), a Cameroonian non-governmental environmental organisation.
Not far from the lake’s shore, an army of weevils is now being mass-reared as a defence against Salvinia
Decimating the lake’s wildlife, and compromising the main source of income for the local population, the Salvinia takeover has been rapid and seemingly unstoppable. Lake Ossa is only one in a long line of freshwater bodies to be engulfed by Salvinia. As this invasive weed has spread around the world, from Brazil and Argentina to Australia, the efforts to control it have struggled to keep pace with the plant’s prolific growth.
But there is hope for Lake Ossa, and it comes in the shape of a small, innocuous-looking but remarkably powerful water-dwelling beetle. Not far from the lake’s shore, an army of weevils is now being mass-reared as a defence against Salvinia.
Lake Ossa is one of the largest lakes in Cameroon, and was home to a wealth of biodiversity before Salvinia arrived (Credit: AMMCO)
Lake Ossa is today littered with weed-laden fishing nets – abandoned by the local fisherfolk out of frustration. Wooden fishing boats have been hauled onto the lake’s shorelines – some have been there so long they are starting to rot. Those local fishermen who are still actively fishing in the lake, and the women who sell the fish caught, say they have lost about 80% of their income.
Lake Ossa used to be home to scores of African manatees, one of the most sparsely studied manatee species. Their population in the lake now appears to be declining
In the sweltering late morning heat, I meet Dina Marie-Louise, a fish retailer and resident of the lakeside town of Dizangue, as she disembarks from a wooden fishing boat. In the local business for 22 years, Dina has been visiting fishermen in the lake to buy their catch. Today, she frowns at the few fish in her basket. “Salvinia is killing us,” she says. “Seven of my 12 children have dropped out of school because of financial difficulties caused by Salvinia.”
Roland Ngolle, who has been fishing in the lake for 12 years, paints a similar picture. “We are running out of space to fish in this lake. If nothing is done, Salvinia will engulf all of Lake Ossa,” Ngolle says. “More than 100 fishermen used to visit this lake in a single morning. Today less than five come to fish. Everybody is discouraged.”
As well as fish, Lake Ossa used to be home to scores of African manatees, one of the most sparsely studied manatee species. Their population in the lake now appears to be declining. Many of the manatees are thought to be leaving the lake for its surrounding rivers, where they have better access to food, says Aristide Takoukam Kamla, founder of AMMCO.
The larvae of the Salvinia weevil are highly destructive and can bring a freshwater habtitat back into ecological balance (Credit: Alamy)
Salvinia is native to southern Brazil and northern Argentina, but it can spread between water bodies by wind, water currents, floods, animals and people. “[The] human factor is partly to blame for the presence of the invasive plant in the Cameroon lake,” says Kamla.
As well as physically moving the plant from one place to another, for example when it hitches a ride on boats, human activity is also thought to be responsible for allowing Salvinia to thrive in the lake.
“We noticed a heavy concentration of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous in Lake Ossa in 2016 – doubling from the historical value of 1985,” says Kamla. “This was a signal that something was happening in the lake called eutrophication, which is simply the enrichment of the lake in terms of nutrients.”
That made conditions perfect for Salvinia to proliferate. “The carpet formed by the plant at the surface prevents light from penetrating the water column and therefore reduces photosynthesis of phytoplankton on which most fish species feed,” says Kamla. “This results in a drastic depletion of fish production.”
With a fast-growing plant that can double in size every 10 days, the plant’s growth is almost unstoppable. “The absence of [Salvinia’s] natural enemies in a foreign environment facilitates its fast growth rate,” says Lum Fontem, an independent plant scientist based in Cameroon.
Numbers of the African manatee, pictured here in captivity, are in decline (Credit: Getty Images)
At every strategic corner of the bumpy earth roads around Dizangue, billboards carry messages alerting villagers and visitors to the Salvinia problem. Messages such as “Youths, Let’s Save Lake Ossa”; “Let’s Save Our Lake From Salvinia Invasion” appear on countless signs around the town. This may be Cameroon’s first experience of a Salvinia invasion, but there has already been an intensive response to it.
There are three main ways that the weed can be removed. The first, and most physically demanding, is removing it manually. “This includes hand-pulling, mostly for low infestation, and the use of specialised equipment, for high infestation,” says Fontem. “This method is labour-intensive, tedious and time-consuming.”
Since 2019, AMMCO has been mobilising locals to remove the plant manually to reduce the scope of spread. But it has not been without challenges. “This method is very demanding given that the invasive plant multiplies very quickly,” says Kamla. “We removed over 200 tonnes of Salvinia from the lake in 2019 and 2020. Yet, no impact was felt.”
This is because manual removal of Salvinia alone is not enough to control the weed, Lum says. Any plant left in the water will rapidly grow to replenish what has been stripped away.
The second option is chemical control, which involves the application of herbicides to kill the weed. But this comes with its own ecological drawbacks, as the herbicides pose a risk to other plants and could harm the lake’s other organisms. So far, the chemical approach has not been tried at Lake Ossa, and scientists including Fontem caution against trying it.
But there is one final option that could relieve Lake Ossa of Salvinia and restore its ecosystem: a small, brown-black water beetle native to Brazil known as the Salvinia weevil, which feeds almost exclusively on the weed. Measuring just 2-3.5mm long in its adult form, this tiny insect is equipped with a long, sturdy snout. But it is the weevil larvae that are devastating to the Salvinia by burrowing into the plant’s rootstalks and causing fatal damage.
Removing Salivinia by hand is very labour intensive, but so far it is the only method that has been attempted at Lake Ossa (Credit: AMMCO)
The Salvinia weevil was discovered by Wendy Forno, a scientist at Australia’s government research agency CSIRO, while carrying out surveys in South America between 1978 and 1982. The first releases of the weevil as a biological agent to destroy Salvinia were at Lake Moondarra, Mount Isa, Australia in 1980, with remarkable success.
“Lake Moondarra is mostly clear of Salvinia today. Fifty thousand tonnes of Salvinia on the lake was killed by weevils over a 400-hectare (1.5-sq-mile) infestation,” says Matthew Purcell, director of the Australian Biological Control Laboratory, a facility run by the United States Department of Agriculture and CSIRO.
“The weevil – both adults and larvae – only feeds on this fern and not on other aquatic plants,” says Purcell. “As the plants increase seasonally, so do the weevils. The weevils [and] Salvinia constantly increase and decrease through the seasons in balance.” The weevils never fully eradicate the weed, but help to “return the system to a balance”, says Purcell.
The weevil was also deployed in the Senegal River in the early 2000s, where it had similar success, says Arnold Pieterse, formerly a senior staff member of the Netherlands’ Royal Tropical Institute, now retired. He, too, underlines that the weevils’ strong preference for Salvinia as a food crop makes it an appealing choice for Salvinia control. “It has irrefutably been proven that the insects do not form any danger to the environment or crops,” says Pieterse.
South Africa, too, has successfully brought Salvinia molesta under control thanks to the release of the weevil into its fresh water systems since 1985. “South Africa had a number of systems infested with the weed throughout the country, mainly smaller impoundments and rivers,” says Julie Coetzee, deputy director and manager of the Aquatic Weed Biocontrol Programme at Rhodes University, South Africa. These waters took between one to three years to clear, depending on the nutrients in the water, and the climate. “We still do have some infestations appearing,” Coetzee says, but “once weevils have been released, we typically get clearing with a season”.
The Salvinia weevil was first tried as a method to control the weed in Australia, where it has also invaded rivers and lakes (Credit: Getty Images)
Though the Salvinia has no defence against the weevil, the weevils themselves have weaknesses. “No drawbacks were experienced initially but nowadays, we have noticed that there are sites where infestations have persisted, particularly in shaded sites,” says Coetzee. “We have also discovered a parasitic alga infecting [the weevil] population.” This alga, called Helicosporidium, reduces the weevil’s ability to reproduce.
Nevertheless, Coetzee is optimistic that weevils could clear Cameroon’s Lake Ossa of Salvinia. “Implementing a biological control programme in Cameroon is the most ecologically friendly, economically sustainable option for control of Salvinia,” she says. “Given the size of the infestation on the lake, it is going to take a while for the control agent populations to build up to sizes that will damage the plants, and cause them to sink. This is not a fast process. Patience is key.”
Purcell, too, is hopeful that the weevils could rejuvenate Lake Ossa. “The weevils should work in Cameroon. Most control is achieved within three years,” he says. “The control lasts indefinitely, much better than spraying which must be reapplied every year and every season, with negative consequences to the aquatic environment.”
It may not be much longer before Lake Ossa becomes the next Salvinia-ridden water body to welcome weevils. A task force involving several of Cameroon’s government ministries has been set up to oversee the eradication of Salvinia in the lake through the release of the weevils.
The local people of Lake Ossa, though, are frustrated at the pace of action. “Fishing is our only source of income. We are running out of patience,” says Jean Pierre Nga, a fisherman. Dora Sih, a fish seller in the business for 25 years, agrees: “Things are not moving.”
But in AMMCO and their partners’ facilities in Dizangue, the stock of weevils is steadily growing. “They will be released into the lake as soon as we receive the authorisation permit from the government,” Kamla says. “And we hope that after two or three years, we will overcome this invasive plant.”
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Colombo, March 30 (Daily Mirror): The human-elephant conflict is a modern phenomenon owning its existence to man’s increasing developmental needs and the expansion of the human population due to improved health and living conditions of people. Pushed by sheer need, if not greed, man has been forcibly intruding into places where elephants once roamed and foraged freely.
Earlier in the pre-industrial developmental era, people and elephants lived in peace and harmony. Elephants were not killed. They were, of course, captured and traded for use as draught animals, in war as mounts for commanders, and as attractions in temple and royal festivals. In the Indic cultures (ie: in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka) and much of South East Asia, elephants were objects of veneration. Indian records show that domestication of elephants dates back to 4,500 BCE. Hannibal, the great Carthaginian General, had crossed the Alps in 218 BCE using elephants as transport.
However, ivory hunting in Africa and the expansion of populations in Asia virtually ended domestication of elephants. Elimination of elephants began either for profit or to acquire and protect property in their natural habitat. In Sri Lanka, the opening up of new lands for cultivation by post-independence governments led to human-elephant conflicts, which in turn, led to mounting deaths on both sides of the divide.
New Awakening
In August 2020, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa told Wildlife Department officials that 122 human lives were lost and 407 elephants were killed due to the intrusion of elephants into villages in 2019. He pointed out that it was the responsibility of the Department of Wildlife to feed wild animals which live in 1.2 million hectares under the department’s control. He gave officials two years’ time to end the human-elephant conflict, pointing out that the problem has persisted despite talking about it incessantly for 40 years.
Elephant conservationists could not agree more. Their grievance is that their blueprint for conservation and harmonious human-elephant relations submitted to the government in December 2020, is gathering dust on a shelf. They feel that a solution is possible because it has been found that elephants in Sri Lanka do not migrate long distances but live in around 20,000 hectares.
Presently, Sri Lanka has the highest casualty rate in the human-elephant conflict in the world according to Dr. Sumith Pilapitiya, former Director-General of the Wildlife Department. But despite the constant killings, Sri Lanka still has around 7,500 elephants according to the BBC. Elephant density is the highest in Sri Lanka. But about 70% of the elephants live outside the officially Protected Areas (PAs), and thus are a source of conflict with humans. In fact, 85% of elephant deaths are due to clashes with humans.
According to a report in The Island, every year, between 2011 and 2020, 272 elephants had died on an average. In 2020, the toll had hit 407.
The average human death rate due to the human-elephant conflict was 71 between 2005 and 2010 and 54 between 1992 and 2001. The human death rate had increased by about 14% from the previous decade and by about 50% in comparison to the past two decades. The number of human deaths in this connection had spiked to 112 in 2020, a sharp increase. Interestingly, in India, more humans and fewer elephants die in such conflicts. The annual human death number in India is 400 as against 100 elephant deaths.
Writing in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Matt W. Hayward of the University of Newcastle, Australia, says that elephants consume up to 150 kg of forage and 190 litres of water daily. Meeting these basic needs requires a large foraging area to provide a variety of grasses, shrubs, tree leaves, roots, and fruits. A typical family of elephants (5–20) has a home range size of 100 to 1,000 sq. km.
Hayward says that left to themselves, elephants enrich the environment by dispersing seeds over a wide area. There is therefore a requirement to maintain a healthy population of elephants, he argues.
Establishing ecological corridors is one way of approaching the human-elephant conflict. But development and infrastructure expansion in or surrounding elephant habitats are generally executed without concern for their ecological impact. This results in conflicts.
Electric fences, Trenches and Noises
Physical exclusion methods such as electric fences and trenches are commonly used to deter elephants from entering farmland and human settlements. But the cost of construction of these hurdles and their long-term maintenance is heavy. Interestingly, studies in Africa show that once elephants learn that their tusks do not conduct electricity, they use their tusks to break an enclosing electric fence! Physical barriers also negatively affect movement necessary for the elephants’ survival.
Making noises to frighten the elephant is another technique that is adopted. But some studies show that elephants quickly learn to tolerate these sounds and raid farms. Maintaining sound systems also present logistical challenges in remote areas, although the method is 65 to 100% effective. Recent studies in Africa show promising results for bio-acoustic methods such as using beehive fences to deter elephants. Beekeeping is also an income generator for farmers.
Early Warning Systems and Relocation
Early warning systems including placement of detectors are also used. But these require internet connectivity or network coverage to transfer alerts to farmers, which limits the practicality of infrasonic receivers in remote areas. Scientists can also put a radio collar on an elephant and trace its movements to warn farmers.
Removal or relocation of elephants is another method used to keep their movements in check. But elephants have a way of coming back to their homes – their original habitat, reports Malaka Rodrigo on the website www.mongabay.com. He reports that an elephant named Homey”, which was GPS collard in 2006 walked back home from Yala National Park’s Block II where it was relocated. It was then relocated to Udawalawe but came back. It was then dispatched to Maduru Oya. It tried to come back from there too but was shot dead on the way. Elephants detest relocation.
Agricultural Deterrents
Agriculture-based deterrents have proved useful. Chili-grease covered fences have proved to be effective to an extent. But this technique is expensive. Another agriculture-based deterrent involves interspersing commonly raided crops with crops that are less attractive or palatable to elephants. In addition to serving as repellents, these alternative crops, such as chamomile, coriander, mint, ginger, onion, garlic, lemongrass, and orange, can economically benefit farmers.
Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society (SLWCS) has the Project Orange Elephant. Elephants do not like citrus fruits of any kind. They will not approach a home or garden, no matter how food-filled it is if it means passing through a row of citrus trees. So the Project Orange Elephant’s goal is to get as many local farmers as possible to plant orange trees around their home gardens to create a soft buffer and deter invading elephants. According to www.treehugger.com since its inception in 2006, 17,500 orange trees have been planted and the goal is to reach 50,000 by 2025.
In the Hambantota District, the project uses a variety of grafted local orange (Citrus sinensis) known as Bibile Sweet that had been developed in Sri Lanka to suit local climatic conditions. This variety grows well in marginalised land and does not need frequent irrigation. It bears fruit within 1.5 to 3 years. Each tree can provide from 300 to 600 fruits per season. Each tree has a fruiting cycle of two seasons per year. Bibile Sweet is a high-quality fruit known for its fresh sweetness, value-added products, and has good market demand. By planting these trees alongside their crops, particularly in the border areas adjacent to elephant habitats, crop-raiding by elephants can be reduced, while also supplementing farmers’ income.
Saving Elephants by Helping People” is the underlying and overlying philosophy as well as the goal and objective of the Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society’s efforts to develop holistic and sustainable measures to mitigate the Human-Elephant Conflict in Sri Lanka.
