Bandula Gunawadena to chase after foreign chicken

Minister Bandula Gunawadena says the government is ready to import chicken to meet consumer demand with local stocks running out, reported Daily mirror today.

Is this another facet of the food crisis or a move by government to bring some importers to the picture in a sector that shows no short of local producers? Is it a move to extend the benefits we are promised under Mahinda Chinthana to foreigners too? Or are we seriously facing a crisis where the local production is not adequate to meet the consumption? The latter is difficult to imagine because with the exceptional increases in prices chicken consumption has come down and the producers have started packing ‘half chicken’.

Congratulations! Sri Lanka Crowned Asia Cup Champs!!

Spinner Ajantha Mendis claimed six wickets to lead Sri Lanka to a 100-run victory over India in the final of the Asia Cup on Sunday.

Mendis (six for 13 from eight overs), who was brought on as early as the 10th over after Virender Sehwag (60) threatened to make quick work of Sri Lanka’s target of 273, struck twice in his first over and then picked up four more wickets to help his side bowl out India for 173.

Sanath Jayasuriya had cracked a blistering 125 and put on 131 runs for the fifth wicket with Tillakaratne Dilshan (56) to help Sri Lanka to 273, a target which had seemed inadequate on a placid pitch.

India lost Gautam Gambhir (six) but the runs flowed as Sehwag and Suresh Raina (16) took up the chase.

Mendis, however, turned the game around.

He first had Sehwag sent back, although the batsman plotted his own downfall by stepping out to hit the bowler over the top and was beaten by the flight and stumped by wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara.

Mendis then bowled Yuvraj Singh for a duck and collected the wickets of Raina and Rohit Sharma in his third over to leave India devastated.

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (49) attempted to rebuild the innings in the company of Robin Uthappa (20), but the latter’s dismissal triggered another collapse.

Doni had raised eyebrows by asking the defending champions to bat first, a decision which seemed even more surprising as India named only four specialist bowlers in the final 11.

But that decision was vindicated when Ishant Sharma (three for 52) produced a fiery opening spell to leave Sri Lanka teetering on 66 for four.

Jayasuriya bailed Sir Lanka out of trouble though, his 27th one-day century coming off just 79 deliveries.

He was dropped on 56 by RP Singh, the fielder making a mess of a lofted short-arm pull. RP Singh bore the brunt of that error as he was hit for 26 runs by Jayasuriya off the next over sent down by the left-arm bowler.

Jayasuriya finally fell to part-time spinner Sehwag, his 114-delivery vigil punctuated with nine boundaries and five sixes.

This is Sri Lanka’s fourth Asia Cup title, adding to title triumphs in 1986, 1997 and 2004.

Source: http://www.cricket365.com

H. L. D. Mahindapala seeya’s strip dances at Rajapakse Walawwa

Rajapakse clan faces no dearth of errand boys, but hardly anybody could beat the zeal of H .L. D. Mahindapala seeya. He is the dream servant boy or ‘Appu’ at ‘Rajapaksa Walawwa’. (As we know, according to Ceylonese aristocratic traditions, even an 80 year old ‘seeya’ will still remains a ‘boy’) Mahindapala seeya – the perfect Appu - does everything that his masters demand: He runs errands to the market; polishes masters’ shoes; white washes their dirty underclothes; keeps the toilets clean and once in a while offers a foot massage to the master. As a return he gets the leftovers from the kitchen of ‘walawwa’ which he would devour like Divya Bojana - the food of the gods, sitting on a low bench, only after completing all household chores.

H. L. D. Mahindapala seeya has a personal grudge against the opposition leader Ranil Wickremasinghe. He is not alone in that. For example, former Presidential Secretary K. H. J. Wijedasa too demonstrates similar feelings. The rationale is clear. Many Premadasa loyalists have not been taken seriously by the subsequent Wijetunge-Wickremasinghe government. H. L. D. Mahindapala seeya, who was imported from Australia to run ‘The Observer’ during Premadasa regime (unlike today it had a sizable loyal readership then) was overnight deported after President Wijetunge assumed duties. Not that I justify the act, but that is how politics work. Not everybody is comfortable in maintaining the same relationships with the pets of one’s predecessor’s.

Image: Mahindapala seeya with then Minister Sirisena Cooray in good ole days when he was more UNP than many of us.

When subjected to such humiliation, two options are left to anyone. A wiser man would have opted to bite his lip and return to whatever the work he left in his motherland. (Mahindapala seeya is an Australian citizen) However being the petty minded individual he always has been, our ‘Appu’ chose the other way. He becomes anti-UNP overnight. President Wijetunge went to political oblivion after 1994, so his bitterness was focused singularly on Wickremasinghe. Afterwards he wholeheartedly supported any anti-Wickremasinghe camp, and finally ended up doing errands at Rajapakse walawwa.

Of course, there are other theories of Mahindapala seeya’s pathetic behavior, but I do not buy them. Some of who get married to Tamils often find the need to exhibit more ‘patriotism’ than the rest of us, perhaps for the ‘guilty feeling’ or for their own recognition within the community. Within the clearly segregated Sinhala and Tamil communities in Australia this need becomes more prominent. Still this is a theory yet to be proven. Sometimes Mahindapala aachchi might enlighten us.

H. L. D. Mahindapala seeya’s latest barrage is against Major General Janaka Perera. Just yesterday Janaka Perera was a hero to him. (for war mongers like Mahindapala seeya one just need to be a mere gramarakshaka to be called a hero) Today he was a turncoat and a ‘traitor’ to the nation. All because he joined UNP. Mahindapala seeya swallows all his former words and falls to the low level of calling Major General Janaka Perera a ‘Tamil Killer’. In his article to Daily News last Saturday Mahindapala seeya writes:

Nevertheless, he has no reason to grumble because, unlike the poor soldiers who sacrificed their legs, arms and even their lives to make him a great soldier that he claims to be and got a pittance in return, he was given two comfortable postings abroad.

Sri Lanka is awash with scores of so-called diplomats who defend the regime of the day - not so much the nation - when they live in the lap of luxury in diplomatic missions abroad and goes into hibernation or total opposition when they retire from the foreign service. There is nothing like a diplomatic appointment to turn a villain at home into a patriot abroad.

This is more a strip dance. Unfortunately an old stripper throwing off his ‘amude’ does not bring any applause. If he expects any, Mahindapala seeya will be greatly disappointed. Even his masters at Rajapakse Wallawa will not be happy to see such a third class performance.

It is hilarious how somebody who have never seen the battlefront even through a telescope questions the patriotism of Major General Janaka Perera. Does this man, who has done nothing better than playing the shoe shine boy’s role for key politician has any right to question somebody who had taken incredible risks at the battle field for the nation?

Perhaps it is time for H. L. D. Mahindapala seeya to realize that errand boys of walawwas never make into annals of history. Their job is just to shine the shoes of masters for the pennies offered in return. They are worth only when they can white wash saatakayas. Once their time is over nobody would ever remember them. So the best thing left for H. L. D. Mahindapala seeya to do now is to amass some mertis for the otherworld he would be visiting sooner than later. Otherwise it would be too late.

But Major General Janaka Perera is somebody who is destined to make history. He has already done it more than once. A repeat performance awaits in the cards in two months time. We would be eagerly waiting what Mahindapala seeya would say then.

Central Bank of Sri Lanka: A donkey doing dog’s work but not its own

A colourful half page advertisement in Daily News says it all. Central Bank plans a new currency museum at Anuradhapura.

This adds to Central Bank’s innumerable current functions; researching oil drilling, conducting lectures for A/L students, micro-managing micro finance, insisting so called ‘good governance’ on others but not on itself, publishing books on Sri Lanka’s heritage and branding those question them ‘terrorist sympathisers’.

Are these what a Central Bank supposed to do?

We have one most over-staffed Central Banks in the world. One Central Banker for every 10,000 in population. Its per capita staff cost is on par with those at developed countries like Japan, Canada and UK. Majority of this gigantic workforce is doing things nobody expects them to do. Why need a Central Bank for managing provident fund? Where else in the world Exchange control is considered a Central Banking function? (In manpower terms, the largest department of Central Bank of Sri Lanka is Security Services!)

Any Central Bank is supposed to ensure two and only two things:

(a) Financial stability
(b) Price stability

How successful in Central Bank of Sri Lanka in these two functions?

Dreadful. I would not even consider a C minus.

Financial stability?

One day we cannot wake up to find our banks not returning deposits due to a financial system collapse. That is why we pay to have Central Banks. They are supposed to guarantee that financial system is alive and kicking. They are supposed to supervise, catch and stop any culprits.

The banking system in Sri Lanka still stands on its feet not because of Central Bank. The private banks are cautious. The state banks need not be cautious because they are backed by treasury – thanks to tax payers. Had it not been for the treasury support one of the state banks would have taken the system down drains long ago - given the somersaults they do. Pramuka Case is adequate illustration for Central Bank’s ability to prevent a financial institution under its supervision taking enormous risks. Attempts to micromanage micro finance (with less than 1% aggregate capital within system) show their ‘expertise’ in financial systems.

Price Stability?

Ha Ha Ha Don’t make me laugh!

As the sole currency issuing authority (Prabhakaran or Pillayan have not got the idea yet!) Central Bank of Sri Lanka is supposed to maintain the price of Sri Lanka Rupee against international currencies and also its own. It cannot control the rise of price of bread, but if everything costs more than what it was last week, surely there is something wrong with monetary policies. That was what Nobel laureate Milton Friedman said: Inflation is everywhere and always a monetary phenomenon.

Right now Sri Lanka records the highest inflation rate in South Asia and within the top ten countries worldwide. (To be fair, we are still better than Zimbabwe) For the last year it was from 20 - 25%, and now nearly 30%. Markets prices of all goods and services, including essential services are of continuous rise. It has risen to such uncontrollable levels Central Bank of Sri Lanka even unsuccessfully changed the Colombo Consumer Price Index, to diverge the blame. High prices spoiled even the annual Avurudu celebrations throughout the country. Every evidence points that Central Bank is not of control. It has failed to stop printing money (=increasing money supply) in bulk. It has failed to tighten monetary policy. The inflation is so bad the Minister for consumer affairs admits his inability to control prices. A hyperinflation situation is on the cards. This could lead to protests as happened in other countries under similar circumstances.

Inflation is common symptom of a war. Any war needs money, in bulk and fast. The only solution most governments have is to print money in bulk. This brings down the value of money, as there is no increase in the supply of goods and services. 

The negative correlation between the war and economy is not readily understood by the politicians. That is why we need Central Banks. One key role of any Central Bank is to be government’s economic advisor. It is supposed to give independent opinion. We pay for that. Central Bank of Sri Lanka has an Economic Research Department of more than 100 researchers to do just that. Had a single researcher in Central Bank ever pointed out the cause of this inflation? Did they ever advise the government to stop this meaningless war and enter into talks with rebels?

Perhaps it is useless blaming Central Bank as a whole. Its head is a political appointee whose only task seems to be justifying every stupid act of the government. It is unfortunate that Mr Ajith Nivad Cabraal, whose only qualification is an unsuccessful local government politician, sits in the same chair once held by eminent economists of the land. He is not an economist. His knowledge of economics, or rather lack of it, was amply demonstrated when he said he did not print any money and all currency notes in circulation were autographed by the previous governor. What can be expect from somebody who does not even know that in economics ‘money printing’ means an activity far more complex than mere physical print of money?

In UK, the Governor of Bank of England was supposed to write to exchequer informing the remedies if inflation rate crosses mere 2%.  If that cannot be brought under 2% within a period of six months the Governor has to submit his resignation. Mervin King now behaves as his pants are on fire. Fair enough. That was what he is being paid for. Unfortunately no such good governance is practices in this side of the Suez canal.

The evident neglect of duties by head of Central Bank can only lead to a definite economic crisis. What plans government has to stop it? Does at least Mr Ajith Nivad Cabraal admit that it is his fault? Or will we have to continue blaming government for appointing this hapless individual for such a responsible post?

Karuna, the “Prodigal Son” returns. Time to kill the “Fatted Calf” Pillayan?

Founder leader of the TMVP, Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman (aka Kokila Dushmantha Gunawardena) returned to the island today (July 03rd), said the party’s spokesman Asath Moulana.

Karuna, who had arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport at Katunayake on board a flight from the UK, has spoken to Moulana over the phone.

After breaking away from the LTTE as its eastern military leader, Karuna allied with the government and formed the TMVP.

However, he fled the country following a dispute with close associate Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan, and arrived in the UK on a forged passport.

He was arrested and sentenced to a prison term for the offence, after his request for political asylum there was rejected.

The Sri Lankan government had been implicated in the forged passport matter, which it had rejected.

Owing to good conduct, Karuna had been freed before having completed his sentence.

In the meantime, Pillayan took control of the TMVP, and reportedly murdered a number of his predecessor’s supporters.

He also contested polls for the Eastern Provincial Council in alliance with the government and presently serves as chief minister.

http://www.lankadissent.com

Former Education Minister Richard Pathirana no more

Former Education Minister Richard Pathirana passed away this evening at his Colombo residence. Mr. Pathirana had been suffering a prolonged illness. A graduate of Peradeniya University, and a former principal, Pathirana entered national politics winning the Akmeemana electorate in the 1983 by-election. He became the education minister after the People’s Alliance victory in 1994. More a Chaindrika, loyalist he was not seen in the political circles for the past few years.

I extend my sympathies to his family.

Janaka Perera starts campaigning in North Central province

It was certainly low key, but perhaps it is his style. Major General Janaka Perera is already in the job. Yesterday he talked to some of the people in the North Central province, where he will be the next Chief Minister in few months time.

“I don’t take tasks to leave them incomplete. I know what I am doing.” was the message he passed while moving around the Anuradhapura town.

අපි වෙනුවෙන් RAMBO

Fasten your seat belts first. This is going to be big news. Sri Lankan Army has done something amazing. They have recruited RAMBO to fight the tigers. Don’t believe me? Wait, I will prove it. (Not surprisingly Defence.lk did not reveal it because it is still a secret)

Associated Press released this news item few hours ago, base on the information received from the Ministry of Defence.

See the numbers. Aren’t they amazing?

In Vavuniya 16 Tigers and ONLY ONE SLA killed.
In Welioya 11 Tigers and again ONLY ONE SLA killed.

Can any rationally thinking individual believe these numbers?

Yes, only if we have Rambo on our side. Of course, Rambo can kill as much as enemies he wants.

This is what Wikipedia has to say on Rambo.

Rambo is a fictional former Green Beret created by David Morrell in his novel First Blood. Morrell’s character and ideas were used in the 1980s and 2000s as the basis for a series of popular action films starring Sylvester Stallone.

The films featuring the character are: First Blood (1982), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), Rambo III (1988), and Rambo (2008), with Rambo V upcoming in 2009. The films focus on a troubled Vietnam War veteran and Green Beret, John James Rambo, who is skilled in many aspects of survival, weaponry, hand-to-hand combat and guerrilla warfare.

Morrell says that in choosing the name Rambo he was inspired by “the sound of force” in the name of the rambo apples which he encountered in Pennsylvania, and he felt that its pronunciation was similar to the surname of Arthur Rimbaud, the title of whose most famous work A Season in Hell, seemed to him “an apt metaphor for the prisoner-of-war experiences that I imagined Rambo suffering.”[1]

In popular culture, the name has become an eponym for a tactic of military aggression or, alternatively, a person demonstrating great heroism through extreme violence and skill, especially when outnumbered. However, the term can also be used somewhat derogatorily to describe someone who thoughtlessly charges into a fight with no regard for personal safety or careful planning.

However Associated Press journalists, not being ‘konde bandapu cheenas’, as the Ministry of Defence assume them to be, add these two paragraphs to their report.

It was not possible to independently verify the military reports because journalists are banned from the northern jungles where much of the fighting takes place. Each side commonly exaggerates its enemy’s casualties and downplays its own.

The government earlier vowed to crush the insurgents by the end of this year. However, the island’s army chief, Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka, told reporters Monday that it may take another year to defeat the rebels.

Then they came for the JOURNALISTS, and I didn’t speak up

First they came for TAMILS, and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a TAMIL.

Then they came for the BUDDHIST MONKS, and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a BUDDHIST MONK.

Then they came for the JOURNALISTS, and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t  a JOURNALIST

If they come for me tomorrow, by that time
WILL THERE BE ANYONE LEFT TO SPEAK FOR ME?

[Apologies to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) who wrote the original First they came... about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group.]

 

Presidential helicopter convoy attacked?

The Presidential helicopter convoy which was returning from Arugambay came under suspected LTTE gun fire this afternoon, slightly damaging one of the backup security choppers. The helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing. However when contacted the military did not acknowledge the attack but blamed it on a technical failure.

http://www.dailymirror.wijeya.lk