A Quicky World History of Fake Debt, Default & Destruction

“Before you study the economics, study the economists!’

e-Con e-News 06-12 February 2022

Bloomberg News falsely proclaimed, ‘Russia invades Ukraine’, on Friday, February 4. Bloomberg left this headline up for 24 minutes on its digital frontpage. At least 100,000 contracts were being traded when stocks plunged, due to that headline. Bloomberg later apologized: ‘We prepare headlines for many scenarios and the headline ‘Russia Invades Ukraine’ was inadvertently published. We deeply regret the error.’ Yet Bloomberg owns trading platform Tradebook linked to Goldman Sachs. Bloomberg Data Terminal made its majority owner Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire and a New York Mayor. On February 10, Bloomberg was nominated to be the next chairman of a key Pentagon advisory panel. Bloomberg’s largest customers include Wall Street megabanks JPMorgan Chase, etc. (see ee Finance, Bloomberg)!

     On February 3, a day before the fake headline, Facebook shares slumped, robbing millions from public & private pension funds. This week, the Colombo Stock Exchange ‘lost’ Rs100 billion in 2 days. Lost? Who gained? We’re not told if any public or private pension funds lost money. But the same traders, etc., who wished to throw pension funds on the stock exchange, are now crying against a 25% tax on such funds (Random Notes).

The debt of our nations is the product of perverse mechanisms that

lend us money in order that we do not develop ourselves.

We are not going to pay our debt by making our people hungry.

– Argentina President Raúl Alfolsín, 1983

Fake news. Fake strikes. Fake capitalists crying for fake dollars. Fake exports (using expensive imports!) Fake debts! This ee provides a short history of the link between modern imperialism and the so-called national debt. It starts with England’s 1848 genocide in Sri Lanka, when they decided to cloak colonial slavery, as ‘free trade’, how England took over Argentina’s economy without invasion, how they sent gunboats to Venezuela to collect debts, etc.

     Headlines this week had a government MP calling on people to ‘band together and treat those on strike to sticks and stones’, and another cried, ‘Strikes – another form of terrorism’. But the real terror comes from the capitalist class, and their lawless bankers, who wish to promote strikes that have no national support.

• What do Sri Lankans in Sri Lanka own? Do we own the national banks? Do we decide where they invest their money? Do they invest in making machines? No! They invest in importing machines and inflating property prices. Just look at who is clogging the roads and our minds.

• Sri Lanka Charges Grand Theft! Sri Lanka sits and stands at the crossroads of the world’s major maritime economy, geography and history. We should lead an international charge, beginning inside Sri Lanka, gathering Africa, Asia and the real Americas, to take back the United Nations. To expose the sham of a ‘human rights’ minus humans as imperialism promotes 21^st century underdevelopment, hurling future generations into servitude.

• Sermons about ‘democracy’ and despotism never end. But beneath lurks the dictatorship of the foreign bankocracy. The so-called Greek debt crisis ended with Greeks having no control over their own banks or laws! Here, US, European central and other banks are stealthily (well, it’s quite open for those in the know) taking over local banks, and finance companies. This grab is led by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), and their master, the US Treasury. The IFC cloaks itself in all the corporate ‘woke’ business: the UN’s sustainable goals (sustaining capitalism), corporate responsibility (responsible to their owners), gender sensitivity (sensitive to gonads), etc.

     Sri Lankans only own the national debt. Most of the money Sri Lanka is supposed to owe white banks is money borrowed to pay for white overpriced industrial goods – fuel and all these vehicles clogging the roads, the devices nestled in everybody’s hands.

     Marx, Capital Vol 1, Chapter 31: ‘The only part of the so-called national wealth that actually enters into the collective possessions of modern peoples is their national debt. Hence, as a necessary consequence, the modern doctrine that a nation becomes the richer the more deeply it is in debt. Public credit becomes the credo of capital. And with the rise of national debt-making, want of faith in the national debt takes the place of the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, which may not be forgiven…

     ‘The public debt becomes one of the most powerful levers of primitive accumulation. As with the stroke of an enchanter‘s wand, it endows barren money with the power of breeding and thus turns it into capital, without the necessity of its exposing itself to the troubles and risks inseparable from its employment in industry or even in usury. The state creditors actually give nothing away, for the sum lent is transformed into public bonds, easily negotiable, which go on functioning in their hands just as so much hard cash would. But further, apart from the class of lazy annuitants thus created, and from the improvised wealth of the financiers, middlemen between the government and the nation – as also apart from the tax-farmers, merchants, private manufacturers, to whom a good part of every national loan renders the service of a capital fallen from heaven – the national debt has given rise to joint-stock companies, to dealings in negotiable effects of all kinds, and to speculation, in a word to stock-exchange gambling and the modern bankocracy.’

• State & Stats – How much do MPs owe Banks, how many have defaulted on their loans? asks an Island editorial this week. What about bankers themselves? Who do they owe, to whom? The media is silent about the total lack of relevant economic data. It’s the mandate of the Ministry of Finance to institute a solid system of data collection: for example, on the purpose of imports. How much of ‘debt’ we owe is for imported industrial goods, machines, services, experts, etc? The import mafia, etc, opposes publicizing such statistics. The Central Bank, overflowing with PhDs, what are they counting? An MP this week said, ‘prices of some essential goods vary significantly from district to district’.

     Instead, the media gives regular publicity to the sniping of the World Bank and the UN, US Human Rights Watch, England’s Amnesty International, etc. Their pronouncements should be framed in thick boxes, like ads clearly stating ‘sponsored’ or ‘advertisement’.

     Capitalist economists and their media, so full of doom & gloom about debt & default, yet demand more foreign investment (FDI). Investment for what? To play the casino called the stock market.

     The media cannot utter one word about the vital need for higher investment in productive (modern industrial) employment. They do not know what these words mean. And if they do, they’re not allowed to say so, or do not give a damn. All their talk is debt & default. Power & water cuts. Doom & Gloom. Some complain about money printing. Yet the issue is not printing but, printing money for what?

     Capitalist media are shedding tears about 74 years of independence & misrule on the Diyavanna, wailing about debt & default. And yet they’re demanding that Sri Lanka be openly ruled by bankers & bureaucrats in Washington & London, Brussels & Berlin, via stock market traders in NY, Frankfurt, Paris, London. This ee Focus looks at how, while blustering loud about ‘human rights’ etc, European parliaments have been rendered napunse!

     It’s quite simple. Let’s rid ourselves of this millstone called debt daily and hourly garrotted around our necks. All the Sri Lankika government must do is embark on a program of modern industrialization. All white countries who wish to be our allies, should enable this program by investing whatever expertise they have to offer – for free, as reparations for underdeveloping us for so long – 516 years!

Contents:

A1. Reader Comments –

•  Only Bankers will Rule? • Sovereign the new Slavery • Media Whiteout • Legs Wide Open •

A2. Quotes of the Week

• Bloomberg to Head Pentagon Panel •1950 Budget Welfare for Rich • Taiwan Mistreats SL Students • SL Poster Child for IMF • Fake $ Imports • Finance forms in English • US Fakes Job Figures • Bloomberg News & Banks • Russia Calls Germany US Colony • US Treasury Drives Defaults • Capitalists Can’t Manage Economy

A3. Random Notes –

• Sri Lanka Pays for US Soldiers in Germany • Germany Demands no SL Import Bans • New US Banana in Colombo •  Let’s Have Human Rights Debate in Harlem • German, Japanese & Indian Fraud in SL Energy Projects • USAID Webinar hosts Sex Traffickers • Stock Exchange Fraud Galore • Fake Socialists Win • Philip Gunawardena First to demand English Quit Ceylon in State Council

B. ee Focus    

B1. A Quicky World History of Fake Debt, Default & Destruction

C. News Index

____________

A1. Reader Comments

ee thanks Readers who send articles of interest. Please excerpt or summarize what is important about any news sent, or your comments, and place any e-link at the end. Email: econenews@gmail.com

• ‘So forget parliament, prime ministers and presidents? We’re now ruled by that opaque ‘London Club’ of bankers, whose boardrooms are guard-dogged by states whose main claim to democracy is their monopoly in deploying fleets of aerial bombers and clouds of media, who unleash both weapons of mass destruction and mass deception. The only job description our politicians have is to discipline the people, the working class in particular?’

• ‘Sovereign is the new imperialism/slavery. The word used to mean ‘possessing supreme or ultimate power: in modern democracies the people’s will is in theory sovereign’. And (for a nation or its affairs) ‘acting independently and without outside interference: a sovereign, democratic republic’. Now ‘sovereign’ is most often used as an adjective for debt and default!’

• ‘The media in Sri Lanka may every now and again complain of Geneva’s double standards, and the predation of old pirates, English, Dutch, and Portuguese. But the media loves loves loves the white West. We were going to say English media loves the white West. But it’s not just the English. It is the Tamil, Hindi, Arabic, you name it, and of course the Sinhala media too. Of course when we say media, we mean vested interests, who monopolise broadcast (tv, radio, cyber) and print, 24-7-52. And when we say West, we mean the West in the head, which includes the honourable whites of US-occupied Japan, Korea and Taiwan, and the off-white Sahibs of Delhi and Colombo. ‘

• ‘The EU this week demanded again (Germans even opened an import-promotion desk) we remove restrictions on their exports of overpriced industrial and consumer goods. It is not just the EU of course. All of NATO, its Quads and its envoys, from NY to London, from Paris to Berlin, from Tokyo to Seoul to Delhi, all demand we remain supine AND prone market, legs and orifices wide open, singing yes, sir, yes, ma’am, 3 bag full!’

____________

A2. Quotes of the Week_

• Pentagon taps Bloomberg to head US War Innovation Board – ‘Innovation & adaptability are absolutely critical at any large organization, and there is no organization bigger or more complex than the Department of War…With rapid advances in technology happening alongside rapidly evolving threats to our national security and the safety of our service members, our largest government agency must also be our most forward-thinking.’ – Michael Bloomberg, see ee Finance

• ‘In a critique of the 1950 Budget, GVS de Silva accused the UNP of transferring wealth to the rich even while expanding welfare measures. The government’s attitude to the question of local industry, which had by then become a priority across Southeast Asia, also came for criticism: according to one observer, the tariff structure privileged the filling up of coffers ‘at the cost of irrational treatment for home industries.’ The situation was such that while tariffs on areca nuts stood at 100%, those on brushes and rat traps did not exceed 50%, though the latter items could be manufactured locally. Historians like KM de Silva dismiss the Opposition’s regard for industrialisation as a much-exaggerated panacea for all ills. Yet, it was industrialisation, led by the State in conjunction with private players, which had spurred growth in Southeast Asia. Regrettably enough, Sri Lanka’s elites did not pursue such a strategy, even in the long term.’ – ee Economy, First 10 Years

• SL Students Mistreated in Taiwan – ‘Over the past 2 decades, due to Taiwan’s low birthrate, many vocational and technical colleges have sought to bolster student numbers by recruiting from abroad. This trend reached its apogee when former president Ma Ying-jeou was in office and the nation’s colleges were additionally being flooded with Chinese students. However, Chinese student numbers declined following the election of President Tsai Ing-wen in 2016, and fell precipitously after the imposition Covid-19 border controls. Under increasing financial strain, many private colleges have turned to recruiting students from Southeast Asia and Africa, but this appears to have evolved into squeezing foreign students dry through a system of forced labour and induced indebtedness… University officials had allegedly travelled to Uganda for recruitment, telling prospective students that they would receive a scholarship, teaching materials in English and work experiences arranged by the school. However, after the students arrived in Taiwan, they discovered that lessons were taught in Chinese or translated through Google. Not only were they unable to understand the lessons, but scholarship funding did not materialize and they were compelled to work as factory interns, often in 2 jobs for 10 hours a day, to meet expenses and pay off their debts, leaving them physically and mentally exhausted.’ – ee Workers, Taiwan

• ‘It was the IMF that came to Sri Lanka’s aid along with Templeton Funds under Mark Mobius during 2009, when Sri Lanka experienced the last currency crisis at the conclusion of the war. The IMF engagement has been a positive experience for Sri Lanka, while Sri Lanka has been a poster child of the IMF over the last several decades.’ – ee Economists, Capital Assets Management

• ‘In addition to USD8bn gap in exports over imports, the country had to pay as much as $7bn in outstanding loans and interest. Therefore, the government had no option but to explore ways and means of raising $15bn a year to cover the trade deficit as well as loans and interest repayments… in calculating the annual shortage of USD, he hadn’t taken into consideration the USD requirement for Lankans studying overseas, those seeking medical treatment and foreign visits. Therefore the actual shortfall was even bigger, the minister said, warning that the gap couldn’t be bridged even if tourism fully recovered and the country managed to regain foreign remittances lost due to workers returning home with the outbreak of the pandemic. The MP declared that SL couldn’t overcome the crisis by obtaining more loans from China and India and by seeking IMF assistance. The PHU leader declared that first of all the government should accept the country was in deepening crisis not due to Covid-19 but as a result of a death trap of its own making due to living beyond its means. The minister said that instead of deceiving the masses, the people should be taken into confidence and the gravity of the situation explained. The minister said that leaders had to set an example by making sacrifices thereby helping the public to change their lifestyles. Minister Gammanpila questioned the country importing fruits worth $68mn, spices worth $127mn, vegetables and grains $384mn, in 2021. When the issue was taken up at the cabinet, Minister Chamal Rajapaksa pointed out how $384mn had been spent on dhal imports. The minister claimed that $850,000 had been spent on imported bees honey and $450mn on imported water bottles.’ – island.lk/gammanpila-says-country-is-in-debt-trap/

• ‘Leasing companies use only English language forms and obtain signatures from borrowers all over the forms. In some leasing agreements, there is an arbitrator clause that prevents the borrower from seeking legal assistance in the event of a dispute. Sri Lanka has lost many SME members due to non-payment of leasing. Many of those SMEs have had their homes and properties seized under the Leasing Act.’ – ee Finance, SMEs

• ‘Last week, the US jobs market rose by 467,000 more employees according to official estimates – much more than expected and completely in contrast with a survey of private sector employment (called the ADP) which fell 301,000. Again, the cry was that the US economy was making great strides in recovering from the pandemic slump. But again, the headline figure hid some of truth.  The reason for the sharp jump in the official figure was a revision of the census data which had been underestimating the number of Americans already at work in 2021. That was adjusted for by upping the Nov/Dec estimates.  After accounting for this one-off census adjustment, US jobs in Jan actually fell by 272k, while the household survey (another measure of jobs) showed a fall of 90,000 – the worst drop since the beginning of the pandemic. The reality is that only 80% of those Americans in the prime working age group (25-54 years) who had jobs before Covid have them now.’ – ee Economists, Sugar

• ‘Goldman Sachs is not the first Wall Street firm to have a business relationship with Bloomberg. The giant brokerage firm Merrill Lynch, now owned by Bank of America, was a minority owner of Bloomberg LP from its very beginning. After previously selling part of its stake back to Bloomberg, Merrill sold its remaining 20% stake back to Bloomberg in 2008 in the midst of the financial crisis.’ – ee Sovereignty, Ukraine

• ‘Russia’s Foreign Ministry lashed out at Germany today calling it an ‘occupied state’ where US ambassadors ‘are giving orders to German officials..backed up by 30,000 US boots on the ground.’ ee Sovereignty, Good Cop

• ‘The reality is that central banks have no real control over inflation anyway. But even so, they are trying. As a result, already market interest rates are rising. The US treasury bond, the benchmark floor for corporate borrowing, is on the rise with yields up 50bp. This increases the risk of a corporate debt crisis with such a large section of companies in the major economies already in a ‘zombie’ state (ie, not making sufficient profits to ‘service’ their existing debts). According to the IMF, about half of Low Income Economies (LIEs) are now in danger of debt default. Global debt has now reached $300trn, or 355% of world GDP.  It is estimated that a 1% point rise in interest rates increases global interest payments from $10trn a year to $16trn, or 15% of world GDP. And with a 2%-point rise, interest costs of $20trn or 20% of GDP.  Then not only will several poor countries be forced to default, so will many weaker companies in the advanced economies – causing a ricochet effect through the corporate sector.’ – ee Economists, Capitalist Economies

• ‘The capitalist class had also become unable to manage the immense productive system of this country; that they on the one hand expanded production so as to periodically flood all the markets with produce, and on the other became more and more incapable of holding their own against foreign competition. Thus we find that, not only can we manage very well without the interference of the capitalist class in the great industries of the country, but that their interference is becoming more and more a nuisance. Again we say to them, ‘Stand back! Give the working class the chance of a turn.’’ – ee Workers, Engels

___________

A3. Random Notes (‘Seeing Number in Chaos’)_

‘EU strongly urges Sri Lanka to lift import restrictions’

‘EU-Lanka talks: Focus on ‘Independent Institutions’, civil society & security law’

Russia reminded Germany on February 9, they are still a US colony. A castrated Doberman. Germany has to pay for the US stationing 30,000 soldiers there. Germany apprently wishes Sri Lanka to help them pay such debts.

     The EU led by Germany is demanding that Sri Lanka remove import restrictions, as a prelude to its showering us with more of their kind of love. They want our insane Kalusuddhas to buy Mercedes Benzes with dollars stolen from workers’ remittances. They want Sarvodaya to plunge rural cultivators into more debt to pay for Germany’s Claas Tractors (brought to us by DIMO).

     The US exported this week their latest variety of banana to Sri Lanka. The Julie Chung Banana is named after their new envoy – yellow on the outside, white on the inside – who arrived with white husband and handler in tow. Too deep a bite of a Julie C and we can be officially labelled a Banana Republic!

     Malcolm X tagged Black people who served the US State Department as KneeGrows. Because they spent most of their time on their knees, dishing out white supremacy to the world on behalf of massa (white master).

     Asians and Africans in the white states know they can talk big but not too big, for they’ll be wiped out. The same goes for their novelists and artists ‘of color’ who cannot discuss the actual terms of their existence in those settler states or this world. Hence the diasporas – who exist as suicide frontline troops for their foreign policy – like the Jews in Israel. They can talk all the human rights they wish. And while calling for equal rights here and sometimes there, their children will soon speak only English and marry white, soon disappearing into the snow…

• Sri Lanka’s UN Representative should invite Biden to a debate on human rights in Harlem at midnight, or in the middle of Anacostia, one of the largest African ‘ghettoes’ in Washington DC, USA, a landscape riddled with liquor shops, churches and drug dealers.

     ‘Geneva’ is a big business. Beeg! ‘Geneva’ is now a dysphemism for a seasonal call to the principal’s office. A principal who has a penchant for scolding, who loves beating little boys’ bottoms. Both the principal and some little boys look forward to the caning. The UN is one of the largest printers of good intentions, on paper and on line. Add all the carbon dioxide and other breath, jet fuel and related flatulence, billowing out of its offices and other orifices, and it also has a huge carbon footprint.

     Sri Lanka can regain its place on the world stage by leading a charge by the majority of the world’s nations at the General Assembly in New York. Whites are still burdened by the illusion they are the world. They even sing songs, like We are the World. And not just that. Sri Lanka must lead the charge to rein in the whites. Their disproportionate control over what is supposed to be a representative world institution must end.

• While talking loud about corruption, German, Japanese & Indian Fraud was exposed this week in costly energy projects: ‘A 25billion-Yen JICA loan to build a transmission line from Kirindiwela to Padukka Grid substation, shortlisted only Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation, and India’s Kalpatharu Power Transmission, uses a German consultant debarred by the World Bank for corruption in Africa’.

• USAID is sponsoring a webinar on 24 Feb, ‘Return to Growth’, with Tiffani Bova, Chief Growth & Innovation Evangelist, of Salesforce Ltd. In July 2012 Salesforce tried and failed to trademark the term ‘social enterprise’ in the US, EU and Jamaica, a term used to describe businesses with a primarily social purpose.  In March 2019 Salesforce was sued by 50 victims and survivors for sex trafficking, abuse and rape, which alleged the company profited from and knowingly facilitated sex trafficking on the website Backpage.com. Salesforce was publicly promoting an anti-human trafficking campaign at the time of its work with Backpage. In Dec 2019 Salesforce was caught avoiding the payment of taxes. So why is the hijacked National Development Bank and SLASSCOM, etc, sponsoring the seminar?

• A day before the Bloomberg ‘error’ announcing Russian invasion of Ukraine, Facebook shares fell on Feb 3, delivering billions of dollars in losses to both public and private pension plans, mutual funds as well as foreign central bank stock portfolios. FB is accused of fuelling a bubble market that allowed them, a company that pays no dividends – to have gained a market cap of over $1trillion. On a price decline since last Sept, FB became a $647bn stock on Feb 3. It was the largest decline for any one stock in one day in the history of the stock market. Large mutual-fund & ETF families are the largest FB shareowners – Vanguard Group & Blackrock at the top.

     5 companies (Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google’s parent Alphabet, FB) accounted for $7.85trillion of the $49.1trn total stock market value. On March 31, 2021, the total US stock market value was $49.1trn, ‘larger than the combined GDP of the 4 largest industrialized nations (US, China, Japan, Germany) according to IMF data.’ These 5 companies out of 1000s, yet represented 16% of the total stock market value. Each of these 5 stocks are traded in Wall St banks’ secretive ‘dark pools’. These pools operate outside the public exchanges, setting prices and executing orders that other participants cannot see, making so called ‘free markets’ even less transparent.

• In late January 2022, cryptocurrency prices collapsed, wiping out billions of dollars. ‘Thanks to the crash and a downturn in tech stocks, Elon Musk lost $25bn, while Jeff Bezos lost $20bn and Mark Zuckerberg lost $10bn.’ Yet the IMF told the SL Central Bank to ‘Deal with policy trade-offs to make digital currencies successful.’

• Feb 8, the Colombo Stock market saw over Rs100billion in value wiped off in 2 days. Blamed on investor sentiment turning ‘cautious amidst macro issues as well as prospects on companies’. There was no mention of exactly which ‘investors’ lost money. Pension funds?

• Feb 9, a ‘technical fault’ forced a manual closure at the Colombo Stock Exchange, closing it 9 minutes later than usual. (ee Finance, CSE)

• ‘Socialist’ parties are said to be winning elections worldwide. So says the capitalist media. It was Portugal on Jan 30. Chile in Dec. Peru in July. Mexico in 2018.  But are they really ‘socialist’ parties as the media make out, even if they have the word ‘socialist’ in their name?  Are they just a conglomeration of ‘nice’ people, ‘woke’ people, who say all kinda good things against poverty, for equality, etc. In other words, not socialists but liberals.

     It turns out that many of these so-called ‘Left’ parties have huge public relations budgets and departments who work overtime to broadcast populist programs that manage poverty marginally without altering underlying power dynamics. They promise to reduce corruption, to improve economic ‘fairness’, and provide safety and security. In the end, they make it worse.

     ee can almost guarantee they will fail to deliver, fail to transform the economy. They appear to have no plan to take control of the commanding heights. To industrialize. Instead, they are preparing the way for fascist parties.

     At the same time, there are military coups taking place in Africa. Mali. Sudan. Burkina. Guinea. Note how both Burkina Faso and Guinea once had ‘real’ leaders who sought to truly transform their economies: Amilcar Cabral. Thomas Sankara. Both were murdered. 

     In Portugal, ‘socialists’ won after the Communist Party left a coalition with them. Is it cos they incorporate the wannabe aspirations of a section of the working class, who hope to ‘make it’ within the system? They’re perhaps socialists of the many different ‘genetically modified’ species. All except scientific socialists.  The Communist Manifesto of over 170 years ago, lists the varieties of socialism that existed then in Europe. Now there are more, with many fake socialist parties.

• Freedom Fighter & National Hero Philip Gunawardena was the first to demand that the English Quit Ceylon in the State Council. Challenging the English Governor of Ceylon he said;

‘I was arrested on 18 June 1940. I was kept in detention till 7 April 1942. No specific or precise charges were ever framed against me. I was not tried by a Court of Law, My colleagues and I refused to appear before the Advisory Committee, that mockery of Judicial Tribunals! Why was I arrested and kept in detention? I challenge the right of Sir Andrew Caldecott, Agent of the Bank of England, and tool of the capitalist class of England to issue a warrant for my arrest and detention!

‘What right has the ruling class of England to rule over this country except that of superior force? England has as much right to rule over the People of Ceylon as the Nazis have over the people of Denmark and Norway, imperialists over Formosa and Java. No more! The English ruling classes came to this country as pirates and they have remained as plunderers. The English empire was built up by perjury by day and forgery by night! Ever since my return to this country in 1932, my colleagues and I worked with ceaseless endeavors to disseminate the ideas of scientific socialism amongst the pretty bourgeois intelligentsia and the advanced sections of the working class!’  Philip Gunawardena, Member of the State Council – 8 Feb 1944

     The statement was made on the dock, as accused of conspiring against the rule of His Majesty the King. Philip Gunawardena was a Member of State Council 1936-41, until he was arrested and deprived of State Council membership together with Dr NM Perera. They were arrested under Martial Law (Ceylon Gazette Extraordinary No8619, 3 June 1940 issued under Emergency Powers, Defense Act) on charges of conspiring against the British rule in Ceylon. After Philip G, NM had soon followed, as the only 2 Members of 1936 State Council to call on the English to Quit Ceylon. In June 1940 Philip Gunawardena, NM Perera, Colvin R de Silva, Edmond Samarakody were arrested as leaders and first kept in Welikada, then in Bogambara prison where they managed to break jail and escape in 1942 to the Indian freedom movement.

     In early 1943 they were arrested in Bombay (near Shivaji Park) and kept in Arthur Street (also known as Warli) Jail  in Mumbai. They were then sent to Ceylon and tried and imprisoned in Bogambara, and moved to Badulla on orders from Lord Mountbatten. 24 June 1945 the detenus were released unconditionally. (see, Dr Ananda Meegama, Philip Gunawardena: The State Council Years 1936-42)

______________

B. Special Focus_

B1. A Quicky World History of Fake Debt, Default & Destruction

Colonial policy is a child of industrial policy – France’s PM Jules Ferry, 1880s

The Empire is a bread & butter question – Cecil John Rhodes, 1895

Canadian hockey has a Byng Trophy! And Earl Grey is a tea!

England’s second major genocidal war, after 1818, on the Sinhala people in Sri Lanka, took place in 1848. In 1849 critics of Earl Grey, Secretary of State for War & the Colonies appointed a Parliamentary Committee on English Guiana and Sri Lanka. The English government, as a public relations exercise, removed English Colonial Secretary in Ceylon E Tennent along with their Governor Viscount Torrington (George Byng).

     This was during the period of so-called ‘free competition’ in England, 1840-60, when leading English bourgeois politicians opposed colonial policy. They even claimed that the liberation of the colonies, their complete separation from England, was inevitable and desirable. In 1852 the imperialist B Disraeli even declared: ‘The colonies are millstones round our necks.’ Yet in 1857, the English committed horrors in India, during the so-called ‘mutiny’. By 1900 the English heroes were Cecil Rhodes and Joseph Chamberlain, who openly and cynically advocated imperialism.

     In 1900 Joseph Chamberlain, Secretary of State for the Colonies, was the one of the largest shareholders of Colombo Commercial Co. Chamberlain advocated imperialism as a ‘true, wise and economical policy’, and pointed particularly to the German, US and Belgian competition, which England was encountering in the world market. ‘Salvation lies in monopolies, said the capitalists, as they formed cartels, syndicates, trusts’ (Lenin).

     Europe’s enormous expansion of colonial conquest took place, from 1860-80 for England, and from 1880-1900 for France and Germany. From the 1860-70s onwards, the struggle for territorial division of the world between them turned extraordinarily vicious.

     Finance capital now wanted both existing sources of raw materials but also potential sources. Technical development was rapid, and land useless today could be improved tomorrow, if large capital was invested. Hence, finance capital enlarged influence and territory. The interests pursued in exporting capital also give an impetus to the conquest of colonies, for in the colonial market it’s easier to employ monopoly methods (sometimes the only methods that can be employed) to eliminate competition, to ensure supplies, to secure the necessary ‘connections,’ etc.

      ‘Finance capital does not want liberty, it wants domination’, said Rudolf Hilferding. Finance capital and its foreign policy, which is the struggle of the great powers for the economic and political division of the world, gives rise to a number of transitional forms of state dependence. Countries, formally independent politically (like Argentina), were soon enmeshed in the net of financial & diplomatic dependence. Argentina  became ‘so dependent financially on London that it ought to be described as almost an English commercial colony.’

     Portugal, an ‘independent’ sovereign state, had for more than 200 years, since the war of the Spanish Succession (1701-14), was made an English protectorate, against England’s rivals, Spain and France. England received commercial privileges, preferential conditions for importing goods and especially capital into Portugal and Portuguese colonies, the right to use the ports and islands of Portugal, telegraph cables, etc.

     ‘Europe and the US were quickly afflicted with the fever of colonial expansion, of ‘imperialism,’ that most noteworthy feature of the end of the 19^th century.’ In this partition of the world, in this furious hunt for the treasures and the big markets of the globe, the relative strength of the empires founded in this 19^thC is totally out of proportion to the place occupied in Europe by the nations which founded them. The dominant powers in Europe, the arbiters of her destiny, are not equally preponderant in the whole world. And, as colonial might, the hope of controlling as yet unassessed wealth, will evidently react upon the relative strength of the European powers, the colonial question — ‘imperialism’ if you will — which has already modified the political conditions of Europe itself, will modify them more and more’.

     In 1884 they sliced Africa into the most awkward shapes among themselves. Those imperialists who did not get enough, sought to redivide the world from then on.

     The US, Canada and Australia had been busy committing genocide in North America, Asia and the Pacific. But in 1899, the US invaded and grabbed the Philippines, Hawaii, Cuba, Puerto Rico, etc., exporting expertise garnered from their ‘Indian Wars’.

     In 1899, Venezuela’s leader Cipriano Castro suspended debt payments to English bondholders. In 1902, English, German and Italian governments invaded, blockading and bombarding Venezuela’s main ports, and occupied its customs houses.

     In 1903, Germany was committing genocide in Namibia. In 1904, an Anglo-French Entente Cordiale recognized English control of Egypt and French control of Morocco. In 1905, Germany challenged France’s control over Morocco, threatening war.

     The US then took over as chief regional enforcer for Wall Street bankers led by JP Morgan and J Rockefeller. From 1905-29 the US government invaded, occupied or took over the economies of the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica.

     The Hague Peace Conference of 1907 recognized, ‘the legitimacy of the use of force in settling debt disputes.’

     After World War I, the US cancelled the war time debts of its white allies, England and France.

     In 1931, Bolivia became the first in the Americas to suspend payments on its external debt. They were followed in 1932 by Peru, Chile and Brazil; Colombia, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic. By 1933 at least 16 borrowers from the Americas were in default. Germany, Turkey, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Austria also suspended external debt service. Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Finland, France, Italy, Norway, Spain, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand – all pursued degrees of default.

     After World War II, the US took over from England as the top imperialist power. They cancelled Nazi Germany’s debts, forcing its allies to sign the London Debt Agreement (1953). They eliminated half of West Germany’s external debt, and Nazi West Germany paid the rest back under highly favorable terms. Lowering borrowing costs, freeing up fiscal space for public investment, and stabilizing inflation, they enabled Nazi West Germany’s Wirtschaftswunder – their economic miracle on the Rhine, with rapid industrial growth.

     In 1956, the major creditor countries set up the Paris Club to renegotiate Argentina debts, with voluntary reschedulings and restructurings of bilateral loans. The Paris Club went on to conclude 433 agreements with 90 different debtor countries, involving a total amount of $583billion in debt.

     In 1976, private bankers set up the London Club to renegotiate Zaire’s debts. They then continued to renegotiate the claims of private foreign creditors on other countries.

     From the 1980s bankers began to demand that debtors take fully responsibility for capitalism’s recurring international crises, that only deepen underdevelopment.

     This monopoly over debt has been enforced through the growing concentration and centralization of international credit markets, active intervention by creditor states and the IMF, along the growing dependence on private credit. In Sri Lanka, orthodox economists, technocrats and rentiers share the interests and ideologies of foreign bankers, insisting on full repayment.

     The increased mobility of capital and the growing control of finance over capital accumulation have weakened national sovereignty. The top private banks now shape the outcomes of major financial crises to their own benefit.

     Even while talking democracy, etc., they promote less accountable and more technocratic modes of government, systematically insulating political institutions and economic policymaking from popular pressures that demand more equitable sharing of repayment.

     After Greece’s meltdown in 2009, capitalists ensured that ‘no unilateral fiscal or other policy actions will be taken by the authorities which would undermine the liquidity, solvency or future viability of the banks.’ They officially suspended Greece’s national sovereignty on behalf on private bankers. Greece had to pledge ‘to accept a level of external oversight of its economy unprecedented of an EU member.’ Greece’s economy was now controlled not by its cabinet but by the IMF, the EU and bankers led by Germany.

     The whites have no problem with despotism, as long as governments use emergency decrees and executive edicts to bypass parliament and neutralize widespread social and political opposition to further austerity and neoliberal reforms.

     Major structural adjustment measures will not be approved by the normal parliamentary process. Emergency decrees & edicts will prevent and end strikes. They will then aggressively dismantle constitutional provisions guaranteeing labor and pension rights, the minimum wage and collective bargaining

     Called a ‘legal monster’, the 2013 European Fiscal Compact (aka Treaty on Stability, Coordination & Governance in the Economic & Monetary Union aka Fiscal Stability Treaty) imposes budgetary discipline on ‘deficit states’ and limits the ability of national sovereignty to determine budgetary priorities. It ‘elevates the austerity paradigm… to the status of ‘unbreakable law’, basically ‘outlaws Keynesianism and its counter-cyclical economic policies’.

     The Fiscal Compact ‘strikes at the heart of the institutions of parliamentary democracy by dislocating as a matter of constitutional principle the budgetary autonomy of the member states.’

     US Banker JP Morgan in 2015 complained about constitutions that display too much ‘socialist influence’, with ‘weak executives; weak central states relative to regions; constitutional protection of labor rights; consensus building systems that foster clientelism; and the right to protest if unwelcome changes are made to the political status quo’.

     German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble triumphantly stated, the Greeks ‘can vote however they want, but whatever election result we have will change nothing about the actual situation in the country.’ The main task of governments was to service the debts to bankers.

     With ‘public trust in the political system and EU institutions collapsing’, and massive waves of protests, strikes and riots rocking the country, ‘a neo-Nazi criminal gang entered parliament as Greek’s third-largest party’. All for the poorest Greeks to repay debts and obligations acquired through the illegitimate means of corruption, embezzlement, and graft.

     Almost all of Greece’s debts were soon held in official hands: European creditor states, EU bailout funds, the European Central Bank, and the IMF. The IMF officially claims to favor negotiations, but ‘as a senior creditor it still systematically refuses to write down its own holdings and has so far gone along with its European partners in opposing a formal haircut and pushing back the inevitable debt restructuring as far as possible’. International power politics interferes with ‘the presumed benefits of ad hoc multilateral solutions’ – negotiations! Reconciliation indeed! (Info from: Imperialism, The Latest Stage Of Capitalism, by VI Lenin, and Why Not Default? The Political Economy of Sovereign Debt, by Jerome Roos)

__________________________________________________________

C. News Index______________________________________________

• ee News Index provides headlines & links to make sense of the weekly focus of published English ‘business news’ to expose the backwardness of multinational, corporate controlled ‘local media’:

C1. Sovereignty

(ee is pro-politics, pro-politician, pro-nation-state, anti-corporatist, anti-expert, anti-NGO)

ee Sovereignty news emphasizes sovereignty as economic sovereignty – a strong nation is built on modern (machine-making) industrialization fueled by a producer culture.

• English Huntsmen Used To Rent Sri Lankan Babies for Crocodile Bait

– historyofyesterday.com/british-huntsmen-hired-sri-lankan-babies-for-crocodile-bait-2110fca5a793

• Double Standards on Human Rights

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/02/07/double-standards-on-human-rights/

• Canada Spearheads Challenge to SL’s Sovereignty

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/02/07/canada-spearheads-challenge-to-sls-sovereignty/

• Lanka points out flaws in Geneva process, disputes Canada’s genocide claim

– island.lk/sl-points-out-shortcomings-in-geneva-process-questions-canadian-genocide-claim/

– timesonline.lk/news-online/SL-HC-in-Canada-refutes-allegation-of-Tamil-Genocide-in-the-final-phase-of-the-conflict-in-Sri-Lanka/2-1136722

• Contradictions in Trinco oil tank deal

– island.lk/contradictions-in-trinco-oil-tank-deal/

• Trinco oil tank farm agreement tabled in Parliament

– adaderana.lk/news/80451/trinco-oil-tank-farm-agreement-tabled-in-parliament

– newsfirst.lk/2022/02/08/gammanpila-tables-trinco-tank-farm-agreement/

• In talks with India on two Dornier aircraft: G.L

‘used by the Indian Air Force. It is manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd under licence from Swiss company RUAG, and is a showpiece of the government’s “Make In India” programme’

– themorning.lk/in-talks-with-india-on-two-dornier-aircraft-g-l/

• SL to buy 40,000 metric tons of diesel & 40,000 metric tons of petrol from Indian Oil Corporation (Disturbing News)

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/02/06/sri-lanka-will-buy-40000-metric-tons-of-diesel-and-40000-metric-tons-from-the-indian-oil-corporation-a-disturbing-news-item/

•  SL envoy meets Indian finance minister to discuss USD 1 billion credit line

– adaderana.lk/news/80538/sl-envoy-meets-indian-finance-minister-to-discuss-usd-1-billion-credit-line

• G.L goes to India, seeks meeting with Modi

‘The only two scheduled engagements for Prof. Peiris are meetings with External Affairs Minister, Subhramanyam Jaishanker and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval’

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/news/g-l-goes-to-india-seeks-meeting-with-modi-471706.html

– ft.lk/ft_tv/SL-and-India-FMs-meet-and-hold-talks-on-economic-and-investment-initiatives/10520-730287

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-india-in-strategic-partnership-says-fm-amid-emergency-financing-90286/

• India’s support helped Sri Lanka, says Sri Lanka Foreign Minister Peiris

– newsfirst.lk/2022/02/07/indias-support-helped-sri-lanka-says-sri-lanka-foreign-minister-peiris/

– island.lk/indian-support-has-made-world-of-difference-to-lanka-fm-peiris/

• Indo-Lankan relations begin to be grounded in realities – Balachandra

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/02/10/indo-lankan-relations-begin-to-be-grounded-in-realities/

• Lanka seeks 2 credit lines from India, Australia to buy essentials for Avurudu

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/news/lanka-seeks-2-credit-lines-from-india-australia-to-buy-essentials-for-avurudu-471701.html

• Jaishankar-Peris to focus on economic assistance, fishers issue

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/02/06/jaishankar-peris-to-focus-on-economic-assistance-fishers-issue/

• Murder at mid-sea: Northern fisherfolk at breaking point over Indian raiders blamed for deaths

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/news/murder-at-mid-sea-northern-fisherfolk-reach-breaking-point-over-indian-raiders-blamed-for-deaths-471543.html

• Encroachment by Indian fishermen violates human rights of Sri Lankan fishermen

– island.lk/encroachment-by-indian-fishermen-violates-human-rights-of-sri-lankan-fishermen/

• GL in Delhi but Indian Fishing vessels continue to break into ‘Sea of Sri Lanka’.

– newsfirst.lk/2022/02/08/gl-in-delhi-but-indian-fishing-vessels-continue-to-break-into-sea-of-sri-lanka/

• 11 Indian fishermen detained in seas off Delft Island; 3 trawlers seized by Navy

– newsfirst.lk/2022/02/08/11-indian-fishermen-detained-in-seas-off-delft-island-3-trawlers-seized-by-navy/

•  Tamil Nadu wants Modi to stop Sri Lanka boat auction

– newsfirst.lk/2022/02/08/tamil-nadu-wants-modi-to-stop-sri-lanka-boat-auction/

– themorning.lk/tamil-nadu-cm-asks-modi-to-intervene-in-sl-auction-of-indian-fishing-boats/

– island.lk/lanka-acted-contrary-to-understanding-with-new-delhiauctioning-of-seized-fishing-boats/

• Onus is on the Indian govt to resolve fishermen crisis

– dailymirror.lk/opinion/Onus-is-on-the-Indian-govt-to-resolve-fishermen-crisis/231-230658

• Sri Lanka to deport 56 Indian fishermen after India calls for their early release

– newsfirst.lk/2022/02/08/sri-lanka-to-deport-56-indian-fishermen-after-india-calls-for-their-early-release/

• Fishermen demand end to Indian encroachment

– timesonline.lk/news-online/In-Pictures-Fishermen-demand-end-to-Indian-encroachment/2-1136749

• Save northern fisher-folk from the nets of Indian poachers

‘Point Pedro fishermen claim that some weeks before the killing of the two Sri Lankan fishermen they had spotted nearly 400 Indian bottom trawlers in the northern seas’

– dailymirror.lk/opinion/Save-northern-fisher-folk-from-the-nets-of-Indian-poachers/172-230804

• USD 40.8 mn Japanese support for Northern and Eastern NGOs engaged in mine clearing

‘The disclosure was made in the wake of Mines Advisory Group (MAG) receiving US$ 647,611 (approx. Rs. 128 million) for humanitarian de-mining.’

– island.lk/usd-40-8-mn-japanese-support-for-ngos-engaged-in-mine-clearing/

• Israel-SL ties focus on counter terrorism, agriculture

‘Israel no doubt has expertise, not in eliminating terrorism but in sustaining terrorism, to keep over hundreds of arms manufacturing factories in Israel and the US working.’

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/business-times/israel-sl-ties-focus-on-counter-terrorism-agriculture-471269.html

– island.lk/unhrc-february-march-sessions-and-price-sl-pays-for-1979-pta/

• Israel donates a consignment of COVID 19 related medical equipment to Sri Lanka

– timesonline.lk/news-online/Israel-donates-a-consignment-of-COVID-19-related-medical-equipment-to-Sri-Lanka/2-1136713

• New US envoy sworn in

‘Chung’s previous posting was Acting Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, and serving for roles in Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Colombia, and Iraq.’

– ft.lk/front-page/New-US-envoy-sworn-in/44-730450

– economynext.com/julie-chung-appointed-us-ambassador-to-sri-lanka-90445/

• Lanka’s unfinished freedom struggle

‘English House of Commons still thinks it should be running what was once ‘Lipton’s tea garden’’

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/editorial/lankas-unfinished-freedom-struggle-471495.html

• Bad news: Vellalars are back in Jaffna

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/02/05/bad-news-vellalars-are-back-in-jaffna/

• Civil society: Comparing Tamil activist’s advocacy with LTTE claims unwarranted

‘Retaining or losing GSP+ trade privileges is entirely based on the European Union’s assessment of the conduct of the Sri Lankan Government with respect to labour rights, human rights, environmental protection and good governance’

– island.lk/civil-society-comparison-of-tamil-activists-advocacy-with-ltte-claims-unwarranted-mischievous-and-chilling/

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-foreign-ministry-criticised-over-statement-against-activist-90233/

– island.lk/geneva-controversy-ambika-hits-back-hard-at-foreign-ministry/

• 13th Amendment and Tamil polity: A pragmatic approach – Dr Nirmala Chandrahasan

– island.lk/13th-amendment-and-tamil-polity-a-pragmatic-approach/

• PM’s visit to Tirupathi: CIABOC initiates inquiry

– island.lk/pms-visit-to-tirupathi-ciaboc-initiates-inquiry/

• Sri Lanka’s relations with China not at the expense of India – Foreign Minister

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/02/07/sri-lankas-relations-with-china-not-at-the-expense-of-india-foreign-minister/

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/02/06/india-shouldnt-treat-china-sri-lanka-cooperation-as-its-loss/

• Chinese, Sri Lankan FMs exchange congratulations on 65th anniversary of diplomatic ties

– themorning.lk/chinese-sri-lankan-fms-exchange-congratulations-on-65th-anniversary-of-diplomatic-ties/

• Rumors behind ‘China debt trap’: How Western & Indian conspiracists smear China-Sri Lanka cooperation

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/02/06/rumors-behind-china-debt-trap-how-western-and-indian-conspiracists-smear-china-sri-lanka-cooperation/

• EU strongly urges Sri Lanka to lift import restrictions

– adaderana.lk/news/80481/eu-strongly-urges-sri-lanka-to-lift-import-restrictions

• EU-Lanka talks: Focus on ‘Independent Institutions’, civil society and security law

– island.lk/eu-lanka-talks-focus-on-independent-institutions-civil-society-and-security-law/

– bizenglish.adaderana.lk/joint-press-release-eu-sri-lanka-joint-commission/

• EU should press for repeal of Prevention of Terrorism Act: US Human Rights Watch

– timesonline.lk/news-online/EU-should-press-for-repeal-of-PTA-HRW/2-1136728

– island.lk/hrw-steps-up-pressure-on-sri-lanka-to-reform-pta/

– ft.lk/front-page/Human-Rights-Watch-calls-on-Govt-to-genuinely-reform-the-PTA/44-730480

• England welcomes release of Hejaaz Hizbullah

– timesonline.lk/news-online/UK-welcomes-release-of-Hejaaz-Hizbullah/2-1136748

– island.lk/amnesty-wants-gosl-to-review-all-terrorism-cases-after-granting-bail-to-hejaaz-hizbullah/

• Sumanthiran speaks of 300-400 PTA detainees languishing for years without bail

– ft.lk/news/Sumanthiranspeaks-of-PTA-detainees-plight-in-light-of-bail-for-Ahnaf-Hijaz/56-730435

– themorning.lk/pta-amendments-tabled-as-tna-calls-for-ptas-repeal/

• USAID’s CPA files petition before SC over PTA amendment Bill

– themorning.lk/cpa-files-petition-before-sc-over-pta-amendment-bill/

• Russian Diplomats’ Day in Sri Lanka and Russian Foreign Policy

– dailymirror.lk/news-features/Russian-Diplomats-Day-and-Russian-Foreign-Policy/131-230964

• Maldives to launch “National Moderation Campaign” to eradicate religious extremism

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/02/08/government-to-launch-national-moderation-campaign/

• When Cruelty Is The Point – U.S. Decides To Kill More Afghan People

– moonofalabama.org/2022/02/when-cruelty-is-the-point-us-decides-to-kill-more-afghan-people.html

• Biden Is Committing Absolute Horror Against The People Of Afghanistan

– indi.ca

• Appalling decision by India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to huddle with QUAD

– indianpunchline.com/us-plays-quad-card-during-beijing-olympics/

• Quad foreign ministers meet amid divergent expectations

‘Targeting China, Russia only serves US strategic demand’

– globaltimes.cn/page/202202/1251886.shtml

• Pakistan in the Eye of the Storm

‘various terrorist groups continue to operate in Afghanistan. And groups like Hizb ut-Tahrir or the Islamic State affiliates have a long history of working as the West’s geopolitical tool.’

– strategic-culture.org/news/2022/02/08/pakistan-in-eye-of-storm/

• How Pakistan And Bangladesh Can Reap The Benefits From Growing Trade

‘Bangladesh and Pakistan together make up 5 percent of the world’s population’

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/02/06/how-pakistan-and-bangladesh-can-reap-the-benefits-from-growing-trade/

• Relationship between Bangladesh’s Zero-Tolerance for terrorism & Northeast India’s peace and prosperity

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/02/08/relationship-between-bangladeshs-zero-tolerance-for-terrorism-and-northeast-indias-peace-and-prosperity/

• Indonesia to buy 42 Rafale jets as it boosts ties with France

‘France seeks to expand geopolitical ties in the Indo-Pacific, with Indonesia becoming the second country in the region – after India – to acquire the aircraft. It also follows Australia’s decision last year to cancel a multibillion-dollar submarine deal with France…’

– island.lk/indonesia-to-buy-42-rafale-jets-as-it-boosts-ties-with-france/

• USA vs China: Whose Economy is Winning?

– geopoliticaleconomy.org/webinar-usa-vs-china-whose-economy-is-winning/

• Russia-China convergence: The new multipolarity?

‘For Sri Lanka, located as it is, these developments are certainly not without consequence. It is imperative to take this new and unprecedented convergence and its lengthy articulation into account, including in its foreign policy calculus.

– ft.lk/columns/Russia-China-convergence-The-new-multipolarity/4-730291

• Black Alliance for Peace Condemns “America COMPETES Act” as  futile to “contain” China

– blackagendareport.com/black-alliance-peace-condemns-america-competes-act

• China’s support is a game changer for Russia

‘latest US and NATO troop reinforcements to Russia’s neighbours, a calculated act of provocation’

– indianpunchline.com/chinas-support-is-a-game-changer-for-russia/

• Canada Supports Ukraine’s Self-determination:  As Long As It Does As Canada Says

–  moonofalabama.org/2022/02/us-and-canada-support-ukraines-self-determination-and-independence-unless-it-does-not-do-as-they-say

• Bloomberg News Ran a False Headline, “Russia Invades Ukraine,” for 24 Minutes on Friday.

– wallstreetonparade.com/2022/02/bloomberg-news-ran-a-false-headline-russia-invades-ukraine-for-24-minutes-on-friday-heres-the-untold-story/

• Fake News: ‘Russian Troop Build-Up’ – Eight Years Of Crying Wolf

– moonofalabama.org/2022/02/russian-troop-build-up-eight-years-of-crying-wolf.html#comments

• Europe Should Leave NATO Behind And Integrate With Russia

– moonofalabama.org/2022/02/europe-should-leave-nato-behind-and-integrate-with-russia

• Moscow confronts Yankee ‘good cop, bad cop’

– indianpunchline.com/moscow-confronts-good-cop-bad-cop/

• The Mediocracy Of ‘Global Britain’

‘The knowledge and quality of ‘western’ leading officials is of serious concern. They are often politicians with no experience in the fields they are supposed to represent.’

– moonofalabama.org/2022/02/the-mediocracy-of-global-britain

• Russia reiterates call for Israeli regime to stop military strikes against Syria

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/285787-russia-reiterates-call-for-israeli-regime-to-stop-military-strikes-against-syria

• China & Russia oppose any attempts to abuse democratic values: joint statement

– themorning.lk/china-russia-oppose-any-attempts-to-abuse-democratic-values-joint-statement/

• Iran & Cuba Promoting Pluripolarity

‘planetary pluripolarity against the ongoing attempt of the US and its allies to maintain its global hegemony over the world’

– geopoliticaleconomy.org

• Quad Foreign Ministers Resolve to Work Toward Free, Open Indo-Pacific

– newsclick.in/Quad-Foreign-Ministers-Resolve-Work-Toward-Free-Open-Indo-Pacific

• African Union condemns ‘wave’ of coups

– globaltimes.cn/page/202202/1251647.shtml

• UN says 13 million face hunger in Horn of Africa as drought worsens

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/285489-un-says-13-million-face-hunger-in-horn-of-africa-as-drought-worsens

• African Union postpones debate on Israel’s observer status

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/285372-african-union-postpones-debate-on-israels-observer-status

• Cruel System of Domination: Amnesty on Israeli Apartheid

– socialistproject.ca/2022/02/cruel-system-of-domination-amnesty-israel-apartheid/

• Venezuelan president confirms capture of group trained in Colombia

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/285790-venezuelan-president-confirms-capture-of-group-trained-in-colombia

• Bolivia participates with a large delegation in Parlatino’s Regular Meeting

‘XXXVI Ordinary Assembly of Latin American and Caribbean Parliament (Parlatino), in Panama’

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/285900-bolivia-participates-with-a-large-delegation-in-parlatinos-regular-meeting

• Amlo demands Mexico be treated with respect and rules out diplomatic rupture with Spain

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/285771-amlo-demands-that-his-country-be-treated-with-respect-and-rules-out-diplomatic-rupture-with-spain

• State of emergency in Ottawa to deal with trucking blockade

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/285290-state-of-emergency-in-ottawa-to-deal-with-trucking-blockade

• Canada intensifies crackdown as protests spread

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/285468-canada-intensifies-crackdown-as-protests-spread

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/285917-canada-truckers-extend-border-blockade-with-us-inspire-protests-abroad

• Left-Right White Solidarity Basis of Support for U.S./EU/NATO Wars on Global Humanity

‘Supposed leftists in this country were largely silent about the danger and were themselves supportive of white supremacist politics carried out by the U.S. and its NATO partners’

– blackagendareport.com/left-right-white-solidarity-basis-support-useunato-wars-global-humanity

________________________________________________________________

C2. Security (the state beyond ‘a pair of handcuffs’, monopolies of legitimate violence)

ee Security section focuses on the state (a pair of handcuffs, which sposedly has the monopoly of legitimate violence), and how the ‘national security’ doctrine is undermined by private interests, with no interest in divulging or fighting the real enemy, whose chief aim is to prevent an industrial renaissance as the basis of a truly independent nation.

• Israel PM vows action as police Pegasus spying scandal widens

– globaltimes.cn/page/202202/1251726.shtml

• The perils of ‘maritime blindness’

– dailymirror.lk/news-features/The-perils-of-maritime-blindness/131-230654

• Cabinet green light to sign MoU with India for Unitary Digital Identity project

– newsfirst.lk/2022/02/08/cabinet-green-light-to-sign-mou-with-india-for-unitary-digital-identity-project/

• Post-Easter Sunday carnage: Japan provides vehicles, equipment for counter-terror operations

– island.lk/post-easter-sunday-carnage-support-japan-provides-vehicles-equipment-for-counter-terror-operations/

– economynext.com/japan-gives-sri-lanka-counter-terror-surveillance-vehicles-drug-analyzers-90289/

– newsfirst.lk/2022/02/08/japan-provides-counter-terror-surveillance-investigation-vehicles/

• Sirisena to keynote World Peace Conference in Seoul

‘He was officially invited by United Nations former Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon’

– ft.lk/front-page/Sirisena-to-keynote-World-Peace-Conference-in-Seoul/44-730441

• Navy foils another drug smuggling attempt in international waters

– timesonline.lk/news-online/Navy-foils-another-drug-smuggling-attempt-in-international-waters/2-1136712

• Dubai-based drug lord’s associate killed in confrontation with STF

– island.lk/dubai-based-drug-lords-associate-killed-in-confrontation-with-stf/

• Ministers on collision course over police appointments

– island.lk/ministers-on-collision-course-over-police-appointments/

• UNHRC February-March sessions and price SL pays for 1979 PTA!

– island.lk/unhrc-february-march-sessions-and-price-sl-pays-for-1979-pta/

• PTA is a reform-resistant piece of legislation: USAID NPC Perera

– island.lk/first-step-cannot-be-the-last-especially-if-reversed-at-the-start/

– island.lk/amendments-to-pta-civil-society-not-satisfied-make-own-proposals/

• Justice Minister laments for victims of laws’ delays

– island.lk/justice-minister-laments-for-victims-of-laws-delays/

• Death of ISIS leader: Was he killed or silenced?

– dailymirror.lk/opinion/Death-of-ISIS-leader-Was-he-killed-or-silenced/172-230852

• Felix Dias’ draconian laws helped conspirators’ acquittal

– island.lk/felix-dias-draconian-laws-helped-conspirators-acquittal/

• J.A.A. ‘Algy’ Perera bodyguard to Elizabeth II left Force in 1959

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/plus/lankan-royal-tie-sealed-with-a-gift-a-star-tortoise-471094.html

• Dept. of Law was established in 1947 under the Faculty of Arts

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/02/09/vintage-photograph-of-the-colombo-law-faculty-1972-unveiled-in-the-board-room-of-the-law-faculty-by-the-vice-chancellor-u-of-colombo/

• Rona Wilson’s Devices Hacked by two Groups of Hackers Employed by Sentinel Labs

– newsclick.in/rona-wilsons-devices-hacked-two-groups-hackers-employed-same-entity-sentinel-labs

• U.S. Senate hearing focuses on U.S. drone warfare

‘30,000 civilians had been killed as a result of U.S. coalition airstrikes since that 2013 hearing’

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/285770-us-senate-hearing-foccuses-on-us-drone-warfare

• Eight times the USA Has Used Biological and Chemical Weapons Since WWII

– blackagendareport.com/eight-times-united-states-has-used-biological-and-chemical-weapons-wwii

• “Black on Black crime” is a pernicious trope to absolve systemic racism

– blackagendareport.com/eric-adams-black-black-crime

_____________________________________________________________

C3. Economists (Study the Economists before you study the Economics)

ee Economists shows how paid capitalist/academic ‘professionals’ confuse (misdefinitions, etc) and divert (with false indices, etc) from the steps needed to achieve a modern industrial country.

• Sri Lanka’s economy in the first 10 years – Devapriya

‘Industrialisation was the only feasible and viable answer, and that obviously required heavy State intervention, as was happening in South-East Asia. But all three UNP regimes from 1947 to 1956 dismissed such an idea’

– island.lk/sri-lankas-economy-in-the-first-10-years/

• Learning to get our economy back on track – Garvin Karunaratne

‘There were no currency dealers who handled foreign exchange like today, and the intake of foreign currency was a guarded property used first for importing essentials’

– island.lk/learning-to-get-our-economy-back-on-track/

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/02/11/the-challenge-to-get-sri-lanka-on-the-right-track-to-face-the-economic-problems-of-today/

• SL desperately needs critique beyond obsession with market imposed austerity – Devapriya

– island.lk/legitimate-criticism-and-mindless-opposition/

• The consequences of sovereign default – Kadrigamar & Gunawardena

‘people advocating default are predominantly right-wing neoliberal experts… The real structural reforms necessary to ensure ordinary people’s survival include cutting down on the import bill by prioritising essential imports, distributing subsidies to cover the effective increase in food prices, and investing in domestic food production’

– ft.lk/columns/The-consequences-of-sovereign-default/4-730248

• Case against default of sovereign bond holders – Ceylon Asset Management Dulindra Fernando

‘Some economists state it’s acceptable to default since some ‘local’ investors have bought US $ 100 sovereign bonds at US $ 50? The same economists admit they are unable to verify any ownership of local bond holders.’

– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Case-against-default-of-sovereign-bond-holders/273-230766

• IMF: The Pandora’s box – Tennakoon

‘Those exposed for huge frauds and rackets undisputedly, are reappointed to the highest places in the same field of activity and industry. It happened and it is happening. Disgusting but it is the truth!’

– ft.lk/columns/IMF-The-Pandora-s-box/4-730295

• Finance Minister engaged senior IMF figures in Washington DC

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/columns/public-relations-blunders-cost-the-government-dearly-471506.html

• ‘Economic time bomb’ exploded 5 years earlier due to Covid-19 epidemic – Gammanpila

‘lacking is long-term planning and every effort needs to be made to encourage local enterprises, be it agricultural or industrial’

– island.lk/time-to-grasp-the-nettle/

– island.lk/gammanpila-says-country-is-in-debt-trap/

• CBSL reiterates SL’s commitment to service forthcoming debt obligations

– island.lk/cbsl-reiterates-sls-commitment-to-service-forthcoming-debt-obligations/

– ft.lk/front-page/CBSL-reiterates-commitment-to-service-forthcoming-debt-obligations/44-730391

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-will-not-default-no-need-to-re-structure-central-bank-says-90298/

– bizenglish.adaderana.lk/no-need-for-discussions-with-investors-on-dept-restructuring-cbsl/

– adaderana.lk/news/80487/sri-lanka-not-on-verge-of-sovereign-default-central-bank-reiterates

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/02/09/gosl-will-ensure-isb-settlement-without-default/

• The Tyranny Of Averages

– indi.ca

• Why Corporations Are Getting Rich Off Plague And War

– indi.ca

• Futuristic banking studies a necessity for economic development: Cabraal

– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Futuristic-banking-studies-a-necessity-for-economic-development-Cabraal/273-230882

• Current food inflation in Sri Lanka: Causes and consequences – Priyankara

‘Sri Lanka needs to have an effective food management strategy to deal with the current crisis’

– ft.lk/columns/Current-food-inflation-in-Sri-Lanka-Causes-and-consequences/4-730181

• 43 Brigade Economic Policy

– 43.lk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/English-Policy-Document.pdf

• Champika SL VLOG interview with Abisheka Fernando.

– youtube.com/watch?v=uwfctECP460

• SJB says its economic experts formulating solution to economic crisis

‘economic experts, including MPs Harsha de Silva, Kabir Hashim and Eran Wickramaratne’

– dailymirror.lk/business-news/SJB-says-its-economic-experts-formulating-solution-to-economic-crisis/273-230883

– ft.lk/front-page/Sajith-calls-for-unity-to-overcome-economic-woes/44-730442

• A less recognised cause of our underdevelopment – Emigration: Sanderatne

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/columns/a-less-recognised-cause-of-our-underdevelopment-471518.html

• Road to economic independence: Has Sri Lanka got economic freedom? – Abeyratne

‘The country’s poorest record of performance is clear in three areas – the rule of law, international trade and, regulatory mechanism’

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/business-times/road-to-economic-independence-471237.html

• 43 Brigade Should Prepare time-bound action plan with milestones for 10 years – Wijewardena

– ft.lk/columns/The-43-Brigade-and-its-manifesto-How-should-the-electorate-take-it/4-730214

• Chinese development from a historical perspective – Abeyratne

– ft.lk/columns/Chinese-development-from-a-historical-perspective/4-730290

• Deshal dissects Sri Lanka’s economy: ‘IMF programme will not fully bail out Sri Lanka’

– themorning.lk/deshal-dissects-sri-lankas-economy-imf-programme-will-not-fully-bail-out-sri-lanka/

• SJB requests Prez to come for discussion on forex crisis

– dailymirror.lk/business/SJB-requests-Prez-to-come-for-discussion-on-forex-crisis/215-230817

• Ranil asks for debate on impending IMF report on Lanka

‘no use of trying to ascertain whether the present financial crisis in the country was because of the mismanagement of the incumbent government or of the former government or of King Mahasen’

– island.lk/ranil-asks-for-debate-on-impending-imf-report-on-lanka/

• Ranil calls for monthly report on debt & debt servicing
– newsfirst.lk/2022/02/10/ranil-calls-for-monthly-report-on-debt-debt-servicing/

• Karu blames weak governance for economic crisis

– island.lk/karu-blames-weak-governance-for-economic-crisis/

• Fixing the dollar exchange rate: A major mistake – Romesh Dias Bandaranaike

– island.lk/fixing-the-dollar-exchange-rate-a-major-mistake/

• Sri Lanka needs GSP+ now more than ever following the pandemic –Joint Apparel Association

– bizenglish.adaderana.lk/sri-lanka-needs-gsp-now-more-than-ever-following-the-pandemic/

• English handed over economy foremost in the region to SL – Brigadier (Rtd) Ranjan de Silva

– island.lk/imf-help-for-sri-lanka-and-accountability/

• Biden Is Holding An Economic Hot Potato

– indi.ca

• The Beggars Of Capitalism

– indi.ca

• Why Infra Spending Doesn’t Help the Poor

The expenditure will only help big corporates make bigger profits. The ‘big’ infrastructure spending in Budget 2022 will give a grand total of just Rs.2/day to some 25 crore of poor people in India. It will do nothing to solve our demand crisis. The expenditure will only help big corporates make bigger profits.’

– newsclick.in/why-infra-spending-doesnt-help-poor

• Capitalist economies to expand 2022, real GDP, investment & income growth much slower

– thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2022/02/07/the-sugar-runs-out/

• Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), Marglin and Marx – Roberts

– thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2022/02/10/mmt-marglin-and-marx/

• Know Your Enemy: How to Defeat Capitalism – Lebowitz

– socialistproject.ca/pamphlets/know-your-enemy-how-to-defeat-capitalism

____________________________________________

C4. Economy (Usually reported in monetary terms)

ee Economy section shows how media usually measures economy by false indices like GDP, etc., in monetary terms, confusing money and capital, constantly calling for privatization, deregulation, moaning about debt & balance of payments, without stating the need for modern industrial production.

• Govt. says errant traders capitalising on foreign exchange crisis

– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Govt-says-errant-traders-capitalising-on-foreign-exchange-crisis/273-230953

• Deficit in trade account widens in the face of import surge

– island.lk/deficit-in-trade-account-widens-in-the-face-of-import-surge/

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-2021-imports-surge-to-20-6bn-amid-controls-forex-shortages-90452/

• How much do MPs owe banks, how many have defaulted on their loans?

– island.lk/sinners-stoning-one-another/

• Deal with policy trade-offs to make digital currencies successful: IMF tells CBs

– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Deal-with-policy-trade-offs-to-make-digital-currencies-successful-IMF-tells-CBs/273-230952

• Govt. gears for uphill task of making festive season shortage-free

– ft.lk/top-story/Govt-gears-for-uphill-task-of-making-festive-season-shortage-free/26-730488

• Existing forex crisis is a temporary situation : Basil

– ft.lk/news/Existing-forex-crisis-is-a-temporary-situation-Basil/56-730493

• Sri Lanka BOP deficit hits record US$3.9bn in 2021 amid money printing

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-bop-deficit-hits-record-us3-9bn-in-2021-amid-money-printing-90455/

• Sumanthiran-led multi-party group ask Govt for rescheduling debts

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Sumanthiran-led-multi-party-group-ask-Govt-for-rescheduling-debts/108-230912

•  Sri Lanka opposition SJB for central bank accountability, reform: Sajith

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-opposition-sjb-for-central-bank-accountability-reform-sajith-90198/

• Sri Lanka sells more gold reserves

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-sells-more-gold-reserves-90270/

• Sri Lanka bond yields edge up at close

– island.lk/cb-sells-more-gold-assets-reserves-further-down/

• Sri Lanka bond yields edge up at close

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-bond-yields-edge-up-at-close-90259/

• Sri Lanka bond market illiquid

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-bond-market-illiquid-90224/

• Foreign reserves fall to US$ 2.3bn despite swap, debt deferment

‘SL has to settle up to US$ 1.8bn between February and April and a US$ 1bn ISB in July. SL has US$ 4-5 billion worth foreign debt to settle per annum until 2025’

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Foreign-reserves-fall-to-US-2-3bn-despite-swap-debt-deferment/108-230764

• Sri Lanka spends US$736mn to defend 200 to dollar peg as ‘reserves for imports’ intensify

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-spends-us736mn-to-defend-200-to-dollar-peg-as-reserves-for-imports-intensify-90404/

• Sri Lanka has to settle USD 12.5 Bn in ISB over the next seven years – Cabraal

– newsfirst.lk/2022/01/24/sri-lanka-has-to-settle-usd-12-5-bn-in-isb-over-the-next-seven-years-cabraal/

• Sri Lanka says it won’t rush to IMF despite rising economic risks

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/02/11/sri-lanka-says-it-wont-rush-to-imf-despite-rising-economic-risks/

•  No request from Sri Lanka for financial support – IMF

– newsfirst.lk/2022/02/11/no-request-from-sri-lanka-for-financial-support-imf/

• IMF helping SL but not with money

‘Vitor Gaspar, Director IMF Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD) stated IMF will support the training programme on Macro Financial capacity building funded by the Government of Japan and will expand on the basic forecasting and economic analysis tools presented in March 2021 by the IMF FAD, South Asian Training and Technical Assistance Centre (SARTTAC), to develop a Medium Term Fiscal Framework (MTFF), present FAD fiscal risk analysis tools, and provide exercises on high level budget execution review. The FAD team will be led by Holger Van Eden, Deputy Division Chief in FADs PFM Division11 and includes Lesley Fisher, Senior Economist; John Grinyer SARTTAC regional Micro fiscal advisor; Raju Sharan SARTTAC regional PFM advisor; Andrew Evans SARTTAC  GFS advisor and Michel Marion FAD international expert.

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/business-times/imf-helping-sl-but-not-with-money-471277.html

– ft.lk/front-page/IMF-says-it-is-ready-to-help-Sri-Lanka-if-asked/44-730224

• Sri Lanka on brink of sovereign bond default, warn investors

– bizenglish.adaderana.lk/sri-lanka-on-brink-of-sovereign-bond-default-warn-investors/

• US Inflation Might Have hit a new 40-Year High in January

– newsclick.in/US-Inflation-Might-Have-hit-new-40-Year-High-January

– economynext.com/us-inflation-rises-to-7-5-pct-as-sri-lanka-hits-14-2-percent-90430/

• US inflation likely to stay high in 2022, 2023 even if Fed tightens now: Steve Hanke

– economynext.com/us-inflation-likely-to-stay-high-in-2022-2023-even-if-fed-tightens-now-steve-hanke-90427/

_________________________________________________________________________

C5. Workers (Inadequate Stats, Wasteful Transport, Unmodern Plantations, Services)

ee Workers attempts to correct the massive gaps and disinformation about workers, urban and rural and their representatives (trade unions, etc), and to highlight the need for organized worker power

•  Electricity supply and healthcare declared essential services

– adaderana.lk/news/80540/electricity-supply-and-healthcare-declared-essential-services

– newsfirst.lk/2022/02/12/electricity-supply-health-care-declared-as-essential-services/

• Department of Census and Statistics surveys grave impact lockdowns had on employment

‘7% of workers either lost or had to quit their employment. 14% non-agricultural self-employed persons had stopped their economic activities – 1.8mn people of SL’s labour force of 8.5mn people’

– dailymirror.lk/business__main/DCS-survey-shows-grave-impact-lockdowns-had-on-employment/245-230874

• Let’s band together and treat those on strike to sticks and stones: SLPP MP

– themorning.lk/lets-band-together-and-treat-those-on-strike-to-sticks-and-stones-slpp-mp/

• Strikes – another form of terrorism

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/02/11/strikes-another-form-of-terrorism/

• The right of trade unions to strike is much of the same nonsense – Sunday Times

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/columns/reflections-on-sri-lankas-past-kings-and-present-day-beggars-471490.html

• ‘Strike pay’ has come home to roost

‘receiving salaries/wages during strike periods as a matter of course!’

– island.lk/strike-pay-has-come-home-to-roost/

• Trade Union leaders in Lanka – Nalin de Silva

– kalaya.org/?p=5017

• Court issues order preventing Nursing Trade Union from carrying out strike

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Court-issues-order-preventing-Nursing-Trade-Union-from-carrying-out-strike/108-230848

– timesonline.lk/news-online/Colombo-Court-issued-enjoining-orders-against-protesting-health-trade-unions/2-1136754

• Salary issues nurses and other health workers are bitterly complaining about are real

– island.lk/stop-sickening-the-sick/

– adaderana.lk/news/80452/heavy-traffic-near-health-ministry-due-to-protest

– island.lk/talks-fail-health-workers-to-continue-strike/

– dailymirror.lk/latest_news/Protest-against-health-related-activities/342-230692

– timesonline.lk/news-online/Protest-by-Health-Trade-Unions-cripple-health-services-strike-continues-as-talks-failed/2-1136725

– newsfirst.lk/2022/02/08/health-strike-talks-fail-and-trade-unions-to-continue-strike/

– adaderana.lk/news/80498/health-trade-unions-on-strike-to-stage-protests-in-six-districts-today

– themorning.lk/non-medical-health-sector-slapped-with-two-enjoining-orders/

– island.lk/ams-condemns-striking-health-unions-taking-poor-patients-hostage/

• Striking health workers ignore court ruling, vows to meet govt. challenge

– island.lk/striking-health-workers-ignore-court-ruling-vows-to-meet-govt-challenge/

– economynext.com/health-workers-in-sri-lanka-continue-strike-despite-court-order-90449/

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/02/11/island-wide-health-strike-goes-on-despite-court-order/

– themorning.lk/keheliya-hopeful-trade-unions-will-call-off-strike/

– newsfirst.lk/2022/02/12/health-sector-tu-strike-continues-for-sixth-day/

• Uni non-academic staff demand end to salary anomaly issue

– timesonline.lk/news-online/In-Pictures-Uni-non-academic-staff-demand-end-to-salary-anomaly-issue/2-1136756

• Dengue Prevention Officers continue to occupy Health Ministry premises

– newsfirst.lk/2022/02/10/dengue-prevention-officers-continue-to-occupy-health-ministry-premises/

• Pilots Guild commences ‘Fly the Roster’ campaign citing management failure to resolve grievances

– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Pilots-Guild-commences-Fly-the-Roster-campaign-citing-management-failure-to-resolve-grievances/273-230663

• Twenty docs down with coronavirus at Badulla GH

– island.lk/twenty-docs-down-with-coronavirus-at-badulla-gh/

• Another critical scenario inevitable if present situation continues further: GMOA

– dailymirror.lk/latest_news/Another-critical-scenario-inevitable-if-present-situation-continues-further-GMOA/342-230880

• GMOA protested South Asian Institute of Technology & Medicine as students not qualified to study medicine enrolled

– island.lk/lanka-loses-billions-of-rupees-due-to-its-failure-to-set-up-foreign-universities-a-reply/

• Digambaram wants Rs 5,000 pay hike for estate workers

– dailymirror.lk/latest_news/Digambaram-wants-Rs-5-000-pay-hike-for-estate-workers/342-230717

• Cabinet nod to eliminate salary anomalies to Piriven teachers

– newsfirst.lk/2022/02/08/cabinet-nod-to-eliminate-salary-anomalies-to-piriven-teachers/

• Workers must not be taxed to compensate for loss of state revenue due to mismanagement – trade union collective

‘Anton Marcus, Joint Secretary, Free Trade Zones and General Services Employees Union has issued the following statement on behalf of Free Trade Zones and General Services Employees’ Union (FTZ & GSEU), SL Nidahas Sevaka Sangamaya (SLNSS), Ceylon Mercantile and Industrial Workers’ Union (CMU), Ceylon Federation of Trade Union (CFTU), Intercompany Employees’ Union (IEU), Ceylon Bank Employees Union (CBEU), Lanka Jathika Estate Workers Union (LJEWU), National Union of Sri Lankan Seafarers (NUSS), Jathika Seva Sangamaya (JSS), Ceylon Estate Staff Union (CESU), United Federation of Labour (UFL), and the Joint Plantation Trade Union Centre (JPTUC)’

– island.lk/workers-must-not-be-taxed-to-compensate-for-loss-of-state-revenue-due-to-mismanagement-trade-union-collective/

• Employees Provident Fund and the Retirement Gratuity Fund subject to 25% Surcharge Tax?

‘about 1.8 million members of the fund spent these benefits on their family needs after retirement… savings of over 180,000 garment factory workers were in the EPF’

– ft.lk/front-page/Govt-gazettes-Bill-to-impose-25-retrospective-one-off-tax/44-730281

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-25-pct-restropective-tax-surcharge-on-groups-companies-parternships-90276/

– newsfirst.lk/2022/02/07/epf-gratuity-fund-subject-to-25-surcharge-tax/

– island.lk/govt-opposition-clash-over-alleged-bid-to-tax-epf/

– ft.lk/top-story/Storm-over-surcharge-on-superannuation-funds/26-730345

– island.lk/oppositions-take-on-economic-crisis-and-surcharge-tax-bill/

– island.lk/hands-off-epf-etf/

– ft.lk/front-page/Private-sector-reignites-protest-against-surcharge-tax/44-730398

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-opposition-slams-alleged-attempt-to-tax-pension-funds-of-private-workers-90295/

– adaderana.lk/news/80495/surcharge-tax-on-epf-etf-labour-minister-says-issue-lies-with-ird-interpretation

– dailymirror.lk/latest_news/Stop-taxing-EPF-ETF-profits/342-230887

– timesonline.lk/news-online/In-Pictures-Protesters-demand-withdrawal-of-tax-on-EPF-ETF/2-1136755

– themorning.lk/trade-unions-call-25-surcharge-tax-on-epf-etf-immoral-unethical/

– themorning.lk/harsha-alleges-basil-intentionally-subjected-epf-etf-to-surcharge-tax/

– island.lk/slfp-too-opposes-surcharge-tax-on-epf-etf/

– island.lk/eran-slams-slpp-over-move-to-impose-25-tax-on-epf-profits/

– island.lk/unp-kandy-district-leader-tells-govt-not-to-touch-epf-funds-belonging-to-hard-pressed-workers/

• Labour Minister opposes govt. move to tax EPF, ETF

– island.lk/labour-minister-opposes-govt-move-to-tax-epf-etf/

• Puttalam women face discrimination due to Muslim attire

– themorning.lk/puttalam-women-face-discrimination-due-to-muslim-attire/

• Exploitation cases of Sri Lankan students in Taiwan expose education sector flaws

– themorning.lk/exploitation-cases-of-sri-lankan-students-in-taiwan-expose-education-sector-flaws/

• Youth migration: Challenges and opportunities for Sri Lanka

‘in 2020, overall highest contributions originated from the Middle East (51.7%) and European Union (19%) whereas North America or Australia and New Zealand only account for 2.5% of the total’

– island.lk/youth-migration-challenges-and-opportunities-for-sri-lanka/

•  Labour Minister requests Rs. 240 per USD of worker remittances

– themorning.lk/labour-minister-requests-rs-240-per-usd-of-worker-remittances/

• Use of unauthorized money remittance schemes costing SL USD 2 billion annually

– island.lk/use-of-unauthorized-money-remittance-schemes-costing-sl-usd-2-billion-annually/

• Sri Lanka agreement with Israel in 2020 to provide caregiver jobs

‘Under the “Temporary Employment of Sri Lankan workers” scheme, about 7,500 had been taking up jobs in Israel through this scheme by the end of last year.

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/business-times/israel-sl-ties-focus-on-counter-terrorism-agriculture-471269.html

• Dire plight of the plantation workers and the hopelessness of their lives

– island.lk/an-epic-and-inspirational-journey/

• So ashamed of my countrymen, the majority Sinhalese now known over the world as murderers

– island.lk/the-year-of-darkness/

• 22 Non-State sector university level institutions in last two decades approved by the UGC

– island.lk/promotion-of-non-state-non-profit-universities-in-lanka-a-welcome-move/

• Sri Lanka’s 17th state university to be declared open today

– adaderana.lk/news/80521/sri-lankas-17th-state-university-to-be-declared-open-today

• Tantri Trailers MOU with Vocational Training Authority of Sri Lanka to enrich its talent pool

– bizenglish.adaderana.lk/tantri-trailers-signs-a-memorandum-of-understanding-with-the-vocational-training-authority-of-sri-lanka-to-enrich-its-talent-pool/

• AIESEC in University of Sri Jayewardenepura conducts leadership development seminar

‘partners included KL.LK, Fresh Milk Dairies, Haycarb, Premier Partners Institute of Management, Singhagiri, Darley Butler & Co., Singha Holdings, Mark and Comm, and ORO International’

– island.lk/aiesec-in-university-of-sri-jayewardenepura-conducts-flagship-leadership-development-seminar-for-10th-consecutive-time/

• Loan from Kuwait Fund to construct Medical Faculty at the University of Moratuwa

– bizenglish.adaderana.lk/loan-agreement-from-kuwait-fund-to-construct-medical-faculty-at-the-university-of-moratuwa-signed-in-colombo/

– newsfirst.lk/2022/02/10/loan-from-kuwait-fund-to-construct-medical-faculty-for-moratuwa-uni/

• Microsoft leads charge to inspire employment diversity in Sri Lanka

– bizenglish.adaderana.lk/microsoft-leads-charge-to-inspire-employment-diversity-in-sri-lanka/

• Humanities and Social Sciences help students critically examine ideological structures

– island.lk/importance-of-unlearning-in-higher-education/

• Some of us repaid university student loans

– island.lk/some-of-us-repaid-university-student-loans/

• Saegis Campus linked to Canterbury Christ Church University, Heriot Watt University, etc.

– island.lk/saegis-campus-holds-graduation-ceremony/

• Standard Chartered embarks on reskilling youth with SOS Children’s Villages Sri Lanka

– bizenglish.adaderana.lk/standard-chartered-embarks-on-reskilling-youth-with-sos-childrens-villages-sri-lanka/

• National Collegiate Athletic Association funded by US Airlines, Coca Cola, Gillette. Pizza Hut

‘NCAA oversees colleges and universities, with 90 championships in 24 sports across 3 divisions attract about half a million collegiate athletes each year, college football, basketball, baseball, and soccer are among its most popular sports’

– island.lk/need-to-preserve-countrys-school-talent/

• Why do Bangladeshi Migrants Take Irregular Routes to Italy?

– newsclick.in/why-do-bangladeshi-migrants-take-irregular-routes-italy

• How Lebanon Exploits Migrant Workers

‘The kafala system of brining workers into Lebanon generates about $100 million a year. More than half of this amount goes to recruitment agencies…the Lebanese Directorate of General Security collected $36.5 million in 2019, with $6.1 million going to the labour ministry’

– blackagendareport.com/how-lebanon-exploits-migrant-workers

• Ghana: University Lecturers’ Strike Cripples Study

– newsclick.in/Ghana-University-Lecturers-Strike-Cripples-Study

• White racial dominance of the western African Studies enterprise

– blackagendareport.com/speech-recentring-african-epistemologies-intellectual-journey-oyeronke-oyewumi-2021

• Puerto Rico’s public-sector workers demand higher wages

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/285642-puerto-ricos-public-sector-workers-demand-higher-wages

• Mexico Has Become a “Roofless Prison” for Haitian Refugees—With Biden’s Help

– blackagendareport.com/mexico-has-become-roofless-prison-haitian-refugees-bidens-help

• Latin American nations slam auction of pre-Hispanic artifacts in France

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/285730-latin-american-nations-slam-auction-of-pre-hispanic-artifacts-in-france

• California sues Tesla for discrimination against Black employees

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/285769-california-sues-tesla-for-discrimination-against-black-employees

• The Workings of Commodified Education

‘Insofar as public education is either privatized or forced to operate along competitive lines through budgetary cuts, not only does the labour power of those who are the products of the education system remain a commodity, but also the knowledge itself that goes into the production of this commodity becomes a commodity’

– socialistproject.ca/2022/02/workings-of-commodified-education/

• Social Classes: Necessary and Superfluous (1881) – Friedrich Engels

‘The capitalist class had also become unable to manage the immense productive system of this country; that they on the one hand expanded production so as to periodically flood all the markets with produce, and on the other became more and more incapable of holding their own against foreign competition. Thus we find that, not only can we manage very well without the interference of the capitalist class in the great industries of the country, but that their interference is becoming more and more a nuisance. Again we say to them, “Stand back! Give the working class the chance of a turn.”

– redsails.org/necessary-and-superfluous/

_________________________________________________________________________

C6. Agriculture (Robbery of rural home market; Machines, if used, mainly imported)

ee Agriculture emphasizes the failure to industrialize an agriculture that keeps the cultivator impoverished under moneylender and merchant, and the need to develop the rural home market, monetization and commercialization, to produce, rather than import, agricultural machinery.

• Top CWE officials including chairman interdicted

– adaderana.lk/news/80537/top-cwe-officials-including-chairman-interdicted

• Sri Lanka to import 100,000 tonnes of rice from Myanmar

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/02/07/sri-lanka-to-import-100000-tonnes-of-rice-from-myanmar/

– themorning.lk/chinese-sri-lankan-fms-exchange-congratulations-on-65th-anniversary-of-diplomatic-ties/

• Rs 75 Sathosa nuts promise rings hollow amid runaway prices, shortages

‘Importers of commodities, however, blame the shortage of hard currency.’

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/news/rs-75-sathosa-nuts-promise-rings-hollow-amid-runaway-prices-shortages-471609.html

• Price slide puts Kalpitiya radish farmers in hot water

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/news/price-slide-puts-kalpitiya-farmers-in-hot-water-471570.html

• Turmeric will remain pricey despite grow local campaign

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/news/turmeric-will-remain-pricey-despite-grow-local-campaign-471460.html

• SJB reveals ‘despicable practices’ of some milk powder importers

– island.lk/sjb-reveals-despicable-practices-of-some-milk-powder-importers/

• New Opportunities in agri, dairy & fishery at Daily FT, Colombo Uni. MBAA Forum on 15 Feb

– ft.lk/front-page/New-opportunities-in-agri-dairy-and-fishery-at-Daily-FT-Colombo-Uni-MBAA-Forum-on-15-Feb/44-730341

• Rubber plantations in disease crisis

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/business-times/rubber-plantations-in-disease-crisis-471252.html

• Possible NATO sanctions on Russia to hit Ceylon Tea

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/business-times/possible-russian-sanctions-to-hit-ceylon-tea-471174.html

• Tea production up in spite of chemical fertiliser shortage – Pathirana

– island.lk/tea-production-up-in-spite-of-chemical-fertiliser-shortage-pathirana/

• SL’s largest fishing harbour in Wennappuwa completed with Lanka Hydraulic Institute

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/business-times/sls-largest-fishing-harbour-in-wennappuwa-completed-with-lhi-expertise-471231.html

• Ceylon Fisheries Corporation partners with Uber EATS for exclusive online delivery

– island.lk/ceylon-fisheries-corporation-partners-with-uber-eats-for-exclusive-online-delivery/

• Demand for sea cucumbers turns India-Sri Lanka waters into trafficking hotspot

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/02/07/demand-for-sea-cucumbers-turns-india-sri-lanka-waters-into-trafficking-hotspot/

• Government’s Badly Planned Organic Farming Policy Upsets Rice Farmers – Eurasiareview

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/02/11/sri-lanka-governments-badly-planned-organic-farming-policy-upsets-rice-farmers/

• Land illegally cleared for Singaporean Co – Activist

‘A group of over 500 individuals, including STF, the Police and officers from the Mahaweli Authority, evicted people and damaged crops in Dehigama’

– ceylontoday.lk/news/land-illegally-cleared-for-singaporean-co-activist

• X-Press Pearl insurers pay US$ 1.75mn interim compensation to fishing community

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/news/x-press-pearl-insurers-pay-us-1-75mn-interim-compensation-to-fishing-community-471687.html

• Revive mangroves degraded by shrimp farms: Wildlife and Nature Protection Society & Hemas

– island.lk/revive-mangroves-degraded-by-shrimp-farms

• Climate Change effects hit the Island Paradise – Rainforest Protectors

‘Sri Lanka had a forest cover of about 80% before English rule, and after we gained independence, it was reduced from 48% to 50%. And since then, we have lost about another 30% of forest cover.’

– dailymirror.lk/news-features/PARCHED-PARADISE/131-230807

• Biopiracy in Sri Lanka: Learning from Ethiopia

– ft.lk/columns/Biopiracy-in-Sri-Lanka-Learning-from-Ethiopia/4-730244

• Unethical behaviour at natural attractions: Who’s to blame?

– ft.lk/columns/Unethical-behaviour-at-natural-attractions-Who-s-to-blame/4-730260

• Law drafter blames non-enactment of Animal Welfare Bill on politicos who fear losing votes

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/02/06/law-drafter-blames-non-enactment-of-animal-welfare-bill-on-politicos-who-fear-losing-votes/

• Three-day conference on biodiversity conservation successfully concluded

‘The Bio Conservation Society of Sri Lanka (BCSL) in collaboration with the Rufford Foundation’

– island.lk/three-day-conference-on-biodiversity-conservation-successfully-concluded/

• Sri Lanka Hopes to Protect Blue Whales Territory by Rerouting Busy Ships Course

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/02/07/sri-lanka-hopes-to-protect-blue-whales-territory-by-rerouting-busy-ships-course/

• Peradeniya Royal Gardens traced back to the 1300s King Vickramabahu III

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/plus/200-years-ago-a-green-haven-began-to-grow-471157.html

• SL to gain from Japan’s Sojitz Corporation & Nippon Trading East’s Blue Climate Fund

‘to be implemented by Worldview International Foundation (WIF)’

– island.lk/sri-lanka-to-benefit-from-blue-climate-fund/

• Tamil Nadu Opposes New Safety Audit of Mullaperiyar Dam

– newsclick.in/Tamil-Nadu-Opposes-New-Safety-Audit-Mullaperiyar-Dam

_____________________________________________________________________

C7. Industry (False definitions, anti-industrial sermons, rentier/entrepreneur, etc)

ee Industry notes the ignorance about industrialization (versus handicraft and manufacture), the dependence on importing foreign machinery, the need to make machines that make machines, build a producer culture. False definitions of industry, entrepreneur, etc, abound, and the need for a holistic political, economic and military strategy to overcome domination by merchants and moneylenders.

• US New Fortress deal is a Trojan Horse

– island.lk/gift-horses-and-their-bellies/

• Sri Lanka Inventors Commission: True inventors tricked at awards ceremony?

– dailymirror.lk/news-features/Spotlight-on-SLIC-True-inventors-tricked-at-awards-ceremony/131-230710

• India in talks for Sri Lanka petroleum exploration: Minister

‘Sri Lanka has re-demarcated possible oil blocks in the country and in the water in Mannar, Cauvery and Lanka basins in 270 odd blocks, he said. ‘

– economynext.com/india-in-talks-for-sri-lanka-petroleum-exploration-minister-90410/

– island.lk/india-expresses-desire-to-join-oil-and-gas-exploration-here/

• Industrialisation has not brought the economic gains it was expected to bring – Sunday Times

‘It has remained locally focused, severely handicapped by the size and purchasing power of the local market, with its constant clamour for protectionism, revealing its inability to compete globally’

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/columns/can-pomp-and-pageantry-alone-soothe-lankas-traumatic-hour-471442.html

• UN’s ILO, World Bank’s IFC & EU partner with Sri Lankan rag industry stakeholders

‘The garment industry is the largest exporter in Sri Lanka’s economy and employs a majority of women workers’

– ft.lk/business/ILO-IFC-partner-with-Sri-Lankan-industry-stakeholders/34-730165

• New EU-IFC partnership to accelerate climate infrastructure investments in SA

– dailymirror.lk/business-news/New-EU-IFC-partnership-to-accelerate-climate-infrastructure-investments-in-SA/273-230875

• German, Japanese & Indian Fraud in Costly Energy Projects

‘A 25 billion Yen JICA loan to build a transmission line from Kirindiwela to Padukka Grid substation, shortlisted only Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation, and India’s Kalpatharu Power Transmission, using a German consultant debarred by the World Bank for corruption in Africa’

– island.lk/cebs-internal-battle-likely-to-result-in-fresh-probes/

• Sri Lanka IOC unit raises petrol, diesel prices

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-ioc-unit-raises-petrol-diesel-prices-90221/

•  CPC losses increased after Lanka IOC price hike, says CPC Chairman

– newsfirst.lk/2022/02/08/cpc-losses-increased-after-lanka-ioc-price-hike-says-cpc-chairman/

• CPC to buy crude from Cypriot commodity trading Terra Navis firm on unsolicited tender

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/news/cpc-to-buy-crude-from-cypriot-firm-on-unsolicited-tender-471712.html

• Ceylon Shipping Corporation turns tables on its financial performance

‘CSC’s main business is delivering coal to Norochcholai power plant, with Lanka Coal Company and the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB). The CEB charters our two bulk carriers ‘Ceylon Breeze’ and ‘Ceylon Princess’ each with 62,000 deadweight tonnage, to bring in coal from South Africa.’

– island.lk/ceylon-shipping-corporation-turns-tables-on-its-financial-performance/

• Finance Ministry hits out at Power Ministry

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/news/finance-ministry-hits-out-at-power-ministry-471699.html

• Finance Ministry ignoring CPC’s price hike requests

– themorning.lk/finance-ministry-ignoring-cpcs-price-hike-requests/

• Private banks await CB input to help pay CPC bill

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/business-times/private-banks-await-cb-input-to-help-pay-cpc-bill-471263.html

• Exporters in a fix as state scrambles to source fuel

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/business-times/exporters-in-a-fix-as-state-scrambles-to-source-fuel-471258.html

• CPC provides Sri Lanka’s entire fuel requirements

‘for transportation, industry or power generation’

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/business-times/desperate-times-471246.html

• Small hydropower developers face 7-year drought of power purchasing agreements

– ft.lk/front-page/Small-hydropower-developers-face-7-year-drought-of-power-purchasing-agreements/44-730222

• SL does not have enough power plants to meet demand – Siyambalapitiya

– island.lk/sl-does-not-have-enough-power-plants-to-meet-demand/

• Sri Lanka’s CEB says no need for power cuts Monday if fuel supply adequate

– economynext.com/sri-lankas-ceb-says-no-need-for-power-cuts-monday-if-fuel-supply-adequate-90250/

• CEB has NOT sought permission for scheduled power cuts – PUCSL

– newsfirst.lk/2022/02/07/ceb-has-not-sought-permission-for-scheduled-power-cuts-pucsl/

• Is Energy Minister Gammanpila resigning?

– timesonline.lk/news-online/Is-Energy-Minister-Gammanpila-resigning/2-1136720

• CEB chairman going, going but not gone

‘It was the controversial Yugadanavi deal and the GM issue that gave rise to CEBEU’s initial opposition to Ferdinando; it went to the extent of declaring a non-cooperation campaign against him’

– island.lk/ferdinando-going-going-but-not-gone/

• Govt. hints at possible CPC fuel hike

– ft.lk/front-page/Govt-hints-at-possible-CPC-fuel-hike/44-730344

• CEB plans purchase power from independent power producers for 6 month period if required

– timesonline.lk/news-online/CEB-plans-to-purchase-power-from-IPP-for-a-six-month-period/2-1136751

– themorning.lk/pucsl-greenlights-emergency-power-purchase-talks/

– island.lk/cabinet-approves-emergency-power-purchase-of-300mw/

• Sri Lanka could face long power cuts, water shortages, grid failures from March

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-could-face-long-power-cuts-water-shortages-grid-failures-from-march-90437/

• Sri Lanka utility regulator asks public to minimise electricity use at night

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-utility-regulator-asks-public-to-minimise-electricity-use-at-night-90421/

• 25 years of mini hydropower in Sri Lanka

– ft.lk/front-page/25-years-of-mini-hydropower-in-Sri-Lanka/44-730259

• WindForce powers into 2022 with new plants

– ft.lk/front-page/WindForce-powers-into-2022-with-new-plants/44-730447

– dailymirror.lk/business-news/WindForce-to-power-national-grid-with-additional-capacity/273-230948

– bizenglish.adaderana.lk/windforce-powers-into-2022-with-new-plants/

• SJB questions tax exemptions given to Adani-led West Container Terminal (WCT) project

– island.lk/sjb-questions-tax-exemptions-given-to-adani-led-project/

• Fresh shipping setback for imports, exports from feeder operators

– ft.lk/top-story/Fresh-shipping-setback-for-imports-exports-from-feeder-operators/26-730451

• Sri Lanka Ports Authority quotes in US dollars for information

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/news/slpa-quotes-in-us-dollars-for-information-471704.html

• Galle Port Development

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/02/07/galle-port-development/

• Global container flows struggle to pick up speed, data shows

– ft.lk/front-page/Global-container-flows-struggle-to-pick-up-speed-data-shows/44-730220

• SL bound to begin repaying JICA’s 2012 BIA loan

– themorning.lk/sl-bound-to-begin-repaying-jicas-2012-bia-loan/

• Pathfinder Foundation presents White Paper on ‘Digitalization of the National Transit System’

‘study, led by Rajendra Theagarajah, Senior Visiting Fellow of Pathfinder Foundation and Sheran Fernando, Mobility Specialist’

– island.lk/the-pathfinder-foundation-presents-white-paper-on-digitalization-of-the-national-transit-system/

• Govt. suffers huge revenue losses as stone quarries are exploited

‘Stone quarries in the key mining districts of Hambantota, Anuradhapura, Kurunegala and Vavuniya are being heavily exploited at “huge loss of revenue” to the Government’

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/news/govt-suffers-huge-revenue-losses-as-stone-quarries-are-exploited-471697.html

• Japan’s INSEE Cement a Major Cement Supplier to the Uma Oya Project

– bizenglish.adaderana.lk/insee-cement-a-major-cement-supplier-to-the-uma-oya-project/

• Tokyo Cement pre-tax profit grew by 38% to Rs. 1.98 billion in 3Q

– ft.lk/business/Tokyo-Cement-improves-performance-in-3Q/34-730383

– bizenglish.adaderana.lk/tokyo-cement-group-publishes-fy22-q3-financial-performance/

• India’s CEAT Kelani JV profit of Rs.230.3 million slips on higher costs, tax expense in 3Q

– dailymirror.lk/business/CEAT-Kelani-JV-profit-slips-on-higher-costs-tax-expense-in-3Q/215-230664

• Rubber industry rattled by regression

‘Local natural rubber production, which has dropped sharply by 40% to 75,000 tons (75 million kilos) with lack of attention given to replanting efforts’

– ft.lk/top-story/Rubber-industry-rattled-by-regression/26-730286

• UNDP funded Rapid Assessment on Health Care Waste Management to Health Ministry

– timesonline.lk/news-online/UNDP-funded-Rapid-Assessment-on-Health-Care-Waste-Management-handed-over-to-Health-Ministry/2-1136721

•  Book publishers running short of paper, warns of shortage ahead of 2nd school term

– newsfirst.lk/2022/02/11/book-publishers-running-short-of-paper-warns-of-shortage-ahead-of-2nd-school-term/

• Confectionery industry faced with bitter reality

‘upward price revisions for some of its key ingredients, namely wheat flour and sugar’

– dailymirror.lk/business/Confectionery-industry-faced-with-bitter-reality/215-230671

• Merchandise export revenue rose to US$12.4 billion last year, $1 billion for rubber exports

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/business-times/exports-in-various-sectors-seen-increasing-in-2021-471218.html

• How Cars Are The Apex Predators

‘20% of the earth’s surface is within 1km of a road, and the rest is vivisected into 600,000 pieces, most of them tiny’

– indi.ca

• Collaboration is key to Advance Industries for Thailand 4.0

– linkedin.com/pulse/aibp-thailand-media-workshop-takeaway-collaboration-asia-iot/

• Vietnam Immersing Herself In 4th Industrial Revolution Flow

‘This revolution is expected to impact all disciplines including manufacturing, cultural & social activities, national defence & security for all nations worldwide.’

– iotbusiness-platform.com/insights/vietnam-immersing-herself-in-the-industry-4-0-flow/

• Malaysia’s draft NATIONAL INDUSTRY 4. POLICY FRAMEW ORK

– grp.miti.gov.my/miti-grp/resources/Public%20Consultation/Industry4.0FrameworkLayout_PublicReview(9Feb)V3_.pdf

• China’s largest chipmaker SMIC to see more capacity after record sales despite US crackdown

‘If adopted, Applied Materials Inc, KLA Corp and Lam Research Corp – key companies along the industrial chain – may find their ability to supply gear to SMIC severely limited’

– globaltimes.cn/page/202202/1252027.shtml

• The Production and Export of Vaccines and Profits

‘Cuba which has emerged as a shining example of handling COVID-19 despite facing a blockade from the US and its allies.’

– newsclick.in/production-and-export-vaccines-and-profits

• Pfizer’s 2021 Revenue Nearly Seven Times India’s Health Budget

– newsclick.in/pfizers-2021-revenue-nearly-seven-times-indias-health-budget

• Biden to lower tariffs on Japanese steel

– globaltimes.cn/page/202202/1251725.shtml

______________________________________________________________________

C8. Finance (Making money from money, banks, lack of investment in modernity)

ee Finance tracks the effects of financialization, the curious role of ratings agencies, false indices, etc., and the rule of moneylenders, preventing investment in modern production.

• Govt revives crucial EU-Sri Lanka investor dialogue

‘European Union represented by Holger Seubert , Ambassador, Germany, Eric Lavertue , Ambassador, France, Tania Gonggrijp, Ambassador, Netherlands, Franceso Perale, Embassy Italy, Arnaud Lion, Embassy Belgium. Jean-Alexandre Egea, Embassy, France, Thorsten Bargfrede, EU Mision. European Chambers of Commerce in Sri Lanka(ECCISL) and the Delegation of German Industry of Commerce (AHK), along with the Deutsche Bank and leading EU companies such as: Michelin (Camso Loadstar) . Diesel & Motor Engineering Plc, (DIMO) B Braun, CMA CGM, Haffle International, OTV Veolia, , Calamansi Cove Villa project (Jet Wings Hotel) Baurs and Hapag-loyd, also participated.

– island.lk/govt-revives-crucial-eu-sri-lanka-investor-dialogue/

• Kuttiarachchi denies running unregistered bank

– island.lk/kuttiarachchi-denies-links-to-unregistered-bank/

– island.lk/kuttiarachchi-denies-links-to-unregistered-bank-2/

• Sri Lanka LOLC Mauritius Holding gets nod for Sh237m Key Microfinance buyout

– businessdailyafrica.com/bd/corporate/companies/sri-lanka-firm-gets-nod-for-sh237m-key-microfinance-buyout-3708372

– economynext.com/sri-lankas-lolc-gets-nod-to-buy-kenya-micro-financier-report-90293/

• LOLC enters Kenya’s microfinance market; consolidates in Tajikistan

‘Tajikistan presents tremendous potential for rolling out the LOLC’s highly successful MSME model that specialises in serving bottom-of-the-pyramid clientele’

– ft.lk/front-page/LOLC-enters-Kenya-s-microfinance-market-consolidates-in-Tajikistan/44-730390

• Indian Exim Bank eyes opening branch in Sri Lanka

‘Exim Bank has so far extended 11 credit lines to Sri Lanka aggregating to over $2.12 billion and the bank is cautious and selective about its exposure to the island nation’

– timesonline.lk/news-online/Indian-Exim-Bank-eyes-opening-branch-in-Sri-Lanka/2-1136708

• Board of Investment gets new  Director General

– island.lk/boi-gets-new-dg/

• Acuity Partners Announces New Chairman and 2 New Independent Directors

‘Thimal Perera, Director/CEO of DFCC Bank PLC, has been appointed Chairman, Acuity Partners, an equally owned joint venture between DFCC Bank and Hatton National Bank. He was at Hatton National Bank, HSBC, Commercial Bank of Qatar and Barclays Bank in the UAE. Lalith Withana has worked with Brandix Group, Ernst and Youth, Amsterdam Rotterdam Amro Bank, IBM World Trade Corporation, Carson Cumberbatch, Ceylon Tea Services and Yamaha USA,  Sri Lankan Airlines and Sri Lankan Catering. He is presently Managing Director of Agility Consulting Services, Laughs Gas PLC, Laughs Maritime Services, Softlogic Life Insurance and HNB Finance. Sachith N Perera was at HSBC.  Board of Directors is Thimal Perera (Chairman) Ray Abeywardena (Managing Director), Rajive Dissanayake, Damith Pallewatte, Sanjay Wijemane,  Lalith Withana and  Sachith N Perera.

– bizenglish.adaderana.lk/acuity-partners-announces-new-chairman-and-2-new-independent-directors/

• SMEs Allege Banks and Leasing Companies Exploiting Masses

– ceylontoday.lk/news/smes-allege-banks-and-leasing-companies-exploiting-masses

• Sri Lanka Insurance share 21.73% of General Insurance market

‘The non-motor insurance 15% GWP growth to Rs. 9.5 billion, Motor Insurance GWP of Rs. 11.6 billion’

• Morgan Stanley’s MSCI Frontier Market Index adds LOLC

– ft.lk/front-page/MSCI-Frontier-Market-Index-adds-LOLC/44-730449

• Colombo stock market positive for pro-IMF announcement, but down after anti-IMF statement

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/columns/cda-chairman-defends-ministers-son-driver-made-fall-guy-471630.html

• Sri Lanka stock index falls on economic concerns amid foreign selling

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-stock-index-falls-on-economic-concerns-amid-foreign-selling-90272/

• Tax surcharge issue dampens bourse as investors turn cautious

– island.lk/tax-surcharge-issue-dampens-bourse-as-investors-turn-cautious/

• Rs. 109 b in value wiped off in two days at CSE

– ft.lk/front-page/Rs-109-b-in-value-wiped-off-in-two-days-at-CSE/44-730343

• Sri Lanka shares fall to near 6-week low on new tax proposal, economic concern

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-shares-fall-to-near-6-week-low-on-new-tax-proposal-economic-concern-90290/

•  Sri Lanka stock index falls on economic concerns amid foreign selling

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-stock-index-falls-on-economic-concerns-amid-foreign-selling-90272/

• Shares fall over 2% as industrial stocks weigh

– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Shares-fall-over-2-as-industrial-stocks-weigh/273-230815

• Colombo stock market sinks to negative return YTD

– ft.lk/front-page/Colombo-stock-market-sinks-to-negative-return-YTD/44-730393

• Technical fault forces manual closure at CSE, staying open for 9 more minutes

– ft.lk/front-page/Technical-fault-forces-manual-closure-at-CSE/44-730392

– themorning.lk/cse-closes-9-minutes-later-than-usual/

• Price appreciations in blue chip shares boost bourse performance

– island.lk/price-appreciations-in-blue-chip-shares-boost-bourse-performance/

•  First Capital Research expects ASPI to hit 15,000 in Q1 amid strong earnings & negative real yields

– dailymirror.lk/business-news/FCR-expects-ASPI-to-hit-15-000-in-first-quarter-amid-strong-earnings-and-negative-real-yields/273-230878

• Stock market rebounds but not out of the woods yet

– ft.lk/front-page/Stock-market-rebounds-but-not-out-of-the-woods-yet/44-730448

• Sri Lanka stock index extends losses; ends near 6-week low

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-stock-index-extends-losses-ends-near-6-week-low-90402/

• Possible gains for Sri Lankan bourse from rising US inflation

– island.lk/possible-gains-for-sri-lankan-bourse-from-rising-us-inflation/

• Stock market produces highest day gain though closing week in red

– ft.lk/front-page/Stock-market-produces-highest-day-gain-though-closing-week-in-red/44-730481

• Chinese and Singaporean Regulators Vow to Support exchange-traded fund (ETF) Connect

– caixinglobal.com/2022-02-08/chinese-and-singaporean-regulators-vow-to-support-etf-connect-101839085.html

• Bloomberg News Ran a False Headline, “Russia Invades Ukraine,” for 24 Minutes on Friday. Here’s the Untold Story.

– wallstreetonparade.com/2022/02/bloomberg-news-ran-a-false-headline-russia-invades-ukraine-for-24-minutes-on-friday-heres-the-untold-story/

•  Ex-NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg tapped for Pentagon post

– nypost.com/2022/02/10/ex-nyc-mayor-michael-bloomberg-tapped-for-pentagon-post/

– http://www.militarytimes.com

• Facebook’s Fall Delivered Billions in Losses to 401(k)s and Public Pension Plans

– wallstreetonparade.com/2022/02/facebooks-fall-of-26-39-percent-yesterday-delivered-billions-in-losses-to-401ks-and-public-pension-plans/

– adaderana.lk/technology/80403/facebook-owner-meta-sees-biggest-ever-stock-market-loss

• Cryptocurrency prices collapse, wiping out billions of dollars

– adaderana.lk/technology/80126/cryptocurrency-prices-collapse-wiping-out-billions-of-dollars

• 10% of global population owns some form of cryptocurrency, Thailand leads

– ft.lk/front-page/10-of-global-population-owns-some-form-of-cryptocurrency-Thailand-leads/44-730445

• JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon at US Senate Banking Committee

– wallstreetonparade.com/2022/02/jamie-dimon-lands-in-the-cross-hairs-of-senate-banking-committee-chair-sherrod-brown/

• Jerome Powell’s Term as US Fed Chair Ended. Senate Has Not Reconfirmed Him. What’s Up?

– wallstreetonparade.com/2022/02/jerome-powells-term-as-fed-chair-ended-last-saturday-the-senate-has-not-reconfirmed-him-whats-up/

• US Fed Chair Powell Traded During Federal Open Market Committee Restricted Periods

– wallstreetonparade.com/2022/02/activist-group-reports-that-fed-chair-powell-traded-during-fomc-restricted-periods-we-fact-checked-it-and-its-true/

___________________________________________________________________________________

C9. Business (Rentierism: money via imports, real-estate, tourism, insurance, fear, privatization)

ee Business focuses on the rentier diversions of the oligarchy, the domination by a merchant mafia, making money from unproductive land sales, tourism, insurance, advertising, etc. – the charade of corporate press releases disguised as ‘news’

• Germany’s Import Promotion Desk opens Colombo office to amplify cooperation in Sri Lanka

– ft.lk/business/Germany-s-Import-Promotion-Desk-opens-Colombo-office-to-amplify-cooperation-in-Sri-Lanka/34-730272

• Daily FT– Sri Lanka Institute of Directors ACCA CEO Forum today on ‘leadership challenges’

‘keynote by British American Tobacco (BAT) former CEO Felicio Ferraz. Panelists are PT Nestle and PT Wyeth Nutrition’s Sashi Thomas, Unilever’s Hajar Alafifi and Great Place to Work CEO Kshanika Rathnayake. SLID CEO Forum Chairman Rolf Blazer, CEO Baur & Co will chair’

– ft.lk/front-page/Daily-FT-SLID-CEO-Forum-today-on-leadership-challenges/44-730443

• Sunshine Group 9-month revenue of Rs. 24 billion up 39% driven by healthcare, agribusiness

– ft.lk/business/Sunshine-Group-9-month-revenue-up-39-driven-by-healthcare-agribusiness-sectors/34-730168

• Sunshine Holdings appoints respected healthcare industry professional to its Board of Directors

‘Sudarshan Jain is currently Secretary General of Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA), Advisor with APAX Partners, Chairman of Indian Institute of Health Management and Research (IIHMR, Jaipur)

– island.lk/sunshine-holdings-appoints-respected-healthcare-industry-professional-to-its-board-of-directors/

• Softlogic Profit Before Tax grows more than two-fold to Rs. 4.8 billion

– ft.lk/front-page/Softlogic-posts-spectacular-growth-in-3Q-FY22-nine-months/44-730284

• ICRA Lanka upgrades Asia Asset Finance rating to [SL]A- amidst pandemic conditions

‘AAF is a 73% owned subsidiary of Muthoot Finance, the largest Gold Loan Finance Company in India’

– bizenglish.adaderana.lk/icra-lanka-limited-upgrades-asia-asset-finance-plc-credit-rating-to-an-impressive-sla-amidst-pandemic-conditions/

• Venture Engine founded by BOV Capital and USAID’s Indian Angel Network

‘partnered by the Lankan Angel Network (LAN). The Ford Foundation is the tenth edition’s Platinum Sponsor. VE start-ups include InsureMe, Roar, ZigZag.lk, Takas.lk, Saraii Village, Stripes & Checks, Skrumptious, Kimbula Kithul, Strive, PlushBox, Nithya, Extrogene, OMAK Technologies, LiveRoom, Intellocut, BusSeat.lk, IgniterSpace, House of Lonali and 24-7 Techies.

– sundaytimes.lk/220206/business-times/venture-engine-shortlists-sri-lankas-top-fundable-start-ups-471224.html

• SL aims to establish FTAs with most Southeast Asian countries

– ft.lk/business/SL-aims-to-establish-FTAs-with-most-Southeast-Asian-countries/34-730330

• Finnish start-up Serviceform raises $ 2.4 m to expand into new markets with big plans in SL

– ft.lk/front-page/Finnish-start-up-Serviceform-raises-2-4-m-to-expand-into-new-markets-with-big-plans-in-Sri-Lanka/44-730239

• University of Colombo walks away with top honours at Dutch 99x’s Hacktitude 2022

– island.lk/university-of-colombo-walks-away-with-top-honours-at-99xs-hacktitude-2022/

• Several ACME shareholders unpaid by Lankem despite over 2 months since mandatory offer

– ft.lk/front-page/Several-ACME-shareholders-unpaid-by-Lankem-despite-over-2-months-since-mandatory-offer/44-730223

• Lankem responds to allegations of non-payment

– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Lankem-responds-to-allegations-of-non-payment/273-230761

• In 1972, Mrs B’s government introduced tax incentives to encourage the building of hotels.

‘Michael Mack wanted to build Aitken Spence’s first hotel on his land in Uswetakeiyawa’

– island.lk/aitken-spence-breaks-into-hotels/

• Gautam Adani Overtakes Mukesh Ambani As Asia’s Richest Person

‘Firms including Total SE and Warburg Pincus LLC have invested in Adani’s companies in 2021’

– newsfirst.lk/2022/02/08/gautam-adani-overtakes-mukesh-ambani-as-asias-richest-person/

– ft.lk/front-page/Indian-billionaire-Adani-pips-Mukesh-Ambani-as-Asia-s-richest-person/44-730485

• Should Bangladesh Lease Land from South Sudan?

‘earlier, two Bangladeshi companies leased 40,000 hectares of farmland in Tanzania and Uganda’

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/02/11/should-bangladesh-lease-land-from-south-sudan/

______________________________________________________

C10. Politics (Anti-parliament discourse, unelected constitution)

ee Politics points to the constant diversions and spectacles and the mercantile and financial forces funding the political actors, of policy hijacked by private interests minus public oversight.

• President Jayewardene repeatedly violated laws to prevent MPs doing business

– ft.lk/columns/Prime-cause-of-the-crisis/4-730420

•  Big Money in Politics – Center for Progressive Network

– themorning.lk/big-money-in-politics/

• JVP in league with business tycoons such as Dhammika Perera and Dudley Sirisena

– island.lk/fsp-rules-out-any-truck-with-jvp/

• Competing Agendas: NPP Manifesto

‘There are severe efficiency gaps in Sri Lanka’s manufacturing sectors’

– dailymirror.lk/opinion/Competing-Agendas-NPP-Manifesto/231-230569

• SLPP launches campaign from A’pura: Prez, PM hit back hard at Opposition

– island.lk/slpp-launches-campaign-from-apura-prez-pm-hit-back-hard-at-opposition/

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-ruling-party-blames-crises-on-external-forces-promises-prosperity-90414/

• JR, Premadasa and the Rajapakses – Nalin de Silva

– kalaya.org/?p=5012

• Premadasa & Gotabaya Leadership – Nalin de Silva

– kalaya.org/?p=5018

• Theravada – Nalin de Silva

– kalaya.org/?p=5019

• Charitha, Tissa renamed members of COPE, COPA

– island.lk/charitha-tissa-renamed-members-of-cope-copa/

– island.lk/ranil-wants-copa-to-play-wider-role/

– island.lk/ex-heads-of-house-watchdog-committees-re-appointed/

– adaderana.lk/news/80514/prof-tissa-vitarana-re-appointed-as-copa-chairman

– newsfirst.lk/2022/02/10/charitha-herath-re-appointed-cope-chairman/

• At 74: This crisis is post-war, not post-independence – Jayatilaka

‘The economic crisis is fissuring President GR’s circle of civilian loyalists though: pragmatic Sinhala nationalists High Commissioner Moragoda and Minister Gammanpila are strongly for the Trinco tank farm deal while ultranationalist Ven. Prof Medagoda Abeytissa spoke shrilly in Trincomalee against the deal, the 1987 Accord and the Exchange of Letters, solidarising with Eastern Province Governor Anuradha Yahampath, another hardcore ultranationalist’

– ft.lk/columns/At-74-This-crisis-is-post-war-not-post-independence/4-730350

• Accelerated Spin Doctoring Against Rising SJB

– dailymirror.lk/opinion/right-of-Reply-Accelerated-Spin-Doctoring-Against-Rising-SJB/172-230854

• When People Lose Trust In The Mainstream, They End Up Swimming With Crocs

– indi.ca

• Campaign for Free and Fair Elections to commence regional workshops of the Janani Project

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/02/07/caffe-to-commence-regional-workshops-of-the-janani-project/

• Only deterrence can reverse the assault on democracy– David

‘tri-services were purged of Christian and Tamil vermin in the wake of the 1962 coup and is now a purified and sanitised Sinhala-Buddhist triple-gem!’

– island.lk/only-deterrence-can-reverse-the-assault-on-democracy/

• Story of five generations messing up 24-years in “independent” Ceylon and 50-years in SL

– dailymirror.lk/opinion/Story-of-five-generations-messing-up-24-years-in-independent-Ceylon-and-50-years-in-Sri-Lanka/172-230805

• Threat of mutiny from the Indian Military that finally convinced English to quit India

‘A repeat of the Indian Mutiny of 1857 in 1946 would have ended in the slaughter of 30,000 English soldiers then resident in India by more than 2,500,000 well-trained Indian soldiers who had been discharged (demobbed) and returned to India.’

– ft.lk/columns/Sri-Lanka-s-march-to-freedom-alongside-the-rest-of-Asia/4-730421

• Remembering my father – Stanley Jayaweera

– island.lk/remembering-my-father-stanley-jayaweera/

• Obrador’s Fourth Transformation and the Future of Mexico

– socialistproject.ca/2022/02/the-fourth-transformation-and-the-future-of-mexico/

• The US Political Elite Gives Cover to the Brutal US Police State

– blackagendareport.com/us-political-elite-gives-cover-brutal-us-police-state

• US Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Has a New Corporate Megadonor Amazon

– blackagendareport.com/congressional-black-caucus-foundation-has-new-corporate-megadonor

• How did George Jackson’s fierce Marxist-Leninism inform his theoretical work?

– blackagendareport.com/bar-book-forum-interview-taija-mars-mcdougall

• A Guide for Organizing Defense against White Supremacist, Patriarchal, and Fascist Violence

– blackagendareport.com/bar-book-forum-ahjamu-umis-guide-organizing-defense-against-white-supremacist-patriarchal-and

• Portugal Elections: ‘Socialist’ Party wins but Defeat for Left

– socialistproject.ca/2022/02/portugal-elections-socialist-party-wins-but-defeat-for-left/

• Karl Marx: Five Reasons Why The Thinker Was Ahead of His Time

– newsclick.in/Karl-Marx-Five-Reasons-Why-The-Thinker-Was-Ahead-His-Time

__________________________________________________________

C11. Media (Mis/Coverage of economics, technology, science and art)

ee Media shows how corporate media monopoly determines what is news, art, culture, etc. The media is part of the public relations (corporate propaganda) industry. The failure to highlight our priorities, the need to read between the lines. To set new perspectives and priorities.

• Influence of Tamil Nadu and Indian media on Sri Lankan Tamils in the north and east

– ft.lk/columns/Influence-of-Tamil-Nadu-and-Indian-media-on-Sri-Lankan-Tamils-in-the-north-and-east/4-730292

• India’s FCB in Sri Lanka as FCB kl.lk

– ft.lk/front-page/Kl-lk-brings-FCB-to-Sri-Lanka-new-entity-branded-FCB-kl-lk/44-730242

• Unilever-linked Upfield Sri Lanka takes centerstage at 21st SLIM NASCO Awards

– island.lk/upfield-sri-lanka-takes-centerstage-at-21st-slim-nasco-awards/

• In 1923, D.R. Wijewardene bought the Observer from a European syndicate

– island.lk/the-observer-vs-the-governor/

• I Came From Jaffna — (Sort Of!)

‘like the Scots and the Jews, the Tamils have been erroneously stereotyped as being an extremely tightfisted race, and like all stereotypes this is totally false’

– island.lk/i-came-from-jaffna-sort-of/

• The Banality of Genius (2013)

‘“Genius,” like gymnastics, has its roots in early German nationalism. German nationalists wanted to resist all that French talk about reason and universal brotherhood, which they saw as cover for French imperial ambitions, and assert something mystical and folkish and distinctly German in its place.’

– redsails.org/the-banality-of-genius/

• Postmodern Geekdom as Simulated Ethnicity (2012)

– redsails.org/postmodern-geekdom-as-simulated-ethnicity/

• How Video Games Become Religions

– indi.ca

• US Native American Journalist Frank Sterling on Trial

– blackagendareport.com/activist-journalist-frank-sterling-trial

_________________________________________________

email: econenews@gmail.com

blog: eesrilanka.wordpress.com

_________________________________________________