The Whisperers of the Central Bank & UN Agencies in Sri Lanka

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

e-Con e-News 18-24 December 2022

‘The USA is never going to pay its debts. It doesn’t have to.

Its debts are in its own currency. The US can simply print it.

The African debt is not in its currency. The African debt is in US dollars.

Africa has to earn the US dollars. And the only way Africa can earn its US dollars

is not to be assassinated for growing its own food & becoming independent

and doing something the US does not like.

The principle underlying the foundation of the World Bank (IBRD)

is that no country should grow its own food. Africa & the Third World

should only grow export crops: export in order to have an oversupply

of cocoa & other tropical raw materials. To keep down the price,

they must buy their grain from US or Europe.

     So that if they do something we don’t like

we can do what the US tried to do to China in the 1960s.

We can sanction them.

We can say we are going to starve you, we are not going to export any grain to you.

So owing their foreign debt in dollars, means that they have to somehow sell

something the US wants, not something they want.

The most evil organizations in the world today, are the World Bank & IMF.’

Michael Hudson (Random Notes, SuperImperialism)

‘Central Bank Independence’ is explicitly designed

by states and capital working together

to protect the making of global capitalism

from the progressive tendencies of democratic pressures

on elected governments, including by their own people.

Central Bank Independence has now been made ‘a touchstone

for the restructuring of all states in context of capitalist globalization’

(ee Focus, The Big Business of the Independent)

Question, questions and more questions – What does Sri Lanka’s Central Bank have to do with the powerful US Federal Reserve, the US International Monetary Fund, & the US Treasury Market Practices Group – ‘a private cartel of 24 Wall Street companies’? Why are they so interested in making Sri Lanka’s Central Bank ‘independent’ of the country’s sovereign elected body – Parliament – as announced this week? (see Random Notes)

• Why does the German government have a German official representing German industry parked inside Sri Lanka’s Export Development Board premises? Will a Swiss exporter join them too? (see ee Quotes)

• What’s behind this week’s announcement: that the government is withdrawing from providing fertilizer to cultivators, allowing the private sector to sell fertilizer? From where is the UN Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) getting the funds to ‘assist’ this transition in that rather sensitive role, where the ‘food crisis’ is repeatedly being blamed on the banning of imported chemicals and going ‘organic’? Numerous other countries are undergoing food ‘crises’. Did they all ban fertilizer ‘overnight’? And why is the FAO and the World Food Program (WFP) garnering so, so many headlines in the media? Is it because USAID is now the largest donor to the WFP?

     The WFP Sri Lanka this week laid out the red carpet for (the latest Yankee banana in town) Dustin Shiau, Senior Regional Program Officer of the US Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA). Prolix job title! Shiau first scurried to sensitive Mullaitivu, which USAID claims is the most affected by hunger due to ‘high food prices and reduced incomes’. Shiau, a he-male expert on ‘pregnant and breastfeeding mothers and people with disabilities’, wishes ‘to better understand their nutritional needs’.

     Shiau also participated in a ‘mapping exercise in Moratuwa – an area susceptible to weather-related natural disasters’ – using Geographic Information System (GIS) software ‘to identify where the most vulnerable communities may be hardest-hit during an emergency.’ Is the government about to sign that SOFA agreement (see ee Quotes), which allows US boots on the ground? Will they enter through Moratuwa or their Kollupitiya Junction beachhead?

     Meanwhile, the Japanese-dominated Asian Development Bank (ADB) is giving ‘paddy farmers’ a Rs20,000 allowance each (Rs8 billion in total). What exactly must these cultivators buy, or grow? Sushi? Recall how Sri Lanka was made dependent on US wheat (see ee Quotes, Random Notes).

• When and how did corporations get to insert their ‘executives’ (agents?) into UN bodies, without permission from the General Assembly? The UN Secretariat surreptitiously signed a strategic partnership with the World Economic Forum in June 2019. Why has the English media, always so keen to splash UN press releases as news, not reported this? Is this corporate dollarizing the reason why the UN acts like it’s no longer accountable to its member states.

     The UN this week somehow found several million dollars (not for fuel, fertilizer or food, but) to enforce their human rights resolution against Sri Lanka, mainly pushed by the white (& honorary white) ‘international community’ (see below). Yet, after the US withheld funding from UN programs it disliked, it drained the UN regular budget – the ‘backbone of funding for the one-country-one-vote multilateral processes of intergovernmental cooperation & decision-making’.

     All of these moves accelerated with the 1990s ‘withdrawal’ of the USSR. We’re told, the ‘neoliberalism’ of ‘triumphant capitalism’ took over, increasing the power of corporations amidst the deregulation of the state. With corporations avoiding taxes to nation-states, multilateral institutions, which depend on government donors, kept being defunded (Random Notes, Whisperer Advisors!).

• The answers, answers, answers to all these questions could be provided by the all-new Sri Lanka Institution of Economics & Trade Institute (SLIEIT) set up by the SL cabinet this week, to ‘educate policymakers & public officials’. The media after all loves to blame politicians as genetically corrupt, so let’s see whether a, SLIEIT BA could override DNA.

     However the sphinx-ish sounding name itself is rather profound: an ‘Institution Institute’? And ironic: SLIEIT echoes ‘Sly-it!’ or ‘Sleight’: which means ‘using dexterity or cunning, especially so as to deceive’.

     The foremost reason for SLIEIT is apparently due to the demands of the IMF: For whom answers to our questions may therefore not be a priority. Indeed the reason for SLIEIT, our merchant media insists, is ‘successive governments have amended the 2003 Fiscal Management Responsibility Act 3 times after failing to meet, in particular the budget deficit rule, which has never been complied with up-to-date’. A stronger new Public Financial Management Act, will be imposed next year, appointing an Inspector General of Finance (IGF!, not IGP!).

      Next a new Monetary Law Act will ‘relieve the Central Bank from any provisions requiring to fund excessive budget deficits through monetary expansion (money printing), which has led to high inflation and deprecation of the Rupee. So why are the US government’s Wall Street fronts so interested in our shortcomings aka deficit? (Random Notes)

• United Nations groupies in Sri Lanka are thrilled that the money-hungry UN has allocated $3.4 million (Rs1.2 billion) to enforce the latest Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution on ‘promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights’ in the country. The SL government maintains UNHRC Resolution 51/1, presented without Sri Lanka’s consent, was adopted this October.

   Sri Lanka says the UN General Assembly’s 5^th Committee responsible for administrative & budgetary matters was being asked to approve resources from the limited 2023 UN regular budget to implement a resolution rejected by the country concerned. The resolution ‘demonstrates the divisive & political nature of the Council’. UNHRC resolutions have also targeted Iran, Russia, and Ethiopia. ‘The several million dollars requested will benefit many lucrative Geneva-based secretariat contractual staff, in sharp contrast to the dire financial needs of developing countries.’ In total, the 5^th Committee proposed to provide $21.44mn in additional funding in 2023-24 to cover the work of the UNHRC. (ee Sovereignty, Sri Lanka Denounces)

• Sabotaging the UN – In a move that has major implications for Sri Lanka, NATO & the EU are inciting communities in Kosovo. They are preventing the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1244, whereby it was Serbian security forces who would protect the Serbs living there. Kosovo is increasingly seen as another flashpoint where NATO will ignite a war over Kosovo with Albania, and blame Serbia (allied with Russia).

     Last week, Russia’s Foreign Affairs speaker Maria Zakharova explained how the role of nation-states in the ‘United Nations’ is being undermined and hijacked. NATO & the EU have been steadily reducing the role of the UN in resolving crises, hoping to replace the role of the UN, since they haven’t been able to destroy it.

     In the early 2000s a series of scandals were unearthed by NATO spy networks implicating US Secretariat employees. The UN Secretariat and the Organization were shaken. There was scandal after scandal, needed to cause the collapse of the structure, to block its work. It didn’t work, because the international community – most countries and peoples of the world – opposed Washington’s attempts in the first place to get rid of the UN. US politicians have been claiming the UN is outdated and must be abolished.

     After this failed, they began Plan B – replacing international law with the concept of a ‘rules-based world order’, directing ‘pontoons’ (in the form of various forums, dialogue platforms) from their own ideas about how it should be implemented in order to replace international organizations and, first of all, the UN.

      On all the issues discussed in the relevant committees of the UN General Assembly, where the special rapporteurs spoke, numerous forums were invented, held, including at the level of heads of state: on climate, freedom of speech, human rights.

     There is a universally recognized collective format that has a charter, clear laws, and international legal norms. We didn’t want to work together. The entire UN agenda was ‘sorted out’ in non-state formats, of which there were a large number. They were held in Paris, London, in various parts of Europe, in the US. A recent example is the Summit of Democracies.

     ‘No one is against discussing a non-UN topic. If it’s UN, but it needs to be given an additional (eg) regional dimension (UN & African Union deal with African issues, regional formats) – this is how it should be, but not when the topics and problems discussed by professionals in the UN are replaced by conversations of politicians or non-professionals on some one-day platforms.

     This is the essence – the replacement, the blurring of the role of international legal institutions, the main target of which is the UN (see, Random Notes)

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Contents:

A1. Reader Comments –

• People’s True Representatives are Helpless • Argentina & Sri Lanka • Rentier vs. Entrepreneur

A2. Quotes of the Week –

• Ranil to sign SOFA, MCC • Africa’s Chokepoints • Germans Infiltrate EDB • Wheat, Drugs & Prima • Puttalam Ilmenite for a Song • Avatar Director Says Lakota Didn’t Fight Hard Enough • Asset Managers Reign

A3. Random Notes –

• Unilever is Biggest Beach Polluter • USAID’s See-Through Grab for the Seas • UN’s Corporate Whisper Advisors • Not-so-New New Central Bank Act • US Takes Over WFP • Free Trade Zone Apparel Workers • Devaluation means Pay Workers Less • Arab Investment in West • NATO’s Upcoming Kosovo War

A4. Building Blocks –

• Creation of a Home Market for our Industry • Japan Wont’ Export Real Machine Industry • Smallholding & Science

B. ee Focus       

B1. The Private Capture of the United Nations and Its Agencies

B2. The Big Business of the Independent US Federal Reserve Bank

B3. The Seizing of Dollars & Other Daylight Highway Robberies

C. News Index

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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

• ‘The connections ee shows between our situation and Peru, Argentina, Mongolia, Pakistan, are staggering. One of your readers asks why don’t these rulers learn – even those neighboring Russia and China? The answer is clear enough? It is because they can’t counter the moves used against them. People and their true representatives are helpless and we should come to terms with the fact?’

• ‘Argentina’s situation is hardly dissimilar to Sri Lanka’s predicament in the clutches of the IMF.’

• ‘ee should explain some of the economic jargon used, like the difference between an entrepreneur and rentier.’

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A2. Quotes of the Week_

•  ‘Ranil Wickremesinghe administration will soon sign the controversial Millennium Challenge Compact (MCC) and Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). These agreements were to be signed during the Yahapalana administration. If these two agreements are signed, we will be in great trouble. The multinationals will have information and access they need to undermine the country’s sovereignty and local industries. The USA is already holding Diego Garcia as a large Naval Support Facility. In 2019 the continued English administration of the archipelago was deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Given this development they are looking for other places and Sri Lanka is a good place for this. The grave economic crisis in Sri Lanka is being used by certain sections to convince the people that national assets needed to be sold. They are trying to convince the people that signing agreements like the MCC, and SOFA are good ideas and that we are in this mess because we didn’t sign these agreements. Those in the Rajapaksa camp are also supportive of this’ – Tissa Vitharana at the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP)’s 88th Anniversary, see ee Sovereignty, LSSP Leader warns

• ‘Africa sits astride 6 strategic chokepoints and sealines of communication, enables a third of the world’s shipping, and holds vast mineral resources. When access through these strategic chokepoints is blocked, global markets suffer.’ – US Congress (blackagendareport.com/us-based-africans-organize-events-counter-biden-administrations-us-africa-leaders-summit)

• ‘Germany’s Import Promotion Desk (IPD GmbH) promotes the establishment of durable, long-term trade relations between importers & tour operators in Germany & Europe and companies from selected partner countries… An IPD representative is based at the Sri Lanka government’s Export Development Board premises in Colombo. There the IPD hub provides support in strengthening sustainable structures for trade promotion and contributes with direct knowledge of the demand in the European markets.’ – ee Economy, SL exporters well equipped

• ‘There is copious lip service given to food security and self-sufficiency in rice. Our self-sufficiency in food is dependent on the increasing import of wheat flour. The free supply of wheat flour/grain under [the US military program’s] PL 480 changed our food habits and made us addicted to wheat flour products. The problem has got aggravated with the entry of the Prima project where we provide them with the grain which is milled by them and sold to us minus the nutritious wheat germ. Prima investment was perhaps the best investment in Sri Lanka by Singapore on a BOT basis for 20 years. It was to be transferred back to Sri Lanka during the time of CBK. But CBK sold it back to Singapore for a paltry sum, making Prima a dominant duopoly in the supply of wheat flour in Sri Lanka: Food security of staple cereals is based not only on rice but also on wheat flour which contributes over 40% of the food requirement. That is now in the hands of Prima.’ – ee Agriculture, Grow more food by statute

• ‘Aruvakkalu Ilmenite – The Sri Lanka Cement Corporation owned factories in Kankesanthurai, Puttalam and Galle. The factories in Puttalam and Galle were sold in 1993. The factory in Kankesanthurai didn’t operate due to the war. Although the Puttalam Cement Factory was sold, the land where the raw materials were obtained from remained with the Cement Corporation. It is located in the Aruvakkalu area and spreads across 5,352 acres. The land was transferred to the Cement Corporation by Extraordinary Gazette No283/2 dated 20 September 1977. This land has been provided by the government to procure raw materials for cement production.’ – ee Industry, Spotlight on Puttalam Aussie company buys Lankan ilmenite deposit for a pittance

• ‘I felt like I was 130 years back in time, watching what the Lakota Sioux might have been saying at a point when they were being pushed and they were being killed and they were being asked to displace… this was the driving force…I couldn’t help but think that if [the Lakota Sioux] had had a time-window and they could see the future… and they could see their kids committing suicide at the highest suicide rate in the nation… because they were hopeless and they were a dead-end society – which is what is happening now – they would have fought a lot harder.’ – Avatar director James Cameron

• ‘Over the past several decades, asset management firms – financial intermediaries who invest assets on behalf of ultimate beneficiaries such as pension holders or wealthy individuals – have surged to become the dominant shareholders in corporations throughout the global economy, supplanting individuals and other institutional investors such as pension funds. This growth has been accompanied by a second trend: significant concentration within asset management itself. BlackRock & Vanguard, the 2 largest asset managers worldwide, control $9trillion & $8trillion in assets, respectively – or more than 4 times the value of all England corporations.’ – ee Economists, The growth of England’s asset manager capitalism

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

• Marine Waste – Meet the companies responsible for polluting beaches and the oceanic shelf. 64% of all marine waste can be linked to these top 8 companies: 1 Unilever (14%), 2 Coca-Cola (10%), 3 Ceylon Biscuits (9%), 4 Nestle (7%), 5 Cargills Ceylon (7%), 6 Maliban Biscuit Manufacturers (6%), 7 Perfetti Van Melle (6%), 8 Ceylon Cold Stores (5%), 9 Hemas Holdings (4%), 10 Prima Ceylon (4%), 11 Fonterra Cooperative Group (3%), 12 PepsiCo (3%), 13 Lanka Milk Foods (2%), 14. Milco (2%) – instagram.com/p/Cma3OsUBujh/

• The publication of the above information on marine pollution is by an NGO called Pearl Protectors, which does not provide details of who funds them. Their information appears alongside news that US state agency USAID ‘officially launched this week a 5-year project in Sri Lanka and the Maldives to reduce environmental plastics’. There was also news about ‘a global treaty on plastic pollution to protect the planet’ which could challenge Sri Lanka’s control over its seas. Also note how some of the recent ‘disasters’ and current air pollution news are echoed:

     ‘From 28th November to 2nd December more than 2,500 delegates from 147 countries met in Punta del Este, Uruguay, for the first session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment… Such an instrument could follow the precedent of existing treaties for other forms of pollution, for example, the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), the Convention on Long-Range Trans-boundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP), the International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response, and Co-operation’ (see ee Sovereignty, Working towards a global treaty on plastic).

• The UN’s Whisper Advisors – The UN Secretariat signed a strategic partnership with the World Economic Forum in June 2019. The UN General Assembly was not informed, nor was it discussed by UN Member States. The decision began to involve WEF staff within the UN departments as a kind of ‘whisper advisors’. The WEF has its staff now mingling with UN staff and starting to make decisions. There is no system of accountability or of consulting members more widely.

     The World Economic Forum is a business forum, completely controlled by some of the most wealthy and powerful corporations. Many of those corporations are responsible for many of the crises the world faces. To involve those who have been actually responsible for the crisis to resolve it will only lead to solutions that are either ineffective or actually deepen the crises we face.

     The UN lacks national support, and due to defunding is looking to survive as an organization. They’re going to the most powerful players in the world, which are the corporations, ultimately undermining the UN, because it will remove all of the democratic legitimacy that it currently has. Global collaboration and cooperation must be based on public and democratic systems of governance, not unaccountable secretive forms of governance dominated by corporations. Multi-stakeholderism is an unaccountable secretive form of governance dominated by corporations. (ee Sovereignty, Global Coup d’État)

• On 19 December the cabinet approved the new draft bill to prepare the new Central Bank Act, as demanded by the IMF. The ‘independence’ of the Central Bank has been promoted by IMF-linked economists and officials.

     A CBSL draft Bill had been gazetted earlier on 1 Nov 2019, just when that Yahapalana ‘regime’ came crashing down . Although tabled in Parliament for approval, it had not been included in the order book. New amendments have now been added to that bill, to ‘effectively suit the current requirements’, noted Cabinet Co-Spokesman Bandula Gunawardena at the post-Cabinet meeting media briefing. The proposal was tabled by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is also the Finance, Economic Stabilisation & National Policy Minister.

     ‘A new Central Bank Act is an IMF Cornerstone – ‘The IMF, in its Staff Level Agreement on a $2.9 billion Extended Fund Facility arrangement for Sri Lanka, said [for ]restoring price stability through data-driven monetary policy action, fiscal consolidation, phasing out monetary financing, and stronger central bank autonomy that allow pursuing a flexible inflation targeting regime – A new Central Bank Act is a cornerstone of this strategy’…’.  – ee Economists, Cabinet nod for draft bill of new CBSL Act

• With US government dollars, the UN World Food Program (WFP) in Sri Lanka has been ‘rapidly scaling up its emergency operation – which commenced in June’. The WFP ‘has so far reached over one million people with cash, food and vouchers and through the national school meal program’. The US proudly proclaims it has provided ‘a record total $20million to support WFP’s response to the economic crisis in Sri Lanka’. USAID’s most recent contribution of $13mn ‘paved the way for cash assistance & food rations to families hard-hit by the economic crisis across the country’. Where exactly does that ‘cash assistance end up, and who provides these ‘rations’? The media does not or is prevented from telling us what the nature of what all this aid is all about. However, the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Sri Lanka is ‘set to provide over 10,000 tons of urea to Sri Lankan farmers‘ (note, ee avoids using ‘farmers’ except in quotes). Where’s this urea from? Who makes it & how? (ee Agriculture).

• Free Trade Zone Apparel Workers Trade Union General Secretary Anton Marcus told Sunday Times, in the guise of operating only 2-3 days a week due to low orders, factories are today using this tool to send workers home voluntarily. This would then exempt factories from having to pay compensation for workers they need to lay off.

     Already about 40 SMEs have started closing since April, being those which were operating on subcontract orders from the larger companies. As a result about 10,000 workers are likely to have lost jobs up to now. The tactic most organizations are employing is to ask workers to report for duty only a few days so they do not have to be paid attendance bonus or overtime. This would leave workers with low pay at the end of the month, and will eventually lead to most opting to leave their jobs with no compensation either.

     At Tuesday’s National Labour Advisory Council meeting, employers had requested the extension of 5days/week work until the end of next year. Employers have called for any additional work to be completed during the work week without overtime.

     Unions have opposed this idea, stating: employees are facing issues of lack of food and having to stay in their boarding houses, causing spiralling of expenses. Employees are only provided food by the factories when they report to work.

     The meeting also highlighted the worsening plight of workers and the economy, as employers and the government ‘laid out the bare facts’ that order books were seeing a further drop and cost of living & inflation were expected to shoot up amidst more new taxes. They can pay salaries but most have bank borrowings, as a bigger problem, Omega Line Group Director and former Apparel Exporters Association President Felix Fernando said.

     He pointed out, at least 20% of the 300,000 employees in the SME are facing issues as this sector is operating under increased costs amidst an economic crisis, and as a result they are not working at full capacity. Workers are asked to carry out their work only on a few days of the week, however, salaries are not impacted, Fernando said; With the general economic conditions unlikely to improve for the next 3-4 months, the crisis is expected to aggravate for this sector that will see a further drop in orders by about 25% for the first 6 months of 2023.

     The expected electricity tariff hike will only add to the existing woes, which some in the industry believe will be a foolish decision on the part of the government.

     An unfavourable 30% tax increase has caused resentment among industries, and some analysts point out the additional tax revenue due to the tax rate change is less than 1% of government cost.

     Given the current tax regime, factories might consider moving out to countries that are more favourable, Fernando said. (ee Workers, Sri Lanka’s apparel workers face bleak future)

• Hudson on Debt & Devaluation – ‘My 1972 book Superimperialism is all about that. The largest purchasers of the book were the US War Department & CIA. The organization I worked for was given an $85,000 US War Dept contract for me to come explain to them how US imperialism worked. They used it as a how-to-do-it book. They thought it was just spontaneous. I had written the book, thinking of socialists and for 3^rd world countries to do something about it. It was translated into other languages. But it was really the War Dept that applied most of this. I was amazed when I was invited to the White House to explain how imperialism worked. My boss said we have run rings around the English imperialists. This is how to do it: you make them owe the debt in your currency. Not their own. You control their central bank, make them financially dependent on you and then you’ve got a stranglehold. Third World countries should cancel the debts under the Odious Debt Principle. I haven’t been able to convince any of them to do it, because they say if we do that the CIA will kill us. So how do you break that cycle? That’s a problem I have not been able to solve.

     Devaluation – When a country devalues its currency, what are they devaluing? There is a world price for grain, world price for aluminium, for raw materials. The only thing they can devalue is the price of their labor. So when Africa or Latin America or Greece or the US are told to devalue their currency, what that means is: pay labor less! You have to squeeze out more to pay the top of economic pyramid to suck it all up to the top 10% or 1% or 0.1%. So devaluation is basically an anti-labor policy to prevent a domestic market and prosperity from developing.

     That is why China & Russia are saying we do not want to be part of the Dollar area. We want our own currency, and we will only borrow in our own debt. The last time I went to China, it was little annoying, because they insisted on paying me in Yuan – all these little red bills and you have to go to a bank to turn in – and they said, we are following your advice. So what can I complain about, what do I do? They don’t want any part of the US banking system.’ (ee Economists, Hudson)

• Midst the fizzy buzz about the football World Cup, China’s leader Xi Jinping visited Saudi Arabia last week and inked a $30billion deal for oil. A historic event. Years earlier:

     ‘On 31 August 2016, a 500-strong delegation of Saudi business leaders and government officials touched down in Tokyo, Japan. Arriving on 13 planes, the visit was led by Saudi Arabia’s then Deputy Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman al-Saud, who was scheduled to meet Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son… Initially, the trip garnered little attention beyond scant coverage in the Saudi press. Its results, however, were to leave financial commentators worldwide stunned. The 2 men agreed to establish a $100bn private equity venture, the SoftBank Vision Fund (SVF), pledging to invest in emerging technologies in order to realize ‘a world where humans, devices and the internet are more closely integrated’. The scale of the fund surpassed anything that the private equity (PE) business had ever seen. It would be the largest fund in history – vastly exceeding the past record of $21.6bn raised by the PE behemoth Blackstone Group in 2006 – and worth more than all the money raised by the entire US venture capital industry over the preceding 30 months.

     The record-breaking nature of this deal is one sign of the role that Saudi Arabia, along with 5 other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain – now play in global financial markets. Backed by large surpluses accruing from more than a decade of rising oil prices, Gulf investors, both state and private, have come to control a global asset base worth several trillion dollars. Ranging from banking, industry, technology & real estate across Western Europe and North America, through to farmland, retail chains, and manufacturing plants in some of the poorest places on the planet, Gulf investments are encountered in virtually all countries and economic sectors. Many well-known international firms – Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, Volkswagen, Glencore, P&O, British Airways, Sainsbury’s, Twitter, to name just a few – now count Gulf investors as major shareholders or controlling owners. London property icons, eg Camden Market, Canary Wharf, Harrods, the Shard, New Scotland Yard & the London Stock Exchange, are fully or partially owned by Gulf investors – even the US embassy in England pays rent to a Gulf landlord. And through a little-known acquisition that took place in 2014, a Gulf-based firm became joint owners of HC-One, now the largest operator of nursing & residential homes in England. Moreover, it’s not only traditional business activities that have been targeted in this buying spree – some of Europe’s most prominent football teams are controlled by individuals and firms based in the Gulf, or emblazon logos of Gulf firms on their uniforms and stadiums (Barcelona, Arsenal, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain). Almost a decade ago, investments such as these led the global consultancy firm McKinsey to describe the Gulf as one of the ‘new powerbrokers’ in the global economy. Since that time, oil prices have crashed and much of the world economy remains mired in stagnation – nonetheless, as the SVF deal indicates, Gulf investments appear to continue apace. Indeed, in 2016, the net value of cross-border mergers & acquisitions made by firms based in the UAE, Saudi Arabia & Qatar ranked 12^th in the world, coming in just behind net purchases from the UK.’ –Adam Hanieh, socialistproject.ca/2018/12/money-markets-and-monarchies

• In a briefing last week, Russia’s Foreign Affairs speaker Maria Zakharova provided an interesting answer to a question about the Kosovo crisis: ‘Question: Belgrade (Serbia) plans to request permission to introduce its police into Kosovo on December 15. All this does not contradict the UN Security Council resolution. At the same time, Berlin calls this proposal unacceptable. It turns out that NATO, and the EU, are reducing the role of the UN in resolving crises? What mechanism in this case can be considered effective in the peaceful settlement of conflicts?

     Zakharova: This is the essence of the ‘collective West’ – to replace the role of the UN. They couldn’t destroy it. In the early 2000s there was a plan to get rid of the UN… (see above for details)

     The international legal basis for the settlement of the Kosovo problem is UN Security Council Resolution 1244. It establishes the possibility of returning up to 1,000 representatives of Serbian security forces to the territory of the province to protect the Serbs living there, which in the current conditions would obviously be the best way to stabilize the situation. A request for the implementation of this measure by Belgrade would be absolutely legitimate and effective. As well as the convening of a meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss this issue.

     Not for the first time we see the desire of Western countries to use the ‘field presences’ of the EU and NATO for selfish geopolitical purposes. In this sense, Kosovo is not just an exception, but a clear example that confirms the global plans of the EU and the alliance…’ – moonofalabama.org/2022/12/open-not-ukraine-thread-2022-226.html

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A4. Building Blocks

The extracts below are repeated to emphasize: 1) The constant din about exports, when they must at all times serve to advance or recapture & control our home markets to develop modern industry; 2) We need to learn about machine industry vs handicraft, assembly, manufacture; 3) Sangha rules require constant interaction between people.

• ‘The Creation of a Home Market for our Industry is the pivot on which the future industrialization of our country rests. In Ceylon’s context, The Home Market essentially means The Peasant Market. To create The Home Market therefore, we must substantially raise the living standards of the mass of the peasants so that they will be able to buy the goods produced by our industry. This demonstrates clearly the necessary connection between Industrialization & Agrarian Reform.` – Policy Statement of the Ministry of Industries, 1956

• ‘Japan will retain and encourage the branches of the machine industry that yield high added value, but production facilities that involve a low degree of processing and generate low added value should be moved to developing countries… so that Japan can concentrate on high technology & knowledge-intensive industry.’– Japan’s Council on Industrial Structure, 1977 (in SBD de Silva, The Political Economy of Underdevelopment)

• ‘Their field of production, the smallholding, admits of no division of labor in its cultivation, no application of science and, therefore, no diversity of development, no variety of talent, no wealth of social relationships. Each individual peasant family is almost self-sufficient; it itself directly produces the major part of its consumption and thus acquires its means of life more through exchange with nature than in intercourse with society.’ – Karl Marx, The 18^th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, p124

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B. Special Focus____________________________________________

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B1. The Private Capture of the United Nations & Its Agencies

Multinational corporations, with budgets larger than many countries put together, are not only ‘lobbying’ (a soft word for ‘corrupting’) governments. They have been ‘integrating’ corporate priorities into policymaking at national & international levels. From agriculture to technology, decisions historically made by governments are increasingly made by secretive unaccountable bodies run by corporations. Global decisions that used to be openly discussed by bodies such as the World Health Organization (WHO) or Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) are increasingly made by these unaccountable bodies.

     All of these moves accelerated with the ‘withdrawal’ of the USSR in the 1990s. We’re told, ‘neoliberalism’ then took over, increasing the power of corporations amidst the deregulation of the state. Deregulation meant that multilateral institutions, which depend on government donors, are being defunded on the back of falling corporate tax revenues for nation-states.

     In 2000, the UN invited corporations to sign up for their Global Compact.

     After the 2002 World Food Summit, (what later became) the Alliance Against Hunger & Malnutrition (AAHM) was set up by the Rome-based UN food agencies – the Food & Agriculture Organization, World Food Program (WFP), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD, see ee Agriculture, Rural Financing) and most importantly, (Rockefeller-petroleum-linked) Bioversity International.

     In 2009, the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s Global Redesign Initiative created about 40 Global Agenda Councils and industry-sector bodies. This ‘created space’ for corporations to pronounce openly on ‘governance issues’, from cybersecurity to climate change, from human rights to epidemics.

     In 2010, the Global Redesign Initiative argued, the first step toward their global governance vision is ‘to redefine the international system as constituting a wider, multifaceted system of global cooperation in which intergovernmental legal frameworks & institutions are embedded as a core, but not the sole and sometimes not the most crucial, component’.

     The goal was to weaken the role of states in global decision-making and to elevate the role of a new set of ‘stakeholders’, turning our multilateral system into a multistakeholder system, in which companies are made part of the governing mechanisms. This would bring multinational corporations, selected civil society representatives, states and other non-state actors together to make global decisions, discarding or ignoring critical concerns around conflicts of interest, accountability and democracy.

     The Strategic Partnership Agreement between the WEF & the UN in June 2019 promised to ‘accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ by deepening institutional coordination and collaboration between them. ‘The agreement grants transnational corporations preferential & deferential access to the UN System at the expense of states & public interest actors. It ‘delegitimizes the UN and weakens the role of states in global decision-making.’ The UN’s acceptance of this partnership agreement moves the world toward WEF’s aspirations for multistakeholderism becoming the effective replacement of multilateralism.

     The WEF then launched the Great Reset Initiative as an economic pandemic recovery plan, launched in June 2020.

     Many multistakeholder initiatives crept out of the Global Redesign Initiative’s 40 Global Agenda Councils, such as the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness (eg, WEF’s Covax to respond to the pandemic). The board of the Global Alliance for Vaccines (GAVI) is dominated mainly by big pharmaceutical companies, then by some nations, and so-called civil society representatives, many from the finance sector, from big banks. This is one reason why the media downplayed the scandal of preventing vaccine production in our countries through the WTO TRIPS amendment.

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B2. The Big Business of the Independent US Federal Reserve Bank

• ‘The big business & banking dominance of the Federal Reserve System cited in this report can be traced, in part, to the original Federal Reserve Act, which gave member commercial banks the right to select two-thirds of the directors of each district bank. But the Board of Governors in Washington must share the responsibility for this imbalance. They appoint the so-called ‘public’ members of the boards of each district bank, appointments which have largely reflected the same narrow interests of the bank-elected members. The parochial nature of the boards affects the public interest across a wide area, ranging from monetary policy to bank regulation. These are the directors, e.g., who initially select the presidents of the 12 district banks – officials who serve on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), determining the nation’s money supply and the level of economic activity. The selection of these public officials, with such broad and essential policymaking powers, should not be in the hands of boards of directors selected and dominated by private banking and corporate interests.’ – US Committee on Banking, Currency and Housing report, Federal Reserve Directors: a Study of Corporate & Banking Influence, August 1976

• While waging war against Korea, China & USSR, the US State Department & War Departments drafted the National Security Council‘s policy paper NSC 68 in 1950. NSC 68 advocated the tripling of war budgets, and increased invasion of Asia, Africa & the Americas, first from where European powers were supposedly withdrawing. Their international economic policies would follow these aims…

• The supposed independence of the US Federal Reserve from the US Treasury is cited ad nauseam. In March 1951 the US Treasury–Federal Reserve Accord reached an agreement to separate government debt management from monetary policy. However, this independence had more to do with the further monopolizing by a narrowing group of capitalists of their control over economic policy. Contrary to the claims of ‘independence’, therefore, US economic policy is very much determined by capitalists.

• The rise of finance is a structural foundation of the US empire, providing the basic infrastructure for the integration of the global economy. This required the restructuring of the US state, with the Federal Reserve and Treasury, especially, developing their capacities to manage the internationalization of capital.

• ‘Central Bank Independence’ was ‘explicitly designed by states and capital working together to protect the making of global capitalism from the progressive tendencies of democratic pressures on elected governments’, including by their own people. ‘Central Bank Independence’ has now been made ‘a touchstone for the restructuring of all states in context of capitalist globalization’.

• The Treasury Market Practices Group (TMPG) cartel was set up in February 2007 by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, to deal with ‘questionable trading practices’ in the secondary market for US Treasury Securities. This was just before the so-called Great Financial Crisis (GFC) broke out.

     TMPG, whose directors include bankers from JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, claims they maintain ‘a level and competitive playing field for all market participants’. The Group added ‘market architecture issues’ in 2008, and in 2010 included ‘federal agency debt and mortgage-backed securities (MBS) markets’. In March 2020 the US Fed extended and added to all the emergency powers it had used in 2008 to address the economic fallout from Covid-19, due to ‘a sudden loss of liquidity’.

• Not a Crisis – It’s Capitalism – In mid-June 2018, just as US President D Trump’s trade sanctions were hitting the world’s stock markets (and especially the market valuations of US corporations like Boeing & Caterpillar, whose production lines are very dependent on steel & aluminum inputs), Trump’s Chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, told a meeting of European Central Bankers: ‘For the first time we are hearing about decisions to postpone investment, postpone hiring, postpone making decisions. That is a new thing.’

     Earlier, before being made US Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell had told the heads of the private financial firms engaged in marketing Treasury securities bonds, who were meeting as members of the Treasury Markets Practices Group (see below ee Focus, B3) at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York:

     ‘I first encountered Treasury markets in a serious way 25 years ago, when I served as Under Secretary of the Treasury for Finance under President George HW Bush. These markets made national headlines when we learned that a Salomon Brothers’ trader had repeatedly circumvented Treasury auction rules to corner the market for the on-the-run 2-year Treasury. As it became clear that Salomon’s senior management had known about the issue for several months without alerting regulators, the scandal threatened to bring down one of the largest financial firms of that time. Over one memorable August weekend, we first prohibited the firm from dealing in government securities on behalf of customers, and then reduced that sanction as top Salomon management left the firm and Warren Buffett, then a large Salomon shareholder, agreed to assume the chairmanship of the board of directors. This event takes up a chapter in Buffett’s biography… I reread that chapter every couple of years. It still gives me nightmares.’

     For Powell this was ‘a good illustration of why we need the TMPG’, and why ‘after the dust settled, we had to grapple with the wider implications of the scandal for the market itself and particularly the role of regulatory oversight’. The TPMG was then created under the auspices of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, as a way to both reproduce the central role of private capitalist actors in the financial sector and to aid in the state’s central role in the management of it. As to why the central bank has had to engage in organizing the capitalist class to the end of containing the effects of shyster practices on top of the volatility endemic to capitalist finance, Powell explained:

     ‘Outside this room, you are competitors, and that vigorous competition serves your firms, your customers, and ultimately the U.S. taxpayer. But when members of the TMPG attend meetings, they bring their long experience and deep expertise to bear to safeguard the functioning and overall health of these markets. As I have heard a number of people say, TMPG members check their partisan interests at the door. The TMPG is the place where market participants recognize and address their responsibilities to each other’.

     Perhaps the greatest irony of ‘central bank independence’, explicitly designed by states and capital working together to protect the making of global capitalism from the progressive tendencies of democratic pressures on elected governments, is that it may yet come to be seen as saving global capitalism from the chaos of the Trump presidency. The greatest test of this will be the Fed’s behavior in face of the gathering financial storms abroad, from Argentina to Italy to Turkey to Indonesia, and their likely contagion effects. The impact which a rising US Dollar and even marginally higher interest rates inevitably have on international debt payments is already showing up here. This will be further compounded by the Fed’s tapering of its balance sheet as part of ending quantitative easing as well as the draining of dollars from global markets as the Trump tax cuts increase US government debt issuance and encourage US corporations to repatriate their profits.

     The marked differences in institutional purposes and competencies, even under the Trump regime, should serve as a reminder that it is always a mistake to analyze the state as monolithic rather than carefully delimiting and examining its component institutions. The widespread expectations, and even explicit demands, that the Federal Reserve must act as the world US bank are indicative of how sensitive global capitalism remains to what the key institutions of the informal US empire will be inclined to do – and will have the capacity to do – amidst the disruptions emanating from the Trump White House. – Trumping the Empire, Panitch & Gindin, 2019 (see ee Economists)

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B3. The Seizing of Dollars & Other Daylight Highway Robberies

‘The most important financial market in the world –

The deepest & most liquid market in the world,

Treasury Securities sit at the heart of the global financial system,

acting as a benchmark for asset classes globally,

enabling the US Dollar to operate as the world’s reserve currency‘

• The US Treasury Market Practices Group (TMPG) cartel includes ‘senior business managers and legal and compliance professionals from securities dealers, banks, buy-side firms, market utilities, and others’. TMPG members, they claim, are expected to “leave their firm hat at the door” and to support the Group’s primary aim of enhancing market integrity, rather than advancing individual or firm interests. The TMPG also works with such groups as the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA, for the fails charge and margining) and the Futures Industry Association (for automated trading).

     Current TMPG Members: Chair, Gerald Pucci, BlackRock, Doug Friedman of Tradeweb, Andrea Pfenning of Bank of New York Mellon, Vice Chair Casey Spezzano of NatWest Markets, Paul Hamill of Citadel Securities, Rasmus Rueffer of European Central Bank, Alberto Antonini of Tudor Investment Corp, Ari Kavour of Wells Fargo, Carolyn Sargent of Morgan Stanley, Richard Chambers of Goldman Sachs, Laura Klimpel of Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, Carsten Schwarting of Barclays, Debbie Cunningham of Federated Investors, John Madziyire of Vanguard, Marc Seidner of PIMCO, Sunil Cutinho of CME Group, Edward McLaren of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Ryan Sheftel of Global Trading Systems, David Finkelstein of Annaly Capital Management, and Priya Misra of TD Securities. Ex-Officio members, include the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY)’s Jenny Phan as TMPG Secretary, the FRBNY Markets Group of Brett Rose, Patricia Zobel, Frank Keane, Janine Tramontana, Rania Perry and Nathaniel Wuerffel, and the US Treasury Department‘s Deputy Assistant Secretary of Federal Finance Brian Smith,.

• Sri Lanka’s ‘Dollar crisis’, ‘foreign reserves’ crisis, etc, came to a head in March 2022. The consequent dearth of ‘finance, fuel, fertilizer & pharmaceuticals’ was rather blamed on Russia’s ‘unprovoked invasion of the Ukraine’, by the English media. However, it is more likely that the famine of dollars was artificially arranged scarcity, recalling a similar trial run in the USA itself, which was resolved by another massive printed-dollar bailout of the ‘most liquid market in the world’. Here is an example of how the US state orders its money business…

     ‘The $24trillion market for US government bonds predicts and influences interest rates –  the Central Bank sets the target range for the US Fed funds rate – which commercial banks charge to lend money to one another overnight – and interest rates across the economy adjust, in line with the Fed’s wishes. When yields on government bonds rise, they affect everything from the housing market to student loans, and changes in the Treasury market often lead the stock market higher or lower.

     The US Fed claims it can bring down inflation by raising interest rates to make it more expensive for consumers and companies to borrow money thereby slowing consumption and easing pressure on prices’ (ee Economists, The $24Trillion Market).

     This $24 trillion (then $20 trillion) US Treasury market came under scrutiny after ‘seizing-up’ in March 2020. This ‘seizure’ was blamed on ‘rising pandemic fears’, ‘threatening the stability of the broader financial system’. But who seized the treasuries? Who took the money?

     These ‘Pandemic fears’ are supposed to have gripped investors in late February and early March 2020. Highly leveraged hedge-funds were somehow ‘forced to unwind their Treasury positions, exacerbating the sell-off’.

     Treasury market liquidity then ‘rapidly deteriorated to 2008 crisis levels’. The Fed continued to buy around $ 80 billion of Treasuries monthly, and top officials warned liquidity could collapse again if that support was withdrawn.

     In March 2020, citing a ‘massive selloff’, the US Federal Reserve said it was forced to buy $1.6trillion of Treasuries ‘to stabilize’ the $20 trillion US Treasury market.

     The Covid-19 pandemic was then blamed for slowing employment growth, for low oil prices and weak consumer demand. The US Fed had to ensure labor market conditions would be consistent with their ‘assessment of maximum employment.’ They said they therefore had to provide support to flow credit to households & businesses and ensure smooth functioning of the financial markets.

     Brookings thinktank noted: ‘The rapid growth of the US Treasury & other US bond markets has outstripped the capacity of dealers, the traditional suppliers of liquidity, to meet liquidity demands in stress periods.’

     The small number of dealers who provide liquidity were blamed. Only a cartel of 24 Wall Street companies, mostly big banks, were allowed to buy Treasuries from clients in the secondary market and sell them to the New York Fed. Regulators however feared, ‘loosening trading rules, allowing new players into the market, or introducing central clearing, could prove risky to implement and unleash industry infighting over the benefits and costs’.

     Regulators also explored the introduction of ‘central clearing to guarantee Treasury trades, similar to post-crisis changes to bolster the swaps market’. Dealers blamed such ‘post-crisis rules’ had ‘hurt liquidity by making it expensive to hold inventories of bonds on their books.’

     The Fed ‘partly addressed that by temporarily easing rules in April to allow large banks to exclude Treasuries from their asset calculation, reducing the capital they must hold against them’. JPMorgan Banker Chief Executive Jamie Dimon called on regulators to ‘re-examine the impact of post-crisis rules more broadly and consider permanent changes’. ‘I hope they recalibrate all those things and we don’t have so much capital liquidity tied up in a very rigid way forever.’

     What went wrong, and measures to boost the market’s resilience, was supposed to be among the first regulatory challenges for then-incoming President J Biden’s Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. The US Federal Reserve System (the Fed) has a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which oversees ‘open market operations’ (eg, the Fed’s buying & selling of US Treasury securities). The FOMC makes key decisions about interest rates and the growth of the US money supply, and despite all claims of ‘independence’ from US political pressure, always intervenes during ‘crises’.

     The FOMC in December 2020 promised to keep funneling cash into financial markets further into the future, to fight the recession. Purchases would continue ‘until substantial further progress has been made toward the FOMC’s maximum employment and price stability goals’.

     The Treasury Market Practices Group advises the government on bond market issues. One TMPG banker felt it ‘unrealistic to expect a small pool of dealers to do this alone, particularly during times of stress’. They recommended adding big asset managers to the pool, potentially bringing trillions more dollars of liquidity to the market. Proprietary hedge funds, which already provide liquidity in equities, could also be allowed in.

     The Treasury Secretary had to first ‘canvass stakeholders’ for ‘industry feedback’ before making changes, requiring a ‘lengthy rule-making process’, involving several regulators. Big Asset Managers would resist being added to the dealing pool and having to ‘submit to extra oversight‘. Central clearing required new risk controls. Dealers spent years fighting such controls when clearing was introduced into the swaps market. Hedge funds were seen as likely to ‘fight caps on their leverage’.

     With such sub-sectors of the financial system implicated, and dealers & hedge funds being politically powerful, any policies to restrict their activities or eat into their profits were expected ‘to meet significant resistance.’ (reuters.com/business/after-covid-shock-us-treasury-market-set-new-scrutiny-sources-2020-12-16/)

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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.

• LSSP Leader warns, govt will soon sign two controversial deals with US bartering our future

‘The Ranil Wickremesinghe administration would soon sign the controversial Millennium Challenge Compact (MCC) and Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA)’

– island.lk/lssp-leader-warns-that-govt-will-soon-sign-two-controversial-deals-with-us-bartering-our-future/

• Godawaya shipwreck and Central Cultural Fund (CCF) granted US dollars by Chung

– ft.lk/opinion/Godawaya-shipwreck-granted-US-support-for-conservation/14-743429

• How much were those who led the ‘aragalaya’ paid? – Waduge

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/12/23/how-much-were-those-who-led-the-aragalaya-paid/

• Prez retains Army Chief; Gen. Kottegoda appointed Chancellor KDU

– island.lk/prez-retains-army-chief-gen-kottegoda-appointed-chancellor-kdu/

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Gen-Kottegoda-appointed-KDU-Chancellor/108-250956

• Sri Lanka president, TNA meet on reconciliation; political prisoners, lands discussed

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-president-tna-meet-on-reconciliation-political-prisoners-lands-discussed-107336/

• President agreed to release northern land, ‘political prisoners’ – TNA MP

– island.lk/president-agreed-to-release-northern-land-political-prisoners-tna-mp/

• ‘Reconciliation initiative – the bigger picture’: A response – Sarath Weerasekera, MP

– island.lk/reconciliation-initiative-the-bigger-picture-a-response/

• Lanka denounces US$ 3.4mn allocated by UN body to implement UNHRC resolution

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/news/lanka-denounces-us-3-4mn-allocated-by-un-body-to-implement-unhrc-resolution-506097.html

• The ethnic factor in Sri Lanka’s foreign policy, 1948-1956

‘The Sri Lankan elite resorted to the most divisive politics at home to buttress its pro-Western foreign policy stances.’

– island.lk/the-ethnic-factor-insri-lankas-foreign-policy-1948-1956/

• India’s growing strategic security concerns prompt revival of Colombo Security Conclave

– island.lk/revival-of-the-colombo-security-conclave/

• Jaishankar hails Modi for securing release of 2,835 Indian fishermen from Sri Lanka since 2014

‘Anti-Maritime Piracy Bill, 2019 seeks to provide an effective legal instrument to combat piracy, not only in territorial waters, and the exclusive economic zone (EEZ,) but also on the high seas.’

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/2-835-fishermen-released-from-Sri-Lanka-since-2014-Jaishankar/108-250815

– island.lk/jaishankar-hails-modi/

• President Ranil’s initiative to resolve Tamil national question by 04 February – Jeyaraj

‘it is the fervent desire and prayer of this the column that President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s admirable initiative to resolve the Tamil National Question…meets with the success it richly deserves.’

– dailymirror.lk/opinion/President-Ranils-initiative-to-resolve-Tamil-national-question/172-251008

• Solving a problem of over 50 years in 50 days

‘stop land grabs in the Northern and Eastern Provinces by the armed forces and the state institutions while releasing all lands so acquired earlier by them in those two provinces,’

– dailymirror.lk/opinion/Solving-a-problem-of-over-50-years-in-50-days/172-250908

• North-South towns: Tightening the bonds

‘95 members of Valikamam West Divisional Council, Valikamam South Divisional Council, and Jaffna Municipal Council visited the Colombo Municipal Council on 9th December’

– dailymirror.lk/opinion/North-South-towns-Tightening-the-bonds/172-250907

• Sari and the Hijab: Two faces of the same sorry coin – Akmeemana

– dailymirror.lk/opinion/Sari-and-the-Hijab-Two-faces-of-the-same-sorry-coin/172-250850

• President tells officials to stop turf wars & solve land problems in Nuwara Eliya before Feb. 04

– island.lk/president-tells-officials-to-stop-their-turf-wars-and-solve-land-problems-in-nuwara-eliya-before-feb-04/

• Sri Lanka to improve upcountry plantation workers’ lives amid Indian push 

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-to-improve-upcountry-plantation-workers-lives-amid-indian-push-107076/

• Series of events to appreciate contribution of upcountry Tamils

– ft.lk/news/Series-of-events-to-appreciate-contribution-of-upcountry-Tamils/56-743468

• High Commissioner Moragoda interacts with the Nagaland Armed Police personnel

– island.lk/high-commissioner-moragoda-interacts-with-the-nagaland-armed-police-personnel/

• Naga students resented the heavy presence of Indian forces.

– island.lk/fond-memories-of-india-and-nagaland/

• India, SL to start ferry service between Trinco, KKS and Puducherry from Next Month

– island.lk/ndia-sl-to-start-ferry-service-between-kks-and-puducherry/

– sundaytimes.lk/online/news-online/Ferry-service-between-India-and-SL-from-next-month-Indian-media/2-1140086

• Tamil National Alliance (TNA) calls for release of land held by security forces & state

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/columns/element-of-uncertainty-over-local-council-elections-in-march-next-year-506090.html

• TNA and President negotiating full implementation of the 13th Amendment

‘Tamil was declared the language of Court in the North and East by Article 24 of the Constitution’

– colombotelegraph.com/index.php/plea-for-the-rule-of-law-and-personal-safety-of-all-citizens/

• All Party Conference: Accelerated Reconciliation Program – Philips

– island.lk/all-party-conference-accelerated-reconciliation-program/

• Gamini Dissanayake set up an informal link-up with Indian policy makers – Amunugama

– island.lk/gamini-dissanayake-the-man-he-was-and-what-fired-the-mahaweli-project/

• Reconciliation requires including all in state’s care, concern & protection: USAID NPC Perera

– island.lk/true-reconciliation-requires-including-all-in-the-states-care-concern-and-protection/

• Ocean plastics reduction programme kicked off by USAID in Sri Lanka

‘The US aid program will be led by a group named Research Triangle International (RTI) who will work with local partners to target system inefficiencies and areas of reliance on virgin plastics.’

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Ocean-plastics-reduction-programme-kicked-off-by-USAID-in-Sri-Lanka/108-251000

– economynext.com/us-starts-ocean-plastics-reduction-program-in-sri-lanka-and-the-maldives-107448/

• Working towards a global treaty on plastic pollution to protect the planet

– ft.lk/columns/Working-towards-a-global-treaty-on-plastic-pollution-to-protect-the-planet/4-743439

• Replay of history? Solheim is back…

– island.lk/replay-of-history/

• Oslo Solheim rules out mediator role between Tamil parties and Govt.

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Solheim-rules-out-mediator-role-between-Tamil-parties-and-Govt/108-250804

• Sooka Paid Significant Compensation by Pro-GOSL Sinhala England Activist

– colombotelegraph.com/index.php/sooka-paid-a-significant-sum-in-legal-costs-compensation-by-pro-gosl-sinhalese-uk-activist/

• State employees in SL behave like kings – Korean official

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/12/23/state-employees-in-sl-behave-like-kings-korean-official/

• Anupa Pasqual says he was not late at meeting with Korean Envoy, decides to be punctual

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Anupa-Pasqual-says-he-was-not-late-at-meeting-with-Korean-decides-to-be-punctual-hereon/108-250965

• Following Korean fiasco, Anupa Pasqual fails to appear at CID

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Following-Korean-fiasco-Anupa-Pasqual-fails-to-appear-at-CID/108-250961

• Sri Lanka state minister claims alleged South Korean finger-wagging a fabrication

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-state-minister-claims-alleged-south-korean-finger-wagging-a-fabrication-107495/

• Deputy Chinese ambassador calls on President Ranil

– http://www.adaderana.lk/news/87012/deputy-chinese-ambassador-calls-on-president-ranil

• Difficult to say real form of Ram Setu is present but…: Govt in Parliament

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/12/23/difficult-to-say-real-form-of-ram-setu-is-present-but-govt-in-parliament/

• Global Coup d’État: Mapping the Corporate Takeover of Global Governance

– tni.org/en/article/end-the-united-nationsworld-economic-forum-partnership-agreement

– fian.org/en/press-release/article/wef-takeover-of-un-strongly-condemned-2273

– gpenewsdocs.com/global-coup-detat-mapping-the-corporate-takeover-of-global-governance/

• Imran Khan says no to Aragalaya-style mass protests

– island.lk/imran-khan-says-no-to-aragalaya-style-mass-protests/

• US Senate passes $1.7 trillion spending bill without Afghan refugee law

‘$858bn for military spending and $45bn in additional assistance for Ukraine’

– island.lk/us-senate-passes-1-7-trillion-spending-bill-without-afghan-refugee-law/

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/308736-us-senate-approves-17-trillion-omnibus-spending-bill

• A German-China-Russia triangle on Ukraine

– indianpunchline.com/a-german-china-russia-triangle-on-ukraine/

• China edges out the US in battle to control Middle East

– dailymirror.lk/opinion/China-edges-out-the-US-in-battle-to-control-Middle-East/172-250909

• As ‘New Cold War’ intensifies, West woos Africa and ASEAN region

– island.lk/as-new-cold-war-intensifies-west-woos-africa-and-asean-region/

• Joint naval exercise December 21-27 to show intent by Russia, China to respond to threats

– tass.com/world/1552911

• How The US Stole Hawaii

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/12/18/how-the-us-stole-hawaii/

• Iran says ready to resume relations with Saudi Arabia

‘regional summit on Iraq in Jordanian capital Amman on 20 December attended by Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, France, as well as Bahrain and Oman.’

– middleeastmonitor.com/20221219-iran-says-ready-to-resume-relations-with-saudi-arabia/

• Death Of Nuclear Deal With Iran Adds To Biden’s Failures In U.S. Foreign Policy

‘The US has supported the protests and arranged for the attacks on Iranian security personnel by armed ethnic Kurd and Baloch insurgents.’

– moonofalabama.org/2022/12/death-of-nuclear-deal-with-iran-adds-to-bidens-failures-in-us-foreign-policy.html

• Israel launches fresh missile attack on Syrian capital in new act of aggression

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/308406-israel-launches-fresh-missile-attack-on-syrian-capital-in-new-act-of-aggression

• Why time isn’t ripe for Ukraine talks – Bhadrakumar

‘Russia warns that Patriot missile defence systems will be legitimate targets should Washington supply them to Kiev’

– indianpunchline.com/why-time-isnt-ripe-for-ukraine-talks/

• NATO nuclear compass rendered unavailing – Bhadrakumar

‘visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Minsk, accompanied by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, turned out to be immensely consequential for European security.’

– indianpunchline.com/nato-nuclear-compass-rendered-unavailing/

• Ukraine – Is There Really A Change Of The Narrative?

– moonofalabama.org/2022/12/ukraine-is-there-really-a-change-of-the-narrative

• ‘Putin Has Misread the West (And) if He Doesn’t Wake Up Soon, Armageddon Is Upon Us’

– unz.com/mwhitney/putin-has-misread-the-west-and-if-he-doesnt-wake-up-soon-armageddon-is-upon-us/

• Russia Takes New Steps To Secures Its Western Border

– moonofalabama.org/2022/12/russia-takes-new-steps-to-secures-its-western-border

• The sooner conflict in Ukraine ends, the better, Putin says

– tass.com/politics/1554763

• We will unite the people and ‘crack’ Patriot missiles: what Putin told reporters

– tass.com/politics/1554823

• In Ukraine, it’s Patriot vs. Iskander for now – Bhadrakumar

– indianpunchline.com/in-ukraine-its-patriot-vs-iskander-for-now/

• What In Zelenski’s “Epic Piece Of Theater” Was “Daring” And “Bold”?

– moonofalabama.org/2022/12/what-in-zelenskis-epic-piece-of-theater-was-daring-and-bold.html

• US President Biden aims to fight until Russia’s destruction

– johnhelmer.net/what-to-give-hitler-this-christmas/#more-70443

• No Authentic Peace in Europe, New 100-Years War

– johnhelmer.net/the-montreal-world-view-no-authentic-peace-in-europe-new-100-years-war

• The West and the Majority World – Repression Versus Openness

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/12/21/the-west-and-the-majority-world-repression-versus-openness/

• Dominican foreign minister calls for foreign intervention in Haiti

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/308706-dominican-foreign-minister-calls-for-foreign-intervention-in-haiti

• People’s Front of Ayacucho calls for new regional strike in Peru

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/308453-peoples-front-of-ayacucho-calls-for-new-regional-strike-in-peru

• Protests in Peru continue to demand closure of Congress

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/308475-protests-in-peru-continue-to-demand-closure-of-congress

• UN Human Right Commissioner offers to help Peru in political crisis

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/308557-un-human-right-commissioner-offers-to-help-peru-in-political-crisis

• Peru orders Mexico’s ambassador in Lima to leave the country

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/308484-peru-orders-mexicos-ambassador-in-lima-to-leave-the-country

• Wife and children of former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo arrive in Mexico

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/308500-wife-and-children-of-former-peruvian-president-pedro-castillo-arrive-in-mexico

• French police clash with protesters after gunman kills three Kurds

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/308751-french-police-clash-with-protesters-after-racist-gunman-kills-three

________________________________________________________________

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.

• USAID launches Junior Bar Journal

‘Despite its US origins, this framework of Constitutionalism spread to Germany with its Basic Law, India with Ambedkar’s Constitution and South Africa after Apartheid’

– ft.lk/columns/Precarious-times-and-possible-futures/4-743404

• Incidents of unrest: Over 100 MPs urge to table committee report in parliament

– http://www.adaderana.lk/news/87075/incidents-of-unrest-over-100-mps-urge-to-table-committee-report-in-parliament

• Minister says police have no vehicles to nab criminals, some OICs travel in trishaws

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Minister-says-police-have-no-vehicles-to-nab-criminals-some-OICs-travel-in-trishaws/108-250895

• Handover of 125 Mahindra SUVs to Sri Lanka Police

– ft.lk/news/Handover-of-125-Mahindra-SUVs-to-Sri-Lanka-Police/56-743469

• Police procure 125 much-needed vehicles through Indian credit line

– island.lk/police-procure-much-needed-vehicles-through-indian-credit-line/

• Sri Lanka to use vehicles confiscated by Customs for police work

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-to-use-vehicles-confiscated-by-customs-for-police-work-107279/

• The ISI’s South game is to link the LTTE revival to Tamil nationalism

– island.lk/the-isis-south-game-is-to-link-the-ltte-revival-to-tamil-nationalism/

• 7 out of 9 Sri Lankans arrested in India camp for refugees on Interpol red notices

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Seven-out-of-nine-among-Interpol-red-notice-list/108-250917

• Only ten to twelve key drug smugglers in the country

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/columns/spread-of-narcotics-fuelled-by-corruption-505957.html

• Narcotic haul brought ashore

‘residents of Tangalle, Nakulugamuwa, Kosgoda and Balapitiya and they are from 29 to 59 years’

– island.lk/narcotic-haul-brought-ashore

• Give the police a free hand to deal with the drug Mafia – Island

– island.lk/ogres-preying-on-children/

• Former importers selling ice and heroin riled by police sting

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/12/19/ice-mafia-fights-back-through-people/

• Over 6,000 arrested for Ice-related activities in 10 months; over 377 kg Ice nabbed 

– economynext.com/over-6000-arrested-for-ice-related-activities-in-sri-lanka-in-10-months-over-377-kg-ice-nabbed-107208/

• Over 31,000 arrests made in 11 months: Excise Department

– sundaytimes.lk/online/news-online/Over-31-000-arrests-made-in-11-months-Excise-Department/2-1140091

• Guna and Ladiya among 9 Lankans arrested from TN over smuggling to revive LTTE

– dailymirror.lk/top_story/Guna-and-Ladiya-among-9-Lankans-arrested-from-TN-over-smuggling-to-revive-LTTE/155-250761

• ‘Kondaya’ and ‘Kalu Malli’ arrested for robbing valuables worth Rs 250M

– http://www.adaderana.lk/news/87057/kondaya-and-kalu-malli-arrested-for-robbing-valuables-worth-rs-250m

• Underworld leader Kanchipani Imran granted bail

– english.newsfirst.lk/2022/12/20/underworld-leader-kanchipani-imran-granted-bail

• Customs seize kush, methamphetamine pills worth over Rs.165mn

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Customs-seize-kush-methamphetamine-pills-worth-over-Rs-165mn/108-250963

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-seizes-crystal-meth-kush-in-dolls-food-107447/

• Rs. 165 Mn worth of drugs sent by post seized by customs

– english.newsfirst.lk/2022/12/23/rs-165-mn-worth-of-drugs-sent-by-post-seized-by-customs

• Another police operation nets 47 suspects with various drugs from near 149 schools

– island.lk/another-police-operation-nets-47-suspects-with-various-drugs-from-near-149-schools/

• SJB raises burning problem of runaway crime spree

– island.lk/sjb-raises-burning-problem-of-runaway-crime-spree/

• Sri Lanka undecided on death penalty, hangmen – Justice Minister 

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-undecided-on-death-penalty-hangmen-justice-minister-107455/

• Fatal accidents are sometimes a money making activity for the police – Island

– island.lk/properly-compensating-road-accident-victims/

• 42 CCTV footages examined in Schaffter inverstigation

‘The January 2009 killing of Lasantha Wickrematunge was pinned on a unit of the military intelligence following a meticulous phone analysis done with the help of US investigators.’

– ceylontoday.lk/2022/12/19/42-cctv-footage-examined/

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/news/three-police-teams-probe-schaffters-mystery-killing-506055.html

– island.lk/schaffter-killing-still-a-mystery/

– dailymirror.lk/top_story/Schaffters-business-partners-questioned-no-suspect-yet/155-250837

– themorning.lk/articles/Ca6ZmUY7rvz5OMLD05M2

– economynext.com/phone-analysis-holds-up-probe-in-to-sri-lanka-executives-murder-107332/

• Peradeniya University in turmoil after attack on former VC and family

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/news/peradeniya-university-in-turmoil-after-attack-on-former-vc-and-family-505994.html

• Magistrate orders police to arrest Pera Uni. Students’ union leader over attack on don

– island.lk/magistrate-orders-police-to-arrest-pera-uni-students-union-leader-over-attack-on-don/

• 61 raids carried out by Bribery Commission for 2022

– http://www.adaderana.lk/news/87076/61-raids-carried-out-by-bribery-commission-for-2022

• SLAF signs MOU to airlift remains of deceased personnel for organ retrieval

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/SLAF-signs-MOU-to-airlift-remains-of-deceased-personnel-for-organ-retrieval/108-250915

• Why India is ‘Unwilling’ to Probe Blacklisted Arms Dealer’s Role in Rafale Deal

– newsclick.in/Why-Centre-Unwilling-Probe-Blacklisted-Arms-Dealer-Role-Rafale-Deal

• Small Countries Beware Before it’s Too Late – New Book Out Today Reveals How Late it Is

‘Australia was the only country in the world to close its borders to its own citizens during the Covid pandemic, and then force the few allowed to return into detention with detainees compelled to pay.’

– johnhelmer.net/small-countries-beware-before-its-too-late-new-book-out-today-reveals-how-late-it-is

• Primer On New Russian Law Against Public Promotion Of Sex Change, Sex Preference Propaganda

‘By 2030, 1-in-7 (14.3%) voters will be LGBTQ+ identifying, representing a sharp increase’

– johnhelmer.net/primer-on-the-new-russian-law-against-public-promotion-of-sex-change-sex-preference-propaganda

• The Magistrates Should Be Elected By The People – Hegel, 1798

– redsails.org/the-magistrates-should-be-elected-by-the-people/

_____________________________________________________________

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.

• Let cherished leader Philip Gunawardena inspire us to end economic meltdown – Karunaratne

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/12/23/let-our-cherished-leader-hon-philip-gunawardena-inspire-us-to-end-the-economic-meltdown/

• What the IMF did to Mali and lessons for Sri Lanka – Waduge

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/12/23/what-the-imf-did-to-mali-and-lessons-for-sri-lanka/

• Sri Lanka cabinet approves draft monetary law ahead of IMF deal

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-cabinet-approves-draft-monetary-law-ahead-of-imf-deal-107006/

• Cabinet nod for Central Bank of Sri Lanka draft Bill

– ft.lk/top-story/Cabinet-nod-for-draft-bill-of-new-CBSL-Act/26-743331

• SL’s debt restructuring model outdated, says World Bank Chief Economist

‘he blamed the lack of a set of globally-agreed standards for the delays’

– themorning.lk/articles/RNB3hFq2FNxZaeRREc4G

• Stop living off loans – Austerity for Rich & Stimulus for Middle Class & Poor: Waduge

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/12/18/sri-lanka-stop-living-off-loans-austerity-for-rich-stimulus-for-middle-class-poor/

• JVP mocks Ranil’s solution: taxing people to penury, selling national assets, taking more loans

– island.lk/jvp-mocks-ranils-solution-taxing-people-to-penury-selling-national-assets-and-taking-more-loans/

• No queues because we have stopped repaying our debt, but we’ll be back in trouble when repayments begin – Chief Opposition Whip

– island.lk/no-queues-because-we-have-stopped-repaying-our-debt-but-well-be-back-in-trouble-when-repayments-begin-chief-opposition-whip/

• Cabinet ok to teach economics to politicos & bureaucrats: Institution of Economics & Trade.’

‘Although, the Fiscal Management Responsibility Act (FMRA) came into effect in 2003, he pointed out that successive governments failed to comply with the key fiscal rules while amending the Act 3 times after failing to meet fiscal rules.’

– dailymirror.lk/business/Cabinet-approval-to-teach-economics-to-politicos-and-bureaucrats/215-250795

– ft.lk/front-page/Govt-to-establish-Sri-Lanka-Institution-of-Economics-and-Trade/44-743324

– economynext.com/mercantilist-sri-lanka-to-teach-economics-to-politicos-bureaucrats-107026/

• Learn economics or depart

– themorning.lk/articles/tNo7DEA3c2OyK9y5koPW

• Export role miracle in Vietnam: Lessons for Sri Lanka – Bram Nicholas

‘Vietnam’s autocratic governance structure took critical initiatives for an influx of foreign investment in 2010-2015 with minimal interactions from pressure groups. In contrast, Sri Lanka’s democratic governance model cannot bolster its economy via firm measures, disregarding pressure groups.’

– ft.lk/columns/Export-role-miracle-in-Vietnam-Lessons-for-Sri-Lanka/4-743263

• Macroeconomic debate amid global unravelling – D. Gunawardena

‘domestic rigidities, especially in the agricultural sector, must first be overcome to create a sustainable path to development… this way of formulating economic policy could better accommodate the needs of lower income groups through measures such as agrarian reform’

– ft.lk/columns/Macroeconomic-debate-amid-global-unravelling/4-743271

• Reviving agriculture vital to achieve economic stability and growth – Sanderatne

‘release of foreign currency for imports must give priority for obtaining the imported raw materials for increased production. Foreign assistance must be channelled to obtaining fertiliser and agrochemicals’

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/columns/reviving-agriculture-vital-to-achieve-economic-stability-and-growth-505911.html

• The retold South Korea success story: How should Sri Lanka emulate it? – Wijewardena

‘the seeds for changing the system and making Korea a prosperous nation was sown by Park through his centrally planned economic development system.’

– ft.lk/columns/The-retold-South-Korea-success-story-How-should-Sri-Lanka-emulate-it/4-743202

• Tourism is like icing on the cake, workers remittances a sign of ‘hopelessness’ – Abeyratne

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/business-times/opinions-and-sentiments-vs-principles-and-facts-505562.html

• Sri Lanka has been a self-sufficient country from time immemorial.

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/12/20/ancient-ceylon-history/

• CB annoys garment & tea exporters: claims & counter-claims mystifying: Kussi Amma Feisal

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/business-times/mystery-of-forex-earnings-2-505574.html

• The unsurmountable task of curing a bleeding economy – Dedigama

‘if the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance do not finalize viable solutions for debt restructuring and privatizing leaking SOEs, it could lead to a banking crisis?’

– english.newsfirst.lk/2022/12/13/the-unsurmountable-task-of-curing-a-bleeding-economy

• The Reason Why African Debt Can’t be Paid – Michael Hudson

– youtube.com/watch?v=5PoEJqLwYLE

• The Growth of England’s asset manager capitalism

– common-wealth.co.uk/reports/under-new-management-share-ownership-and-the-growth-of-uk-asset-manager-capitalism

• Liberal Democracy, Authoritarian Statism, and the New Finance Capital – Stephen Maher

– socialistproject.ca/leftstreamed-video/liberal-democracy-authoritarian-statism/

• Trumping the Empire – Panitch, Gindin

– socialistregister.com/index.php/srv/article/view/30921/23328

• The $24 Trillion Treasury Market That Predicts and Influences Interest Rates

– nytimes.com/2022/11/02/business/treasury-yields-bond-market.html

• Shadowy US Spy Firm Anomaly 6 Promises To Surveil Crypto Users For the Highest Bidder

Ever since Bitcoin’s launch in 2009, anonymity has been an absolutely fundamental tenet of cryptocurrency… Anomaly 6 can identify US smartphone users by name, address and travel history.’

– mintpressnews.com/anomaly-6-surveil-crypto-users-highest-bidder/283036/

• Economist Roberts’ Top ten posts of 2022: Ukraine, profits and inflation

– thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2022/12/23/top-ten-posts-of-2022-ukraine-profits-and-inflation/

• Economic Books of the year – Roberts

– thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2022/12/22/books-of-the-year-2/

• Economic Vision for Everyone: How to Organize a Green Economy of Solidarity, Equity, and Self-Determination

– socialistproject.ca/2022/12/economic-vision-for-everyone/

• Debt-service payments put biggest squeeze on poor countries: World Bank

– ft.lk/front-page/Debt-service-payments-put-biggest-squeeze-on-poor-countries-World-Bank/44-743460

____________________________________________

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.

• IMF approval for Sri Lanka loan delayed over lingering negotiation 

– economynext.com/imf-approval-for-sri-lanka-loan-delayed-over-lingering-negotiation-107202/

• Govt admits IMF approval could delay past Jan.

– themorning.lk/articles/2lffNh1zLgV9yE9Arsrd

• Sri Lanka awaiting assurances from India, China, says Central Bank Governor

– island.lk/sri-lanka-awaiting-assurances-from-india-china-says-central-bank-governor/

• Minister admits further delay in IMF bailout package

– island.lk/minister-admits-further-delay-in-imf-bailout-package/

• IMF approval delay on Sri Lanka loan not only due to China

– economynext.com/imf-approval-delay-on-sri-lanka-loan-not-only-due-to-china-source-107352/

• Debt crisis: IMF says China ready for roundtable talks

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/news/debt-crisis-imf-says-china-ready-for-roundtable-talks-506105.html

• Deprived of USD 53 billion, launch a special probe to bring it back as a national priority

– island.lk/let-the-search-begin-2/

• Sri Lanka President calls for a giving Christmas in deepest ever currency crisis

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-president-calls-for-a-giving-christmas-in-deepest-ever-currency-crisis-107530/

• Sri Lanka to launch urgent reforms to address fiscal challenges: Finance Ministry

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/12/23/sri-lanka-to-launch-urgent-reforms-to-address-fiscal-challenges-finance-ministry/

• Treasury Secretary justifies new taxes, as present income not sufficent to meet expenses

– island.lk/treasury-secretary-justifies-new-taxes-as-present-income-not-sufficent-to-meet-expenses/

• Slump in consumer goods imports shows glimpse of household misery, wild turn in lifestyles 

‘government imposed new taxes, hiked existing taxes and cut public spending heavily resulting in lower demand for goods and services and thereby imports. These highly restrictive policies, though required to arrest the spiralling inflation, dealt a lethal blow to households and small businesses, pushing them into severe economic hardships’

– dailymirror.lk/business/Slump-in-consumer-goods-imports-shows-glimpse-of-household-misery-wild-turn-in-lifestyles/215-250796

• Finance Ministry says reviewing VAT exemptions

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Finance-Ministry-says-reviewing-VAT-exemptions/108-251002

• Govt. flexible for alternative ideas by taxpayers

– ft.lk/top-story/Govt-flexible-for-alternative-ideas-by-taxpayers/26-743467

• NCPI-based inflation drops to 65% in November

– http://www.adaderana.lk/news/87010/ncpi-based-inflation-drops-to-65-in-november

• CBSL prints more money

– ft.lk/front-page/CBSL-prints-more-money/44-743277

• IMF urges Maldives to stop money printing to protect rufiyaa, as Sri Lanka rupee collapses

– economynext.com/imf-urges-maldives-to-stop-money-printing-to-protect-rufiyaa-as-sri-lanka-rupee-collapses-107107/

• Tea Exporters Association meets CBSL Chief over forex repatriation and conversion issue

‘TEA said the tea export business is highly working-capital intensive’

– ft.lk/front-page/Tea-Exporters-Association-meets-CBSL-Chief-over-forex-repatriation-and-conversion-issue/44-743279

• Govt. relaxes import controls for third time

‘10 items related to tourism and security industries and sports. The items include energy drinks, CCTV cameras, MDF boards and tennis balls and badminton rackets’

– dailymirror.lk/business/Govt-relaxes-import-controls-for-third-time/215-250791

– ft.lk/front-page/Govt-lifts-import-restrictions-on-10-items/44-743326

– english.newsfirst.lk/2022/12/20/import-restrictions-on-energy-drinks-mdf-wood-and-cctv-lifted

• SL exporters well equipped to cater to EU market with assistance provided by Germany’s Import Promotion Desk (IPD)

– dailymirror.lk/business-news/SL-exporters-well-equipped-to-cater-to-EU-market-with-assistance-provided-by-IPD/273-250861

• EDB gets Swiss support to conduct market research

– dailymirror.lk/business-news/EDB-gets-Swiss-support-to-conduct-market-research/273-250942

– ft.lk/business/Switzerland-extends-cooperation-for-EDB-to-carry-out-market-research/34-743405

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-gets-swiss-help-to-study-eu-market-access-107327/

• Govt. to synergise country’s external trade with newly established Int’l Trade Office

– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Govt-to-synergise-countrys-external-trade-with-newly-established-Intl-Trade-Office/273-250998

– island.lk/govt-opts-to-re-establish-international-trade-office/

– island.lk/international-trade-office-to-synergize-sri-lankas-external-trade/

• Sri Lanka International Trade Office to lead FTA talks with China, India

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-international-trade-office-to-lead-fta-talks-with-china-india-107287/

• Sri Lanka’s sovereign bondholders to play hardball over domestic re-structuring: report

– economynext.com/sri-lankas-sovereign-bondholders-to-play-hardball-over-domestic-re-structuring-report-107099/

• Sri Lanka weighs “Favoured Creditor Clause” to speed up debt fix

– ft.lk/front-page/Sri-Lanka-weighs-Favoured-Creditor-Clause-to-speed-up-debt-fix/44-743281

• Crisis-hit Sri Lanka BOI eyes ambitious, record $2 bln FDI next year

– economynext.com/crisis-hit-sri-lanka-eyes-ambitious-record-2-bln-fdi-next-year-107157/

• Ex-Consumer Affairs Authority Chair Marzook laments lack of action to rein in errant traders

‘Traders jack up prices at will. There’s no price control on any goods. Actually, price control is non-existent’

– island.lk/ex-caa-chairman-marzook-laments-lack-of-action-to-rein-in-errant-traders/

• The National Audit Office inquired into large scale frauds at Kurunegala MC

– island.lk/kurunegala-mayor-served-charge-sheet/

• Special program in Parliament to support the COPA in streamlining the evaluation process

– bizenglish.adaderana.lk/special-program-in-parliament-to-support-the-copa-in-streamlining-the-evaluation-process/

• SL Embassy in Oman denies news reports on Pirith Chanting ceremony expenses

– http://www.adaderana.lk/news/87067/sl-embassy-in-oman-denies-news-reports-on-pirith-chanting-ceremony-expenses

• India GDP growth on course to print close to 7% in 2022-23: JP Morgan

– island.lk/indias-gdp-growth-is-on-course-to-print-close-to-7-percent-this-year-in-2022-23-foreign-brokerage-jp-morgan-said-in-a-report/

• S&P downgrades Pakistan to CCC+ from B- amid Sri Lanka style ‘flexible’ regime

– economynext.com/sp-downgrades-pakistan-to-ccc-from-b-amid-sri-lanka-style-flexible-regime-107386/

• Japan’s inflation hits a 41-year high

– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Japans-inflation-hits-a-41-year-high/273-250997

• Brazilian Supreme Court takes down Bolsonaro’s secret budget

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/308447-brazilian-supreme-court-takes-down-bolsonaros-secret-budget

• Corporate USA isn’t afraid of Fed’s monster rate hikes

– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Corporate-America-isnt-afraid-of-Feds-monster-rate-hikes/273-250934

_________________________________________________________________________

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

• Aspirin is in short supply: GMOA

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Aspirin-is-in-short-supply-GMOA/108-250916

• 10-hour power cut claim: Minister says TUs cannot act like terrorists

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/10-hour-power-cut-claim-Minister-says-TU-s-cannot-act-like-terrorists/108-250832

– island.lk/minister-pooh-poohs-engineers-warning-of-10-hour-power-cuts/

• Minister pooh-poohs engineers’ warning of 10-hour power cuts

– island.lk/minister-pooh-poohs-engineers-warning-of-10-hour-power-cuts/

• Need for Power Minister, politicians, and the CEB trade unions to powwow

– island.lk/stop-blowing-the-coals/

• CEB electrical engineers made blunders

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/12/21/ceb-electrical-engineers-made-blunders/

• Sri Lanka’s apparel workers face bleak future

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/business-times/sri-lankas-apparel-workers-face-bleak-future-505595.html

• Treasury restricts payment of bonuses for State workers

– ft.lk/news/Treasury-restricts-payment-of-bonuses-for-State-workers/56-743397

• 40 percent of Sri Lanka’s household income drop from Jun to Dec: FAO report

– economynext.com/40-percent-of-sri-lankas-house-holds-income-drop-from-jun-to-dec-fao-report-106969/

• Committee appointed to consider replacements for state sector retirees

– sundaytimes.lk/online/news-online/Committee-appointed-to-consider-replacements-for-state-sector-retirees/2-1140093

• Govt. assures uninterrupted operations at key tax collecting agencies amid retirement of senior officials

‘Over 100 senior officials from IRD, 60 senior officials from SLC and 55 officials from Excise Department are set to retire on 31st after the government revised the retirement age from 65 to 60.’

– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Govt-assures-uninterrupted-operations-at-key-tax-collecting-agencies-amid-retirement-of-senior-officials/273-250940

• Medical specialists call Govt to drop ’’vacation post’’ decision

– sundaytimes.lk/online/news-online/Medical-specialists-call-Govt-to-drop-vacation-post-decision/2-1140129

• Sri Lanka to improve upcountry plantation workers’ lives amid Indian push 

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-to-improve-upcountry-plantation-workers-lives-amid-indian-push-107076/

• Christmas amid crisis: Sri Lankans cut corners to keep festivities upbeat

– economynext.com/christmas-amid-crisis-sri-lankans-cut-corners-to-keep-festivities-upbeat-107516/

• SL Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) calls for applicants for car seat production sewing jobs in Japan

– http://www.adaderana.lk/news/87014/slbfe-announces-job-opportunities-in-japan

• Arab border police seize trucks with 27 hidden migrants including Lankans

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Arab-border-police-seize-trucks-with-27-hidden-migrants-including-Lankans/108-250957

• A record number of Lankans secure foreign employment – Minister

– island.lk/a-record-number-of-lankans-secure-foreign-employment-minister/

• Sri Lanka migrant workers top 300,000 in 2022: Minister

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-migrant-workers-top-300000-in-2022-minister-106930/

• Jaffna fishermen surround vessel with about 100 foreigners; Navy moves in

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/news/jaffna-fishermen-surround-vessel-with-about-100-foreigners-navy-moves-in-506101.html

• 104 Rohingya refugees fleeing to Indonesia rescued by Navy off northern coast

– island.lk/104-rohingya-refugees-fleeing-to-indonesia-rescued-by-navy-off-northern-coast/

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-navy-rescues-104-myanmar-boat-people-106927/

• IOM assists repatriation of 152 Sri Lankans from Vietnam

– http://www.adaderana.lk/news/87064/iom-assists-repatriation-of-152-sri-lankans-from-vietnam

• Three women waiting at bus halt to get Samurdhi die after van crashes into them

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Three-women-waiting-at-bus-halt-to-get-Samurdhi-die-after-van-crashes-into-them/108-250826

• Student killed, 13 injured in Aranayaka bus mishap

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Student-killed-13-injured-in-Aranayaka-bus-mishap/108-250827

• Budget allocation for education for 2023 is roughly 1% of GDP

– island.lk/the-year-of-2022-the-democratic-turn/

• National Shoora Council (NSC) requests Minister for perusal of amended Muslim Marriage & Divorce Act

– dailymirror.lk/print/front_page/NSC-requests-Minister-for-perusal-of-amended-Muslim-Marriage-Divorce-Act/238-250977

– island.lk/nsc-wants-draft-mmda-amendments-submitted-to-muslim-civil-society-outfits-for-perusal/

– ft.lk/news/National-Shoora-Council-urges-draft-amendments-to-MMDA-to-be-placed-before-Muslim-civil-organisations-prior-to-Cabinet-approval/56-743400

• Non-Sinhala female principal of yesteryear uses her influence to reintroduce English medium

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/12/20/why-english-2/

• Rowdy behaviour by student monks and others; Buddhist and Pali University closed

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/columns/rowdy-behaviour-by-student-monks-and-others-buddhist-and-pali-university-closed-506078.html

• Buddhist and Pali University to be closed until talks with Mahanayake Theros

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/12/19/buddhist-and-pali-university-to-be-closed-until-talks-with-mahanayake-theros/

• Errant university monks follow Lenin and not the Buddha

– island.lk/thus-spake-a-prelate/

• Academic activities of 30 students of Buddhist & Pali Uni. Suspended

– http://www.adaderana.lk/news/87070/academic-activities-of-30-students-of-buddhist-pali-uni-suspended

• 17-year-old monk allegedly been forced to take poison

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/17-year-old-monk-allegedly-been-forced-to-take-poison/108-250814

• Door opened for govt. school kids to learn German gratis, courtesy German Cultural Institute

– island.lk/door-opened-for-govt-school-kids-to-learn-german-gratis-courtesy-gci/

• The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Japan deliver on sexual health

– ft.lk/news/UNFPA-and-Japan-deliver-on-three-years-of-PROMISES/56-743226

• High School Lab experiment goes wrong in Pussellawa

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Lab-experiment-goes-wrong-in-Pussellawa/108-250835

• Welding mechanic remanded over Eppawela kidnapping

– http://www.adaderana.lk/news/87081/two-remanded-over-eppawela-kidnapping-

• Aussie university awards simultaneous PhDs on Chocolate Taste & Wrapping to SL twins

‘Thejani is a Senior Experimental Scientist – Sensory and Consumer Science at CSIRO in Melbourne and Nadeesha is a Research Scientist – Sensory and Consumer Products at Amway in Los Angeles.’

– island.lk/aussie-university-awards-simultaneous-phds-to-sl-twins/

• Is graduate employability the prime role of universities?

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/business-times/is-graduate-employability-the-prime-role-of-universities-505521.html

• What happened to our thinkers? Has Sri Lankan academia failed?

‘Academia lacks a clear grasp of what’s needed to create a culture of commercialisation in universities’

– ft.lk/columns/What-happened-to-our-thinkers-Has-Sri-Lankan-academia-failed/4-743310

• SL partners open world-first green town-development creates new opportunities for Plymouth students

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/12/23/sri-lankan-partners-open-world-first-green-town-development-creates-new-opportunities-for-plymouth-students/

• India’s Job Famine

‘86% of new jobseekers in the past five years couldn’t get a job. 45% of young jobseekers, between 20-24 years are unemployed. Nearly 25% of India’s graduates, actively looking for work, are jobless’

– newsclick.in/indias-job-famine-aunindyo-chakravarty

• Third-World Workers Injured, Killed at US Bases in Afghanistan Not Fully Compensated

– newsclick.in/Third-World-Workers-Injured-Killed-US-Bases-Afghanistan-Not-Fully-Compensated

• Turkey hikes minimum wages for third time to cushion inflation

– ft.lk/front-page/Turkey-hikes-minimum-wages-for-third-time-to-cushion-inflation/44-743459

• Asylum seekers remain stuck at U.S.-Mexico border amid freezing temperatures

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/308740-asylum-seekers-remain-stuck-at-us-mexico-border-amid-freezing-temperatures

• Panama estimates more than 240,000 migrants by year’s end 

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/308620-panama-estimates-more-than-240000-migrants-by-years-end

• ‘England’s brave bid to stop boat people runs into rights issues’ – Daily Mirror

– dailymirror.lk/news-features/Britains-brave-bid-to-stop-boat-people-runs-into-rights-issues/131-250848

• 33,000 Missing Ontario Hospital Jobs and the Hospital Capacity Crisis

– socialistproject.ca/2022/12/33000-missing-ontario-hospital-jobs/

• Building a Collective Movement Resolve Transit Woes: Free Transit or Fixing the System?

– socialistproject.ca/2022/12/building-collective-movement-solution-to-transit-woes/

• England ambulance workers join widening strike for above-inflation pay

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/308540-uk-ambulance-workers-join-widening-strike-for-above-inflation-pay

• England prepares military to drive ambulances as paramedics are set to go on strike

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/308450-uk-prepares-military-to-drive-ambulances-as-paramedics-are-set-to-go-on-strike

• Authoritarian ‘Progressives’ – How the Left and Liberals lost the plot over Gender Identity Ideology

– medium.com/@michaelwayne_48185/the-authoritarian-progressives-aa7106a45bbd

• JK Rowling announces personal funding of a new women’s rape crisis centre in Edinburgh

– reactionaryfeminist.substack.com/p/on-rape-crisis-centres-and-the-third?sd=pf

– unherd.com/2022/12/jk-rowling-works-her-magic-again/

_________________________________________________________________________

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.

• Grow more food by statute – Sugath Kulatunga

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/12/18/grow-more-food-by-statute/

• Sri Lanka President liberalizes fertilizer imports

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-president-liberalizes-fertilizer-imports-107417/

• USAID humanitarian advisor hears first-hand account of plight faced by communities affected by food insecurity

– dailymirror.lk/business-news/USAID-humanitarian-advisor-hears-first-hand-account-of-plight-faced-by-communities-affected-by-food-insecurity/273-250749

– ft.lk/news/USAID-humanitarian-advisor-visits-US-funded-WFP-programs-for-SL-communities-affected-by-food-insecurity/56-743275

• UN WFP says as much as USD 200 mn (Rs 7.3 bn) received from USA

– island.lk/wfp-says-as-much-as-usd-200-mn-rs-7-3-bn-received-from-us/

• 6.3 million people food insecure; urgent assistance needed: FAO & WFP

‘2 consecutive seasons of poor harvests led to the massive drop in production coupled with reduced imports of food grains due to foreign exchange constraints.’

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/news/6-3-million-people-food-insecure-urgent-assistance-needed-506052.html

• 60% of families eating cheaper and less nutritious food: WFP

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/news/60-percent-of-families-eating-cheaper-and-less-nutritious-food-506050.html

• UN FAO: 6.2 mn Lankans facing acute food insecurity

– island.lk/fao-6-2-mn-lankans-facing-acute-food-insecurity/

• UN FAO to scale up emergency and resilience interventions in Sri Lanka 

– ft.lk/news/FAO-to-scale-up-emergency-and-resilience-interventions-in-Sri-Lanka/56-743276

• Asian Development Bank (ADB) gave $21.62 million to support 1.2 million farming families

– island.lk/more-assistance-from-adb-to-overcome-crisis/

• ADB grants Rs. 8 billion for paddy farmers in Sri Lanka

‘Government has decided to withdraw from the related activities and allow the private sector to provide farmers with fertilisers.’

– http://www.adaderana.lk/news/86998/adb-grants-rs-8-billion-for-paddy-farmers-in-sri-lanka

– themorning.lk/articles/RZWhO79sgrVrR9QJ5nTb

• Paddy farmers to be given a Rs. 20,000 allowance

– sundaytimes.lk/online/news-online/Paddy-farmers-to-be-given-a-Rs-20-000-allowance/2-1140092

• Sri Lanka to abolish land grants to plantations companies: President

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-to-abolish-land-grants-to-plantations-companies-president-107367/

• International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Rural Financing Programme implemented under Small Tea and Rubber Estate Restoration Project

– island.lk/rural-financing-programme-implemented-under-small-tea-and-rubber-estate-restoration-project

– ft.lk/front-page/Govt-extends-rural-financing-program/44-743464

• Evergreen largest tea producing group; Brombil biggest tea producing factory

– ft.lk/front-page/Evergreen-largest-tea-producing-group-Brombil-biggest-tea-producing-factory/44-743390

• Top tea exporter Anverally and Sons ends 2022 with two prestigious awards

– bizenglish.adaderana.lk/top-tea-exporter-anverally-and-sons-ends-2022-with-two-prestigious-awards/

• Department of Animal Husbandry slow in warning farmers in North and East to protect herds

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/editorial/the-cost-benefits-of-rushing-local-polls-506087.html

• Chemical-Importer Baurs celebrates 125 years with a gala night

‘Baurs’ digital transformation in 1982 with IBM, and also the first HSBC e-banking (Hexagon) customer from 1991’

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/business-times/baurs-celebrates-125-years-with-a-gala-night-505553.html

• Farmers to receive Rs. 657 m as compensation for crop damage from Agricultural and Agrarian Insurance Board

– ft.lk/front-page/Farmers-to-receive-Rs-657-m-as-compensation-for-crop-damage/44-743282

• Sathosa reduces prices of five essential items

– ft.lk/news/Sathosa-reduces-prices-of-five-essential-items/56-743350

• Govt. discusses “Whitefly” damage on coconut plantations and control measures

– ft.lk/business/Govt-discusses-Whitefly-damage-on-coconut-plantations-and-control-measures/34-743316

– island.lk/whiteflies-a-growing-threat-to-coconut-and-other-crops-in-sri-lanka/

• Shocking claim in House: Bandula reveals how sugar importers, their henchmen trapped Prez

– island.lk/shocking-claim-in-house-bandula-reveals-how-sugar-importers-their-henchmen-trapped-prez/

• Sugar duty scam: Bandula misses CIABOC summons, asks for another day

‘those who spoke on behalf of sugar racketeers had the ear of then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.’

– island.lk/sugar-duty-scam-bandula-misses-ciaboc-summons-asks-for-another-day/

• Lanka Sugar Company Chairman Janaka Nimalachandra removed over corruption allegations

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Lanka-Sugar-Company-Chairman-Janaka-Nimalachandra-removed-over-corruption-allegations/108-250897

• China completes donation of 10 m kilos of rice

– ft.lk/news/China-completes-donation-of-10-m-kilos-of-rice/56-743320

• Tea crop plunges to lowest in 27 years

– ft.lk/front-page/Tea-crop-plunges-to-lowest-in-27-years/44-743278

• Sri Lanka tea exports down 25-pct in November 2022

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-tea-exports-down-25-pct-in-november-2022-106921/

• ‘Arahant’ monk’s 50million buck chemical fertiliser challenge

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/columns/arahant-monks-50m-buck-chemical-fertiliser-challenge-505822.html

• Freed from regulation, price of an egg leaps to Rs 65

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/news/freed-from-regulation-price-of-an-egg-leaps-to-rs-65-506037.html

• Soaring price of eggs sends cakes beyond Rs.1,500 per kg: Bakery Assn.

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Soaring-price-of-eggs-sends-cakes-beyond-Rs-1-500-per-kg-Bakery-Assn/108-251016

• The Egg Basket has Fallen

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/12/18/the-egg-basket-has-fallen/

• France to provide more assistance to dairy sector in Sri Lanka

– ft.lk/business/France-to-provide-more-assistance-to-dairy-sector-in-Sri-Lanka/34-743409

• Top marine environment polluters of Sri Lanka: Unilever leads list

– instagram.com/p/Cma3OsUBujh/

• X-Press Pearl disaster: Lanka faces risk of losing US$ 3b in compensation

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/news/x-press-pearl-disaster-lanka-faces-risk-of-losing-us-3b-in-compensation-506099.html

• Flooding affects property values

– island.lk/flooding-affects-property-values/

• National Environmental Policy and National Environmental Action Plan (2022-2030) launched

‘Ministry of Environment Secretary Anil Jasinghe quipped that he had second thoughts when signing the cabinet paper as he did not know whether it would be implemented or simply remain a document’

– island.lk/national-environmental-policy-and-national-environmental-action-plan-2022-2030-launched/

– island.lk/national-environmental-policy-and-national-environmental-action-plan-2022-2030-launched-2/

• New development projects in Polonnaruwa will increase human elephant conflict

– island.lk/new-development-projects-in-polonnaruwa-will-increase-human-elephant-conflict/

• Casuarina Beach in Jaffna a victim of demand for Xmas trees

– island.lk/casuarina-beach-in-jaffna-a-victim-of-demand-for-xmas-trees/

• Myanmar, Bangladesh benefitting from ‘Rice Diplomacy’

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/12/19/myanmar-bangladesh-benefitting-from-rice-diplomacy/

• Myanmar ships over 140000, 5000 and 1000 tonnes of rice, rohu and areca nut to Bangladesh

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/12/19/myanmar-ships-over-140000-5000-and-1000-tonnes-of-rice-rohu-and-areca-nut-to-bangladesh/

• Global biodiversity pact approved at COP15 despite objections of African nations

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/308444-global-biodiversity-pact-approved-at-cop15-despite-objections-of-african-nations

• Nations reach ‘historic’ deal to protect nature at COP15 – BBC

– island.lk/nations-reach-historic-deal-to-protect-nature-at-cop15-bbc/

_____________________________________________________________________

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.

• Industrial production dives as tight policies weigh on consumer demand

‘Central Bank Purchasing Managers’ Index survey respondents cited the extremely low disposable incomes of the people as the sole reason for the poor food and beverage production activity’

– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Industrial-production-dives-as-tight-policies-weigh-on-consumer-demand/273-250866

• Ready to empower industrialists as main stakeholders to earn foreign exchange – President

– island.lk/the-government-is-ready-to-empower-industrialists-as-the-main-stakeholders-in-earning-foreign-exchange-for-the-country-president/

– bizenglish.adaderana.lk/government-ready-to-empower-industrialists-as-the-main-stakeholders-in-earning-foreign-exchange-for-the-country-president/

• Spotlight on Puttalam Aussie company buys Lankan ilmenite deposit for a pittance

– dailymirror.lk/expose/Spotlight-on-Puttalam-Aussie-company-buys-Lankan-ilmenite-deposit-for-a-pittance/333-250736

• Mining Licence Scam Exposed at Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB)!

– dailymirror.lk/opinion/Mining-Licence-Scam-Exposed-at-GSMB/172-250782

• Indonesian firm Concept Global / PT Mitra Jaya likely to get coal tender

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/business-times/indonesian-firm-likely-to-get-coal-tender-505589.html

• Coal shipment to arrive in January

– http://www.adaderana.lk/news/87018/coal-shipment-to-arrive-in-january

• Power supply: Coal stocks sufficient till 8 Jan.

– themorning.lk/articles/qTvvdGtg11WqoHhsBR4n

• Coal supply: Lanka Coal Company (LCC) selects three suppliers

– themorning.lk/articles/eN5GQkTvl4TnqAZa2NdX

• PUCSL permits CEB to shut down one unit of NCPP considering the coal shortage

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/PUCSL-permits-CEB-to-shut-down-one-unit-of-NCPP-considering-the-coal-shortage/108-250913

– ft.lk/news/One-unit-in-Norochcholai-to-shut-down-due-to-lack-of-coal/56-743398

• Norochcholai Coal Power Plant shut for lack of coal

– island.lk/norochcholai-coal-power-plant-shut-for-lack-of-coal/

• Norochcholai Power Plant: Generator units offline for 160 days in 2023

– themorning.lk/articles/kBgzFEGFM4IXowIfKmhG

• CEB technical engineers urge govt. to activate K’tissa to minimise power cuts

– island.lk/ceb-technical-engineers-urge-govt-to-activate-ktissa-to-minimise-power-cuts/

• Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority (SLSEA) approves 226 RE projects

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/business-times/slsea-approves-226-re-projects-505528.html

• Invite global renewable energy organizations to Sri Lanka – Solheim

– http://www.adaderana.lk/news/87019/invite-global-renewable-energy-organizations-to-sri-lanka-solheim

• High tension electrical shock for consumers next year

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/business-times/high-tension-electrical-shock-for-consumers-next-year-505586.html

• Move to raise electricity tariffs: PUCSL bypassed, Cabinet paper next month

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/news/move-to-raise-electricity-tariffs-pucsl-bypassed-cabinet-paper-next-month-506103.html

• Cabinet switches off proposal to hike electricity tariff again

– ft.lk/front-page/Cabinet-switches-off-proposal-to-hike-electricity-tariff-again/44-743327

• Port, airport authorities contribute Rs. 2 b to Consolidated Fund

– ft.lk/front-page/Port-airport-authorities-contribute-Rs-2-b-to-Consolidated-Fund/44-743283

• Sri Lanka importers see freight costs plunge after US tightening

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-importers-see-freight-costs-plunge-after-us-tightening-107248/

• Govt. plans to restart suspended Japanese-funded LRT project

‘The Government has not yet settled a claim of around Rs 5 billion from the project consultants Oriental Consultants Global of Japan and Sri Lanka’s Consulting Engineers & Architects Associated for work already done, expenses and loss of profit caused by the cancellation of the project in 2020.’

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/business-times/govt-plans-to-restart-suspended-japanese-funded-lrt-project-505592.html

• Data Protection Authority comes into force next year

’43 public institutions maintain 124 critical national information technology systems that affect the country’s national security, public welfare, economy, and health,’

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/business-times/data-protection-authority-comes-into-force-next-year-505579.html

• Sri Lanka Exams Dept’s modern Rs. 200 billion IBM computer system lies idle

‘not been properly used by the officials of ICT division due to their lack of knowledge and incompetency and hidden agenda of claiming payments for piece rate work’

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/business-times/sri-lanka-exams-depts-modern-computer-system-lies-idle-505547.html

• Netsys Solutions and Cisco Systems celebrate 10th anniversary

– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Netsys-Solutions-celebrates-10th-anniversary/273-250857

• Dialog to invest in ‘right’ technology over time

‘a shortage of several products such as chipsets (which are electronics on the motherboard of the computer), and also logistics was an issue.’

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/business-times/dialog-to-invest-in-right-technology-over-time-505582.html

• Dialog conducts South Asia’s first successful mmWave 5G trial

– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Dialog-conducts-South-Asias-first-successful-mmWave-5G-trial/273-250865

• SL Study Centre for the Advancement of Technology and Social Welfare, SCATS met Australian High Commissioner

– island.lk/shared-experience-between-australia-and-sri-lanka-discussed/

• RUDN University mathematicians modelled network with simultaneous signal distribution and physical layer security

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/12/21/rudn-university-mathematicians-modeled-a-network-with-simultaneous-signal-distribution-and-physical-layer-security/

• State owes Rs 209b: Ceylon Institute of Builders

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/news/state-owes-rs-209b-builders-505984.html

• Over 150 essential medicines, medical items, surgical items, and laboratory items out of stock due to forex shortages: GMOA

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Aspirin-is-in-short-supply-GMOA/108-250916

• Indian LOC for meds: Only 80 of 467 drugs received

– themorning.lk/articles/mqfa3riPLravwiociscH

• Is Keheliya in India to purchase meds from private Indian company?

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Is-Keheliya-in-India-to-purchase-meds-from-private-Indian-company/108-250896

• Keheliya confirms he’s in India, but fails to name Pvt. Indian pharmaceutical company he is dealing with

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Keheliya-confirms-he-is-in-India-but-fails-to-name-pvt-Indian-pharmaceutical-company-he-is-dealing-with/108-250962

• Pharma manufacturers want BOI approval for new zone in A’pura

‘The State Ministry of Production, Supply & Regulation of Pharmaceuticals has awarded the development and management of the said zone to India’s Spectrum Pharmatech’

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/business-times/pharma-manufacturers-want-boi-approval-for-new-zone-in-apura-505535.html

– dailynews.lk/2022/02/23/business/273235/over-20-companies-open-factories

• Sri Lanka in search of expert advice to dispose $40 million worth Pfizer vaccine 

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-in-search-of-expert-advice-to-dispose-40-million-worth-pfizer-vaccine-107024/

• Sri Lanka China-backed port’s plug-and-play factories almost ready

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-china-backed-ports-plug-and-play-factories-almost-ready-107322/

• DIMO renews official partnership with German Bosch

‘One of the leading suppliers of automotive technology and solutions worldwide, Robert Bosch Lanka was established in Sri Lanka in October 2015 as a fully-owned subsidiary of Robert Bosch GmbH.

– dailymirror.lk/business-news/DIMO-renews-official-partnership-with-Bosch/273-250851

• No other industry can match magnitude of fraud and corruption as the liquor industry

– island.lk/counterfeit-liquor-bottle-stickers-excise-boss-responds/

• New processing facility for Sri Lanka coir producer Trump Coir with US partner

– themorning.lk/articles/tn8fle2h2v9YKzl7OHbY

• Prices of imported textile products have doubled: Pettah Textile and Merchants Association

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/news/tumbling-rupee-makes-seasonal-goods-pricier-506040.html

• China to give RMB 90 million to [sic!] School uniform

– economynext.com/china-to-give-rmb-90-million-to-school-uniform-106982/

• Centre approves Bharat Biotech’s intranasal Covid vaccine for booster

– island.lk/centre-approves-bharat-biotechs-intranasal-covid-vaccine-for-booster/

• India will achieve $100 billion textile export target by 2030: Goyal

– island.lk/india-will-achieve-100-billion-textile-export-target-by-2030-goyal/

• How innovation and institution drive economic growth

‘East Asian countries, as identified by the World Bank, adopted suitable industrial policies to facilitate export-led growth’

– island.lk/how-innovation-and-institution-drive-economic-growth/

• Shell to pay $15 million settlement over oil spills in Nigeria

– radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/308709-shell-to-pay-15-million-settlement-over-oil-spills-in-nigeria

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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.

• Banking sector asset quality plunges to multiyear lows

– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Banking-sector-asset-quality-plunges-to-multiyear-lows/273-250933

• Can The Commercial Banks Lapses Be Absolved With Fines Imposed? – Tennakoon

‘Is it a kind of amnesty granting an official pardon to pass down serious lapses into oblivion?’ 

– colombotelegraph.com/index.php/can-the-commercial-banks-lapses-be-absolved-with-fines-imposed/

• Association of Professional Bankers holds Member Felicitation Ceremony 2022

‘Members felicitated were Sanasa Development Bank Chairp Dinithi Ratnayake, Commercial Bank CEO Sanath Manatunga, Nations Trust Bank CEO Hemantha Gunatilleke, National Development Bank Chair Sriyan Cooray, State Mortgage and Investment Bank CEO Indika Thushara Asuramanna’

– ft.lk/financial-services/Association-of-Professional-Bankers-holds-Member-Felicitation-Ceremony-2022/42-743411

• Errant stockbrokers on Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chopping block

‘Capital Trust Securities slapped with an administrative penalty of Rs. 500,000 for recommendations to clients without a basis in respect of the shares of Softlogic Life Insurance and harming its price.’

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/business-times/errant-stockbrokers-on-sec-chopping-block-505559.html

• Dinesh Weerakkody appointed Board of Investment (BOI) Chairman

‘Other board members are Dushny Weerakoon, Chandani Wijewardena and Eraj de Silva…Former Chair Hatton National Bank and Commercial Bank of Ceylon, Vice Chair Employers’ Federation of Ceylon, Past Chair International Chamber of Commerce Sri Lanka and current Vice Chair Sri Lanka Institute of Directors, Director of several companies, former Chair Employees’ Trust Fund Board, National Human Resource Development Council, Advisor to Prime Minister from 2001-2004, Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs, and Minister of Tourism Development’

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Dinesh-Weerakkody-appointed-BOI-Chairman/108-250845

– http://www.adaderana.lk/news/87016/new-chairman-appointed-to-boi

– sundaytimes.lk/online/news-online/President-appoints-Dinesh-Weerakkody-to-head-BoI/2-1140094

– english.newsfirst.lk/2022/12/21/dinesh-weerakkody-appointed-chairman-of-the-board-of-investment

– ft.lk/front-page/Dinesh-new-BOI-Chairman/44-743341

• Sri Lanka woos investors in South India

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-woos-investors-in-south-india-107342/

• Challenging dollar hegemony, Sri Lanka to trade with Russia in INR

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/12/21/challenging-dollar-hegemony-sri-lanka-to-trade-with-russia-in-inr/

• Bank of Ceylon (BOC) executes first Indian rupee (INR) transaction with India

– dailymirror.lk/business-news/BOC-executes-first-INR-transaction-with-India/273-250863

• SL bank opens vostro account in India to conduct bilateral trade in INR: Indian HC

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/SL-bank-opens-vostro-account-in-India-to-conduct-bilateral-trade-in-INR-Indian-HC/108-250777

• BOC opens Vostro account with State Bank of India (SBI)

– ft.lk/front-page/BOC-opens-Vostro-account-with-SBI/44-743328

• Bank of Ceylon opens up new trade channel to transact directly in Indian rupees

– island.lk/bank-of-ceylon-opens-up-new-trade-channel-to-transact-directly-in-indian-rupees/

– ft.lk/front-page/Bank-of-Ceylon-opens-up-new-trade-channel-to-transact-directly-in-Indian-rupees/44-743340

• ComBank wins Oscar-equivalent ‘Bank of the Year’ award from ‘The Banker’- England

– ft.lk/front-page/ComBank-wins-Oscar-equivalent-Bank-of-the-Year-award-from-The-Banker-UK/44-743280

• LOLC Finance’s deposit base surpasses Rs.180 bn

‘merger of LOLC Finance with Commercial Leasing and Finance (CLC), another subsidiary of LOLC Group, transformed LOLC Finance into the largest Non-Banking Financial Institution (NBFI)’

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/business-times/lolc-finances-deposit-base-surpasses-rs-180-bn-505541.html

• Pradeep Amirthanayagam’s People’s Leasing wins European Award for ‘Best Practices 2022’

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/business-times/peoples-leasing-wins-european-award-for-best-practices-2022-505556.html

• Carson’s Ceylon Guardian Investment Trust PLC (GUAR) sells entire 50% stake in Guardian Acuity Asset Management (GAAM) to CT CLSA Holdings

– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Carson-group-to-sell-its-50-stake-in-fund-management-JV-with-Acuity-to-CT-CLSA/273-250752

• Nation Lanka Finance to amalgamate with Kanrich Finance

‘V.R. Ramanan owns 55.5% stake in NFL and U.H. Dharmadasa holds 9.6% along with related party Ceyoka Ltd., (8%) and H.K.J. Dharmadasa (6.5%). The NFL has 13,728 shareholders.’

– ft.lk/front-page/Nation-Lanka-Finance-to-amalgamate-with-Kanrich-Finance/44-743322

• Softlogic Finance’s Rs.850mn rights issue oversubscribed

– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Softlogic-Finances-Rs-850mn-rights-issue-oversubscribed/273-250996

– island.lk/softlogic-finance-rs-850mn-rights-issue-oversubscribed/

• SMB Finance Announces Growth Plans Post Securing Finance License

‘Prior to obtaining finance business license, SMB assisted Central Bank’s consolidation program of the non-bank financial institutions sector by settling identified depositors of a troubled finance company.’

– island.lk/smb-finance-announces-growth-plans-post-securing-finance-license/

• Sri Lanka bond yields ease at open (D19)

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-bond-yields-ease-at-open-106939/

• Sri Lanka bond yields end higher (D19)

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-bond-yields-end-higher-106974/

• Sri Lanka bond yields open higher (D20)

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-bond-yields-open-higher-106998/

• Sri Lanka bond yields close higher

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-bond-yields-close-higher-107077/

• Sri Lanka rupee down three cents against USD, bond yields open steady (D21)

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-rupee-down-three-cents-against-usd-bond-yields-open-steady-107122/

• Sri Lanka bond Yields ends higher, t-bills steady

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-bond-yields-ends-higher-t-bills-steady-107218/

• Sri Lanka Bond yields up, Rupee steady (D22)

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-bond-yields-up-rupee-steady-107338/

• Sri Lanka bond market quiet ahead of holiday season

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-bond-market-quiet-ahead-of-holiday-season-107283/

• Sri Lanka bond yields flat at open, rupee steady (D23)

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-bond-yields-flat-at-open-rupee-steady-107409/

• Sri Lanka Bond yields up, Rupee steady

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-bond-yields-up-rupee-steady-107467/

• Sri Lanka sells all offered bills, yields marginally down (D21)

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-sells-all-offered-bills-yields-marginally-down-107193/

• Negative local sentiment at CSE but net foreign inflow crosses Rs. 25 b mark (D19)

– ft.lk/front-page/Negative-local-sentiment-at-CSE-but-net-foreign-inflow-crosses-Rs-25-b-mark/44-743284

• Sri Lanka stocks plunge in midmarket trade

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-stocks-plunge-in-mid-market-trade-106946/

• Sri Lanka stocks close lower on profit taking

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-stocks-close-lower-on-profit-taking-106980/

• Sri Lanka shares close lower in fourth session (D20)

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-shares-close-lower-in-fourth-session-107082/

• Net foreign inflow at CSE tops Rs. 26 b mark (D20)

– ft.lk/front-page/Net-foreign-inflow-at-CSE-tops-Rs-26-b-mark/44-743329

• Sri Lanka shares slip in mid-day trade

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-shares-slip-in-mid-day-trade-107016/

• Sri Lanka shares fall on IMF deal uncertainty, local debt-restructuring (D21)

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-shares-fall-on-imf-deal-uncertanity-local-debt-restructuring-107194/

• Net foreign inflow grows at Colombo stock market

– ft.lk/front-page/Net-foreign-inflow-grows-at-Colombo-stock-market/44-743342

• CSE recovers somewhat in the wake of inflation declines (D22)

– island.lk/cse-recovers-somewhat-in-the-wake-of-inflation-declines/

• Sri Lanka shares down in mid day trade on holiday sentiments

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-shares-down-in-mid-day-trade-on-holiday-sentiments-107286/

• Sri Lanka shares fall at close on local debt restructuring speculation

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-shares-fall-at-close-on-local-debt-restructuring-speculation-107340/

• Sri Lanka’s shares down in mid day trade (D23)

– economynext.com/sri-lankas-shares-down-in-mid-day-trade-107416/

• Reported debt restructuring delays dampen share market

– island.lk/reported-debt-restructuring-delays-dampen-share-market/

• Sri Lanka shares fall on weak macro sentiments

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-shares-fall-on-weak-macro-sentiments-107465/

• Mr. Gensler, the US Stock Market Structure Is an Institutionalized Wealth Transfer System

‘When asked to explain just who it is that’s rigging the stock market, Lewis states that it’s a ‘combination of these stock exchanges, the big Wall Street banks and high-frequency traders.’’

– wallstreetonparade.com/2022/12/mr-gensler-the-u-s-stock-market-structure-is-an-institutionalized-wealth-transfer-system/

• Sam Bankman-Fried’s Trial Judge Married to Law Firm that Arranged FTX-BlockFi Deal

– wallstreetonparade.com/2022/12/sam-bankman-frieds-criminal-trial-judge-is-married-to-law-partner-of-firm-that-arranged-the-ftx-blockfi-deal/

• Bankman-Fried’s Crypto Companies Bilked a Potential 10.3 Million User Accounts; That’s 250 Times More than Madoff

– wallstreetonparade.com/2022/12/sam-bankman-frieds-crypto-companies-bilked-a-potential-10-3-million-user-accounts-thats-250-times-more-than-madoff/

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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’

• Anura Ekanayake new Hemas Deputy Chairman, Ranil Pathirana Non-Executive Director

‘Ekanayake was Senior Economist Mahaweli Authority, Director State Plantations Corporation and JEDB, Ministry of Plantation Industries, Ministry of Public Administration., Unilever, former Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Industrial Association and International Natural Rubber Council. Ranil Pathirana is a Director of the Hirdaramani Group…’

– dailymirror.lk/business-news/Dr-Anura-Ekanayake-appointed-as-Hemas-Deputy-Chairman/273-250939

• Sri Lanka to sell plots in Colombo Port City for bunkering – Minister

– island.lk/part-of-port-land-up-for-sale/

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/12/18/sri-lanka-to-sell-plots-in-colombo-port-city-for-bunkering-minister/

• CHEC strikes deal with Saudi giant Ajlan as Strategic Partner of Port City, Colombo

– ft.lk/front-page/CHEC-strikes-deal-with-Saudi-giant-Ajlan-as-Strategic-Partner-of-Port-City-Colombo/44-743286

– economynext.com/saudi-arabias-ajlan-to-join-chinas-chec-to-invest-in-sri-lanka-port-city-106992/

• Event Management Association of Sri Lanka inks landmark bilateral MoU with EEMA India

– ft.lk/front-page/Event-Management-Association-of-Sri-Lanka-inks-landmark-bilateral-MoU-with-EEMA-India/44-743323

• High Commissioner Moragoda and Bhatia, Founder of IndiGo discuss aviation collaboration & use of rupee trade for tourism

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/12/23/high-commissioner-milinda-moragoda-and-rahul-bhatia-founder-of-indigo-discuss-aviation-collaboration-use-of-rupee-trade-for-tourism/

• Numbers fall in tourism; 2022 target unlikely

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/business-times/numbers-fall-in-tourism-2022-target-unlikely-505550.html

• US Ocean Odyssey arrives at Colombo Port from Cochin Port set to sail to Trincomalee Port

– island.lk/ocean-odyssey-arrives-at-colombo-port/

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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.

• The year that was: How ill-advised, reckless decisions ruined GR’s mandate

– island.lk/the-year-that-was-how-ill-advised-reckless-decisions-ruined-grs-mandate/

• Shocking claim in House: Bandula reveals how sugar importers, their henchmen trapped Prez

– island.lk/shocking-claim-in-house-bandula-reveals-how-sugar-importers-their-henchmen-trapped-prez/

• Elections, democracy and monumental humbuggery – Seneviratne

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/12/23/elections-democracy-and-monumental-humbuggery/

• AG: Mudalige and Sridhamma Thera had links with FSP and those who wanted to topple Govt.

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/news/ag-mudalige-and-sridhamma-thera-had-links-with-fsp-and-those-who-wanted-to-topple-govt-505988.html

• Lessons from the Destruction of Nalanda University in India and Easter Sunday blood bath

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/12/21/the-lessons-from-the-destruction-of-nalanda-university-in-india-and-easter-sunday-blood-bath-in-sri-lanka/

• The Portuguese Conquest of India and Ceylon was one of the most brutal

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/12/21/the-portuguese-conquest-of-india-and-ceylon-was-one-of-the-most-brutal/

• Jaffna Municipal Council 2023 budget defeated

– island.lk/jaffna-municipal-council-2023-budget-defeated/

• The cost-benefits of rushing local polls

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/columns/element-of-uncertainty-over-local-council-elections-in-march-next-year-506090.html

• Ranil busy talking to so-called ‘minority parties’ to desert SJB and join him

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/columns/a-voice-in-the-wilderness-506082.html

• The UNP has a history of sponsoring criminals.

– island.lk/criminal-politics/

• Democracy Still Born; Lanka’s rejection of Equal Rights at Independence – Hooles

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/columns/democracy-still-born-or-a-case-of-cold-blooded-infanticide-505908.html

• Amend the Constitution: end racism – David

– island.lk/amend-the-constitution-end-racism/

• Lack of professionalism in policy and law-making led to SL’s downfall: Herath 

– ft.lk/news/Lack-of-professionalism-in-policy-and-law-making-led-to-SL-s-downfall-Prof-Charitha-Herath/56-743321

• The state, statism and the contours of Sri Lankan social consciousness: Jayatilleka

– ft.lk/columns/The-state-statism-and-the-contours-of-Sri-Lankan-social-consciousness/4-743361

• Question mark over question time as questioners and answerers play truant

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/news/question-mark-over-question-time-as-questioners-and-answerers-play-truant-506065.html

• SJB SLFP alliance in the offing?

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/SJB-SLFP-alliance-in-the-offing/108-250841

• National economy in such a parlous state, election the last thing needed: State Finance Minister

‘those who exploited the current crisis could be compared with the political setup which took advantage of the war at a time the LTTE seemed invincible.’

– island.lk/lg-polls-controversy-state-minister-responds-to-rebel-slpp-criticism-urges-reappraisal-of-strategy/

• Minister says LG polls may cost Rs 20 bn, further burdening public

– island.lk/minister-says-lg-polls-may-cost-rs-20-bn-further-burdening-public/

• Local Government Polls: Election Commission initiates logistical operations

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/LG-Polls-EC-initiates-logistical-operations/108-251012

• Presidential Advisor on Parliamentary Affairs Prof. Ashu Marasinghe has resigned

– dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/RW-loses-an-Advisor/108-250959

– dailymirror.lk/top_story/Ashu-says-video-on-social-media-is-doctored-complains-to-CID/155-251019

– economynext.com/revenge-porn-edited-sri-lanka-presidential-ex-aide-107527/

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-revenge-porn-spark-calls-for-tougher-privacy-laws-107498/

– http://www.adaderana.lk/news/87080/ashu-marasinghe-files-complaint-with-cid-over-viral-video

– http://www.adaderana.lk/news/87056/ashu-marasinghe-resigns-as-presidential-advisor-on-parliamentary-affairs

– english.newsfirst.lk/2022/12/24/harshest-punishment-against-prof-ashu-marasinghe-anusha-david

– english.newsfirst.lk/2022/12/24/rally-for-animal-rights-environment-sri-lanka-to-lodge-police-complaint-against-president-s-advisor

– english.newsfirst.lk/2022/12/24/video-was-edited-says-ashu-marasinghe-s-lawyer

– english.newsfirst.lk/2022/12/23/people-for-ethical-treatment-of-animals-demands-thorough-investigation-into-alleged-sexual-abuse-of-dog-by-pres-advisor

– english.newsfirst.lk/2022/12/23/sri-lanka%E2%80%99s-presidential-advisor-caught-on-video-allegedly-sexually-abusing-a-pet-dog

• Election monitors threaten legal action in case of LG polls postponement

– island.lk/election-monitors-threaten-legal-action-in-case-of-lg-polls-postponement/

• Govt. trying every trick in the bag to put off LG polls again – JVP

– island.lk/govt-trying-every-trick-in-the-bag-to-put-off-lg-polls-again-jvp/

• Gazette issued appointing District Returning Officers and Asst. Returning Officers for LG polls

– island.lk/gazette-issued-appointing-district-returning-officers-and-asst-returning-officers-for-lg-polls/

• LG controversy: State Minister responds to rebel SLPP criticism, urges reappraisal of strategy

– island.lk/lg-polls-controversy-state-minister-responds-to-rebel-slpp-criticism-urges-reappraisal-of-strategy/

• SJB reiterates threats to launch large scale anti-Government protests in January

– ft.lk/news/SJB-reiterates-threats-to-launch-large-scale-anti-Government-protests-in-January/56-743470

• Sri Lanka govt resorting to delay tactics, no plans to hold local polls: opposition

– economynext.com/sri-lanka-govt-resorting-to-delay-tactics-no-plans-to-hold-local-polls-opposition-107328/

• Diana gets new diplomatic passport; Oshala cries foul

– island.lk/diana-gets-new-diplomatic-passport-oshala-cries-foul/

• Beckoning the devilish anarchy – Victor Ivan the

‘The black market economy of the country is larger than the formal economy.’

– ft.lk/columns/Beckoning-the-devilish-anarchy/4-743403

• Cardinal decries govt. for ‘promoting casinos, nightclubs and other evils’

– island.lk/cardinal-decries-govt-for-promoting-casinos-nightclubs-and-other-evils/

• 2023: Saffron, Kurahan, Red Or Green? Tisaranee Gunasekara

– colombotelegraph.com/index.php/2023-saffron-kurahan-red-or-green/

• Is current political system & politicians produced equipped for challenges in 2023 and beyond?

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/12/23/is-the-current-political-system-and-the-politicians-it-produces-equipped-to-address-challenges-in-2023-and-beyond/

• Dynasts thrive as the BJP takes aim

‘Udhayanidhi, son of Chief Minister M.K.Stalin, just took over as Sports Minister in father’s Cabinet.’

– island.lk/dynasts-thrive-as-the-bjp-takes-aim/

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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.

• Avatar director inspired by Lakota Sioux, says they should have fought harder’

– sbs.com.au/nitv/article/avatar-sequel-boycotted-over-directors-racist-comments-and-casting/rgje0s3px

• Parliament divided over PSC probe on Siyatha Television

– island.lk/parliament-divided-over-psc-probe-on-siyatha/

• Batticaloa, Madakalupava and the Kingdom of Rice – Nalin de Silva

– kalaya.org/2022/12/blog-post_24.html

• Kshatriya and Mahavamsa – Nalin de Silva

– kalaya.org/2022/12/blog-post_22.html

• Closure of the Modern Day Arhant Case?

– lankaweb.com/news/items/2022/12/18/closure-of-the-modern-day-arhant-case/

• A noble gift for Podi Hamuduruwo’s birthday

‘President Ranil Wickremesinghe presented the proclamation on the occasion of his birthday. Former Presidents Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Mahinda Rajapaksa were also present’

– sundaytimes.lk/221218/news/a-noble-gift-for-podi-hamuduruwos-birthday-506062.html

• Was the Third Prime Minister of Ceylon the son of a murderer?

‘The trial in the Supreme Court commenced on April 15, 1907 before an English speaking jury consisting entirely of Europeans.’

– island.lk/was-the-third-prime-minister-of-ceylon-the-son-of-a-murderer/

• A witty speech by the Late Lakshman Kadirgamar in 2004

– island.lk/a-witty-speech-by-the-late-lakshman-kadirgamar-in-2004/

• New Bishop Consecrated as the Fifth Bishop of the Church of South India, Jaffna Diocese

– island.lk/new-bishop-consecrated-as-the-fifth-bishop/

• Gorilla Radio Beats the Silence On Ausfash, Canfash, Green Fash, Ukronazism

– johnhelmer.net/gorilla-radio-beats-the-silence-on-ausfash-canfash-green-fash-ukronazism

• Marx Meets Weitling (1844) – Pavel Annenkov

– redsails.org/marx-meets-weitling/

• Cambridge Analytica: Facebook Parent Meta Will Pay $725m to Settle User Data Case

– newsclick.in/Cambridge-Analytica-Facebook-Parent-Meta-Pay-%24725m-Settle-User-Data-Case

• How the Spoken Word Shapes the Written Word – NYT

– nytimes.com/2022/12/11/insider/how-the-spoken-word-shapes-the-written-word.html

• Jonah Hill, Selena Gomez, and the Rise of Celebrity Vulnerability

‘Today’s young stars sell their mental ill-health’

– newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/jonah-hill-selena-gomez-and-the-rise-of-celebrity-vulnerability

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email: econenews@gmail.com

blog: eesrilanka.wordpress.com

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