US warns Sri Lanka on war crime charges

The above is one of the headlines of The Straits Times today.  It may be a serious condition but made me laugh due to several reasons. Why do US and western community still worried about this terrorist and serial killer Prabhakaran. We all know that Saddam and Osama had been killed and Gaddafi will also be killed or arrested soon. They are terrorists outside US but even without the permission of the relevant governments the US killed them for peace.  Do you think US army did it without killing a civilian?

Our problem was domestic and no one (US and western community) ever cared 30 –year human right violati

Do you want this to happen again?

Source: www. defence.lk

on by Prabhakaran who owned a suicide bombing squad. When innocent civilians and children of all the races in the country were killed, when the child soldiers were trained, that too was reported internationally but no one cared.  Like they did to Saddam and Osama, they had power to catch the Prabhakaran but never happened. They waited until about 100000 died and only entered the problem at the very end of the war. That is also support to the LTTE. It is a surprise to learn that the western countries haven’t seen human violation in Sri Lanka until Channel-4 showed some biased videos.

I want to ask the US, UN and the western community how you justify the killing of Saddam, Osama and arrest warrant of Gaddafi  over the defeat of well known terrorist Prabhakaran. What made westerners upset about the defeat of the LTTE leader. Is it the jealousy or what?

What is expected from the Sri Lankan government? To re-establish the LTTE again?

Now Sri Lanka is a peaceful country. Please let Prabhakaran rest in peace as Saddam and Osama.

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Asia/Story/STIStory_685178.html

Consumers in Sri Lanka

Are you really protected?

Today consumer market has grown in both size and variety. In urban areas due to the set up of supermarkets consumers are largely exposed to a wide range of local and imported products. Manufacturers and exporters face highly competitive environment in making a demand for their products. It is OK to compete as it leads to fair market price and high quality product, but it is also possible to sell low quality products to higher prices deceiving consumers. If they sell their products to consumers by false information or exaggeration it is not right at all.

It is not uncommon to see lot of value added products such as health food, effective fitness machines etc. in the market for a comparatively higher price. There should be several requirements to fulfill to claim a benefit and it should be well explained to the customer.

As an example if a particular noodle claimed to be a healthy food, it should have properties like high fiber, law calorie, low fat etc. and the nutritional vales should be in the label. Then the consumer can decide is it really valuable for the cost.

To increase the demand, other than providing high quality product to fair price some sellers and manufacturers use gimmicks.  One such gimmick done by the seller or the manufacturer is emphasizing a naturally occurring property as a benefit. A good example is claiming “Cholesterol Free” for vegetable oils. Though this may attract the consumer and encourage buying even at a higher price, cholesterol does not naturally occur in plant sources.

Another attempt is exaggeration. One example is slimming teas. It is true that green tea and some herbal preparations can help to reduce body fat but and obese cannot shed several kilos within days and have a slim figure shown in the label just by drinking it. Some telemarketing campaigns promote fitness products that give preferred body image by using it only few minutes a day for several days which is unrealistic in real world. Most of the soap advertisements are also unrealistic.

Some products tend to provide expected result but it also has side effects. Mercury is banned to use in cosmetics in many countries considering the potential health hazards. But it is very effective in some skin conditions such as freckles and whitening. Cosmetics containing Mercury are available in the Sri Lankan market and neither the seller nor the consumer knows about it.

The quality and the price are interdependent. As consumers we have right to obtain a reasonable product for what we pay. However lots of exported items are sold at highly varied prices and it is hard to regulate.

As a consumer to get the best thing for your money

• Read the label (a good product has most of the product details in the label)
• Details of the manufacturer should be in the label (some products only have a name)
• Compare the prices and properties of the similar products
• Sometimes you may get more information through the internet
• If you feel that the manufacturer or the seller has provided wrong or altered information you can complain to Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) http://www.caa.gov.lk/ for appropriate action

Who killed Roshen Chanaka ?

Garment industry plays an important role in Sri Lankan export market strengthening our economy via foreign exchange. The contributors of the garment industry (employers and workers) should be thereby appreciated, supported and protected. 

However the incident that killed the youth Roshen chanaka cannot be undermined as an accident or riot. It is true that a police man has fired (or misfired) him but the story behind the incident should be evaluated widely to avoid further tragic incidents as such.

If we look from the beginning, the government’s proposed pension scheme was the motive for this demonstration. The context of the garment employment is different from other sectors to which the proposed scheme was most suitable therefore the garment workers do not benefit and an explanation is required to solve the problem. But did they really need to have a protest, should not the government listen to them if they do not protest. Who is behind the protest and what is his intention? A person or a group that really thinks about the benefit of the employees never put them in a danger.

A protest should be the action to be taken at last after failing all other efforts. But in Sri Lanka specially among some political groups the first line action is this. What the most of the people do not understand is many problems can be solved diplomatically without much trouble. Most of the protesters may not have known the full details of the proposed bill

Though the policemen open fired and killed a youth they are only partially responsible for the incident. If they are going to be punished persons who made them shoot also should be punished. The leaders of the protesters now are justifying their action as the withdrawal of the proposed bill by the government but the damaged occurred is not really justifiable.

Claim lives, Damage property, Halting manufacturing of export items which could be a great loss to our economy, wound people are really unnecessary to solve a problem which is justifiable. Any government that has a brain will not create unnecessary trouble leads to lose the faith of it voters. The leaders of the protests want to make a trouble via a potential loophole to tarnish the image of their oppositions and they do not love the employee though they try to pretend.

www.adaderana.lk

To avoid these tragic incidents the government should show their flexibility over the solutions and the public should be made aware on how to communicate with the government in much acceptable manner.

It is advisable to introduce a leadership programme not only for the university students but also for the all the school leavers including how to handle a problem diplomatically.