Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

An experienced army paratrooper died around 10.30 am this morning in Werawilla during a freefall exercise at 8000 ft, due to a technical issue with his parachute, Major General Ubaya Madawela told Daily Mirror online.

The paratrooper plummeted to the Werawilla tank after the soldier was injured due to the failure in the Para, Major General Ubaya Madawela said.

The postmortem of the soldier is being carried out.

CAE officially inaugurated its new aerospace and defence complex in Bangalore today in the presence of representatives of India s airlines and defence forces, Canada s High Commission to India, as well as company executives and employees. Located close to Bengaluru International Airport, the complex is headquarters for CAE s operations in India and home to a majority of its India-based employees.

In the 116 000 square-foot complex, CAE designs and develops defence training systems for India s defence forces and operates an engineering centre of excellence where visual databases and other software components for CAE s simulators are developed. The facility also houses CAE s Bangalore aviation training centre, the first independent aviation training centre in India. The six-bay capacity centre currently offers Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 pilot training on three CAE-built full-flight simulators. More than 1,500 pilots trained at the centre last year, including pilots from Indian-based airlines such as Air India, Go Air, IndiGo, Kingfisher Airlines, Spicejet and commercial pilots of the Indian Air Force. Other customers include Fly Wings Aviation and SriLankan Airlines. The training centre is part of the CAE-Airbus Training Services Cooperation agreement.

India is of strategic importance to CAE and the new aerospace and defence complex demonstrates the Company s commitment to India. CAE has been active in the Indian market for the past 40 years, starting with the sale of simulators, and now offers comprehensive training solutions for India s civil aviation and defence markets. CAE s workforce in India has grown from 13 employees in 2004 to more than 300 today.

In addition to the new aerospace and defence complex, CAE has made a number of significant and strategic investments in India for both the civil and military markets. The company owns jointly with the Government of India the National Flying Training Institute (NFTI) in Gondia, a newly established ab initio flight school that is one of 11 CAE Global Academy campuses worldwide. CAE is the managing partner of the Indian government s Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA) flight school located in Rae Bareli, also part of the CAE Global Academy network. CAE also owns jointly with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) the Helicopter Academy to Train by Simulation of Flying (HATSOFF), India s first advanced helicopter training centre, located in Bangalore.

India is home to one of the fastest growing civil aviation markets in the world, and through our flight schools and pilot type-rating training centre as well as the sale of comprehensive training solutions, CAE is a partner in this growth, said Jeff Roberts, CAE's Group President, Civil Simulation Products, Training and Services. The Indian commercial aircraft fleet has nearly doubled since 2005 to about 450 aircraft in 2010, and Indian carriers have more than 500 commercial aircraft on order. That translates into a need for approximately 7,000 new pilots in India over the next seven years.

CAE has delivered approximately 80 percent of the installed base of civil full-flight simulators in India, and CAE India Pvt Ltd, formerly Macmet Technologies, has been providing leading-edge simulation solutions to India s defence forces for more than two decades.

With the Indian defence and homeland security forces in the midst of a rapid and widespread modernization effort, they are in a perfect position to extend their use of simulation to help ensure their forces are well-prepared and mission ready to meet new threats and challenges, said Martin Gagn , CAE's Group President, Military Products, Training and Services. Simulation offers a range of benefits and advantages for accomplishing training and mission rehearsal objectives, and CAE is committed to long-term partnerships and support in India.

Didier Lafrique, Head of Airbus Training India, who was also a speaker at the event, said, Thanks to our training cooperation with CAE, we can offer A320 pilots based in India and the surrounding region the advanced training services they require right at their doorstep.

Paratrooper dies in Werawilla

The Air Force had requested the State Engineering Corporation to forward a cheque for Rs. 181,042.01 (US$ 1,631.45) for the Y-12 flight from Ratmalana-Ampara-Ratmalana on October 26, 2010.

The flying time according to the Air Force had been one hour and 40 minutes.

Wing Commander Wijeratne had also sent another letter to the State Engineering Corporation Chairman on October 27, 2010 that a cheque for Rs. 5,548.50 cents be forwarded as handling charges for the Y-12 flight.

On November 3, 2010, the Acting Deputy General Manager (HR and A), Ranjith Edirisinghe had presented a board paper to the Corporation under the subject Approval for the aircraft charges for the Hon. Minister on 26.10.2010.

The board paper has stated that in such a situation, an aircraft was the only possible mode of transportation available for Weerawansa to return to Colombo.

Sri Lanka Air Force Headquarters has sent us the cost of flight. The cost of flight is Rs. 181,042.01, it states.

The board paper has recommended that the board of directors approve the payment to be made to the Air Force.

Sri Lanka Air Force Capt. Janaka Nanayakkara said the Air Force had received the cheque for Weerawansa s air ride.

Rs. 4 million cost per immigrant enforced by LTTE operatives
German Babu s arrest scares human smugglers in Bangkok
Canada spent US$ 25 million on illegals onboard MV Sun Sea

A major human smuggling ring has been identified by The Sunday Leader. A group of 198 persons have assembled in the Thai capital, Bangkok, awaiting vessels which will take them either to Australia or Canada. Under covert circumstances, The Sunday Leader spoke with the principal Thai coordinator for the illegal operation, Thirunawukarasu Balachandran, also known in LTTE circles as Uganda Bala who confirmed various details, including giving out the location where some of these immigrants are housed awaiting the vessel.

In a downmarket area of the bustling Thai capital, not far off a section of Silom Road, on Soi 47, Uganda Bala receives his clients in the majority, Tamil speaking citizens of Sri Lanka, looking to leave these shores in search of pastures greener than they are in, Jaffna, Batticaloa, Trincomalee and even Colombo.

Duped into believing that we had four brothers wishing to emigrate, Bala asked The Sunday Leader to send our brothers to him, gave us directions to the accommodation and spelled out the financial plan he has drawn up: US$ 5,000 in Colombo, in exchange for which they arranged the ticket and the Thai visa. A further US$ 5,000 would have to be paid once the immigrant arrived in Bangkok. This was done by the simple expediency of depositing rupees in a Commercial Bank account (the account details are also known to The Sunday Leader) and using the international card issued by them, to withdraw funds from an ATM in Bangkok.

Until the vessel arrived, he would care for the immigrants by giving them food and shelter. They would, however, have to be confined indoors no one was to leave to go out so much as for a walk, as they did not wish to arouse the Thai authorities especially after a fiasco last year and the arrest in Bangkok of yet another human smuggler, known as German Babu (Real name Nadesan Jeeyananthan) just last month.

The final part of the deal requires a payment of US$ 20,000. This has to be guaranteed by a relative anywhere in Europe, Canada, Australia or the United States even in essence, anywhere in the West where money was available and can be moved around easily. The immigrant is not allowed to board until Uganda Bala gets confirmation from his boys on the ground that they have received the necessary assurances.

These are the LTTE enforcers and collectors located all around the world, from the backstreets of Tooting, South West London to the immigrant areas of Toronto, Vancouver, New York, Chicago, Johannesburg, Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur and of course, Thailand. These are the very collectors, who care little for the niceties of the various laws in mainland North America, Europe and Australia where the LTTE remains a banned organisation.

In August last year, the Thai authorities arrested a group of 20 Sri Lankans in Bangkok for immigration offences. All were deported to Sri Lanka. Most of them had, by then, parted with approximately Rs. 3 million.

Take the story of Sukumar for instance. All of 22-years and hailing from Vavuniya, his family made contact with Uganda Bala s agent in little-Jaffna or more properly, Wellawatte. His aunt paid an initial Rs. 500,000. The process began in earnest he then paid a further USD 6,000 bringing his total payment to a little more than USD 10,500. Visa obtained, Sukumar and another youth from Jaffna, were aboard a SriLankan Airlines flight to Thailand and, they hoped, Australia or Canada.

His new found friend, the youth on the same flight, we call him Jeya, paid Bala the sum of US$ 7,000 soon after arrival in Bangkok. A few days later, after the monies were deposited into an account in Colombo, a further US$ 3,000 was handed over.

Weeks went past and the tourist visas issued to the duo as well as 18 others had expired. On a short walk-about, the apartment block they were staying in was raided by the Thai Police and Immigration, resulting in the arrest of 20 immigrants. They were all deported to Sri Lanka as over-stayers.

In an astounding turn of events, Sukumar told us that he was now planning on trying his luck again! Uganda Bala had apparently offered him a discount now that he had already lost Rs. 1 million. Clearly if authorities in Canada and Australia were aware of the amount of monies changing hands, these immigrants would have a hard time convincing those authorities of their bona fides as poor, suffering citizens of the North when in fact they appear to have the financial resources to pay vast sums of money to migrate to a developed country. The Tamil Tigers were defeated in May 2009, and a recent UN report states Tamils need no longer be presumed to be fleeing imminent harm in Sri Lanka. In Canada, in October, the Conservative government tabled new legislation aimed at punishing anyone who smuggles illegal migrants to Canada.

Currently an area of Bangkok, a location known to The Sunday Leader, is home to some 198 would-be immigrants. The figure grows daily while Uganda Bala searches for a suitable vessel on which to transport his clients. A favourite haunt of the key personnel in the operation is the New Madras restaurant off Silom Road, which is run by a former native of Batticaloa, known as Sunderam and his Thai wife. The would-be immigrants, are taken care of by another LTTE sympathizer, Seelan. He is in fact a de-facto tour guide, taking the immigrants to internet cafes, banks, ATMs and generally keeping them in high spirits whilst the interminable wait goes on.

This particular case is just one of many instances linking the banned LTTE to human smuggling. Their activities have aroused the interests of government officials in Switzerland, Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand. Taking advantage of rather lax policing in terms of immigration violation enforcement, the LTTE has created in Thailand a fertile playground on which they continue to make millions of dollars. In the past, the monies collected from relatives of those left behind in Sri Lanka s former troubled areas, funded the LTTE military machine, which in turn brought even more misery to the people of those Northern and North Eastern parts of Sri Lanka.

Post-war, the reality is almost the same: monies continue to be collected, preying on the misery of a population who have seen the majority of their relatives move abroad. Playing on the hopes and aspirations of the people who dream of better economic prospects, the like of Uganda Bala and his cohorts including other agents in Bangkok like Seeni Thavarajah, continue to live outside of law enforcement agencies and the clutches of Sri Lanka s intelligence and police agencies.

Recently released figures by the Canadian government goes some way towards an insight as to how worrisome human smuggling has become to some countries the MV Sun Sea which left Thailand in May 2010 and was intercepted by the Canadians in August 2010, cost the Canadian government US$ 25 million. The bulk of the money was spent by the Canada Border Services Agency, whose bill for this event alone was set at US$ 22 million the Canadian Police authority, the RCMP, spent US$ 2.1 million and the balance US$ 900,000 was allocated to the Immigration and Refugee Board who would have had to process the 493 Sri Lankan Tamils who arrived onboard the MV Sun Sea. The Canadian government also allocated an additional US$ 6 million to investigate and disrupt human smuggling networks in South Asia.

Of great concern to Immigration authorities throughout the so-called Western world, is the phenomenally large amounts paid by these illegal immigrants, who all claim to suffer various forms of discrimination and victimization at the hands of government agencies in Sri Lanka. The end of the war against terror in Sri Lanka has brought with it a further complication to the tide of asylum seekers who cannot now claim to be running away from the war however, with a weak international PR and media communications system the Sri Lankan government continues to loose ground in the media war of words and strategies to the LTTE-leaning diaspora overseas, helping the claims of ill-treatment made by illegal immigrants with or without merit but certainly a useful ally in any application for asylum.

Q: With regard to fishing activities, Sri Lanka is also having a Coast Guard now. How does the two entities function, any overlapping of roles?

A: Coast Guard is also doing the same job as Navy. Now the American Navy is blue-water Navy. They won t guard their coast. They do other activities in the world. That is why they needed a coast guard.

Since we are also trying to go out of the coastal line it is good to have a coast guard. Coast Guard is headed by an ex-navy Rear Admiral and its cadres are ex-navy personnel and some are deputed from the serving officers. We have given four craft to them and one is built by the Navy.

One craft is being built at Welisara and that is the first craft built by the Navy for another organization. We are ready to hand over that craft to the Coast Guard next month.

To meet tourism, cargo and corporate travel needs:

Infotechs (Pvt) Limited is planning to improve the aviation industry in Sri Lanka with support to help build many economic activities.

Infotechs (Pvt) Limited Group General Manager Michelle Pinto said the Cessna Grand Caravan C-208 aircraft will help to bring in many secondary markets, while enhancing the aviation industry in the country.

The Cessna Aircraft Company, Kansas, USA together with Infotechs the authorised sales representative for Sri Lanka and the Maldives made several high profile demonstrations of the Cessna Grand Caravan C208 aircraft at the Ratmalana Airport yesterday.

It is important to further enhance the mobility while relaxing laws as the domestic aviation industry is picking up. Sri Lanka has the possibility to be one of the elite countries operating cost effective internal air transport. There are many avenues for corporates to start domestic airlines, Pinto said.

The support given by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and Sri Lanka Air Force is encouraging. Infotechs expects to develop the aviation industry of Sri Lanka with introducing new technology enabled aircraft and bringing in more expertise from other countries.

The Sri Lankan talent we have in the industry is commendable, and there is no need to bring in from overseas, she said.

In an island where development is changing its landscape, transforming an idyllic tropical setting to one of the fastest growing countries in the region and a much sort after tourist destination, the arrival of the Grand Caravan augurs well, she said.

There were many positive responses from the Sri Lankan markets. Company believes the Grand Caravan will revolutionize the tourism industry.

As this aircraft has the ability to land on any terrain including gravel, grass, pavements and even water it has a great advantage of flying to the remote areas as well since infrastructure developments are still in process, she said.

This aircraft will cater to tourism, cargo and corporate travel needs.