NHK chief apologizes in Diet for 'comfort women' comments

The head of Japan’s public broadcaster told lawmakers Friday he was sorry for saying the Japanese Imperial Army’s system of wartime sex slavery was commonplace, and pledged he would safeguard the network’s neutrality.
Katsuto Momii apologized for “causing trouble” when he said last weekend that the practice of forcibly drafting women into military brothels during World War II was “common in any country at war”.
Momii, who was recently appointed to head one of the world’s biggest broadcasters, blamed his inexperience for the gaffe at his inaugural press conference.
“I was not familiar with that kind of opportunity… from now on I will do my job based on the Broadcast Act,” he said.
“NHK will broadcast programs based on the principles of political neutrality, fairness and freedom of expression that are written in the Broadcast Act. My personal view will not be reflected in programs,” he said.
Momii, 70, was reportedly Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s choice for the influential role. Critics say his apparent willingness to cleave to the government’s position is worrying for Japan’s democracy at a time of rising nationalism.
In comments he later tried to retract, he told reporters last week that NHK’s international programs should follow the official state line.
“We can’t say it is left if the government says it is right,” he said, adding he had the final say on the network’s output.
Momii’s appearance before a Diet committee came as NHK fended off accusations of interference after it told an academic not to talk about nuclear power in the run-up to the election for the post of Tokyo governor next month.
The election is seen as a contest between a candidate backed by the pro-nuclear government, and a former premier who wants all of Japan’s reactors permanently shuttered.
Toru Nakakita, a Cambridge-educated economist and professor at Toyo University, who regularly provides commentary on an NHK radio program, told local media he had resigned after a producer warned him to avoid the issue.
The academic said he had been planning to comment on the costs of nuclear if the risk of accidents is included, during the Thursday morning slot.
But after reviewing a draft of his script, the producer asked him to steer clear of the topic for the duration of the election campaign.
The broadcaster said Friday it had only done so because it was not able to book a pro-nuclear guest as a balance to his views.
“We asked the professor to drop the nuclear issue because we have to ensure fairness during the election campaign where nuclear power is one of the issues,” a spokeswoman for NHK told AFP.
“It’s theoretically possible for us to introduce both an anti-nuclear opinion and the opposite opinion during the campaign period, but in this case it was not possible to book an expert with the opposite view for the same program,” she said.
Nakakita told Jiji Press and other media that he had explained he was not supporting a particular candidate, but NHK rejected his script, saying it could affect voting behavior.

Sri Lanka confirms Bangladesh tour

Sri Lanka is ready to tour Bangladesh later this month, a cricket official said yesterday.
The series involving two Test matches, three ODIs and two Twenty20s was in jeopardy as a result of volatile security in Bangladesh.


Sri Lanka Cricket Secretary Nishantha Ranatunga said the tour is almost on and it will be announced officially tomorrow.
"For us the tour is on as we are happy with the security there. We'll go through the security assessment report on Monday and confirm it," Ranatunga said.


However, Sri Lanka Cricket officials have asked the Bangladesh cricket board to drop Sylhet in the north-east of the country as a venue, following the visit of a security appraisal team headed by its Vice President Mohan de Silva.

The Japan Cricket Association wishes to appoint a

"Community Cricket Manager & National Coach"

・Exciting challenge in an overseas market taking cricket beyond its traditional boundaries
・Game development and national team coaching responsibilities, including taking teams to ICC tournaments and the Asian Games

・Full-time, two-year contract starting in March 2014

 

The Japan Cricket Association (JCA) is the national governing body for cricket in Japan. It is an Associate Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and its head office is based in Sano, Tochigi – 80km north of Tokyo.

 

The Community Cricket Manager & National Coach joins a full-time team of 7 staff and reports directly to the CEO. You have responsibility for working with regional associations to develop and expand youth and adult community competitions around the country, build a skilled volunteer workforce to deliver the game, whilst also developing appropriate high performance structures to produce strong national teams.

As a small JCA team, you will also play a strong role in supporting other aspects of the business such as school programs, teacher education and national championships. This includes acting as technical director for national championships.

 

We are looking for an energetic self-starter who:

・ Has a proven ability to work in a completely different cultural environment

・ Has strong experience at grassroots / community cricket level with an understanding and involvement in pathway development and education systems (coach, official, volunteer).

・Has a minimum CA/NZC Level 2 or ECB Level 3 (or equivalent) cricket coaching qualification, has a proven ability in coaching representative teams and a strong understanding of high performance principles in order to manage and implement a national high performance program

・ Shows initiative, has the ability to develop strong relationships with a varied group of stakeholders and has a proven ability in leading and managing programs

・ Has excellent verbal and written communication skills and sound general administration and computer skills

 

The position provides a rare and exciting opportunity to play a pivotal role in developing cricket in Japan, where cricket is relatively unknown but has large potential. It provides a challenging opportunity to expand ability, knowledge, experience, language and character.

 

Applications should be emailed to jobs@cricket.or.jp and should include a short covering letter highlighting how you meet the required skill set of the role outlined above.

 

Closing date for applications is Sunday 5th January 2014.

'Do or Die' situation for Krrish

Minister of Investment Promotion Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said the Indian property developer, Krrish Group, has less than 36 months to complete the whole project, if not the government would cancel the agreement. The BoI agreement was signed on 30 August, 2012 and the MoU was signed with the UDA on 30 July, 2012. According to the minister it's a 'Do or Die' situation for the Indian investor, who has paid nearly Rs 4.4 billion, an estimated 84%, to the Urban Development Authority of the Rs 5 billion lease on the Transwork Tower Land in Colombo Fort.


"The company has informed the UDA that it is not agreeable to pay the Land Lease Tax of 15%, amounting to Rs. 749.25 million, as this regulation was effected after the signing of the Agreement with the UDA. It has requested that the Land Lease Tax be waived," sources said. The UDA issued the land on a 99-year lease to Krrish.


Krrish Transworks Colombo has informed the UDA, that, the balance payment of Rs. 639.5 million, due in respect of the land cost, will be made only after the land lease tax issue is sorted out.
Abeywardena was speechless when the Ceylon Today asked whether the Krrish Group lied to the Minister, on the previous occasions, that the company would pay the balance before the deadlines given to them.


The UDA is in agreement with this proposition, and is in the process of accommodating the KTCPL request. This is expected to be finalized within a period of one month.
Krrish entered Sri Lanka in late 2012 with a US$ 460 million mixed development project, the company was given four acres in Colombo. However, the company had delayed the payment since May 2013, after the initial land matter was resolved.
The company is charged 12% interest on the balance payment to the Urban Development Authority.


The Board of Investment, since last May, granted four extensions to make the balance payment of which the forth extension was with no deadline.


Krrish withheld the balance payment due to a land issue involving the project. The BOI granted the Krrish Transwork Project time till last May 31, to make the balance payment, after the land matter was resolved and the ownership transferred. The company was also granted the second extension up to July 15 and on a request by the company the third had been granted. The fourth extension had been given to the group with no deadline since the company agreed to pay 12% interest for the delay.


The Krrish Group entered Sri Lanka in 2012 to develop a hotel, apartment complexes, shopping and dining areas and many other facilities to support tourism growth. The company has heavily advertised the mixed development project.

Sea Shepherd catches up with Japan fleet; 4 whales dead so far

Anti-whaling activists Sea Shepherd said they had zeroed in on a Japanese fleet Monday and captured evidence that four whales had been slaughtered, alleging the ships were found inside a Southern Ocean sanctuary.
Sea Shepherd said it had located all five Japanese vessels and was now in pursuit, forcing the harpooners to cut short their operation and retreat.
The group released footage and photographs showing three minke whales dead on the deck of the factory ship Nisshin Maru and said a fourth, also believed to be a minke, was being slaughtered when Sea Shepherd’s helicopter flew overhead.
“There’s three carcasses on the ship, a fourth carcass has been cut up. There’s blood all over the place, meat being carted around on this factory ship deck, offal and innards being dumped in the ocean,” said Sea Shepherd Australia chairman Bob Brown. “That’s just a gruesome, bloody, medieval scene which has no place in this modern world.”
When the Nisshin Maru was first spotted from the air, Brown said it was in Antarctica’s Ross Dependency, within New Zealand’s territorial waters and the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, which he described as a “gross breach of international law”.
The commercial hunting of whales is prohibited in the sanctuary, which was designated by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 1994, but Japan catches the animals there under a “scientific research” loophole in the moratorium on whaling.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully denied whaling was taking place within his country’s maritime jurisdiction, saying the site was considered international waters, as he condemned the “pointless and offensive” practice.
“The New Zealand government has repeatedly called on Japan to end its whaling program. We reiterate this message today,” he said.
Japan’s fisheries agency said its program was being conducted “in line with a research plan submitted to the IWC”.
“We are not aware of the existence of a whaling sanctuary, so we don’t want to comment on their arguments,” an agency spokesman said of Brown’s claims.
The Japanese foreign ministry said research whaling was “not a violation or an abuse of a loophole in the international convention”.
“Quite the contrary, this is a legitimate right of the contracting party under Article VIII of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling,” it said.
Brown described “massive violence” against the whales, using grenade-tipped harpoons to catch them, and said Sea Shepherd would do “all it peaceably can to prevent this grotesque and cruel destruction”, also urging Australia and New Zealand to take action.
“There is nothing scientific about this, it is butchery,” Brown said. “The one thing that’s missing here is gumption—a bit of spine in Canberra and in Wellington to put an end to it.”
Australia has taken Japan to the International Court of Justice seeking to have its research whaling program declared illegal, with a ruling due this year.
Australia’s Environment Minister Greg Hunt said the government’s opposition to whaling was “well known” and it “continues to remain hopeful that the International Court of Justice will soon make its ruling.”
In the meantime, he said Canberra would dispatch a government jet to fly over the whaling zone and monitor confrontations between Sea Shepherd and the Japanese.
“The aircraft will be able to monitor activities over a large area. It sends a clear message that the Australian government expects all parties to abide by the laws of the sea,” said Hunt.
Sea Shepherd left Australia for their 10th annual harassment campaign of the Japanese fleet last month, sending three ships to tail and run interference against the harpooners.
High-seas clashes between the two groups are common, resulting in the 2010 sinking of the Sea Shepherd vessel Ady Gil.

Sri Lankan motorists to use 92 Octane gasoline from today

Colombo: Sri Lanka's petroleum authority Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) will introduce the consumers to 92 Octane gasoline from today replacing the usage of 90 Octane gasoline.
Addressing a function held to introduce the high quality fuel to the Sri Lankan motorists Minister of Petroleum Resources Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said the government has taken measures to provide high quality petrol at no extra cos to the consumers.
The Minister said under this initiative 92 Octane fuel is introduced to the market. Although the government has to spend an additional expenditure of 60 cents per liter, the government will not pass the extra expenditure to the consumers, the Minister assured.
He said the next objective of the government is to introduce high standard diesel to the market.
Announcing future plans, the Minister said all filling stations will be provided with necessary equipment to issue bills for every sale and a programme will also be launched to modernize all the filling stations in the country

Rs. 14.8 m stolen from Malabe bank

Two armed men stormed a private bank in Malabe at around 11.30 a.m. yesterday and robbed Rs. 14.8 million from the cashiers at gunpoint. According to Police spokesman SP Ajith Rohana, the two men who arrived at the bank premises in a motorcycle wearing full face helmets had first told the security guards at the entrance to kneel down.
“One man then entered the bank and collected the money from the cashiers while the other was at the entrance. They fled with the money,” he said. The Police spokesman said a special operation is in place in and around Malabe to nab the robbers.