INDIA-SRI LANKA RELATIONS AND CHINA: Q & A

Col R Hariharan

[Answers to some of the questions on India-Sri Lanka relations and China raised by an international news agency answered on August 11, 2014 are given here.]

How do you see the diplomatic, economic, political relationship between Sri Lanka and India before the end of the war and after the end of the war?

The multifaceted India-Sri Lanka relationship has undergone subtle changes after the Eelam War ended in triumph for Rajapaksa. The main reason for this is President Rajapaksa’s failure to implement 13^th Amendment to the Constitution and trigger the political process with Tamil minority as promised to India.  His act of political expedience not only destroyed the Indian leadership’s credibility in him but also the public credibility in the Manmohan Singh coalition’s ability to handle the relations with India’s neighbours.

Its tectonic effects in Tamil Nadu politics saw the end of the Congress party’s fragile relationship with the DMK with disastrous results in the parliamentary poll for both the parties.  It provided a fillip for anti-Sri Lanka lobbies in Tamil Nadu to gain strength particularly after Sri Lanka continued to dither on carrying out impartial probe into allegations of human rights violations towards the end of the war.

At the diplomatic level, the impact was seen in hesitant swings in India’s support for Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Commission sessions on Sri Lanka’s accountability. However, at the functional level both India and Sri Lanka seem to be keen to maintain some balance in their responses to acts of political and public provocation on both sides.

China’s entry in a big way in Sri Lanka is dislocating India-Sri Lanka relations on the strategic and trade fronts. Strategically India has been put on the defensive after Sri Lanka signed the Strategic Cooperative Partnership (SCP) agreement with China and welcomed China’s initiative in promoting ‘Maritime Silk Route’ (MSR) through the Indian Ocean. India is likely to factor these developments while moving forward in its relations with China, set to take off shortly.

Sri Lanka’s scant recognition of India’s valuable economic and development assistance at a much lesser cost in public pronouncements show that Sri Lanka is taking India for granted. This belief is further reinforced by its skewed trade policy changes giving advantage to China over India show that pro-Chinese lobbies in Sri Lanka are firmly established. We can expect China to gain further advantage when it signs the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China by the end of the year, we can expect Indian trade to be affected further.   

Do you really see Sri Lanka neutralizing Indian influence using China time to time or as a balancing act?

India is physically too close and too big for comfort for a small country like Sri Lanka. So it has always to factor India while mapping its relations with any other country. At the same time it makes sense for Sri Lanka to develop a parallel relationship with a big power like China to derive some comfort from its support. 

So there is no question of Sri Lanka neutralizing Indian influence with its huge economic and strategic clout in South Asia and Indian Ocean Region (IOR). Sri Lanka has assiduously cultivated India over the years resulting in flourishing two-way trade particularly after the signing of FTA with India. Sri Lankan marine infrastructure is mostly dependent upon Indian shipping for survival.

While China can erode India’s influence in Sri Lanka, it is doubtful it can ever totally substitute India. Moreover, China has a bigger stake in building closer strategic and economic partnership with India. So at present there is little incentive for China to join hands with Sri Lanka at the cost of better relations with India.  So Sri Lanka can at best try to take maximum advantage for its own benefit from the developing relationship between the two Asian giants. I think this is what Sri Lanka is trying to do. But at what cost to India is the question?

This should not minimise the strategic advantage China gains from firmly establishing itself in Sri Lanka. Infrastructures controlled by China in Sri Lanka will help its strategic build up in the IOR where India is a dominant power. Sri Lanka becomes a mid way take off point for China’s naval assets to dominate the sea lanes which would not only safeguard its shipping trade but interdict others in times of confrontation.  It will also augment China’s electronic intelligence effort targeting not only India but also other powers operating in the IOR and its periphery.  

Now China is going to start/back an aircraft maintenance service centre in Sri Lanka and Hambantota port is also going to be under their control at least for the next three decades. Do you see these projects are purely on economic interests?

We should not see these issues in isolation but as responses to multiple developments in India, Sri Lanka and China. These are part of Chinese effort to gain a firm hold of the strategic infrastructure in the country.  Strategic security in 21^st century is much more than the physical aspect. Every economic activity has a strategic relevance for China. So the infrastructure assets it is creating now for economic considerations will always have a strategic context in China’s power projection.

Do you see increasing Chinese influence in Sri Lanka is a security concern for India, though India does not openly say it?

Normally friendly nations do not share their security concerns about each other in public. India has been expressing its security concerns to Sri Lanka diplomatically from time to time. I am sure Sri Lanka also does it. This is what strategic dialogues are meant for.

China has actively engaged with a host of countries in the neighbourhood to rebuild the ancient silk road connecting China with Europe through the Central Asian States and trade corridors like Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar, (BCIM) as well as direct economic corridor with Pakistan through the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir(PoK).In this context, how do you see increasing Chinese influence in Sri Lanka?

This is a bigger ball game China is playing which would call for analysis of happenings spread over a huge land mass. I would not venture to answer this in the present context.

 [Col R Hariharan is a retired MI analyst who served as the head of intelligence of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (1987-90). He is associated with the Chennai Centre for China Studies and the South Asia Analysis Group. E-mail:haridirect@gmail.com Blog: http://col.hariharan.info ]

Kataragama Devale money to Shashindra’s election campaign

 Friday, 15 August 2014 

More than 80 per cent of the money collected as offerings at the Kataragama Maha Devale is stuffed into gunny sacks every night and taken out, a group of officials of the Devale told ‘Lanka News Web.’

The currency notes and coins are taken to be spent for the election campaign of the Devale’s Basnayake Nilame Shashindra Rajapaksa, they say. In the past, he had claimed more than 50 pc of the money offered by devotees in the baskets of offerings to the Devale, but that has now been increased to 80 pc on account of the election campaign. The balance money is insufficient for the maintenance work of the Devale and for the payment of salaries of the staff, etc., according to them.

Before gaining political power, Shashindra was an average marketing executive at Metropolitan Company, but now, he has become a very wealthy man due to the political power he is enjoying and because of the position of the Basnayake Nilame. He has already spent Rs. 500 million on his election campaign. Most part of it goes to deceive the helpless people and obtain their votes by way of distributing various goods among them. The Uva PC has become one of the most inefficient and corrupt provincial councils, and Shashindra’s preferential votes this time will come down by more than 50 pc, a government opinion poll has revealed.

From Welfare State to Warfare State?

By Usvatte-aratchi-August 14, 2014

The very high proportion of total expenditure that government pays off as interest on public debt in 2008 and 2013 is a result of deliberate government policy to tax the public low because it wanted to win elections and yet raise government expenditure for more reasons than one, some of them entirely fraudulent and cynical. A desire to tax low and spend high must result in heavy borrowing and the high interest payments are the ineluctable result.

From Welfare State to Warfare State by Thavam

The Sun Sea Saga Four Years Later: 

One Canadian Remembers

AUGUST 15, 2014

It is hard to imagine that it was four years ago today that the MV Sun Sea, escorted by an RCMP vessel, pulled into the Esquilmalt Lagoon while all the major Canadian media outlets watched and recorded the event from the Songhese First Nations Reserve in Esquilmalt, British Columbia. Everyone ashore was shocked at the initial sighting of the ship that carried 492 people from Thailand to Canada. How on earth could 492 people be on a ship the size of a football field, let alone, live, sleep, eat, and play for over 110 days as the small vessel crossed the Pacific?

Sun Sea ship
The Sun Sea Saga Four Years Later One Canadian Remembers by Thavam

Sunil Ratnayake sneaks in to VIP lounge at People’s Relax ceremony!

Friday, 15 August 2014 

Sunil Ratnayake of Teleview has gone uninvited to the VIP lounge for the distinguished invitees at the ceremony to launch the People’s Bank’s latest pension scheme ‘People’s Relax’, causing severe inconvenience to the guests present, organizers of the event told ‘Lanka News Web.’

That room had been allocated for the chief guest, Central Bank governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal, People’s Bank chairman Gamini Senarath and members of the People’s Bank’s director board. Even the additional general managers and deputy general managers were not permitted entry to that room. However, Teleview owner Sunil Ratnayake had gone there uninvited, and saying that it was him who had made the ‘People’s Relax’ television advertisement, he had started raving.

Going to the CB governor, he said in a drunken stupor, “You are running the economy nicely. You will be the next finance minister”, and going to Gamini Senarath, he said “We hear that you will become the finance ministry secretary. Please accept our best wishes.” All those present there were wondering as to how he had gained entrance.

Severely inconvenienced by Ratnayake’s behaviour, People’s Bank’s marketing chief Deepal Abeysekara has taken him aside and said, “Do not play hell. Are you trying to make me jobless?” Sunil’s response was “Do not be afraid. If anything happens, I will tell the president and get it settled.”

Meanwhile, without heeding our previous exposure, the marketing chief of the People’s Bank is going to hand over more work to Ratnayake to settle the money he had borrowed, say marketing division sources.

Security still insufficient - Upul Jayasuriya

August 15, 2014  

The President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, Attorney-at-law, Upul Jayasuriya alleged that the security provided to him by the Police Department is still insufficient.

The observation was made at a press conference held this morning (15) in Colombo. Jayasuriya added that the situation is still the same with respect to his security matter though Senior DIG Anura Senanayake promised the Courts that the department would take adequate measures to tighten his security.

 “There are some police officers in and around my residence in civvies. But, this is not what I requested for. I needed a police officer or two in official uniforms for my security, as I have threats to my life,” Jayasuriya said.

Two complaints have been lodged with the police by President Jayasuriya stating that his life is in danger, as he was followed by two unidentified persons on two occasions, last month.

He pointed out that the police is obliged to provide security to a person whose life is threatened, if a genuine request is made, according to Section 22 of the Police Ordinance.

However, it was reported that some 27 police officers including Police Intelligence officers have been deployed to provide security to Jayasuriya, in civvies.

The Courts was informed that the Police Department is not empowered to provide its officers for personal security, but it will seek advice from the Secretary of the Ministry of Law and Order, who is currently overseas, on this regard.

The ongoing investigation with regard to this matter is handled by Senior DIG Gamini Nawarathna.

“Call a spade a spade”: Eran

 August 15, 2014

Q: What are your remarks on the recent COPE interim report?

A: In our last annual report we had a proposal to issue quarterly reports. Because when the report comes out it is outdated and there is no point even discussing it. Therefore to include timeliness we proposed releasing quarterly reports. Chairman D.E.W. Gunasekera has assured the next report will be out in September. That is a good development and it means we are catching up.
Call a Spade a Spade Eran by Thavam

NGOs bid farewell to High Commissioner Pillay

15 August 2014
It was the last meeting of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, with civil society actors that engage with human rights bodies in Geneva.
Pillay, whose tenure as the highest UN authority on human rights concludes at the end of August, wanted to exchange one last time with the NGO community in Geneva on various human rights issues and country situations, in particular the space reserved for civil society and human rights defenders.
“When I was appointed High Commissioner for Human Rights, I was in no doubt that civil society would continue to occupy a special place in my work. As a human rights defender myself, it was obvious to me that the views and advice of civil society would be indispensable,” she said.
Pillay highlighted the vital role that NGOs play in raising the attention of her Office on human rights trends and country situations, as well as giving an arena to human rights defenders from across the globe to voice their concerns at the Human Rights Council and other platforms.
The High Commissioner also stressed that human rights defenders should be able to express their views at the UN, free from fear of reprisals.
“I find it abhorrent - as you do – that defenders coming to Geneva as part of their human rights work should be exposed to intimidation, threats and harassment by their Governments, whether here, or on their return home,” she said.
Pillay focused much of her tenure on promoting the rights of women, in keeping with her career as a renowned international jurist and activist for women’s rights.
She encouraged her interlocutors to continue to draw attention to gender-based violence; women’s participation in decision making; and smear campaigns and sexual harassment against women human rights defenders.
“Your efforts on their behalf help to break through the isolation that many women experience, whether because of Governments’ attempts to silence them, or because of their communities’ reactions to their efforts to seek more rights, and more meaningful participation in governance and policy decisions that affect their lives,” she said.
“OHCHR’s thematic priority on ‘Widening the Democratic Space’ provides a framework for our office as a whole – in HQ and in the field – to provide more support to civil society, and to raise the profile of our work together over the next four years,” she added.
The Deputy High Commissioner, Flavia Pansieri, echoing Pillay’s remark, said that going forward with the Widening the Democratic Space strategy, the UN Human Rights Office will continue to value engagement with human rights defenders to orient the work of the Office.
Many of the 80 NGO representatives present at the meeting wanted to pay tribute to Navi Pillay, and also took the opportunity to raise a number of country situations, and a wide range of human rights concerns.
Budi Tjahjono, speaking on behalf of the Human Rights Committee of the Conference of NGOs with Consultative Relationship with the UN/Franciscans International expressed the organizations’ gratitude for the High Commissioner’s dedication to defend the efforts of civil society actors.
“The civil society space and democratic space are not something to be taken for granted, we have to defend it, and you work along with us to protect this space,” he said.
Renate Bloem, representing the World Alliance for Citizen Participation (CIVICUS), recalled Navi Pillay’s achievements with the Durban Review Conference; in strengthening of the human rights treaty body system; and in being “the unwavering advocate for defending the space for civil society and human rights defenders.”
“You gave human rights a different ranking, a larger importance in the world. You were the voice of the voiceless, of those who could never make it to the centres of power or to the Human Rights Council. But you spoke truth to power without fear and you are now the champion of human rights, our champion,” Bloem said. “You were also our reference point and benchmark we could trust for veracity. If you had said something, we could believe it to be true.”

15 August 2014

Asylum seeker deportations: Govt. hits back at UN

 Friday, 15 August 2014 

The Sri Lankan Government today hit back at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) agency and the UN over allegations that it was in breach of its obligations under international law by deporting Pakistani asylum seekers from Sri Lanka.

Speaking at the weekly Cabinet press briefing, Minister of Mass Media and Information, Keheliya Rambukwella countered that the government was never in breach of international law as it was not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention. He further said UNHCR’s claims that by its actions, Sri Lanka was violating the principle of non-refoulement (no-forced-returns) were irrelevant as there is a treaty that deals with refugees, and Sri Lanka was not a party to it.

He claimed the asylum-seekers were abusing the country’s visa policy by arriving in the country on a 30 day tourist visa and then overstaying. “They come here as tourists and then claim asylum. We are not a party to the treaty that states we are obliged to let them stay here,” the minister stressed.
     
“Bottom line is that we have not done anything wrong (in deporting them),” Rambukwella insisted.

He said the External Affairs Ministry Secretary had visited Pakistan and held discussions on the issue with Pakistani officials. Rambukwella also said the two governments did not have any problems with each other when it came to returning the asylum seekers.

The minister said the case of Pakistani asylum seekers making their way to Sri Lanka was similar to Sri Lankan asylum seekers making their way illegally to Australia and claiming asylum based on ‘fabrications’.

However, the UN has been highly critical of the deportations. Earlier today, two UN Human Rights experts expressed their ‘grave concern’ at the situation of Pakistani asylum seekers in Sri Lanka who are ‘being detained forcefully and forcefully deported to Pakistan without an adequate assessment of their asylum claims’.

“States must guarantee that every single asylum claim is individually assessed with due process and in line with international law,” stressed the UN Special Rapporteurs on minority issues, Rita Izsák, and on freedom of religion and belief, Heiner Bielefeldt, according to a press release issued by the UN.

At least 108 Pakistani citizens have been deported since the beginning of August, according to the UN Refugees Agency (UNHCR).

Most asylum seekers from Pakistan belong to religious minorities, including Ahmadiyya Muslim, Christian and Shia, groups that are often subjected to persecution, discrimination and violence in Pakistan, according to the UN experts. “Many of them are being deported despite being registered with UNHCR and having their first instance interviews still pending.”

“The risks faced by the deportees should never be underestimated but must be adequately assessed” stressed the Special Rapporteurs. “It is our hope that the Government of Sri Lanka will collaborate with the UN Refugees Agency in its work to guarantee the rights of asylum seekers, and avoid any actions that could lead to possible tragic consequences”.

Iraq's Maliki finally steps aside, paving way for new gov't

People hold a portrait of Nuri al-Maliki and signs as they gather in support of him in Baghdad August 13, 2014.

BY RAHEEM SALMAN AND MICHAEL GEORGY-BAGHDAD Fri Aug 15, 2014 

(Reuters) - Nuri al-Maliki finally bowed to pressure within Iraq and beyond on Thursday and stepped down as prime minister, paving the way for a new coalition that world and regional powers hope can quash a Sunni Islamist insurgency that threatens Baghdad.

Iraq's Maliki Finally Steps Aside, Paving Way for New Gov't by Thavam

Gaza and the propaganda machines

‘A telling contribution to the overall picture’: Adir Ali sits in her devastated flat in Beit Hanun, Gaza. Photograph: Sean Smith

Friday 15 August 2014

As Jewish survivors and descendants of survivors and victims of the Nazi genocide, we unequivocally condemn the massacre of Palestinians in Gaza and the ongoing occupation and colonisation of historic Palestine. We further condemn the United States for providing Israel with the funding to carry out the attack, and western states more generally for using their diplomatic muscle to protect Israel from condemnation. Genocide begins with the silence of the world.

We are alarmed by the extreme, racist dehumanisation of Palestinians in Israeli society, which has reached fever-pitch. Politicians and pundits in the Times of Israel and the Jerusalem Post have called openly for genocide of Palestinians and rightwing Israelis are adopting neo-Nazi insignia. 

Furthermore, we are disgusted and outraged by Elie Wiesel’s abuse of our history in these pages (advertisement, 11 August; Report, 11 August) to promote blatant falsehoods used to justify the unjustifiable: Israel’s wholesale effort to destroy Gaza and the murder of nearly 2,000 Palestinians, including many hundreds of children. Nothing can justify bombing UN shelters, homes, hospitals and universities. Nothing can justify depriving people of electricity and water.

We must raise our collective voices and use our collective power to bring about an end to all forms of racism, including the ongoing genocide of Palestinian people. We call for an immediate end to the blockade of Gaza. We call for the full economic, cultural and academic boycott of Israel. “Never again” must mean “Never again for anyone”.
Hajo Meyer survivor of Auschwitz; The Netherlands, Henri Wajnblumsurvivor and son of an Auschwitz victim from Lodz, Poland; Belgium, Norbert Hirschhorn refugee of Nazi genocide and grandson of three people who died in the Shoah; London, Suzanne Weiss survived in hiding in France, whose mother died in Auschwitz; Canada, Felicia and Moshe Langer survivors from Germany, Moshe survived five concentration camps, family members were exterminated; Germany,Michael Rice child survivor, son and grandson of survivor; United Statesand 30 Jewish survivors of the Nazi genocide and 260 children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and other relatives of survivors 
See full list at ijsn.net/gaza/survivors-and-descendants-letter/

• When I encountered Hamas delegates in Gaza in 2010, they bore no resemblance to the fundamentalists characterised by Nobel peace laureate Elie Wiesel. They stated they had “nothing against the Jews” (contrary to their 1988 charter, which needs serious re-consideration). They differentiated between Jews, Zionists and Israeli occupiers. This was demonstrated by the protection of the Jewish contingent in the Gaza freedom march, when we walked with many disabled residents towards the Erez Crossing in the north of the enclave. There we were warned we might be fired upon by the Israeli border guards should we proceed further.

I am sure that there are fanatical elements in Hamas but according to theUnited States Institute of Peace, Hamas’s political bureau has been indicating its willingness to explore peace negotiations with Israel for years (while keeping its propaganda condemning Israel’s existence) – that is, when Israel is not actively attempting to assassinate its leaders and incarcerating its members in the West Bank as they try to form a unity government with Fatah.
Peter Offord
Norwich

• In 1962, interviewing me for a traineeship on the Guardian in Manchester, the then editor, Alastair Hetherington, asked me whether I thought he had been right to publish a full-page ad from the Soviet embassy. It was a lengthy excerpt from a speech by Nikita Khrushchev, and Hetherington had received a lot of hostile mail. I told him that Guardian readers were quite capable of seeing through propaganda, and he was right to trust them. He offered me the job.
Richard Bourne
Senior research fellow, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London

• I seem to remember the Manchester Guardian in the 1930s reporting quite extensively the speeches of Hitler and other Nazi leaders without anyone supposing it was peddling its own viewpoint. It thought, no doubt, it was its public service duty to make sure we knew what we were up against. The This World advert seems to serve the same purpose – happily, at the expense of the advertiser.
Ray Wainwright
Amersham, Buckinghamshire

• After the This World ad, the 13 August edition, with its centre spread of Sean Smith’s photograph of Adir Ali’s devastated flat in Beit Hanoun, Gaza, was hardly, in terms of balance, a case of quid pro quo, but a telling contribution to the overall picture.
Michael Gallacher
Whitchurch, Shropshire

• As Liberal Democrats, we are totally committed to the state of Israel being able to live within secure borders, and wish to see the removal of the existential threat to Israel’s security by an internationally recognised terrorist group, and the creation of a viable Palestinian state.

As recorded by the UN and captured by various international media sources, Hamas’s policy of using human shields to protect its arms caches in hospitals, schools and densely populated neighbourhoods must be understood as the principal factor behind the number of Gazan civilian deaths, and condemned as such.

Hamas’s commitment to the destruction of Israel and its refusal to recognise Israel’s right to exist is a huge obstacle to peace.

We hereby ask that the UK government and the international community call on Hamas to maintain the cessation of rocket fire beyond this current ceasefire. Israel has shown it is committed to a ceasefire subject to an end to the rocket fire; it is now incumbent on Hamas to do the same. This will allow the international community, led by Egypt, to broker an end to hostilities, involving the demilitarisation of Gaza plus recognition and adherence to the Quartet principles, which in turn will lead to the eventual opening of borders and a more enduring peace.
Sir Alan Beith MP Chairman of the justice select committee and former deputy leader of Liberal Democrats, Lord Navnit Dholakia Deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords, Lord Monroe PalmerLiberal Democrat, joint backbench international affairs committee, Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP for London 1999-2014, Cllr Barry Aspinall Leader, Brentwood borough council

• Like Steven Rose (Letters, 14 August) I have memories of campaigning in Ridley Road market in Hackney. It was 1965 and Oswald Mosley’s supporters were making what turned out to be last-gasp efforts to win support in that increasingly multiracial area. I spoke as a member of the Central Hackney Labour party Young Socialist branch, supported by an enthusiastic group, most of whom were Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews. We were very happy to have the support of the Association of Jewish Ex-servicemen. Two years later, we (me a non-Jew and my friends, largely young Jews) were virulently denounced as antisemitic and as self-hating Jews by most of the members of the Labour party for opposing Israel’s actions in the six-day war. Then as now, Zionism and the state of Israel were and are the most basic obstacles to any humane solution to the conflicts in Palestine and the Middle East.
Fred Lindop
Swanage, Dorset

Modi vows to fix broken government, but no big bang reforms

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the nation from the historic Red Fort during Independence Day celebrations in Delhi August 15, 2014.

BY SANJEEV MIGLANI AND JOHN CHALMERS-Fri Aug 15, 2014

(Reuters) - Prime Minister Narendra Modi voiced dismay on Friday at the government in-fighting he found on assuming office in May and vowed to fire up the bureaucracy to deliver results in a country desperately in need of growth and development.

Delivering his first Independence Day speech, Modi emphasised the need for better governance but announced none of the sweeping market reforms that many who handed him India's biggest election mandate in three decades have been awaiting.

Critics say that Modi, who spoke for more than an hour from the ramparts of the 17th-century Red Fort, from where Mughal kings ruled Delhi for two centuries, scores high on oratory but has delivered on few of his election campaign promises.

He did, however, unveil an initiative on Friday to improve access to financial services for the two-fifths of Indians who lack a bank account and are often at the mercy of moneylenders who charge extortionate interest.

He also announced that he would replace the central Planning Commission that for decades guided the country's socialist-style economy with a more modern institution.

The 63-year-old prime minister, a newcomer to central government after running the industrialised state of Gujarat for more than 13 years, bemoaned New Delhi's bureaucratic disarray.

"I saw that even in one government there were dozens of governments. It was as if each had their own fiefdoms," he said, touching on a key concern for many Indians, who have come to revile the layers of bureaucracy and rampant corruption.

"The government is not an assembled entity but an organic entity. I have tried to break down these walls," Modi said.

The centre-left government led by the Congress party that was ousted in the election was seen as ineffectual and unable to carry out reforms as departments from finance to environment worked at cross-purposes.

Modi promised in his election campaign to revive economic growth that has fallen below 5 percent, choking off job opportunities for the one million people who enter the workforce every month, and dangled the prospect of new roads, factories, power lines, high-speed trains and even 100 new cities.

So far, there has been little movement on any of these tasks, which will require an overhaul of land acquisition laws, faster environmental clearances and an end to red tape.

Many of his supporters have been disappointed that he has not cut food aid and other costly welfare schemes to channel money into more effective poverty reduction steps. However, economists said it was too early to expect dramatic initiatives.

"Let's get our expectations to real, acceptable levels," said Shubhada Rao, chief economist at YES Bank. "For the first three years, it is going to be a repair-and-mend phase ... only then the economy will be ready to take off. Until you repair, these big bang announcements would go to waste."

MADE IN INDIA

In his speech, Modi spoke of the need to strengthen the manufacturing sector and appealed repeatedly to investors: "Come, make in India".

He also spoke about violence against women, saying his head hung in shame to see incidents of rape and sexual assault continuing unabated since the world was stunned by the gang rape and murder of a young woman in New Delhi in 2012.

He said that while the law will take its course, Indian society must itself be raising sons in the best possible manner.

"After all, a person who is raping is somebody's son. As parents have we asked our sons where he is going? We need to take responsibility to bring our sons who have deviated from the right path, to bring them back."

He urged an end to caste and communal violence, drawing a critical response from his political opponents who have accused his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party of inciting social tensions for electoral gain.

Modi has been dogged for years by allegations that he did too little to prevent riots in Gujarat in 2002 in which more than 1,000 people, most of them Muslims, were killed. He denies wrongdoing and was exonerated by an investigation ordered by the Supreme Court.

"The words are fine, but what about the track record?" Rajeev Gowda, a senior Congress party lawmaker, told news channel NDTV.

(Additional reporting by Manoj Kumar and Rupam Jain Nair in NEW DELHI and by Neha Dasgupta in MUMBAI; Editing by Douglas Busvine and Robert Birsel)

Ukraine 'destroys' part of Russian military column

FRIDAY 15 AUGUST 2014

Ukrainian artillery has destroyed a "significant" part of a Russian military column that crossed into Ukraine on Thursday night, according to the Ukrainian president. But Russia denies this.

Ukraine 'Destroys' Part of Russian Military Column by Thavam