Government plays down views of BBS

By admin on September 30, 2014 

The Government today played down the views expressed by the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) and insisted that it stands for coexistence among all communities.

Cabinet spokesman, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said that the Government did not endorse the views of the BBS expressed at a conference in Colombo recently.

He also said that if anyone felt threatened by the views expressed by any group or individual then there is a legal system in place where the concerns on such issues can be addressed.

The Cabinet had also today approved the appointment of a Cabinet Sub-Committee on Social Reconciliation and Coexistence among Communities.

The Cabinet Sub-Committee on Social Reconciliation and Coexistence among Communities will be presided over by President Mahinda Rajapaksa and will comprise of Ministers to monitor and facilitate the implementation of the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) recommendations aimed at strengthening of coexistence among communities.

The Cabinet has also agreed to appoint a Committee of Officers comprising of Ministry Secretaries and presided over by the Secretary to the President who functions as the Chairman of the Committee which supervises the implementation of the recommendations of LLRC to assist this Cabinet Sub-Committee.

The BBS on Sunday issued an ultimatum to the Government, saying it will not hesitate to push for a change of Government if the Government fails to address, what he claims to be, a threat faced by Buddhism in Sri Lanka.

BBS President, the venerable Kirama Wimalajothi, speaking at a BBS conference at the Sugadathasa indoor stadium, insisted that Sri Lanka is not a multi-religious country.

He said Sri Lanka is a Sinhalese, Buddhist country and Buddhism in Sri Lanka is now facing a threat from some groups, including according to him, extremist Muslim and Christian groups.

Speaking in front of a large gathering of monks and guests, including the venerable Ashin Wirathu, the dreaded leader of the 969 Movement in Myanmar and the Vedda chief, the venerable Kirama Wimalajothi said that a BBS policy statement will be presented to the Government detailing the concerns of Buddhists in Sri Lanka and if the Government fails to address the issue then the BBS and Buddhists in Sri Lanka will “bring a man from the village” to lead the country and make the change. (Colombo Gazette)

In MaRa’s ‘SL the miracle in the making ‘ nothing is impossible- Co. that polluted Deduru oya with toxic waste awarded gold medal !

(Lanka-e-News- 30.Sep.2014, 6.30PM) Believe it or not ! a deadly lethal company against which a court injunction order lasting nearly two months was issued for continuous pollution of the environment of Sri Lanka (SL) had been awarded a gold medal on the 27 th (Saturday) by the National chamber of exporters SL, according to reports reaching Lanka e news.

While the export companies that are operating lawfully have been shocked beyond belief by this award given to this lethal company that is a sole cause of grief and disaster to the people , and had been subject to a court injunction order, Lanka e news too had exposed this company on many occasions . This company is none other than the notorious Norwegian company ‘Jiffy products SL Pvt. Ltd.’

This deadly Co. which exports fiber uses calcium nitrate that has been prohibited now by the Coconut development board , to clean the fiber. In addition this Co. has been secretly sending the contaminated toxic water into the Deduru Oya, thereby monumentally polluting the environment. While this treacherous and lethal action of Jiffy Co. was getting exposed , what the Company did was : after oiling the palms of the Wayambe chief Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera and the provincial environment authority chief , both of whom are well noted for their venal obsessions, suppressed the disaster. What’s more ? injunction orders were obtained against the 5 media Institutes which revealed the true dangers . Lanka e news however , which gives priority to the larger interests of the nation did not care two hoots for that order, and unrelentingly continued to expose the deadly and dangerous activities of this Co.

Subsequently , the residents who formed the ‘Deduru Oya protection organization’ filed an action in Nikaweratiya courts on the grounds that toxic water is being drained into the Deduru oya , and the grave harm it is causing to them. Following this action , the Nikaweratiya district judge Ms. D.M. Kodituwakku issued an injunction order against the Jiffy Co. on 7 th August under section 98 of the criminal procedure code.

When this case No. 21490 /PC was called up again on 19 th August , after hearing the evidence of the three witnesses of the petitioners , much to the relief of the residents , the injunction order was extended for a further period .

It is therefore significant to note that Jiffy Co. is still subject to the injunction order. Despite it if the gold medal is awarded to this company , it is simply because corruption breeds corruption. Based on the criteria that should be actually followed by the SL national export development board when giving awards , this award to Jiffy Co. is absolutely illegal., because when awards are being given , it must be taken into account what steps the Industry has taken to protect the environment , which is a most important criterion. In the circumstances , this award to a Company that has acted unlawfully , destroyed the environment and tainted by a court order against it is the joke of the century , and a display of the corrupt nature of the awards ceremony , under estimating the other award winners too.

When we did a probe into how this came about outraging all criteria of true and clear judgment , it had come to light this Jiffy Co. which is out and out a fraudulent factory had made an under the counter payment of US $ 10,000.00 to a 'Rathna, thileke' of the awards committee of the National export board.

Appended herein are copies of relevant documents bearing testimony to this absolute spuriousness of this award.

The circular that prohibits the use of calcium nitrate of the Coconut development board for cleaning the fiber.

The report of the Central environment authority which confirms that the Jiffy Co. is using calcium nitrate in violation of that circular directives.

The first injunction order issued by the court against Jiffy Co.

The second injunction order issued by the court after recording evidence of public witnesses .

The evidence given by the public exposing how the criminal Jiffy Co. is draining the toxic water into the Deduru Oya

While such cogent and copious glaring evidence exist to prove the atrocious and deadly activities of Jiffy Co. , the most perplexing question is : who is the two legged donkey of the export board who gave away this award ?

No matter what , LeN will not disappoint its viewers . We shall divulge the details shortly.

Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Vows to Help Kurdistan in War Against Isis

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the 69th United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York(Reuters)

By Jack Moore-September 29, 2014 

Turkey has pledged to support the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan in its fight against Isis (now known as the Islamic State).

The Kurdish region has been faced with an IS offensive and a potential humanitarian crisis by the influx of refugees from embattled regions of northern Iraq.
Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Vows to Help Kurdistan in War Against Isis by Thavam

Hong Kong: The ‘Umbrella Revolution’

| by Nilantha Ilangamuwa

( September 30, 2014, Hong Kong SAR, Sri Lanka Guardian) The “Hong Kong Wall of Shame” is filling up with yellow ribbons which are giving a sharp tone to the true sound of freedom. The barrier is no longer a barrier, it has turned into a tool of expression and expectation of the future. Iron bars surrounding the legislative council, known as LegCo, has been renamed the “Hong Kong Wall of Shame” by the protestors.

Hong Kong the ‘Umbrella Revolution’ by Thavam

ஜெர்மன் அகதி முகாம்கள் : தனியாரின் சித்திரவதைக் கூடங்கள்

ஜெர்மன் அகதி முகாம்கள் : தனியாரின் சித்திரவதைக் கூடங்கள்

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2014

ஜெர்மனியில், அகதி முகாம்களில் தங்க வைக்கப் பட்டுள்ள அகதிகள், பாதுகாவலர்களினால் அடித்து, உதைத்து, சித்திரவதை செய்யப் படுகின்றனர். கெல்ன் (Köln, ஆங்கிலத்தில்: Cologne) நகருக்கு அருகில் உள்ள, பூர்பாஹ் (Burbach) எனும் கிராமத்தில் உள்ள அகதி முகாமில் நடந்த சித்திரவதைகள் தொடர்பான படங்கள் வெளியாகியுள்ளன. 

ஓர் அல்ஜீரிய அகதியின் தலையை, இரண்டு பாதுகாவலர்கள் காலில் போட்டு மிதிக்கும் காட்சிகள், ஊடகங்களில் காட்டப் பட்டன. அதன் பின்னர், ஜெர்மன் அகதி முகாம்களில் வாழும் அகதிகள் சித்திரவதை செய்யப் படுவது பற்றிய தகவல்கள், நாடு முழுவதும் பரபரப்பாக பேசப் பட்டு வருகின்றன. இது வரையில், கைத்தொலைபேசியால் எடுத்த வீடியோவும், நிழற்படமும் வெளியாகி உள்ளன. இந்த மனித உரிமை மீறல்கள் குறித்து ஆராய்வதாக கூறிய பொலிஸ் தரப்பு பேச்சாளர், “ஜெர்மனியின் குவாந்தனமோ பே” என்று வர்ணித்தார். 

கெல்ன் நகரம் அமைந்துள்ள, நோர்ட்ரைன்-வெஸ்ட்பாலின் மாநிலத்தில், உள்ளூர் தொலைக்காட்சி சேவையான WDR, இது தொடர்பாக அதிக கவனம் செலுத்தி வருகின்றது. அகதிகள் துன்புறுத்தப் படுவதாக படுவதாக, வேறு இடங்களில் இருந்தும் தகவல்கள் கிடைத்ததாக அறிவித்துள்ளது. எஸ்சென்  (Essen) நகரில் உள்ள அகதி முகாமில் வசிக்கும் அகதிகள், வன்முறைக்கு உள்ளான ஆதாரங்கள், மருத்துவ அறிக்கைகளில் பதிவு செய்யப் பட்டுள்ளதாக தெரிவிக்கின்றது.

ஜெர்மனியில், அகதிகளாக வருவோர், முகாம்களில் தங்க வைக்கப் படுகின்றனர். குறைந்தது ஒரு வருடத்திற்கு, அகதிகள் வேலை செய்ய அனுமதி கிடையாது. அது மட்டுமல்லாது, குறிப்பிட்ட தூரத்திற்கு அப்பால் பிரயாணம் செய்ய முடியாது. 

முந்திய காலங்களில், அகதிகளின் பராமரிப்பை அரசு பொறுப்பேற்று நடத்தி வந்தது. தற்போது, அந்தப் பொறுப்பை தனியார் நிறுவனங்களிடம் ஒப்படைத்து விட்டார்கள். முழுப் பொருளாதாரமும் தனியார்மயத்தை நோக்கி நகரும் பொழுது, அகதிகளை மட்டும் விட்டு வைப்பார்களா?

நோர்ட்ரைன்-வெஸ்ட்பாலின் மாநிலத்தில், “European Homecare" எனும் தனியார் நிறுவனம் பல அகதி முகாம்களை நிர்வகித்து வருகின்றது. அந்த நிறுவனம், முகாம் தொடர்பான பல்வேறு வேலைகளுக்கு, பிற தனியார் நிறுவனங்களுடன் ஒப்பந்தம் போட்டுள்ளது. 

முகாமில் பணி புரியும் பாதுகாப்பு உத்தியோகஸ்தர்கள், SKI எனும் தனியார் நிறுவனத்தை சேர்ந்தவர்கள். அந்த நிறுவனத்தின் இரண்டு பாதுகாவலர்கள் தான், சித்திரவதை குற்றச்சாட்டில் சம்பந்தப் பட்டிருந்தனர். அவர்கள் தற்போது பணியில் இருந்து இடைநிறுத்தம் செய்யப் பட்டுள்ளனர். 

பூர்பார்க் முகாமில் சுமார் 700 அகதிகள் வசிக்கின்றனர். சித்திரவதை குற்றச்சாட்டு சம்பந்தமாக அவர்களில் பலர் வாக்குமூலம் அளித்துள்ளனர். இருந்தாலும், சம்பந்தப் பட்ட பாதுகாவலர்கள் இனவெறியர்கள் என்பதை அரசாங்கம் மறுத்து வருகின்றது. 

சித்திரவதை குற்றச்சாட்டு சுமத்தப் பட்டுள்ள பாதுகாப்பு உத்தியோகஸ்தர்கள், “கடந்த காலங்களில் போதைவஸ்து பாவனை, வன்முறையில் ஈடுபட்ட முறைப்பாடுகள் பதிவு செய்யப் பட்டுள்ளதாக,” பொலிஸ் தெரிவிக்கின்றது. “கிரிமினல்களை கடமையில் ஈடுபடுத்தும் பாதுகாப்பு நிறுவனங்கள் மீது கடும் நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கப் படும்” என்று மாநில அரசின் அமைச்சர் ஒருவர் கூறியுள்ளார். 

சாதாரணமாக, ஒருவர் விமான நிலையத்தில் கழுவித் துடைக்கும் வேலை செய்வதற்கு விண்ணப்பித்தாலே, பொலிஸ் சான்றிதழ் இல்லாமல் சேர்த்துக் கொள்ள மாட்டார்கள். பாதுகாப்பு நிறுவனங்களில், ஒருவரின் கடந்த காலத்தைப் பற்றி, பொலிஸ் பதிவுகளில் ஆராயாமல் சேர்த்துக் கொள்வார்களா? 

அகதி முகாம்களில் நடக்கும் சித்திரவதை தொடர்பாக, ஜெர்மன் பாராளுமன்றத்தில் கடுமையான வாக்குவாதங்கள் இடம்பெற்றன. குறிப்பாக, இடதுசாரிக் கட்சிகளான die Linke மற்றும் பசுமைக் கட்சி உறுப்பினர்கள், அரசாங்க கொள்கைகளை விமர்சித்துப் பேசினார்கள். 

"அகதிகளை முகாம்களில் தங்க வைப்பதை இத்துடன் நிறுத்திக் கொள்ள வேண்டும். அது மனிதாபிமானமற்றது. அதிகார துஸ்பிரயோகத்தை உருவாக்குகின்றது. முகாம்களுக்குப் பதிலாக, அகதிகள் தாம் விரும்பிய இடத்தில் வசிக்கும் உரிமையை வழங்க வேண்டும்." என்று die Linke பாராளுமன்ற உறுப்பினர் Bernd Riexinger தனது கருத்தைத் தெரிவித்தார்.

மேலதிக தகவல்களுக்கு:

Bezirksregierung kündigt Sicherheitsdienst
NRW-Innenminister fordert nach Gewaltvorfall in Asylbewerberheim Härte
Misshandlungen in Burbach: Die Fakten über Sicherheitsdienste in Flüchtlingsheimen 

Is Dissolving the Palestinian Authority an Essential Next Step?

Alan Hart Salem-News.com-Sep-29-2014

Justice for the Palestinians is not on Zionism's agenda.

(LONDON) - The Obama administration or those who write its scripts must think that all of us who support the Palestinian claim for justice are stupid. It described Palestinian Authority President Abbas's statement (during his speech to the UN General Assembly) that Israel's last war on the Gaza Strip was a "genocidal crime" as "offensive and provocative" and one that "undermined peace efforts."

Peace efforts? There are no peace efforts to be undermined!

Is Dissolving the Palestinian Authority an Essential Next Step by Thavam

Obama's Islamic State Blame Game

The nation's spies feel that the president is throwing them under the bus -- again.

• BY SHANE HARRIS-SEPTEMBER 29, 2014

President Barack Obama took a shot at the U.S. intelligence community Sunday night when he told CBS News "60 Minutes" that America's spies had "underestimated" the rise of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. It wasn't an entirely inaccurate statement, and as Obama himself noted, his own intelligence chief had made the same point a few weeks ago. But come Monday, U.S. spies were complaining the president had "thrown us under the bus," as one former official put it, by trying to shift the blame for a foreign policy crisis away from the White House and towards the nation's beleaguered intelligence community.

Obama's Islamic State Blame Game by Thavam

With the rise of Islamic State, Iraq is splintering along religious and ethnic lines

A displaced girl from the minority Yazidi sect, who fled violence in the Iraqi town of Sinjar, worships at their main holy temple Lalish in Shikhan. (Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters)

By Abigail Hauslohner September 30 at 3:30 AM

BAGHDAD — For millennia, Iraq has been one of the Middle East’s most religiously and ethnically diverse lands. Its cities and villages are dotted with the decaying hallmarks of ancient Babylonian civilization, the mosques of the first Muslim empires, the castles of foreign conquerors, and the churches and shrines of early Christians and Jews.

With the Rise of Islamic State, Iraq is Splintering Along Religious and Ethnic Lines by Thavam

Kurds seize Iraq/Syria border post; Sunni tribe joins fight against Islamic State

BY ISABEL COLES AND JONNY HOGG-ARBIL Iraq/MURSITPINAR Turkey Tue Sep 30, 2014 

(Reuters) - Iraqi Kurdish troops drove Islamic State fighters from a strategic border crossing with Syria on Tuesday and won the support of members of a major Sunni tribe, in one of the biggest successes since U.S. forces began bombing the fighters.
Kurds Seize Iraq Syria Border Post Sunni Tribe Joins Fight Against Islamic State by Thavam

Alan Henning's wife urges Islamic State to release her husband

Barbara Henning, the wife of British hostage Alan Henning, releases a video appeal to his kidnappers pleading for his release, saying "we need him back home"

By Telegraph Video, video source ITN-30 Sep 2014
Barbara Henning has issued a plea for Islamic State militants to release her husband.

In an emotional televised appeal, Mrs Henning, whose husband Alan has been held in Syria for nine months, said she could not understand why the group could not acknowledge the truth about his reasons for travelling to the country.

“We are at a loss why those leading Islamic State cannot open their hearts and minds to the truth about Alan’s humanitarian motives for going to Syria and why they continue to ignore the verdict of their own justice system.

“Surely those who wish to be seen as a state will act in a statesman-like way by showing mercy and providing clemency. I ask again, supported by the voices across the world, for Islamic State to spare Alan’s life. I ask Islamic State please release him, we need him back home.”

She added that after receiving an audio file of her husband, begging for his life, contact with the group had been broken. She added that she wanted both her husband and Islamic State to know that he had not been abandoned by his family: “Alan, we miss you, and we’re dreadfully concerned for your safety.”

Henning, 47, a father of two teenage children from Eccles, Greater Manchester, was kidnapped last Boxing Day, on a return aid trip to Syria, with a group of his Muslim friends. They were taking ambulances and medical equipment to refugees in the country.

His capture went unreported at the request of the UK Foreign Office, until he appeared in a video made by the group, which also showed the murder of Scottish aid worker David Haines.

Speaking about the circumstances in which her husband was abducted, Mrs Henning said: “Some say wrong time, wrong place.” But this was not correct, she said.

“Alan was volunteering with his Muslim friend to help the people of Syria. He was in the right place doing the right thing.”

Meanwhile, a former Islamic State hostage has said he believes that the direct pleas being made by Henning’s family are a good policy.

Bunyamin Aygun, 43, an award-winning Turkish photographer, said he had been threatened with execution, regularly moved between squalid cells, and was repeatedly questioned over whether he was a spy.

He also said that one of his captors may have been British. “A guy of about 20 years old was speaking English; not Arabic or Turkish,” he said in a television interview. “He wasn’t wearing a mask. His English was like British English. And he was white.”

Hong Kong protestors wait for Beijing’s response

Student activists sleep in the shade of umbrellas in Hong Kong Tuesday. Pic: AP.

By Cormac McCartan Sep 30, 2014

As China prepares to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the establishment of the Peoples Republic of China, Hong Kong is in the process of attempting to overthrow that very same political and social order. Already into day three of the Occupy Central campaign, tens of thousands of pro-democracy protestors continue to hold Hong Kong city centre at a standstill, forcing bank branches to close in the downtown area to close and prompting Hong Kong stocks to fall 1.9 percent in the campaign’s first day. All the while the authorities keep their distance.
Hong Kong Protestors Wait for Beijing’s Response by Thavam

How did Dennis Kimetto smash the world marathon record?

MONDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2014

It is the question everyone wants to know, after he sailed through a marathon in under two hours, three minutes. Channel 4 News speaks to the author of Running with the Kenyans about his secret.

It is not just the fact that Dennis Kimetto shaved 26 seconds off the world marathon record: it is the apparent ease with which he did it, appearing to effortlessly see off his competitors in Berlin and break away from his seven-man group.

What is more extraordinary is that Kimetto only started training seriously in 2010. Before then, he was a fulltime susbsistence farmer in rural Kenya, having managed to slip through the net of the scouts who seek out the country's talented runners.

He first got people talking when in 2012, at the relatively old age of 28, he came in very close second place in the Berlin Marathon to Geoffrey Mutai, the man who discovered him by chance and asked if he wanted to start training. And after winning Tokyo and Chicago marathons last year, expectations were high.

He's almost the most untrained, uncomplicated athlete there is, and he's proved to be the best there isAdharanand Finn

But how did he do it? If only it were thats simple. Adharanand Finn, who lived in a training camp with Kenyan athletes and wrote about the experience in his book, Running with the Kenyans, said that Kimetto is an "unusual case".

"What I find interesting about him, is that he hadn't been picked up early - he hadn't been through the mill of competition," Mr Finn told Channel 4 News. "And even without having trained professionally until he was 26, he's this good."

Kenyans in general don't do high tech training, he adds, "but his would've been even more simple and basic than all the others. He's almost the most untrained, uncomplicated athlete there is, and he's proved to be the best there is."

Low-fi training

The phenomenon of Kenya's staggering track record on running has intrigued experts and enthusiasts for years. Some have put the elegant, natural-looking style that Kimetto shares down to lifestyle, and the fact that from an early age, children will run to school, often barefoot. In rural areas with limited means of transport, running has become the most efficient way to get around.

Hundreds of Kenyans are now in training camps, where they eat, sleep and run together, and the standard is staggeringly high. Even if you can run a marathon in two hours eight minutes - just overMo Farah's two hours, eight minutes and 21 seconds in London earlier this year - you wouldn't get into some of them, Mr Finn adds.

But there is little of the high tech equipment and analysis that accompanies the running regimes of European and American athletes. And this can result in quite a different mentality.

While some athletes discuss their strategy and analyse their race mile by mile after they've finished, Kimetto simply told reporters: "When you in the race, you can look (see) the other and watch... So I think you can see when to make the push."

"I don't think he would sit and analyse a race afterwards like a western runner," said Mr Finn. "The mental approach and focus is amazing in Kenya. It's a difficult one, because you're generalising about whole group of runners, but generally, there's a less analytical approach. They don't keep training logs, and most runners wouldn't know how many miles they run every week, whereas English runners would know almost metre to metre."

With just a few miles to go, Kimetto said he had the finish line in his sights and felt that he could break the world record. And although he made it look easy, he had a few words of comfort for his fellow competitors - that is was a "tough race".

SCORING POINTS INTERNATIONALLY MUST BE SUPPLEMENTED BY NATIONAL APPROACH ON THE GROUND--JEHAN PERERA

29 September 2014

The lack of unanimity within the UN Human Rights Council on the issue of the investigation into Sri Lanka continues. The government has continued to stick to its position that it will cooperate with the UN in general but not with the investigation into war crimes. The Indian government’s representative has queried how the investigation can go ahead without the cooperation of the Sri Lankan government. He has urged transparency in the investigation process noting that “The composition of the OHCHR investigation team, its work methodology and sources of funding have also not been shared with the Human Rights Council.” This Indian position is a strong criticism of the investigation as currently being adopted by the UN. The findings that come out of a process that is problematic will be liable to be challenged in the future.
Scoring Points Internationally Must Be Supplemented by National Approach on the Ground--jehan Perera by Thavam

Scots Have Voted! When Will Eelam Tamils Vote!!

By Rajasingham Jayadevan -September 29, 2014 

Rajasingham Jayadevan

The conduct and the outcome of the Scottish referendum for a separate state of Scotland has taught us many lessons. Beyond the outcome, peaceful campaign and management of the referendum are far reaching and is a lesson to be learnt by the pseudo democracies world over.

It is the will of the British parliament to accommodate a peaceful referendum for secession that must praised. The process was handled with mature sense throughout which is praiseworthy. There was no anti-Scot hate feelings let lose in the media or in the campaign. There was no police baton beating, not a bullet or tear gas being fired, there was no white vans or kidnaps or any form of physical violence. Instead all these were translated into responsible political debates and campaigns, paving the way for free and fair voting.

It was a very respectable campaign for a country that manages its affairs with an unwritten constitution. Respect for the views of the aggrieved, common-sense, mutual trust and to face the outcome with the broader shoulder were evident in the entire process of the referendum.

For the Scots, two issues were fundamental. Their Gaelic identity as a nation of people and their desire to govern themselves with their own fiscal strengths, as the heavily centralised financial control by the Westminster was an issue that were elementary to the campaign of the Scottish National Party (SNP).

The British media played a laudatory role to invoke mature debates on the Scottish separation. From the politicians and political pundits to ordinary civilians, all argued their views sensibly. When the first opinion poll gave a point lead to the ‘Yes’ vote, there was a sense of sadness amongst people in the South and it did not any way turn into highhanded anti-Scott/SNP tirades or animosities anywhere.

There was general fear that a ‘Yes’ vote will have serious consequences in political and economic sense for both the divide. The opinion poll in favour of the ‘Yes’ camp sent the initial shock wave through the financial market. If the ‘Yes’ vote had prevailed in the referendum, there would have been serious financial turmoil for the UK economy that could have led to unimaginable consequences.

Whilst I am writing this piece, one thought that overshadowed my thinking was why didn’t the tin-pot leaders of absurd democracies like Sri Lanka did not engage as spectators in the referendum process to understand the way a democracy should function on a very sensitive issue that involved parting of territorial sovereignty of a region.                                                                            Read More

India suspicious as Chinese submarine docks in Sri Lanka
The Chinese government, on its part, said the submarine had only made a replenishment stopover in Sri Lanka on way to the Gulf of Aden for escort and anti-piracy operations,


Rajat Pandit,TNN | Sep 28, 2014,

NEW DELHI: The docking of a Chinese submarine in Colombo on a long-range deployment patrol earlier this month is yet another indicator of the ever-increasing forays of the People's Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). 

The PLA-N is fast transforming from a "green-water" force used to operating close to its own shores into a potent "blue-water" force, one with "long legs". Though the Indian Navy has been tracking the increased activity of Chinese warships in the IOR, including submarines quietly on the prowl in the Bay of Bengal, this is a rare instance of a PLA-N submarine openly berthing in the region that India considers its "own strategic backyard". 

The diesel-electric Type 039 "Song-class" was at the Colombo International Container Terminal, which has been funded by China, from September 7 to 14. This was just ahead of Chinese President Xi Jingping's visit to Sri Lanka, which along with Maldives has shown enthusiasm for China's new Maritime Silk Route plan in the IOR. 

The Chinese government, on its part, said the submarine had only made a replenishment stopover in Sri Lanka on way to the Gulf of Aden for escort and anti-piracy operations, as was the "common practice" for navies around the world. 

READ ALSO: We are monitoring Chinese activity in Indian Ocean, Navy chief says


India-China face-off ends, troops pull back from Ladakh

But China is also testing the new Modi government's resolve both on the land boundaries, which clearly came through during the 16-day troop faceoff at Chumar in eastern Ladakh coinciding with Xi's visit here, as well as in the IOR, as earlier reported by TOI. 

China's forging of extensive maritime links with eastern Africa, Seychelles, Mauritius, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Cambodia, among others, is primarily related to its need to protect its sea lanes for critical energy needs. But it's equally true that it's slowly but steadily amounting to a "strategic encirclement" of India. 

Acknowledging that the presence of Chinese warships is on the increase in the IOR, Navy chief Admiral Robin Dhowan this week said, "We continuously monitor them, see what are their deployments, and what challenges they can pose for us...IOR is our area of operations...Our warships, submarines and aircraft are always ready to face any challenge." 

That may well be true but insiders fear India's already stark military asymmetry with China only seems to be expanding all the time. India, for instance, has just 13 ageing diesel-electric submarines, only half of them operational at any given time, and a single nuclear-powered submarine, without any strategic missiles, on lease from Russia. 

China, in sharp contrast, has 51 conventional and five nuclear submarines. It is also going to soon induct another five advanced JIN-class nuclear submarines equipped with the new 7,400-km JL-2 missiles.

The lack of strategic planning in India, however, ensures that even though force-levels at the Eastern Naval Command at Vizag have shown some upgrade, the crucially-located Andaman and Nicobar Command continues to suffer from neglect. Strengthening of India's last military outpost at the 572-island archipelago would be an effective counter to China's strategic moves in the IOR.