Is Communication Gap Developing Between Narendra Modi And People?

Obviously, Modi has a problem here, as he seems to lack such persons in adequate number in BJP. In such circumstances, he should not hesitate to look for such talent outside BJP. There are quite a number of persons outside BJP , who are admirers of policy measures and governance approach of Modi. Such persons can be persuaded to join BJP or even allowed to remain outside BJP and serve the cause of the country and act as spokespersons for Modi and his government.

by N.S.Venkataraman 

( November 23, 2015, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) Probably, the determined anti Modi campaign by section of visual and print media and opposition parties appear to be sticking. This would be evident if one would speak to cross section of people at various education and income level in different states in India.

The Land Acquisition Bill proposed by Modi and then withdrawn was effectively used by Modi’s adversaries to paint him as anti farmer. While Modi has a number of valid points in defence of the land acquisition bill, it could not be explained to the farmers in simple and effective way by Modi’s spokesmen.

A number of poll promises made by Modi such as bringing back black money in one hundred days, rooting out corruption and bringing down prices of commodities have not been achieved yet and even look like not achieving in the immediate future. Modi’s promise of more governance and less government has not been seen in practice, as Modi expanded his cabinet to jumbo size just like Manmohan Singh after keeping small size cabinet for sometime. People are observing and are seeing such reality . Certainly, Modi is striving hard with great determination and there are genuine reasons for his inability to implement his pre poll assurances as fast as he promised . But, his case is not being presented in a convincing way and in simple style to the common man ,who appears to be getting dismayed now.

Of course, there are some elements in BJP itself, who often oblige the media persons by expressing their personal views and in the process cause considerable embarrassment to Modi and give a tool to section of media and opposition parties to question Modi’s secular credentials. Modi appears to be giving an impression that he is unable to put down such elements in a strong manner.

Modi’s frequent foreign visits are being severely criticised by his adversaries, some of whom have gone to the extent of describing Modi as “External Affairs Minister”. These are very unfair and uncharitable criticisms , as most world leaders like U S President, President of China, Prime Minister of Russia, German Chancellor and others are travelling across nations even more frequently than Modi , to attend conferences and summit meetings, which have become necessary in the present political and economic scenario in the world. Need for such frequent foreign visits by Modi has not been explained to the common man in India, in a manner that he can understand.

Obviously, Modi need knowledgeable and effective communicators, who can talk on economic, political ,social and development subjects in a convincing manner and in simple style. They need to have credible background also. Such communicators and spokesmen are not only required at national level but also at state level, particularly in the states like Tamil Nadu, U,P,.West Bengal , which would be going to poll in the next few months.

Obviously, Modi has a problem here, as he seems to lack such persons in adequate number in BJP. In such circumstances, he should not hesitate to look for such talent outside BJP. There are quite a number of persons outside BJP , who are admirers of policy measures and governance approach of Modi. Such persons can be persuaded to join BJP or even allowed to remain outside BJP and serve the cause of the country and act as spokespersons for Modi and his government.

Since in Indian democracy, most people still do not understand the issues facing the governance and want quick results, perspectives of common man is very important and Modi should not ignore this vital need.

University yoga class canceled because of ‘oppression, cultural genocide’

Jennifer Scharf was told that the free class she taught at the University of Ottawa had been canceled. (Courtesy of Jennifer Scharf)

By Justin Wm. Moyer-November 23 

In studios across the nation, as many as 20 million Americans practice yoga every day. Few worry that their downward dogs or warrior poses disrespect other cultures.

University Yoga Class Canceled Because of ‘Oppression, Cultural Genocide by Thavam Ratna

Poor nations need support to cut emissions from farming - experts

A farmer clears the rice field using a motorized plough, instead of the traditional slash-and-burn method, in Nakhonsawan province, north of Bangkok, Thailand, August 8, 2015.REUTERS/CHAIWAT SUBPRASOM/FILES

BY CHRIS ARSENAULT-Mon Nov 23, 2015

TORONTO (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Developing countries can boost food production while reducing planet-warming emissions from agriculture, given the right technologies and financial support to put them into practice, researchers said on Monday.

Wealthy governments and other donors need to invest more to reduce carbon emissions stemming from agriculture, said a study issued ahead of U.N. climate talks in Paris next week.

Researchers analysed 160 national climate action plans submitted ahead of the summit, which is due to agree a new deal to curb global warming, and found 80 percent included agriculture in their efforts to cut emissions.

Nearly two-thirds noted agriculture's importance in strategies to adapt to more extreme weather and rising seas, despite being short on detail, the study added.

But agriculture is absent from the main draft text for a new U.N. climate deal, signalling a major disconnect between country planning and global-level policymaking, according to the international CGIAR research programme on climate change, agriculture and food security.

"Countries have made it clear that agriculture is a priority in their climate plans," said programme director Bruce Campbell.

"The question is where the support to implement these plans will come from, as there has been exceptionally slow progress on these issues."

Nearly a third of countries included targets for mitigating emissions from farming in their plans, but those are conditional on receiving international financial support, said the study.

Central African Republic, for example, will need $2.5 million to reduce slash-and-burn farming, while Senegal is seeking $1.8 billion to cut emissions from rice, introduce biodigesters to recycle waste and expand agroforestry systems.

"Major climate finance organisations need to include agriculture in their portfolios," said Eva Wollenberg of the University of Vermont, who leads the CGIAR programme's research on low-emission farming.

FOOD SECURITY FEARS

A 2015 study from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization found that emissions from agriculture are growing, accounting for around 11 percent of global emissions in 2010.

Reducing those emissions is seen as crucial for curbing climate change.

But some developing nations worry that including agriculture in emissions reduction targets could hurt their ability to feed hungry people, researchers said.

"At the global level, certain countries - India in particular - have lead a movement that agriculture is crucial for food security and shouldn't be involved in (climate) mitigation (targets)," said Wollenberg.

But if donors invested more in farm technologies to reduce emissions and adapt methods to shifting climate patterns, it might help persuade reluctant developing nations.

"We know which technologies can be used - we're using many of them already. It's just a matter of expanding them," Wollenberg told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

In Mexico, for example, a project teaching farmers to use nitrogen fertiliser more efficiently is reducing emissions by an equivalent of 700,000 barrels of oil annually, while cutting costs.

In India's northeastern Haryana state, growers are using laser censors linked to mechanised plows to flatten farmland. This stops water forming puddles in areas of uneven land, using it more effectively.

The programme led to an increase in wheat and rice production, while cutting water use and carbon emissions.

Such efforts need to be expanded to other poor countries so that the climate-change impacts of farming do not worsen, scientists say.

(Reporting by Chris Arsenault; editing by Megan Rowling; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit www.trust.org)

India’s proposed ban on surrogacy may close door to foreigners

A newborn baby at the Akanksha Clinic, one of the most organized clinics in the surrogacy business in Anand, India. Pic: AP.

by Asian Correspondent Staff-23rd November 2015

RECENT news that the Indian government would ban surrogacy for foreigners has been met with dismay in a number of quarters, not only by those who have benefited from the lack of regulation, but also those that believe the move may push the industry further underground.

The Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill (ART) has been through several incarnations over the past few years, but may be passed in the winter session of Parliament. The Bill would only allow surrogacy for Indian couples (defined as a married man and woman) or a foreigner married to an Indian citizen.

This would effectively stall the booming surrogacy business that is worth $2.3bn and growing.

BBC:

India was becoming a major hub because it’s easy to find women here who are willing to be surrogates, there’s good medical technology and it’s cheap.
It had grown into an industry worth $2.3bn and according to official estimates, 5,000 surrogate babies were being born here every year.

But critics of the industry have said India’s lack of legislation in this area has led to a “rent-a-womb” exploitation of young, poor women. According to the BBC these women commonly earn $10,000 for use of their womb, while the rest of the $25,000 paid by the couples goes towards her care and checkups.

The Hindu:

However, some people have come out in support of the proposed Bill. Dr. (Brig) R.K Sharma, HOD at IVF Primus Super Speciality Hospital said: “We are fortunate that we are in this noble work where we can provide the joy of parenthood to people not only from our own country, but from people all around the world. But, indirectly it creates a negative impact about our country that our women are so poor that they rent there womb for survival. If this is banned, it would be beneficial for our image.”
Many legal experts also feel that it is “poverty, illiteracy and the lack of power that women have over their own bodies”, which is the driving force behind the surrogacy market.

Others believe that the move could simply push the industry underground, and even further from any kind of regulation.

BBC:

“Banning commercial surrogacy will send some couples on to the black market and deprive other couples of the chance of children,” Ranjana Kumari, director of the Centre for Social Research, told AFP.
“Our research shows many surrogates do not have health insurance and are paid poorly, among other issues,” she said, adding that stronger regulation rather than an outright ban was needed.

Dr Nayana Patel has delivered thousands of surrogate babies at the Akanksha Infertility Clinic in Anand, Gujurat and said the answer was tighter regulations not a ban. She said surrogacy filled a “childless void in the lives of many”.

UK based Rekha Patel had a surrogate baby at the Anand clinic and started an online petition against the ban titled “Stop the ban on surrogacy in India“.

Surrogacy is often portrayed as ‘Rich foreigners exploiting the poor women of India’ This cannot be further from the truth.
To act as a surrogate has given many of India’s poor women the chance of a better life for themselves and their families. It empowers them and offers a chance to escape the torturous poverty cycle. They choose to act as surrogates of their own free will and need the support of their own families to do so.

Dr. Patel’s Facebook page details the training and support they provide their surrogates, and their children.

Plastic surgery gone wrong: Woman wakes up with breast implants on her back--Tomonews

Published on Sep 1, 2015

This is the Top 10 Extreme plastic surgery disasters. Hope you guys all enjoy!

TNA demands answers on Trinco underground cells

By admin-November 21, 2015

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) today demanded answers from the authorities on the underground secret cells at the Trincomalee navy camp, in light of an admission by former navy Commander Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda that those cells were used to detain people.

In a highly charged speech in Parliament today during the debate on the 2016 budget, Parliamentarian M A Sumanthiran questioned as to why people like Karannagoda are not being investigated over the cells.

Sumanthiran quoted Karannagoda as telling the media yesterday that the cells were part of the British colonial era and was used when he was the navy chief to detain suspects, but not torture them

Sumanthiran said that the authorities must investigate where those people detained at the cells are now and if they were tortured.

The UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances drew light to the hidden cells after they were taken to the location by the police Criminal Investigations Department (CID) during the recent visit to Sri Lanka.

Sumanthiran said that the refusal by the former Government to allow the UN Working Group to visit Sri Lanka during its term in office was clearly to prevent information like that on the Trincomalee hidden cells from being exposed.

He also accused former Foreign Minister, Professor G.L Peiris, of attempting to incite hatred between communities through statements he had made recently following the decision by the government to free on bail a group of people arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. (Colombo Gazette)

US Ambassador praises resilience of Tamil journalists

Photograph: Uthayan

22 November 2015

US Ambassador Samantha Power praised the resilience of Tamil journalists for playing a “critically important role as a check and balance of state power” and urged them to continue their work, during her trip to Jaffna today.

As part of her visit to the North, Ms Power toured the Uthayan office in Jaffna, before speaking to a group of journalists and media workers. Having heard about the repeated attacks the newspaper faced during and after the armed conflict, Ms Power said “I know that things in this area have been incredibly difficult for a very long time.”

“But imagine how much worse it would have been if it were not for this paper and the fact that soldiers and government officials had to think to themselves “maybe they’ll report on it”,” continued the ambassador. “We will never know what this area would have looked like without you all having the courage to come to work every day.”

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Uthayan Print @UthayanPrint

@AmbassadorPower at @UthayanPrint @USAmbKeshap

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Earlier in the day, Ms Power and the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Atul Keshap also met with members of the Jaffna Press Club, with Mr Keshap stating “a free press is the guardian of democracy and human rights”.

Photograph: @Uthayashalin

Visiting the office of the Uthayan, which still bears bullet holes left from repeated attacks, Ms Power urged media workers of the North to continue their work in publishing stories that critique the Sri Lankan government.

“Every one of you who has any role in putting this paper out day after day after day is playing a critically important role as a check and balance of state power,” she said. “And if there is to be more change in this country it will be because you keep holding government accountable.”
The ambassador recalled her own experience as a journalist covering the Yugoslav Wars, telling the group, “as one who used to be in your job, criticising government and describing things I didn’t like now that I am on the other side getting criticised - it’s so important”. “You learn so much from people outside who are connected with their communities,” she said. “You all know things that government officials who work in big offices that are removed from the people can’t know sometimes.” 
Praising their courage, the ambassador told the media workers, “You puncture the bubble and you stand up for the rights of your people.” “Unlike journalism in my country which is hard but not dangerous – you risk your lives to do so.”

Journalists on the island continue to face significant dangers with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) ranking Sri Lanka 6th in its 2015 Global Impunity Index, which “spotlights countries where journalists are slain and the killers go free”, just last month.

Tamil media workers in particular continue to face the threat of harassment from the Sri Lankan state. The editor of the Uthayan stated earlier this year that his journalists were not being allowed to do their jobs by Sri Lankan security forces, following the arrest of a journalist for the coverage of a sexual assault on a Jaffna school girl by Sri Lankan police officers.

Ms Power heard these stories first hand. Pointing to a media worker who had been assaulted, she acknowledged the threats faced, “as this man’s body attests, because he bears the evidence of the sacrifices you all make for the good of your people”.

“I have nothing but the greatest admiration and I extend that admiration on behalf of President Obama,” said Ms Power.

“Thank you for doing what you do.”

Is being a Muslim a disadvantage for the post of an Education Director ?

 Nov 22, 2015

Zarina Begum who was recently appointed as the director to the Bibile Zonal Education has been suspended within 20 days of her appointment with an intervention of a strong politician in the Uwa province and an unsuitable acting director with a low qualification has been appointed instead.

Zarina Begum is the first female Muslim lady to become a zonal director in the Sri Lanka education sector. She was aoopinted to the post on 23rd October 2015 and she has reported to work on the 28th. However on the 28th of November the appointment has been suspended. When we inquired the Uwa province governor M.P. Jayasinghe he said he can consider the appointment if there is an appeal. Uwa province educational secretary Ambanwela said since she has filed a case against the Uwa provincial council her appointment was suspended.

Govt. Fails To Keep Its Promises To Tamils: Wiggie Tells Power

November 22, 2015

Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran has requested from visiting US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, to put pressure on the Sri Lankan government to release military held lands in the north, to grant an amnesty for political prisoners and to stop increased militarization of the province, among other issues.

During a half an hour meeting with Power, Wigneswaran has said that the present government too has not kept its promises to the Tamil people, despite them voting in their numbers to elect the incumbent President Maithripala Sirisena at the last January’s election.

Following the meeting with Power, Wigneswaran told the media that he had also raised concern over the ever increasing government budgetary allocation to boost the military despite the war ending six years back.

While noting that that the budget will remain high next year too with more than Rs. 306 billion allocated for defence, Wigneswaran said that he feels a large portion of the monies could be diverted to develop the north and bring relief to the war battered people.

Wigneswaran had told Power that the people of the north remained highly concerned over continued militarization in Northern Province which is affecting the people’s day to day life.

On the land issue he had said that despite government promises to hand back military occupied land, the military presence has not decreased and a large portion of lands have not been released.

Wigneswaran had also voiced concern over activities by some Sinhala extremist groups in the South which he described as responsible for blocking positive developments in the north.
He had also complained that the development in the war battered north was going at a snail’s space and lack of industries was hurting the employment opportunities of the people.

The Chief Minister also had urged Power to take up the political prisoners matter with the government stressing that they need a just solution.Read More

Ancient Tamil manuscripts to be restored through US grant

Photograph: US Embassy Colombo

22 November 2015

The United States announced it will fund the restoration of ancient Tamil manuscripts in Jaffna on Sunday.

The announcement was made as part of US Ambassador Samantha Power’s visit to the North, where she told Jaffna Library staff “we plan to partner with you as you seek to complete the task of preserving what you have”.

After a welcome from a traditional Tamil inniyam band, the ambassador met with staff members, signed the library guestbook and viewed some of the 1000-year old palmyrah manuscripts that have survived to this day.

The library lost over 95,000 unique and irreplaceable Tamil palm leaves (ola), manuscripts, parchments, books, magazines and newspapers, after it was set ablaze by Sri Lankan state security forces and state sponsored mobs in 1981.

The ancient manuscripts give the next generation a “window to the past,” said the ambassador, adding she was “proud to announce [the] US grant”.

A reported 1.5 million rupees will be made available to help restore the manuscripts housed at the library.

Photograph: US Embassy Colombo

See our earlier post: Jaffna Library burns - May 31st 1981 (01 June 2015)

Budget 2016: Has it laid foundation for implementing the policy outlined in EPS of Yahapalana Government? – Part 3 

Monday, 23 November 2015

Economic Policy Statement has vowed to discipline the budget
The Budget of the new Yahapalana Government for 2016 was presented by Minister Ravi Karunanayake in Parliament last week. This budget follows the economic policy statement or EPS delivered by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in Parliament a few weeks back.

Budget 2016 Has It Laid Foundation for Implementing the Policy Outlined in EPS of Yahapalana Government – P... by Thavam Ratna

The police officer who investigates the former president transferred

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Nov 22, 2015

The police officer who was successfully investigating the serious crimes and frauds of the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa is reported getting a sudden transfer. It is reported that the IGP has issued this transfer letter to work in Kinniya in the eastern province. The relevant letter has been sent to the Presidents commission appointed to investigate serious crimes and frauds.

Jayasena Gamage a police inspector was successfully investigating about the former president amid many intimidations. The latter has able to reveal many information’s able to file a lawsuit against the former president. This sudden transfer has been made under such a situation.

 

The secretary of the commission Laciel De Silva said the relevant police inspector was successfully doing his job. He said this police officer was previously working in the Kinniya area and it is problematic that he is transferred once again to the same area.

 

Laciel De Silva further said that he has written to the IGP urging him not to transfer him to Kinniya but can he transfer him to the Kuliyapitiya area where he resides.

DCB Funds: Each MP to receive Rs. 15 million in 2016 

Niroshan

By Saman Indrajith-November 21, 2015, 8:19 pm

Each MP will receive Rs 15 million each next year (2016) from the decentralized budget, Parliament was told yesterday.

State Minister of National Policies and Economic Affairs, Niroshan Perera said that the government will add another Rs. 5 million each to the Rs. 10 million decentralized budgetary allocation of MPs for 2016.

The Minister was responding to a question raised by Matara District MP Dullas Alahapperuma.

Alahapperuma wanted to know whether the government was aware that even though the Minister of Finance, Ravi Karunanayake at the mini-budget in January this year pledged that the decentralized budgetary allocation (DCB) of Rs 5 million given to each MP would be increased to Rs. 10 million with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe also confirming it to the House, MPs did not receive it for the current year until Sept. 10, 2015.

The State Minister responded in the affirmative.

Alahapperuma said that an MP was entitled to Rs. five million each and demanded to know whether they would get the enhanced allocation by the end of this year.

The Minister said: A financial allocation of Rs 0.5 million made available in 1973 to each MP was increased to Rs 2.5 million in 1979, to Rs 3.5 million in 2000 and to Rs 5 million in 2003.

As such, the annual allocation made available to MPs remained at Rs 5 million for 11 years. In 2014, under then Ministry of Economic Development, an additional allocation of Rs 10 million for development work was made available, which was confined only to the MPs of the ruling party. The new government, having take into consideration the project proposals received by the MPs, had decided to increase the DCB allocation to all MPs to Rs 10 million with effect from 2015.

Asked whether not providing the DCB to the MPs amounted to breach of their privileges, the State Minister responded in the negative and said that the project of providing the increased allocation had been planned to be implemented after the Cabinet reshuffle subsequent to the Presidential election.

However, in view of the fact that DCB allocations had to be made available to the new MPs returned at the general election, which was to be held in August 2015, it was not possible to make DCB allocations twice in the same year. Further commencement of new projects had been suspended until the election was over by the Commissioner of Elections by his letter dated 23l.07.2015.

"Therefore, it was planned to allocate provision for the new MPs returned at the General Election 2015, obtain relevant project proposals, grant approval, release funds and effect implementation.

"However, the DCB allocations would not be granted this year to prevent continuation of those projects into the ensuing year due to adequate time not being available to complete those projects this year.

"Accordingly, provision for Rs 15 million to each MP, including of the forgone allocation, would be allocated for the year 2016".

Beyond The Call Of Duty

By Emil van der Poorten –November 22, 2015

Emil van der Poorten

As I write this the television newscasts are awash with the horror of the terrorist attacks in Paris. It is easy enough in such circumstances to pretty well give up on humanity as a whole. However, in stark contrast to the wanton bloodshed with which we have all been inundated recently, I have had the privilege of being witness, over several years past, to a chain of events the final outcome of which, while unfortunate to say the least, more than restored my faith in the capacity of human beings to give of themselves absolutely selflessly with no expectation whatsoever of reward of any kind, certainly not pecuniary! That this happened in my home country, to boot, was cause for more than simple satisfaction.

It was only a few days ago that we saw an old friend who trod the halls of Trinity College in the Kandyan hills at the same time as I did, breathe his last.

His passing was not without pain to him and those who knew and loved him and the fact that his deteriorating health was spread over a fairly long period of time did not, I know, make it any easier for those near and dear to him who looked after him while he, literally, faded away.

I have chosen not to name names in this piece because I believe that the burden of grief that the survivors bear will in no way be helped by their exposure to public gaze, no matter how limited or how laudatory. However, I do not think that the caring and love they displayed under the most difficult of circumstances should go unremarked. Let it, in no matter how small a way, be proof that humanity’s upper reaches have not been completely abandoned and that “ordinary” people can rise to extraordinary heights even when seemingly bereft of the material means to do so.

When I returned to Sri Lanka after a long sojourn in a place as far from Sri Lanka as can be imagined, it was either the fates or simple circumstance that brought me into contact with someone I’d known, not particularly well, at my alma mater. On our first meeting, when he was still in full control of all his faculties, he reminded me that I was responsible for his entering a school boxing ring for the first (and only!) time because, through a (misguided?) sense of loyalty to the “House” to which we both belonged, I had persuaded him to enter the school’s House Boxing Meet. The reason I had exerted my skills of persuasion was that we were having difficulty in fielding a full team for the competition and every entrant garnered a point, win or lose, towards the final tally and, even though boxing was very much an individual “sport,” the team’s success was what mattered in terms of the ethos of our school. My recently-departed friend reminded me that I had, no matter how unwittingly, pitted him against one of the hardest-hitting and most skilled boxers in the entire schools system at the time and that, as a result, he only had a very vague recollection of what transpired in the ring on his first (and last!) foray into competitive boxing!                                  
Read More

JAFFNA LIFE NOW NORMAL

JAFFNA LIFE NOW NORMAL

By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan-2015-11-23

US Representative to the United Nation Samantha Power, who is on a three-day visit, Tweeted that she urged Chief Minister of Northern Province C.V. Wigneswaran to 'help reinforce Sri Lanka's precious moment for reconciliation and rebuilding'. She assured that US President Barak Obama would do its best to restore peace and assist in rebuilding the country.

In response to the NP Chief Minister's observations, Power responded that she could understand the problems everyone is facing and she would urge the government to take all necessary steps to bring about a peaceful solution.
She also Tweeted that she had met the Governor, Northern Province, Palihakkara and reiterated that demilitarization in Jaffna cannot wait.

According to the Northern Province Chief Minister, Power assured the northerners that she would urge the government to help assist the NPC in rebuilding.
Power met the Chief Ministe at his office yesterday. The Chief Minister meeting the media after she left his office had emphasized that they had a cordial discussion."She represents a powerful country and Ambassador to the UN, and it was great meeting' her," he had added.

The Chief Minister has told Power that the heavy militarization was the main setback. "Heavy military presence is disturbing the civil life. They have grabbed the lands and houses of people who lived before. Even after six years completion they are still occupying these houses and lands, he had pointed out.
Power had also reiterated that life unlike before has returned to normalcy for the people in Sri Lanka and she is happy about it.