25 Years of Struggle Building Socialism in Eritrea

 

by Thomas C. Mountain

( May 17, 2016, Eritrea, Sri Lanka Guardian) This coming May 24 marks 25 years since a rag-tag afro coifed army of Eritrean rebel fighters drove their captured Ethiopian tanks through the Eritrean capital of Asmara and gave birth to the modern, “socialist” country of Eritrea.

The birthing process, the “armed struggle for independence”, took 30 years so the modern struggle to build a country based on “scientific socialism”, as Pan Africanists have called it, is still maturing.

While the lives of the people of Eritrea is still a hard one, a major, and very popular, step in the development of socialist society has been introduced in what’s known here as the “currency change”, the calling in of all the old currency for replacement. Eritrea at this stage of socialism is still a cash based society with bank accounts something still only for a minority. So changing all the money is a really big deal in a developing third world country.

Now if you are a black market agent using cash to do your business and have literally millions of Nakfa, the Eritrean currency, stuffed under your bed, you got some explaining to do.

Villas in the better parts of the capital Asmara were selling recently for up to 50 million Nakfa.

Who in this country of hard times is able to explain the legal acquirement of 50 million Nkf?

So the “currency change” has brought to a halt much of  black market business, a move enormously popular with 95% of the long suffering eritrean people, especially considering that ordinary citizens are restricted to withdrawing 5000 nkf a month from an account. Most Eritreans can only dream of earning 5000 nkf a month so its only the relatively well to do that are inconvenienced.

In a socialist country the push will always be away from a cash based economy and initially, at least in Eritrea, towards using checks for major payments over a few thousand Nkf. The most likely way to get away from cash use is a mobile phone payment system such as is used in Sudan and increasingly in Kenya and this is what most probably will be introduced.

The currency change has also foiled a major plot by Eritrea’s enemies, mainly based in Ethiopia and Djibouti, to destabilize the economy by buying up Eritrean currency, which is illegal to take out of the country. It got so bad in 2015 that only 10nkf and 20nkf notes were available from banks and with limits on amounts.

Hundreds of millions of US$ of Eritrean Nkf held illegally by foreign currency banksters were wiped out almost overnight, with the notification of the currency change being kept a total secret until a few weeks before its implementation.

This, along with a limit of only 1 million Nkf deposits prior to the change left the crooks holding the bag, literally, for in a last minute rush to get their ill gotten gains in the bank, there were desperate lines of businesspeople with  bags stuffed waiting outside their banks.

Without lots of cash floating in the community the black market price of dollars quickly dropped from 54 to 1 to 22 to 1 and even lower, what it was 15 years ago when I first was first here in Eritrea.

The shortage of cash has forced down the price of basic food stuffs as well, with tomatoes once as high as 60 nkf a kilo now varying between 10nkf and 20nkf a kilo. Goats that were going for up to 2000 nkf are now around 800 nkf.  Wheat is down to 10 nkf a kilo and sorghum even less (and this while our neighbors in Ethiopia starve).

Of course none of this is happening without learning pains, and the banks are having to adapt on a day by day basis. Nobody in the banks knew about the “currency change” until the general public did, so there wasn’t any time to plan what to do.

Transfers between accounts quickly had to be limited to control money trafficking. Laws making it an offense to refuse checks are now on the books.

Rent control is being fully implemented with all rents frozen and having to be registered with the local government and paid directly to the owners bank account. All evictions have been put on hold for at least another two years.

A new set of regulations is being implemented using floor space and location for uniform rates to control the explosion of illegal rent increases the country has seen with rents costing thousands when they should be only hundreds per month.

Upscale neighborhoods in the capital saw rents as high as 40,000 a month, paid for with black market money, but not any longer. A lot of crooked Eritreans are starting to have to answer from where their wealth was begotten and facing the loss of it all.

We will have to wait and see what is next but a major step has been taken in the struggle to build a centralized, popular, socialist based economy free of corruption, the ultimate cancer in Africa and the rest of the third world.

This is something that those in the international community that claim the name “socialist” should be following closely, much like what has happened in Cuba with the relaxation’s in private ownership.

Building socialism means taking care of the poorest, most needy, first. While many in the cities may complain about lack of water to take a shower, there are still Eritreans struggling to find water to wash their hands.

Socialism means free health care for all. Socialism means free education for all. Socialism means social equality, “democracy” really (using the dictionary definition), or at least moving in the direction of such.

Eritrea is a “socialist” country, though leadership doesn’t use the word. The 25 year struggle has been to build “socialism” as in “ A rich Eritrea without rich Eritreans”.

For all the talk of “socialism” these day, Eritrea is one of only three socialist countries on the planet and in all three life remains a struggle.

Thomas C. Mountain is an independent journalist living and reporting from Eritrea since 2006. He can be reached via facebook at thomascmountain, on twitter #thomascmountain or at thomascmountain at g mail dot com

Venezuelan president braced for protests as political crisis deepens

Nicolás Maduro remains defiant in face of parliament’s attempts to unseat him and worsening economic situation

Venezuelan protesters clash with security forces

Emma Graham-Harrison and agencies-Wednesday 18 May 2016

 Maduro addresses reporters at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas. Photograph: Miguel Gutierrez/EPA
Venezuela’s political crisis has deepened after the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, predicted that the opposition-controlled parliament would soon “disappear” while his political rivals prepared for a day of protests in the capital to demand a recall vote.

Both sides have intensified the rhetoric as they vie for control of a country wracked by food shortages, looting, power cuts, spiralling violence, a shrinking economy and the world’s highest rate of inflation.

Maduro, who says the country’s problems are the result of a plot by rightwingers and foreign interests to destabilise the country and end his rule, decreed a state of emergency on Friday.

But parliament refused to pass it, with opposition leaders instead pushing for a referendum to recall Maduro for mismanagement. They have collected enough signatures to trigger a broader recall petition under the constitution, but the president dismissed the referendum as “optional”.

For now, Maduro has the upper hand, because the supreme court and election authorities are broadly supportive of his government, and can overrule parliament on the state of emergency and obstruct efforts to organise a recall vote.

Blackouts, looting and murder: Venezuela’s state of emergency

If Maduro can put off a referendum until next year, losing would have a more limited impact. An ousting this year would trigger an election, while next year it would simply allow his deputy to take power.

But opposition leaders warned against ignoring popular discontent. “What will happen if they block the democratic route?” asked Henrique Capriles, who is championing the push for a referendum. “We don’t want a social explosion inVenezuela nor a military solution.”

Maduro did not detail any plans for parliament, which the opposition took over with a landslide victory in December elections, but accused legislators of wanting to destroy the economy.

“[It] has lost political relevance; it’s a question of time until it disappears, I believe,” he said in a news conference on Wednesday.

There is deep frustration about Venezuela’s slide towards chaos even among people who voted for Maduro or supported his populist predecessor, Hugo Chávez. People are forced to queue for hours for basic goods, and still their children go hungry.

“This is unbearable,” Wilson Fajardo, 56, a mechanic whose three children ate only bread for dinner the previous night, told Reuters this week. “We voted for Maduro because of a promise we made [to] Chávez, but that promise has expired. Either they solve this problem, or we’re going to have to take to the streets.”

Public servants are on a two-day week, there are regular rolling blackouts and the murder rate has soared. The number of people killed in Venezuela in the first three month of this year has outstripped the civilian toll of Afghanistan’s war in all of 2015, the New York Times noted in an editorial damning Maduro’s rule.

Previous protests about the recall vote turned violent, with demonstrators throwing stones and police using teargas on protesters and pepper spray on Capriles, and Caracas is bracing for another day of unrest.

Queen's birthday celebrations 'generously supported' by arms traders and Gulf royals

Leaders of Bahrain and Oman joined with BAE Systems to sponsor Queen Elizabeth's 90th birthday celebrations

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II leaves event marking her 90th birthday at Windsor Castle on Sunday (AFP) 

Jamie Merrill-Wednesday 18 May 2016

Queen Elizabeth II's 90th birthday celebrations could not have gone ahead without the “generous support” of Middle East rulers and a British arms manufacturer, Middle East Eye can reveal.

Buckingham Palace already faced fierce criticism for seating the queen next to the King of Bahrain at her 90th birthday gala last week, but human rights groups have reacted with fury after it emerged that the four-day festivities at Windsor Castle were made possible by support from Bahrain's king, the Sultan of Oman, the Republic of Azerbaijan and arms manufacturer BAE Systems, as well as other blue-chip companies including Jaguar, Land Rover, Waitrose, Rolex, BT and BP.

The event marked the queen’s reign and like other royal events was funded by corporate sponsorship, but Human Rights Watch, anti-arms campaigners and Bahraini activists have condemned the roles played by the Middle East governments and BAE Systems in the event.

All three countries have poor human rights records and histories of clamping down on freedom of speech, but campaigners have focused their attention on Bahrain, which violently suppressed unrest during the 2011 Arab Spring and is facing international criticism for ongoing human rights violations, including the continued detention of human rights defender Zainab al-Khawaja after she tore up a picture of the Gulf state’s monarch.

Britain recently signed new defence agreements with Bahrain and Oman to secure naval facilities as part of a military return to the region east of Suez, while BAE Systems also sponsored receptions celebrating the queen’s birthday at the British embassies in Bahrain and Qatar.

Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, director of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, told MEE: "Zainab al-Khawaja remains languishing in prison with her infant son for daring to express herself and tearing the Bahraini dictator's photograph. It is outrageous to see him shoulder-to-shoulder with the queen, while the Bahraini people's call for democracy is met with arrest and torture."

Nicholas McGeehan, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: “The revelation that Bahrain supported the celebrations suggests that either the royal family don’t know about the abuses going in in Bahrain, or that they don’t particularly care.”

The four-day birthday gala was a celebration of the queen’s reign and her involvement with foreign affairs and the military. On each evening, 900 horses took part, withj as many as 1,500 guests. The first night was broadcast on ITV, with 7.5 million viewers watching performances by Shirley Bassey, James Blunt, Gary Barlow, Beverley Knight and Kylie Minogue. A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace said the queen attended in a “private capacity”. “I’m not in a position to talk about how the event was financed,” the spokesperson added, when asked if any taxpayer funding had been used.

The event’s official commemorative book included a note of thanks to the rulers of Bahrain and Oman. It said: “This celebration could not have been possible without the support of generous individuals and organisations.” It then went on to list the two Gulf states as well as British and international firms, including BAE Systems.

The British arms company has long faced criticism for selling weapons to governments with questionable human rights records in the Middle East. Most recently it was attacked over its dealings with Saudi Arabia, which is at war in Yemen and has been accused by a UN panel of conducting “widespread and systematic” attacks on civilian targets.

Andrew Smith, a spokesman for Campaign Against Arms Trade, said: "Royalists and republicans may not always see eye to eye, but one thing everyone can surely agree on is that the queen's birthday should not be used as a propaganda vehicle for dictatorships and a business opportunity for arms companies.”

Smith added: “The government may talk about the importance of human rights, but the fact that the queen's sponsors included three human rights-abusing regimes and Europe's biggest arms company is a sign of the doublespeak and hypocrisy that is at the heart of UK foreign policy."

A spokesperson for BAE Systems, said: "Along with many other companies, we were approached by the organisers to ask if we would be a sponsor of the event. We were extremely proud to support the event to commemorate the landmark birthday of the country’s longest-serving monarch."

In a statement, the organisers of the event said the celebrations "could not have been done without the support received from a number of major international companies, including Principle Partner Jaguar Land Rover, and many other household names." 

It added that the Kingdom of Bahrain had been an "enthusiastic partner" of the equine elements of the celebrations, while the Royal Cavalry of the Sultanate of Oman as well as Azerbaijan dancers and horses "wowed the nightly sell-out crowd". 

A Vote for Trump Is a Vote for China

BY ISAAC STONE FISH-APRIL 12, 2016

Of the many satirical nicknames Donald Trump has been called in his quest for the presidency, the one that, ironically, may contain the most truth comes from the China Press, a Chinese-language newspaper based in the United States. A March 28 article refers to the Republican front-runner as “China’s secret agent in America.” Why? Because Trump’s plans to protect U.S. interests actually benefit China more.

Trump has made China-bashing a fixture of his campaign: Railing about “currency manipulation” and “stealing” U.S. jobs are stump-speech fixtures. But regional experts say that because of Trump’s denigration of the U.S. relationship with Japan, his acceptance of Chinese human rights abuses, and his isolationism, a Trump presidency would strengthen both the ruling Chinese Communist Party and China’s place in the world.

For decades, Trump has argued for a colder relationship with Japan, the world’s third-largest economy. Besides close trade ties — Japan is the United States’ fourth-largest trading partner, behind Canada, Mexico, and China — Japan also plays an important role in U.S. foreign policy as the lynchpin of U.S. security strategy in Asia. The country hosts more than 50,000 U.S. troops, which serve as a massive deterrent for Chinese and North Korean adventurism in the region. (U.S. ally South Korea also hosts nearly 30,000 U.S. troops, which serve a similar purpose.) In a March 25 interview with theNew York Times, Trump reiterated his long-held ideas about the region: that the United States should consider withdrawing its troops if Japan and South Korea don’t pay more for their upkeep and that the United States should rethink its security alliance with Japan, because Washington is obligated to defend Tokyo if it’s attacked — and not the reverse.

Forget for a moment that Japan already pays just under $2 billion annually toward the U.S. troops’ upkeep or that there would be a massive uproar in Japan if Prime Minister Shinzo Abe tried to amend the constitution so that his country was required to defend the United States. Abe faced large protests last fall for a much more minor constitutional change on Tokyo’s long-standing defensive posture. Consider instead the signal that Trump’s comments send to China — a country that has long bristled at U.S. troops in East Asia, a region that it considers its sphere of influence.

Removing some or all U.S. troops from Japan and South Korea and weakening the security alliance would reduce the stature of the United States in the region and “satisfy Chinese aims,” said Ryo Sahashi, an associate professor of international relations at Kanagawa University in Yokohama, Japan. Among the many consequences, it would strongly reduce Washington’s ability to talk Beijing down from its aggressive island-building in contested regions of the nearby South China Sea. “China would be laughing loudly” if Trump downgraded the alliance, said a Japanese diplomat, who asked to speak anonymously. And a Trump victory would mean that “China would do whatever it wants” in the region, Tsuneo Watanabe, the policy research director at the Tokyo Foundation, told theJapan Times.

Trump also seems unwilling to push Beijing on its human rights violations. He is probably the only U.S. presidential candidate in history to have publiclyapplauded Beijing’s massacre of protestors in June 1989 following pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square. “When the students poured into Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government almost blew it,” he said, in a 1990 interview with Playboy. “Then they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength. That shows you the power of strength.” Pressed to explain during the March 10 Republican presidential debate, Trump said he wasn’t “endorsing” Beijing’s behavior but called the demonstrations a “riot” — mirroring the language that the Communist Party used to tar the peaceful Tiananmen protests. After the debate, Wang Dan, a student leader during the 1989 protests, wrote that Trump “is already qualified to become a member” of the Communist Party. Some human rights advocates believe that Trump would be an easy target for Chinese critics. “An ignorant and intolerant leader like Trump, who appeals to violence and racism, would benefit the Chinese leaders by providing political fodder for their accusations that the U.S. is hypocritical and racist and violates human rights,” said Sharon Hom, the executive director of Human Rights in China.

While Trump’s unwillingness to criticize Beijing’s human rights abuses could burnish the party’s reputation domestically, some worry his desire to untangle the United States from some prominent international organizations could create a power vacuum that China may decide to fill. In a recent speech, Trump criticized what he called the “utter weakness and incompetence of the United Nations” and claimed that the international body is “not a friend of democracy; it’s not a friend to freedom. It’s not a friend even to the United States of America.” And in an early April speech, Trump implied that he wanted a smaller United Nations and wondered out loud, “Do they ever settle anything?” (U.N. diplomats are so worried about a Trump presidency that they’ve started to rush through deals, in the hope of getting them signed before Obama leaves office in January 2017.) Chinese President Xi Jinping, on the other hand, wants to work more closely with the international body. In his maiden speech to the United Nations in September 2015, Xi pledged $1 billion to a new U.N. peace and development fund — money that would go much further toward influence if the United States walked away from its U.N. commitments.

What about Trump’s meaty-sounding calls to punish Beijing for its trade practices by slapping a 45 percent tariff on exports from China? It would hurt the United States more than China: Brandeis University economist Peter Petri estimates that Trump’s plan to slap a 45 percent tariff on exports from China could cause the U.S total merchandise trade deficit to grow by $67 billion. The trade war that could result “would likely affect U.S. interest rates and securities markets, leading to far more losses than would be gained by the supposed protection provided by the higher tariffs,” said Scott Kennedy, an expert on China’s economy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

While Trump’s sanctions would certainly hurt China as well, reliance on exports is no longer China’s major strategy for growing its economy — instead, Beijing is becoming more dependent on domestic consumption, investment, and government spending, said Kennedy. Trade as a percentage of China’s GDP has dropped from 65 percent in 2006 to 42 percent in 2014, according to the World Bank. By making exports to the United States far less attractive, Trump would in effect be pushing China to build a more sustainable economy.

Like Trump, Xi loves to talk about the idea of national revival — he calls hisversion the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” It’s doubly ironic, then, that the two men might serve at the same time, in their own way, working to make China great again.

Photo Credit: SCOTT OLSEN/Getty Images

Modi in Action: Cultural diplomacy

Modi with his Mother

Mr Modi showcases an India that is a microcosm of the world, a broad multicultural platform and a moral force — the way Swami Vivekananda envisaged it in the 19th century

by Sreeram Chaulia

( May 17, 2016, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a seasoned practitioner of cultural diplomacy. In the past two years, he has leveraged the unifying connections between Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam to serve India’s foreign relations.

The latest instance of this strategy is the Simhasth Kumbh Mela in Ujjain, that was graced by Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and a host of dignitaries from Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh on May 14. Mr Modi’s intent of gathering South Asian notables to strike common ground on universal values, righteous conduct and simple living is to situate India as the fulcrum of the eternal quest for a better life. He has mainstreamed spirituality and cultural linkages that had hitherto found only lip service in Indian foreign policy.

Mr Modi often sings paeans to saints and savants and invokes inclusive ancient Indian maxims like Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family) and Tena Tyaktena Bhunjitha (enjoyment through sacrifice and renunciation). In Ujjain, he defined the Indian ethos as seeking “everyone’s good and everyone’s welfare”. This kind of messaging counters narrow interpretations of India as a self-interested nation-state that wishes to dominate its smaller neighbours.

By adding metaphysical substance to the materialistic nitty-gritty of economic and strategic calculations, Mr Modi is projecting India to the world as a civilisational entity with accumulated wisdom of millennia that is the solution to today’s global crises.

Mr Modi showcases an India that is a microcosm of the world, a broad multicultural platform and a moral force — the way Swami Vivekananda envisaged it in the 19th century.

Mr Sirisena’s comment at the Simhasth Kumbh that, as leader of a country with a majority Buddhist population, “I have special reasons to be happy” as Mr Modi was leaving no stone unturned “towards respecting Buddhism”, reflects how this well-branded cultural diplomacy is yielding dividends.
Sri Lanka still gets economic help from China and could also host further Chinese naval submarine visits. But on the Buddhism front in China, there is nothing but total devastation to be seen.

The suppression of the Dalai Lama and the cultural genocide China has conducted in Tibet is in sharp contrast to India, where a Sri Lankan President can come and unveil a statue of Buddhist revivalist gurus like Anagarika Dharmapala.

Mr Sirisena’s visit to India this time was memorable not just because he was chief guest at the Kumbh, but also because he commemorated Dharmapala, who opposed chauvinistic Hindu priests and gave Buddhism a second innings in India in the late 19th century. For an island nation where Buddhist fundamentalism and Sinhalese chauvinism have grated against the aspirations of the largely Hindu Tamil minorities since independence, the need of the hour after decades of bloody warfare is reconciliation.

Mr Modi’s idea of inviting both Mr Sirisena and Sri Lanka’s Opposition leader R. Sampanthan, of the Tamil National Alliance, to Ujjain and mixing Hindu and Buddhist motifs during their visits manifested the humanistic-cum-political purpose behind his cultural diplomacy. As Mr Modi said during the International Conference on Universal Message of Simhasth, with both Mr Sirisena and Mr Sampanthan in attendance, “India has an inherent conflict management system” because “we are not bound by stubbornness and bigotry, but guided by insight derived from millennia of coexistence”.

It was a powerful reminder that India, warts and all, is the template for multi-ethnic peace, federalism, constitutionalism and democracy. If Sri Lanka is to emerge from the embers of a devastating war, it needs to look no further than India to end the destructive clash of civilisations between the Sinhalese and Tamils.

Mr Modi’s championing of the “Ramayana trail” and the “Buddhist circuit” is at one level a clever contraption to boost tourism and people-to-people ties in South Asia and Southeast Asia. But at another level, it is an effort to form a combined cultural construct that would restore India’s centrality in Asia.

At the Global Hindu Buddhist Conclave in September 2015, Mr Modi had declared: “My government is doing everything to facilitate and promote Buddhism in India”. His view — “Buddha is present in everything and everywhere and we need to follow his principles in order to rid ourselves of war” — speaks volumes about India’s accommodative magnanimity.

Besides Buddhism, the other religious community that Mr Modi has consciously striven to draw into the zone of his cultural diplomacy is Islam. At the World Sufi Forum in New Delhi in March, he proudly remarked: “Sufism from India spread across the world and this tradition that evolved in India belongs to the whole of South Asia.” His projection of Sufism as an antidote to terrorism and extremism has been well received in the Muslim world, particularly West Asia, where the demand for moderate Indian maulvis is on the rise.

No one missed the enormous symbolism of Mr Modi visiting the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in the United Arab Emirates in August 2015 and clicking selfies there with the rulers of Abu Dhabi. References to Indian Muslims as role models who are integrated and eclectic, and engagements with Muslim non-resident Indians are part and parcel of Mr Modi’s overseas visits. These have helped change Islamic nations’ impressions of Mr Modi’s India, especially in the Persian Gulf region.

Is it not ironic that a man berated by his critics as a Hindu fundamentalist has managed to present a convincing picture of an India with diverse ancient truths to the wider world? Before Mr Modi, India’s leaders — most of whom wore a “secular” tag — had practically no achievements to boast of in cultural diplomacy, barring mouthing clichéd lines about India’s “age-old relations” with various nations.

The paradox of a so-called “Hindu nationalist” winning the hearts and minds of non-Hindu countries and communities globally is explained by Mr Modi’s uninhibited and uncomplicated attitude towards religious expression. Instead of hiding behind a facade of repression and avoiding of public references or associations with religion and spirituality, he has engaged openly with all faiths and upheld their positive traits and contributions.

India’s soft spiritual power is on the rise as Mr Modi exudes confidence in being a Hindu who deeply respects and nurtures all other denominations with a sense of equality. Here’s wishing many more Kumbh-like events with multi-faith agendas to cover India’s heritage with glory.

The writer is a professor and dean at the Jindal School of International Affairs

PNB sees more pain after $802 million fourth-quarter loss

An employee counts notes at a cash counter inside a bank in Kolkata June 18, 2012.

REUTERS/RUPAK DE CHOWDHURI/FILES

Wed May 18, 2016

Punjab National Bank (PNB) reported a $802 million quarterly net loss, the worst ever for a local bank due to a surge in provisions for sour debt, and said a clean-up of its bad loans was not over yet.

Banks in India have seen a surge in bad loans after a clean-up ordered by their regulator, the Reserve Bank of India. The central bank wanted banks to classify some troubled accounts as non-performing and make adequate provisions for those through the December and March quarters.

PNB, the fourth-biggest of the state-run lenders by assets, said its net loss was 53.67 billion rupees ($802 million) for its fiscal fourth quarter to March 31, compared with a net profit of 3.07 billion rupees a year earlier. The loss was the first for the bank since it went public in 2002.

"It is very easy to say the bad days are over, but I will never say that," Chief Executive Usha Ananthasubramanian told a news conference on Wednesday, adding the pace of economic growth needed to quicken for a clean-up of sour loans.

The bank with an impaired asset ratio of 17.55 percent in March has about 110 billion rupees worth of loans where borrowers have delayed repayment beyond 60 days, she said, adding some of those loans could become non-performing.

In the March quarter, the bank's provisions, including for loan losses, nearly tripled from a year earlier to 104.85 billion rupees. Gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans rose to 12.9 percent in March from 8.47 percent in December, and 6.55 percent a year earlier.

"Mounting provisions and sustained pressure on asset quality and margins will keep earnings soft," Religare Institutional Research analysts wrote in a note, retaining their "sell" rating on the stock.

Corporation Bank Ltd, a smaller state-run lender, also reported on Wednesday a fourth-quarter net loss of 5.11 billion rupees.

Including PNB and Corporation Bank, 10 state-run banks have so far reported losses in the March quarter.

($1 = 66.9600 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy and Aditi Shah; Editing by Sunil Nair and Adrian Croft)

Children's brains light up at their mother's voice: More brain regions respond to the familiar sound than to a stranger's

Decades of research have shown that children prefer their mother's voices. In one classic study, one-day-old babies sucked harder on a pacifier or dummy when they heard the sound of their mother's voice, as opposed to the voices of other women. A stock image is shown

• Sound of mother's voice causes children's brains to 'light up' with activity
• Stimulates activity in regions involved in emotion, reward and social role
• The effect is particular to each mother-child relationship

By ROSIE TAYLOR and SARAH GRIFFITHS FOR MAILONLINE-17 May 2016

There are times where it can feel like you can hear your mother's voice inside your head.

Now scientists have discovered it may not be far from the truth as the sound of a mother's voice is far more powerful than previously believed.

Indeed, it can cause the brains of children to 'light up' with activity, researchers have found.

As well as engaging the parts of the brain responsible for processing sounds, it also stimulates activity in the centres involved in emotion, reward, social function, face recognition and the way children detect what is personally relevant to them.

And the effect is particular to each mother-child relationship, as children did not react in the same way when they heard mothers of other children saying the same words.

The study, by Stanford University School of Medicine in California, also found that children with the best social communication skills had the strongest brain reaction to the mother's voice.

For the research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 24 healthy children aged between seven and 12 had their brains scanned using an MRI scanner while they listened to sound clips.

The children were played recordings of their mother and other women saying three nonsense words. 

Nonsense words were chosen to avoid the meanings of the words triggering a response in the brain. 

Even with clips less than a second long, children were able to identify their own mother's voices with 97 per cent accuracy.

The experts found brain regions that were more engaged by the voices of the children's own mothers than by the control voices included auditory regions, such as the primary auditory cortex and parts of the brain that handle emotions such as the amygdala.

Brain regions that detect and assign value to rewarding stimuli, such as the mesolimbic reward pathway and medial prefrontal cortex were also more active in response to a mother's voice.

Regions that process information about the self, including the default mode network and areas involved in perceiving and processing the sight of faces, reacted in the same way. 

Earlier studies have shown babies and children prefer the sound of their mother's voice, but this is thought to be the first examining what biological effect it has on a child's brain.

The study's lead author Dr Daniel Abrams said: 'Many of our social, language and emotional processes are learned by listening to our (mother's) voice.

'But surprisingly little is known about how the brain organises itself around this very important sound source. 

'We didn't realise that a mother's voice would have such quick access to so many different brain systems.'

Senior author Dr Vinod Menon added: 'The extent of the regions that were engaged was really quite surprising.

'We know that hearing mother's voice can be an important source of emotional comfort to children. Here, we're showing the biological circuitry underlying that.

'Voice is one of the most important social communication cues. It's exciting to see that the echo of one's mother's voice lives on in so many brain systems.'

The research also showed that children whose brains were most stimulated by their mother's voice had the strongest social communication ability. 

Examining this reaction could in future help understand conditions where children have difficulty communicating, such as autism.

The researchers plan to carry out similar studies with autistic children and with teenagers, to see if the effect of the mother's voice changes as people mature into adulthood.

An earlier Canadian study showed that someone seeing an image of their own mother's face experienced more excitement in the brain than if they were shown images of anyone else, including their father and celebrities.

Key areas of recognition and emotion in the brain were 'lit up' when adults saw pictures of their mothers, even if they had not seen them in several years.

While another American study found the sound of a mother's voice, even over the phone, was as soothing as a hug. The studies suggest the mother-baby bond continues to have a strong effect on the brain for many years.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3593333/Children-s-brains-light-mother-s-voice-brain-regions-respond-familiar-sound-stranger-s.html#ixzz492v5ufBO 

Seven Years Since

2016-05-18

It is now seven years since the end of the war and the onset of a post-war situation.  In that time the roots of conflict were not addressed but sustained and even reproduced. In the North and East, people observed that things may have looked better, but felt worse.  There and throughout the country, rights were at best irrelevant and at worst subversive.  Then, sixteen months ago there was an election that promised to change everything.  In order to do that though, some things had to be put on the backburner if those things were to be ever addressed at all.  The overarching priority was to win the election and irrespective of ethnicity and religion, people voted for change, hitherto considered impossible. 

The trajectory of developments, are in general, in the right direction, albeit with shortcomings in respect of the pace of change and the communication thereof

Are we now on the road to reconciliation, to a post-conflict world in which the sources of conflict are not sustained and reproduced?  Yes, No, Perhaps, Maybe?

The trajectory of developments, are in general, in the right direction, albeit with shortcomings in respect of the pace of change and the communication thereof.  A not altogether easy paradigm shift to complete, perhaps, for a coalition of historic rivals in government navigating differences within and challenges without, not to mention the plethora of promises made on a number of other fronts.  Yet, as far as the people of the North and East are concerned, they did their best and more for change and in the context of democratic politics, it is still overdue and insufficient payback in the currency of rights and equal citizenship.   As the supreme law of the land is to be changed and submitted to the country at large for approval, this acquires a political salience that cannot be ignored.  A result among the majority community that is too close will once again require the voter from the North and East to come to the rescue in full force.  They will likely stay at home if that supreme law is not convincingly founded on their equal citizenship, in this their home and country. 

As the anniversary is marked, Geneva approaches, the constitution is to be written and GSP Plus applied for, the “low hanging fruit” argument in respect of corruption is relevant to reconciliation and national unity as well

As the anniversary is marked, Geneva approaches, the constitution is to be written and GSP Plus applied for, the “low hanging fruit” argument in respect of corruption is relevant to reconciliation and national unity as well. Land has been returned, but there is more to be returned and without a convincing explanation for the delay.  It appears that the government is keen to show demonstrable progress in respect of the promised mechanisms for reconciliation by bringing legislation to parliament to set up an ‘Office for Missing Persons’ before the Geneva Human Rights Council sessions begin  It is under criticism however regarding the process, since the all-island public consultations have not begun and no proper consultations with victims’ families in particular on this mechanism have been held.  There is time to rectify this and dispel the perception that the commitment to transitional justice and reconciliation is more than about ticking boxes to meet predetermined deadlines.

The PTA is to be repealed and replaced with new legislation.  While that is being done, it is surely incumbent on the government to communicate to the security forces and the police at ground level the procedures that apply to arrest and in doing so emphasize the paradigm shift effected in January 2016 and the crucial importance of its practical demonstration on the ground.  Were the required attention paid to this important issue requires, the directives of the Kumaratunga government on this score adhered to for example, the concern and fear about a return to the “white van” era could have been avoided.  

Above all else though, the substantive and material issues aside, the spirit of reconciliation needs to be prioritized and projected

At the same time, the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation is working on a National Policy for Reconciliation. As to why this is being attempted now, some sixteen months after the new dispensation is not at all clear; that it is being attempted at all holds out some hope that beyond retrospection, premature perhaps – quite a few policy initiatives having begun – it will bring some strategic coherence to bear on how best to move to a post-conflict Sri Lanka. 

Above all else though, the substantive and material issues aside, the spirit of reconciliation needs to be prioritized and projected.  Reconciliation is after all about mutual acknowledgement of pain and loss, the shared responsibility for a broken relationship and the felt need for repair born out of interdependence, recognition and commitment to a common destiny.  We have yet to have a commemoration, a simple ceremony, of the loss of life and livelihood of all Sri Lankans, combatant and non-combatant, citizens and soldiers, who perished in the 30-year conflict. March-pasts, victory parades, private commemorations to the extent possible, do not bring together the peoples of the country.  This columnist suggested this at the end of the war and repeats the call to the government to take the lead in convening such a ceremony – perhaps an inter-religious one at Independence Square?

Constitutional reform and transitional justice are going to test the re-conciliatory potential in the polity to the full.  While lamenting the time and opportunities lost in the past seven years and even in the past 16 months to bolster and expand this potential, we must not loose hope and thereby lend credence to the thesis that nothing has really changed – only the parties and the people at the helm of affairs.

Maybe the President and the Prime Minister will mark this seventh anniversary of the war with the people in the North and thereby unite the private and the official in a simple, significant display of unity of all peoples of Sri Lanka?   

TNA leader and former US Secretary of State discuss problems afflicting the North-East

17 May 2016

Tamil National Alliance Leader R Sampanthan met with the former US Secretary of State Richard Armitage to discuss issues affecting Tamils in the North-East.

During the meeting Mr Sampanthan stressed the need for resolving the issues such as releasing civilian land currently under Sri Lankan military control, repealing the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the release of political prisoners according to an official press release.

TNA parliamentarian M A Sumanthiran was also present during discussions, which included talks on a political solution to the island’s ethnic question.

Diaspora Participation in the Transitional Justice Process

PUBLIC INTEREST ADVOCACY CENTRE-on 05/17/2016

Featured image courtesy Tamil Guardian

‘I gave my statement not only for what I hoped to achieve, but on behalf of the hundreds of people at home who could not raise these issues … I wanted the truth to be known to the UN and the powerful international community so that the coming generation of Tamils can live like any other community, with peace of mind, dignity and a feeling of belonging.’

In 2012, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) – a non-profit law and social justice organisation based in Australia – began taking witness statements and gathering other evidence of violations of international law and international human rights law allegedly committed by both sides in the final stages of the Sri Lankan civil war.

With many victims and witnesses forced to seek asylum overseas, PIAC focused on taking statements from those outside Sri Lanka, particularly in Australia.

Now, as Sri Lanka begins the process of comprehensively dealing with the past and moving towards reconciliation, these same victims and witnesses must be part of the equation. Their participation in, and engagement with, the transitional justice process will be key to achieving a lasting peace in Sri Lanka.

Diaspora participation in the consultation process

Sri Lanka’s Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Measures was formed in January 2016 for the purpose of ascertaining the views of all stakeholders, and particularly victims, on the processes and mechanisms for reconciliation in Sri Lanka.

Upon its appointment, the Task Force reiterated ‘the importance of broad-based island-wide consultations as a critical step in the transitional justice process, to ensure public legitimacy, ownership and participation, particularly to give voice to victims from all communities.’

However, a significant number of victims and witnesses of crimes allegedly committed during the civil war no longer live in Sri Lanka, either on a temporary or permanent basis.

Despite their distance, those who now reside beyond Sri Lanka’s shores have a critical stake in the country’s transitional justice process.

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Chief Minister stresses accountability for Mullivaikkal cannot be traded off

17 May 2016 Northern Provincial Council Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran reiterated that accountability for the mass atrocities committed in 2009 cannot be traded off for politics, in remarks made in Colombo earlier this week. Speaking at the southern capital Justice Wigneswaran responded to questions on accountability by stating it was a “legal question”. “Are we going to have a proper legal machinery to look into the wrongs that have been committed and take necessary steps with regard to that?” he said. “Or are we going to make it into a political thing in order to trade it off?”

Mullivaikkal Cannot Be Traded Off by Thavam Ratna