An Indian challenge to China in space?

ISRO’s launch of 104 satellites on a single PSLV-C37 rocket at Sriharikota is watched by spectators with jubilation in this Febuary 15, 2017 photo. ISRO’s feat has made a big impact on official Chinese newspaper ‘Global Times,’ which has said the communist giant must learn from its neighbour on low-budget space launches.   | Photo Credit: AFP

Urgent action needed for Beijing to reduce the cost of putting satellites into orbit, says state media

Atul Aneja- FEBRUARY 20, 2017

China is clinically analysing the successful and cost-effective launch of 104 satellites in one go by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), as well as the outcome of the Aero-India show, with some media reports acknowledging that New Delhi may out-compete Beijing in the commercial space-launch business.

An op-ed in the Global Times on Monday highlighted that India’s successful record-breaking satellite launch could serve as a “wake-up call” for China's commercial space industry.

The article diagnosed China’s inability to access components and parts from the U.S. as part of the problem. Consequently, China had to step up independent research and indigenous manufacturing in order to by-pass the U.S. restrictions. China also has to cut down costs, as it is likely to target price-sensitive customers in the developing countries.

Low price advantage

On the contrary, of the 104 satellites that were launched by ISRO, 96 belonged to the U.S. “The South Asian nation's achievements are largely driven by its low price advantage, a weak point for China's commercial space sector,” the article observed.

It added: “Competition with India for commercial space launches may be inevitable, and the most urgent action needed for China to expand its market share is to reduce the cost of putting satellites into orbit.”

Separately, the website, Chinamil.com.cn, affiliated with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), noted that simultaneously, the Indian aviation industry was also undergoing a rapid transition, focusing on military exports, and technologically upgrading itself through joint ventures.

Commenting on the Aero-India show that concluded in Bangalore last week, the website said: “We observed that this year’s Aero India kept a very low profile in arms purchase and Indian Defence Ministry didn’t sign any official agreement with foreign arms dealers.”

India’s progress here too

On the contrary, Indian arms dealers leveraged the exhibition to tap the overseas defence market. “The Astra air-to-air missile, Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launcher and Rustom UAV independently developed by India were popular among foreign clients,” it observed. The write-up noted that India has also made progress on aircraft and vessel technology transfer. It quoted Christopher, head of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), as saying, that India will export advanced light torpedo worth $21 million, which also involves transfer of technology. The article pointed out that India’s Reliance Defence has signed an agreement with the U.S. Navy on vessel repair and retrofitting services.

The pursuit of joint ventures has improved the quality of Indian military equipment. During the show, India’s Kalyani Strategic Systems Ltd. (KSSL) has signed an agreement with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).The two sides will work together on the Barak-8 air-defence missile.

Raytheon of the U.S. has also signed a MoU with a subsidiary of the Tata’s to jointly produce parts of the Stinger ground-to-air missile in India.

Worried That Your Teen's Stressed? You're Probably Right

Linda Simpson - 02/17/2017 

The New Year can bring many more reasons for your teen to be stressed. It signals end of semester and exam time. Postsecondary options are being weighed. Teens are expected to know what their future will be at a time when, for many of them, they can hardly understand the present.

There are family expectations, friend expectations along with biggest critic in their lives -- themselves.

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According to the Vanier Institute there is another under-reported stressor: "Canada is behind the U.S., U.K., Australia and Sub-Saharan Africa in public awareness and policy development related to young carers."

A StatsCan report of 2012 found 1.9 million young Canadians, almost five per cent of our population, and 27 per cent of the demographic between 15 and 29 were caregivers to their parents or grandparents. The same Vanier Institute Report cites statistics concerning northern Aboriginal communities. As noted in this article, a 2006 report, 46 per cent of Northern young people are caregivers.

This caregiver demand has a multi-faceted affect on the lives of those young people. They experience isolation as a result of responsibilities. They are unavailable for much of the social time with their peers. There is the constant worry of balancing school and home.

This list must also include the peer pressures of sex and drugs or the possibility of family breakdown. No matter what way you consider this notion of teen stress, there are many reasons your teen could feel overwhelmed.

Any mood or behaviour change that lingers can often be a sign of stress.

Learning to deal with stress is a skill set that will serve your teen well for the rest of their lives. Stress will always be there. Adults know stress doesn't come to us one stressor at time. It comes in waves. Sometimes the wave is small and other times that wave crashes around us. Add to that the physiological truth about a teen brain. It is still developing -- coping mechanisms, decision making are emerging skills.

The question that begins this discussion is "what does stress look like in my teen?" There are myriad answers.

Anxiety, apprehension, depression are products of stress. Any mood or behaviour change that lingers can often be a sign of stress. Teens are mood swing central, so what differentiates one from the other is the behaviour is noticed over time.

Eating habits and sleeping habits can change. As with moods, it is the consistency of this change that could be an indicator. For parents, go with your gut. If somethings feels wrong, then there's a good chance you need to ask a few neutral questions.

There is no better way to approach your teen then to ask them how they are doing. My experience raising teens left me with this observation: ask and listen. Listening is a skill like any other. Sometimes your teen will not want to talk, and other times they will. In those instances, you will learn a lot about them. If you are unsure how to respond, then advice or judgement should be reserved for a later date when you have had time to process the information. Suggestions are always more inclusive than demands. Offering options even better.

In turn, we need a school support system to help these teens cope with their responsibilities. It has been my experience as a volunteer in a high school that staff do listen but are often overwhelmed by today's student needs. A cohesive mental health component to any school is a necessity today. As a parent, lobby your school, your district and provincial government for those supports.

Don't be afraid to admit your teen is stressed.

The question is -- as parents, how do we teach our children effective stress management tools? My philosophy has always been "begin at the beginning." Ask your child to identify how they know they are feeling stressed. Knowledge is power and so, too, is language. Once we begin to frame stress in words, we can plot the solutions.

One word that will no doubt surface rather quickly is the admission of feeling overwhelmed by responsibilities. Identify and list all the things in your teen's life that factor into that feeling. Use T charts -- plus on one side, minus on the other for their area of stress. It's a powerful and simple problem-solving tool.

In his book Building Resilience in Childhood and Teens, Kenneth Ginsburg suggests we need to view stress as a survival tool. It is that burst of energy that gets us through a difficult time. Resilience is the key component to deal with stress effectively. Focus on resilience skills with your teen.

Fighting Invisible Tigers: Stress Management For Teens by Earl Hipp is an engaging, user-friendly book that offers "tiger-taming" techniques from nutrition to mindfulness.

Keep your teen's school apprised of stress problems. Don't be afraid to admit your teen is stressed. Their teacher has probably noticed. A cohesive unit of support is essential to help your teen deal with stress. Fostering resilience skills and developing stress management techniques are life lessons every teen needs. Loving them unconditionally is the foundation to a healthy future.

The Lure of ‘Alternative Facts’ and The Danger of Democratic Deconsolidation

Featured image courtesy tbz.foto via Flickr

TISARANEE GUNASEKARA on 02/19/2017

“Social implosion handed opportunities to those who spotted a basic weakness in the theory and practice of representative democracy.”

John Keane (The Life and Death of Democracy)

President Donald Trump’s senior counsellor Kellyanne Convey came up with a superb Orwellian term when she dubbed Presidential spokesman Sean Spencer’s outright lies about inauguration crowds as ‘alternative facts’. ‘Alternative facts’ are not just the propagandistic lies governments tell people; they are also the comforting lies governments and people tell themselves. Basing political calculations and political decisions on ‘alternative facts’ is often a suicidal exercise, as Mahinda Rajapaksa discovered when he held a presidential election two years ahead of time on the basis of astrological predictions, made-to-order opinion polls and sheer wishful thinking.

The Lure of ‘Alternative Facts’ and The Danger of Democratic Deconsolidation.docx by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

Foster reconciliation, abandon discrimination

By Fr. Augustine Fernando-February 19, 2017, 9:28 pm 

Diocese of Badulla

There are many instances where the constructive attempts supported and much publicized by the government in power today are overshadowed by many practically disruptive and unsettling actions of others. The President, Prime Minister and some members of the Government may be launching and promoting a process of reconciliation by calling upon all the citizens of Sri Lanka to a renewed awareness of justice and exhorting and encouraging all to re-establish the bonds of fraternity and mutual understanding among the different linguistic, ethnic, religious and other sub-cultures in our island home. But other members of the coalition government are lukewarm and lethargic 

BEING HUMAN IS INDESTRUCTIBLE

Banefully, the indifference, the discrimination, false propaganda, culpable ignorance, prejudice, hateful and violent speech and action on the part of a good many are also real. While the government may be attempting to illumine the social environment and assist everyone to overcome ignorance and reach the light of knowledge and truth, there are many others who are agents of darkness who propagate prejudice, bigotry, intolerance and xenophobia in the name of a misinterpreted patriotism and loyalty to the Country.

Differences in the nations and countries we are born in and belong to, the customs and traditions we have inherited and follow the different languages we speak and the religions we adhere to, need not and actually do not divide and separate us. It is this indestructible and unsinkable human trait that pays no heed to forecasters of doom and always hopes and strives to recognize, come to a heightened consciousness and establish the fraternity, oneness and unity of humanity. Up to date, with our highly advanced capacity in science and technology, we have not yet found a livable human home like the planet earth among the hundreds of billions of spheres and stars and galaxies in this universe.

LOP-SIDED WORLD

Today, humanity is more than seven billion human beings, living in a corner of a galaxy called the Milky Way in the unfathomable universe that is supposed to have existed for 14 billion years. Our earth is comparatively a speck of dust. And living on this small speck of earth, we stultify our magnificently endowed minds and imprison them to narrow confines with petty issues of borders and boundaries, ethnicities and tribes, castes and creeds to such extreme ends that we refuse to strive and sustain, collaborate and cooperate, allocate and share, distribute and dispense the collective produce of human minds and human creativity in a human way.

In many ways today’s world seems a peculiar place: there are a few big moneyed leaders handling the destinies of their people and impacting on others. One is threatening to build a two thousand mile wall to safeguard his country from a poorer part of humanity. No one yet knows how strong, broad, durable, insurmountably high the wall is going to be; how deep its foundation and of what material it will be and what would be the cost. Will it end up as the Berlin Wall? This leader’s opposite monastery to boost up his nationalist bonds. Another supreme ruler has over 1000 most expensive and luxurious cars and over 6000 other cars costing more than 5000 billion dollars. Added to it he has a huge gold plated jet plane worth more than 200 million dollars and a palace of over 1000 rooms with a proportionate number of bathrooms. Then there are others in the Middle East who also have gold and silver plated cars and show off by throwing away in the air hundreds of thousands of dollars.

POTENTIAL CAPACITY OF SRI LANKA

We numbering only twenty two million in tiny Sri Lanka cannot change the world into a new one and transform it to make it a good home for all. But if we put our mind to it, we could make our land the true pearl of the Indian ocean and sparkling gem in the world.

We could make it a blessed land where people of a couple of linguistic backgrounds and different ethnic and religious identities live within their island territory, with self-respect and honour in keeping with human dignity, in fraternity, unity and peace in a spirit of sharing and solidarity. This is indeed possible and within our capacity to bring it about.

To make it a reality, we should not distort our history. We should not cancel or forget its unpleasant and not so civilized aspects nor embellish it with fanciful and romanticized fairy tales and self-serving narratives invented to prejudice minds especially of the young. We should not bend or distort main religious teachings of our religions and value them with the standards of consumerism and of the market place. Nor should we submerge religious belief and way of life in the rising tide of science and technology, but ground our lives on truly human values and find rational ways to respond to the challenges of life. Could we not accept all others as equal to us in human dignity and worth? Don’t we have the capacity to be a new people? We do. We should find the way. We must have the will.

A FUTURE TOGETHER

We should cultivate new and wholesome attitudes. These attitudes should pervade schools and universities, all adult citizens in urban areas and rural districts. It is up to the leaders to share high ideals with the people and uphold values that all civilized people cherish.

If we need to go to new horizons to live in peace and harmony with others we should have the courage to forge bonds of fraternity and shed our attitudes of discrimination, debilitating rivalry and hate that begets violence. We should be able to frankly discuss the problems that vex us. We should shed our haughty and arrogant attitudes inherited perhaps from our past and be truthful, honest and sincere. We should be able to give and take. We should be able share not only the land and its produce but also the blame for the hurts we have caused one another. We should be able to put the past behind us, mutually forgive and face the challenges of the future together.

RADIANT MOTHER'S CHILDREN

We, all of us, should not remain immature but mature and rise to our full humanity without partisan greed, envy and jealousy and live free, as one people, as brothers and sisters of one Sri Lankan family, children of a Radiant Mother Lanka.

Sri Lanka’s Problems Are Not Singles, They Are Sixes & Sevens

By Lankamithra –February 19, 2017

“Don’t ask for guarantees. And don’t look to be saved in any one thing, person, machine, or library. Do your own bit of saving, and if you drown, at least die knowing you were heading for shore.” — Ray Bradbury

It is the natural tendency of the human mind to search for and cling on to one single cause for the occurrence of an event. Whether the event is a groundbreaking and historic one or a very superficial one, all events have not happened in isolation. The surrounding circumstances and events that happened prior to them have an unequivocal bearing on all events, whether they were man-made or natural. The first thinker and philosopher to teach this phenomenon was Buddha who taught us the irreversible chain of cause and effect (Karma) in his unique sermon of Patichcha Samuppadaya.

Since then all historians, when trying to interpret and chronicle the assemblage of events that have preceded us, have customarily attempted to identify and catalogue the crucial and critical ones that have, in combination with each other, produced major changes of course in man’s journey through the millennia. It is even more difficult to identify the critical events or sub-events when writing about contemporary history. For instance, most writers and speakers point to the 1956 Bandaranaike-led Sinhala only revolution as the root cause for the emergence of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) and other Tamil militant organizations around which a majority of non-elite Tamils in the North congregated. The Bandaranaike policies may have had a major impact on the rise of the Tamil militancy but that is not the only significant cause that influenced them.

Starting with the distressing turn of events that led to the departure of Sir Ponnambalam Arunachal, who was the first President of the Ceylon National Congress, due to being let down by the then Sinhala Leadership in the country that included, among others, Sir D B Jayatilleke and D S Senanayake, is no second to any other significant events that followed over the last century. Introduction of a Parliamentary Bill to disenfranchise the Estate Tamils from the electoral register was one of them. Painting the Sinhalese letter ‘Shree’ on all public transport vehicles, the riots that followed and the ruthless and uncivilized manner in which the Sinhalese civilians engaged in a willing enterprise of intimidation, torture and murder of Tamil civilians residing in the so-called Sinhalese area was another. The uniformed security forces of the government turning away from those riots and allowing the orgy of inhuman behavior of the Sinhalese rioters was yet another. The legislations and regulations that were introduced by governments headed by the successors to the Bandaranaike-led Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) was another. The psychological impact on the Tamil youth the district quota system and ‘Standardization’ on the university entrance process had on was not lesser important to any of the preceding occurrences. 

On the one hand, it is easy to point the finger at the Bandaranaike-led Sinhala only revolution alone. Certainly it had a distinctive bearing on the events that followed; however, it was not the only reason nor was it the first one either. Yet, after the fires of war have burnt down, after the military forces have retreated to the camps, the fake dawn of peace has convoluted the hearts and minds of most people. Absence of military entanglements is not peace. Nevertheless, such an illusion helps one, on the hand, the general masses, to get on with their daily chores without fear of being victims of a surprise suicide bomb attacks, and on the other, those who dwell in the upper echelons of society and academics and pundits begin to interpret and reinterpret this fake peace as a lasting condition that followed a military conflict- one has ‘won’ and the other has ‘lost’.

This is the backdrop which generated a combination of psychological conditions among decision makers to produce the 13^th Amendment. This is the backdrop against which a Tamil Diaspora has assumed more-than-legitimate prominence in the current equation of Tamil-Sinhala relations. This is the backdrop that killed the leading Tamil thinkers and actors such as Amirthalingam, Yogeswaran and others. This the backdrop which gave birth to Prabhakaran Mahattaya, Kittu, Pottu Amman and other ruthless killers and above all, this is the backdrop that produced Mahinda Rajapaksa and his ruling cabal. After J R Jayewardene, it was Mahinda Rajapaksa who had the greatest opportunity and the necessary tools and means to introduce novel political structures, ideological discipline, societal goals and national priorities into a war-torn land. Mahinda squandered it. Instead, he indulged in a process that was both injurious to himself and greatly harmful the Sri Lankan nation.

Mahinda’s garb had too many patches. Maybe it took two full tenures for the voting public to see these shadowy, discernible only-to-the-probing eye of the discriminating beholder, patches and holes in the ‘Mahinda Chinthana’ apparel. His avaricious abuse of national wealth and his immediate family’s limitless ravenousness for wealth, comforts and wants exceeded the vilest kinds. Mahinda’s sins are manifold and diverse. Over the last ten years he and he alone is responsible for creating a culture of corruption that has created a brand new generation of bureaucrats that is equally or even more corrupt. Mahinda’s ‘corruption-revolution’ generated among unsuspecting and gullible masses, that corruption and bribery is the norm and not the exception. It is tragic.

And it is against this backdrop, Maithripala Sirisena, Ranil Wickremesinghe with the United National Party (UNP), Sampanthan and his Tamil National Alliance and Rauff Hakim and his Muslim Congress campaigned, backed by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and snatched power from Mahinda and his corrupt cabal.  After Sirisena’s victory at the Presidential Elections, two mutually exclusive phenomena clashed, or maybe, combined to work together, but not for the good of the voters who ousted Rajapaksa. On the one hand, the UNP came to power after rotting away in the Opposition benches for twenty long years which entailed a starvation from power and its alluring benefits. On the other hand, the SLFP and Mahinda lost power after twenty years in control and access to national wealth. One, the UNP wanted this opportunity to entrench themselves in the corrupt system of the last twenty years, The other, the SLFP, after having easy access to power and national wealth could not afford to be away from it, solely because when one gets used to luxuries in life it is almost impossible to adjust to a new condition of being without such luxuries and extravagances. The current status of the country is facing this unusual social spectacle and either party does not seem to be conceding.

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ANBU video launch opens up conversation on childhood sexual abuse

19 Feb  2017

A video series and publication supporting those impacted by childhood sexual abuse (CSA) within the Tamil community was released by Toronto-based non-profit organization Abuse Never Becomes Us (A.N.B.U.).

The publication showcases the lived experiences of five individuals that were impacted by CSA.

One contributor writes,

“What I want is for you to believe me. Believe me when I say something horrible happened to me as a child. I want you to hear how these events have affected me and to take them seriously. I want you to know that my story is not a rare one. So many people in the Tamil community have gone through traumatic experiences like mine. Our geopolitical history is not the only thing that has traumatized us.”

The compilation aims to display the complexities and resemblances faced by survivors throughout their journey and that there are different paths one can take towards healing.

Dr Pushpa Kanagaratnam and Dr Nalini Pandalangat spoke on several factors relating to CSA – including: identifying CSA, disclosing abuse, response to disclosure, reporting CSA and power and gender dynamics.

Contextual factors relevant to the Tamil community were also discussed – examining factors such as migration, poverty, family as an institution and community expectations.

As a community there must be transcendence from the notion that “social conformity is enough to heal,” said Dr Kanagaratnam and Dr Pandalangat.

The event also celebrated healing and resilience through showcasing art, poetry and other contributions by Tamils in the diaspora.

ANBU is a Toronto based not-for-profit organization – with the mission to provide healing and empowerment through holistic support, resources and advocacy on behalf of Tamil people who have been impacted by childhood sexual abuse. For more information visit: www.anbu.ca

Strong criticism against proposed new act for SEC!

Feb 19, 2017

According to financial market sources, a draft document has been prepared to replace the Sri Lanka Securities and Exchange Commission Act without any scientific basis or any adherence to international standards.

The SEC has invited suggestions and views regarding the document after posting it on its website in the English language only, and authorities have neglected even to follow the state language policy.

 

The document proposes a set of professional qualifications for the chief executive and director board members of listed companies.

 

The source say such a proposal is wholly inappropriate for a developing share market like Sri Lanka.

 

Also, it is unclear as to what will happen to a majority of CEOs and director board members of the leading listed companies.

 

The draft proposal also changes the composition of SEC’s members, bringing it down from the current 10 to nine, with the removal of the chairman of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, the sources add.

 

Share market analysts say the proposed removal will be a disrespect to the position as well.

 

Furthermore, the subject minister will be denied the right to appoint the SEC’s director general.

 

Analysts add that rather than a document that suits the local requirements, it appears to be one prepared by taking pieces out of similar acts in Malaysia, Singapore, Pakistan and other countries.

 

They note that in view of the global trends, the shortcomings in the act should be rectified in scientifically.

SRI LANKA: AMENDMENTS & COURT CASES WILL DELAY LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS.

20/02/2017

It will be an uphill task for the Government to reverse the rising trend in prices, particularly essentials that have a crippling effect on middle and low income groups. Their burdens, there is no gainsaying, would increase should the economic situation take a bad turn. Drought no doubt has dealt a striking blow. That is only half the story. The other half — it is the result of mismanagement, growing corruption and the absence of a hands-on approach to issues.

One need hardly say that local council elections and even the Provincial Council elections that are due, if they are held, would be under cloudy circumstances for the ruling party. On the other hand, once the delimitation report is gazetted, there are groups waiting to go to courts to challenge some of the demarcations. This, no doubt, will be time consuming.

Added to that is another matter. The Legal Draftsman has formulated 27 different amendments to election laws relating to local councils. It was sent to the Elections Commission on February 7. Moving amendments in Parliament, no doubt, would entail more delay.

-Form Political column of Sunday Times.lk

JSA has misled the public via false representations to president and even acted unlawfully ! -A retired judge Former president- JSA says..

(Lanka-e-News - 19.Feb.2017, 11.55PM)  The letter sent by the secretary of the Judicial Service Association  (JSA) on the 6 th to the president against the appointment of lawyer Ramanathan Kannan engaged in private legal practice directly to the post of  high court judge by him  , are laden with false representations  and   intended to mislead the public .Moreover, since that letter does not have the full  approval  of the JSC (Judicial Service Commission) , the JSA  has acted illegally , a  former president of the JSA  and retired judge revealed,  via  a long letter written by him to Lanka e news . Since the former JSA president does not want to disclose his identity , we have complied with his request. 

Hereunder is an abridged version of the letter

1. Firstly , not only the JSA ( district judges and magistrates below that rank ) but even chief justice (CJ) when issuing a letter must obtain the permission of the JSC. Hence the above letter sent by the secretary of the JSA , A.M.M. Mihal ( Mt.Lavinia magistrate ) without the authority of the JSC is absolutely illegal.

2. The announcement made by BASL secretary Amal Randeniya that the resolution made  at the SL Bar association (BASL) executive Council that Ramanathan Kannan be appointed as high court judge , and whether that was adopted  or  not by the BASL executive Committee, are  not relevant when making such appointments to posts of  High court judges. 

The legal procedure as regards such appointments is as follows :

3. When  there is  a dearth of judges , a lawyer in private practice being appointed as a judge is not unusual. That appointment is made after considering  whether  that lawyer has been in legal practice without any blemish   for 14 years.  It is only in such an instance , the president of the BASL and the Attorney General (AG) can recommend such an individual. The  president can forward the name recommended by them to the chief justice to decide whether he is suitable. The president can then appoint that individual as High court judge  after the recommendation is received of  the CJ who is president of the JSC, and the consent of all the three judges constituting the JSC.

4. There was a shortage of 6 judges in the  North East High court , and names of 6 district court judges were forwarded by the Attorney General (AG) . Out of them five were chosen . The remaining judge was not appointed based on his unsuitability. As a result there arose a vacancy for a Tamil speaking high court judge . However as there was nobody of the judges’ rank to appoint ,  the exigent circumstances compelled a senior lawyer’s name  to be  proposed.

Lawyer Ramanathan Kannan’s name was proposed by Alagaratnam who is  the president of BASL and by the AG , and it  was recommended  to the president. Laws do not indicate that  there should have been  a resolution adopted by the BASL executive committee to permit  Alagaratnam to take such a decision. Moreover there is no such tradition.Alagaratnam has of course acted most fairly.

Ramanathan Kannan’s name was recommended to the BASL by the  secretary of the Bar Association of Batticaloa in which district  he usually practiced. In fact two names were proposed . One of them was a Muslim lawyer . Unfortunately for him because he sought elections (through the Muslim Congress) he was disqualified.  The only lawyer remaining was Ramanathan Kannan . 

Therefore the representations  purportedly  made to the JSA by secretary Amal Randeniya is not relevant and cannot hold that   this appointment is illegal .

The announcement  of  the JSA that  the BASL or   the minister of justice has  not made any requests in connection with this appointment ,clearly is untrue and most ridiculous. This is because the request of the minister of justice is not relevant ,and BASL president has proposed the name of Ramanathan Kannan .

5. To appoint a lawyer as a high court judge , he must have been in practice for 14 years and have an unblemished record. Ramanathan Kannan has completed 18 years in practice .He has  a Matale estate family descent , and his father was a trade union leader. Though he acquired his educational attainments facing  hardships he is a lawyer who has an  unblemished  record. 

6. Therefore , to say  that Ramanathan sought a magisterial appointment and failed at the interview in 2004  or thereafter  is to mislead and an absolute lie.  During that period he was a lawyer  at the Attorney General’s department . A lawyer of the AG’s department must obtain permission from the AG’s department if he has to face such an interview. But nothing like that has happened. He has neither sat the Magistrate’s exam nor faced an interview in that connection .

7. Ramanathan ‘s name has never been proposed by any political party for nominations. Hence the allegations leveled by the JSA only reflect poorly on itself  and dent its own professional repute.

Revealing  without telling the name is to insult.  Judges ought not insult.  In any case  because it seemed it was the TNA the political party they were referring to, I personally inquired from the TNA leader cum opposition leader R.Sampanthan M.P. and Sumenthiran M.P. about this . They don’t even know such an individual by the name of Ramanathan Kannan. This was because Ramanathan is of estate plantation  origin  , and TNA  does not target them.

8. The JSA viewing the appointment of Ramanathan Kannan as  a high court judge instead of D.L.A. Manaf  as flawed, has no  foundation because Manaf was not appointed owing to  a prior wrong committed by him.

He was holding the post of  member of the Eastern University Council without obtaining the permission of the JSC . In addition , when he was the member of the council , he dismissed a University employee and  also heard that very case in court to finally sack him. This constitutes  serious miscarriage of justice  and misconduct.  In the circumstances Manaf being  denied the high court judge  appointment  is lawful.

9. Simply because a lawyer is appointed as a high court judge ,it cannot be said , injustice has been meted out to the others below . Such an appointment  being made   when a Tamil speaking district judge cannot be picked  from the lower rung of judges is not something new.

In the past such appointments have been made  many times. During the past two years , of the 23 judges appointed to the high court , 21 of them were ordinary district court judges .One of them appointed was by  the AG’s department , and the other was Ramanathan Kannan from among lawyers who are in private practice.
 
10. To accuse that  Kannan was appointed as a    judge to   Batticaloa district itself while he was engaged in private practice as a lawyer is false. He has on the other hand  been appointed as a judge to Jaffna.

11. The letter of the JSA mentioning that this appointment is not justifiable under any circumstances , is to run counter to what  the judicial service  stands for , and the argument that it    seriously  dents the independence of the judiciary is not acceptable because the president of the country did not on any grounds  act in a manner to reject   the methodology of the selection .

After Ramanathan received the approval of the BASL president and the AG , his name was forwarded to the CJ in December . The CJ has obtained the ratification of the three judges of the JSC on the 5th of January , and the  CJ has thereafter secured the approval of the AG again.

The CJ has then sent the letter with his concurrence to the president  . The president has in turn sent the appointment letter to the AG .The High court judge takes oaths before the CJ , and Ramanathan Kannan took oaths duly before him. 

12. If the   president  of the JSA is addressing a   letter to the president or the media adducing reasons , he should have  obtained  the absolute consent of the JSC . That applies  to the CJ too. The Mt. Lavinia magistrate M.H.M. Mihal who is also  secretary of the JSA had not forwarded the aforementioned  letter elaborating on the issues,  to the president and media after  obtaining  the approval duly of the JSC  based on my inquiries. In other words , the JSA has acted unlawfully.

I will not hasten to accuse a reputed association like JSA that it was prompted by  cheap political  objectives or racism feelings when writing such an obnoxious letter.

Signed

Former president- JSA
(Retired judge)

Translated by Jeff 

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by     (2017-02-20 01:19:14)

Mahinda says irregular appointment of High Court judge threatens independence of judiciary 

MP and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa

Monday, 20 February 2017

MP and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday in a statement said that the irregular appointment of a High Court judge threatened the independence of the judiciary.

Following is the full text of Rajapaksa’s statement.

The Judicial Services Association of Sri Lanka has strongly objected to the appointment of Mr. Ramanathan Kannan, a lawyer practicing at the private bar in Batticaloa, as a High Court Judge. The accepted practice in this country is that virtually all the judges serving on the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and High Court are promoted to those positions through the ranks of the judicial service or to a lesser extent, the Attorney General’s Department. This system of promotion based on seniority and merit is one of the pillars on which the independence of the judiciary rests. On very rare occasions past governments have appointed eminent members of the private bar as Supreme Court judges. Former CJ Neville Samarakoon and Justice Mark Fernando came into the Supreme Court in that manner. In the nine years that I was President, I appointed only one Supreme Court judge from the private bar. No members of the private bar were appointed to either the Court of Appeal or the High Court by my Government. Minister of Justice Wijedasa Rajapakshe had informed the Judicial Services Association that a certain political party had on an earlier occasion requested of him that Mr. Ramanathan Kannan be appointed to the High Court – a request he had turned down. The appointment of a judge on a recommendation made by a political party would have struck at the very foundations of judicial independence. Mr. Kannan has been appointed to the High Court over the heads of dozens of senior members of the judiciary and officials of the Attorney General’s Department. The Judicial Services Association has pointed out that if the need was to appoint a Tamil speaking judge for the North and East, the District Judge of Vavuniya D.L.A. Manaf would have been the most qualified candidate. Nobody would have objected if a Tamil-speaking candidate of suitable seniority and competence had been selected for this position from within the judicial service or the AG’s Department.

The Judicial Services Commission had told the Judicial Services Association that they recommended Mr. Kannan’s appointment at a request made by the President following representations made to him by the Bar Association of Sri Lanka. The President also said at a public gathering that he had made this appointment on a request made by the BASL. However, the Secretary of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka has informed the Judicial Services Association that they had not made any such recommendation. Therefore this request has come only from certain individuals in the BASL. In any case, the Bar Association of Sri Lanka has no constitutional, legal or moral right to make recommendations for the appointment of judges.  If the private bar is given the power to recommend the appointment of judges, that would corrupt the entire legal system with judges being dependent on the lawyers appearing before them for promotions and appointments.

Some office bearers of the Bar Association played a major role in toppling my Government in 2015 and the Yahapalana authorities have been trying to reward them by giving them the power to appoint judges despite the damage that this will do to the entire legal system. The reason why Mr. Kannan was made a High Court judge over the heads of many dozens of serving judicial officers and Senior State Counsel in the AG’s Department is also obviously to reward a certain political party that provided a block vote to get the President elected. The message that this sends out to the judiciary is that what counts is not one’s competence or probity as a judge but one’s political connections.

This is a Government that started off by terrorising the entire Judiciary by sacking the then Chief Justice with just a chit from the President’s Office with the connivance of certain office bearers of the BASL. The previous President of the Bar Association was given a plum political appointment by this Government as a reward for his services. The constitution and the standing orders of parliament have a procedure to remove judges with charges being presented, hearings held, reports tabled in parliament and finally a vote taken in the supreme legislature. The actual power to remove judges of the superior courts rests with the legislature, not the executive. But in a demonstration of what this Government was capable of, Chief Justice Mohan Peiris was simply chased out of office through executive fiat. Having started in that manner, it is not surprising that this government is now making judicial appointments on recommendations from their political allies.

Everyone in this country knows that the Bar Association is politicised in a way no other professional body in this country is - whether it be that of engineers, doctors, architects, planters, public administrators, or accountants. The press had reported of a group within the BASL which controlled among other things the foreign funding that the BASL received. From what now transpires, it is this political group within the BASL and not the BASL itself that had made this recommendation to appoint a person described as a political party nominee to the High Court.

Being a lawyer myself, I wish to call upon the legal fraternity to take resolute action to end the politicisation of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka and most importantly, to get the President to reverse the decision to appoint Mr. Ramanathan Kannan to the High Court as requested by the Judicial Services Association of Sri Lanka. It is essential to abide by the accepted practice in making judicial appointments so as to safeguard the independence of the judiciary.

BJP weighing up ‘political split’ in Rajapaksa camp?

Beyond borders: Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena with BJP leader Ram Madhav in May 2016.   | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Seeks to ‘neutralise’ the former Sri Lankan President

Meera Srinivasan

-FEBRUARY 18, 2017

Even as Sri Lanka’s former President Mahinda Rajapaksa angles for a political comeback, New Delhi appears to be weighing up possible political shifts in the island, including a split in the Rajapaksa camp.

On February 10, BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav, known to be Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s point man on Sri Lanka, met President Maithripala Sirisena and PM Ranil Wickremesinghe in Colombo, a week before Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar’s scheduled official visit.

Mr. Madhav also met a few other key political actors, The Hindu learns, and reportedly discussed political options that might “neutralise” former strongman Rajapaksa. Confirming that he met the President and the Prime Minister to discuss bilateral issues and a forthcoming Indian Ocean conference in the island, Mr. Madhav, when contacted in New Delhi, said “the [other] allegations are false”.

While he categorically denied having discussed the former first family in any of his meetings, political sources in Colombo told The Hindu that the BJP’s key strategist seemed to explore the possibility of Gotabaya Rajapaksa decamping from Mahinda Rajapaksa in return for high political office.

One of Sri Lanka’s most controversial figures and brother of the ex-President, Mr. Gotabaya was prominent in the leadership to defeat the LTTE, playing a key role as Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development.

Currently facing corruption charges for allegedly transferring state-owned weapons to a private firm, causing a loss of nearly $75 million to the country, he has been a staunch critic of the government’s reconciliation strategy.

While Mr. Madhav’s reported enquiries about him have raised eyebrows in political circles, its timing is also significant.

Two years after coming to power, Sri Lanka’s national unity government — formed by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) that President Sirisena leads and its rival United National Party with PM Wickremesinghe at the helm — is pulling apart.

Immediate challenge

Amid mounting criticism over the government’s delay in delivering its key election promises, coupled with looming corruption charges, the government is facing another immediate task for its survival — managing the ex-President, who leads a faction of the SLFP. This political grouping is challenging virtually every move of the government as a “joint opposition” in Parliament.

Meanwhile, Mr. Rajapaksa has become increasingly vocal in his criticism of India. Observing that New Delhi has been “mouse-like” on the current government’s China policy, while it objected to his, the former President has accused India of plotting his defeat in the January 2015 elections.

Even as Colombo tries to iron out issues with Beijing on a massive port and investment zone being built with Chinese assistance, Mr. Rajapaksa went to China in late 2016 on an invitation from the government.

At the same time, Colombo-New Delhi ties improved visibly with Mr. Modi’s visit to the neighbouring country in 2015, the first bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister in nearly three decades. .

India and Sri Lanka are currently negotiating a trade deal and exploring partnerships in the strategically crucial eastern city of Trincomalee, in addition to collaborating on development projects. Mr. Madhav is a frequent visitor to Colombo and a known emissary of Mr. Modi. Foreign Secretary Mr. Jaishankar, who arrives on Saturday for a two-day visit, will meet the Sri Lankan President, Prime Minister and other key political actors.