Ananda College – Not A Station, But A Moving Train

By Palitha Pelpola –April 15, 2017

Palitha Pelpola

“When to the sessions of sweet silent thought I summon up remembrance of things past”~William Shakespeare, Sonnet (30)

Ananda 125 Years – A review

Ananda College, named after the principal disciple of Siddhartha Gautama the Buddha is, more often than not, revered for her celebrated contributions to the revival of traditional Buddhist education, reckoned for her distinct accomplishments in non-academic fields and scorned and looked down upon by condescending social-climbers who missed the rare opportunity to attend Ananda College to pursue their primary and secondary education, still remains at the very top tier of educational institutions in Sri Lanka. I state that, not as a so-called proud old-Anandian, but an ordinary citizen making a mere statement of fact. Ananda’s journey over the past 130 years has led through a path of glory and disappointment; it’s been through hardships for the teachers and torrid times for the students; it’s been one magnificent journey, through the proverbial peaks and valleys, whose end is nowhere near but in the distant future. Ananda is not a station as most of our admirers respect; it is a fast moving train taking its travelers along moonlit nights as well as broad daylight; without any favor or fervor, without any irrational emotion but a whole lot of passion. 

In completing ‘Anandaya – the first 125 Years’, a dedicated team of chroniclers have made a remarkable effort at painting a marvelous picture on a broad and seamless canvas, with cold professionalism and painstaking attention to detail one would see in an accomplished biographer. It has provided each reader of each era with a timeless impression of reminiscence of what he went through in that long and arduous journey. That is the inescapable essence of the chronicle that is before us. Whilst recounting the dates and times of each era, whilst presenting a factual picture of the varied struggles and tribulations ‘Ananda’, as a collective mindset of faceless thousands who have passed through the ages of pre-Independence and post-Independence Sri Lanka had to endure, the authors have been able to maintain a remarkable sense of balance in highlighting those characters who shaped and defined what is left today as the legacy of ‘Ananda’.

Many a review has already been written of the book we are talking about today. I’m not going to be judgmental on those efforts, nor am I going to be judgmental on the very institution that is called Ananda and her place in Sri Lanka’s society in relation to each of us. All products of Ananda College have not achieved the pinnacle of society. All have not achieved the desired results when they entered school and completed their education from their formative years to late teens. Yet we indulge in the glories of those few who went to the top of our societal ranks, whether they be of professional, academic or political sort. Many have fallen by the way side. Many have found no light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Many have grown accustomed to the utterly discriminative nature some of our masters and even Principals had resorted to during the reformative ages of our nation as one struggling to raise her head above water during and after the colonial times.

When stipulating these thoughts and beliefs, one must unvaryingly grapple with the fundamental question one must ask as an old-Anandian or even a non-old-Anandian. What is the concept of ‘Ananda’? Is it merely a concept, or is it a living organism? Is it the buildings? Is it the teachers and principals? Is it what we have attained in our respective lives, professionally and personally? Is it the countless lessons we have absorbed or is it an illusion or a mirage that we store within ourselves and never try to give expression to, for fear of finding the inglorious truths hidden behind those illusions and mirages? Or is it the combination of all these aspects and influences and more? I don’t have an answer to these endless alternatives. I dare not choose one from amongst these choices. To do so would be utterly condescending, a characteristic which Anandians are not known for. That, they say, belonged to alumni of other so-called ‘classy’ schools who hurl scorn at Anandians for not being so ‘classy’.

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Joining the greatest hunt in science – Sri Lanka with CERN 

Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha and the CERN Director General Rolf-Dieter Heurer sign an Expression of Interest Agreement to begin cooperation between CERN and the scientific community in Sri Lanka, on Thursday, 25 June 2015, at the CERN Headquarters in Geneva. CERN International Relations Head Dr. Rüdiger Voss, Sri Lanka Permanent Mission Deputy Permanent Representative Samantha Jayasuriya and Sri Lanka Permanent Mission Second Secretary Dilini Gunasekera were associated with the ceremony – File photo

Thursday, 20 April 2017

The practice and the pursuit of science has witnessed many an attempt in pursuing grails of various kinds, with some holier than others. However, there has been one hunt which has been termed as the greatest hunt in science – the search for the Higgs boson!

This piece of writing in addition relates to Sri Lanka’s late entry to the wonderful world of particle physics as physics may be taking a whole new turn since Higgs particle had been uncovered and Nobel’s awarded. Who says there is ever a dull moment in science?

Interestingly the pursuit for the particle – one among many but considered the most elusive of all – takes place below around the border between Switzerland and France. The Swiss-French landscape may not really reveal much on the surface other than its natural beauty Alps in the distance, etc., as they say the money coming from 20+ countries is spent underground and not for surface decor! The area houses the most sophisticated machines mankind has ever built. It is cooperation in science at its very best and in the not-too-distant future Sri Lanka too has hopes of playing a role of sort. 

The purpose

The underground home of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has been a multibillion dollar enterprise for smashing atoms – One may ask, for what purpose? What has been the ROI? How have these collisions in vacuum helped society? It is always possible to ask questions in jest but if you pursue you may be surprised over the outcomes so far – World Wide Web, touch screens, advanced cancer treatment, etc., CERN is quick to say that the 25% of global GDP is based on quantum mechanics and that is what they are in the forefront of!

The office of CERN – the European nuclear research organisation – closer to Geneva was established with more than 20 countries pooling resources and it took more than a decade to construct. CERN’ s track conveys trillions of protons around an underground 27 km ring in opposite directions over 11,000 times a second, travelling at 99.9999991% of the speed of light and then bang! To smash atoms and search for elusive particles you really should have the attitude plus fortitude. At present CERN has more than 10,000 scientists in its network – this is more than double what we have as scientists of all types in Sri Lanka.

The effort is in identifying and understanding the origin of mass at the very moment of the origin of universe. Recreating the primary moments of the Big Bang and gain an insight into the ensuing events form the bedrock of CERN’s efforts. How many mysteries – both known and unknown – may be unravelled, time certainly will tell.

One mystery that people are trying to unravel appears to be confusing when you first hear it – finding why weight exists. A loaf of bread we expect to be around 450g. If it weighs less, it is an offence to sell. Yet though we prepare them, sell them and eat, apparently scientists cannot exactly explain why the loaf or for that matter any stuff weighs as they do. Of course they look into the loaf to see the fundamental building blocks whatever they are in answering the question after first forming the original question. It certainly is no easy journey and not for the fainthearted.

While the questions were always there within probing minds, it was Peter Higgs who with great mental calisthenics that is essentially required in physics hypothesised that blocks of matter did flip from weightlessness to have weight, with the aid of an invisible field that came into existence after the Big Bang. The search for Higgs boson was then on following the original concept written down in a notebook at his Edinburgh office. The search had been not without scientific rivalries too.

Higgs boson discovery

Wednesday 4 July 2012 was the day CERN announced to the world about the discovery of Higgs boson and the run up to that event had been interesting too indicating the steps and missteps that one needs to be aware of today.

As related by Ian Sample in his award-winning book ‘Massive,’ the discovery of Higgs boson at CERN, the organisation that invented the web and also introduced it without any costs to the people, had leaked its biggest story in history by screwing up its web security. However as Ian indicates, the two presentations by the scientists Joe Incandela and Fabiola Gianotti in the morning on that day in the presence of so many who were involved in the search, including Higgs himself at 83, eclipsed all that had leaked prior.

It is not the usual to see particle physics making headlines in media but for few days after a particle that had its history 13.7 billion years ago and a group of men and women who dared to probe the mystery against many an odd did achieve that distinction in style. The event was a testimony to one man’s hypothesis and many nations’ commitment and a science story quite unparalleled.

It is recorded – you can learn how to do science diligently and methodically by reading the CERN story as announcement of this sort had be right and there really is no going back nor any other admission subsequently. The meticulous ways how teams have worked together are learning to many and those who plan team projects can really learn a lot.

Experiments leading to a final set of results happened just before a scheduled closure which would have taken more than a year. The passion within teams appears to have been infectious with the scientists having made a final push for a positive result in the final months. The shutdown was to enable the LHC to fire up at its full design energy.

Calculated risks in handling energising and unbundling data which originate at million gigabytes per second all had involved sturdy mindsets accompanied by innovative steps all the way. As the minds were ready, the boson presented itself and with the data accuracy determined – physicists do not settle for less than 5 standard deviations – the Head of CERN Rolf-Dieter Heuer did announce the discovery on this day! Finally after13.7 billion years later and 48 years since the hypothesis Higgs boson has arrived.

As Ian has reiterated, at first an obscure note in a journal, the theory acquired an importance that justified a decade-long research, with multimillion-dollar machines that became careers, dreams, and lives of thousands of scientists and engineers. In 2013 both Dr. Higgs and Dr. Englert of Belgium received the Nobel Prize in Physics for their contributions to this area of study. It is this excitement perhaps that today we Sri Lankans are trying to catch too.

CERN and Sri Lanka

The interaction with CERN in Sri Lanka started in 2014 when the Senior Minister for Science and Technology invited the International Affairs Director of CERN to Sri Lanka. An EOI between Sri Lanka and CERN was facilitated by the Sri Lanka Geneva mission in June 2015. CERN again participated in the 2016 Science and Technology for Society Forum held in Colombo. Thereafter the EOI was elevated to an International Cooperation Agreement (ICA) with the current Minister of Science Technology and Research signing the agreement on behalf of Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka became the 47th country to sign an ICA with CERN. This Agreement will create a framework for the participation by Sri Lankan scientists, engineers and technicians in research projects of the CERN and increase opportunities for Sri Lankan undergraduates and physics teachers to participate in CERN’s training programs. In 2016, two students participated and 2017 will see four students selected by CERN to attend the summer camp. CERN is supporting 50% of these visits via full scholarships and CERN selects exclusively from a global application list. COSTI is quite pleased to have coordinated the whole interaction from the very first visit.

These opportunities are quite enriching as student experiences so far have revealed. Sri Lankan students here in Sri Lanka have never been able to participate in these events before. It is hoped that teacher participation too will happen. Sri Lanka does not have a significant scientific presence in theoretical physics as many a physicist produced by the universities has been lost to outside world. It is the backwardness of the society that prevents gainful employment and not the mismatch of the curricula with the job market that is at fault here.

Instead of arguments, it is hoped that this period of renaissance in relationship with CERN may herald an era of practical interest in sciences and especially in physics and that the country will exploit these to the maximum.

VIDEO: Palestinian political rivalries play out in West Bank refugee camp

Trapped between a rock and a hard place, residents of Balata refugee camp say factional rivalries are tearing the camp apart

A still showing clashes in Balata camp (AFP)

Abla Klaa- Elia Ghorbiah-Wednesday 19 April 2017

On-going political violence continues to tear Balata refugee camp apart, amidst increased tensions between supporters of Palestinian politicians Mohammed Dahlan and Mahmoud Abbas.

The camp, which is located in Nablus City, is the largest in the West Bank and home to over 30,000 inhabitants. 

Balata was established in 1950 by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) as a temporary solution in response to Palestine’s refugee crisis during the time of Israel’s establishment. It was intended to house 5,000 people.

The area has paradoxically become an access point for Israel’s tourists to the biblical site, Jacob’s Well, as well as a hotspot for military resistance against Palestinian and Israeli forces. The camp is also widely known for playing a role in the uprising of the first and second Intifadas.

Raids carried out by Palestinian security forces have become increasingly common in the camp following a “mass crackdown” on military activity and drugs.

“We don’t submit to the authorities. Each year they [the Palestinian Authority] arrest us in at least two campaigns” Hatem Reziq told Middle East Eye. He is a wanted resident by the Palestinian security services and makes his disaffiliation from both Dahlan and Abbas clear.

His views echo a consensus among camp residents that neither politicians have helped secure peace in Balata.

“We no longer feel safe, from both sides,” camp resident Abu Mohammed argues.

The UN have cited growing concerns for rising unemployment and worsening conditions in the camp, castings doubts over the future of many children who live there.

Enterprise in a time of poverty

Samira Toman, at left, teaches women traditional embroidery.Mohammed Asad

Mousa Tawfiq-18 April 2017

Samira Toman has gone from self-taught student to teacher.

“I’ve been doing embroidery for almost 40 years,” the 55-year-old mother of nine told The Electronic Intifada.

“I learned how to use needle and thread at school. I used to buy floss and fabric with my pocket money to practice with my sisters at home.”

She has put her skills to good use. Gaza remains mired in dire economic straits, isolated from the world by an Israeli blockade, with “stubbornly high” levels of unemployment and still suffering the consequences of three brutal military assaults over the past 10 years.

But life goes on and, for some, necessity has proven the mother of invention. Toman has drawn on Palestinian heritage to create a small embroidery business that has seen her not only exhibit around Gaza, but begin workshops to teach others in the impoverished coastal strip.

“Embroidery helped me financially,” Toman, who lives in the al-Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza City, said. “My husband was a laborer in Israel before 2000. Since then, he has been working at a small grocery which is not very profitable. I’ve done my best to help raise our children.”

Toman also pointed to the importance of cross-stitch embroidery as a part of her heritage.

“I can’t imagine my life without this. I taught my five daughters how to sew. Even one of my sons is interested and he is very good at it. We should teach our children how to preserve our culture because it’s the only proof of our historical existence on this land.”

Since 2008, Toman has been exhibiting her products around Gaza, and she is enjoying a growing reputation among local institutions and traditional clothes shops.

She has been aided by the Women’s Affairs Center, a nonprofit group dedicated to helping women in Gaza improve their skills and recognize their potential. In addition to exhibiting her clothes, the center has also provided her a room where Toman has begun teaching others the art of embroidery.

A market for heritage

The classes have been a success. Last year, almost 40 people learned how to embroider and have started their own personal projects, she said.

“I strongly believe in my message. I teach women how to be artists. I help them learn a simple skill that may improve their economic situation. In addition, spending hours working with needle and thread relaxes us and helps us forget the pressure.”

For Anam Siyam, 62, embroidery was a part of her job as an arts teacher until her retirement two years ago.

An allergy prevented her from pursuing her passion for sculpture in marble and clay. Instead, she turned to sewing.

“It’s cleaner, simpler and doesn’t require a lot of equipment; just a needle and thread.”

Anam Siyam, a retired teacher, does embroidery at home.

According to Siyam, there is good demand for traditional clothes despite their higher price.

“We noticed that some tailors started to use sewing machines to make clothes with traditional [embroidery] designs. Although that is three times cheaper than handmade products, people prefer ours,” she said. “People appreciate the art and believe in its beauty as a part of our heritage.”

Siyam and her five daughters try to market their products on social media as well as directly among relatives and neighbors in the Sheikh Radwan area of Gaza City where they live. And her daughters are fully supportive.

“My mother didn’t accept the idea of staying at home without doing anything,” said Amina, 21, Anam’s youngest daughter. “For her, it’s not about profit or money, it’s her passion. We do our best to encourage her and to market her products just to help her do what she likes.”

Designer doughnuts

When Tasneem Shalayel, 23, traveled last summer to the United States to participate in a management training course, she was amazed by the variety of doughnuts offered everywhere.

“I would eat doughnuts during breaks, and I was surprised by how many diverse flavors and shapes there were.”

Shalayel asked her American friends about doughnuts. She also went to restaurants and asked chefs for recipes and other tricks of the trade.

Last October, after getting back to Gaza, she decided to make doughnuts in her family’s kitchen in the Tel al-Hawa area of Gaza City. She used social media to market her creations and, she said, people’s reactions were encouraging.

Tasneem Shalayel makes doughnuts at her home and markets them on social media.
Mohammed Asad

Then, after graduating – Shalayel earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Al-Azhar University – she took the idea further, though only to “enjoy my free time doing something I like.”

“I decided to make doughnuts at home and sell them online. My family encouraged me. I chose doughnuts because I learned how to make them in America, and I can be creative with different shapes and toppings.”

For Shalayel, making doughnuts is about design more than baking. With a talent for painting, she creates colorful doughnuts using any ingredients available in Gaza.

Her social media following has exploded as a result. And with the project meeting some success, the young entrepreneur – who eventually wants to earn a master’s degree in international business management – is now looking to expand.

“I’m happy it’s working. I look forward to adding pizza and cinnamon rolls to my menu.”

Gaza fashion house

As a child, Nermin al-Dimiati, 30, was so fascinated by fashion shows on TV that by the time she graduated from high school, she wanted to study fashion design. But there was no such course in Gaza, and she wound up studying history and archaeology instead.

But she never gave up on her dream.

“In 2013, I started to design clothes in my room after taking a one-year design diploma. My customers were my neighbors and relatives,” al-Dimiati said. “My family encouraged me and believed in my talent.

A year later, al-Dimiati put on her first exhibition at a local hotel for clothing designed specifically to go with the hijab or headscarf. The success of the exhibition persuaded her to continue and to open her own workshop.

“Opening the workshop was a very important step. Nowadays, I have customers of all ages. Most of them are women, because they feel comfortable dealing with me, as a woman, more than dealing with tailors, who are usually men.”

Nermin Demiati at her fashion workshop.
Mohammed Asad

The biggest difficulty al-Dimiati has so far encountered has been to convince people that there is a difference between fashion designers and tailors, of which there is no shortage in Gaza.

“At the beginning, it was difficult, but now people have started to recognize the difference. I’m really happy with the new culture and art we are creating in Gaza. A lot of my colleagues started calling themselves fashion designers rather than tailors. It’s good for our profession.”

Marriage has not dimmed Al-Dimiati’s ambitions. She says it has encouraged her to improve herself and to try for even greater success.

“Since my marriage, my husband played a very important role in encouraging and supporting me. A lot of women in Gaza give up their dreams after getting married and having families, but it wasn’t my case.”

Al-Dimiati dreams of opening a fashion house in Gaza to look after and improve the talents of other aspiring designers. She also hopes to secure opportunities for local designers to travel abroad and get more experience.

“Four years ago, I was working alone in my room. Now, I have a workshop with more than six tailors. I will do my best to help other talented designers achieve their dreams.”

Mousa Tawfiq is a journalist based in Gaza.

Violence feared as protesters clash at Venezuela 'mother of all marches'

Tensions high in Caracas following student’s death after he was shot in the head near a clash between pro- and anti-government groups

• Are you taking part in protests in Venezuela?

Caracas: thousands of Venezuelans take part in ‘mother of all marches’ – video

Virginia López in Caracas and Jonathan Watts in Rio de Janeiro-Wednesday 19 April 2017

Venezuela braced for an outbreak of political violence on Wednesday as hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators flooded on to the streets of Caracas for what the opposition billed the “mother of all marches” against the government.

Tensions – which have built up over several weeks of bloody protests – were ratcheted up after a student died having been shot in the head near a clash between pro- and anti-government groups.

Fears of bloodshed were stoked after President Nicolás Maduro put troops on the streets, supplied guns to sympathetic civil militias and called for a simultaneous rally of his supporters against what he said was a United States-backed coup.

 Demonstrators build a barricade while clashing with riot police during the so-called ‘mother of all marches’ in Caracas, Venezuela, on Wednesday. Photograph: Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters

 A demonstrator against Nicolás Maduro’s government in Caracas on Wednesday. Photograph: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images

State TV images showed thousands of red-shirted government loyalists on the rival march “to defend the homeland”.

But their numbers were far exceeded by the vast throng that gathered in the Baruta district to express their anger and frustration at an administration that has led the country with the planet’s biggest oil supplies into the world’s deepest economic recession.

Banners reading “No more dictatorship” highlighted the steady erosion of democracy. In the past month, the supreme court attempted to circumvent Congress’s legislative powers – a power grab which was subsequently reversed, while opposition figurehead and former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles was banned from running for office for 15 years.

Many targeted the Venezuelan president, who is blamed for high inflation and the chronic shortages of food, medicine and other basic goods. The chant “Esta es la ruta para salir del hijueputa” (“This is the way to oust the son of a bitch”) echoed repeatedly around the downtown district.

The protesters came from all walks of life. Some said they had previously supported the government under Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez, but the worsening economic and social crisis had made them march for change.

“We are desperate and tired of living in misery,” said Kelvyn Cava, a former Chavista from the eastern state of Zulia. “With Chávez our salaries were worth something. Now, if hunger doesn’t kill us, then crime will.”

A group of Catholic clergy were also among the crowd, although the Vatican has tried to adopt a neutral position in hosting talks between the two sides. 

“I came with several priests because we have reached the breaking point for this regime of narcotraffickers and terrorists. We need peace and to reconstruct this country,” said Father José Palmar. 

“We ask Pope Francis to do for Venezuela what Pope John Paul II did for Poland,” he add, referring to the role that the Catholic church played in overthrowing communism in eastern Europe during the Soviet era.

Others said they were prepared for clashes with the security forces. “We have come today because we want freedom and a functional economy. It’s paralysed,” said Luis Machado, a money changer who was wearing gloves in case he had to pick up a gas canister and throw it back at the security forces. 

Several recent demonstrations have ended in violence, with at least six deaths reported since the start of the month.

Wednesday’s victim, Carlos Moreno, was not taking part in the demonstration but was shot when government supporters approached an opposition gathering and opened fire, witnesses told Reuters. Moreno was shot in the head, and later died in the hospital.

Eleven countries from the Organisation of American States have jointly called on all sides to remain peaceful and urged the government to call new elections.

This was echoed by the United States, which issued a communique on Tuesday warning that “those responsible for the criminal repression of peaceful democracy institutions and practices, and for gross violations of human rights, will be held individually accountable for their actions by the Venezuelan people and their institutions, as well as by the international community”.

Maduro responded in a live televised address on Tuesday night in which he claimed, “The US government, the state department, have given the green light, the approval for a coup process to intervene in Venezuela.”

He then signed a decree to mobilise the military to defend internal order. The government has also tried to reduce the size of protests by cutting subway services and setting up highway roadblocks.

For seasoned observers of Venezuelan politics, this may sound familiar. In the 18 years since the late Hugo Chávez, and his successor Maduro assumed power, Venezuelans have grown accustomed to giant rallies for and against the government. Several have turned violent, but none have spurred significant change. Although the opposition seized control of Congress in the 2015 election, they are divided and have failed to galvanise popular discontent.

But there are differences from the past. The economy is deteriorating, with the IMF predicting this week that Venezuelan unemployment will surpass 25% this year as the country suffers a third year of recession. There is also less regional support for Maduro following the rightward shift of governments in Argentina and Brazil.

The mood is becoming more confrontational. 

Whereas in previous marches people wore white shirts and baseball caps with Venezuela’s tricolor flag, this time protesters on the frontline hid their identity behind masks and hoodies. Banners and flags have given way to slingshots and rocks.

Even Maduro was recently pelted with objects in the eastern city of San Félix, traditionally a bastion of government support.

Shortages of food, medicine and other basics have eroded support for the government in poor neighbourhoods. According to the Observatory of Social Conflict, there were close to 5,000 incidents of protests in 2016 – 15% more than in the previous year.

“This is no longer people chanting and taking selfies. People are indignant – and they are resolute,” Capriles said.

Trump Seeks to Limit Foreign Workers With New Executive Order

“Buy America, Hire America” proposes to overhaul the H-1B visa program and renegotiate trade agreements.

BY KAVITHA SURANA, JESSICA HOLZER-APRIL 18, 2017

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday to compel U.S. companies to hire more American workers, but the proposed changes will require congressional action to have any significant impact.

The new “Buy America, Hire America” order directs government agencies to enforce rules against immigration fraud and abuse and proposes reforming the H-1B visa program to give priority to the “most skilled or highest paid applicants” instead of selecting them in a lottery system. It also aims to toughen “Buy America” rules, which favors American companies in federal government contracts, and orders a broad review of U.S. trade agreements containing waivers to procurement rules.

The president could renegotiate or rescind agreements that aren’t deemed fair or reciprocal.
H-1B visas are awarded to skilled workers, such as software engineers, professors, doctors, and lawyers, through a lottery system and subject to a wage scale. This year, the program received 199,000 new applications for 85,000 spots — a 15 percent drop from the past two years. Trump criticized the program on the campaign trail, arguing it allows U.S. companies to hire low-cost foreign workers instead of American workers, and said he would end it.

The administration believes that weaknesses in the H-1B program and loopholes, waivers and lax enforcement of policies aimed at steering government procurement to U.S companies have hurt American workers. But for now, Trump’s proposed changes to the visa program is more of a wishlist than an action plan. Congress would need to approve changes, such as raising the wage scale to make it less appealing for U.S. companies to hire foreign workers, or to give priority to highly skilled workers in the H-1B lottery.

“Ultimately the only things I take away so far are that the administration wants to sound tough and ‘muscular’ in rooting out fraud and abuse,” William Stock, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said. “They really want Congress to make changes that, at least for the past 15 years, Congress hasn’t been willing to make.”

Trump, speaking Tuesday at a manufacturing company in Kenosha, Wisconsin, called his order a “historic action” and declared “the policy of our government is to aggressively promote and use American-made goods and to ensure that American labor is hired to do the job.”

Large Silicon Valley companies, like Facebook and Google, often use H-1B visas to fill full-time software engineering and programming jobs. Yet information technology firms, which operate more like staffing agencies, have recently come under scrutiny for alleged abuse and fraud involving lower level technical jobs.

The most high-profile case of H-1B visa abuse concerned Walt Disney Company in Florida, where American tech workers claimed they were forced to train foreign replacements on the H-1B visa program before being laid off. In October, a judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by two workers accusing Disney of conspiring with IT outsourcing companies to circumvent visa regulations.

Priya Alagiri, an immigration lawyer for companies in the Bay Area, said the vast majority of H-1B visas are used by tech companies who cannot find qualified workers at home, even though they try. “The H-1B program is an arduous, expensive undertaking,” she said. “Companies don’t go out of their way to choose a foreign worker.”

A typical H-1B visa can cost up to $3,700 in U.S. immigration filing fees, on top of legal fees. It can take months to get a new visa processed, as well as copious evidence demonstrating why the company needs to hire the particular worker. Legally, companies must pay H-1B visa holders the same wage an American would be paid in the equivalent position.

Alagiri predicted some big companies would simply leave the United States or outsource more jobs if Congress follows through with the plans outlined in the order. “These companies are not going to hire U.S. workers, they are going to move these jobs overseas,” she said.

Trump has used visa programs to fill jobs at his Mar-a-Lago resort with foreign workers in the past, often under a different visa program for lower skilled workers. A New York Times investigation found the resort pursued more than 500 visas for foreign workers since 2010, while domestic applicants were rejected from the same jobs.

Todd Schulte, the president of FWD.us, a bipartisan immigration policy group led by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, said many companies agree the H-1B program needs changes, but such reforms should be “targeted” at increasing the wage floor to ensure foreign workers are not a cheaper option, and cracking down on companies that abuse the H-1B program for low-skilled outsourcing.

Meanwhile, moves to broaden Buy America measures threaten to rile America’s trading partners. Canada, China, the European Union, and Japan have long criticized such measures as barriers to trade even though these countries have similar rules in place.  An agreement the United States struck with 42 other World Trade Organization members on access to government contracts may constrain how much the administration can prod other countries to open their procurement further.

A senior administration official, in a background briefing with reporters Monday, indicated the administration wasn’t planning to scrap or rework the agreement for now. The order “takes a measured approach to this problem by not immediately rescinding these agreements or calling for their renegotiation,” the official said.

The new executive order also aims to strengthen the enforcement of Buy America measures at the bureaucratic level by requiring each federal agency to carry out a review of how it complies with the rules. The Commerce Secretary would furnish a report to the president summarizing the findings.

Photo Credit: SCOTT OLSON/Getty Images

Ai Weiwei questions HK autonomy after being denied bank account by HSBC

 19th April 2017

DISSIDENT Chinese artist Ai Weiwei poked fun at Hong Kong’s autonomy from mainland China after he was denied his request to open a bank account with HSBC while at the bank’s headquarters in Hong Kong on Tuesday.

Poking fun at the “One country, two systems” principle under which China and Hong Kong operate, the controversial artist suggested in an Instagram post that perhaps “one country, one system” would be better as the same did not happen in his home city of Beijing.

Ai’s comment, posted on Tuesday, read:

“I’m in Hong Kong, trying to open an account at HSBC. My request was refused due to a “commercial decision” from the headquarter. This has not happened to me in Beijing. Maybe “one country, one system” is better.”

A spokesperson for HSBC told South China Morning Post that, while the bank would not discuss individual cases specifically, “HSBC does not decline to open bank accounts because of individuals’ political views.”

SEE ALSO: Chinese artist Ai Weiwei unveils huge ‘refugee boat’ in Prague

One of the world’s most famous living artists, Ai has long run foul of Chinese authorities, culminating in 81 days of detention in 2011 amid a wider crackdown on political dissent. He was subsequently banned from travelling overseas for more than four years and his passport was confiscated.

Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei lies face down on the beach on the Greek island of Lesbos as part of an art piece highlighting the plight of refugees fleeing to Europe. Source: AP

But Ai’s case is not unique as this is not the first time that Chinese banks have been accused of blocking accounts or financial transactions involving dissidents or opposition figures.

In February, the Bank of China closed the account of Hong Kong’s pro-independence party, Youngspiration. The personal account of the party’s ousted lawmaker Baggio Leung was also frozen by HSBC. Leung and another ousted lawmaker, Yau Wai-ching, were using the party’s account to receive donations for a legal battle with the government over the disqualifications for their oaths of office.

Democracy activist Joshua Wong also claimed that HSBC refused to open accounts for his party, Demosisto, back in April last year.

At the time, Wong accused the bank of “political censorship”.

Banks globally have been implementing stricter vetting procedures and background checks after a number of institutions received sizeable penalties for not doing enough to combat money laundering and terrorism. As a result of this, many now employ commercial databases to assess the risks of politically-sensitive customers.

Babri case: SC revives criminal conspiracy charges against Advani, others

Senior BJP leaders Murli Manohar Joshi and L.K. Advani.

The court transfers the case from Rae Bareilly to Lucknow, insists on a time-bound trial

Krishnadas Rajagopal

-APRIL 19, 2017

The Supreme Court on Wednesday used its extraordinary constitutional powers under Article 142 to revive the criminal conspiracy charges against senior BJP leaders, including L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, in the dual Babri Masjid demolition cases.

A Bench of Justices P.C. Ghose and Rohinton F. Nariman transferred the Rae Bareilly case languishing in the magistrate court and clubbed it with the Lucknow case pending before a CBI Special Court

The Rae Bareilly case accuses Mr. Advani, Dr. Joshi and six other BJP and Sangh Parivar leaders of giving provocative speeches that promoted enmity and threatened national integration.

The Lucknow case is against "lakhs of unknown kar sevaks” and deals with the actual act of demolition and violence. With the clubbing of the cases and revival of the the conspiracy charges, the senior BJP leaders will be tried under the composite charge sheet filed by the CBI on October 5, 1993.

Justice Nariman, who wrote the judgment for the Bench, specifically called out the names of Mr. Advani and Dr. Joshi while pronouncing the judgment in open court to underline the fact that the criminal conspiracy charges had been revived against them.

With the clubbing of the cases, the Supreme Court has completely agreed with the CBI that both cases - the actual demolition case and the speeches allegedly made by these leaders - are pari materia or part of the same action.

The court, however, exempted Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh, who was Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister at the time of demolition, from facing trial as of now.

Justice Nariman held that Mr. Singh is protected from criminal prosecution by the constitutional immunity his Governor’s post allows him under Article 361.But the Sessions Judge will commence prosecution against him for criminal conspiracy the moment he steps down.

The court ordered day-to-day trial to be completed in two years. The trial judge will not be transferred till the case is over and there will be no adjournments given, it said. If an “impossible” situation arises, the trial court would record the reason for the adjournment, the court said.

The Supreme Court clarified that this would be no de novo or fresh trial, which would entail fresh framing of charges, but only involve the joining of criminal conspiracy into the existing case.

The court clarified that the witnesses who were already examined separately in both the cases can be re-called and re-examined. Combinedly, both cases have a total of over 900 witnesses who have yet to testify.

Justice Nariman said the court should be directly approached in case of any grievances against this order or in the future.

The court’s judgment removes the jinx triggered on February 12, 2001, when a single Judge of the Allahabad High Court found a technical default in the cases.

The Judge had pointed out that the State government had not sought the permission of the Allahabad High Court Chief Justice while first transferring the Rae Bareilly case to Lucknow in August 1993 for a joint probe by the CBI.

In September 1997, the CBI judge, perusing the composite chargesheet of the agency file in October 1993, had also found prima facie evidence against 13 persons, including Mr. Advani and Mr. Joshi, for criminal conspiracy.

The Single Judge had, however, in 2001 upheld the CBI chargesheet and agreed there was evidence of conspiracy. He had found the “technical default” in the transfer of the Rae Bareilly case to Lucknow in 1993 “curable” by the State government, who could have issued a fresh notification correcting the error.

But no State government ever did that.

A couple of months later on May 4, 2001, Mr. Advani and other politicians challenged the conspiracy charge. A lower court subsequently dropped the charge and the Rae Bareilly case eventually returned to the Rae Bareilly Magistrate. At one point, in a recent Supreme Court hearing, senior advocate Kapil Sibal informed the Supreme Court that there was no presiding trial judge and the case has been lying stagnant.

A decade after the conspiracy charge was dropped by a lower court, the CBI had appealed to the Allahabad HC for its revival. The agency failed, following which it had moved a second appeal in the Supreme Court in February 2011.

Six years after the appeal was filed in 2011, Justice Nariman had questioned the dropping of the conspiracy charge against the leaders.

On April 6, 2017, Justice Nariman had termed the 25-year pendency of both trials an “evasion of justice”.

Senior advocate K.K. Venugopal, appearing for Mr. Advani and Mr. Joshi, had objected to the court’s proposal to use its formidable powers under Article 142 to club both Babri cases. He submitted that a joint trial would now delay justice for his clients.