Sunday, June 18, 2017

Glimpses of emerging HR Leaders: Invitation to engage and enrich - See more at:

Monday, 19 June 2017

The National Human Resource Conference (NHRC) of 2017, the largest HR conference in South Asia, will begin tomorrow. Further to the discussion we had two weeks ago, this column will highlight the nature and features of NHRC 2017 in inviting the Daily FT readership to enjoy an insightful and interactive experience.
Overview

The NHRC 2017 will be a platform to deliberate on digitalisation, disruption, diversity and design with regard to this inspirational intervention. Key highlights of the sessions are worth discussing.

Dr. Ravi Fernando, as the keynote speaker, will focus on ‘C-Suite HR Leader and Emerging Future Role’. Mara Tolja, the Co-Founder of Connectle, New Zealand will speak on ‘Working Out Loud and the Future of Work’.

Raj Raghavan, Director and Head of Human Resources, Asia Pacific Region, Amazon will discuss ‘Managing Innovative and Disruptive Talent in High-Tech Companies’. Esther McIntosh, Country Director of World University Service of Canada (WUSC), will speak on ‘Developing a New Generation of Youth Employees for Growth Sectors of the Sri Lankan Economy’.

Saman Wimalaratne, Financial, Management and Corporate Restructuring Advisor/Regional Director, Magnifier INC., will deliberate on ‘HR Analytics to Optimise ROI’. I have the rare opportunity to be a speaker while being the honorary President of IPM, and will be discussing ‘Touch-Savvy HR Leaders: Caring, Daring and Sharing’. There will also be a panel discussion on ‘Transformational Leadership in Action’.
Dr. Ravi Fernando on ‘C-Suite HR Leaders’

“Ensuring Sri Lanka has an emerging pool of talent which is high tech and high touch is the challenge IPM needs to meet by identifying the skill set and competencies which will become essential for an HR leader of the future,” observes Dr. Fernando.

In the future, HR leaders will be expected to play a multiplicity of roles to ensure the organisation is “relevant and strategically competitive”. He foresees following three roles – 1. A driver of the HRD strategy to ensure the “right” talent is acquired, retained, inspired and enabled; 2. An identifier and builder of future competencies, enabler of technology and strategy tool usage within the organisation i.e. digitisation and design and blue ocean market space creation; 3: Build a cadre of diverse talent with global exposure and sustainability mindsets i.e. understanding of the new realities of the world and their potential disruptive impact on current business.

He is of the view that if future C-suite HR Leaders are to meet the above challenges, they need to invest in being both academically and professionally competent on an ongoing basis, globally exposed and have the confidence required to win the right to be heard amongst all C-suite leaders of every functional expertise.
Mara Tolja on ‘Working Out Loud and the Future of Work’

“Leadership, culture, innovation and organisational structures are all being transformed as companies look to become more agile, responsive and engaged,” observes Mara. “Workers are required to master new skills of building relationships, accessing knowledge and discovering opportunities in an increasingly digital workplace.”

According to her, “WOL (Working Out Loud) circles and professional online networks like Connectle, provide peer support groups that give structure, support and shared accountability, empowering employees to practice these essential digital workplace skills”. Working with the creator of WOL Circles and author of ‘Working Out Loud,’ John Stepper, Mara had facilitated the first WOL Circle in London in 2014.

Since then the practice of Working Out Loud has spread to more than 20 countries and a diverse range of organisations, including Bosch, Daimler, the University of Melbourne and The Australian Tax Office. During this session, Mara will describe how organisations can embed WOL Circles into their onboarding, innovation, digital transformation and leadership development programmes, making change easier and more sustainable.
Raj Raghavan on ‘Managing Innovative and Disruptive Talent in High-Tech Companies’

‘Learn how Amazon employees innovate locally’ is Raj’s invitation for us. He says that this insightful session will also feature a key perspective on how to identify, develop and unlock the potential of creative and disruptive talent. How do you tap into the creativity of the millennial talent for business growth? What is the best way to provide creative space and autonomy whilst ensuring timeliness and working backwards from the customer? Raj invites us to join this session for key insights from a company that innovates on behalf of its customers.

As the Amazon’s Head of Human Resources for Asia Pacific Region for their Retail Devices and Content Businesses as well as Global Technology & Business Operations Centres spanning several countries across the region, Raj will share his wealth of expertise. Prior to joining Amazon, Raj was the Head of Human Resources for GE’s Global Research and India Technology Centres. He initially joined GE in 1999 at GE Capital International Services (now Genpact) and held various senior HR leadership positions supporting several businesses in various locations.
Esther McIntosh on ‘Developing a New Generation of Sri Lankan Youth Employees’

“With the ending of the Sri Lankan civil war in 2009, combined with the growth of the Sri Lankan economy in recent years, several sectors including ICT, construction, hospitality and tourism and automotive/light engineering have registered significant growth,”, observes Esther.

“This development presents both an opportunity and a challenge for Sri Lankan human capital development,” she argues. “On the one hand, the growth in these sectors has resulted in an increased demand for skilled employees to occupy entry level positions. This holds the promise of creating a new generation of skilled employee that is able to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and supporting greater competitiveness in the Sri Lankan economy. It also has the potential to address the issue of youth unemployment which adversely affects young women.”

However, as Esther opines: “Despite the opportunity, many companies especially SMEs in the informal sector are unable to attract and retain young women and men to join their workforce.” She will share her experiences in the area of Advancing Specialised Skills for Economy Transformation (ASSET) project which is funded by the Government of Canada. The five-year project is implemented in 11 districts of Sri Lanka and will train more than four thousand persons.
Saman Wimalaratne on ‘HR Analytics to Optimise ROI’

The unfolding modern-day business environment has compelled us to have a re-look at some of our beliefs. The question we should ask ourselves is, ‘who is the king’; is it the customer or the investor? These are the observations of Wimalaratne.

“With the technological advancements, the world has come to a point where the customer no longer knows what he or she wants,” observes he. “It is all about ‘innovation’ taking over the world with investors taking the lead in creating a ‘need’ in the minds of customers. This is where the emphasis given to the customer is out-weighed by the demands of investors.”

As he argues, “We are in an era of quantification”. This is where a greater emphasis on objective-driven decision making, supported by stubborn facts and statistics is of paramount importance. With the new technological advancements, the fundamentals of decision making are changing; Big Data Analytics in particular is revolutionising the whole process challenging the contemporary approaches adopted in different support functions of an organisation. It is now time for each of these functions to bring that of objectivity supported by analytics into the fore in creating a positive impact by complimenting the efforts of the investors.

The interesting rest

I will be speaking on ‘The Emerging HR Leaders: Caring, Daring and Sharing’. Emerging HR leaders have to be not only “tech-savvy” but “touch-savvy” as well. They need to demonstrate that they dare to take key decisions without fear or favour. They also need to have a tough mind and a tender heart in showing their genuine care towards employees. Let me share further details of this session in my next column.

There will be an interactive and insightful panel discussion on transformational leadership. It is a reflection on HR professionals as to how they show more transformational leadership behaviours as opposed to transactional leadership. Carl Cruz, Chairman, Unilever Sri Lanka, Jagath Pathirane, Chief Executive Officer, Expo Freight (EFL), Bindu Vinodhan, Founder of The Institute of Leadership Learning and Transformation, Smitha Murthy, Leadership and Organisation Development Consultant, and Shehara Jayawardana, Group Joint Managing Director, McLarens Holdings Ltd. will be the panellists whilst Ajith P. Bopitiya, Chief Executive Officer, Trikonsult will function as the moderator.
Way forward

We brought you ‘In Search of HR Excellence’ in 2013 with an overwhelming success. We hosted the largest-ever attended HR event of IPM in 2014 with the theme, ‘Redefining HR for Boosting Performance’. It further expanded with the theme, ‘HR for National Prosperity’ in 2015. Last year, we zoomed into the aspect of competing as a nation in a global scale with the fitting theme, ‘HR Ecosystem for Competitiveness’.

Now, the South Asia’s largest HR event is coming to you, more enhanced and enriched tomorrow as an engaging and energising experience. I have no doubt that it will generate immense insights, initiatives and implications in line with emergent HR leaders being high tech and high touch.

(Prof. Ajantha Dharmasiri can be reached through director@pim.sjp.ac.lk, president@ipmlk.org, ajantha@ou.edu or www.ajanthadharmasiri.info)

Should The State Banks Continue Outside The Purview Of The Ministry Of Finance

By Rusiripala Tennakoon –JUNE 18, 2017

Rusiripala Tennakoon

The controversial divorcing of the CBSL from the duties and functions falling within the Ministry Of Finance and transferring it to a new Ministry under the Prime Minister has become a hot subject of discussion. Both Legally and Operationally the CBSL remained as an institution directly linked to the MOF since its inception. Due to the haphazard and makeshift provisions during the 100 day government (which was generally accepted as a transitional period), several ministerial portfolios underwent drastic changes in a rather unorthodox manner with regard to the distribution of duties and functions . The country has already witnessed the consequences of this step during the Central Bank Bond Scam. State Owned Banks which remained attached to the MOF were also allocated to a new ministry outside the MOF. This state of affairs continued without a change even after the formation of the coalition government ((claimed to be a national government ) following the General Election in August 2016. However, from what transpired at the Ministry it is now confirmed that the government has had reasons for downsizing the MOF before the Ministry was assigned to the former minister. He was finally removed.

In the context of the recent cabinet reshuffle it is pertinent to review the current status of the State Owned Banks and to consider whether it is prudent to continue these outside the purview of the MOF any- more. Generally the entire banking industry has to function with a very close relationship with the MOF. Credit supply to the local economy, accessibility to state guaranteed funds and the openings they have to several credit lines and income subsidies, are factors that indicate that the state banks should be positioned to liaise directly with the MOF. In fact they will have to participate in most of the budget related plans and development activities. Financing of infra- structure projects could be best undertaken or handled by the State Banks at relatively lower costs. We are aware that a significant component of project costs comprise of the interest element. Even if a higher interest is charged such income will eventually flow back to the treasury when the projects are financed by the state banks. All these point to the fact that they would be better positioned functionally under the MOF than being under another ministry.

The funds and the capital of the State Owned Banks are provided by the treasury. We are aware of several instances of state intervention to bailout the banks when they were confronted with capital and liquidity problems. In 1992 the then minister of finance stated in the parliament that the two State Banks , Bank of Ceylon and Peoples Bank were insolvent. In more simpler terms they were declared bankrupt. Following a big commotion the government of the day decided to recapitalize the two banks with state funds instead of the alternative then proposed to privatize the banks. Events such as this confirm the need for the banks to be under the control of the treasury rather than some other ministry. When we look at the operations of the two state banks in retrospect we observe that they are constrained due to binding statutory provisions in acquiring the capital adequacy requirements. They cannot issue shares or raise capital by debenture issues as freely as the private banks. As the fund requirements of the state banks could only be fulfilled by the treasury and such financial involvements are of a very high range the treasury intervention becomes compulsory. Furthermore when the state banks need additional capital infusions a financial evaluation has to precede any new allocation of funds. The treasury and the MOF necessarily have to do this task. The Bank of Ceylon by virtue of the Act of incorporation has the right to raise debentures while the Peoples Bank Act has no such provisions. Such issues are best decided at the treasury level and this could be achieved by having the State Banks under the MOF.

Investment fraud in 62,500 Uva-Wellassa land handover

Jun 18, 2017

An investment fraud is alleged in a project under which the government is making fresh attempts to hand over 62,500 acres of forest reserve and Mahaweli Authority-owned land in Uva-Wellassa for sugarcane cultivation that had earlier been rejected as a failed and non-viable project. During the previous Rajapaksa regime, the plan was made to give the land to a US multinational company through its Singaporean affiliate, but the secretary to the subject ministry had disproved of it. Also, people of Uva-Wellassa, environmentalists and civil society organizations opposed the project.

However, reliable government sources say the New York based CDVCA will now be given the land through Gazelle Ventures of Singapore, as confirmed by cabinet paper MDE/AD/03/CAB)PA/2017. Their local agent is Islandwide Marketing Services Pvt. Ltd. (IMS), with the shares of the project to be distributed as 88 per cent for Gazelle Ventures, 10 pc for IMS and one pc each for Mahaweli Authority and the farmers.

Although claimed to be a major project, Gazelle Ventures is to make a mere 150 million dollar investment on the project. That money will not be brought into the country as foreign exchange, but will be obtained from local banks. The project envisages to produce just 14 pc, or 80,000 metric tons, of the local sugar requirement, and environmentalists warn allotting this vast virgin land for sugarcane cultivation will aggravate the human-elephant conflict and create other serious problems too.

IMS is the same company that mediated unsuccessfully in 2007 to handover land to Britain’s Booker Tate for sugarcane cultivation.The questionable investment for the project is same as the one made during the Rajapaksa regime for the Embilipitiya paper company, where the facility was mortgaged to a local bank to obtain a loan. That project too, did not materialize and only ruins of the factory remain.

Concerned groups call on the government to reconsider the project that that will bring it discredit and pose a threat to national assets.

Sanjaya Liyanage

Arms Sales and Global Conflicts

2017-06-19

On June 14, the United States sealed a US $ 12 billion worth of combat aircraft deal with Qatar. This arms deal surprised many in foreign policy circles as the US President made it clear that he supported the Saudi position on Qatar given the ongoing diplomatic crises between the two nations. Yet the deal exposes deep divisions within the US administration but more importantly the increasing influence of arms sales with no real strategic direction to the Middle East. Most of these sales are emanating from American and European weapons transfers.
Thus for many progressive analysts, bombs, blockades and blunders rhyme well. Yet in

terms of global interactions when it came to arms sales, the West had engaged with many regimes in the world, irrespective of the nature of the administration from large democracies to authoritarian rulers. This article will focus more on the developments in the Middle East especially pertaining to the ongoing diplomatic rift between Saudi Arabia and Qatar with some reflections on other regions in the world given these new norms of global relations through arms sales.
It may seem that we all know that the lords of war are all corporate bosses in the defence industry, yet what many would not be understanding is how deep the connection between policy makers, arms industry and global conflicts have evolved and metastasised into a cancer that seems to be going out of control. By the end of 2016, the five-year period starting from 2012 had seen the highest volume of global arms sales since the end of the cold war according to figures coming from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Asia and Middle East accounted for the lion’s share of global arms transfers in combination accounting for nearly two thirds of all global arms transfers.

"Bulk of the British and French defence apparatus end up in the ME. In 2015, the year that the Saudis started bombing Yemen, 83% of total British arms sales went to KSA worth 900 million Sterling Pounds"

Asia’s arms procurement surge is driven by India’s relentless shopping for military hardware in the global arms market. Whilst much talk has been on in India as to how the rest of Asia is panning out is less examined. The case of Vietnam is a classic example; in 2016 Vietnam’s arm imports grew by 202% making it one of the top ten largest weapons importers in the world from its previous position of 29. The numbers are staggering when it comes to Vietnam, Russian arms sales to the Asian nation have increased by 699% over the last five years. Such effects of militarization in Asia should need more attention in a separate article In the context of Middle East some statistics may help explain the recent diplomatic crises that are gripping the region. While the American establishment was trying

to argue a case for the support of Saudi Arabia stating that Iran is a key funder of terrorism and major aggressor in the region, its arms imports were a meagre 1.12% in the region. According to SIPRI data, Saudi Arabia accounted for 7% of all global arms transfers second only to India in 2016. Arms imports to Saudi Arabia in the last five years have grown by 212% whilst in the same period Qatar’s weapons transfers increased by 245%.
Saudi Arabia’s weapons imports are driven by their deepening involvement in Yemen since 2015. It is battling a Shi’a rebel group known as the Houtis since 2015. Yemen’s war has come to scrutiny in almost all Western states where a major debate is raging whether by the support rendered to Saudis in the form of arms are being used by them to commit mass scale crimes against humanity. The Yemeni war is a classic text book case of the impact of arms in conflicts that has wider regional and global security implications.
90% of food supplies come to Yemen through the sea route and with one major access point, the port city of Hodeida currently under Houti control. Saudis are currently maintaining a massive naval blockade into the country; this has led to a humanitarian catastrophe similar to Syria. 19 million people are under the threat of an artificially induced famine. Most Yemenis have become victims of food embargoes and bombs that rain from Saudi coalition warplanes and caught in land skirmishes between Houti rebels and Saudi military coalition forces.
Whilst this humanitarian crisis is unveiling, the Americans have increased their weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, Obama administration over the last eight years had authorized arms sales over the value of US Dollars 200 billion globally and actually carried through with the sales of equipment worth $115 billion to Saudi Arabia alone. This figure is the highest in volume and value of Arms transfers carried out by an American President since the end of the Second World War
Whilst Trump boasted of US $100 billion worth of Arms sales to Saudi Arabia during his visit, experts such as Bruce Reidel, the senior fellow at Brookings with expertise on American security claimed that the amount was false and most of the deals that were discussed were pending arms sales and nothing concrete was really signed. Writing to the popular online law resource, ‘Lawfareblog.com’, he further commented that, ‘There is no $110 billion deal, instead, there are a bunch of letters of interest or intent, but not contracts’.

Yet closer investigation and research into ongoing arms sales by the United States to the middle east even in the guise of ‘defence cooperation’ does illuminate the exceptional treatment Saudi Arabia is getting with vast amounts of weapons, training and equipment. The American government agency in charge of managing defence transfers to enhance defence cooperation, known as the Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), reports that most of the recent arms transfers were to the Saudis.
The State department carried a major statement of the May 2017 arms sales agreement between Saudi Arabia and the United States in the backdrop of President Trump’s state visit. The statement claimed that the intended sales fell broadly into five categories. These categories were border security and counterterrorism, maritime and coastal security, air force modernization, air and missile defence, and cybersecurity. It also further stated by going through with this deal, ‘it demonstrates the United States’ commitment to our partnership with Saudi Arabia, while also expanding opportunities for American companies in the region, potentially supporting tens of thousands of new jobs in the United States’.
This statement is significant as it exposes the iron triangle that is gripping Washington DC and its policy makers, the unbreakable corporate connection between the congress and the arms manufactures. The promise of jobs for congressmen to win elections and in turn the congressmen lobbying for more weapons platforms and weapons sales and by doing so being the agents of global conflicts and conflict sustenance.

"Asia’s arms procurement surge is driven by India’s relentless shopping for military hardware in the global arms market"

Arms sales to Saudi Arabia is not just an American thing, bulk of the British and French defence apparatus end up in the middle east. In 2015, the year that the Saudis started bombing Yemen, 83% of total British arms sales went to Saudi Arabia worth 900 million Sterling Pounds. UK’s arms sales have exponentially increased over the last five years to the Middle East, UAE, Qatar and Egypt were the main recipients apart from the Saudis. Thus whilst the current political and diplomatic tensions in the region are explained within diverse narratives, what is not on the surface is the impact of hardcore weapons platforms on the crises and its future implications.
The Western bloc has sustained efforts to maintain human rights regimes, humanitarian interventions and maintain liberal international institutional structures in the post World War II world. By arming and engaging in arms sales to states that have questionable rights records and being complicit about human suffering emerging from conflicts such as the case of Yemen it seems that the gravitational pull of the liberal project’s moral compass is going through an atmospheric disturbance.Thus such miscued trajectories devoid of the ethics that made the Western liberal project viable and universal in the last seventy years translates into global chaos and less global stability that is represented by the recent Saudi-Qatar dispute.

The writer is the Director, Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies (BCIS)

Jailed Saudi blogger Badawi's children appeal for his release

Badawi was sentenced in 2014 to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison in case that triggered international outrage

Ensaf Haidar holds picture of her husband Raif Badawi after accepting European Parliament's Sakharov Prize on behalf of her husband at European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, in 2015 (AFP/file photo)

AFP- Saturday 17 June 2017

Jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi's three children appealed on Saturday for his release on the fifth anniversary of his arrest on allegations that he insulted Islam in the conservative kingdom.

Badawi, now 33, co-founded a discussion group called the Saudi Liberal Network Internet.

He was arrested in June 2012 under cybercrime provisions, and a judge ordered the website shut after it criticized Saudi Arabia's notorious religious police.

10 years. 1000 lashes for writing a blog. Today marks 5 years since Raif Badawi's arrest. His kids have 1 message for @KingSalman #FreeRaif pic.twitter.com/v2pStWjfM7
— AmnestyInternational (@amnesty) June 17, 2017

Badawi was sentenced in 2014 to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison in a case that triggered international outrage.

"It's not fair that our father is in prison. He's not killed anybody. He just created a blog. It's not illegal," one of his two daughters, Najwa, said in a video released by Amnesty International.

Badawi's wife Ensaf Haidar and their three children - aged 14, 10 and eight - have lived in Quebec province of Canada since 2013.

Supporters around the province and in Montreal held rallies to call for Badawi's release.

The Quebec government reiterated its support for Badawi and said it would keep working to secure his release.

The European Parliament gave Badawi its Sakharov Prize for freedom of expression in 2015.

Labour’s Israel lobby plans to relaunch campaign against Corbyn

Labour Friends of Israel chair Joan Ryan, center, suggested Theresa May would be a better prime minister than Jeremy Corbyn. (Facebook)

Asa Winstanley-16 June 2017

“I was wrong about Jeremy Corbyn” said failed Labour leadership challenger Owen Smith the day after the UK general election.

Corbyn gained 30 seats for Labour despite media predictions he could lose as many as 80.
In so doing, Corbyn denied Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May her majority – a triumph for Labour relative to the consensus that the party was heading for disaster.

Smith’s line summed up the general attitude of Corbyn’s critics in the Parliamentary Labour Party.
Three-quarters of them called for him to go last year, in a failed coup which was swiftly followed by Smith’s leadership challenge.

But in the wake of last week’s unexpected electoral gains, once-critical Labour lawmakers and political commentators have lined up to eat some of the same humble pie as Smith. In a gesture of reconciliation, Corbyn brought Smith back into the Shadow Cabinet this week.

Some hardliners, however, have rejected Corbyn’s outstretched hand – none more so than the party’s internal Israel lobby.

Making demands

Writing in the right-wing Jewish Chronicle on Wednesday, Labour Friends of Israel chair Joan Ryan demanded that Corbyn cut ties with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign to prove Labour is a “credible party of government.”

Ryan’s demands are extraordinary, especially since she used the general election campaign to bad-mouth her own party and its leader.

The PSC responded to Ryan, saying that “our values are those of principled respect for the human rights of everyone – Palestinian and Israeli – as well as international law.”

“We know that these are the values to which Jeremy Corbyn subscribes,” the group added. “That is why we are proud to have him as a patron.”

Ryan also slammed Corbyn as having “long-standing involvement with anti-Israel activism” and called for him to atone by holding talks with Israel’s Labor Party – a racist organization which has recently been in talks to join the hard-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
She also threatened to revive yet again the anti-Semitism witch hunt which engulfed Labour last year, when dozens of members were suspended without due process, often based on grossly exagerated or entirely fabicated charges.

Ryan herself was caught personally engaging in concocting false anti-Semitism charges against a party member who questioned Labour Friends of Israel’s position on Israeli settlements, which are illegal under international law.

Yet in her Jewish Chronicle article, Ryan demanded that Corbyn “address adequately the problem of anti-Zionist anti-Semitism within Labour’s ranks.”

Undermining Corbyn

In fact, over the last year, Corbyn repeatedly denounced anti-Semitism and ordered an independent inquiry – the Chakrabarti report – which has led to institutional changes within Labour.

Ryan ran a defeatist election campaign, which amounted to sabotage of the Labour leader’s chances of entering 10 Downing Street as prime minister.

“Many” local people “tell me they have more confidence in Theresa May as prime minister than they would have in Jeremy Corbyn,” she wrote in a letter to voters in her district.

Despite her attacks on Corbyn, Ryan, like dozens of other Labour lawmakers who had worked against him, was re-elected on the coattails of his popular manifesto.

Yet anonymous “figures” and “sources” have continued to denounce Corbyn to The Jewish Chronicle and other right-wing media this week.

The Jewish Chronicle quoted a “senior pro-Israel Labour” source explaining that the tactic used by Ryan of talking down the party’s chances had been part of a broader pro-Israel strategy.

“I told people Corbyn absolutely would not win and they could vote Labour,” the source said. “We managed to get people who hate Corbyn to vote for Corbyn’s Labour Party.”

“Bang on his door”

But these pro-Israel elements are evidently shocked and disappointed that under Corbyn’s leadership the party did too well at the ballot box.

The source indicated that the pro-Israel forces would continue to undermine Corbyn just as the Labour Party is more confident than it has been in years.

“Communal groups” – a reference to pro-Israel organizations that claim to speak on behalf of the Jewish community – “will have to do what they did before and either ignore him [Corbyn] or work around him,” the source said.

The source also predicted that pro-Israel lawmakers will “be happier to bang on his door now – about anti-Semitism or Israel.”

Like other Corbyn critics, Tulip Siddiq, a Labour Friends of Israel supporter, was re-elected with an increased majority – despite her own efforts to keep the anti-Semitism witch hunt rumbling.

After the election, she told the Jewish News that “there are elements of anti-Semitism in the party that have not been dealt with properly.”

She vowed the she, along with Labour Friends of Israel leader Ryan and fellow member Wes Streeting “will stand up … we can’t go on like this.”

Blurring the line

Failed Labour parliamentary candidate Jeremy Newmark, a veteran leader in the UK’s Israel lobby, wrote in The Times of Israel on Wednesday that after the election, “many things remain unchanged” and “we still need to turn a corner regarding anti-Semitism in the Labour Party.”

Newmark called for the Chakrabarti report to be “revisited,” despite the fact that the Jewish Labour Movement, the internal party pro-Israel group that he heads, had initially welcomed it last year as “sensible and firm.”

Newmark also called for a mooted Labour Party rule book change put forward by his pro-Israel group to again be pushed at the party conference in September.

The change would “recognize that it is not acceptable to use Zionism as a term of abuse” – potentially making criticism of the Israeli state’s official ideology an infraction punishable by expulsion from Labour.

The rule change would also apply to Zionism a definition of a racist incident “which places particular value upon the perception of the victim/victim group.” In other words, a concept developed to protect vulnerable groups from bigotry would be co-opted to protect Israel from criticism by giving Israel’s apologists the right to determine which criticisms of Israel they deem “anti-Semitic.”

If adopted, such a rule would further conflate anti-Semitic bigotry against Jews, on the one hand, with anti-Zionism – opposition to Israel’s exclusivist ideology that discriminates against Palestinians – on the other.

Blurring the line between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism has been a key objective of Israel and its surrogates.

New-old lines of attack

Newmark also revealed the lines of attack the Israel lobby will use against Corbyn. “The immediate agenda is clear,” he wrote, calling for two prominent Labour critics of Israel to be expelled: former London mayor Ken Livingstone and Jewish anti-racism activist Jackie Walker.
None of the smears used by hostile media and right-wing Labour lawmakers last year seemed to work.
Even the false and grossly exaggerated charges of anti-Semitism had their limits.
But bereft of ideas to stop Corbyn eventually entering Number 10 – as now looks increasingly plausible – Israel’s allies in the Labour Party appear determined to bring this manufactured crisis back.

Philippines: Injured Vietnamese hostage rescued in Basilian

ASG-940x495

17th June 2017

PHILIPPINE military troops have rescued a Vietnamese sailor who was held hostage for seven months by Abu Sayyaf militants in the country’s south.

According to AFP (via Rappler), the 28-year-old man was rescued on Friday following an airstrike and artillery fire on the militant’s camp in Basilian which had disperse the kidnappers.

Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) spokeswoman Captain Jo-Ann Petinglay confirmed the sailor was being treated for an unspecified wound on his back.

SEE ALSO: Philippines: Notorious Abu Sayyaf leader killed – military

However, AFP added there was no way to independently verify the military’s account of the rescue.

Hoang Vo was one of six people captured last November when a vessel they were on was boarded by members of the militant group off Sibago Island.

Wesmincom confirmed the Abu Sayyaf group are holding 26 hostages, including several foreigners, in Sulu and Basilian. The group kidnaps foreigners and locals holding them for ransom on its remote island strongholds in Mindanao.

In March, German national, Jurgen Kantner, was beheaded by the Islamist group after being held on the southern island of Jolo.

SEE ALSO: Philippines: Remains of German hostage recovered

This is despite Kantner appealing for help twice and pleading that he would be killed if the ransom was not paid. The militant group is known to behead its hostages if ransom payments are not made.

Philippines soldiers found the elderly man’s remains while the troops were conducting combat, search and retrieval operations in Indanan town in Sulu.

President Rodrigo Duterte made an apology to Germany for the Philippines’ failure to save Kantner. He also insisted that ransoms should not be paid.

India: Does Govt. Have Strategy for its Bankruptcy Policy?

The pragmatic method should be to find a way to enforce the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code without leading to closure of the units. Is it possible in the present situation is the question.

by N.S.Venkataraman- Jun 19, 2017

( June 18, 2017, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) It is often said that industries may become sick but the industrialists owning them rarely become sick. While several sick industrial units and commercial establishments default on the loan and interest repayment and owe several thousands of crores of rupees to the banks and other financial institutions , the directors of most of such units lead an affluent life with high salaries and perks, benefits and privileges. Obviously, the sickness of the industries are not reflected on the owners of the units in most cases.

In the past, the government and the banks have been dealing with these sick units with soft gloves, providing them interest waivers , additional loan and revised repayment schedules. Still, in many cases, their financial conditions have not improved and the exposure of the banks to these units have only increased causing more discomfort to the banks.

The demand of farming community :

Such scenario has caused heart burnings amongst people in the vulnerable sections of society such as farmers and fishermen who also default in payment of loans and interests but are harassed by the lending institutions that demand repayment. This scenario explains the recent demand for waiving of farmers’ loans all over India by the farming community. The farmers ask that when huge corporate loans and interest are waived by the banks with the so called objective of reviving these corporate entities, why such “courtesies” could not be applied to the vulnerable farming community too.

On the face of it, this appears to be a legitimate question though the economic pundits will not agree.

Does Modi government have a strategy?

The present decision of the Modi government to implement Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC ) has been received with much appreciation all over India. President of India had approved an ordinance amending the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, giving more powers to Reserve Bank of India in dealing with the non performing assets (NPA) , which indicate the resolve of the Modi government to sort out the NPA problem once for all.

The extent of the prevailing NPA can be gauged from the fact that around Rs. 10 lakh crore of loans are either non performing or stressed. This is roughly 12% of the total loan extended by the banks and other financing institutions. It is reported that Reserve Bank of India has shortlisted 12 accounts (defaulting companies) each more than Rs. 5000 crore, for resolving via Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. 60% of the amount has already been recognized as NPAs. Reserve Bank of India is reported to be planning to announce 6 more bankrupt companies soon.

Now, the million dollar question is what will the banks do with these large sick companies after announcing them as bankrupt companies ? In any case, most of these companies are not in a position to repay their debts in the present circumstances for whatever reasons.

Now, that the Modi government has taken the plunge and has implemented the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code , one is not sure what is up in it’s sleeve and one wonders whether Modi government has any particular strategy in dealing with the defaulting and sick companies.

Can bankruptcy law be implemented without affecting growth ?

Will the decision to declare the companies as bankrupt result in their being closed and ceasing operations? This would create several other problems like loss of employment, loss of production and loss of invested resources apart from the loss of investment to thousands of small level equity holders, who may have invested their life long savings and post retirement benefits, in these companies.

Obviously, such issues have forced the governments in the past not to rock the boat too hard when dealing with the defaulting corporate bodies.

The pragmatic method should be to find a way to enforce the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code without leading to closure of the units. Is it possible in the present situation is the question.

Of course, many of these defaulting companies have huge assets such as land , plant and machinery and infrastructure. The banks may be able to monetize them straightaway to recover part of their loan but this would be a counter productive solution ,that will virtually destroy the units with consequent several problems for the country like loss of employment etc.

While the bankruptcy code will alleviate many of the financial obligations of the defaulting companies, still they may not be enough to revive the companies without additional fund flow and investment. The question is who will invest in such sick companies , some of which may be facing fundamental issues like product or technology obsolescence, faulty basic designs etc.

Of course, by enforcing the bankruptcy code, the banks may try to persuade the creditors to take over the company by converting the debt into equity. But, in many cases, the creditors may not have the expertise or more investment capability to bring about revival of the units.

Alternately, the banks may have to persist with the existing management and promoters and provide them more sops. This will make the banks and financial institutions a laughing stock.

Does Modi government have a forward plan?

The post bankruptcy scenario for the individual corporate unit is hazy and uncertain. This possibility makes one suspect whether the Modi government is moving with it’s much needed bankruptcy policy without a forward plan. If it has one, it has not so far revealed it to the country men in a convincing manner.

One sensitive question:

Finally, one sensitive question that Modi government would face is whether the inefficient or dishonest promoters of the sick companies who have brought the companies into such sorry state of affairs would be allowed to go scot free, without being punished by the bankruptcy law.

At least 62 killed in forest fire still raging in Portugal

Local residents are evacuated during a forest fire from the village of Derreada Cimeira, Portugal June 18, 2017. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante---Fire and smoke are seen during a forest fire in Mega Fungueira, in central Portugal, June 18, 2017. REUTERS/Miguel Vidal

Firefighters work to put out a forest fire near Bouca, in central Portugal, June 18, 2017. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante---Local residents react as they are evacuated, during a forest fire, from the village of Derreada Cimeira, Portugal June 18, 2017. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante

By Rafael Marchante and Andrei Khalip | PEDROGAO GRANDE, PORTUGAL-Mon Jun 19, 2017

A huge forest fire raging since Saturday in central Portugal has killed at least 62 people, most of them dying in their cars as they tried to flee, the government said on Sunday,

"The dimension of this fire was such that we don't have memory of such a human tragedy," Prime Minister Antonio Costa said in Pedrogao Grande, the mountainous region about 200 km (125 miles) northeast of Lisbon.

Most victims were caught in their vehicles on the road while fleeing flames that were destroying their homes. The prime minister said the death toll could rise as firefighters inspected charred remains of some buildings in remote villages.

Police said a lightning strike on a tree probably caused the blaze on Saturday in a region hit by an intense heat wave and dry, gusty winds, which has fanned the flames.

The prime minister said the emergency services acted as fast as they could but acknowledged that some of the efforts like alerting the population might have been hindered because the blaze had ruined phone lines and communications towers.

"What happened was cables and communications towers were destroyed by the fire, even their first replacements melted," he said. "But nothing compromised the firefighting efforts."
Most communications have been restored, but Costa called on residents listen to the radio and heed any official advice.

The government declared three days of mourning and sent two army battalions to help the emergency services. The European Union said it would provide firefighting aircraft. France has offered three planes and Spain has sent two, authorities said.

Speaking in the Vatican, Pope Francis, who visited Portugal last month, mentioned the victims in his weekly address.

"I am close to the dear people of Portugal, hit by a devastating fire which is raging in the forests around Pedrogao Grande, causing many victims and injuries. Let us pray in silence," he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron said in a Twitter message: "Solidarity with Portugal, hit by terrible fires. Our thoughts are with victims. France makes its aid available to Portugal".

In one village of Nodeirinho, where 11 residents died, state television RTP showed burned out cars and blackened houses. Shocked residents said a whole family that was trying to flee their home in a car had been caught in "a tornado of flames".

"It does not seem real, it is out of this world ... It is a real inferno, we have never seen anything like that," the mayor of Pedrogao Grande Valdemar Alves told reporters, adding that more than 20 villages had been affected.

Alongside 62 confirmed dead, another 54 people have been injured and taken to hospitals. Four are in a serious condition.

More than 600 firefighters were still battling the flames on Sunday. Several local highways were shut for safety reasons.

The authorities said very low smoke clouds prevented helicopters and fire planes dropping water on the flames efficiently for most of the day.

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa visited the site at night and expressed his condolences. He said that "it was not possible to do more than what has been done" in prevention and responding to the fire.

Some local residents said they had been left without firefighters for hours as their homes burned. Many blamed poor forestry reserve planning and depopulation of remote villages that left many wooded areas untended.

(Writing by Andrei Khalip; Additional reporting by Axel Bugge, Maya Nikolayeva in Paris, Crispian Balmer in Rome and Robin Emmott in Brussels; Editing by Larry King and Edmund Blair)