Stable Community: A Christmas Reflection

 

BISHOP DULEEP DE CHICKERA- 12/24/2018

 

A stable message  

The birth of Christ ushers a promise of peace for the world. In the fullest teaching of the Bible, peace is the ethos of stable, just and reconciled relationships among all living beings. Peace happens here and now in history, and remains a paradox. It is a gift of God enhanced by human endeavour.

The entry of wise persons from other religious cultures, demonstrate goodwill at the birth of a Jewish baby. Their presence endorses cross-cultural harmony as a distinct impetus in this pilgrimage towards peace.

The inclusion of poverty-stricken shepherds, longing for relief from their daily burdens, points to the inescapable agenda of economic justice. Disregard for this obligation hinders this same pilgrimage.

Two things we lack

Our recent awakening to democratic values and governance is commendable. It is nevertheless lacking in cross-cultural collaboration and the demand for economic justice for the poor.

Our protests and interventions for stability have skirted the religious collective.  We do not seem to understand how vicious a weapon religion can become when distorted to serve narrow sectarian agendas. The crucial investment in inter-religious goodwill and trust has been neglected for too long. While some recent interventions from the religions spoke truth with courage, they were constrained to do so alone. Others stood behind party lines to feed animosity and division.

Many who worked for political stability downplayed the priority of real, visible, economic justice for the poor, measurable by the poor. Few took up the cry of the plantation workers for a higher, yet far from livable wage. Several did voice concerns over economic setbacks, but in a terminology few understand. Investments, markets and profits are about moving wealth in one direction. Eventually, the wealth gap widens even more. Eventually the poor are excluded from both, conversations and food at the table.

Truth from the sidelines

People’s movements that sideline cross-cultural trust and visible economic justice for the poor have a short lifespan. They are to turn to these responsibilities if they wish to remain movements. Cross-cultural trust and the poor endowed with justice have a momentum of their own. They add energy, cohesion and credibility to our aspirations for political and social integrity.

This message of Christmas is all the more urgent now. The reconstruction of legitimate political alliances between independent parties is once again leading to divisive and dangerous spurts of racism. And the brash endorsement of an unregulated free market economy, threatens to drown the poorest in our national family in an ocean of bondage.

Stable Community

Regardless of whatever else happens, it is when the best in our religious cultures overcome their differences and suspicions and come together to declare truth and work for the common good that the movement towards stable community lies within reach.

But this alone will not do. It is also only when we move the challenge of economic justice for the poor, cleverly hidden at the periphery, to the centre, that we will lay a truly democratic foundation. As long as poverty exists and is ignored, and societies stretch between the extremes of rich and poor, there can never be a truly just, stable and democratic society.

Kairos now

The first Christmas is considered one of the best examples of a Greek word ‘Kairos’. In a nutshell, Kairosis the much longed for intervention that brings fresh energy for a higher quality of life. For those who long for stable community, the real flowering of inter-religious collaboration and visible economic justice for the poor, create the conditions for a repeat of Kairos.

With peace and blessings to all.

 

Electrify your Christmas?

by Victor Cherubim- Dec 25, 2018

Dec 25, 2018

How to get the most out of Christmas must surely be on the minds of many around the world this year. There is nothing stopping from adapting the festive season to virtually any way you want it to unravel. You can choose the level of happiness you want to benefit out of the celebration, if only at the start you decide one thing and that is to forget all the unwanted misery you may have had to undergo leading up to Christmas.

Christmas is special to many people in so many ways.

Christmas is a time of good cheer, of reconciliation and of friendship. Christmas will

not be called its name, without the birth of Christ. Sure, one of the main events of Christmas is the singing of carols in preparation for Midnight Mass, the opening of gifts, but part of the fun beforehand is wrapping them.

Carols are a treasure of culture. The words and music just transport you to a different place and capture the true meaning of Christmas. It can also make you forget the past with the present.    

This year in particular, the days leading towards Christmas around the world have been worrying. Whether you had to shoulder the load of what happened in Sri Lanka since 26 October 2018 or the confusion, delusion or illusion of Brexit in Britain, people around the world have accepted the turbulent times and have adjusted to it.

It is very easy to say “no worries,” as you leave the baggage and the “bro ha” that have accompanied the scary events. But until we forget the past and start anew, the constant fear of the unknown may daunt us.

Identify your incentive for living

Since the dawn of time humans have looked, if fact searched outside of their environment, to the supernatural for guidance, for the guiding star – and today is apparently no different. The young and the old have searched for their bearings to soothe themselves, to have a meaning to life. People now identify themselves as “spiritual but not religious”. Church attendance continues to decline and millennial seem to believe more in morality.

In order to make the effort to learn to live, there must be an incentive to do so. What is the incentive to do so? What is the need to have an incentive to enjoy your life rather than having a permanent fear of the unknown?

As the Buddha stated “fear comes from craving for happiness.”

As Jesus Christ came into this world as a human to teach Man that there was merciful redemption if only man wanted peace of mind and peace within.

A practical way of overcoming fear of the new is to focus on the benefits of succeeding.

We need to begin Christmas not only with the temerity and the tinsel, but with a positive mindset, seeking help from others and trusting in ourselves to be able to deliver the potential within ourselves.

Learning to get out of our “comfort zone” is the first step to reach the peace of Christmas. This was the message of Christ born in a lonely manger.

Give the gift of experience

Let us also explore some right brained ways of thinking. Facts and figures offer objective information, but it is visual art, music and creative thinking which can supply ideas that flesh things out and make them more resonant.

As we research less and brainstorm more, we notice the mind is more suited to imagining and interpreting.

Boy! We could do with a Macron to solve our problems some say? Others like Philip Cherwell, The Times Asian Editor, cannot even care to spell the name of our Prime Minister and refers to him as” Wikhramasinghe”.

We need a sense of humour to enjoy Christmas?

The impasse in our British Parliament over Brexit is hilarious, especially, if you have a mordant sense of humour or are a foreigner. Everyone knows that not a single option can command a parliamentary majority. “This is largely because the divisions between British parties no longer match the divisions that exist in society. The voters resent the growing divide between the North and the South, between rich and poor.”

This is replicated around the world.

Christmas can be made merrier by all. While people living in London are micromanaging the present list and people in Yorkshire are thinking of the credit crunch in the New Year?

One recommendation how to “electrify” Christmas is to take a moment to share the joys of life you enjoy with others. Another is to move your mind forward to January 2, when you are heading back to work and then rewind what you think will have happened.

Observe the magical moments you want to remember, the family gathering, the staggering through Christmas Day fuelled by wine, the “pigs in blankets horsd’oeuvre and mince pies, before the roast turkey, then decline anything that will totally stress you out.

Part of the joy of Christmas knows that nothing is likely to be perfect and that it is fine.

Spare a thought for the lonely and the neglected and that will give you real happiness.

Doctor and chemist nabbed at Welikada Prison

 DEC 24 2018

The Prisons Department said today (24) that its officers had been able to apprehend a doctor at the Welikada Prison, with two quarter pint liquor bottles in his possession.

The Department said that the doctor had been nabbed when he had taken the two bottles to be given to an inmate, who was to hand the bottles over to another inmate.

He further stated that the two liquor bottles had been seized, adding that submissions will be made in Court.

Meanwhile, Welikada Prison Officers also nabbed a chemist attempting to give heroin capsules to inmates.

Uduwara said they had received a tip-off about the chemist and checked the capsules.

He added that a thorough investigation will be carried out, and the chemist has been handed over to the Borella Police.  

Israel kills teen, disabled man in Gaza protests

Palestinian protesters confront Israeli soldiers during protests in eastern Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on 21 December.

Maureen Clare Murphy- 21 December 2018

Israeli occupation forces shot and killed three Palestinians, including a 16-year-old, during protests in the Gaza Strip on Friday.

The slain boy, identified as Muhammad Mouin al-Jahjouh, was shot in the neck.

Maher Atiyya Muhammad Yassin, a 40-year-old man with physical disabilities resulting from polio, was killed by a live bullet to the head. A photo of Yassin was published by Palestinian outlets following the announcement of his death:

View image on Twitter

شبكة قدس الإخبارية

✔@qudsn

الشهيد ماهر عطية ياسين (40 عاماً) من النصيرات والذي ارتقى متأثراً بإصابته شرق البريج وسط قطاع #غزة جرّاء قمع قوات الاحتلال لفعاليات مسيرة العودة، اليوم.

17

3:45 PM - Dec 21, 2018

Abd al-Aziz Abu Sharia, 28, died after being shot in the stomach:

View image on Twitter

شبكة قدس الإخبارية

✔@qudsn

الشهيد عبد العزيز إبراهيم أبو شريعة (28 عاماً) من حيْ الصبرة والذي ارتقى متأثراً بإصابته برصاص الاحتلال شرق مدينة #غزة، اليوم.

31

3:23 PM - Dec 21, 2018

Gaza’s health ministry said that 40 others were injured by live fire during protests along Gaza’s eastern perimeter on Friday, including two journalists and four paramedics.

Photojournalist Sami Misran was reported to have been hit by Israeli gunfire in the leg while covering Friday’s protests east of Bureij, central Gaza:

View image on Twitter

شبكة قدس الإخبارية

✔@qudsn

إصابة المصور الصحفي سامي مصران بطلق ناري في قدمه خلال تغطيته فعاليات مسيرة العودة شرق مخيم البريج، وسط قطاع #غزة.

10

7:38 AM - Dec 21, 2018

A camera belonging to The Electronic Intifada contributor Mohammed Asad was destroyed by an Israeli bullet during the protests.

This video shows smoke inside an ambulance after it was hit with a gas canister east of Gaza City:

Read More

Ever Cagey, Netanyahu Calls an Early Election He’s Expected to Win

The Israeli prime minister looks to get out ahead of legal and security threats to his tenure.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a weekly cabinet meeting on Nov. 4, 2012. (Gali Tibbon - Pool/Getty Images)

BY NERI ZILBER

| DECEMBER 24, 2018, 4:08 PM
TEL AVIV, Israel—Israel is holding early elections next year that will be a virtual referendum on one man: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Even so, Netanyahu’s Likud party is the prohibitive favorite to win again, according to current polling, despite bubbling security crises to the south, east, and north; an unpredictable ally back in Washington; and the prime minister’s mounting personal legal troubles. That would make a fourth consecutive term for Netanyahu, and fifth overall, almost unprecedented in Israeli political history.

Nor is there expected to be much change in policy, including U.S. President Donald Trump’s long-gestating Israeli-Palestinian peace plan. Rumored to be publicized early next year, it will now likely be shelved until after the Israeli election. After nearly completing a full four-year term in this current iteration (also rare in Israeli politics) Netanyahu has previously said he simply wants to “copy-paste” his current coalition government onto the next one.

Still, there are plenty of things that could go wrong for Netanyahu between now and the snap poll set for April 9, 2019, as the premier surely knew when he and the other party leaders in his governing coalition met earlier Monday and decided unanimously to dissolve parliament. That rather subdued announcement stood in sharp contrast to the drama that unfolded just one month ago. In November—after an escalation in the Gaza Strip, the resignation of his defense minister, and ultimatums from right-wing rivals—Netanyahu pressed with all his political might to delay early elections.

“We are in the midst of one of the most complex security periods, and in periods like this you don’t topple a government,” he said 36 days ago. “In this period you don’t go to elections, it’s irresponsible. We have another full year until elections [November 2019 as scheduled].”
So what changed?

The ostensible reason for calling new elections was the looming deadline for passage of an ultra-Orthodox military conscription bill that had long been negotiated inside the government. The Supreme Court struck down a previous effort as unconstitutional, giving the government an extension until mid-January to find a compromise formula. Factions within the ultra-Orthodox parties that make up part of Netanyahu’s coalition threatened to oppose the measure, always controversial inside religious communities, which traditionally do not send their young men for compulsory army service.

In in end the heads of the coalition parties couldn’t agree and decided to dissolve Parliament, issuing a statement saying it was done “out of national and budgetary responsibility.”  Never mind the irresponsibility in going to early elections during such a sensitive security moment, as Netanyahu had said earlier. In subsequent remarks the premier added that the campaign he was referring to, an operation launched early this month on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon to find and destroy the Hezbollah militia’s cross-border tunnels, was, “for the most part, now behind us.”

Convenient timing, perhaps, given developments closer to home. Last week reports came out that the state prosecutor would recommend indictments—including the severe charge of bribery—against Netanyahu in three separate corruption investigations. The cases are now with Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, whose preliminary decision on whether to charge Netanyahu was itself expected in the spring.

“Obviously Netanyahu has realized that this is a serious threat, and the last thing he needs in the midst of an election campaign is the attorney general deciding to prosecute him,” Reuven Hazan, a professor at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University, told Foreign Policy. “He wants to preempt this, he wants to win, he wants to turn around to the attorney general and say, ‘Before you decide to prosecute me, pay attention, the people of Israel have re-elected me for a fourth time. … You can’t overturn the results of a democratic election.’”

It is as yet unclear whether Mandelblit will still stick to his original schedule. There will be voices from the opposition and media clamoring for a full inventory of Netanyahu’s alleged misdeeds prior to any poll, while the premier and his allies can be counted on to cry foul—election tampering, “deep state” conspiracies, and worse—if it does come to pass.

Standing in Netanyahu’s way is an array of centrist and left-wing opposition parties. Despite polling far behind, they are putting on a brave face. As opposition leader Tzipi Livni, from the Zionist Union party, tweeted out, “From now say: not election day—but upheaval day,” raising the prospect of toppling the long-serving premier. Yet Livni’s efforts to put together a center-left bloc of parties to run on a united list against Netanyahu likely will not come to pass.

“These ‘super party’ rumors are just that—and it’s not just egos [with regard to who will be the bloc’s nominee for prime minister], but they also don’t agree ideologically,” one senior source in the opposition told FP.

The one wildcard in the proceedings, however, may be Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, a former army chief of staff and, as of now, the last hope of the anti-Netanyahu forces. Every major opposition party has courted the retired general, while rumors abound that he may ultimately form his own party and run independently—thereby assuring himself maximum leverage, and a very senior post, in the next government (no matter who wins). Yet an intriguing poll this month by Israel’s Channel 2 News found that if Gantz joined Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid—currently polling in distant second place—then they would come within a few seats of Netanyahu’s Likud.

All of which is to say that over the next three months anything can happen. Hamas in Gaza could drag Netanyahu into a war he sorely doesn’t want. The West Bank could devolve into further violence, already heightened in the last few weeks after a series of deadly terrorist attacks. And Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran in Syria may be emboldened after the Trump administration’s announced withdrawal of U.S. forces from the Levant.

Netanyahu is the clear favorite, with the upcoming election all about him. He exudes complete confidence in public, as befitting a man who is not only Israel’s prime minister, but also at present defense minister and foreign minister too.

L’etat, c’est moi, perhaps, but in an election he will merely be one candidate among many appealing for the vote. As the opposition source put it, “It’s amazing to me that after Trump and Brexit, everyone is sure 100 percent that he will win again.”

 

Neri Zilber is a journalist and analyst on Middle East politics and culture and an adjunct fellow of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He is the co-author, most recently, of State with No Army, Army with No State: Evolution of the Palestinian Authority Security Forces, 1994-2018. @NeriZilber

Lessons From Ecommerce Entrepreneurs

A personalized touch or extra attention to detail goes a long way

Dec-23-2018

(SALEM, Ore. ) - While there are many variables that contribute to the success or failure of a business, there are some lessons that ecommerce can teach us well.

Whether you are starting, developing, or maintaining a successful business, and regardless of whether it is a storefront or online business, clearly there are lessons from ecommerce entrepreneurs that you should think about.

Lesson #1: Loading time matters.

No, it’s not interesting. No, it’s not sexy, but if you’re looking to sell online, one of the most important lessons that can be learned is that loading time for your website matters.

Amazon, for example, conducted their own research and found that, for every 100ms of page load time, there was a 1 percent decrease in sales. In other words, your consumers value their time and don’t want to be waiting for your website or online business page to load. If it takes too long, hurried and harried customers will move on to the next site that takes this detail into account.

You can use WebPageTest to run a free page speed test on your website and get some valuable data on your website performance.

Lesson #2: Don’t neglect the basics.

What is more basic to a sales business than giving people what they want or need? Consumers have an opportunity every day to decide whether or not your business is the place they will choose over the others for the product or service they need.

Focusing on the basics means that you have to think like a consumer would think. Consider all of the processes and procedures you have in place to provide the best in a purchasing experience. With attention spans and patience levels often low among customers, you have to consider things like making it easy for them to find what they are searching for.

Be sure your site has an on-site search function, a range of payment options, and user-friendly website design. It also means that you may need to hire individuals that can help you understand what the customer is thinking today and predict what he will be thinking tomorrow, especially if your target audience covers a large demographic range.

Lesson #3: Don’t be sensitive to criticism.

It’s never enjoyable to receive criticism, but it is an important aspect of making your company viable for the long haul. Since consumers are more likely to express dissatisfaction, it’s critical to adopt a positive perspective about negative feedback and plan to use that information to make improvements.

The goal is to move toward business solutions and not perceive the criticism as something to avoid. Remember to ask yourself who is the critic and whether the criticism is justified. If it is, it’s best to work to quickly resolve the issue and work to avoid it in the future.

Remember that most of the biggest retailers are committed to amazing customer service, which involves building on the positive and seeking out consumer criticism to get the help and advice they need for improvement.

Some of the most successful leaders determine which of the four main types of criticizers they are encountering and use that information to develop a plan for engaging with them.

Lesson #4: Personalize as much as possible.

The success of many eCommerce businesses has taught us that community matters. If you want to achieve key social media account growth with Instagram, remember that a lack of connection fails to create a sense of relationship with your consumers and may lead to disengagement.

While standardized offerings and hyper-efficiency may provide the staples of a business, companies that specialize in niche sales will want to develop ways to communicate and relate to their customers.

A personalized touch or extra attention to detail goes a long way to increase consumer loyalty, as does mean spending some time and site space sharing your business’s mission, vision, or backstory.

Lesson #5: Develop Content, Product Descriptions, and Photos.

Your business will be missing the mark if it fails to post well-written content and worthy product descriptions and pictures. Consumers want to know what they are purchasing, so detailed product descriptions and clear, high-quality photos can make a huge difference.

Be sure to monitor your site daily, posting both curated content and interacting with user-generated content. Remember that your website represents your brand, so spelling errors and typos are a sure sign of a rushed or neglected site.

If you can’t be trusted to care about your content, how can you be trusted with regard to the service or product?

What are some lessons you have learned and want to share? Comment below.

Source: Salem-News.com Special Features Dept.

Ousted Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif gets seven years' jail for graft

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif arrives to the district High Court ahead of a hearing on treason allegations, in Lahore, Pakistan October 8, 2018. REUTERS/Mohsin Raza/File Photo

Saad Sayeed-DECEMBER 24, 2018

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif was sentenced to seven years in prison on Monday and fined $25 million on corruption charges that he says were politically motivated.

The anti-corruption court in Islamabad said in its ruling that the three-time prime minister was unable to prove the source of income that had led to his ownership of a steel mill in Saudi Arabia. Under Pakistani law, this is taken to prove corruption.

Sharif had already been sentenced by the same court to 10 years in prison on charges related to the purchase of upscale apartments in London, after the Supreme Court removed him from power. He was freed from custody in September pending an appeal.

Sharif’s supporters said he would also appeal against his latest conviction.

“Appeal is our right, we will protest but will remain peaceful,” former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who had succeeded Sharif last year, told reporters outside the courthouse.

Sharif was ousted and disqualified from holding office by the Supreme Court in July 2017, and convicted in absentia a year later. He was arrested on July 13 on returning from London.

The court ruled on Thursday on two charges related to Sharif’s assets: the Al-Azizia Steel Mills in Saudi Arabia, set up by Sharif’s father in 2001, and Flagship Investments, a company established by his son, Hasan Nawaz, that owns luxury properties in Britain.

Sharif was found to have been unable to demonstrate that his family had acquired the steel mill legitimately, but was acquitted on the second charge, relating to Flagship.

Sharif denied the charges which he said were politically motivated. He accused the military and courts of working together to end his political career and destabilise his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.

Sharif was once a favourite of Pakistan’s powerful generals but fell out with them. The military has denied exerting any influence over the court proceedings.

Daniyal Aziz, a former lawmaker from Sharif’s party, criticised the National Accountability Bureau, the watchdog that charged Sharif, and described the verdict as “the weaponisation of anti-corruption”.

“With each passing day an expression of a double standard is coming forward from the NAB,” Aziz said.

Before the verdict, hundreds of Sharif supporters threw stones outside the courthouse at police, who fired teargas.

Five months ago, Sharif’s PML-N lost a general election to the party of Imran Khan, the new prime minister whose anti-corruption campaign and street protests spurred the cases against Sharif.

PML-N and other opposition politicians allege the election was rigged to favour Khan, who is seen as close to the army. Both Khan and the military have denied colluding against Sharif and the PML-N.

Additional reporting by Syed Raza Hasan in Karachi; Writing by Saad Sayeed; Editing by Kevin Liffey

Imran Khan takes guard

Tuesday, 25 December 2018 

Imran Khan, the new light radiating in South Asia. A troubled geographical area not known for prolonged, incremental and sustained “light”. Activities under the constant watchful eyes of Uncle Sam. Any semblance of righteous effulgence socio-economic or otherwise either benign or remotely inimical subject to close scrutiny and typically towards perpetual political pillory.

America’s sharp and technologically superior pince-nez can easily detect non-existent weapons of mass destruction, even though nations in the region are destitute and plagued with un-arrestable socio-political ills. White kids in the comfort of air-conditioned rooms playing war games have killed more people in this region.

Nonetheless, the Imran Khan brand is growing and glowing. Winning fans and well-wishers around the world. Imran Khan, not an Arjuna Ranatunga or Navjot Singh Sidhu, not even Sebastian Coe, though all embraced politics from a point of sporting stardom. He has already proven he is made of superior mettle, grit and drive. A man with unparalleled determination and motivation. Has a clear vision for his Motherland. Given his character, charisma and accomplishments he is destined for great things with God’s permission. People of Pakistan have strong faith in their hero and it’s palpable.

Who can take guard to play a long and genuine innings for Sri Lanka? It’s rare to see successful and cerebral sporting personalities engage in politics, I am not talking about the standard riffraff. One who could engage with crusader-like passion for true change, which is the need of the hour. Imran, a rare breed and wholly worthy of emulation. Kumar Sangakkara, a good bet, but can he be convinced? A true patriot and a solid prospect.

The iconic cricketer has everything required for the job. His entry may prove decisive especially in arresting the out-of-control corruption and fast-eroding common decency in politics. Obliterated, decimated, deracinated in the last two decades. The call is not a request but a fervent plea. If the game of cricket instils character, gentleman-like behaviour and tenacity, these two personalities have made a great mark, Imran Khan and our own Kumar Sangakkara. Former already doing his bit for his country and Kumar could traverse a similar path for his Motherland. Pakistan is a nation with true potential, utterly wasted with systemic and endless corruption, extremism and unabated geopolitical wrangling. It’s been a few months since Imran Khan made a resounding electoral victory. A patiently-fought battle, a battle that fully exposed him to all kinds of danger. He is in the driving seat now, navigating and negotiating a turbulent course. His only enemy the impatience of his own people. Whilst admitting quick fixes won’t work, a transparent and sustainable direction would be most welcome.

The new Prime Minister is affording and demonstrating impeccable leadership just the way he did on the cricket field. Hard-core fans and voters alike have reposed full confidence in the supposed “champion saviour” – the upbeat chorus from the grassroots. They’re hoping and praying he realises his ultimate goal of a “new Pakistan” free from all corruption.

 One cannot realistically evaluate politics and political leadership in the South Asian region without being unduly cynical. Corruption in these nations is not just corrosive but compounded, perhaps calamitously combustible. Amounts plundered of people’s wealth is gargantuan, no longer stops at 10 digits, that threshold crossed long time ago. The malaise chronic and haemorrhaging acute.

With near double-digit inflation and a failing local currency, numbers seamlessly and unrestrictedly north bound, the predicament of Sri Lanka is similar if not identical. To sustain political dynasties and compete in the expensive electoral process requires tons of currency, namely to finance campaigns, to satiate existing members from doing the long jump, to woo opposition members to do the pole-vault and to engage in many nebulous and often nocturnal activities. No exaggeration but a realistic and honest account of how the “imperfect” democratic process works in the region.

Not to mention the new kid on the block and czar of the region flinging dollars and yuan like the amiable all-year “Santa”. Whoever wants to work with the Chinese to build ports, roads and dams are persistently tantalised. Take a good look at Sri Lanka for demonstrable experience of speedy “Chinese take-away”. No doubt a testing time for their legislators and not to succumb to lucre.

The entire SAARC region notoriously shares the nocuous contagion, the mutating and metastasising strain. If corruption was a sport with some dubious recompense, international jurors will have a tough time to adjudicate winners simply because flying to nooks and corners of the globe to unearth stashed currency and other valuables would be one heck of a task.

It is in this heinous backdrop that Imran Khan comes, the supposed saviour for Pakistan. Will he deliver or squander like his predecessors? Stakes are high and his is an untainted personality. Prime Minister Khan launched quite early, making clear his intentions and objectives. Recently he was seen sweeping in the clean and green initiative project at a local school in Islamabad. Doubtless quite symbolic considering the thousands of square feet of floors he would have to sweep in getting rid of traces of entrenched corruption. His challenges are many and not all donors will be happy to aid corruption.

The world is watching Pakistan, more importantly and precisely its charismatic and untainted leader. Achievements of its socio-economic milestones will provide positive signals. When that happens the region will wake up, it has to. That’s when Imran Khan will either extend a powerful pugilist blow or fling bovine faecal matter at the region’s traditional politicians who have exclusively contributed to the misery of the people.

What Is Happening In France? A Lesson To Learn!

By Hema Senanayake –DECEMBER 22, 2018

Hema Senanayake

In brief, France will begin to deflate debt in general through wage-increased bound “subsequent” moderate inflation beginning next year. Economically, this can be defined as a different kind of reflation, because previously known reflations have not been done through wage increases. During periods of economic difficulties like decreasing growth or recessions, wage increases were considered as negative, thinking such actions would discourage entrepreneurs and would slash jobs. That ideology is not true. However, since this reflation is happening by accident as a response to widespread riots, this can be more accurately defined as “accidental reflation.” Whatever the case, such processes deflate systemic debt in general and would ensure economic growth if the reflation is big enough.

What is reflation? The easiest way to understand this concept is to look at the opposite of it which is deflation. In a situation of deflation, prices would be decreasing, and the value of existing debt would be increased. The opposite will take place during a reflation. If the reflation is designed properly in accordance with systemic behavior of the economy, the outcome is positive and if it is happened due to any other reason, unintended consequences like severe inflation might occur.

Initially, it was unimaginable. But it happened in France. For several weeks from mid-November to early December of 2018, people began to protest and riot, openly clashing with police. Several people were dead, some injured and properties worth millions were damaged. People protested against the way of handling the economy by French president Emmanuel Macron. After seeing another round of violent protests on Sunday of December 09th, the next day President Macron has announced economic concessions addressing the nation to quell protests.

President Macron’s concessions included an income raise for minimum-wage workers and tax cuts for some pensioners and overtime workers from the beginning of next year. He also promised that initially the businesses would not be required to incur the cost of minimum wage increase as the cost would be born by the government. These were the main concessions. What do these concessions mean to French economy?

In order to answer the above question, we need to look at the credit (debt) growth data in the economy. French economy is an economy which can be defined as an economy with a problem of significant “over-indebtedness.” The resultant effect of such a situation is that the issuance of credit is not sufficiently enough to have a robust economic growth and people would feel that they do not have enough money for their day to day expenses.

According to data the household debt to GDP was 58.6% in the first half of 2018 and so is the second half of this year so far. This means no credit growth in household sector. This is not usual in a growing economy. However, this could be possible in a growing economy, if the non-financial private corporate sector’s credit level is increasing. It means that non-financial businesses are increasing investments through which consumer income is increased ensuring higher demand for goods and services even though the consumer credit level is not increased.

But unfortunately, non-financial corporate sector’s credit growth too, is stagnant. According to the data compiled by the Bank of International Settlement, in France, Total Credit to Non-financial Corporations has not grown significantly or in other words credit growth to this sector is almost stagnant. This is not a good situation either. Only other option is to increase the government’s deficit financing. As at now French Government’s Debt to GDP is 97% which is far more than the stipulated public debt to GDP by the European Union’s Economic Growth and Stability Pact.

Given the above circumstances the French government could either increase taxes or “reflate the economic system.” So far, no government has not proactively “reflate the economic system through wage increases” by design. Therefore, French government first relied on the option of what is left, that is to increase taxes may be thinking that reduced deficit financing by increasing taxes would support growth. So, they introduced a new fuel tax which was the trigger for erupting demonstrations. Already cash-starved French people were quick to riot.

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