Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Oil Prices does it a scape goat
By Thilina Samarasinghe
Currency crises have nothing to do with oil prices. That is a blatant lie told by central bankers and government officials to innocent citizens who do not understand monetary policy.
It is as much a lie as saying oil prices cause inflation.
Hedging cannot 'save' foreign exchange either. Hedging is about fixing prices and giving certainty. Any 'profits' from hedging that is passed on as a subsidy will have no effect on the forex market.
Oil prices of course can worsen a crisis with subsidies which hurt the budget and cause money printing. High interest rates from a budget deficit can also slow an economy or cause bank loan defaults.
Standard & Poor's which upgraded our rating 'outlook' based on a promise to market price energy, despite an on-going war, said out loud that Sri Lanka's problems were more to do with economic policy and budgets rather than war.
But now our clever politicians are saying energy prices will not be raised.
The budget is usually the initial trigger for currency crises in Sri Lanka, but the drying up of tsunami aid flows – which had earlier pushed economic activity to a higher clip – may also be a cause.
Gap between elections and democracy
By Thilina Samarasinghe
Troubling headlines in recent months from places as disparate as Sri lanka and pakistain all share a common theme: the flaws in those countries' elections. Underlying this trend is the opinion that elections are one of the most visible and credible indicators of a country's level of democracy.
Evidence abounds of democracy's fragility or erosion in each nation — from the question of President Mahinda Rajapaksha commitment to holding free and fair elections in Srilanka to the bloodshed in pakistain following pervaz Mufaraf apparently fraudulent re-election, to the Vladimir Putin regime's cynical stage-managing of the Russian presidential election.
To state the obvious, there can be no democracy without elections. But what about the reverse: Can elections occur in the absence of democracy? Putting aside the "elections" charade practiced by the likes of Cuba or Iran, the answer is still, unfortunately, yes. As a provocative new study demonstrates, when a country successfully holds a free, fair and open election that conforms to international standards, democracy is by no means ensured.
By Rohan Samarajiva
What is best for Sri Lanka's environment: Tax or incentives?
- A Bill will be brought to Parliament within days to give broad-ranging discretion to the finance minister to impose an environment conservation levy on households (as defined by the Bill), goods made here or imported, and services provided in Sri Lanka. Do not be fooled by the name.
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This is a tax; it has nothing to do with the environment; and it subverts the control of finance by Parliament.
I am not opposed to taxes and levies. I advocated the extension of the mobile-only levy to all phones in a previous column (if the first-best solution of phasing out industry-specific taxes cannot be implemented). I am not opposed to levies and tolls. I have long advocated congestion charges as a solution to traffic congestion and fuel wastage. But I believe this tax is wrong.
Not for the environment
Let us begin with the name: environmental conservation. The tax should contribute to environmental conservation, if that term is not to be devalued like too many others.
The Bill mentions the Minister in charge of the subject of the environment (Minister Champika Ranawaka at this time), but he is only to be consulted on what to impose the levy on, and how much it should be: consultation, not concurrence. The Central Environmental Authority is mentioned, but in some vague and ill-fitting role of investigating those who do not pay the levy.
The money is to be collected by telecom operators and by the Customs and remitted to the Consolidated Fund (in the case of the telecom operators, through the Telecom Regulatory Commission). I am sure Minister Ranawake is dreaming of what he will do with the cash. But those who have dealt with the Treasury in these cash-strapped times know that getting any kind of money out of Treasury is easier said than done. So there is little likelihood that the monies raised will be spent on environmental ends.
Most importantly, the levy does not create disincentives for actions harmful to the environment or incentives for beneficial ones. A congestion charge on a vehicle using the roads at peak times creates a disincentive against that environmentally harmful action.
A volume-based charge on garbage creates incentives for source separation, composting, recycling and compacting of garbage. In these examples, the charge is connected to behaviour. You behave in a way harmful to the environment, you pay; you behave otherwise, you don’t. These charges truly contribute to environmental conservation by deterring bad behaviour and rewarding good behavior.
But this Bill offers nothing of the kind. The levy is not connected to “bad” behaviour, but to mere use. The government will impose the levy on goods that are imported or manufactured here, on services, and on households that consume certain services or have certain things. So it is likely (we have to speculate, because the Bill does not provide any specifics) that levies will be imposed on every TV set that is imported into Sri Lanka and on every telephone bill.
The environmentally undesirable action is not using a TV or telecom service (they are in fact environmentally beneficial, because they reduce the need for travel); it is disposing improperly the TV set or the phone or the computer. If the objective is environmental conservation and not raising money for the government coffers, the levy must attach to environmentally undesirable actions, not to mere use.
So this is not about the environment; but about raising funds to feed the government coffers. It is yet another tax that has been given a politically correct name.
Taxing households
The government wants to tax households (buildings or structures used as places of residence) that satisfy three conditions: an electricity connection AND a telephone connection AND a one member residing in the household being the registered owner of a motor vehicle with more than two wheels.
This proposed definition appears to include three wheelers, which, however, appear to be counted as motor cycles/scooters by the Consumer Finance Survey of the Central Bank. But the exact breakdown by vehicle types is available with the Registrar of Motor Vehicles, so this will not be a problem.
Leaving that ambiguity aside, it appears that the levy can actually be imposed on only a maximum of around 5.8 per cent of the 4.6 million households (~266,800). Obviously more households have now got vans/cars than in 2003-04, so the figure should be higher. But not all households with a vehicle and electricity have phones. So the figure could be lower, balancing out the increase since 2003-04.
The logic of including three conditions (electricity AND phone AND vehicle) is unclear. The intelligent thing when dealing with multiple conditions is to pick the smallest category and forget about the rest. The identification of telecom operators as tax collectors suggests that someone in Treasury thought that this would be the smallest category.
It could well be, because the Consumer Finance Survey does not differentiate between fixed and mobile phones, and between prepaid and postpaid phones. Since 80 per cent of mobiles are prepaid, the question of monthly bills does not arise. Even some of the so-called fixed CDMA phones are prepaid. So if the government wants to collect from phone bills, it will be collecting from postpaid phones only. This may well be the smallest of the three sets.
Then comes the question of revenue yield. The Budget Speech stated that it was “estimated to raise Rs.1,000 million from this Environment Conservation Levy that will be introduced from 2008.” To achieve that yield from Rs 20 per month (0r Rs 240 a year), it would have to be collected from 4,166,666 households or around 90 per cent of the total. What the above calculations show is that according to the conditions specified in the Bill, only about 25 per cent of households will be subject to the levy.
So this leaves open several possibilities.
The actual amounts charged may be higher than the Rs 20 a month mentioned in the Budget Speech. In fact, within days of the budget speech, Minister Ranawaka indicated that the levy may be higher than Rs 20 a month.
Then there is the possibility that the household levy charged through the telephone bills will be in the range of Rs 20 a month, but that most of the revenue will be raised by slapping levies on imported items (collected by the Customs) and also items manufactured in Sri Lanka (no indication how this would be done; perhaps this where job creation for Minister Ranawaka’s storm-troopers-in-training comes in).
There is the little matter of double taxation. The 25 percent of the households that have electricity AND a telephone AND a motor vehicle with more than two wheels are also the ones that will have TVs, and refrigerators and computers, the kinds of things likely to be subject to the levy by this government. So the end result is likely to be an actual levy rate in excess of Rs 100 a month.
Emasculating Parliament
Violating the Constitution is the national sport; 13th Amendment, the 17th Amendment and Article 148. When the UNP misguidedly extended unconditional support for the 2006 Budget (support was not the problem; unconditional was), some said there was no point in reading it or of debating it (and many or all did not). But they should have read it: it contained authority for the Secretary to Treasury to move money among different accounts.
By the time someone went to the Supreme Court in 2007, the game was over. The Chief Justice had decided that this was an executive power, not one set apart for the legislature.
Article 148 of the Constitution states that “Parliament shall have full control over public finance. No tax, rate or any other levy shall be imposed by any local authority or any other public authority, except by or under the authority of a law passed by Parliament or of any existing law.”
It would offend common sense to interpret this Article as allowing Parliament to delegate to a Minister the right to impose levies on all households, any manufactured or imported goods, and any service provided in Sri Lanka, without any restrictions on amounts charged or any specification of the households, goods or services. Delegation this broad and unrestricted is not delegation; it is abdication.
The language of the Bill contains no restrictions on amounts that may be levied or on what the levy may be imposed on: all imported goods and all goods manufactured in Sri Lanka; all services provided in Sri Lanka. No mention anywhere of the amounts that may be charged from households or on goods and services.
Pretty much any good manufactured in or imported into Sri Lanka, or any service provided in Sri Lanka can be subject to this levy by an Order made by the Minister in charge of the subject of Finance. No controversy, no fuss, just wait for a moment when we’re all excited about winning a cricket match or the middle of the Avurudu holidays and quietly issue a gazette slapping a levy on whatever the government wants to tax; or raise the levy amount collected through the phone bill. This is not Parliamentary control of public finance; it is abdication of control.
The only remaining safeguards for the Constitution are Parliament and public opinion. I hope they will not abdicate their responsibilities in the face of this pernicious Bill.
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Tuesday, February 13, 2007
COULD MULTICULTURALISM CREAT A
SUSTAINABLE CULTURE
It is seen from time immemorial that each culture is nurtured mutually and society existence happens through multiculturalism . It is important to analyzing that multicultural characteristics have enriched each culture . Oxford dictionary defines culture “ as a refine understanding for appreciation of arts,customs,and institution of a nations of group”. There fore the key role of culture is to understand society or building the necessary relationship among the people live in society. Once man became civilized we see that the arts and the style of life developed by them migrated along with them. This resulted in a varies cultures coming together. Therefore the society thus formed could be identified as of one culture. In a tribal society we see that the culture of the powerful tribe comes up suppressing the culture of weaker tribe and the culture of the wining tribe is foist upon them. At present society has developed from a tribal society to civil society. In a civil society varies culture are nurtured mutually and builds understanding among people. A civil society needs a multiculturalism for this end.
CREATION OF CONFLICT
In the tribal society as well as civil society conflicts are common. Normally conflicts occur between two or many groups in a society when there is mutual misunderstanding or when others views are not accepted. When considering the conflicts between two groups the main reason we see is polarization or the tribal instinct making headway. We see that many conflicts are created by the strong culture foisting their dynamics one the other groups. When examine in detail the context of a conflict for power and when a nation tries to come up that nation tries to grab the economic power from the others, or suppress them . The rise of that culture this is situation is seen in many forms in the world . When we examine the conflicts that had a reason in the world in conflicts based on religious factors ,conflicts created on land factors or conflicts created on economic factors in each case we see that the refusal to accept multiculturalism or the effort that to sublimate. One culture had been the reason when analyzing the ethnic conflict from a multiculturalism approach . We see that the conflict was created because the Sinhala and Tamil societies had not been able to tolerate the different cultures of the people living in society. When examine this situation historically the cultural renaissance before independence was important water shade . The first debate for independence gained ground in Sri Lankan society during the cultural renascence . Specially the founder of the Hindu religious cultural movement Armiger Nawalar categorically to create a pure Hindu Tamil society to safe guard the Hindus from European cultural impact on religion language and customs . A movement for buddist cultural revival spearhead by Sri Sumangala thero , Muslim revival spearhead by Siddi Lebbey gained ground simultaneously.
Although these cultural revivals made a considerable impact on the different cultural groups it was unable to keep this momentum till the wining of independence , which was the final goal,due to the intolerance of the other cultures and the drive to sublimate once own culture. There was polarization in society due to the cast system within each culture. The final result was that there was intense social polarization and the final aim of gaining independence was not possible as other cultures were not tolerated. When examining the ethnic conflict that came up again and again in Sri Lanka it is seen that the non acceptance of cultural pluralism and cultural practices as well as the ability to control emotion led to these holocausts. As an example we could take the Sinhala Muslim conflict of 1915, which was caused due to the intolerance of muslim cultural traditions & the Sinhala cultural tradition by the Muslims. Later the conflicts of 50,60,70,80, decades were all caused due to the facts that the religion language and customs of the ethnic group that lived along with one was not appreciated nor tolerated. Since it is quite common to have conflicts of this nature in society it is very important that such conflict should be resolved by controlling conflict stresses.
How far have the Sinhala society understood the cultural aspirations of the Tamils,& how can Sinhala society tolerate the cultural aspirations of the tamils is some thing to be considered when resolving the two decade long conflict in Sri lanka. The sublimation of the Sinhala cultural heritage has come to appoint where other cultural heritages are not accepted. The Sinhalees believe that the inheritance of Sri Lanka is for them and to no other ethnic group. In the same manner they do not accept Lankan Tamil or Muslim inheritance . Therefore due to this mutual mistrust prevalent among these groups they feel they have no other alternative other than arms.
MULTICULTURALISM CHARACTORSTICS
If we analyze the cultures of Sinhala tamils and Muslims we see that these cultures were nurtured through a multicultural approach. We see an Indo Arryan on the origins of the Sinhala language. The pre historic letters of the sinhasla language latter evolved with the Dravidian influence and developed . We see letter (f) was developed after the advent of Europeans. Also the Sinhala treatise on gramer sidat sangara was based on a south Indian Tamil treatise on gramer named Sarajathi Mali
It is seen that Sinhala culture was enriched by the multicultural characteristics & words absorbed in to it. Many words in the Sinhala language were formed after the advent of the Portuguese Dutch & the English, through the absorption of their culture & customs . Multiculturalism is seen in food beverages religion customs folklore. We who live in a global village at present need this multicultural approach to be one with the world. It is seen as the most fruitful approach. It is possible to build a relationship with various nations living in a global village & also the enriched by varies cultures only by respecting & tolerating other cultures. The world would be a colorful place through a multicultural approach rather than by a mono cultural supremacy. Each culture would benefit and there would be cultural harmony only if there is room for a multicultural approach in society.
We who live in a very complex society cannot be confined to one culture. It is more important to understand that tolerance of multiculturalism and the benefit of its positive characteristics are necessary for the sustenance of a culture. What happened in history what happens at present and what would happen in a future is that each culture would merge into a multicultural space.
Written By - Ruwan Thilina Samarasinghe
Date 19-01-2007
SUSTAINABLE CULTURE
It is seen from time immemorial that each culture is nurtured mutually and society existence happens through multiculturalism . It is important to analyzing that multicultural characteristics have enriched each culture . Oxford dictionary defines culture “ as a refine understanding for appreciation of arts,customs,and institution of a nations of group”. There fore the key role of culture is to understand society or building the necessary relationship among the people live in society. Once man became civilized we see that the arts and the style of life developed by them migrated along with them. This resulted in a varies cultures coming together. Therefore the society thus formed could be identified as of one culture. In a tribal society we see that the culture of the powerful tribe comes up suppressing the culture of weaker tribe and the culture of the wining tribe is foist upon them. At present society has developed from a tribal society to civil society. In a civil society varies culture are nurtured mutually and builds understanding among people. A civil society needs a multiculturalism for this end.
CREATION OF CONFLICT
In the tribal society as well as civil society conflicts are common. Normally conflicts occur between two or many groups in a society when there is mutual misunderstanding or when others views are not accepted. When considering the conflicts between two groups the main reason we see is polarization or the tribal instinct making headway. We see that many conflicts are created by the strong culture foisting their dynamics one the other groups. When examine in detail the context of a conflict for power and when a nation tries to come up that nation tries to grab the economic power from the others, or suppress them . The rise of that culture this is situation is seen in many forms in the world . When we examine the conflicts that had a reason in the world in conflicts based on religious factors ,conflicts created on land factors or conflicts created on economic factors in each case we see that the refusal to accept multiculturalism or the effort that to sublimate. One culture had been the reason when analyzing the ethnic conflict from a multiculturalism approach . We see that the conflict was created because the Sinhala and Tamil societies had not been able to tolerate the different cultures of the people living in society. When examine this situation historically the cultural renaissance before independence was important water shade . The first debate for independence gained ground in Sri Lankan society during the cultural renascence . Specially the founder of the Hindu religious cultural movement Armiger Nawalar categorically to create a pure Hindu Tamil society to safe guard the Hindus from European cultural impact on religion language and customs . A movement for buddist cultural revival spearhead by Sri Sumangala thero , Muslim revival spearhead by Siddi Lebbey gained ground simultaneously.
Although these cultural revivals made a considerable impact on the different cultural groups it was unable to keep this momentum till the wining of independence , which was the final goal,due to the intolerance of the other cultures and the drive to sublimate once own culture. There was polarization in society due to the cast system within each culture. The final result was that there was intense social polarization and the final aim of gaining independence was not possible as other cultures were not tolerated. When examining the ethnic conflict that came up again and again in Sri Lanka it is seen that the non acceptance of cultural pluralism and cultural practices as well as the ability to control emotion led to these holocausts. As an example we could take the Sinhala Muslim conflict of 1915, which was caused due to the intolerance of muslim cultural traditions & the Sinhala cultural tradition by the Muslims. Later the conflicts of 50,60,70,80, decades were all caused due to the facts that the religion language and customs of the ethnic group that lived along with one was not appreciated nor tolerated. Since it is quite common to have conflicts of this nature in society it is very important that such conflict should be resolved by controlling conflict stresses.
How far have the Sinhala society understood the cultural aspirations of the Tamils,& how can Sinhala society tolerate the cultural aspirations of the tamils is some thing to be considered when resolving the two decade long conflict in Sri lanka. The sublimation of the Sinhala cultural heritage has come to appoint where other cultural heritages are not accepted. The Sinhalees believe that the inheritance of Sri Lanka is for them and to no other ethnic group. In the same manner they do not accept Lankan Tamil or Muslim inheritance . Therefore due to this mutual mistrust prevalent among these groups they feel they have no other alternative other than arms.
MULTICULTURALISM CHARACTORSTICS
If we analyze the cultures of Sinhala tamils and Muslims we see that these cultures were nurtured through a multicultural approach. We see an Indo Arryan on the origins of the Sinhala language. The pre historic letters of the sinhasla language latter evolved with the Dravidian influence and developed . We see letter (f) was developed after the advent of Europeans. Also the Sinhala treatise on gramer sidat sangara was based on a south Indian Tamil treatise on gramer named Sarajathi Mali
It is seen that Sinhala culture was enriched by the multicultural characteristics & words absorbed in to it. Many words in the Sinhala language were formed after the advent of the Portuguese Dutch & the English, through the absorption of their culture & customs . Multiculturalism is seen in food beverages religion customs folklore. We who live in a global village at present need this multicultural approach to be one with the world. It is seen as the most fruitful approach. It is possible to build a relationship with various nations living in a global village & also the enriched by varies cultures only by respecting & tolerating other cultures. The world would be a colorful place through a multicultural approach rather than by a mono cultural supremacy. Each culture would benefit and there would be cultural harmony only if there is room for a multicultural approach in society.
We who live in a very complex society cannot be confined to one culture. It is more important to understand that tolerance of multiculturalism and the benefit of its positive characteristics are necessary for the sustenance of a culture. What happened in history what happens at present and what would happen in a future is that each culture would merge into a multicultural space.
Written By - Ruwan Thilina Samarasinghe
Date 19-01-2007
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Chennai police are on a look out for a notorious female trafficker. A special team has been formed to arrest her. Sonalaxmi from Andra is a well known accused for trafficking girls for prostitution. Police say that Sonalaxmi besides being arrested and punished many times is still an active trafficker. For past 20 years Sonalaxmi has indulged in prostitution. She has contacts with sixty brokers and more than 200 sex workers. Most of the girls are from Calcutta, Mumbai or they are Telegu cinema junior artists. Police accuses Sonalaxmi for brainwashing bar dancers in Mumbai and Calcutta. It is alleged sonalaxmi convinces the girls about more money if they to agree to dance in Chennai hotels. When girls agree, she brings them to Chennai on flight. In Chennai, she allegedly keeps them on house arrest and tortures them to indulge in prostitution. Few days back Anti vice squad arrested a lodge owner in Egmore. Few brokers were also arrested. Two Calcutta bar dancers were rescued. Sonalaxmi is said to have escaped in the raid. Special team police are on look out for Sonalaxmi now.
Friday, September 15, 2006
The Sri Lanka Disaster Minister is quoted by the Sunday Times (23 July 2006, p. 2) as stating that “In the wake of last week’s earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Indonesia, the country was fully prepared within 23 minutes as an early warning reached the Met Department.”
According to the 17 July timeline.ppt, the PTWC and the Japanese Center issued the first bulletin within 17 minutes of the earthquake. The Minister indicates that the entire country was fully prepared within 6 minutes of receiving that bulletin. This may possibly be a world record.
If we assume the 23 minutes was counted from the time the warning was received, the country was ready 40 minutes after the earthquake. Even that is extraordinary. The Sri Lankan official who was interviewed by the Associated Press does not seem to have been aware of this great achievement and simply talked about plans and sirens in religious establishments. It appears that the international press is badly informed or is maliciously supressing Sri Lanka’s achievements.
The Minister further stated ” all we need is 20 minutes to warn the people if they are in imminent danger since there are 15-20 disaster management officials in all coastal districts who are ready to evacuate the people.” The Times states that the disaster management personnel are mainly army, navy and air force officers who have undergone “vigorous training to evacuate people living on the coast to higher grounds which have now been identified.”“The people in these areas too are trained to follow route maps to reach safety in case of a tsunami. Police in these areas have been given megaphones to help in the process.”
The Ministry has already received funds from UNESCAP to build three tsunami warning towers in the Eastern, Northern and Southern Provinces and hopes to build another 25 towers by December 26 [2006] to mark the second anniversary of the disaster, according to the Times.
To summarize:
Sri Lanka only needs twenty minutes to act on a tsunami warning. It took precisely 23 minutes on 17 July 2006, but action is being taken to shave off 3 minutes from the response time.
There are 15-20 disaster management officials in each coastal district, mainly from the forces, giving a total of 15 x 10 = 150 in all. [One assumes different arrangements are in place for Jaffna, Mulativu, Mannar, Kilinochchi, Trinco, Batticaloa, Ampara districts which are not fully under government control]
They have identified the vulnerable populations and trained them.
They have also identified the evacuation paths and the safe locations to move the people to.
The Police, not the disaster management personnel, have been issued megaphones to assist in evacuations, suggesting close coordination between the Police and the disaster personnel.
Funds have been received for three warning towers, one each for the Northern, Eastern and Southern provinces.
Funds have not been received, but will be sought for 25 additional towers. Fund raising, procurment under government procedures and construction will be all completed within five months, giving a total of 28 operational warning towers along the coastline by 26 December 2006.
If all this is true, there is no question that Sri Lanka is the country that is best prepared for a tsunami. On this strength alone, the Disaster Minister should be nominated to a UN post, shortly after the inauguration of the 28 warning towers on 26 December 2006. We have no doubt he will be accepted with acclaim.
In Health Ministry's AIIMS, AIDS no objectiveChandan MitraIt was probably the most high profile and meaningful meeting on the issue of Trafficking and HIV/AIDS. Organised by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), a statutory body headed by the Chief Justice of India, and the UNDP-TAHA project, it brought together judicial luminaries, two dozen MPs, top bureaucrats from 11 States where the UNDP-funded project is going on, and head honchos of all major voluntary organisations working in the arena of HIV/AIDS and human trafficking.Significantly, however, one crucial component was missing. No senior representative of the nodal Government agency, National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) was present. Nor were any officials from the Union Health Ministry. Apparently, they were detained in Delhi to assist their belligerent Minister, Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, exact terrible vengeance on India's highly celebrated cardiac surgeon Dr P Venugopal. But why was NACO, the officially designated body for AIDS control, also absent? Some speculated it was the result of a turf war: NACO was unwilling to cede any space even to NALSA on AIDS-related issues. Others said they took the cue from the Health Minister's current obsession: AIDS could wait; Dr Venugopal's ouster could not.These abstentions came in for sharp criticism from other participants. First, BJP MP Vinay Katiyar mentioned this. Thereafter Amar Singh, Samajwadi Party general-secretary took serious exception to it. And finally, Supreme Court's senior-most judge, Justice KG Balakrishnan, executive president of NALSA, roundly condemned the Ministry's and NACO's attitude. Considering Justice Balakrishnan will soon become CJI and hold the position till 2010, the absentees may have really asked for trouble.
Dr Ramadoss keeps queering his own\n pitch!The two-day conference at the Leela Kempinski resort in picturesque Kovalam on Thiruvananthapuram\'s outskirts on July 8 and 9 threw up some new dimensions on the issue. Particularly significant was the linkage made between trafficking and HIV/AIDS. This was perhaps the first occasion that so many policy makers interacted with those implementing the policies on the ground.Sushma Swaraj, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, made a major contribution to the discussion by virtue of her experience as Health Minister in the NDA Government. She emphatically called for enactment of a Victim Protection Protocol for trafficked women to bring them legally on par with rape victims.Justice Nazik Bilal of the Andhra Pradesh High Court pointed to the multiplicity of Acts with regard to trafficking and asked if there were enough policemen to enforce them or enough magistrates and\n judges to try those cases. There was a sustained debate on the advisability of Section 5(c) of the Immorally Trafficked Persons Act (ITPA), which has replaced the erstwhile SITA. The disputed clause, many participants such as lawyer Anand Grover and former sex worker Putul Singh argued, would "criminalise" clients whereas the need was to de-criminalise the profession. Almost all participants emphasised the relationship between trafficking and AIDS. They pressed Government agencies, particularly NACO, to broaden its horizon, not to look at AIDS as a purely medical problem that could be curbed by enhancing free distribution of condoms, but also address the social and psychological dimensions of both HIV-infected and trafficked people, especially women and children.In many senses, the two-day interaction between MPs representing seven Parliamentary Standing Committees, the higher judiciary, Government and\n non-Government organisations, was an eye-opener for ",1]
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Dr Ramadoss keeps queering his own pitch!The two-day conference at the Leela Kempinski resort in picturesque Kovalam on Thiruvananthapuram's outskirts on July 8 and 9 threw up some new dimensions on the issue. Particularly significant was the linkage made between trafficking and HIV/AIDS. This was perhaps the first occasion that so many policy makers interacted with those implementing the policies on the ground.Sushma Swaraj, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, made a major contribution to the discussion by virtue of her experience as Health Minister in the NDA Government. She emphatically called for enactment of a Victim Protection Protocol for trafficked women to bring them legally on par with rape victims.Justice Nazik Bilal of the Andhra Pradesh High Court pointed to the multiplicity of Acts with regard to trafficking and asked if there were enough policemen to enforce them or enough magistrates and judges to try those cases. There was a sustained debate on the advisability of Section 5(c) of the Immorally Trafficked Persons Act (ITPA), which has replaced the erstwhile SITA. The disputed clause, many participants such as lawyer Anand Grover and former sex worker Putul Singh argued, would "criminalise" clients whereas the need was to de-criminalise the profession. Almost all participants emphasised the relationship between trafficking and AIDS. They pressed Government agencies, particularly NACO, to broaden its horizon, not to look at AIDS as a purely medical problem that could be curbed by enhancing free distribution of condoms, but also address the social and psychological dimensions of both HIV-infected and trafficked people, especially women and children.In many senses, the two-day interaction between MPs representing seven Parliamentary Standing Committees, the higher judiciary, Government and non-Government organisations, was an eye-opener for
us. Interestingly, it also marked a serious effort by the judiciary to reach out to various agencies and acknowledge the need to sensitise magistrates and judges to the human dimension of this humungous problem. Several delegates pointed to the fact that despite lot of official efforts and deployment of resources the number of HIV-infected persons in India had gone up from one in 1986 to over 5 million in 2006.The presence of four Standing Committee chairpersons, Ms Sushma Swaraj, Mr Amar Singh, Ms Sumitra Mahajan and EMS Natchiappan, and MPs like SS Ahluwalia, Vinay Katiyar, Anusuiya Uikey (all BJP) K Chandran Pillai, P Madhu, Sebastian Paul (CPI-M), SG Indira (TDP), DK Sharma, Silvius Condopan (Congress) and this correspondent, lent an importance to the brainstorming rarely experienced hitherto. This will undoubtedly impact the forthcoming debate on the\n long-awaited AIDS Bill 2005 in Parliament.The Kovalam conference was the first foray into a wide consultative process by the judiciary. Hopefully, this will become the norm on many social issues that have a legal and legislative dimension. If the legislature, judiciary and executive engage in such dialogue along with NGOs in different specialised areas, both the framing of laws and their implementation could improve dramatically.http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnist1.asp? \n\t\t \nTry the all-new Yahoo! Mail . "The New Version is radically easier to use" – The Wall Street Journal\n \n\n \n __._,_.___\n \n \n ",1]
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us. Interestingly, it also marked a serious effort by the judiciary to reach out to various agencies and acknowledge the need to sensitise magistrates and judges to the human dimension of this humungous problem. Several delegates pointed to the fact that despite lot of official efforts and deployment of resources the number of HIV-infected persons in India had gone up from one in 1986 to over 5 million in 2006.The presence of four Standing Committee chairpersons, Ms Sushma Swaraj, Mr Amar Singh, Ms Sumitra Mahajan and EMS Natchiappan, and MPs like SS Ahluwalia, Vinay Katiyar, Anusuiya Uikey (all BJP) K Chandran Pillai, P Madhu, Sebastian Paul (CPI-M), SG Indira (TDP), DK Sharma, Silvius Condopan (Congress) and this correspondent, lent an importance to the brainstorming rarely experienced hitherto. This will undoubtedly impact the forthcoming debate on the long-awaited AIDS Bill 2005 in Parliament.The Kovalam conference was the first foray into a wide consultative process by the judiciary. Hopefully, this will become the norm on many social issues that have a legal and legislative dimension. If the legislature, judiciary and executive engage in such dialogue along with NGOs in different specialised areas, both the framing of laws and their implementation could improve dramatically.http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnist1.asp?
Fraud HunterTrafficked abroad, she finds father 23yrs laterThe axiom -- truth is stranger than fiction -- so happily became a reality for Matiur Rahman who lost his daughter Rina in the late 80s and dramatically found her, along with her Dutch husband, when they came to Bangladesh for a visit recently.
Taking advantage of poverty and vulnerability of Matiur's family, a gang of child lifters posing as social workers sold Rina to a Dutch couple when she was only six-month old.
Rina, educated in the Netherlands and now a lawyer there, came to Bangladesh and saw her father for the first time at the initiative of an NGO -- Hotline Bangladesh -- at its Malibagh office in the capital. Overwhelmed with emotion, the father and daughter hugged each other.
"I am the happiest man in the world now. My heart was in flames for so many years and it is now over," Matiur said at the NGO office on Wednesday.
Equally moved, Rina said , "It is really strange and great. Visiting my country and finding out my parents has been a dream for me since I came to learn that I was from Bangladesh."
Matiur, Rina and her husband Danish went to Hotline office before the couple left the country yesterday.
Rina told The Daily Star, "I do not know the background of my migration to the Netherlands. I also do not know when and how my foster parents in that country adopted me as their daughter. I got all love and affection from them. The love and affection that my father here in Bangladesh has for me is also above anything else."
She went on, "I would like to visit my father here whenever possible and look after his wellbeing."
At one stage, such a reunion between the father and daughter had almost become impossible as there was no response even after Rina and Danish held a press conference in early August in Faridpur, seeking the address of her father.
Following a report in a Dhaka daily, Matiur, now an employee of Birdem Hospital in the city, rushed to the daily's office that sent him to Rosaline D Costa of Hotline. D Costa then contacted Rina to make the reunion possible at her office.
Matiur, who hails from Faridpur, was a rickshawpuller in Old Dhaka before independence. In 1972, he got a government-allotted room in Tongi. He along with his first wife Hasina, daughters Nilu and Laily and a son lived there. Later, he got separated from Hasina and married Halima, who gave birth to Rina in 1979.
Recalling the past, Matiur said some local employees of the Netherlands-based organisation Tere Des Homes had lured him into keeping his daughters in the Homes for proper care and education. And he could also visit them frequently. "They also took my signature on some stamps, saying that it was a contract for educating my children,"
Following the lucrative offer, poor Matiur sent Nilu and Laily to the Home in Tongi, which virtually was a shelter for children of the women dishonoured by the occupation forces during the Liberation War.
A few months later, Matiur went to see his daughters but did not find them there. He said, "I heard that my daughters were sold." All his efforts to find them out failed and his complaints against Home staff went ignored.
Later, some goons kidnapped Matiur and took him to Dhanmondi in the capital but he managed to escape.
He then filed a case against the Home staff for masterminding his abduction but his first wife Hasina sided with the abductors. "Hasina asked me to leave the place, saying that otherwise the Home staff would endanger his life. Halima and I then left the area, keeping Rina with Hasina," Matiur said.
It was sometime in 1980 when Matiur went to Tongi to see Hasina and Rina but found none of them. Locals told him that Hasina, in connivance with Tere Des Homes officials, sold Rina.
Matiur said like a mad he then started moving here and there to trace his daughters and lost contact also with his second wife Halima. "I did not know what had happened with the case I filed, but I just wanted to see my daughters. I went to offices of many NGOs and newspapers seeking their help."
He went on, "Allah has finally heard my prayers."
Matiur bought a saree for Rina and a lungi and fotua for his son-in-law, Danish. Wearing the local dress, they posed for a photo session with him on the premises of Hotline office.
"The feeling is strange, marvellous. It is above everything," Rina said.
Matiur said he has come to know that his eldest daughter Nilu is also in the Netherlands.
Rina said she would try to find out her sister." Life is really more cinematic than cinema," she added.
Taking advantage of poverty and vulnerability of Matiur's family, a gang of child lifters posing as social workers sold Rina to a Dutch couple when she was only six-month old.
Rina, educated in the Netherlands and now a lawyer there, came to Bangladesh and saw her father for the first time at the initiative of an NGO -- Hotline Bangladesh -- at its Malibagh office in the capital. Overwhelmed with emotion, the father and daughter hugged each other.
"I am the happiest man in the world now. My heart was in flames for so many years and it is now over," Matiur said at the NGO office on Wednesday.
Equally moved, Rina said , "It is really strange and great. Visiting my country and finding out my parents has been a dream for me since I came to learn that I was from Bangladesh."
Matiur, Rina and her husband Danish went to Hotline office before the couple left the country yesterday.
Rina told The Daily Star, "I do not know the background of my migration to the Netherlands. I also do not know when and how my foster parents in that country adopted me as their daughter. I got all love and affection from them. The love and affection that my father here in Bangladesh has for me is also above anything else."
She went on, "I would like to visit my father here whenever possible and look after his wellbeing."
At one stage, such a reunion between the father and daughter had almost become impossible as there was no response even after Rina and Danish held a press conference in early August in Faridpur, seeking the address of her father.
Following a report in a Dhaka daily, Matiur, now an employee of Birdem Hospital in the city, rushed to the daily's office that sent him to Rosaline D Costa of Hotline. D Costa then contacted Rina to make the reunion possible at her office.
Matiur, who hails from Faridpur, was a rickshawpuller in Old Dhaka before independence. In 1972, he got a government-allotted room in Tongi. He along with his first wife Hasina, daughters Nilu and Laily and a son lived there. Later, he got separated from Hasina and married Halima, who gave birth to Rina in 1979.
Recalling the past, Matiur said some local employees of the Netherlands-based organisation Tere Des Homes had lured him into keeping his daughters in the Homes for proper care and education. And he could also visit them frequently. "They also took my signature on some stamps, saying that it was a contract for educating my children,"
Following the lucrative offer, poor Matiur sent Nilu and Laily to the Home in Tongi, which virtually was a shelter for children of the women dishonoured by the occupation forces during the Liberation War.
A few months later, Matiur went to see his daughters but did not find them there. He said, "I heard that my daughters were sold." All his efforts to find them out failed and his complaints against Home staff went ignored.
Later, some goons kidnapped Matiur and took him to Dhanmondi in the capital but he managed to escape.
He then filed a case against the Home staff for masterminding his abduction but his first wife Hasina sided with the abductors. "Hasina asked me to leave the place, saying that otherwise the Home staff would endanger his life. Halima and I then left the area, keeping Rina with Hasina," Matiur said.
It was sometime in 1980 when Matiur went to Tongi to see Hasina and Rina but found none of them. Locals told him that Hasina, in connivance with Tere Des Homes officials, sold Rina.
Matiur said like a mad he then started moving here and there to trace his daughters and lost contact also with his second wife Halima. "I did not know what had happened with the case I filed, but I just wanted to see my daughters. I went to offices of many NGOs and newspapers seeking their help."
He went on, "Allah has finally heard my prayers."
Matiur bought a saree for Rina and a lungi and fotua for his son-in-law, Danish. Wearing the local dress, they posed for a photo session with him on the premises of Hotline office.
"The feeling is strange, marvellous. It is above everything," Rina said.
Matiur said he has come to know that his eldest daughter Nilu is also in the Netherlands.
Rina said she would try to find out her sister." Life is really more cinematic than cinema," she added.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Mr. Washboum estimated that 1arge container ship worth $75 milhon (40 mulion)would pay about 0.02 per cent of its worth, or $15,000, for an annual insurance policy, which would cover the vessel to make unlimited visits to the world’s safe ports for 12 months. However, the ship would have to pay the same amount for every single visit that it made to a port on the “enhanced risks” list, he told “The Times”.
Sn Lankan exporters once again may have to face insurance premium surcharges on freight as a result of this move, shipping sources said on Friday.
Initially Sn Lanka was included to the list of excluded countries by the joint war committee at Lloyds of London after the terrorist attach in the Bandaranaike International Air Port on 24th July2001. As a result, Sri Lankan exporters were charged US $150 per 20 foot container as an insurance surcharge to offset the additional insurance costs of lines.
A deposit of Sterling Pounds 50 million had to be placed by the Government of Sri Lanka and a security audit of port of Colombo had to be carried out to persuade the Lloyds of London to reduce the very high levels of additional war risk premium. When the security situation in Sri Lanka improved, the additional premium was reduced and the surcharge imposed on exporters was initially reduced and then withdrawn.
Trident, a London based company was appointed by the Government of Sri Lanka to do an external audit of the security in Sri
related perils only on 20th June 2005 resulting in shipping lines being relieved of the additional premium for Hull & machinery. However Sri Lanka continued appear in the list of war risk countries with The Joint Cargo Committee without change & the cargo importers & exporters continued to pay higher war premiums since 2001. Even after the ceasefire agreement was signed in February 2002, The Joint War Committee retained Sri Lanka under the held cover status without a break.
Due to additional insurance premium paid continuously by exporters and importers Sri Lanka continued to lose heavily financially and economically, in addition to the impact in various other ways including the coiThtry ratings by credit rating agencies while the authorities turned a blind eye.
“We have not handled this matter professionally. There were many questions even on the ISPS certification where the governments took controversial steps. Were the representatives who visited Lloyds according to this report competent and were they well informed?” asked a source from the insurance industry.
;1] Sri Lanka, Yemen, Malacca Strait stays on ‘risk’ list;0]
Additional insurance
premium, a heavy
economic, financial loss
The Lloyd’s Market Association Joint War Lankan ports and canvass Lloyds of London. Committee (JWC) in London revised its list This company was later closed under a of areas at risk for Hull, War, Strikes, cloud of controversy. Lloyds of London how- Terrorism and Related Perils as of 20 April, ever appointed their own Security 2006. Sri Lanka and Yemen have been Consultant, Rubicon to asses the security of added to the list; the port of Algiers has been the ports of Sri Lanka. Under a fresh effort removed, and the Malacca Strait stays. later the Government appointed
• Accordingo a report in “T1Ti0ieson anothar connftatLBagndi& 22nd of May, representatives of the Sn Associates, vihise assignment Lankan Government visited Lloyd’s of was abandoned by the govern- London underwriters last week to discuss ment half way, without completing, concerns that the country’s inclusion on the due to unknown reasons. list will damage trade. Clive Washboum, The Joint War Committee head of the marine division at Beazley, the removed Sri Lanka from the listing London insurer, told The Times “There was a in respect of Hull war risk and full and frank discussion about the risk and
what they’re doing from a security point of view.”
Sn Lankan exporters once again may have to face insurance premium surcharges on freight as a result of this move, shipping sources said on Friday.
Initially Sn Lanka was included to the list of excluded countries by the joint war committee at Lloyds of London after the terrorist attach in the Bandaranaike International Air Port on 24th July2001. As a result, Sri Lankan exporters were charged US $150 per 20 foot container as an insurance surcharge to offset the additional insurance costs of lines.
A deposit of Sterling Pounds 50 million had to be placed by the Government of Sri Lanka and a security audit of port of Colombo had to be carried out to persuade the Lloyds of London to reduce the very high levels of additional war risk premium. When the security situation in Sri Lanka improved, the additional premium was reduced and the surcharge imposed on exporters was initially reduced and then withdrawn.
Trident, a London based company was appointed by the Government of Sri Lanka to do an external audit of the security in Sri
related perils only on 20th June 2005 resulting in shipping lines being relieved of the additional premium for Hull & machinery. However Sri Lanka continued appear in the list of war risk countries with The Joint Cargo Committee without change & the cargo importers & exporters continued to pay higher war premiums since 2001. Even after the ceasefire agreement was signed in February 2002, The Joint War Committee retained Sri Lanka under the held cover status without a break.
Due to additional insurance premium paid continuously by exporters and importers Sri Lanka continued to lose heavily financially and economically, in addition to the impact in various other ways including the coiThtry ratings by credit rating agencies while the authorities turned a blind eye.
“We have not handled this matter professionally. There were many questions even on the ISPS certification where the governments took controversial steps. Were the representatives who visited Lloyds according to this report competent and were they well informed?” asked a source from the insurance industry.
;1] Sri Lanka, Yemen, Malacca Strait stays on ‘risk’ list;0]
Additional insurance
premium, a heavy
economic, financial loss
The Lloyd’s Market Association Joint War Lankan ports and canvass Lloyds of London. Committee (JWC) in London revised its list This company was later closed under a of areas at risk for Hull, War, Strikes, cloud of controversy. Lloyds of London how- Terrorism and Related Perils as of 20 April, ever appointed their own Security 2006. Sri Lanka and Yemen have been Consultant, Rubicon to asses the security of added to the list; the port of Algiers has been the ports of Sri Lanka. Under a fresh effort removed, and the Malacca Strait stays. later the Government appointed
• Accordingo a report in “T1Ti0ieson anothar connftatLBagndi& 22nd of May, representatives of the Sn Associates, vihise assignment Lankan Government visited Lloyd’s of was abandoned by the govern- London underwriters last week to discuss ment half way, without completing, concerns that the country’s inclusion on the due to unknown reasons. list will damage trade. Clive Washboum, The Joint War Committee head of the marine division at Beazley, the removed Sri Lanka from the listing London insurer, told The Times “There was a in respect of Hull war risk and full and frank discussion about the risk and
what they’re doing from a security point of view.”
Monday, August 14, 2006
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