Sri Lanka - News and Discussion

Rupesh · Post by **Rupesh** » 16 Sep 2011 01:15

Shrines are illegal in Islam. They were following the Saudi's example !!!

svenkat · Post by **svenkat** » 16 Sep 2011 07:08

nair saar,
I will take any news report fom beeb on lanka with a ton of salt given the track record of briturds.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 18 Sep 2011 15:05

Large-scale India, Lanka naval exercise from Monday

Defence ministry officials say the six-day exercise called "SLINEX", which kicks off on Monday, will see the two navies deploying at least four warships each. "We have held naval exercises with Sri Lanka in the past but this one will be on a slightly larger scale," said an official.

India over the last several years has trained thousands of Sri Lankan personnel at its military institutions ranging from the Counter-Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School at Vairengte (Mizoram) to the School of Artillery at Devlali (Maharashtra), apart from providing specialised naval courses in gunnery, navigation, communication and anti-submarine warfare.

The strategy to provide arms and military training, coupled with intelligence sharing and `coordinated' naval patrolling, undertaken even when the Sri Lankan forces were battling the LTTE, has been primarily aimed to counter China's ever-growing strategic inroads into the island nation.

Though India trains soldiers from several countries, ranging from Maldives, Mauritius and Mongolia to Botswana, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, the facilities extended to Sri Lanka are much more. The premier Indian Military Academy at Dehradun, for instance, has even run `special courses' to train hundreds of "gentlemen cadets" from Sri Lanka.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 18 Sep 2011 16:59

There appear to be some knee-jerk reactions finally coming out of the Indian camp.The gift of a replica of the famous Sarnath Buddha statue/relief and the imminent arrival of relics of the "Enlightened one" in the island,plus special pilgrim trains from Chennai for Lankan pilgrims ,indicates a "full-court press" on the part of Indian diplomacy in the isalnd to offset the massive amounts of Chinese aid being funneled into that country.

The insidious attempts of the western "bum-chums" of the LTTE to impale Pres.Rajapakse and his regime upon the charge of war crimes,appears to be an on-going process,with the recent visit of the US diplomutt Robert Blake to the island.From a previous stand of outright denial,the Lankan govt. now seems to be relenting a small bit and is trying a diplomatic campaign first to derail attempts by the UN to open an official investigation.The white nations of the Commonwealth are also banding together to try and armtwist the GOSL into surrender by threatening to boycott the next CHOGM summit to be held in the island.How far India is willing to go to support the Lankans against the western onslaught is a moot point,but the Lankans want us to do so and we should support them to retain the edge over the PRC who are doing their utmost to "grab" the island inot their sphere of strategic allies/bases.Pres. Rajapakse wants to hold the CHOGM tamasha in his backyard,Hambantota.Whether the facilities can be built so soon is a moot point and he even has ambitions of hosting the CWG there to!!!

Here he should ask for India's expertise par-excellence,and we should send Kalmadi Shelia Dixit and co. to prevent the Chinese from sending in their experts who stage-managed the Beijing Olympics! The Chinese are supposedly ever -ready to assist the Lankns in this noble venture,apart from beggaring them even further,will provide the PRC with another coup after the Hambantota Port success and the almost complete cultural centre in Colombo.The main Indian success story has been that of the Nano "budget taxis" which have appeared in Colombo.Let's hope that the Indo-Lankan naval exercises lead to a further meshing of Indo-Lankan defence cooperation.the odffered Indo-Lankan defence agreement should be dusted off which will ensure that the island never becomes a base of anti-Indian operations in the future.It will derail the PRC's machinations once and for all.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 19 Sep 2011 13:57

^^^^ For someone who loses no sleep in cussing at the Indian PM at every opportunity, the respect shown for "Pres." Rajapakse stands out for a study in contrasts. May be you indeed are Pres. Junius Jayewardene's maru-avataram?! Or do you need some maman-machan talk to figure that?

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 19 Sep 2011 15:19

India gifted a 5th century replica of Buddha idol today. Also note that SSM, Nirupama Rao were praying together with Rajapakse prior to talks.

The Naval exercises focus on interoperability.

archan · Post by **archan** » 20 Sep 2011 01:53

Stan_Savljevic wrote:^^^^ For someone who loses no sleep in cussing at the Indian PM at every opportunity, the respect shown for "Pres." Rajapakse stands out for a study in contrasts. May be you indeed are Pres. Junius Jayewardene's maru-avataram?! Or do you need some maman-machan talk to figure that?

There is no need to launch a personal attack. You are questioning another user's nationality and/or loyalty.

joshvajohn · Post by **joshvajohn** » 20 Sep 2011 02:22

Sri Lanka: Need Of The Hour, India Should Make Fresh Initiatives – Analysis
http://www.eurasiareview.com/12092011-s ... -analysis/

Sri Lanka Goes Back On Its Assurances – Analysis
http://www.eurasiareview.com/11092011-s ... -analysis/

National integration and ethnic segregation, the dilemma of a nation.
http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2011 ... -a-nation/

Greens call for suspension of Sri Lanka from Commonwealth
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nationa ... 6141212118

US Presses Sri Lanka for Credible War Crimes Probe
http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/ ... s-probe-2/

Canada seeks Sri Lanka boycott at Commonwealth meeting
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/wo ... 6136164883

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 20 Sep 2011 02:40

archan wrote: There is no need to launch a personal attack. You are questioning another user's nationality and/or loyalty.

May be you dont read the stuff I write slowly, but there was no such allusion to such vagaries of nature in my post.

The highlight was to the dichotomy of standards used by him on referring to a "President Rajapakse" as if Rajapakse is a god whereas he cant use a simple "Manmohan Singh," let alone "PM Manmohan Singh" or "Dr. Manmohan Singh" or "Mr. Manmohan Singh" to refer to the man holding the highest office of India. Some of the stuff he has said includes:
"Mouse Mubarak Singh" at http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... h#p1162180,
"Money Mad Singh" at http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... h#p1160929,
' "Money-take Singh Alley-wallah" ' at http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... h#p1160546,
"Mc Money Singh" at http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... h#p1160544,
"Man Mahout Singh" at http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... h#p1159794,
"Snake-oil Singh" at http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... h#p1158833,
"Man Mubarak Singh" at http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... h#p1158339, and so on.

Have you made any ad hoc warnings on either him or Sanku or several others who have questioned the integrity of a person holding such high office? Is the dichotomy too hard to figure out? Have such repeated violations become par for the course on brf, under the administrative brilliance of the current setup of which you play a role? I direct that to you [as an admin] as it has become necessary for you to get involved in resolving a direct questioning of me to Philip, while I dont see such direct involvement of you in resolving a repeated questioning of the credentials of the PM of India by Philip or Sanku or anyone else.

archan · Post by **archan** » 20 Sep 2011 04:45

When you post here in a certain manner, you will be corrected by some mod or the other. Coming back with "have you done xyz to other users in xyz situations" is not going to help. If you continue to argue with mods when corrected for your posts, it is going to be held against you.
PS: whatever is Philip's history with moderation on this forum, and what has been a result of his usage of those terms is known to him and mods. It is none of your business.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 20 Sep 2011 05:04

I do not argue with mods, just you. Because of the historical baggage that has been me-versus-you. And not many mods have had the need to argue with me, barring you.

Unfortunate as it is, that tells enough about other mods and how I view them and how they interact with me, and how I view you and how you interact with me. What to do, reality is a bit hard to accept for everyone, including me and you...

archan · Post by **archan** » 20 Sep 2011 08:19

Stan,
I don't know why you think that there is any "historical baggage" or there is any "me vs. you". I don't remember getting into any argument with you. Yes I am aware you have made comments for/on me, which I have chosen to ignore. I don't see any personal issue between you and me.
You are fully entitled to have your opinion of me, whatever it may be. However when I am moderating, it has to be this way. If a mod asks you to cease and desist from something you have to follow. Again, you are entitled to disagree and if you have a problem with any particular mod, you are free to contact the webmaster (Jagan), or owner (Seetal).
Having said that, what you were doing with Phillip is not acceptable and you must cease and desist. If you continue to argue against authority, I will be forced to use the official warning system again. Going by the status of your account, another warning will mean a ban.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 20 Sep 2011 14:08

on another note, a shipping ferry line from tuticorin is offering option for indians to take their car to SL, drive around there and return. not sure how practicable this is.
http://investsrilanka.blogspot.com/2011 ... llows.html

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 20 Sep 2011 19:57

Please take complaints/whines to the
Whine THread.

Do not disrupt the flow here.
Thanks, ramana

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 21 Sep 2011 14:44

"Money-take Singh Alley-wallah" is not DR.MMS/PM MMS,whatever,but refers to dear old Montek SA,"MMubarak's " Sancho Panza!

I'm delirious with joy that Stan has been such an ardent devotee of my posts and has enjoyed my nicknames for our beloved PM.I thought that we were a free country nd freedm of speech....etc.,was still part of the Indian Constitution? Here's a rhyme to complete. "Corruption King,....... ........." (that's an easy one to finish!). As for my grovelling respect for "Pres.Rajapakse",I have in the past said that he has "lost the plot",called him "Pres.Pakse-Raja" (you need to know a spot of Sinhala idiom to understand that one) etc. Actually the words I've used are to distinguish him from his equally well-known brother ,"Goaty"!

Guys,I don't find Stan's comments too personal.He has a point.I have been exceptionally mean and utterly disrespectful to that paragon of vitrtue,icon of integrity,worthy of worship,the saintly Dr.Singh ,who is of unimpeachable reputation and honesty,an "honourable man",nay-the nobleast Indian ever!

Perhaps I should've used instead the following honorifics:
"defender of corruption ad nauseum",
"appeaser of Pak ad infinitum",
"PM ad hoc",
"PM ad absurdum"
"PM in absentia"
"PM Sonia semper fidelis"
...you get the picture!

As for the current situ in the island,the JVP has split,with the Leader of the Opp.,Ranil W a microscopic wimp,leaving Pres.Rajapakse an even easier task to win the next outing at the hustings,the race for Colombo,which traditionally has been a UNP bastion.At this moment in time,Pres.Rajapakse is riding on the crest of a huge wave of popularity for defeating terrorism ,nay exterminating terrorism in the island.The police stations now have had their walls removed,symbolic of the "peace" that exists.Perhaps if criticism can be levelled against him is his obsession with development of Hambantota which lacks proper infrastructure and will take an awful lot of money and effort into making it a bustling hub of activity.Large amounts of Chinese money are helping get the physical structures off the ground,but how will the momentum be carried further? The PRC has the potential to easily turn it into an exclusive Chinese industrial "base",and we know what that will mean for India! India too must have its own industrial presence in Hambantota and the GOSL ,esp. the Pres.,is only too willing to see investors flocking into his homeland.

Another Wikileak report says that no eviodence of use of chemiclal weapons/phosphorous against the LTTE/Tamil civilians from he wounded,was found either by Indian medical teams or the ICRC.The journalist who made the allegations has since disappeared.The tale in the link is an intriguing one.

http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2011/09/1 ... pons-saga/

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 21 Sep 2011 16:54

Follow on to the above post and the Rajapakse regime's current diffiicullllties with the international community over Tamil aspirations/human rights.

http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2011/09/1 ... %e2%80%9d/

Blake, Rajapaksa, 13th Amendment And “Dissenting Ministers”

What these hard liners don’t seem to know yet and would have to learn is, what kept them in popular demand during war, is not what would keep them in power thereafter, with the war declared over long time ago. Even those in the international community who backed them during the war and wanted the Rajapaksa regime to eliminate the LTTE, now want Tamil aspirations honoured.
The imaginary world of the Defence Secretary where he believes they, “(We) have strong backing from the rest of the world, starting from Russia, China…” is no reality. Geo politically Sri Lanka has no sensitive importance compared to North African countries. Resource wise, nothing compared to natural energy deposits there either. Yet Russia and China left Gaddafi and Al Bashir in the lurch to allow those countries that the Defence Secretary says is “no international community” to decide the fate of Libya and Sudan. What an ordinary Sri Lanka could therefore expect at the end, would only be Gotabhaya’s day dreams.
The war over, it’s now a different world. War being the result of decades long political marginalising of Tamil society from political power, there is now a compelling demand by the international community including India and the US to address these major issues, in post-war Sri Lanka. The essence of all negotiations and political pacts, the B-C and the D-C pacts between Sinhala and democratic Tamil leaders, long before the emergence of the LTTE and all other armed Tamil groups, was bound to the Tamil’s share in political power in governance.Today, no reconciliation, no rehabilitation proper would be possible without democratising of those areas, which is nothing less than devolving power to those areas. The old notion of centralised power in Colombo, is a proven failure that has denied rural development in all areas outside the Western Province for over 60 years since independence. Power usurped by a few individuals in a family, extending into the next generation as well, has therefore created a serious opposition within its own rural base which believes, it has a stake in the government. That goes without saying with the larger Sinhala base of the government, which is the SLFP that elected the Rajapaksas to power.

PS:What seems to be evolving is that if the GOSL is seen not making an honest attempt to devolve some power to the Tamil dominated north of the country and start an investigation into the allegations of war crimes/human rights abuses,it will be branded by the western pwoers as a "paraiah state".It will get the cold shoulder from white Commonwealth nations and will then turn even more towards so-called rogue entities like Burma and dangerously from India's point of view,China.India also has its task cut out.While it too would like to see scuttled insidious attempts by neo-imperialist/neo-colonial forces to regain control over Sri Lanka by such methods,it wants an honourable deal for the affected Tamils,not just for their sakes but also to eliminate criticism back in TN from pro-Eelamist entities.It also is engaged with the GOSL in several areas (naval exercises too) in order that the island does not become a Chinese outpost ! Here at least the overwhelming sypmathies of the Lankans of all hues are with India,as the Chinese are quite frankly dspite all their money-throwing at the Lankans,quite detested.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 21 Sep 2011 23:09

Philip wrote: I'm delirious with joy that Stan has been such an ardent devotee of my posts and has enjoyed my nicknames for our beloved PM. I thought that we were a free country nd freedm of speech....etc.,was still part of the Indian Constitution?

Boss, this is exactly what happens when Indians/PIOs/OCIs/Indian-origin peoples etc., transpose American ideals, fundamentals and Constitutional guarantees to the Indian context. That is the extent of Amrika's soft power that people assume "Amrikan rights" as applicable to India. One famous NDTV journo too seemed to suggest the same, but in any case, sorry to burst your balloon herein, you need education. So please consult http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of ... n_in_India

The freedom of speech and of the press does not confer an absolute right to express without any responsibility.
...
With the same token Clause (2) of Article 19 of the Indian constitution enables the legislature to impose reasonable restrictions on free speech under following heads:

IV. decency and morality,
V. contempt of court,
VI. defamation,
...
Defamation: The clause (2) of Article 19 prevents any person from making any statement that injures the reputation of another. With the same view, defamation has been criminalised in India by inserting it into Section 499 of the I.P.C.

If you want exact case histories from the Indian context, here is a very recent opinion of a Magistrate: Sukumar Azhikode vs State Of Kerala And Anr. on 12 March, 2007
http://www.indiankanoon.org/doc/868725/

In this petition filed under Section 482 Cr.P.C., the petitioner (Sri. Sukumar Azhikode) seeks to quash Annexure 1 complaint and all proceedings against him in S.T. 269 of 2006 on the file of the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-IV, Kozhikode. The said private complaint was filed by the 2nd respondent herein (K.V. Joseph) alleging the offence of defamation under Section 499 I.P.C. against the petitioner herein and punishable under Section 500 I.P.C.
...
In the light of the foregoing discussion, I do not find any good reason to quash the proceedings before the Court below. Going by the averments in the complaint and the imputations in the statement allegedly made by the petitioner herein, there was sufficient ground for proceeding with the complaint justifying the cognizance taken and process issued by the Magistrate.

Here is what the Magistrate added:

11. The right to freedom of speech and expression is indeed a very valuable right which under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India has transcended to every citizen in the form of a fundamental right. Whether it is an oration or talk or discourse or lecture or elocution, it is all a manifestation of the exercise of the said right. But persons, howsoever high or low, who exercise this invaluable right should realise that it is not an absolute or limitless right. The framers of our Constitution have thought it fit to confer upon all citizens the said right, inter alia, subject to the law of contempt of Court, defamation or incitement to an offence. The law guards and protects he reputation of an individual as an inviolable right the infringement of which gives rise to an actionable claim.

12. There is a growing tendency to attribute motives to and denigrate persons who are holders of public office. Even where an impropriety or mistake on the part of a State functionary or departmental official is established there is a pernicious tendency to generalise persons belonging to the particular class of functionaries or officials. Instances are not rare when the conduct of persons is made the subject matter of open criticism and denunciation without any genuine attempt made to find out the complete facts. Authoritative and seemingly expert comments are very often passed without any investigation into the factual matrix.

Bottomline: I am not claiming that I am going to file a lawsuit against repeated defamation of the PM of India and in general, the babus and the political class. But as a well-wisher of BRF, I am pointing out that all it takes for someone to cause trouble to BRF and its administrators is the threat of a lawsuit unless credible clean-up happens. It is there in the lawsuit in crystal-clear english for you to read. This is the opinion of the 2nd petitioner, which was not agreed to by the Magistrate (not sure whether the disagreement was to the whole submission or a part thereof, but nevertheless):

Defamation can be of an individual or of a class. Prosecution for defamation can be initiated only by a person aggrieved by the offence in view of Section 199 Cr.P.C. In the case of defamation of an individual such individual alone will be entitled to lodge the complaint. In the case of a class defamation any member of the class may be an aggrieved person.
...
The defamatory matter to be actionable must be such that it contains an imputation concerning some particular person or persons whose identity can be established. It is unnecessary that the person whose conduct is called in question should be described by name. It is sufficient if on the evidence it can be shown that the imputation was directed towards a particular person or persons who can be identified.

If you dont get all this complicated mumbo-jumbo, in archan's language, cease and desist from insulting the PM of India. On the one hand, you do not have the legal right to do it. On the other hand, it is morally reprehensible for you to cast aspersions on the man holding the highest office of this country especially in a repeated manner. If you have more legal evidences on the PM's involvement in corruption matters, please go to a Court of Law. You will have the whole Indian media following your case and you will have enough opportunities to cause the biggest upheaval in the post-1947 Indian political history. As a well-wisher of BRF, you and your insinuations are causing needless and potential trouble to all the stakeholders of BRF whoever they are, wherever they are, whatsoever they do. It takes no PhD to figure this much legalese, whether BRF and its administrators figure that or not is a different issue.

PS: The above is just a normal course of action, I should pontificate. The PM is from a minority religious affiliation and the onus is on you to prove that you did nt choose to defame him especially because of his religious affiliation (perceived or otherwise). That is because the extent of such abuses on other PMs of India seem to be missing from your posts. So, in short, when the Indian machinery juggernauts its way to cause havoc, there is no match to that. Not even the US machinery can cause that much trouble to you as the Indian babus can if they choose to. That is because Indian laws are tight when compared with Amrikan ones, but the implementation aint. If implementation goes the full course, everyone would be agreeing to everything to avoid trouble, that is usually the state of affairs in India if push comes to shove. So for your own safety and well-being, dont keep pissing on the Indian PM.

PPS: According to ramana, there are many people in the higher echelons of Indian civil service who come to read opinions and news-items. All it takes is one angry person sick of your antics. You can regard it as a pointless ramble if you so choose and the admins can delete the post for needless OT-ing in such an important dhaaga. I am sorry to use such intemperate language as this post, but noone in India seems to understand the power of the Judiciary despite taking 100 million civic responsibility courses in high school and what not.

Arjun · Post by **Arjun** » 22 Sep 2011 00:04

Stan_Savljevic wrote:If you dont get all this complicated mumbo-jumbo, in archan's language, cease and desist from insulting the PM of India. On the one hand, you do not have the legal right to do it. On the other hand, it is morally reprehensible for you to cast aspersions on the man holding the highest office of this country especially in a repeated manner.

Whaaaat ?????!!!

Are you trying to take India back to the dark ages or what? Lets not go down the path of curbing freedom of speech, irrespective of all the legal mumbu-jumbo you have quoted.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 22 Sep 2011 00:21

Arjun wrote: Are you trying to take India back to the dark ages or what? Lets not go down the path of curbing freedom of speech, irrespective of all the legal mumbu-jumbo you have quoted.

What you call "mumbu-jumbo" is the official Indian law. Sorry sir, being unaware of the law is no excuse to violating the laws of the land. That should have been repeated ad nauseum even in the Amrikan context, I am sure?! Let me paraphrase some wise soul cos it fits the context best: "Being an idiot is your right, being a reckless idiot is not."

If you want to change the Indian laws to fit your criterion, BRF is the last place on earth to help you in accumulating enough people to do the needful via a democratic exercise. Oh, may be I violated BRF rules in advising you of the ground realities? May be.

Arjun · Post by **Arjun** » 22 Sep 2011 00:59

Stan_Savljevic wrote:What you call "mumbu-jumbo" is the official Indian law. Sorry sir, being unaware of the law is no excuse to violating the laws of the land. That should have been repeated ad nauseum even in the Amrikan context, I am sure?! Let me paraphrase some wise soul cos it fits the context best: "Being an idiot is your right, being a reckless idiot is not."

If you want to change the Indian laws to fit your criterion, BRF is the last place on earth to help you in accumulating enough people to do the needful via a democratic exercise. Oh, may be I violated BRF rules in advising you of the ground realities? May be.

Ok, if you want to go down the path of analysis of the Indian law, I am game.

Are you aware that expressing a good faith opinion as opposed to making a statement of fact can never be deemed to be defamation?

If I call MMS an 'idiot' or the 'the most uncharismatic politican ever to run this country' - they would be statements of opinion which would not qualify as defamation under Indian (and any other country's) laws.

On the other hand, if I say MMS took money in the 2G case, I am then making a statement of fact and if proved to be untrue - there may be grounds for a defamation suit. Even here, for public figures (eg politicians like MMS) you not only have to prove that the statement is false, you also have to prove that there was 'malicious' intent behind the expression.

Any online publication in India (say TOI, Rediff or a host of others) has a whole host of explosive comments - far more so than BRF by any means. On what legal grounds would you say they could be liable for a 'defamation' suit? Just curious....

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 22 Sep 2011 01:20

Arjun wrote: Are you aware that expressing a good faith opinion as opposed to making a statement of fact can never be deemed to be defamation?

Calling the PM of India unsavory names such as "snake oil" and "money mad" is a good faith "opinion"? Does Philip know the PM personally to pass such remarks and get away with it more often than not? Huh, may be I should award some english degree for such excellent erudition.

On the other hand, if I say MMS took money in the 2G case, I am then making a statement of fact and if proved to be untrue - there may be grounds for a defamation suit.

Which is precisely the point of allusion. Go to the BRF search linky and search for Philip's posts on the PM. If there is no malice in his vituperations on the PM of India, then the words malice and ill-will should be erased from every lexicon.

On what legal grounds would you say they could be liable for a 'defamation' suit? Just curious....

Eeks, Philip's full name and identity is there for everyone to learn, he is not some anonymous under-age kid making a random garbage post on another random forum. And you are perhaps unaware of BRF history, he is one of the former admins of the forum with significant contributions to what BR and BRF today are, which makes it not only sad, but also by associative and attributive logic a sorta question mark on this transaction.

Arjun · Post by **Arjun** » 22 Sep 2011 01:45

Stan_Savljevic wrote:Calling the PM of India unsavory names such as "snake oil" and "money mad" is a good faith "opinion"? Does Philip know the PM personally to pass such remarks and get away with it more often than not? Huh, may be I should award some english degree for such excellent erudition.

Oh yes....stuff like 'snake oil salesman', 'money mad' etc is 100% protected opinion. He is not making any allegation based around a fact but making known his opinion on MMS' character which he is completely, legally entitled to do.

Which is precisely the point of allusion. Go to the BRF search linky and search for Philip's posts on the PM. If there is no malice in his vituperations on the PM of India, then the words malice and ill-will should be erased from every lexicon.

See this article....The common sense of libel

One precedence is the Nakeeran case decision from the SC. Increasingly, India is following the lead of the US in protecting the rights of the media from libel charges by public officials. The bar as defined in this article is that not only should he should be making a statement that is demonstrably false and is not just an opinion, BUT (a) the defendant should explicitly know that the statement was false and (b) he / she should be acting with 'reckless disregard for the truth'.

Can you provide any case history relating to any public official in India winning a suit against the media based on the above criteria? The bar set seems to be quite high and it seems to me, favors the defendant against the public official.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 22 Sep 2011 02:04

During the test wars similar arguments and legal threats were made. We know 'doodh ka doodh and pani ka pani hua".

The unfolding 2g scam doesn't show the political leaders in any good light.

The Sharm-el-Sheikh declaration and subsequent disassociation/retraction by INC also doesn't give much to hope for.

And anyone wants to pin legal charges on Philip would show they have lot of free time.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 22 Sep 2011 02:22

Why dont you endorse what Philip has said on the PM of India if you so believe in it? After all, its all "doodh ka doodh and pani ka pani", no?!

Lets have it straight, dont hide behind Philip's parochial sniper-fire. One former admin and one current admin, and we can all have a rocking time figuring out which Section of the CrPC to use for which violation

. And BRaWman will have ammo for one more bulleted blog post explaining what he feels on the whole thing

.

KLNMurthy · Post by **KLNMurthy** » 22 Sep 2011 04:00

Sorry I don't know onlee but should the criterion of posters' tone be legal liability alone? There is a lot of good facts and analysis on brf and it seems to me reckless use of intemperate language affects the credibility of the poster and forum.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 22 Sep 2011 04:14

Guys, Kind request from someone who enjoys reading posts on this thread - can we please get back to topic and chill out...

Arjun · Post by **Arjun** » 22 Sep 2011 08:32

Stan_Savljevic wrote: And BRaWman will have ammo for one more bulleted blog post explaining what he feels on the whole thing .

Don't know who this BRaWman is - but I see higher possibility of winning a defamation suit against BRaWman for defamation of BR admins, than the possibility of any defamation case for expressing legitimate opinions wrt public officials in India.

Bottomline - as long as any poster is sharing legitimate opinions, howsoever derogatory they may seem, or making any statement of fact that he / she believes to be true (ie the statement has not been publicly disproven at the time of posting), I don't see any legal issue whatsoever.

ShyamD: Sorry, but this is an important matter of principle. No 'chilling out' when matters of principle are involved.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 22 Sep 2011 09:49

Arre bhai, if you are so strong and so sure of your legal "principles," why not become a party to this name-calling business and officially endorse what Philip said? Sitting in Amrika and shooting in the dark about the rights of someone else who is sitting in India (when they themselves are liable to be caught and whipped by the full force of Indian laws) is called hypocrisy. Of which we have an abundance on BRF.

Why stop with Shri. Manmohan Singh? Where are the Telugu-rakshaks of this forum who will swing an arm and a leg at the mere mention of the name of Shri. PV Narasimha Rao and Shri. Shibu Soren in one line? Oh, I know where they are, they are in the Partition dhaaga busy cussing at all the Pakis

. Where are the hypocrites who could use their "legal" rights on one PM, but not the other? Come out folks and show us your principles

. If Tam-rakshaks swing an arm and a leg, that is chauvinism, if the Telugu-rakshaks do it, its nationalism. BRF is ahead of the curve onlee.

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 22 Sep 2011 10:18

And somebody was cussing me and "Indic Expansionism Theories" for destroying this thread!

Arjun · Post by **Arjun** » 22 Sep 2011 10:28

Stan_Savljevic wrote:Arre bhai, if you are so strong and so sure of your legal "principles," why not become a party to this name-calling business and officially endorse what Philip said?

I strongly endorse Philip's right to express his views, and would not want him or anybody else to hold themselves back based on any apprehension of non-existent legal implications.

In any case - the current government would be the last one to stir up any crazy defamation charges - when its own attack dogs in the media have done far worse and have more to worry if any legal precedence is set - with regard to Narendra Modi, Hazare, or any other opponent who has dared to stand up against it.

I am done with what I wanted to say on this topic. I saw some post from you on Hockey in the Sports thread a few days back which was phenomenally enlightening - that's the Stan that I respect and would like to see more of, not this avatar that keeps tilting at BRF windmills.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 22 Sep 2011 10:43

Well, brother, everyone wants different things, you see.

As I wrote to Rahul M, I want a BRF where parochialism, either of the linguistic kind (hindi as a national language), or the regional kind (tamil people's envy caused telengana woes), or the religious kind (islam needs to be indicized and hinduism is all fine and dandy), or the political kind (bjp zindabad, inc die-nasty crooks), is not officially sanctioned and cut down to as minimally as possible. If wanting that is tilting at windmills, you will have to forego your hickey enlightenment cos one of your admins is going to ban me soon, for the same crime that earned me my second warning for which I protested and asked why no warning to ramana too

. Even if things slide away now, I will be banned soon cos I have made my career tilting at windmills and nothing is gonna stop that.

Anyway, now that Philip has taken the cue for the time being....

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 22 Sep 2011 14:31

I would love to see someone sue me for my description of the activities of our beloved,saintly,blemishless,spotless,endearing,lawful,noble of nobles,the deity called Dr.MMs! I ask you,are the reams of words in the print media,the monumental time on telly devoted to the wondrous activities of his regime,the opinions of editors from every part of the "spectrum" (pun intended) FALSE? Then why are Raja,Kani,Kalmadi and co. in prison if Dr.Singh's scrupulously honest regime has done nothing wrong? Why are millions folowing the AH and RB movements?

I maintain that Dr.Singh,who has presided over the "honourable" activities of the above state guests and many other "honourable" activities not mentioned here, has given a new meaning to the words truth and honesty ,exactly the opposite of what the dictionaries tell us.I guess that Stan is the only one who cannot see the wood for the trees. With such an "honourable" man as Dr.Singh, as our PM at the helm of the ship of state,who needs chors,Quislings and the like?

PS:I would like to think that we are not living in a police state,where journos and critics who have every right to do so as citizens of the country can express their opinion.There are far more eminent men who have expressed similar views in the media on the current scandals which have taken plave under the nose of Dr.Singh,some in even greater detail.I will maintain my right to do so regardless of any threat from any quarter.Martyrdom these days is the flavour of the time!

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 23 Sep 2011 20:34

India-Sri Lanka naval exercises ends

The Vietnamese Ambassador to Sri Lanka travelled from Colombo to Trincomalee to convey his wishes to the Indian and Sri Lankan Navy personnel, onboard the INS Shivalik on Thursday.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/internatio ... 478888.ece

joshvajohn · Post by **joshvajohn** » 23 Sep 2011 21:29

Canadian PM threatens to boycott Commonwealth Summit in Sri Lanka
http://print.dailymirror.lk/news/front- ... 56076.html

US Envoy: Sri Lanka Must Produce Credible Report to Avoid Pressure
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asi ... 01288.html

Why cannot Srilanka follow India in terms of holding respectfully multilinguthestic and multireligious and multiracial identities and return to the path of growth rather than making both Sinhalese and Tamil people's lives worse by high prices and oppressive and threating regime?

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 11 Oct 2011 23:36

Culture ministry blocks MEA’s Sri Lanka project

Jayanth Jacob, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, October 10, 2011
Email to Author

An Indian initiative to build a gallery at an international Buddhist museum in Kandy, Sri Lanka, has hit a controversy, with the culture ministry refusing to take charge of the project proposed by the ministry of external affairs (MEA). The culture ministry, headed by Kumari Selja, has
mounted a scathing attack on the MEA, headed by SM Krishna, citing procedural lapses and a 21-fold inflation of the project cost from Rs 53.8 lakh in 2009 to Rs 8.56 crore in March 2011.

Sixteen Asian countries with Buddhist traditions, including China, Japan, Vietnam and Thailand, are also involved in the project proposed by the MEA in 2009.

The culture ministry has told the MEA that the National Museum in Delhi is “not in a position to take up the work on the MEA’s behalf”. In addition, it has advised an “open and transparent bidding process” to select an agency to carry out the project.

India’s high commissioner to Sri Lanka, Ashok Kantha, refused to comment and the press counselor advised HT to approach the MEA for a response.

The culture ministry placed the roadblock on the project days after Kantha and culture secretary Jawhar Sircar discussed it in end-August this year.

Earlier, the National Museum had deputed its curator, JE Dawson, to visit Sri Lanka in May 2009.

Dawson submitted a report in October 2009 to the MEA, indicating that Rs 53.8 lakh would be required for the project. From then, things were in free fall, a culture ministry official said. The culture ministry also did not take kindly to the MEA dealing directly with the National Museum.

The MEA made arrangements to appoint Dawson as the project coordinator in January 2011 and also appointed a project assistant.

Dawson and his assistant then submitted a revised estimate of Rs 8.56 crore for the project on the basis of a survey by a private party, whose selection has been questioned by the culture ministry.

When HT sought Sircar’s comments, his office said he was on tour and would be able to respond only after his return on Monday.

Dawson said, “I cannot speak to the media. But I don’t think that two wings of the government, the culture ministry and the MEA, can have different views on the issue.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 12 Oct 2011 17:18

It is typical of our shambolic approach to foreign affairs when the MEA is derailed by the so-called Cultural Min. on a paltry sum of 53 lakhs on a "cultural" project for SL.This grotesque example of Indian foriegn policy at its worst must be seen in the light of the fact that our current For.Sec. was a diplomat at our mission many years ago-he had a larger head of hair then and one hopes his acumen has not departed as well!

Why so? If you take a stroll in the central Vihara Maha Devi park in Colombo,famous as a favourite haunt of courting couples,a massive new structure dominates it.A modern interpretation of a blooming lotus-a cultural centre gift from the PRC,built at a cost that makes India's miserable contribution look like a donation for public toliets! When the PRC come-a-calling,laden with gifts,we seem to be paralysed unable to react or rspond ourselves,betraying a paralysis of mind at the every top of the govt./MEA.Secondly,whtever meagre generosities we have promised he Lankans,they remain promises only,timetables never met and thye whole exercise a sore point with the island who compare the two great Asian powers in their performance,where we show ourselves up in the worst light.Media reports said that the For.sec. was dismayed at the delays in building cheap housing for the northern Tamils,where we can barely build a hundred houses in two years tome,while the Chinese build a whole new port at Hambantota! Frankly,even the Lankans can build much faster.Had we just given them the money they would've done a far better job than us Indians.It would've also helped employ Lankans as Chinese contracts use only Chinese labour,a sore point with the Lankans.

So we keep on scoring own goals......

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 14 Oct 2011 20:36

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/feat ... raj-201109

And he was angered by the group’s failure to check on his family while he was in prison. Rudra says, “So I decided: I’m going to bring them down.”
...
... in April 2004, when Chandru told him that Father Gaspar Raj, a Catholic priest who was also a key Tamil Tiger member, had been detained by federal agents at Newark and was about to be deported. Rudra says: “I called Jay Kanetkar and said he should get him out, and he did.”

That is Jegath Casper, the vocal frontsman in TN today. Rajakumar (Raj) Rajaratnam's father is Jesuthasan Rajaratnam, no ambiguity in which religious affinity the two were closer to.

In all it raised more than $7 million. While money did go to the Sri Lankan government, nearly half of it was given to the T.R.O. in the U.S. and in Sri Lanka.

So the GoSL indeed took money from a known LTTE funder, wow, this takes the cake.

That brings the question: if the LTTE were an EJ front, and if the amrikans are an EJ front in another name independent of the democrats or the republicans ruling the roost, why did one front swat the other? Confusing, innit?!

Tuan · Post by **Tuan** » 14 Oct 2011 20:56

Lanka rebuffs Mathai’s call on deep sea fishing
http://expressbuzz.com/world/Lanka-rebu ... 23127.html

nithish · Post by **nithish** » 23 Oct 2011 22:53

India-Lanka power grid link feasibility study likely by Dec

A feasibility study for the interconnection of electricity grids between India and Sri Lanka is expected to be complete by December this year, more than a year after the two countries agreed on the proposal.

The nearly Rs 4,000-crore India-Sri Lanka grid interconnection project would see exchange of up to 1,000 MW power.

FEASIBILITY STUDY

“Final submission of the feasibility study report, incorporating all the aspects ... such as funding and recovery of the investment, economic and financial analysis, legal and institutional aspects etc., is to be completed by December 2011,” according to a Power Ministry document.

In June 2010, a memorandum of understanding was signed among Indian and Sri Lankan Governments as well as the PowerGrid Corporation and Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) for conducting the feasibility study.

The date for submission of feasibility study was decided by the task force and steering committee after their meetings in August.

The task force and steering committee set up for the proposed India-Sri Lanka electricity grid interconnection comprise members from both the Governments and State-run entities from the two nations.

According to the document, the feasibility study envisages “laying cable at a depth of 25 metres below the mean sea level for 500 m span while crossing the Sethusamudram Canal.”

SETHUSAMUDRAM CANAL

Noting that this would require dredging of about 15 metres below sea-bed in the Canal section, the Power Ministry document said the same would be feasible only if the Canal is executed before laying the submarine cable.

India-Sri Lanka electricity grid interconnection would span 360 km of lines, including 120 km of sea route.

“Alternatively, overhead option would be required to cross Sethusamudram Canal,” it said.

PowerGrid and CEB are the executing agencies for the study, which would cost roughly about $3 million and the amount would be equally shared by Indian and Sri Lankan governments.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 24 Oct 2011 16:59

Yes,bewildering isn't it,but the US's track record of playing both sides to gain is legendary.Ultimately,when both sides are exhausted from their warring,the US/CIA steps in and delivers the antidote/knockout punch to both,that immensely benefits it and fits in with its grand strategy.In Lanka,both sids happily took US aid over and under the counter and the grand strategy was to engineer a quasi-independent state in the north-east so that it could control one of the most strategic coastlines in the IOR not to mention Trinco harbour.The drilling for oil and gas goijg on right now and initial success shows that other more mercenary considerations were also in the bean-counting.A foothold in India's vulnerable underbelly with an ethnic connection using the Lankan Tamils has been shown earlier in ample form.