McCabe v Goliath: The case against British American tobacco Australia Services Ltd

Significance of the decision in McCabe v British American Tobacco Australia Services Ltd - ramifications for the possibilities for success of future litigation of this nature in Australia and overseas - ethical and public policy issues regarding the duties of lawyers to the courts and to their clients - whilst a lawyer's implication in the destruction of documents to prevent a fair trial ultimately involves stricter duties, it exposes a need for vigilance against the possibilities for corporations to act outside the public interest, if not the justice system.

Manumission of Slaves in Goa During 1682 to 1760 as found in Codex 860

The centre piece of my presentation is one particular and interesting manuscript of the Goa Historical Archives, listed as codex 860, which and contains details about manumission of slaves in Goa during the period 1682-1760. Curiously, the “Fathers of Christians” involved in this process of manumission were several Jesuits until the suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1759. The last four folios cover the year 1760 under a non-Jesuit, probably an Augustinian monk, appointed to take over the Old College of St Paul, while the Jesuits were detained before being deported.

"Church in Goa: Servants, slaves and rebels

This article in Goa Herald daily seeks to respond to a round-table conference convoked by Minister Eduardo Faleiro to reflect upon the need of calling the attention of the Goa Church to lack of transparency and accountability in its administration of Church properties.

The 27th British liquid crystal society annual meeting 2013, Cambridge

Attending the British Liquid Crystal Society’s (BLCS) Annual Meeting was a formative experience in my days as a PhD student, starting way back in the 1990s. At that time, this involved travelling to (to me) exotic parts of the United Kingdom, such as Reading, Oxford or Manchester, away from Southampton where I was based. Some postdoctoral years in a different country followed, and three BLCS Meetings were missed, until in 1997 and 1998, I was able to attend again, in Southampton and Leeds, respectively. Not much had changed from my student days, the size and the format were still about the same, many of the leading characters were still around, and the closing talk would still be given by John Lydon. Well, at some point, I got myself a proper academic job on the Continent and stopped attending BLCS Annual Meetings altogether. The fond memories of my youth started to fade. Were the Meetings still on? It seemed so, as old friends and acquaintances would occasionally recount attending them, and even winning prizes at them. But, it all seemed rather remote now. Until, that is, it came to pass that the 27th BLCS Meeting would be held in Selwyn College, Cambridge, just down (or up, depending on how you look at it) the road from the Isaac Newton Institute, where I was spending part of my sabbatical leave. The opportunity to resume attendance could not be missed. A brief e-mail exchange with the organisers, and a cheque to cover the fee, duly secured this. And thus, it was with trepidation that I approached my first BLCS Annual Meeting in more than a decade.