Thuppahi's Blog

ITEM in THe ISLAND, March 2026, entitled  “Lanka discovers largest groundwater source”

The National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB) on Friday said the largest groundwater source discovered in Sri Lanka so far had been identified during tube-well drilling near the Pitabeddara Police Station.

According to the NWSDB, the tube well was drilled following geological studies of rock layers and the identification of underground water through fractures in rock strata using specialised technical instruments.

The Board said steps would be taken to distribute water from the newly discovered source to residents facing shortages in Pitabeddara, Morawaka and surrounding areas.

We are Verité Research …. https://www.veriteresearch.org/about-us/

Verité Research is an independent think-and-do tank based in Sri Lanka, dedicated to providing strategic analysis to drive transformative change. Through rigorous research, advocacy, and education, we tackle complex challenges with practical, actionable insights.

Our interdisciplinary approach spans various areas of economic research—including socio-economics, international economics, and macroeconomics—alongside our Verité Sectoral Engagement Team (VSET), which focuses on sector-specific research and engagement with public institutions. Our specialized teams in legal research, governance and anti-corruption, media and politics, and parliamentary monitoring work together to provide a holistic, integrated approach.

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    “Through the Covers” by Channa Gunasekara

Verite Research, deploying this title “Gammanpila’s book launch on Easter Attacks: A story that did not sell”

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Insights, analysis and must reads from CNN’s Fareed Zakaria and the Global Public Square team, compiled by Global Briefing editor Chris Good ….. under the title “Countdown to War Crimes?”

“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” President Donald Trump posted to social media this morning. “I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.” This followed Trump’s Easter Sunday message: “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH!”

Not for the first time, Trump has given Iran a 48-hour deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on electricity-generating power plants and bridges. That deadline expires at 8 p.m. ET tonight.

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Michael Roberts

Over the last 6-9 months Roshan Samarawickrema has been cataloguing my books in a long-term project. As it happens, a chance finding in my computer files led me to a Note [undated] to Nishan de Mel, a good friend who is the Director of VERITE RESEARCH in Colombo, which is entitled  “RARE MATERIAL –NEW” …..

DEAR NISHAN et al

Given the aging process and the right-royal mess my study arena is in, I fear that there is a corpus of rare items that may disappear when I am cremated at some point in the near future. Some of the rare books will be available in university libraries and in the stock maintained by collectors.

PK Balachandran …. & …. Genl Shavendra Silva

But

A = my stock also contains some slim pamphlets and leaflets which are quite rare and are just the ‘scale’ of items that disappear beyond any horizon.

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Desert Wanderer, with  highlights imposed by  The Editor, Thuppahi

I have just read that Trump has postponed his plan to destroy the entire Persian civilization for two weeks. He is using this “threat of annihilation” as leverage to force Iran into a humiliating defeat, after declaring “total victory over Iran” for the 27th time.

Of course, the reality is different. Trump hasn’t won the war; it is still ongoing. He is desperate for a ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, but Iran views the war differently.

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Janan Ganesh, FT … in an article bearing this Title: “Trump learns that not everyone has a price”

Who is the anti-Trump? The human opposite of him? Robert Mueller, who once investigated the US president, had a strong claim. He spent the great bulk of his career in unremunerative public life. He joined the Marines because a friend died in the corps, not despite that fact. In obituaries since his own death last month, the word “integrity” recurs. Donald Trump instead went with: “Good, I’m glad he’s dead.” Perhaps this wasn’t just personal animus talking but also total mystification at the values of someone like Mueller.

 Trump does not understand people who believe in things. Recognise this blind spot, and his current struggles abroad become easier to explain.

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Ifham Nizam, whose article in the ISLAND is entitled “Arctic link discovered: Lankan scientists trace 8,000 km seabird migration route”

Sri Lankan scientists have uncovered a remarkable long-distance migration route used by seabirds, linking the island’s shores with the Arctic—an achievement that is expected to reshape global understanding of bird movement and highlight Sri Lanka’s importance in the natural world. The discovery, led by Professor Sampath S. Seneviratne of the University of Colombo, shows that Heuglin’s Gulls travel nearly 8,000 kilometres from Sri Lanka to breeding grounds in northern Russia, following a carefully chosen path that combines coastal travel with long inland journeys .Prof. Seneviratne told The Island that the finding challenges the long-standing belief that seabirds depend mainly on ocean routes. “For a long time, we assumed seabirds would stay close to the sea throughout their migration. What we are seeing here is very different. These birds are moving across land as well, using a route that connects Sri Lanka directly with the Arctic,” he said.

Brown headed gull- migrating from Himalayas to Mannar

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