Mirigama to Kurunegalle 40k Highway opened to public 15/1/22T
The highway goes through the central lowlands of Sri Lanka. This 40.91 km sector from Mirigama to Kurunegala of the Central Highway has cost Rs.149 Billion.
Category Archives: centre-periphery relations
Reviewing Educational Reform and the Study of History in British Ceylon
Uditha Devapriya with Uthpala Wijesuriya, in The Island, 15 January 2022, where the title reads “Cultural revival, education reform, and the study of history”
Most accounts of education reform in British Ceylon focus on officials and administrators, rather than the people on the ground and the historical forces they had to contend with. Very little effort, indeed next to no effort, is made to situate reforms in a broader historical context. Works like Ranjit Ruberu’s Education in Colonial Ceylon (1962) and the Education and Cultural Affairs Ministry’s Education in Ceylon: A Centenary Volume (1969) do explore these areas, but these remain more the exception than the norm..
G. C. Mendis,
Red A. G Fraser
Hartley
Filed under accountability, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, education, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, life stories, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, teaching profession, unusual people, world events & processes
Cricketing Stars who stimulated Ceylon Cricket
A. C. de S., in Sunday Observer, 30 May 2004, where the tiltle is “Ceylon privileged to be coached by cricketing knights”
Sri Lanka has had the good fortune of witnessing six great cricketing knights play in the country and indulge in coaching for the Sri Lanka benefit of the younger generation. The six cricketers all knighted for their splendid deeds for their country of birth, had a liking to Sri Lanka (Ceylon as we were then known) and besides playing in matches, have also indulged in coaching in Colombo and in the outstation towns as well.
The cricketing knights – Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Learie Constantine, Sir Jack Hobbs, Sir Frank Worrell, Sir Len Hutton and Sir Garfield Sobers were a big draw for the young cricketers then and the enthusiasm to forge ahead in cricket seemed to be uppermost in the minds of the local cricketers and the administrators as well.
Filed under accountability, Australian culture, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, cricket for amity, cultural transmission, education, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, performance, photography, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes
Hambantota Port and Its Prospects
Facemask ..in The Island, 11 January 2022 ….https://island.lk/55469-2/
The Hambantota International Port (HIP), which continues to come under attack by the Opposition, has said it expects an impressive growth in time to come.
The HIP has in a media statement said it has received FSS certification (Fitness for Service) for their tank farm facility. “The certification was issued by Lloyd’s Register (LR), the World’s leading provider of classification, compliance and consultancy services to marine and offshore industries. This is a landmark achievement that will further strengthen the HIP brand in the maritime world.”
Site inspection (L-R): Liu Shengshan- Construction Manager, Sinopec Construction LLC; Wang Chuanzheng- Deputy project Manager, Sinopec Construction LLC; Sarathchandra Kumara – Senior Specialist-Energy Services; Ambrish Bansal Vice President – Business Advisory & Consulting Lloyd’s Register; SL. Kulkarni- Senior Inspector Oil & Gas – Lloyd’s Register. Continue reading
Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, economic processes, export issues, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, modernity & modernization, politIcal discourse, Rajapaksa regime, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, transport and communications, truth as casualty of war, world events & processes
Ambassador Palitha Kohona in Q-And-A with CGTN
Su Yuting of CGTN in Q-and-A with Ambassador Palitha Kohona …. https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-01-09/Exclusive-CGTN-interview-with-Sri-Lankan-ambassador-to-China-16FUZ3Y2tgs/index.html
2022 marks the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Sri Lanka. To know more about the development of that relationship, CGTN reporter Su Yuting sat down with Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to China Palitha Kohona.
Kohona said the relationship between China and Sri Lanka is very warm and is built on a solid foundation, adding that it is a relationship that has lasted over 2,000 years. Sri Lanka and China have moved closer to each other in recent times, and the two countries have supported each other at multilateral fora on many occasions.
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The Covid Phenomenon deciphered by a Committed Worker in Mannar Island
Jeremy Liyanage
Hi Michael, Thanks for asking these important questions. I live with some frustration over what the mainstream media reports and what my almost daily research of the Covid phenomenon world-wide since March 2020 is telling me.
For us in Mannar, our experience tells us that the Covid ‘crisis’ is a real case of smoke and mirrors here in Sri Lanka. There is little accuracy regarding anything Covid-relatedof because the data is significantly corrupted or not kept at all. As for us it is good to have a grounded vantage point here in Mannar with ‘whistle-blowers’ within the system who report what is really going on and the fudging of figures. Directives from higher up to report many non-Covid related deaths as Covid ones also skewes the numbers. Also at the Mannar hospital all pneumonia and influenza cases – which historically are considerable in number – are now classified as Covid.
Filed under accountability, biotechnology, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, coronavirus, cultural transmission, demography, disparagement, economic processes, governance, historical interpretation, life stories, meditations, performance, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, the imaginary and the real, trauma, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, working class conditions, world events & processes
Searching Investigations from Verite Research in 2021
A VERITE RESEARCH BULLETIN
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
As we approach the end of the year, there is much to look back on and reflect upon. I am glad to share with you some of the highlights of the recent month in this Verité Bulletin.
We have long felt that democracy is not meaningful when citizens are not critically cognizant of the information in relation to public finance. This is why Verité Research strategically expanded its work on Public Finance. The platform that we built, PublicFinance.lk, is probably the pre-eminent locus for information and analysis on the state of Sri Lanka’s public finance.
Filed under accountability, architects & architecture, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, citizen journalism, democratic measures, economic processes, electoral structures, energy resources, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, land policies, Left politics, legal issues, life stories, modernity & modernization, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, press freedom & censorship, rehabilitation, self-reflexivity, social justice, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, transport and communications, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
Penetrating White Australia, 1948-to-1970s: Burghers and Amahs
Earl Forbes, whose preferred title is “Burghers and Amahs. First to enter White Australia from Independent Ceylon, ,”.… Note that the highlights are impositions by The Editor, Thuppahi
The diplomatic relationship between Ceylon and Australia commenced even before the formal declaration of Ceylon’s Independence. Australia established a Representative Office in Colombo, on the 29th April 1947. On Independence Day, (4th February 1948) this representation was upgraded to High Commission status. As further indication of the importance placed on the relationship between the two countries, the Australian High Commission Office was moved from its temporary location at the Galle Face Hotel, to more permanent premises at Gafoor Building, in the Fort, Colombo.
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Mahathma Gandhi at Mahinda College in 1927
Ruhunu Puthra
In November 1927, Mahatma Gandhi and Kasturbai Gandhi arrived in Galle. They were the chief guests at the prize-giving of Mahinda College, on the 24th. The Olcott Memorial Assembly Hall of the College was filled to capacity. Never was there such a large gathering of Buddhists, Hindus and Christians. The speech given by Gandhi is excerpted from the Mahinda College Magazine of 2002:
“It has given me the greatest pleasure to be able to be present at this very pleasant function. You have paid me, indeed, a very great compliment and conferred on me a great honour by allowing me to witness your proceedings and making the acquaintance of so many boys.
Filed under art & allure bewitching, centre-periphery relations, charitable outreach, communal relations, cultural transmission, education, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian traditions, landscape wondrous, life stories, performance, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, teaching profession, tolerance, unusual people, world events & processes
USA’s Hegemonic Designs Sustain A Dangerous Wonderland
Jean-Pierre Page, whose preferred title is “The Longer Telegram and “sleepy Joe”in Wonderland!
The Biden Administration appears to be implementing most of the recommendations in the Atlantic Council’s Longer Telegram: Toward a new American China strategy, an important strategic document about US policy towards China published in January 2021. This document is one of a troika produced by the Atlantic Council; the other two are Global Strategy 2021: An Allied Strategy for China, published in December 2020 with a preface by Joseph Nye, and The China plan: A transatlantic blueprint for strategic competition, published in March 2021.
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, coronavirus, economic processes, ethnicity, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, life stories, military expenditure, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, propaganda, security, self-reflexivity, truth as casualty of war, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
