Camelia Nathaniel, in Daily news, 14 Marhc 2018 where the title runs “Mine free by 2020: Sri Lanka heading towards becoming a landmine free country: Lanka heading towards becoming a landmine free country:”
Category Archives: disaster relief team
Forgotten Scars of War: Clearing Mines and UXO … One
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Saving Tamil Civilians by Sea: More on the ICRC-cum-SL Navy Operations: Admiral Travis Sinniah Speaks
Michael Roberts
I sent my article “Gash Files III” to Admiral (Retired) Travis Sinniah as soon as it was placed on web and was able to conduct an extended Skype-Chat with him on 12th April.[1] He had no major quarrels with the gist of that article. However, he stressed that the whole exercise was an extremely difficult one – involving difficulties that words cannot quite capture.
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The Gash Files III: Trapped Tamils Out by Sea in 2009
Michael Roberts
As evident then and as confirmed by subsequent accounts, during the last phase of Eelam War IV from circa December 2008 segments of the corralled Tamil population began to rebel against the privations and dangers they were being subjected to by the LTTE’s grand strategy. While a considerable section of the people remained loyal to the LTTE to the very end,[1] others secured release from their situation through the efforts of international agencies working in cooperation with the LTTE and involving[2] the ICRC acting in concert with the Sri Lankan Navy and the Red Cross.
Also see Roberts: TPS. Pictorial. Fig. 95 and its details
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Revisiting the Story of the IDP Camps, 2009 et seq: ONE
Michael Roberts
As with Eelam War IV the Western media juggernaut, primed and fed by the extensive LTTE networks abroad, mounted an effective disinformation campaign on this topic. One illustration was when Jeremy Page of the BBC reported in June 2009 that 1400 persons were dying per week in the Manik Farm camps.
Coping with the influx of internal Tamil IDPS from late 2008 onwards was in fact a huge administrative and humanitarian problem with security implications. The task was faced by the Government of Sri Lanka and a collection of INGOS and NGOs with the support of monetary aid provided by the Western governments and UN agencies and with a Coordinating Committee chaired by Mahinda Samarasinghe keeping an eye on proceedings.
Annet Royce (standing) and Sewalanak Cooking team at Omanthai transit camp in mid-May 2009 preparing food packets for IDPS bussed in from war front on way to Manik Farm Camps Continue reading
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Australia has No Place in Asia — In Cricket!
Andrew Faulkner, in The Australian, 29 August 2017, where the heading reads ”
Black clouds are billowing over Australian cricket but the Test team would prefer clouds of a more literal kind to intervene at Dhaka’s Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. With Bangladesh 1-45, and leading by 88 runs, the monsoon looms as the most likely saviour in the first Test after the Australian batsmen played true to form by not playing very well in Asia. Actually, no one bats as badly in Asia as the ugly Australians. Even Zimbabweans — who haven’t won a Test since 2013 — bat better in Asia than Australians.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz roars after pinning David Warner lbw Getty Images
As the tourists succumbed for 217 all out yesterday, with Ashton Agar making an unconquered 41 to show up the batsmen, Fox Sports posted numbers that told a chilling story. Australia are ranked last among the Test playing nations for scoring runs in Asia. Certainly no one would describe the Fox stats as a beautiful set of numbers. At 26.69 per innings, Australian batsmen average the lowest in Asia across the past 10 years. Continue reading
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Flood Relief Donations: Pathways for Australians
The Situation Report issued by the Disaster Management Center today at 7 am Sri Lanka time on the 29th May said that around 471,542 people belonging to 128,586 families were affected in 15 Districts . 164 deaths and 104 missing reported . Further, 75,236 people belonging to 18,652 families were located at 336 safe locations.
Severe Floods and Landslides in South-Western Lanka
News Reports
The number of deaths reported in floods and landslides was increased to 126 while 97 people had gone missing, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said today. In its latest situation report, the DMC said the adverse weather condition had left 49 people injured. In total, 423,068 people of 109,773 families had been affected by the weather calamity. The South-West monsoon unleashed torrential rains, which ravaged fourteen districts in the western and southern parts of the country on Friday and Thursday.
The disaster is described as one of the worst-ever calamities since the 2003 floods.
–See more at: http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/Update-killed-in-weather-calamity–129692.html#sthash.tVT0J37T.dpuf
Mahinda Rajapaksa meets “The Hindu” in July 2009
I. Preamble by Michael Roberts
I was in Colombo from mid-April 2009 to early June and observed the local coverage of Eelam War IV at its bitter end. I was invited by Muralidhar Reddy[i] to write articles for Frontline on aspects of the politics surrounding the war. Though Frontline is a magazine produced by The Hindu consortium, I was not a regular follower of that newspaper on web — even though I had once been introduced to its owner and chief executive, N. Ram, way back in time by Chandra Schafter and had also had an extended chat with him in Delhi in 1995.[ii]
N Ram talking to Mahinda Rajapaksa, mid-2009 
Thus the receipt of a Hindu report on President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s thoughts in mid-2009, expressed in an extended session with him conducted by N. Ram, serves up new material from my position. In step with my policy of raising significant episodes in the course of Eelam War IV to public notice,[iii] I hasten to place this exchange in the public domain. Continue reading
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Sri Lanka at ‘War’ at Kennington Oval, London on 11th June 1975
Police in action at The Oval, when about 20 demonstrators rushed onto the pitch during Sri Lanka’s match against Australia. They were protesting against Sri Lanka’s team choice being racially biased … Photograph: PA Archive
Ordinary Perera, Nadarajah and Bandara: Hands, Feet and Donations across the Length and Breadth of Sri Lanka
I = SEE & Listen to https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XGaos9NO5jE&sns=tw
How A Walk Healed A Nation | Nathan Sivagananathan & Sarinda Unamboowe | TEDxColombo….TEDx Talks……2,912,917……14,688
Published on Sep 21, 2015
Sarinda and Nathan relate their story of how a drunken promise can create social cohesion between the two ends of Sri Lanka. The war drove communities apart but their project proved that with a cause as big as cancer – miracles can happen and people can come together to drive change.
ALSO SEE
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