Category Archives: economic processes

May 8, 2016 · 9:45 am

Meeting Ex-Tigers and Addressing the Issue of Rehabilitation

Zarah Imtiaz, in Daily News,6 May 2016, where the title is “Rehabilitated LTTE cadres: No longer stuck in NO-GO ZONE”

I fought for eight years of my life, eight years that I cannot take back, said Kulandavel Thayaparan while enjoying the cup of tea arranged by the Commissioner, Bureau of Rehabilitation at ‘Ape Gama’ in Battaramulla. Thayaparan along with 34 other LTTE ex-combatants are being taken on a five day trip around the country starting from Nuwara Eliya to a 3D film in Bambalapitiya.A visibly excited Thayaparan however, is just happy to be out of the Anuradhapura Prison where he had served the last six years in custody. He is part of a recent batch of LTTE suspects or political prisoners who have been named for release after rehabilitation by the courts after 200 of them launched a hunger strike in October 2015, urging the authorities to expedite their cases.

rehab TIGERs 2016--DN

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May 8, 2016 · 4:58 am

Amidst the Taliban in Jalalabad: Anoja of the UNICEF

Anoja Wijeyesekera, in The Sunday Island, 8 May 2016, where the title is “Jalalabad”

Excerpted here is a chapter from Anoja Wijeyesekera’ recent book, Facing the Taliban, providing a fascinating account of the writer braving the challenge of heading the UNICEF office in Jalalabad during the height of Taliban terror. Anoja who retired from UNICEF in 2006, having been the agency’s Country Representative in Bhutan for nearly five years, was picked to be assigned to Jalalabad by the agency which believed that in the face of a woman anathematizing regime, an international woman officer was needed to ensure that its program for Afghani mothers and children actually reached them. The chapter reproduced here with permission from the author, deals with her move to Jalalabad.

ANOJA BookAs we neared Jalalabad, I could see canopies of delicate fir trees on both sides of the road. These trees formed an exquisite natural archway that extended mile after mile. In the good old days before tragedy struck this country, this was the grand entrance to Jalalabad, the winter capital of Afghanistan. The climate of Jalalabad being milder than that of Kabul, the rich retreated to their winter villas there to get away from the freezing temperatures of the capital city. During the golden era of King Zahir Shah, the last king of Afghanistan, Kabul, the administrative and. commercial capital that was modelled on Paris, was known as the “Paris of Asia”. It attracted many visitors from neighbouring countries and was a favourite stop-over for those who undertook the road journey from Europe to India. Continue reading →

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May 2, 2016 · 7:47 am

That Ogre “Federalism” Today: Thoughts from Manjula-Sumanthiran, Cooray, Gomin Dayasri, Sarvesvaran & Camelia

I> Manjula Fernando: Federalism: “A far-fetched solution……………http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2016/05/01/fea05.asp

The Northern Provincial Council (NPC) resolution calling for a Federal Constitution for Sri Lanka has triggered a spontaneous reaction from Southern quarters. Not only hardliners such as the JHU, NFF and the Gammanpila faction criticised the move but also the moderate SLFP and UNP were quick to disassociate from the proposals and declare that federalism was a far-fetched solution in the on-going new constitution-making process. Highways and Investment Promotion Minister Kabir Hashim said the Government will not be troubled over minor resolutions passed in Provincial Councils, while Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe was more elaborate in his statement that the SLFP will not endorse a federal constitution.

Maithri-Jaffna-23-march-2015It was not clear as to what the architects of the resolution, the TNA team in the Council led by Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran aspired but certainly it seems to have put the government in a fix, taking the on-going reconciliation process into turbulent waters. The Sunday Observer spoke to the Northern Province Governor Reginald Cooray, ITAK (TNA) Parliamentarian M.A.Sumanthiran, legal luminary Gomin Dayasri and Senior Lecturer Colombo Law Faculty A. Sarvesvaran on the hot topic. Continue reading →

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May 2, 2016 · 4:56 am

Malik scrummages among the “Powers” in USA for Economic Benefits

Island News Item, 30 April 2016, with title “Malik calls for preferential market access for SL in the US…..“ECTA with India this year, FTA with China in early 2017”

Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrema last week urged the U.S., Sri Lanka’s largest export market, to increase market access for Lankan exports which he said “will be crucial for building a more prosperous, stable and peaceful Sri Lanka.” The minister was speaking in Washington at the 12th Joint Council meeting under the US-Sri Lanka Trade and Investment Framework Agreement at an event attended by Ambassadors Michael Froman, US Trade Representative, and Ambassador Samantha Power, US Ambassador to the United Nations – both cabinet members. Samarawickrema who described significantly increased preferential market access as the ‘jewel in the crown’ said this has the capacity to generate “quick wins” making the point that Sri Lanka was pressed with challenges to manage the short term.

MALIK plus USAUS UN Ambassador Samantha Power, United States Trade Representative Michael Froman, Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama and Sri Lankan Ambassador to U.S.A Prasad Kariyawasam, at the United States-Sri Lanka Trade and Investment Framework Agreement Council Meeting

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April 28, 2016 · 4:44 am

Hardline Ethnic Mind-Sets: Jane Russell’s Findings and Reflections

Michael Roberts

Rajan Hoole is now presenting his studies of Sri Lanka Tamil political ferment in the 20th century via the Colombo Telegraph and local newspapers. This earnest endeavour is to be applauded. However, such surveys are not without their problems. Serious commentary on his arguments – as distinct from off-the-cuff blog comments – will have to dwell on the “depth and reach” of his documentation.

JR in 1976Jane Russell in 1976Rajan-Hoole-3 Rajan Hoole today Chandra-w-borderChandra de Silva today

The historical material, whether secondary literature or primary sources, on the politics of the period extending from the 1920s to the 1980s is considerable. For one hand to delve into the readily available data at depth in brief articles[1] is well-nigh impossible. Even with this caveat it is surprising that Hoole has made no reference to Arasaratnam’s and KM de Silva’s essays on the constitutional agitation of the early 20th century, Ranjith Amarasinghe’s study of the Trotskite movement (2000) or the documentary material on GG Ponnambalam’s approaches to the Colonial Office in Documents of the Ceylon National Congress and Nationalist Politics in Ceylon: 1929-1950 (1977). Continue reading →

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April 18, 2016 · 2:37 pm

How Royal helped spawn S. Thomas College

Hugh Karunanayake, courtesy of The Ceylankan, Vol. XX: No. 2, May 2016,  where the title is “Royal College role in the Birth of S. Thomas College”

S. Thomas College Mount Lavinia was established in Mutwal on 3rd February 1851. It was then described as a “Collegiate School’ which was much akin to what was later to emerge as a secondary school. The intention of its founders was to establish a College and a School. The latter was designed to prepare candidates for admission into the College. The College was to prepare students for entry into tertiary education including Theology and Divinity Studies. When initially established it was not possible to differentiate between School and College, there being 70 students in the whole institution and not enough students to commence the College. One year later with the arrival of Warden Wood the College was opened in January 1852 with 20 students, the rest being included in the Collegiate School.

STC3The original school building in Mutwal — from WT Keble History of St Thomas College 1937 Continue reading →

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April 18, 2016 · 11:18 am

Antony Jesuthasan as “Dheepan” and Shobasakthi

Among the films being shown in Australian cities by the Alliance Francais Film Festival is that entitled DHEEPAN. The Tamil migrant and ex-Tiger fighter who inspired this tale and appears as the principal actor first burst onto the media pages as Shobasakthi …and the author of a book entitled Gorilla. The brief resume of the film is followed by a news item from 2008 .

DHEEPANDheepan is a major film event and the winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes International Film Festival in 2015. This blistering slice of realism, entrenches director Jacques Audiard’s status as one of today’s greatest auteurs, with a unique presentation of the asylum seeker experience that will move audiences profoundly. Three strangers in conflict-ridden northern Sri Lanka band together as a makeshift family in order to flee to the suburbs of Paris: Dheepan, an ex-Tamil Tiger (Antonythasan Jesuthasan, author, activist, and former child soldier); lost young woman Yalini (Kalieaswari Srinivasan); and orphan girl Illayaal (Claudine Vinasithamby). As they struggle to find stability, they are forced to improvise their relationships. Soon they find they must cope with new violence and intolerance in their adopted home.

Based on Antonythasan’s own experience, his journey of self-realisation is a powerful and visceral tale, told with a timeless classicism that marks the finest world cinema. As in A Prophet and Rust and Bone, director Audiard orchestrates creeping menace with an emotional punch and a complex social message. Continue reading →

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April 10, 2016 · 5:12 pm

Ranil’s Entourage in Kow Tow and Homage in China: As Abject as Intelligent

I present four news items preceded by my own Preamble and followed by Rajan Philips’s appraisal as essential reading.

  • China grants 500mn Yuan symbolizing Sino-Lanka friendship
  • Yuan to enter Colombo
  • Ranil appoints top-level committee to facilitate Chinese investments
  • Economic strategies between Sri Lanka and China finalized
  • Ben Blanchard: “Sri Lanka requests equity swap for some of its $8 billion China debt”
  • Rajan Philips: “PM’s China visit: Two-timing diplomacy for Indo-China investments

Ranil ++ 11Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang welcomes the Sri Lankan Premier.

I. Preamble by Michael Roberts

The term kow tow has been an act of Chinese penetration, so to speak, into the English language,[1] being a corruption of the Cantonese Chinese term kau tau (koutou in Mandarin Chinese) which denotes the act of deep respect shown by prostration, that is, kneeling and bowing so low as to have one’s head touching the ground. In the early 15th century the Ming  Emperor despatched a huge fleet under Cheng Ho – one that would have simply dwarfed the ships and numbers under Columbus – across the Indian Ocean and captured Vira Alakesvera, the King of Kotte, and transported him to China in order to instill China’s “tributary overlordship” over the island. So, kow-towing, or what we would call dakum, obeisance from inferior to superior, was forcibly imposed on that occasion. DAKUMA  Dutch ambassadors in däkuma before King of Sihalē, 1785…https://thuppahis.com/2013/10/09/tributary-overlordship-and-cakravarti-figures-in-pre-british-lanka/

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April 10, 2016 · 2:43 pm

Tony Abbott blows his Own Trumpet in Defense of his Policies on National Security

Tony Abbott, courtesy of the Quadrant, April issue where the title is “Abbott: I Was Right on National Security

As prime minister, I was determined to advance our interests, protect our citizens and uphold our values around the world. That meant putting aside the moral posturing of the Rudd years to be a country that said what it meant and did what it said. Apart from building the country’s wealth, the principal task of government is to keep its citizens safe. When the Abbott government came to office, very few people anticipated a resurgence of Islamist terrorism. In 2013, Prime Minister Gillard had declared the “end of the 9/11 decade”. Likewise, few people expected an activist foreign policy from a new government preoccupied with economic growth and creating jobs. Yet reducing obstacles to trade not only strengthens the national and world economy but also helps to build the trust necessary for more effective global security. At home and abroad, the Abbott government strengthened our national security arrangements and reinforced our international reputation as a reliable partner. ABBOTT Pic from newmatilda.com

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April 10, 2016 · 3:37 am

Sri Lanka Now: A Luxurious Tour

Claire Wrathall,  at Departures Autumn Travel issue, p 68-71  and http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e9e994a6-c369-11e5-808f-8231cd71622e.html where one of the titles is “A taste of luxury in Sri Lanka”

A homegrown hotel group is hoping to rival the international chains at the very top of the market
A young male elephant in the adjacent Yala National Park©Alamy…A young male elephant in the adjacent Yala National Park

Offered the chance to ride shotgun in a helicopter, I leapt at the opportunity. As anyone who has ever negotiated the roads in Sri Lanka knows, driving can be slow. The journey from Colombo to Ulagalla, 175km north-east of the airport, had taken almost five hours; the place we were moving on to was almost 350km south. A chopper seemed the way to go. It was raining, but even so the views were sensational. We glimpsed a column of elephants, their backs like great grey boulders, lumbering through the verdant landscape, then circled the ancient citadel of Sigiriya, which sits atop a 200 metre-high column of rock, before landing, unexpectedly, at a military airport, swooping down past what appeared to be an open missile silo in order to refuel. It was only after we were airborne again that the bad weather really set in. The cloud descended until visibility was negligible. And then the screen on the dashboard turned orange and began to flash “TERRAIN ALERT”. The pilot’s concern was palpable. There was nothing for it but to alter course away from the mountains and land, alighting several long minutes later on the worn wicket of a waterlogged cricket pitch in a remote town called, we learnt later, Dehiattakandiya.

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