Category Archives: governance

May 19, 2020 · 4:49 am

Overwhelmed by W. Dahanayake … A Few Insights into the Politics of Yesteryear

Bevis Bawa ... writing way back in an article entitled “And the “Brook” overflowed” .… a wonderful erudite title that I should perhaps have retained

A person I have wanted to write about for quite a while is our effervescent Daha known to some as “The Voice”. And to others, long ago, as the “Bibile Brook” and now Doctor of Literature [Honoris Causa”].

 

Last week I ran him down to earth in the corridors of the House. “Hullo Bawa”, he boomed in his rasping voice which sounds like gravel being thrown on a windowpane. “So now you are a journalist!”.

He led me to the dining saloon of the ship- I mean the restaurant of the House, so like a ship’s saloon [pale blue, grey, and concealed lights in the ceiling]. He ordered tea. Continue reading →

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May 15, 2020 · 6:17 pm

Ivor Jennings and Peradeniya University in Two Excursions

ONE:  ‘Varman’ = “Jennings and the Old Galaha Road”

In 1952 we lived on Old Galaha Road.  That was the last year we lived there.  The government of the day compulsorily acquired our house and the land for the campus of the new University of Ceylon at Peradeniya.  Much against our wishes, we were on orders to quit our home.  The order to vacate, after the property was compulsorily acquired by the government, came from the Vice Chancellor’s office, the new owner of what was our beloved property.

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May 14, 2020 · 1:27 pm

Velupillai Pirapāharan’s Biography related by DBS Jeyaraj

DBS Jeyaraj, in Daily FT, 13 May 2020, where the title is “Tale of a Tiger: Facets of LTTE Chief Prabhakaran’s life” ++

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed 11 years ago in combat with the armed forces of Sri Lanka on 19 May 2009. The longest war in South Asia came to an end after the military debacle of the LTTE on the shores of Nandikadal Lagoon in the Mullaitivu District of northern Sri Lanka.

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May 13, 2020 · 12:45 pm

German POWs in Britain: 1945 Onwards

Watch and ponder –– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFehPgwCo3I

(2/5) Timewatch the Germans we Kept World War II

With the wars end many prisoners were soon on their way back home but a program of re-education was devised to supposedly prepare the prisoners for a new life in a different Germany. The full horrors of the Holocaust were put on show and one prisoner who was at the time a hard-line Nazi remembers that many of his comrades did not believe that the Holocaust had taken place thinking it was British propaganda designed to shame the German people even more….

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May 13, 2020 · 11:43 am

Dolphin Hotel as Army Quarantine Centre

News item, 7 May 2020, with this title “Army uses Hemas’ Dolphin Hotel as a fully dedicated quarantine centre”Hemas Holdings PLC controlled Club Hotel Dolphin, Waikkala, has completed its fifth successful week as a dedicated COVID-19 Quarantine Centre. All operating costs, during this time period, are being borne by the Hemas Group, and the Dolphin Hotel, in the interest of supporting the government, frontline healthcare workers and armed forces personnel.

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May 9, 2020 · 8:15 am

Covid Control in Sri Lanka: A Summary Overview from Three Key Personnel

Kalani Kumarasinghe, in Daily Mirror, 1 May 2020, … where the title is “The Debrief”

The leaders of Sri Lanka’s battle against Covid-19 came together for a panel discussion at Wijerama House, headquarters of Sri Lanka Medical Association to review Sri Lanka’s journey in containing the coronavirus outbreak. Head of the National Operation Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO), Army Commander Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva, Director General Health Services Dr. Anil Jasinghe and Chief Physician at the National Infectious Diseases Institute Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama discussed Sri Lanka’s unique approach to tackling the disease and made important notes on challenges ahead. Moderated by Prof. Indika Karunathilake, President of the Sri Lanka Medical Association, the discussion was a part of the Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health international webinar on Covid-19.

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May 8, 2020 · 6:34 pm

Australian Airlines: Flying into ‘Covid-Skies’

Patrick Hatch, in The Age, 8 May 2020, with this title “Masks or eye-watering fares? Airlines prepare for COVID-19 flying” 

Face masks could be mandatory for passengers on all flights within Australia, but a reprieve from planes’ dreaded “middle seat” could be short-lived as airlines prepare for interstate travel restrictions to ease.

A pilot wearing a mask at Brisbane International Airport in January. Airlines are working out what precautions to put in place as travel demand slowly returns. A pilot wearing a mask at Brisbane International Airport in January. Airlines are working out what precautions to put in place as travel demand slowly returns. CREDIT:AAP

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May 8, 2020 · 1:19 pm

Covid Apocalypse: Advocates and Challengers

Fauci with Trump

As the Covid Pandemic has spread its tentacles across the world, it has spawned conspiracy theorists of all kinds – not just that powerful idiot in Washington. One line of gloom and doom targets that very regime and depicts an all-powerful set of wheeler-dealers who negate the apocalyptic picture of worldwide disaster that they perceive around the corner. That is, their ‘brilliant work’ is immediately squashed and banished by these masterminds and manipulators in Washington and its many arms.

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May 8, 2020 · 5:29 am

Popular Assessments of Sri Lankan Government’s Covid Battle: In Graph Mode

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May 5, 2020 · 6:06 pm

Crisis? Imponderables Economic, Covid and Political in Sri Lanka Today

Jehan Perera,  in Island, 4 May 2020, with this title “President can decide without burdening the courts”

A study by the Economist magazine has shown that Sri Lanka is one of the countries least able to deal with the economic fallout of the coronavirus induced world economic crisis. Out of 66 countries assessed, Sri Lanka came 61st in terms of its ability to handle the crisis without being economically debilitated and fared much worse than its South Asian neighbours. Bangladesh at 9th place, India at 18th and Pakistan at 43rd place all fared better than Sri Lanka. The human cost of the crisis is visible in media images of thousands of angry young workers from around the country stranded in the vicinity of the Katunayake free trade zone, many of them abandoned by their factory employers, unable to get back to their home villages due to the coronavirus travel restrictions.

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