Category Archives: performance

June 22, 2017 · 1:31 pm

Flood Disaster Aid. A Mother-and-Baby Pack Mission

Myrna Setunga

Hi Michael, Despite a few hiccups and delays at the start, the Mother and Baby Pack Mission was concluded very satisfactorily. With a lot of help from Dushy & Tanya Perera and Sonali & Niranjan (my niece and her husband) who provided their vehicles, we were able to load 45 packages including 45 basins into the two vehicles. On Monday, the 19th June, we left at 6.30 a.m. and help from Dushy’s GPS we got to our first stop in Madurawela by 7.30 a.m. We had to wait till all 13 women turned up. They told us that all their houses got flooded right up to the roof. Yet they had happy faces as you will see in the photos. I think they were really pleased with their gifts.

 Myrna and some recipients of Packs at Bulathsinhala Continue reading →

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June 21, 2017 · 2:22 pm

Dr. Anupa Herath and his Breakthrough Invention in Intubation

Kumudini Hettiarachchi, in Sunday Times, 18 June 2017, an article entitled “Lankan doctor’s life-saving intubation invention wins gold”

It is not an easy task — and as he assisted many an anaesthetist to ‘intubate’ numerous people, lying on the operating table before an operation or in emergencies, he wondered why it could not be made less challenging. As they wielded the laryngoscope, a metallic gadget with a handle and a blade, to carry out endotracheal intubation, the Peradeniya Teaching Hospital’s Senior Registrar in Anaesthesia, Dr. Anupa Herath, allowed his inventive mind to dwell on it.

Dr. Anupa Herath performing intubation with his invention – the Video-Laryngoscope with Extended Functions. Pix by Anurada Bandara

Going beyond the call of duty which is to assist in intubation and keep the vitals of the patient under general anaesthesia at the required levels, Dr. Herath has now come up with a ‘Video-Laryngoscope with Extended Functions’ which can be handled easily, to international and local commendation. Continue reading →

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June 21, 2017 · 1:43 pm

Iranganie Serasinghe: Actress and Environmental Activist

Prasanna Cooray, in Island, 18 June 2017,  with the title “Irangani: Mother figure of Sinhala Cinema and Environmental Activism””

Irangani Serasinghe needs no introduction in this country. She is convinced that as for the destruction of our environment politicians have to take the blame. She says, “The worst ar e the politicians. We have to protect our trees and environment mostly from them”, said Irangani Serasinghe. At 90, yet agile and full of vigour, she has fought man a battle, tooth and nail, on the environment front for decades.

On June 3, she chaired the seminar under the theme, “Destruction of central hills – Death of future of the country” held at Mahaweli Center in Colombo where I was one of the speakers. The seminar brought to light the environmental destruction and misery brought to the lives of the people in Welimada plain by the ongoing Uma Oya multipurpose development project. There she told me she would be 90 in a few days. On June 9 Irangani celebrated her 90th birthday. Continue reading →

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June 21, 2017 · 10:58 am

Recovering Lionel Wendt’s Virtuosity

Manel Fonseka, in The Sunday Times, 18 June 2017, where the title runs “Lionel Wendt: Recovery and dispersal” ….. http://www.sundaytimes.lk/170618/plus/lionel-wendt-recovery-and-dispersal-245924.html

When I first wrote about Lionel Wendt in 1994, the person and the artist seemed to be almost forgotten. Few visitors to the popular theatre and art gallery that bear his name had any idea who he was or were even curious about him. He had become like a personality behind a well-worn street name, familiar but unknown. It was as if he had disappeared along with his house, ‘Alborada’ (‘morning-song’ in Spanish) when the latter was demolished in 1950 for the present Wendt Memorial complex. Continue reading →

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June 19, 2017 · 11:38 am

For Sri Lanka: Rajendra Theagarajah’s Exhortations to Canadian Tamils

Item in Lankareporter.com… https://lankareporter.com/blog/need-access-markets-not-handouts-expatriates-rajendra-theagarajahs-canada-speech/

Partner with us in Sri Lanka, not to build a social welfare state, but to build an entrepreneurially focused new Sri Lanka, was the message of Rajendra Theagarajah, Vice Chairman of Cargills Bank who was the guest of honour at the Canadian Tamils’ Chamber of Commerce gala and awards ceremony in Toronto. “No handouts, why not engage?” he said. He urged innovative Sri Lankan Tamil entrepreneurs in Canada to utilize hundreds of graduates each year produced by the University of Jaffna’s IT computing program and the new engineering institute of the North in Ariviyal Nagar, Killinochi.

Rajendra Theagarajah, Vice Chairman of Cargills Bank who was the guest of honour at the Canadian Tamils’ Chamber of Commerce gala and awards ceremony. (Picture by Gnane Gananedran)

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June 19, 2017 · 11:20 am

Volatile and Grim Economic Prospects for Sri Lanka: Three Voices

Sam Bresnick, in Daily News, 19 June 2017, with title “Economic Endeavour : Uncertain Road to Recovery” … with highlighting being the work of The Editor Thuppahi

It is no secret that Sri Lanka is currently navigating choppy economic waters as it shifts strategies in an uncertain moment in the world economy. The move towards private sector-led growth and away from public sector-sponsored development is, according to several economists, necessary given the government’s debt situation. But that does not mean that the transition has been seamless or easy. On the contrary, Sri Lanka is going through growing pains as it tries to jump start its export industry and attract foreign-direct investment (FDI).

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June 19, 2017 · 9:28 am

From Mountain Village to Neurologist in Melbourne

Tissa Wijeratne, … https://worldneurologyonline.com/article/the-journey-of-one-neurologist-from-sri-lanka-to-melbourne/#disqus_thread … where the title is “The Journey of One Neurologist from Sri Lanka to Melbourne”

Born and raised in what I describe as “the jungle,” my life started in one of the remotest parts of Sri Lanka: a village called Kirioruwa-Bandarawela in the central mountainous area. Electricity, hot water, television, and telephone were all miles away from us at the time. I fondly recall days spent reading in the shade of a tree in the rice fields that surrounded my family home — the place where sky and earth met, almost kissing each other daily. The mountains were covered with a layer of lush tea bushes. Our home sat on the top of one of these mountains.

 Tissa Wijeratne, MD (right), with one of his mentors from his time as a student in Sri Lanka. Continue reading →

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June 19, 2017 · 4:36 am

Nirupama reviews A Powerkeg in Paradise

 Nirupama Subramanium, courtesy of http://www.sangam.org/2010/08/Powderkeg.php?print=true

Disappointingly for an “insider account”, there are no major revelations in the book; it is a faithful narrative of what is already in the public realm about the ceasefire and written carefully, striking a balance between the government and the LTTE, with the decisions/actions of both sides called into question.

A POWDERKEG IN PARADISE – Lost Opportunity for Peace in Sri Lanka… by …  Jon Oskar Solnes; Konark Publishers Pvt. Ltd., A-149, Main Vikas Marg, Delhi-110092. Rs. 750.

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June 16, 2017 · 8:42 am

Sinhabahu: Reverberating Memories

KNO Dharmadasa, in The Island, 18 November 2011, where the title is “Sinhabahu : Fifty Years’ Memories”

The year 2011 marks fifty years after the first staging of Professor Sarachchandra’s play Sinhabahu which shares with his own Maname (1956) the record of enduring presence among theatre goers in Sri Lanka since the day they were first staged. The University of Peradeniya, the birth-place of the play, will ceremonially celebrate this golden jubilee on the 22 nd and 23rd of this month. The first item of this celebration will be the staging of the play in its original venue the Sarachchandra Open Air Theatre on the 22nd. The Rasikas will enjoy this performance free of charge, the University bearing the expenses. It will be followed on the 23rd with a seminar-discussion in which the original and later generations of actors and Rasikas will share their views and reminiscences.

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June 16, 2017 · 8:23 am

‘Sinhabahu” Theatrical Performers in Canberra

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