A Circular Note From Dr. Charitha Perera, Hony Consul for Sri Lanka in Adelaide, 8 September 2022
We are happy to inform you that the 20,000 vials of Soluble Insulin donated by the Sri Lankan community in South Australia through the Helping Sri Lanka Project has now arrived in Sri Lanka.
Vinod Moonesinghe
A historical vignette: The Colombo Electric Lighting and Tramways Co Ltd was a British company represented in Ceylon by Boustead Brothers. The Tramways were ready for operations by 1899/1900. This company owned and operated the Pettah Power Station at Saunders Place which supplied the 110 volts DC power to propel the trams.
Filed under architects & architecture, British colonialism, cultural transmission, economic processes, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, modernity & modernization, politIcal discourse, sri lankan society, transport and communications, travelogue, world events & processes
“One Mr X”, 23 August 2022, responding to a Challenge extended within A Comment By Brig. Ranjan de Silva in X’s NOTE in the essay by Benjamin Norton …………………………. https://thuppahis.com/2022/08/22/china-jettisons-23-loans-to-african-states-wunderbar/#more-65196
I am glad Brigadier (Rtd) Ranjan de Silva has found time to ask for the names of the 17 countries as it enables me to expand on the context relating to this announcement which is important to understand.
The Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Li made the announcement for debt forgiveness to African countries on 18 August (just six days ago) in remarks he made at the Coordinators’ Meeting on the Implementation of the Follow-up Actions of The Eighth Ministerial Conference of The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, economic processes, foreign policy, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, legal issues, politIcal discourse, power politics, security, transport and communications, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, world events & processes
Benjamin Norton, in Multipolarista, 21 August 2022, where the headline reads thus “China forgives 23 loans for 17 African countries, expands ‘win-win’ trade and infrastructure projects”
The Chinese government has announced that it is forgiving 23 interest-free loans for 17 African nations, while pledging to deepen its collaboration with the continent.
This is in addition to China’s cancellation of more than $3.4 billion in debt and restructuring of around $15 billion of debt in Africa between 2000 and 2019.
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, debt restructuring, economic processes, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, landscape wondrous, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, slanted reportage, transport and communications, travelogue, world events & processes
Fair Dinkum, … an original set of thoughts … with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi
It’s good to see Australia providing aid to SL though its peanuts compared to the aid provided by India and China. This article is a good example of an Anglo-Saxon reading of an Asian situation.
Some flawed claims by the Anglo-Saxons at The Age in this article are,
– The claim China was “flexing its muscles” by “insisting on docking a giant scientific research ship despite concerns raised by India”. There is no mention that India had earlier flexed its muscles by insisting Sri Lanka deny entry to the vessel. And no analysis as to whether India had genuine security concerns or were simply politically posturing. There was also no mention of India’s interference into Sri Lanka’s sovereignty.
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, australian media, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, disparagement, economic processes, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, modernity & modernization, nationalism, Pacific Ocean politics, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, power politics, propaganda, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, transport and communications, truth as casualty of war, world events & processes
ONE = From The ECONOMIST magazine, Summer Issue, 30 July – 12th August … & the Mid-August Issue The Economist
On the evening of July 21st, a relaxed mood prevailed in Sri Lanka’s presidential secretariat on the seafront of Colombo, the capital. A handful of protesters milled about in the entrance hall, which they had occupied on July 9th and turned into a library full of donated books. They said they were planning to return the premises to the state the following day, having succeeded in driving from office Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the disgraced former president.
Filed under accountability, debt restructuring, disparagement, economic processes, governance, island economy, life stories, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, transport and communications, trauma, unusual people, world events & processes
Ben Packham in The Australian, 16 August 2022.………… with highlighting imposed here by The Editor, Thuppahi
333 porcelain artefacts removed from a shipwreck will be returned to the Indonesian government after they were advertised online by a private seller in Perth.
The Tek Sing was packed with passengers and precious cargo when it hit a reef off the coast of Sumatra in 1822, sinking with an estimated 1500 people aboard.
Filed under accountability, ancient civilisations, art & allure bewitching, Australian culture, australian media, charitable outreach, China and Chinese influences, cultural transmission, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, nature's wonders, Pacific Ocean politics, performance, transport and communications, travelogue, world events & processes
Fair Dinkum, with the highlighting being her/his emphasis not The Editor’s
Captain Zhang Hogwang of China’s research and survey vessel, the Yuan Wang 5, waves after disembarking from the ship upon arrival at Hambantota port on August 16, 2022. Photo: VCG
The docking of the Chinese research vessel Yuan Wang 5 at Hambantota port was a momentous occasion in the history of Sri Lanka, having gained global attention like it was the first moon landing. All of this attention is due to the unnecessary meddling into Sri Lanka’s internal affairs by India and the United States.
Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, cultural transmission, democratic measures, economic processes, export issues, foreign policy, governance, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, propaganda, security, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, transport and communications, world events & processes
Filed under architects & architecture, art & allure bewitching, economic processes, energy resources, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, irrigation, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, modernity & modernization, nature's wonders, performance, sri lankan society, transport and communications, unusual people, world affairs
Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake, in Colombo Telegarph, August 2022, where the title reads “Ripples In The Indian Ocean: Yuan Wang 5 & Easter Sunday 2019”The alarm bells had been ringing for some time in Sri Lanka. The island nation is strategically located at the center of the Indian Ocean on the busiest trade and Undersea Data Cables routes in the world and hence perpetually in the cross-hairs of big power rivalry.For those who missed the signs if not the red flags; ripples caused by the US House of Representatives Speaker, Nancy Pelosi’s Pivot to Asia last week announced loud and clear that colonialism and Cold War are back, big time in the mythical “Free and open Indo-Pacific”.
Mike Pompeo with Sri Lankan counterpart Dinesh Gunawardena in October 2020
INDIAN OCEAN (June 27, 2021) An MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter attached to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 21, assigned to Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Charleston (LCS 18), flies with cargo during a vertical replenishment exercise with Sri Lanka Navy Advanced Offshore Patrol Vessel SLNS Gajabahu (P-626), left, as a part of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Sri Lanka, June 27. In its 27th year, the CARAT series is comprised of multinational exercises, designed to enhance U.S. and partner navies’ abilities to operate together in response to traditional and non-traditional maritime security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region. (Sri Lanka Navy Media courtesy photo)
Filed under accountability, american imperialism, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, debt restructuring, disparagement, doctoring evidence, economic processes, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, news fabrication, politIcal discourse, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, transport and communications, trauma, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, world events & processes
thuppahi
