China lands on the Moon in Hambantota

Fair Dinkum, with the highlighting being her/his emphasis not The Editor’

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.

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Waterpower in Sri Lanka: Natural and Tamed

Thiru Arumugam’s Camerawork in THE CEYLANKAN, 25/3, August 2022

 

 St. Clair Falls

 

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Deep Penetration off Sri Lanka and USA

 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)

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Diplomatic Triumph for China in Sri Lanka

Zhang Huyi, in Global Times, 15 August 2022, where the title reads …. Exclusive: Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka to launch welcoming ceremony for arrival of Chinese research vessel: source”

The Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka will hold a welcoming ceremony for the arrival of the Chinese Yuan Wang 5 scientific research vessel at the port of Hambantota, a source close to the matter told the Global Times on Monday. “The Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka will hold a simple but warm welcoming ceremony on the premise of epidemic prevention and control,” the source said.

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In Appreciation of Anoma C. Abeyewardene, 1951-2022

Ranjan Abaysekara

Give sorrow words: the grief that does not speak
   knits up the o’er wrought heart and bids it break -Macbeth              

As we grow older and realize more clearly the limitations of human happiness, we come to see that the only real and abiding pleasure in life is to give pleasure to other people. – P G Wodehouse

 

 How do we form our friendships? Is it a matter of chance? Does it depend on who sat next to you in class? Or does it spring out of an act of kindness? Or a crisis shared? In modern times friendships and connections are much publicized matters, but in our youth friendships happened quietly. You went to school, you met others your age, you played, you talked, you enjoyed fun times, you became friends….

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From Ceylon to Australia: Migrant Journeys, 1860s-to-2010s

Earl Forbes, whose chosen title in The Ceylankan is “Ceylon/Sri Lanka to Australia: Arrivals and Survival”

Ceylonese/Sri Lankans have entered Australia for a variety of reasons during the past one and a half centuries.  The far greater number of these arrivals occurred in the second half of the twentieth century and first two decades of the 21st century.  Early arrivals go as far back as the last two decades of the nineteenth century.

Figure 3  Queensland sugarcane plantation workers. … [placed as frontispiece because of its striking character

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Forgotten Political Aggression: India in Sikkim and Taiwan under Chiang Kai-she

ONE: Lin Minwang

New Delhi has been making new moves at the border recently. From October 14 to 31, India and the US are scheduled to hold the annual joint military exercise “Yudh Abhyas” in Auli in the Indian state of Uttarakhand – deliberately choosing to hold the event less than 100 kilometers away from the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on the China-India border.

 

 

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US Fingerprints Found Behind Sri Lanka Unrest and the Aragalaya’s Work

Truthseeker

This is a very important YouTube clip for circulation, to create awareness of underlying and background realities.  This is not the usual You Tube made by people. It is backed up by carefully researched supporting information.

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The Political & Economic Crisis in Sri Lanka and the Aragalaya Protests

Uditha Devapriya, in The Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs,  August 2022, a refereed article with this title  “The Crisis in Sri Lanka: Economic and Political Dimensions”

This article seeks to chart the trajectory of the Sri Lankan protests that began in early March. The first section will examine the causes of the crisis and how the government contributed to it. Economists, policy makers, and commentators cite different reasons for the economic crisis. This article classifies these reasons under two headings: orthodox and heterodox. The orthodox camp generally criticizes the government’s fiscal and monetary policies, including a series of tax cuts in 2019. The heterodox camp traces the crisis to longer-term structural causes, like Sri Lanka’s failure to industrialize and to diversify into manufacturing. The article concludes that we cannot view these two sets of causes in isolation from each other, and that whatever side one takes, we must consider the political dimensions of the crisis as well.

  Aragalaya Six Demands-! 2 July Thuppahi Protesters at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo on 9 July 2022. (Photo by Dhananjaya Samarakoon) 

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India prepares for T20 World Cup: Selection Policy

Shashank Kishore, in ESPNcricifo, 13 August 2022, where the title readsExperiments and role clarity bring new answers to India’s T20 questions

Rohit and Dravid have used the glut of T20Is this year to add depth to India’s stocks ahead of the World Cup. The 21 T20 internationals India have played so far in 2022 are the most by any team. Managing workloads across formats has led to them fielding 27 players in the T20Is – the most by any team this year. In the recent five-match series in West Indies alone, 17 players were given an opportunity.

Suryakumar Yadav was a success as an opener in the T20Is in the CaribbeanAFP/Getty Images

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