Thuppahi's Blog

Nilantha ILANGAMUWA featured in DAILYFT, 24 January 2024  …. repeat 2024 … with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

In his new book, “What I Heard,” journalist Nilantha Ilangamuwa explores the fundamental role of conversations in shaping human civilisation. Highlighting the backbone of societies, the book draws from ancient sources, emphasising the preservation of knowledge through dialogues in literature, politics, religion, and linguistics.

Ilangamuwa argues that without memory, civilisation faces internal decay and self-destruction. The book emphasises the essential role of conversations as the backbone of human civilisation, extending from tribes to the creation of nation-states. 

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Sunil Thenabadu

“I don’t intend to hang on”: Jayasuriya’s final push for World Cup glory

Sanath Jayasuriya has hinted that the upcoming T20 World Cup could mark the final phase of his tenure as Sri Lanka’s head coach, even as Sri Lanka Cricket has indicated it is open to continuing with him beyond the tournament.In an interview with the Sunday Times, Sanath Jayasuriya said his focus is firmly on the World Cup, suggesting he does not intend to remain in the role long-term despite his contract running past the global event.“My focus is the T20 World Cup and even though my contract runs beyond the global showpiece, I don’t intend to hang on,” Jayasuriya said.

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Lanka Lions in  Facebook, January  2026

He will always be remembered as the fast bowler who carried Sri Lanka’s hopes in their early Test years — the man who stood tall when the nation was still learning how to belong at the highest level.

Rumesh Ratnayake was the driving force behind Sri Lanka’s first-ever Test victory in 1985, a moment that changed the country’s cricketing self-belief forever. Against India, he ripped through the batting with nine wickets in the match and finished the series with 20 — a statement performance that announced Sri Lanka were no longer just making up the numbers.

Rumesh Ratnayake of Sri Lanka during the 1991 tour of England at Lord’s Cricket Ground, London, circa August 1991. (Photo by Patrick Eagar/Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)

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Mohamed Harees, in Colombo Telegraph , 18 December 2025,  “What Bondi Beach Massacre Reveals About “Good Victims” & “Good Heroes”

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Observer in  a Black  Sea Town …. with highlights being those imposed by  The  Editor, Thuppahi

This cartoon, which appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald (29/12), is a nice contrast to the RT Christmas song I sent a few days ago.

Admittedly, the song and the cartoon are both forms of propaganda. The key difference is that the cartoon is a distortion of reality, while the Russian song was relatively truthful in its depiction. Putin is often made the bogeyman for everything from the price of gas to the influx of migrants. Putin is seen as the architect of Europe’s current crises, real or perceived. By weaving sarcasm into the narrative, the RT video adopts an Euroskeptic slant that viewers may find either compelling or contentious.

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 An Item presented in FACEBOOK, 29 December 2025 by Piyasiri Wickremasekera of Sri Lanka …. on behalf of Peradeniya University Friends [PUF]

Remember the Past

When 740 children were dying at sea and every nation said ‘no,’ one man who had every reason to stay silent said ‘yes.’

The year was 1942. The ship drifted in the Arabian Sea like a floating coffin.

Inside were 740 Polish children. Orphans. Survivors of Soviet labor camps where their parents had frozen or starved to death. They’d escaped through Iran, only to discover something more crushing than captivity:

Nobody wanted them.

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Sean O’Brien in A News Item with this Headline: ‘Disgrace to the game’ – Ashes stadium bosses call rare press conference with England victory set to cost”, 27 Dec 2025

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Ifham Nizam, in The ISLAND Newspaper,  25 December 2025

Sri Pada revered as one of Sri Lanka’s most sacred pilgrimage sites, is also among the country’s most environmentally sensitive ecosystems. During each pilgrimage season, hundreds of thousands of devotees ascend the mountain, placing immense pressure on its fragile forests, water sources and wildlife. Against this backdrop, the government has introduced a series of decisive new measures aimed at significantly reducing biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste generated during the Sri Pada pilgrimage season.

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An Item from the Foundation for Political Pathology in New York associated with the name of Richard Koenigsberg**

It is disturbing to consider how the minds of young men are manipulated using psychological techniques to get them to kill, and the ways that killing disturbs their minds. But there is an even more disturbing hypothesis about psychology and the very existence of war itself.

Scholar Richard Koenigsberg argues that war is the result of a desire on the part of a society as a whole to kill its own young men to prove the very existence of a meaningful society that can confirm our existence.

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Item in the Daily Mirror of Sri Lanka

A large number of local and foreign tourists have flocked to Nuwara Eliya to celebrate the festive Christmas season. The Nuwara Eliya Araliya Green Hills Hotel is proudly hosting Christmas Eve celebrations.

An official of the Nuwara Eliya Tourist Hotels Association said that many visitors, both local and international, have come to Nuwara Eliya to enjoy the Christmas festivities.

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