January 14, 2022 · 12:32 am

Colombo-KKS Luxury Train Launched

News Item in DailyFT, Janaury 2022

A luxury train service with all facilities was launched this morning (09) for passengers traveling from the capital Colombo to Kankasanthurai in the North. The train will leave Mt. Lavinia at 5.10 am daily and reach Kankesanthurai at 12.17 pm the same day. It will leave Kankesanthurai at 1.15 pm and reach Mt. Lavinia at 8.25 pm. The Daily FT is Sri Lanka’s first and only national daily business paper. With its value proposition “Be Empowered”, the Daily FT caters to the new economy of post-war Sri Lanka, with a sectoral focus as well as local and global politics, business, social issues, sports and lifestyle.

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January 14, 2022 · 12:11 am

Issues: Machinations in Selecting Cricket Teams in Ceylon & Lanka

“A Cricket Lover from an Old School”

My dear Michael, This refers to your mail of 6th January regarding machinations in the selection of Sri Lankan cricket teams in the past. This dimension of cricket/lifeways has always been there in varied forms. In the old days [namely, the 1940s and 1950s], such wheeler-dealer operations were the imprint of the big clubs like the SSC, NCC, and possibly BRC. So, members of these clubs probably had an edge on others. Outstation cricketers hardly had a look in.

 

 Chandra Schaffter

KMT Perera as Manager of a subssequent touring team, 1975 Continue reading →

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January 11, 2022 · 5:58 pm

Cricketing Stars who stimulated Ceylon Cricket

A. C. de S., in Sunday Observer, 30 May 2004, where the tiltle is “Ceylon privileged to be coached by cricketing knights”

Sri Lanka has had the good fortune of witnessing six great cricketing knights play in the country and indulge in coaching for the Sri Lanka benefit of the younger generation. The six cricketers all knighted for their splendid deeds for their country of birth, had a liking to Sri Lanka (Ceylon as we were then known) and besides playing in matches, have also indulged in coaching in Colombo and in the outstation towns as well.

The cricketing knights – Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Learie Constantine, Sir Jack Hobbs, Sir Frank Worrell, Sir Len Hutton and Sir Garfield Sobers were a big draw for the young cricketers then and the enthusiasm to forge ahead in cricket seemed to be uppermost in the minds of the local cricketers and the administrators as well.

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January 11, 2022 · 11:40 am

Hambantota Port and Its Prospects

Facemask ..in The Island, 11 January 2022 ….https://island.lk/55469-2/

The Hambantota International Port (HIP), which continues to come under attack by the Opposition, has said it expects an impressive growth in time to come.

The HIP has in a media statement said it has received FSS certification (Fitness for Service) for their tank farm facility. “The certification was issued by Lloyd’s Register (LR), the World’s leading provider of classification, compliance and consultancy services to marine and offshore industries.  This is a landmark achievement that will further strengthen the HIP brand in the maritime world.”

 

 

 

 

Site inspection (L-R): Liu Shengshan- Construction Manager, Sinopec Construction LLC; Wang Chuanzheng- Deputy project Manager, Sinopec Construction LLC; Sarathchandra Kumara – Senior Specialist-Energy Services; Ambrish Bansal Vice President – Business Advisory & Consulting Lloyd’s Register; SL. Kulkarni- Senior Inspector Oil & Gas – Lloyd’s Register. Continue reading →

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January 11, 2022 · 10:49 am

Behind the Scenes: Radio-Plays in Sri Lanka in the 1970s and 1980s

David Graham

I’m still getting used to thinking of Chris Greet as an Anglo-Indian.** I’d always assumed he’d been born in Ceylon and was a Burgher. Christopher Arthur Greet was my boss at Intasel Advertising from April 10, 1978 to September 30, 1978. He was the account director at Intasel, the startup founded by Mil Sansoni and Gareth Jayawardena after they left Grant Advertising.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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January 10, 2022 · 1:32 pm

Ambassador Palitha Kohona in Q-And-A with CGTN

Su Yuting of CGTN in Q-and-A with Ambassador Palitha Kohona  …. https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-01-09/Exclusive-CGTN-interview-with-Sri-Lankan-ambassador-to-China-16FUZ3Y2tgs/index.html

2022 marks the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Sri Lanka. To know more about the development of that relationship, CGTN reporter Su Yuting sat down with Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to China Palitha Kohona.

Kohona said the relationship between China and Sri Lanka is very warm and is built on a solid foundation, adding that it is a relationship that has lasted over 2,000 years. Sri Lanka and China have moved closer to each other in recent times, and the two countries have supported each other at multilateral fora on many occasions.

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January 9, 2022 · 11:35 am

Djokovic and the “Secretary-Bird”

Michael Roberts

When my wife and I went on a Safari tour in Zimbabwe in the 1990s I was fascinated by sightings of a “Secretary Bird” through my binoculars. The official identity of this strange figure  was “Sagittarius serpentarius.”   But, in my reading and juxtaposition, its upright walking stance simply indicated a prim and proper secretary persona.           

When I first saw Novak Djokovic on the tennis court, I immediately associated the two figures.  Maybe a strange leap; but it is a fixed asociation im my mind –one which did not, and does not, degrade my admiration for Djokovic’s tennis. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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January 7, 2022 · 11:19 pm

Constantine’s Coaching Spell in Ceylon in 1953: Assorted Notes

Michael Roberts

 Following my decision to present the accounts of the Australian cricket team’s whistle-stop match in Ceylon in March 1953 as presented in Crosscurrents,[1] I ventured on a search for more data on Learie Constantine’s stint as a coach in the island. Several friends and acquaintances have responded in fruitful ways. So, what you will see here is a compendium that is the product of several hands: titbits that are as enticing as revealing.

 

In the manner typical to him, my Aloysian schoolmate KK De Silva receives pride of place because he has pointed to an entry in Ferguson’s Directory which pinpoints Learie Constantine’s arrival in Ceylon on the 4thJanuary 1953 to assume his tasks as cricket coach. KK’s data, as well as titbits from many others, indicate that his tasks were not confined to the leading club cricketers, but extended to some schools and included visits to Galle and Kandy. It is these reports that are assembled here. The picture, nevertheless,is incomplete. Continue reading →

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January 7, 2022 · 6:03 pm

Learie Constantine’s Cricket Coaching Stint in Ceylon 1953

Chandra Schaffter

Sir Learie Constantine was truly a legend. He was invited by Sri Lanka Cricket Board to coach in Sri Lanka in early 1953. Before that, the New Zealander C.T. Badcock was coaching and Sri Lanka was inviting foreign coaches with a view to improving the standard of cricket in the country.

 

 

The arrival of Learie Constantine was like a breath of fresh air. He brought to us the West Indian style of cricket and he to a large extent encouraged the natural talents of his wards and allowed them to improve their game in the way they knew best. That was his greatness.

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January 7, 2022 · 1:29 pm

Australia vs Ceylon at the Colombo Oval in March 1953 … and Constantine

Michael Roberts

In focusing on Learie Constantine’s spell as a coach in the island in 1953 I was prompted initially by his report on the one-day encounter between the Australian cricket team led by Lindsay Hassett and a Ceylon team, a “whistle-stop game” as it was known then because the Aussies played such matches on their way to England by ship on several occasions dating from the early decades of the 20th century.

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