May 13, 2021 · 2:40 am

Hurdles: Entering Sri Lanka TODAY –Guidelines

The procedure for entry into Sri Lanka has been reviewed and new guidelines have been applied with effect from 12 May 2021.

Accordingly, all persons arriving in Sri Lanka (Sri Lankans, Dual Citizens, Tourists, Foreign national arriving in Sri Lanka for work including members of diplomatic Missions) irrespective of their vaccination status (whether they have received the recommended doses of a Covid vaccine or not), should be mandatorily quarantined at a Quarantine Hotel/Quarantine Centre/Safe and Secure Certified Level 1 Hotel for 14 days.

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May 12, 2021 · 6:42 am

Australia’s Case for War against China is driven by Irrational Thinking

Fair Dinkum, an original essay –with highlighting being an imposition by The Editor, Thuppahi

In a recent article in The Australian, the Department of Home Affairs Secretary Michael Pezzullo put forward an argument advocating a war against China as necessary to defend “democracy” and “liberty,” insinuating that China is a moral equivalent to Nazi Germany. The Australian government have sent a clear signal to the world that Australia – acting as a proxy for the United States – is now preparing for a major war against China – and it is very likely to be a Nuclear war.

ZHAO YANNIAN | Protest |1956 | Wood engraving on paper | 38 x 48cm ….. This work depicts a Chinese delegation visiting the Nazi-German consulate in Shanghai in 1933 to protest the killing of innocent people in Europe.

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May 10, 2021 · 10:27 am

Socio-Political Insights from Views of the Aussie-Ceylon Match in 1938

Michael Roberts

The recent entry in THUPPAHI on Lindsay Hassett has underlined certain strands within the history of Sri Lanka in the 1930s to 1950 through the background scenery displayed by the photographs deployed therein.

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May 10, 2021 · 10:25 am

The Hegemony of Colombo from Way Back

Michael Roberts

After discovering the Lorenz letters in the library of the Royal Asiatic Society in the 1980s I worked on the history of the island in the ninetenth cenury-and-thereafter with aid from Percy Colin-Thome and Ismeth Raheem in a book which apeared as People Inbetween under the imprint of Sarvodaya Book Publishing Services in 1989. One of its central themes is embodied in a chapter entitled “Colonial Transitions: The Development of Colombo’s Hegemonic Power.”

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May 9, 2021 · 2:15 pm

Lindsay Hassett: As Unruffled as Australian

Abhishek Mukherjee, in cricketcountry.com, 27 August 2017, with this title: “Lindsay Hassett: Master of strokes, shrewd cricketing brain, terrific sense of humour”

“There are others who have made more runs and taken more wickets [than Lindsay Hassett], but very few have ever got more out of a lifetime.” Richie Benaud.

It would be wrong to think that Arthur Lindsay Hassett did not want to win. Of course he did; everyone playing any sport at any level does; he was as much a professional as any of his colleagues. The War heroes Denis Compton, Keith Miller, Godfrey Evans, Hassett had also probably seen death too closely to give a sport a larger-than-life image.

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May 9, 2021 · 3:04 am

Dujuan’s History Lesson for Non-Aboriginal Australians All

Vibeke Venema of BBC News, 6 May 2021, where the title reads “The ‘smart and cheeky’ Aboriginal boy teaching Australia a lesson”

A documentary about a 10-year-old Aboriginal boy’s experience in school, In My Blood It Runs, has reignited a debate about Australia’s failure to give indigenous children a good education and a fair start in life.

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May 7, 2021 · 9:11 am

Harry Solomons, FOG and Cricketing Philanthrophy Down South

Harry Solomons, FOG and Cricketing Philanthrophy Down South

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May 7, 2021 · 8:11 am

Ashen Bandara of St. Aloysius strides Forward

From The ALOYSIAN, April 2021, edit. by Johnny De Silva

Ashen Bandara the promising cricketer is the latest addition to the Sri Lanka team as a brilliant fielder at any position and a useful middle order batsman who also bowls right arm leg spinners. The 22-year old player from St. Aloysius’ College in Galle has already proved his ability during the current West Indies tour and made 44 in the second T20 match that Sri Lanka won and then become the fifth batsman from the island to make a half century on debut in an ODI when he achieved the feat in the first match against the same opposition last Wednesday. Bandara was at home playing the sweep shot like a seasoned pro and scored most of his runs on the leg side in reaching his half century in 60 balls as Sri Lanka were all out for 232.

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May 6, 2021 · 3:40 pm

An Appreciation of Avishka’s Illustrated Tale of St. Joseph’s College, Colombo

Jeremy De Lima of Melbourne … with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

When Avishka asked me for an opinion of his book, I thought of presenting this to him in a review, but was hesitant, as this has been done before, at greater literary levels that I can ever aspire to. All these have been so comprehensive, there doesn’t seem to be anything left to write without resorting to plagiarism i.e. reproducing the words and ideas of another without attribution. However, not wanting to stoop to this and/or to refuse this genuine request, I thought I will instead, accompany the young author on the rocky road he has journeyed in publishing this book on the story of St Joseph’s College, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

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May 6, 2021 · 8:48 am

Mathematics: Islamic Mainsprings Magnifique

Adrienne Bernhard, in BBC.Com, 7 December 2020, where the title reads thus: “How modern mathematics emerged from a lost Islamic library”

Centuries ago, a prestigious Islamic library brought Arabic numerals to the world. Though the library long since disappeared, its mathematical revolution changed our world.

The House of Wisdom in Wikipedia ….

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