Thuppahi's Blog

A GENERAL NOTICE  …. ALAS!

From  The Organisers of the GLF

We have taken the difficult decision this week to postpone the 2026 edition of Galle Literary Festival.We know that this will be disappointing news for many of you, and we can only apologise for the impact this may have on your plans for January.

Since its founding in 2007, the Festival has played a huge part in establishing Galle as a hub for arts, culture, and thought-provoking conversation. We are incredibly grateful to our sponsors, supporters, and the community of Galle Fort for their continued faith in us.

  A Scene from the 2024 Gathering

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Visvalingam Muralithas   NOW

The Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka are historically and strategically important regions that contribute significantly to the country’s economy, social development, and cultural heritage. Despite decades of conflict and disruption, these provinces possess immense potential due to their land resources, human capital, and emerging economic sectors.

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Item in The Island taken from SEEN AROUND, with  text by Ivan Alvis entitled “Favourites for the title of Miss Universe 2025”

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Madushka  Balasuriya in ESPNcricinfo.com,  11 November  2025, where the title reads “Agha, Rauf upstage Hasaranga as Pakistan win thriller to go 1-0 up”

Salman Agha got to his century in just 83 balls  •  AFP/Getty Images

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By Uditha Devapriya

In 1906, Martin Wickramasinghe prematurely ended his formal studies and arrived in Colombo in search of employment. Eventually, he found work. He then began to explore the city, meeting people and taking part in public discussions. He also began to read widely, and to reflect on what he read. All this laid the foundation for his writing career. The lecture will explore Wickramasinghe’s early experiences in Colombo, focusing on the books and authors he read and the impact they had on him.

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Matt Gable, with title and highlighting being the work of The Editor, Thuppahi

The glorious and wonderful head-chopping Al Qaeda ISIS playboy of the West, President Jolani has returned to the USA to meet with his good friend President Trump in the oval office. Jolani also spent time in New York to view the skyline around the Twin Towers and to pay tribute to those magnificent Al-Qaeda boys who flew airplanes into the Twin Towers on 11/9. He again visited Central Park to take selfies and chat with his American friends.

Head-chopping Al-Qaeda/ISIS Kingpin Playboy President Jolani plays basketball with top US military commanders Brad Cooper and Kevin Lambert

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Rohan  Gunaratna 

The response of the United States of America especially the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) into Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday attack is a defining moment in the history of counter terrorism.  Immediately after Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday attack on April 21, 2019 that killed five US nationals, a FBI team located in Singapore flew into Colombo. 

In addition to the Assistant Law Enforcement Attaché from Singapore, to preserve the evidence in the attack sites, the FBI’s Special Agent Bomb Technician helped immensely. They were supported by the FBI Fly Team, a group of highly trained counterterrorism investigators—including special agents and intelligence analysts—based at FBI Headquarters who stand ready to deploy anywhere in the world on a moment’s notice. 

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A CRICINFO Item, 11 November 2025. bearing this title “Sri Lanka’s spinners, Pakistan’s off-field cuteness among things to watch out for”

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Michael Roberts

Inspired by interaction with Richard A Koenigsberg of New York [who has experience in India and commanded a vibrant website], I initiated a WEB-SITE entitled sacrificialdevotionnetwork.wordpress.com in April-May 2009 –a date marking the final days of Eelam War IV.

This site focused on the total devotion to political cause by those attached to the LTTE and the title SACRIFICIAL DEVOTION was my coinage — a substitute for the pejorative smudge in the standard term “suicide terrorism”. As such, the concept could also embrace the acts of suicide-protest pursued by such personnel as Norman Morrison in Washington in 1965, Jan Palach in Prague in 1969) and  Thich Quanq Duc in Saigon in 1963.

This WEB SITE only survived a short time as my existing site –the THUPPAHI one – was adequate for my tasks. However, as time has passed, it is not out of place to reveal the few items within this site as important essays of historical import. 

The items are set out below in reverse order. It is a serendipitous outcome that the last item is from the ‘pen’ of JACOB COPEMAN, a scholar at a British university whom I had met at a conference n Portugal at some point earlier.

Copeman ……

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Item in The ISLAND, 4 November 2025… sent  to TPS by Charles Schokman

The Sri Lankan railway service, which has a history of around 165 years, is a collective endeavourers [???] of various positions assigned to the Sri Lanka Railways Department.The posts of Railway Engine Driver, Station Master and Railway Supervisor Manager under the Department are essential for maintaining the railway service.

Since the inception of the Railways Department, only male officers have been recruited for the posts of Engine Driver, Train Controller and Station Master, while female officers have been recruited for the posts of Supervisory Manager only in 2012 and 2015.

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