July 30, 2020 · 7:15 am

Portuguese Colombo in 1662 via the Sketches of Esaias Bourse

Chryshane Mendis, in The HistoryFreek, 4 May 2020, where the title reads “Colombo in Transition 1662: Through the Eyes of Artist Esaias Boursse

This short essay serves as an introduction to a rare collection of sketches of Colombo and its environs in the year 1662.

Sinhalese soldier and labourer

Esaias Boursse was a servant of the VOC who made over hundred sketches of daily life in Colombo, mainly focused on the People and the work they were engaged in. This collection is called the “Tijkenboeck” and is held by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. This album containing 116 sheets of drawings came into the possession of the Rijksmuseum in 1996. Its value outweighs the poor quality of some of the drawings in that it captures scenes from within a city which was being transformed from its Portuguese outlook to the Dutch; thus some scenes depict street views of Portuguese Colombo- a phenomena never before captured in drawing except for textual descriptions.

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July 29, 2020 · 12:30 pm

Rejuvenating Sri Lanka’s Economy: The BCC Path

Vagisha Gunasekara, in lsland, 27 July 2020, where the title runs “Breathing new life into domestic production: BCC’s plan for the next hundred years”

The need to turn the current economic crisis that was pushed off the edge by the COVID-19 pandemic into an opportunity to reconfigure national economies is the topic of many policy discussions, both in Sri Lanka and elsewhere.

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July 29, 2020 · 12:17 pm

Thomians in Praise of Mevan Pieris

This year the Chief Guest at the annual Thomian Prefects dinner in March was former All-Ceylon opening bowler H S M Pieris (Mevan),a rare sportsman who combined Sports at the highest level with academic brilliance.

Mevan Pieris: Joined STC, Mt Lavinia lower school in 1954 when canon RS de Saram was warden. Won cricket and tennis colours and was a member of the 1964 team which won the Royal-Thomian match. In 1965 made a blistering century against Ananda College in only 86 minutes with 14 boundaries, when the Thomian top batting had collapsed. This innings remains as the fastest century to have been ever made at Mount Lavinia. Was awarded public schools tennis colours having defeated Alan de Costa of St Joseph’s in the semi-finals after a grueling match which made STC public schools champions in 1964. Received the Leonard Arndt memorial prize for the cricketer with the best record in studies and sports. Was head – prefect of Stone House, and a College Prefect.

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July 29, 2020 · 4:31 am

A Scathing Dissection of TNA and Tamil Party Programmes Today by Tissa Vitharana

Tissa Vitarana, in Island, 29 July 2020, where the title runs “TNA has failed to come up with a realistic plan to address problems of the North-East people”

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has come out with its manifesto for the August 5 general election, and it is disheartening to see that the TNA has failed to come to grips with the new reality and introduce a realistic plan to address the problems facing the people of the North and the East, says LSSP leader, Professor Tissa Vitarana,

Prof. Vitarana has said in a media statement: “They have come out with the same set of demands that were raised by the TNA at the time the 30 year war of separation began. A news report of July 19 labeled it as a “low key event”, a clear indication of the lack of enthusiasm among the Tamil people.

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July 29, 2020 · 3:45 am

Parliamentary Election Results: “Sam’s” Appraisal of Possibilities

‘Sam’ Samarasinghe aka “SWR deA” in USA in Island, 29 July 2020, where the title is  “The Nation’s Choice”

In the August 5th parliamentary election, the voter has three choices. The first is to give the SLPP a two-thirds majority as the leadership of that party is urging the voter to do. The second is to give the SLPP a working majority in parliament – 113 seats or more – but not a two-thirds  majority. The third is to deny the SLPP 113 seats. This third possibility can lead to one of two outcomes. One outcome is for the SLPP to form a coalition government with one or more of the other parties. The other is for the opposition parties to form a coalition and govern with
Gotabaya Rajapaksa as president. This last option is in effect a “national” government. Its “national” flavour will be enhanced if minorities and at least some of the SLPP members also become a part of the government.

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July 26, 2020 · 6:25 pm

Eduard Hempel Flourishes in Galle and Lanka

SinhaRaja Tammita-Delgoda, in Sunday Island, 26 July where the title is “ A Seeker after Many Truths, The Lives of Eduard Hempel”

The canoe nudged its way through the deep brown water. It was thick and heavy, like treacle and the boat inched towards a tree trunk on the river bank. The boat sat low in the water, barely a few inches above the river. “Closer, closer,” said the voice at the stern. “I can’t really see it.”

“Well I can,” protested the voice from the bow. “Its close enough, isn’t it?”

” No, its okay. It doesn’t seem to be moving.” All of sudden the tree trunk moved. Coming suddenly to life, it slid down the river bank, crashing into the water.

“Don’t worry, they are much bigger on the Zambezi. It’s probably scared of us. That was why it was rushing into the water. Look they are all doing that.”

There was a series of splashes, each one louder than the other.

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July 26, 2020 · 5:49 pm

A Promising Young Life crushed by an Elephant at Kilinochchi

 

THE INITIAL REPORT in AFP and Dawn, dated 21 & 22 July 2020 had this title “Elephant crushes scholar to death in Sri Lanka”

A young university scholar has become the latest victim of a deadly wild elephant attack in Sri Lanka, officials said on Monday, after a growing spate of similar incidents across the island nation.

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July 26, 2020 · 5:00 pm

The Pacha-Gaha of Yesteryear in the Heart of Galle

Ruhuna Putra, in Island. 22 July 2020, with this title “Galle’s famous Fibber’s Tree”

It was a giant tree of the Banyan family (Ficus altissima), fairly tall, most of its branches canopied and dotted with many a rookery, while some branches bent downwards to the ground and propagated. It also had several subsidiaries. It was centrally located within the town of Galle in a small section of the large cattle pen of the mighty King Ravana covering vast acres, opposite the present police station and close to the war memorial roundabout.

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July 26, 2020 · 3:34 pm

A Prospering Chinese Economy Today

Paul Schatz on “The Chinese Economy  is strong and getting stronger,” 24 July 2020

28,064 views ….333K subscribers
Heritage Capital President and CIO Paul Schatz joins Yahoo Finance’s Akiko Fujita to break down the latest market actions and tensions between the U.S. and China. #USCHINA #TrumpChina #

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July 25, 2020 · 11:00 am

Constitutional Knots and Tamil Politics within the Indian Shadow

DBS Jeyaraj in Daily Mirror, 25 July 2020, where the title is  “TNA Must Seek India’s Help To Protect 13th Amendment”

  • The TNA may glibly say that everything is hunky-dory with India but this is not so. The reality is that of the Indian establishment being extremely disappointed with the TNA over the northern provincial council issue
  • Nowadays, India is more interested in getting closer to the governments in power in Colombo. Therefore New Delhi would not let the “Tamil issue” spoil a potentially beneficial “new” relationship with Colombo.
  • Sri Lanka was embroiled in a three decade long civil war that left the Tamils a battered and shattered people. Instead of opting pragmatically for the “next best”, the Tamils chose to pursue what could be termed with the wisdom of hindsight, as a “far worse” one
  • Instead of day-dreaming about getting quasi-federalism through discussions with the Rajapaksa regime, the TNA needs to safeguard and consolidate what has been gained so far

 

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