October 12, 2019 · 3:16 pm

The Presidential Race: Samarasinghe’s Evaluative ‘Punches,’ II and III

SWR de Samarasinghe

ONE: “Premadasa’s Candidacy – Bringing Democracy to the UNP Machine,” in ISLAND, 8 October 2019

The two major political parties, in the south, have had a long tradition of being managed more like private clubs belonging to a particular family cabal than vital public institutions in a democracy. Whoever happens to be the leader has had an iron grip on the party. There is little inner-party democracy in such a set up. The significance of Sajith Premadasa’s victory over Ranil Wickremesinghe in the fight for the UNF presidential candidacy has to be evaluated against such a background

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October 11, 2019 · 2:57 pm

Hard Times and Bleak Prospects for Malayaha Plantation Work Force

Meera Srinivasan, in The Hindu, 5 October 2019, with this title “A bitter brew: For Sri Lanka’s tea estate workers, fair wage is still elusive”

Often described as the backbone of the economy, close to 1.5 lakh tea estate workers have been agitating for fair wages for the last three years. Ahead of Sri Lanka’s presidential election in November, which the labourers see as another season of empty promises, Meera Srinivasan reports on how they view their struggle

“Half the blood in our bodies is sucked by these leeches. Can’t someone find some medicine to keep them away?” At first it is hard to locate the voice that is emerging from the bushes. A few feet off the road margin, at a slightly higher elevation is a worker, with her head alone visible over the lush green leaves. “They get all over us even if we smear a packet of salt,” the worker says, as she continues to pick leaves at an estate near Hatton in Nuwara Eliya district of the Central Province in Sri Lanka.

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October 11, 2019 · 9:21 am

Narendran’s Critical Dissection of Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Victory Day Speech on 18th May 2009

Rajasingham Narendran, courtesy of Colombo Telegraph, 19th May 2009, where the title is “A Response To The President’s Address On Victory Day”

I read with much interest the President’s ‘Victory Day’ speech at the Galle Face Green, yesterday [18th May 2009], reproduced in CT.   While I agree with much of his recount of recent history, there are glaring gaps in the story he recalled.  Further, he has failed to address the current concerns of the victims his forces liberated, at all.  I have selected some sentences and sections from his address to express my concerns.

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October 11, 2019 · 7:00 am

Murali’s Marching Tune …. the Alston Koch Way

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October 11, 2019 · 2:34 am

Power Shortages and Holes in Sri Lanka’s Budget

Sandun Jayawardana, in Times Online, 9 October 2019, with this title “Over Rs 52 billion spent on emergency power purchases since 2016”

The Government had to spend Rs. 52.23 billion on emergency power purchases since 2016 due to delays in completing scheduled power plants, the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) was told on Tuesday (8). The revelation came when top officials of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) came before COPE.

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October 11, 2019 · 1:22 am

Planting Muringa: Grounded Charity in the Vanni

VANNI HOPE and its Work …. Video and Cross links sent by Ranjan Sivagnanasundaram with ….

* VIDEO LINK – https://youtu.be/qo4iVVZMQlc …. and

* MEMO:   This is joint project by Kaveri Kala Maram, Empower Australia, Rotary Club Colombo South. ………27 acres of Muringa harvesting has been started in the Vanni Region of Srilanka…….. A big thank you to Rev. Joshua and the team at Kaveri Kala Manram to implementing this project……. Warmest Regards,  Ranjan Sivagnanasundaram <rsivagnanasundaram@gmail.com

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=rm&ogbl#inbox/FMfcgxwDrlRLNklSbdVhmjPkGsNqHRxL?projector=1

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October 10, 2019 · 2:31 am

Gnanasara Thero leads BBS Defiance of Court Injunctions at a Kovil in Mullaitivu

 Meera Srinivasan, in The Madras Hindu, 28 September 2019, where the title is “When the Saffron Robe has the Final Say”

The recent passing away of a Buddhist monk in Sri Lanka and his subsequent cremation in the northern district of Mullaitivu has brought to the fore an old concern — the power wielded by the Buddhist clergy and the impunity shielding them. It wasn’t the monk’s cremation that was the problem, it was the site.

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October 10, 2019 · 1:46 am

Faroe Islands …… Far, Far and Away

The Faroe Islands (/ˈfɛəroʊ/; Faroese: Føroyar, pronounced [ˈfœɹjaɹ]; Danish: Færøerne, pronounced [ˈfæɐ̯øːˀɐnə]), or the Faeroe Islands, is a North Atlanticarchipelago located 320 kilometres (200 mi) north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway between Norway and Iceland. It is an autonomous territory[8]within the Kingdom of Denmark. The islands have a total area of about 1,400 square kilometres (540 sq mi) with a population of 51,783 as of June 2019.[3]

The terrain is rugged; the climate is subpolar oceanic climate (Cfc)—windy, wet, cloudy, and cool. Temperatures average above freezing throughout the year because of the Gulf Stream. As a result of the moderation and the northerly latitude, summers normally hover around 12 °C (54 °F). Average temperatures are 5 °C (41 °F) in winter.[9] The northerly latitude also results in perpetual civil twilight during summer nights and very short winter days.

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October 9, 2019 · 1:49 pm

The Sri Lankan Army in Its First Decade, 1949-59

Jayantha Somasundaram, in Island, 10 October 2019, with this title “Sri Lanka Army At Seventy: Recalling The First Decade”

Under the terms of the Defence Agreement, signed in November 1947, between London and Colombo, a British officer, the Earl of Caithness was seconded, in 1948, as military advisor to the Government of Ceylon. During World War II, Brigadier James Roderick Sinclair, 19th Earl of Caithness CBE DSO, had led his regiment the Gordon Highlanders, through France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and into Germany.

Earl of Caithness

Brigadier Caithness proposed to the Ceylon Government, that the soon-to-be formed Army consist of an infantry battalion, an artillery regiment, signal, supply, ordnance, electrical and mechanical, and medical units; a works services engineering detachment to maintain buildings, a military police section and a training depot. Such a modest military establishment would only require one per cent of total government expenditure, and its personnel would, initially be drawn from the Ceylon Defence Force (CDF), the volunteer Army that had existed since 1910.

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October 6, 2019 · 5:43 pm

Unsung Cricketing Heroes at Lahore, 3rd March 2009

Michael Roberts

 While we are still groping in the dark when interpreting the culprits and motivations behind the attack on the cricketing entourage heading for Gaddafi Stadium on 3rd March 2009, it is not out of place to highlight some of the heroes of that event, a few recognised THEN …. but there are, in my view, two more to add to that list.

Khalil Chris Broad Dilshan Ahsan RazaLAL THAMEL Thamel

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