April 18, 2019 · 9:48 am

A Welcome Spike in Sri Lanka’s Exports in 2019

DAILY FT News Item, 18 April 2019, with title “Exports off to a positive start in 2019″

  • 7.5% growth propels second consecutive month of $ 1 b plus performance
  • Industrial exports mainly contributed to growth of export earnings, driven by textiles and garments, rubber products, machinery and mechanical appliances and food, beverages and tobacco
  • Agricultural exports earnings grew YoY for first time since Feb 2018, due to growth in coconut, seafood, vegetables, unmanufactured tobacco exports
  • CB and Govt. measures apply brakes on imports to dip for third consecutive month by 17.8% to $ 1.65 b
  • Trade deficit shrinks to $ 617 m in Jan, compared to $ 701 m in Dec 2018 and $ 1.05 b in Jan 2018

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April 18, 2019 · 2:10 am

Vincent Dubois at the Organ at Notre Dame Cathedral, December 2017

Leon Keegal

Having this beautiful historic building  so much in mind now after the devastating fire, I thought you may appreciate this superb improvisation by Vincent Dubois at the conclusion of a service at the Cathedral. The French organists are renowned for their improvisations, and this one is amazing – what incredible footwork, and observe how he uses his right leg several times to engage the foot pistons to alter registration and also the expression pedals to alter the volume during his playing. At the start of this video there is some brief vision of interior of the cathedral and that  part of the building (at the crossing where the altar is situated) which would have sustained the most damage; the spire would have been directly above this space.  Incidentally, Dubois’ performance brought my gifted late maternal Uncle Irving Herft to mind. He was a great organist at St Paul’s Church, Kynsey Road, Colombo in Sri Lanka for many years, and he was also exceptionally good at improvisation.

Vincent Dubois aux Grandes Orgues Notre-Dame-de-Paris 2017-9: Sortie improvisée

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April 18, 2019 · 12:57 am

Aguero in Spain in Many Shades

Agüero is a municipality located in the province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain. Its Postal Code is 22808. The Mallos de Agüero rock formations rise above the town giving it a picturesque look.

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April 16, 2019 · 2:42 am

An Expedition: To Traverse the Malwatu Oya, An Artery within Our Ancient Civilization

SinhaRaja Tammita-Delgoda, in Island, 6 April 2019, where the title is “A Journey to the Heart of Our Civilization. In Search of the Malwatu Oya”

The second longest river in Sri Lanka (102 miles), the Malwatu River is also the most historic. Connecting the northwest coast with the city of Anuradhapura, the capital of the country for over 15 centuries, it is of enormous significance to the story of civilization in Lanka. Starting from the holy mountain of Ritigala, the Malwatu Oya flows across the face of the Raja Rata to enter the Bay of Mannar, near Arippu. As it nears the sea, it becomes the Aruvi Aru. The second largest river basin in Sri Lanka, it lies at the very heart of Sri Lanka’s ancient past.

We kept travelling every day, from morning till night, still along by the river side, which turned and winded… Here and there, by the side of this river is a world of stone pillars, standing upright and other heaps of hewn stones, which I suppose formerly were buildings: and in three or four places are the ruins of bridges, built of stone: some remains of them yet standing upon stone pillars. In many places are points built into the river like wharves, all of hewn stone… ” … An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon (1681) – Robert Knox

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April 16, 2019 · 2:21 am

SL Army enshrine a New Statue at a Mass in Madu

A News Item, April 2019 …. https://www.army.lk/news/wanni-army-troops-consecrate-holy-madu-shrine-attend-special-mass-commander

Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake, Commander of the Army on Thursday (11) morning had the rare privilege of offering a new statue of Our Lady of Madu to the most sacred Holy Madu Shrine in Mannar during a Special Mass and simultaneously consecrating the statue in an Army-built pedestal, adjoining the main Shrine premises.

The day’s sequence of proceedings began with the carriage of the newly-carved Holy Statue of Our Lady of Madu by Army personnel in a motorcade before it was blessed in a Special Mass inside the main Shrine after Most Reverend Dr Emmanuel Fernando, Bishop of Mannar and Reverend Father Peppi Sosai, Administrator at Madu Shrine received the statue for consecration and invocation of blessings.

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April 15, 2019 · 10:55 am

Gotabaya remains Upbeat and in Fighting Mood

Hassina Leelarathna in Los Angeles, writing for  DAILY FT, 12 April 2019, where the title reads “Gota fires back against lawsuits”

Former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has dismissed the two lawsuits filed against him as baseless and insisted that they would only motivate him and his supporters to push for political change in Sri Lanka. “These lawsuits have been filed to delay the process and discourage me. I have handed the matter to my lawyers [in Los Angeles] to take care of and I’m looking ahead to what needs to be done for our country,” said Rajapaksa, commenting on the two civil lawsuits filed against him in the Central District of California. Continue reading →

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April 15, 2019 · 10:34 am

Gotabaya in Legal Gunsights: One, Two, Three …

ONE = Sanjana Hattotuwa: “The Candidate,” in Island, April 2019,

“The lie is revealed. There was no summons served. The photo depicts a lookalike of Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The FBI is engaged in an effort to ascertain who produced this false information”. The Facebook Page with this content originally in Sinhala also featured a screenshot of a news story from a leading private electronic media institution. This TV channel, with pages on Facebook in both Sinhala and English that regularly generate very high engagement, ran a story which strongly suggested news of Gotabaya Rajapaksa being sued in the US was false and incorrect.

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April 15, 2019 · 4:36 am

A Major Overhaul of Sri Lanka’s Foreign Policy Called For

Nimal Edirisinghe, in Daily Ft, 11 April 2019, where the title runs “ Foreign policy: Need for a paradigm shift for Sri Lanka”

A country’s foreign policy, also called the foreign relations policy, consists of self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. Since the national interests are paramount, foreign policies are designed by the government through high-level decision making processes.

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April 14, 2019 · 12:15 pm

A Cry for Sri Lanka — Jane Russell in London

When I sent Sampanthan’s recent “Statement” in Colombo Telegraph[1] to Jane Russell in England, her Immediate Response by Email, dated 13th April 2019, was an impassioned Cry from the Heart

There are no sensible replies to this kind of rhetoric…. perhaps a novel such as Gogol’s ‘Dead Souls’ might challenge such hyperbole? But we are in an era when the ‘Leader of the Free World’ can lie, exaggerate, fantasise, stereotype and throw unsubstantiated accusations and abuse on opponents with happy abandon.

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April 14, 2019 · 11:27 am

Nimal Sanderatne’s Review of Lanka’s Economic Performance over 71 Years

Nimal Sanderatne, in Sunday Times, 3 February 2013, where the title reads  “Tale of lost opportunities: 71 years of economic underdevelopment amid social progress”  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the eve of the country’s 71st anniversary of independence, we cannot be content with the country’s post-independence economic performance. It has been far below our potential and expectations at independence. It has been a tale of lost opportunities. Nevertheless, our post-independence social development has been impressive with significant improvements in education, health and social amenities. Continue reading →

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