July 27, 2018 · 8:10 am

Facing Foursquare: Lalith Weeratunga in Q and A with Daily Mirror

Ranjith Ananda Jayasinghe, in Daily Mirror, 25 July 2018http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/I-never-took-orders-from-members-of-the-Rajapaksa-family-153131.html, where the title is “I never took orders from members of the Rajapaksa family”

Secretary to the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Lalith Weerathunga, in an interview with our sister paper Deshaya spoke about the charisma of the ousted president, the times during which the war raged and the controversial manner in which former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka was arrested. This marks the first time during the past four years that Weerathunga obliged to grant an interview to a newspaper.   

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, politIcal discourse, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, world affairs

July 26, 2018 · 2:10 pm

Ajit Kanagasundram’s Tale of Lanka and Singapore

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under authoritarian regimes, British colonialism, colonisation schemes, economic processes, energy resources, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, life stories, modernity & modernization, politIcal discourse, security, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil migration, transport and communications, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes

July 26, 2018 · 10:40 am

Birds and Others on the Danube Delta in Romania

Alina Baidoc … of AUHERO TRAVEL, Romania …. http://www.authentic-romania,com … infor@authentic-romania.com

 

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under art & allure bewitching, heritage, landscape wondrous, meditations, photography, tourism, travelogue

July 26, 2018 · 5:29 am

The Demons within the Proposed New Constitution: A Trojan Horse?

CA Chandraprema, in The Island, 25 July 2018, where the title is“The nature of the State and the Presidency” … with emphasis added by The Editor, Thuppahi

The new draft constitution prepared by a panel of experts, for the consideration of the Steering Committee of the Constitutional Assembly is now out. The panel of experts who prepared this draft comprised the following: Prof. Suri Ratnapala, N. Selvakkumaran, Prof. Navaratna Bandara, Asoka Gunawardena, Suren Fernando and Niran Anketell. Proposed Article 1 of the draft constitution describes the Sri Lankan state as follows: “Sri Lanka (Ceylon) is a free, sovereign and independent Republic which is an aekiya rajyaya/ orumiththa nadu, consisting of the institutions of the Centre and of the Provinces which shall exercise power as laid down in the Constitution. In this Article aekiya rajyaya // orumiththa nadu means a State which is undivided and indivisible, and in which the power to amend the Constitution, or to repeal and replace the Constitution, shall remain with the Legislature and the People of Sri Lanka as provided in this Constitution.”

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, cultural transmission, democratic measures, devolution, electoral structures, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, language policies, legal issues, nationalism, politIcal discourse, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, security, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, TNA, world events & processes

July 23, 2018 · 3:48 am

Germany: Humanist Fundamentalism saves Al-Qaeda Fundamentalist from Deportation

Soeren Kern, item from The Gatestone Institute , 18 April 2018, …. where the title is “Germany’s Dysfunctional Deportation System”

  • Aidoudi’s asylum request was rejected in 2007 after allegations surfaced that he had undergone military training at an al-Qaeda jihadi camp in Afghanistan between 1999 and 2000. During his training, he had allegedly worked as a bodyguard for Osama bin-Laden.
  • The government in North Rhine-Westphalia confirmed that for years Aidoudi had been receiving €1,168 ($1,400) each month in welfare and child support payments.
  • “Salafists such as Sami A. have no business in Germany and should be deported. Germany should not be a retirement retreat for jihadists.” — Alexander Dobrindt, Member of the German Bundestag.
  • Sami Aidoudi (left) lived in Germany since 1997, until he was deported to his homeland of Tunisia on July 13, 2018. He is alleged to have undergone military training at an al-Qaeda jihadi camp in Afghanistan between 1999 and 2000. He had allegedly worked as a bodyguard for Osama bin-Laden (right) during his training. (Image sources: Aidoudi – SpiegelTV video screenshot; Bin Laden – Wikimedia Commons)

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, Al Qaeda, asylum-seekers, authoritarian regimes, cultural transmission, fundamentalism, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, Islamic fundamentalism, jihad, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, politIcal discourse, power politics, security, self-reflexivity, slanted reportage, Taliban, terrorism, unusual people, war crimes, world events & processes, zealotry

July 23, 2018 · 3:32 am

Shreya Ghoshal to sing in Melbourne This August

Item from The Indian Sun, 22 July 2018, where the title runs “Shreya brings her scores to the shores Down Under”

The beautiful and rich voice of Shreya Ghoshal will be heard on Australian shores this August when the singers, one of the most famous in Bollywood, performs live. Often referred to as an “energetic powerhouse” on stage, Sheya’s off-stage persona is very different from what you see on stage. “Sometimes it is good to be ignorant of yourself,” laughs the singer.

Continue reading →

3 Comments

Filed under art & allure bewitching, australian media, heritage, landscape wondrous, life stories, performance, unusual people

July 22, 2018 · 7:20 pm

Bunfight over Galle Cricket Stadium due to Heritage Issues

Champika Fernando, in Daily Mirror, 22 July 2018, where the title runs “Galle Stadium conundrum: The inside story”

Citing UNESCO requirements that do not exist, the Government decided this week to demolish the pavilions at the historic Galle International Cricket Stadium and to relocate the venue elsewhere. Government representatives at a recent meeting resolved to demolish the “intrusive” constructions and to set aside land in Pinnaduwa for a new cricket stadium. Among them were four ministers: Vajira Abeywardena and Sagala Ratnayake from the Southern Province, Sports Minister Faiszer Musthapha and Cultural Affairs Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakse.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, architects & architecture, cricket for amity, cultural transmission, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, legal issues, politIcal discourse, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, Sri Lankan cricket, sri lankan society, world affairs

July 20, 2018 · 2:28 pm

Export Strategy for Sri Lanka Initiated

Editor, News-in-Asia, 20 July 2018, where the title is “Sri Lanka launches ambitious 5 yr National Export Strategy to boost economic growth”

The Sri Lankan government has launched a five year National Export Strategy (NES) to boost foreign investments, foreign exchange earnings and employment, the Daily FT reported Friday. Addressing the launch of the five year NES strategy, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the key objective of the NES  was to increase the capacity of the local export sector, improve trade performance and competitiveness and ensure different sectors of the economy evolved to grab a share of the global market in reaching the government’s goal of 28 billion US dollars in export revenue by 2022.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under commoditification, economic processes, export issues, foreign policy, island economy, modernity & modernization, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, sri lankan society, world events & processes

July 17, 2018 · 2:49 pm

A Slashing Critique of All Lanka’s Political Houses via a Bhikkhu who strangulates a Cop

Tisaranee Gunasekara, courtesy of Colombo Telegraph, 15 July 2018, where the title reads “Clowns Or Murderers: Our Hobson’s Choice” …. with emphasis being the hand of The Editor, Thuppahi

The news was sensational, yet it was downplayed. The chief incumbent of a temple in Ratnapura strangled a police sergeant to death. The monk has been absconding after being charged with sexual abuse. The sergeant went to the temple to hand over the summons. He went alone and unarmed; after all, he was going to a temple to meet a monk. The sergeant’s screams alerted the neighbours who called 119. When a police team rushed to the temple, the monk greeted them with a hand grenade.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under atrocities, authoritarian regimes, disparagement, fundamentalism, governance, historical interpretation, Hitler, landscape wondrous, life stories, news fabrication, politIcal discourse, Rajapaksa regime, self-reflexivity, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, vengeance, violence of language, working class conditions, world events & processes

July 17, 2018 · 5:25 am

Does Terrorism Work? The Palestinian Story, 1939-47

Bruce Hoffman

ABSTRACT: Does terrorism work? Its targets and victims steadfastly maintain that it does not; its practitioners and apologists that it does. Scholars and analysts are divided. But, if terrorism is as ineffective as many claim, why has it persisted for at least the past two millennia and indeed become an increasingly popular means of violent political expression in the twenty-first century? Using the Jewish terrorist campaign against the British in Palestine during the 1940s, this article attempts to shed light on this question.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under arab regimes, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, British imperialism, ethnicity, foreign policy, historical interpretation, jihad, landscape wondrous, law of armed conflict, legal issues, life stories, martyrdom, Middle Eastern Politics, military strategy, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, suicide bombing, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, world events & processes