Thuppahi's Blog

November 14, 2013 · 12:42 am

James Packer and Crown Casino Project batting in Sri Lanka FOR Sri Lanka

I: Projected Crown Casino Resort in Colombo: see Crown Sri Lanka Video at http://vimeo.com/74177676

II: “Sri Lanka among greatest nations in world for investment,” – Packer … HDH Seneviratne in Daily News, 14 November 2013

Sri Lanka could be turned into a leading tourist mecca for the rising middle class of India, China and the rest of Asia, Australian business tycoon James Packer said. He said he was committed to providing an opportunity to develop the country as a base and destination for mass, luxury and business tourism through his company Crown Resorts and his “plans to establish an integrated resort right here in Colombo on the Beira Lake”. “Sri Lanka is among the greatest in the world for foreign investments and tourism with the dawn of peace and tranquility in the country, Packer, Chairman of Crown Limited Australia, said at the Commonwealth Business Forum. Continue reading →

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November 12, 2013 · 8:05 am

Jaffna Managers Forum on Finances and Economic Development for the Northern Provincial Council

M. Sooriasegaram, for the Jaffna Managers’ Forum, 13 November 2013

In light of the opening created by the provincial elections after twenty five years in the North and the urgent need to address the continuing economic problems after the war, the Jaffna Managers Forum held the first in a series of public discussions on 10^th November 2013. The discussion titled, ‘Northern Provincial Council: Finances and Economic Development’, was well attended by people from various professions and perspectives. The Jaffna Managers Forum and the participants decided to convey the salient points of the discussion to the Chief Minister and Councillors of the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) and the public at large. Continue reading →

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November 12, 2013 · 12:54 am

G. C. Mendis: A Sound Historian of the Old School

Kalasuri Wilfred Gunasekara, reprinted from Daily News, 28 October 1999, where the title is “Dr. G. C.Mendis – one of Sri Lanka’s pioneer scientific historians”

Twenty three years ago on October 26, 1976 passed away a great pioneer in Sri Lanka’s history. I was associated with Dr. Mendis for 43 years and more closer when he was a livewire of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (now Royal Asiatic Society (SL). There was a time when Dr. Colvin R de Silva wrote a book, Ceylon Under the British Occupation 1795-1833; its political, administrative and economic development. It was written when he was in prison. Reading its proofs was entrusted to Dr .G.C. Mendis. He sought my assistance to go through the proofs. It was an intellectual pleasure when we went through the proofs. Continue reading →

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November 11, 2013 · 2:00 pm

An evening with Leonard Woolf in 1960 … with further reflections

Neville Jayaweera, reprinted from Sunday Island, 7 August 2005

Obsequious ceremonial: Upon Woolf’s arrival in Ceylon in early 1960 (he was 80 years old then) the Home Ministry arranged for him to tour the districts in which he had served as a Civil Servant. One leg of the tour took him through Hambantota, Tanamalwila, Wellawaya, Bandarawela, Welimada and Nuwara Eliya. At that time I was the AGA of the Badulla District which covered the entire route, and my GA was V. A. J. Senaratne (Vicky) one of the most brilliant minds of the Civil Service — Physics First Class, and first in the CCS exam in his year, but for all that, utterly self effacing and therefore little known to the public.

Shelton Fernando, Permanent Secretary Home Affairs, sent Senaratne an exuberant missive instructing him and his AGA (myself) to meet Leonard Woolf at the boundary of the Badulla District, which was near Tissamaharama, a hundred and four miles away, escort him through the district and after a stopover at Bandarawela for the night, hand him over to the GA of Nuwara Eliya District. Though self effacing, Senaratne did not take kindly to obsequious ceremonial, and showing me Shelton Fernando’s letter, said that he was not prepared to sit out in his car on the roadside waiting for Woolf or for anyone else and inquired whether I would do the honours. Much to my GA’s chagrin I assured him that neither was I inclined to be honoured in that fashion. So, eventually we compromised and agreed that we would both meet Woolf halfway at the Koslanda Rest House and accompany him to Bandarawela. Continue reading →

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November 6, 2013 · 2:12 pm

Our Leaders at the Foreign Front over the Years

Chandra Wickramasinghe, courtesy of the Island, 6 November 2013, where the title is “Some historical perspectives in the interface between Sri Lanka and its Asian neighbours and the wider international community”

With a historic CHOGM just round the corner, it may perhaps be apposite to reflect on the rather crucial manner in which the interpersonal relationships between Heads of State, political leaders of countries in the Asian Region as well as in the West, affected the history and the destiny of this little Island of ours. Very few realize how crucially portentous these inter-personal interactions have been in forming individual views based often on personal likes and dislikes and cross- perceptions. These have in turn, led to the eventual evolution and the progressive hardening of mutually proffered generalized attitudes of cordiality/hostility as the case may be, which find reflection at every conceivable level, formal/informal, in the relationships between the countries concerned. In our own case, it is well exemplified by the extreme cordiality which marked our one time relationship with India, based on the close friendship that existed over the years, between the Nehru and the Bandaranaike families. Continue reading →

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November 5, 2013 · 1:12 pm

President Rajapaksa must rethink his strategic vision

Neville Jayaweera, courtesy of Colombo Telegraph, with different title

Expanding Horizons: Prime Minister S.W.R.D .Bandaranaike (SWRD) expanded the horizons of the Sinhala people in 1956 but simultaneously drew in the horizons of the Tamils and diminished them as a people. For nearly 60 years thereafter, amidst bloodshed and tears, Sri Lanka has been trying to restore the balance but has not got it right yet. Apart from the tentative attempts of SWRD (BC Pact of 1958) of Dudley Senanayake (DC Agreement of 1965) JR’s Accord with India (13th Amendment 1987) and CBK’s valiant efforts in 1995, 1997 and 2000, the first effective initiative at restoring the balance has been President Rajapaksa’s decision to call for elections under the 13th Amendment of 1987 and set up the Northern Provincial Council (NPC).

Almost 50 years ago to the day, when I was Government Agent of Jaffna (1963-1966) at a person to person interview I had with the Prime Minister Mrs Sirima Bandaranaike at Temple Trees (but attended by her formidable Perm. Sec. Mr. N.Q.Dias) I asked her, “Madame, don’t you think that we should start healing the wounds inflicted on the Tamil people”. Continue reading →

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November 4, 2013 · 1:15 pm

Sanga and Cricket spearhead paths of ecumenical Sri Lankan-ness in the north

Andrew Fidel Fernando, in ESPNcricinfo, 4 November 2013, where the title is “Sanga rules the north” **

“The capacity for cricket to bring unity and to bring communities together is huge,” Kumar Sangakkara says as he surveys the Kilinochchi Central College grounds, where the local Under-19 team is playing their neighbours from the east coast of Sri Lanka. It has been four years since Sri Lanka’s Civil War ended, and this town, the LTTE’s former capital, was one of the hardest hit. Many of the scars of conflict have been cleared out of sight. New stores, houses and factories have been erected, but right in the heart of town, a million-litre water tank lies on its side, half-buried in red earth, having been detached from its concrete stem by explosives, in the final months of the war. The gargantuan ruin brings Percy Shelley’s “Ozymandias” to mind, but in Sri Lanka’s dry zone where months pass without a drop from the heavens, perhaps it is better cast as a tribute to the resilience of the town’s people.

Even here, though, as in Colombo and Kandy, where life had never been so harrowing, Sanga reigns supreme. Continue reading →

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November 4, 2013 · 10:53 am

A South Asian Archival Treasure Trove in Digital Form: Hip, Hip, Hooray!

David Arnold, whose title is more restrained in South Asian History & Culture

The publication of the South Asia Archive creates a vast new digital resource for students and scholars of the South Asia region. Ranging very widely across the arts, humanities and social sciences, and also notably incorporating science, technology and medicine, the Archive incorporates extensive visual material and ephemera as well as sample text material from a huge array of published sources, from books, magazines and journals to dictionaries, institutional reports and committee proceedings. Although the Archive does not provide a complete set of many serials and multi-volume items, it does demonstrate the richness and diversity of readily searchable South Asia materials (especially for the period 1800–1950) and should serve to encourage and inform fresh research in several important areas. Continue reading →