Late last morning, we visited a group of young people who were playing cricket in a public open space in a village near Gampaha. We were taken there by the local PS member from our youth wing who wanted to show us their current condition with a view to obtaining assistance in improving the existing facilities.I ask the reader, if ...
It is important to revisit what the principles of ‘Free Education’ are. Then to look at the reality and suggest practical means to achieve the objectives set in the midst of a serious resource shortage in the Public Sector.Education and Health are at the cornerstones of a civilized society, which wishes to improve the quality of life of its constituents. ...
Living with Leopards – Vidya Athreya – BMICH – 6pm 17th May 2018The take away from the lecture: “Live & Let Live” – love your leopards, do what you can to educate people to be wary, but think of leopards as good luck living in your neighborhood. Leopards keep away from human contact and do not kill humansVidya has been ...
My employer is a Minister in the present Government, and he visited his factory today to review progress. When lesser mortals like wealthy businessmen visit their companies, they come alone, or at most with a PA to take notes for follow up. Instead an army of 4 security and 4 hangers on came in, crowding our administration department, where he ...
The recent address by the President of the Tourist Hotels Association, was quite inappropriate, and wholly unacceptable for the rapid development of the Industry in Sri Lanka. For details please check the following link: http://www.ft.lk/travel-tourism/THASL-President-urges-Govt--support-for-tourism-industry/27-665007They represent just 230 hotels of the 5,000 establishments in the country that supply accommodation to tourists. His first request is to give them the ...
I have passed the grand looking Chinese built and gifted Arts Center in the heart of Colombo, and wondered why it had not been opened as yet. It is being maintained by one arm of the Security Forces at the moment. I am not sure who will be responsible to maintain and run it, along with the Ministry under whom ...
What a load of hot air, in a fiscally conservative budget that has NO GROWTH written all over it. In the international environment, when we have at most two more years left before world interest rates rise by 400 basis points, and we as a country will go bankrupt unless we renegotiate for the long term before that, we will ...
The article from which this image was taken stated that 100,000 (yes one hundred thousand) supervisors and 80,000 enumerators will take part in the census. Only in Sri Lanka can we have more supervisors than those who actually do the leg work literally.The first proper all Island census for the last 30 years was completed less than a month ago. ...
We enter the new world of super highways on November 27th with heavy anticipation, but would caution over enthusiasm and would recommend that one reads the report by the ‘Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport’ to realize that unless there are severe controls on who is allowed to enter, we are laying ourselves open to a ‘disaster waiting to happen’. ...
So now the secret is out, that there is a phenomenal demand in the UK and other Countries for Jack Fruit, what are we going to do about it? https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6300921/Soaring-demand-jackfruit-driven-UKs-3-5million-vegans.html Let’s face it, there is a surplus of Jack Fruit in Sri Lanka, and unless someone cleans it and prepares them for consumption or cooking, these fruits are left ...
It is only a matter of time, when poverty, hunger, rising sea levels, force the South Asian Poor living on the coasts of the Indian Ocean, onto boats of questionable quality. Where do they drift into? Sri Lanka of course. Hundreds of thousands of people will land on our shores, in around 20 years, and no one is even making ...
http://www.worldoceansday.orgis tomorrow and the theme is twinned with the Environment Day just passed, of “Preventing plastic pollution and encouraging solutions for a healthy ocean”As one of the worst offenders of putting plastics in the Ocean around us, we need to be far more aware of what we can do to stop it. At the last flood there was NO attempt ...
In a state that is now aspiring to a GNP per capital of $2,500 per annum this year, the Private Education sector in Sri Lanka is growing by leaps and bounds, along with the market forces of supply and demand. This is throughout the country and not restricted to the Western Province. I know of poor parents one of whom ...
The march from Peradeniya to Colombo, planned by the Peradeniya University students against the Private University Bill has been prevented by the Govt. and all the existing Student Unions have been suspended at that Campus.Why are these students against Private Universities? Their main concern is that this is a back door method to gradually remove Free Education from Grade 1 ...
The government appears to have made a very concerted decision that it is not their Business to determine the future of Tertiary Education, and that the Private Sector should henceforth let market forces determine the resources, quality and direction this sector should take.With this broad based idea, the Government intends to set the standards and guidelines with the Private Universities ...
In my series of blog entries that have so far covered the gamut of education and vocational training all this as part of providing the foundation of knowledge from where our young people can take charge of the challenges ahead. Without the foundation it is difficult to get ahead. So what is lacking from this point?I was speaking with a ...
Ambassador Tamara, who I feel has done a tremendous job against all the odds and interference, has been asked to vacate her post after less than a year on the job, back to her previous post in Cuba. Whilst I am not privy to the backroom intrigue between the Foreign Service and Temple Trees which led to this effective demotion, ...
If anyone has been to China, they will know that the Government owns all the property. So they tell you how you should live. Once you have tenure, you can trade your property as it has value, but when it comes to changes in legislation there is little you can do about it. So no one in Chinese rural ...
The lecture last evening (12th July 2018) @ the PGIAR, (Post Graduate Institute of Archeology and Research, was to be on Pre Historic Settlements. However Dr Siran Deraniyagala, a former Director General of Archeology, spoke on the arrival of humans through history into Lanka. This was in the presence of a distinguished gathering that included renowned Archeologists, Dr Roland Silva, ...
I purchased a copy of the above at the Central Bank book store at the Center for Banking Studies which opposite the Presidents College Kotte on the Parliament Road near Rajagiriya on Wednesday 11th of April 2012. Only the English version is currently in print, the Sinhala and Tamil ones will take a few more weeks to arrive, as I ...
