By Garvin Karunaratne Former Assistant Commissioner of Agrarian Services at Nuwara Eliya Government Agent, Matara   Kotmale, a Valley of great beauty and charm, where our celebrated poet Wimlaratne Kumaragama once lived, The hallowed residence where he penned verse after verse When he was DeeArrOoo is no more. The waters of the Kotmale River took it all. […]

By Garvin Karunaratne On my recent travel to Snowdonia in Wales, I happened to visit the Corris Industrial Unit.  What was most interesting was a Mini Distillery using many ingredients, including an array of spices, turning out special alcoholic drinks I kept wondering  what I could have done if I had known this mini Distillery […]

Garvin Karunaratne Former Govt. Agent, Matara Reading Dr Sunil Abeysundera;s’s comment on St Peter’s College published recently in the Daily Mirror prompted me to write my experiences.   I was there at about the same time and can remember Dr Abeysundera. I studied Arts subjects and therefore the main characters may be different. Nevertheless it is worth […]

By Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D.(Michigan State University) The Sri Lankan Economy is in the doldrums. It has been in the doldrums for long- since 1977, when we  under the advice of the IMF agreed to run the country with borrowed funds, ceded the right to determine the value of our currency and liberalized the use of […]

By Garvin Karunaratne It was once a haven for weary officials Weary at work, attending to the chores of the people. They all  emerged from the capital at Ratnapura, Worked the full day, inspections on hill and dale At the end they waded in the cool waters of Belihul Oya Resting their weary limbs And […]

By Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D The other day when I was in  Anuradhapura, my mind lingered to the 25,000 farmers of the North Central Province who have succumbed to the CDKu- the Kidney Disease.  Some of them may have been the young farmers with whom I worked in the 300 cultivation committees I set up in […]

By Garvin Karunaratne President Kirchner’s Era  ends in Argentina, with her loss at the general election. Comes in a Conservative Maurico Macri,  who vows to build an Argentina with Zero Poverty. It is a noble aim. The new leader faces a massive task  with inflation at over 20%, unemployment at 30% and a debt default  […]

By Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D. Since the days of President Jayawardena we have got used to look for foreign goods and  following the IMF model of allowing imports without any control, spending our foreign exchange for luxury purposes even when we did not have sufficient funds, we have become an indebted country. The IMF advice was […]

Garvin Karunaratne Touring Normandy, I visited the Omaha Beach, the Juno Beach, the Gold Beach and Sword Beach where thousands of Allied Forces soldiers perished for the cause of peace in the World War II. It is estimated that at least 130,000 soldiers died for the cause of peace. My mind travels back to the […]

By Garvin Karunaratne It is important to note that forces of neo-colonialism are ably conquering our country today. The IMF, an agent of Neocolonialism did make our country indebted by forcing the FreeMarket NeoLiberal  Economic Model in 1977. Our inept leaders are furthering this model by selling everything in our country to foreigners and today […]

By Garvin Karunaratne Ph.D.(Michigan State University) Greece, once a mighty country, is now in the dog house, with its economy in  tatters, its rulers begging the Troica- the IMF, the EU and the ECB for funds to subsist.  The writer about a decade and a half ago visited Greece, clocking some 5000 miles, wandering all […]

Garvin Karunaratne Ph.D. Michigan State University. This time it is Greece, a country that is unable to service its Foreign  Debt. Just now the Hellenic Parliament is approving the austerity package approved by the Troica- the IMF with the EU and the ECB together. It is an austerity package that would cause more poverty among the […]

Garvin Karunaratne Two days well spent in Moscow Our Guide Olga showed us the way The Kremlin and the imposive buildings The Diamond Fund showing  the regalia of Russia Gone are the misadventures in the economy, Gorbachov, is no more, Gone are his Perestroika and Glasnost Gifted with a  Noble Prize he lives in luxury’ […]

By Garvin Karunaratne., Ph.D. Michigan State University. I travelled half the world on the Trans Siberian Railway and entered China through Mongolia. I was amazed at the development that was taking  place apace. The land was barren and desert, with a trace of water at the bottom low lands,   like the land we had passed […]

Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D. Michigan State, M.Phil.Edinburgh, M.Ed. Manchester The Evening Standard(U.K.) of 27 th March 2015, I am living proof that you can take a business idea formed in prison and make a success of your life” narrated the success of Ms Moffatt, an entrepreneur (once a prisoner at Holloway) as a result of the […]

By Garvin Karunaratne In today’s context when some of our own leaders have thought it fit to balkanize the SLFP, it is necessary for the current leaders as well as the Sinhala masses to  be aware that the SLFP was the only Political Party that stood for the masses of the Sinhala people- the downtrodden- […]

By Garvin Karunaratne Today’s Island tells us that the SLFP and UPFA have decided to deny nominations to their parliamentarians to contest the forthcoming parliamentary polls in the event they decline to vote in favour of the 19 th Amendment to the Constitution” It is also important to note that , this decision has been […]

By Garvin Karunaratne There is many an indication that outside forces are at work within our shores with sinister ideas of controlling our country today. In our living memory many are the instances where outside forces did interfere with us. This has taken different forms. Denying us Aid is an indirect interference. The USA is […]

by Garvin Karunaratne  I have just read the news item that three LTTE cadres were caught making an atom bomb in Bangalore. I enclose a copy of that news item in the Rivira. This is supposed to have been a unit under Prabhakaran that was sent way to india on the eve of defeat. ඉන්දියාවේ […]

 By Garvin Karunaratne . When I was Senior Assistant Commissioner of Agrarian Services I was in charge of the administration of the entire department comprising a staff of 4000 with some thirty staff ranks. We had to find the ablest of the Assistant Commissioners to handle key districts like Anuradhapura and Kurunegala where the volume […]