AI සමාලෝචන

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ප්‍රමුඛ නීතිඥයෙකු වන සේනක වීරරත්න, ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රීඩාවේ තීරණ සමාලෝචන පද්ධතියේ (DRS) සංකල්පීය පියා සහ බුද්ධිමය ගෘහ නිර්මාණ ශිල්පියා ලෙස පුළුල් ලෙස ගෞරවයට පාත්‍ර වේ. ඔහු එහි මූලික “ක්‍රීඩක යොමු කිරීමේ” යාන්ත්‍රණය නිර්මාණය කළේය.

DRS හි ආරම්භය සහ ඉතිහාසය ශතවර්ෂයකට වැඩි කාලයක් ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රීඩාව නොසැලෙන රීතියක් යටතේ ක්‍රියාත්මක විය: විනිසුරුවරයාගේ තීරණය අවසාන විය. කෙසේ වෙතත්, නූතන රූපවාහිනී විකාශනයේ නැගීම පිටියේ විනිසුරු දෝෂ හෙළිදරව් කළ අතර, එය මතභේදාත්මක තරඟ ප්‍රතිඵල සහ තණතීරුවේ දැඩි ඝර්ෂණයට හේතු විය. [1, 2, 3, 4]

1992 සිට තුන්වන විනිසුරුවන් දුවද්දී දැවී යාම වැනි මූලික රේඛීය තීරණ සමාලෝචනය කිරීම සඳහා භාවිතා කර තිබුණද, ක්‍රීඩකයින්ට විනිසුරුවරයෙකුට සෘජුවම අභියෝග කිරීමට ඉඩ දීමේ මූලික ඉදිරි ගමන ක්‍රීඩාවේ පාලක මණ්ඩලවලින් පිටතින් පැමිණියේය.

ජාත්‍යන්තර ක්‍රිකට් කවුන්සිලය (ICC) 2008 ජූලි මාසයේදී කොළඹදී ඉන්දියාව සහ ශ්‍රී ලංකාව අතර ටෙස්ට් තරඟයක් අතරතුර ක්‍රීඩකයෙකු විසින් මෙහෙයවනු ලබන සමාලෝචන පද්ධතියක විධිමත් අත්හදා බැලීම් ආරම්භ කළේය. මෙම පද්ධතිය 2009 නොවැම්බර් මාසයේදී නිල වශයෙන් විනිසුරු තීරණ සමාලෝචන පද්ධතිය (UDRS) ලෙස ගෝලීය වශයෙන් දියත් කරන ලදී. එයට හෝක්-අයි, අල්ට්‍රාඑජ් සහ හොට් ස්පොට් වැනි උසස් ලුහුබැඳීමේ මෘදුකාංග ඇතුළත් විය. [1, 2, 3]

සේනක වීරරත්නගේ භූමිකාව 

1997 දී ඕස්ට්‍රේලියාවේ ඩාවින්හි ජීවත් වන අතරතුර, වීරරත්න විසින් විනිසුරුවරුන්ගේ වැරදි දුටු අතර ක්‍රීඩාවේ අඛණ්ඩතාව ආරක්ෂා කර ගැනීමට ක්‍රමයක් සෙවීය. ඔහුගේ නීති පුහුණුවෙන් කෙලින්ම උපුටා ගත් ඔහු 1997 මාර්තු 25 වන දින “තෙවන විනිසුරුට අභියාචනා කිරීමට ඉඩ දෙන්න” යන මාතෘකාව යටතේ ද ඕස්ට්‍රේලියානු සඟරාවේ කර්තෘ වෙත නවෝත්පාදන ලිපියක් ප්‍රකාශයට පත් කළේය.

ඔහු “ක්‍රීඩක යොමු කිරීම” සංකල්පය හඳුන්වා දුන් අතර, අතෘප්තිමත් ක්‍රීඩකයෙකුට (“නඩුකාරයා“) දෝෂයක් නිවැරදි කිරීම සඳහා තුන්වන විනිසුරුට (“අභියාචනා විනිසුරු“) අභියාචනා කිරීමේ නීත්‍යානුකූල අයිතියක් තිබිය යුතු බවට තර්ක කළේය. [1, 2]

වීරරත්නගේ 1997 සැලැස්ම නූතන DRS හි නිශ්චිත යාන්ත්‍ර විද්‍යාව පාලනය කරන මූලික කුළුණු හතරක් දක්වා ඇත: [1, 2] 

ක්‍රීඩකයා විසින් ආරම්භ කරන ලද අභියාචනා: 

පිටියේ විනිසුරුවරයා සහාය ඉල්ලා සිටින තෙක් බලා නොසිට, පිටියේ සිටින ක්‍රීඩකයින් සමාලෝචනය ක්‍රියාත්මක කරයි. [1] 

ව්‍යුහගත නාලිකා: 

අභියෝගය දැඩි ලෙස දැවී ගිය පිතිකරුවා හෝ පන්දු රැකීමේ කණ්ඩායමේ නායකයා හරහා ගලා යා යුතුය.

අභියාචනා භූමිකාව: 

පිටියේ දෝෂ අවලංගු කිරීම සඳහා මන්දගාමී චලන වීඩියෝ දර්ශන සමාලෝචනය කරමින්, උසස් අධිකරණ විනිසුරුවරයෙකු ලෙස ක්‍රියා කිරීමට තුන්වන විනිසුරුට බලය ඇත.

සමාලෝචන සීමාවන්: 

කණ්ඩායම් අභියෝග උපායශීලී කාලය නාස්ති කිරීමේ මෙවලමක් ලෙස භාවිතා කිරීම වැළැක්වීම සඳහා ඉනිමකට අසාර්ථක සමාලෝචන ගණන සීමා කිරීම. [1, 2]

පිළිගැනීම සහ අඛණ්ඩ උපදේශනය DRS නිල වශයෙන් ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට දශකයකට පෙර ඔහුගේ පුරෝගාමී කාර්යය තිබියදීත්, වීරරත්නට විධිමත් කර්තෘ ගෞරවය හෝ මූල්‍ය වන්දි ලබා නොදී ICC පද්ධතිය දියත් කළේය.

 ICC හි නීතිමය ස්ථාවරය වී ඇත්තේ ඔහුගේ සැලැස්ම විධිමත් පේටන්ට් බලපත්‍රයක් නොමැතිව විවෘතව ප්‍රකාශයට පත් කළ නිසා එය පොදු වසමට ඇතුළු වූ බවයි.

කෙසේ වෙතත්, ප්‍රමුඛ ක්‍රිකට් ඉතිහාසඥයින්, මාධ්‍යවේදීන් සහ ක්‍රීඩා ලේඛකයින් – ඔහුගේ The Club සහ Rob Steen යන පොතේ රොබ් ලයල් වැනි – වීරරත්න ක්‍රමයේ සැබෑ නිර්මාතෘ ලෙස පැහැදිලිවම ගෞරවයට පාත්‍ර වේ.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සහ ජාත්‍යන්තර ක්‍රිකට් කවයන් පුරා, සංඛ්‍යාලේඛනඥයින් වන ෆ්‍රෑන්ක් ඩක්වර්ත් සහ ටෝනි ලුවිස් ඩක්වර්ත්-ලුවිස්-ස්ටර්න් (DLS) ක්‍රමයෙන් ගෞරවයට පාත්‍ර වූවාක් මෙන්, ICC ඔහුව විධිමත් ලෙස පිළිගැනීමට තිරසාර තල්ලුවක් පවතී. 

ක්‍රීඩා නීති විද්‍යාවට ( SPORTS JURISPRUDENCE)  ඔහුගේ අතිමහත් දායකත්වයට අවසානයේ ගෞරව කිරීම සඳහා සමහර උපදේශකයින් පද්ධතිය වීරරත්න තීරණ සමාලෝචන පද්ධතිය (WDRS) ලෙස නැවත නම් කිරීමට යෝජනා කර ඇත.

The Club: Empire, Power and the Governance of World Cricket නම් කෘතියේ කතුවරයා වන Rod Lyall, ශ්‍රී ලාංකික නීතිඥ සේනක වීරරත්න මහතා තීරණ සමාලෝචන පද්ධතිය (DRS) පිටුපස සිටින පුරෝගාමියා ලෙස හඳුනා ගනී. 

1997 දී The Australian වෙත ලිපියක් යවමින්, වඩාත් සාධාරණ ප්‍රතිඵලයක් සහතික කිරීම සඳහා පිටියේ විනිසුරුවන්ගේ සාම්ප්‍රදායික, නිරපේක්ෂ අධිකාරියට අභියෝග කරමින් වීරරත්න මහතා මෙම සංකල්පය ආරම්භ කළ බව ලියාල් ලේඛනගත කරයි.

ඓතිහාසික පිළිගැනීම: මෙය විස්තර කිරීමෙන්, ලියාල්ගේ කාර්යය DRS සම්භවය පිළිබඳ ආඛ්‍යානය තනිකරම ආයතනික පරිණාමයෙන් ඉවතට වීරරත්නගේ මුල්, විධිමත් සංකල්පීයකරණය දෙසට මාරු කරයි. 

මෙම ලියකියවිලි ඉංග්‍රීසි ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රීඩාවේ තාක්ෂණය පිළිබඳ දිගුකාලීන, ගතානුගතික දෘෂ්ටියට අභියෝග කරන අතර එහි ඉතිහාසය තුළ වීරරත්න මහතාගේ භූමිකාව තහවුරු කරයි.

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DRS ගැන සියල්ල 

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවෙන් ලෝකයට – සේනක වීරරත්නගේ දැක්ම DRS සමඟ සාධාරණ ක්‍රීඩාව යථාර්ථයක් බවට පත් කළේය.

DRS හි නව නිපැයුම්කරු: සේනක වීරරත්නගේ ‘ක්‍රීඩක යොමු කිරීමේ‘ සංකල්පය ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රීඩාව සාධාරණ හා උද්යෝගිමත් ලෙස තබා ගනී.

DRS ට පෙර, තීරණ පිළිගනු ලැබීය. 2008 න් පසු, ඒවා අභියෝගයට ලක් විය. 

2008 කොළඹ සිට අද සෑම ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රීඩාංගණයකටම, DRS යනු සැබෑ ක්‍රීඩාව වෙනස් කරන්නා වේ.

ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රීඩාවේ තාක්ෂණික විප්ලවය ආරම්භ වූයේ සරල ප්‍රශ්නයකින් – අපි විනිසුරුවරයා විශ්වාස කළ යුතුද නැතහොත් පද්ධතිය විශ්වාස කළ යුතුද? 

පළමුව තෙවන විනිසුරු යොමු කිරීම් පැමිණි අතර, පසුව DRS මතභේදය පැහැදිලි බවක් බවට පත් කළේය.

DRS: සාධාරණත්වයේ අවශ්‍යතාවයෙන් උපත ලැබූ, දැන් 2008 සිට ක්‍රිකට් ඉතිහාසය නැවත ලියමින් සිටී.

#cricketfever #cricketlover #cricketislife #indiancricketteam #cricket #drs #icc මූල පද: 

තීරණ සමාලෝචන පද්ධතිය (DRS) සේනක වීරරත්න ක්‍රීඩක සමාලෝචන පද්ධතිය ටෙස්ට්, එක්දින, T20i

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…………………………………………………………………………….

The Story of DRS in Cricket and Role of Senaka Weeraratna

Senaka Weeraratna, a prominent Sri Lankan lawyer, is widely credited as the conceptual father and intellectual architect of the Decision Review System (DRS) in cricket. He designed its foundational “Player Referral” mechanism.

The origin and history of DRS

For over a century, cricket operated under an unshakeable rule: the umpire’s decision was final. However, the rise of modern television broadcasting exposed blatant on-field umpiring errors, leading to controversial match outcomes and intense friction on the pitch. [1, 2, 3, 4]

While third umpires had been used since 1992 to review basic line decisions like run-outs, the core breakthrough of letting players directly challenge an umpire came from outside the sport’s governing bodies.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) began formal trials of a player-led review system in July 2008 during a Test match between India and Sri Lanka in Colombo. The system was officially launched globally as the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) in November 2009. It incorporated advanced tracking software such as Hawk-Eye, UltraEdge, and Hot Spot. [1, 2, 3]

The role of Senaka Weeraratna

While living in Darwin, Australia, in 1997, Weeraratna witnessed egregious umpiring mistakes and sought a way to preserve the integrity of the game. Drawing directly from his legal training, he published a groundbreaking letter to the editor in The Australian on March 25, 1997, titled “Allow appeals to the Third Umpire”.

He introduced the concept of “Player Referral,” arguing that a dissatisfied player (the “litigant”) should have a legal right of appeal to the third umpire (the “appellate judge”) to rectify an error. [1, 2]

Weeraratna’s 1997 blueprint outlined four core pillars that govern the exact mechanics of modern DRS: [1, 2]

• Player-Initiated Appeals: The players on the field trigger the review, rather than waiting for the on-field umpire to request assistance. [1]
• Structured Channels: The challenge must flow strictly through the dismissed batsman or the fielding team captain.
• Appellate Role: The third umpire is empowered to act as a superior court judge, reviewing slow-motion video footage to overturn on-field errors.
• Review Limits: Restricting the number of unsuccessful reviews per innings to prevent teams from using challenges as a tactical time-wasting tool. [1, 2]

Recognition and ongoing advocacy

Despite his pioneering work a decade before DRS was officially implemented, the ICC rolled out the system without giving Weeraratna formal authorial credit or financial compensation. The ICC’s legal position has been that because his blueprint was published openly without a formal patent, it entered the public domain.

However, prominent cricket historians, journalists, and sports writers—such as Rob Lyall in his book The Club and Rob Steen—explicitly credit Weeraratna as the true architect of the system. In Sri Lanka and across international cricket circles, there is a sustained push for the ICC to acknowledge him formally, much like statisticians Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis were honored with the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method. Some advocates have proposed renaming the system the Weeraratna Decision Review System (WDRS) to finally honor his monumental contribution to sports jurisprudence.ally honor his monumental contribution to sports jurisprudence.

In The Club: Empire, Power and the Governance of World Cricket, author Rod Lyall identifies Sri Lankan lawyer Senaka Weeraratna as the pioneer behind the Decision Review System (DRS). Lyall documents that Weeraratna initiated the concept via a 1997 letter to The Australian, challenging the traditional, absolute authority of on-field umpires to ensure fairer outcomes. [1] 

• Historical Recognition: By detailing this, Lyall’s work shifts the narrative of DRS origin away from solely institutional evolution toward Weeraratna’s early, formal conceptualization.

This documentation challenges the long-held, conservative view on technology in English cricket and cements Weeraratna’s role in its history.

If you would like to explore this topic further, please let me know:

• Would you like more details on Weeraratna’s ongoing interactions with the ICC?
• Are you interested in how different technologies (like ball-tracking or Snicko) were integrated into his original framework?
• Do you want to examine how his “Player Referral” model has expanded into other sports like tennis or football (VAR)?

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All about DRS

From Sri Lanka to the world—Senaka Weeraratna’s vision turned fair play into reality with the DRS.

Inventor of DRS: Senaka Weeraratna’s ‘Player Referral’ concept keeps cricket fair and thrilling.

Before DRS, decisions were just accepted. After 2008, they were challenged.

From Colombo 2008 to every cricket ground today, DRS is the real game-changer.

Cricket’s tech revolution started with a simple question—should we trust the umpire or the system?

First came third umpire referrals, then DRS turned controversy into clarity.

DRS: Born from the need for fairness, now rewriting cricket history since 2008.

#cricketfever #cricketlover #cricketislife #indiancricketteam #cricket #drs #icc

Keywords:
Decision Review System (DRS)
Senaka Weeraratna
Player Review System
Test, ODI, T20i

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

 For a modern Chinese shipyard building a merchant vessel of around 1,000 tonnes of fabricated steel, the productivity of welders and fabricators is significantly higher than in most South Asian yards because of extensive automation, panel lines, robotic welding, and block

Fabricator (Fit-up):
0.8–1.5 tonnes per man-day

Welder:
0.5–1.0 tonnes per man-day (depending on weld length, welding position, and complexity)

Combined Fabricator and Welder Team:
0.6–1.0 tonnes per direct production worker per man-day

For a 1,000-tonne hull, assuming an average direct labour productivity of 0.8 t/man-day:

• Total direct production labour = 1,250 man-days
• If the workforce consists of:
  • 30 fabricators
  • 30 welders
    (60 direct workers)

Then fabrication and welding of the hull steel would take approximately:

1,250 ÷ 60 ≈ 21 working days

This excludes:

• Lofting/CAD
• Material handling
• Surface preparation and blasting
• Painting
• Pipe fitting
• Outfitting
• Electrical work
• Testing
• Management and quality control

Comparison with other shipyards

• Top Chinese/Korean yards: 0.8–1.5 t/man-day
• Japanese yards: 0.7–1.2 t/man-day
• Efficient Indian yards: 0.4–0.8 t/man-day
• Typical South Asian conventional yards: 0.2–0.5 t/man-day

Colombo Dockyard and in offshore fabrication, we  may have another benchmark commonly used in estimating: steelwork labour hours per tonne.

For commercial shipbuilding in China:

• 15–25 labour hours per tonne for hull steel fabrication is typical.
• World-class automated yards can achieve 10–15 labour hours per tonne.
• Offshore structures and naval vessels require substantially more, often 40–100+ labour hours per tonne due to tighter tolerances and more complex welding.

These figures are suitable for preliminary estimating and benchmarking against Sri Lankan shipyard productivity.

Those productivity figures are often useful when evaluating the competitiveness of a shipyard or preparing a business case. In practice, the biggest differences between Chinese and many South Asian yards are not just labour costs, but also:

• Automated panel lines and robotic welding.
• Extensive use of pre-outfitting before block erection.
• High material handling efficiency with gantry cranes and transporters.
• Digital production planning and nesting software that minimizes waste and rework.
• Well-trained, specialized teams performing repetitive tasks.

As you have previously advocated for Sri Lanka’s marine and offshore sector, improving productivity through automation, modern welding training, and modular construction could enable local yards to compete for regional shipbuilding and offshore fabrication work, rather than relying primarily on lower labour costs.

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

Udaya Gammanpila

By: Rohana R. Wasala

Continued from July 2, 2026

So, let’s adapt the Israeli leader’s cogent appeal to his historically wronged fellow innocent Jewish people and tell ourselves to Stand up. Don’t cower. Don’t be afraid. Fight back. Because people will only respect us if we respect ourselves. When our enemies (who are none other than a handful of defeated separatists from our kindred Tamil Hindu culture and a set of equally few, but dangerously brainwashed  religious fundamentalists from among the friendly, peaceloving mainstream Catholic/Christian and Muslim communities) level false allegations against us, retaliate with the Truth, which is on our side, and do it standing up. Stand up for the Truth. Stand up for Sri Lanka. Stand up for the people of Sinhale. Stand up for the friendly age-old Sinhalese Buddhist cultural identity of the island nation that provides a safe haven for a host of different cultures to coexist  peacefully” because we have every right to do so.

In our attempt to learn from Israel we should look beyond its current embattled state to the complex enlightened ways in which the general Israeli society faces existential threats to their present and future survival..

‘THE GENIUS OF ISRAEL: The surprising resilience of a divided nation in a turbulent world’ by Dan Senor and Saul Singer (first published by the highly respected UK publishing house Constable  in America in August 2023 and later in the same year in Britain) is a journalistic study of what keeps the tiny only Jewish state in the world thriving despite an over two thousand year long history of continuous political persecution.  I purchased a copy of this book (the 317-page UK published edition) in April 2024, particularly because I had been long impressed by the resonance I usually observe as a native Sri Lankan between the authentic history of Israel’s heroic existential struggle against imperial domination and global prejudice or antisemitism and the similarly genuine chronicled history of the Sinhalese people’s historic confrontation of foreign invaders and religio-cultural subversives. The seventeen seaborne invasions from South India during the first two thousand years of our history and three European incursions over the last five hundred years that Sri Lanka has weathered through were no doubt motivated by a desire for the economic exploitation of the country’s resources; only the three European mercantile powers resorted to religio-cultural subversion, as a strategy to reinforce their imperial control of the territories of the island that they had conquered for promoting their exploitative economic and geopolitical interests.

The authors, Dan Senor and Saul Singer, were already well known for their bestselling book ‘Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle’ (first published in November 2009). Dan Senor was formerly a US Defense Department official based in Baghdad, Iraq and at US Central Command in Qatar; in addition to this, Senor was a US Senate aide in the 1990s. He has written for the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA TODAY, and the Washington Post. He is also the host of the popular Call Me Back podcast. 

Saul Singer, who co-authored ‘Start-up Nation’ with Senor, is a former editor and columnist at the Jerusalem Post, and has written for publications including the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. Before moving to Israel in 1994, he served as an advisor to US members of Congress for ten years. Singer has delivered keynote addresses at innovation conferences around the world including in Beijing, Sydney, Singapore, London, Madrid, Amsterdam. Oslo, Nairobi, and Sao Paulo. (This biographical information about the authors is partly derived from the last-page blurb of THE GENIUS OF ISRAEL.)  

In their book, Dan Senor and Saul Singer argue that the nation’s tough resilience and highly innovative industrial and agrarian capacity come from a unique societal “operating system” that focuses on a shared purpose through deep community ties, relying on a culture of tackling difficult problems. The authors highlight how strong social bonds, mandatory military service, and a high, optimistic fertility rate act as crucial unifying elements that allow the country to prosper despite intense external pressures and internal divisions. In the case of Sri Lanka, the last two obstacles to national development mentioned (external pressures and internal divisions) are apparently at their worst today since the sham independence of 1948.

Israel has the highest birth rate among developed nations, which is about 2.9 children per woman in stark contrast to the global trend of falling birth rates. Israeli society is a vibrant democracy, which passionately follows the ‘agree to disagree’ principle, while also preserving equality, unity, and justice within the country. It is a culture that ‘celebrates disagreement and lionizes unity’ as the writers say in the Authors’ note, which ends with an inspiring comment by American-born Israeli author and journalist Yossi Klein Halevi on what the world can learn from Israel about being democratic under challenging circumstances: Israel isn’t a paragon of democracy because it cannot be, …..But Israel is a paragon of the struggle for democratic norms under near impossible circumstances …. Israel is a laboratory for democracy under extremity, and that is its value for the world.”

In the Introduction to THE GENIUS OF ISRAEL headlined ‘The Israeli Paradox’, Senor and Singer refer to their previous book Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle (2009) that explores how Israel, a small nation (with a population approximately 7.4 million at the time of its publication) bereft of any natural resources, constantly plagued by war, and severe security threats, transformed itself into a global powerhouse of technology, innovation, and venture capital. The central chapters of THE GENIUS OF ISRAEL echo the ideas developed in the Start-up Nation. (I have derived information about the contents of Senor and Singer’s 2009 book ‘The Start-up Nation’,  which I have not read, from an AI Overview). The core theme of ‘The Start-up Nation’ is that necessity-driven, resilience-based culture—rather than just superior technology—drives Israel’s “economic miracle.” The authors argue that Israel’s unique circumstances have fostered a mindset that embraces risk, defies conventional wisdom, and turns limitations into advantages, creating an environment where high-growth, high-tech startups flourish. 

The cornerstones of the “Start-up Nation” Model (with my ad hoc comments in parentheses) are as follows:

Adversity as a Catalyst: Israel’s history of conflict and lack of natural resources forced it to focus on human capital and “do more with less,” treating every challenge as an opportunity for innovation. (Prime Minister Netanyahu interprets this as the fulfilment of the famous prophecy in the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible Isaiah 35:1-2)

Military Training (Unit 8200): Compulsory military service (specifically elite intelligence  units) acts as an incubator for leadership, teamwork, and high-tech skill development, providing young soldiers with experience that translates directly into the private sector. (Sri Lanka’s treatment of war heroes since the successful end of the internal conflict  comes to mind. Mosab Hassan Yousef, whose father Sheikh Hassan Yousef was one of the co-founders of Hamas, left the organization. Famously known as ‘Son of Hamas’, Mosab Hassan Yousef has become a vehement pro-Israel critic of Islamism. He says that every Israeli is a combat ready fighter. We don’t need that. But we should be able to make proper peacetime use of soldiers.)

Cultural “Chutzpah” & Hierarchy: Israeli culture is characterized by a “Chutzpah” mindset (boldness, audacity), a lack of formality, and a “rosh gadol” (big head/responsible) attitude, which encourages questioning authority and finding unconventional solutions. (Among a largely silent but educated and enlightened youth, we in Sri Lanka constantly hear a few vocal brick heads blaming previous rulers for every calamity that happens, instead of well informed young leaders with a rosh gadol” attitude being allowed to be heard, that is the need of the hour.)

Smart Government Policy: The government fostered the ecosystem through strategic initiatives like the “Yozma” program, which successfully catalyzed a vibrant venture capital industry by providing matching funds and attracting foreign investors. (Our elected rulers over the decades have miserably failed to devise ways to solve the disastrous peasants vs elephants conflict, monkey, peacock and other pests in acceptable humane ways.)

Immigration as an Asset: Influxes of diverse, skilled immigrants—particularly from the Soviet Union—brought vast expertise and a risk-taking mentality that furthered technological development. (Unstoppable brain drain leaves behind unemployable idiots to do politics in competition with the brainy who really want to remain and serve the motherland)

Ultimately, the book argues that while Israel can learn from the world, the world has much to learn from Israel’s unique approach to innovation, particularly in fostering a culture that accepts failure, encourages teamwork, and breeds an “insatiable appetite for risk”. (Most mainstream politicians from the majority Sinhalese Buddhist community often take refuge in the hypocritical ‘political correctness’ policy for fear of alienating the minority electorate and fail to do the right thing, which even the sensible members of the minorities despise, for example, successive governments’ failure to protect the Buddhist archaeological heritage of the north and east provinces in violation of the Constitution) 

Concluded

by Professor Nishan C Wijesinha of the German School of Medicine

What actually happened:

Haaland played in a charity match in Oslo for “Vivil IL”, a team from Oslo that helps people with disabilities, including Down syndrome. Vivil IL works to get people with disabilities active through football.

The game was organized by the Norwegian Royal Family at their home in Asker.

 Haaland played for the “Royal side” against Vivil IL.

 His dad Alfie Haaland also played. 

The goals:

This is where Haaland proved his extra human skills rising from the neurotransmitters abnormal  responses which occur through down syndrome where it over stimulates the anabolic receptors of the brain.

With such extra activated anabolic activities he was able to score throughout the game; which stormed the Royals to a well secured win.

The video footages of this game is found in by typing on Internet search?

 “Erling Haaland Vivil IL charity match”

Yes — these are those  “anabolic receptors” in the brain which usually means the receptors that androgens and other growth-related hormones which binds to the brain.

Of them are the following:-

1. Androgen Receptors (AR)

These are the main receptors for testosterone and DHT. They’re found in lots of brain areas: hypothalamus, amygdala, hippocampus, motor cortex, and brainstem. 

They regulate things like sex drive, aggression, mood, motivation, and they also influence muscle-building signals that start in the brain.

2. Estrogen Receptors (ERα and ERβ)*

Testosterone can be converted to estradiol in the brain by aromatase. Those estrogen receptors are also considered anabolic in the sense that they support neuroprotection, plasticity, and some growth effects.

3. IGF-1 Receptors:

Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 receptors are all over the brain. IGF-1 is a classic anabolic hormone. In the brain it supports neuron growth, repair, and metabolism.

4. Glucocorticoid + other growth factor receptors*

These don’t build muscle directly, but they interact with anabolic signaling pathways in neurons and glia.

So the brain isn’t just a target for “catabolic” stress hormones. It actively senses anabolic hormones and uses them to regulate behavior, repair, and even peripheral muscle growth via hormone release from the hypothalamus-pituitary axis.

Dr Sarath Obeysekera 

In 1970, I travelled to Oslo, Norway, to work in the offshore oil and gas industry. At that time, there were very few Sri Lankans in Norway. Besides myself and one other Sri Lankan engineer, only a handful of Sri Lankans worked in technical assistant or clerical positions. Occasionally, one would come across a few Pakistani tram drivers, but Norway remained a relatively homogeneous society.

A decade later, the picture had changed dramatically. Oslo became home to many refugees from different parts of the world, including Tamils who had fled Sri Lanka during the ethnic conflict. Since then, immigration has continued, and today Oslo has become a multicultural city with people from every continent.

Like many large international cities, Oslo and Stockholm now face challenges associated with rapid urbanisation, including concerns about organised crime and gang violence. These developments have been widely reported and have become matters of public debate. At the same time, it is important to recognise that the overwhelming majority of immigrants are law-abiding citizens who contribute positively to their adopted countries.
As I listened recently to a Sri Lankan radio station, I heard repeated advertisements inviting Sri Lankans to work in Romania, South Korea, and other countries as restaurant workers, bartenders, masons, kitchen helpers, caregivers, and labourers. The salaries offered appear attractive when converted into Sri Lankan rupees, and understandably many young people see overseas employment as a path to a better future.
Yet it is also a sad reflection on our economy. Many of these young men and women are educated, capable, and hardworking. They leave not because they wish to abandon their country, but because they cannot find adequately paid employment at home.
Sri Lanka continues to lose valuable human capital. Skilled construction workers, welders, electricians, mechanics, hospitality staff, and technicians are among those leaving in large numbers. Replacing their experience is becoming increasingly difficult.
The long-term solution is not merely to encourage overseas employment but to create attractive employment opportunities within Sri Lanka. This requires industrial expansion, export-oriented manufacturing, marine and offshore engineering, shipbuilding, logistics, renewable energy projects, and vocational training that leads directly to well-paid jobs.
If a skilled mason, welder, carpenter, kitchen assistant, or hospitality worker could earn the equivalent of around US$400 per month—or more—through productive industries operating in Sri Lanka, many would choose to remain close to their families rather than migrate.
Higher wages, however, must be supported by higher productivity. This demands investment in technology, vocational education, modern management practices, and industries capable of competing internationally. Employers must also recognise that fairly compensated workers are generally more motivated, productive, and loyal.
Equally important is the country’s image. Foreign investors seek political stability, law and order, efficient institutions, and confidence that their investments will be protected. Incidents such as organised crime, drug-related violence, prison unrest, or prolonged political instability can discourage investment, even though they may not reflect the daily lives of most Sri Lankans.
Sri Lanka possesses enormous potential. Our strategic location, educated workforce, engineering capability, and maritime advantages position us well to become a regional industrial and logistics hub. What is needed is a coherent national strategy that prioritises productive investment over short-term economic measures.
The true measure of a successful economy is not how many citizens leave to seek work abroad, but how many choose to stay because they can build rewarding careers at home.
If we create industries that generate skilled employment, pay competitive wages, and reward productivity, Sri Lanka’s greatest asset—its people—will remain here to build the nation’s future instead of contributing their talents elsewhere.

Regards

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

AI Overview

Senaka Weeraratna and C.L.R. James are two highly influential figures whose intersection lies in their radical, transformative impacts on the socio-legal framework, philosophy, and jurisprudence of cricket. Though they belong to different eras and backgrounds, both men fundamentally challenged the rigid, traditional establishment of the sport, using their intellectual and professional training to reshape how cricket is understood and adjudicated globally.

                 C.L.R. James

Sri Lankan Cricket Innovators on and off the playing field

The conceptual intersection

While C.L.R. James looked at cricket through a sociological and political lens, analyzing its intersection with colonialism and class, Senaka Weeraratna targeted the direct legal mechanisms of the game. [1, 2, 3]

• C.L.R. James (The Philosopher): In his seminal 1963 book, Beyond a Boundary, James famously posed the question, “What do they know of cricket who only cricket know?” He argued that cricket is not merely a sport but a mirror of society, politics, and justice. He established that the rules and traditions of the “Gentleman’s Game” were intrinsically tied to British imperial power structure, hierarchy, and systemic authority.
• Senaka Weeraratna (The Jurisprudent): Decades later, Weeraratna executed the exact structural rebellion that James’ philosophy set the stage for. A Sri Lankan lawyer, Weeraratna viewed the centuries-old, unbending doctrine that “the umpire’s word is absolute law” as a direct violation of natural justice. In 1997, he published a groundbreaking blueprint for a “Player Referral” system. His system applied legal appellate court logic to the field, allowing dissatisfied players to appeal field errors to a higher authority. This conceptual framework directly birthed the modern Decision Review System (DRS). [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Radical shifts in cricket

The distinct contributions of both individuals can be organized across their respective areas of impact on the game:

• Socio-Political Critique: C.L.R. James deconstructed the colonial and racial hierarchies governing the sport, establishing cricket as a vehicle for West Indian national identity and social emancipation.
• Structural Adjudication: Senaka Weeraratna challenged the imperial authority of the on-field official. By proposing a player-driven appeal process, he decentralized absolute power and shifted the locus of control to the competitors.
• Global Legal Precedent: Weeraratna’s model did not just transform cricket; it established the foundational “four pillars” of player-led video tracking (including tracking limits and captain-routed requests) that now govern systems across sports like tennis and badminton.

Both men are considered revolutionary “Protestants” of the sport—fundamentally dismantling the idea that cricket’s historical power structures were infallible.

If you are interested, I can provide more details on Senaka Weeraratna’s ongoing legal dispute with the ICC regarding DRS authorship, or explore C.L.R. James’ specific chapters on cricket and colonialism.

Senaka Weeraratna fundamentally reshaped global sports jurisprudence

Sri Lankan lawyer Senaka Weeraratna fundamentally reshaped global sports jurisprudence by conceptualizing and designing the Player Referral System, which served as the intellectual framework for what the International Cricket Council (ICC) later implemented as the Decision Review System (DRS).

By directly applying core principles of legal theory to sports, Weeraratna engineered a historic paradigm shift in how games are adjudicated.

The Legal Analogy: Dismantling Absolute Authority

Before Weeraratna’s innovation, cricket operated under the unchallengeable doctrine that the umpire’s word is law. Even though television replays were occasionally used by on-field officials starting in 1992, players had no legal agency to challenge errors.

Drawing directly from his training as a lawyer, Weeraratna viewed this absolute power as a violation of natural justice, especially when broadcast technology exposed glaring mistakes to millions of viewers. On March 25, 1997, he published a pioneering letter in The Australian newspaper outlined a model based on the appellate jurisdiction of a court of law:

• The Litigant: The player or team captain acts as a dissatisfied litigant who believes a trial error has occurred.
• The Right of Appeal: Competitors are granted an inherent legal right to contest an on-field human error rather than relying purely on the official’s discretion. [1, 2]
• The Appellate Judge: The Third Umpire sits as an appeal court judge, reviewing evidence objectively via slow-motion playback to overturn safe or unsafe rulings. [1, 2, 3]

Engineering the Four-Pillar Blueprint

Weeraratna did not merely propose an abstract idea; his 1997 blueprint formulated the exact operational parameters used by the ICC today. He established four foundational pillars to balance judicial accuracy with game flow: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

1. Player Empowerment: Transferring the power to initiate video arbitration away from referees directly to the competitors.
2. Structured Channels: Requiring appeals to navigate strict protocols—specifically triggered by the dismissed batter or the fielding captain. [1]
3. Review Caps: Restricting the number of unsuccessful reviews permitted per innings to prevent tactical time-wasting and malicious appeals.
4. Quantifiable Fairness: Shifting the sport from subjective, unchallengeable officiating to an evidence-based system. This structural framework successfully elevated on-field decision accuracy in international cricket from roughly 91% to over 98%. [1, 2]

Cross-Sport Influence and Legacy

Weeraratna’s legal mechanism revolutionized sports jurisprudence far beyond cricket. The logic of a player-initiated technological challenge has since been adopted by global sports bodies to form systems like Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in football, player challenges in tennis, and review protocols in American football and basketball. [1, 2, 3]

Despite his monumental contribution, Weeraratna has been engaged in a long-standing intellectual property battle with the ICC. When the governing body rolled out the system experimentally in 2008 and officially launched it in 2009, they did so under the name Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) without extending formal naming credit or compensation to Weeraratna. Nonetheless, historians, legal experts, and cricket legends recognize him globally as the rightful “Father of DRS“.

Public Backing for Senaka Weeraratna

Several prominent cricket personalities, legal scholars, and senior sports journalists have publicly backed or formally acknowledged Sri Lankan lawyer Senaka Weeraratna’s claim to the original authorship of cricket’s Player-Referral concept (the foundational mechanism of the Decision Review System, or DRS).

His 1997 blueprint—which drew on legal jurisprudence to give a “dissatisfied litigant” (the player) the right to appeal an on-field umpire’s decision to a higher court (the Third Umpire)—has garnered significant support through the following endorsements: [1, 2, 3, 4]

• Kumar Sangakkara: The former legendary Sri Lankan captain and former Chairman of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has been a prominent supporter. Weeraratna formally presented his extensive documentation directly to Sangakkara, who has supported the ongoing push for Weeraratna to receive rightful moral and economic copyright recognition from the International Cricket Council (ICC). [1, 2]
• Duncan Fletcher: The highly accomplished former coach of India and England initially claimed a share of the referral concept’s advocacy in his book Ashes Regained. However, cricket historians note that Fletcher and other early claimants eventually withdrew their competing assertions, leaving Weeraratna as the undisputed global pioneer of the player-initiated framework. [1, 2]
• Robert Steen: In his authoritative documentation on cricket history and systems, sports writer and historian Robert Steen officially identified Weeraratna as a primary author of the system. Steen famously documented that Weeraratna’s March 1997 letter to The Australian newspaper was the definitive catalyst that “planted the seeds for what became the DRS”. [1, 2]  Sportswriter and senior lecturer Rob Steen heavily validates the claim made by Sri Lankan lawyer Senaka Weeraratna as a primary conceptual author of cricket’s Decision Review System (DRS).
• Elmo Rodrigopulle & Bipin Dani: Prominent and widely respected South Asian sports journalists have consistently used their regular columns to uphold, validate, and advocate for Weeraratna’s recognition, pushing cricket boards to acknowledge him as the architect of the system’s “lynchpin” rule. [1]

https://share.google/aimode/cqThM0jWy0OdxPLqw

AI Overview

Dr Sarath Obeysekera 

https://adaderana.lk/news/cmrddx0sv000b356q294bse8d

The reported proposal to pump seawater into Beira Lake as part of its restoration has generated considerable public interest. While improving the water quality and reducing pollution are commendable objectives, introducing seawater into what has long functioned as a predominantly freshwater urban lake raises important environmental, engineering and economic questions that deserve careful scientific evaluation before implementation. (Wikipedia)
Sri Lanka has previously witnessed the unintended consequences of altering the salinity of wetlands. One often-cited example is the Dutch Canal system, where the intrusion of seawater into surrounding wetlands contributed to long-term salinity problems, adversely affecting agriculture in areas such as Muthurajawela. Once salt enters soils and groundwater, restoring the original ecological balance can be extremely difficult and costly.
A similar concern exists with Beira Lake. Increasing the salinity of the lake may have several long-term consequences.
First, seawater is highly corrosive. Chloride ions accelerate the corrosion of reinforcing steel embedded in concrete. Around Beira Lake stand numerous high-rise buildings, bridges, retaining walls, jetties and other infrastructure. If saline water increases the chloride content in the surrounding environment, it could accelerate the deterioration of reinforced concrete structures, steel sheet piles, pipelines and waterfront facilities. Repairing chloride-induced corrosion is among the most expensive forms of infrastructure maintenance.
Second, the ecological consequences require careful investigation. Over many decades, Beira Lake has developed its own ecosystem of fish, birds, aquatic plants and microorganisms adapted to existing water conditions. A sudden or sustained increase in salinity could alter species composition, reduce biodiversity and encourage the growth of organisms better suited to brackish conditions. Ecological changes of this nature are often irreversible. (Wikipedia)
Third, groundwater impacts should not be overlooked. Saline water can migrate through porous soils and affect groundwater quality in adjacent areas. This may influence landscaping, urban vegetation and even underground infrastructure over time.
It is also important to ask whether pumping seawater addresses the root cause of Beira Lake’s problems. The lake’s deterioration has primarily resulted from decades of untreated wastewater, stormwater pollution, nutrient enrichment, sediment accumulation and illegal discharges. Unless these sources are comprehensively controlled, introducing seawater may simply dilute pollution temporarily without providing a sustainable solution. Previous restoration strategies have focused on eliminating pollution sources rather than fundamentally changing the lake’s water chemistry. (Wikipedia)
Before proceeding with such a project, the Government should commission a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) conducted by independent experts. The study should include:
● Hydrodynamic modelling of tidal exchange and salinity distribution.
● Long-term impacts on aquatic biodiversity.
● Corrosion risk assessments for surrounding buildings, bridges and utilities.
● Effects on groundwater and adjacent soils.
● Economic cost-benefit analysis comparing seawater pumping with alternative restoration methods.
● Public consultation involving engineers, environmental scientists, urban planners and local stakeholders.
International experience shows that urban lake restoration succeeds when pollution sources are eliminated, sediments are managed, wetlands are restored and water circulation is improved using scientifically validated methods. Artificially altering salinity should be considered only after demonstrating that it offers clear long-term benefits that outweigh the environmental and engineering risks.
Beira Lake is one of Colombo’s most historic and iconic landmarks. Any intervention must therefore be guided by sound science rather than expediency. Decisions taken today will affect the city’s infrastructure, biodiversity and environmental resilience for generations.
Sri Lanka should embrace restoration based on rigorous environmental science, comprehensive engineering studies and transparent public consultation. A detailed Environmental Impact Assessment is not merely a regulatory requirement—it is an essential safeguard to ensure that well-intentioned solutions do not create irreversible problems for the future.

Regards

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

Courtesy Hiru News

The current government informed the chairman of the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Sustainable Development, Parliamentarian Hector Appuhamy, that the opposition leader cannot express views despite being able to join as an observer.

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa shared this today as the committee scheduled a meeting to discuss paddy purchasing and national rice requirements.

Making a special statement, Sajith Premadasa noted he joined this committee previously to secure solutions for public problems, having highlighted the challenges of the farming community for a long time. He described the attempt by ruling party MPs to use parliamentary rules to silence the opposition on these issues as a low act and a serious situation.

He mentioned meeting a farmers’ delegation on June 8, to discuss numerous grievances at a time when the stable paddy price remained ungazetted. Following his parliamentary presentation of these issues, the Paddy Marketing Board issued a circular and subsequent gazettes setting prices at 120 rupees for Nadu, 130 rupees for Samba, and 140 rupees for Keeri Samba, subject to a 14% maximum moisture condition.

He criticised the government for delaying the gazette until forced by the opposition, only to try to silence them now.

He further noted that despite the Agriculture Minister announcing that the Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute estimates production costs at 137 rupees per kilogramme, the government purchases paddy at a low price while banning questions.

Sajith Premadasa asserted that ruling MPs betray the farmers who elected them, failing to deliver the promised 150 rupee stable price. He vowed that Samagi Jana Balawegaya will continue fighting for farmer rights inside and outside parliament.

Courtesy Hiru News

The Gampaha District redorded the highest number of dengue patients in the country.

The highest number of dengue patients was previously recorded from the Colombo District, and the National Dengue Control Unit stated that over 1,000 dengue patients were reported during the past day.

The National Dengue Control Unit mentioned that the reporting of dengue patients continues to be higher within the Western Province, and that value is a percentage of 52.07 percent.

Accordingly, the National Dengue Control Unit mentioned that the total number of dengue patients recorded during this year so far is 66,064, and the number of dengue patients recorded during the period of July so far alone is 10,685.

Furthermore, acting Director Kapila Kannangara stated that the number of dengue fatalities recorded across the country by now has also rose to 46.

Meanwhile, 50 students contracted with dengue were also reported within the University of Ruhuna, and the president of the Maha student union of that university, Chamil Udayantha, stated that 6 students contracted with dengue were reported by today alone.

However, considering the existing dengue risk, all academic activities of the University of Colombo will be conducted via online methods from today until July 15, and the University of Moratuwa and the University of the Visual and Performing Arts are also temporarily closed by now.

Meanwhile, simultaneous to the national dengue control programme, special dengue programmes continue to be implemented in high-risk zones.

Dr. Ruwan M Jayatunge

I have visited Kyiv several times to meet friends, including Shantha Kulasekara, who is currently involved in a UN project; Bandula Pattiyage, now residing in the UK; and Sisira Gunawardene, who lives in Canada. Regardless of these visits, I have yet to explore Babi Yar (Babyn Yar), a significant historical site where Nazi mobile killing units tragically murdered a total of 33,771 Jewish men, women, and children. Therefore, in 1990, I visited Babi Yar.

Babi Yar is situated in the northwestern region of Kyiv, Ukraine, approximately 5 kilometres from the city center. My visit to this site deepened my understanding of the vastness of the Nazi extermination apparatus, revealing a tragic intersection of dehumanization, ideological indoctrination, conformity, and systemic compartmentalization.

In September 1941, following the Nazi occupation of the city, explosions set by Soviet forces resulted in the deaths of German soldiers. The German command exploited this incident to accuse and target the Jewish community of Kyiv unjustly. Between September 29 and September 30, 1941, Nazi Einsatzgruppen, supported by local collaborators, forcibly marched Jewish men, women, and children to the ravine, where they were compelled to undress and surrender their valuables before being executed. Over these two days, approximately 33,771 individuals were murdered.

The Nazis transformed Babi Yar into a continuous execution ground during their two-year occupation of Kyiv. They murdered an estimated 70,000 to 100,000 total victims at the site.  The Soviet forces liberated Kyiv in late 1943. In a bid to eliminate evidence of their atrocities, the Nazis compelled camp prisoners to exhume and incinerate the bodies in large pyres before their retreat.

The Babi Yar massacre was orchestrated by several key figures, including Paul Blobel, an SS Colonel; Friedrich Jeckeln, who served as the SS and Police Leader for the area; Otto Rasch, the overall commander; and Kurt Eberhard, the German Military Governor of Kyiv. Their collective actions were supported by a local paramilitary force collaborating with Nazi Germany, formed shortly after the city’s occupation in September 1941. Comprising 1,400 officers, this unit supported German authorities during the war. Notable figures such as Ivan Kediulych and Oleksandr Kvitko emerged as key military leaders and nationalist organizers, taking on significant roles within the police force. Their leadership was particularly critical during the tragic events of the Babi Yar massacres, where the police aided in the implementation of Nazi killing policies.

The Ukrainian Auxiliary Police (UAP) supported Nazi forces during the Babyn Yar massacre for several reasons. Primarily, the members of the UAP were ethnic Ukrainians who harboured existing prejudices against Jews, often perceiving them as collaborators or agents of the Soviet regime. Additionally, many individual policemen were driven by the prospect of immediate financial gain, seeking to seize the wealth and possessions of the Jewish victims.

Our local tour guide shared the tormenting tale of Dina Pronicheva, a 25-year-old theatre actress and one of the few survivors of the Babi Yar massacre. Witnessing the execution of her mother and sister, Dina narrowly escaped death by leaping from the ledge just before the gunfire erupted, landing among the bodies in the ravine. In a desperate bid for survival, she lay concealed beneath the weight of the corpses as German soldiers prodded the pile with bayonets, narrowly avoiding detection even when one soldier stepped on her hand. After managing to extricate herself under the cover of night, her ordeal continued when a building cleaner betrayed her location to the authorities. In a cruel twist, police took her two-year-old son hostage, firing near him to force Dina into the open, but a neighbor’s bribe ultimately secured the child’s release. Dina not only survived the war but also became the sole eyewitness to testify at the 1946 Kyiv war crimes trial.

The perpetrators of the Babi Yar massacre ultimately faced justice for their actions. SS Colonel Paul Blobel was apprehended by Allied forces and subsequently tried by a U.S. military tribunal during the Einsatzgruppen Trial at Nuremberg from 1947 to 1948, where he was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity, leading to his execution by hanging at Landsberg Prison in West Germany on June 7, 1951. Friedrich Jeckeln was captured by Soviet troops towards the war’s conclusion and was tried by a Soviet military tribunal during the Riga Trial for his significant involvement in orchestrating mass genocides in Ukraine and the Baltic states; he was found guilty and executed by hanging in Riga, Latvia, on February 3, 1946. Kurt Eberhard, the German Military Governor of Kyiv, was arrested by U.S. military authorities in November 1945, but while awaiting trial for his role in the massacre, he took his own life on September 8, 1947, at the age of 72. Otto Rasch, the Overall Commander of Einsatzgruppe C, was also arrested in 1945 and indicted alongside Blobel in the Nuremberg Einsatzgruppen Trial; however, his case was separated in early 1948 due to his advanced Parkinson’s disease, rendering him unfit for trial, and he passed away from natural causes later that year on November 1, 1948.

Ivan Kediulych, a local collaborator, served as a primary school teacher and the administrator of a village school before the war. His views were heavily influenced by Nazi wartime propaganda, leading him to adopt anti-Semitic beliefs, including the pervasive conspiracy theory of “Judeo-Bolshevism.” In the context of the Babyn Yar massacre, Kediulych’s involvement was largely administrative and command-oriented. Ivan Kediulych met a tragic end. On August 1, 1945, he was located by the Soviet secret police (NKVD) in a concealed forest bunker close to the village of Lisnyky in the Ternopil region, where he was killed during the confrontation. In contrast, Oleksandr Kvitko chose to defect to the West, where he spent his post-war years in Western Europe, managing to avoid any criminal charges.

Babyn Yar is acknowledged worldwide as one of the most significant mass executions during the Holocaust. In contrast to concentration camps such as Auschwitz, which epitomize the industrialized nature of genocide through gas chambers, Babyn Yar exemplifies the “Holocaust by bullets.” Today, it stands as a heart-breaking global emblem of this form of genocide, serving as a central element in Ukraine’s efforts to reclaim its historical narrative in the post-Soviet era, while also representing a contemporary struggle against totalitarianism. The site and its associated memories retain profound historical, political, and cultural importance long after the tragic events of 1941.

 by Garvin Karunaratne 

In view of the increasing youth unemployment in Sri Lanka we could perhaps copy/emulate the Youth Self Employment Programme of Bangladesh which has created employment for youths in Bangladesh.

 A detailed paper is submitted for kind consideration by the authorities. 

It all happened in the Bangladesh Secretariat, three days after General Ershard took over the country in a bloodless coup on the 24 th of March 1982. The Minister for Youth Development was clamped in prison and the work of the Ministry was in jeopardy. The third in command, Air Vice Marshall Aminul Islam, the Minister for Labour and Manpower evaluated the work done by the Ministry. Suddenly at the close, he realized that I was an outsider and inquired who I was and I was then introduced as the Commonwealth Fund Advisor to the Ministry of Youth Development.

What can you contribute for Bangladesh”. It was more a military command. I could have spoken in support of the youth training programmes done by the Ministry but decided otherwise. I replied.

I would like you to consider approving a new programme aimed at making the 40,000 youths who are being trained every year to be guided to become self employed.”

The Secretary to the Treasury, the highest officer in the land, objected.

The Creation of self employment can never be done. The ILO of the United Nations has just folded up a self employment programme which they have been trying to establish in Tangail, Bangladesh over the past three years with a massive loss. They brought experts from all parts of the world to guide the programme but it was a total failure. The Bangladesh Treasury has no more funds to waste. The ILO are the experts. They hold the last word on employment creation.

I replied that though the ILO failed I had the experience as well as the academic qualifications, which was contested by the Secretary to the Treasury. He was adamant that I would fail. I argued with the Secretary to the Treasury explaining how I had successfully established employment projects in Sri Lanka and how I held the academic qualifications at doctoral level. The heated battle went on for over two hours. The Minister allowed the two of us to argue; he was making notes and finally commanded us to stop.

Are there any development programmes in Bangladesh that train people to become self employed?”

The Secretary to the Treasury replied: None”

How many youths are trained in vocations every year.” The Minister inquired.

The Secretary to the Treasury rattled out the number that were being trained by all Government Departments and it totalled to some two hundred thousand. This included the 40,000 the Ministry of Youth trained a year.

Tell me the number of youths that pass out every year and fail to find either employment or a place for further study and continue being unemployed and destitute, living scraping the barrel for life.”

The Secretary to the Treasury replied. Sir, It is in the millions.”

The Minister without batting an eyelid ordered, staring at me, in my face.

I approve you establishing a self employment programme. Go ahead and show what you can do, which the ILO. failed to do.”

Before I could thank him the Secretary to the Treasury replied;

I will not provide any funds from the Bangladesh Treasury. The failure of the ILO attempt was a massive waste of funds and the Treasury has no more funds to waste.”

I replied even without consulting the two Secretaries of the Ministry with whom I worked, who were present.

I need no new funds. I will find savings within approved youth training programme budgets to hold training sessions. I need approval to divert savings from approved training budgets to create this new programme and approval to alter the remits of officers to include training for self employment.”

The Minister approved my request.

I got cracking with training youth directors and lecturers of training institutes in economics. It included detailed studies on the economy of Bangladesh to identify areas where there was a propensity to create employment in a manner that also helped the economy in terms of production.

We had no funds to offer subsidies of any sort.

Youth Directors were all veteran workers who knew the art of relating to the youth. They moved with the youth and introduced ideas of how the youth could find incomes by rearing chicks and live with the chicks and see them grow. Some youths persuaded their brothers and sisters- even those who had migrated to the UK to help them. Till then they had not known what to with what they had studied in their three months training.

Yousoof Ali, a youth who had been trained did not know what to do with what he had learned and he became a nuisance to his brothers and sisters at home. His elder brother who could not tolerate him even went to the office of the Deputy Director of Youth at Jamalpur and accused the Department of indoctrinating his brother with ideas they could not follow. He even threatened to burn the office down. Instead of reporting to the Police who would have arrested him for public disorder the Deputy Director for Youth Development got in touch with us. I instructed the Deputy Director to somehow placate him and request him to attend our training sessions on self employment with his belligerent brother This was in a weeks’ time. When I marched into the training sessions I was shown his brother who was really breathing fire at us and the Department. Our sessions ran into hours of activity where we inspired the youths to save and commence any enterprises on their own. Some were motivated to even save the small daily stipend we paid for attendance to buy chicks which they could rear and see how the value increased. Our sessions were more inspiring the youth to save and take action to grow something, buy a chick and see it grow. The belligerent brother too joined us in our sessions because we related to them as brothers and sisters, as equals and the brother was so convinced that he immediately coughed up funds for his belligerent brother to buy a cow, ducklings and chicks and rear them. His brother got down to work under our supervision. Ten months later, on a surprise inspection, I met the belligerent lad- he had , 190 layer ducks, one milk cow, 2 goats, earning a net income of Taka 1496 in December1982, all achieved in eight months. Our aim was to make them earn Taka 500 the then salary of a Clerical Officer in the Government Service.

We built up the momentum not by offering money and subsidies, but by relating to them day in and day out. One word of a problem- it could be small farm of a dozen chicks two hundred miles away in an inaccessible village but we were there within hours to share the burden with the youth. We were inspiring the youth to become entrepreneurs and it was never instructing, but in youth work language participating with the youth, make the youth think and act -to educate them informally.

We were building up the abilities and capacities of the youth to become entrepreneurs,perhaps the only such programme the World has known.

It was non formal education in action where officials were never instructors but providers of ideas for the youth to think and become motivated. The staff was totally trained in non formal education methods of inspiring the youths to think and act on their own and become productive.

By the time my service period of two years was over, I had trained officials to continue the employment programme as a youth movement. It really paid high dividends. I last met the Minister Air Vice Marshall Aminul Islam just before I left Bangladesh. My request to him was to make an order that youths on our Youth Development Programme who had within months created incomes and earned more than the tax level should be given a reprieve to be exempt from taxes for a few years. The Minister said he will get that done.

These were the beginings of a youth self employment programme that commencing in 1982 has created over three million youth entrepreneurs within four decades. 1982 to 2022, the only such programme of development the world has known. In a letter to me on June 20, 2005, a full twenty two years after I had established the Self Employment Programme, MrAsafuddowlah, the Secretary to the Ministry of Youth Development wrote:

You will be happy to learn that the Self Employment Programme of the Youth Department has expanded across the country and attained great success. I have not forgotten your valuable contribution to the success of this great programme.”(Muhammed Asafuddowlah: June 20, 2005)

The Fifth Five Year Plan of the Planning Commission of Bangladesh, makes glorious references to this Programme and devotes eight pages to detail its success. It is a Programme that has achieved accolades in all the subsequent Five Year Plans of the Planning Commission of Bangladesh.

It is important to note that for the first four years we had no funds from the Bangladesh Treasury. We found funds through savings in approved training budgets . But once we proved ourselves though hard work in training youths and inspiring them to become productive the Government funded it aided by the IFAD(FAO)

The youth self employment programme became a national programme and many helped. Way back after my work in Bangladesh I was working in Edinburgh. Whenever I went to London I took bulky and heavy dress pattern books which I handed over to Bangladesh Biman to be taken to the poor youth entrepreneurs in dress making at Jamalpur. That was the contribution made by Bangladesh Biman. Once six cows, all what a youth had died. I with Golam Atahar the Director for Livestock marched to the Insurance Corporation of Bangladesh. The two of us held the floor for an hour, In three days the Insurance Corp approved an insurance programme for cattle on our employment programme. I am dead certain that I could not do such things in my own country, Sri Lanka. In Bangladesh, administrators were dedicated and worked unruffled despite odds.

By now over three million youths have become entrepreneurs on this programme. Many thanks are due to the officers of the Bangladesh Civil Service and officers of the Ministry , trained by me, who carried on the programme initiated by me to achieve to reach the World Stature of today. The Youth Self Employment Programme of Bangladesh is a world class programme that has found a definite place within the sands of time.

It is high time that the Government of Sri Lanka seeks to establish a similar programme to create employment for our youth and also create the production that will allay the economic meltdown of today. Take employment creation out of the vagary of party politics- these are national programmes that have to be invariably supported, despite changes in Governments.

In 2011,when His Excellency Milinda Moragoda, till recently our Ambassador at Delhi made a bid for the Mayorship of Colombo in his Manifesto stated that if elected,  he would seek to implement the Youth Self Employment Programme of Bangladesh which incidentally was am amazingly successful scheme introduced to that country by a distinguished son of Sri Lanka, Dr Garvin Karunaratne, who served in Bangladesh as an international consultant.”(The Nation: 11/9/2011)

Though in my Nineties It will be a pleasure to serve my Motherland again and I look forward to establish an employment creation programme if called upon. . It will be done in nineteen months- the exact time I took to establish that Programme in Bangladesh.

Garvin Karunaratne

garvin_karunaratne@outlook.com

July 2026

Senaka Weeraratna

The Cricket Transformative Committee (CTC) is the Official Face of Sri Lanka. It has multiple duties. It is duty bound not only to change the Constitution of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) but also to hold accountable those who have committed crimes against Sri Lanka at Intellectual Property levels, and caused harm to Sri Lanka by fraud, misrepresentation of fact, professional criminal negligence and thereby depriving Sri Lanka of due credit for invention of a ground breaking mechanism ‘ Player Referral ‘ (DRS) that has changed the face of World Cricket since its inception and the Royalties that flow with it since 2009 that can uplift Sri Lanka’s poverty status. 

The Eran Wickramaratne led Cricket Transformative Committee has completely abandoned these national responsibilities such as 

1) Accountability for protecting Sri Lanka’s wider interests in cricket, and 

 2)  Failing to hold David Becker, David Richardson and Jonathan Hall of the Legal team of the ICC accountable for professional criminal negligence, fraud, flawed and misconceived legal advice to the ICC that overlooked the doctrine of constructive notice and denied knowledge of an earlier discovery by an independent party while sitting on dossiers of his writings, purely in order to deprive credit to the true inventor and money to his country.

In dealing with those who have harmed Sri Lanka (without vetting and due diligence) and then rewarding them with huge consultancy fees while ignoring the rightful claims of his own people who are the very victims of these foreign transgressors, Eran Wickremaratne and his CTC are criminally liable for complicity with David Becker.

3) This is treachery of the highest form that can be committed only by unpatriotic people, who are insensitive to the cries for justice of his own people (cry for justice on recognition of Player – Referral for 29 years) and ever willing to boot lick foreigners who have cheated your own people. 

Sri Lanka’s chequered history is full of those who have betrayed their own countrymen and crossed over to the side that sees Sri Lanka as an enemy and not as a friend. David Becker is an unrepentant enemy caught red handed with flawed advice to the ICC. There is overwhelming evidence against David Becker, David Richardson and Jonathan Hunt of the ICC legal team. 

Sri Lanka must demand Redress and Justice from the ICC.

The Govt. of Sri Lanka, Bar Association of Sri Lanka and CTC must join hands to win for Sri Lanka the credit it is entitled to have from the ICC.

When a man does not see one with his own kind and fails to see the injustice caused to him by a foreigner who he chooses to reward without remorse without pity for the victim living in Sri Lanka, such a man is unfit to lead a Cricket Reformation. 

The state of mind of the Chairman of CTC is not that of a religious neutral. His decisions favouring foreigners over locals who have contributed heavily to the advancement of Cricket beyond the boundary and pretend that such contributions did not happen is extremely worrisome. ” Go to Courts and Prove that you did it was the response of a member of a CTC’ recently. 

Equity is always on the side of the victim and not the foreign transgressor. 

We will fight injustice.

Senaka Weeraratna

Inventor of ‘ Player – Referral’ system 

see

ICC legal team fraud on Sri Lanka on authorship of DRS shakes the Cricket establishment worldwide 

Courtesy Outlook India

He belonged to Kerala but has been living in Chennai with his family for over 40 years

An Indian national is among those killed in the riots that tore through Sri Lanka’s Negombo Prison over the weekend, with the death toll climbing to 28 by Wednesday in what is being described as one of the most gruesome episodes of prison violence in the island’s history.

The victim has been identified as Unnikrishnan S., aged 73, according to official sources in Colombo who spoke to The Hindu. He belonged to Kerala but has been living in Chennai with his family for over 40 years. Unnithan arrived in Sri Lanka on March 2 and was arrested for allegedly possessing ganja. He was later lodged in the Negombo prison, where he died during the riots, the newspaper wrote.

The High Commission of India has not issued a formal public statement, though sources confirmed that a note verbale regarding the incident had been sent to Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Indian nationals held at Negombo Prison, located roughly 35 kilometres north of Colombo, were subsequently transferred to other facilities.

The riots began on Sunday, after some inmates reportedly tipped off prison authorities about a drug operation inside the facility, triggering a clash between rival gangs that spiralled beyond control. Nearly 1,200 prisoners were transferred out of Negombo in the aftermath. Over 100 people were injured, and one prison officer later died of serious wounds, contributing to the rising toll.

Torture allegations follow transfers

Concerns have since grown over the treatment of inmates moved to other facilities. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka said it received information on Tuesday evening that several prisoners transferred to Angunakolapelessa, Boosa, Batticaloa, Dumbara, Jaffna and Welikada had been subjected to torture and ill-treatment, and that one inmate had died in the custody of Welikada prison officials.

The Committee for Protecting the Rights of Prisoners, an advocacy network, separately flagged reports of assault and severe physical torture. A senior government official, speaking anonymously given the sensitivity of the situation, told The Hindu the reports were being taken seriously, without confirming or denying the allegations.

Addressing Parliament on Tuesday, Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara acknowledged longstanding problems in the country’s prison system and called on all parties to work together to prevent such tragedies from recurring. Sri Lanka’s prisons have long faced acute overcrowding and resource shortages. A riot at Mahara Prison in 2020 left eleven dead, while a 2012 disturbance at Welikada ended with police fatally shooting 27 inmates.

Courtesy Adaderana

Responding to reports that two prisoners have died after being transferred from Negombo prison following violence earlier this week that left at least 28 people dead including at least seven prison officials, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for South Asia, expressed deep alarm and called for an immediate investigation.

Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for South Asia, Babu Ram Pant, said:

The reports emerging about these deaths and the allegations of torture and other ill-treatment of other inmates transferred from Negombo are deeply alarming. The authorities have a responsibility to ensure the safety and well-being of these prisoners. An immediate investigation must be carried out into the circumstances of all deaths, and the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka must be given full access to the inmates to check on their well-being. It is paramount that lawyers are able to visit their clients in detention, and family members are allowed to see loved ones. Anyone requiring medical attention should receive it without delay.

The government has announced that a committee would investigate the clashes in Negombo. We urge that the probe is impartial, independent and transparent, and the circumstances behind what led to the fatal use of force are established. This tragic episode again underscores the chronic issues in Sri Lanka’s penal system. Following a visit only last month, the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture again sounded the alarm over prolonged pretrial detention, overcrowding and inadequate conditions in prisons. Their statement also highlighted the lack of any meaningful improvement in conditions since their previous visit seven years ago. The authorities’ continued failure to address these longstanding problems only makes prison violence more likely and endangers the safety of prisoners and staff alike.”

Over July5 and 6, clashes inside Negombo prison claimed the lives of at least 28 people, including at least seven prison officials, and injured more than 100 people.

On July 6, the Sri Lankan government announced that a three-person committee would investigate the violence at Negombo prison.

On July 8, local media reported the death of an inmate transferred to Boossa High Security Prison from Negombo, following a sudden illness”. On the same day, another inmate transferred to Agunukolapelessa prison from Negombo prison also died. The Committee to Protect Rights of Prisoners (CPRP) alleged that transferred prisoners have also been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment.

The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) expressed concern over the inmates’ torture allegations and released a statement directing the Commissioner General of Prisons to protect inmates and ensure the Commission is able to access prisons.

An HRCSL Rapid Response Unit that visited Welikada Prison on the night of July 7 was denied access, Amnesty claimed.

Courtesy Hiru News

Evidence hearings regarding the inquests of 24 individuals who died during the clash inside the Negombo Prison concluded.

Police stated that investigations into the clash that occurred at the Negombo Prison on 05 and 06 July revealed 14 of the deceased died from gunshot wounds and nine died due to assaults, while an open verdict was delivered regarding the death of one inmate.

Hospital sources stated that out of the total of 28 individuals who died at the Negombo Hospital, inquests for 24 concluded and the bodies were handed over to relatives.

Inquests for another four bodies, including that of an Indian national, are currently underway.

Furthermore, facts were reported to the Maligakanda Court today regarding the prison guard who died yesterday (08) while receiving treatment at the Colombo National Hospital due to this incident, and Police noted that the calling of evidence regarding his death also concluded today (09).

A five-member team of Judicial Medical officers was appointed to conduct these posmortems.

The medical committee consisted of Dr. Sujeewa Wickramanayake (Chairman) of the Negombo Hospital, Dr. Prasanna Appuhamy of the Puttalam Hospital, Dr. Samantha Wijeratne of the Mulleriyawa Hospital, Dr. Saminda Rajapaksa of the Wathupitiwala Hospital, and Dr. Ramesh Alagiyawanna of the Ragama Hospital.

Dr Sarath Obeysekera 

https://www.ft.lk/front-page/BYD-s-global-leadership-visits-Sri-Lanka-as-brand-deepens-regional-commitment/44-794333

The recent visit of BYD’s global leadership to Sri Lanka and the warm reception accorded to them at the airport has attracted considerable public attention. BYD is undoubtedly one of the world’s leading electric vehicle manufacturers, and its growing presence in Sri Lanka reflects the global shift towards cleaner mobility. The company has also indicated that it sees Sri Lanka as an important market in South Asia.  

However, the visit also raises a broader policy question: should Sri Lanka celebrate consumer imports with the same enthusiasm that it reserves for productive foreign direct investment?

Sri Lanka is still recovering from its worst foreign exchange crisis in modern history. Every imported vehicle, whether powered by petrol or electricity, requires valuable foreign exchange. While electric vehicles reduce fossil fuel consumption over time, they remain imported products purchased largely by affluent consumers or by middle-income families through finance leases. Their economic contribution is therefore limited unless they generate domestic value addition.

The country should be asking a more fundamental question. Can companies such as BYD be encouraged to establish manufacturing or assembly operations in Sri Lanka instead of merely selling imported vehicles?

An assembly plant producing vehicles for the local and regional markets would create skilled employment, develop local supplier industries, transfer technology, generate export earnings, and reduce the import content of vehicles over time. Even the manufacture of components such as wiring harnesses, battery packs, metal fabrications, plastic mouldings, electronic assemblies, or charging equipment could provide significant industrial opportunities.

Sri Lanka has a capable engineering workforce, internationally recognised mechanical and electrical engineers, and a strategic location close to major shipping routes. These advantages could support a modest but competitive electric vehicle component industry if supported by clear investment policies and incentives.

Rather than measuring success by the number of imported vehicles sold, Sri Lanka should measure success by the number of factories established, engineers employed, components exported, and technology transferred to the local economy.

This is not a criticism of BYD. Like any global company, it will respond to the opportunities and incentives offered by the host country. The responsibility lies equally with policymakers to negotiate investments that go beyond import distribution.

If a global automotive leader commits to establishing manufacturing facilities, research centres, battery assembly plants, or regional export hubs in Sri Lanka, then the nation would have every reason to extend a grand welcome. Such investments would strengthen the country’s industrial base, improve the balance of payments, and contribute to long-term economic growth.

Sri Lanka must therefore shift its focus from celebrating imported consumption to attracting productive investment. The real achievement is not simply bringing more electric cars onto our roads, but bringing advanced manufacturing, skilled jobs, and export-oriented industries onto our shores.

Regards

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

Dr Sarath Obeysekera 

The final-year Mechanical Engineering curriculum at the University of Moratuwa is one of the strongest engineering programmes in Sri Lanka and is accredited by the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL) and internationally recognized under the Washington Accord. The final year emphasizes design, manufacturing, energy systems, research, and industrial applications.  

Typical final-year subjects include:

• Advanced Machine Design
• Computer-Aided Design and Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM)
• Control Systems and Instrumentation
• Fluid Power Systems and Hydraulics
• Production and Operations Management
• Heat Transfer and Energy Systems
• Finite Element Analysis (FEA)
• Mechanical Vibrations
• Industrial Engineering
• Manufacturing Automation
• Engineering Economics and Project Management
• Individual Research Project / Design Project
• Industrial Training and Seminar Presentation
• Technical Electives such as Renewable Energy, Mechatronics, Robotics, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Aeronautical Engineering, and Advanced Manufacturing.  

The University of Sri Jayewardenepura Faculty of Engineering is relatively newer but follows a modern outcome-based curriculum. The final-year Mechanical Engineering programme generally includes:

• Machine Design
• Advanced Manufacturing Engineering
• Thermal Engineering
• Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
• Mechatronics and Automation
• Robotics
• Renewable Energy Engineering
• Materials Engineering
• Industrial Engineering
• Maintenance Engineering
• Engineering Management
• Final-Year Research Project
• Industry Internship
• Technical Electives aligned with current industrial needs.

For your proposed Offshore Industry Awareness Workshops, both universities’ final-year students would particularly benefit from additional exposure to topics that are generally not covered in depth in the undergraduate curriculum, such as:

• Offshore Oil and Gas Engineering
• Shipbuilding and Ship Repair
• Offshore Wind Energy
• FPSOs and Floating Production Systems
• Subsea Engineering
• Marine Renewable Energy
• Offshore Welding and Fabrication Standards (ASME, API, AWS, DNV)
• Marine Corrosion Protection
• Marine Classification Societies
• Offshore Health, Safety and Environment (HSE)
• Digital Shipyards and Industry 4.0
• Career opportunities in the global marine and offshore industry.

Introducing these specialized topics would help bridge the gap between university education and the skills demanded by international offshore and maritime industries, creating a stronger pipeline of graduates for Sri Lanka’s emerging blue economy.

Regards

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

The recent violence at Negombo Prison, which prompted concern from the United Nations and renewed calls for comprehensive prison reform, should not be viewed merely as an isolated security failure. Rather, it should be recognised as evidence of a correctional system that requires structural transformation.

For decades, Sri Lanka’s prisons have struggled with overcrowding, ageing infrastructure, inadequate rehabilitation programmes, staff shortages, limited healthcare facilities, and inadequate rehabilitation opportunities. While successive governments have announced reforms, little has changed in any meaningful way.

Perhaps the time has come to think differently.

The country’s principal prison, Welikada Prison in Colombo, occupies a vast tract of prime urban land worth billions of rupees. Established during the colonial era, it was built when Colombo was a much smaller city. 

Today, the surrounding area has evolved into one of the country’s most valuable urban corridors. Maintaining an aging prison on such strategically important land may no longer represent the best use of a scarce national asset.

Such a project need not become a burden on the Treasury. It could be implemented through a transparent Public-Private Partnership (PPP), under which private investors finance, design and construct the new correctional complex in return for carefully regulated development opportunities on the vacated land.

There is growing interest among international investors, including developers from India, in large-scale township and mixed-use real estate projects in Sri Lanka. Rather than negotiating individual proposals, the Government should invite international Expressions of Interest through the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka. A competitive and transparent bidding process would maximise value for the State while attracting reputable global developers with proven expertise.

The vacated land could be transformed into a modern mixed-use development comprising residential neighbourhoods, commercial districts, hotels, convention facilities, educational institutions, hospitals, public parks and green spaces. Such a development would generate employment, attract investment, expand the city’s tax base and contribute significantly to Colombo’s long-term economic growth.

An equally important aspect of reform is prison management itself.

Several countries have successfully involved the private sector in managing selected correctional services under strict government regulation. Sri Lanka should explore similar models for non-core functions such as facility management, catering, maintenance, vocational training, healthcare, psychological counselling and rehabilitation programmes, while ensuring that security, sentencing, prisoner welfare and overall accountability remain firmly under State control.

Prisons should no longer function merely as places of punishment but as institutions of rehabilitation.

The remarkable reforms introduced at Tihar Jail by Kiran Bedi demonstrated how meditation, education, vocational training, transparency and humane administration can transform prison culture. Sri Lanka, with its rich Buddhist heritage and multi-religious traditions, is ideally positioned to introduce structured meditation, mindfulness, psychological counselling, addiction treatment and skills development programmes that prepare inmates to become productive members of society after release.

Urban redevelopment linked to prison relocation also presents an opportunity to address long-standing social challenges in adjoining neighbourhoods. Informal settlements affected by poverty, unemployment and drug abuse should not simply be demolished. Instead, families should be resettled in modern housing with access to schools, healthcare, public transport and employment opportunities. Rehabilitation of communities should accompany rehabilitation of prisoners.

The redevelopment plan should also preserve adequate public space. The nearby Oval cricket ground and adjoining land could be incorporated into a world-class sports city with facilities for cricket, football, athletics, indoor sports and community recreation. Investing in sports infrastructure is also an investment in youth development, social cohesion and crime prevention.

Such a transformative programme requires decisive political leadership, long-term planning and institutional continuity. It should transcend party politics and be pursued as a national development initiative. Prison reform should not be viewed solely as a law-and-order issue but as an opportunity to modernise public administration, unlock valuable urban land, attract foreign investment, improve rehabilitation and create safer communities.

The disturbances at Negombo Prison should therefore become more than another news headline. They should serve as the catalyst for a comprehensive national strategy to build a correctional system that is secure, humane and rehabilitation-oriented while simultaneously creating one of Colombo’s most significant urban redevelopment projects.

Sri Lanka has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to undertake ambitious infrastructure projects. With transparent governance, professional planning and visionary leadership, the relocation of Welikada Prison could become one of the country’s most important public policy achievements—transforming not only the prison system but also the urban landscape of Colombo for generations to come.

Regards

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

RANJITH SOYSA 

ANCIENT BUDDHIST HERITAGE IN THE NORTH SRI LANKA is a book published in Sinhala which the author is planning to translate into English. The book consists of  40 cm by 30 cm 168 pages and is illustrated with about 750 colour photographs of ancient archaeological sites, Buddhist temples, Buddha statues, statues of Buddha’s pupils, inscriptions, sections of ancient buildings ,pillars, ponds etc  Some of the photographs include statues and artifacts of North Sri Lanka from the collections displayed in museums of Jaffna, Vavuniya Anuradhapura and Colombo

Messages of goodwill to this publication from Mahanayaka Theroes of Siam, Rammanna and Amarapura sects speak of the close links maintained by the people of Sri Lanka with Buddhism from the ancient days to the present times. They touched on the vicissitudes faced by the Buddhist institutions in the North especially from the invaders from South India and how the local rulers and the Buddhist clergy organized resistance to the invaders and re-established the Sinhala kingdoms. However, with the settlement of Tamil majority in the North the Buddhist places of veneration were neglected and at present many of the sites cannot even be located. Dr Jaysumana book according to the prelates is very important to understand the vital role played by the Buddhist temples in the lives of Buddhists who were living in the North and especially considering the large number of archaeological sites discovered in this book by Dr Jayasumana.

In the messages issued by well-known archaeologists, Ven Dr Ellawala Medhnanada thero, Dr Senarath Bandara Dissanayaka, Director General Archaeology 2004-2020,Prof T.G Kulatunga, former head of department of History and Archaeology, University of Jayewardenepura, and Prof Sumedha Weerawardhana  Senior lecturer Faculty of education and philosophy  University of Peradeniya, have stressed the importance of this publication giving details of many archaeological sites as the department of archelogy has still to compile a complete list of archaeological sites  in Sri Lanka and that some sites will be forgotten by the citizens of Sri Lanka forever This publication gives a clear message to the public that no effort should be spared to protect our heritage

Further, the messages from the archaeologists explain the importance of proper reporting about the sites ,publication of reports and conveying information about the directions to the sites to the public, Further at a time when there is a lack of interest in pursuing study in  archaeology, a compiling a book of this nature through a detailed study of sources, inscriptions examining local and foreign educational writings by Dr Jayasunana has been commended

Another, issue of importance discussed, is the lack of funding of the department and a proper and a comprehensive policy of preserving the archaeological heritage In views of the expanding agricultural and other social activities s obviously there is tendency to acquire lands where the archaeological sites.  Further, in the North and the East as the Buddhists are a minority mainly the Buddhist places of archaeological interests are not receiving the required protection.

In a comprehensive preface to the book, Channa Jayasumana traces his interests on the subject way back to 2003 when he embarked on a trip to Jaffna and was lured by the number of smaller stupas in the Kadurugoda archaeological complex, He says that the term ‘Jaffna’ was coined by the English administrators but the area was known as Naga Deepa previously. When he was the president of the Communication Group in 2003-2005 at University of Peradeniya, they organized several seminars on the subject On the Buddhist heritage in Jaffna in the book ‘Short history of Tamil people’ (2009) he included details of Buddhist places in Jaffna. As a member of the Parliament, he submitted a paper when the vote of the Buddha Sasana and Cultural Ministry was taken up under the heading Buddhist Heritage in Northern Sri Lanka as per the evidence adduced by the European writers.”

Channa recollects a statement by C.W.Nichlos in his book, ‘Historical Topography of ancient and medieval Ceylon’ that the Tamils marked their presence in the archipelago only after 1303, Therefore, until 14^th century the Sinhalese lived in the area and to serve the needs of the Buddhist population as in Anuradhapura there were many temples and other connected religious buildings. With the encouragement given by the Dutch and the English to settlers from South India to work in the Tobacco plantations in the North and regarding other cash crops the archipelago was converted by the Dutch and the English to be occupied by the migrant Tamils.t  

Channa also provides essential information about other writers who wrote about the Buddhist heritage in the North. He mentions the unique role played by Paul E Peris in collecting sources of information and pictures and presenting the history. He refers to the Mr Peris’s article written to Royal Asiatic Society titled ‘Ngadeepa and Buddhist remains in Jaffna’ in 1920s as an outstanding historical contribution.

Then in 1980s a former minister of Industries in the cabinet of J R. Jayawardane, Cyril Matthew made an appeal to the UNESCO requesting assistance to safeguard and preserve the cultural property in Sri Lanka endangered by racial prejudice, unlawful occupation or wilful destruction’. Channa mentions this document as one of the most relevant to the current topic of neglect and in some instances of destructions of  heritage sites in the North

Channa then draws attention of the readers to the contribution of the archaeologist Ven Ellawala Medhananda Thero’s work on the research carried out by his in the North Sinhala Buddhist heritage in Pachina passa and Uttara passa. The book was acknowledged at the Government literary festival in 2003, In this book Ven Thero mentioned that  many sites he has discovered and recorded in 1970 s were not in existence in 2002.and confirms continuous destruction of Sri Lanka’s invaluable archaeological evidence either by unlawful elements in search of hidden treasures or some operating wilfully to erase the historical inheritance.

After the war against the LTTE in 2007 the department of Archaeology published books on the state of sites called ‘Jaffna district, ’Mannar District’ ‘Arche logical inheritance in Mulativ district’ and by Jagath Sumathipala of Bauddhaloka Foundation on ‘The Aryan Civilization in the North, and Buddhist Sculpture of Sri Lanka written by Ulrich von Sheruder are some of the important sources of information on the subject.

Channa confirms that not only he was able to gather information from the sources cited above but also, he travelled widely to many locations in the North to collect relevant data for the book.

Now, I will outline some of the significant  information as explained in the book

The book explains archaeological sites under different districts in the North,

1 Jaffna district- 11 sites in 12 pages

2, Kilinochchi district-4sites in 3 pages

3. Mannar district- 19 sites in 12 pages

4, Mulativ district—73 sites in 62 pages

5.Vavuniya district- 63 sites in 45 pages

Then Channa mentions places which are almost destroyed such as Sinnawalyankattu, Mttamkulama, Rasamadu, Sapumaltenne, Athawtunuwewa,Kiriibbanwewawa Nawakulama ,Oddusudan, Yogapuram and other 8 villages.

Channa also provides information on Museums such as Jaffna,Vavuniya and also Anuradhapura and Colombo where some of the artefacts and statues etc recovered from the North, are being exhibited,

Then he proceeds to, trace 201 sites based on the maps of the Northern province under following descriptions.

1.Buddhist archaeological sites

2.Sites which have lost the Buddhist identity,

Finally, the book includes nearly 750 coloured photographs of statues, artefacts, caskets stupas, pillars, footprints, rock inscriptions, clay pots and pans, moonstones, remains of buildings etc found at 173 sites and items discovered from sites in the north now at museums of Jaffna, Vavuniya Anuradhapura and Colombo. The location of Areche logical sites on the verge of collapse due to neglect is mentioned under a separate section with the details of administration secretariat of the relevant area and grama sevaka unit.

It is our fervent wish, that outstanding publication of Dr Chaana Jayasumana will draw the attention of the Department of Archelogy in Sri Lanka to encourage them draw up a plan to protect and preserve the vanishing archaeological sites in the Northern province of Sri Lanka and also will send a message to the UNESCO to intervene urgently to collaborate with the Sri Lanka counterparts to explore and preserve the sites which are holding a treasured cultural and civilisational story of the human beings who lived in ancient Sri Lanka.

The nation salutes Dr Chaana Jatasumana for his laudable dedication to have undertaken to produce a comprehensive study on the archaeological sites in the North of Sri Lanka.

RANJITH SOYSA 

AI OVERVIEW

The Pentecostal and Charismatic movement in Sri Lanka has grown significantly over the last century, evolving into one of the country’s most prominent Christian streams. Key leadership is distributed among several major denominations and independent ministries.

Prominent leaders and foundational organizations include:

• Assemblies of God (AOG): The AOG is one of the largest networks in the country. Colton Wickramaratne has served as chairman of the AOG of Sri Lanka for over 25 years. He is also the founding pastor of People’s Church in Narahenpita, Colombo, one of the largest congregations in Sri Lanka.
• The Pentecostal Mission (TPM / CPM): Originating in Sri Lanka as the Ceylon Pentecostal Mission in 1923, it was co-founded by Pastor Paul Ramankutty and Pastor Alwin R. de Alwis. It has a massive international and local presence, headquartered in Mattakkuliya, Colombo.
• Apostolic Diocese of Ceylon (ADC): Rt. Rev. Dr. Kirby de Lanerolle serves as the Chief Overseer/Bishop of the ADC. He is the senior leader of WOWlife Church, with locations in Colombo, and holds continental responsibilities across South Asia and the Middle East.
• Independent & Contemporary Ministries: Leaders like Prophet Jerome Fernando, overseer of The Glorious Church based in Sri Lanka, have built large, highly visible, and contemporary ministries that draw thousands across the island. [1, 2, 3]
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• AI OVERVIEW

AI Response

Senaka Weeraratna’s ‘Player Referral‘ concept has been widely acknowledged by sports historians, legal experts, and commentators as the structural precursor and governing logic for player-driven technological challenges across various global sports.

Though originally conceptualized for cricket in 1997, his blueprint dismantled the centuries-old doctrine of the “on-field official’s word is absolute law”. By applying judicial court principles—where a dissatisfied litigant holds the right of appeal to a higher court—Weeraratna transferred the authority to trigger a video review from the referees to the competitors themselves. [1, 2, 3, 4]

This underlying mechanism has heavily influenced or mirrored the rules of several major sports outside of cricket: [1, 2]

• Tennis: The Hawk-Eye challenge system, which allows players to directly appeal an on-field line call a limited number of times per set, mirrors Weeraratna’s exact framework of player-initiated review limits. [1, 2, 3]
• Association Football (Soccer): The implementation of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system and structural player/coach referral debates are frequently cited by sports historians as sharing a common conceptual lineage with Weeraratna’s 1997 judicial sports model.
• Badminton: The player challenge system utilizes automated line-judging technology, restricted to a fixed number of failed reviews per match, perfectly aligning with the “four pillars” of Weeraratna’s original blueprint. [1]
• North American Sports (MLB & NFL): Sports commentators highlight how the progression toward structured, time-limited replay reviews in Major League Baseball and the National Football League reflects the global shift in sports jurisprudence that Weeraratna pioneered.

While the International Cricket Council (ICC) implemented his exact parameters under the Decision Review System (DRS) in 2008 without granting him formal naming credit, global sports legal experts increasingly view Weeraratna as the trailblazer who exported judicial principles into modern global sports adjudication. [1]

If you want, I can provide more details on:

• The four legal pillars of Weeraratna’s 1997 blueprint.
• The ongoing intellectual property battle between his legal team and the ICC.
• A comparison of how different sports restrict the number of challenges to prevent tactical time-wasting.

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AI Overview

AI Overview

“Manipulative Christian Conversions in Sri Lanka: Some Perspectives” is a highly debated essay written by Senaka Weeraratna, a prominent Sri Lankan lawyer, Buddhist activist, and researcher. Originally published as an essay and widely circulated across platforms like Academia.edu and nationalist forums such as LankaWeb, the work outlines deep-seated concerns regarding unethical religious conversions targeting the indigenous Buddhist and Hindu populations of Sri Lanka.

Central arguments of the text

The document holds religious conversion not as an act of genuine spiritual awakening, but as an organized, highly funded geopolitical strategy.

• Exploitation of poverty: Weeraratna argues that foreign-funded evangelical and fundamentalist Christian groups systematically target economically marginalized communities. By offering material inducements—such as cash, education, medical aid, and employment—these groups exploit systemic poverty to secure conversions.
• Foreign funding networks: The text highlights that international evangelical movements funnel massive financial resources into the country to achieve aggressive conversion quotas. Weeraratna claims this influx of unregulated foreign funding alters local demographic and religious landscapes. [1]
• Constitutional violations: While the Constitution of Sri Lanka guarantees freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, Weeraratna posits that “manipulative” conversions cross ethical boundaries. He asserts that using coercion, deception, or material bribery violates the spirit of true religious freedom.
• Historical and cultural threat: The text places contemporary evangelical activities within a historical continuum of colonial-era Christian proselytization. Weeraratna emphasizes that these practices undermine the historical status of Buddhism, fracturing communal harmony and risking future ethno-religious conflicts.

If you want to know more, tell me if you are looking for specific statistics mentioned in his work, details on anti-conversion legislation in Sri Lanka, or academic critiques of his perspectives.

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AI Overview

MANIPULATIVE CHRISTIAN CONVERSIONS IN SRI LANKA:  SOME PERSPECTIVES

Dr Sarath Obeysekera 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9w2227j5rno

Recent reports from prisons in both the United Kingdom and Sri Lanka reveal a disturbing reality. Overcrowding, inadequate facilities, staff shortages, deteriorating infrastructure, prison violence, and the rapid spread of information through social media have exposed long-standing weaknesses in prison administration.

Prisons are intended to protect society while rehabilitating offenders. Instead, many have become institutions struggling to maintain basic order. When inmates are confined in overcrowded cells with poor sanitation, limited healthcare, inadequate vocational training, and insufficient psychological support, frustration and violence inevitably increase.

In both the UK and Sri Lanka, prison authorities face similar challenges despite vast differences in resources. Overcrowding has stretched facilities beyond their intended capacity. Officers often work under immense pressure, while rehabilitation programmes receive less attention than security concerns. The result is a cycle in which prisoners leave prison with few new skills and diminished prospects for successful reintegration into society.

A modern challenge that prison administrators must also confront is the influence of social media. Incidents inside one prison can quickly circulate online, generating anxiety, protests, copycat behaviour, or coordinated unrest in other institutions. While transparency and public accountability are essential in a democratic society, prison authorities also need professional communication strategies to prevent misinformation and unnecessary escalation. Strong internal grievance mechanisms can help address legitimate complaints before they become crises.

The time has come to rethink prison management entirely. Security remains essential, but rehabilitation must become the central objective. This requires investment in education, vocational training, counselling, addiction treatment, mental health services, and structured employment opportunities within prisons.

One particularly valuable lesson comes from India. At Tihar Jail, transformative reforms introduced under the leadership of Kiran Bedi demonstrated that prisons can become centres of personal transformation rather than merely places of punishment. Meditation programmes, especially Vipassana meditation, were introduced alongside education, vocational training, improved healthcare, and greater inmate participation in prison management. These reforms attracted international attention and showed measurable improvements in discipline, inmate behaviour, and prison culture.

Sri Lanka, with its rich Buddhist heritage, is particularly well placed to incorporate structured meditation, mindfulness, counselling, and spiritual guidance into prison rehabilitation. Religious leaders from Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, and Muslim communities can all contribute to programmes that foster self-discipline, responsibility, compassion, and emotional resilience.

Equally important is the professional development of prison officers. Correctional staff should be trained not only in security but also in psychology, conflict resolution, crisis management, and rehabilitation techniques. Modern prison management is no longer simply about locking doors—it is about managing human behaviour and preparing inmates for productive lives after release.

Technology can also play a constructive role. Better surveillance systems, electronic inmate management, improved visitor screening, controlled digital communication, and data-driven risk assessment can strengthen security while allowing staff to focus more effectively on rehabilitation.

Governments should also explore alternatives to imprisonment for minor non-violent offences. Community service, probation, electronic monitoring, restorative justice programmes, and rehabilitation orders can reduce overcrowding while reserving prison space for serious offenders.

Ultimately, the success of a prison system should not be measured solely by the number of inmates behind bars, but by the number who leave prison determined never to return. A prison that merely punishes has limited value; a prison that reforms contributes directly to public safety.

The experiences of both the United Kingdom and Sri Lanka demonstrate that prison reform is no longer optional. The lessons from Tihar Jail show that change is possible when visionary leadership, professional management, rehabilitation, and human dignity become the guiding principles of correctional policy. The objective should not simply be to contain offenders, but to transform lives and build safer communities.

Regards

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

AI Overview response

The ongoing intellectual property dispute over the Decision Review System (DRS) has recently escalated into serious allegations of institutional fraud and deliberate misrepresentation against the International Cricket Council (ICC) legal team.

The controversy centers on Colombo-based Sri Lankan lawyer Senaka Weeraratna, who designed and published the core “Player Referral” framework in March 1997 via The Australian. This was nearly a decade before the ICC introduced its system. For over a decade, the ICC legal team—headlined by past and present counsel such as David Becker and Jonathan Hall—maintained a “no awareness” defense, claiming the governing body independently built the DRS and that Weeraratna waived his rights by publishing openly without a patent. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

The shift from negligence to fraud

The cricket establishment has been severely shaken by recent evidence establishing actual physical notice. Records reveal that in July 2008, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) officials physically handed a comprehensive dossier detailing Weeraratna’s 1997 blueprint to then-ICC General Manager of Cricket, David Richardson, in Colombo. The same dossier was delivered by Nishantha Ranatunga directly to the ICC headquarters in Dubai in June 2009. [1, 2, 3]

Legal advocates argue that maintaining a denial of knowledge while in physical possession of stamped prior art transitions the ICC’s defense from structural negligence into an active cover-up and material misrepresentation. This exposes past and present ICC legal advisors to credible threats of professional malpractice and fraud claims under global copyright frameworks like the Berne Convention, which protects an author’s moral right to attribution regardless of a patent.

Domestic backlash in Sri Lanka

The friction has intensified globally and locally due to a highly controversial corporate governance decision by Sri Lanka Cricket: [1]

• The Betrayal Accusation: Public backlash erupted in Sri Lanka after the Cricket Transformation Committee (CTC), tasked with domestic structural reforms, hired David Becker—the former ICC Legal Head who authored the original opinions denying Weeraratna credit—as an advisor to draft SLC’s new constitution. []
• Lack of State Lobbying: Sri Lankan cricket fans and legal advocates expressed deep disappointment that the reform committee completely failed to use its institutional platform to lobby the ICC for Weeraratna’s official recognition.
• The Call for Parity: Advocates point out that while statistical frameworks like the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method openly credit and compensate their inventors, the ICC continues to uniquely withhold authorial credit for the multi-million dollar DRS infrastructure.

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AI Overview

Dr. Ruwan M Jayatunge M.D. PhD

Killing a human being is a psychologically distressing act (Jensen & Simpson, 2014). Research indicates that soldiers who have engaged in killing are at a higher risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) compared to those who have merely observed acts of violence (Winkle & Safer, 2011). Traditional PTSD frameworks focus heavily on fear, personal danger, and helplessness; in contrast, the act of killing creates unique trauma profiles characterized by issues of perpetration, moral conflict, and existential guilt (Maguen et al., 2011). The impact of killing during warfare notably heightens the likelihood of military veterans experiencing psychosocial issues and an increased risk of suicide (Purcell et al., 2026).  

Soldiers often find themselves grappling with a profound moral dilemma following the act of taking enemy lives, as they confront the stark contrast between their military conditioning and their innate human empathy. This internal conflict frequently leads to intense shame and an existential crisis, as they struggle to reconcile their actions with their moral beliefs and the value of human life. As a result of impact killing soldiers have functional impairment with higher rates of anger, violence, and relationship issues (Maguen et al., 2009).  Nordstrand and colleagues (2026) assert that the long-term psychological effects of killing are likely shaped by the specific context in which the act occurs. This complex interplay involves multiple factors, such as group norms, mission objectives, pre-deployment anticipations, and the process of reintegrating into civilian life, all of which can significantly influence the psychological aftermath of such actions.

The Eelam War in Sri Lanka, which spanned from 1983 to 2009, profoundly affected the psychological well-being of many combatants, particularly in relation to their experiences of killing enemy personnel. Given that Sri Lanka is predominantly a Buddhist nation, many soldiers were raised in environments steeped in Buddhist teachings, which emphasize the principles of Karma and rebirth. The act of taking a human life often led to significant internal conflict and distress, as these soldiers grappled with the moral implications of their actions in light of their cultural and spiritual beliefs.

The Impact of Killing (IOK) among military veterans in Sri Lanka has evolved into a multifaceted mental health crisis that spans several decades. This crisis is primarily fueled by profound moral injury, which arises from the ethical dilemmas faced during combat, alongside an overwhelming sense of spiritual guilt that veterans carry as a result of their experiences. Additionally, the lingering effects of unaddressed combat trauma contribute significantly to the psychological distress experienced by these individuals.  

During our treatment of soldiers, we encountered numerous combatants who exhibited significant personality transformations due to their experiences of taking enemy lives. The subsequent case vignettes illustrate the profound psychological responses these individuals faced.

Lieutenant RXT was a promising young officer whose aspirations for a distinguished military career were abruptly derailed during the tumultuous JVP uprising of 1988/89. The situation escalated dramatically when his camp was infiltrated by rebels, resulting in the tragic loss of five of his soldiers and an attempted theft of firearms. In the heat of the confrontation, Lieutenant RXT found himself in a position where he had to take the life of one of the assailants, an act that, while deemed necessary and justified in the context of self-defence, left an indelible mark on his psyche. The aftermath of this encounter proved to be devastating; the weight of having taken a life burdened him with profound guilt and remorse, leading to a gradual decline in his mental well-being. As he struggled to cope with the emotional fallout, he turned to alcohol as a means of escape, which in turn caused him to neglect his military responsibilities and fostered a pervasive sense of foreboding regarding his future. Over the years, this downward spiral intensified, culminating in a debilitating addiction to alcohol that necessitated multiple hospitalizations for alcohol-related disorders, further isolating him from both his personal relationships and professional obligations.

Sergeant Major TXL, a seasoned non-commissioned officer, had a distinguished career marked by his involvement in numerous operations against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). One particularly harrowing incident occurred when Sergeant Major TXL and his unit were ambushed while travelling in a military vehicle. This sudden attack resulted in the tragic loss of five of his comrades, plunging the team into a fierce firefight. The chaos of battle not only claimed the lives of his fellow soldiers but also led to collateral damage, tragically affecting innocent civilians caught in the crossfire. The emotional toll of this event weighed heavily on Sergeant Major TXL, leaving him profoundly shattered. As he progressed further into his military career, he found himself increasingly isolated, plagued by intrusive memories of the violence he had witnessed and participated in. These haunting recollections contributed to a deepening sense of despair, culminating in a desperate moment when he attempted to take his own life by jumping in front of an oncoming train. However, a turning point came when he sought spiritual therapy, which fostered a significant transformation in his life. Through this process, Sergeant Major TXL embraced a deeper faith, leading to a remarkable change in his personality and outlook on life as he found solace and purpose in his newfound spirituality.

The narrative of Major AWX serves as a distressing exploration of the profound effects that killing can have on the human psyche, illustrating how individuals can devolve into compulsive murderers. Initially, Major AWX was a promising student hailing from a prestigious school in Kandy, whose academic prowess led him to the Kothalawala Military Academy, where he graduated as an infantry officer. He subsequently joined the Vijayaba Infantry Regiment (VIR) and was deployed in various operational zones, where he encountered the traumatic realities of combat. Over time, the psychological toll of these experiences manifested in significant alterations to his personality. Following his involvement in lethal military engagements, Major AWX underwent a disturbing transformation, ultimately becoming an individual driven by an insatiable urge to kill. During a therapy session, he chillingly remarked that he “fossilizes enemies,” a statement that underscores his desensitization to violence, which soon extended beyond enemy combatants to innocent civilians. Despite his attempts to seek psychological assistance, his treatment was thwarted by bureaucratic obstacles, leaving him without the necessary support or monitoring as he returned to the battlefield. His mental health deteriorated rapidly, marked by debilitating headaches, intense rage, hyperarousal, intrusive combat-related thoughts, and burgeoning homicidal tendencies. This unchecked decline culminated in his emergence as a cold-blooded serial killer, responsible for the brutal murder of several innocent individuals. A particularly heinous act occurred in 2004 while he was stationed with the 215 Brigade in Mannar, where he lured a victim to the Manthottam camp, intoxicated him, and subsequently committed a gruesome murder by stabbing, dismembering, and incinerating the remains. Ultimately, Major AWX was apprehended by the police, but tragically, he took his own life while in custody at Bogambara Prison. This tragic outcome raises critical questions about the systemic failures that prevented him from receiving timely and effective treatment, suggesting that with appropriate intervention, many lives, including his own, could have been spared from the devastating consequences of his actions.

These case studies indicate that “The impact of Killing” can lead to a profound Collision of Conscience, resulting in significant psychological transformations among soldiers. Following their involvement in acts of killing, many combatants experience intense feelings of guilt, which can subsequently lead to depression and a profound sense of isolation from their peers and society. This emotional turmoil often manifests in various detrimental ways, with some individuals becoming addicted to violence, perpetuating a cycle of aggression that further entrenches them in a life marked by brutality and moral conflict. The psychological ramifications of such experiences highlight the complex interplay between combat, mental health, and the potential for ongoing violence, underscoring the need for comprehensive support systems for those affected. 

Psychological interventions are essential for soldiers grappling with guilt, depression, and intense emotions after engaging in combat and taking enemy lives. These interventions can provide the necessary support to help them process their experiences, manage their feelings, and promote mental well-being. By addressing these psychological challenges, we can facilitate their recovery and reintegration into civilian life. According to MacNair (2002), the impact of killing manifests through profound guilt, nightmares, and higher symptom severity than traditional PTSD, often requiring specialized therapeutic approaches to address. Komarovskaya and colleagues (2011) highlight that this trauma is uniquely linked to perpetrating harm, requiring targeted, specialized mental health interventions rather than general protocols.

The Impact of Killing (IOK) treatment protocol, developed by VA clinical psychologists such as Dr. Shira Maguen, aims to address the moral injury experienced after taking a life. This protocol is generally administered over ten sessions as individual cognitive-behavioral therapy. It integrates components from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Gestalt therapy, and existential or relational psychotherapies to provide a comprehensive therapeutic approach (Maguen et al.,2017).  

Self-Forgiveness Integration also represents a valuable therapeutic approach aimed at alleviating the psychological distress linked to the profound consequences of taking a life. This method facilitates a transformative journey for individuals grappling with guilt and remorse, guiding them away from patterns of self-destructive behaviour that often arise in the aftermath of such traumatic experiences (Purcell et al., 2022).  By fostering a sense of healthy accountability, this approach encourages individuals to confront their actions and the associated emotional turmoil, ultimately promoting a path toward healing and personal growth. Through the process of self-forgiveness, individuals can begin to reconcile their past, allowing them to reclaim their sense of self-worth and move forward with a renewed perspective on life.

Furthermore, the healing process from the psychological trauma associated with violence, such as that depicted in “The Impact of Killing,” can be significantly facilitated through the integration of cultural elements (Jayatunge, 2016). In Sri Lanka, a nation with a rich cultural heritage spanning over 2,500 years, traditional practices, beliefs, and communal activities serve as vital mechanisms for emotional recovery. This deep-rooted culture not only provides a sense of identity and belonging but also offers various forms of expression and support that can help individuals cope with their psychological wounds.  

Indigenous Shanthikarma (healing) rituals, which focus on mitigating emotional distress, alongside Thovilaya, a form of psychodrama, play a crucial role in addressing the psychological trauma experienced by combatants affected by the profound consequences of killing. These practices often incorporate rhythmic drumming, which serves to stimulate both hemispheres of the brain, thereby facilitating a healing process akin to Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). Such traditional rituals are not merely cultural expressions; they are vital therapeutic interventions designed to restore a sense of balance and harmony in individuals who perceive a disruption in their cosmological order due to their experiences in conflict. By engaging in these time-honoured practices, combatants can find pathways to healing that respect their cultural heritage while effectively addressing the psychological scars left by their experiences.

In addition, spiritual therapy plays a crucial role in the healing journey of soldiers who are dealing with the intense psychological repercussions associated with taking a life. This therapeutic approach is deeply rooted in Buddhist philosophies and incorporates various meditation techniques, particularly Vipassana and Metta Meditation (meditation of lovingkindness), which focus on cultivating mindfulness, compassion, and the recognition of the interconnectedness of all living beings (Jayatunge, 2023). By participating in these meditative practices, soldiers are allowed to enhance their awareness of their internal thoughts and emotions, enabling them to navigate their traumatic experiences within a nurturing and understanding framework. The core tenets of Buddhism advocate for a compassionate confrontation with one’s suffering, promoting acceptance and insight that can lead to a profound sense of inner tranquillity and resilience. As soldiers engage with these spiritual practices, they may discover a transformative path toward healing that not only addresses their psychological scars but also fosters a renewed sense of purpose and a deeper connection to the broader areas of life.

References

Jayatunge, R. M. (2016, June 21). The cultural perspectives on psychological trauma in Sri Lanka. LankaWeb. https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2016/06/21/the-cultural-perspectives-on-psychological-trauma-in-sri-lanka-2/

Jayatunge, R. M. (2023). Clinical meditation. M.D. Gunasena Publishers.

Jensen, P. R., & Simpson, D. (2014). A qualitative analysis of the experience and impact of killing in hand‐to‐hand combat. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 27(4), 468–473.

Komarovskaya I, Maguen S, McCaslin SE, Metzler TJ, Madan A, Brown AD, Galatzer-Levy IR, Henn-Haase C, Marmar CR. The impact of killing and injuring others on mental health symptoms among police officers. J Psychiatr Res. 2011 Oct;45(10):1332-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2011.05.004. Epub 2011 Jun 11. PMID: 21658717; PMCID: PMC3974970.

MacNair, R. M. (2002). Perpetration-induced traumatic stress: The psychological consequences of killing. Praeger Publishers. doi.org.

Maguen, S., Metzler, T. J., Litz, B. T., San Diego, B., Knight, S. J., Ostazzewski, L., Davis, L., & Marmar, C. R. (2009). The impact of killing in war on mental health symptoms and related functioning. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 22(5), 435–443. doi.org.

Maguen, S., Vogt, D. S., King, L. A., King, D. W., Litz, B. T., Knight, S. J., & Marmar, C. R. (2011). The impact of killing on mental health symptoms in Gulf War veterans. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 3(1), 21–26. https://doi.org/10.1037/a001989.

Maguen, S., Burkman, K., Madden, E., Dinh, J., Westphal, R. J., & Neylan, T. C. (2017). Impact of Killing in War: A randomized, controlled pilot trial. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 73(9), 1115–1133. doi.org.

Nordstrand, A. E., Noll, L. K., & Wickham, R. E. (2026). Killing in combat as a potentially morally injurious event: The diverging psychological impact of killing on peacekeepers and combat-oriented troops. Armed Forces & Society, 52(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X251321389. 

Purcell, N., Burkman, K., & Maguen, S. (2022). Treatment for moral injury: Impact of Killing in War. Current Psychiatry Reports, 24(6), 335–343.

Purcell N, Usman H, Mehlman H, Gloria R, Burkman K, Lehrner A, Maguen S. The Impact of Killing (IOK) mental health treatment for moral injury: U.S. military veteran perspectives on acceptability, fit, and impact. Psychol Serv. 2026 Mar 9:10.1037/ser0001035. doi: 10.1037/ser0001035. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41801748; PMCID: PMC12974238.

Van Winkle, E. P., & Safer, M. A. (2011). Killing versus witnessing in combat trauma and reports of PTSD symptoms and domestic violence. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 24(1), 107–110.

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

 https://www.dailymirror.lk/breaking-news/President-Dissanayake-to-visit-France/108-343915

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s forthcoming visit to France offers an opportunity that extends well beyond strengthening diplomatic ties. While discussions with global shipping giant CMA CGM are undoubtedly important, Sri Lanka should also use this occasion to position itself as a regional hub for the marine, offshore and energy industries.

The planned meeting with Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and CEO of CMA CGM, is expected to focus on logistics, container transshipment and terminal investments. These are vital sectors, particularly given Colombo Port’s strategic location on the main East-West shipping route.

However, Sri Lanka should broaden the scope of discussions to include leading French engineering, offshore energy and industrial companies with proven experience across Asia and the Middle East.

Among the companies that deserve consideration are Saipem, a global leader in offshore engineering and subsea construction; TotalEnergies, which is expanding rapidly in LNG, renewable energy and offshore developments throughout Asia; Technip Energies, renowned for LNG plants, hydrogen, ammonia and industrial infrastructure; Bourbon, one of the world’s leading offshore vessel operators; and Vallourec, supplying specialised steel tubular products for offshore oil, gas and hydrogen projects.

These companies possess expertise directly relevant to Sri Lanka’s long-term ambitions of developing the Trincomalee region as an integrated Marine and Offshore Industrial Hub.

Rather than limiting investment promotion to container terminals, Sri Lanka should present Trincomalee as a destination for:

• Offshore engineering and fabrication yards
• Shipbuilding and ship repair
• FPSO and offshore platform maintenance
• LNG and green hydrogen infrastructure
• Offshore wind support bases
• Marine equipment manufacturing
• Subsea engineering services
• Offshore logistics and supply bases
• Mineral processing and value addition
• Advanced vocational training for marine industries

While Colombo will continue to strengthen its role as South Asia’s premier transshipment hub and Hambantota is rapidly emerging as another major logistics and industrial port, Trincomalee offers entirely different advantages. Its deep natural harbour, extensive land availability and proximity to energy shipping routes make it uniquely suited for heavy marine industries rather than simply container handling.

The French Government has consistently supported sustainable infrastructure, renewable energy and industrial development throughout the Indo-Pacific. Aligning French industrial expertise with Sri Lanka’s natural maritime advantages could create a new chapter in bilateral economic cooperation.

There is also scope for collaboration involving Indian partners. Companies such as Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited>, with experience in shipbuilding and offshore engineering, could potentially participate in joint ventures alongside French companies. Such trilateral partnerships involving Sri Lanka, France and India could help develop offshore engineering capabilities while complementing the logistics strengths already being developed in Colombo and Hambantota.

The President’s visit therefore should not be viewed solely as an investment mission for container terminals. It should become a platform for attracting world-class industrial investors capable of transforming Sri Lanka into a regional centre for marine engineering, offshore energy, advanced manufacturing and blue economy industries.

With global supply chains diversifying and increasing attention being given to resilient Indo-Pacific maritime infrastructure, Sri Lanka has a rare opportunity to present a comprehensive investment proposition. If the right industrial partners are brought to the table, the country can move beyond being merely a transshipment hub and establish itself as a centre for high-value maritime and offshore industries.

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

Sports

The International Cricket Council (ICC) and its Chairman Jay Shah face severe allegations from South Asian legal advocates and cricket historians accusing the council’s legal team of professional negligence, fraud, and misrepresentation regarding the true authorship of the Umpire Decision Review System (DRS). [1, 2]

Critics argue that the ICC has engaged in an active cover-up by maintaining a “no awareness” defense. This defense persists despite holding physical, stamped dossiers submitted by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) that provide prior notice of the “Player-Referral” concept engineered by Sri Lankan lawyer Senaka Weeraratna in 1997.

Key elements of the DRS dispute

The blueprint and actual notice

Senaka Weeraratna first conceptualized and published the four-pillar “Player Referral” system in March 1997. This occurred nine years before the ICC began experimenting with it. Advocates argue the ICC cannot claim structural ignorance. This is because physical proof of Weeraratna’s blueprint was handed over by a member board. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Allegations against the legal team

Critics allege that internal legal advisors—including former Head of Legal David Becker—ignored the Doctrine of Constructive Notice. They did this to deny Weeraratna intellectual property and attribution rights. By asserting that internal employees independently authored the system, the legal team stands accused of material misrepresentation. This exposure opens the ICC to potential civil fraud and criminal liability.

Calls for leadership accountability

Under the leadership of Jay Shah, who took over as ICC Chairman in December 2024, institutional pressure has mounted. Critics demand that the ICC enforce its internal Conflict of Interest Protocols. This would prevent internal lawyers from acting as judge and jury over legal opinions that protect the ICC from massive financial liabilities and royalty claims.

While advocates call for independent audits and open disclosures regarding past legal counsel, the ICC has not implemented formal sanctions or structural changes to address these claims. [1, 2]

If you want, I can provide:

• A timeline of Senaka Weeraratna’s original 1997 proposal
• The specific legal arguments surrounding the Doctrine of Constructive Notice
• Current ICC rules regarding third-party intellectual property and innovations

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Nava Thakuria 

An intriguing debate gained momentum soon after the foreign ministry made a public statement that a passport alone cannot justify one’s claim to be a citizen of India. The central government had already clarified that no  Aadhaar- PAN- voter identity card- driving licence-school certificates can be assumed as a solid proof of Indian citizenship. Need not to mention that  Indian citizenship is  administered by the 1955 Citizenship Act and the passports are issued under the 1967 Passports Act. The citizenship in India is defined by the Constitution and the citizenship laws, which can be acquired by various means like birth, descent, naturalization, registration or incorporation of territory in the country. A large majority of Indians enjoy citizens by birth and hence they do not ask for citizenship certificates. However, the passport laws permit the government to grant passports to non- citizens (under specific circumstances) also, and hence every Indian passport holder may not necessarily be a bonafide citizen of the country. There are speculations and also popular demands that New Delhi should introduce a nationwide screening of citizenship in the coming days to create a particular document for the genuine Indian citizens. The exercise must be endorsed by the National Register of Citizens (NRC), but the  1951 NRC is yet to be updated across the country (except in Assam, which too embraced controversies).  Recently, Gauhati High Court  while upholding  a 28 February 2019 order of the Foreigners’ Tribunal (Kamrup-metropolitan) declared an Assam resident a foreigner. The individual submitted a number of documents including his PAN, voter identity, school certificates, land deals, etc to prove his citizenship but those were not acknowledged by the court.

Needless to mention, that the NRC updating process in Assam (between 2015 and 2019 following the direction of Supreme Court of India) mired into chaos from financial mishandling to accommodation of illegal migrants as original inhabitants. The disagreement started as soon as the Assam NRC’s final draft was published in 2019 and it was cleverly announced as the final one by some motivated elements. Amazingly, the said list is yet to be certified by the Registrar General of India. Later the sitting State NRC  coordinator Hitesh Devsarma claimed that his predecessor Prateek Hajela intentionally bungled the process by tampered software with an aim to entertain a large number of illegal migrants (read Bangladeshi Muslim settlers). According to Devsarma, an important verification mechanism (Family Tree Matching) was also compromised by Hajela and his associates. So he demanded a credible probe into the irregularities and lodged multiple complaints to the concerned authorities. Later the Comptroller and Auditor General of India  also pointed out  indiscretion to the tune of Rs 260 crore during the NRC updating process. The highest national audit body also recommended legal actions against Hajela. Even Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also admitted that  the said NRC was faulty. Stating that Hajela prepared a flawed NRC, Sarma asserted it could  jeopardise national security and harm the interest of indigenous people of Assam.  Lately, a writ petition forwarded by Devsarma praying for a comprehensive  re-verification of the Assam NRC was accepted by the apex court of India. Devsarma asserted that a genuine review of the NRC will detect hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants who are now enjoying government welfare benefits.

Leaving aside a few exceptions, Assam media remains shy of  reporting the financial malpractices taking place in the process. Majority of local media persons even disseminate misinformation (reasons best known to them only) that the NRC supplementary list had no need of authentication. One Guwahati-based senior television host shamelessly lobbied for accepting it without verification. Later he was named and shamed on social media for months as a beneficiary of the NRC updation scam, but the journalist remained silent to those allegations (not clarified his position till date). The mediocre writer also penned a book praising Hajela  for his unparalleled works in NRC updation, probably to push for a national award to the bureaucrat. It’s assumed that a genuine probe would unearth all misdeeds and also identify the guilty individuals, who wanted to cheat the nation for their selfish gains during the much hyped NRC updating exercise in Assam, for due punishment under the law.

Courtesy:  AI Overview

Jay Shah wants Sri Lanka to clean the house and hold SLC elections while ICC engages in a massive cover up of the fraud of its legal team depriving Sri Lanka of due credit for authorship of Player – Referral and concomitant royalties that can heavily fund Sri Lanka’s Cricket development

The Player-Referral (DRS) Authorship Dispute

Parallel to governance talks, an intense intellectual property dispute continues to gain traction within South Asian legal circles regarding the true authorship of the Umpire Decision Review System (DRS).

• The Core Claim: Sri Lankan lawyer Senaka Weeraratna widely publicized the original “Player-Referral” blueprint in global media starting in 1997—predating the ICC’s eventual rollout of the system.
• The Alleged Malpractice: Critics accuse former and current ICC legal advisors, including David Becker, Jonathan Hall, and David Richardson, of overlooking the Doctrine of Constructive Notice and suppressing evidence to block Sri Lanka from receiving authorship credit. [1, 2]
• Institutional Silence: Legal advocates argue that the ICC is engaged in a defensive cover-up to avoid massive civil liability, punitive damages, and retroactive royalty payouts that could otherwise fund local cricket infrastructure.
• Call for Action: Advocates are continually lobbying the Sri Lankan Government and SLC to officially honor Weeraratna at a national level to formally force the ICC’s hand into a diplomatic or legal resolution.

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Courtesy:  AI Overview