King Sasanka – Sri Lankan Writer & Retired Aviation Professional.

http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2011/04/16/religion-and-its-effects/

Make Buddha Jayanthi an occasion to ask, after 2600 years what have we accomplished as Buddhists ? Posted on April 11th, 2011 By Charles.S.Perera   The Queen Mahamaya Devi while on her way to  her parental home to have her baby  according to ancient custom, gave birth to a baby boy in the Lumbini Park in Kapilawattu .  The father  the Sakyan King Suddhodana  was overjoyed with the birth of a son.   But the king’s joy did not last long as  the Queen Mahamaya Devi died seven days after the birth of the Prince.   The baby was placed in the care of  his step mother Maha Pajapati Gotami, the younger sister of  the late queen.    The Ascetic Asita  Kaladevela  came to  pay respect to the King and to see the new born little Prince.  Having seen the baby the great Ascetic predicted that the Prince will  be enlightened  becoming a Buddha, but regretted that he would not be there on the  bliss...

Trying to predict the outcome of the World cup cricket final to be held on Saturday (02 nd April 2011) on a day like this (01 st April 2011) is not only suicidal but would be inviting unwarranted tags too. I am no “Paul” who had the uncanny ability to predict the outcome of the football World cup, but I have something which the (Late) Paul did not have in his armoury that the ability to reasoning. My prediction is that the Indians would walk away with the Cup on Saturday, not because they are any superior to their opponents in any way but the outcome of it has already been decided, not on the field but off of it. The word “Fixing” gives a very bad taste but if it can be replaced by “Pre-determined”, then it would not taste so bad, I hope. The extent of the Pre-determination was not only very much evident in the recently concluded Semi-final match in Mohali but in many of the other crucial previous fixtures too. Just try the fathom and or imagine the plight of the b...

Not so long ago, my daughter reached the voting age and so was the bank balance in her minor account, the six figure mark. When Union Bank of Si Lanka announced its share offer (IPO) recently, she wanted to invest some of her savings in shares. She did apply and now waiting to hear about the outcome of her first attempt in investment. The latest I read about this IPO was that it was oversubscribed by more than 300%. This is a healthier sign. Yet, I am clueless as to what type of modality would be used in determining the final spread of the spoil in a scenario like this but hopeful that small and young investors like my daughter would not be crushed by the big investors. The regulatory authority (hopefully the Colombo Stock Exchange), I am sure has the power to oversee, advocate and impose the most reasonable proration method to ensure that small and especially young investors   (like daughter’s)   interests and investments are duly protected. If such powers and or modalities a...

The Minkes were being chased by the Japanese whalers and they were being trailed and chased by the Sea Sheppard craft. At least for a while the Minkes can have a sigh of relief now because The Japanese have temporarily suspended their whale hunt. The Sea Sheppard is a Conservationist group backed up by one of the biggest meat exporters of the world. I do not think that it is irrational to wonder whether their real agenda behind all those protests and clashes is to protect and conserve an endangered species, namely in this instance the Whales or to protect and conserve their financial backers lucrative market share?   The truth will be known soon! The Nature has its own checks and balances. Trying too much to meddle with them too has their own negative consequences. Like humans, the animals too have a right to live and roam freely and enjoy their lives to the fullest. Sooner We undersatnd this, it is better for both!

The Scene One. Seventeen days after paying money in full only the installation and connection were completed by a private television company. At the time of payment, it was to take only three to five working days to complete the transaction. I am still trying to understand the true meaning of their interpretation of the phrase “Working Day” as it is apparently obvious that they do have fewer working days than non-working days. Exactly the same numbers of days were taken by someone to travel around the world in a hot air balloon a few years back. The installation party confirmed their arrival in the morning but arrived at the location five hours later. That too without many of the tools needed for the work. And imaging the plight of us, if we were unable to provide them the things that they were supposed to carry along with them in their mobile unit.   The company was happy to blame everything under the Sun like high demand, holidays, inclement weather to name a few th...

http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2011/01/01/development-at-what-cost/