Saturday, December 13, 2014

A ’ Caffringa’ Dance (Portuguese origin) at a Christmas Carols at The St. Mary’s College, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.


 Please click on the web-link below with speakers on :-
http://youtu.be/JwNHpZ2xUTo

Statins and cataract

Meniscus surgery for the knee.

email from Muttuvelu Maheswaran 
Dec 5 (9 days ago)
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https://mail.google.com/mail/ca/u/0/images/cleardot.gif

https://mail.google.com/mail/ca/u/0/images/cleardot.gif
PLEASE GET A SECOND OPINION IF AN ORTHOPAEDIC SURGEON SUGGESTS SURGERY!! PERHAPS A RHEUMATOLOGIST?

He suggests an alternative to
surgery could be physical therapy
to help maintain and restore muscle
strength and range of motion

Symptoms can also be treated with ice and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications, he says


Koragaha Lodge, Sri Lanka.

email from Lesley Sirimanne 
This is the Lodge built by my nephew Viran Perera close to Yala National Park in Sri Lanka. I stayed there for 3 nights recently and on the 5 occasions we visited the Park saw 10 leopsrds. All  four bedrooms are air conditioned. Local and western meals are available. No credit card payments can be made at present

Have a nice day
Placid
(Dr Placid Coorey
compared to the prices charged by the hotels in the vicinity the price is reasonable. If you wish to get further details or make a booking please contact Viran at pereramviran@gmail.com



From: Viran Perera
Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 2014 4:48 PM

Subject: Koragaha Lodge is finally on the web


Hi All,

Please see below link. The website for 'Koragaha Lodge' was launched this afternoon.

http://www.koragahalodge.com/

Best regards,
Viran

Friday, December 12, 2014

Lucien Weeramantry - An Appreciation.


email from Senaka Weeraratna 




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Lucien Weeramantry
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lkawgw/appreciation07.htm
The passing away of Attorney-at-Law Lucien Gregory Weeramantry on August 17 has cast a gloom amongst the legal fraternity at Hutftsdorp and his wide circle of friends whom he had very intimately befriended over the years, both in Sri Lanka and abroad. It is not my intention to write about his unmatched international achievements of which I am certain many others more knowledgeable would record for posterity. I write this appreciation to speak of Lucien Weeramantry the lawyer I knew at the Bar and nothing more.
After I was called to the Bar in May 1959 I had the good fortune of instructing Lucien Weeramantry in my very first Case which was the Trial of the then National Football Coach in a cheque Fraud Case. Lucien, who was many years my Senior, in all humility insisted that I refer to him simply by his first name and never add the prefix ‘Mr’ or ‘Sir’ when addressing him which is usually the legal tradition adopted by juniors at the Bar when addressing their seniors. This instantly endeared him as a lifelong true friend for many decades to follow.
A couple of years later, 1961 to be exact, fate decreed that Lucien and 1 should appear for the defence of three of the main accused in the country’s most sensational murder Case, that of the Assassination of then Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike. Lucien appeared for the assassin Talduwe Somarama Thera and my clients were Mapitigama Buddharakkita Thera and H. P. Jayawardena, the 1st and 2nd accused respectively. Being in almost general control of the defence it fell on me to retain a Counsel for Somarama Thero, which was no easy task due to the political climate at the time. However Lucien Weeramantry when approached by me had no hesitation in accepting the challenge and the dedication he exhibited thereafter in the course of the Supreme Court Trial towards his client in the face of tremendous odds earned the admiration of all including the Trial Judge, Hon. T. S. Fernando, Q.C., who when addressing accused Somarama Thero before sentence of death was passed on him remarked, inter alia, “You have been defended by Counsel, who has throughout these long and arduous proceedings exhibited towards your case a devotion which has been the admiration of everyone in this Court. But having regard to the strength of the evidence against you, there has been, in my view, no Counsel yet born who could have saved you.” I do not think any Court in this country, least of all the Supreme Court, has ever paid such a glowing tribute to Counsel in a Case. Lucien Weeramantry fully deserved it.
In the ensuing appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal Weeramantry filed a petition setting out 60 grounds and argued it for full five days before a Bench of five Judges presided over by Chief Justice Hon. Hema Basnayake Q.C. which again had little success. But Lucien was a great fighter and a further Appeal was presented to the Privy Council against the Appeal Court verdict. Having obtained the services of eminent English Counsel D. N. Pritt, Q.C., pro deo, Lucien and I prepared the necessary Brief to be sent over to London. In doing so I had referred to Somarama as “the Assassin.” When Lucien spotted this he was visibly upset and asked me to correct it to read “the alleged assassin.” Such was the devotion of the man to his client whose interest Lucien always held to be paramount. By this he also exhibited his control to legal phraseology.
Another moving moment which should not go unrecorded was when the day of Somarama’s execution drew near Lucien telephoned me the day before the execution and wanted me to accompany him to the death row at the Welikada Prison to see Somarama for the last time. We went there the evening before the execution but our mission did not succeed as the authorities refused to grant us permission to see the prisoner. Lucian however managed to convince the Prison Guards to at least inform Somarama that we had come to see him but were not granted access. The sight of the hangman hurriedly going about the last minute preparations for the next mornings execution was too much for Lucien’s human heart to bear and we left the prison in stunned silence. 
Lucien Weeramantry was a gentleman to his finger tips, he was always well groomed and immaculately dressed and enjoyed the fruits of life to its full. He thoroughly enjoyed the life in Court in the mornings as much as he did the evenings. He was one of Hulftsdorp’s most glamorous lawyers at the time I joined the profession. Nothing could worry him because he was always strongly in control of any situation. He will be sadly missed by all who knew him.

R. Wickramarachchi
Boralesgamuwa

Professor T. Nadaraja - brilliant legal mind



email from Senaka Weeraratna 




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Professor T. Nadaraja - brilliant legal mind

by H.B. de Silva


It was in Peradeniya that I first met Professor T. Nadaraja. We were then in our early thirties, an age when one is neither too young or too old, when friendships made are of closeness that survive the passage of time.

As I now look back in my twilight years on those happy carefree days, my memory lingers on those who made a deep impression on me, one of those persons was Professor Nadaraja. A friend told me that he was dead, he brought me bitter news to hear and bitter tears to shed.

It was with great sadness that I learnt of the passing away of this very learned man. It was such a pleasure and an education in itself to converse with him. He has often been described as an eminent jurist and an outstanding academic scholar, but he was much more than that.

Ever since his undergraduate days at the University of Cambridge he had been a collector of books. The library at his home had books on various subjects. He had an excellent collection of books on Indian philosophy, religion, art and sculpture.

He was interested in the ancient civilisations and culture of Greece and Rome, China, Egypt, Persia and the Maya's of South America, as well as the more recent history and culture of the Western world.

His library contained well-known books on English Literature and poetry and comparative religion. He was a master of the English language and very precise in the use of the spoken and written word.

He had a profound knowledge of Hinduism and that can be judged by a book written by him called "The Cult of Siva with special reference to the Dances of Siva".

His mother a gentle and cultured lady, was the daughter of Sir P. Arunachalam and it was her great influence on her son that made Nadaraja a lover of books, and music. At an early age she taught him the Thevarams (hymns) the Tiruvasagam and the other Tamil classics.

He was a firm believer of the Perennial Philosophy. In the preface of the book "Islam and Perennial Philosophy" authored by Frithjof Schoun the meaning of Perennial Philosophy has been explained as "The Philosophia Perennis has come to signify for those devoted to traditional studies an eternal truth at the heart of all traditions, corresponding to the Sanatana Dharma of Hinduism and al-hikmah al-khalidah of Islam".

It is not surprising that he should have inherited this vast knowledge of Hinduism, as his paternal and maternal ancestors have been known as builders of temples. On his paternal side he came from a wealthy family well-known for sponsoring charitable causes.

His great grandfather built the Sithy Vinayagar Temple and pilgrims rest in Colombo where Swamy Vivekananda visited and gave a lecture. Nadaraja was the chief Trustee of this temple from 1945 onwards.

On his maternal side, his great grandfather Gate Mudaliyar Arunasalam Ponnambalam, the father of the three famous brothers P. Coomaraswamy, Sir P. Ramanathan and Sir P. Arunachalam built the well-known Sri Ponnambalavanesvara Temple in Colombo, His son Sir P. Ramanathan renovated the temple and modelled it on the lines of the famous South Indian temples.

His grandfather Sir P. Arunachalam built another well-known temple in Mutwal, Colombo, called the Arunachaleswara Temple. Professor Nadaraja was a Trustee of all these temples.

He was the patron of the Hindu University Society at Peradeniya when the Law Faculty was there. He has contributed many well-known and learned articles on Hinduism to various journals.

An interesting account of Nadaraja's family background is in a book about the genealogy of the Jaffna Tamils. It states that Mudaliyar Aramuganathapillai Coomaraswamy was the first Tamil to be appointed to the Legislative Council in 1833.

His son Sir Muttu Coomaraswamy who was the first person who was neither a Christian or a Jew to be admitted as a Barrister of London. He was also an appointed member of the Legislative Council. Sir Muttu's son was the renowned scholar Ananda K. Coomaraswamy.

Sir Muttu Coomaraswamy's sister married Gate Mudaliyar Arunasalam Ponnambalam who built the Ponnambalavanesvara Temple in Colombo. He was the father of the three illustrious sons, P. Coomaraswamy, Sir P. Ramanathan and Sir P. Arunachalam, these three brothers were also members of the Legislative Council.

When Sir P. Arunachalam retired from the Civil Service, he was appointed to the Executive Committee of the Legislative Council. Sir P. Arunachalam's son, Sir A. Mahadeva, KCMG, was a member of the Legislative Council and the State Council. It is unique that a member of this family has served in the Legislature in an unbroken line from 1833-1947 for nearly one hundred and fifteen years.

In the sphere of education it was his grandfather Sir P. Arunachalam who first pleaded for a University to be established in Sri Lanka, and he is rightly known as the father of the University Movement.

The first Hall of Residence in the University campus at Peradeniya was named Arunachalam Hall to honour the memory of Sir P. Arunachalam. He also wrote a well-known book on Law called "Digest of Ceylon cases".

It was his grand uncle, Sir P. Ramanathan who was the first person in Sri Lanka to ask the government to establish a Law College, and it was through his efforts that the Law College was founded. He was also responsible for publishing the Law Reports.

It was into this family that Nadaraja was born on the 27th December 1917. Natured from early years in the culture and traditions of his forebearers he distinguished himself in the study of law.

His books on the "Roman-Dutch Law of Fideicommissa" and the "Legal System of Ceylon in its Historical Setting" were described as classics and have been cited in Sri Lankan and South African courts, where the Roman-Dutch law prevails. He has written numerous articles on different aspects of the law and these are available in the Law Library of the University of Colombo.

Nadaraja was educated at Royal College, Colombo, where he won many prizes and the coveted Shakespeare Prize. He proceeded to the University of Cambridge for his legal studies and entered Trinity Hall, Cambridge.

He was awarded First Class Honours in both parts of the Cambridge Law Tripos, the Bond Prize for Roman Law, the Davies Prize for English Law and the Post Graduate Law Studentship at Trinity Hall, Cambridge.

At Lincoln's Inn, London, Nadaraja was awarded the First Class Certificate of Honour by the Council of Legal Education, London, and the Buchanan Prize of Lincoln's Inn.

He obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the Cambridge University, and he was awarded the Hon. LLD (Colombo University) and the Jaffna University conferred the degree Hon. D.Litt. on him.

The Bar Council of Sri Lanka honoured him in recognition of the contributions made by Nadaraja in the field of legal literature and legal education by conferring Life Membership Honoris Causa on him.

Professor Nadaraja was a lecturer at the Ceylon Law College from 1943-49. When the University of Ceylon started a Department of Law in 1947 Nadaraja joined the Law Department in 1947. He was appointed Professor of Law in 1951. He was Dean of the Faculty of Arts 1957-1960.

When the Department of Law was made a Faculty of Law, he was the Head of Dean of the Faculty of Law from 1960 until he retired from the University. He was Chancellor of the University of Jaffna from 1984 until he passed away on 20th January 2004.

Nadaraja was President of the Classical Association 1970-71 and a past President of the Royal Asiatic Society, where his grandfather Sir P. Arunachalam had been the first Ceylonese to be elected to that post.

Professor Nadaraja was a soft-spoken and cultured man. He was ready to help anyone who came to him for advice or material benefits. Whatever charity he did was never publicised, he considered them to be unremembered acts of kindness and love.

Photo:  Venue:  King George Hall, University of Ceylon, Colombo Campus
Occasion:  Lawnite – Annual Social of the Law Faculty Students Union
Date:  July 1972
Left to Right:  Mrs. Nadaraja, Mrs. Gulasekeram (University Library Staff), Prof. T. Nadaraja ( Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Ceylon), Professor B.A. Abeywickrema( Vice – Chancellor, University of Ceylon, Colombo), Senaka Weeraratna (President, Law Faculty Students’ Union),
and Dr. M. Sornarajah (Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law)