1.
Order of St Michael and St George
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It is named in honour of two military saints, St Michael and St George. People are appointed to the Order rather than awarded it, British Ambassadors to foreign nations are regularly appointed as KCMGs or CMGs. It is the award for members of the FCO. The Orders motto is Auspicium melioris ævi and its patron saints, as the name suggests, are St. Michael the Archangel, and St. George, patron saint of England. One of its symbols is that of St Michael trampling over. The third of the aforementioned Orders—which relates to Ireland, no longer fully a part of the United Kingdom—still exists but is in disuse, the last of the Orders on the list, related to India, has also been in disuse since that countrys independence in 1947. In 1864, however, the protectorate ended and the Ionian Islands became a part of Greece, accordingly, numerous Governors-General and Governors feature as recipients of awards in the order. In 1965, the order was open for women, with Evelyn Bark becoming the first CMG, the British Sovereign is the Sovereign of the Order and appoints all other members of the Order. The next-most senior member is the Grand Master, the office was formerly filled by the Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands, now, however, Grand Masters are chosen by the Sovereign. Members of the Royal Family who are appointed to the Order do not count towards the limit, the Orders King of Arms is not a member of the College of Arms, like many other heraldic officers. The Usher of the Order is known as the Gentleman Usher of the Blue Rod, he not, unlike his Order of the Garter equivalent. On the left side is a representation of the star, the mantle is bound with two large tassels. The collar, worn only by Knights and Dames Grand Cross, is made of gold and it consists of depictions of crowned lions, Maltese Crosses, and the cyphers SM and SG, all alternately. In the centre are two winged lions, each holding a book and seven arrows, at less important occasions, simpler insignia are used, The star is an insignia used only by Knights and Dames Grand Cross and Knights and Dames Commanders. It is worn pinned to the left breast, the Knight and Dame Grand Cross star includes seven-armed, silver-rayed Maltese Asterisk, with a gold ray in between each pair of arms. The Knight and Dame Commanders star is a slightly smaller eight-pointed silver figure formed by two Maltese Crosses, it does not include any gold rays, in each case, the star bears a red cross of St George. In the centre of the star is a blue ring bearing the motto of the Order. Within the ring is a representation of St Michael trampling on Satan, the badge is the only insignia used by all members of the Order, it is suspended on a blue-crimson-blue ribbon
2.
Queen's Counsel
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A Queens Counsel, or Kings Counsel during the reign of a king, is an eminent lawyer who is appointed by the Queen to be one of Her Majestys Counsel learned in the law. The term is recognised as an honorific. Queens Counsel is a status, conferred by the Crown, that is recognised by courts, members have the privilege of sitting within the Bar of court. As members wear silk gowns of a design, the award of Queens Counsel is known informally as taking silk. Appointments are made from within the profession on the basis of merit rather than a particular level of experience. However, successful applicants tend to be barristers, or advocates with 15 years of experience or more, the Attorney-General, Solicitor-General, and Kings Serjeants were Kings Counsel in Ordinary in the Kingdom of England. The first Queens Counsel Extraordinary was Sir Francis Bacon, who was given a patent giving him precedence at the Bar in 1597, the new rank of Kings Counsel contributed to the gradual obsolescence of the formerly more senior serjeant-at-law by superseding it. The Attorney-General and Solicitor-General had similarly succeeded the Kings Serjeants as leaders of the Bar in Tudor times, but the Kings Counsel emerged into eminence only in the early 1830s, prior to when they were relatively few in number. It became the means to recognise a barrister as a senior member of the profession. It became of greater importance to become a KC. The KCs inherited the prestige of the serjeants and their priority before the courts, the earliest English law list, published in 1775, lists 165 members of the Bar, of whom 14 were Kings Counsel, a proportion of about 8. 5%. As of 2010 roughly the same proportion existed, though the number of barristers had increased to about 12,250 in independent practice, in 1839 the number of Queens Counsel was seventy. In 1882, the number of Queens Counsel was 187, the list of Queens Counsel in the Law List of 1897 gave the names of 238, of whom hardly one-third appeared to be in actual practice. In 1959, the number of practising Queens Counsel was 181, in each of the five years up to 1970, the number of practising Queens Counsel was 208,209,221,236 and 262, respectively. In each of the years 1973 to 1978, the number of practising Queens Counsel was 329,345,370,372,384 and 404, in 1989, the number of practising Queens Counsel was 601. In each of the years 1991 to 2000, the number of practising Queens Counsel was 736,760,797,845,891,925,974,1006,1043, the title traditionally depends on the sex of the sovereign. The current Queen, Elizabeth II has had a long reign and it can be assumed that, should the Queen die and the title pass to a descendant, the title will again become KC, as the next three in line to the throne are male heirs. Queens Counsel and serjeants were prohibited, at least from the century, from drafting pleadings alone
3.
Attorney General of Sri Lanka
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The Attorney General of Sri Lanka is the Sri Lankan governments chief legal adviser, and its primary lawyer in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. The Attorney General is usually a highly respected Senior Advocate, and is appointed by the ruling government, the current Attorney General is Jayantha Jayasuriya. The president does not have any power to make orders, mandatory or otherwise and he heads the Attorney Generals Department. The Attorney General is assisted by the Solicitor General of Sri Lanka, data based on, Amerasinghe, A. Ranjit B. The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, the first 185 years, Sarvodaya Chief Justice of Sri Lanka Solicitor General of Sri Lanka Official website Permanent Holders of the Office of Attorney General
4.
Burgher people
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Burgher people, also known simply as Burghers, are a Eurasian ethnic group in Sri Lanka descended from Portuguese, Dutch, British and other Europeans who settled in the island. Portuguese and Dutch had held the provinces of the island for centuries before the advent of the British Empire. With the establishment of Ceylon as a colony, most of those who retained close ties with the Netherlands departed. However, a significant community of Burghers remained and largely adopted the English language, during the nineteenth century they occupied a highly important place in Sri Lankan social and economic life. Most Burgher people have preserved Western customs, especially among those of Portuguese ancestry their European religion, language, in the census of 1981, the Burgher population of Sri Lanka was 39,374 persons, about 0. 2% of the total population. The highest concentration of Burghers is in Colombo and Gampaha, there are also significant communities in Trincomalee and Batticaloa, with an estimated population of 20,000. Burgher descendants are spread throughout the world, families with surnames such as Foenandes, Mirano and Van Dort are of Dutch ancestry. Because of this definition, Burghers almost always have European surnames, the Portuguese arrived in 1505 in what outsiders then called Ceylon. Since there were no women in the Portuguese navy, the Portuguese sailors married local Sinhalese and this practice was encouraged by the Portuguese. The Dutch first made contact and signed a agreement with the Kingdom of Kandy in 1602. From 1640 on the Dutch East India Company had an installed and conquered more and more fords from the Portuguese, until, in 1658. However, they permitted a few persons of Portuguese-Jewish descent. Many people having a Portuguese name were a result of forced conversions of people in order to work for the Portuguese. As a result, Burghers with Portuguese names are most likely to be of Sinhalese ancestry and those of a Portuguese-Jewish background can be traced in various forms or surmised from their surname. Most Burghers of Eurasian descent with Portuguese surnames are of Sinhalese and Dutch, British, German, Swedish, during the Dutch period, all Dutch colonial operations were overseen by the VOC. Virtually all Burghers from this period were employees of the VOC, the VOC employed not only Dutch nationals, but also enlisted men from the Southern Netherlands, the German states, Sweden, Denmark and Austria. It is therefore not unusual to find ancestors from these countries in many Dutch Burgher family trees, the term Burgher comes from the Dutch word burger, meaning citizen or town dweller, and is cognate with the French and English word bourgeois. At this time in Europe, there had emerged a middle class and these were the traders and businessmen, who lived in towns and were considered free citizens
5.
S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia
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S. Thomas College, Mount Lavinia is a selective entry boys private Anglican school providing primary and secondary education in Sri Lanka. It is considered to be one of the most prestigious schools in the country, S. Thomas’ College was founded by the first Bishop of Colombo, the Rt. It was his foremost vision to build a College & Cathedral for the new Diocese of Colombo of the Church of Ceylon, S. Thomas College dates back to 1851 when it was founded in Mutwal as the College of St. Thomas the Apostle, Colombo. Rev. James Chapman, the first Bishop of Colombo, started the school to train Christian clergy and to make good citizens under the discipline. An old boy of Eton College, Bishop Chapman founded the college on the Etonian model, in 1852 Bishop Chapman laid the foundation stone of the college chapel on a hill in the school grounds. The chapel became Christ Church Cathedral of the Colombo Diocese of the Church of Ceylon when it was dedicated on 21 September 1854. In 1918, the school moved away from the dusty environs of Mutwal, here, on 13 October 1923, the foundation stone for what would become The Chapel of the Transfiguration was laid by the Bishop of Colombo, Rt. Rev. Ernest Arthur Copleston, and the chapel was completed on 12 February 1927, Rev. Mark Carpenter-Garnier, Bishop of Colombo. In 1951, S. Thomas became a private fee-levying school, the College which is under the Anglican Church of Ceylon, is run by a Board of Governors which is chaired by the Anglican Bishop of Colombo, who is also known as the Visitor of the College. The administration of the College itself is headed by a warden, admission to the College is at the sole discretion of the warden. S. Thomas College, Bandarawela S. Thomas College, Gurutalawa S, there are 5 Houses at STC, four of which are day houses, for those who do not live in the Boarding House. It was in the time of Warden McPherson that a house system was introduced. In 1926, the day boys were divided first into 5 houses, namely Wood, Buck, Stone, De Saram, boys were allotted in them according to the location of their residences. Wood house consisted of boys from Ratmalana, further south and from Nugegoda, Stone and Buck housed children from Mount Lavinia, the former consisting of those whose surnames starts from A to M, while the latter of the rest. Baly housed boys who lived in Wellawatte and Bambalapitiya, children who were from Dehiwala, Slave Island & Fort were allotted in Jermyn House. This system was not found successful, the most prominent sports are those classified as the Royal-Thomian. These sports take precedence because of the given to the clash between S. Thomas oldest rival, the Royal College, Colombo. A cricket match between these colleges takes place in the first term of Lent every year, as the rains begin in Michaelmas Term, the rugby season has kicked off and the main encounter is the Royal-Thomian Rugby match. L
6.
Exeter College, Oxford
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Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth oldest college of the University. The college is located on Turl Street, where it was founded in 1314 by Devon-born Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter, as a school to educate clergymen. From its foundation Exeter was popular with the sons of the Devonshire gentry and has associated with a number of notable people. As of 2012, the college had a financial endowment of £48.7 million. During its first century, it was known as Stapeldon Hall and was significantly smaller, the college grew significantly from the 15th century onward, and began offering rooms to its students. The College motto is Floreat Exon, as a result, over time, Exeter College became one of the leading colleges in the University. In the 18th century the college experienced declining popularity, as did all of Oxfords other colleges, University reforms in the 1850s helped to end this period of stagnation. Until 1979 the college did not allow students, but in 1993 Exeter College became the first of the former all-male colleges to elect a woman, Marilyn Butler. When Butlers tenure expired in October 2004, the college elected another woman – Frances Cairncross, in 2014, the author J. K. Rowling was elected an honorary fellow of the college. Exeter College is the basis for the fictional Jordan College in Philip Pullmans novel trilogy His Dark Materials, the 2007 film version of the first novel, The Golden Compass, used the college for location filming. The Front Quadrangle sits on roughly the site of the college, although of the earliest buildings. The quadrangle is dominated by the chapel, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and constructed in 1854–60, on the opposite side stands the Hall, constructed in 1618, notable for its vaulted ceilings and numerous fine portraits, underneath which is the college bar. Building work over the century resulted in the quadrangle taking on its current appearance in 1710. The Front Quadrangle also houses the Junior, Middle and Senior Common Rooms, as well as lodgings for fellows, the Rectors Lodgings were designed by Gilbert Scott and constructed in 1864, with staircases nine, ten and eleven also being erected during the 19th century. A passageway from the Front Quadrangle leads through to the colleges Fellows Garden, in which stands the library, the area is also bounded on the left hand side by Convocation House, the Divinity School and the Bodleian Library, and on the right by Brasenose Lane. The Mound, situated at the end of the Garden, offers views over Radcliffe Square, including All Souls College, in 2007–08, the college purchased the main site of Ruskin College on nearby Walton Street for £7 million. It will be refurbished as a city centre quadrangle. As one of the smaller Oxford colleges, Exeter has a reputation for having a student body
7.
Sri Lanka Law College
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Sri Lanka Law College was established as the Ceylon Law College under the Council of Legal Education in 1874 in order to impart a formal legal education to those who wished to be lawyers in Ceylon. The institute is situated at Hulftsdorp Street in Colombo, the Main Building of the College, an impressive pieces of architecture, was constructed in the year 1911. This magnificent building remains a focal point of the Law College. In order to practice law in Sri Lanka a lawyer must be admitted and enrolled as an Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, to receive Admission to the bar a law student must complete law exams held by the Sri Lanka Law College. The Law College carries out several post attorney courses including an LLM from the University of Wales and post attorney diplomas in intellectual property law, since the late 1980s admission has been from a very competitive entrance exam due to the high number of applicants. However, young Members of Parliament without higher educational qualifications receive direct admission without setting for the entrance exam, the Law Students Union Of Sri Lanka The LAW STUDENTS UNION was founded in 1894 as the CEYLON LAW STUDENTS UNION. The first president of the Union was SIR PONNAMBALAM RAMANATHAN, KC, the first meeting was held on June 13,1894. With the implementation of the new Rules in 1937 a student was elected as president of the L. S. U, in 1970, the Rules were further amended to give the student community greater control over their own affairs. Since that time another amendment was made to Rules creating the posts of Social and Welfare Secretary, however, this amendment has not been put down in writing, and has been carried out by convention. The Rules were also translated into Sinhala by the LAW STUDENTS UNION OF1989 and 1991, in 1995 the Rules were amended which resulted in the name of the UNION changed to read as THE LAW STUDENTS UNION OF SRI LANKA. This amendment also created the law students sports fund, thus it was this Union that spearheaded the law students contribution to this movement. The Law Students Sinhala Union which was established was formalised and re-structured as an organised student union by Dr. C. For instance, two of the five Executive Presidents and Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe had their education and training at Sri Lanka Law College. President Junius Richard Jayewardene - First executive President of Sri Lanka, President Mahinda Rajapaksa - Former Executive President of Sri Lanka and Former Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. Hon. Ranil Wickramasinghe - Current Prime Minister, hon. Gamini Dissanayake - former cabinet minister, and a presidential candidate
8.
Advocate
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An advocate is a type of professional person in several different legal systems and it is also a commonly used honorific for remarkable lawyers, such as in Adv. The broad equivalent in many English law-based jurisdictions can be a barrister, Advocates, who formed the senior branch of the legal profession in their field, were Doctors of Law of the Oxford, Cambridge, or Dublin and Fellows of the Society of Doctors Commons. Advocates lost their rights of audience in probate and divorce cases when the Crown took these matters over from the church in 1857. The Society of Advocates was never formally wound up, but its building was sold off in 1865, barristers were admitted to the Court of Arches of the Church of England in 1867. More recently, Solicitor Advocates have also allowed to play this role. Advocates are the only lawyers with rights of audience in the courts of the Isle of Man, in court, advocates wear a horsehair wig, stiff collar, bands and a gown in the same way as barristers do elsewhere. It is then necessary to obtain a professional qualification such as the Bar Professional Training Course or the Legal Practice Course. It is not, however, necessary actually to be admitted as an English barrister or solicitor to train as an advocate. Foreign lawyers who have registered as legal practitioners in the Isle of Man for a certain period of time may also undertake a shorter period of training. The examinations are rigorous and candidates are limited to three attempts to pass each paper, the professional conduct of advocates is regulated by the Isle of Man Law Society, which also maintains a library for its members in Douglas. While advocates in the Isle of Man have not traditionally prefixed their names with Advocate in the Channel Islands manner, Advocates are regulated by the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh. The Faculty of Advocates has about 750 members, of whom about 460 are in private practice, the Faculty is headed by the Dean of the Faculty who, along with the Vice-Dean, Treasurer, Clerk are elected annually by secret ballot. The Faculty has a company, Faculty Services Ltd, to which almost all advocates belong. This gives a guarantee to all newly called advocates of a place and it remains the case that advocates are not permitted to sue for their fees, as they have no contractual relationship with their instructing solicitor or with the client. Advocates wear wigs, white bow-ties, straps and gowns as dress in court, the process of becoming an advocate is referred to as devilling. All Intrants will be Scottish solicitors, i. e, a devils competence in a number of aspects of written and oral advocacy is assessed during devilling, and if a devil is assessed as not competent, he or she will not be admitted to the Faculty. Further details of this process can be found in the assessment section, there are exceptions for lawyers who are qualified in other European jurisdictions, but all must take the training course as devils. Until 2007, a number of young European lawyers were given a placement with advocates under the European Young Lawyers Scheme organised by the British Council and they are known as Eurodevils, in distinction to the Scottish devils
9.
Ceylonese parliamentary election, 1947
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General elections were held in Ceylon from 23 August to 20 September 1947. This is considered the first national election held in Sri Lanka, although it took place before independence was actually granted, it was the first election under the Soulbury Constitution. Some of the figures who had led the independence struggle were found in the rightwing United National Party led by D. S. Senanayake. In opposition were the Trotskyist Lanka Sama Samaja Party and Bolshevik Leninist Party of India, the Communist Party of Ceylon, the Ceylon Indian Congress and an array of independents. Senanayakes UNP fell short of a majority, but was able to form a government in coalition with the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, Sri Lanka obtained full independence as a dominion in 1948. Result of Parliamentary General Election 1947, archived from the original on 2016-02-04. Chapter 11, On the threshold of freedom
10.
House of Representatives (Ceylon)
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The House of Representatives was the lower chamber of the parliament of Ceylon established in 1947 by the Soulbury Constitution. The House was housed in the old State Council building in Galle Face Green, Colombo, the First Republican Constitution of Sri Lanka, adopted on 22 May 1972, replaced the House of Representatives with the unicameral National State Assembly. The House of Representatives initially consisted of 101 members, of whom 95 were elected by the electors of the 89 electoral districts, the members were known as Members of Parliament. The six appointed members represented important interests which were not represented or inadequately represented in the House, the fourth amendment to the Soulbury Constitution increased the number of members to 157. The initial 89 electoral districts consisted of 84 single-member districts, four two-member districts, from March 1960 there were 145 electoral districts consisting of 140 single-member districts, four two-member districts and one three-member district. Alfred Francis Molamure Albert F. Peries H. S. Ismail T. B, the Official Website of the Government of Sri Lanka. Chapter 11, On the threshold of freedom
11.
Governor-General of Ceylon
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The monarch, on the advice of the Prime Minister, appointed a governor-general to be his/her representative in Ceylon. Neither the monarch nor the Governor-General had any authority in conducting the administration of the country. Real legislative and executive responsibilities rested with the representatives of the people. During several periods when a state of emergency was declared the Governor-General used his reserved powers, the governor-general represented the monarch on ceremonial occasions such as the opening of Parliament, the presentation of honours and military parades. When the Monarch was present in Ceylon on official visits, the post of Governor-General ceased to exist during the said period, on the absence of the governor-general, the Chief Justice of Ceylon became acting Governor-General. There were four governors-general who represented the Ceylonese monarch, Sir Henry Monck-Mason Moore became the last Governor of Ceylon and first governor-general when the Ceylon Order in Council, the first constitution of independent Ceylon came into effect. He was followed by Lord Soulbury, thereafter by Sir Oliver Goonetilleke the first Ceylonese to be appointed to the post, when William Gopallawa was appointed as Governor-General in 1962, he discarded the ceremonial uniform of office. When Ceylon became a republic in 1972 the post was replaced by the office of President of Sri Lanka, the official residence and office of the governor-general was the Queens House in Colombo. Other Governor-General residences include, the Queens Pavilion, in Kandy, was the used for state functions. Acting Governors-general Monarchy of Ceylon Governor of Ceylon President of Sri Lanka
12.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
13.
Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
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The Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the leader of the cabinet business in Sri Lanka. However, the President is both head of state and head of government in Sri Lanka, the post of Prime Minister of Ceylon was created in 1947 prior to independence from Britain and the formation of the Dominion of Ceylon in 1948. United National Party leader D. S. Senanayake became the first Prime Minister of Then Ceylon in 1947 after independence, in 1972 when Sri Lanka became a republic the name of the post changed to Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. With a Westminster-based political system established the Prime Minister was the head of government therefore held the most powerful office of the country at the time. This changed with a change in 1978, when the Executive Presidency was created. Until 1978 the Prime minister was also the Minister of Defence, the Prime Minister is appointed by the President as a member of the cabinet of ministers. In the event the post president is vacant, the Prime Minister becomes the president until Parliament convenes to elect a successor or new elections could be held to elect a new president. This was the case with H. E, united National Party leaders Dudley Senanayake and Ranil Wickramasinghe together with Sri Lanka Freedom Party leader Sirimavo Bandaranaike was appointed three times to the position. With passing of the 19th amendment to the constitution in 2015, the current Prime Minister of Sri Lanka is Ranil Wickremesinghe, he was appointed by President Maithripala Sirisena on 9 January 2015. This was the time that Wickramasinghe was appointed Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. The official residence of the minister is the Prime Ministers House most commonly referred to as Temple Trees. The Prime Ministers Office is located on Sir Ernest de Silva Mawatha in Colombo, President of Sri Lanka Prime Ministers Office Parliament of Sri Lanka - Handbook of Parliament, Prime Ministers
14.
D. S. Senanayake
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Don Stephen Senanayake, PC was the first Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. He emerged as the leader of the Sri Lankan independence movement that led to the establishment of self-rule in Sri Lanka and he served as Prime Minister from the formation of an independent nation in 1948 until he died in office in 1952. He is considered as the Father of the Nation and he was born in the village of Botale. He was the son of Mudaliyar Don Spater Senanayake and Dona Catherina Elizabeth Perera Gunasekera Senanayake and he had two brothers, Don Charles D. C. Senanayake and Fredric Richard F. R. Senanayake, and one sister, brought up in a devout Buddhist family, he entered the prestigious Anglican school S. Thomas College, Mutwal. After completing schooling, he worked as a clerk in the Surveyor Generals Department, the three Senanayake brothers were involved in the temperance movement formed in 1912. When World War I broke out in 1914 they joined the Colombo Town Guard, the brothers were imprisoned without charges during the 1915 riots and faced the prospect of execution since the British Governor Sir Robert Chalmers considered the temperance movement as seditious. Brutal suppression of the riots by the British initiated the independence movement led by the educated middle class. Don Stephen and Don Charles were prominent members of the political party Lanka Mahajana Sabha, Fredrick Richard and Don Charles were committed supporters of the Young Mens Buddhist Association. D. S. Senanayake played a role in the independence movement. In 1924 Senanayake was elected unopposed to the Legislative Council of Ceylon from Negombo, Fredrick Richard died on a pilgrimage to Buddha Gaya in 1925 and Don Stephen assumed his leadership of the independence movement. In 1931 he was elected to the newly formed State Council of Ceylon representing the Ceylon National Congress and he effectively combated Ceylons agricultural problems and established the Land Development Ordinance, an agricultural policy to counter Ceylons rice problems. This policy earned him respect, and he continued to be a minister for fifteen years and he also enforced a productivity programme of Agricultural Modernisation. At the onset of World War II in the far east, D. S. Senanayake, as Minister of Agriculture and Lands and a member of the Ceylon war cabinet took an active role in food supply and control. A close relationship developed between Senanayake and the deputy commissioner Dr Ivor Jennings, principal of the Ceylon University College, Jennings, an expert on constitutional law, subsequently became D. Ss adviser on constitutional reforms aimed at gaining independence for the island. In December 1942, Senanayake became the Leader of the House and Vice Chairman of the Board of Ministers in the State Council, upon the retirement of Sir Baron Jayatilaka, Minister of Home Affairs. On 26 May 1943, the British Government made the Whitehall Declaration of 1943 on Ceylon constitutional change and this bypassed the Governor, who called for a commission from the colonial office to halt the activities of the ministers. In 1944, the Soulbury Commission was formed, in 1945, following Labours win in the 1945 general election, he proceeded to London and met the newly appointed Secretary of State for the Colonies, George Hall
15.
Dudley Senanayake
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Dudley Shelton Senanayake,19 June 1911 –13 April 1973) was a Ceylonese politician, who became the second Prime Minister of Ceylon and went on to become Prime Minister two more times. Dudley received his education at the prestigious S. Thomas College. He became the Head Prefect, captained the team at cricket at the Royal-Thomian and gained colours in Hockey, Boxing. Senanayake then went on to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge to read for Natural Science Tripos, after returning to Ceylon, Dudley was elected a member of the State Council while his father was Minister of Agriculture and served as a back-bencher for 10 years. He succeeding his father as Minister of Agriculture in 1946 and held the post after Independence and he was still serving as agriculture minister when his father died unexpectedly. Four days later, on 26 March 1952, to the surprise of many and he called a general election, which the UNP won. The government became unpopular a year later, in 1953, when the price of rice was raised, though the UNP remained in power, Senanayake resigned as prime minister during the Hartal 1953 and left politics. He returned to politics in 1957 when the UNP lost elections and he became the leader of the opposition and help force early elections in 1965 by persuading 14 supporters of Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike to defect. Senanayake served his longest term as minister from March 1965 to May 1970. His government originally consisted of six other parties and included both Tamil and Sinhalese nationalists and his government has been credited with restoring the Sri Lankan economy. He and his allies were defeated in the 1970 elections and he remained active in politics until his death, which occurred after a long illness on 13 April 1973
16.
Leader of the Opposition (Sri Lanka)
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The Leader of the Opposition in Sri Lanka is the politician who leads the main opposition party. This is the leader of the largest party not within the government, the post of Leader of the Opposition is a political office common in countries that are part of the Commonwealth of Nations. R. Sampanthan is the current opposition leader, since 3 September 2015 Those who have served as President or Prime Minister are indicated in italics, Parliament of Sri Lanka - Handbook of Parliament, Leaders of the Opposition President of Sri Lanka Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
17.
N. M. Perera
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Nanayakkarapathirage Martin Perera, better known as Dr. N. M. Perera, was one of the leaders of the Sri Lankan Trotskyist Lanka Sama Samaja Party. He was the first Trotskyist to become a cabinet minister, Perera started his schooling in the vernacular section of St. Josephs School, Grandpass and was later was admitted to the English section. From there he was sent for one year to a Branch School of S. Thomas College, Mutwal, then known as Cathedral Boys School, in 1919 he entered St Thomas prep, but left in 1922 and joined Ananda College. At Ananda he played cricket for the school, there he was a student of the legendary Professor Harold Laski, being awarded a PhD for his thesis on the Constitution of the German Weimar Republic. A further comparative study, of the Constitutions of the UK, United States, France and Germany, at the time Perera was the only person in Sri Lanka to hold the degree of Doctor of Science. In 1935 Perera was one of the members of the LSSP. His opponent was Molamure Kumarihamy of the Meedeniya Walauwa, the manor which had tremendous power over the poor people of the Sabaragamuwa area at the time. He was to hold this seat, or its Yatiyantota portion on division and he was imprisoned in 1940 during World War II, but succeeded in escaping on 5 April 1942. He secretly went to India and worked with the Bolshevik-Leninist Party of India, Ceylon, but According to Encyclopedia of Marxism 1936–40, he was the LSSP delegate to Indian National Congress session,1937. Formed Ratmalana Railway Workers Union,1937, and All-Ceylon Estate Workers Union,1939, led militant strike at Mooloya Plantation, January 1940. Arrested June 1940, incarcerated at Wellikade Jail and Bogambara Prison, after the war, when the LSSP split, Perera was the leader of the faction that retained the party name. After the 1947 general election, he was elected Leader of the Opposition, on reunification with the Bolshevik Samasamaja Party, he remained with the LSSP when the Viplavakari Lanka Sama Samaja Party split off under Philip Gunawardena. Perera was elected Mayor of Colombo in 1954, the only non-United National Party-politician to take office after 1945. He was Mayor for two years, in 1956 he was elected Leader of the Opposition again, a post he held until 1960. He was Minister of Finance in the short lived Coalition government of 1964 –1965, in the general election of 1977, he lost his parliamentary seat for the first time, having won every single election for the Ruanwella constituency or for its successor, Yatiyantota. His funeral in 1979 was one of the largest ever seen in Sri Lanka, Perera was the president of the All Ceylon United Motor Workers Union, and the United Corporations and Mercantile Union the Ceylon Federation of Labour. He was appointed their chief negotiator by the workers during the 1946 general strike. An avid cricket fan, like many Commonwealth Trotskyists, he became Chairman of the Board of Control of Cricket in Sri Lanka, Dr. N. M. Pereras Policies and Achievements by Prof. B
18.
Central Province, Sri Lanka
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The Central Province is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the first level administrative division of the country. The Central Province is primarily in the mountainous terrain of Sri Lanka. It is the 6th largest province by area and is home to 2.5 million people and it is bordered by North Central Province to the north, Uva Province to the east, North Western Province to the west and Sabaragamuwa Province to the south and west. The cities of Matale and Nuwara Eliya are in the Central Province, the province is famous for its production of Ceylon tea, planted by the British in the 1860s after a devastating disease killed all the coffee plantations in the province. The Central Province attracts many tourists, with hill station towns such as Gampola, Hatton, the British then established a colonial headman ranking system in 1824, which came into effect in 1832. All headman positions were passed down to the newly elected governor-general of Central Province. This was established in 1929 as a way for the British to directly rule the provinces, the historic Matale town, Temple of the Tooth, Dambulla cave temple, Aluwihare temple and the Sigiriya rock are in the Central Province. The province has an area of 5,674 km² and a population of 2,421,148, major towns include Kandy, Matale, Dambulla, Gampola, Nuwara Eliya and Hatton. Knuckles Mountain Range, Adams Peak and Horton Plains are UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the Central Province, the climate is cool, and many areas above 1,500 metres often have chilly nights. The western slopes are very wet, some places have almost 7,000 mm of rain per year, the eastern slopes are parts of the mid-dry zone as it is receiving rain only from North-Eastern monsoon. The temperatures range from 24°C at Kandy to just 16°C in Nuwara Eliya, the highest mountains in Sri Lanka are in the Central Province. The terrain is mountainous, with deep valleys cutting into it. The two main regions are the central massif and the Knuckles range to the east of Kandy. The population is a mixture of Sinhalese, Tamil and the Moors, many tea plantation workers are Indian Tamils, brought over to Sri Lanka by the British in the 19th century. Central Province is divided into three districts and 36 divisional secretariats, the districts of the Sri Lanka are divided into administrative sub-units known as divisional secretariats. These were originally based on the counties, the korales. They were formerly known as D. R. O, Divisions after the Divisional Revenue Officer. Later the D. R. O. s became Assistant Government Agents, currently, the divisions are administered by a Divisional Secretary and are known as a D. S. Divisions
19.
M. D. Banda
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Mohottalage Dingiri Banda was a former Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament. He was the minister of Food, Commerce and Trade in 1960 & was also the minister of Agriculture and he was educated at St. Anthonys College, Kandy and Nalanda College Colombo. Politician par excellence – M. D. Banda, ministers who served the Co-operative sector from the inception of the Co-operative business in Sri Lanka. Department of Coorporative Development Sri Lanka, archived from the original on 4 May 2011
20.
George E. de Silva
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George Edmund de Silva was a Sri Lankan lawyer and politician. He was the first Cabinet Minister of Industries, Industrial Research and Fisheries in independent Sri Lanka and he started his career as a journalist in the Ceylon Independent and in The Times of Ceylon. Later he entered the Ceylon Law College and started a law practice in Kandy, in 1915 de Silva and E. W. De Silva entered politics after he was elected to the Kandy Municipal Council in 1930. In 1931 he was elected to the State Council from the Central Province, having been re-elected, he was appointed Minister of Health. In 1943 he was elected the President of the Ceylon National Congress, after Ceylon gained independence, de Silva was appointed to the D. S. Senanayakes cabinet as the first Minister for Industries and Fisheries. He is the father of Fredrick de Silva, MBE who was the Mayor of Kandy, Member of Parliament and his grandson is The Sir Desmond de Silva, former United Nations Chief War Crimes Prosecutor in Sierra Leone and former husband of Princess Katarina of Yugoslavia. George E. de Silvas daughter Minnette de Silva was the first Asian woman to qualify as an architect with the Royal Institute of British Architects and she worked on early experiments of tropical modernism in Sri Lanka. He is also grand-uncle to journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge
21.
T. B. Ilangaratne
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Tikiri Bandara Ilangaratne was a Sri Lankan politician, author, dramatist, and theater actor he was Member of Parliament for Kandy, Galaha, Hewaheta and Kolonnawa in Colombo district. He served as the Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister of Labour, Housing, Social Services, Finance, Commerce, Food, Trade and Shipping and he was the mastermind behind the Employees Provident Fund, Petroleum and insurance corporations and the Peoples Bank in Sri Lanka while in office. As a writer, Ilangaratne is best known for writing Amba Yahaluwo and his novels Tilaka Saha Tilaka, Lasanda and Nedeyo have been adapted into movies. Amba Yahaluwo was made into a television serial, Ilangaratne was born on February 27,1913 in Tumpane, Hataraliyadda, Waligodapola, Sri Lanka. He began attending school in 1917 at Galagedera Vidyalaya and received his education from St. Anthonys College. Ilangaratne wrote three plays while in school, after leaving school, Ilangaratne passed a London exam and started working as a clerical officer for the government. In 1941, he tried his hands at acting playing King Dhatusena in the play of the name by Gunasila Witanansa. On September 4,1944, Illangaratne married Tamara Kumari Aludeniya in Gampola, mrs. Ilangaratne was Ex Member of Parliament for Kandy and Galagedara. In 1947, Ilangaratne left his post as officer and ran successfully as an independent socialist candidate for the Kandy Parliament. He was sworn in on May 18,1948 beginning a long career in the Sri Lankan government. While in office, Ilangaratne helped create the Employees Provident Fund, the National Bank, in 1974 he served as acting prime minister. Ilangaratne retired from politics on April 12,1986. Anthony’s College, Kandy List of political families in Sri Lanka Methek Kathawa Divaina
22.
E. A. Nugawela
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Major E. A. Nugawela, CLI was a Sri Lankan politician. He was the first Cabinet Minister of Education in independent Sri Lanka, later Cabinet Minister of Health and he is noted for the educational reforms and expansion of the number of state schools during his tenure, continuing the work started by Dr C. W. W. Educated at Royal College, Colombo, he had served as a reservist officer in the Ceylon Light Infantry, ministry of Education, Sri Lanka The first cabinet of Ministers Sri Lanka 54th Independence Anniversary SRI LANKA, THE UNTOLD STORY
23.
Eastern Province, Sri Lanka
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The Eastern Province is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the first level administrative division of the country. The provinces have existed since the 19th century but did not have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils, between 1988 and 2006 the province was temporarily merged with the Northern Province to form the North Eastern Province. The capital of the province is Trincomalee, in 1815 the British gained control of the entire island of Ceylon. They divided the island into three ethnic based administrative structures, Low Country Sinhalese, Kandyan Sinhalese and Tamil, the Eastern Province was part of the Tamil administration. The districts of Batticaloa, Bintenna, Tamankaduva and Trincomalee formed the new Eastern Province, Tamankaduva was transferred to the newly created North Central Province in 1873 and Bintenna was transferred to the newly created Uva Province in 1886. The accord required a referendum to be held by 31 December 1988 in the Eastern Province to decide whether the merger should be permanent, crucially, the accord allowed the Sri Lankan president to postpone the referendum at his discretion. On 14 November 1987 the Sri Lankan Parliament passed the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka, on September 2 and 81988 President Jayewardene issued proclamations enabling the Northern and Eastern provinces to be one administrative unit administered by one elected Council. The proclamations were only meant to be a temporary measure until a referendum was held in the Eastern Province on a permanent merger between the two provinces, however, the referendum was never held and successive Sri Lankan presidents issued proclamations annually extending the life of the temporary entity. The merger was opposed by Sri Lankan nationalists. The combined North-East Province occupied one fourth of Sri Lanka, the thought of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam controlling this province, directly or indirectly, alarmed them greatly. On 16 October 2006 the Supreme Court ruled that the proclamations issued by President Jayewardene were null, the North-East Province was formally de-merged into the Northern and Eastern provinces on 1 January 2007. Much of the Eastern Province was under the control of rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam for many years during the civil war, the entire province was recaptured by the Sri Lankan military in 2007. After coming under Government control communities in the Eastern Province suffered from insecurity in the form of taxes, political killings. Many community members blamed Pro-Government Tamil groups such as the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal, in 2008 due to the indiscriminate firearm use by various Tamil factions government planned to disarm Tamil Paramilitary groups. However the TMVP kept arms due to threat of LTTE and denied they were active in Civilian areas, TMVP was finally disarmed in 2009 after the LTTE was defeated. There are currently 88 Nanasala ICT education centers in the Eastern Province, Eastern province has an area of 9,996 square kilometres. The province is surrounded by the Northern Province to the north, the Bay of Bengal to the east, the Southern Province to the south, the provinces coast is dominated by lagoons, the largest being Batticaloa Lagoon, Kokkilai lagoon, Upaar Lagoon and Ullackalie Lagoon. The Eastern Province is divided into 3 administrative districts,45 Divisional Secretarys Divisions and 1,085 Grama Niladhari Divisions, the Eastern provinces population was 1,551,381 in 2012
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