1.
Excellency
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Excellency is an honorific style given to certain members of an organisation or state. Generally people addressed as Excellency are heads of state, heads of government, governors, ambassadors, certain ecclesiastics, royalty, and others holding equivalent rank and the FIFA President. It is sometimes misinterpreted as a title of office in itself, in reference to such an official, it takes the form His or Her Excellency, in direct address, Your Excellency, or, less formally, simply Excellency. The abbreviation HE is often used instead of His/Her Excellency, alternatively it may stand for His/Her Eminence, in most republican nations, the head of state is formally addressed as His Excellency. If a republic has a head of government, that official is often addressed as Excellency as well. If the nation is a monarchy, however, the customs may vary, in the case of Australia, all ambassadors, high commissioners, governors and the governor-general and their spouses are entitled to the use of Excellency. Governors of colonies in the British Empire were entitled to be addressed as Excellency, in various international organizations, notably the UN and its agencies, Excellency is used as a generic form of address for all republican heads of state and heads of government. Judges of the International Court of Justice are also called Your Excellency, in some monarchies the husbands, wives, or children, of a royal prince or princess, who do not possess a princely title themselves, may be entitled to the style. For example, in Spain spouses or children of a born infante or infanta are addressed as Excellency, also, former members of a royal house or family, who did have a royal title but forfeited it, may be awarded the style afterwards. Examples are former husbands or wives of a prince or princess, including Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg. In some emirates, only the Emir, heir apparent and prime minister are called His Highness and their children are styled with the lower treatment of His/Her Excellency. In Spain members of the nobility, holding the dignity of grandee, are addressed as The Most Excellent Lord/Lady. Some of the high ranking counts, Excellency can also attach to a prestigious quality, notably in an order of knighthood. By a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Ceremonial of 31 December 1930 the Holy See granted bishops of the Roman Catholic Church the title of Most Reverend Excellency. In the years following the First World War, the title of Excellency. The adjective Most Reverend was intended to distinguish the title from that of Excellency given to civil officials. The instruction Ut sive sollicite of the Holy Sees Secretariat of State, dated 28 March 1969, cardinals, even those who were bishops, continued to use the title of Eminence. In some English-speaking countries, the honorific of Excellency does not apply to other than the nuncio
2.
Royal Victorian Order
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The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch of the Commonwealth realms, members of the monarchs family, the present monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, is the Sovereign of the order, its motto is Victoria, and its official day is 20 June. The orders chapel is the Savoy Chapel in London, the organisation was founded a year preceding Victorias Diamond Jubilee, so as to give the Queen time to complete a list of first inductees. The orders official day was made 20 June of each year, in 1902, King Edward VII created the Royal Victorian Chain as a personal decoration for royal personages and a few eminent British subjects and it was the highest class of the Royal Victorian Order. It is today distinct from the order, though it is issued by the chancery of the Royal Victorian Order. The order was open to foreigners from its inception, the Prefect of Alpes-Maritimes, Queen Elizabeth II then appointed her daughter, Anne, Princess Royal, to the position in 2007. Foreigners may be admitted as members, there are no limits to the number of any grade. Retiring Deans of the Royal Peculiars of St, prior to 1984, the grades of Lieutenant and Member were classified as Members and Members, respectively, but both with the post-nominals MVO. On 31 December of that year, Queen Elizabeth II declared that those in the grade of Member would henceforth be Lieutenants with the post-nominals LVO. Upon admission into the Royal Victorian Order, members are given various insignia of the organisation, each grade being represented by different emblems and robes. For Knights and Dames Grand Cross, Commanders, and Lieutenants, the orders ribbon is blue with red-white-red stripe edging, the only difference being that for foreigners appointed into the society, their ribbon bearing an additional central white stripe. For Knights Grand Cross, the ribbon is 82.5 millimetres wide, for Dames Grand Cross 57.1 millimetres, for Knights and Dames Commander 44.4 millimetres, and for all other members 31.7 millimetres. Though after the death of a Knight or Dame Grand Cross their insignia may be retained by their family, the collar must be returned. Knights and Dames Grand Cross also wear a mantle of blue satin edged with red satin and lined with white satin. Since 1938, the chapel of the Royal Victorian Order has been the Queens Chapel of the Savoy, in central London, upon the occupants death, the plate is retained, leaving the stalls festooned with a record of the orders Knights and Dames Grand Cross since 1938. There is insufficient space in the chapel for the display of knights and dames banners, founded by Michael Jackson, the group has, since 2008, gathered biennially. The practice of notifying the Prime Minister of Canada of nominees ended in 1982, in Canada, the order has come to be colloquially dubbed as the Royal Visit Order, as the majority of appointments are made by the sovereign during her tours of the country. Persons have been removed from the order at the monarchs command, anthony Blunt, a former surveyor of the Queens Pictures, was in 1979 stripped of his knighthood, after it was revealed that he had been a spy
3.
Order of the British Empire
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There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order. Recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire were at first made on the nomination of the United Kingdom, the self-governing Dominions of the Empire, nominations continue today from Commonwealth countries that participate in recommending British honours. Most members are citizens of the United Kingdom or the Commonwealth realms that use the Imperial system of honours and awards. Honorary knighthoods are appointed to citizens of nations where the Queen is not head of state, occasionally, honorary appointees are, incorrectly, referred to as Sir or Dame – Bill Gates or Bob Geldof, for example. In particular, King George V wished to create an Order to honour many thousands of those who had served in a variety of non-combatant roles during the First World War, when first established, the Order had only one division. However, in 1918, soon after its foundation, it was divided into Military. The Orders motto is For God and the Empire, at the foundation of the Order, the Medal of the Order of the British Empire was instituted, to serve as a lower award granting recipients affiliation but not membership. In 1922, this was renamed the British Empire Medal, in addition, the BEM is awarded by the Cook Islands and by some other Commonwealth nations. The British monarch is Sovereign of the Order, and appoints all members of the Order. The next most senior member is the Grand Master, of whom there have been three, Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales, Queen Mary, and the current Grand Master, the Duke of Edinburgh. The Order is limited to 300 Knights and Dames Grand Cross,845 Knights and Dames Commander, and 8,960 Commanders. There are no limits applied to the number of members of the fourth and fifth classes. Foreign recipients, as members, do not contribute to the numbers restricted to the Order as full members do. Though men can be knighted separately from an order of chivalry, women cannot, and so the rank of Knight/Dame Commander of the Order is the lowest rank of damehood, and second-lowest of knighthood. Because of this, Dame Commander is awarded in circumstances in which a man would be created a Knight Bachelor, for example, by convention, female judges of the High Court of Justice are created Dames Commander after appointment, while male judges become Knights Bachelor. The Order has six officials, the Prelate, the Dean, the Secretary, the Registrar, the King of Arms, the Bishop of London, a senior bishop in the Church of England, serves as the Orders Prelate. The Dean of St Pauls is ex officio the Dean of the Order, the Orders King of Arms is not a member of the College of Arms, as are many other heraldic officers. From time to time, individuals are appointed to a higher grade within the Order, thereby ceasing usage of the junior post-nominal letters
4.
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
5.
Elizabeth II
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Elizabeth II has been Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand since 6 February 1952. Elizabeth was born in London as the eldest child of the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and her father acceded to the throne on the abdication of his brother Edward VIII in 1936, from which time she was the heir presumptive. She began to undertake duties during the Second World War. Elizabeths many historic visits and meetings include a visit to the Republic of Ireland. She has seen major changes, such as devolution in the United Kingdom, Canadian patriation. She has reigned through various wars and conflicts involving many of her realms and she is the worlds oldest reigning monarch as well as Britains longest-lived. In October 2016, she became the longest currently reigning monarch, in 2017 she became the first British monarch to commemorate a Sapphire Jubilee. Elizabeth has occasionally faced republican sentiments and press criticism of the family, however, support for the monarchy remains high. Elizabeth was born at 02,40 on 21 April 1926, during the reign of her paternal grandfather and her father, Prince Albert, Duke of York, was the second son of the King. Her mother, Elizabeth, Duchess of York, was the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and she was delivered by Caesarean section at her maternal grandfathers London house,17 Bruton Street, Mayfair. Elizabeths only sibling, Princess Margaret, was born in 1930, the two princesses were educated at home under the supervision of their mother and their governess, Marion Crawford, who was casually known as Crawfie. Lessons concentrated on history, language, literature and music, Crawford published a biography of Elizabeth and Margarets childhood years entitled The Little Princesses in 1950, much to the dismay of the royal family. The book describes Elizabeths love of horses and dogs, her orderliness, others echoed such observations, Winston Churchill described Elizabeth when she was two as a character. She has an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant and her cousin Margaret Rhodes described her as a jolly little girl, but fundamentally sensible and well-behaved. During her grandfathers reign, Elizabeth was third in the line of succession to the throne, behind her uncle Edward, Prince of Wales, and her father, the Duke of York. Although her birth generated public interest, she was not expected to become queen, many people believed that he would marry and have children of his own. When her grandfather died in 1936 and her uncle succeeded as Edward VIII, she became second-in-line to the throne, later that year, Edward abdicated, after his proposed marriage to divorced socialite Wallis Simpson provoked a constitutional crisis. Consequently, Elizabeths father became king, and she became heir presumptive, if her parents had had a later son, she would have lost her position as first-in-line, as her brother would have been heir apparent and above her in the line of succession
6.
Herwald Ramsbotham, 1st Viscount Soulbury
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Herwald Ramsbotham, 1st Viscount Soulbury GCMG GCVO OBE MC PC DL was a British Conservative politician. He served as a government minister between 1931 and 1941 and served as Governor-General of Ceylon between the years 1949 and 1954, Ramsbotham was the son of Herwald Ramsbotham, of Crowborough Warren, and Ethel Margaret Bevan. Ramsbotham was commissioned a Temporary Lieutenant in 1915 and was promoted to temporary Captain later the same year and he was promoted to temporary Major by 1918 and received the Military Cross. He was appointed an OBE in 1919 and relinquished his commission that year, Ramsbotham was elected Member of Parliament for Lancaster in 1929. In September 1936 he was made Minister of Pensions by Baldwin and he continued in this office when Neville Chamberlain became Prime Minister in May 1937. In June 1939 he was appointed First Commissioner of Works and sworn of the Privy Council, Ramsbotham entered the cabinet in April 1940 as President of the Board of Education. He remained in office after Winston Churchill became Prime Minister in May 1940 but was succeeded by R. A. Butler in July 1941. In August he was raised to the peerage as Baron Soulbury, of Soulbury in the County of Buckingham, and made Chairman of the Assistance Board, Chairman of the Soulbury Commission 1944-45. Between 1949 and 1954 he served as Governor-General of Ceylon and he was appointed a GCMG in 1949 and a GCVO on 20 April 1954. On 10 June of that year, he was honoured when he was created Viscount Soulbury. He went to Uppingham School, Uppingham, Rutland, England, Lord Soulbury died in January 1971 at the age of 83. He was succeeded in the viscountcy by his elder son James Herwald Ramsbotham and his younger son Sir Peter Ramsbotham notably served as British Ambassador to the United States from 1974 to 1977. Captain Herwald Ramsbotham, MC 1917-1919, Temp, Major Herwald Ramsbotham, MC1919, Temp. Major Herwald Ramsbotham, OBE, MC 1920-1929, Major Herwald Ramsbotham, OBE, MC 1929-1939, Major Herwald Ramsbotham, OBE, MC, MP 1939-1941, hon. Herwald Ramsbotham, PC, OBE, MC, MP 1941-1944, Major The Rt. Hon. the Lord Soulbury, PC, OBE, MC 1944-1949, hon. the Lord Soulbury, PC, OBE, MC, DL 1949-1952, Major His Excellency The Rt. Hon. the Lord Soulbury, PC, GCMG, OBE, MC, DL, Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of Ceylon 1952-20 April 1954, Major His Excellency The Rt. Hon. the Lord Soulbury, PC, GCMG, OBE, MC, KStJ, DL, Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of Ceylon 20 April-16 July 1954, Major His Excellency The Rt. Hon. the Lord Soulbury, PC, GCMG, GCVO, OBE, MC, KStJ, DL, Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of Ceylon 16–17 July 1954, Major His Excellency The Rt
7.
William Gopallawa
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Until 1972, Ceylon was a Commonwealth realm with Queen Elizabeth II as the head of state and Queen of Ceylon. He was well known as an austere, nonpartisan and statesmanlike figure who commanded the respect of all political parties and he represented an era where politics was conducted with a dignified aura and he had a reputation as being a man of integrity and humility. He served as Governor-General during the tenure of different governments headed by Sirimavo Bandaranaike of SLFP and he upheld the law and the constitution to the letter and won respect and admiration of all political parties. William Gopallawa was born on 17 September 1896 at the Dullewe Maha Walauwa and he is related to Dullewe Dissava, a signatory on behalf of the Sinhalese to the Kandiyan Convention of 1815, by his mother Tikiri Kumarihamy Dullewe. His father, Tikiri Bandara Gopallawa died when he was three years old and he received his primary education at the Dullewe village school and at St. Johns College, Kandy. He continued his education at Dharmaraja College, Kandy where he was a Scout and later moved to St. Anthonys College. In 1920 William joined the Ceylon Law College, Colombo and was enrolled as a Proctor and he was in active practice in Matale, Dumbara and Kandy from 1924 until he took up duties as Municipal Commissioner, Kandy in 1939. In 1926 Gopallawa contested and won in the Matale Urban Council Elections and he served as the chairman of the Matale Urban Council for 5 years, at his office he was the youngest Urban Council Chairman in Ceylon at that time. In 1936 Gopallawa unsuccessfully contested for the Matale seat at the State Council Elections in 1936, in 1939 the Kandy Municipal Council was established and Gopallawa was appointed as the first Municipal Commissioner of Kandy. He served in that capacity throughout World War II and acquitted himself for efficiency during the floods in 1950. In 1951 he was appointment as Municipal Commissioner of Colombo Municipal Council, on 18 June 1958 when S. W. R. D. Bandaranaikes government started diplomatic relations with Peoples Republic of China Gopallawa was posted as the second Ambassador to China in 1960. On 7 September 1961, while he was serving in China, he was recalled and posted as the Ambassador to the United States, he served there until 1962. He was the second Ceylonese Governor-General and the first Buddhist to hold the post as the representative of Queen Elizabeth II who was the Head of State, Gopallawa served in this capacity until 1972. It averted a crisis of leadership. When Ceylon became the Republic of Sri Lanka on 2 March 1972 and he was the first to establish a spartan Buddhist Shrine room at the Queens House. Gopallawa married Seelawathie Rambukwella Gopallawa, they had 5 children and he was survived by 4 children out of 5. One died early on while he was working in Matale. His eldest daughter Chandrika Iranganie married Dr. Mackie Ratwatte, the private secretary, from the Vidyodaya in 1962. com Methek Kathawa Divaina
8.
Minister of Finance (Sri Lanka)
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The Minister of Finance is an appointment in the Cabinet of Sri Lanka. The post was created in 1947 with the Ceylon gaining independence, the post has always been held by a senior member of the ruling party and in the recent years by the President with a deputy minister. The post has been known as Minister of Finance & Planning, ministry of Finance and Planning List of Ministers and Deputy Ministers Government of Sri Lanka Official Website Treasury of Sri Lanka
9.
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
10.
J. R. Jayewardene
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He was a leader of the nationalist movement in Ceylon who served in a variety of cabinet positions in the decades following independence. His younger brothers included Dr Hector Wilfred Jayewardene, QC and Dr Rolly Jayewardene and his uncles were the Colonel Theodore Jayewarden, Justice Valentine Jayewardene and the Press Baron D. R. Wijewardena. Raised by a English nanny, he received his education at Bishops College, Colombo and attended Royal College. At Royal College he played for the cricket team, debuting in the Royal-Thomian series in 1925. He would later serve as the Secretary of the Royal College Union, Jayewardene entered the University College, Colombo, in 1926 to read English, Latin, Logic and Economics, he attained a distinguished academic record and showed a keen interest in sports. In 1928 he transferred law by entering Colombo Law College and passed out as an advocate, starting his practice in the unofficial bar, Jayewardene converted from Christianity to Buddhism in his youth. Jayewardene did not practice law for long, in 1938 he became an activist in the Ceylon National Congress, which provided the organizational platform for Ceylons nationalist movement. He became its Joint Secretary in 1940 and he was elected to the colonial legislature, the State Council in 1943 by winning the Kelaniya by-election. During World War II, Jayewardene, along with other nationalists, contacted the Japanese, after joining the United National Party on its formation in 1946, he became Finance Minister in the island’s first Cabinet in 1947. He played a role in re-admitting Japan to the world community at the San Francisco Conference. Jayewardenes acute intelligence and subtle, often aggressive political skills earned him leading roles in government, in 1951 Jayewardene was a member of the committee to select a National Anthem for Sri Lanka headed by Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne. The following year he was elected as the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in Ceylon, as the youngest Finance Minister, in D. S. Senanayakes government, Jayewardene struggled to balance the budget, faced with mounting government expenditures, particularly for rice subsidies. His 1953 proposal to cut the subsidies - on which many people depended on for survival - provoked fierce opposition and the 1953 Hartal campaign. By the late 1950s, the UNP struggled to deal with the force of the Sinhala-nationalist Sri Lanka Freedom Party. Jayewardene pushed the party to accommodate nationalism and endorse the Sinhala Only Act, throughout the 1960s Jayewardene clashed over this issue with party leader Dudley Senanayake. Jayewardene saw how skilfully the SLFP had played the ethnic card and he was determined to place this industry on a solid foundation providing it a conceptional base and institutional support. The new Minister Hon. J. R and this was the beginning of a new industry ignored by the previous governments but given a new life by Minister J. R. Jayewardene. In the general election of 1970 the UNP suffered a major defeat, once again elected to parliament J. R. Jayewardene took over as opposition leader and de facto leader of the UNP due to the ill health of Dudley Senanayake
11.
John Kotelawala
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General Sir John Lionel Kotelawala CH KBE KStJ PC was a Sri Lankan soldier and politician, most notable for serving as the 3rd Prime Minister of Ceylon from 1953 to 1956. Sir John Kotelawala was born into a family, his father John Kotelawala Snr was an Inspector in the Ceylon Police Force. Following accusations of murder John Kotelawala Snr committed suicide when his son was 11, following this their family was ruined, Alice Kotelawala who was originally a Buddhist converted to Christianity after this. Through careful management of their holdings and plumbago mines she made her family prosperous. For her social work she was awarded a CBE and he had a younger brother Justin Kotalawela and a sister Freda, who married C. V. S. Young Kotelawala attended Royal College, Colombo, but had to leave after he became involved in activities during the riots in 1915. Thereafter he embarked on a trip to Europe after leaving school and he remained in Europe for five years, spending most of that time in England and France and attended Christs College, Cambridge University to study agriculture. Kotelawala was known as an aggressive and outspoken man who loved sports, horseback riding and cricket and, particularly as a young man and he was fluent in Sinhala, English and French. After returning to Ceylon, he took up managing his family estates and mines. He married Effie Manthri Dias Bandaranaike and later divorced, Effie Bandaranaike was the niece of Don Stephen Senanayake the first prime minister of Sri Lanka. They together had one daughter Lakshmi Kotelawala, Kotelawala briefly served with the mounted section of the Colombo Town Guard without enlisting, since he was under age at the time. He went on to serve 23 years mostly as a reservist since the Ceylon Defence Force was a unit of the British Army. In 1939 he became the officer of the Ceylon Light Infantry and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1940. With the start of World War II he became a member of the Ceylons War Cabinet and was made a Colonel in 1942, a strong supporter of the military, he was the first Chairman of the Ceylon Light Infantry Association in 1974. He was promoted to the rank of general on his deathbed and he bequeathed his home and estate Kandawala to the government to establish a national defence academy. As early as 1915 Kotelawala had become involved with leaders such as Don Stephen Senanayake and his brother F. R. Senanayake. They criticized many of the actions of the British colonial officials and he entered mainstream politics by being elected to the Legislative Council as the member of Kurunegala. Thereafter he entered the State Council as a backbencher and was re-elected in 1936, in his second term he was appointed Minister of Communications and Works and later as the Minister of Agriculture
12.
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
13.
Edwin Wijeyeratne
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Sir Edwin Aloysius Perera Wijeyeratne, KBE was a Sri Lankan politician, diplomat, and one of the founding members of United National Party. He was a Senator and Cabinet Minister of Home Affairs and Rural Development in the government of D. S. Senanayake, Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne of Buddenipola Walauwa, Kegalle was born on 8 January 1889 in Rambukkana, Sri Lanka. He was the eldest son of Gabrial Perera Wijeyeratne, a notary public. The family hailed from the city of Kotte and his mother, Catherina Wickremasinghe Jayasekera Tennekoon, was the daughter of Jayasekera Tennekoon, a wealthy notary from the Four Korales in Kegalle. The family had come to Kegalle early in the 16th century, fleeing the Portuguese, and continued to intermarry with the Walauwes of Kotte, Madapatha, Wijeyeratne was first educated at the village school in Rambukkana. When nine years old, he went to Handessa Village School in Gampola and he was there for two years, after which he studied at St. Marys College, Kegalle. He completed his education at St Josephs College, Colombo where he passed the Cambridge Senior exam with Honours. He won 15 prizes at the last school prize giving he attended, after leaving school he became a teacher at Lorenz Tutory while working as a journalist. He served under one of the greatest editors Ceylon had hitherto, Armand de Souza, Wijeyeratne subsequently successfully entered Law College and became a lawyer in 1929. Edwin Wijeyeratne quickly built up a legal practice. He was an expert in Civil and Kandyan Law, and in Buddhist Ecclesiastical Law and he entered the State Council in 1931 from Kegalle, where he served until 1936. He did not stand for re-election at the State Council in 1936, however, during his days in journalism, Wijeyeratne became political secretary to Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan and was one of the co-founders of a political group, the Young Lanka League. He was a live wire in Ceylons struggle for freedom. When the Ceylon National Congress was founded by Sir P Arunachalam and Sir James Peiris, Wijeyeratne was one of their colleagues and a co-founder. During British colonial rule, when the Lord Soulbury commissioners were on their way to Kandy, DS Senanayake had stationed Wijeyeratne bare bodied, in a paddy field in Kegalle. There, he was introduced to the commissioners as a typical Sinhala farmer, a special invitation was then sent to Ceylon by Jawaharlal Nehru and the Indian Congress to visit India for a discussion regarding the independence of Ceylon. Wijeyeratne, DS Senanayake, George E De Silva, JR Jayawardene, Sir Claude Corea, Wijeyeratne was appointed President of the Ceylon National Congress on 21 December 1940. His Joint Secretaries were Dudley Senanayake and JR Jayawardene, during this period he was chosen to lead the Ceylon National Congress delegation to London
14.
Trincomalee
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Trincomalee also known as Gokanna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee District and major resort port city of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. With a population of 99,135, the city is built on a peninsula of the same name, people from Trincomalee are known as Trincomalians and the local authority is Trincomalee Urban Council. Trincomalee is also the site of the Trincomalee railway station and an ancient ferry service to Jaffna, the recorded history of Trincomalee spans more than two and a half thousand years, beginning with civilian settlement associated with the Koneswaram temple in the pre-modern era. One of the oldest cities in Asia, it has served as a major seaport in the international trading history of the island with South East Asia. The citys architecture shows some of the best examples of interaction between native and European styles and it is home to major naval and air force bases at the Trincomalee Garrison. The city also has the largest Dutch fort on the island and its sacred status to the Hindus has led to the city being declared Dakshina-Then Kailasam or Mount Kailash of the South and the Rome of the Pagans of the Orient. The harbour is renowned for its size and security, unlike any other in the Indian Ocean. Popular tourist destinations include its beaches at Uppuveli, Salli and Nilaveli, used for visits, surfing, scuba diving, fishing and whale watching. Trincomalee is served by a campus of the Eastern University, Sri Lanka and has been the inspiration of both domestic and international poetry, films, music and literature for many centuries, the city has developed from a village settlement on the promontory dedicated to the Hindu shrine. Kona has other meanings in Old Tamil such as peak, while another origin for the term Koneswaram could come from the Tamil term Kuna, therefore, other translators suggest definitions of Trincomalee such as sacred angular/peaked hill, sacred eastern hill or three peaked hill. The temple was constructed atop Swami Rock, also called Swami Malai or Kona-ma-malai, the Trincomalee Harbour, a circular natural harbour which the temple crowns towards the north, is referred to as Ko-Kannam or Lords Cheek, alluding to the cheek shape of Shivas bull Nandi. The Sanskrit equivalent of the towns harbour bay is Go-Karna, meaning Cows Ear or Gokarna Pattana. Pathmanathan offers the etymological link Thiru-Gokarna-Malai or Thiru-Gona-Malai based on this connection, the bay is also referred to as Gokaranna according to a Sanskrit inscription in Grantha script excavated on a doorjamb at the Hindu temple dated to Tamil New Years Day 1223 CE. Gokarna is also a name in Karnataka, India, Kalinga, Tamil Nadu. The associated Bhadrakali Amman Temple of Trincomalee, significantly expanded by Rajendra Chola I, both men were ardent disciples of Nandi. Trincomalee which is a natural harbour has attracted seafarers, trader and pilgrims from Europe, Middle East, Africa, China. Trinco, as it is called, has been a seaport. The earliest epigraphical inscriptions found in Trincomalee city are in the Tamil language, the Tamil settlement at the port of Trincomalee was one of the oldest settlements on the island
15.
Geography of Sri Lanka
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Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia near south-east India. Sri Lanka has maritime borders with India to the northwest and the Maldives to the southwest, Sri Lankas documented history spans 3,000 years, with evidence of pre-historic human settlements dating back to at least 125,000 years. Its geographic location and deep harbours made it of strategic importance from the time of the ancient Silk Road through to World War II. Sri Lanka was known from the beginning of British colonial rule until 1972 as Ceylon, Sri Lankas recent history has been marred by a thirty-year civil war which decisively ended when the Sri Lankan military defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009. A diverse and multicultural country, Sri Lanka is home to many religions, ethnic groups, in addition to the majority Sinhalese, it is home to large groups of Sri Lankan and Indian Tamils, Moors, Burghers, Malays, Kaffirs and the aboriginal Vedda. Sri Lanka has a rich Buddhist heritage, and the first known Buddhist writings of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka is a republic and a unitary state governed by a semi-presidential system. The legislative capital, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, is a suburb of the capital and largest city. Along with the Maldives, Sri Lanka is one of the two countries in South Asia that are rated among high human development on the Human Development Index. In antiquity, Sri Lanka was known to travellers by a variety of names, according to the Mahavamsa, the legendary Prince Vijaya named the land Tambapanni, because his followers hands were reddened by the red soil of the area. In Hindu mythology, such as the Mahabharata, the island was referred to as Lankā, in Tamil, the island is referred to as Eelam. Ancient Greek geographers called it Taprobanā or Taprobanē from the word Tambapanni, as a British crown colony, the island was known as Ceylon, it achieved independence as the Dominion of Ceylon in 1948. The country is known in Sinhalese as Śrī Laṃkā and in Tamil as Ilaṅkai, in 1972, its formal name was changed to Free, Sovereign and Independent Republic of Sri Lanka. Later in 1978 it was changed to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, as the name Ceylon still appears in the names of a number of organisations, the Sri Lankan government announced in 2011 a plan to rename all those over which it has authority. The pre-history of Sri Lanka goes back 125,000 years, the era spans the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and early Iron Ages. Among the Paleolithic human settlements discovered in Sri Lanka, Pahiyangala and it is said that Kubera was overthrown by his demon stepbrother Ravana, the powerful emperor who built a mythical flying machine named Dandu Monara. The modern city of Wariyapola is described as Ravanas airport, early inhabitants of Sri Lanka were probably ancestors of the Vedda people, an indigenous people numbering approximately 2,500 living in modern-day Sri Lanka. According to the Mahāvamsa, a written in Pāḷi, the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka are the Yakshas and Nagas. Ancient cemeteries that were used before 600BC and other signs of advanced civilization has also discovered in Sri Lanka
16.
Colombo
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Colombo is the commercial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo metropolitan area has a population of 5.6 million and it is the financial centre of the island and a popular tourist destination. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Colombo is often referred to as the capital since Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is within the urban area of, and a satellite city of, Colombo. It is also the capital of Western Province, Sri Lanka. Colombo is a busy and vibrant place with a mixture of life and colonial buildings. It was the capital of Sri Lanka until 1982. Due to its harbour and its strategic position along the East-West sea trade routes. It was made the capital of the island when Sri Lanka was ceded to the British Empire in 1815, in 1978, when administrative functions were moved to Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Colombo was designated as the commercial capital of Sri Lanka. The main city is home to a majority of Sri Lankas corporate offices, restaurants, the name Colombo, first introduced by the Portuguese in 1505, is believed to be derived from the classical Sinhalese name කොලොන් තොට Kolon thota, meaning port on the river Kelani. Another belief is that the name is derived from the Sinhalese name කොල-අඹ-තොට Kola-amba-thota which means Harbour with leafy mango trees, the author of the oldest Sinhalese grammar, Sidatsangarava, written in the 13th century wrote about a category of words that exclusively belonged to early Sinhalese. It lists naramba and kolamba as belonging to an indigenous source, kolamba may also be the source of the name of the commercial capital Colombo. As Colombo possesses a harbour, it was known to Indian, Greeks, Persians, Romans, Arabs. Traveller Ibn Batuta who visited the island in the 14th century and their descendants now comprise the local Sri Lankan Moor community. Portuguese explorers led by Dom Lourenço de Almeida first arrived in Sri Lanka in 1505, as part of the treaty, the Portuguese were given full authority over the coastline in exchange for the promise of guarding the coast against invaders. They were allowed to establish a trading post in Colombo, within a short time, however, they expelled the Muslim inhabitants of Colombo and began to build a fort in 1517. Following the fall of the kingdom in 1593, the Portuguese were able to complete control over the coastal area. This part of Colombo is still known as Fort and houses the presidential palace, the area immediately outside Fort is known as Pettah and is a commercial hub. In 1638 the Dutch signed a treaty with King Rajasinha II of Kandy which assured the king assistance in his war against the Portuguese in exchange for a monopoly of the major trade goods
17.
Sri Lanka
–
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia near south-east India. Sri Lanka has maritime borders with India to the northwest and the Maldives to the southwest, Sri Lankas documented history spans 3,000 years, with evidence of pre-historic human settlements dating back to at least 125,000 years. Its geographic location and deep harbours made it of strategic importance from the time of the ancient Silk Road through to World War II. Sri Lanka was known from the beginning of British colonial rule until 1972 as Ceylon, Sri Lankas recent history has been marred by a thirty-year civil war which decisively ended when the Sri Lankan military defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009. A diverse and multicultural country, Sri Lanka is home to many religions, ethnic groups, in addition to the majority Sinhalese, it is home to large groups of Sri Lankan and Indian Tamils, Moors, Burghers, Malays, Kaffirs and the aboriginal Vedda. Sri Lanka has a rich Buddhist heritage, and the first known Buddhist writings of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka is a republic and a unitary state governed by a semi-presidential system. The legislative capital, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, is a suburb of the capital and largest city. Along with the Maldives, Sri Lanka is one of the two countries in South Asia that are rated among high human development on the Human Development Index. In antiquity, Sri Lanka was known to travellers by a variety of names, according to the Mahavamsa, the legendary Prince Vijaya named the land Tambapanni, because his followers hands were reddened by the red soil of the area. In Hindu mythology, such as the Mahabharata, the island was referred to as Lankā, in Tamil, the island is referred to as Eelam. Ancient Greek geographers called it Taprobanā or Taprobanē from the word Tambapanni, as a British crown colony, the island was known as Ceylon, it achieved independence as the Dominion of Ceylon in 1948. The country is known in Sinhalese as Śrī Laṃkā and in Tamil as Ilaṅkai, in 1972, its formal name was changed to Free, Sovereign and Independent Republic of Sri Lanka. Later in 1978 it was changed to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, as the name Ceylon still appears in the names of a number of organisations, the Sri Lankan government announced in 2011 a plan to rename all those over which it has authority. The pre-history of Sri Lanka goes back 125,000 years, the era spans the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and early Iron Ages. Among the Paleolithic human settlements discovered in Sri Lanka, Pahiyangala and it is said that Kubera was overthrown by his demon stepbrother Ravana, the powerful emperor who built a mythical flying machine named Dandu Monara. The modern city of Wariyapola is described as Ravanas airport, early inhabitants of Sri Lanka were probably ancestors of the Vedda people, an indigenous people numbering approximately 2,500 living in modern-day Sri Lanka. According to the Mahāvamsa, a written in Pāḷi, the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka are the Yakshas and Nagas. Ancient cemeteries that were used before 600BC and other signs of advanced civilization has also discovered in Sri Lanka
18.
Civil service
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A civil servant or public servant is a person so employed in the public sector employed for a government department or agency. The extent of civil servants of a state as part of the service varies from country to country. In the United Kingdom, for instance, only Crown employees are referred to as civil servants whereas county or city employees are not, many consider the study of service to be a part of the field of public administration. Workers in non-departmental public bodies may also be classed as servants for the purpose of statistics and possibly for their terms. Collectively a states civil servants form its service or public service. An international civil servant or international staff member is an employee who is employed by an intergovernmental organization. These international civil servants do not resort under any national legislation but are governed by internal staff regulations, All disputes related to international civil service are brought before special tribunals created by these international organizations such as, for instance, the Administrative Tribunal of the ILO. Specific referral can be made to the International Civil Service Commission of the United Nations and its mandate is to regulate and coordinate the conditions of service of staff in the United Nations common system, while promoting and maintaining high standards in the international civil service. The origin of the modern civil service can be traced back to Imperial examination founded in Imperial China. The Imperial exam based on merit was designed to select the best administrative officials for the states bureaucracy and this system had a huge influence on both society and culture in Imperial China and was directly responsible for the creation of a class of scholar-bureaucrats irrespective of their family pedigree. In the areas of administration, especially the military, appointments were based solely on merit, after the fall of the Han Dynasty, the Chinese bureaucracy regressed into a semi-merit system known as the Nine-rank system. This system was reversed during the short-lived Sui Dynasty, which initiated a civil service bureaucracy recruited through written examinations, the first civil service examination system was established by Emperor Wen of Sui. The examination tested the candidates memorization of the Nine Classics of Confucianism and his ability to compose poetry using fixed and traditional forms, the system was finally abolished by the Qing government in 1905 as part of the New Policies reform package. The Chinese system was admired by European commentators from the 16th century onward. In the 18th century, in response to changes and the growth of the British Empire, the bureaucracy of institutions such as the Office of Works. Each had its own system, but in general, staff were appointed through patronage or outright purchase, by the 19th century, it became increasingly clear that these arrangements were falling short. The origins of the British civil service are better known, during the eighteenth century a number of Englishmen wrote in praise of the Chinese examination system, some of them going so far as to urge the adoption for England of something similar. The first concrete step in this direction was taken by the British East India Company in 1806, in that year, the Honourable East India Company established a college, the East India Company College, near London to train and examine administrators of the Companys territories in India
19.
Sinhala language
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Sinhalese, known natively as Sinhala, is the native language of the Sinhalese people, who make up the largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka, numbering about 16 million. Sinhalese is also spoken as a language by other ethnic groups in Sri Lanka. It belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages, Sinhalese has its own writing system, the Sinhalese alphabet, which is one of the Brahmic scripts, a descendant of the ancient Indian Brahmi script closely related to the Kadamba alphabet. Sinhalese is one of the official and national languages of Sri Lanka, Sinhalese, along with Pali, played a major role in the development of Theravada Buddhist literature. The closest relative of Sinhalese is the language of the Maldives and Minicoy Island, Sinhala is a Sanskrit term, the corresponding Middle Indo-Aryan word is Sīhala. The name is a derivation from siṃha, the Sanskrit word for lion Siṃhāla is attested as a Sanskrit name of the island of in the Bhagavata Purana, the name is sometimes glossed as abode of lions, and attributed to a supposed former abundance of lions on the island. According to the chronicle Mahavamsa, written in Pali, Prince Vijaya, in the following centuries, there was substantial immigration from Eastern India which led to an admixture of features of Eastern Prakrits. An example of an Eastern feature is the ending -e for masculine nominative singular in Sinhalese Prakrit. There are several cases of vocabulary doublets, e. g. the words mässā and mäkkā, some of the differences can be explained by the substrate influence of the parent stock of the Vedda language. Sinhalese has many words that are found in Sinhalese, or shared between Sinhalese and Vedda and not etymologically derivable from Middle or Old Indo-Aryan. Common examples are kola for leaf in Sinhala and Vedda, dola for pig in Vedda, Other common words are rera for wild duck, and gala for stones. The author of the oldest Sinhalese grammar, Sidatsangarava, written in the 13th century CE, the grammar lists naramba and kolamba as belonging to an indigenous source. Kolamba is the source of the name of the commercial capital Colombo, however, formal Sinhalese is more similar to Pali and medieval Sinhalese. g. I do not know whether it is new, as a result of centuries of colonial rule, modern Sinhalese contains some Portuguese, Dutch and English loanwords. It is now spoken by a few families in Macau and in the Macanese diaspora, Sinhalese shares many features common to other Indo-European languages. For native speakers all dialects are mutually intelligible, and they might not even realise that the differences are significant, the language of the Vedda people resembles Sinhala to a great extent, although it has a large number of words which cannot be traced to another language. The Rodiya use another dialect of Sinhalese, Rodiya used to be a caste in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka no longer recognizes castes, in Sinhalese there is distinctive diglossia, as in many languages of South Asia
20.
Sri Lanka Post
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The Department of Posts, functioning under the brand name Sri Lanka Post, is a government operated postal system in Sri Lanka. The postal headquarters is the General Post Office which is located in Colombo, the department itself comes under the purview of the Ministry of Telecommunications and Posts. It was formally known as the Ceylon Post and Telecommunications Department and is one of the oldest Government departments in existence today, the head of the Sri Lanka Post is the Postmaster General, currently D. L. P. Rohana Abeyrathna. Assisting in administration there is a deputy Postmaster General in every province, Sri Lanka Post employs more than 17,000 employees in various positions to staff and support the 4738 post offices across the country. Sri Lanka Post has a history of 209 years, dating back to 1798. In 1799, they published the first postal regulations and postage rates, the Dutch East India Company operated the Postal service, which was not meant for the public but for official use. The British took control of the country in 1815, the first Postmaster General of Ceylon was A. Kennedy, an Army Officer. However, there were other Post Master Generals since 1815, when E. Bletterman was the PMG for the whole island, mr. Lewis Sansoni succeeded Bletterman as the second Postmaster General in 1817. The third Postmaster General was Major G. Stewart, who extended the services to major towns in the country. They re-organised the postal service and others established a permanent Post Office in Colombo in 1882. The first adhesive stamps were issued on 1 April 1857, seventeen years after Britain had introduced the adhesive stamp to the world. The first stamps in local denominations of rupees and cents were issued on 1 February 1892, the General Post Office was housed in different places in Colombo. By 1895 it acquired its own building, opposite the Governor Generals residence - the Queenss House on Queens Street, during the disturbances in the country, the GPO was moved out of its former building and into the present Postal Headquarters. The new building, consisting of 9 floors of facilities, is the center of operations. The Postal Museum, too, is housed in this building, over the years, different modes of transport have been used for the transportation and delivery of mail. In a bygone era, delivery was first by foot, then bicycles were added, Sri Lanka Post was the first to inaugurate a mail coach service in Asia. The mail coach service began operations in 1832, between Colombo and Kandy and this was extended between Galle and Colombo in 1838. The year 1892 saw the first Travelling Post Office doing its run between Colombo and Peradeniya, a suburb of Kandy, bedford vans made in England were used, even during the 70s
21.
Postmaster
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A postmaster is the head of an individual post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization, in the United States, women have served as postmasters since the Revolutionary War and even earlier, under British rule. In Canada, many places are named after the first postmaster. In the days of horse-drawn carriages, a postmaster was an individual from whom horses and/or riders could be hired, the postmaster would reside in a post house. In the United States, many postmasters are members of a management organization which consults with the United States Postal Service for compensation, the level of pay is based on deliveries and revenue of the post office. Levels are from EAS18 through 26, smaller remotely managed post offices no longer have Postmasters and report to a nearby larger office. Larger metropolitan post offices are PCES
22.
Wesley College, Colombo
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Wesley College, Colombo, popularly known as Wesley or The Double Blues is a leading private school providing primary and secondary education in Sri Lanka. Wesley College is a Methodist educational institution, in 1858, Rev. Joseph Rippon wanted to establish a superior educational institution for the Wesleyan Methodist Mission in South Ceylon. On 2 March 1874 Wesley College was founded in the City Mission Buildings at Dam Street, Pettah, wesley’s first Principal was Rev. Samuel R. Wilkin and the first Vice-Principal was Rev. D. Henry Pereira. Many years later, under the hand of Rev. Henry Highfield, Wesley was moved from Dam Street, Pettah to its current residence at Karlsruhe Gardens. Wesley College has since established two branches to accommodate its growing number of students, one branch is situated in Havelock Town, Colombo while the other is in Thampola, Katunayake. Wesley College is named after John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, Rev. Daniel Henry Pereira is considered to be the founder of Wesley College. The following is an excerpt from the 125th Anniversary Souvenir and was penned by Shelton Peiris and it certainly was no place for a school but in spite of the many difficulties, no doubt inspired by the Lord, this man kept his grace. Rev. Daniel Henry Pereira, born 1826 was the eldest son of the Rev, don Daniel Pereira who started life as a young school master and taught in a school built by the Rev. Benjamin Clough. On joining the Ministry he followed deep evangelistic trends and he was called The Apostle of Kurana. Rev. Daniel Henry Pereira had a brother, who was Rev. Peter Bartholomeusz Pereira. Daniel Henry was quick to absorb the life pattern of these ophidian reptiles, in fact, in later years, he had edited a catalogue in Sinhala and had contributed to journals. He submitted papers to the Ceylon Friend, an associated with the Wesleyian Church. His contribution to many journals gave rise to research. He was also an authority on ants in Ceylon and he had great hopes of being a Scientist but in response to his dying mothers wish, he entered the Ministry, in 1851. In addition to his knowledge of reptiles, ants, snails and slugs as a nature scientist he was proficient in English, Sinhala. His fluency and masterly use of these languages kept this congregations spellbound and he had also a knowledge of Hebrew and Greek. He had a brilliant mind displaying itself in the clarity of expression, certainly he would have been on par with the Western Missionaries of evangelistic fervour. He was a pupil of the famed Oriental Scholar, the Rev, don John Gogerley who was in charge of the Institute of Colombo which was an early Divinity School
23.
Bachelor of Arts
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A Bachelor of Arts is a bachelors degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both. Bachelor of Arts degree programs take three to four years depending on the country, academic institution, and specific specializations, majors or minors. The word baccalaureus or baccalarium should not be confused with baccalaureatus, degree diplomas generally are printed on high-quality paper or parchment, individual institutions set the preferred abbreviation for their degrees. In Pakistan, the Bachelor of Arts degree can also be attained within two years as an external degree, in colleges and universities in Australia, New Zealand, Nepal and South Africa, the BA degree can be taken over three years of full-time study. Unlike in other countries, students do not receive a grade for their Bachelor of Arts degree with varying levels of honours. Qualified students may be admitted, after they have achieved their Bachelors program with an overall grade point average. Thus, to achieve a Bachelor Honours degree, a postgraduate year. A student who holds a Honours degree is eligible for entry to either a Doctorate or a very high research Master´s degree program. Education in Canada is controlled by the Provinces and can be different depending on the province in Canada. Canadian universities typically offer a 3-year Bachelor of Arts degrees, in many universities and colleges, Bachelor of Arts degrees are differentiated either as Bachelors of Arts or as honours Bachelor of Arts degree. The honours degrees are designated with the abbreviation in brackets of. It should not be confused with the consecutive Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours, Latin Baccalaureatus in Artibus Cum Honore, BA hon. de jure without brackets and with a dot. It is a degree, which is considered to be the equivalent of a corresponding maîtrise degree under the French influenced system. Going back in history, a three-year Bachelor of Arts degree was called a pass degree or general degree. Students may be required to undertake a long high-quality research empirical thesis combined with a selection of courses from the relevant field of studies. The consecutive B. cum Honore degree is essential if students ultimate goal is to study towards a two- or three-year very high research masters´ degree qualification. A student holding a Baccalaureatus Cum Honore degree also may choose to complete a Doctor of Philosophy program without the requirement to first complete a masters degree, over the years, in some universities certain Baccalaureatus cum Honore programs have been changed to corresponding master´s degrees. In general, in all four countries, the B. A. degree is the standard required for entry into a masters programme, in science, a BA hons degree is generally a prerequisite for entrance to a Ph. D program or a very-high-research-activity master´s programme
24.
University of London
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The University of London is a collegiate research university located in London, England, consisting of 18 constituent colleges, nine research institutes and a number of central bodies. The university moved to a structure in 1900. The specialist colleges of the university include the London Business School, Imperial College London was formerly a member before leaving the university in 2007. City is the most recent constituent college, having joined on 1 September 2016, in post-nominals, the University of London is commonly abbreviated as Lond. or, more rarely, Londin. From the Latin Universitas Londiniensis, after its degree abbreviations, University College London was founded under the name London University in 1826 as a secular alternative to the religious universities of Oxford and Cambridge. In response to the controversy surrounding such educational establishment, Kings College London was founded and was the first to be granted a royal charter. Yet to receive a charter, UCL in 1834 renewed its application for a royal charter as a university. In response to this, opposition to exclusive rights grew among the London medical schools, the idea of a general degree awarding body for the schools was discussed in the medical press. And in evidence taken by the Select Committee on Medical Education, in 1835, the government announced the response to UCLs petition for a charter. Following the issuing of its charter on 28 November 1836, the university started drawing up regulations for degrees in March 1837. The death of William IV in June, however, resulted in a problem – the charter had been granted during our Royal will and pleasure, queen Victoria issued a second charter on 5 December 1837, reincorporating the university. The university awarded its first degrees in 1839, all to students from UCL, the university established by the charters of 1836 and 1837 was essentially an examining board with the right to award degrees in arts, laws and medicine. However, the university did not have the authority to grant degrees in theology, in medicine, the university was given the right to determine which medical schools provided sufficient medical training. Beyond the right to students for examination, there was no other connection between the affiliated colleges and the university. In 1849 the university held its first graduation ceremony at Somerset House following a petition to the senate from the graduates, about 250 students graduated at this ceremony. The London academic robes of this period were distinguished by their rich velvet facings, the list of affiliated colleges grew by 1858 to include over 50 institutions, including all other British universities. In that year, a new charter effectively abolished the affiliated colleges system by opening up the examinations to everyone whether they attended a college or not. The expanded role meant the university needed more space, particularly with the number of students at the provincial university colleges
25.
University of London International Programmes
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The University of London International Programmes is a division of the University of London which manages external study programmes. The System offers courses of study for undergraduate and postgraduate diplomas, a designated constituent institution of the University of London, called the lead college, creates materials to allow students to study at their own pace. Examinations take place at testing centres around the world on specified dates, hallmarks of the programme are its low cost in comparison to attendance in London, and the possibility of pursuing either full-time or part-time study. As stated in the University of London Statutes, International Programmes students are graded on the standard as internal students to ensure a uniform credentialing process. A student who completes a course of study under the programme is awarded a University of London degree with a notation specifying which lead college provided the instruction. The institution that became known as University College London was established in 1828, calling itself London University. The issue soon boiled down to which institutions had degree-granting powers, as Sheldon Rothblatt states, thus arose in nearly archetypal form the famous English distinction between teaching and examining, here embodied in separate institutions. Several current degree-awarding universities started as colleges presenting candidates for University of London degrees, the soldiers were sent study materials by mail, and at specified intervals sat for proctored exams in the camps. Almost 11,000 exams were taken at 88 camps between 1940 and 1945, though the failure rate was high, substantial numbers of soldiers earned degrees while imprisoned. With the advent of inexpensive airmail services after the war, the number of students taking University of London courses increased dramatically. According to relevant Regulations, until 2000 University of London external students could pursue research leading to the award of MPhil or PhD albeit the completion rate had been rather low, the University of London International Programmes commemorated its 150th anniversary in 2008. A specially commissioned anniversary book was produced to mark the occasion, the system offers courses of study for undergraduate and postgraduate diplomas and degrees to more than 50,000 students around the world. A designated constituent institution of the University of London, called the lead college, examinations take place at testing centres around the world on specified dates. Hallmarks of the programme are its low cost in comparison to attendance in London, as stated in the University of London Statutes, International Programmes students are graded on the same standard as internal students to ensure a uniform credentialing process. A student who completes a course of study under the program is awarded a University of London degree with a notation specifying which lead college provided the instruction, Students enrolled in the University of London International Programmes are members of the University of London. International Programmes Students however, have very limited student representation within the University, there are also differences over the status International Programmes Students have with respect to their lead college. Some institutions co-register their International Programmes Students as college members, in addition to their status as University of London member, however, other colleges deny International Programmes Students membership status and privileges when they are present in London. Academics at the University of London are responsible for the direction of the International Programmes
26.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
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Civil defense
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Civil defense, civil defence or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state from military attacks and natural disasters. It uses the principles of operations, prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, or emergency evacuation. Programs of this sort were initially discussed at least as early as the 1920s and were implemented in some countries during the 1930s as the threat of war and it became widespread after the threat of nuclear weapons was realized. Since the end of the Cold War, the focus of civil defense has largely shifted from military attack to emergencies, in some countries, civil defense is seen as a key part of total defense. For example, in Sweden, the Swedish word totalförsvar refers to the commitment of a range of resources of the nation to its defense - including to civil protection. Respectively, some countries may have or have had military-organized civil defense units as part of their armed forces or as a paramilitary service, the advent of civil defence was stimulated by the experience of the bombing of civilian areas during the First World War. The bombing of the United Kingdom began on 19 January 1915 when German zeppelins dropped bombs on the Great Yarmouth area, German bombing operations of the First World War were surprisingly effective, especially after the Gotha bombers surpassed the zeppelins. The most devastating raids inflicted 121 casualties for each ton of bombs dropped, the Committee produced figures estimating that in London there would be 9,000 casualties in the first two days and then a continuing rate of 17,500 casualties a week. It was believed there would be total chaos and panic. To control the population harsh measures were proposed, bringing London under almost military control, a different government department proposed setting up camps for refugees for a few days before sending them back to London. A special government department, the Civil Defence Service, was established by the Home Office in 1935 and its remit included the pre-existing ARP as well as wardens, firemen, fire watchers, rescue, first aid post, stretcher party and industry. Over 1.9 million people served within the CD, nearly 2,400 lost their lives to enemy action, the organisation of civil defence was the responsibility of the local authority. Volunteers were ascribed to different units depending on experience or training, each local civil defence service was divided into several sections. Wardens were responsible for reconnaissance and reporting, and leadership, organisation, guidance. Wardens would also advise survivors of the locations of rest and food centres, Rescue Parties were required to assess and then access bombed-out buildings and retrieve injured or dead people. In addition they would turn off gas, electricity and water supplies, medical services, including First Aid Parties, provided on the spot medical assistance. The expected stream of information that would be generated during an attack was handled by Report, a local headquarters would have an ARP controller who would direct rescue, first aid and decontamination teams to the scenes of reported bombing. If local services were deemed insufficient to deal with the incident then the controller could request assistance from surrounding boroughs
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Imperial Japanese Navy
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The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 until 1945, when it was dissolved following Japans defeat and surrender in World War II. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force was formed after the dissolution of the IJN, the Japanese Navy was the third largest navy in the world by 1920, behind the Royal Navy and the United States Navy. It was supported by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service for aircraft and it was the primary opponent of the Western Allies in the Pacific War. This eventually led to the Meiji Restoration, accompanying the re-ascendance of the Emperor came a period of frantic modernization and industrialization. Following the attempts at Mongol invasions of Japan by Kubilai Khan in 1274 and 1281, Japan undertook major naval building efforts in the 16th century, during the Warring States period, when feudal rulers vying for supremacy built vast coastal navies of several hundred ships. Around that time Japan may have developed one of the first ironclad warships when Oda Nobunaga, in 1588 Toyotomi Hideyoshi issued a ban on Wakō piracy, the pirates then became vassals of Hideyoshi, and comprised the naval force used in the Japanese invasion of Korea. Japan built her first large ocean-going warships in the beginning of the 17th century, from 1604 the Bakufu also commissioned about 350 Red seal ships, usually armed and incorporating some Western technologies, mainly for Southeast Asian trade. For more than 200 years, beginning in the 1640s, the Japanese policy of seclusion forbade contacts with the outside world and prohibited the construction of ocean-going ships on pain of death. Contacts were maintained, however, with the Dutch through the port of Nagasaki, the Chinese also through Nagasaki and the Ryukyus and Korea through intermediaries with Tsushima. Apart from Dutch trade ships no other Western vessels were allowed to enter Japanese ports, an exception was during the Napoleonic wars. However frictions with foreign ships started from the beginning of the 19th century, the Nagasaki Harbour Incident involving the HMS Phaeton in 1808 and other subsequent incidents in the following decades led to the Shogunate to enact an edict to repel foreign vessels. Western ships which were increasing their presence around Japan due to whaling, the shogunate also began to strengthen the nations coastal defenses. Numerous attempts to open Japan ended in failure in part to Japanese resistance, during 1853 and 1854, American warships under the command of Commodore Matthew Perry entered Edo Bay and made demonstrations of force requesting trade negotiations. After two hundred years of seclusion the 1854 Convention of Kanagawa led to the opening of Japan to international trade and this was soon followed by the 1858 Treaty of Amity and Commerce and treaties with other powers. In 1855, with Dutch assistance, the Shogunate acquired its first steam warship, Kankō Maru, samurai such as the future Admiral Enomoto Takeaki were sent by the Shogunate to study in the Netherlands for several years. In 1859 the Naval Training Center relocated to Tsukiji in Tokyo, in 1857 the Shogunate acquired its first screw-driven steam warship Kanrin Maru and used it as an escort for the 1860 Japanese delegation to the United States. In 1865 the French naval engineer Léonce Verny was hired to build Japans first modern naval arsenals, at Yokosuka, in 1867–1868 a British Naval mission headed by Commander Richard Tracey went to Japan to assist the development of the Japanese Navy and to organize the naval school of Tsukiji. The Shogunate also allowed and then ordered various domains to purchase warships and to develop naval fleets, Satsuma, a naval center had been set up by the Satsuma domain in Kagoshima, students were sent abroad for training and a number of ships were acquired
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Indian Ocean raid
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The Indian Ocean raid was a naval sortie by the fast carrier strike force of the Imperial Japanese Navy from 31 March to 10 April 1942 against Allied shipping and bases in the Indian Ocean. It was an engagement of the Pacific campaign of World War II. The island of Ceylon was strategically important, since it commanded the Indian Ocean, thus it controlled access to India, the vital Allied shipping routes to the Middle East and the oilfields of the Persian Gulf. Ceylon held most of the British Empires resources of rubber, an important harbour and naval base, Trincomalee, was located on the island’s eastern coast. Japanese propaganda had an effect on some of the Sinhalese population, the Japanese force, commanded by Admiral Chūichi Nagumo, had six carriers, Akagi, Ryūjō, Hiryū, Sōryū, Shōkaku, and Zuikaku. This powerful force left Staring Bay, Celebes on 26 March 1942, somerville also deployed a small number of submarines. The heavy cruiser HMS Cornwall was sent to Ceylon to meet a convoy along with Dorsetshire. The first Japanese raids were against shipping in the Bay of Bengal by the carrier Ryūjō, five more were sunk by submarines off Indias west coast. On the evening of 4 April, the Japanese fleet was detected 400 mi south of Ceylon by a Catalina flying boat flown by Squadron Leader Leonard Birchall of 413 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force. The location of the fleet was transmitted before the Catalina was shot down by an A6M2 Zero fighter from Hiryū. On 5 April 1942, the Japanese struck with a force of 125 aircraft, made up of 36 Aichi D3A2 dive bombers and 53 Nakajima B5N2 torpedo bombers, with 36 Zero fighters as escort. The aircraft, under the command of Commander Mitsuo Fuchida of Akagi—who had led the attack on Pearl Harbor—made landfall near Galle, the planes flew up the coast for half an hour in full view from land, but the RAF was not informed at Ratmalana. RAF aircraft were on the ground as the Japanese flew overhead, the Japanese attacked the naval base at Colombo, Ceylon, sinking the armed merchant cruiser HMS Hector and the old destroyer HMS Tenedos in the harbour. Eighteen Japanese planes were lost to heavy anti-aircraft fire, the Japanese only admitted to five losses, three of them over land — as only three destroyed planes were discovered on land. The RAF lost at least 27 aircraft, Japanese search planes located Cornwall and Dorsetshire — commanded by Captain Augustus Agar—200 mi southwest of Ceylon where they were proceeding at high speed to rejoin Somervilles command. A second attack wave sank the ships, killing 424 men, somerville continued to probe for the IJN carriers on the night of 5 April 1942 failing to find the IJN ships. The RNs only opportunity to launch a strike against enemy aircraft carriers faded away, on 6 April heavy cruisers Kumano and Suzuya with destroyer Shirakumo sank the British merchant ships Silksworth, Autolycus, Malda and Shinkuang and the American ship Exmoor. Also on 6 April, the Indian sloop HMIS Indus was sunk by air attack off the coast of Burma, on 9 April, the Japanese attacked the harbour at Trincomalee at 07,00
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Japan
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Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
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War cabinet
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A war cabinet is a committee formed by a government in a time of war. It is usually a subset of the executive cabinet of ministers. It is also common for a war cabinet to have senior military officers. During the First World War, lengthy cabinet discussions came to be seen as a source of vacillation in Britains war effort. In December 1916 it was proposed that the Prime Minister H. H. Asquith should delegate decision-making to a small, Asquith initially agreed before changing his mind after being infuriated by an article in The Times which portrayed the proposed change as a defeat for him. The political crisis grew from this point until Asquith was forced to resign as Prime Minister, among others, the Foreign Secretary, Arthur Balfour, was never a member of the war cabinet, nor were the service ministers Lord Derby and Sir Edward Carson. From the spring of 1917, the Imperial War Cabinet was formed and it had representation from the Dominions. On 3 September 1939, Neville Chamberlain announced his War Cabinet, unlike Lloyd Georges War Cabinet, the members of this one were also heads of Government Departments. In January 1940, after disagreements with the Chiefs of Staff, Hore-Belisha resigned from the National Government and he was succeeded by Oliver Stanley. It was originally the practice for the Chiefs of Staff to attend all discussions of the Chamberlain War Cabinet. Churchill became uneasy with this, as he felt that when they attended they did not confine their comments to purely military issues, to overcome this, a Military Coordination Committee was set up, consisting of the three Service ministers normally chaired by Lord Chatfield. This together with the Service chiefs would co-ordinate the strategic ideas of top hats and brass, unfortunately, except when chaired by the Prime Minister, the Military Co-ordinating Committee lacked sufficient authority to override a Minister fighting his corner. When Churchill took over from Chatfield, whilst continuing to represent the Admiralty, this introduced additional problems, Chamberlain announced a further change in arrangements in the Norway debate, but this was overtaken by events, the Churchill War Cabinet being run on rather different principles. Even so, there were a number of ministers who, though they were not members of the war cabinet, were Constant Attenders, as the War Cabinet considered issues that pertained to a given branch of the service or government due input was obtained from the respective body. The War Cabinet would undergo a number of changes in composition over the five years. The Full Cabinet approved the formation of the War Cabinet on 26 September 1939 and it held its last meeting in Canberra on 19 January 1946. In response to the 11 September 2001 attacks, United States President George W. Bush created a War Cabinet and they met at Camp David on the weekend of 15 September to shape what became the War on Terrorism. The membership was mostly, but not entirely, identical to that of the United States National Security Council, the Cabinet comprised President – George W. Kennedys EXCOMM had some characteristics of a War Cabinet
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Ivor Jennings
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Sir William Ivor Jennings, KBE, QC was a British lawyer and academic. He was a prominent educator who served as the Vice Chancellor of University of Cambridge, sir Ivor was educated at Queen Elizabeths Hospital, Bristol, at Bristol Grammar School, and at St Catharines College, Cambridge. Jennings joined the University of Leeds as a Lecturer in Law in 1925, the following year he joined the London School of Economics as Lecturer in Law. Jennings was sent to Ceylon by the British Government in 1942, as the Principal of the University College, Colombo with a mandate to create a university for that land, during World War II he served as the Deputy Civil Defense Commissioner. He was knighted in 1948, made a Queens Counsel in 1949, in 1955, Jennings received an honorary doctorate by vote of the senate of the University of Ceylon to recognize his work in creating and building the institution. A hall of residence at the University of Peradeniya is named in his honour, in the same year he returned to Britain to take up the post of Master of Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He subsequently served a term as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, Jennings was an authority on constitutional law and is author of a definitive book on the workings of the then British constitution. He advised D. S. Senanayake in drafting the Constitution of Ceylon to form the Dominion of Ceylon and he was a member of the Reid Commission from June 1956 to 1957, which was responsible for drafting the Constitution of the Federation of Malaya
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University of Ceylon
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The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka, the University of Ceylon Act No.1 of 1972, replaced it with the University of Sri Lanka which existed from 1973 to 1978. In 1978 it was separated into four independent universities and these are the University of Colombo, the University of Peradeniya, Vidyodaya University and the University of Kelaniya. Agitation for the provision of education in the island and for the establishment of a University began by the mid 19th century. Owing to the persistent demands of the Association the government decided in 1913 to set up a University College affiliated to the University of London. The Ceylon University College was formally declared open in January 1921 in the building that was originally the building of Royal College located on Thurstan Road opposite College House. From its inception, the University College was regarded as only a step, a half-way house. The University of Ceylon was established on 1 July 1942 by the Ceylon University Ordinance No.20 of 1942 by amalgamating the Ceylon Medical College, the first official announcement of the creation of a separate University in Colombo was made in Parliament in the Throne Speech of 1967. The University of Ceylon Act No.1 of 1972, which replaced the Higher Education Act of 1966 altered the complexion of the hitherto familiar University structure. The four independent autonomous universities which had set up by then. Its headquarters designated Senate House was located in Colombo and this arrangement did not last very long. With the promulgation of the Universities Act, the First Years of the University of Ceylon University of Colombo University of Peradeniya University of Sri Jayewardenepura
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Senate of Ceylon
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The Senate was the upper chamber of the parliament of Ceylon established in 1947 by the Soulbury Commission. The Senate was appointed/indirectly elected rather than directly elected, the Senate was housed in the old Legislative Council building in Colombo Fort and met for the first time on 12 November 1947. The Senate was abolished on 2 October 1971 by the amendment to the Soulbury Constitution. In 2010 there were proposals to reintroduce the Senate, with the recommendations of the Soulbury Commission, the Senate of Ceylon was established in 1947 as the upper house of Parliament of Ceylon. The Senate was modelled on the House of Lords in the United Kingdom and it was a thirty-member Senate where the members where appointed rather than elected. One of its aims was to act as a revising chamber by scrutinizing or amending bills. This was intended to act as a barrier to prevent the government in power trying to rush through important legislations without giving adequate time to consider such legislations. The Senate had also been dominated by the United National Party since its creation, the bills second reading was passed by the House of Representatives on 21 May 1971. The Senate met for the last time on 28 September 1971, the Ceylon Amendment Act, No.36 of 1971 received Royal Assent on 2 October 1971, becoming the eighth amendment to the Soulbury Constitution. The Senate was abolished in 1971 after nearly 24 years of existence, a unicameral parliamentary system was introduced with the adaptation of the Republican Constitution of Sri Lanka in 1972. Recently there have been consideration into the reintroduction of a senate into the Parliament of Sri Lanka, the United Peoples Freedom Alliance Government, led by Mahinda Rajapaksa, is exploring possibilities to change the existing parliamentary system significantly. Therefore, the proposed Senate will have a total of 65 Members,28 Sinhalese, the Senate was intended to act as a revising chamber, scrutinizing and amending bills which had been passed by the House of Representatives. The model for the Senates role was the House of Lords in the United Kingdom, all Parliamentary Bills other than Money Bills could originate in the Senate. The Senate couldnt reject or amend or delay beyond one month a Money Bill, if any other Bill, that had been passed twice by the House of Representatives, is rejected by the Senate twice it was deemed to have been passed by both chambers. The Senate consisted of 30 members,15 member were elected by the lower chamber, the House of Representatives, using the proportional representation system, each MP having a single transferable vote. The other 15 members were appointed by the Governor-General of Ceylon on advice of the Prime Minister, the Senators were known as Elected Senators and Appointed Senators respectively. The minimum age for membership of the Senate was 35 and members of the House of Representatives werent allowed to be members of the Senate, at least two government ministers had to be Senators. No more than two Senators could be Parliamentary Secretaries, the normal term of office of a Senator was six years
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Ministry of Agriculture (Sri Lanka)
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The Ministry of Agriculture is the central government ministry of Sri Lanka responsible for agriculture. The ministry is responsible for formulating and implementing national policy on home affairs, the current Minister of Agriculture and State Minister of Agriculture are Duminda Dissanayake and Wasantha Aluvihare respectively. The Minister of Agriculture is a member of the Cabinet of Sri Lanka
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Governor-general
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Governor-General or governor general, in modern usage, is the title of an office-holder appointed to represent the monarch of a sovereign state in the governing of an independent realm. Governors-General have also previously been appointed in respect of major colonial states or other territories held by either a monarchy or republic, in modern usage, the term governor-general originated in those British colonies which became self-governing within the British Empire. In these cases, the Crowns representative in the federated Dominion was given the title of governor general. Another non-federal state, Newfoundland, was a Dominion for 16 years with the Kings representative retaining the title of governor throughout this time, since 2016, the title governor-general has been given to all representatives of the sovereign in independent Commonwealth realms. In these countries the governor-general acts as the representative, performing the ceremonial and constitutional functions of a head of state. The only other nation which uses the designation is Iran. In Iran, the authority is headed by a governor general. As such they held the prerogative powers of the monarch. The monarch or imperial government could overrule any governor-general, though this could often be cumbersome, the governors-general are entitled to wear a unique uniform, which are not generally worn today. If of the rank of general, equivalent or above. The report resulting from the 1926 Imperial Conference stated, in other words, the political reality of a self-governing Dominion within the British Empire with a governor-general answerable to the sovereign became clear. British interference in the Dominion was not acceptable and independent country status was clearly displayed, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand were clearly not controlled by the United Kingdom. The governor-general, however, is appointed by the monarch. Executive authority is vested in the monarch, though much of it can be exercisable only by the governor-general on behalf of the sovereign of the independent realm. Except in rare cases, the only acts in accordance with constitutional convention and upon the advice of the national prime minister. The governor-general is still the representative of the sovereign and performs the same duties as they carried out historically. In some realms, the monarch could in principle overrule a governor-general, in Australia the present Queen is generally assumed to be head of state, since the governor-general and the state governors are defined as her representatives. However, since the governor-general performs almost all national regal functions, to a lesser extent, uncertainty has been expressed in Canada as to which officeholder—the monarch, the governor general, or both—can be considered the head of state
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Colonel
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Colonel is a senior military officer rank below the general officer ranks. However, in small military forces, such as those of Iceland or the Vatican. It is also used in police forces and paramilitary organizations. Historically, in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of a regiment in an army, the rank of colonel is typically above the rank of lieutenant colonel. The rank above colonel is typically called brigadier, brigade general or brigadier general, equivalent naval ranks may be called captain or ship-of-the-line captain. In the Commonwealth air force rank system, the equivalent rank is group captain, the word colonel derives from the same root as the word column and means of a column, and, by implication, commander of a column. The word colonel is therefore linked to the column in a similar way that brigadier is linked to brigade. By the end of the medieval period, a group of companies was referred to as a column of an army. Since the word is believed to derive from sixteenth-century Italian, it was presumably first used by Italian city states in that century. The first use of colonel as a rank in an army was in the French National Legions created by King Francis I by his decree of 1534. Building on the reforms of Louis XIIs decree of 1509. Each colonel commanded a legion with a strength of six thousand men. With the shift from primarily mercenary to primarily national armies in the course of the seventeenth century, the Spanish equivalent rank of coronel was used by the Spanish tercios in the 16th and 17th centuries. Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, nicknamed the Great Captain, divided his armies in coronelías or colonelcies, however, the Spanish word probably derives from a different origin, in that it appears to designate an officer of the crown, rather than an officer of the column. This makes the Spanish word coronel probably cognate with the English word coroner and this regiment, or governance, was to some extent embodied in a contract and set of written rules, also referred to as the colonels regiment or standing regulation. By extension, the group of companies subject to a colonels regiment came to be referred to as his regiment as well, the position, however, was primarily contractual and it became progressively more of a functionless sinecure. By the late 19th century, colonel was a military rank though still held typically by an officer in command of a regiment or equivalent unit. As European military influence expanded throughout the world, the rank of colonel became adopted by every nation
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John Lionel Kotalawela
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General Sir John Lionel Kotelawala CH KBE KStJ PC was a Sri Lankan soldier and politician, most notable for serving as the 3rd Prime Minister of Ceylon from 1953 to 1956. Sir John Kotelawala was born into a family, his father John Kotelawala Snr was an Inspector in the Ceylon Police Force. Following accusations of murder John Kotelawala Snr committed suicide when his son was 11, following this their family was ruined, Alice Kotelawala who was originally a Buddhist converted to Christianity after this. Through careful management of their holdings and plumbago mines she made her family prosperous. For her social work she was awarded a CBE and he had a younger brother Justin Kotalawela and a sister Freda, who married C. V. S. Young Kotelawala attended Royal College, Colombo, but had to leave after he became involved in activities during the riots in 1915. Thereafter he embarked on a trip to Europe after leaving school and he remained in Europe for five years, spending most of that time in England and France and attended Christs College, Cambridge University to study agriculture. Kotelawala was known as an aggressive and outspoken man who loved sports, horseback riding and cricket and, particularly as a young man and he was fluent in Sinhala, English and French. After returning to Ceylon, he took up managing his family estates and mines. He married Effie Manthri Dias Bandaranaike and later divorced, Effie Bandaranaike was the niece of Don Stephen Senanayake the first prime minister of Sri Lanka. They together had one daughter Lakshmi Kotelawala, Kotelawala briefly served with the mounted section of the Colombo Town Guard without enlisting, since he was under age at the time. He went on to serve 23 years mostly as a reservist since the Ceylon Defence Force was a unit of the British Army. In 1939 he became the officer of the Ceylon Light Infantry and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1940. With the start of World War II he became a member of the Ceylons War Cabinet and was made a Colonel in 1942, a strong supporter of the military, he was the first Chairman of the Ceylon Light Infantry Association in 1974. He was promoted to the rank of general on his deathbed and he bequeathed his home and estate Kandawala to the government to establish a national defence academy. As early as 1915 Kotelawala had become involved with leaders such as Don Stephen Senanayake and his brother F. R. Senanayake. They criticized many of the actions of the British colonial officials and he entered mainstream politics by being elected to the Legislative Council as the member of Kurunegala. Thereafter he entered the State Council as a backbencher and was re-elected in 1936, in his second term he was appointed Minister of Communications and Works and later as the Minister of Agriculture
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President's House, Colombo
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Presidents House is the official residence and workplace of the President of Sri Lanka, located at Janadhipathi Mawatha, Colombo, Sri Lanka. There have been 29 governors who resided here, and also six presidents who resided or used it in an official capacity, currently it is used by Maithripala Sirisena, the President of Sri Lanka for state functions. The Presidential Secretariat functions as the office of the president, with much of the staff based there. The last Dutch governor, Johan van Angelbeek, built a residence on the site of the demolished St Franciss Church. Since independence in 1948 the house became the residence of the Governor General of Ceylon. It was formally renamed as the President’s House in 1972 after Sri Lanka became a republic, william Gopallawa was the last governor general and first President of Sri Lanka to reside at the house. In the 1980s and 1990s the house underwent refurbishments under the directrion of one of Sri Lankas foremost architects Geoffrey Bawa and it was once again refurbished in 2000s with the addition of an underground bunker. The Gardens boast a variety of trees, a marble statue of Queen Victoria was removed from the gardens in 2006. Gordon Gardens was open to the public until 1980, when it was part of the Presidents House. The site was the location for the 1881 Royal–Thomian, in Sri Lanka, all distances from Colombo are measured, formally, in miles, from the Presidents House. This practice began with the construction of the Colombo-Kandy road in 1830, since then, most of the highways originate from Colombo. The Kings House had limited opening to the public until the part of the 20th century. Only colonial officers were allowed access to the governor when in residence, since independence, the Queen’s House as it was known remained accessible in many ways. Gordon Gardens remain open as a public park, in times of emergencies access was limited and the Queen’s Road was closed off. In peace time these were once again, until 1980. Following the Central Bank bombing the Janadhipathi Mawatha was permanently closed off for vehicular traffic up to Old Colombo Lighthouse and it was reopen in early 2015, and in June 2016 the President’s House was opened to the public for a week. A permanent guard of troops was provided since 18th century which originated the colonial title of Mudaliar of the Governors Gate. By the 20th century, the Governors Guard was located in the basement of the GPO Building located opposite the Kings House
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