Category: Sri Lanka

Posted on

ABC, the ‘most trusted news source in Australia’, airs Netanyahu’s 30-year-old bogus Iran nuke claims

For about 30 years, Benjamin Netanyahu, the current Prime Minister of Israel, has been making the claim that Iran is on the verge (one month, two weeks, a few weeks, not very far from or variations of that theme) of having a nuclear weapon.

Thus far, there is no sign at all that Teheran has acquired nukes. Given this fact, who would air such a ridiculous claim during a program that claims to be taking a serious look at Iran and the nuclear issue?

Well, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation had no qualms about running a program on Monday (April 6) — made by the American public broadcaster PBS — which put the square-jawed Netanyahu on-screen — among others — questioning if the Islamic nation had gone nuclear. And that too, during an ongoing attack by Israel and the US which is claimed to be aimed at preventing Iran from getting such weapons (which they don’t have). Continue reading “ABC, the ‘most trusted news source in Australia’, airs Netanyahu’s 30-year-old bogus Iran nuke claims”

Posted on

After 1968, Australia has not won a five-game series at home after losing the first Test

If Australia wins the current Test series against India, it would be the first time since 1968-69 that it has won a five-game series at home after losing the first Test. That season, Australia played the West Indies and lost the first Test at Brisbane.

But the locals then bounced back with wins in Melbourne and Sydney, before a thriller in Adelaide ended in a draw. The fifth and final game saw the West Indies thrashed by 382 runs in Sydney, giving the home team a 3-1 series win.

Australia’s win against India in the second Test of the current series has levelled things at 1-1, with three games left. Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney will host those three Tests. Given the way the series has see-sawed thus far, it is difficult to predict with any degree of certainty the outcome of these three games. Continue reading “After 1968, Australia has not won a five-game series at home after losing the first Test”

Posted on

Indian media try to blackball ABC reporter in bid to suck up to Modi

Chamchagiri is a Hindi word that refers to the practice of flattering or appeasing a superior or a person in power. It is the best way to describe the manner in which Indian media are prostrating themselves in order to blackball Australian journalist Avani Dias and portray her expulsion from the world’s biggest democracy aka India as being due to every other reason apart from the inability of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to accept a little criticism.

The manner in which journalism in the country has changed since 2014 when Modi first took office is very accurately portrayed in this Al Jazeera video.

Dias was denied a visa after her program Sikhs, Spies and Murder: Investigating India’s alleged hit on foreign soil was aired on the ABC ‘s weekly Foreign Correspondent slot in March.

Continue reading “Indian media try to blackball ABC reporter in bid to suck up to Modi”

Posted on

14 years after civil war ended, Sri Lanka is still feeling the effects

Fourteen years ago, the civil war between Sri Lanka’s armed forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam came to a bloody end, with the government shooting dead, in cold blood, a slew of Tiger officials who had neogtiated a surrender and were making their way across a lagoon, holding up white flags.

This act of bastardry was what enabled the government to show the dead visage of Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran on TV, signalling that the conflict, which had run for 26 years, was finally over.

There were claims and counter-claims after the war ended, with both sides accused of war crimes. But because Sri Lanka is of little importance in the global scheme of things, there has been no push internationally for investigation of these claims.

The country has been left to stew in its own juice. Continue reading “14 years after civil war ended, Sri Lanka is still feeling the effects”

Posted on

Don’t go overboard with the sentiments, Warne was just another flawed human being

There is an unwritten rule in most human societies that one does not speak ill of the dead. You can be the worst murderer, thief, rapist or sociopath and beat your wife every day of the week, but the moment you die, you have to be treated as some kind of saint.

This kind of hypocrisy is so embedded that at least in one language there is a specific word to describe it: Sinhalese, the language spoken in Sri Lanka. [Despite all my efforts, I just cannot recall the word which was told to me when I was in the eighth standard many moons ago.]

Courtesy: megapixl.com

That rule appears to be asserting itself in Australia following the death of cricketer Shane Warne, a player who revived interest in the art of spin bowling when he came on to the international scene in 1992; this was after fast bowlers, predominantly from the West Indies, had ruled international cricket for two decades.

Continue reading “Don’t go overboard with the sentiments, Warne was just another flawed human being”

Posted on

Vale Shane Warne, the man who revived spin bowling

The master has gone. Spin legend Shane Warne bows out, bowled for 52.

Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne has shuffled off the mortal coil. He died in Thailand on Friday at the age of 52, felled by a suspected heart attack.

The leg-spinner arrived on the international scene in 1992, a blond-haired kid from Melbourne, but did not catch the attention of the game’s pundits right away.

It took a while, but under the captaincy of Allan Border he grew in stature and slowly became the go-to bowler when Australia needed a wicket.

Continue reading “Vale Shane Warne, the man who revived spin bowling”

Posted on

The Indian Government cheated my late father of Rs 332,775

Back in 1976. the Indian Government, for whom my father, Ipe Samuel Varghese, worked in Colombo, cheated him of Rs 13,500 – the gratuity that he was supposed to be paid when he was dismissed from the Indian High Commission (the equivalent of the embassy) in Colombo.

That sum, adjusted for inflation, works out to Rs 332,775 in today’s rupees.

But he was not paid this amount because the embassy said he had contravened rules by working at a second job, something which everyone at the embassy was doing, because what people were paid was basically a starvation wage. My father had rubbed against powerful interests in the embassy who were making money by taking bribes from poor Sri Lankan Tamils who were applying for Indian passports to return to India.
Continue reading “The Indian Government cheated my late father of Rs 332,775”

Posted on

The BBL is going downhill slowly, but surely

The ninth edition of Australia’s annual 20-over cricket tournament, the Big Bash League, ended on a rather downbeat note, with the final reduced to a 12-over-a-side affair, though the fact that it would rain on the day was known well in advance.

Despite that, the Sydney Sixers, a finalist and the eventual winner, did not want the game shifted to Melbourne due to the home ground advantage that it claimed it would have.

The other finalist, the Melbourne Stars, would not have minded moving the game so that the full 20 overs could be played, but moving it to the MCG, which was the alternative venue, would have afforded the Stars home-ground advantage. Shouldn’t professional teams be able to play at any venue and win?
Continue reading “The BBL is going downhill slowly, but surely”

Posted on

Fast bowlers have lost their balls

There was a time in the 20th century when there were more class fast bowlers in the game of cricket than at any other. Between 1974 and 1994, pacemen emerged in different countries as though they were coming off an assembly line.

It made the game of cricket, which many call boring, an exciting spectacle.

From Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, to Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Colin Croft, Joel Garner, the late Malcolm Marshall, Imran Khan, Sarfraz Nawaz, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Devon Malcolm, Bob Willis, Ian Botham, Allan Donald, Fanie de Villiers, Richard Hadlee, Courtney Walsh, Curtley Ambrose, Patrick Patterson and Craig McDermott, they were of several different types and temperaments as is to be expected.
Continue reading “Fast bowlers have lost their balls”

Posted on

The Rise and Fall of the Tamil Tigers is full of errors

How many mistakes should one accept in a book before it is pulled from sale? In the normal course, when a book is accepted for publication by a recognised publishing company, there are experienced editors who go through the text, correct it and ensure that there are no major bloopers.

Then there are fact-checkers who ensure that what is stated within the book is, at least, mostly aligned with public versions of events from reliable sources.

In the case of The Rise and Fall of the Tamil Tigers, a third-rate book that is being sold by some outlets online, neither of these exercises has been carried out. And it shows.
Continue reading “The Rise and Fall of the Tamil Tigers is full of errors”