HEMANTHA SITUGE FEATURES IN WENASA OF THE ITN ON GALLE FORT 15.10.2014

AWAIT ! Lisbon to Colombo- Portuguese Sounding Words in Sinhalese Language by Sujeeva Nugawila published by the author Reviewed by Hemantha Situge

BOOK REVIEW TITLE : Adventure Tours in Sri Lanka (Sri Lankavē Kriyadama Charikā) AUTHOR : SHAMINDA RANSHAN FERNANDO PUBLISHER : AN AUTHOR PUBLICATION Reviewed by Hemantha Situge

BOOK REVIEW

TITLE : Adventure Tours in Sri Lanka

(Sri Lankavē Kriyadama Charikā)

AUTHOR : SHAMINDA RANSHAN FERNANDO

PUBLISHER : AN AUTHOR PUBLICATION

Reviewed by Hemantha Situge

e-mail : hsituge@gmail.com

blog : Hemantha Situge@blogspot.com

The magnum opus entitled : Adventure Tours in Sri Lanka (Sri Lankāve Kriyadama Charikā) written in Sinhalese, published by the author Shaminda Ranshan Fernando was released recently.

The book is replete with hundred and twelve pages in glossy paper of pure bliss. These 'dare devil' adventures comprises trekking of sixty waterfalls and twenty peaks experienced by the author an intrepid nature enthusiast and two of his adventurist colleagues Akila Dayaratne and Malith Ebenayzer. The book is dedicated to the sensitive environmentalist who loves and protects flora, rivers and waterfalls, peaks, and valleys, tunnels and caves.

Once you read this book you will not leave it aside. You are bound to re-read it! The book is a nature adventurist enthusiasts miscellany. I am always reminded of the fascinated colonial writers often quoted epithet : "Ceylon the Adam's Garden," when I got engrossed in reading this thought provoking book.

Reading "Adventure Tours in Sri Lanka -Sri Lankavē Kriyadamā Charika" is neither another reclined armchair adventure episode that any traveller could experience and a wayfarer could observe nor a fascinating story like Jungle Tide by John Still ; 'Seeing Ceylon' - 'Discovering Ceylon' by Dr. R. L. Brohier that lingers with a sense of nostalgia - they are all unremitting expeditions persevered by these three youth. The writer Shaminda Ranshan Fernando's sensitive eye has envisioned what 'angels fear to tread' and has explored the unseen, unheard and has carved a niché in the annals of nature adventure explorations.

In my quest for reading his adventure's what I could glean is that first twenty six experiences the author Shaminda and two of his adventurist friends have 'dared' except number twenty one the Para Motoring tour experience in the area of club Bentota Hotel located in the islet jutted out to the sea all are upcountry caves, peak and waterfall adventure trekking. Once I perused his preface and the twenty ninth chapter only I could realize that these adventures of the 'dare devil' adventurist 'were not gained in a sudden flight', but was in a span of seven years.

Shaminda Ranshan's travelogue is not a fiction like Jules Verne's '20000 leagues under the sea'. This compendium contains secret tips, snippets for an adventurist that would crave to encounter, and quench once thirst for adventure sans any risks in once life. I commend author Shaminda Ranshan Fernando altruism for imparting his knowledge for the guidance of the future adventurist explorations.'

This handy opus would serve as a vade maecum for the nature lover who would seek recourse to spend once leisure in the salubrious climes to the true sense of the word : "Pearl of the Indian Ocean." Shaminda Ranshan Fernando book entitled : "Adventure Tours in Sri Lanka (Sri Lankavē Kriyadama Charikā)" is an adventurists enthusiasts guide for the Sri Lanka's exploration of the nature's true spectacle".

Along the Trial of the dead Page 36 Daily News 30.11.2016 Book Review by Hemantha Situge

Along the trail of the dead

Wednesday, November 30, 2016 - 01:00

TITLE: STUDENT’S GUIDE TO FORENSIC SKELETAL ANYYSIS

AUTHOR: PROF. MUDITHA VIDANAPATHIRANA

PUBLISHER: SARASAVI PUBLISHERS 2015

Prof. Muditha Vidanapathirana’s maiden English book entitled : Student’s Guide to Forensic Skeletal Analysis published by the Sarasavi Publisher’s was released recently. This book is peer-reviewed by Dr. P. R. Ruwanpura Consultant Judicial Medical Officer of the Karapitiya teaching hospital Galle.

In his preface Dr. Vidanapathirana states thus :

“Teaching of medico-legal aspects of skeletal remains for the undergraduate and postgraduate medical students for the last many years influenced me to write this book. The training on Forensic Anthropology received during my undergraduate and postgraduate training programs on continuous professional development and the special training received on Forensic Anthropology at the St. Gorge’s Hospital, London were helpful to produce this book. I believe that this book will be useful not only to undergraduate medical students but also to lawyers, criminologists, police officers, inquirers in to sudden deaths etc.”

Prof. Muditha Vidanapathirana is a Senior Lecturer attached to the Dept of Forensic Medicine, in the faculty of medical sciences of the University of Sri Jayawardanapura. Dr. Vidanapathirana’s years of experiences in teaching and his forensic expertise has made him eminently qualified to compile this student guide.

Student’s guide to Forensic Analysis runs into 99 pages with eight chapters. First chapter has dealt with ‘Bio-mechanics of Injury Production’ per se it appears a novel concept for the guide of a student. The second chapter dealt with ‘Description of specimens of skull injuries’ where he provides eight such descriptions of specimens. The third chapter is titled : ‘Blunt Force Trauma to Head spans to 14 pages with four sub-titles. The fourth chapter has dealt on ‘Sharp Force Injuries’. The fifth chapter is titled : ‘Injuries due to Firearms.’ The sixth chapter is overall the shortest in the book reads : ‘Late Deaths Following Head Injuries’. The seventh chapter has dealt on : ‘Long Bone Fractures’. The eighth on : ‘Cervical Injuries’, the ninth chapter the longest : ‘Identification of skull, pelvis and long bones’ with eight sub-headings.

Once I perused at the first and second out titles of this chapter ‘Are they bones ? and ‘Are they Human Bones?’ What whetted my curiosity was A.C. Alles’s ‘Famous Criminal cases of Sri Lanka’ volume 5 Alfred De Zoysa and the Kalattawa Murderers trial where Queen’s Counsel G. G. Ponnambalam unsuccessfully argued the bones found were not of human. If the bones are of Archaeological value it would rank in the discoveries like famed Balangoda Manavaya, Pahiyangala Manawaya and Batadombalena Manawaya. The fifth heading : ‘Identification by examination of the skull’ it aroused my interest as our national hero Monarawila Keppetipola Nilame’s cranium with the advent of freedom that was sent to our country – which was reposed at the Royal Prenological Society was buried in a glass box in front of the Tooth Relic of Buddha – Dalada Maligawa – with the marked place erected with a monument. Dr. John Davy in his ‘Account of the Interior of Ceylon’ published in 1821 contains two photographs of this cranium. Alas! Sri Lanka is devoid of the forensic pathologists analysis of this cranium – a national treasure. When this reviewer roves his mind through the pages on teeth a vow it was undoubtedly forensic dentistry that revealed the death of the mass murderer Adolph Hitler where his traces were not kept to see the light of the day !

The 76th page of the book contains a photograph where Dr. Vidanapathirana refrains commenting about the identification superimposition. The photograph depicted is of Adeline Vitharana’s (facing page 110) which is also found in Famous Criminal Cases volume 7 of A.C. Alles’s. This case was a cause célèbre in the annals of crime in Sri Lanka. Neil Wijayasinghe translated this volume in to Sinhalese as “Wilpattu Sihiwatanaya”. Then Wasantha Obeysekera made an award winning movie based on the story as “Dadayama”. Thereafter Justice Alles sued Wasantha Obeysekera the Director of the said film for violating the copyright of his book and lost the suit. Where at the SC Justice C. V. Wigneshwaran delivered the landmark judgement famed novelist Newton Goonesinghe wrote ‘Dadakeliya’ published by Dayawansha Jayakody where Adeline Vitharana’s daughter sued the novelist and lost the District Court battle.

Pages 76 and 77 has dealt on the ‘References’ A careful perusal by any reader would find that most of the references are from 1970’s to 2009 that all text dealt are of recent ones. That is : Mostly Murder, Forensic Medicine by Sir Sydney Smith, 40 years of Murder, Doctor’s Guide to Court and Forensic Medicine by Prof. Keith Simpson were by-gone pioneering works.

But the only lapse this reviewer would see is that ‘glossary of medical terms’ which would have serve the wide array of readership : That is legal practitioner’s, criminologists, forensic students, police officers and inquirer’s of sudden deaths alike.

Students of Sri Lanka are short of guide book to guide themselves in the subject of Medico Legal aspects. Prof. Muditha Vidanapathirana has trail the blaze in compiling an invaluable student guide in this aspect. The only guide book that was available to the students of law were ‘Researcher’s guide book for the Laws of Ceylon’ by Barry Metzger 1971 which is considered as a long – outdated book today. Dr. Mudith Vidanapathirana deserves all praise for his conscientious scholarly efforts in compiling this opus in a ‘nutshell’ form.

Prof. Muditha Vidanapathirana’s ‘Student guide to Forensic Skeletal Analysis’ fills a void of a student’s guide’s that hitherto existed. Undoubtedly this guide book would serve as a vade mecum for all these wide array of the readership.

- Hemantha Situge

Solidarity for Prasanna Vithanage by Hemantha Situge in Silence in Courts (Usaviya Nihandai)

උසාවිය නිහඬයි චිත්‍රපට තහනම ඉවතට

Posted on ඔක්තෝබර් 21, 2016 by Sky News 40 Views

චිත්‍රපට අධ්‍යක්ෂ ප්‍රසන්න විතානගේ විසින් අධ්‍යක්ෂණය කළ  උසාවිය නිහඬයි චිත්‍රපටිය තිරගත කිරීම වළක්වාලමින් පනවා තිබු වාරණ නියෝගය විසුරුවා හැරීමට කොළඹ දිසා අධිකරණය නියෝග කළා.

හිටපු මහේස්ත්‍රාත්වරයෙකු වන ලෙනින් රත්නායක විසින් ඉදිරිපත් කළ පැමිණිල්ලක් සලකා බැලු දිසා අධිකරණ මෙම වාරණ නියෝගය මිට පෙර නිකුත් කර තිබුනා.

මෙම තීන්දුව හේතුවෙන් උසාවිය නිහඬයි චිත්‍රපටිය  මහජන ප්‍රදර්ශනය සදහා මුදාහැරීමට ඉඩ ප්‍රස්තාව සැලසෙන බව එහි අධ්‍යක්ෂ ප්‍රසන්න විතානගේ කියා සිටියා.

” මේ නඩු තීන්දුව පිළිබඳව අපි සතුටු වෙනවා. මේ හරහා ප්‍රකාශයේ නිදහස ශක්තිමත් වනවා පමණක් නොව ජනතාවට තොරතුරු දැනගැනීමේ අයිතියද තහවුරු වෙනවා.” ඔහු කියා සිටියා.

පැමිණිල්ල ඉදිරිපත් කරමින් හිටපු මහේස්ත්‍රාත් ලෙනින් රත්නායක කියා සිටියේ මෙම චිත්‍රපටිය  තිරගත වුවොත්  තමාටත් මෙරට අධිකරණ පද්ධතියටත් විශාල කැළලක් සිදුවන බවයි.

මේ හේතුවෙන් අදාළ චිත්‍රපටිය තිරගත කිරීම වළක්වාලීමේ තහනම් නියෝගයක් පනවන ලෙසයි ඔහු අධිකරණයෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටියේ.

එම වාරණ නියෝගයට එරෙහිව අධිකරණයේ කරුණු දැක්වූ චිත්‍රපට අධ්‍යක්ෂ ප්‍රසන්න විතානගේ ඇතුළු වග උත්තරකාර පාර්ශවය අදාළ වාරණය ලබාගැනීම සදහා පැමිණිලිකරු ඉදිරිපත් කළ ලේඛනවල තාක්ෂණික  දෝෂ රැසක් පවතින  බව තර්ක කළා.

මේ හේතුවෙන් අදාළ වාරණ නියෝගය තව දුරටත් පවත්වාගෙන යාමට හැකියාවක් නොමැති බවයි  එම නීතිවේදීන් අධිකරණයට පෙන්වා දුන්නේ.

ඉදිරිපත් වූ කරුණු සලකා බැලු අධිකරණය වාරණ නියෝගය විසුරුවා හැරීමට තීන්දු කළ අතර නඩුවට අදාළ විරෝධතා ජනවාරි මස 19 වනදා ඉදිරිපත් කරන මෙන් නියෝග කළා.

Elementary Murder Puzzles Book Review by Hemantha Situge in weekend Nation page 22 November 6, 2016

Dr. Muditha Vidanapathirana’s maiden English book entitled Student’s Guide to Forensic Skeletal Analysis published by Sarasavi Publishers was released recently. This book is pre-reviewed by Dr. P. R. Ruwanpura, Consultant Judicial Medical Officer of the Karapitiya teaching hospital Galle.

In his preface Dr. Vidanapathirana states thus:
“Teaching of medico-legal aspects of skeletal remains for the undergraduate and postgraduate medical students for the last many years influenced me to write this book. The training on Forensic Anthropology received during my undergraduate and postgraduate training programmes on continuous professional development and the special training received on Forensic Anthropology at St. George’s Hospital, London were helpful to produce this book. I believe that this book will be useful not only to undergraduate medical students but also to lawyers, criminologists, police officers and inquirers in to sudden deaths.”

Dr. Muditha Vidanapathirana is a Senior Lecturer attached to the Dept. of Forensic Medicine, in the faculty of medical sciences of the University of Sri Jayawardanapura. Dr. Vidanapathirana’s years of experiences in teaching and his forensic expertise has made him eminently qualified to compile this student guide.

Student’s guide to Forensic Analysis runs into 99 pages with eight chapters. First chapter deals with ‘Bio-mechanics of Injury Production’ a novel concept for the guide of a student. The second chapter deals with ‘Description of Specimens of Skull Injuries’ where he provides eight such descriptions of specimens. The third chapter is titled: ‘Blunt Force Trauma to Head’ that spans 14 pages with four sub-titles. The fourth chapter deals ‘Sharp Force Injuries’. The fifth chapter is titled: ‘Injuries due to Firearms.’ The sixth chapter is overall the shortest in the book and reads: ‘Late Deaths Following Head Injuries’. The seventh chapter has deals with: ‘Long Bone Fractures’. The eighth on: ‘Cervical Injuries’ and the ninth chapter the longest: ‘Identification of Skull, Pelvis and Long Bones’ with eight sub-headings.

Once I perused at the first and second out titles of this chapter: ‘Are they bones and ‘Are they Human Bones?’ What whetted my curiosity were A.C. Alles’ Famous Criminal cases of Sri Lanka’ Volume 5 Alfred De Zoysa and the Kalattawa Murder trial where Queen’s Counsel G. G. Ponnambalam unsuccessfully argued the bones found were not of human. If the bones are of archaeological value it would rank in the discoveries like famed Balangoda Manavaya, Pahiyangala Manawaya and Batadombalena Manawaya. The fifth heading: ‘Identification by Examination of the Skull’ aroused my interest as our national hero Monarawila Keppetipola Nilame’s cranium with the advent of freedom that was sent to our country – which was reposed at the Royal Prenological Society was buried in a glass box in front of the Tooth Relic of Buddha – Dalada Maligawa – with the marked place erected with a monument.  Dr. John Davy in his  Account of the Interior of Ceylon published in 1821 contains two photographs of this cranium. Alas! Sri Lanka is devoid of the forensic pathologists’ analysis of this cranium – a national treasure. When this reviewer roves his mind through the pages on teeth a vow it was undoubtedly forensic dentistry that revealed the death of the mass murderer Adolph Hitler where his traces were not kept to see the light of the day!

The 76th page of the book contains a photograph where Dr. Vidanapathirana refrains commenting about the identification superimposition. The photograph depicted is of Adeline Vitharana (facing page 110) which is also found in Famous Criminal Cases Volume 7 of A.C. Alles.  This case was a cause célèbre in the annals of crime in Sri Lanka. Neil Wijayasinghe translated this volume in to Sinhalese as Wilpattu Sihiwatanaya. Then Wasantha Obeysekera made an award winning movie based on the story as Dadayama. Thereafter Justice Alles sued Wasantha Obeysekera the Director of the said film for violating the copyright of his book and lost the suit.  At the SC Justice C. V. Wigneshwaran delivered the landmark judgement famed novelist Newton Goonesinghe wrote Dadakeliya published by Dayawansha Jayakody where Adeline Vitharana’s daughter sued the novelist and lost the District Court battle.

Pages 76 and 77 deals with the ‘References’ A careful perusal by any reader would find that most of the references are from the 1970s to 2009 that all text dealt are of recent ones. That is: Mostly Murder, Forensic Medicine by Sir Sydney Smith, 40 years of Murder, Doctor’s Guide to Court and Forensic Medicine by Prof. Keith Simpson were by-gone pioneering works.

But the only lapse this reviewer would see is that ‘glossary of medical terms’ which would serve the wide array of readership: That is legal practitioners, criminologists, forensic students, police officers and inquirers of sudden deaths alike.

Students of Sri Lanka are short of a guide book to guide themselves in the subject of Medico Legal aspects. Dr. Muditha Vidanapathirana has trailed the blaze in compiling an invaluable student guide in this aspect. The only guide book that was available to the students of law were ‘Researcher’s guide book for the Laws of Ceylon’ by Barry Metzger 1971 which is considered as a long – outdated book today. Dr. Mudith Vidanapathirana deserves all praise for his conscientious scholarly efforts in compiling this opus in a ‘nutshell’ form.

Dr. Muditha Vidanapathirana’s ‘Student guide to Forensic Skeletal Analysis’ fills a void of a student’s guide that hitherto existed. Undoubtedly this guide book would serve as a vade mecum for all these wide array of the readership.

Title: Student’s Guide to
Forensic Skeletal Analysis
Author:  Dr. Muditha Vidanapathirana
Publisher:  Sarasavi Publishers 2015

AIYO NOT A TAMIL WORD IN THE TAMIL WORDS IN THE SINHALESE DICTIONARY BY SADAGOMI COPERAHEWA AND SARODINI DEVI ARUNACHALAM IN SINHALESE PUBLISHED BY GODAGE IN [2002]2011

According to news reports of 12 th October 2016 the Oxford  Dictionary has included Sinhalese and Tamil word Aiyo which has the same meaning.But alas! it is a matter for the etymologist to decide whether this word is Sihalese or Tamil