Erudite monk in country’s history

The appointment of the Most Venerable Rajakeeya Panditha Weligama Gnanaratana Mahanayake Thera as the new Mahanayake of the Amarapura Dharmarakshita Mahanikaya was unanimously announced by the Executive Sanga Committee of the Amarapura Maha Nikaya on September 12, 2003, a position vacated with the demise of the Most Venerable Agga Maha Panditha Madihe Pannasiha Mahanayake Thera. The prelate was until then the Anu Nayake Mahanayake Thera for 47 long years.

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Torture, summary execution and war crimes in ‘nasty places’

There are two indisputable facts associated with the US-UK led invasion of Iraq. First, there was absolutely no evidence of Iraq having ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ (WMD). Secondly, Nick Clegg, the British Deputy Prime Minister has confessed that the invasion was illegal.

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Prof Leslie Gunawardana:

A true scholar

Prof Leslie Gunawardana, who died on November 16 after a prolonged illness, will rank among Sri Lanka’s greatest historians. His achievement-rich life will no doubt be an inspiration to any young child in a country plagued with inequalities. What he achieved as a researcher and intellectual, rising above all kinds of parochialisms, will be a good example for those who aspire after true scholarship. He will be sadly missed by his numerous friends, students and admirers and the larger world of scholarship.

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