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eLanka Newsletter – 1st December 2024 – 1st Edition Sri Lankans in Australia Click here or on the image below to read this week’s elanka Newsletter Sri Lanka skittled for second lowest score in history as South Africa, led by Marco Jansen, destroys their Test Championship aspirations. BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE. (eLanka Sports Editor) Health & Views NOVEMBER 3rd issue – By Dr harold Gunatillake Che Guevara-the Revolutionary turned Peacemaker – by Oscar E V Fernando Peterite Class of ’74 Magical Reunion In Melbourne – By Lawrence Machado SUNDAY CHOICE – As The Deer Pants For The Water – by Charles Schokman The Brad and Kiara Show Podcast – 2024-11-30 Sri Lankan/Asian special night for this year with a Christmas Kaleidoscope 238 ft Arienti, Chayu Damsinghe, Ahara at Amari, Pirelli 2025, markets & more 28 11 24 Kompanne Vidiye – last recorded song by Desmond De Silva – The ...

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A SAD NIGHT TO REMEMBER – By Capt Elmo Jayawardena 4th of December 1974 a DC-8 aircraft belonging to Martinair crashed into the Anjimalai mountain range also known as the Seven Virgins. The accident happened around 1015 PM and the location was in the vicinity of Maskeliya. This was the worst air disaster that had taken place in Sri Lanka. 191 lives were lost with no survivors. That is how the 4th of December became a sad night to remember. Corona curfews give us time to read and in my isolation at home I have been pulling out ‘Bucket-listed’ stories to munch. Most articles I browsed through about the Martinair DC-8 crash had covered all aspects of this horrible disaster. Adequate details were available to re-construct the story and come to reasonable conclusions of what may have happened. We all know the easy way out of most aeroplane crashes has ...

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Capt Elmo Jayawardena’s interviews with Mr. Dev Samarajeewa What is an air turbulence? Flight of the Double Sunrise   Japanese Air Raid on Colombo    Saptha Kanya Crash   Makkah Flight from Ratmalana Srilankan Airlines 45th Anniversary   හොර පාරෙන් කැනඩා ගිය තරුණයින් දෙදෙනාට අත්වුණු ඉරණම!   The Pilot   Harare Flight   Click here to receive your free copy of the eLanka Newsletter twice a week delivered directly to your inbox!   ...

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eLanka Newsletter – 22nd September 2024 – 7th Edition Sri Lankans in Australia Click here or on the image below to read this week’s elanka Newsletter A hard road ahead…… Irrespective of who is driving the bus! – By Aubrey Joachim Watch Highlights – New Zealand vs Sri Lanka – 1st Test – September 2024 Health & Views – SEPTEMBER 2nd issue 2024 – By Dr Harold Gunatillake SUNDAY CHOICE – ON GOING TO CHURCH – By Charles Schokman The Brad and Kiara Show Podcast – 2024-9-21 Isle with The Good Bad and Ugly – By Oscar Fernando LMD’S 30TH ANNIVERSARY COFFEE-TABLE BOOK Boeing CEO Mr. Kelly Ortberg – By Capt. Elmo Jayawardena Kaleidoscope with Savithri Rodrigo 228 18 09 2024 Australian Women’s Cricket Team ready for a monumental summer SCATS (Night with Sydney Talents) Ramboda: Where Scenic Beauty Unfolds Ramboda is a gateway to Nuwara Eliya – By Dr ...

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Boeing CEO Mr. Kelly Ortberg – By Capt. Elmo Jayawardena The Boeing CEO can drink the best of wine.  so can I.  And has enough when he would dine,  so have I.  And cannot order rain or shine,  nor can I.  Then dear friends let me see,  what is the difference between him and me?  If happy I and wretched he.  Perhaps the CEO would change places with me. Click here to receive your free copy of the eLanka Newsletter twice a week delivered directly to your inbox! ...

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A Short History of our National Carrier – By Capt Elmo Jayawardena SriLankan Airlines is 45 years old on 1 September 2024. In the mid 40’s Sir John Kotelawala spearheaded a team that planned to start an airline in Ceylon. They first purchased 3 second-hand DC-3 Dakota aeroplanes and recruited flight crew and engineers plus other key people to commence operations for a new airline. They named the fledgling company Air Ceylon and christened the 3 aeroplanes after Lankan Queens, Viharamaha Devi, Seetha Devi and Sunethra Devi. DC-3, the first type used by the National Career The initial operation was restricted to charter flights and the first scheduled trip took off on 10 December 1947 departing Ratmalana and flying to Jaffna and onwards to Madras. The return flight took the same route via Jaffna to Ratmalana. That December day in 1947, the National Carrier commenced scheduled passenger flying covering domestic ...

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The Tiger Moth Story – By Capt. Elmo Jayawardena In my fifty-plus years of association with aviation, the best aeroplane I ever flew was undoubtedly the De Haviland Tiger Moth. As a young student pilot, I used to regularly fly the ‘Tiger’, operating off the old grass strip which was the runway we used to take-off and land. The reason for using the grass for the operation was simply a matter of safety. The ‘Tiger’ had two wheels like in a handcart and instead of a rear wheel to complete a triangular undercarriage, it had only a tail-skid with tough leather covering. The ‘Tiger’ had no brakes, the dragging tail-skid was what stopped it after landing. As for the take-off, we opened the Gypsy Major engine and it powered a long beautiful wooden propeller and with the gathering of speed, the tail lifted, and the Tiger Moth rolled majestically to ...

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Parakrama heard his Last Whistle – By Capt. Elmo Jayawardena I am minting these words with a heavy heart. There are times that words have no more meaning, but I need to do my best for my old friend ‘Para’ who is no longer with us. We started playing Basketball at the age of 13 and ended decades later.  Parakrama Fernando said good-bye to his friends and family and to the world on 21st July. He is gone. The burial was completed two days later.   He was 77 years old. Both as a player and as a coach, I have seen a lot of basketball in Sri Lanka for more than 6 decades. I categorically state that the best center player I saw in my life in the Sri Lankan basketball courts was Parakrama Fernado. To begin with, he played bare footed almost all the time. The shots he ...

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Beware of the Weather Gods – By Capt Elmo Jayawardena The one thing that a pilot wishes for, when he lines up for take-off is a blue sky. He rolls his aeroplane down the runway with engines screaming at take-off power, and at rotational speed, he eases the aeroplane into the sky. Then he retracts the gear and the flaps, which is commonly called cleaning the aircraft and then sets the course in the direction of his destination. Whether it is an intercontinental fifteen-hour flight or a local one hour’s run from Ratmalana to Jaffna, the pilot has one ultra-important wish. That is to have a domed blue sky throughout his journey. From the pencil thin line of a cirrus cloud in the upper sky to a bulging rain laden towering cumulus  the sky gods await the unfortunate pilot who is a permissionless intruder stubbornly trespassing their domain. The Gods ...

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eLanka Newsletter – 10th March 2023 – 3rd Edition Sri Lankans in Australia Click here or on the image below to read this week’s elanka Newsletter St Paul’s Milagiriya Past Pupils Association of NSW – The ‘Starry Night’ Dinner Dance at the Epping Club on 24th February 2024 – Photos thanks to RoyGrafix The clan in Melbourne rally round to celebrate veteran Mirage leader Donald Pieries birthday at a Thai Street Food surprise party – by Trevine Rodrigo (eLanka – Melbourne) Sri Lankan club cricketer shines bright in Australian cricket Media conference with New Zealand captain Tim Southee on the Qantas Tour of New Zealand Media conference with New Zealand captain Tim Southee on the Qantas Tour of New ZealandSri Lanka vs Bangladesh – T20 Cricket Highlights Safety; Accidents; & You – By Noor Rahim “Exploring the Enchanting Pratunam Night Market in Bangkok” -By Harold Gunatillake Nostalgia of evoking courageous ...

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