V. N. Navaratnam
Vallipuram Nallathamby Navaratnam (; 5 June 1929 – 29 January 1991) was a Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament. Early life and family Navaratnam was born on 5 June 1929 in Chavakachcheri in northern Ceylon. He was educated at Drieberg College, Chavakachcheri and Jaffna Central College. He later joined Ceylon Law College, graduating as an advocate. Navaratnam had three sons (Sri Namachchivaya, Vallipurananda and Sri Shanmugananda) and a daughter (Maitreyi). Career Navaratnam was called to the bar in 1954 and practised law in Jaffna, specialising in criminal law. He taught at schools for a brief period. Navaratnam became a Member of entered Parliament after winning the 1956 parliamentary election as the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (Federal Party) candidate in Chavakachcheri. He was re-elected at the March 1960, July 1960, 1965 and 1970 parliamentary elections. On 5 June 1956 a group of Tamil activists and parliamentarians, including Navarat ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Called To The Bar
The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to the bar". "The bar" is now used as a collective noun for barristers, but literally referred to the wooden barrier in old courtrooms, which separated the often crowded public area at the rear from the space near the judges reserved for those having business with the court. Barristers would sit or stand immediately behind it, facing the judge, and could use it as a table for their briefs. Like many other common law terms, the term originated in England in the Middle Ages, and the ''call to the bar'' refers to the summons issued to one found fit to speak at the "bar" of the royal courts. In time, English judges allowed only legally qualified men to address them on the law and later delegated the qualification and admission of barristers to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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University Of Hawaii Press
A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. The first universities in Europe were established by Catholic monks. The University of Bologna (), Italy, which was founded in 1088, is the first university in the sense of: *being a high degree-awarding institute. *using the word (which was coined at its foundation). *having independence from the ecclesiastic schools and issuing secular as well as non-secular degrees (with teaching conducted by both clergy and non-clergy): grammar, rhetoric, logic, theology, canon law and notarial law.Hunt Janin: "The university in medieval life, 1179–1499", McFarland, 2008, , p. 55f.de Ridder-Symoens, Hilde''A History of the University in Europe: Volume 1, Universities in th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Old Parliament Building, Colombo
The Old Parliament Building, is the building that houses the Presidential Secretariat (Sri Lanka), Presidential Secretariat of Sri Lanka. Situated in the Fort (Colombo), Colombo fort area facing the sea, it is in close proximity to the President's House, Colombo and adjacent to the General Treasury Building. The building housed the island's legislature for 53 years until the new parliamentary complex was opened at Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Sri Jayawardenepura in 1983. Building The Baroque Revival architecture, Neo-Baroque-style building was built during the British Ceylon, British colonial era to house the Legislative Council of Ceylon, and was the idea of Henry McCallum, Sir Henry McCallum. This was subsequently included in a proposal made by a committee to construct the new building for the General Treasury Building, Secretariat, Council Chamber and Government offices on reclaimed land at the northern end of Galle Face Green, Galle Face, which was approved by the Governmen ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Galle Face Green
Galle Face Green is a ocean-side urban park, which stretches for along the coast, in the heart of Colombo, the financial and business capital of Sri Lanka. The promenade was initially laid out in 1859 by Governor Sir Henry George Ward, although the original Galle Face Green extended over a much larger area than is seen today. The Galle Face Green was initially used for horse racing and as a golf course, but was also used for cricket, polo, football, tennis, and rugby. History Galle Face Green originally extended over a much larger area than exists today. Records indicate that it was bounded to the north by Beira Lake, the ramparts of Colombo Fort and the city's cemetery (established in 1803), to the west by the Indian Ocean, while to the south by the Galle Face Hotel (established in 1864, although the original building on the site was a Dutch villa) and to the east by St. Peter's Church (consecrated in 1821). The Galle Face Green was initially laid out by the Dutch as ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sinhala Only Act
The Official Language Act (No. 33 of 1956), commonly referred to as the Sinhala Only Act, was an act passed in the Parliament of Ceylon in 1956. The act replaced English with Sinhala as the sole official language of Ceylon, with the exclusion of Tamil from the act. At the time, Sinhala (also known as Sinhalese) was the language of Ceylon's majority Sinhalese people, who accounted for around 70% of the country's population. Tamil was the first language of Ceylon's three largest minority ethnic groups, the Indian Tamils, Sri Lankan Tamils and Moors, who together accounted for around 29% of the country's population. The act was controversial as its supporters saw it as an attempt by a community that had just gained independence to distance themselves from their colonial masters, while its opponents viewed it as an attempt by the linguistic majority to oppress and assert dominance on minorities. The Act symbolizes the post-independent Sinhalese majority's determination to asser ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Satyagraha
Satyāgraha (from ; ''satya'': "truth", ''āgraha'': "insistence" or "holding firmly to"), or "holding firmly to truth",' or "truth force", is a particular form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. Someone who practises satyagraha is a satyagrahi. The term ''satyagraha'' was coined and developed by Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) as early as 1919. Gandhi practised satyagraha as part of the Indian independence movement and also during his earlier struggles in South Africa for Indian rights. Satyagraha theory influenced Martin Luther King Jr.'s and James Bevel's campaigns during the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, as well as Nelson Mandela's struggle against apartheid in South Africa and many other social-justice and similar movements. Principles Gandhi envisioned ''satyagraha'' as not only a tactic to be used in acute political struggle but as a universal solvent for injustice and harm. He founded the Sabarmati Ashram to teach ''satyagraha''. He ask ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1970 Ceylonese Parliamentary Election
Parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon in 1970. Background SLFP leader Sirimavo Bandaranaike had come to the conclusion that her party's best hope of power was forming a permanent alliance with Ceylon's Marxist parties. She assembled the SLFP, the Trotskyist LSSP, and the Communists into the United Front coalition. The UF's platform was called the ''Common Programme''; it featured extensive nationalization, a non-aligned foreign policy, expanded social programmes, and replacement of the British-imposed, monarchical Soulbury constitution with a republican constitution. The UNP government of Dudley Senanayake had not made much headway with Ceylon's twin problems of inflation and unemployment, nor had it attempted solving the linked problems of feudal property relations and adverse terms of trade by agrarian reform and industrialisation. The UNP had become widely perceived as a party of the rich, out of touch with the concerns of ordinary people. The UF's socialist p ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1965 Ceylonese Parliamentary Election
Parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon in March 1965. Background The SLFP government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike lost its majority in December 1964 when some MPs deserted it over the nationalization of Lakehouse Newspapers. Bandaranaike's program of extensive nationalization had alarmed many of the island's business interests, which rallied to the United National Party. The economy had been stagnant, and rationing had been imposed in the face of persistent food shortages. The UNP promised to form a "National Front" government to oppose the SLFP and its Marxist allies. UNP leader Dudley Senanayake promised cabinet posts both to smaller Sinhalese nationalist parties and the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi. Results The UNP did not obtain a majority, but was able to govern as a National Front with the ITAK's support. Notes References * * * * * {{Sri Lankan elections Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known h ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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July 1960 Ceylonese Parliamentary Election
Snap parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon in July 1960. Background The March 1960 Sri Lankan parliamentary election, March 1960 election had left neither of Ceylon's two major parties with a majority, so another election was inevitable. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party, which had been in disarray since the murder of its leader Solomon Bandaranaike, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike the previous year, settled on his widow, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Sirimavo, as its new leader. She pledged to continue her husband's policies, notably the Sinhala Only Act, and to proceed with repatriation of the Sri Lanka Tamils (Indian origin), estate Tamils to India. However, she promised to reach a compromise with the Federal Party (Sri Lanka), Federal Party. The United National Party, led by Dudley Senanayake, refused to compromise with the Federal Party. It also differed with the SLFP over economic policy. The SLFP called for a socialist program of nationalization of both private enterprises and religiou ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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March 1960 Ceylonese Parliamentary Election
Parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon on 19 March 1960. Background By 1960, Ceylon's governing Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) coalition was falling apart. The Marxist parties that were junior partners of the coalition had broken with the dominant Sri Lanka Freedom Party over the issue of paddy lands. The Marxist Viplavakari Lanka Sama Samaja Party formed a new party that took the name MEP. The SLFP itself had been torn by an internal power struggle since the death of its leader, S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, the previous year. Both the United National Party and the SLFP campaigned on a strongly anti-Tamil line, promising to repatriate the estate Tamils to India, and implement the Sinhala Only Act. Results Dudley Senanayake and the UNP obtained a plurality of seats, but without a majority could not form a stable government. This led to the July 1960 elections. [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1956 Ceylonese Parliamentary Election
Parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon in 1956. They were a watershed in the country's political history, and were the first elections fought to realistically challenge the ruling United National Party. Former Leader of the House S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike crossed over to the opposition to form the Sri Lanka Freedom Party to launch his bid for Prime Minister. The party won the election with 51 seats, winning a majority in the house. Background The UNP government of John Kotelawala had been rapidly losing steam. It faced widespread criticism over Ceylon's poor economic performance. Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party now championed a popular socialist platform, calling for English to be replaced by Sinhala as the island's official language. The UNP resisted this out of deference to Ceylon's Tamil minority, but changed its position in early 1956. This only served to cost the UNP its Tamil support while gaining it little among the Sinhalese. The Lanka Sama Samaja P ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |