News
Dr. Deraniyagala passes away
Former Director General of Archaeology, Dr. Siran Upendra Deraniyagala, a prehistorian known for his work across the world, passed away yesterday. He was 79.
In 1968, Deraniyagala discovered ancient human burials in the Fa Hien Cave.
He was born on March 1, 1942, in Ratnapura, to parents Dr. P.E.P. Deraniyagala, former Director of National Museum, a giant in his own right, and Prini Molamure. Siran Deraniyagala completed his schooling at S. Thomas’ College Mount. Lavinia. He received his BA and MA degrees in Architecture and Sanskrit at Cambridge University and went on to do postgraduate studies in archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology in London. At the Institute he qualified with distinction and was awarded the prestigious Gordon Childe Prize, as one of two best all-round students in all fields of archaeology.
In addition to the academic degrees, was awarded honoris causa degrees by many leading universities in the world. When he was awarded the Degree of Doctor of Letters in recognition of his services to the field of archaeology at the 2001 General Convocation of the University of Peradeniya, Dean of the Faculty of Arts of that university Prof W.M. Sirisena said the following in the conferral presentation speech that Dr. Deraniyagala joined the Archaeological Survey Department of Sri Lanka in 1968 as Assistant Commissioner in charge of scientific excavations. He also said: “Following this, Dr. Deraniyagala reoriented excavation and research strategies of the Department that were until then carried out on an ad hoc basis.
He introduced a research design, plans for infrastructure and human resource development in the excavation division and in 1969 undertook the epoch-breaking excavation at the Citadel of Anuradhapura.
This was the first scientific stratified excavation undertaken in this country and it set the pattern to the next generation of field archaeologists in Sri Lanka.
The excavation at the Citadel in fact revolutionized much of traditionally accepted theories on the emergence of civilization in Sri Lanka.
It conclusively pushed back the beginnings of the earliest village culture, the introduction of metals and plant and animal domestication in this Island to 1000 BC. Dr. Deraniyagala’s investigations in the past two decades at the Citadel have revealed that this is one of the largest urban archaeological sites in pre modern South Asia.
This site now functions as a promising state-of-the-art research and training centers for archaeology in South Asia.
During his tenure as Assistant Commissioner Dr. Deraniyagala commenced a systematic reinvestigation of the prehistoric technology and culture of Sri Lanka.
He pioneered a new research strategy and lunched a long-term study of this significant period in our history hitherto little understood and little known.
Deraniyagala then proceeded to the USA for his doctoral research at Harvard University and in 1988 his magnum opus; The Prehistory of Sri Lanka: an Ecological Perspective was completed.
This monumental work on cultural palaeo-ecology totalling over 1500 pages, has been hailed by Harvard professors as a landmark in the archaeology of South Asia as a whole, which has incidentally transformed their concept of Sri Lankan prehistory.
In 1992 his thesis was published as Memoir 8 of the Archaeological Department and is acclaimed as one of the primary source books on South Asian prehistoric archaeology.
Dr. Deraniyagala’s tenure as Director General of Archaeology (1992 to 2001) has been one of the most significant epochs in modernizing Sri Lankan archaeology in the state sector.
He prepared an agenda restructuring theoretical, applied and management archaeology at the professional level by coordinating several ‘thrust’ programs for this purpose.
Dr. Deraniyagala was responsible for the introduction of a radical shift in the Antiquities Ordinance in 1998 and it vested greater power with the Director General of Archaeology and formalized Archaeological Impact Assessments.
Dr. Deraniyagala has disseminated his knowledge by publishing over 40 research articles in some of the most prestigious learned journals in the world.”
It has been reported quoting family sources that veteran singer Mariazelle Goonetilleke has passed away this morning (10) at the age of 68
She had been receiving treatment at the Kalubowila Teaching Hospital.
The wife of retired Major General Suresh Sallay has lodged a further complaint with the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL), alleging that her husband’s fundamental rights continue to be violated as Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers prevent him from having confidential consultations with his lawyer while he is under detention at the National Hospital.
In a letter addressed to the HRCSL Chairman on Thursday, Mrs. S.B.M.S.B. Sallay has said the latest complaint was filed in relation to an earlier complaint concerning the detention and treatment of her husband.
Full text of the letter: I, Mrs. S.B.M.S.B. Sallay, respectfully write to lodge this further complaint in relation to my earlier complaint bearing reference H RC-HO-1 103-26, concerning the detention and treatment of my husband, Retired Major General Suresh Sallay.
I wish to bring to the attention of the Commission a further serious violation of his fundamental rights that occurred on 08 July 2026 during a consultation between my husband and his Attorney-at-Law, Mr. Asith Siriwardena, while my husband remains under detention and is receiving treatment at the National Hospital.
I am informed by his Counsel that he is presently permitted to consult with my husband only once a week for a period of approximately twenty minutes. During the consultation held on 08 July 2026, officers of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) stationed at the Cardiac Coronary Care Unit of the National Hospital informed Counsel that they had received instructions from higher authorities that my husband should not be permitted to meet with his
legal counsel in private. Consequently, the officers remained present throughout the consultation and refused to permit a confidential lawyer-client meeting.
This conduct constitutes a grave infringement of my husband’s fundamental right to communicate privately and confidentially with his legal counsel. Confidential communication between an accused or detainee and his lawyer is an indispensable safeguard of the right to legal representation, the right to prepare his defence, and the right to a fair trial. The denial of confidential legal consultations undermines these fundamental protections guaranteed under the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the applicable provisions governing persons detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
The confidentiality of communications between a lawyer and client is also a well-recognized principle under international human rights law and forms an essential safeguard against arbitrary detention, coercion, and unfair legal proceedings.
In view of the foregoing, I respectfully request the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka to urgently intervene and take all necessary steps within its statutory mandate to:
1. Ensure that my husband is afforded immediate and unrestricted confidential access to his legal counsel without the presence or supervision of law enforcement officers;
2. Inquire into the instructions allegedly issued by higher authorities requiring CID officers to remain present during lawyer-client consultations;
3. Direct the relevant authorities to cease any practice that interferes with confidential legal consultations; and
4. Take such further action as the Commission considers appropriate to safeguard my husband’s constitutional and human rights.
This complaint is made as a further complaint to Complaint No. H RC-HO-1103-26, and I respectfully request that it be placed on the same file and considered together with my previous complaints.
I respectfully seek the Commission’s urgent intervention in this matter.
The Supreme Court yesterday (9) upheld a Colombo Commercial High Court order directing former Minister Wimal Weerawansa to pay Rs. 1 million in damages to Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) General Secretary Tilvin Silva for violating intellectual property rights.
A three-member Supreme Court bench dismissed in its entirety an appeal filed by Weerawansa challenging the earlier Commercial High Court ruling.
The case was instituted by Silva, who alleged that Weerawansa had violated provisions of the Intellectual Property Act by publishing his book “Neththa Wenuwata Aththa” (“Truth Instead of Lies”), which contained the JVP’s political ideology and official party documents without authorisation.
The Supreme Court also affirmed the order restraining the publication and distribution of the book in its existing form. However, the court ruled that the book could be republished if the 60-page section identified as infringing intellectual property rights was removed.
Dharmaraja and Kingswood set for historic rugby clash on Saturday
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