The Island Features Saturday 24th March, 2012 13

One of the earliest ! Dambulla to host Asia- Pacific Scouts groups in then Ceylon Jamboree from April 1-7 !6500 local and 700 foreign boy scouts from 27 countries to participate !Stamp, first day cover to be issued by Chief Scout of Sri Lanka, President Mahinda Rajapaksa on opening day

were R.B. Kotuwegedera, Thambo Nadararaj, AM Hameed, John Karunaratne, Peter Bolling, R.B. Kapuwatte, M. Sahabdeen and Peter Gunawardena. The historical milestones include the founder of the of the World Scout Movement Sir Baden Powell honouring the Father of the Scout Movement in Sri Lanka-Britisher Francis George Stevenson with the Silver Wolf Award on his retire- ment in 1945 and his return to England. Some of the other chronological milestones of the Scout Movement in Sri Lanka have been: - Establishment of the Dharmaraja College Branch in 1913 and Mahinda College, Galle in 1914, , Establishment of the Ceylon Branch of the British Boy Scouts Association in 1914, the first census of the boys scouts in Sri Lanka in 1915 which had 248 boy scouts, the first Cub Scout rally at Richmond College, Galle in 1917 and the first All Island Boy Scouts Rally at Havelock Park also in 1917. Other milestones included the Scout Movement starting at Dharmaraja College, Kandy and it became the first school to be awarded the Kings Flag in 1917, 1918 and 1919. Another moot point is that among the distinguished alumni of that school, who was a member of the Scout move- ment, was the former Governor General of Ceylon- William Gopallawa. The subsequent developments included the establishment of the 15th Colombo Scout Rovers Club in Colombo in 1924 and the visit of Lord (Sir) Baden Powell and Lady Powell to present the Wood Badge to scout leaders (which is the highest award for a scout in Sri Lanka) in 1924. The first settlement for scouts was estab- lished at Kalutara in 1931 for which Powell and his Lady arrived in Sri Lanka for the second time. There was a 15- acre block of land demarcated at Thavalamapitiya, Mirigama for the establishment of the Scout headquarters in 1942. The scout headquarters was established there in 1945 and the first Rover Scout conference was held at St. Anthony’s College, Katugastota from April 23- 28, 1945. Another major landmark was in 1952, the BY RAVI LADDUWAHETTY The father of the Scout Movement in Sri Lanka and Golden Jubilee year where over 5000 scouts from Sri Lanka, Burma, Malaysia and Australia ri Lanka will be celebrating the centenary of British Highways Engineer Francis George Stephenson participated at the 40th anniversary of the the Boy Scouts Movement this year and will International Scout Movement at Koombikelle host the 29th Asia Pacific Scout Jamboree in magnitude. It will also coincide with the centenary S (where the current BMICH building is). In the fol- Dambulla from April 1-7. celebrations of the local scouts movement. “We lowing year 1953, Sri Lanka was admitted to mem- The programme will begin with the ceremonial have wanted to host this international event long bership of the International Scouting Federation opening by President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the years ago but the delegates refused all this time due and the Scout Movement was given legal recogni- Chief Scout of Sri Lanka on April 1. Also gracing to the war”, he said. tion through an Act of Parliament of Sri Lanka on the occasion will be the Vice President of the “The reason for the selection of Dambulla as April 17, 1957. Philippines Jeromar C. Binay, who is also the the venue for the Asia-Pacific scout jamboree has The first stamp issued for the Scout Movement Chairman of the Asia Pacific Scouts Committee. been that Scouting originally started in this coun- on account of the golden jubilee in 1962. The first There would be a total of 6500 selected boy try by Francis George Stephenson, a British ever radio channel was launched for scouts by then scouts out of the 46,000 strong movement in Sri Highways Engineer who was employed in Matale in Scouts Commissioner W. J. Dias Gunaratne in 1966. Lanka who would be participating in the event 1907 who had been associated with the scout move- The launching of ‘Outdoor Life’, the official news- along with about 700 boy scouts from the Asia ment in India and it was he who pioneered scouting paper of the local Scout Movement was in 1990. Pacific region, Scout Commissioner Chandrasena in this country at Christ Church College, Matale Sri Lankan scouts enjoying a meal with their Italian That year also saw Sri Lanka playing hosts to the Batuwangala told The Island yesterday. and Dambulla also being from the Matale District as first ever SAARC jamboree held at the Vihara Maha “Some of the countries of the scouts, whose counterparts on the Sri Lanka Day at the World well”, he said. There will be 350 adults to run the Devi Park. ages range from 12-17, will be participating in addi- Scout Jamboree in Sweden last year jamboree which will also include 92 foreigners. tion to those in the SAARC region will include: Japan, Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Historical milestones Singapore, Formosa, Macao, Cambodia, Saudi There were eight scouts in the first batch in 1912 Winners of the Presidential Scout Awards Arabia which includes a 20 member delegation, 2 and which had all the ethnic denominations. They for 2011 with the Chief Scout of Sri Lanka- from Uganda, and two from the United Kingdom. President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Over 700 overseas scouts have already confirmed Presidential Secretariat their participation”, he said. Events also include camping, archery, horse riding, swimming in the Kandalama Lake, for wqhich approval has been given by the Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka. Rope climbing and crawl- ing under nets. One of the special features will also include taking 50 participants to the Ibbankatuwa Island as well. There will also be group discussions and inter- actions as well. All the local and foreign partici- pants will be taken to Sigiriya and the Dambulla Raja Maha Viharaya on an excursion. The closing ceremony will be on the night of April 6 and the conclusion will be on April 7. Batuwangala revealed that an extent of 16 acres had been cleared between schools and temples to house the jamboree, which could be also be the first occasion that Sri Lanka hosts an event of the Jamboree activities

The Island Sports

BY MICHAEL CASEY while the Netherlands defeated Scotland by had been stung by its exclu- 3 . Ireland and Netherlands will sion from the Asia Cup, complaining it Hamilton fastest in F1 DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — play Friday in Sharjah with the winner should have been allowed to play alongside Afghanistan qualified for its second consec- meeting Namibia on Saturday for the sec- Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India. utive Twenty20 World Cup with a 47-run ond spot into the World Cup. “If you look at the rankings, we are Malaysian GP practice win over Namibia on Thursday, inspired by Afghanistan batted first and made a above the West Indies at the moment but the bowling of Dawlat Zadran who took strong start, with openers Karim Sadiq (28) we have to prove it when we play them,” BY CHRIS LINES seventh, separated by the Red Bull of two of his three wickets in the first over. and Javed Ahmadi (24) helping the team said , who returned to coach Mark Webber. Force India’s Paul di reach 57 without loss. But Namibia skipper The win marks another milestone for the team after a two-year absence in the SEPANG, Malaysia (AP) — McLaren Resta, Australian Grand Prix winner Afghanistan, which in the past five years Sarel Burger and Christi Viljoen each took driver Lewis Hamilton set the fastest Jenson Button of McLaren and Force three wickets to restrict Afghanistan to a UAE. “We have to prepare well. We have to has been one of the most inspiring stories shape up the boys. time in Friday’s opening practice for the India’s Nico Hulkenberg completed the 146. top ten. in sport. “We want to have a Malaysian Grand Prix, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa Made up of war good tournament and give boosting expectations he refugees who learned the will make back-to-back pole and Fernando Alonso were full and tough matches to sport in Pakistan, the positions to open the new 13th and 15th, with the the opposition. If we win team has gone from play- Formula One season. team not having made any Afghanistan qualifies for one or two, I don’t mind. ing an event against Hamilton was a half sec- immediate step forward Japan, Botswana, But if we lose, we want to ond faster than reigning from their struggles in Singapore and Jersey lose giving 100 percent.” world champion Sebastian Melbourne. among other lesser- Twenty20 World Cup The team’s success has Vettel of Red Bull, with There were no major known teams to making helped replace foot- Mercedes pair Nico Rosberg incidents in the first ses- its one-day international ball as the national sport, and Michael Schumacher sion, but some mechanical debut against Pakistan last month. Things went wrong in the first over for and even the Taliban have third and fourth respective- issues. Grosjean had an The impoverished South Asian nation the Namibians. Opener Raymond van come out in favor of the game — saying its ly on the timesheets. issue with his rear wing will now travel to Sri Lanka later this year Schoor was on the first ball of the innings, frequent breaks mean it doesn’t interfere Most drivers set their that cost him a few laps of to play in the Twenty20 World Cup. Gerrie Snyman for a duck four deliveries with prayer times in the Muslim nation. best lap times relatively running, while Button Afghanistan lost both of its group matches, later. Dawlat Zadran, who took both wick- Cricket clubs have sprung up across the early in the session, as they Mercedes Formula One driver spent the last quarter of to India and South Africa, at the 2010 edi- ets, finished with 3-5 off 3.1 overs. country and the government is building sought to reserve sets of Michael Schumacher of an hour in the garage due tion. Namibia never recovered and was new grounds to keep up with the growing tires for later in the week- Germany waits for the start of to an oil leak. “It’s really a big day for us,” bowled out for 99. Aftab Alam claimed 4-25. demand from 70,000 club cricketers. end, as rubber degradation the first practice session at the The HRT of Narain Afghanistan captain said “At the start of , we were under As in Pakistan and India, business slows is a major issue on the hot Malaysian Formula One Grand Karthikeyan had a Prix at Sepang, Malaysia, through a translator. “Coming to this tour- pressure after losing three or four wickets to a crawl when the national team plays, Sepang surface. hydraulic failure early Friday, March 23, 2012. nament as defending champion, it put a lit- in the first six overs,” Burger said. “You and the players have become celebrities. There was a higher-than- before emerging again. The HRTs failed to qualify tle pressure on the team, especially in the don’t have a lot of time to catch up. After Crowds line the streets when the team normal number of laps in in Australia, and their times in first shorter format of 20 overs where it’s any- that we lost wickets consistently. We had a returns home, and a government minister the first practice as teams tried to practice here were more than half a sec- body’s game. The boys did well and they little partnership in the middle stages. But and several legislators even flew into squeeze in as much of their testing pro- gram in case forecast rain affects the ond off being within seven percent of proved they are deserving winners, and a after Nicholaas Scholtz was out, I fell just Sharjah to attend the ODI against deserving team to go to the World Cup.” afternoon session. the top time — the cutoff point they after that, and from there it went down- Pakistan, which Afghanistan lost by seven Ireland trounced Canada by 10 wickets Lotus’ Romain Grosjean was fifth must achieve in Saturday’s qualifying in wards.” wickets. fastest and teammate Kimi Raikkonen order to make the race.