Posts

Showing posts from June, 2017

Saman Kelegama - obituary

Image
  Born: 6April 1959 Died: 23 June 2017 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saman_Kelegama I never actually worked with Saman Kelegama though we met regularly in different forums, notably as the bosses of the two Sri Lankan think tanks supported by the Think Tank Initiative , and also as co-Directors of the Gamani Corea Foundation.     I greatly admired Saman’s knowledge of economics, his analysis and the contribution he made to Sri Lanka’s policy making, had huge respect for how he navigated the murky political contexts to retain IPS ’ independence and integrity, recognised that he was much loved by his colleagues   and greatly admired by scholars as a development intellectual, both in Sri Lanka and globally. Among the Think Tank Initiative think tank Directors in South Asia, Saman had his place among the heavy weights! I didn’t really understand Saman’s world of trade economics, nor did I really approve of his management style (nor he of mine!) Socially I found him