Charles as child
Prince Charles — ‘rosy, plump, healthy and bawling’ and ‘with a fair fluff of hair’, according to a courtier — was born at 9.14pm on 14 November, 1948, 65 years ago next Thursday. A crowd of 3,000 huddled outside Buckingham Palace and cheered when the birth announcement was posted on the railings after a 30-hour [...]
Prince Charles in no hurry to become king – Time magazine
LONDON (Reuters) – Prince Charles’ passion in life is his charitable work and he wants to get as much done as he can before becoming king when, in the words of an aide, “the prison shades” close, according to Catherine Mayer, editor-at-large of the U.S. magazine Time. After months of research involving rare access to [...]
Troubled Maldives holds make-or-break vote
MALE, Maldives, Nov 09, (AFP) – Voting got underway in the Maldives today in its third bid to choose a president and end unrest sparked by the toppling of their first freely-elected leader 21 months ago. “Voting began at 475 polling booths across the Maldives and several foreign capitals where Maldivians live,” Elections Commission official [...]
60 years of diplomatic relations through the eyes of children
How did a child of 12 years from distant Pundaluoya, view 60 years of friendly relations between Sri Lanka and Germany and bring his impressions to his canvas? Whether the student was from Pundaluoya, Jaffna, Mount Lavinia or Germany, the teacher’s guidance was necessary to inspire the child’s imagination and open out his skills, said [...]
Colombo Uni wins Intl award for groundbreaking research
The research paper titled ‘Haplotypes of Heparin-binding EGF-like Growth Factor (HBEGF) gene are associated with preeclampsia” published in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Research [2012 Jan;38(1):239-46. DOI: 10.1111/j.1447-0756.2011.01700.x] was awarded the Yuji Murata Endowment Award – 2013 by the Asia and Oceania Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (AOFOG). The paper was based on the [...]
Ganesh, at the helm of OPA
V. Ganesh was inducted as the 33rd President of the Organisation of Professional Associations (OPA) at the Annual General Meeting held recently. He takes over from Mr. Benedict Ulluwishewa. The OPA is the national apex body of 44 professional associations and has a membership of over 50,000 professionals. Mr. Ganesh is a fellow of the [...]
Lankan head of Saint Lucia Tourist Board proud of recognition
The Saint Lucia Tourist Board headed by a Sri Lankan recently received the “Travel Bulletin Star Tourist Office for Online training, Roadshows and Workshops 2013″. Sri Lankan Jean-Marc Flambert, Director of Marketing UK and Europe (third from left in the picture) said, “The award recognises the innovation and hard work that the Saint Lucia Tourist [...]
Science seminar for O/Level students
A science seminar for G.C.E. O’L students conducted by K. Ariyasinghe will be held on November 15 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.at the Sakya Higher Education Institute, Nugegoda.
Amanda on the ramp
Miss Sri Lanka, Amanda Ratnayake, competes in her evening gown and swimsuit wear during the preliminary competitions of Miss Universe 2013 at Crocus City Hall in Moscow on November 5. Amanda’s sophisticated diaphanous gown was designed and executed by Gihan Nanayakkara of Orient Design. The grand finale of Miss Universe 2013 was held yesterday.
Australia ends asylum boat stand-off with Indonesia
SYDNEY, Nov 09, (AFP) – Australia said today it will take a boatload of asylum-seekers at the centre of a high-seas stand-off with Indonesia to its Indian Ocean outpost of Christmas Island. Australia had requested Indonesia take the group of about 60 people who were picked up by an Australian vessel south of Java on [...]
41 SL companies at Anuga Exhibition in Cologne
The Anuga Exhibition is the most important platform for the food business held in Cologne, Germany. This year, 6777 exhibition stands catered to the public, and more than 150,000 trade visitors from 187 countries were present to check out the trends in the food business. Minister of Industries and Commerce, Rishad Bathiudean, accompanied by Ambassador [...]
Would you make friends with your CAR?
It might sound like something out of a science fiction novel, but Toyota’s next concept car promises to read a driver’s emotions. The Japanese car maker will unveil the FV2 at the Tokyo Motor Show next month, but has revealed that the car is designed to ‘forge stronger physical and emotional connections with the driver’. [...]
Nepal’s cawing ‘bird brother’ amazes crowds, raises awareness
KATHMANDU (Reuters) – A young man with a microphone stepped onto a small stage and cawed like a crow. Minutes later, hundreds of noisy birds circled above him, perched on trees and sat on roof tops, astounding the crowd at a show called the “crow conference”. Gautam Sapkota, fondly known in Nepal as “charidada” or [...]
Indians flock to opposition leader Modi as campaign builds steam
BAHRAICH, India, (Reuters) – No matter that Indian opposition leader Narendra Modi’s election rally on Friday was held in a field outside a remote town not far from the border with Nepal. Still they came, on foot, clinging to the back of tractors, crammed into rickety buses. In the end up to 50,000 people gathered [...]
CHOGM: Our guests!
Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh — born on September 26, 1932 — is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. Educated at Oxford and Cambridge, he is a renowned economist and the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term, and the first [...]
Sajith the giant killer: Fact or fiction?
Sajith Premadasa has been making news again in the aftermath of the North Western and Central Provincial Council elections being portrayed as the panacea for the electoral defeats suffered by the UNP. The blame for these defeats has been laid on UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and the formula for victory is simple “Replace Ranil Wickremesinghe [...]
No, Ranil cannot: A response to Samaraweera
I wish to draw your kind attention to the article by Mangala Samaraweera in the Sunday Times of October 6, 2013 and would like to respond to it. Samaraweera bases his arguments mainly on the following grounds, as summarized below; Yes, Ranil Can: Why I support him. 1.The successor to the incumbent President must have [...]
Fears of mass casualties as typhoon hits Philippines
MANILA, Nov 09, (AFP) – More than 100 bodies were lying in the streets of a Philippine city smashed by Super Typhoon Haiyan, authorities said today, as soldiers raced to reach many other devastated communities. Haiyan tore into the eastern islands of Leyte and Samar on Friday with sustained winds of around 315 kilometres (195 [...]
Iran nuke deal: Talks stretch into third day
GENEVA, Nov 09, (AFP) -Talks between Iran and world powers stretched into a third day today as top diplomats pressed for a deal on Tehran’s nuclear programme, warning that major obstacles remain. After cutting short a Middle East tour to attend the talks, US Secretary of State John Kerry struck a note of caution as [...]
Witness for hire: How we love to lie
Thomas Skinner, the pioneer road builder in many parts of the Island who had closely associated with the villagers testifying before the Select Committee of the House of Commons in 1849 had remarked: “Probably in no people in the world does there exist a great a love of litigation as in the Sinhalese. It is [...]
The Kennedy temptation
NEW YORK – Fifty years ago this month, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Many Americans believe that this tragic event marked the loss of national innocence. This is nonsense, of course. The history of the United States, like that of all countries, is soaked in blood. But, seen from today’s perspective, [...]
In the footsteps of Lee Harvey Oswald
DALLAS, Nov 09, (AFP) – Minutes after personally witnessing the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Pierce Allman came across a man exiting the Texas School Book Depository and looking remarkably calm. The man’s name was Lee Harvey Oswald, 24, the former US Marine who defected to the Soviet Union then returned home and went on [...]
