Rahul awaits Congress big job
NEW DELHI, (AFP) – The path is clear for India’s Gandhi family scion Rahul to become the Congress party’s next prime ministerial candidate, following premier Manmohan Singh’s announcement Friday that he will step down before this year’s polls. Rahul, 43, is already number two in the Congress, behind his mother Sonia who is party president, [...]
In India, a resistance coming
In five-star hotels on Mumbai’s seafront, children of the rich squeal joyfully as they play hide and seek. Nearby, at the National Theatre for the Performing Arts, people arrive for the Mumbai Literary Festival: famous authors and notables drawn from India’s Raj class. They step deftly over a woman lying across the pavement, her birch [...]
Taj Samudra celebrates renovation
It was an elegant evening to celebrate a new chapter in hospitality when the Taj Samudra held its seasonal cocktails, showing off their newly renovated hotel.
The evening the Prince came to (Prince) Alfred House Gardens
Chance placed us within Prince Charles’s ambit the other day, as the royal went about his various rounds during his visit in November. He was here as the Queen’s representative at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, and one of his last non-CHOGM duties before leaving was to open the new block at the British [...]
‘No Pearl of Greater Price’: Launch of C.W.W Kannangara biography
Dr. Ananda W.P Guruge celebrated his 85th birthday with the launch of his new book, ‘No Pearl of Greater Price’; the biography of C.W.W Kannangara on Saturday, December 28 at the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress Auditorium. The book is a publication of Godage International Publishers and the first copy of the book was presented by [...]
Colombo Fashion Week: Spring and Summer edition
Local fashionistas can look forward to the HSBC Colombo Fashion Week 2014 Spring/Summer edition which will be at the Hilton Colombo on February 6, 7 and 8. Meanwhile different aspects of the Fashion Week will kick off from February 3, making it a week full of fashion related activities. There will be 33 shows over [...]
Parents may want to limit electronic media at mealtime
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Parents who let their teens use electronic devices or watch TV during family meals tend to serve less nutritious food and have poorer family communication, a new study suggests. Experts have suggested turning the TV off at mealtime for years. But with the advent of cell phones and other handheld [...]
My reflections on Bogoda Premaratne
“Learn or depart” was and is the motto of Royal College. Some students learnt to play the game, learned little and but did not depart. Then there were others like me who belonged to the cult of the ‘Black Board jungle’ who was known for their notoriety and rioting. Some in the gang neither learned [...]
Now, Arab-African pleasure leaf khat in Sri Lanka!
A few days ago, a 21-year- old Sri Lankan arriving from Kenya was arrested at the Bandaranaike International Airport by Customs for trying to smuggle into the country 50 kg of “Khat” plants concealed in two bags. Khat is believed to have been brought to be smuggled to Canada. What is Khat? The leaves and [...]
Sympathy for the migrant
GENEVA – The tragic fate of the several hundred Africans who drowned near the Italian island of Lampedusa in October made international headlines, leading to a rare moment of compassion and reflection about the dangers facing many migrants. But the only exceptional aspect of this disaster was the magnitude of the death toll. For Lampedusa’s [...]
US workers, employers test ‘unlimited vacation’
WASHINGTON (AFP) -Unlimited vacation policies, which have so far been adopted by only a handful of US businesses, have been embraced by both workers and their employers, who say the flexibility increases profitability. At Ryan, a tax services firm of 1,600 employees, the majority of workers have not formally declared their hours since 2008, and [...]
Renewed violence in Bangladesh ahead of disputed election
DHAKA (Reuters) – Bangladesh was hit by renewed violence, with two more people killed on the eve of elections on Sunday in which the ruling Awami League looks certain to prevail in a walkover as the main opposition party boycotts the poll. The Bangladesh National Party (BNP) called a 48-hour strike from Saturday morning, on [...]
Chinese ship used in Antarctic rescue stuck in ice
SYDNEY, Jan 4(AFP) -A Chinese icebreaker that went to the aid of a Russian ship stuck in heavy floes in Antarctica has now itself become trapped by ice, officials said today, sparking anger about the impact of the rescue on polar expeditions. The Xue Long, which on Thursday used its helicopter to ferry dozens of [...]
Did Kim Jong Un feed his uncle to the dogs?
It sounds like something out of a Quentin Tarantino movie. Rumours are flying that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, and five aides executed by being stripped naked and placed in a cage with 120 attack dogs. This is all according to Singapore’s Straits Times, which quotes a 12 [...]
