Lanka as diving medicine hub
One was on holiday here and the other was in the Maldives with the second part of her tour bringing her to Sri Lanka. The 30-year-old Sri Lankan now domiciled in England was in Hikkaduwa and the 30-year-old New Zealander was in the Maldives when they were both hit by lethargy and numbness just last [...]
Sri Lankan-born scientist finds novel mutations in cancer
Dr. Jay Gunawardana, a Sri Lankan-born cancer researcher affiliated with the BC Cancer Agency and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada has identified novel mutations in a gene that has not been described before in any cancer and holds the promise to provide better treatments for affected patients. His findings published in the [...]
Pakistani cars for Army top brass
Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa handed over 100 Pakistan-manufactured Toyota Altis Cars to Sri Lanka’s Army Commander Daya Ratnayake and Police Inspector General N.K. Illangakoon to use them as Staff Cars. The handingover took place at a ceremony attended by Pakistani High Commissioner Qasim Qureshi at the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development on Wednesday.
Ajhan Brahmavamso in Sri Lanka for Poson
Ajahn Brahmavamso, now a household name in Sri Lanka, will be here on a brief visit during Poson Poya amidst his busy schedule. The Ajahn Brahm Society Sri Lanka is planning to make the best use of his short stay by planning a series of Dhamma talks and discussions at a few locations both in [...]
Indian Army Southern Command holds formal talks with Army Commander
Indian Army’s General Officer Commanding-in-Chief for Southern Army Command, Lieutenant General Ashok Singh, currently in Sri Lanka with a three-member delegation, called on Lieutenant General Daya Ratnayake, Commander of the Army at Sri Lanka Army Headquarters Wednesday (19) evening. Soon after he was warmly welcomed to the Army Headquarters, amidst military honours, he was introduced [...]
SLAAPS 36th AGM
The 36th Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka Association of Administrative and Professional Secretaries was held on January 26, at the HNB Towers, Colombo 10.
What’s WhatsApp?
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The online messaging platform has been catching on for a few years with younger users and international sets of friends, but a much larger audience noticed it on Wednesday, when Facebook Inc said it had agreed to pay $19 billion for the service. It is a phone and mobile device app [...]
Farewell Raja
My relationship with Wewaladeniye Raja began with the election of the 19th Diyawadana Nilame Pradeep Nilanga Dela to the high office at the Sri Dalada Maligawa. I was summoned to assist him in the perahera in August that year. Raja was in a very bad state then. He had lost weight, his bones were showing [...]
Veterinary Science pioneers felicitated
A felicitation ceremony was organised recently at the state-of-the-art Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH) in Peradeniya in appreciation of the work done by the former teachers of Veterinary Science. Professor Indira Silva, Head of the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences which manages the VTH, speaking to the Sunday Times, reminisced about the arduous path that was [...]
US diplomats in South Asia: No campaign bundlers in sight
The brickbats cast at the Obama administration for appointing unqualified candidates to important ambassadorial jobs notably did not include any directed at envoys to the South Asian countries. Unlike the representatives Obama has nominated this year to the fleshpots of Western Europe and other comfortable parts of the world, all six American ambassadors assigned to [...]
Martin Nesirky leaving top UN job to return to Vienna
Martin Nesirky, pictured, former Reuters editor and correspondent, is returning to Vienna after four years as United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon’s official spokesman. The move is for family reasons, Ban told journalists at the daily briefing at UN headquarters in New York. “He wakes up even much earlier than I do – much, much earlier [...]
Plain cigarette packs spur quitline calls-study
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Drab olive cigarette packs bearing a prominent quit-smoking helpline number, introduced more than a year ago in Australia, had a sizeable and sustained effect on interest in quitting, researchers say. Just one of many controls imposed on cigarette marketing and sales over the past decade in that country, the plain [...]
India campaigners push for anti-racism law
In a modest flat in Delhi, Nido Pavithra and his wife Marina light a candle in front of a large framed photograph of a young man wearing glasses. Flowers are placed underneath. It is a picture of their son, Nido Tania, who was killed two weeks ago in an apparently racially-motivated attack. The police say [...]
Time to take time out
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – My lodgings backed against the grand mosque at KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) in Saudi Arabia. The calls to prayer that rang through campus began and ended my days there, and punctuated them every few hours in between. I was in the Middle East to provide workshops on social [...]
Ukraine lawmaker says President has promised to resign
KIEV, Feb 22, 2014 (AFP) -A member of Ukraine’s parliament said today that President Viktor Yanukovych has promised to submit his resignation in response to violence that left nearly 100 dead in anti-government unrest. Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) opposition party lawmaker Mykola Katerynchuk told reporters that Ukraine’s embattled leader said he would resign in a conversation with [...]
Lone protester greets G20 chiefs
SYDNEY, Feb 22 (AFP) -A lone protester greeted a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors Saturday, in contrast to the summit’s last visit to Australia, which was marred by violent scenes. The middle-aged man, holding a banner protesting against tax havens, tried to gain access to one of the hotels being used [...]
China criticises Obama over visit by Dalai Lama
BEIJING, Feb 22 (AFP) -China today accused the United States of meddling in its domestic affairs after President Barack Obama met the Dalai Lama at the White House, and said it is up to Washington to take steps to avoid further damaging ties. “The US seriously interfered in China’s internal affairs by allowing the Dalai’s [...]
India’s Modi: China must drop “mindset of expansionism” over Arunachal Pradesh
NEW DELHI, Feb 22 (Reuters) – Narendra Modi, the leading candidate to be India’s next prime minister after a forthcoming election, declared the disputed territory of Arunachal Pradesh an integral part of India on Saturday and urged China to abandon its “mindset of expansion”. India and China fought a brief border war in 1962. The [...]
Unesco stops unauthorised work on ancient Bamiyan Buddhas
KABUL (Reuters) – Afghanistan has halted conservation work at a site once occupied by ancient Buddha statues destroyed by the Taliban because the team involved is suspected of secretly trying to rebuild one of the statue’s feet, the United Nations said. Any attempt to rebuild the statues without official permission could lead to the site [...]
India’s disrupted democracy
NEW DELHI – India’s 15th Lok Sabha (the lower house of Parliament) passed into history ignominiously this month, following the least productive five years of any Indian parliament in six decades of functioning democracy. With entire sessions lost to opposition disruptions, and with frequent adjournments depriving legislators of time for deliberation, the MPs elected in [...]
India’s raucous parliament sets stage for ‘divisive’ polls
NEW DELHI, (AFP) – After pepper spray, scuffles and table smashing, India’s often dysfunctional parliament ended its final session before general elections in acrimony on Friday, setting the stage for a bitter poll campaign. The Lok Sabha did at least manage to pass some legislation in its final weeks, but its most notable achievement — [...]
Remembering Colvin and his prophetic words on the executive presidency
This week we remember Dr. Colvin R. de Silva, on the 25th anniversary of his death on February 27, 1989. The country lost a brilliant lawyer, a fine orator and an exemplary parliamentarian. Hardly a week passes without a newspaper article lamenting the absence of leaders of his ilk. It was the Left that spearheaded [...]
Pauline de Croos: A grave miscarriage of justice
Firoze Sameer’s article in the Sunday Times of January 26, 2014 on this topic prompted me to respond with some facts within my knowledge. I had acquaintance with Pauline de Croos during the latter part of 1965 when I was stationed at Cinnamon Gardens Police Station as a sub-inspector and was occupying a room in [...]
