Jet search ship detects “ping”
KUALA LUMPUR/PERTH, Australia, April 5 (Reuters) – A Chinese patrol ship hunting for a missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner detected a pulse signal in the south Indian Ocean today,the state news agency Xinhua reported, in a possible indicator of the underwater beacon from a plane’s “black box”. A black box detector deployed by the vessel Haixun [...]
Ex-Army Commander and High Commissioner to Pakistan conferred prestigious Civil Award
Sri Lanka’s ex- Army Commander and High Commissioner to Pakistan was conferred with the prestigious Civil Award by Pakistan’s President Former Army Commander and Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Pakistan, General (R) C. S. Weerasooriya was decorated with the Sitara-i-Pakistan award by the President of Pakistan Mamnoon Hussain. The investiture ceremony, marking Pakistan Day on [...]
Yolande Bavan plays narrator at Lincoln Centre
NEW YORK – Yolande Bavan, one of the best known jazz vocalists of her generation and a pioneering Sri Lankan actress on Broadway, will be the narrator at a jazz opera in New York’s prestigious Lincoln Centre next week. Titled ‘The Real Ambassadors’, the show is billed as one of the most ambitious joint projects [...]
Donation of Hearing Aids
Priya Jayasinghe of D. S. Jayasinghe Opticians (Pvt) Ltd., recently gifted five WIDEX digital hearing aids worth Rs. 1 million for the use of needy children at the Centre for Education of Hearing Impaired Children (CEHIC), at Dalugama, Kelaniya. The gift was accepted on their behalf by Rev. Sr. Greta Nalawatta, Founder and Director of [...]
Scholarships to study Hindi
The Government of India is offering scholarships to Sri Lankan nationals to study Hindi at the Kendriya Hindi Sansthan (Central Institute of Hindi), Agra, for the academic session 2014-2015. Applicants should have done Hindi as a subject at G.C.E. A/L or have done Madhyama or 100, 200 courses of KHS, Agra or any Hindi course [...]
‘Around the Pearl’in 10 days
The official ‘Around the Pearl” logo and website were launched in preparation for the ten day bicycle tour of Sri Lanka being conducted by 14 business professionals, in an effort to raise funds for Cerebral Palsy. From April 10-20, a dynamic group of 14 business leaders will set out from Colombo on a 10 day [...]
On a slow boat to Kotte
While taking my first drive over the new bridge at Battaramulla vivid memories of this area during the late 1970s came to mind, when as the DGM of the Reclamation Board (now SLLR&DC) I boldly undertook the task of reclamation work for the New Parliament and Administration Complex at Kotte on behalf of the Board. [...]
The Geneva resolutions and the waning US power
As in the last few years, the latest anti-Sri Lanka resolution at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, has also been bisected and trisected yielding a multiplicity of opinions on who did what to whom and why. While triumphant cries might emanate from Washington, the prime mover of this resolution, and even shriller noises from [...]
Vegetarians are ‘less healthy’ than meat-eaters
Vegetarians are usually confident about the health benefits of their meat-free diets. But new research suggests vegetarian diets are associated with poorer health and quality of life. The study also showed that vegetarians visit their doctors more than meat eaters and that they are more prone to allergies, cancer and mental health problems. It showed [...]
Circumcision should be offered ‘like vaccines’
Circumcision should be offered to babies the same way that vaccinations are, an academic has claimed. The health benefits of male circumcision far outweigh the risks by more than 100 to one, according to Professor Brian Morris. His study found that over their lifetime, half of uncircumcised men will contract an adverse medical condition caused [...]
Prawns on Prozac
Tiny quantities of anti-depressants flushed down our sinks and toilets are having a dramatic effect on the behaviour and biology of crustaceans. Scientists are becoming increasingly aware that common drugs including Prozac and Sertraline are ending up in our seas and rivers via human waste treatment plants. The research found even low concentrations of these [...]
Scores fall sick at Cambodian garment factories
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – Scores of garment workers have fallen sick this week at factories in Cambodia, including two that produce clothing for sportswear groups Puma SE and Adidas, workers and the companies said on Thursday. A total of 118 employees passed out at work on Thursday at the Shen Zhou and Daqian Textile factories [...]
Pak resolution and US humiliation at UNHRC: Watch out India, UK, Sri Lanka
The United Nation’s Human Rights Council (UNHCR) last Friday adopted a Pakistan-sponsored resolution (A/HRC/25/L.32) that urges member states to “… ensure that the use of armed drones comply with their obligations under international law,” including the UN Charter, human rights law and international humanitarian law, including the principles of distinction and proportionality. It was adopted [...]
What makes teens terrible
As any parent will tell you, teenagers can be emotional, display irrational behaviour and make bad choices. Now, scientists believe they have found out why. They say a teenage brain really does work differently to an adults. The Duke University team say making a snap decision usually means following your initial reaction — going with [...]
Geneva resolution: Has the mighty US laboured and delivered a toothless mouse?
For weeks if not months, the United States and Britain threatened that they would move a resolution before the UNHRC to establish a ‘robust mechanism’ leading to a possible hauling of the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) before an international war crimes tribunal. The vaunted threat only provided the GOSL leaders the opportunity of proclaiming [...]
Parents banned from naming their son ‘Wikileaks’
A set of parents have been banned from naming their son Wikileaks by a registry office, for fear that it could endanger the child’s welfare. Hajar Hamalaw, 28, from southern Germany, originally from Iraq, wanted to name his newborn child after the online whistle-blowing platform because of his admiration for the site. However, authorities in [...]
British Prince George’s first tour stifles Australia/NZ republicans
LONDON/SYDNEY (Reuters) – He may still be in nappies but Prince George embarks on his first official tour this weekend as Britain’s younger royals ride a wave of popularity that is expected to dampen republican movements in Australia and New Zealand. The eight-month-old prince, third-in-line to the British throne, will accompany his parents the Duke [...]
Red light for Buddhist monks in driving seat
The Court of Appeal in a landmark judgment has ruled that the issuance of driving licences to Buddhist priests not only violates the Vinaya Rules but also the Constitution. The ruling came after a two-judge bench of the Court of Appeal heard a petition filed by three Buddhist monks whose applications to obtain driving licences [...]
Fascism with a feminist face
NEW YORK – Western feminism has made some memorable theoretical mistakes; a major one is the frequent assumption that, if women held the decision-making power in society, they would be “kinder and gentler” (a phrase devised for George H.W. Bush in 1988 to appeal to the female vote). Indeed, so-called “second-wave” feminist theory abounds in [...]
India’s polls: Corporations under scrutiny
Arvind Kejriwal, India’s most famous anti-corruption crusader, shook Indian politics in December last year when his one-year-old party, Aam Aadmi Party, wrested a surprising victory in Delhi state assembly polls. He shook it again in February, when two days before his short-lived run as chief minister ended, he ordered a criminal case against Mukesh Ambani, [...]
Amma, Didi, Behenji: India’s female kingmakers
PONDICHERRY, India, (AFP) – The makeup of India’s next government could lie in the hands of a trio of women who command a massive following in their regional heartlands, including a populist former movie star known as “Mother” to supporters. Known more for their charisma than policies, Jayalalithaa Jayaram, Mamata Banerjee and Mayawati are likely [...]
Are you a glass half-empty person?
Do you struggle to look on the bright side of life? If so, the next time someone tells you to cheer up, you can tell them it’s not your fault you’re grumpy. Scientists have discovered that the ability to stay positive when times get tough may be hardwired in the brain. The study is the [...]
India’s Hindu nationalists tipped to win as poll looms
NEW DELHI, April 5 (AFP) -Indian politicians hit the campaign trail for a final day today before the start of a marathon nine-phase election, expected to vault the right-wing Hindu nationalist opposition to power. Newspapers carried full front-page ads with a photograph of Narendra Modi, the fiery prime ministerial candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party [...]
Russia seeks over $11 bn in ‘debt’ from Ukraine: Gazprom
MOSCOW, April 5 (AFP) -Chairman of Russia’s Gazprom Alexei Miller today said that Ukraine must pay back the full discount it has been granted on Russian gas over the past four years, worth $11.4 billion. Miller said this week’s annulment of the so-called Kharkiv accords, which gave Ukraine cut-price Russian gas until 2017 in exchange [...]
US seeks to reassure Japan amid Europe crisis fallout
YOKOTA AIR BASE, TOKYO, Japan, April 5 (AFP) -US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel today vowed America would stand by its security commitments to Tokyo, after Russia’s intervention in Ukraine raised concerns in a region plagued by its own territorial disputes. Hagel, on a two-day visit to Japan as part of a tour of Asia, said [...]
Nobel writer Garcia Marquez hospitalised in Mexico
MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) -Colombia’s Nobel Prize-winning writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez was being treated at a Mexico City hospital for a lung infection but he was doing well, his son and officials said. The health ministry said the 87-year-old author of “One Hundred Years of Solitude” has been in a hospital since Monday due to [...]
The sacred and sensuous in Indian art
In the early summer of 1819, a British hunting party, lost in the arid mountains of the Western Ghats, made a remarkable chance discovery. Following a tiger into a remote and narrow river valley, the hunters stumbled onto what was soon recognised as one of the great wonders of India – the painted caves of [...]
Microsoft admits it broke Windows
Microsoft has been forced into an embarrasing u-turn on its Windows software by allowing users to boot into the dekstop and avoid its ‘Metro’ touch interface. The firm had hoped the system would boost touchscreen usage. However, users complained vociferously, forcing the firm to first agree to reinstate the start button, and now allow users [...]
Study: Small Saturn moon boasts underground ocean
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) – Add Enceladus, a small moon orbiting the giant ringed planet Saturn, to the growing list of places beyond Earth that have oceans – and prospects for hosting life, a study released on Thursday shows. Situated some 850 million miles (1.3 billion km) away in the outer solar system, icy Enceladus [...]
Climate change to be revealed in unprecedented detail
A groundbreaking satellite that changes the way we see the world has been launched. Called Sentinel-1A, it launched from French Guiana at 21:02 GMT (15:02 EST) and soon after mission controllers confirmed they had made contact wiht the craft, to cheering in the control room. It will be the first of a pair of satellites [...]
European bumblebees at risk of extinction
A quarter of the bumblebees in Europe are at risk of extinction as their habitats are destroyed, according to a new report. The loss of the bees will place farming in crisis because of the insects’ vital role in pollinating crops, claim conservationists. Sixteen of 68 bumblebee species in Europe are at risk, according to [...]
Chinese Buddhist temple forms “anti-terrorist” squad
BEIJING (Reuters) – Nervous about a repeat of last month’s deadly knife attack at a Chinese train station, a well-known Buddhist temple in eastern China has drafted some of its monks into a new “anti-terrorist” squad, state media said on Thursday. The team at the 1,700-year-old Lingyin Temple in the tourist city of Hangzhou is [...]
Birds of a feather: Hummingbird family tree unveiled
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – For such small creatures, hummingbirds certainly have racked up an outsized list of unique claims to fame. They are the smallest birds and the smallest warm-blooded animals on Earth. They have the fastest heart and the fastest metabolism of any vertebrate. They are the only birds that can fly backward. And scientists [...]
Noah could have floated his boat
The story of a man building a giant wooden boat to help his family and the entire animal kingdom survive a terrifying flood is one of the more contentious parts of the Bible. But research by physics students suggests that a structure on the scale of Noah’s ark as described in the ancient text could [...]
Narendra Modi: The man and the myth
VADNAGAR, India (Reuters) – Narendra Modi spent his childhood in a modest three-room dwelling made of mud and brick nestled in a narrow, crowded lane in the town of Vadnagar. The tea stall his father ran with the help of his sons is just as it was then, a small shed of patched blue-grey tin [...]
The secrets behind Kim Jong-un’s madness
In a remarkable interview a North Korean defector has revealed details about assassination attempts on the country’s former leader and plots to overthrow him that help explain the dangerous paranoia that engulfs his son’s regime. What makes the revelations so extraordinary is that they’ve come from a highly credible source – a former intelligence officer [...]
Was Jesus crucified with his arms above his head?
For centuries the Church has largely depicted the crucifixion of Christ with his arms outstretched horizontally on a cross. But scientists believe that death by crucifixion may have been even crueller, and that a victim’s arms were probably nailed above their head. An international team studying the Shroud of Turin, which appears to depict a [...]
Can this eight-year-old really perform miracles?
Deep in the crime-ridden slums of Brazil is perhaps not the place you would expect to find God. But one eight-year-old girl claims to be channeling His power in order to perform faith healings, curing everything from cancer to HIV. Alani Santos claims to perform miracles at her father’s church in the favela of San [...]
India: Why leopard attacks have become an election issue
It is banter as usual in a small tea shop in Lauki Kala village bordering Nepal in India’s Uttar Pradesh state. Six village elders are discussing the upcoming general elections over tea. Children play outside in the sugarcane fields. But 43-year-old Shyam Prakash is unusually silent: his life changed since his four-year-old daughter Leela was [...]
‘I say, Your Holiness, do you fancy a drop of Balmoral whisky?
What does the woman who has everything give the man who, famously, wants nothing at all? Answer: A dozen eggs, a haunch of venison, six bottles of Coronation bitter and a box of Sandringham soap. On what was her first overseas trip in three years yesterday, the Queen paid a visit to Pope Francis at [...]
Six in ten don’t get enough sleep
If you spent last night tossing and turning, you were not alone. Britain is in the midst of an epidemic of sleeplessness, an expert has warned. Research shows that almost six in ten of us are not getting enough sleep – a 50 per cent increase on just a year ago. Experts blame the rise [...]
Scientists dismiss claims that Yellowstone volcano about to erupt
WYOMING (Reuters) – Yellowstone National Park assured guests and the public on Thursday that a super-volcano under the park was not expected to erupt anytime soon, despite an alarmist video that claimed bison had been seen fleeing to avoid such a calamity. Yellowstone officials, who fielded dozens of calls and emails since the video went [...]
Infections, heart problems, even menopause: What your nightmares reveal about your health
Bad dreams may cause us to wake in a cold sweat in the night, but it’s not something you would bother mentioning to your doctor. Or should you? Scientists believe that recurring nightmares could provide vital clues about health and even warning signs about impending illness – sometimes years before symptoms appear. Last month, researchers [...]
Kerry in danger of losing big bet on ME peace
WASHINGTON, April 05, 2014 (AFP) – John Kerry’s high-stakes gamble that he could finally achieve the dream of generations and bring peace to the Middle East seems to be collapsing as easily as a house of cards. Despite a dozen visits to Israel and the West Bank since he became US secretary of state 14 [...]
Afghans hail peaceful election; high turnout
KABUL, April 05, 2014 (AFP) – Afghans celebrated a largely peaceful election today, as turnout exceeded predictions despite Taliban threats to disrupt the vote to choose President Hamid Karzai’s successor. Long queues of voters waited throughout the day outside many of the 6,400 polling centres before the prolonged process of counting began, with preliminary results [...]
