Foreign policy: A new vision for India
NEW DELHI – India’s Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Narendra Modi, has stormed into office, winning its first absolute majority and reducing the formerly dominant Congress party to a rump, with just 44 of 543 seats in the lower house. Although India’s sputtering economy was the dominant issue in the campaign, Modi’s victory implies a [...]
Book on the life and works of T. B. Jayah
A Sinhala book titled “Deshapremithwaye Kedapatha” (Mirror of Patriotism) by former Minister Imthiaz Bakeer Markar, based on the life and works Dr. T. B. Jayah, one of Sri Lanka’s great Muslim leaders will be launched on Tuesday, June 3, at 3.45 p.m. at Zahira College, Colombo. Dr. Jayah was also a member of the State [...]
25 years after the fatwa: Rushdie’s fight for free speech
Considering the timing, it’s a pity Salman Rushdie isn’t giving interviews. It’s been 25 years since the fatwa that turned his life inside out was issued by the Ayatollah, it’s been 10 years since he founded PEN World of Voices Festival in response to 9/11 and it’s been two years since ‘Joseph Anton’, a memoir [...]
Chundikuli Girls’ College PPA Colombo branch marks 75 years with a concert
Chundikuli Girls’ College will celebrate the 75th anniversary of its Past Pupils’ Association, Colombo branch in August this year. A fundraising concert, ‘Vaudeville,’ will be held at the Bishop’s College Auditorium on Sunday, June 15 at 5.30 p.m. to mark the occasion. ‘The Revelations’, Sachi and King and other popular artistes will perform at this [...]
New short courses at Aquinas
The Aquinas University College Faculty of Theology will begin new short courses in scripture studies for lay people next week. On Thursday, June 5 and on 12 Thursday thereafter the study from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. will be on the Holy Eucharist. The lecturers will be by experts in liturgical studies. On Saturday June [...]
Udayakantha new Surveyor General
P.M.P. Udayakantha, an Additional Surveyor General of the Survey Department took over duties as the Surveyor General with effect from May 30. A Physical Science Honours Graduate of Ruhuna University, Mr. Udayakantha had his primary education at Galagedara Primary School and his secondary education at Nugawela Central College. He joined the Survey Department as an [...]
World SKAL day celebrated at Taj Samudra
SKAL International Sri Lanka Chapter appointed Rohit Khosla, Area Director and General Manager of Taj Samudra Colombo as the President of the chapter for the year 2014/15. SKAL Colombo founded in 1954 has been an active club within the SKAL International network. The World SKAL Day 2014 was celebrated recently at the Grand Crystal Ballroom [...]
Peace and reconciliation shine on Zonta winners
It was that time again -when women who have excelled in their respective fields are honoured for their sterling contributions to society. The Zonta Woman of Achievement Awards, a grand biennial celebration was held on Sunday, May 25 at the Galadari Hotel. President of Zonta Club 1 Colombo (which has made the award ceremony a [...]
A new art form is born!
A pregnancy is certainly something to celebrate, and now, a growing number of women have discovered a new way to showcase their treasured bumps. California-based company Pacific Face Painters is just one of the services available today to paint the bellies of expectant mothers with beautiful art. From Hindu elephants and birds to floral nature [...]
Burning of the Jaffna Public Library: Whodunit?
Who burnt the Jaffna Public Library (JPL)? This has been a vexed question ever since this most unfortunate incident took place on that fateful night of May 31-June 1, 1981, exactly 33 years ago. Different versions have been put forward and various academics and ‘righteous’ persons have been accepting versions they were gullible enough to [...]
Pope Francis in Palestine
There were plenty of important statements from Pope Francis during his recent three-day trip to Palestine and Israel-including a plea for “justice,” a traditional call for peace, and a reference to the “State of Palestine”-but at the end of the day it was all about the photo-ops. The pope’s visit was carefully orchestrated-shaped not only [...]
We are ‘on the brink’ of a sixth great extinction
Species of plants and animals are becoming extinct at least 1,000 times faster than they did before humans arrived on the scene, and the world is on the brink of a sixth great extinction, a new study says. The study looks at past and present rates of extinction and finds a lower rate in the [...]
Maya Angelou: a titan who lived as though there were no tomorrow
The first time I interviewed Maya Angelou, in 2002, I got hammered. What was supposed to have been a 45-minute interview in a hotel room near Los Angeles had turned into a 16-hour day, much of it spent in her stretch limo, during which we’d been to lunch, and she had performed. On the way [...]
It’s a betrayal, say British soldiers’ families
Families of British troops killed in Iraq reacted angrily to the news that the Chilcot inquiry will not publish the full exchanges between Tony Blair and George Bush. They said the agreement to include only quotes or ‘gists’ of the messages and conversations meant they would never learn the full truth about the decision to [...]
Lankan maid Melani quits palace job over Queen’s hot water bottle
Bedtime for the Queen on recent chilly spring evenings has not been complete without one of her most cherished pleasures – a hot water bottle, placed snugly between the silken sheets Imagine Her Majesty’s shock, on retiring to her large first-floor bedroom overlooking the gardens at Buckingham Palace just the other evening, to find her [...]
Outrage grows over new India rape horror
LUCKNOW, May 31 (AFP) – Outrage grew in India today over two shocking rape cases as the new government said it was planning to set up a special crisis cell to ensure justice for victims of sex attacks. On Thursday it emerged that two teenagers from a low caste had been found hanging from a [...]
Four arrested in Pakistani woman bludgeoning case
CHAK 367, Pakistan, May 31 (AFP) – Pakistani police investigating the murder of a woman bludgeoned to death outside a court have arrested four men, a senior officer said, as her husband said he wanted her killers to “die in pain”. Farzana Parveen was killed on Tuesday outside the High Court in the eastern city [...]
Poor nations lead the way on gender equality in research
Developing nations are leading the way over gender equality within science, but the performance of many countries is unknown as they are failing to survey their research and development (R&D) sectors, UN data shows. Nine of the ten countries with the highest ratio of female to male researchers – all with more female than male [...]
Husband visits Sudanese wife condemned to hang for apostasy
KHARTOUM, May 31 (AFP) – The husband of a Christian Sudanese woman sentenced to hang for apostasy said Friday he had visited her in jail, where she just gave birth, and that she and their daughter are well. There was an international outcry after Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag was condemned on May 15 under Islamic [...]
