Kudankulam plant attains ‘full capacity’
NEW DELHI, June 07 (AFP) – The first reactor of India’s largest nuclear plant — dogged by protests and multiple delays — reached full capacity for the first time today, an official said. The Russian-backed Kudankulam plant, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, is designed to help meet surging demand for electricity in Asia’s [...]
“Deshapremithwaye Kedapatha” launched
Several Parliamenta-rians were present at the launch of the book “Deshapremithwaye Kedapatha” (Mirror of Patriotism) on the life and works Dr. T. B. Jayah by Imtiaz Bakeer Markar, on Tuesday, June 3, at Zahira College Colombo. Dr. Jayah, a member of State Council and the Education Select Committee played a key role in introducing a [...]
Colombo to host int’l seminar on technical, vocational education and training
An International Conference on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) will take place in Colombo on July 15 and 16. A joint effort by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and the Deutsche Gesellschaft Fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the conference will bring together participants from all over the world including 150 from Sri Lanka. The [...]
Kinesio Taping KT1 and KT2 course in Colombo
For the first time in Sri Lanka, medical doctors, physiotherapists and other health professionals will have the opportunity of following the Kinesio Taping KT1 and KT2 course in Colombo conducted by Kinesio India, a subsidiary of Kinesio Taping Association International. The two-day course on June 27 and 28 is open to doctors, physiotherapists and other [...]
Bring out those VW Beetles to celebrate World Volkswagen Day
The Volkswagen Beetle Owners Club will celebrate “World Volkswagen Day” on Sunday, June 22 the date allocated around the globe for this motoring marvel. The VW Beetle was the definitive motor car that made motoring a way of life with over 21 million cars around the world. This year too, the Mount Lavinia Hotel and [...]
Former traffic police chief to speak on road safety
The Association of Chiefs of Police (Retd.) of Sri Lanka, solely sponsored by the Automobile Association of Ceylon (AAC), the oldest and largest motoring organisation in Sri Lanka, has organised a joint public seminar on “Road Safety” with the Organisation of Professional Associations (OPA) on June 11 at the OPA Auditorium at 6 p.m. This [...]
Engaging social media: Welcome to the age of digital parenting
The tragic suicide of a friend when he was 13 years old inspired Arun Ravi to develop Mevoked. He remembers his friend’s parents wishing they had only known of the despair their son was feeling. Decades in the making, Arun’s new app is an answer to them. When you install it – a basic version [...]
Delegating land and police powers without facilitating separatism
After the meeting President Mahinda Raja-paksa had with the new prime minister of India, once again the issue of devolving police and land powers to the provincial councils has come to the surface. The need for such powers and the motives of people demanding such powers in a small country like Sri Lanka are debatable. [...]
The right to be forgotten in the digital age
Globalisation and the universal nature of the Internet and social media have led to a significant loss of control over an individual’s personal data. They pose a difficulty in understanding the consequences and after-effects of disclosing one’s personal information online. They say the Internet never forgets, however bold new laws are, to keep what is [...]
Clearly it is this Buttler that done it
The British are a nation of preachers. Nothing wrong in that if they also practise some of what they preach. It was only the other day that Prime Minister David Cameron said this is a “Christian country.” The pulpit is not the only platform from which they preach as those who have listened to some [...]
The story behind Obama’s decision to free Bergdahl
WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – For President Barack Obama, it seemed like the right thing to do, according to officials in his administration: Release five Taliban detainees at Guantanamo Bay prison in return for Bowe Bergdahl, the only known American prisoner of war in Afghanistan. As a political firestorm engulfs the White House over that deal, Reuters [...]
A Chinese Monroe doctrine?
NEW DELHI – Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s upcoming visit to India will include his first meetings with India’s new government, including Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and, more important, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But the trip is about more than getting acquainted. The leaders of both countries will be taking one another’s measure, and their [...]
Modi on Buddhism and Buddhist Gujarat
Gujarat, lying in the northwest corner of India, occupies the Northern extremity of the western sea of the country. It is bounded on the northwest by Pakistan. On the east by Madya Pradesh and on the north by Rajastan and on the south and southeast by Maharashtra. On May 1, 1960 as a result of [...]
Could this be the end of chemotherapy?
A breakthrough international trial of a new cancer drug has given researchers renewed hope in the fight against leukaemia, with one Australian doctor suggesting it could end traditional chemotherapy treatments for good. The results of a trial on 391 patients showed the drug Ibrutinib gave patients fighting a type of slow growing blood cancer called [...]
D-Day spirit: France, Germany bring together Russia, Ukraine leaders
COLLEVILLE-SUR-MER, France, June 7 (Reuters) – The leaders of Russia and Ukraine held their first talks on Friday since Moscow annexed Crimea, airing ways to end their four-month conflict in a brief encounter during commemorations in France of World War Two D-Day landings. French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel brought together Russia’s [...]
Pakistan’s MQM leader bailed after arrest in London
LONDON, June 07 (AFP) – The exiled leader of Pakistan’s MQM party has been bailed by police in London after being arrested on suspicion of money laundering,a police source said Saturday. Altaf Hussain was arrested at his suburban home in the British capital on Tuesday, prompting thousands of people to protest on the streets of [...]
Police, strikers clash in Brazil World Cup host city
SAO PAULO, June 07 (AFP) – Brazil’s World Cup preparations endured a rough Friday, as police clashed with striking subway workers in Sao Paulo, massive traffic jams snarled the mega-city and fans booed the national team. The scuffle in the metro station and a separate anti-government protest that gathered 3,000 people raised fears of more [...]
Building blocks missing for 2015 climate pact, say Ministers
BONN, June 07 (AFP) – The clock is ticking for countries to lay the foundations of a 2015 deal to tackle dangerous climate change, ministers warned in Bonn on Friday. A special UN summit in September, followed by a round of talks in Lima in December, must lay the first bricks of a highly complex [...]
Back to the beaches of death and deliverance
Seventy years ago today, he landed on these beaches amid the hell of battle. The cacophony of shells and gunfire. The cries of the wounded and dying. On Thursday, in the serenity of a sunny June morning, D-Day veteran Gordon Smith stood in silence on the same stretch of Normandy coast, alone with his memories. [...]
D-Day: The most important weather forecast in history
To go or not to go? It was 70 years ago this week that Gen. Eisenhower’s chief meteorologist, Capt. James Martin Stagg, made one of the most important weather forecasts of all time. Defying his colleagues, he advised Ike to postpone the invasion of Normandy by one day from June 5, 1944, to June 6, [...]
