A young heart blooms
Tightly clutching a cushion with a bright red heart to her chest, no words are needed, as 16-year-old J. Archana smiles mutely. Knowing since 2009 that she had a hole in the heart, she and her paternal grandmother, Nakapillai Gnanasoundarie, from Alankerni in Kinniya, Trincomalee, were compelled to do nothing due to poverty. They just [...]
A global forum connecting women
One could never guess that the glamourous ladies who gathered on 3 July at the Hilton Residences premises were all achievers in their own right. Front runners in the male dominated industry of shipping, the fashionable crowd assembled to mark the launch of WISTA Sri Lanka. A global forum to connect women in the maritime [...]
WOOX Innovations audio products here
WOOX Innovations, which drives the Philips brand in sound, home entertainment and related accessories, recently introduced a range of innovative audio products for the Sri Lankan market. The launch unveiled the complete range of Philips Soundbars including the revolutionary Philips Fidelio HTL9100, and the Blu-ray home theatre 5000 and 3000 series. Also on show were [...]
WNPS lecture: The Unorthodox Whales Of Sri Lanka
The Wildlife and Nature Protection Society of Sri Lanka will hold its monthly lecture on July 17 This month’s lecture is titled ‘The Unorthodox Whales Of Sri Lanka: Conservation through science and engagement’ by Asha de Vos Asha de Vos is a marine biologist and educator with a strong affinity for marine mammals. Armed with [...]
Birth of Bharatha Cultural Fellowship
Today will mark a milestone in the history of the minority communities of this country with the formal inauguration of Bharatha Cultural Fellowship in Colombo. Scheduled to commence at 10 a.m. at the Sasakawa Cultural Centre at No. 4, 22nd Lane, (off Galle Road) Kollupitiya, the event is expected to gather the widely dispersed members [...]
Mess in Iraq coming home to roost
From Baghdad we drove north through Tikrit, the home town of the then Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, to Irbil. I had been invited by the Iraqi government to Baghdad where several other foreign journalists were also to gather. It was early — maybe February or March — 1980 and I was then working for the [...]
Murder by chloroform at Duff House
The trial of Stephen Seneviratne began on May 14, 1934, at the Colombo Assizes before the first Malay Judge of the Supreme Court, Justice M.T. Akbar, and an English speaking jury. This judge was considered a clever legal personality. Deputy Solicitor General M.W.H. de Silva with Crown Counsel H.L. Wendt and Police Superintendent J.R.G. Bantock [...]
India’s new budget includes $34 m to build the world’s tallest statue
India has just presented its annual budget, which contains measures that seek to encourage growth and limit the deficit. But one detail in the budget has struck many as incongruous with that plan: The equivalent of about $34 million (2 billion rupees) has been set aside to help build a statue. That’s certainly not chump [...]
Halal tourism takes off in Japan
TOKYO (AFP) – Prayer rooms, hijabs made from local silk and even halal-certified whale meat are appearing in Japan as tourism bosses wake up to the demand from Muslim travellers. For a largely homogeneous country with only around 100,000 practising Muslims, that means groping its way through unfamiliar customs as it looks to tap a [...]
How mobile phones empower South Asia’s poor
The ubiquitous mobile phone has proven to be a prime empowerment tool for South Asia’s poor, says Nalaka Gunawardene. Progressive policies, market reforms and regulations have enabled millions across South Asia to access telephone services during the past decade. Can these also help bring broadband within most people’s reach? That is a timely question as [...]
An expression of freedom in post-war Lanka
Post-war Sri Lanka inspired a tapestry of development, framed into a comprehensive blueprint which has been consistently and meticulously crafted to create stunning new landmarks. The inspiration for these iconic creations stemmed from the desire to create “Expressions of Freedom”, which would present a tangible real-life experience to the multitude of people residing and visiting [...]
Cinnamon could fight Parkinson’s
Cinnamon could be a secret weapon in the battle against Parkinson’s disease. Scientists have found that the spice is the source of a chemical that can protect the brain. Our liver converts cinnamon into sodium benzoate, an approved drug used in the treatment for neural disorders. In a study of mice at Rush University Medical [...]
Study paves way for simple blood test to predict Alzheimer’s
LONDON (Reuters) – British scientists have identified a set of 10 proteins in the blood that can predict the onset of Alzheimer’s and call this an important step towards developing a test for the incurable brain-wasting disease. Such a test could initially be used to select patients for clinical trials of experimental treatments being developed [...]
Iraq Kurds claim oilfields as bombings kill 28
KIRKUK, Iraq, July 11 (AFP) – Iraq’s Kurdish region claimed disputed northern oilfields in another blow to efforts to forge a united front against a jihadist-led onslaught, as twin bombings killed 28 people. The escalating row between Baghdad and the Kurds and the blasts in disputed Kirkuk province, which killed mostly refugees from fighting elsewhere, [...]
Freed hero or traitor?
Comrades recall how Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl had just come off guard duty in the early hours of June 30, 2009, when he approached his team leader with a peculiar question. If he were to leave their base – a remote U.S. outpost in the mountains of south-eastern Afghanistan – would it be a [...]
Have scientists found our ‘soul’?
Scientists claim to have found an ‘on-off’ switch in our brain that can bring people in and out of consciousness. Dr. Mohamad Koubeissi and his team from George Washington University studied an epileptic patient and found that electrical impulses of a specific region sent her to ‘sleep’ on repeated occasions. Stopping the stimulation of the [...]
Israel vows no let-up, Hamas defiant as Gaza toll tops 100
JERUSALEM, July 12 (AFP) -Israel vowed no let-up in its aerial bombardment of Gaza, which has claimed more than 100 Palestinian lives, as a defiant Hamas rained more rockets on the Jewish state. Diplomatic efforts to end the hostilities have gathered pace, with US President Barack Obama phoning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Washington [...]
Kerry pushes plan to ‘clean up’ disputed Afghan vote
KABUL, July 12 (AFP) -US Secretary of State John Kerry was today to hold a second day of talks with Afghanistan’s feuding presidential hopefuls, seeking a deal to “clean up the tally” after disputed elections. Despite back-to-back meetings on Friday with rivals Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani and other officials that stretched deep into the [...]
Earthquake strikes off northern Japan, triggers small tsunami
TOKYO, July 12 (AFP) -Seismologists said an earthquake that struck near Japan’s shuttered Fukushima nuclear site early today was an aftershock of the tremor that sparked 2011′s deadly tsunami, and warned of more to come. The strong 6.8-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast of northeastern Japan caused a minor tsunami in the early hours, though [...]
Hypocrisy charge slammed on new Indian Govt.
NEW DELHI – According to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s supporters, his overwhelming victory in India’s general elections was a sweeping repudiation of everything for which the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, led by the Indian National Congress, stood. Will Modi live up to voters’ expectations? There has certainly been a lot of hype. Modi, [...]
Modi accepts invitation to meet Obama
NEW DELHI, July 12 (Reuters) – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accepted an invitation to meet U.S. President Barack Obama in September, as Washington seeks to court the Asian giant’s new government and revive strained relations between the world’s two largest democracies. The Obama administration has been working to boost ties since Modi’s thumping [...]
