Colonial power UK fiddles as HK agitates to shed China’s shackles
“Do You Hear The People Sing”, Hong Kong’s young protesters are asking its unpopular leader in an unprecedented mass movement that is also challenging China’s hand in the city. The man at the helm passed the buck to his top civil servant to open talks, minutes before Thursday’s midnight ultimatum set by protesters for him [...]
An authentic adventure
Even at first glance it clearly stands out as not being a typical map of Sri Lanka. Perhaps it is in the loud bursts of blues and oranges or Jagath Jayasuriya’s distinctly authentic artwork that compel the casual observer to take a closer look. Launched last week, Dr. Buddhi Keerthisena and the National Crafts Council [...]
Stories told with style, honesty and experience
Twenty five years ago I attended a course of lectures by Palitha Fernando, then a brilliant and inspiring young attorney. Not heeding his advice to me to read law (a decision that I have, at times, regretted), I went on to study literature and dabble in creative writing. I had not met him since then. [...]
Mahatma Gandhi Oration
Dr. Charika Marasinghe will deliver the Mahatma Gandhi Oration organised by Sri Lanka India Society at the Indian Cultural Centre, 16/2, Gregory’s Road, Colombo -7. at 5.30 p.m. Mahatma Gandhi Jayanthi refers to the birthday of Mohandas Karam Chand Gandhi reverently known as the father of the “Indian Nation”. Gandhi and his concept of non [...]
Mahatma Gandhi statue unveiled at Point Pedro
Acting Consul General of India, S.D. Moorthy unveiled a statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Point Pedro on the birth anniversary of the Father of the Indian nation on October 2. The statue was installed near the city centre square by the Urban Council of Point Pedro The function was attended by Northern Provincial Council Chairman, [...]
Paintings commemorate fall of Berlin Wall
Students from several schools which teach German known as PASCH schools – Royal College, Musaeus College and Jennings International College, took part in a workshop to paint a wall to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall. The workshop, on September 27, was facilitated by street artist P413 and the painted wall was on display [...]
Second exhibition: ‘A pictorial journey of surgery’
‘A Pictorial Journey of Surgery’ – the second exhibition of medical photographs through the lens of well-known Consultant Surgeon Dr. Gamini Goonetilleke will be held on October 6 and 7 at the Sri Jayawardenapura General Hospital, Nugegoda, to coincide with the hospital’s 30th anniversary celebrations. Dr. Goonetilleke who himself has worked at the Sri Jayawardenapura [...]
Chinese sailor Zheng He’s Lanka voyages far from friendly
China’s charm offensive in Asia and elsewhere, leveraging its soft power to pursue its own interests, especially to project a likable image of itself, may just be too good to be true. Charm tactics such as sending Olympians and astronauts, song and dance troupes, and museum pieces to Hong Kong, have not endeared Beijing to [...]
US consumer giant in bid to smash India’s menstruation taboos
NEW DELHI, Oct 03, 2014 (AFP) – The latest commercial for Procter & Gamble’s top-selling brand of sanitary pads in India ticks all the usual boxes — a young woman jogs happily in pristine white trousers, before effortlessly winning a tennis tournament. But unlike most adverts of its ilk, this 30-second clip seeks to dispel [...]
Police urgently need a counselling bureau
With authoritarian governance and politicisation of the Police Department, police officers, especially the lower ranks, are working under much stress and trauma. Brickbats are thrown at them from all directions, and no bouquets for the thankless job they are faced with. Corrupt politicians, powerful underworld elements and all kinds of racketeers manipulate allegations against policemen [...]
A.M.A. Azeez and his YMMA movement
The All Ceylon Young Men’s Muslim Association Conference is primarily a youth and youth serving community-based organisation founded on April 30, 1950, which has rendered yeoman service to the community over the past 64 years. Its founder was Dr. A.M.A. Azeez, eminent educationist, efficient administrator, erudite scholar, visionary and community worker. Aboobucker Mohamed Abdul Azeez [...]
Resounding slap to David Cameron’s face
The defection of a Tory MP on the eve of the annual conference of the ruling Conservative Party amounted to a thundering slap to Prime Minister and Conservative leader David Cameron and it will doubtless reverberate for months to come. Make no mistake about it. The Conservatives are in trouble. They have been sinking deeper [...]
Eden: New whale in Lankan waters
A Sri Lankan researcher has identified what he believes is a new form of whale in the country’s waters. Howard Martenstyn, a well-known marine mammals expert, says further study is required into the discovery of what he calls the “Eden’s whale” or “small form of Bryde’s whale”. “To fully comprehend and confirm the identity of [...]
Jayalalithaa spent Rs. 3 crore on foster son’s wedding, court says
BANGALORE (PTI): Holding that it was AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa who had paid for the arrangements for the lavish marriage of her now estranged foster son V N Sudhakaran, the special court hearing the disproportionate assets case pegged the expenses incurred by her at Rs. 3 crore. (Rs. 30 million.) Sudhakaran’s marriage, dubbed as “mother of [...]
India’s Arctic station to help monsoon forecast
[NEW DELHI] India’s new Arctic observatory is expected to provide data crucial to understanding climate patterns in the polar region and its possible influence on the Indian monsoon, that is vital to agriculture in the subcontinent. On 23 July this year, India deployed the country’s first multi-sensor moored observatory in the Kongsfjorden, located halfway between [...]
Prescription for avoiding Ebola airport screening: Ibuprofen
NEW YORK (Reuters) – People who contract Ebola in West Africa can get through airport screenings and onto a plane with a lie and a lot of ibuprofen, according to healthcare experts who believe more must be done to identify infected travelers. At the very least, they said, travelers arriving from Ebola-stricken countries should be [...]
HIV pandemic’s roots traced back to 1920s Kinshasa
LONDON (Reuters) – Bustling transport networks, migrant labor and changes to the sex trade in early 20th-century Congo created a “perfect storm” that gave rise to an HIV pandemic that has now infected 75 million people worldwide, researchers said on Thursday. In an analysis of the genetic history of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that [...]
China launches media campaign to back genetically modified crops
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s government has kicked off a media campaign in support of genetically modified crops, as it battles a wave of negative publicity over a technology it hopes will play a major role in boosting its food security. The agriculture ministry earlier this week announced it would try to educate the public on [...]
Dubai detectives to get Google Glass to fight crime
DUBAI (Reuters) – Dubai police plan to issue detectives with Google Glass hands-free eyewear to help them fight crime using facial recognition technology, a police spokesman in the wealthy Gulf Arab emirate said. The wearable device consists of a tiny computer screen mounted in the corner of an eyeglass frame and is capable of taking [...]
Three more bodies found on Japan volcano as typhoon nears
TOKYO, Oct 4 (AFP) -Authorities found three more bodies on a still-smouldering Japanese volcano today after a search stalled by heavy rain resumed, while a typhoon threatened to further hamper the recovery operation. Local authorities said Friday that 16 people were unaccounted for on Mount Ontake, which erupted a week ago. It was not immediately [...]
Ebola strikes fourth American in Liberia
MONROVIA, Oct 4 (AFP) -A US television network prepared to evacuate a cameraman who contracted Ebola in Liberia, as the UN’s pointman flew to Sierra Leone, calling the epidemic the world’s “highest priority”. Ashoka Mukpo, 33, who was working as a freelancer for NBC news, discovered he was running a fever on Wednesday, his network [...]
Woman has baby after womb transplant in world first: Lancet
PARIS, Oct 4 (AFP) -A 36-year-old Swede has become the world’s first woman to give birth after receiving a womb transplant, medical journal The Lancet said today, describing the event as a breakthrough for infertile women. The healthy baby boy was born last month, it said. Both mother and infant are doing well. Weighing 1.775 [...]
Philippines suspends work on South China Sea military airstrip
MANILA, Oct 4 (AFP) -The Philippines said today it has shelved planned improvements on a military airstrip in the disputed South China Sea to support its bid for a UN ruling against Beijing over the tense territorial row. The Philippines infuriated China in March by asking a United Nations tribunal to declare Beijing’s territorial claims [...]
Jihadists murder Briton, battle for Kurdish town
LONDON, Oct 4 (AFP) -Islamic State jihadists mounted brutal offensives on both the Syrian battlefield and in their online propaganda war Friday, murdering a British hostage and attempting to storm a key border town. In a video released by the group in response to US-led air strikes against it, a masked IS fighter beheads British [...]
Temple “purified” after low-caste Bihar chief minister visits
PATNA India (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The government in Bihar has ordered an investigation after reports that a Hindu temple was cleaned and its idols washed after a visit by the state’s chief minister, who belongs to a lower caste community. Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, a member of the Musahar community, said he had [...]
Tears flow and prayers fill the air over Mount Arafat
Tears flowed and prayers filled the air as the annual Muslim hajj by about 2 million believers from around the world reached its zenith on a vast plain in western Saudi Arabia today. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims arrived at Arafat carrying suitcases and other luggage among thousands of white tents which stood ready to [...]