Tristar Founder Chairman, Deshabandu Kumar Devapura, 63, passes away
Deshabandu Kumar Devapura, Founder Chairman of Tristar Apparel Exports Sri Lanka, passed away on Friday after a brief illness. He was 63. He was a renowned Sri Lankan entrepreneur who gained international fame for contribution to develop the Garment industry. He started his own factory, “Thushara Garments”, with just 10 sewing machines at Katubedda, Moratuwa, [...]
Witness for the prosecution
When the witness for the prosecution takes his or her place in the courtroom, everyone sits up very straight or leans forward, straining to hear every last word in the key testimony. The person who leans forward the most is the presiding judge. The accused, meanwhile, tries not to look overly interested; an unruffled, inscrutable [...]
‘Vision of a Nation’ exhibition provides rare glimpse of the past
Capturing moments in the lives of post-independence leaders of the country, the ‘Vision of a Nation’ exhibition is now on at Independence Square. Providing a rare glimpse of pictures from the past, “that are of both political and cultural value” is the focus of ‘Vision of a Nation’ according to Director General (DG) of Information, [...]
14th Senior Citizens Scrabble Tournament a grand success
The All-Island Senior Citizens Scrabble Tournament, held at the Colombo Hilton, was a grand success with the seniors recording excellent scores amidst stiff competition. In the picture are some of the winners: (From left) Wimal Fernando, Lakshman Cooray, Sita Attygalle – Champion B Division, Shaila Amalean -Champion A Division and Doreen Sappideen. A Division is [...]
Collaboration is the cornerstone of excellence in healthcare delivery
Senior Neurosurgeon, Director, Institute of Neurosciences and Spinal Disorders at the Global Health City Chennai India, Dr. K. Sridhar, addressed clinicians and members of the Sri Lankan Orthopedic Association at their Annual Conference on complex spine surgeries. Dr. Sridhar shared success stories in treating patients from Sri Lanka suffering with complex brain tumours and spine [...]
Aru Sri Art Theatre presents dance drama ‘Jai Rama’
The Aru Sri Art Theatre presents Jai Rama, a dance drama on Friday, November 7 at 6. 45 p.m. at the Bishops College Auditorium. Produced and directed by Kalasuri Dr Arunthathy Sri Ranganathan, the dance drama is presented with the support of the High Commission of India, Express Newspapers, Vasantham TV, Blue Ocean group of [...]
Rotary fights breast cancer with NCCP through early detection and prevention
October is designated as ‘Breast Cancer Awareness Month’, worldwide. Cancer ranks amongst the leading three Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in Sri Lanka and is on the rise with over 15,000 new cases detected every year. Breast cancer has the highest incidence amongst all cancers and is the leading cancer amongst women in Sri Lanka. Ten [...]
Dalai Lama visits US church at centre of civil rights movement
BIRMINGHAM Ala. (Reuters) – The Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibet, visited one of America’s sacred sanctuaries, touring the church where four African-American girls were killed in a 1963 bombing that galvanized the civil rights movement. As more than 300 protesters and supporters chanted and beat drums outside, the Dalai Lama held hands with Birmingham [...]
Tool to help South Asia manage monsoon woes
[COLOMBO] Better planning combined with frequently updated forecasts could enable South Asia to meet water and energy challenges posed by erratic monsoons, experts say. According to Frederik Pischke, programme officer at Global Water Partnership (GWP), the Geneva-based intergovernmental organisation, planning starts with preparations ahead of the annual monsoon season that brings in the bulk of [...]
Protecting the values of a noble profession
Dr. Preethi Wijegunawardana was invited by the Sri Lanka Medical Association to deliver “the Wijerama Endowment Lecture” at the foundation sessions of the SLMA, at a joint meeting with the Kandy Society of Medicine last month. Published here are extracts of his speech: I am standing before this distinguished gathering of medical professionals and guests, [...]
Vatican in bid to protect Michelangelo frescoes
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – The Vatican has unveiled new high-tech, energy-saving lighting and air purification systems to protect Michelangelo’s delicate Sistine Chapel frescoes from damage caused by ever-growing crowds of tourists. Dust brought in from outside, body sweat and carbon dioxide pose a major risk to the masterpieces, which are more than 500 years old. [...]
Fixing ‘Ebolanomics’ in pursuit of vaccines and drugs
LONDON (Reuters) – As researchers from Africa to China to America race to develop vaccines and treatments to fight Ebola, health experts are grappling with the economics of a disease that until this year had been off the drug industry’s radar. Whether or not effective drugs come in time to turn around the world’s worst [...]
AIIB: America’s Influence in the balance
America is right to be worried about China’s new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) that was launched in Beijing last week. This clever economic initiative challenges traditional American leadership in Asia just as seriously as Beijing’s more flagrant military gambits in the East and South China Seas. But America and its allies are wrong to [...]
Australia won’t join China-led bank ‘until rules change’
The Abbott government is refusing to join China’s new regional infrastructure investment bank until it changes its governance rules, echoing US concerns but leaving Australia on the outer in the Asia-Pacific. Labor has urged Tony Abbott to actively engage with China on its proposal for an Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which is designed to [...]
French entrepreneurs launch test to detect pork in food
ASNIERES France (Reuters) – Two French entrepreneurs have launched a portable device to test for the presence of pork in food for use by Muslims who abide by dietary laws. With France’s five million Muslims making up about eight percent of the overall population, the test, similar in size to a pregnancy test, aims to [...]
The Tamil Nadu factor
The end of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka in 2009 has opened a new chapter for the island to pursue its distinct historical identity from the subcontinent. To maximise its strategic location in the Indian Ocean and its economic assets as a trade and service emporium at the centre of the global trade and [...]
Giant tortoises rally from near extinction on Galapagos island
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Conservationists said they have brought giant tortoises found on the Galapagos island of Espanola back from the brink of extinction, gaining a foothold strong enough to allow humans to leave the reptiles alone. Numbering just 15 some five decades ago, the tortoises, which can live as long as two centuries, now number [...]
Saliva test for cancer hailed as holy grail for early detection
A simple saliva test has been hailed as the holy grail in the early detection of deadly diseases such as cancer. It could also apply to dementia, Alzheimer’s, type 2 diabetes and auto-immune diseases, the researchers said. The study, the most comprehensive analysis ever conducted of a particular type of molecules in human saliva, reveals [...]
Branson shocked as Virgin spaceship crash kills pilot
LOS ANGELES, Nov 1 (AFP) -Virgin’s pioneering tourist-carrying spacecraft crashed on a test flight in California on Friday, killing a pilot and scattering debris across the desert — and raising questions about the program’s future. But Virgin chief Richard Branson, while voicing shock at the accident involving Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo, vowed to push forward towards [...]
Peshmerga bolster Kurd defenders of Syrian town
SURUC, Turkey, Nov 1 (AFP) -Kurdish peshmerga forces streamed across the Syrian border from Turkey to bolster defenders in the key border town of Kobane which is under assault by Islamic State group jihadists. Horns blaring, the trucks carried some 150 Iraqi peshmerga fighters, many of them chanting “Kobane” and waving to jubilant crowds who [...]
China says not begun legal process for disgraced security chief
BEIJING (Reuters) -China has not started legal proceedings against former domestic security chief Zhou Yongkang, the highest-profile figure to be caught in a government crackdown on corruption, a senior court official said on Saturday. Jiang Bixin, the deputy head of the Supreme People’s Court, China’s highest court, said any case against Zhou would be handled [...]
Lieutenant colonel assumes power in Burkina Faso after president flees
OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso, Nov 1 (AFP) -The second in command of Burkina Faso’s presidential guard, Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Zida, said today he had taken power after deposed President Blaise Compaore reportedly fled the capital. Zida declared a rival claim by army chief Navere Honore Traore was “obsolete” in a televised speech. The tussle for power [...]
Malaysia Airlines sees first lawsuit on missing Flight MH370
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 1 (Reuters) -Two children of a passenger on Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 have sued the company and the Malaysian government for damages, the first lawsuit to be filed over the aircraft which disappeared in March. The two Malaysian boys, aged 13 and 14, filed the suit at the High Court registry, also [...]
Immigration hot potato lands on Tory laps
The economy should be the centrepiece of political debate as the UK edges closer to the general election next May. Britain’s coalition government led by David Cameron has something positive to show in the way of tackling outstanding issues that have hampered economic growth. The Conservative-Liberal Democrat government has brought down unemployment creating new jobs [...]
Sex abuse probe: London Lord Mayor quits panel
LONDON, Oct 31 (Reuters) – A major public inquiry into the British state’s failure to stop decades of child sex abuse, and whether political figures tried to cover it up, was in chaos on Friday after the second head of the investigation quit before it has even started work. The decision by Fiona Woolf, the [...]
Protecting children from violence
I am very happy to contribute to this reflection on “Protecting Children from Violence” for UNICEF’s common communication and advocacy effort to mark the 25th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Church considers that children are the most precious gift that God has bestowed on humanity. Yet despite the Church’s [...]
UN Security Council faces credibility test
CANBERRA – The United Nations Security Council’s membership will be reconstituted in 2015, but it will not look very different from its predecessors. World War II’s victors – the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and China – will continue to hold the box seats, which come with veto power. Five new non-permanent members [...]
Kashmir black day: UN should play its role to solve 67-year dispute
The world is no more living in caves age. But the international politics has made some areas of the world as a mark of injustice for their political interests and to appease their alliances by not allowing the people of those areas to exercise their legitimate right of freedom. Palestine and Kashmir are a living [...]
