Diplomatic coup: Obama at India’s Republic Day parade
The news was launched on Twitter: Prime Minister Modi, well known as one of the most prolific tweeters among today’s heads of government, had invited President Barack Obama to attend India’s Republic Day parade on January 26 as the chief guest. Within half an hour, the White House had announced (and tweeted) back: Obama was [...]
SAARC leaders to discuss terror, poverty at Nepal summit
KATMANDU (PTI) – Leaders of SAARC countries will discuss issues ranging from counter terrorism and peace and security in the region to agriculture and rural development along with poverty alleviation, food security and health, at the upcoming 18th SAARC summit in Nepal. Representatives from the eight member countries, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, [...]
Post-Soviet confidence games
LONDON – It is starting to look like a pattern. After painstaking talks, the parties in the Ukraine conflict come to an agreement – only to have it fall apart or fail to be fully implemented. At least three separate deals to resolve the crisis have been struck, and each has quickly unravelled. Even a [...]
‘Kaleide-Scope’ exhibition and sale: Empowering woman entrepreneurs
The Muslim Women’s Research and Action Forum will hold ‘Kaleide-Scope,’ an exhibition and sale on November 29 at the Women’s International Club from 10 a.m. onwards. The exhibition will be held under the theme of empowering woman entrepreneurs aiming to raise funds for their project of training programmes and capacity building for community women with [...]
Young Journalist award
Pesala Bandara won the award for Young Journalist of the Year at the GG2 Leadership Awards sponsored by The Daily Mail newspaper. The ceremony in London was attended by the British Prime Minister David Cameron. Pesala Bandara, 26, was born in London and educated at Haberdashers’ Aske’s School for Girls in Elstree, Hertfordshire. She read [...]
The Mascots AGM
The Mascots – that elite group of ex-planters of the Maskeliya / Upcot district – had their Annual General Meeting on November 15 at the Dutch Burgher Union. The meeting, for which sponsorship had been arranged by David Colin-Thome, Editor of The History of Ceylon Tea website, was well attended by members and their wives. [...]
New book ‘The Money Pipeline’ presented to President
Dr. Ranee Jayamaha presented a copy of her book ‘The Money Pipeline’ to President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees on October 25. The book is the first written on the payment system of Sri Lanka and is an easy-to-read guide to the complex world of financial plumbing. Dr. Jayamaha is Chairperson of the Hatton National [...]
R.K.W. Goonasekera: Was he the last of the Mohicans?
When S. L. Gunasekera referred to President’s Counsel H. L. de Silva as the last of the Mohicans, on the latter’s passing away, I thought of how beautifully he had summarized the passing away of a great man. At that moment, we were oblivious that another great person like R. K. W. Goonasekera was among [...]
A labour of love on leopards
I have read all the articles pertaining to leopards in Loris, the journal of the Wildlife & Nature Protection Society. This covers a period of over 75 years from 1936 up to now. All these articles deal with shooting leopards in various parts of the island. Roper Agar is one of the few who records [...]
Marking Swami Sathya Sai Baba’s 88th birth anniversary
Swami was born on November 23, 1926 and attained Samadhi on April 24, 2011. On this day I would like to quote the meanings of the famous Baja Govindam sung by the Vedic scholar Sri Adi Shankaracharyar , who lived in early 8th century (788C Ekaladi:Chera kingdom -present day Kerala India. Swami in many of [...]
Monkey malaria on the rise among humans in Malaysia
Once only monkeys were suffering – now people are getting sick too. Monkey malaria, which is three times more severe than other forms ofmalaria, now accounts for two-thirds of human malaria cases in Malaysian Borneo, says Balbir Singh, director of the Malaria Research Centre at the University of Malaysia in Sarawak. Other South-East Asian countries [...]
Saudi Arabia tackles MERS virus, still hunting source
LONDON, Nov 21 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia has not yet traced the source of a mysterious camel virus, leaving many questions about a disease that has killed 346 people in the Kingdom. The lack of scientific evidence about how camels contract the virus, which causes an often fatal illness called Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) [...]
King of Hearts, Ace of Clubs
Murder is relative. There is murder, and then there is MURDER. The first is the kind that makes it into the news as a single-paragraph item in the daily police log, and may not get another media mention after that. The one-paragraph crime story of a fisherman knifing his wife’s nocturnal lover is a crime [...]
Akbar on RSS
BJP spokesman M.J. Akbar whose interview was carried by the Sunday Times last week says his response to the question on the RSS should read as: “This is a government that works along with RSS. The statements made by the Prime Minister who the voice of the government cannot but have the approval of the [...]
Except the ‘Royals’ and ‘Nobles’ all Sri Lankans are second class citizens
Professionals, mainly doctors, lament that they are relegated to second class citizenry by the ‘Royals’ and ‘Nobles’ of Sri Lanka. The ‘Royals’ are described as the ruling family and ‘Nobles’ are the ignoble scum of the earth that leech on to the ‘Royals’ and call the tune in all matters concerning governance and day to [...]
No compromise on India’s unity and integrity: Indian HC
The Indian High Commission has sent us the following Right of Reply in response to the article titled “Kashmir Black Day: UN should play its role to solve 67 year dispute” by Tahrir Parwaz, (the Sunday Times 2) on November 2, 2014. The article had been forwarded by the Pakistan High Commission. Esha Srivastava, the [...]
One head and 25 tails
A new series of Ten Rupee coins representing Sri Lanka’s 25 districts was issued as a complete set by the Central Bank on Monday. The obverse designs depict one or more of unique archaeological, cultural, economic, environmental, religious or social characteristics of each district. The project was started in August 2011 when CBSL issued a [...]
Pope requests his visit be pastoral and simple
MANILA (United Catholic News Agency) – Church leaders in the Philippines will seek to limit expenses for Pope Francis’ January visit to the country to US$1.5 million. The move is in response to concerns from the Vatican over the potential cost of the visit in a country where millions of its citizens live below the [...]
Rajapaksa Vs. Sirisena: The battle lines in perspective
President Mahinda Rajapaksa did not have to call for a presidential election in January 2015. He could have waited for two more years. Or he could have waited until after the visit of the Pope that is sure to be popular with Catholics. He could have waited for March when the Maha harvest is in [...]
HK collector pays $33 million for Sotheby’s blue diamond
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – A Hong Kong buyer has paid $32.6 million for a near 10-Carat blue diamond at an auction held by Sotheby’s in New York, underlining the rising demand for the sparkling gems from increasingly muscular Chinese buyers. The unnamed Hong Kong collector saw off six other bidders to set a new record price-per-carat [...]
Lanka needs comprehensive Child Protection Act
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is calling on the Sri Lankan government to review and put together all laws relating to children’s welfare to work out a comprehensive Child Protection Act. In an interview with the Sunday Times to mark the 25th anniversary of the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC), UNICEF’s [...]
Stripping ourselves of long-held principles
Recent reports said one of Sri Lanka’s foremost diplomats of yesteryear and an Under Secretary-General of the United Nations, Jayantha Dhanapala, has been conferred the prestigious 2014 International Achievement Award for Nuclear Disarmament. The international community has recognised Dhanapala’s indefatigable work over the years, especially during his tenure as under secretary-general for disarmament, to rid [...]
CERN scientists discover two new particles
Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Cern, Geneva say they have discovered two new subatomic particles by smashing protons together. The two new particles, called Xi_b’- and Xi_b*, were previously predicted to exist but had never been seen before. It’s hoped the discovery could shed more light on how the universe works beyond [...]
Prince William recruits Angry Birds to protect wildlife
LONDON (AFP)- Prince William teamed up with the makers of Angry Birds to release a new game on Monday that will highlight the dangers of illegal poaching for animal species from elephants to anteaters. The British royal warned about the “illegal slaughter or tens of thousands of animals” and said the trade in animal parts [...]
Obama to press ahead on immigration, amid rising Republican anger
LAS VEGAS, Nov 22, 2014 (AFP) -US President Barack Obama staunchly defended his unilateral move to shield millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation, pledging to implement his controversial plan despite furious criticism from congressional opponents. The controversial overhaul, praised by many immigration rights activists, provides three-year relief for millions of undocumented people who have lived [...]
Indonesian Muslim pageant challenges Western beauty contests
PRAMBANAN, Indonesia, Nov 21 (AFP) -An eclectic mix of women from around the world will compete in the finale of a pageant exclusively for Muslims in Indonesia Friday, seen as a riposte to Western beauty contests. The women, who include a doctor and a computer scientist, are set to parade in glittering dresses against the [...]
Voting underway in Bahrain amid Shiite opposition boycott
MANAMA, Nov 22 (AFP) -Bahrainis went to the polls today for the first legislative elections since a 2011 uprising, but the vote is being boycotted by the Shiite opposition that led Gulf kingdom’s pro-democracy movement. The electorate of almost 350,000 is being called to choose 40 deputies, with Sunnis making up most of the 266 [...]
Female Afghan MP injured but defiant after suicide attack
KABUL, Nov 22 (AFP) -Afghan women’s rights campaigner Shukria Barakzai speaks in a tired whisper as she recovers in hospital from an assassination attempt that nearly killed her a week ago, but her message is strong and clear. “I don’t want the women of Afghanistan to be scared,” she told AFP at her bedside in [...]
UN warns Ebola still far from over
UNITED NATIONS, United States, Nov 22 (AFP) -The head of the UN Ebola mission warned that the world was “far, far away” from beating the deadly outbreak and said a huge increase in aid was needed to fight the virus in Africa. “There is a long battle ahead of us,” Anthony Banbury told the UN [...]
Why so many Indians flock to gurus
I don’t think many people were aware of the controversial Hindu guru Rampal before this week’s violent clashes between his supporters and the police. But then India is a country of more than a billion people and tens of thousands of gurus. There are gurus for rich and poor. Many of them command huge followings [...]
Women who want to get their own way should wear high heels
Ladies, if you want a man at your feet, wear high heels. Research shows that men are more likely to help a woman wearing heels than one in flats. This assistance ranges from taking part in a survey, to chasing after a woman who has dropped a glove. French researcher Nicholas Guéguen said: ‘Women’s shoe [...]
Want your child’s attention? Speak with a British accent
It can be a struggle to get children to listen to instructions with so many distractions around, but speaking with a British accent might help. A new study claims that children respond better to an English accent than an American one – even in the US. A trial involving 600 families found that children as [...]
