The last hour of Virginia Woolf
Verily, it is the tragic and unusual death that puts many on the Virginia Woolf trail in the first place, the luminous path that leads to the famous modernist books and the famously tragic life. The books and the life have been the subject of hundreds, thousands, of books and articles – biographical and literary, [...]
Are we waiting for more tragedies to recognise the importance of mental health?
Many would have been shocked and horrified to hear the chilling details given at the press conference by the prosecutor in Marsilles, France on what had taken place in the last few minutes of the Germanwings Air Bus flight 4U9525 – a regular flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf before it was allegedly deliberately crashed by [...]
SLACD to mark World Autism Day at Galle Face Green
The Sri Lanka Association for Child Development (SLACD) is calling on all those who are dealing with autism, including parents with autistic children, to gather at Galle Face Green on April 2 from 4 to 6 p.m. “Let’s fly high with autism by coming together on World Autism Day,” states the SLACD, adding that it [...]
“Dawn’: Silent auction of paintings to aid UMT
The Shyamala School of Art together with the Colombo Art Biennale will hold a Silent Auction of paintings by well known artists on Wednesday, April 1 at 6.30 p.m. at the Lionel Wendt Gallery. The event titled ‘Dawn’ is in aid of the Unity Mission Trust which works to promote reconciliation between young people from [...]
Holy Week Services through Verbum Television
Verbum Television has made arrangements to telecast all the special services of Holy Week which mark the most important and holy events of the Catholic Church — the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, on No. 31 Dialog TV and No. 93 PEO TV. The services will be recorded and telecast on the same [...]
The Prestantia Chorale presents “Borrowed Tomb” Easter Cantata
The Prestantia Chorale, a relatively new choral group, formed in February 2013 under the musical direction of Dr.Priyeshni Peiris Perera will present an Easter choral reflection titled ‘The Borrowed Tomb’ at the Dutch (Christian) Reformed Church, Bambalapitiya, on Holy Saturday evening- April 4 at 6.30 p.m. This event is free and open to all. The [...]
Unawatuna Beach: Has the nation got it back?
March 18, 2015, a truly momentous day in the history of Unawatuna. After a year of preparation, the Coast Conservation Department, true to their word, have started pumping sand onto the eroded eastern and middle section of Unawatuna Beach. The previous day, a huge ship arrived in the bay, loaded with sand. The metre-wide chain [...]
Fashion Design students showcase their collections
For 31 young hopefuls this week will mark the tail end of four years of hard work, sweat, tears and brainstorming for creative new ideas. On March 30 the final year undergraduates of the Fashion Design & Product Development Degree Course of the Department of Textiles and Clothing Technology of the University of Moratuwa will [...]
Waters Edge welcomes Indian Prime Minister
Waters Edge had the privilege of entertaining Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe hosted the visiting Indian dignitary and 200 local parliamentarians for lunch earlier this month. General Manager of Waters Edge Rohan Fernandopulle together with Director Sales and Marketing Thilanka Muthukumarana and his team welcomed the Indian Premier in traditional [...]
British Council Library transforms itself into a WW2 airbase for “One Dangerous Moment”
The British Council Library in Colombo was transformed last Monday. Bookshelves became fighter plane cockpits and sleazy downtown hotel bars and the librarian’s desks became the intelligence centre of a remote observational airbase in the 1940′s Ceylon, receiving radio messages of combat and conflict as ‘Only Soldiers’ a short play was presented to a select [...]
Lured by marriage promises, climate victims fall into trafficking trap
KAKDWIP, India, March 8 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – When the handsome young man came courting her, Sunetra could not believe her luck. Born into a desperately poor family in India’s southern Sundarbans region – one of the parts of the world hardest hit by climate change – the lanky 18-year-old had few prospects. A flood [...]
A window on China’s new normal
CAMBRIDGE – Every year at this time, China’s government organises a major conference — sponsored by the Development Research Centre, the official think tank of the State Council — that brings together senior Chinese officials, CEOs from major Chinese and Western firms, and a small group of international officials and academics. The China Development Forum [...]
India-Lanka relations after the Modi visit
Prime Minister Narendra Modi came, charmed, and left behind conflicting views on the merits of “soft diplomacy” and speculation of “hard” positions on the 13 Amendment which some analysts have unfortunately suggested could stir up fresh controversy. What is important to note is the quick follow-up on major issues of interest to India, like the [...]
A colossus in Lankan politics, he fought for social justice
It was 75 years ago that Philip and Kusuma Gunawardena attended the sessions of the Indian National Congress at Ramgarh, representing the Lanka Sama Samaja Party. The LSSP had sent delegations to earlier Congress sessions, notably Robert Gunawardena and Edmund Samarakkody in 1938 and Leslie and Vivienne Goonewardene in 1939. For the first time that [...]
I’m planning a heinous act that will be remembered forever’
Killer pilot Andreas Lubitz told his ex-girlfriend he was planning an act so heinous his name would be remembered for ever, it was sensationally claimed last night. Lubitz was a tormented, erratic man who was a master of hiding his darkest thoughts and would wake up from nightmares screaming ‘we’re going down’, his former partner [...]
Do you know how often your smartphone is sharing personal data?
Some apps for Android smartphones are tracking people’s movements every three minutes. This is according to a US study that found apps can collect a device’s GPS coordinates on average of 6,200 times over two weeks. The study also revealed that most smartphone users have no idea how closely they are being tracked, and many [...]
Apple’s Tim Cook will give away all his money: Fortune
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook is joining the roster of the very rich who are giving away their wealth. Fortune magazine cited the head of the world’s largest technology corporation as saying he planned to donate his estimated $785 million fortune to charity – after paying for his 10-year-old nephew’s [...]
Iran talks go into top gear in battle of wills
LAUSANNE, March 28, 2015 (AFP) -Tortuous negotiations aimed at laying to rest fears Iran will get nuclear weapons moved into top gear today as both sides demanded the other give ground as a deadline loomed. “We’re at that point in the negotiations where we really need to see decisions being made,” a senior US State [...]
The Port City Project: The National Interest must prevail over the Investor’s Interest
The Port City Project has been the subject of a great deal of discussion in the media in the past several weeks. The discussion has primarily centred on the issues of whether the proper procedures and approvals have been followed as well as the impact on the environment which is likely to result from this [...]
Want rice with half the calories? Cook it with coconut oil
Do you love rice but are worried about your weight? The good news is scientists have now discovered a way to reduce the calorie content by 60 per cent – simply by the way it is cooked. Cooking the rice with coconut oil, and then cooling it for 12 hours in the fridge, more than [...]
Saudi pounds Yemen rebel camps, Arab allies gather
SANAA, March 28 (AFP) -Heavy bombing shook Yemen’s capital for a third night, residents said tosay, as Saudi-led warplanes struck Iranian-backed rebels to try to prevent the fall of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi. “It was an intense night of bombing and the windows shook,” said a foreigner working for an international aid organisation in Sanaa. [...]
1 in 10 Singaporeans queues to pay respects to Lee Kuan Yew
SINGAPORE, March 28 (AFP) -More than 330,000 people, equivalent to 10 percent of Singapore’s citizen population, have visited parliament to pay their respects to the late former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew ahead of his cremation, officials said today. The surge of mourners for the founding leader has been so great that the government had [...]
Nigeria votes in crunch presidential election
ABUJA, March 28 (AFP) -Polling stations opened in Nigeria today, the electoral commission said, as voters went to the polls to elect a new president in what is being seen as the closest campaign in the country’s history. President Goodluck Jonathan is seeking a second four-year term as leader of Africa’s most populous nation against [...]
Pakistan troops kill 15 militants in gun battle- military
ISLAMABAD, March 28, 2015 (AFP) -Pakistani troops killed 15 militants in a clash early today in the Khyber tribal region near the Afghan border as part of a major anti-insurgent offensive, the military said. It said a group of militants were spotted near a military post in Mastak Sub Sector in the Tirah valley. “Troops [...]
Italy clears Knox of murder that gripped the world
ROME, March 28 (AFP) -Italy’s top court has thrown out Amanda Knox’s conviction for the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher, bringing a sensational end to an eight-year legal drama that has gripped a global audience. Judges at the Court of Cassation on Friday also quashed all charges against Knox’s Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito [...]
Asia running out of groundwater
[NEW DELHI] India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan along with China account for nearly half of the world’s total groundwater use and these regions are expected to experience serious deficits, says the UN World Water Development Report (WWDR 2015), Water for a Sustainable World 2015 released ahead of World Water Day on 22 March. WWDR 2015 [...]
Constitutional reform: Critical drawbacks obscured by the 19th Amendment
Sri Lanka’s political history has repeatedly demonstrated that very rare are instances of unequivocal passing of legislation, new or amendments to serve the nation’s interest however deserving they may be for the betterment of the people’s sovereign right. Often they are hampered by legislators, justifying their vested interest with rhetoric argumentations for or against the [...]
