Constitutional protection ‘for All’ is imperative for a secured Sri Lanka
We are about to bring reforms to our Constitution in the larger interest of the country and its people. As a developing country we need to secure a brighter future. This requires enjoying protection equally by all citizens without marginalisation, which in turn also lead to a formidable and sustainable national economy through empowering and enabling. It is thus [...]
US Navy alarmed at Beijing’s ‘Great Wall of Sand’ in South China Sea
BEIJING – China is building “a Great Wall of Sand” through an unparalleled programme of land reclamation in the South China Sea, raising concerns about the possibility of military confrontation in the disputed waters, according to the commander of the US Pacific Fleet. In one of the strongest and highest level criticisms of the reclamation [...]
New director at Board of Investment
Manoj Cooray was appointed a director of the Board of Investment. He is seen here receiving the letter of appointment from President Maithripala Sirisena.
Commemoration of SL Gunasekera
A meeting will be held at the national library board Torrington square on April 7 at 3 p.m. in commemoration of SL Gunasekera, the late laywer, MP, editor and activist, who passed away three months ago. A buddhist religious ceremony will be performed on this occasion followed by a talk by Mr. Manohara De Silva [...]
A personal experience at Ma’s cooking Studio
Well-known local spice brand Ma’s Tropical Food Processing (Pvt) Ltd, recently launched their ‘Muluthange Cooking Studio’ – a space where customers can enjoy a personalised cooking experience. The studio is located at Ma’s Gourmet Shop on Havelock Road. Sarah de Alwis, Communicating Manager, Ma’s food and the Muluthange quarterly food magazine explained that the idea [...]
How safe is your food?
How often do we ask ourselves if the food we are eating is safe? Do we know if it is free of bacteria, viruses, parasites, chemicals, other contaminates, additives and adulterants which can cause over 200 diseases ranging from diarrhoea to cancer? Every year diarrhoea caused by contaminated food and water kills 2.2 million people, [...]
Easter Carol Service at St. Michael & All Angels Polwatte
An Easter Carol Service by the Choir of St. Michael and All Angels, Polwatte, Colombo will be held today, Easter Sunday, April 5 evening at 6 p.m at the Church. This service comprises Easter Lessons and Carols. The choir is under the direction of Dr. Lalith Perera and at the organ will be Denham Pereira. [...]
Organ recital
Well-known organist David Ratnanayagam now based in the UK returns to Sri Lanka for a single recital at the Cathedral of Christ the Living Saviour on Friday, April 10 at 7 p.m. He will be playing the works of Mendelssohn, Hollins, Rheinberger, bach, Cesar Franck and Vierne. Admission is free -donations can be made to [...]
Citi Sri Lanka celebrates International Women’s day
The Oak Room of the Cinnamon Grand transformed into an evening of giggles, song and the loud, proud celebration of everything female as Citi Sri Lanka celebrated International Women’s Day. Although the celebration was almost two weeks after the official day commemorated on March 8, Citi, together with Mind Adventures theatre company put together an [...]
Sarala Fernando’s on India-Lanka relations after Modi visit
Sarala Fernando, a former Foreign Service diplomat, who once served as Sri Lanka’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, in her article headlined ‘India-Lanka relations after the Modi visit’ analysed contentious issues between Sri Lanka and India in the light of the special friendship that was revived by the mutual state visits by the [...]
Toxic weed-killer glyphosate linked to cancer and antibiotic resistance
Glyphosate, the toxic chemical found in weed killer Roundup, which is heavily sprayed onto local farmlands, has been linked to antibiotic resistance in addition to being a trigger for cancer, an international NGO has warned. The warning comes just weeks after the World Health Organisation’s main cancer research agency, the France-based International Agency for Research [...]
An excellent trade unionist, on whom we could bank on
For thousands of us, Gamini’s friends, the news of his untimely death was shocking and unbearable. He took part in the historic 1972 bank strike when he was still a probationer at Bank of Ceylon and emerged as a budding leader in the then battered Ceylon Bank Employees Union. He rose to prominence within the [...]
India’s concerned Christians pray for peace after attacks
NEW DELHI (AFP) -As they filed out of a cathedral in the Indian capital on Palm Sunday, worshippers expressed fear and dismay over a string of attacks on churches and a school along with the rape of an elderly nun. Christians have long lived in relative harmony in the world’s biggest democracy with Muslims, Buddhists [...]
A fair fight against antimicrobial resistance
BRIGHTON – Existing anti-microbial drugs are becoming ineffective. If current trends continue, we could end up reliving conditions before the discovery of antibiotics, when infectious diseases were major killers. Meeting the challenge of drug-resistant microbes will be difficult. It will require not only major investments in research and development of new anti-microbial drugs, but also [...]
Energy drinks ‘pose heart risk to teenagers’
Energy drinks can trigger heart problems in healthy teenagers, warn doctors. One can a day is enough, they said, adding that youngsters need to be aware of the risks of over-consumption and of mixing them with alcohol or drugs. Cardiologists in Madrid said the drinks, which contain large amounts of caffeine, may trigger sudden heart [...]
India minister complains over ‘fitting room camera’
NEW DELHI, (AFP) – An Indian minister Friday filed a complaint against a leading high street retailer in the western state of Goa after discovering a hidden camera in its fitting room, police said. Federal Education Minister Smriti Irani was trying on clothes at FabIndia in the holiday region when she spotted a camera pointed [...]
The adventure of the blue Easter egg
Crosses dominate Holy Week. The icon sacred to Christianity has been standing especially tall these days, the week of the Crucifixion, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, founder of the Christian faith. Easter is the climax of Holy Week, and Holy Week is the culmination of the 40 days of the Lenten season, a time [...]
Art on an Easter afternoon
Easter afternoon 1989. The festive breakfast and lunch accomplished, we are dozing off on a chair on the veranda, an open book resting on a plumped out belly, when the bell rings. We are on holiday, and reluctant to do anything but eat, drink, sleep. Drowsy and weighed down, we are in no fit state [...]
US to halt expanded use of some insecticides amid honey bee decline
IDAHO (Reuters) – The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said on it was unlikely to approve new or expanded uses of certain pesticides while it evaluates the risks they may pose to honey bees. The so-called neonicotinoid pesticides are routinely used in agriculture and applied to plants and trees in gardens and parks. But their [...]
How cleaning with bleach can make children ill
Many parents are liberal with bleach, in the hope it will blast away illness-causing bacteria and leave the house sparkling. But while it does indeed kill germs, the chemical could leave children more susceptible to catching flu, tonsillitis or other infections, a study suggests. Researchers found a link between a weekly use of bleach in [...]
‘Implying we are victims is condescending’: Sex workers hit back at blog
Sex workers are sharing photos of themselves on social media as they fight back against claims that most escorts are forced into the industry and lead lives of abuse. The hashtag #FacesOfProstitution started trending on Twitter with sex workers from Australia and across the world using social media to share positive stories from their industry. [...]
Gaza man feels duped after selling Banksy mural for $175
GAZA (Reuters) – A Palestinian man was lamenting his misfortune on Wednesday after selling his bombed-out doorway to a local artist without realizing that the image painted on it was by Banksy and could be worth a small fortune. Rabea Darduna, a father of six from northern Gaza, said he sold the iron-and-brick doorway of [...]
Alien spacecraft have never invaded Japan
Japan’s defence minister has been forced to assure MPs that the country has never been invaded by aliens. Speaking in parliament earlier today, Gen Nakatani promised lawmakers that there had been no alien breach of Japanese airspace, and that no government studies into extra-terrestrials were under way. Nakatani said the nation’s war planes can be [...]
Paris holds film festival — for the blind
PARIS, (AFP) – In most movie theatres the lights go dark and the feature begins, but for an audience attending a Paris film festival under way this month, the whole world is dark and stays that way. The Audiovision Film Festival, which began this week and runs to April 14, is unusual in that it [...]
India’s key to Sri Lanka: Maritime infrastructure development
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent trip to Sri Lanka highlights New Delhi’s reawakening to the strategic position that Sri Lanka holds in India’s neighborhood. Since 2008, India has watched as China built port facilities, highways, and other major infrastructure in Sri Lanka. People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy warships have also paid port visits to [...]
‘Grandparenting’ in moderation might help keep the mind sharp
CHICAGO (Reuters) – A small Australian study finds that grandmothers who take care of their grandchildren one day a week do better on cognitive tests than peers who mind grandkids more often, or not at all. Researchers say the brain benefits from this form of “grandparenting” may come not just from having social engagement, but [...]
India’s positioning satellite to serve South Asia
[THIRUVANANTHPURAM] An Indian satellite, officially set for launch this month, will provide positioning services to all South Asian countries. “SAARC countries can use our navigation system,” B. Jayakumar, director at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram tellsSciDev.Net. SAARC members countries included are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. According to Jayakumar, [...]
Modi government says to push for cow slaughter ban in India
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India will use all its “might” to ban cow slaughter across the country, interior minister Rajnath Singh said in a speech to spiritual leaders, as the Hindu nationalist government moves to fulfill a poll promise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A renewed thrust by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to protect [...]
How Iran’s feminist genie escaped
Iran’s 1979 revolution may have put an ayatollah in charge – but for women it had plenty of positive side-effects… in education, in the workplace, and even in the home, discovers Amy Guttman during a ride on the Tehran underground My guide Farah, a tall, slender woman in her late 30s, wears jeans and a [...]
Top WHO official in Thailand denies maid slavery claims
BANGKOK, April 4 (AFP) -The World Health Organisation’s top official in Thailand on Saturday denied beating his Ethiopian domestic helper and treating her like a modern day slave. The 25-year-old unnamed maid filed a complaint with police last month accusing Dr Yonas Tegegn, the WHO’s representative in Thailand, and his wife of abusing her and [...]
Somalia’s Shebab warn Kenyan public of ‘long, gruesome war’
MOGADISHU, April 4 (AFP) -Somalia’s Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab Islamists threatened Kenyan citizens with “another bloodbath” today, two days after their gunmen slaughtered 148 people at a university. “We will, by the permission of Allah, stop at nothing to avenge the deaths of our Muslim brothers until your government ceases its oppression and until all Muslim lands [...]
US man gets 18 years for ‘revenge porn’ site in historic ruling
LOS ANGELES, April 4 (AFP) -A California man who posted thousands of sexually explicit photos of men and women on a “revenge porn” website was jailed for 18 years on Friday in what was described as the first case of its kind in US criminal history. San Diego man Kevin Bollaert, 28, was convicted in [...]
Super Typhoon Maysak weakens but thousands being evacuated in Philippines
MANILA, April 4 (AFP) -Around 24,000 coastal residents of the Philippines were being evacuated as a precaution from approaching Tropical Storm Maysak today, officials said, even as experts downgraded the threat from what was at one point a super typhoon. Maysak, which days earlier hit several small islands in the Pacific Ocean, has weakened into [...]
Yemen rebels quit Aden palace, Qaeda makes gains
ADEN, April 4 (AFP) -Saudi-led air raids drove back rebels in the last stronghold of Yemen’s absent president Friday, while Al-Qaeda militants seized a major army base in the southeast. The impoverished Arabian Peninsula state has sunk further into chaos since the coalition spearheaded by Riyadh launched Operation Decisive Storm on March 26 to try [...]
Egyptian court begins retrial of Mubarak in corruption case
CAIRO, April 4 (Reuters) -An Egyptian court began a retrial today of former president Hosni Mubarak and his sons for allegedly diverting public funds earmarked for the renovation of presidential palaces to upgrade family properties. Mubarak, 86, toppled in a 2011 popular uprising, was sentenced to three years in prison last May and his two [...]
