One week on, quake-hit Nepal ends search for survivors
KATHMANDU, May 2, (AFP) – Nepal today ruled out the possibility of finding more survivors buried in the rubble from a massive earthquake that killed more than 6,700 people and devastated vast swathes of one of Asia’s poorest countries. One week on from Nepal’s deadliest quake in over 80 years, hopes of detecting more signs [...]
Lankan grad developing oil spill solution
Research conducted by the Complex Fluids and Nanomaterials Group at the University of Maryland (UMD), USA, in developing safe and efficient materials to clean oil spills has been making the news. The research was conducted by Sri Lankan graduate student Jasmin Athas under the guidance of Prof. S. Raghavan. The University of Maryland’s student newspaper, [...]
US public service award for Fazana
Fazana Saleem-Ismail was one of seven Capital District residents, based in the New York state capital of Albany, to be bestowed with the 2015 Jefferson Award for Public Service. She was the recipient of this prestigious award because of her work on a project she founded in May of 2011 called Jazzy Sun Birthdays. The [...]
Compassion for animals during Vesak
The season of Vesak is an occasion to show compassion to a group of dogs and cats abandoned for no fault of theirs. The Animal Welfare & Protection Association (AWPA) appeals to well-wishers to contribute a Dana at an animal shelter run by the AWPA. For more details please contact: Mrs. Suranganie de Silva on [...]
ACUMLYF holds discussion on Chronic Kidney Disease
A discussion on ‘Eradicating Chronic Kidney Disease from Sri Lanka’ led by Prof. Sunil Wimalawansa will be held on Tuesday, May 5 at 5 p.m. at K7, Elvitigala Flats, Elvitigala Road Borella. The lecture discussion is organized by the All Ceylon Union of Muslim League Youth Fronts ( ACUMLYF).
Sannasgala book launch
A series of books written by veteran author and journalist Upul Shantha Sannasgala will be launched on May 6 at the Sri Lanka Film Corporation (Tharangani Hall) at 2.30 p.m. The 15 books to be launched by him will include, Kathawa, Gemba, Sathyagaraya, Paththara Prashna Saha Aththa Uththara, Akuru Athara Katha and 10 booklets of [...]
Rotaract Club of Colombo iGenius quiz
iGenius is a twist on a quiz organised by the Rotaract Club of Colombo Midtown and the Rotaract Club of the Faculty of Management & Finance of University of Colombo. It aims to bring all Interactors, Rotaractors and Rotarians to interact with one another while learning and educating themselves in a fun atmosphere. The event [...]
Nepal caught unprepared for natural disasters
[KATHMANDU] As international rescue teams struggle to cope with the 7.8 magnitude earthquake which devastated Kathmandu Valley and other parts of Nepal on the weekend, the unpreparedness of this Himalayan country for an earthquake or other major disasters is painfully apparent. On Sunday, aftershocks continued to shake Nepal for a second day while interior ministry [...]
No need to go veggie
For many of those concerned about the future of the planet, giving up meat is seen as a major way for people to reduce the impact they have on the environment. Producing beef, for example, requires large amounts of water, land for grazing and emits tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. But now Bill [...]
Lies, damn lies, and the British election
LONDON – Democratic elections cannot be described as competitions aimed at revealing which candidates tell the unvarnished truth. Most politicians try to avoid telling outright lies; they bob and weave like prizefighters when faced with questions that might ensnare them in outright mendacity. But they invariably exaggerate what they have to offer, as well as [...]
Release Mohamed Nasheed – an innocent man and the Maldives’ great hope
It may be famous for the pristine holiday beaches of its Indian Ocean coastline but the Maldives has taken a dark authoritarian turn. In 2008, the island nation became a democracy after Mohamed Nasheed was sworn in as president after the country’s first-ever free and fair elections. A charismatic leader, Nasheed introduced liberalising reforms at [...]
UN staffers secure at home, moving targets overseas
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 29 2015 (IPS) – When the United Nations spent over 2.2 billion dollars refurbishing its ageing 65-year-old Secretariat building, one of its primary goals was to strengthen security to prevent any violent attacks on the glass house by New York city’s East River. With a voluntary donation of nearly 100 million dollars [...]
Sons of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa took refuge together when deadly Nepal earthquake struck
The sons of the first climbers to conquer Mount Everest sheltered together after the devastating earthquake hit Nepal leaving more than 6,000 dead. Jamling Norgay’s father Sherpa Tenzing Norgay famously got to the top with Sir Edmund Hillary in 1953. His son, also a mountaineer, was on his way to base camp with a group [...]
China Harbour foreman jailed
A China Harbour Engineering Company foreman monitoring the building of sea walls at a mega bridge project in Hong Kong has been jailed by a court for offering a casino chip bribe worth HK$ 50,000 (Rs. 858,604) to a senior works inspector of an engineering consultancy. The man, a senior foreman of China Harbour, peddled [...]
Kidney disease in NCP: Focus on prevention
Chronic kidney disease of multi-factorial origin (CKDmfo) is an environmentally acquired, occupational disease in which the cause is still not understood. However, consumption of polluted water seems to be the underlying reason. Water that is contaminated with multiple toxic agents (hence multi-factorial nature of origin) and sources seems most likely causing this deadly disease. To [...]
London Eye lit by Facebook election chat
LONDON, May 2 (AFP) -The London Eye tourist attraction was lit up today in party political colours reflecting the amount of social media interactions about them on Facebook. The giant observation wheel overlookingthe Houses of Parliament on the other side of the River Thames is being lit up this way every night in the run-up [...]
Mass arrests in Maldives after ‘free-Nasheed’ protests
MAL, Maldives, May 2 (AFP) -Maldivian authorities have carried out mass arrests, including of opposition politicians, following a large anti-government protest demanding the release of jailed former president Mohamed Nasheed, officials and activists said Saturday. The government said the overnight demonstrations turned violent and that several police were wounded in clashes with those loyal to [...]
Thai authorities resume dig at migrant mass grave site
PADANG BESAR, Thailand, May 2 (AFP) -Thai authorities today resumed the excavation of a mass grave site in a remote patch of jungle where migrants believed to be from Myanmar and Bangladesh were held for months by people smugglers in appalling conditions. Eight bodies have been recovered so far from the abandoned camp in Sadao [...]
Prince William’s wife Kate gives birth to a girl
LONDON, May 2 (AFP) -Prince William’s wife Kate gave birth to a girl on Saturday, sparking celebrations for the royal couple’s new arrival, a princess who becomes the fourth in line to the British throne. “Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge was safely delivered of a daughter at 8.34am,” the royal residence of Kensington [...]
Bodies of Australians executed in Indonesia arrive home
SYDNEY, May 2 (AFP) -Relatives of two men executed in Indonesia arrived back in Australia today on a flight believed to have been carrying the bodies of the pair, whose deaths Prime Minister Tony Abbott has criticised as “cruel and unnecessary”. Andrew Chan, 31, and Myuran Sukumaran, 34, were killed by firing squad on Wednesday [...]
Taiwan ruling party chief heads to China for Xi meeting
TAIPEI, May 2 (AFP) -The head of Taiwan’s ruling party departed today for a high-profile visit to China, in the first visit to the mainland by a Kuomintang chief since 2008. Eric Chu, chairman of the KMT, is set to attend an annual trade forum in Shanghai at the weekend before meeting with Chinese president [...]
Malaysian activists held after May Day protest
KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 (AFP) -More than two dozen protesters including a leading human rights activist and opposition lawmakers have been detained in Malaysia in what one lawyer said today was an attempt to silence government critics. The demonstrators were arrested late Friday following a May Day rally that drew thousands to the streets of [...]
The belly of the Yellowstone beast
In the heart of Yellowstone National Park, a supervolcano releases around 45,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide each day. But the magma chamber lying directly beneath its surface is not considered large enough to produce such levels, so researchers have been searching for an alternative source for years. Now, by tracking seismic waves, a team [...]
Obama’s BRAIN Initiative yields first study results
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The mouse walked, the mouse stopped; the mouse ignored a bowl of food, then scampered back and gobbled it up, and it was all controlled by neuroscientists, researchers reported on Thursday. The study, describing a way to manipulate a lab animal’s brain circuitry accurately enough to turn behaviors both on and [...]
Scientist Hawking tells upset fans Malik may be in parallel One Direction
LONDON (Reuters) – What is the cosmological effect of singer Zayn Malik leaving the best-selling boy band One Direction and consequently disappointing millions of teenage girls around the world? The advice of British cosmologist Stephen Hawking to heartbroken fans is to follow theoretical physics, because Malik may well still be a member of the pop [...]
