Lanka mourns death of economics guru
Prof. A.D. V. de S Indrarathna, Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of Colombo, and the President of the Sri Lanka Economic Association (SLEA), was ‘Guru’ to many leading economists in Sri Lanka, not only in academia, but also in the industry, bureaucracy as well as in policy making, a group of economists said on Saturday [...]
Accessibility to cancer pain relief drugs and the international drug control treaties
By Dr. Dayanath Jayasuriya P.C. In the Sunday Times of 8 January 2017 Dr. Mihitha Ariyapperuma raised a number of interesting and pertinent points in a letter under the title ”Medications to manage pain and other symptoms should be accessible to doctors in Sri Lanka”. He recounted several close relatives of his who were terminally [...]
Minimising preventable deaths; critical care education is crucial
By Dr. Chula Goonasekera he impetus for the evolution of medicine in the world has always been the quest to improve patient survival and outcomes. In keeping with this paradigm, it is essential for a country to be on par with the rest of the world regarding recognition of its health care service and training. [...]
Cyprus unity talks in new year
Satharathilaka Banda Atugoda During the political discourse in the 1960s and 1970s Cyprus was one nation that was cited as a parallel to Sri Lanka, the beautiful Island, the legendary birthplace of the ancient Goddess of Love, Aphrodite. Perhaps the similarity of the political environment enticed me to read on this picturesque country, and in [...]
Sacking a whistleblower: Whither good governance?
By Charitha P de Silva I was shocked to read in newspapers that Maithri Guneratne, Chairman of Lanka Coal Board, had been sacked for whistleblowing. There were a number of reasons for my being shocked. The first was that it was against the spirit, if not the letter, of the law. Section 40 of the [...]
Are drones invading our privacy?
Drone journalism: Social and legal aspects By Theodore A. Fernado Warnakulasuriya As we begin a new year, unmanned aerial vehicles – a.k.a. drones – have left the realm of science fiction and are making their way into our living rooms and have become an important topic in the public sphere. Our attention was drawn to [...]
Hope for global health in 2017
By Melvin Sanicas HONG KONG – Looking back on 2016, there may not seem to be much to celebrate. In terms of global health alone, the year appeared to be one of unrelenting tragedy. Beyond stories of hospitals in conflict zones being bombed, the Zika virus emerged as a growing threat. There was also the [...]
A journey for renewal and peace: My solo visit to Sri Lanka
By Lukshan Abeysuriya I have recovered successfully from treatment for my bone marrow cancer, medicos called myeloma. This was a harsh and difficult experience. Since May 2015, I constantly visited the Furness General Hospital’s excellent Oncology clinic where I was under the expert care of Dr. Anthony Machette and his Nursing team, also I owe [...]
Right to information dead on arrival at UN
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – The 193-member UN General Assembly has been dragging its feet on a proposal that has been kicked around the corridors of the United Nations for over 10 years: a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) providing journalists the “right to information” in a sprawling bureaucracy protective of its turf. [...]
Fashion Asia awards: Lankan wins top male model of the year
The 2016 Fashion Asia awards ceremony took place at the Heji Duidian, in Chongqing from December 26- 30 with Sri Lanka nominated for awards in four categories, namely: Lou Ching – Asian Top Fashion Stylist of the Year Jayamali Erangika Wijesuriya – Asian Top Fashion Model of the Year (Female) Tymeron Carvalho – Asian Top [...]
Importance of learning French: Alliance Française de Kotte holds news conference
By Minushi Perera French is one of the languages spoken by more than 220 million people worldwide. It is the second most widely learned foreign language after English and the sixth most widely spoken language in the world. A press conference held by Alliance Française de Kotte on the importance of learning French and about [...]
Nuthana Kumaraya deals with issues of governance
Nuthana Kumaraya (modern Prince) is a collection of articles mainly focusing on the issues of governance — critiques of the ‘ideologies’ on which the current government is based. The book also discusses the ongoing debate on the ‘future of the SLFP’ and the influence of such debate on democratic governance in Sri Lanka. Author Charitha [...]
Soul Sounds presents an evening of Gospel Music
The Lionel Wendt Theatre will come alive with the sounds of Gospel and Spiritual music on Tuesday, January 31, as Soul Sounds presents ‘The Reason We Sing’, conducted by Prof. Mark Wilson, Director University of California Berkeley Gospel Chorus. This will be Prof. Wilson’s fifth visit to Sri Lanka, having first accepted Soul Sounds Music [...]
New appointments at SAARC Cultural Centre
Kishani Jayasinghe-Wijayasekara and Dr. Lopamudra Bajpai from India took up duties recently as Deputy Director (Programmes) and Culture Specialist (Research) respectively of the SAARC Cultural Centre. The SAARC Cultural Centre will function under the supervision of the Director Wasanthe Kotuwella and Deputy Director (Programmes) Kishani Jayasinghe-Wijayasekara in order to promote and develop South Asian culture [...]
Disappearances through poetry
Silenced Shadows, a trilingual book of poetry on enforced or involuntary disappearances in Sri Lanka, will be launched at 4 pm on Tuesday at the Auditorium of the Sri Lanka Foundation. The book is the outcome of a poetry competition on involuntary disappearances in Sri Lanka. The competition was organised by Amnesty International in October [...]
Shangri-La’s Hambantota Resort & Spa holds job fair for differently abled
Shangri-La’s Hambantota Resort & Spa recently conducted at the hotel a job fair exclusively for people with disabilities. The main objective of the job fair was to interview candidates who are differently abled and give them an opportunity to join the Shangri-La family. Fourteen candidates from the community attended and had discussions with the heads [...]
Head to Kala Pola today
The 24th edition of Sri Lanka’s world renowned open-air art fair Kala Pola takes place today, Sunday, January 22 along Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha in Colombo 7. Kala Pola opens at 8 a.m. and will continue until 9 p.m. in a fun-filled ambience of music and entertainment. A fascinating display of cultural entertainment takes centre stage [...]
Workshop on elephant conservation policy
A Workshop on the Policy for the Conservation and Management of Wild Elephants will be held on January 24 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute (SLFI), Colombo 7. Organised by the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS), the workshop will bring together, for the first time, all the experts [...]