UMT holds 2nd Annual National Level Regional Youth Leaders conference
The Unity Mission Trust (UMT), a non-profit Trust that has been working towards developing unity amongst the youth of Sri Lanka since May 2009, held their 2nd Annual National Level Regional Youth Leaders Conference at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute auditorium and the residential site in Athurugiriya from January 27-29. The highlights of the conference included [...]
M.S.M. Hussain – leads Kandy lawyers
Senior lawyer M.S.M.Hussain was last week elected as the new President of the Kandy Bar Association for 2017-2018. He had served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) previously. He entered the Sri Lanka Law College in 1975 and took his oaths as an Attorney-at-Law in 1978. [...]
National Day Celebrations in Abuja
Sri Lanka’s 69th National Day was celebrated at the High Commission of Sri Lanka in Abuja, Nigeria. High Commissioner Thambirajah Raveenthiran addressed the gathering on the significance of the occasion and requested the Nigerians to visit Sri Lanka to enjoy its scenic beauty. He thanked the Sri Lankan community and Nigerian friends for their support [...]
Learning from Bill Gates
By Bjørn Lomborg NEW YORK – Everyone – from elected officials and bureaucrats to voters and taxpayers – can learn from the world’s largest charitable foundation about effective development spending. And these lessons are particularly relevant at a time when 56% of Europeans believe their governments should focus solely on domestic issues and let recipient [...]
Vienna: Celebration of Independence Day 2017 with Diplomatic Corps
Ambassador Priyanee Wijesekera and Diplomatic Staff of Sri Lanka’s Mission in Vienna invited Vienna-based diplomats and representatives of the Austrian Foreign Ministry, the Austrian Federal Chamber of Commerce and the Parliament/City Council of Vienna for a reception on the occasion of the 69th anniversary of Independence of Sri Lanka. The Sri Lanka’s Honorary Consuls to [...]
Typo Day first time in Sri Lanka
Typo Day 2017, an event that seeks to explore the finer aspects of typography and calligraphy, will be held for the first time in Sri Lanka from February 23 – 25. Considered South Asia’s largest conference on typography and diversity, Typo Day 2017 is hosted by the Department of Integrated Design – University of Moratuwa, [...]
From battles to rank: The story of the ‘Kastane’
Anandalal Nanayakkara will deliver this month’s National Trust lecture on ‘The story of the Kastane Sword’. The lecture will be on Thursday, February 23, at 6.30p.m. at the HNB Auditorium, 22nd Floor, HNB Towers, 479 T.B. Jayah Mawatha, Colombo 10. The ‘Kastane’ is generally considered to be the most iconic sword associated with Sri Lanka’s [...]
Remembering the people
Many folk all over the world have been trying to explain the extraordinary and unexpected success of Donald Trump. A brash builder and property developer with no previous experience of either political or military service, he has been elected as the political leader and military commander of the most powerful nation on earth. While others [...]
Discipline, law and order and good governance
When we look around and see the appalling indiscipline that pervades society nowadays, one ruefully reflects and wonders where the long-cherished conventional standards of ethical behaviour and socially-accepted norms of conduct have gone! Any cause, tenable or otherwise, seems good enough for disgruntled elements to launch unruly strikes and public demonstrations thereby disrupting the day-to-day [...]
The great Royal stink: Will the PM intervene?
Sri Lanka’s number one public school in deep crisis; old boys union made scapegoat Interested parties destroying the reputation of the premier education institute By Roy Alibhoy “Aetas Cinaedum Celat Aetas Indicat” (Time conceals the evils – but in the end reveals them) In the murky world of school admissions, especially to Grade 1, Sri [...]
New Jersey Buddhist Vihara statue proclaimed a cultural landmark
NW JERSEY– The Buddha Statue at the New Jersey Buddhist Vihara and Meditation Center was proclaimed a cultural landmark by the Township of Franklin, New Jersey. The Proclamation, on February 14, was made by Mayor Phillip Kramer and Councilman Rajiv Prasad and handed over to Rev. Hungampola Sirirathana Nayaka Thera, Chief Incumbent of the Vihara. [...]
Separate the long term medical standards issue from SAITM
By Dr. Channa Ratnatunga I was surprised to read a news caption in the Sunday Times of 5th February, that the deans of the medical schools are ruminating whether they should meet the President about the ruling given by the Court of Appeal re. SAITM. The same article highlights that no less than five “business [...]
Trump the reluctant multilateralist
By Barry Eichengreen FLORENCE – Donald Trump did not assume the US presidency as a committed multilateralist. On that, partisans of all political persuasions can agree. Among his most controversial campaign statements were some suggesting that NATO was obsolete, a position that bodes ill for his attitude to other multilateral organizations and alliances. Last week, [...]
Free education and SAITM
By Rev. Prof. W. Wimalaratana Universal free education is an ideology that has deep roots in Sri Lanka although it has evolved with great resistance, especially after the economic liberalisation in 1977. In addition to free education (teaching) from schools through to the first degree in public universities, some of the integral components of free [...]
With ‘one state’ reference, Trump stumbles into a West Asia minefield
By Luke Baker WASHINGTON (Reuters) – As he stood on the podium next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was open to new ideas that would bring Middle East peace. With that, he opened the door to a whole new maze of complexity and risk. By uttering the phrase [...]