Vitamin C could halt the growth of cancer
Vitamin C could help stop cancer from spreading throughout the body, controversial research suggests. Found in high levels in oranges, kale and peppers, British scientists discovered the nutrient starves tumours in laboratory tests. Giving patients high doses is 10 times more effective than some drugs being trialled in the battle against cancer, the study claims. [...]
Would you choose to live forever?
Scientists have made a discovery that could lead to a revolutionary drug that actually reverses ageing. The drug could help damaged DNA to miraculously repair and even protect Nasa astronauts on Mars by protecting them from solar radiation. A team of researchers developed the drug after discovering a key signalling process in DNA repair and [...]
Sri Lankan Contemporary Art at Aicon Gallery, New York
Situated off the southern tip of South India, the lush Sri Lanka island has drawn visitors for centuries. But the carnage of the 26-year civil war, which ended in 2009, tore the country apart. During the most strident phase in the late 1990s artists began to denounce terror, and visual arts took a prominent place [...]
Ban on loose cigarette sales may backfire
S moking is harmful to your health, period. Even a 15-year-old boy knows this. So is alcohol, so is chewing betel. So is overeating, so is excessive intake of sugar, so is starch, one can even die of drinking too much water. There are so many things which are harmful to us and yet we [...]
Holy Mass to celebrate the appointment of the new CJ
A Holy Mass organised by Rev. Fr. Ivan Pietersz, Parish Priest, St. Anne’s Church at Weligamptiya in Ja-Ela together with the Assistant Parish Priests Rev. Fr. Sudath Hemantha Fernando and Rev. Fr. Gihan Sheno and the Parish Council of St. Anne’s Church, Weligampitiya, Ja-Ela, was held last Sunday at 7 a.m. at St. Anne’s Church, [...]
Ban strikes by doctors, university students
In our day and age doctors (prosperous members of a once noble profession) and university students (unashamed adolescent dependents on public charity) have become strange bedfellows in launching disruptive “strikes” that cause enormous suffering and inconvenience to the public. The fact that doctors (by virtue of professional obligation) owe a debt of service to the [...]
Does Sri Lanka need more doctors?
With medical education in Sri Lanka being swirled around in controversy along with many myths and misconceptions, there is a vital need to focus on that all-important question ‘Is there an urgent need to increase the production of doctors for Sri Lanka?’ and several other questions that would follow. How many doctors do we have? [...]
Pakistanis in Sri Lanka celebrate 77th National Day
A colourful reception to mark the 77th National Day of Pakistan was hosted by the High Commission of Pakistan on Thursday at Kingsbury Hotel in Colombo. Public Enterprises Development Minister Kabir Hashim was the chief guest. Welcoming the guests, Pakistan High Commissioner Syed Shakeel Hussain said each year, March 23, a yearning is reignited in [...]
HONLEA meeting outcomes presented in Vienna
The outcome of the 40th Meeting of the Heads of National Drug Law Enforcement Agencies, Asia and the Pacific (HONLEA), which was hosted by the Government of Sri Lanka in Colombo, was presented at the Commission of Narcotic Drugs meeting held in Vienna on 16th March by Professor Ravindra Fernando, Chairman, National Dangerous Drugs Control [...]
Talking theatre : This time it’s K.B. Herath’s plays
An evening of theatre appreciation will be held onTuesday, March 28, at 4. 30 p.m at the Namel Malini Punchi Theatre at Borella with the focus on K. B. Herath’s plays and the originals he has scripted and directed, many of which have won awards at drama festivals. The discussion will be moderated by Prof. [...]
Peradeniya Alumni Colombo Chapter elects officials
The Alumni Association of the University of Peradeniya, Colombo Chapter elected the following officials at its annual general meeting on March 5, 2017. President – K.M.D. Gunaratne; secretary – M.B. Ratnayaka; immediate past president – C. Sooriyaarachchi; five vice presidents D.M.D.V. Jayampathy, G.P. Piyasena, G.H.P. Dharmaratna, S.M. Gnanaratna and Sujatha Karunaratna; treasurer – M.P. Premasiri; [...]
Philip remembered
The 45th commemoration of Phillip Gunawardena, the architect of Sri Lanka’s Socialist Movement, will be held on March 28 at 4.00 p.m. at the main auditorium of the Sri Sambuddhatva Jayanthi Mandira, Colombo. The key note address at the ceremony will be delivered by Eng. A.D.S. Gunawardena who will speak on “Challenges of our times”. [...]
100 years old and Girl Guiding still going strong at GHS
One hundred years ago, Jenny Calverley assembled the First Company of Girl Guides in the then Ceylon at Girls’ High School (GHS), Kandy. This week, to mark the centenary of Girl Guiding in Sri Lanka, a monument to Miss Calverley was unveiled at the school by Nicola Grinstead, Chair of the World Board of the [...]
Floating solar electric systems
The cost of photovoltaic systems has come down drastically during the last few years, thanks to rapid advances in mass production technology and the increase in demand. The interest in installation of very large systems has met with a new constraint, shortage of land. Floating solar electric power plants is an innovative concept that provides [...]
Mirage – the great Tamil novel of our time
When two distinguished authorities on the history of Jaffna — Bishop S. Jebanesan of the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India, and Richard Fox Young who holds a Chair in the Princeton Theological Seminary, USA., – collaborated to translate the novel Mirage (Kanal in Tamil), depicting the plight of the despised Tamil outcasts [...]
From nice guy to terrorist
He had a middle-class upbringing and lived with his attractive partner in a neat bungalow with a nameplate. Khalid Masood’s background in the heart of Middle England was as far removed from the stereotype image of an Islamic State ‘soldier’ as it is possible to imagine. Security services are now investigating what drove a middle-aged [...]
UN will investigate crimes against Rohingya in Myanmar
GENEVA, March 25 (Reuters) – The top United Nations human rights body agreed on Friday to send an international fact-finding mission to investigate widespread allegations of killings, rape and torture by security forces against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. But Myanmar ambassador Htin Lynn, speaking before the decision was taken by consensus, rejected the [...]