Tribute to Ravi Jayewardene
Ravi Jayewardene aged 63 reflects on his father JR’s triumphs and setbacks The film was over and the entire audience was stirring prior to standing up to the strains of the national anthem ‘God Save the King’. I moved in my seat to stand up when my father’s large restraining hand came down gently but [...]
Finishing off Malaria
By Shamas-ur-Rehman Toor JEDDAH – Malaria has long been one of the major killer diseases of our age. World Health Organization data show that as much as half of the world’s population is at risk. But roughly 90% of malaria cases and 92% of malaria deaths take place in just one region: Sub-Saharan Africa. Europe [...]
Challenges to media freedom in Sri Lanka; the ‘New’ Government’s performance
By Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena A common view held by many across the Commonwealth that Sri Lanka holds out a beacon of hope to the world in reversing the tide of authoritarianism underscores darker and more complex realities. Even in those early days when elation prevailed after the surprise election defeat of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa in [...]
Commonwealth SG discusses health initiatives for the region with CMA President
The Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Baroness Patricia Scotland, held wide-ranging discussions with the newly-elected President of the Commonwealth Medical Association (CMA), Prof. Vajira H.W. Dissanayake on how the Commonwealth Secretariat could support the proposed Commonwealth Institute for Digital Health in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The institute is to be launched at the Commonwealth Health Ministers [...]
Salvation Army global head to visit Sri Lanka
The global head of The Salvation Army, General André Cox, will be visiting Sri Lanka from April 18 to 23. General Cox will be accompanied by Commissioner Silvia Cox who leads The Salvation Army’s worldwide work with women. The Salvation Army’s work in Sri Lanka includes residential, community, project and crisis services, helping secure a [...]
Fund-raising day for Little Hearts project
Little Hearts is a project organised by the Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians to construct a Cardiac and Critical Care Complex at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital at a cost of Rs. 2 billion. This National Centre will enable timely and appropriate treatment to all children with heart disease and critical illnesses in all districts of [...]
Wood for energy
By Sampath Ranasinghe Can Sri Lanka manage its sparse forestry resources while fuelling industrial growth? In most countries, forests are considered to be one of the most mismanaged resources. They are undervalued, undermined and seriously lack coordinated policies that could, if managed properly, create huge potential for economic development. As the world’s population is expected [...]
Justice betrayed in the past Bak Poya falls tomorrow
By Mervyn Samarakoon Attakatha turns a virtual tapestry of the colourful society on the Indian subcontinent when it portrays in vivid detail the scoundrel and the saint, the fool and the wise, the crooked and the straight that dotted its vast landscape over two and a half millennia ago. More importantly the arahants have thereby [...]
Marine pollution around Sri Lanka and the inevitable environmental disaster
By Carmel Corea The National Geographic Magazine April 2017 issue carries a satellite image showing the polluted waters around Sri Lanka. This irrefutable evidence indicates a possible environmental disaster for Sri Lanka’s coral reefs. Coral reefs protect Sri Lanka from natural disasters and are essential for sustaining this country’s fishing industry. The tourism industry boldly [...]
Experiences in the solar world
Book facts: Events on my world line: Recollections and reflections of an Asian-American space scientist by Prof. Asoka Mendis reviewed by Nandasiri Jasentuliyana President Emeritus, International Institute of Space Law Strange as it may sound, many a times nations end up ignoring their greatest minds. Those talented souls are left to wander, overlooked and forgotten, [...]
National Moot Court Competition 2017: The battle for the H V Perera Memorial Award
The Inaugural “National Moot Court Competition” was successfully hosted by the Moot Society of Sri Lanka Law College recently. The Moot Society of Sri Lanka Law College invited the University of Jaffna, the University of Peradeniya, the University of Colombo, the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University (KDU), the Horizon Campus of Business and Technology, [...]
Storm clouds over Korea
By Joschka Fischer BERLIN – Decades after the end of the Korean War and the partition of Korea, the conflict on the Korean Peninsula remains one of the most dangerous and intractable problems of our time. And today it is more dangerous – and seemingly intractable – than ever. The North Korean regime is a [...]