Mahatma Gandhi: The ageless life
“I aim to live to the age of 125,” Mahatma Gandhi once said. An assassin’s bullet snatched him away before that milestone was reached but in many ways, for the hope, the courage, the sense of fairness and justice he infused in the world around him, he lives on, as the Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmed [...]
Unity in Diversity is the Strength of Our Nation: Awards ceremony on Nov 1
After three decades of deadly war, consequent devastations rendered Sri Lankan society with bitter communal divisions and estrangement. It has now become incumbent on us, to inculcate the sense of social harmony and national integration in the minds of our present day younger generation. In this context, the Office of National Unity & Reconciliation (ONUR) [...]
Army’s mine detection dog team wins US award again
A Mine Detection Dog (MDD) team from the Sri Lanka Army was honoured by the United States-based Marshall Legacy Institute (MLI) at its 20th Anniversary Clearing the Path Gala in Washington D.C on October 24. Sri Lanka’s embassy in WAshington DC said in a statement that this was the second consecutive year the honour has [...]
St. Joseph Vaz National Day on Nov. 4
The Catholic National Commission for Laity has organised the “St. Joseph Vaz National Day” on November 4th, 2017 as the grand finale to the Year of St .Joseph Vaz and to reflect on his life and mission under the theme of “Let us fulfil the dream of St. Joseph Vaz by bearing witness to the [...]
WNL drivers at skills development workshop
A workshop to develop the skills and awareness of drivers of Wijeya Newspapers Ltd was held at the Company auditorium recently. Addressing the workshop, the Colombo City Traffic Education unit’s Officer in charge, Sub Inspector K.G. Senaka, focused on improving quality of drivers’ performance. Toyota Lanka Consultant Ratmalana Branch Ajith Rupasinghe spoke on vehicle maintenance [...]
Presentation of new book
Author and Thurstan College teacher Vijitha Lanka is seen here presenting a copy of his new book “The Economics of the Market” to Western Provincial Councillor and Pragna Pradeepa Concept Initiator Jayantha de Silva at the latter’s office in Borella.
Sri Lanka’s UN mission celebrates Deepavali in New York
NEW YORK – Sri Lanka’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations last week hosted a Deepavali celebration at the mission premises. The event brought together members of Sri Lanka’s Hindu community and those of different faiths in the Tri-State area– New York, New Jersey and Connecticut — as well as representatives from other UN Missions, [...]
A new constitution or the 13th Amendment?
There was a regime change in Sri Lanka on January 8, 2015 and the Yahapalanaya government was voted to power due to two reasons. Firstly President Mahinda Rajapaksa who gave political leadership that resulted in the defeat of LTTE terrorism and separatism to protect and preserve the unity and territorial integrity of our nation for [...]
Decoding the new constitution
It is constitution remaking time. And as in 1987, by foreign connections. In 1987, the massive cross-border terrorism created by India led to a proxy invasion of the country. And later, with the Indian Air Force flying overhead and four Indian gunboats outside the Colombo harbor threatening, a key constitutional change, the 13th Amendment was [...]
Pre-empting the next pandemic
SYRACUSE – Recent disease outbreaks, like Ebola and Zika, have demonstrated the need to anticipate pandemics and contain them before they emerge. But the sheer diversity, resilience, and transmissibility of deadly diseases have also highlighted, in the starkest of terms, just how difficult containment and prevention can be. One threat to our preparedness is our [...]
Citizen Silva, citizen silva – and the fourth estate
Being a regular once-a-month columnist for the Sunday Times, I make it a point every Sunday morning when I get my copy of the Times to read and enjoy the writings of my journalist colleagues who write their popular weekly columns. In fact, even before I look at the news section of the paper, I [...]