Keeping the marsh: The people-friendly approach
Wetlands give us clean air, water, food and recreational spaces. If treated right, they may even save us from future climate change A kilometre or so from the bustling, congested sprawl of Rajagiriya lies an urban oasis. Mangrove fringed waterways, a dirt track winding through deep marsh, reedbeds swaying in the breeze and scattered everywhere [...]
Wild thoughts on wild Jumbos
This column last week was about saving Sri Lanka’s political jumbos facing extinction. This week we comment on saving the country’s wild jumbos, the quadruped species much dearer to us than those of the biped political category. The Human-Elephant Conflict, as it is being called, has developed into a national issue and featured prominently at [...]
British couple nabbed for illicit removal of wrecks: Who freed the culprits?
This is the third in a series of articles by retired SSP Tassie Seneviratne on ‘Grave miscarriages of justice at the hands of Police Chiefs In 1982, when I was ASP Trincomalee, I was invited to by the then National Aquatic Resources Agency (NARA) Chairman, Dr. Hiran Jayewardene, to be an honorary representative of NARA. [...]
China ranked world’s second largest arms producer trailing behind US
UNITED NATIONS, Jan 27 2020 (IPS) – Donald Trump, the vociferously unpredictable US president, has long chastised China for seeking “unfair” advantage over trade and tariffs, violating intellectual property rights and “manipulating” the country’s currency to its advantage. But while this blatant political rhetoric has continued ever since Trump assumed office in 2017, the Chinese [...]
The coronavirus is a disease of Chinese autocracy
CLAREMONT, CALIFORNIA – An outbreak of a new coronavirus that began in the Chinese city of Wuhan has already infected over 4,000 people – mostly in China, but also in several other countries, from Thailand to France to the United States – and killed more than 100. Given China’s history of disease outbreaks – including [...]
Outgoing HC visits London Vihara
Manisha Gunasekara, the outgoing Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, paid a farewell call at the London Buddhist Vihara, the oldest Theravada temple in Europe. She is pictured here with the Ven. Bogoda Seelawimala Thera, Head Monk of the Vihara and Chief Sanghanayaka of Great Britain, the Ven. Tawalama Bandula Thera, Leslie Dep, [...]
Photocause spreads its wings to Melbourne
After almost a decade of cancer engagement projects in Sri Lanka, Photocause, the brainchild of sisters Shanaya and Nyantara Perera launched their first overseas community service project in Melbourne. Photocause tied up with the ‘La Trobe Business School – Golden Lanyard Initiative’ and 20 award winning photographs focusing on Sri Lankan culture were selected and [...]
Foreign presence in Sri Lanka and its inevitable impact
The book, Foreign Presence in Sri Lanka by veteran journalist Latheef Farook, is about the presence of rival foreign powers and their inevitable impact on the country known for its independent foreign policy with which it won the hearts of the entire Third World. It was this policy which made the island host the Fifth [...]