UN a ghost town without a single world leader in sight
When the United Nations celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1995, every head of state visiting New York for the General Assembly sessions decided to stay behind to participate in celebrations later that week– but with one exception. The then Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad — one of the most outspoken world leaders known to relentlessly [...]
Laws are like cobwebs
I was musing this month about a quotation that I had come across some years ago in a book titled ‘A Critical Essay Upon the Faculties of the Mind’. Published in 1707, the essay was written by the Anglo-Irish writer Jonathan Swift (better known as the author of Gulliver’s Travels) and contained these lines ‘Laws [...]
To pledged paradise via new Constitution
The Ministry of Justice has called on citizens for proposals for a new constitution. Doublespeak being committed to democracy and republicanism submits his proposals. The Constitution of the United States of Sri Lanka Preamble: Sri Lanka being the strategic hub of the Indian Ocean and determined to expand its territorial boundaries with annexation of territories [...]
Heckler’s veto: On Vijay Sethupathi’s withdrawal from Murali biopic ’800′
Reproduced below is Wednesday’s editorial comment of the Chennai-based The Hindu newspaper after award-winning actor Vijay Sethupathi’s withdrew from a biopic on Sri Lanka’s world-record holding spinner Muttiah Muralitharan following pressure from Tamil nationalist forces: Opposition from sections of Tamils has led to versatile Tamil film star Vijay Sethupathi withdrawing from a planned biopic on [...]
Breast cancer: Know the early symptoms and signs
The peak incidence of breast cancer in Sri Lanka is in the 50-60 age group. We have a sub group of young patients in the 30-40 age group, as do other countries in the South Asian region, unlike in the West. Our incidence rate is 23.4, which simply means that in every 100,000 of the female population [...]
Darley Butler assists HelpAge health care programme for elders
Darley Butler Health Care (DBHC), a leading pharmaceutical manufacturer and distributor, made a financial donation of Rs. 500,000 to HelpAge Sri Lanka (HASL) to improve the health care of underprivileged senior citizens in the country. The company recently signed an agreement with HelpAge to make a contribution from each `Friends Adult Diapers’ pack it sold. [...]
Immunisation is the best weapon against poverty
GENEVA – A recent poll found that one in three Americans would not be willing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, while anti-vaxxers have reportedly gained at least 7.8 million new social media followers since 2019. Like the pandemic itself, anti-vax misinformation and rumors know no borders. The biggest tragedy is that the resulting vaccine hesitancy [...]