The man whose quiet ways touched many
The 131st birth anniversary of D.R. Wijewardene fell on Thursday, February 23 By E.E. C. Abayasekara Of D.R. Wijewardene the visionary and patriot, who, single-mindedly bent all his efforts towards securing freedom for his country; of how in the process of achieving what he did achieve he created a remarkable newspaper organisation, and of the [...]
Maharaja Palace receives A-star for ‘food safety’
The Maharaja Palace restaurant has bagged the prestigious A* Award of Excellence in recognition of its food safety and hygiene. The criteria for this award include kitchen hygiene, food safety and the standard of food which is awarded by the Public Health Department. Situated in the heart of Colombo 7, Maharaja Palace is an elegantly [...]
Women in Sri Lanka’s workforce: EU hosts panel discussion
In honour of International Women’s Day 2017, the European Union (EU) Mission here will host ‘Mind the Gap – A conversation on what’s holding Sri Lankan women back from greater workforce participation’, on Tuesday, March 7, from 4-6 p.m. at the Lionel Wendt Art Centre. The distinguished panel of speakers include Dileni Gunawardena, Professor of [...]
Step out of the resorts, step into the wilds
Cinnamon’s nature-loving resorts, Cinnamon Lodge Habarana, Habarana Village by Cinnamon and Cinnamon WildYala are now offering guests a ‘wild’ experience with expert naturalists from Cinnamon Nature Trails (CNT), an award-winning wildlife and adventure tourism division of Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts giving guided walks around the resort premises. At Cinnamon Lodge Habarana, the once abandoned chena [...]
Sri Lanka participates in craft exhibition and trade fair in Surajkund, India
The world’s largest Crafts Exhibition and Trade Fair, held in Surajkund in the Indian state of Haryana, near the city of Faridabad, saw the participation of Sri Lanka for the 10th consecutive year. Dr.Buddhi Keerthisena President of Hands of Sri Lanka – National Crafts Foundation and Heshani Bogollagama, Chairperson of the National Crafts Council participated [...]
Jesustodaysl .org website launch on Saturday
A website titled “jesustodaysl” will be launched on Saturday, March 4 at the Hall of the Centre for Society and Relgion (CSR), at the Fatima Church Premises, 281, Deans road, Maradana. The ceremony will take place at 9 am. The website address will be www.jesustoday.sl .org The promoters say their vision is “Diverse gifts but [...]
Swedish sitar player to perform here
Swedish sitar player K.G Westman will present a sitar recital on March 2, at 6 p.m. at the Indian Cultural Centre auditorium, 16/2 Gregory’s Road, Colombo 7. Westman specialises in north Indian classical and semi-classical music. Originally a guitar player, he trained under the guidance of Pandit Rabindra Narayan Goswami from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh [...]
Community-based website
Residents of the Kuppiyawatte Grama Seva division launched a community-based website recently and invited Pragna Pradeepa Concept President and the UNP’s Borella organizer Jayantha de Silva to inaugurate it. Mr. de Silva is seen here with the people involved in the website at the launch.
Declassified US documents suggest the Nazis tested a nuke before the end of WWII
By Allan Hall Documents unearthed in an American archive suggest that Nazi Germany may have tested an operational nuclear bomb before the end of the Second World War. Recently declassified file APO 696 from the National Archives in Washington is a detailed survey of how far Third Reich scientists got in the development of an [...]
Outward bound Lankans and incoming South Asians
Dr. Sarala Fernando As a newly recruited Foreign Service officer in the early 1970s, I was sent on an Australian Colombo Plan training course with young diplomats from Australia and the Commonwealth. The course took the trainees to remote places such as Broken Hill, Alice Springs and Broome. In each of these locations there were [...]
Pakistan airline admits taking extra passengers in aisle
By M Ilyas Khan (BBC) – Pakistan International Airlines is investigating how seven extra passengers were allowed to stand in the aisles on a flight to Saudi Arabia, a spokesman told the BBC. The passengers were allowed on the 20 January flight to Medina despite every seat being filled, the airline said. Details of the [...]
Colombo South Harbour: Progress stymied in a sea of indecision
By D. Godage Colombo Port has earned the status as the hub port in the South Asian region primarily attributed to its strategic location to the south of the Indian subcontinent connecting the Middle East with the Far East, with links to the Australian and African continents. It is the gateway to South Asia. To [...]
Populism, prejudices and the media
By Chris Patten LONDON – I am old enough to remember when the best thing about populism was that it was not popular. Nativism, in any form, did not hit many political bull’s-eyes. Economic protectionists didn’t win elections. Voters, even those concerned about immigration, based their choices on economic and welfare issues, which the media [...]
LGBTQI: Myopic All-Out petition pushes Lanka against the wall
Dr. Chamindra Weerawardhana In June 2016, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) appointed an independent expert to eliminate discrimination based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity/Expression (SOGIE). The appointee, Vitit Muntarbhorn, is a professor of law at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University. Despite the expert being from a Southeast Asian country, many governments in the global South [...]
Indian censors block Lipstick Under My Burkha
MUMBAI, Feb 25 (AFP) – India’s censor board has refused to certify a film it describes as “lady-oriented”, sparking a furious response from the director, in the latest case to highlight fears over creative freedom in the country. In a letter, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) told the makers of “Lipstick Under My [...]
The price of empire
By Shashi Tharoor NEW DELHI – Indians tend not to dwell on the country’s colonial past. Whether through national strength or civilizational weakness, India has long refused to hold any grudge against Britain for 200 years of imperial enslavement, plunder, and exploitation. But Indians’ equanimity about the past does not annul what was done. Britain’s [...]
Fasting diet ‘regenerates diabetic pancreas’
By James Gallagher The pancreas can be triggered to regenerate itself through a type of fasting diet, say US researchers. Restoring the function of the organ – which helps control blood sugar levels – reversed symptoms of diabetes in animal experiments. The study, published in the journal Cell, says the diet reboots the body. Experts [...]
Good times over for expats in Saudi
RIYADH, Feb 25 (AFP) – Seventeen years after first setting foot in Saudi Arabia, Dominic Steck shipped his two cats and returned to Germany with his wife and school-age children, who hardly know their homeland. As Saudi Arabia steps up efforts to employ more of its own people, and with economic growth slowing, the ranks [...]
How we evolved to drink alcohol
It is possible to trace the evolution of boozing back to the common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees By Richa Malhotra Between 2005 and 2007, the suburbs of Los Angeles, California, saw several avian casualties. The victims were 90-odd cedar waxwings and the cause of their death was drunk flying. The tipsy birds had accidentally [...]