Dealing With #MeToo At Work

Largely due to a lack of awareness on sexual harassment at workplace, many are ignorant of whether they have already been victims of this crime.

Sisterhood Initiative: A space for girls to speak up!

Being a girl is tough and for Sri Lankan lasses; it’s tougher with the societal norms and cultural restrictions. Sri Lankan girls face many issues yet those are unvoiced and unheard in the patriarchal society. A space to speak up on these issues was limited.

Response to Colombo Diary of Feb.4, 2020 ‘Who Took Tea Plantations to the Brink of Collapse’

The Planters’ Association of Ceylon (PA) wishes to draw the public’s attention to the article by Mr. P.K. Balachandran, in his ‘Colombo Diary’ column in the Daily Mirror of February 4, 2020, headlined, “Who Took Tea Plantations to the

Hot weather strikes again

Being a tropical country Sri Lanka’s climatic conditions are decided by two Monsoon seasons. However this year has brought about some unusually high temperatures, just before the inter-monsoon season

Mining, development and environment

There was a recent news report that the drinking water supplied by the National Water Supply and Drainage Board in Kalutara area had been mixed with saltwater as a result of sand mining. The residents in the area, claimed that

Financial scams and a loss-making culture

When you purchase a Treasury Bond you are in fact lending money to the Government. Conversely, Section 2 (1) (d) of the Registered Stock and Securities Ordinance No. 7 of 1937 authorises the Government to issue ‘Securities’ in the form of Treasury Bonds, for the purpose of raising Public Debt. T- Bonds are issued on the Primary Market, which is where the Central Bank of Sri Lan

Chanuka Moragoda, Yaka Crew and “Adawwa”

The tastes and preferences of the Sinhala youth are changing, and the young Sinhala artist is making those changes happen fast. Some of the most exciting changes to impact the arts have been due to the efforts of young adolescents working with feverish intensity. They start out relatively penniless, and although most of them hail from the suburban middle class they are, it must be noted, certainly not

CHARLES HENRY DE SOYSA Sri Lanka’s legendary Philanthropist

March 3 has dawn again, an important date for the descendants of the late Charles Henry and for all those who benefited through his extraordinary largesse to our nation. Through time immemorial, from my infancy, legends about him woven through the passage of time have been related within the family and outside it too. No-one it seems has done as much in a variety of fields, but mainly in health, education and agriculture which show his amazing vi

Acid attack victim wants new lease of life

The story of 37-year-old Sanjaya Sandaruwan from Wennapuwa still elicits sympathy as he struggles to reconcile with the unfortunate incident that befell upon him unexpectedly in 2010. Sandaruwan became a victim of an acid attack on October 18, 2010 at the age of 27 as a result of a love affair he had with a neighborhood girl. However the girl’s family hadn’t encouraged this affair.

‘From Marsh to Boake’

D.L. Seneviratne recently presented his book ‘From Marsh to Boake – The Founding Fathers of Royal College’ to B.A. Abeyratne, Principal of Royal College. The author, a Vice-President of the Royal College Union, has with great passion traced and found the old school building and the Principal’s Bungalow when the school - then known as the ‘Colombo Academy’ - was in San Sebastian Hill, Hulftsdorf. Covering the period from 1835 to 1870, the book giv

Memoirs of Malini Ranasinghe

Malini Ranasinghe needs no special introduction to fans of the Sinhala theatre. She was Suppa Devi in Ediriweera Sarachchandra’s celebrated drama ‘Sinhabahu’ when it made its debut in 1971.

An old soldier never dies

February 18, 2020, marks the first death anniversary of Brigadier Sarath Ambowa, RWP, RSP USP (Retired) of the Sri Lanka Infantry (SLII) Regiment, who sacrificed his life for the territorial integrity of mother Sri Lanka, at a crucial stage of a ruthless battle against LTTE in 1994.

Right of Reply: President’s Media Office response to FactCheck

‘‘On February 27, 2020, the FactCheck column classified President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s statement on Twitter made after the opening of the Ayati centre that 20 per cent of children in Sri Lanka are having a mental or physical disability as false.

Five years since Geneva Promises: 7 out of 36 Fulfilled

In September 2015, Sri Lanka co-sponsored United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Resolution 30/1 and committed to fulfil a range of measures on human rights, accountability, and reconciliation. On February 27, 2020, Sri Lanka responded to an update presented by the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) at UNHRC’s 43rd session.

VEN. SOMA MAHA THERA (1898 – 1960)

Soma Maha Thera was born on December 23, 1898 in Kotahena, Colombo, his father was Emmanuel Marian Pererapulle and his mother Theresa Rodrigo Babapulle, his name was Victor Emmanuel Pererapulle. He received his entire education at St Benedict’s College, Kotahena, which is the premier Catholic school in Colombo and a school that also produced such great Buddhist leaders like Anagarika Dharmapala and Ven. Narada Nayaka Thera.

Epitome of simplicity, embodiment of diligence…

Bandulasena Prathapasinghe Ratnayake born with gifted brilliance, Adorable, multifaceted personality, sterling qualities par excellence,

Dr. Lalani Kapuruge - Iron lady of cardiology

The untimely demise of hearty-healer Lalani Kapuruge on November 16, 2019 is a great loss to the field of cardiology. It is not often that you come across a lady who enters this male-dominated arena of interventional cardiology and excels in the art of healing diseased hearts.

Ethical advertising

“Depends on the client”- Shabeeb Muzammil Shabeeb Muzammil, Associate Creative Director at LOOPS Solutions, said there were no legal or ethical guidelines for advertising in Sri Lanka, but only certain regulations. “In Sri Lanka, one cannot advertise certain medicines, cigarettes and alcohol,” he said. Ethics, meanwhile, mostly depended on the client. “While most advertising ethics stem from societal and cultural norms, the ethical side of adver

What you need to know about Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) is a condition that manifests in children. A juvenile is a young person, medically defined as a child less than or equal to 16 years of age. Idiopathic means without a cause. Arthritis is a joint inflammation or a special type of joint swelling. Therefore as the name implies JIA happens in children less than or equal to 16 years of age without a known trigger and involves joints. For us to diagnose JIA properly

‘Raise to Rise’ : A junior initiative to raise awareness on JIA

Having experienced flares at a young age, Anya Raux was confined to crutches and was recommended bed rest. After several visits to various doctors, she was diagnosed with JIA after three months, at the tender age of 11. Two years later she is determined to spread the word around and is getting ready to pull off ‘Raise to Rise’ a walk followed by a concert this Saturday.

Every body matters

“People with disabilities are very much part of the development agenda,” UNFPA Representative in Sri Lanka Ritsu Nacken said at the 9th International Conference on Birth Defects and Disabilities in the Developing World. Delivering

Colombo YMBA Scholarship Awards Ceremony 2020

The Annual Scholarship Awards Ceremony organized by the Colombo YMBA for the 32nd consecutive year was successfully concluded at the Colombo YMBA main hall recently. The Chief Guest on the occasion was the Vice

Pioneer who formed the Sri Lanka Freedom Party King’s Counsel H. Sri Nissanka

During the period under the British Administration, it had been a daily habit of the elite and rich families to visit Galle Face Green in the evenings for horse rides which provide exercise and entertainment for them and their

Mora Wala revisited: One year on....

I took all these photos except one last year, at the popular Negombo bathing spot known as Mora Wala in the Pitipana area, beyond the fisheries harbour. According to my notes, it was the fasting month for Catholics, and the sea was

Self-sufficiency in milk possible ?

Is self-sufficiency possible in milk supply? Not in my lifetime and maybe not yours too, but if…...? Yes, there is a big‘if’. Sometimes, I wonder whether the past governments were really serious in spending massive amounts of money for

Uni entrance for ‘2019’ students in a dilemma

Students who faced the G.C.E. Advanced Level Examination in 2019 are facing a dilemma. The examination was held under two syllabi, old and new. Now the students are facing a major predicament; how will this affect this

The forgotten undiminished : Sumana Aloka Bandara

“That the man who wrote these plays wasn’t mentioned in the State Drama Advisory Board’s ‘Playwrights of the 60s’ baffles me even today.” (Sunil Mihindukula) Nuwan Nawayanjith Kumara once identified the five pioneers of 20th century Sinhala drama: Ediriweera Sarachchandra, Gunasena Galappatty, Sugathapala de Silva, Henry Jayasena, and Dayananda Gunawardena. What set these luminaries apart from their contemporaries, peers, and students was the fac

Sri Maha Bodhiya The Ratwatte-Bulankulame connection and the bo-tree

The Sri Maha Bodhiya was brought to Sri Lanka in 289 BC and the eight brothers of Queen Vedisa (During Emperor Dharamsoka’s reign) who belonged to the Suriya-wansa, accompa

A food inspection and regulatory authority needed

Food control activities in Sri Lanka are being carried out by the Ministry of Health and the Director General of Health Services is the Chief Food Authority. There is a Food Administration Committee headed by him to take policy decisions on allowing food to be manufactured, transported, stored and sold in the country. The Food Control Administrative Unit (FCAU) is spearheading the controlling work. There are Food Inspectors attached to Municipali

Wesley College OBU Colombo Celebrates 146th Founder’s Day

Wesley College - a Premier Christian Boys School in Colombo was founded on March 2, 1874. Every year, the Double Blue Fraternity gather to celebrate the memory of their Founder, the Rev. Daniel Henry Pereira – on Founder’s Day which is the death anniversary of Rev. John Wesley the great Evangelist and Founder of the Methodist Church. This year 2020 Wesley College Colombo celebrates its 146th Birth Anniversary. The Founder’s Day is considered the