Understand Your Children - And to understand parents too!!!

4 years ago, an accident took my beloved away and very often I wonder, how does my wife, who is now in the heavenly realm, feel right now? She must be feeling extremely sad for leaving a husband who is incapable to taking care of the house and the kid. 'cos that is the exact feeling that I have, as I feel that I have failed to provide for the physical and emotional needs of my child, and failed to be the dad and mum for my child.

There was one particular day, when I had an emergency at work. Hence, I had to leave home whilst my child was still sleeping. So thinking that there was still rice leftovers, I hastily cooked an egg and left after informing my sleepy child.

With the double roles, I am often exhausted at work as well as when I am home. So after a long day, I came home, totally drained of all energy. So with just a brief hug and kiss for my child, I went straight into the room, skipping dinner. However, when I jumped into my bed with intention of just having a well-deserved sleep, all I heard and felt was broken porcelain and warm liquid! I flipped open my blanket, and there lies the source of the 'problem'... a broken bowl with instant noodles and a mess on the bedsheet and blanket!

Why America is still the best bet for world leadership

These are indeed extraordinary times. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall that heralded the end of the Cold War, no other series of events have had the potential to change the geopolitical map of the world as the events currently unfolding in the Middle East. Within a matter of weeks, we have seen two dictatorships toppled and many more threatened. For the most part, these have been internal revolts of people chasing away their long-standing leaders with minimum orchestration or interference from outside.

‘Regulations to enrol foreign students’

Chinese and Japanese students have shown interest to study the Sinhala Language at the Sri Lankan universities and the Higher Education Ministry was planning to introduce new regulations soon to enable the admission of such students, officials said yesterday.
Ministry Secretary Sunil Jayantha Navaratne told the Daily Mirror yesterday the Cabinet approval had already been given to give scholarships to 100 foreign students to study at the local universities.
In addition, Dr. Navaratne said foreign students would be allowed to pursue local studies after paying course fees.

Sri Lankan Pensioners living in Australia

Courtesy - The Island

It is now more than a year, since the Director General of Pensions stopped the monthly pension payments from November 2009 to all overseas pensioners without stating any valid reason.

I have been writing on behalf of my wife who is a Sri Lankan Government Pensioner, PN 111714, since December 2009 and again when new sets of Forms were issued to open new savings accounts with the Peoples Bank, Queens Branch, 38, D R Wijewardena. Mawatha, Colombo 10. These documents were duly certified by the Sri Lankan Consul Bandu Dissanayake (Melbourne) who came to the Clayton Community Aged Care and signed all these forms, and we are most grateful to him, since my wife was unable to call at his office.

No need to panic, says Sanga

by Rex Clementine

After Saturday’s 11 run defeat to Pakistan in a thrilling Group ‘A’ match of the ICC Cricket World Cup at the R. Premadasa International Stadium, Sri Lanka’s captain Kumar Sangakkara called for all Sri Lanka supporters to remain calm and not to panic.

After being set a target of 278, Sri Lanka had to create history if they were to win the game, as the highest run chase at the venue was the 271 scored by India against England during the Champions Trophy in 2002.

The hosts were struggling at 96 for four and the game looked out of their reach at that point, but fighting knocks by the captain and Chamara Silva, coupled with some big hitting by the lower order, took them to within 12 runs of the target.

"There are a few things that we can learn from Saturday’s game. Building partnerships is important and we shouldn’t’ panic. We were well behind the run rate, but in the end we fell just 10 runs short. If we had better partnerships after that great start, it would have been a different story," Sangakkara said.

Something fishy

Courtesy - The Sunday Times

Love And Other Drugs… Give Me The Drugs!

When I told my good friend in the US that I intended to review Love And Other Drugs, she said “ It’s a stupid film!” and like a true cynic gave me the reasons why; shall elaborate on those later on!
Jamie played by Jake Gyllenhaal is a medical rep. One day  he meets the beautiful Maggie ( Anne Hathaway) who is all smiles and ringlets, and is also suffering from the onset of Parkinson at the tender age of 26.

Set in the 1990’s a little prior to the Viagra boom, Gyllenhaal plays a kind of irritating salesman who uses his charm to sell his medications to the doctors by seducing their gullible assistants. Living in a sad little apartment in the Ohio Valley with a long term plan to relocate in Chicago, Jamie’s future takes an unpredictable turn when Maggie crashes into his life.

The two start a purely sexual relationship, agreeing that there will be no strings attached nor are they thinking on a long term basis. Surprisingly, there are quite a few explicit love scenes for an American film and perhaps, this is only a matter of opinion, but they add very little to the plot. True, it does enhance a certain sense of intimacy to the story, but the scenario is somewhat all over the place and it could even sound cliché to equate nudity with emotional closeness. Sadly, we are never absolutely sure if the film is a romantic comedy or something which will take a Love Story type of turn.

One of the crucial missing points in Love And Other Drugs was the unequal level of information provided about both the main characters.

අපෙ හඬ අරගෙන ඈත හඬන සක්වා ලිහිණී....

නව සහශ්‍රකය බිහිවන්නේ සිංහල ගීතයේ ගමන්මඟ එක්වරම අහුරා දමමිනි. 1977 න් පසු උපන් 77 දරුවන් යෞවනයට පා තබන්නේ නව සහශ්‍රකය මතිනි.
විවෘත වෙළඳපොළ, රූපවාහිනී නාලිකා සහ ගුවන් විදුලි නාලිකා ඔවුන්ගේ ඇස, කන වර්ණවත් කරමින් මනස අපවිත්‍ර කළහ. ඒ නිසා නවසහශ්‍රය තුළ කවියන් ගීත රචකයන් බිහිවූයේ අල්ප වශයෙනි. මේ දශකය තුළ මතු වූ කලාකරුවෝ වැඩි දෙනෙක් හැත්තෑහතේ දරුවෝ නොවූහ. එහෙත් කවියකු ගීත රචකයකු කෙටිකතාකරුවකු ලෙසින් බිහිවන අමිල තේනුවර වූ කලී හැත්තෑහතේ දරුවෙකි. ඔහු සුවිශේෂ වන්නේ එබැවිනි.
සරු ගසක් වැවෙන්නට සරු පොහොර ඇවැසි ය. ඇතැම්විට නව යෞවනයේ දොරකඩ, විශිෂ්ට ගුරුවරුන් ලැබීම විශිෂ්ට කලාකරුවන් ඇසුරට ලැබීම කෙනෙකුගේ ප්‍රතිභාව ඔපවත් වීමට හේතුවෙයි.

ගුණදාස කපුගේ	සමිතා එරන්දතී මුදුන්කොටුව

අමිල තේනුවරට ඒ වාසනාව හිමි වුණා විය යුතුය. එවිට වයසට වඩා පරිණත නිර්මාණ බිහි කළ හැකිය. නව සහශ්‍රකයේ මුණගැසෙන කාව්‍යක්කාරයන් අතළොස්ස අතරට අමිල තේනුවර ද එක්වන්නේ එබැවිනි. “සක්වාලිහිණි” නැමැති ගීතය ඒ සඳහා කදිම උදාහරණයකි.
සක්වාලිහිණි වූ කලි තවත් එක් ලිහිණි වර්ගයකි. මොවුහූ පෙම්වතුන් වශයෙන් දවල් කාලයේ එකිනෙකා සමීපයේ ළබැඳි ව ගඟ දෑලේ කල් ගෙවති.
එහෙත් සඳපායන රාත්‍රියේ දෙදෙනා ඉවුරේ දෙපසට වෙන් ව යති. එතැන් සිට ඉවුරු දෙපස සිට ඔවුහු විරහ වේදනාවෙන් හඬා වැටෙති. “සක්වා දා” නැමැති ජාතක කතාවේද මෙබඳු පුවතක් දක්නට හැකිය.
මඟුල් ලකුණු එකසිය අටෙන් එකකට අයත් මේ සක්වාලිහිණින්ට ස්වභාව ධර්මයෙන් නියම කර ඇති දඬුවම අරුම පුදුම ය.

Social networks; Large Asian corporations increase exposure but engagement remains low: New study

Asian companies listed in the Fortune Global 100 show the greatest year-on-year increase in official Facebook presence, though many are still reluctant to engage stakeholders through this platform, according to the Burson-Marsteller Global Social Media Check-up 2011.
The study examines the Fortune Global 100’s use of popular social networking platforms such as: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, corporate blogs and local and language-specific social media, according to a statement released in Singapore and issued locally by the agency’s Sri Lanka unit, Bates.
While a global increase of 18% in Facebook engagement was driven by a 25% increase in Asian companies on the list building a presence on the social network, Asian companies continue to miss opportunities for engagement with online stakeholders. While Asian corporate Facebook pages saw a 406% increase in stakeholder ‘Likes’ and 60% of Asian companies in the study allow fan posts to their pages, only 28% of these pages routinely responded to fan posts.
“While the increase in social media adoption in Asia is in part due to greater investment in this area for local marketing, much of the growth is driven by established Asian multinationals using social media to reach new audiences abroad,” said Bob Pickard, president and CEO of Burson-Marsteller Asia-Pacific. “We expect to see this trend continue as other Asian companies become more comfortable with the interactive nature of social networks and take the opportunity engage their stakeholders directly on these platforms.”

Bob Marley's mission through reggae

Bob Marley's music is resonant with the true Jamaican Spirit and many people will remember him for providing them with their first taste of Reggae music. He used a type of West Indian popular music with a very strong beat to voice concern that his people (blacks) were helplessly silent about the oppression by Americans.
His undisguised but emphatic declaration that he descended from the African slaves who were brought to America, imbued the people with admiration for his music and the message it conveyed. In brief, he promoted a populist approach to Reggae music and through his music he succeeded in re-kindling tension in black people to struggle for their rights. Through his music he urged the black Africans in Jamaica and America to mount a major struggle for their existence, rights and self-respect.
Bob Marley was a passionate believer in the idealized notion that an artist is born to serve his people and he correctly identified his responsibilities for the black Africans still being forced into varied types of salve labour throughout the world. Therefore he was a populist musician in the literal sense of the world. Notably, Bob Marley and Victor Hara were two massive figures of international fame who endeavoured to protect the rights of the people they represented through the universal art of music.

His vision

Bob Marley was exposed to the first glimpses of class and colour discrimination at Kingston where he managed to recognise the higher social classes and the sufferings of people in slums. He was suddenly confronted with the big question as to how he should fight for the rights of the black people who were not sufficiently aware of their economy lifestyle, or their rights.

Dual citizenship not stopped- Immigration Controller

Immigration and Emigration Controller Chulananda Perera said that there was no truth in the rumour that the Government has stopped issuing dual citizenship for Sri Lankan expatriates.

He said there was a temporary suspension in effect at present to update the system.

“We have completed formulating the updated version. It will be presented to President Mahinda Rajapaksa shortly”, the Controller said adding that they were awaiting official approval.

Expatriates who are already holding dual citizenship will not be affected by the temporary suspension, the Controller said.

Following the defeat of the LTTE and the end of terrorism there was a sharp increase in the number of applications for dual citizenship.

The Department receives an average of 350 applications per month. However, in December, the Department received as many as 500 applications for dual citizenship.

The Immigration and Emigration Department is under the purview of the Defence Ministry and hence President Rajapaksa, the Defence Minister has to approve the new processing mechanism to award dual citizenship.

“We are the authority to issue dual citizenship certificates and there is definitely no move by the Government to deprive Sri Lankan expatriates of obtaining dual citizenship here,” the Controller said.

Dead men under the bridge

Courtesy by Sunday Island

Another dead man under the bridge - three in three months. Inspector Mendis got out of the police jeep dabbing his forehead with his handkerchief and cursing softly. He stood on the bridge in the drizzling rain, his inspector’s cap pulled down tightly and the cold soaking through his khaki uniform. He hated the highlands with its ever present mist and drizzle, ideal for tea growing and a refuge for leeches. He sighed; all he wanted was his old posting in the warm and sultry lowlands and not this. His subordinates, two of them, stood on either side of him shivering in their khaki shorts, the cold eating through their knee high woollen stockings and worn boots.

They looked down the steep, wet slope leading from the bridge to the swamp below where the dead man lay. A cowherd who had gone down there in the morning to cut grass, found the corpse and raced to the small police station to inform them. So now they were here to inspect the body and report on the cause of death to headquarters in Nuwara Eliya.

Smoking and alcohol enhance kill factors for men – World Bank Report

By Steve A. Morrell

Life expectancy in Sri Lanka is now at 74 years and rising. However, attendant progress is marred by urbanization, smoking and alcohol consumption among men, mainly. These attendant risk factors completely nullified progress in health care achieved since 1920, says Julie McLaughlin Sector Manager, Health, Nutrition, and Population of the World Bank.

"Life expectancy for women made steady progress but such gains are not enlisted for men because of described social mores causing serious affectation ultimately resulting in Non Communicable Diseases. (NCD)", she told a press conference in Colombo last week.

I love Sri and its people says Captain Nadeen Yusufzai PIAresumes flights to Sri Lanka

by Zanita Careem

A man with a great deal of charisma, well spoken and distinguished is Captain Nadeen Yusufzai, the Managing Director of Pakistan International Airways who said

"Sri Lanka and its people are beautiful and we love you, when I met him for a brief interview at the Galadari Hotel on the opening night of the Pakistan Week Festival".

His entourage included Director Marketing PIA, Imram Ahamed Khan who arrived in Colombo by PIA on the inaugural flight from Karachi.

The managing director PIA said "Our President Asif Al Zardari a man of vision and mission when he visited Sri Lanka observed that the country’s tourism was booming.

Cricket World Cup: Efficient Pakistan beat Sri Lanka

World Cup Group A, Colombo (R Premadasa Stadium):

Pakistan 277-7 (50 overs) bt Sri Lanka 266-9 (50 overs) by 11 runs

By Stephan Shemilt

Misbah-ul-Haq and Shahid Afridi starred as Pakistan earned an 11-run World Cup Group A win over Sri Lanka in Colombo.

Misbah (83 not out) shared a fourth-wicket stand of 108 with Younus Khan (72) as Pakistan totalled 277-7.

Openers Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga gave Sri Lanka a solid start, but when Afridi (4-34) removed Dilshan, they slipped from 76-0 to 96-4.

Chamara Silva (57) and Kumar Sangakkara (49) led the recovery, but the co-hosts could only close on 266-9.

Both strong through the off side, Dilshan (41) and Tharanga (33) looked to have Sri Lanka well placed to pull off what would have been the fifth-highest successful run chase in World Cup history.

Ferry service between Sri Lanka and India to start next week

Feb 25, Colombo: The ferry service between India and Sri Lanka, that was suspended decades ago due to the terrorist activities in Sri Lanka, is to be resumed next week.

The Sri Lankan government says the ferry services between the Colombo harbour and the Indian port of Tuticorin is to begin with a voyage from India.

A privately-run ferry with a capacity of 500 passengers is scheduled to sail from the Tuticorin port on Monday, February 28.

Sri Lanka Navy and Indian Navy are to provide security for the ferry service.

Indian authorities have installed an Electronic Access Control System and Closed Circuit Televisions (CCTVs) to monitor the Tuticorin Port.

Indian reports said personnel of bomb detection squad are also in place and two patrolling boats will be engaged at the sea round-the-clock to enhance security.

The ferry will be operated two times a week initially and the frequency would be increased later.

‘External degrees being restructured’

Higher Education Minster S.B. Dissanayake told parliament yesterday universities would soon resume their external degree programmes after restructuring and revising them in keeping with the requirements of the modern day job market here and broad.

The universities have at present suspended the registration of students for external degree programmes.

Democratic National Alliance (DNA) parliamentary group leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said this move would deprive a large number of eligible students from obtaining higher education qualifications.

Lanka-Pakistan shoot out today

Sri Lanka who waltzed to victory against Canada in their first outing, will not have it easy when they front up to Pakistan in a Group ‘A’ match in the 2011 World Cup under lights at the R Premadasa Stadium today with umpires calling play at 2-30 p m.

Cricket of a high order is expected and it points to a no quarter asked or given game. Tickets for this clash have all been snapped up and a full house is expected to watch thrill-a-minute cricket.

Why Now?

By Gwynne Dyer

Why now? Why revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt this year, rather than last year, or ten years ago, or never? The protestors now taking to the street daily in Jordan, Yemen, Bahrein, Libya and Algeria are obviously inspired by the success of those revolutions, but what got the process started? What changed in the Middle East?

Yes, of course the Arab world is largely ruled by autocratic regimes that suppress all opposition and dissent, sometimes with great cruelty. Yes, of course many of those regimes are corrupt, and some of them are effectively in the service of foreigners. Of course most Arabs are poor and getting poorer. But that has all been true for decades. It never led to revolutions before.

Sri Lanka, rising star of Asian economy – FOX NEWS ‘Success story for others to emulate’

Which country had the best performing market in 2010? FOX NEWS asked in a special report on Sri Lanka. ‘Guess what? It was not the United States of America! The best performing stock market was Sri Lanka’s CSE which was up 96% for the year’, they said.

Calling Sri Lanka ‘the rising star of the Asian economy’, FOX NEWS said Sri Lanka has demonstrated economic resilience amid a global economic downturn, emerging as a success story for others to emulate.

Sri Lanka has now returned to peace and prosperity, the report said adding that the government has devoted millions of dollars to develop and restore life in the areas affected by the decades-long conflict.

‘Most people displaced by the fighting have returned home as the country focuses on healing and reconciliation’.

Shangri-La in H’tota

Hong Kong based Shangri-La hotels has looked at two sites, including one close to the second international airport being built in Hambantota, to construct its second proposed hotel, Deputy Minister for Economic Development Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena told News Now.lk.

The Deputy Minister said that a Shangri-La team who is currently in the island has also examined a land close to the Yala national park.

The international hotel chain will select one of the two sites and begin constructing its second hotel after the completion of its first project in Colombo.

UPDATE 4-Shuttle Discovery soars into space one last time

NASA to retire shuttle fleet after two more flights * Discovery hauling cargo to International Space Station * Launch nearly canceled by range safety computer glitch (Updates with details on foam loss, quotes) By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - Space shuttle Discovery blasted off for the last time Thursday, carrying six astronauts and carting a load of supplies, spare parts and a robot for the International Space Station. The shuttle lifted off at 4:53 p.m. EST from the Kennedy Space Center, riding a flame-tipped pillar of smoke across the Atlantic Ocean as it soared through partly cloudy skies toward space. The launch was delayed three minutes due to a glitch with a range safety computer minutes before the scheduled 4:50 p.m. EST liftoff. The problem was resolved with seconds to spare.

No matter what

Medical students of the Rajarata University staged a protest at the Ceramic junction today calling the authorities to take prompt action to construct the medical facilities needed for their training. The picture shows police using water cannons to disperse the medical students. Courtesy - Daily Mirror Pix by Waruna Wanniarachchi 

ඔබ ආදරණීය මිනිසෙක් වෙන්න...

ජීවිතේ මම විඳින්න අකමැතිම දේ තමයි මම නිසා කෙනෙක් පසුතැවිලි වීම. මම නිසා කෙනෙක් දුකෙන් ඉන්නවා නම් ඒක මට දරා ගන්න හරිම අමාරු දෙයක්. ඒ වෙලාවට මට ඕන කරන්නෙ කොහොම හරි ඒ කෙනාව ඒ පසුතැවිල්ලෙන් මුදවන්න. මම ගැන වැරදි වැටහීමකින් ඒ කෙනා පසුතැවිලි වෙනවා නම් මට ඕන ඒ දේ කොහොම හරි විසඳ ගන්න. නැත්තම් ඒක මගේ හිතට මහා ලොකු වේදනාවක්. ඒ කෙනා මට ගැහුවත් කමක් නෑ. බැන්නත් කමක් නෑ. නිහඩ වෙලා කිසිම දෙයක් නොකියා ඉන්න එක දරාගෙන ඉන්නවට වඩා මට ඒක දරාගන්න පුළුවන්.

Hambantota a sports hub

Hambantota is set to become the sports hub of Sri Lanka with moves to build a new state of the art athletics stadium and a golf course in the area just months after the construction of a new cricket stadium was completed.

Parliamentarian Namal Rajapasa made these revelations in an interview with the Times of India where he also said that the infrastructure will be set in place to hold major events in the district by opening a new airport and hotels.

Excerpts of the interview:

You've realised your goal of having international cricket matches staged here, the tough task is to sustain interest in cricket among the locals after these two World Cup games.

It's not tough. Certainly not as tough as convincing the cricket board and the other authorities to come and build this facility. When we identified the land in 2006, this was a poor village. The road was only eight feet wide and it was made of mud. Now, because of the stadium, we have a double road. So development has taken place. We are happy to bring the WC to Hambantota , but we don't want to relax. We have bigger plans in store to develop this place.

Powerful solar storm disrupts communications

A powerful solar flare has triggered the largest space weather storm in four years, disrupting some ground communications on earth.

AP This file photo provided by NASA 

shows an eruptive prominence 

blasting away from the sun.

Classified as a Class X flare, the Feb 15 event also spewed billions of tons of charged particles, igniting a geomagnetic storm in the Earth’s magnetic field, said Daniel Baker, director of University of Colorado-Boulder’s Lab for Space Physics.

Such powerful ejections can disrupt airline navigation systems and power grids to the safety of airline crews and astronauts, according to a Colorado statement.

“The Sun is coming back to life,” said Baker, an internationally known space weather expert.

The Sun has been in its most quiescent state since early 20th century, said Baker.

From a scientific standpoint, a Class X event — the most powerful kind of solar flare — is exciting, said Baker, who is also an astrophysicist.

“But as a society, we can’t afford to let our guard down when operating spacecraft in the near—Earth environment.

“We understand much more about what is happening and can build more robust systems to withstand the effects,” Baker said.

“It will be interesting to see how well our technological systems will withstand the rigors of space weather as the Sun gets back to higher activity levels,” Baker added.

Keywords:  
The Hindu

What are you doing on Facebook?

Yousuf Bashir Qureshi is not busy - he is engrossed. And he is not engrossed with one specific idea - he is actually immersed in all of them, simultaneously.
Qureshi, a designer and the founder of the Commune Artist Colony in Karachi, has been trying to connect art and artists with the local Karachi community through various events which are held at the Commune.

Men taking a break from the protests in Tahrir Square, Egypt. Recent events in the world, the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, have the future prospects of social media and its’ effect in the spotlight. While real uprising and demonstrations spread across the region like an epidemic; only rumours of such protests have spread through the grapevines in Pakistan. - Reuters Photo

“Every Friday, movie night,” said Qureshi. “We have food, drinks, sheesha, and a good movie - Ashraf, is it on Facebook, already?”
“Already done,” Commune Artist Colony Director Ashraf Kalim Ahmed said. “We have put some choices up for movies and given everyone a chance to vote on it.” “We have almost 130 people ‘attending’ on Facebook so that basically means 40 will actually show and that’s a pretty decent crowd.” “It will go up,” said Qureshi, as he gestures with his hand raised in the air and draws a cost curve in the air. “Then it will go down, afterwards it will steady out.”
But it is not the first time the Commune has used Facebook for promoting its’ events, nor will it be the last. As any story goes - there are two sides to everything. As time-consuming social media seems to be, it has grown rapidly in the past year among people, businesses, and in politics of the small population of netizens in Pakistan. Facebook was officially launched in 2004 and Twitter was launched in 2006. Facebook has an estimated 500 millions active users and 70 percent of their users are outside the United States. In 2010 alone, there were 7.9 new Facebook registrations every second across the world.

President no-balls World Cup song

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has banned the airing of a World Cup song aimed at urging Lankans to rally around their cricket team as it has verses degrading other countries in the fray and their players.

The song according to the government contains derogatory references to defending champions Australia as well as earthquake-hit New Zealand and that Ricky Ponting’s no-balls World Cup song...

Australians are doomed to end up as bird food while the New Zealanders, reeling from the news of the Christchurch earthquake, would have their jaws broken. A government official said the song boasts that "sixes hit by Sri Lankans will shatter the roof of the English Palace and things in it tumble."

President Rajapaksa had heard the Sinhala and Tamil mixed song when he was in Hambantota last Sunday to watch Sri Lanka play their opening match against Canada and felt that it was in bad taste.
The Island

Greatly loved Sinhala musician

Colombo University’s celebration of Victor Ratnayake:

Carlo FONSEKA

Victor Ratnayake

As someone with a long and close association with Colombo University, I am delighted to join Vice Chancellor Prof Kshanika Hirimburegama, Prof Samantha Herath and others to celebrate Victor Ratnayake, the greatly loved musician in the world of Sinhala music. My association with Colombo University has been principally through its Medicine Faculty and such training as I have had was in the filed of medicine. Medicine is really applied biology. So, even when I wish to celebrate a musician a biological perspective naturally emerges and trumps art. Accordingly, the biological function of music and the role that Victor plays in performing that function in our world of music will be the theme of this essay. Readers are bound to hear echoes of thoughts and feelings I have previously expressed on this theme. Repetition is unavoidable. So if you feel bored you have a simple remedy. Just read something else.

Victor’s ‘Sa’

Victor Ratnayake is inextricably linked with the all time musical 

Cricket World Cup Betting: Group A with Australia, Pakistan & Sri Lanka

Cricket World Cup Betting: Group A with Australia, Pakistan & Sri Lanka

Colombo angry over ranking

Officials in the city of Colombo responded strongly to the report by the Economists Intelligence Unit (EIU) ranking Colombo as one of the worst livable cities in the world.

“I am surprised as to how they made this assessment, I’m sure it was made on outdated data about 10 years ago. Colombo is far ahead of any other South Asian country in terms of road discipline and cleanliness and those dignitaries who visit the island tell us that all the time,” Colombo Municipal Commissioner Omar Kamil said.

President’s meeting with newspaper editor at Temple Trees on Tuesday ‘Govt. mindful of people’s woes and doing its best to reduce CoL’

‘Govt. mindful of people’s woes and doing its best to reduce CoL’

President Mahinda Rajapaksa meets editors of national newspapers

The government was aware of the economic woes of the public and it was doing everything possible to give them relief, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The President said that increases in the prices of some commodities were due to various factors such as price hikes in the world market and a drop in the local supply because of heavy rains and natural disasters. He said his government was duty bound to protect the vulnerable sections of society who had to bear the brunt of price increases.

English language proficiency for undergrads: MoU signed

A memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Higher Education Ministry and the United States Embassy in Sri Lanka to empower English language proficiency of undergraduates in Sri Lanka.

A Memorandum of Understanding ( MoU) was signed by Higher Education Minister S B Dissanayake and US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Patricia Butenis at the Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel yesterday to offer 10,200 scholarships to Sri Lankan undergraduates to learn the English language from the Education First English town on line language program. Here, Minister S B Dissanayake and US Ambassador Patricia Butenis exchanging the MoU. Picture by Lalith C Gamage

The MoU was signed by Higher Education Minister S B Dissanayake and US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Patricia Butenis at the Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel yesterday.
The launching ceremony of Education first- English Town on line English Language Skills Development Project for Undergraduates that would be conducted in collaboration with the US embassy in Sri Laka and the Higher Education Ministry also took place on par with the MoU.
The US Government will help enhance English Language Proficiency of new University students in the coming months according to the MoU.
Nearly 10,200 Sri Lankan undergraduates will get scholarships to learn English through the internate. It is targeted to create globally employable graduates, higher Education Minister S B Dissanayake said.
He said opportunities will be offered to the undergraduates who qualify from a basic English course conducted by the universities following their admission to the universities.
Education First English town is a popular on line distant education institute in the US and it will be responsible for the program. The Higher Education Ministry recently reiterated that a General English paper will be made compulsory from this year for GCE Advanced Level students to qualify for university entrance.

Colombo amongst worst cities

Colombo has been ranked among the worst 10 livable cities in the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) Liveability Survey released this month. According to the survey, Colombo is placed 131 out of 140 cities.

The index ranks cities with an overall rating which is then subdivided into categories of Stability, Healthcare, Culture & Environment, Education and Infrastructure- on a scale from 100 to 0 with hundred being the "ideal" and zero "intolerable".

How to use the National Flag

The Ministry of Public Administration and Home Affairs needs to be commended for at long last issuing a Code of regulations regarding the proper use of the National Flag. However it is not stated as to what extent these regulations can be legally enforced. Admittedly, respect for the National Flag must come naturally in the same manner that the National Anthem is respected. These should be habits drilled into the people from their early school days. The biggest insult to the national flag, is to dump it into a public waste bin or to be left roadside garbage heaps to be swept & removed by Municipal trucks.

Future is ‘Online’

Imagine a day when you do not have to go to work but work is at your fingertips. Picture an era when you do not have to step outside to go shopping but you are able to purchase items from home. Visualize a time when you do not have to drag yourself to the nearest outlets to pay your bills but you are able to pay them at the blink of an eye.
This is the secret weapon. The internet! A tool to increase efficiency. A series of networks which are interlinked to the computer systems, the internet provides global access to anyone who logs on. E-mail, chat rooms, blogs, Skype, Facebook and twitter are for those who like to keep tabs on each other from across the world.

It’s a small world with Internet

The days of IDD calls and foreign mail are fast fading.
All these aspects are familiar to modern day youth like the back of their hand. However e-commerce goes beyond mere communication. It is an important subject for internet users.
Michael Aldrich invented online shopping in 1979. It caught on like wildfire and is developed hundred fold today. E-commerce is an electronic system that facilitates buying and selling transactions via internet. Leading websites, namely amazon and ebay are the leading e-commerce solutions for online marketing. The advantage of e-commerce lies in the fact that anyone in any corner of the world can sell their products to others without any barrier. A person in Australia can interact with someone or purchase any good online from a country as far as USA or Africa. It is just a matter of owning a credit card. Online banking is one of the powerful transaction hubs in Sri Lanka. You can even pay bills online.
E-commerce saves time and avoids difficulties in manual transaction. The customer will be able to inspect and purchase goods which are not within reach simply by clicking the mouse button rather than waiting for the product to make its way to the local market.

Letter from a father

My Dear Son,
This letter may come as a surprise to you and I know it is just a little bit too late, but it took me that much of time and courage to do the thinking, take up the pen and write down my thoughts and feelings. Secondly, and most important, it still has not dawned on me that you are no longer a child but a teenager.

It was only yesterday, you wanted to perch on my shoulders...

Your mother tells me that you have now settled down in the new campus and looking forward to the beginning of the study sessions next week. Believe me, son, I was so happy and proud of you. I almost cried.
I can still remember, as if it was only yesterday, that you would insist on sitting on my lap in the morning, while I was reading the newspaper, with the bottle in your mouth and trying to understand what was happening in the world around you. It was only yesterday, you wanted to perch on my shoulders to get a bird’s eye view or it was just that you wanted to be taller than your father. Probably, these are the few things I might tell your children when I can no longer walk, sitting in my easy chair outside in the morning sun.

New Zealand earthquake magnitude 6.3 hits Christchurch

New Zealand earthquake magnitude 6.3 hits Christchurch

President attends Sri Lanka's World Cup opener against Canada

President Mahinda Rajapaksa today attended Sri Lanka's World Cup opener against Canada at his namesake stadium in Sooriyawewa, Hambanthota. Earlier, the Speaker of Sri Lanka parliament and Hambanthota district parliamentarian Chamal Rajapaksa declared open the newly-built international cricket stadium.


Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Deputy Minister Niomal Perera, Deputy Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, MP Namal Rajapaksa, Chief of President's Staff Gamini Senarath, High Commissioner of Canada Bruce Jery, and Chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket D.S de Silva were also present.

Sri Lanka thrash Canada by 210 runs Record their fourth largest win in ODIs

Courtesy - The Island

Rex Clementine reporting from Suriyawewa

The Associate Member of the International Cricket Council may be protesting against the decision to scrap their participation in the next Cricket World Cup in Australia/New Zealand, but they have hardly done anything to prove that they belong to the elite league, by the second day of the 2011 competition.

Hours after Kenya were bowled out for 69 runs in Chennai by New Zealand, Canada crashed to a 210 run defeat, the seventh heaviest in World Cup history, as Sri Lanka proved why they are one of the favouirtes at the 2011 Cricket World Cup, with a comprehensive win at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium in Suriyawewa, on Sunday.

The victory is Sri Lanka’s second largest in World Cups and their fourth biggest in ODIs as they posted a massive 332 for seven in 50 overs before dismissing the tourists for 122 in 36.5 overs.

‘Speak English Our Way’?

Professor D.C.R.A. Goonetilleke

‘Speak English Our Way’ is the catchy slogan, appealing to our patriotic instincts, adopted by the Presidential Task Force in English and IT to advertise the island-wide programme to teach Spoken English, using so-called Sri Lankan English. The basic question is whether the use of the so-called Sri Lankan English is to the social good.

English in Sri Lanka has not evolved to the required stage to be declared as a standard language. It should not be traced back to the era of Robert Knox or to the arrival of British in 1796, as has been done. It is wrong to say that it has an ancient history and that it is a native language in Sri Lanka. It should only be traced back to a period when there was a community of speakers of the so-called Sri Lankan English. This is of recent origin.

Former skipper backs Sri Lanka to do it again

Three strike bowlers in Malinga, Mendis and Muralitharan and subcontinental batting conditions basis of assessment

• By D. Datta, Special to Gulf News
• Published: 00:00 February 20, 2011
• 

• Former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga believes Ajantha Mendis will prove a lot of people wrong in this World Cup.
• Image Credit: AP

Mirpur: The return of the ICC World Cup to the sub-continent must be giving Arjuna Ranatunga a sense of deja vu. The last time the tournament was held in this part of the world in 1996, the portly Sri Lankan skipper played a big hand in breaking the jinx of a host country never to have won the Cup. In a freewheeling chat with Gulf News, he shares his thoughts on the defining ‘96 triumph and the current event. Excerpts:

GULF NEWS: What would you rate as the main reasons for your win in 1996?

ARJUNA RANATUNGA: Teamwork, planning, execution was almost perfect. I spent hours after hours in front of television to watch the videos of various teams. I found out the strength and weakness of our opponents through those sessions. It was tiring, but gradually I found it interesting in finding some very interesting points through the videos that helped us to make the blueprint for the strategies to fight the battle.

What about this time?

I think Sri Lanka is a genuine favourite team for this edition as well. I find a similar atmosphere in the camp as before the tenth edition of the World Cup.

Don't you have any worry as far as the bowling is concerned?

I must admit that the bowling strength in 1996 was even weaker than the current team. Watch out for Ajantha Mendis. He has really worked hard to do well in the forthcoming event. Lot of people are saying that the batsman have already read him, yet I am confident that he would deliver again this time. We will be having Lasith Malinga and of course, Muttiah Muralitharan. If you have three genuine strike bowlers, you are very much in the business.

Any other points for which you are so confident about Sri Lanka?

We will play most of the matches at our backyard. We have got a solid batting line-up. Let me repeat, we won the 1996 world cup due to our exceptionally talented batting line up. Have you forgotten Arvinda deSilva's scintillating form? We decided to rally round him and thankfully he got runs in almost all the major matches including the final. I am sure Mahela, Sangakkara nad Dilshan will carry Sri Lanka this time. My country will definitely reach the semi-finals and, in that situation, it would be anybody's game.