New Zealand rugby legends Jonah Lomu and John Kirwan were the star attractions as this year’s HSBC ARFU (Asian Rugby Football Union) Rugby Coaching Tour kicked off in Happy Valley on Wednesday, 23 March 2011, with a coaching clinic for youngsters from the Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children (HKSPC) and the Qingdao ...

The Second Stage of the DFCC Mind Star Sinhala Programme which a very successful reality show, is being launched. The DFCC Mind Star Programme which directed the art of Reality TV Programmes to a new direction, was launched in May last year amidst high response from TV viewers. Prizes were awarded in millions of rupees ...

by Darini Rajasingham Senanayake On 4 February, Sri Lanka celebrated its 63rd birthday. After nearly three decades of armed conflict, it is now one of Southasia’s calmest and fastest-growing countries. Its social indicators, apart from the northeast zone, remain the...

by Ranga Jayasuriya Some key positions of this government have been filled by dual citizens. Gotabaya Rajapaksa - the powerful Defence Secretary is a dual citizen of Sri Lanka and the USA. Basil Rajapaksa - Investment Development Minister has a US Green Card in addition to his Sri Lankan citizenship. Sarath Fonseka, the now incarcerated former army commander is also a Green Card holder. ...

by Prof Carlo Fonseka As someone with a long and close association with the University of Colombo, I am delighted to join Vice Chancellor Prof. Kshanika Hirimburegama, Prof. Samantha Herath and others to celebrate Victor Ratnayake, the greatly loved musician...

The Seylan Bank cricket team marked a momentus new entry in the Mercantile Cricket Association’s record books as it beat the star-studded Unichela IX to clinch the prestigious Mercantile ‘A’ Division Knock-Out title for the first time in the Bank’s history....

by Gamini mWeerakoon Most great cities around the world have public places that have acquired historic sanctity and are left untouched even by eager modernisers who develop an itch to leave behind puny constructions for their immortality. London has those...

There has been a massive response from the viewers for the DFCC Mind Star programme which entertained the audience with an intellectual approach. The weekly programme of DFCC Mind Star has drawn the viewers since the initiation as a programme with a different outlook. The programme dealt with the intellectual capacity instead of providing simple ...

Publishers Sri Serendipity Publishing House Suicide Club by Herman Gunaratne By Gamini Weerakoon Malinga Herman Guneratne is  rare not only among the species  of the tea  planting tribe but also with the Sri Lankan community at large. Whereas Sri Lankans tend to hide or be evasive of the misdemeanours of their ancestors, Guneratne regales us ...

Star-studded Sri Lanka recorded a nervous two-wicket win over little-known Nepal while fast bowlers helped Afghanistan crush Hong Kong by eight wickets in the Asian Games cricket quarterfinals Wednesday. Sri Lanka, with at least eight international players in the playing 11, had to bank on its tailenders to see them through after Nepal had reduced them to 56 for eight wickets.

By Ravinatha Pandukabhaya Aryasinha Ananda College Old Boys' Association Olcott Oration 2010...

An Interview with SB Dissanayake by Chamitha Kuruppu Admitting the Government has launched a campaign to eliminate JVP-led student movements crippling the university system in the country, Minister of Higher Education S.B. Dissanayake points out such moves should not be...

Times are not propitious for incumbent presidents and prime ministers when pillars that support the economy collapse or are tottering, particularly during election times. This applies mainly to Western democracies and not necessarily to ‘guided democracies’ and other assortments of democracies in the Third World whose leaders invariably scoop up 70 to 90 per cent ...

BY IRIN News KILINOCHCHI, 22 September 2010 (IRIN) - More than two years after she fled her home and 16 months after the decades-long Sri Lankan civil war was declared over, Chandra Jayakumar has one wish. A war-damaged home in...

The story of a beautiful single mother, and how she got there By Ranee Mohamed She had dreams, just like every single girl does. She had fears just like every unmarried girl does. And like all single people, she dreamed of the day she would get married – and look for a cosy home to ...

“When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.” — Thomas Jefferson Pushpendra Koddituwakku, an automobile technologist today lives in Australia.  He left Sri Lanka in 2007 together with his wife who is also a professional. Neither one of them want to ever return to Sri ...

M.R.’s goal of 2.5 mn. tourists by 2016 The country’s   major hotel operators have planned to build hotel rooms meeting only 6 percent of President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s target of getting 2. 5 million tourists by 2016. Hiran Cooray, Chairman Jetwing Group, one of the country’s leading hotel investors, in response to a question, told participants ...

Friday 25th June headline in a daily sent Menika’s heart a-thumping and mind a-reeling. The headline screamed: ‘UN ‘snoopers’ wont get visas to enter SL – Govt.’ Large type had this to say: The three member panel of experts appointed to advise UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on accountability issues relating to Sri Lanka’s war ...

By Sarasi Paranamanna Attending a mass marriage ceremony is quite an unforgettable experience, because, being part of a marriage ceremony always gives a joyous feeling, and when it is on a mass scale, the celebration is amplified. In Pictures by indi.ca The mass marriage ceremony I attended last Sunday had its own reasons to be considered unique and special. For the first t...

by D.B. Nihalsingha The much touted IIFA awards finally arrived in Colombo with (reportedly) some 2,000 Indian delegates in tow. Prior to that Colombo was agog with urgent preparations at breakneck speed and with much fanfare....

This year, Bridget Halpé completes 50 years of teaching music. She has been dedicated to music since she was six years old, regularly updating her knowledge by practical training and research, both here and abroad. She holds the L.R.A.M. in pianoforte performance of the Royal Academy, UK. To honour her achievement, her senior students have joined [...]

“Ranaviru Week” marking 1st anniversary of victory The National “Rananiru Week” marking the victory of the three-decade long war against LTTE terrorists has commenced. It was an era in which the peoples screamed in fear instead of the sound of religious festivals which emanated from the Temple, the Church and the Kovil. It was era in which the entire North of the motherland was alight due to terro...

The Governor of Sri Lanka Central Bank, Ajith Cabrala, participating as the chief guest in the ceremony, laid the foundation stone Monday in Nalloor Muththiraichanththai area in Jaffna for a star tourist hotel which he said will soon be completed construction at the event, sources in Jaffna said. Gnanam and Subas hotels in Jaffna had been occupied for the last fourteen years by Sri Lanka Army ...

Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivaard Cabraal speaking exclusively to Ada Derana said that the Government had not taken any illegal loans and that all loans received the approval of the Finance Minister and Parliament. MORE...