Feature
Feature
Halloween tragedy shatters dreams of newlywed couple from Sri Lanka
November 04, 2022
Things had finally been looking up for 26-year-old Jinath.?He had married his wife, Fatima, in July. It was a love match, and they had struggled for eight years to win the approval of their parents. Finally, after Jinath came to Korea, both families accepted the marriage, and they were expecting a child. Jinath died in the Itaewon crowd disaster on Saturday (Oct 29). Now Fatima, who had been planning to study in Korea, has only one request: ?Please send my husband home.? ?She doesn?t have mor
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New details raise questions about whether Sri Lankan President was complicit in the killing of journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge
June 28, 2022
By?Steven Butler Nishantha Silva is obsessed with details. The missing notebook. The unusual telephone number. The motorcycle tossed into a lake and the person who knew exactly where to find it.? Those details and others are the pointillist dots of color that Silva, formerly a detective with Sri Lanka?s Criminal Investigation Department, has assembled into a vivid picture building what he says is the complicity of Sri Lanka?s current president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in the 2009 murder of journal
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The unsung and elusive protectors of the coast: Seagrass
January 24, 2022
By Shashindu Dodampahala? What are seagrasses? Seagrass is a marine flowering plant that are found in meadows in the shallow intertidal and deeper subtidal sloping coastlines in the world. There are approximately 72-75 species of seagrass that belong to different families. Are seagrasses another name for ?seaweed? or are they completely different? They are often confused with seaweeds due to their ?similar? appearance. In contrast to seaweed, they can photosynthesize using their long blad
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The need to bridge the digital divide and promote digital security awareness in the estate sector
December 30, 2021
By Kalavarshny Kanagaratnam and Sara Pathirana It is imperative, especially in this digital age, that everyone makes an effort to understand what it means to be safe online. From the moment we click a button and publish content and other information on the internet, it has already made its way to the worldwide web where the entire world can witness it and consume it. With the ascent of the recent pandemic and the way it has eased us all into a new normal where an even larger number of people ar
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Grandmother from Sri Lanka shows you are never too old for a master’s degree
November 08, 2021
A grandmother of seven who emigrated from Sri Lanka has become the oldest person to earn a master’s degree at Canada’s York University — where she turned her passion for peace and learning into a political science degree. Varatha Shanmuganathan is 87, but her soul is as young and vibrant as ever. When she isn’t playing Scrabble or dancing and singing with her grandchildren, she’s busy chasing her many dreams. “It has been interesting. On the first of November, I was just an ordinary lady going
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Doors remain shut for over 6000 families
November 06, 2021
By Parameswaran Navaratnam Over 6000 families remain displaced despite the end of the war in May 2009. 40 acres of the ?Kankesanthurai Harbor Security Zone? land in Keerimalai, to be release soon, one local politician said. T.Murleetharan land officer of Jaffna district is unaware about this matter; he said this area is under the Navy control, the Navy is ready to release this area, but it?s not finalized. Kanagaratnam Maheswary, received a letter from the Department of Surveys, her land to be
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Tsunamis: Rare but devastating
November 05, 2021
Asia-Pacific is recognized for being the world’s most disaster-prone region, accounting for 72% of all catastrophe fatalities between 1970 and 2011, with 76% of tsunamis occurring in the Pacific Ocean and its surrounding seas. Two of the most disastrous tsunamis in living memory were the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE) tsunami. Despite advances in seismological and tsunami science over the past 50 years, these tsunamis have wreaked havoc in the nations
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Escape from Climate Change no longer possible?
August 17, 2021
By Easwaran Rutnam? A damning new U.N. report warning of certain devastation from climate change has been dubbed humanity?s ?final wake-up call? by environmental experts.? The U.N.?s IPCC climate panel has released a highly anticipated report warning that efforts to limit global warming to close to 1.5 degrees Celsius, or even 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, ?will be beyond reach? in the next two decades without immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emiss
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The ugly side of beauty pageants
April 15, 2021
By B. Mohan Mrs. Sri Lanka beauty contest ends with onstage drama; Mrs. Sri Lanka pageant controversy erupts after former title holder snatches winner?s crown; Mrs. Sri Lanka beauty pageant winner injured in on-stage bust-up as rival tries to steal crown; Mrs. Sri Lanka winner stripped of her new crown by previous year?s winner. These were some of the headlines carried by international news outlets over the past couple of weeks. Once again, Sri Lanka is #trending for all the wrong reasons. Ne
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Normalisation of violence one of many effects of war
April 11, 2021
By B. Mohan The opponent body-slammed the weaker rival onto the floor, driving him into the foetal position; the former then jumped with all his weight onto the defeated man. Akin to that of a wrestling match, this commentary was of an incident involving a Police Constable (PC) and a lorry driver in Pannipitiya on 28 March. Whilst such behaviour has been attributed to stress and work pressures, factors such as violence being entrenched in the institution, discrimination of marginalised communi
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Fear and worries over Sri Lanka?s burqa ban
March 15, 2021
By Shereena Qazi and Easwaran Rutnam Sri Lanka?s move to ban the burqa on ?national security? grounds while calling its use ?religious extremism? has been termed a ?racist agenda? used to cause divisions in the country. A burqa is an outer garment worn to cover the entire body and the face and is used by some Muslim women. On Saturday, Sri Lanka?s Minister for Public Security Sarath Weerasekera said he had signed a paper for cabinet approval to ban the burqa, adding that the government also p
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Tackling COVID-19 stigma: Tomorrow, that finger may point at you
October 28, 2020
By Bhavna Mohan The stigmatization of persons diagnosed with, recovering from, or exposed to COVID-19 is detrimental to efforts in curbing the pandemic and is undeniably putting the citizenry and life as we know it in the new normal at risk, further compounding the new coronavirus clusters in the island. After several months of no reports of COVID-19 among the community, to say an explosive number of cases is being reported on a daily basis is not an overstatement. As the virus is highly trans
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If we don?t get corona, we?ll get other diseases – Garment factory workers
October 15, 2020
By Marisa de Silva On the 5th of October, 2020, a total of 1,394 Brandix employees of the Minuwangoda facility were tested for COVID-19, of which a cluster of 567 employees were confirmed positive as at 6th October. However, to date, that cluster has grown to 1500+ (including family members, relations and close associates of this cluster.) This cluster is said to have originated from one or many of the 48 workers flown in from India on a special chartered flight, by Brandix. However, Brandix i
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Sri Lanka?s tourism: Not giving up amidst Covid-19 uncertainty
October 14, 2020
The second-largest foreign exchange earner of the island, pre-COVID at least, the tourism industry has been backed into a corner once again due to the second wave of COVID-19 cases reported around the island over the past few weeks. The imposition of global travel restrictions earlier this year, preventing free movement from country to country in a bid to curb the pandemic, put a spoke in the industry?s plans to reach 3.5-4 million tourist arrivals and USD 5 billion in earnings for 2020 ? promi
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LGBTQI: A marginalised community in Sri Lanka
September 26, 2020
By Bhavna Mohan The LGBTQI community suffered two blows within a span of five days, once again bringing to the fore the constant marginalisation this community faces. Recently, long-time and well-known LGBTQI activist Bhoomi Harendran was refused entry to The Love Bar of Flamingo House located down Horton Place. Meanwhile, on Tuesday (22), it was reported that the Fort Magistrate?s Court is to pass judgement on two youths who pleaded guilty to homosexuality; the verdict is to be heard on 23 O
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One year after Bloody Easter: Forgive but don?t forget
April 21, 2020
By B. Mohan The sound of church bells filled the air at 8.40 a.m. on Tuesday 21 April 2020, and two minutes of silence followed at 8.45 to commemorate those who lost their lives at this time 365 days ago. Exactly one year ago, many in the island woke up to what they thought would be just another Sunday, while Catholics and Christians were to celebrate the holy day of Easter; to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Little did they know, however, that this fateful day was about to turn
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Bereaved Povlsens greet ?miracle? twins after Sri Lanka bomb tragedy
March 13, 2020
Danish businessman Anders Holch Povlsen and his wife Anne are celebrating the birth of twin girls ? less than a year after they tragically lost three children in the Sri Lankan bomb tragedy. Povlsen is Scotland’s largest private landowner. The birth of the twins, described by the couple as “two little miracles”, took place in Denmark today. A statement from their private secretary, Kristine M?nster said: “On Wednesday 11th of March 2020, Anne and Anders Holch Povlsen became the parents of two
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Families of missing outraged
January 27, 2020
By Easwaran Rutnam Families of the missing are outraged by reports quoting President Gotabaya Rajapaksa saying that most of those reported missing are dead and that they were killed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). President Rajapaksa had said last week that the people reported missing during the war are dead. The President?s Office had quoted the President as saying that he had outlined his plans to address the issue of missing persons at a meeting with UN Resident Co-ordinato
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The day terror struck Kattankudy
August 12, 2019
By Easwaran Rutnam The day was 3 August 1990. The time was approximately 8.15 p.m. The place was Kattankudy. LTTE cadres entered the Meera Jumma Masjid (mosque) and mercilessly opened fire at worshipers. Gunmen attacked two mosques in the Kattankudy area that night, the Meera Jumma Masjid and the Hussainiyya Mosque in Manchanthoduwai. Over 140 Muslims were killed, and among them were children. Today, Kattankudy is in the spotlight following the Easter Sunday attacks. The town was where the m
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Battle for land reaches boiling point
February 03, 2019
By Easwaran Rutnam in the North Sitting under a makeshift tent in the scorching sun in Keppapilavu is Chelliah Vivekanandan. A drain separates the tent from the road, and right opposite that is an army camp with police security near the gate. Northern Sri Lanka experienced the most brutal part of the war, but peacetime seems to have brought little relief to some families. A battle seeking the return of land that is rightfully theirs has reached a boiling point with politicians now being warne
