Monthly Archives: May 2012

Beloved actress Betty White supports Obama in 2012

Betty White says she usually keeps her political views private but in this presidential election strongly favors one candidate.
As she prepares to visit the Smithsonian Institution and National Zoo next week, White told The Associated Press she “very, very much favors” President Barack Obama in the election.
The 90-year-old actress said Friday she is very bi-partisan […]

By | Published on May 13, 2012 at 1:11 am

Colombo reporter’s story lacks decency and professional ethics says Dayan

An axiom of professional journalism is that comment is free but facts are sacred. Another is that a story must have balance, in that
facts must be checked by getting in touch with all sides to the story, notably the main protagonists.
Indecent reporting
I fear that a Colombo newspaper has failed to observe either norm, in a […]

By Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka | Published on May 12, 2012 at 3:49 am

A case for peer group based self-learning - Part 1

A The Philosophical Background
1. Thinking Process
Philosophical and scientific thinking originated in the world because man first learnt to think on his own, self learning, and then impart this knowledge to others later, group learning. Education deals with the thinking

Auguste Rodin’s The Thinker

process which is needed to find solutions to the problems man faces in the […]

By | Published on May 9, 2012 at 10:36 pm

Channel 4 doco ‘Sri Lanka’s killing fields’ scoops two Media Awards

Documentary Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields, along with Jamal Osman’s reporting from Somalia, won the awards for the channel
Channel 4 documentary Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields, which at the time was described by presenter Jon Snow as “one of the most important” stories he had ever reported, collected two prizes at the One World Media Awards last […]

By | Published on May 9, 2012 at 8:36 pm

Religious harmony and the unity of the Sri Lankan nation

A Sri Lankan Muslim man holds a placard during a protest after Friday prayers outside a mosque in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, April 27, 2012. Muslims in Sri Lanka gathered to protest a government decision to demolish a mosque in Dambulla and demanded authorities arrest those who attacked the mosque last week. Sri Lankan officials announced that the mosque and a Hindu temple would be demolished and relocated under pressure from Buddhist monks who demanded their removal from a Buddhist sacred area in the central town of Dambulla. Placard left reads "Don't remove the sixty year old mosque from Dambulla."

So many Gods, so many creeds,
So many paths that wind and wind,
While just the art of being kind,
Is all the sad world needs
-Ella Wheeler Wilcox-The World’s Need
It was reported that the Minister for land and land development Janaka Bandara Tennekoon had said a situation has arisen now
where the Muslim mosque situated in the Dambulla ‘sacred […]

By Lakshman Indranath Keerthisinghe | Published on May 8, 2012 at 11:59 pm

NO END IN SIGHT:Tamil’s being searched and detained again in Sri Lanka

Hundreds of detentions in the East again
The dominance of national security considerations in the actions of the government have been highlighted again in the
hundreds of detentions that have taken place in recent days in the East, especially in the Trincomalee area. It is reported that most of those detained have been released after being screened […]

By Dr. Jehan Perera | Published on May 8, 2012 at 12:08 am

Safer mobile use is key issue for journalists

As the Internet and mobile communications become more integrated into reporters’ work, the digital threats to journalists’ work and safety have increased as well. While many press reports have documented Internet surveillance and censorship-and the efforts to combat them-mobile communications are the new frontline for journalist security.
With five billion active subscriptions, mobile phones are the […]

By Katrin Verclas and Alix Dunn | Published on May 3, 2012 at 3:49 am

Lanka slams listing on UK human rights report

The Sri Lankan government yesterday (May 1) slammed a British human rights report
which listed the island among countries of concern over human rights issues.
Deputy External Affairs Minister Neomal Perera said that Britain had no right to accuse Sri Lanka of not doing enough to address accountability of the war just three years after the conflict […]

By | Published on May 2, 2012 at 8:15 pm

Lanka has more mobile phones per person

According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) the number of mobile broadband subscriptions exceeded one billion in 2010 after reaching 600 million in 2009 and the ranks of cell phone subscribers swelled to five billion people in 2010 thanks to the growth of smartphones in developed nations and mobile services in poor nations. Meanwhile PHYSORG.COM has reported that the increase in use of mobile phones in the developing world is increasingly seen in the areas of mobile banking where people can conduct financial transactions via mobile subscriptions even if they do not own bank accounts, as well as in health services because of the growing trend in sending message reminders to subscribers regarding medical appointment schedules or instructions on use of vaccines and medication such as anti-retrovirals.

The mobile telephone users in Sri Lanka have increased rapidly over the year 2011 with more than 105 telephone connections for 100
people, authorities said yesterday.
According to a central bank annual report, telephone connections have increased 5.4% and the connections increased to 21.9mn by the end of 2011, a spokesperson from the central bank said.
“There is […]

By | Published on May 2, 2012 at 8:00 pm

Rejected asylum seekers abused in Sri Lanka, says rights group

Asylum seekers in Indonesia hold onboard protest. File photo

Australian Immigration Minister Chris Bowen will head to Sri Lanka today (May 2, 2012) for a three-day visit, to strengthen cooperation among the two nations on the issue of people smuggling.
But Human Rights Watch is calling on the Minister to question the Sri Lankan government over its treatment of rejected asylum seekers during his trip […]

By | Published on May 2, 2012 at 7:54 pm