Veteran journalist dies in US

UNITED STATES: The death occurred in the United States yesterday of Deeptha Leelaratne, one of Sri Lanka's most seasoned Sinhala journalists.

Leelaratne who began his journalistic carrier at the old Lankadeepa had a fascinating time in the USA under Professor Cyril Ponnapperuma who was at that time a Director of NASA.

Afterwards Deeptha ran a radio station in the US in Sinhala and with his wife Hassina almost single handedly promoted Sri Lankan politics and culture in North America.