S W R D Bandaranaike and Mahinda Rajapaksa - their contributions

Bandaranaike the much loved Premier of Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) succumbed to the fatal injuries inflicted on him, by an assassin, on 25th day morning of September, 1959, and passed away the next day i.e. 26th September, despite the best available medical care, at the General Hospital, Colombo.

Full Story

Impact of Divi Neguma on Moneragala’s nutrition status

The Moneragala District is considered as the second largest district in Sri Lanka. The district is enriched with many natural resources. It is the main provider of water under the major irrigation schemes in Sri Lanka, such as, Inginiyagala, Weheragala and Udawalawa. The Inginiyagala Senanayaka reservoir which is the major irrigation scheme under the post independent era in Sri Lanka provides water for paddy cultivation to Ampara and Batticaloa districts while Weheragala and Udawalawa reservoirs distribute water for the Hambantota district.

Full Story

The cure for dengue

The Times of India gave much publicity recently to two villages where people were rushing to homeopathic clinics to obtain the drug Eupatorium Perfoliatum 200 to fight the dengue epidemic. Here in Sri Lanka, despite the government recently introducing the BTI Bacteria imported from Cuba and spraying it on stagnant pools at considerable cost, the results have been an abject failure and dengue continues to infect the population with over 20,000 cases recorded this year with over 200 fatalities.

Full Story

Legal murder: the deterrent argument

The last few days I’ve been commenting on the execution of Troy Davis, a man wrongfully convicted over the murder of a Police officer. In my article for Saturday (September 24, 2011) I discussed the issue of punishment matching crime, the eye-for-an-eye argument. Today I shall dwell on another justification for capital punishment, that of its deterrent effect.

Full Story