In this week’s Ravaya column (in Sinhala), I discuss how Nelson Mandela was a master communicator in terms of public speaking skills, media relations and strategy. See also: Invictus – Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman serve more Mandela magic නෙල්සන් මැන්ඩෙලා දකුණු අපි්රකාවේ වර්ණභේදවාදය (Apartheid) හමාර කොට ප්රජාතන්ත්රවාදී හා ජන සම්මතවාදී රාමුවකට එරට යොමු කළේ […] ...
Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray (1921-1992) was keen to make India’s first science fiction movie, and in 1967 wrote a script for a film to be called The Alien, based on his own short story “Bankubabur Bandhu” (“Banku Babu’s Friend”). The story was about an alien spaceship that landed in rural Bengal, carrying a highly intelligent […]
In this week’s Ravaya column (in Sinhala), I discuss the Right Livelihood Award (RLA), sometimes called the ‘alternative Nobel Prize’. Set up in 1980, RLA “honours and supports those offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today”. There have been three Lankan winners in RLA’s history, which I feature in […]
In this week’s Ravaya column (in Sinhala), I explore the formidable policy dilemmas posed by tobacco control in Sri Lanka. I argue that it isn’t a simple or simplistic battle between ‘good’ and ‘evil’ as anti-tobacco activists would make us believe. There is no doubt that tobacco kills many smokers — and some non-smokers, too. […]
In this week’s Ravaya column (in Sinhala), I discuss the merits of Slow Food, a concept that originated from Italy in 1986 in defiance of fastfood — but has since grown into a worldwide social movement that critiques industrialised food production and consumption. It has also inspired other pursuits of doing things more reflectively and […]
How can we protect ourselves from slow poisoning by agrochemical residues in our food? In this week’s Ravaya column, I discuss two options for Sri Lanka: organic farming, and the in-situ testing of farm produce for residues (after determining maximum residue levels). I covered similar ground in English on 11 Aug 2013: When Worlds Collide […]
In this week’s Ravaya column (in Sinhala), I discuss the recent controversy surrounding food safety of imported milk powder, and how certain medical doctors and scientists conducted themselves. I wrote on the same topic last week in my English column (but this is NOT a translation): When Worlds Collide #80: When politicians turn to science […]
In this week’s Ravaya column, in Sinhala, I further explore the origins and evolution of Sri Lanka Eye Donation movement, with emphasis on its founder and leader for 40 years, Dr Hudson Silva (1929-1999). I have covered the same grounds in English at: When Worlds Collide #108: Eye Donation at 50 – Promoting Lanka’s Soft Power […]
Last week, I wrote in my Ravaya column (in Sinhala) about Lankan writer Deeman Ananda (1933-2007), who wrote over 1,000 books of crime fiction, detective fiction and other thrillers in Sinhala from 1960s well into the 1980s. I had lots of reader responses – many of them thanking me for the info and insights on […]
Every year in May, over a billion and a half South Asians join a waiting and guessing game for the mighty rain-carrying oceanic winds, one of the great forces of nature on this planet. Few things – human or natural – evoke such anxiety and anticipation of the South Asian Summer Monsoon, also known as […]
I’m delighted that Malima TV show on innovation, which I presented on Sri Lanka’s national TV Rupavahini for much of 2012, just won a Sumathi Tele Award — our equivalent of the Emmy Awards. A Special Jury Award was presented to Malima at the 18th Sumathi Tele Awards festival held in Colombo on 30 October […]
“I have a rather large nose that dominates my photos,” said Gamani Corea as I asked him to pose for a photo in his spacious garden at Horton Place, in the heart of residential Colombo. “Then how come your nose isn’t as famous as JR’s?” I asked as I snapped a few photos. That reference […]
In this week’s Ravaya column (in Sinhala), published in the issue dated 4 January 2015, I pose a topical question: are there necessary and sufficient conditions for a spontaneous people’s uprising in Sri Lanka similar to what happened in the collective phenomenon known as the Arab Spring? I address this because both the ruling party […]
In this Ravaya column, I look back at Sri Lanka’s support for the anti-Apartheid struggle, extended in various ways — both officially and personally. Three times Prime Minister Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike was vocal in international forums, and also wrote personal letters to Nelson Mandela when he was in prison. At a scholarly level, Lankan-born legal […]
In early August, Sri Lanka stopped the import of milk from New Zealand after discovering trace amounts of dicyanamide (DCD) a fertilizer additive, in four batches of milk sold by several firms. Concerns were also expressed on the presence of whey protein, a natural byproduct in cheese production. After nearly a month of confusion and […]
My latest book is dedicated to Asanga Abeysundara who was my zoology teacher 30 years ago, as well as my earliest editor-publisher. For several years in the 1980s, he edited and published (in properly printed form) a progressive science magazine in Sinhala named Maanawa (meaning ‘human’). This non-profit publication, started in 1978 as a wall […]
Although it has been discussed for centuries, there is no universally accepted definition of basic human needs. During the 1970s, basic needs emerged as a key topic in development debates. Various studies – catalysed by UN agencies and the Club of Rome – tried to define it. In 1976, the International Labour Organization (ILO) prepared […]
In this week’s Ravaya column (in Sinhala), I discuss the public health implications of rising levels of pesticide residues in our food. I cite research by the Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute (HARTI) on pesticide use habits of upcountry vegetable and potato farmers, which makes alarming reading. Among other things, researchers found that […]