Did you know that you could virtually pay off your 30-year home loan in half the time? Imagine not having the worry of a mortgage payment every month! More importantly, have you ever considered just how much money you could save? Literally, it’s tens of thousands of dollars in interest. Financial journalist and author of Smarter Property Investment, Peter Cerexhe, advises home owners to use online mortgage calculators to see how much difference a small repayment, or more regular payments can make to reducing the life of your loan. Cerexhe says, “What you’ll find is that if you can afford to pay a little extra, you can achieve a substantial reduction in the term of the mortgage.” ...

When the British took over the island in 1796, Colombo had a population of 4, 700. In the city of Colombo, there were horse driven carriages, bullock carts and rickshaws. This was a time when ladies wore long gowns and had feathered hats. Most of the gentlemen had long whiskers and top hats. There were no established educational institutions during this era. Colombo was a hub of activity with trade, commerce and many social events. Cinnamon Gardens might have been a mere urban forest.A very fast journey in a ship from London to Galle via Cape of Good Hope took just five months. From Galle to Colombo it took only 12 hours! In 1835, Rev. Joseph Marsh, a 32-year-old Scotsman who was the acting Colonial Chaplain of St. Paul’s Church, Wolfendhal, Colombo, started a private school in the back verandah of the Church with 20 pupils. It was called “Hill ...

Cooking white rice with coconut oil and then cooling it in the fridge could drastically cut the kilojoules it contains and make your gut healthier, researchers told a recent US scientific meeting. A new rice cooking method, which could cut its kilojoules by as much as half, was one of the sexier topics presented at a recent meeting of chemistry experts. ...

What do people do- Easter weekend?   In Australia, Good Friday is the start of a four-day weekend and falls during the Easter school holidays. Many people take a short vacation around this time, often within Australia. Others take the opportunity to spend time with their family or friends. ...

By Dr Harold Gunatillake Diabetes, a disease marked by high levels of sugar in the blood, is more common than ever before. In Sri Lanka, diabetics have more than quadrupled in the past two decades. Not only are more people being diagnosed with diabetes, they’re also developing the disease at younger ages. Due to economic reasons, most people find it difficult to purchase a glucometer, which is in the price range of Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000, and further every test strip costs over Rs 25. Testing daily blood glucose level, even just once, would cost a diabetic Rs 700 per month. ...

The Reserve Bank has cut interest rates to a record low. Is this your opportunity to reap the benefits? Here’s what others are saying about this record low interest rate cut, and what’s possible. Property analyst Tim Lawless from CoreLogic RP Data says, “Lower mortgage rates have the potential to add some fuel to what are already strong housing markets.” In a recent blog article Mark Bouris from Yellow Brick Road elaborated on a number of strategies for debt reduction. He says, “This is a great time to consolidate and pay down your debts.” So, what does this really mean for you?Could this be the right time to investigate the benefits of consolidating your existing loans? Could this lower interest rate make a difference to your short-term cash flow requirements? Could this be a sign to look at your long-term financial objectives and begin to explore how to create an ...

Benefits Of Drinking Wine By Dr Harold Gunatillake Health Writer Drinking a small quantity of alcohol daily, especially the wines, may be associated with an increase in life expectancy in middle-aged men.In the Copenhagen studies, it was revealed that the French lived a long life by enjoying a glass or two of red wine daily with their meals. Drinking water after meals is less common among the French, and the theory that one should drink six glasses of water daily does not stand to reason as far as the French are concerned. ...

Says presidential poll 2015 was David-Goliath fight The Daily FT spoke with UNP Working Committee Member, Media Director and Political Strategist for the Opposition, Krishantha Cooray about what led to the fall of a seemingly-invincible President Mahinda Rajapaksa and what the new political regime in the country under President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe could herald for Sri Lanka’s beleaguered and suppressed media fraternity. Following are excerpts:   UNP Working Committee Member, Media Director and Political Strategist for the Opposition, Krishantha Cooray Q Why did Mahinda Rajapaksa lose the election? A: When I used to tell people that Mahinda Rajapaksa would never serve a third term in office, they would laugh in my face. But this election proved me right. The signs were all there that the incumbent was outplaying his hand and the forces of opposition against him were becoming unstoppable and they were only waiting for ...

An Australian author proteststhe draconian power of Sri Lanka’s executive presidency by writing a book that publishers fear printing… ...