News
Travails of a biodiversity scientist =The story of Linnean Medalist Rohan Pethiyagoda
by Ifham Nizam
Dr. Rohan Pethiyagoda was this week awarded the Linnean Medal which is considered as the Nobel Prize for naturalists, at a ceremony in London.
He is the first Sri Lanka to win the annual medal bestowed since 1888 to a botanist or a zoologist, or to one of each, in the same year.
At a ceremony at the headquarters of the Linnean Society at Burlington House, Piccadilly recently, Dr Pethiyagoda was awarded the Linnean Medal for his contributions to science.
“As I heard my citation being read out”, says Pethiyagoda, “It occurred to me that this was the very room in which the papers of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace, titled “On the tendency of Species to form Varieties”, were read for the first time on 1 July 1858, ushering in the Age of Evolution on which contemporary biological science is founded. Wallace himself was a recipient of the Linnean Medal, in 1892, followed by Ernst Haeckel two years later.” Other luminaries who have been awarded the Medal include eminent biodiversity scientists of the ilk of Sir David Prain, Sir John Graham Kerr, J.E. Smith, William Donald Hamilton, Sir Ghillean Prance, Stephen Jay Gould, John Maynard Smith, David Mabberley, Georgina Mace and Kamaljit Bawa. In short, its recipients read rather like a Biodiversity Hall of Fame.
Dr. Pethiyagoda is an author, educator and taxonomist and once served as deputy chair of the IUCN’s Species Survival Commission. He is also a Rolex laureate.”His impact on biodiversity research in Sri Lanka and beyond through his output and catalytic influence cannot be overestimated,” the award committee wrote, and the author of this commentary explains why this is so.
Amongst his copious outputs, Pethiyagoda has contributed greatly in highlighting the very history of biodiversity in Asia, linking together scientists, artists, travelers, and explorers in both East and West. One of his first books was a comprehensive colour guide to the freshwater fish of Sri Lanka – a best seller.
In November 2020, in a paper published in the journal Zootaxa, an international team of scientists named a new genus of diminutive Asian treefrogs in honour of Sri Lankan scientist Rohan Pethiyagoda.
The genus ‘Rohanixalus’ includes eight species, which range through Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, northeast India, and southern China.
Led by Prof. S.D. Biju and Dr. Sonali Garg of the University of Delhi, the team includes leading scientists also from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences and Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Iran has sought the Indian intervention, at the highest level, to provide lifesaving support to the crews of empty Iranian vessels stranded just outside Sri Lanka’s 12-nautical mile territorial waters off Galle.
Sources familiar with the issue said that Iran had brought the developing situation to the attention of New Delhi as the crews of almost 20 vessels, included Indian nationals. Sources stressed that the group of vessels that unloaded crude oil a couple of months back were now stranded within Sri Lanka’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
The US Navy torpedoed an unarmed Iran frigate, returning from India, on 04 March, 2026, about 19 nautical miles off the Galle coast. The unprovoked attack killed nearly 100 Iranians.
The Iranian Embassy in Colombo has inquired from the Indian High Commission of their response to the situation, sources said. The US has issued a global warning against providing food, water, medicine and other services to the Iranian vessels. The outcome of Iran-India talks on the issue at hand was not known, though sources asserted India may not throw its weight behind Iranian efforts to address the issue.
Responding to The Island queries, sources said both Sri Lanka and India were in a dilemma due to the US warning. India couldn’t ignore the plight of the Indian crew members and the Iranian vessels in its backyard.
The Sri Lankan government remains tight-lipped about the vessels stranded in its EEZ. Our efforts to elicit a response from relevant authorities were in vain. In addition to Indians, there are Bangladeshis among the crew members. Iran has explicitly stated the responsibilities of the countries concerned to provide assistance in terms of international law.
The Iranian position was articulated by its Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Dr.Alireza Delkhosh, recently. In a special statement, Ambassador Delkhosh emphasised that in terms of the Convention on the Law of the Sea (Article 98) as well as SOLAS and SAR
Conventions, Sri Lanka couldn’t refrain from providing the needs of the Iranian vessels stranded in its EEZ.
SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem lambasted the NPP government in Parliament for failing to provide assistance to the Iranian ships. The former Minister alleged that the government was simply carrying out dictates of the US. He strongly criticised the way Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath was handling the issue.
MP Namal Rajapaksa, who is in remand custody over the controversial Airbus deal, was further remanded until October 27 by the Colombo Magistrate’s Court yesterday (13).
Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama made the order after considering submissions by officers of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption and lawyers representing Rajapaksa.
Sri Lanka’s economy is expected to sustain its recovery over the next two years, although growth is projected to moderate amid mounting global uncertainties, according to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) latest World Economic Outlook.
In its World Economic Outlook 2026: Resilience Under Strain, Urgent Choices, the IMF projects Sri Lanka’s economy to expand by 4% in 2026, slowing to 3.7% in 2027, following estimated growth of 5% in 2025.
Inflation, meanwhile, is forecast to rise to 5.3% in 2026 and 5.4% in 2027, reversing the average deflation rate of 0.5% recorded in 2025.
Unemployment is expected to remain steady at 3.9% throughout the forecast period.
The projections come amid growing pressure on the global economy from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, elevated energy prices, geopolitical tensions and trade disruptions.
Sri Lanka’s external position is also expected to weaken, with the current account balance projected to shift from a surplus of 1.6% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2025 to deficits of 0.5% in 2026 and 0.3% in 2027.
The IMF’s outlook points to continued economic expansion in Sri Lanka, but with slower growth, rising inflation and a narrowing external surplus giving way to current account deficits over the forecast period.
Heavy showers above 100 mm are likely at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Central, and North-western provinces and in Anuradhapura district.
Sri Lanka, India caught in US-Iran ship crisis
Namal further remanded
IMF projects Lankan economic growth to moderate amidst mounting global uncertainties
Major Gen Pushpakumara assumes command of 56 Infantry Division
Dickwella axed, Bandara earns maiden Test call up
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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