Youth standing up for Human Rights:let them be the decision-makers

Though Sri Lanka is again having problems with the international community over alleged human rights violations, none could deny it is a vital right. That is why some 200 countries will today hold various ceremonies to mark International Human Rights Day (IHRD). The UN marks different issues such as International Anti-Corruption Day yesterday, but analysts say the most important days are the International Human Rights Day and the International Wo

Abduction saga of Swiss embassy employee

The story line of the alleged abduction of a local staffer of the Swiss embassy in Colombo is fast degenerating into a tragicomedy with a bad plot. Everyone, even the Swiss who went to town with the high profile abduction claim, agrees some facts do not add. Those who have a bit more nuanced understanding of the local context could well have spotted red flags long before.

When microfinance amounts to a bagful of myths

Hardly a day has passed during the past few years without the media referring to microfinance negatively. The issue has now reached such heights where politicians of all different parties seem to have made election promises to relieve the recipients of microfinance credit from their burdens. Would writing off the loans of the poor r

Mahinda puts lid on re-negotiating H’tota port deal

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has put a lid on the controversy over President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s remark that his Government will re-negotiate the 2017 agreement with China over Hambantota port to gain greater control over it and reduce the lease period, which is now 99 years. With the Prime Minister’s statement and formal assertions from the Chinese side, renegotiating the port deal is ruled out. Mahinda told the Chinese news

Swiss Embassy ‘abduction’ case, media manipulation and Geneva - March 2020

In what must surely be one of the strangest games of diplomatic brinkmanship to be played out in this country, the Swiss Embassy in Colombo demands an investigation into an alleged ‘abduction’ of one of its local employees.

“I will Rise Again” – Maithri assures, while Party Bleeds to Death

Daily Mirror, last Monday reported a detailed account of a meeting held in Polonnaruwa to felicitate the ex- President Maithripala Sirisena. “I will rise again. I have not ended my political career....

Dangers facing an unfocused Opposition - EDITORIAL

The presidential election is done and dusted. A new Cabinet of Ministers is in place and the new regime has hit the ground running, with a raft of measures aimed at kick-starting the stagnant economy.

Harnessing power of youth begins from ability-driven education

In his election manifesto presented to the public, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said, “The country’s youth, who account for almost one fourth of the total population, will be engaged as proactive partners in the country’s sustainable development process.

Let’s find ourselves by serving others

One of the world’s greatest statesmen, Mahatma Gandhi has said that, “the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.Service which is rendered without joy helps neither the servant nor the served. But all other pleasures and possessions pale into nothingness before service which is rendered in a spirit of joy.

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) in Sri Lanka – the need for better research

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects approximately 10% of the global population, and leads to five to ten million deaths annually. Growing in importance is a distinctive form with unknown/uncertain etiology (CKDu), the cause of which remains unknown and is not linked to factors normally associated with CKD. Symptoms of CKDu manifest late and are similar to late-stage CKD, complicating differential and early diagnosis and treatment. CKDu is preval

Critical appraisal of ‘BimSaviya’

Sri Lanka’s Land Registry will operate electronically with the new law ‘BimSaviya’ as practised in England and Wales and some other nations which is referred to as Torrens Law in those countries. Are we ready to operate with this foreign law?

Roads that Gotabaya Rajapaksa can take

At his second and last swearing in nine years ago, Mahinda Rajapaksa told the people that he was only a temporary custodian of the nation. After his first and last swearing in five years later, Maithripala Sirisena in Kandy referred to himself as the first servant of the people.

Geopolitics with Gotabaya minus ‘Kurahan Satakaya’

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s first meeting with a foreign government leader was with Indian Foreign Affairs Minster Dr. Jaishankar who made an exclusive trip to Colombo to deliver PM Modi’s....

What’s in store for the UNP?

The United National Party (UNP) should rise again. Not only should it rise again from its humiliating fall from grace at the presidential poll, but from hibernation the party leadership seems to have sought refuge in after November 17.

Sri Lanka’s dreams and nightmares in Nepal - EDITORIAL

Complaints made by Sri Lankan ‘athletes’ and officials that they were ill-treated at the ongoing 13th South Asian Games have contributed towards fingers being pointed at Nepal for being a bad host.

NATO jubilee party ends up in a jumble

They came for the party, quarrelled and even called names. That’s how the 70th jubilee party of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the world’s strongest military alliance, began and ended.

Why Modi loves Gota

It seems like Indian Premier Narendra Modi likes Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. This was what was portrayed when the Indian Prime Minister extended an invitation to Gotabaya to ensure that his visit to India would be the maiden overseas tour by Sri Lanka’s First Citizen after assuming duties as the seventh Executive President of the island.

Indo-Lanka ties Defence cooperation takes centre stage 13th Amendment takes a backseat

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s trip to India has set the stage for a new chapter in bilateral ties in the changing strategic and economic environment. The President led a small delegation comprising officials to New Delhi as his first official overseas visit .

Switzerland is flat, ladies and gentlemen

It is not advisable to believe one’s own propaganda. That’s a basic rule in political engagement. Blurs vision. Flaws calculation. Usually results in egg on the face. Now consider an article by Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu published last Sunday titled ‘And so it has already begun.’ Here’s the intro:

Fresh winds blowing across Sri Lanka

We applaud Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who successfully concluded his first foreign visit to India from November 29 to December 1. Our main focus today is on his fledgling administration now into its 3rd week. Where the President is concerned, it has been one of example rather than of precept and has set precedents by appointing a 15-member Cabinet of

SO MUCH TO BE DONE!

With a new President and an interim Government in place, the people are hopeful that burning questions will be addressed!!! Law and Order is THE MOST important issue with people who can be counted on to implement what needs to be done!!! The traffic situation with all the outrageous offences committed on a daily basis – you only have to open a paper to see the

When rights groups have a role to play

The 2019 Presidential Elections finished with a bang and what’s surprising is that Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s critics have fallen silent. This fact was highlighted recently by JVP’s Sunil Handunetti. We’ve read about a few incidents which make us concerned about the new Caretaker Government that’s headed by ex-military man Gotabaya.

Skin in the game

‘Wooing to them, but full of woe for us’ – said the message. One sent by a close colleague, correcting yet another one of my many grammar faux-pas that had crept into Twitter. Instead of woo I had used woe.

15 years after cabinet decision... Sinharaja still without a buffer zone

What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another -Mahatma Gandhi

Swiss quiz: Govt should act quickLY

Unfortunately, the new government led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had to face a diplomatic crisis even before a fortnight of its election into power is over. The Swiss Embassy in Colombo has lodged an official complaint with the Foreign Ministry about an alleged abduction and questioning of one of its local employees by an unidentified group. Prior to this incident a senior official of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Nishantha de

Gotabaya Rajapaksa Foreign Policy: Opportunities and challenges

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s seventh executive President has the best of both worlds, so to speak, in terms of foreign relations. At least for now. He just concluded a successful official visit to India, scored a few PR victories with the Indian media and returned home with a US $ 400 million soft loans. All of that, homaging, friendly reception and even a rosy press, would have been customary in the bilateral relations. But, the Rajapaksas du

Gotabaya, Modi lay foundation for sustainable Indo-Lanka ties

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have, with consummate skill, drawn upon their strong personalities, innate creativity and robust pragmatism to lay a firm foundation for long-lasting Indo-Lankan ties. The initiative taken by India to send its Foreign Minister and old Sri Lanka hand, Dr. S. Jaishankar, post haste to Colombo after the election result to congratulate and pledge support to the newly ele

Are our sick SOEs beyond redemption?

It was welcome news when the new President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said recently that only qualified and experienced professionals will be appointed to head Sri Lanka’s statutory bodies and State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs). A few days later, he appointed a six-member selection board to screen the persons nominated by ministers to head SOEs under them. One of my vociferous friends asked me, “Now, who is going to screen these ‘screeners’ whether they a

SL’s Regional Affairs with India: New Chapter for Gotabaya Rajapaksa

Sri Lanka, is an island in the strategic positioning of the Indian Ocean is continued a vital player for spectators watching the concert of the Indian Ocean. The world has become quite observatory about Sri Lanka’s political leadership change after November 2019....

Amend Election Laws to Address Crossovers, Expulsions, and Preferential Vote

The PR system introduced under 1978 Constitution assumed that the seats won by each party or independent group will continue to stay invariable during the entire term. Any vacancy occurring is expected to be filled....