In Loving Memory of Tissa Nanayakkara

In mid-1985 Tissa Nanayakkara came to me as a fledgling SD on Canavarella Group, Namunukula, having completed his creeping period on Cullen Estate, Badulla. His parents Victor and Bella dropped him off at my bungalow and when leaving Victor’s words were, “Make this guy a good planter!” Tissa began as the most junior of the four SDs in the Canavarella Group. I gave him the largest division to manage and he immediately proved his abilities. In a w

Focus on Bandiwewa Maha Vidyalaya Soccer lasses net golden goal in journey of thorns

Football is a sport that is popular among Sri Lankans, similarly to cricket. Therefore people in urban as well as rural areas engage in both these sports. The Polonnaruwa...

Kegalu Balika Vidyalaya Kegalu Balika Vidyalaya

Nestled in a small hill with its beautiful wooded slopes in close proximity to the Colombo – Kandy main road is Kegalu Balika Vidyalaya. This premier seat of learning in Sri Lanka marked its 80th....

Can a 1,000-people survey estimate the characteristics of the entire population?

In Sri Lanka, it is common for the validity of sample surveys to be questioned, on the basis that the samples are “small” and cannot reasonably reflect the characteristics of the entire national population. Examples of skeptical perceptions abound. A prominent Sinhala media personality on a popular TV channel questioned the validity of the findings of the Centre for Policy Alternatives’ (CPA) Economic Reform Index, stating “The sample size fo

Independent Collective School (ICS) An alternative school for inventive students

For Yasodhara Pathanjali, co-founder Independent Collective School (ICS), Sri Lanka’s first formal educational establishment for alternative education, homeschooling and alternative education has laid the foundation for herself as well as her children to explore the world through a different lens.

Remembering the life of Cardinal Cooray on his 35th Death Anniversary

His Eminence Thomas Benjamin Cardinal Cooray OMI passed away on the 29th of October 1988. Born in 1901, he hailed from the village of Periyamulla in Negombo and came from a devout Catholic family of five siblings.

Giant in film industry New Imperial Talkies founder remembered

The fourth death anniversary of Hans Anton van Starex, who was the owner of the New Imperial Talkies, one of the pioneering film exhibitors in Sri Lanka was commemorated recently.

The last post

To refer to this tribute as a last post would not be inappropriate as he marks the 50th death anniversary of our dada who served as postmaster for several years in various areas

Subodhi Institute bids farewell to its Director Fr. Victor Silva

A function was held at Subodhi Institute of Integral Education in Wewala, Piliyandala – to bid farewell to its outgoing Director–Rev. Fr. Victor Silva and to welcome its new Director –Rev. Fr. Lawrence Ramanayaka – on October 7 at Rev.(Dr.) Mervyn Fernando Memorial Auditorium.

Electricity tariff revision in October: Sri Lankan consumers struggle to beat govt.’s third electric shock

At least one hundred thousand electricity consumers in Sri Lanka have been left in the dark over the past one year as they have been unable to pay the accumulated electricity bills by the expected....

Dr. Diong talks positively about acute leukaemia to a Sri Lankan audience

Parkway Cancer Centre in Singapore held a press briefing with the participation of the institute’s Haematologist Dr. Colin Phipps Diong on cancer awareness and treatment in Colombo....

A champion on and off the court

The passing away of Niloufer at the age of 64 came as sad news to me as she had a long battle with cancer. Niloufer was well known for her battles on the squash court where she battled many times at the Squash National finals against her arch rival the late Padmini Samarasinghe. So it is not surprising at all that she battled with this dreaded disease for a long time. A product of Ladies College Colombo, she was the National Squash Champ

Today, October 26, 2023, marks the 127th Birth Anniversary of Sir Cyril de Zoysa A legacy of dedication and munificence

Sir Cyril de Zoysa was a man of great munificence, who lived in Sri Lanka, once as President of the Senate too. If ever there was a person who throughout a lifetime, cultivated qualities of devotion, discipline, generosity and wisdom, who was endowed with an immensely dignified personality, who displayed uncompromising self-confidence, who was imbued with knowledge and foresight, who was fortified by a full-blown sense of patriotism and keen busi

Experts’ help needed to keep ‘Old Palace’ from falling

The time has come for architects, artisans, engineers and all those in the field of construction and architecture -regardless whether they have the knowledge of archaeology or not- to put their heads together to prevent the ‘Old Palace’ from falling to pieces. The department of Irrigation and the Department of Archeology department alone would not be able to handle this challenge of keeping the Old Palace of the Kings of Kandy from collap

Web in the village

My village Maradankalla is located 6 kilometres south of Anuradhapura-Trincomalee Road (A12) above Mahakanadarawa wewa, near Mihintale in the North Central Province. But I have lived in Los aAngeles for the past 43 years. During all these years, this village is where my heart has been. Although the history of Maradankalla spans centuries, it was not on the map of the country until 1947 when its elders built the one-room school hoping the govern

Bishop Lakshman Wickremesinghe and his championing of Human Rights

I have written much about my uncle Lakshman since his death, for I continue overwhelmed by the impact he had on so many. Most recently I found in a book about the Student Christian....

‘Footnotes of a Protest’ – A Response in Verse by Tennekoon, E M

The book ‘Footnotes of a Protest’ – A Response in Verse by Tennekoon, EM was handed to me by a close associate, with a request to write a review, if possible. I declined at first because I felt that it should be done by a person more competent than me. Nonetheless, he insisted. True enough, English Literature was a subject I followed for my Senior School Certificate exam, and that was over seven decades ago. English usage has changed considerably

Leading women and Org. demand MPs vote against two repressive laws

125 women including leading professionals, academics, human rights activists and even female victims of various crimes and 35 women’s organisations protesting against the the Online Safety Act’ (OSA) and the ‘Anti-Terror Act’ (ATA) have demanded all Members of the Parliament to vote against the two repressive laws.

Lawyers’ Collective expresses concern over Commission of Inquiry on electoral process

The ‘Lawyers’ Collective’-a group comprising eminent personalities in the law profession- has issued a press release stressing their concerns regarding some of the present government’s decisions which undermine the electoral process, the questionable appointment of a Commission of Inquiry, provisions made to stifle the media and issues related to the upcoming elections.

Ranil heads Trinity College OBA Colombo Branch

Ranil Prematilake, Attorney at Law and Partner of Aequitas Legal was unanimously elected President of the Colombo Branch for the 2023/2024 term at its 117th Annual General Meeting. Sahan Wijewardene, Commercial Executive - GAC Shipping Limited was re-elected as Secretary and Vajira Abeysundera, Senior Manager – Treasury at Hatton National Bank PLC was re-elected as Treasurer.

‘Gee Weenasa’ A literary insight into lyrics of Sinhala songs

‘Gee Weenasa’, a Sinhala book analysing the poetic expressions of more than 50 popular songs sung by a collection of singers representing different generations, was released recently.

Is justice so far away from cries of victims of grave sexual abuse?

On October 13, the Kumbukgete Police Station had received a complaint with regards to an incident of grave sexual abuse. The victim is a 15-year old girl. She had become the victim in this unfortunate....

Mrs. Sunimal Kurumbalapitiya: A teacher beyond compare

It is rarely that we come across a teacher utterly imbued with unceasing quest to impart knowledge and skills to students reach heights of their potentiality. When such an obsession is tempered...

Future of the Belt and Road and the Future of Sri Lanka

This week, leaders from 130 countries have gathered in the Chinese Capital, Beijing, for the 10th-anniversary summit of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China’s signature infrastructure development.....

Lawyers’ collective decries Govt.’s attempts to silence people

The newly revised Anti-Terrorism Act and Online Safety bill was highly criticised by the citizens of the country. By taking this bill into account the Lawyers’ Collective held a media conference on....

IMF programme’s transparency falls to lowest point in September: Verité Research

The latest update from ‘IMF Tracker’ of Verité Research, an online platform which tracks the 100 identified commitments in Sri Lanka’s 17th programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), shows that Sri Lanka verifiably met only 40 of the 71 trackable commitments that were due for completion by end-September 2023. It also shows that Sri Lanka had, at the same time, reached its lowest point in terms of both performance and transparency since

In retrospect of No 4 Squadron

Eelam War I (1983–1987) was the initial phase of the conflict between the government and the LTTE and other Tamil militant groups. Although tensions between the government had been brewing since the 1970s, the full-scale war did not break out until an attack by the LTTE on a Sri Lanka Army patrol in Jaffna, on July 23, 1983, which killed 13 soldiers. The attack and the subsequent riots in the south are generally considered the start of the confli

More substantial measures needed to protect elephants

A distressing incident occurred on September 30, 2023 when a wildlife officer purportedly shot a female elephant by mistake. The animal had been part of the annual Esala Perahera (Pageant) of Mahiyanganaya Rajamaha Viharaya. Although the wildlife officer in question has been placed under arrest by the Mahiyanganaya Police, it is crucial to query whether more substantial measures should be implemented to address this critical issue. The dwindli

Will Online Safety Bill crush virtual freedom of expression?

The Online Safety Bill gazetted on September 18 and tabled in Parliament by Public Security Minister Tiran Alles has come under much scrutiny by media groups, rights activists and civil society organizations. Some of the concerns raised regarding the Bill include vague definitions and the fact that a gamut of offences, which already exist in the Penal Code, have been included in this new Bill with higher penalties. Many policy analysts observe th

Malaiyaha Tamils demand solutions: Voices of courage resurface from estate sector

The Malaiyaha community-whose members are employed in several estates in Mawatagama- staged a protest on October 5 demanding...