ETCA with India: Time to shift focus from Market Integration to Supply Chain Integration

Global supply chains, commonly referred to as Global Value Chains (GVCs) are a complex network of interconnected production stages where different parts and components of a single product are produced in multiple countries before it is assembled into a final product. Prior to the advent of GVCs,

Family virtues will free our country from corruption

The family is the foundation of society and the country. Therefore, the family needs to grow in love, peace and joy, faith and hope, humility and meekness, faithfulness and self-control. This needs to flavoured by the spirit of forgiveness because we know that to err is human, to forgive divine. Therefore, when we forgive seven times or seventy times seven, we become that much more divine.

Politically powerful, professionally lame and utterly cannibalistic

Two incidents last week defined the abysmal unprofessionalism plaguing Sri Lankan media. The publication of the images of a suicide and the allegations of sexual harassment made....

FUTA and taking an education system hostage - EDITORIAL

The Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) is up in arms. To emphasize their ‘grievances’ this body, whom ordinary folk would believe to be of intellectual bent, continues delaying the marking...

Blame Game: Who failed the country, who will rescue it?

Listen to any political talk show or a press conference, and you will stumble upon one of the following popular refrains - or all.

Easter Sunday crime probe and transparency

Enmity or at least ill feeling seems to be brewing between the current government and the Catholic Church over the investigations into the attacks carried out by a group of terrorists in the name of Islam on the Easter Sunday (April 21) in 2019.

The Genesis of Economic Crisis in a Wobbling Edge of Competitiveness

Despite the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021, Sri Lankan economy has been hit by the economic...

UN Child Rights Committee requests Sri Lanka to decriminalize homosexuality

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has asked the Sri Lankan Government to repeal laws that criminalize....

Kudos to Sajith, Anura for Politicizing Disasters

The two main opposition parties, SJB and JVP have participated in protests held by families of victims and Catholics over the failure....

Transforming the transport sector - EDITORIAL

The main mode of transport for us - the ordinary citizens of this country - is still either by road or rail. Very important citizens....

How the Wanda Pethi canard fomented 2018 anti - Muslim violence

Five years have passed since anti-Muslim violence erupted in the Amparai/Ampara Town in February 2018. Soon afterwards, in the first week of March, there was anti-Muslim violence in Digana.

Changing a discriminatory ‘rules-based’ system

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war is having an outsized impact on the global supply chain, fueling dramatic cost increases, and product shortages and creating catastrophic food shortages around the world.

National Government targeting the SJB?

According to a news item published in the Daily Mirror on Monday, President Ranil Wickremesinghe is to call on all political parties on April 25 to join a National Government to resolve the current problems faced by the country.

Buddhist Sri Lanka has a problem with Toque Macaques - EDITORIAL

The Sri Lankan Government’s plan to export a species of monkey (Toque Macaques) has brought mixed reactions from several quarters in the island nation. What stands at present....

Easter Sunday attacks: The hidden-hand mystery continues

As Sri Lanka marks the fourth anniversary of the Easter Sunday terror attacks today, the Catholic Church will stage this morning a human wall protest from Colombo to Negombo to express the people’s....

Media freedom: A mirror for society to see itself

One of America’s best-known newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst has said news is something that someone wants suppressed.

Sri Lanka’s Dilemma: Individual Liberties or Economic Development?

Currently, the proposed Counter-Terrorism Bill dominates the headlines. After all, with the aragalaya and the subsequent ousting of the Rajapaksa regime,

Our Tax: Where does it go?

One of my younger colleagues at the University of Peradeniya, recently wrote on his Facebook something a female student had told him: “Sir, we only eat one meal a day.” This is not news....

PTA, ATA, ICCPR and we, the citizens - EDITORIAL

For the past 73 years, we Lankans have at different times permitted different governments to take away our freedom for one reason or the other. We permitted without too much ado, the right of the government...

Do not mix dissent up with terrorism

The term ‘terrorism’ always has a political connotation. It always targets the adversary of the person who uses it. Hence, the adage that “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” makes sense.

Vague, overly broad terrorism Bill hinders fight against real terrorists

A universally agreed definition of terrorism does not exist - mainly because the countries have overlooked the means of terrorism in favour of their political goals.

Same-sex marriage issue reaches a critical juncture in India

The campaign to get the Indian government to recognize same-sex marriage has reached a critical stage. A Constitutional bench of the Supreme Court is set to hear the final arguments in the case on April 18.

Chicken and wedding albums: Reality and delusion in the new normal

There is something peculiar about human psychology. What people accept as normal can change suddenly, without warning, due to natural disasters, political upheaval, military conflicts and economic downturns. The new situation – people becoming refugees, going broke, losing touch with each other, or going hungry – becomes the new normal.

Spy balloons, Pentagon files and IMF facilities - EDITORIAL

US President Joe Biden’s administration is in serious trouble. Just last month (March), a cache of secret documents was leaked showing the US spied on its allies. In early January....

IMF, Austerity and Social Protection

At the 2023 Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last week, there was considerable discussion about the deteriorating global economic situation and the debt crisis....

Lipstick on a Pig: Making Sense of the ATA

For forty years, human rights activists have demanded repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) of 1979. Ultimately it was money, not human rights (the threat of losing GSP+ trade status) that forced...

Positive safety and health culture at work

For a state or private company, small or medium-scale industry to succeed, there needs to be consensus, cooperation and consultation on the basis that the management and employees work together for a common good and for the country’s benefit. It is on this foundation that the United Nations on April 28 marks the World Day for Safety and Health at Work.

An Overview of IMF Extended Fund Facility

On March 20, 2023, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Board approved Sri Lanka’s 17th IMF programme, under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement,

Ukraine or Taiwan - where do American interests lie? - EDITORIAL

The war in Ukraine continues unabated. Millions of Ukrainians have crossed into neighbouring countries and many more have been....

Post-Aragalaya shrill chill

How do you reconcile yourself to leaving a calling? Is it betrayal? I fought with these sentiments when I first saw the Aragalaya...