PTA detainees:Why continued incarceration is bad for security and reconciliation

On Saturday, President Maithripala Sirisena, who was attending a Tamil language event at Hindu College, Jaffna was greeted by protesters demanding the release of suspects held in custody under the Prevention

Govt. will increase per capita income to US $ 5000 within next three years

Deputy Minister of Policy Planning and Economic Development Dr. Harsha de Silva, in an interview with , said that the Government is well positioned to implement its economic delivery plan. He added that the United National Party (UNP) is ready to contest any election at any given time. Following are excerpts of the interview. 

“Economy heading for major crisis”

Joint Opposition’s Parliamentary Group Leader Dinesh Gunawardane, in an interview with , spoke about the current status related to the constitution making process and how his side braces for the Local Government Elections, expected to be declared soon. Following are excerpts of the interview. 

BRAVO !

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe must be applauded for volunteering to appear before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) into the alleged Central Bank Bond scam to “clarify any matters with regard to the references made to him at the sittings”.  

Hasina-Sinha rift

With the forced exit of Bangladesh Supreme Court Chief Justice, Surendra Kumar Sinha, over the 16th Constitutional Amendment (16A) which gives parliament power to sack a higher court judge with a two-thirds majority, the issue of the independence of the judiciary 

Constitutional Conversation

I am not an expert like Dr. Dayan Jayatillaka (DJ) with Doctorates in International Politics. I am an old salt, who was in active service from the beginning to the end of the war. While reading

Petty mindedness, untruths and disintegration in the US - EDITORIAL

It seems a long time ago, in the heady days of the US presidential campaign in 2008, a black American -Senator Barack Obama....

The Myth of Lazy Jaffna Youth

Not long ago, soon after the war, a common refrain about the Jaffna society was how hard working, thrifty and prudent its people....

A New Constitution in the Making: The Matters that Matter

The interim report of the Parliamentary Steering Committee for Constitutional Amendments has caused a stir in all quarters concerned....

Politician in a perfect world…

I woke up late last morning. Usually morning dawns on me quite early. For some the wee hours are the most miserable part of the day, while for others the most exciting and vibrant time before sunset as it is for me. Writing at that time, early hours, of the day is more than a mere pleasure; it’s more than a livelihood and a profession; it’s an obsession, in a very positive sense. I sat down to write this 

Abolishing J.R. Jayewardene’s Executive Presidency

Reputed American Writer and Humourist Samuel Clemens, known to the world as Mark Twain was in London in May 1897 on a lecture tour. A rumour began circulating in the USA that Mark Twain was gravely ill and on the verge of death. Subsequently another rumour began spreading in the US of Mark Twain passing  away in the UK.   

Role for every citizen

With Sri Lanka still suffering from some of its worst natural disasters during the past two years, there was much significance for our country in yesterday’s United Nations International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction. This event was started in 1989 after a call by the General Assembly for a day to promote a global culture of risk-awareness and disaster reduction.   

Would Trump use nuclear weapons?

In the Cold War days, some of us used to say, “Better red than dead”- to rebuff those who believed in nuclear deterrence as a way of political life that gave them security.

Striking the poor and the downtrodden

When the famous American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow inspired people to persevere by “striking with all your might while the iron is hot”, he would not even had a nightmare of how some Sri Lankan trade unions would strike with all their might. 

Cosmic cataclysm of nuclear madness

The Nobel Committee by awarding this year’s Peace Prize to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) has reiterated the danger nuclear weapons pose to life on earth. The message is timely, given the fact that the world is at the brink of a nuclear war over the North Korean issue.

Youth forum to devise solutions for global matters Youth Speak Forum in Colombo

Coca-Cola Youth Speak Forum, powered by AIESEC, will be held on October 14 at Trace Expert City in Colombo 10 from 8.30 am onwards. 

Basil’s Jaffna declaration

The media coverage of controversial issues, especially ethnically sensitive issues is sometimes strange with some media institutions or journalists preferring to suppress certain stories, despite their significance being high in a national perspective.

Subversion of judicial review diminishes sovereignty

In 1988, not too long before the United National Party was to lose the five-sixths Parliamentary majority it enjoyed (and therefore more than the two-thirds required to amend the constitution, barring of course those which required in addition a referendum) 

Qualifications are good, but qualities more important

With a huge allocation of more than Rs.100 billion being made for education in the Appropriation Bill presented in Parliament on Monday, the Government needs to go beyond money or certificates of qualifications and focus more on the values of character-building and attitudinal changes so that our schools will produce responsible and eco-friendly citizens.   

THE SATANIC FORMULA

Self-interest becomes a very strong force when your life is threatened. Collectively, we enforce laws that protect the lives of all members of a community, individually we act with defensive force to protect ones own life.

Central expressway hits fresh humps

The United National Party (UNP) is passionate about the construction of the Central Expressway. The project was organinally planned during the former rule, but its work got underway after the new government assumed office.   

Alleged Bond Scam: Will mandate of PCoI be allowed to lapse without key witnesses?

Will the mandate of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) into the Alleged Central Bank Bond scam be allowed to lapse without key witnesses being called?  

Constitutional Conversation: What the Govt. and Nationalists Don’t Get

Machiavelli said that the enterprise entailing the deadliest risk in politics is to try to institute a new order, and to be a new ruler while doing so (“a new prince in a new principality”). 

Leftist forces should help moderate Tamils to assert their political positions: DEW

The 21st Congress of the Communist Party was held on Friday, September 29 at the Shalika Hall, Narahenpita, Colombo. Former Minister and the General Secretary of the Communist Party D.E.W. Gunasekera delivered the keynote address.

Saxony – from liberal Germany’s success story to Alternative for German stronghold

Germany’s seat of education and cultural capital Saxony is also dubbed the Jewel of Europe for its heritage and unlimited natural beauty.  

Vedda cries from Vakarai lost in the sound of sea

Veddas, said to be descendants of King Vijaya, are known to be the earliest inhabitants of this land. Referring to themselves as forest-dwellers, the Vedda communities are shrouded in secrecy, mythology and mystery than any other group of people in the country. 

UK and Sri Lanka working together to stop illegal wildlife trade

Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom and Minister for Asia and the Pacific   - UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office 

Studies show refugees and immigrants are an asset, not a threat

A great deal of phobia has been generated throughout the world about refugees and immigrants. Both in the West and the East, refugees are seen as an unbearable economic burden, as job snatchers, environmental and cultural polluters and as terrorists. But actual experience tells another story – that they have been an asset and not a threat, and that host countries have been gainers and not losers.   

Learning from the lessons of recent events

“My question to all people’s representatives in the legislature and key public officials is this. Was the legislation, referred to by the former Minister, brought to Parliament? Was it passed? If not what statutory measures exist through either the existing codes or specific statutes-,

Sri Lanka was a pearl which became a teardrop

Eighty-three-year-old Gnanatheepam (Gethsie) Shanmugam, a Sri Lankan teacher and a psychosocial counsellor, who counselled war widows and orphans, was one of the six winners to win the Ramon Magsaysay Awards, considered to be Asia’s equivalent to a Nobel Prize. In an interview with the  she shared her