US’s meagre budget allocation for SL comes with major conditionality Do we need it?

As the US government engages in the complicated process of approving its budget for Financial Year 2018, we are told that the Trump administration had requested US$ 3.4 million in foreign assistance for Sri Lanka.

KURDISH REFERENDUM – MORE TROUBLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Amid the backdrop of the fight against the Islamic State (IS), where Kurds play a leading role in the US-backed war against the IS, Kurdish Peshmergha have defeated IS troops in many regions of Iraq and now control those territories, which includes the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.  

Road to Good Governance: Holding Fair and Free Elections

Elected representatives are supposed to represent the wishes of the citizens in a country. In this respect, holding fair and free elections is paramount. Free and fair elections does not merely include holding elections which are unbiased and uninfluenced but also include ensuring that the ideal candidate is elected and that the people are represented. 

Wrestle Mania at United Nations General Assembly

People, Peace and Decent life for all, was the theme of 72nd UN General Assembly (UNGA), yet what stood out from the interventions of some key global leaders was antithetical to the theme.

AUTOPSY OF THE G.C.E.[A/L] EXAMINATION

The much awaited G.C.E.(A/L) Examination concluded the other day leaving a lot to ponder on. It has proved again and again that the system has many a loophole to attend to. Examinations are 

Brexit: May versus Merkel

“It’s not over until the fat lady ends her song”- so goes the adage, referring to the often overweight soprano who sings the last aria in Wagner’s opera, Gotterdammerung.   

Bibile Policy again: Quality drugs to be made in Sri Lanka

Monday, September 25, being World Pharmacists Day as declared by the International Pharmaceutical Federation, it would be a healthy move to reflect on how the national unity government is implementing the Seneka Bibile Policy to make quality medicinal drugs available to the people at affordable prices.   

A vital opportunity not to be missed

“Sri Lanka would perpetually be a united undivided and indivisible country in keeping with the basic and Supreme Law of the country, and on the basis of the free will and consent of all its people”- Sampanthan

“I was homeless and you gave me a home”

Yesterday was the United Nations International Day of Peace with the theme being ‘together for peace, respect, safety and dignity for all’.  

Trump’s devilry at the UNGA

Traditionally, the United Nations Secretary General’s office informs ambassadors that their heads of state should confine their speeches to about 15 minutes when they address the General Assembly’s annual session.

Human-Elephant coexistence is yet this side of the fence

Many communities living in the vicinity of natural forests are directly and indirectly dependent on the natural ecosystems. Despite conservation efforts, deforestation, forest degradation and biodiversity loss continue in Sri Lanka.  The average annual rate of deforestation has been identified as 7,145 ha/year during 1992-2010. 

Chaos, corruption covered by ‘Sinhala Patriotism’

I have been given many epithets for trying to promote a decent and a civilised “North-South” dialogue for a common and a shared future with due respect to each other’s cultural identities.   

Hunting for controversies Why oppose PC Elections Bill, 20A?

The Yahapalana Government seems to be fond of being caught in unnecessary troubles and controversies. It could have got the two recent Bills on Provincial Council elections- the 20th Amendment to the Constitution and the Provincial Councils Elections Bill- passed in the Parliament without much controversy.

SYSTEM ERROR: Executive, legislative and judicial

The presumption of innocence until and unless proven guilty is one of the foundational and sacred principles of the judicial process. So let us not be presumptuous. However, let us state some established facts. 

If you want to do business, don’t enter politics

Sri Lanka’s two major political parties are likely to work together at least until 2020 or even until they achieve the goals of Vision 2025 though they will contest separately at the upcoming provincial and local council elections.   

Can bureaucrats say no to politicians? The jury is out…

“Dictators, unlike Democrats, depend on a small coterie to sustain their power. These backers, generally drawn from the military, the senior civil service and family or clan members, have a synergistic relationship with their dictator

Communist Party of China reaches out to the world

Globalisation is a concept that dates back to ancient history. It started with the cross-border trade and engagement during that period. The concept thrived on the added dimensions in the modern current era with the United States of America being at the fulcrum of it.  

Welikada Prison Massacre: The long wait for justice

With the residence of the sister of Sudesh Nandimal De Silva, a former inmate of Welikada Prison and a key eyewitness of the 2012 prison massacre which left 27 inmates dead, coming under attack while he was held there, 

20A: You only vote twice

The Bill on the 20th Amendment to the Constitution has been so controversial that the Joint Opposition is said to have planned a “mass cross over” from the Government to the Opposition, when it is taken for debate in Parliament this week as scheduled. However, it is reported that the Government has deferred its debate.

‘Those who received the most votes were corrupt’

Senior retired state official and former Auditor General Sarath Chandrasiri Mayadunne in an interview with our sister paper ‘Deshaya’ aired his views on the proposed Audit Bill, the incident relating to Anusha Palpita and Lalith Weeratunga and issues relating to state officials. Following are the excerpts of the interview.

Contempt of court case by BASL War path on contempt charges

Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) is on the war path against the Deputy Minister Ranjan Ramanayaka - an ardent opponent of bribery and corruption who campaigns with a vociferous voice and powerful activism to eradicate Bribery and Corruption.

Taking Ranjan to Courts on Contempt Charges BASL has a better role in today’s context

“… The Bar Association of Sri Lanka notes with concern the undue and unwarranted attacks on the law enforcement authorities, the Attorney General’s Department and now the judiciary….”

CV exposes the true image beneath the Sinhala Selfie

  Following is an excerpt of a speech delivered by Northern Province Chief Minister C.V.Vigneswaran at the launch of Kusal Perera’s book “Rajapakse the Sinhala Selfie”.

An overlooked blooper

A few days ago the eastern Indian media took Prime Minister Narendra Modi to task for claiming that Sri Lanka’s national anthem was composed by Bengali Poet Rabindranath Tagore.   

What can Suu Kyi learn from Sri Lanka’s mistakes

Narratives of horror in Myanmar’s restive Rakhine State and the squalid refugee camps in Bangladesh where nearly 400,000 Rohingya refugees live in subhuman condition after being chased out by the Burmese Army’s scorched earth campaign are 

Our people haven't been taught to value ourselves

Sri Lanka has produced many intellectuals who have conquered the world in various fields. Hence we are equipped with enough resources and in turn can move forward with novel innovations. This is what Professor Rangika Halwatura believes in. Employed as a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Engineering, 

Backtracking on accountability measures will harm all Sri Lankans: Tamil leader

Media reports state that, at the suggestion of President Maithripala Sirisena, the parliamentary debate on the Bill to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances (CPAPED) will not held as scheduled on September 21.   

Are we bowling without umpires again?

I plagiarised this title from myself, bear with me for the repetition. It fits so well that I did not bother to create a new heading to tell a repetitive story. I wrote the original after the elections in 2010 when UPFA had an astounding victory. 

Neglect of Public Transport - A Crime!

The failure of successive governments over the last several decades to develop and modernize the railway in this country has been a major factor contributing to the rapid expansion of private modes of transport.

Reconstructing Agriculture

The northern economy is mainly agricultural, and the challenges facing its revival after the war also relate to agriculture. If the war disrupted agricultural production in the north for decades, the post-war years have not provided much respite. The long drought over the last two years, has been devastating for the northern farmers.