Fundamental duties of citizens and officials

1. The State is pledged to establish in Sri Lanka a Democratic Socialist Society, the objectives of which include–

I connected the East with the West

The second and final part of the interview with author Salman Rushdie of which the first part was published on the  yesterday. Rushdie speaks of contemporary literature, the importance of art to society, personal favourites and about Sri Lanka and his association with it.  

Salman Rushdie speaks to Daily Mirror

“I learnt to question religious and political orthodoxy and to be a person of ideas". Salman Rushdie, acclaimed author whose second book ‘Midnight's Children’ (1981) was awarded the ‘ Booker of Bookers’ prize, Professor and Knight of the British Empire and Hafeel Farisz of the Daily Mirror speak on, literature, the freedom of expression, his childhood, religion and much more.

Making Sri Lanka a fruitful nation

In a fruitful step towards creating a ‘wasa wisa nethi’ country where we grow our own nourishing 

How do we see ourselves?

July is back again to haunt us. It was thirty-three years ago on the 24th of this month some of the 

Have we lost our way

The core mission of the government established by J R Jayewardene in 1977, after a disastrous spell of economic stagnation generated and sustained by the preceding regime of Mrs. Bandaranaike, was 

Dehiwela natural reef: To be removed or restored?

The removal of the natural breakwater along the Dehiwela Auburn side raised much concerns among 

Dudley Senanayake Memorial Lecture: Freedom, Democracy and Human Rights: Lessons from the Philippin

The 16th Dudley Senanayake Memorial Lecture was delivered by Chito Gascon, Chairman of the Human Rights Commission in the Philippines. The.....

The VAT dilemma

It is learnt that the Cabinet would be make a decision on essential consumer items, so that the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) would be....

An ill-conceived good move - EDITORIAL

A good move by the so-called Joint Opposition has turned out to be something that had been done without proper understanding about the....

An Open Letter to UNP Members of COPE

Please note that the memories of all the young professionals, the youth, the intelligent voters and civil society activists, who so actively.....

Tapping the Full Potential of Diaspora Communities

The exodus of Sri Lankans of all walks of life over the last several decades has led to the formation of many Sri Lankan diaspora communities.....

Round and Round the Bush

Eran Wickremaratne, Deputy Minister of State Enterprise Development, speaking at a seminar on “Financial impact of the COPE Report” held at the.....

Humiliating an Officer and a Gentleman

Although 65 percent of our population was not born when the country’s second alleged military conspiracy was staged to overthrow a....

‘Shadow Cabinet’ flops before ink dries up in the appointment letters

The Joint Opposition last week appointed a 50-member ‘shadow cabinet.’ Alas, even before the ink dried in appointment letters, its members....

MEDIA RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES - EDITORIAL

Like all good people or professionals, the media also need to be ready to turn the searchlight inward. One such area is President Maithripala Sirisena’s.....

Blueprint for NEW Constitution

The Committee of Public Representations on the Constitution (CPRC), which has been appointed to gather public opinion on Constitutional.....

Inside story about Indrajit Coomaraswamy becoming Central bank Governor

“All changed, changed utterly” – The memorable lines from Irish poet Yeats came true on the morning of July 2, 2016 for Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy after he received a telephone call at 6. 30 am. The early caller was none other than Malik Samarawickrama, the Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade. The former was functioning as a senior adviser to the ministry. However it was not a ministry-related matter that t

Let us invest in teenage girls

Monday July 11 is World Population Day and the theme this year is interesting and significant—Investing in teenage girls. It comes during a year when Hilary Clinton is likely to become the first female President of the most powerful country in the world, the United States. Reports indicate Ms. 

Can genocide be stopped?

After Hitler’s Final Solution -- the elimination of the Jews -- came Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge and the murder of two million of the country’s people. After that came Rwanda when at least a million of the Tutsi people were slaughtered en masse by the Hutus. More recently we have seen large-scale killing in Sudan and now in Syria. 

Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel passes away at 87

Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel, died last week aged 87. He was the last of the haunting voices that kept alive the grotesque memories of the gas chambers and Nazi horrors. I learned about the holocaust by reading The Scourge of the Swastika by Lord Russel of Liverpool, which I found on my parents’ bookshelf. It shattered the complacent adolescent belief I held that people could not overstep boundaries to victimize those

Thewarapperuma saga a manifestation of a bigger problem

The agitation by Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Wayamba Development and Cultural Affairs Palith Thewarapperuma on behalf of ten children who had been denied admission to the Meegahatenne 

Do you know this?

The former Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and civil rights activist Chandra Jayaratne has written to the Chairman of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) Sunil 

STORY OF THREE GOVERNORS

Former Governors of the Central Bank – Mahendran and Cabraal– must be found guilty or innocent after a fair trial –without leaving the issue in doubt for too long. Yet it has to be proved in court. Till 

Unasked questions on the Chilcot Report

Following the release of the long-awaited and much-delayed Chilcot Report into Britain’s involvement in the invasion of Iraq, the then Prime Minister and the man responsible for committing Britain to war, 

Chilcot indictment: B-Liar lied and millions died

At last the long awaited and much delayed Chilcot report is out. The question that looms large is: Will former Prime Minister Tony Blair who took Britain to war 13 years ago be tried for war crimes as demanded by antiwar activists?

President asserts his mutual understanding with PM

A public perception emerged on whether the issue involving the Central Bank bond scam which created a wedge between President Maitripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe posing a threat to the stability of the national unity government.Critical remarks against the government by a few of its own members gave credence to such belief among politically savvy people.However, it appeared to be not so as President Sirisena, in his Monday

Next up: Local Government Elections

The controversy over the appointment of the Central Bank Governor was almost like an exercise to obtain the answer to the question ‘who’s the boss?’ The then incumbent, whose tenure was marked by matters which discredited the office and dented investor confidence, was defended. The President himself expressed displeasure and even stated that he wanted the man removed. Possible 

Citizens awake, join the war on Dengue

Since the detection of the first dengue case in 1962, this deadly mosquito-borne disease has spread rapidly in Sri Lanka and is reaching epidemic proportions this year with 27,731 cases reported up to the end of June 30.   

Respected and loved by all; besieged by UNP top brass

 Some politicians always want to be in command of and at the apex of the ladder. When people are determined to climb higher, they attempt to reduce the “standing” of competitors. Gossip and spreading rumours is one of the main weapons people use to diminish another person’s status.