An identity beyond borders

Amartya Sen in his internationally acclaimed book ‘Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny’ laments the ‘little boxes’ of identity to which people put themselves into and live in a world of single dimension of seclusion. 

Tale of two govts or Two of the same!

Fortunes of a nation lie on a trunk of a leader. If the heart of Mahinda Rajapaksa were attached to the mind of Ranil Wickremesinghe, the nation could come smelling of roses after the war. Patriotic sentiments blended neatly with worldly wisdom. It was not to be. Becomes a land of a splintered torso.

Logos Hope- Bringing hope to many

Francis Bacon said that “Reading maketh a full man”. Sri Lankans do love to read and the crowds which gather at the Colombo International book fair is the best evidence.

Holistic healing of patients is sacred

With the setting up of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA), patients’ rights groups are hopeful it will be the first small but significant step towards restoring a health service where the well-being of patients is given top priority.

LG polls: We need few new men

Let us begin a new era in our history; let us hold the local government elections without the political parties contesting each other. Should we not try out the method of electing our local government representatives in their individual capacities? 

UNAIDS to commemorate World AIDS Day AIDS is out there

In an attempt to arrest the transmission of HIV and AIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) have been organising many programmes to raise awareness among the general public. 

Kirthi Sri Karunaratne A tribute to a friend

….The Colombo 7 cuties of 1956 broke with tradition. When you see them tomorrow night at the dance you will see what I mean. You notice a cutie in her splendiferous raiment and politely ask her who designed it.

University students Are Our Most Valuable Assets - Lakshman Kiriella

Higher Education Minister Lakshman Kiriella in an interview with dailymirror over the phone, spelt out the Higher Education policy of the new Government, an approach different to the previous Government in some aspects. 

Understanding inclusive and holistic development

I had the great opportunity to represent Sri Lanka at the recently held Policy Forum on Development, Meeting of the Asia and Pacific Region, in Bangkok, Thailand.

Denial of Democracy?

?In a democracy,  the representation of the people is the foremost duty of parliamentarians.   In the past few decades or so did they perform their primary function satisfactorily or live up to the expectations of the citizens?

Attack on students: Police should have acted with restraint - EDITORIAL

The shocking pictures published in Friday’s newspapers of police assaulting HNDA students at Ward Place, Colombo 7 pose the question whether the police or some of its personnel are suffering from an unquenchable thirst for blood.

Sybil: Life in a colourful world

By A child’s world is innocent and full of colour and imagination. They live in a world of their own, curious to learn new things, and fascinated by colourful objects and experimenting with what they get.

Time ticking for Tourism

The tourism industry in Sri Lanka has always been up and running although it has taken a few twists and turns with changing of governments. With the good.....

National reconciliation: An unfinished agenda

A serious, well-coordinated action plan for national reconciliation is long overdue. The war and its aftermath made such a plan imperative, in order to build bridges across long standing ethno-linguistic divisions.....

Something is wrong in the State…

Like its predecessor, the new government excels at keeping the public enthralled. The Rajapaksa regime’s recipe was hard.......

Organic farming to save mother earth - EDITORIAL

Sri Lanka yesterday began November on a healthy note with the long delayed imposition of a blanket ban on the import, sale or use here of the herbicide Glyphosate which, according to.....

Revisited The 1988 Maldivian coup that failed

On 28 September 1988,  quite out of the blues news trickled through of an attempted coup on the Maldive Islands. Sri Lankans were more shocked when it was learned that the coup leaders -Maldivians led by Abdullah Luthufi-...

A new Ministry - the need of the hour

?A new Ministry MUST be established under the Prime Minister himself since the government has placed economic development as its main platform, we need to seek the support of the world to achieve this objective.

Israel’s Apartheid State

?Albert Einstein once said that “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result”. That’s how it seems to be with President Obama sending his Secretary of State, John Kerry, to attempt to resurrect the talks about talks between Israel and Palestine.

This was brute force; takE action against Police now - EDITORIAL

During the previous regime, the Police to a large extent lost their independence and many people saw Police Stations as branch offices of the ruling party if not torture houses.

‘Mother Courage and her children’

 While watching Ranjith Wijenayake’s production of Mother Courage and Her Children at the Punchi Theatre last Wednesday, you could easily visualise a cloud-based stage of epic proportions gliding down gently to cover a yawning abyss

We could have averted international meddling by Keeping our word

Many UNP leaders argue that it was former President Mahinda Rajapaksa who paved the way...

‘Envelope Money’ plays truant in Filipino journalism

In three weeks from now, November 23rd to be precise, the Philippines will commemorate...

Paradise Kashmir cries out for justice

Why is the crisis in Kashmir not on the BBC, CNN, al-Jazeera or other international...

EDITORIAL - Build our cities to live in harmony

With a make-or-break world climate change summit scheduled for December, the United Nations...

Kotakethana: A village of mysteries

Murders became an uncertain encounter in the lives of the women folk living in Kotakethana, a remote village in the Ratnapura district, ever since July 2008. The years that followed were quite dark and many women were victims of brutal murders.

LG polls: UNP distraught over ward demarcation, in predicament to foster party unity

The local authorities’ election, tipped to be conducted in March next year, would hold political relevance to the two main parties in repositioning themselves and charting their future political course. Currently, both the United National Party (UNP) 

Eight compelling reasons for resisting implementation of the Geneva resolution

Surveying the events of the last ten days, it seems to me that the need of the hour is to penetrate the fog of misinformation and fantasy with regard to the consequences of the Geneva Resolution and to make a realistic appraisal of the situation.

Reconciliation and Challenges of Resettlement

On October 30, 1990 the entire Muslim population of close to 75,000 people living in the North were evicted by the LTTE. It is now 25 years since the Muslim community fled the North fearing for their lives and leaving behind their homes, livelihoods and histories. 

The law is the same for all

In our editorial last Thursday, the  appealed to the government to take urgent and effective measures to restore public confidence in the Rule of Law using even novel, creative and imaginative ways available through the marvels of modern technology