Hospitals are not undertakers - EDITORIAL

Medicine or the sacred art, if not the heart of healing has for centuries been revered as a vocation on the lines of the priesthood. The Hippocratic Oath is an oath historically taken.....

The colour of the blind Concert by blind youth for the blind

?To see , to hear, to smell, to taste and to feel are all privileges of living. Yet, there are few of us deprived of one or more of these essentials. 

Yahapalanaya is at a tangent

Berty from 68 Watte, a slum, was the owner of a battered three-wheeler he hired hoping to make ends meet, but couldn’t. 

Making peace arrive IN Ukraine

On the last day of last month, right wing demonstrators, mostly from neo-fascist movements, hurled themselves against the police in Kiev’s Maidan square, ...

Policy change in school curriculum could solve unemployment problem

In the run-up to the recent Presidential and General Elections, United National Party (UNP) leader Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe said:....

Let speech promote harmony - EDITORIAL

With the new national unity government headed by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe committed....

Fortress Europe tries to STOP Mideast refugees

The world is going through its worst refugee crisis since World War II, with 42,000 people displaced every day.

Facing the UNHRC resolutions

The United States of America has not ratified the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court (“ICC”). Consequently,

Geneva games Prince Zeid’s war on Sri Lanka

Zeid Al Hussein and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights...

Geneva report: A way out for Sri Lanka

The much feared report is now out and it says little in terms of any new allegations. Many...

Sins of war: the ball is in Sri Lanka’s court

At a meeting on Wednesday (16) in Myanmar’s new capital Nay Pyi Taw with...

Sri Lanka’s inconvenient truth

An interesting situation in respect of the much talked about report released on Wednesday...

EDITORIAL : Let’s book a place in the world

A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. Those who do not read live only one, according...

Abuse of an Autistic youth

There have been several stories read and heard through several media about people who were born and/or made disabled due to various reasons. But the saddest and the bitter fact is they are often isolated in society.

Where we erred and where we were right

The social dimension of the work carried out by this human being  (Podi Hamuduruwo)transcends media or even that of an empire. Therefore, when someone does something with compassion

Day of the Jackal of Sri Lankan Political Zoo

“My Friends called me old Fox” - J. R. Jayewardene  By name, the Resplendent Isle or the pearl of the Indian Ocean as Sri Lanka was known, it was the foreigners who carried away, or exported our precious gems. The Kings, merchants and the Elite, a

Lanka plays major role in protecting ozone layer

As the world yesterday marked International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, the United Nations Secretary General Ban ki-Moon had some good news that effective steps had been taken to protect the ozone layer and he appealed

Road accidents: from BAD to WORSE

There is an increasing number of road accidents being reported everyday. Who could be held responsible for the increasing number of road mishaps? Is it motorists or pedestrians ?

GOOD LEADERSHIP IS THE NEED OF THE HOUR

The year 2015 will go into history as a relatively significant year to all Sri Lankans for good reasons.

Dharmapala chintanaya for Sri Lanka - EDITORIAL

Launching week-long ceremonies to mark revivalist Anagarika Dharmapala’s 151st birth anniversary, President Maithripala Sirisena said on Monday he believed Sri Lanka needed to revive and re-live the Dharmapala chinthanaya.

Thirty Years of Ozone Protection

Every year, September 16 is observed as the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer – the natural ‘shield’ in the upper atmosphere that protects all life on Earth from the Sun’s harmful ultra-violet rays.

Killing of Little SEYA Is it a wake up call?

Child abductions, cases of child abuse, exploitation, harassment and child labour have become breaking news over the recent past much to the disappointment of the people. Their.....

National thinking in a globalised world needed

We have a newly elected government that is entrusted with the responsibility of resolving many long standing and pressing problems in the country. But, not all issues are equally important and.......

Wake up to the RTI

One of the major achievements the country gained during the government with the 100-Day Programme was the recognition of people’s Right to Information (RTI). The right has been.....

Mettasena and his saga of living by wit and inspiration

Mettasena has had an intimate relationship with India. As a rising star in the field of fashion photography,  he went there in 1994 in search of model Kavya Pirbhoy, and ended up getting his photographs published on the front page of Femina.

How to Reduce Chemical Fertilizer? Way forward for sustainable crop production

?Human activities worldwide have been   recognised as the principal contributor to environmental pollution and   climate change that is driving global biodiversity towards extinction. 

Kids for sale

When taking a look at international guidelines not one but many would agree that they are strict. But in the Sri Lankan context, are there any guidelines as such? And if so what are they? Is it ethically......

Beyond RTI: Moving to Open Data and Open Govt.

After many years of advocacy by civil society groups and journalists, Sri Lanka is set to soon adopt a law guaranteeing citizens’ Right to Information (RTI). With that, we will join 102.....

Deregulation of Cosmetics: implications and dangers

The introduction of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority Act No. 05 of 2015 (Now referred to as the ‘NMRA Act’), aimed at protecting consumers from being exposed to spurious......

UNHRC Sessions: where are the ‘patriots’?

In the not-so-distant past, come September, paranoia hit over the roof. State media went on full swing to demean the ‘traitors’; civil society activists were harassed; Tamil ‘collaborators’ intimidated, private.....