Identity politics - the springboard to power

Understandably, the boon and the bane of this country (more the bane than the boon) were the 1848 Colebrook Cameron legislative reforms - the root cause of identity politics.

Do not rock the boat -

A television station in its prime-time news bulletin on Saturday showed footage of TNA Parliamentarian Sivagnanam Sridharan arguing with a group of Sinhalese in Navatkuli, Jaffna last Tuesday, over allotment of land for them by the National Housing Development Authority (NHDA).

Are we ready to embrace a New Industrial Revolution?

According to the Mahawansa chronicles, when Prince Vijaya and his 700 strong men disembarked in Lanka, Princess Kuveni was spinning cotton under a giant tree. It proved the fact that our ancestors by then had known how to spin cotton to produce clothes.

What is Nanotechnology?

Nanotechnology is based on exploiting the experimentally observed and analysed changes which occur in materials when their physical sizes are shrunk to between 100 – 1 nanometres ( a nanometre is 1 billionth – 10-9- of a metre). These changes are seen as variations, at times drastic, in the chemical

Development, Car Culture and the Environment

There are not many countries that have been able to prevent the rise of a pervasive car culture following rapid economic growth. The motor car has become an important part of the affluent life style in both developed as well as developing countries. It is reported that there are already five million cars

Editorial - Gambling with the heritage of Sri Lanka

Leaders of all religions have appealed to the Government, ministers and MPs to vote against legislation to be presented in Parliament this week to approve the setting up of two huge casinos, which they say will seriously damage the spiritual and moral values, culture and civilisation of this country.

Editorial - Language goes beyond communication

Social anthropologist Prof. Sasanka Perera, in a keynote address delivered at a conference on Language and Social Cohesion underlined some vital issues on which the Government and the people of Sri Lanka need to reflect deeply in these crucial months and years.

There’s Nothing Wrong with Sri Lankan Universities

Upon reading the article on “What is wrong with our universities” in the Daily Mirror, I was for a moment bemused. It took me for a while to understand what it really means.

How Conscious ARE Consumers about their Purchases

Sri Lanka was faced with the dicyandiamide (DCD) contamination scare with regard to powdered milk and other imported dairy products a few months ago. Although various opinions were voiced concerning the issue,

Beyond Geneva, the goal of a world without nukes

Two days of talks between Iran and six world powers have ended on a cautiously optimistic note in Geneva although the much talked about breakthrough still appears to be somewhat elusive.

Violation of Rights of the dead

Sometimes you come across people who say they do not fear or care about death. This is more so when they are in good health, free of encumbrance and other problems of day to day life.

We still celebrate the bravery of King Rajasinghe II

The death of King Rajasinghe II closed the chapter of the Kandyan Kingdom. So much so that we are still celebrating the bravery of Rajasinghe who wiped out the Portuguese menace on March 29, 1638 - that is three hundred and seventy five years ago.

Buddhism expands….

Venerable Bhikkuni Kusuma, MA, PhD, is a fully ordained Buddhist nun from Sri Lanka who has pioneered the re-establishment of the Theravada Female Buddhist Order in Sri Lanka.

Why doesn’t the US implement its treaties?

The US Senate - usually the Republican members - reject multilateral treaties as if it were a sport. Others, it rejects through inaction - the Law of the Sea Treaty, for example, negotiated under President Jimmy Carter and fruitlessly pushed for ratification by every President since.

Food and drugs: Standards in the mortuary - Editorial

Sri Lanka this week joined the world in marking World Standards Day, but most people and independent analysts are raising questions as to whether this was just a one-day commemoration and whether standards in vital areas such as food and medicinal drugs were just dead letters.

CHOGM Elaborate security measures in place

The 24th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) which is the second largest international summit hosted by Sri Lanka after the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) meeting in 1976, will be held in Sri Lanka from November 15 to 17.

NPC DISSENT to be curbed by international players

Usually, intra party rivalry, triggered during an election, settles down soon. But, it has boiled into a new crisis   within the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) after the September 21 Provincial Council Election.Meanwhile, there is a similar crisis in the TNA over the allocation of provincial minister posts.

The unsolved mystery of Mangala’s ‘Innocence’

Never shy of controversy, former Minister and United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian Mangala Samaraweera was to make headlines this week for his alleged involvement in the attack on a faction of the party staging a protest march demanding the ouster of party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Oops the Central Bank did it again! - Editorial

Oops the Central Bank did it again! On Tuesday they reduced the policy interest rates by 50 basis points to spur economic growth, making it the third time they made adjustments to the monetary policy since last December.

no doubt the party will repay for dedication and trust

The sat down with the Leader of the House, Senior Vice President of the SLFP, Irrigation and Water Resources` Management Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva to discuss his 30 years in national politics. Excerpts of the interview follow:

Commonwealth Values and Diplomacy

Now the Tamil National Alliance has also joined force with some other international and local actors who have opposed staging the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka (CHOGM).

Editorial-Who’s teaching whom about nutrition?

The Daily Mirror, in its Editorial on Monday focused attention on the Government’s move to set up foreign university campuses here amid opposition criticism that it may be a back-door plan to deal a potentially fatal stab in the back to the policy of free education for all

‘Economic diplomacy at the helm’

Minister of External Affairs Prof. G.L Peiris spoke to the Daily Mirror on the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and the new turn the Foreign Policy of the country is taking. Following are some of the excerpts of the interview.

Today is World White Cane Day We are not objects of charity: SLFVH We need acceptance and independen

“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision”  This perpetual truth was once exposed to the world by Helen Keller, the first deaf and blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts Degree. 

Sanjeev Jayaratnam Empowering eyes and minds qq

“Empowering the mind and eyes,” is the motto behind Sanjeev Jayaratnam’s concept of speed-reading.  A charismatic maestro who promises to improve his students’ reading to a “lightning” speed,.....

young people's Voice in the chogm

The countdown has begun. With just over a month to go before the Commonwealth Youth Forum 2013 kicks off in Hambantota, Sri Lanka, the pre-forum discussion has already begun this week. 

Is this development? - Editorial

The revelations by three parliamentarians, one from the government benches during last week’s Parliamentary debate on the report of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) might have puzzled many as to where the country is economically heading to. 

Customer is king NO Customer is KILLED

There are instances when not only it is legal but also profitable and survives as profession, where the killers work from plush offices, use luxury cars and get big bonuses. They dine in style and holiday in exotic locations. No, it is not the mafia or any other international cartel.

National Heritage, Patriotism and Development

There are not many countries around the world that do not have any claim to a proud national heritage. Past achievements, proud historical traditions and persisting cultural resources, be it religion, values, food, art and crafts or architecture are all part of the national heritage of nations and states.

Homage to the Mahanayake Thera

The Most Venerable prelate Agga Maha Panditha Rajakeeya Sri Weligama Gnanaratana Mahanayake Thera was appointed the new Mahanayake of the Dharmarakshita chapter of the Amarapura Maha Nikaya by the Executive Sangha Committee of the Amarapura Maha Nikaya on 12th September 2003