AUGUST 14 OPPOSITION PROTEST Struggle vs. Fascism

The SAMAGI BALAWEGAYA or FORCE for UNITY led a protest on a very worthy cause on   August 14, at the Fort Railway station.

Editorial-Dangers in GM foods and fortified rice

With government action, public awareness and pressure now focused on issues relating to the safety and quality of food

Sri Dalada Perahera makes the hill capital a paradise

The Esala Perahera in the hill capital was originated in 1775 A.D. under the reign of King Keerthi Sri Rajasinghe and was confined to the processions of four Devalayas- Natha, Vishnu, Kataragama and Pattini.

The market, popular pressure and public policy

Liberal economic reforms that swept across the world over the last several decades have had a significant transformational effect on many countries. Many state-led economies gave way to ones dominated by private capital, both local and foreign. The role of the state in turn became less significant in the management....

The great rush to find oil

Two years ago, there was a sudden adrenalin rush about finding oil in Sri  Lankan waters, just as there was back in the 1970s. That rush ended as soon as it had begun. So has this one, it seems, since no oil has been found after two years and no politician cares to mention it nowadays.

The patron-client relationship

Truly, the world does not fall short of patron/client relationships and Sri Lanka shows exceptional brilliance in this highly volatile, emotion based systemic existence. The ‘our man’ syndrome based on old school ties, matrimonial and biological connections, caste, race, religion, regional and provincial  leanings

Editorial - Save the farmers

The excessive use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and weedicides is known to have caused major disasters in Sri Lanka’s farmer community and put millions of them into the mud hole of poverty.

RAUFF VS BASHEER : INTERNAL STRIFE IN THE SLMC

This column shifts its focus away from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) this week and turns the spotlight on the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) instead. The premier political party representing the Muslims of Sri Lanka is once again in the grip of an intra-party crisis with the split cum defection time-bomb ticking away.

A responsibility to restore Sri Lanka Army’s image and credibility

Restoring the image of the Sri Lanka Army is a daunting task but not one alien to newly appointed Army Commander Lieutenant General Daya Ratnayake, a man who spent all his working life in the military and that was precisely what he did as military spokesman at the height of the Eelam War.

Editorial - Truth about medical frauds will be exposed soon

With the Milkgate crisis being taken up at the highest levels now and the Government likely to move fast to revive the liquid milk industry here and drastically reduce the staggering 40 billon rupees spent annually on the import of powdered milk, more attention will be given to another important issue – medicinal drugs.

Is Egypt going to have another Tiananmen Square?

Is it going to be the massacre of China’s Tiananmen Square all over again? The new civilian/military regime...

Editorial : Risky business

The issue of troubled finance companies has surfaced again. In 2009 we saw a string of unlicensed finance...

I SAID, ‘I AM THE ARMY COMMANDER NOT YOU’

Hailed as one of the greatest soldiers the country has produced, the 11th Army Commander of Sri Lanka General Hamilton...

Pertinent questions, evasive answers and distracting banter

A series of questions appeared in the order paper during recent sittings of Parliament seeking oral answers from the government.

CHOGM should not be confined to empty rhetoric

Salma Yusuf in candid conversation with Richard Uku, the Commonwealth Secretariat Spokesman and Director, Communication and Public Affairs Division

Tale of One City - One City with Two Tales

Reading politically savvy newspaper columns from abroad helps to touch base with Weliveriya. Is it a Tale of One City or One City with Two Tales? Was it a dress rehearsal for a regime change or a spontaneous outpouring of dissent?

Editorial - Healthy move by ITI to save Sri Lanka

The safety and quality of what millions of Sri Lankan people eat and drink daily has seldom been properly and professionally tested. For instance we have about 200 varieties of bottled water in the market

Grandpass The true Story

It was only in May this year massive anti-Muslim protests were held in central London sending jitters through the spine of David Cameron’s government.

The need for meaningful education reforms

The news-media recently carried reports that the education Ministry is planning to set in motion a process of education reforms. It will no doubt be most welcome since much is to be desired in the entirety of the education system as prevailing today.

Police and Political collusion extends to Maliboda

In an exclusive report today, Daily Mirror reveals that the Maliboda-Deraniyagala, a village situated an hours drive from Noori where many atrocities are alleged to have taken place,

Provoking religious fanaticism to undermine social unrest

In a way, the Grandpass incident seemed like an answer to the Weliweriya mass uprising. In spite of stories made by the pro-government media, the protest of masses against the water pollution

Editorial - Milkgate: At last GMOA makes right diagnosis

The Daily Mirror, in several editorials during the past few years, has been urging the Rajapaksa regime to implement effective and wide-ranging measures to revive the fresh milk industry in Sri Lanka

‘Wigneswaran an exemplary Judge but another Chelvanayagam’

There was a time in this Country when the name on practically everybody’s lips was “Prabhakaran”,   There was an earlier time when it was “Wijeweera”. Still later the name on practically everybody’s lips was “Shirani Bandaranayaka”, the allegedly ‘former’ Chief Justice. Today, it is “Wigneswaran”.

An all-inclusive plan for national reconciliation

Central to post-war reconciliation efforts is undoubtedly the political aspect. However, there exists in Sri Lanka, four key strategic points of intervention which ought to be mainstreamed into the national reconciliation project by all stakeholders involved in furthering the imperative of nation building.

Betrayal yet again!

Israel’s intentions are always doubted when it comes to peace talks. So is the case this time around as well. Hardly 48 hours before it was scheduled to resume long-stalled direct talks with the Palestinians in Jerusalem, the Jewish state has thrown a spanner in the works.

Not the public, it's you, Mr. Minister - Editorial

Two government ministers last week put the blame on the voters for the criminal and fraudulent activities of politicians.  Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Minister Rajitha Senaratne recently said during a meeting held at the opening of.....

Kandy Esala Perahera - The world’s oldest, religious and cultural pageant

The historic Esala Perahera in Kandy, the world’s oldest, religious and cultural pageant began on August 7 with the traditional installation of Kapa (Kappa-Situweema) at the four Devales located around the Sri Dalada Maligawa.

lakshman kadirgamar : A brilliant lawyer, an intellectual and above all a principled humanist - To

Today, when the statue of Lakshman Kadirgamar is being finally unveiled, we owe our thanks to those who have finally agreed to the erection of the statue at the Institute aptly named after him, which is indeed long overdue.

In Deraniyagala – the terror was real

Disillusionment produces pain. We can be disillusioned about people, about friendships and relationships. Dreams and hopes can bring disillusionment. We can be disillusioned about politics, religion, about any branch of knowledge, about what we know and don’t know. And we can be disillusioned about geographical places

The Triumph of Instrumental Values

It is natural for human beings to look for ways and means of satisfying their basic human drives. People in hunter- gatherer societies killed animals and collected whatever food they could find in the wild. In modern, highly -monetised economies, people strive to earn money so that they could buy their necessities.