Stop extravagance, provide equipment to forecast natural disasters - Editorial

The inclement weather prevailing in the country over the last two weeks has claimed more than fifty lives and has caused a lot of damage to property. Nearly all who died were fishermen, and.....

Draft Code of Media Ethics Throwing baby out with bath water

The Ministry of Mass Media and Information has recently proposed a Draft ‘Code of Media Ethics’. Upon reading the preliminary draft which has been made available selectively, I would like to highlight certain immediate concerns about this step by the Ministry.

encountering the Dragon of chauvinism

Government has decided to make serious changes in the 13th amendment. These changes, if implemented will negate the expectations of the Tamil people. The 13th Amendment was brought in primarily to satisfy the demands of the Tamils.

Birth Defects from Bhopal Rise Again

Full page advertisements in British newspapers at the weekend claim that horrific birth defects are increasingly common in the Indian city of Bhopal, 28 years after it suffered the world’s worst industrial disaster.

From people’s Police to a political Police - Editorial

The arrest of the once powerful Deputy Inspector General Vaas Gunawardena on Monday in connection with the abduction and killing of a millionaire businessman last month highlights the plight of the police and their gradual loss of ...

Suicide in Sri Lanka Attempts increase while deaths decrease

Sri Lanka has made progress in bringing down the number of suicide related deaths from being the highest in the world in 1996 to one that is fast declining in recent years.  It is undeniable that the country has seen a vast improvement but research has revealed larger issues that may blow out of proportion

Same Sky, Different Nights

History is the accumulation of the story of individual lives. Pre-eminent lives are an important part of history. What we are celebrating today is the record of the life story of one of those pre-eminent individuals who has helped in making a better future for humanity not only for ourselves but for several generations to come.

Graduate Unemployment Sign of deeper socio-economic malaise

It was in 1970 that the first batch of unemployed graduates was recruited as development assistants by the then United Front government. These graduates were among the many unemployed people at the time, in particular, those with educational qualifications.

Playing with fire; Is it media’s business ?

The suicide by fire of Rev. Bowatte Indaratana in front of the Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Tooth) in Kandy caused several heated debates in the media – his motive, his personality, who stood to gain politically from the act, and whether television should have telecast the act itself as news

MEDIA CODE OF ETHICS MUST COME FROM WITHIN

In many countries in Asia, perhaps because there seems to be a perception that with the media taking on new forms of conveying to the public, information which may not otherwise have been available, the power of the Print and Electronic Media has increased beyond all proportions

Editorial - Imposition of ethics can only denote vague boundaries to journalists

One would wonder as to how the media, especially the State media, could criticise the US and the Western countries for their double standards in dealing with human rights in various countries, once the proposed State - sponsored code of ethics for journalists  which stipulates against publications.........

Govt. afraid of right to information : Karu Jayasuriya

With the government threatening to introduce media ethics for journalists and the main opposition the United National Party introducing a draft Constitution with major changes to the present system of government, the Daily Mirror spoke to UNP’ Parliamentarian and former Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya.

Ensure a free and fair NPC election

The Friday Forum considers effective devolution essential to building trust and ethnic harmony, securing future peace and promoting good governance. The government has more than once publicly committed itself to the implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.

Editorial - If Media are suppressed, Democracy will die

History has shown us clearly that the four pillars of a genuine democracy are a people friendly executive, legislature comprising elected representatives who are servants of the people and work for the common good of all, an independent judiciary and a free media.

Yan Oya reservoir project Could the goal of agricultural self-sufficiency be achieved?

The government’s agriculture policy under Mahinda Chinthana is the eventual creation of an agriculturally self-sufficient country. While Sri Lanka still has a long way to go with concern to achieving such a goal to realise such aspirations

NM’s statesmanship: Need of the hour I cannot be a party to such an outcome

When we are celebrating the 108th Birth Anniversary of Dr. N.M.Perera, 34 years after his death, we miss him most for his statesmanship, which Sri Lanka lacks today and needs most of all at this juncture in its history.

Ethnicity replaces intellectuality in market surroundings

Some of the findings in sociology theories need re - thinking in the present systemic context. Class, power and status are theories that were the major concern areas of famous sociologist Max Weber born in 1864.

Northern Polls To hold or not…

With elections to the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) due in September, Minister Champika Ranawaka leapt into the limelight this week requesting the Government to postpone the polls because issues relating to the grant of police and land powers to Provincial Councils have not been resolved.

Editorial - Neighbour's touch

A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led team, currently on a tour in Sri Lanka, was reported to have said that India was ready to provide the “healing touch” but it cannot be expected to solve the political problems of Tamil people in Sri Lanka. 

Drop your Myopic Eye View in Reviewing the Code of Media Ethics’

Business Leaders, it is essential that you urgently review, the recently circulated “Code of Media Ethics” of the...

Editorial : Reduce traffic jam and road pollution

At a time when we have water-tight evidence that global warming is increasing and is the main...

Lack of ‘Right to Information’ is an indicator of Primitive Democracy

In the early era, there was a traditional belief in the world that there should be three pillars namely the...

The Fateful Future Of Chemical Agriculture

Farmers have been altering the genetic makeup of plants naturally for thousands...

We are ready to discuss better devolution with the government

Jaffna district Tamil National Alliance (TNA)  MP Suresh Premachandran stressed the need for extensive devolution of power to the provincial councils. In addition to land and police powers, he asked for financial powers to raise foreign loans and grants for developmental needs.

America’s war criminals

Someone, somewhere, has to say it - that the U.S. harbours war criminals of its own and they have served not that long ago at the apex of power in the American government.

China, India, Pakistan boost nuclear arsenals

Three of the world’s nuclear powers — China, India and Pakistan — have increased their arsenals over the past year, while the other five have cut their strength or kept it stable, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute(SIPRI) said Monday.

New light in new draft constitution - Editorial

The history of Sri Lanka since independence in 1948 has a multitude of missed opportunities, some of which had drastic consequences. One of them was the 2000 draft constitution presented in Parliament by....

World Environment Day : Observing Environment Day on a climate volcano

The production process, related to a topmost secret experiment was underway in Los Alamos, United States of America. It was all about producing the world’s first Atomic bomb! At the height of these activities, Jewish scientists, including Einstein were mighty worried that Nazi Germany

THE PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO INFORMATION ET AL

The government must empower us, the people, to have the Right to Information, This is a right in keeping with the letter and spirit of ‘Participatory Democracy’. In the first place the fact that only a very few of those who contested elections at all levels in the past declared their assets serves to indicate that unless........

‘Despite different claims May 21 strike proves successful’

Still, there is a debate as to the success of the token strike initiated by the pro JVP trade union centre, on May 21. It started with the different claims within the trade union sector. The Co-ordinating Committee to unite trade unions which initiated countrywide..........