The movers and shakers of policy and protocol

Foreign policy and international relations is as much about actors, personalities and relationships as it is about substantive policy and protocol.

Foster care for a child

In every province in Sri Lanka, children, abandoned, handed over by parent (s) or sent by Courts are found in State sponsored or registered but privately  run homes for children. They range from the age of 3-18.

Greening the urban jungle

Urbanisation took centre-stage at last week’s Rio+20 conference for good reasons. Cities collectively consume 75 per cent of world’s natural resources, generate 50 per cent of waste and emit about 70 per cent of the greenhouse gas.

Editorial - Education: Free goods cannot always have holes

Free education is not a personal property of anyone.  Be it the Minister of Education/ Higher Education or the Commissioner of Examinations their ultimate responsibility is for the children of this country,

Editorial: Capitalist market economic policy dying

As expected and as usual, the Central Bank is embroiled in a controversy with the widely-respected global rating agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P) over the state of Sri Lanka’s vital banking sector.

TNA’s Road to Federalism runs through New Delhi

“In the past the United States and India stood against us. However, in the favourable circumstances that have now come about, the United States and India are to a great extent supporting our position” -Sampanthan (2012) at ITAK Convention-

Public Petition

It is duly recognized that there exists a Special Parliamentary Committee for consideration of Public Petitions. It is further noted that there exists a specified procedure to be followed in forwarding such a petition to the Committee on Public Petitions in accordance with Standing Orders and further that the Standing Orders 25 A dealing with it requires the presentation of same to be by a member of parliament submitting a statement in a specifie

‘The right to protest’: yeah right!

Sarah Mann, Spokesperson for the British High Commission in Colombo has informed us that Britain respects the legitimate right of UK citizens to protest.

Lanka’s Skyfall:Beyond Gurus Vs. Gundas in foreign policy making

Sri Lanka’s foreign policy mechanism and machinations spawned a multitude of views, analyses and investigations by scholars, prominent journalists and political analysts in the last few months using the Geneva rounds of March as a turning point. This article is an attempt to reemphasize that there needs a significantly grander vision for Sri Lanka and its global relations given the speed and intractable shifts in global political theaters.

Mervyn de Silva: reminiscences about a journalist colossus

Recent events in the sphere of English journalism  have  caused shock waves among  members of the fourth estate.  Things seem to have taken a turn for the worse in a land where giants in journalism  flourished once.

A two stage solution

While everything is debatable, not everything is negotiable. Some things, a few things, simply must not be negotiable. The territorial unity and integrity of the Sri Lankan state, Sri Lanka as a single indivisible country,

The LLRC: From Recommendations to Actions

One of the saddest aspects of the last three years has been the corrosive distrust among all political players. This is almost relentlessly exacerbated by several factors. The first, and perhaps the most worrying,

Muslims’ contribution to the unity of Sri Lanka

The government and the people of Sri Lanka are fully appreciative of the huge sacrifices made by Muslims for the unity and territorial integrity of our country. In this backdrop, the community must ignore the attempts by a small minority of deviants

Editorial - It’s a long, long way to real and lasting peace

At a time when we in Sri Lanka speak loudly about peace, democracy, the need to express our views freely and law and order, it is an insightful learning experience to focus on the acceptance speech made by Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi in Norway,

“Hundred more Mullivaikals...”

They were to be expected. The hardline ‘Sinhala Nationalist Stand’ of JHU leader and Minister Champika Ranawaka’s statement on ‘...hundred more Mullivaikals...’, and the Tamil reaction to the same, that is.

A new social contract between govt. and people

The Friday Forum comprises a group of concerned citizens who have come together to consider current issues of public interest with a view to making meaningful contributions towards peace, democracy, good governance and social justice in Sri Lanka. To pursue this objective, the Forum engages in regular discussions on matters of national interest, articulating its views and concerns.

Stunned by stunting

The misconception that genes alone make Asians small-made will be busted in the days to come; for according to the World Bank Nutritionist Nkosi Mbuya, more than genes it is malnutrition that accounts for short statures of the people who live in the eastern side of the world.

Players without a stage - Editorial

Theatres are for the performers and the audience. It is for them the stage is set. Not for white-clad politicians and their right-hands and left-hands. It is the audience that decides whether a play is good enough for an encore. And once a call comes from the gallery, a dramatist is honour-bound to keep performing, for it is the audience that breaks or makes them.

Rio+20: protecting the environment is not enough

Rio+20 is a landmark for the future. As more than 190 countries gather in Rio, we are witnessing a historic moment. The recent global crisis has shown that old-fashioned views about development are misleading.

Will it be President Pranab?

Elections to the post of the President of India, a largely ceremonial sinecure for politicians being put out to pasture by the ruling dispensation, are usually bereft of the excitement of the general elections to parliament.

Editorial - Enlightened patriotism to save economy

With the water levels in the hydro-electric power reservoirs dropping to dangerously low levels and heavy showers not expected till October, the Ceylon Electricity Board says it is depending on thermal generators for more than 80% of power supplies

Deep-state game: New pharaoh crushing revolution in Egypt

The Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate Mohamed Mursi, who has claimed victory in Sunday’s presidential runoff, may not be a Moses, but it seems Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi is the pharaoh-incarnate...

Is there a case for abortion following rape?

Pregnancy following rape is far from common – well below 1% of abortions in the United Kingdom are carried out for reasons of rape or incest and if abortion is merely carried out for these reasons...

Pakistan’s presidential politics

The premature removal of elected prime ministers in Pakistan before completion of their tenure has a long tradition, though the modus vivendi this time has drastically changed...

Editorial - New form of terrorism threatens Lanka

The shocking disclosure by Tangalle High Court Judge Chandrasena Rajapaksa that the underworld gangster in the most wanted list had visited an inmate at the Tangalle Prison...

SL needs quantified goals for sustainable development: Dr. Mallawatantri

Assistant Resident Representative and Team Leader—Environment, Energy and Disaster Management Programmes of the United Nations Development Programme Dr. Ananda Mallawatantri spoke to the Daily Mirror about Sri Lanka’s...

Bloodhounds should be tied with their masters

It is not very clear when dogs were domesticated. However, it could be presumed that at the end of man’s hunting age the dog was a regular member of his abode. Many of these dogs were reared for hunting and with man beginning to lead a civilised life the need for hunting dogs diminished.

Rio+20, Sri Lanka and the future we want

Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Environment is reportedly pursuing active preparations for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, commonly known as Rio+20. It is learnt that President Rajapaksa will be visiting Brazil

Editorial - Children of violence

Apart from many instances where children become subject to extreme violence, very rarely does one hear of children becoming instigators of cruelty. However, the incident reported from Pelwatte where a group of schoolchildren.....

A ROADMAP FOR SOCIAL INTEGRATION

Social exclusion has been long identified as a key trigger of internal conflict. It represents an impediment to the achievement of national objectives such as peace, stability and economic prosperity. The higher the levels of exclusion in society, the more fertile the grounds for conflict – and a return to violence cannot be ruled out so long as inequalities continue to persist.