The misery behind missile message

Sending messages through missiles was a feature of the Cold War that had divided the world along ideological lines since the end of World War II till the...

The post ceasefire gloom

The continuing violence despite the ceasefire implemented earlier this month has raised fresh concerns about the Syrian crisis. UN special envoy Kofi...

The language of harmony

In multi ethnic societies, language rights take on special significance, the case of Sri Lanka being no exception. Language has played a major role in the...

Maldives: Institution-building, the why and how of it

Former President Mohammed Nasheed was on a six-day-long visit to India, pressing his case for early elections and reiterating his position on the need...

Do not let Agni V's shock and awe endanger Asian stability

By Kate Sullivan India outed its nuclear bomb and yet remained the land of Gandhi. The same message of peace and power should follow the launch of its first ICBM.

An economy devoid of trivialization and fairytales?

It was quite sad to see how a number of Cabinet Ministers and public officials who have been entrusted in running the country's economy, education, trade etc. were subjected to absolute ridicule as a result of some remarks they had made recently.

A dangerous precedent

Unfortunately, war fever seems to have gripped Sudan once again. This time around Sudan and the newly independent South Sudan are at loggerheads.

May Day - beyond a mere celebration…

The great philosopher Fredrick Engels has said that man has been created by 'labour.' He said this considering the ta.sk 'labour' has fulfilled within the process that spread out from the primeval ape to the creation of modern man.

Part of the problem

Tamil 'Eelam' is for Tamil Nadu politicians what the full moon is for hungry wolves. All their howling is...

Guardians for the Future

By Judge C. G. Weeramantry, Ashok Khosla, Dr. Scilla Elworthy Today, vast factory trawlers are...

Elders’ welfare: A mere roadmap on paper?

As the Founder Member of The NGO Forum on Ageing [NFOA], I write with reference to the report appearing in the Daily Mirror of...

Learning from convergences and divergences

There had been large scale local criticism of India and the USA, after the adoption of the UNHRC resolution in Geneva. It was...

RESPONSE TO AN ARTICLE HEADLINED,“INTRIGUES BY THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS”

The attention of the Ministry of External Affairs has been drawn to the article under the headline, “Intrigues by the Ministry of External Affairs” authored by Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha and published in the Daily Mirror of Thursday, April 19.

BEHIND AND BEYOND INDIAN MPS’VISIT

It may be too early to evaluate the gains from the Sri Lanka visit of a delegation of Indian parliamentarians from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

WE ARE ONLY AT THE INITIAL STAGES OF THE BATTLE: Tamara Kunanayakam

In an e-mail interview with the Daily Mirror, Ambassador Tamara Kunanayakam,Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, discusses the US-backed resolution against Sri Lanka which was adopted at the 19th session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) and the challenges ahead.

The ‘game-changer’

Agni V, India's most powerful long-range ballistic missile, has lived up to the hopes of its creators at the Defence Research & Development Organisation.

Realities of Politics Based Web Censorship

By Udara Soysa Can politically sensitive websites be controlled by governments? What are the technological and political challenges and subsequent repercussions from such actions?

Should education be a commodity?

Education is a right for every single human being in this world. But  free education has undergone a number of changes, and those changes have begun to affect our free education system in Sri Lanka too. 

How serious is Karunanidhi in his call for Tamil Eelam?

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), a constituent party of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance at the Indian Central Government, on Tuesday urged the Centre to press the United Nations for a referendum on a ‘Tamil Eelam' in Sri Lanka. 

The hidden horror in the holy land

With the attention of the international media being focused on the US elections and the conflict in Syria, the Palestinian crisis receives little coverage...

No country for baby girls

The much publicised case of Baby Afreen's tragic death in a Bangalore hospital will perhaps go down among the most brutal instances of the...

Popularity is not politics, JVP will survive despite breakaways - Vijitha Herath

JVP MP Vijitha Herath spoke to the Daily Mirror about drama revolving around the disappearance of Premakumar Gunaratnam, the survival of the JVP...

Withdrawal notepad

 Australia has cast the first stone in the withdrawal process from Afghanistan. Prime Minister Julia Gillard's conviction...

Intrigues by the Ministry of External Affairs

I was delighted to have recently been criticized in an account of what happened in Geneva that  basically attempted to...

“I have always worked according to my conscience.”

I must say that I became a judge unexpectedly. I was called to the Bar in February 1979 and since then I was in practice until...

Sri Lanka’s youth employment challenge

It is important that the demand for and supply of labour are strongly related to one another, otherwise, the chance for a mismatch...

Ceasefire under the lens

It's monitoring time in Damascus. The first batch of the United Nations observers that arrived to supervise the fragile ceasefire has a gigantic task to deliver. Not only are they mandated to form an opinion that would enable the world body to act in Syria but would also further the process of transition. But the onus still lies with the reigning Baath Party, which should ensure that guns hold fire and nothing that violates the terms of the

Civic action promoting governance in South Asia

By Jeevan Thiagarajah The 80’s was a time of change in the former Soviet Union and allies .The winds of change was towards democracy in countries, which had other forms of governance. A colleague, Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam was invited to Observe Election in Chile. A first then.  He soon after went to Hungary for similar purposes. Civil society involvement in matters such Election observations and drafting of constitutions was becoming mo

We are all Khans

The detention of actor Shah Rukh Khan for about two hours by immigration officials at a United States airport has resulted in considerable public outrage in India. It is important to separate the emotional chaff from the dispassionate grain when dealing with this issue. Inflamed hyper-nationalistic reaction — reflected in retributory calls for similar treatment meted out to visiting U.S.

LEFT BANK

Paris is where ex-revolutionaries wind up as ambassadors: my colleagues include several well-educated, cultured, Latin Americans and even a European, with backgrounds as revolutionary activists (and at least two former political prisoners). We have a special camaraderie and a shared intellectual formation and culture, and we each have our stories, our experiences, our lessons learnt.