CAMERON RISKS THE UNION

David Cameron's proposal for a referendum on Scottish independence might have caught opponents as well as allies by surprise. At first sight, the British Prime Minister seems to be setting the terms for the play on this issue. He appears to be outmanoeuvring Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond, by offering him what he wants, but with conditions; Mr. Salmond's Scottish National Party (SNP), which holds an absolute majority with 69

LLRC RECOMMENDATIONS NEED IMPLEMENTATION

Following is the statement sent by the Communist Party of Sri Lanka (CPSL) on the LLRC Report. The Commission was called upon to inquire and report on the facts and circumstances that led to the failure of the Ceasefire Agreement that was in force from 21st September, 2002, and the sequence of events that followed thereafter up to 19th May, 2009.

Pay hike for CEB employees

Ceylon Electricity Board workers' Trade Union held a massive protest on January 3, outside the CEB headquarters demanding a 45 per cent pay hike instead of the18 per cent increase that has been already granted.The CEB is a powerful trade union in the country due to its crucial impact on the economy.

Uncertain futures

The young people of this country have been asked to jump through a number of hoops, over the past couple of months, simply to survive. The present young generation has suffered...

Syria: factors behind the bloody shambles

Syria is standing firm despite the enormity of the human rights violations the regime there is indulging in. According to the United Nations' estimate, more than 5,000 Syrians have been killed since the protests began in February last year in support of the...

Print this storyIndia tycoon’s got tons of cash, nowhere to invest

MUMBAI, India - Ajay Piramal is sitting on a mountain of cash. Yet the billionaire Indian tycoon, working in one of the world’s fastest growing economies, is struggling to figure out what to do with the money.

Female representation must begin at the grass roots

Sri Lanka was one of the forerunners in the fight for universal suffrage since 1927; in this region we were one of the first countries to give women the right to vote and contest. In 1931 when the battle was finally won we had 4.5 percent in the council. However we are yet to move forward from this achievement - almost eighty years later there are only 13 women in an assembly of 225. In this context it is mandatory that the fight for equal repres

CONFLICT, REFORM & RECONCILIATION

/images/dayan_jayatilleke_logo.jpg The New Year brought a valuable gift in my email. It was a dossier entitled ‘Seeking Space for State Reform’ and carried an even more beguiling subtitle, ‘Consensus and Contradictions in Public Perceptions’.  A publication of the ICES (the International Centre for Ethnic Studies, from and of which I hadn’t heard for quite a while), it was a product of the Politics of State Refo

Are women in the North and East facing a security crisis?

The International Crisis Group (ICG) report on ‘Sri Lanka: Women’s Insecurity in the North and East’ alleges that violence against women in Sri Lanka is on the rise and that women in the North and East face “a desperate lack of security” in the aftermath of the armed conflict.

Time for restraint

Neville Chamberlain came back from Berlin and shouted, 'peace in our times,' thereby ending the war of words. Soon after, Germany invaded Poland and England was sucked into what would be five-year World War of attrition.

HUMAN CAPITAL FORMATION: TRENDS AND PROBLEMS

The term Human Capital Formation refers to the “Process of acquiring and increasing the number of persons who have the skills, education and experience which are critical for  the economic and political development of the country. Human Capital Formation is thus associated with investment in man and his development as a creative and productive resource.

From Paradise to Purgatory

The incident that took place on Christmas day last year called into question the safety of foreign nationals on...

War looms: West waits FOR Iran to pull trigger

On Saturday United States President Barack Obama signed a bill to penalise foreign companies or institutions dealing with Iran's Central Bank — a move that carries the potential to scuttle Iran's oil exports. This came amidst fresh US-Israeli talks

Present state of governance is unstable: Wickramabahu

The JVP supported the war, and in their own words they dragged Mahinda into the war like dragging a dog to have a bath. They were giving the political backing necessary to stop Tamil liberation. The logical outcome of that would have been that they joined the government after the war and became a very powerful force within the government. This is what Wimal Weerawansa is doing and his strategy has worked very well. What the JVP is trying to do is

The euro crisscross

 The battered euro is looking for a new lease of life. Soaring debt burden and mismanagement at the macroeconomic level has almost nullified the essence and utility of the common currency in Europe.

LLRC report, an inconvenient truth?

The LLRC report was finally made public by tabling it in Parliament in late December and the report presents the government and the Southern polity with some inconvenient truths. It mostly challenges the narrative made popular by government leaders and ideologues and ably supported by the mainstream media, that the main impediment to a solution is the TNA.

Let’s make the New Year auspicious

 A New Year has dawned! We are all aware that a day wears out and a new day begins due to the revolving of the Earth on its axis and a year is created when the Earth revolves around the Sun. This happens with no recognition of the calendar, invented by us.

Quotes of the Week

There will be no inquiry to ascertain who made the blunders and there can be no guarantee that these mistakes will not happen in the future— S.B. Dissanayake, Higher Education Minister, referring to the A/Level results debacle at a press conference. President Mahinda Rajapaksa later appointed a committee to look into the results anomalies.

‘Western accusations aimed at making Iran subservient to the West’

Iran’s Ambassador to Sri Lanka Mohammed Nabi Hassanipour By Ayesha Zuhair In his first media interview since assuming duties as Iran’s new Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Mohammed Nabi Hassanipour discusses with the Daily Mirror the current relations between Iran and Sri Lanka, his priorities as Head of Mission and Iran’s role in international politics.

A rite of passage that leads to a hospital bed

I have not experienced extreme ragging therefore it is hard for me to imagine how life threatening and fear inducing it could be. Unfortunately ragging ranks high on the “right of passage” list of university experiences and has  become the widely accepted form of socialization between the freshers and seniors. Ragging is a form of exerting undue power over another. The freshers are at the mercy of their seniors and they are force

Innovations that resolve social issues are the need of the hour - Anil Gupta

Anil Gupta is a pioneer and all his attempts are focused on harnessing inventions and converting them into innovations that are commercially viable and would serve the masses.

Where to in 2012? Expectations for the dawning new year

"What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from." T.S Elliot wrote. As a new year heralds in a new beginning for many of us who live by the dates on a calendar and to whom time is no illusion, Daily Mirror today looks into what can be expected during 2012 from those in power.

We should not over-medicalise social issues

Dr. Shehan Williams on Hot Seat Shehan ,Great to view your interview. I still remember the university fellowship time .Thanks for helping the needy people in Sri Lanka.

Windows of opportunity

New Delhi’s ‘initial’ reaction to the LLRC Report may not have set the Palk Strait, leave alone the Indian Ocean, on fire but it will have its own consequences if and when the West takes it up at the UNHRC at Geneva in March. Coupled with near-similar positions taken by Russia and China,

North Korea: the soul behind the demon

As 2011 draws to a close, what more can symbolize the uncertainty of 2012 than the future of North Korea under a young and inexperienced new leader?

Conserving the Taj Mahal

The conservation of the 363-year-old Taj Mahal - the jewel among Indian monuments and one of the most visited world heritage sites - has yet again

Oily Palms and Friends in High Places

Last Thursday Parliament was informed that a certain Deputy Minister representing the Gampaha District was taking bribes of Rs. 3.5 million...

Asian Century, New Cold War, Sri Lanka’s foreign policy in the new ‘Super Region’

The global political terrain is undergoing a massive transformation, most of the transformatory features were witnessed in 2011. There is a definite shift in the Washington doctrine on how the USA perceives the world, influenced by a significant economic crisis at home, decline of Europe, the upheavals in Arab States, shifts in theatres of battles to the more visible rise of China and its repercussions.

Don’t over-medicalise social issues: Dr. Shehan Williams

Dr. Shehan Williams, the Head of the Department of Psychiatry, Faulty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya and the Secretary of the Sri Lanka College of Psychiatrists spoke to the Daily Mirror on the stigma surrounding mental health care in the country, the work done by the College of Psychiatrist to dispel this stigma and set in place structures that afford access to mental healthcare. He addressed the broader social issues being faced by Sri Lan

Quotes of the Week

Join hands with the government and create a political culture that upholds national harmony and mutual understanding among the Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim Communities