From despair and disability to hope and love: Ayati: A lifeline to disabled children

According to the World Health Organisation, sixteen percent of the world’s population – at least 1.3 billion people, have some form of disability, whether by birth or developed later in life. Children (aged 0 to 17) with disabilities, which account for 240 million of all disabled people worldwide, are among the most marginalised people in every society. They lack many things including their fundamental rights from the very early stages of thei

Education pressure cookers and contempt for ‘failures’

Winner takes everything and loser takes nothing? This seems to be the heartfelt conviction, if not the motto of many Sri Lankans. There is no place for losers in a country where so many are struggling to make ends meet.

San Trading Enterprises, IDSF & Fenesta Unveils the House of Trading, A showroom / Experience Center for all construction related needs under one roof

San Trading Enterprises (STE), together with its design and manufacturing arm, IDSF – I Design Studio Factory, has inaugurated a state-of-the-art Experience Center in Colombo, featuring the first-ever Fenesta showroom in Sri Lanka.

The UN: A Waste of Money? Sri Lanka:Time for Professional Speechwriters

The UN General Assembly meeting showed a badly broken world order, with world leaders giving speeches that revealed deep splits on how to run the world, solve conflicts, and protect human rights. The assembly became a fight between those wanting countries to work together versus those wanting each nation to go it alone.

Young Contemporaries 2025 Spotlights Sri Lanka’s next wave of artistic talent

The George Keyt Foundation returns with Young Contemporaries 2025, a landmark exhibition spotlighting 12 rising Sri Lankan artists at Barefoot Gallery, Colombo, from September 24–28. Showcasing diverse practices from painting to multimedia, the exhibition celebrates new voices in contemporary art while continuing the Foundation’s 35-year legacy of nurturing talent and preserving Sri Lanka’s artistic heritage.

ILLEGAL SAND MINING and impacts on farmers in Kilinochchi

Farmers in Kandawalai and surrounding areas in Kilinochchi have been impacted by illegal sand mining activities that have been taking place since 2015. They complain that permits have been issued illegally, and many individuals have been mining sand beyond the designated areas mentioned in the permits. As a result, farmers experience soil erosion, flooding and other environmental issues due to unregulated sand mining taking place in these areas.

Fight for the lakes: Sri Lanka’s war on invasive fish begins

Sri Lanka has banned four predatory fish species, including piranhas and alligator gar, to protect native biodiversity. Authorities are combining strict regulations with community initiatives, encouraging responsible management and public participation to safeguard rivers, lakes, and reservoirs.

Timber smuggler attacks regional reporter who exposed illegal felling

The Free Media Movement (FMM) has strongly condemned the attack on Ridimaliyadda regional reporter Vimukthi Sanjaya Perera who is responsible for exposing illegal tree felling and other nefarious activities in the area.

Preserving the soul of classic Sri Lankan cinema

Sri Lankan cinema is currently at a critical juncture, and we are faced with the challenge of preserving our films for the future.

Facebook:How to survive perverts, idiots and con(wo)men

For those who started writing on typewriters, drove rear wheel drive vehicles, or made phone calls on ancient contraptions which insisted that numbers be dialled by turning a ring (crazy!), social media is at best a necessary evil.

The many aspects of the grisly gun culture in the US

America is everybody’s dream destination. The allure is in its cutting-edge technology, the opportunities it gives to anyone wanting to work hard and excel, and its welcoming approach to foreigners.

From snared to swimming: A breakthrough tale

This is the success story of a young male Sri Lankan leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya), the islands apex terrestrial predator, a threatened and endemic subspecies, who was rescued and treated after being caught in a wire snare, who defied the odds and successfully returned to its home range not just by walking, but swimming.

Celebrating heroes from everyday life Civil power and the journey from birth to death

Sri Lanka overhauls Port City incentives

The government has introduced a significantly revised and less generous incentive framework for investors in the Colombo Port City Special Economic Zone (SEZ), slashing lengthy tax holidays and raising investment thresholds.

Advances in child cancer care bring ray of hope this September

In the heart of Sri Lanka, September is more than just another month – it’s Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, a time to shine a light on the realities, challenges and triumphs of children and adolescents battling cancer and to rally families, communities and healthcare providers around early detection, care and hope.

SL’s cannabis call: short term pleasure for long term pain

Sri Lanka, scripting history for the first time, green lighted the first-ever Cannabis cultivation only last month.

Experts flag delays, push for reforms in MDB projects

The World Bank (WB) last week announced that Sri Lanka has made remarkable strides in stabilising its economy, undertaking one of the largest fiscal adjustments in its history, equal to nearly 8% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over three years, and doing so faster than most countries. While this signals remarkable economic progress, development and public finance experts caution that the effectiveness of Multilateral Development Bank (MDBs)

Gig-for-Gaza roars louder than Doha debacle

The buildup to Monday’s emergency summit of Arab and Muslim leaders in the Qatari capital, Doha, signalled a potential turning point in Arab-Israeli relations-or a tough retaliation against Israel for bombing Qatar on September 9. But in the end, the outcome was just another round of condemnations and a lengthy communiqué that Israel,

Ambitious plans and sobering realities: The World Will Not Wait for Sri Lanka to Reform

In a 1996 speech to the Singapore Press Club, Lee Kuan Yew addressed the challenge of ensuring Singapore’s survival beyond his leadership and laid out the core principle of its success. He explained that Singapore prospered by “creating first-world conditions in a third-world region” and becoming “a base camp from which entrepreneurs forayed into the less developed areas around it”.

World Ozone Day: Sri Lanka among top ten countries at risk

Observed annually on September 16, World Ozone Day commemorates the signing of the Montreal Protocol in 1987, an important international treaty aimed at protecting the ozone layer from substances that deplete it. In order to protect life on Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation, every nation endeavored to ‘fix the hole in the sky’ through a global partnership. Thus, the Montreal Protocol became the first treaty to achieve universal ratificatio

Unknown and neglected - the enigmatic Manta Ray

Sri Lanka’s manta rays, the largest of the ray family, face grave threats from overfishing, bycatch, and international gill plate trade despite their vital ecological role. Experts warn their slow reproduction makes them especially vulnerable, while neglect and lack of awareness have left conservation efforts lagging. Protecting these endangered giants is crucial for biodiversity and Sri Lanka’s global reputation.

SASSRI launch signals new era for South Asia’s sustainability and security agenda

As climate change accelerates, geopolitical tensions simmer, and economic inequalities deepen, South Asia finds itself navigating one of the most complex periods in its modern history.

Weighing international schools against tradition

Sri Lanka’s education system is at a crossroads, as parents weigh the merits of government and international schools.

Long history of failures Sri Lanka’s Lost Decades and Flawed World Bank Projects

Last week, the World Bank released two documents on Sri Lanka: A report titled, ‘Sri Lanka Public Finance Review’ addressing Sri Lanka’s painful fiscal adjustment over the last few years, and an appraisal document for a USD 100 million loan for its new ‘Integrated Rurban Development and Climate Resilience Project’.

Palm oil ban deepens forex drain for SL, industry warns

The ban on palm oil cultivation has cost the country millions in foreign exchange and risks worsening its fragile economic recovery, the Planters’ Association of Ceylon (PA) said, urging the government to reverse

Appreciation on Air Vice Marshal Prasanna Payoe Happy birthday, Wingman!

“A wingman isn’t just someone who flies beside you. He’s the one who makes sure you never fly alone.” – Anonymous This article is penned in memory of the late Air Vice Marshal Prasanna Payoe RWP, RSP, USP, MSc (NSWS-Pak), ndc (Pak), psc on his birthday 12th September.

A performer has a copyright or a performer’s right only?

Firstly, we need to understand who a performer is; a performer is someone like a singer, actor, dancer, or musician. The performer has a performance right over their performance, but do they have a copyright? Performers eternally dabble with the question and want a copyright over their performance. In this regard, it is important to note how it breaks down when it comes to copyright and performers’ rights.

Global promotion gaps put SL’s 2030 tourism targets at risk

Sri Lanka’s ambitious plan to attract five million tourists and generate US$ 10 billion in annual revenue by 2030 is under threat as bureaucratic delays stall a critical global promotional campaign, industry leaders said.

Can this Govt. reckon with a brutal past? Unearthing truths about Sri Lanka’s mass graves so close, but yet too far

Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath’s speech at the 60th United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session, currently underway in Geneva, reiterated the fact that Sri Lanka is committed to the accountability process only through a domestic mechanism.

AI tools like ChatGPT taking over our thinking?

Sri Lankan students increasingly rely on AI tools like ChatGPT for academic work, often using them nearly 100% of the time. Educators warn this convenience may be eroding critical thinking, creativity, and reflection, urgingstudents to treat AI as a tool, not a substitute for active learning and cognitive effort.