Guidelines by Army to be issued to all hotels

A security briefing to all the Colombo city hotels and some suburban hoteliers had been held yesterday, the Chairman of both Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) and Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB), Kishu Gomes said.

Should trust and truth be mutually exclusive in Sri Lanka?

The value of truthfulness is universally accepted. It is so vital to society that it even exists in some form or other in all religious scriptures that instil the basic values and morals society lives by. Buddhists vow to refrain from being untruthful, Christians....

No “Hosannas” for inter-religious harmony as Methodist prayer centre faces Palm Sunday attack

While many Christians, non-Christians, politicians and government leaders in Sri Lanka were gripped by the fire that engulfed the historic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris last Monday, little attention was given to a mob attack on.....

Arrest of writer Sathkumara sparks debate on freedom of expression

On April 1, award-winning author and poet Shakthika Sathkumara was arrested and remanded on contrived charges of inciting religious hatred, a move that has been decried by artists, academics and free-speech advocates as setting a dangerous precedent against the freedom of expression.

President’s anti-drug campaign: For real or a farce?

Is President Maithripala Sirisena’s anti-narcotic campaign an opportunistic farce to lure voters to his bid for a second term in the office- or a genuine mission guided by a political will unseen in his predecessors? Public opinion seems to be mixed, not unsu

Putting the private bus service in order

Public transportation in Sri Lanka is widespread that the majority of people prefer to make it their mode of travel. Apart from the people’s habit to travel in trains, they often choose the bus as a mode of transport. However, there has been criticism regarding buses in terms excessive speed, extra horns, competition among buses and sound systems that produce loud noise, etc. It is the commuters who feel inconvenien

No dream too big for Fight Cancer Movement

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on April 1, 2019, between the Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine and the Kadijah Foundation’s Fight Cancer Team with plans to purchase Tomotherapy and LINAC...

J’pura university creates a new app to find bananas with carbid: Undergrads impress at “Innovate Sri Lanka 2019”

Nowadays schoolchildren and university students pay more attention on innovations and are willing to develop novel things which can be used to solve current problems in our day-to-day lives. Our new education system also highly contributes....

Bitter homecoming for Muslims in Mannar

On March 15, Muslims, grouping in their dozens, protested in front of the Sri Lanka Navy Camp in Silavathurai- home to the highest number of Muslims in Northern Province-demanding the Navy to move out of their residential area. Their mission behind this long-standing protest is to reclaim the 36 acre land; the home for many generations of Muslims and occupied by the Sri Lanka Navy.

Conference of Parties (CoP) CITES confab from May 23 to June 3 at BMICH

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, commonly referred to as CITES, is an international agreement between governments whose primary aim is to ensure international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the relevant species’ survival.

Wilpattu, Islamophobia

The anti-Muslim campaign of the fringe Sinhala Buddhist ultra-nationalist bigotry is regenerative. It is adept at finding a new ruse every now and then. The list ranges from Halal, cow slaughter, Muslim clothing stores, wada pethi (sterilizing tablets) and the latest ‘Save Wilpattu.’ All the past campaigns culminated in a violent upheaval, after

The truth about the Geneva UNHRC Resolution

During the past few weeks, I have been watching the many headlines, debates, misinformation, misrepresentation of facts as well as self-congratulatory statements by some members of the delegation that went to Geneva to participate in the 40th session of the Human Rights Council where the High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet presented the Report on Sri Lanka as requested by the Human Rights Council.