‘Full throttle’ lobbying spree to meet possible UNHRC challenges

 The New Year dawned, and the country is slated to experience pressing political and diplomatic challenges in 2014. Main among them is the session of the United Nations Human Rights Council scheduled for March.

‘Cleavage-hiding’ Sitsabaiesan’s evaluation mission in the North

A Canadian parliamentarian of Sri Lankan origin is the latest visitor to the country to undertake a tour of the previously war- torn Northern Province, attempting to evaluate rehabilitation and reconciliation efforts in the region.

Mischievous Indian attempt to vilify Muslims here!

Indian allegations of possible Muslim militant attacks in Sri Lanka over the hanging of a Bangladeshi political leader on December 12, 2013 was another mischievous attempt to portray the Muslims of Sri Lanka as being in conspiracy with militants and terrorists.

Hope and choice in the New Year - Editorial

 As we moved into 2014, some people lavishly spent more than Rs. 20,000 per head for a few hours of revelry while many others were rummaging through garbage bins.

I’m also of the slfp old guard, how can i ignore them?

President Mahinda Rajapaksa in an interview conducted via email stated that there can be “no one Policeman in the world” and questioned as to where those accusing the government of human rights violations were during the past three decades.

Actors and actresses nursing political ambitions

Actress Geetha Kumarasinghe is determined to make her mark in politics, as if we aren't already in enough trouble. Her ambition, as well as drive, seems to have grown by leaps and bounds since her initial disappointment at elections several years ago.

Lakshman Kadirgamar and problems of the post-colonial world

On December 16, 2013  a seminar on ‘Democracy, Sovereignty and Terror:

socialism and the capitalist market economy

In Sri Lanka, it is generally assumed that state takeover of the economy is a step towards ‘socialism’ and fair play

Editorial-The Year 2014: Ours to make it the best yet

In a sense today is another day.  Just another day.  The sun came up like it did yesterday and as it will tomorrow.

‘Cuba stands against politicisation of the UNHRC’

Cuba has gained the membership of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).  As a key ally of Sri Lanka, the country is now planning to play a major role at the March session of the UNHRC.

This country is the property of one cartel

UNP MP Sujeewa Senasinghe who has been one of the most vociferous critics of both the government and the opposition speaks to the Daily Mirror about his views on the newly formed Leadership Council, the allegations of corruption against the government and much more.

They come from Jaffna He comes from Colombo

A9- the road from Jaffna to Colombo is rapidly improving – surface and surroundings- as hundreds from the South travel to the North and are greeted by the northern traders as the mainstay of their sale. Northerners travel in greater numbers to the South in ease and spends more.

Editorial - Conflict over counting of conflict-deaths

A row had developed between the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Census and Statistics Department over the “Census on human and property damages due to conflict.

Editorial - Massacre of the innocents

As the world marks the day on which innocent people and especially children were killed or made to suffer, mainly by wicked and selfish political leaders, we could reflect on....

Organic fertiliser Need of the hour

The government spends around Rs. 33 million annually on fertiliser subsidy - no doubt a colossal amount. Recent state endeavours.....

C. W. W. Kannangara – the father of free education

Once again Dr. Ananda Guruge has gone back to the past and returned with a priceless pearl – the pearl of free education. His book titled, No Pearl of Greater Price, explores the dying days.....

Remembering the 2004 Tsunami - Transforming Shared Vulnerabilities

On 26 December 2004, the world witnessed a devastating natural disaster with an impact that still reverberates nine years later. One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded....

Good cheer at the end of 2013

We have a lot to be thankful for in 2013. Look at the protests now going on in Bangkok. After some initial...

Editorial : Breath of death: We may have to wear masks

In the afterglow of Christmas when Mother Nature also had a divine eco-balance, we need to reflect...

Devyani case exposes duplicity in US diplomacy

The diplomatic crisis between India and the United States over the arrest of Indian diplomat Devyani...

2004-12-26 Tsunami Nine years after

Since 2004, December 26 marks the death anniversaries of two of Nagalakshmi’s children.  “I lost my only son and one of my daughters to the atrocious waves. We have not found their bodies to this day,” she says heaving a loud sigh.

Baby 81 Nine years later

The four month-old that became an icon of hope for the thousands that suffered separation by the devastating waves of the Boxing Day Tsunami,  nine years later, worries of being identified only with the ordeal that befell him as a baby. . .

The big wave of corruption How some found a gold mine in tsunami reconstruction

Nine years ago on a day like today in Sri Lanka more than 40,000 people died while over 800,000 people became homeless due to the Tsunami: a gush of water that suddenly came from the ocean and washed away many lives and buried homes, people and memories inside the cold blue sea.

Letter from 10, Downing St. London and a bombshell on EU and USA

The Daily Mirror was able to have exclusive access to a letter written by British Prime Minister David Cameron hailing the work done in Sri Lanka through sport to highlight reconciliation issues.

A thriving democracy and the worst kind of democracy

Much was written about Nelson Mandela, his life, death and the media circus which invaded his funeral. So much has been written that there is really nothing new to add. But, reading Simon Jenkins’ article about Mandela titled ‘The Mandela coverage and the banality of goodness,’ the following paragraph made me squirm.

TESTING TIMES FOR GRADE 5 SCHOLARSHIP EXAM

Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena is in the news again with yet another proposal that is likely to create controversy:

Editorial-Cooking the books to please whom?

Another state-agency appears to have lost credibility.

INCARNATION: WHEN GOD BECAME LITTLE…

Playing word associations with the word “God” usually throws out responses such as power, majesty, glory, love… stressing the bigness, the greatness, the power, the majesty of God.

Is there any room in the inn?

 Lord Jesus, You can have my room! Mother Teresa once said, “There is terrible physical suffering in some countries, starvation and so on. But that is easier to deal with than the feeling of rejection that the homeless feel. The hardest part for them is not the cold; but the feeling of being unwanted.”

Rampant Corruption a Political Challenge

In India, Anna Hazare has once again sat for a fast in a Satyagraha against the inability of the ruling class to provide necessary legislative provisions to curb corruptions in the political, legal and administrative system.