Foiling drug smugglers: An unenviable task for Customs

A bag with unusual rivets was the only one still moving on the conveyor belt at the Katunayake Airport for nearly two hours. A customs officer who was on duty at the arrival lounge noticed the suspicious bag and removed it to the room occupied by the customs duty officer.

CHINA SRI LANKA RELATIONS IN REVIEW

On 24th October 2013, President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared open the renovated Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH). The renovations were sponsored by China covering a cost of nearly two billion Sri Lankan Rupees.

The Great European Refugee Crisis

Europeans really shouldn’t be worrying about the number of refugees trying to gatecrash Europe by travelling in rickety boats across the Mediterranean. The recent tragedies have the effect of inflating in our minds the numbers. In truth the numbers are not overwhelming.

A ‘Hidden Agenda’ behind the revival of halal protests - Editorial

Bodu Bala Sena recently told media that their priority is Halal. This is quite a statement, one would say, given the issues the country is currently afflicted with. The ever- increasing cost of living, the law and order which has continued to....

A spread of political butter and a squash of orange

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) relies heavily on the government of India to push for a further power devolution arrangement in Sri Lanka, building upon the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.  The TNA has been in constant touch with the leaders of the Congress who call the shots in New Delhi.

Childhood robbed

During the second commemoration of the International Day of the Girl Child in Sri Lanka, Ragama Medical Faculty Professor Aswini Fernando revealed that according to the latest research statistics in year 2012 alone, 3779 child abuse cases had been reported in the country.

A peek into Cuckoo Land

It is a sad facet of our public administrative system that most bureaucrats maintain a deafening silence when any member of the public sends them a letter of inquiry or complaint.

Cameron seeking to ease domestic political pressure

While the decibel level of the lobby against Sri Lanka hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) rose appreciably this week, British Prime Minister David Cameron waded into the controversy, even though he has chosen not to heed the ‘boycott CHOGM’ call.

The shocking truth about the economy - Editorial

As the people of Sri Lanka are brought into a revival of patriotism and pride in preparation for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo, a widely respected economist in a centre page interview in the Daily Mirror yesterday warned that the country was precariously on a....

Editorial - Corruption and Vulgar Luxuries

Like a political cancer, corruption and hypocrisy appear to be afflicting many areas of society ranging from party politics to business and sport, the latest scandal in the widely popular field of cricket is the huge debt of some 3.2 billion rupees

‘Same old ways will be disastrous for govt.’

The Commonwealth Summit is the biggest gamble of the President and his government, locally and internationally.  By pleading with the Royal Palace and the Commonwealth Secretariat, the government has managed to make sure that the Colombo Summit goes ahead as planned. 

‘Lanka facing disaster on mountain of debts’

UNP Parliamentarian and economist Harsha de Silva in a hard hitting interview with the Daily Mirror warned that Sri Lanka was heading for a disaster because the government was borrowing and borrowing at high interest rates, not for development , but to repay earlier debts.

DEMONISING the enemy to seem self-righteous

The Committee for the Protection of Journalists – CPJ has released a list of 19 ‘journalists’ it claims to have been killed since 1992 in Sri Lanka. CPJ says that 1008 journalists were killed since 1992.

Lessons not taught in our school curricula

With no thought for differences in race or religion a group of children from Vakarai spent three happy days as guests of a Colombo school.  How did this all happen? It was a project of the Familian Outreach - the social service arm of Holy Family Convent Bambalapitiya.

Judges’ Use of Online Social Networking; Lesson for Sri Lanka

The increasing use of Internet-based social networking sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook by members of the judiciary raises multiple ethical issues.  For example, may judges and lawyers be connected as “friends” or otherwise through these sites, or.....

Avant-garde Reconciliation A Victory for Common Sense

Whoever said that demand must drive supply was certainly not talking about reconciliation. However, the relevance and applicability of the philosophy and its wisdom in a post-war reconciliation setting cannot be overstated.

Who requires more ministers? But who cares? - Editorial

Barely three weeks after the appointment of nine Deputy Ministers, again there are reports that the government is making arrangements to appoint another set of Deputy Ministers, this time mostly from the.....

Trapped by Medicines: Can anyone walk out?

Unnecessary drugs for simple illnesses. Prescriptions of expensive brands of pharmaceuticals. Pointless laboratory tests. Unwarranted imaging such as CT and MRI. Needless medical procedures. “Diseases” that do not exist, but are “treated”. This is a world-wide phenomenon.

Controversy over Casinos Social, Economic and Political Context

Human social life is full of contradictions, mainly due to the inherent tension between nature and culture. We are often torn between emotion and reason, between naked self -interest and compassion for others, between material greed and spirituality, etc. etc.

Editorial - Cancer in the health service

The latest scandal at the National Cancer Institute in Maharagama is a symptom of how much Sri Lanka’s health service has degenerated. It also gives a clear diagnosis of the need for the Rajapaksa regime—amid fanfare of expressways and other showpiece projects at skyrocketing costs

Help engineer a better future for sri lanka

It gives me great pleasure to deliver the keynote address at the inaugural National Engineering Conference, organised by the Institution of Engineers in Sri Lanka. The theme chosen for this conference – “Engineering Sri Lanka’s Future”- is a very timely and appropriate one.

Editorial - Crown on the head, begging bowl in the hand

For more than four years after the end of the war top government leaders, the Finance Ministry Secretary the Central Bank Chief and others have been giving economic figures and projections suggesting that Sri Lanka’s growth rate

Neither Peace Nor Process : India-Pakistan On Escalation Ladder

Since the beginning of 2013, the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir has come under severe strain. Although incidents of ceasefire violations have shown an upward trend since 2010

Master of modern short story

I hadn’t heard of Alice Mun­ro un­til last week, which is ac­tual­ly my fault, not hers. The Cana­di­an short story writ­er was awar­ded the No­bel Prize for Lit­er­a­ture be­cause the com­mit­tee con­sid­ered her to be a “mas­ter of the mod­ern short story.”

Chemical leak causes panic in Piliyandala

“It was about 2.45 a.m. when I stepped out of the house hoping to reason with my neighbours whom I thought were making a racket... but the minute I stepped outside, it felt so alien; I could not see anything around me, everything was covered in thick, white fog that smelt foul.

Big brother: Man of the ear Kill the beast but big business behind US surveillance scandal

Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. This long-forgotten maxim attributed to far-thinking political philosophers such as Leonard Henry Courtney, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine and Abraham Lincoln needs to be inscribed on a plaque and placed on the.....

Saudi Arabia withdraws from UN Security Council

Diplomats at the UN were amazed last week when Saudi Arabia did the unthinkable and turned down the seat it had just won on the Security Council.

Leaders suffering from moral narcissism - Editorial

World leaders in political, religious or other areas, are elected or appointed to these high and powerful posts, essentially to serve the people, give servant leadership and work for the common good of all without seeking personal gain or glory.

Policy makers challenged by ageing population

Unlike in the 19th century the biggest demographic scare of this age is not the increasing population and the decreasing food resources. Although scarcity of food resources continues to.....

Champika mincing no words

The National Anthem is sung by one with pride and dignity about his or her country, and altering it without a complete appraisal can offend the sensitivities of a nation. Respecting such sentiments, the proposal made by National Languages and....