EDUCATION: WHERE ARE WE HEADING? ARE WE MISSING THE WOOD FOR THE TREES?

The Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) has ended its three month old strike action ostensibly demanding higher salaries for the university teachers. How futile or otherwise this entire FUTA exercise had been will be debated for sometime by all stake-holders

Prison Riots and National Stability

The prison riots last week dominated news and drew  increasing public attention to the situation. According to a report posted on the Daily Mirror website, the armed forces discovered 11 bodies of prisoners on Saturday raising the death toll in an overnight prison riot in the capital to 27.

Realising Malala’s dream

Even after the courageous Malala Yousafzai won Pakistan’s first National Award Peace Prize for pursuing education in the militant-infested Swat valley, very few Pakistanis actually knew much about her.

Editorial - Statesmanship could settle this crisis

With the impeachment crisis worsening, the Chief Justice through her lawyers has issued a statement strongly refuting the main charges made against her by the Government in the impeachment motion, which the Speaker placed in the order paper of parliament last Tuesday.

Indian govt. would have collapsed if it had voted for SL at UN sessions

Sound relationship based on mutual understanding between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Mahinda Rajapaksa, says Rashpal Malhotra

Obama’s starpower

There are no prizes for guessing that Clint Eastwood probably punched an ‘invisible’ Obama in anger after the US election results were announced. And there are also no prizes for guessing that few members from the American film fraternity would have shared the 81-year-old filmmaker’s grief after Mitt Romney’s loss.

Impeachment of Chief justice Sri Lanka and philippine

The impeachment motion filed against the Chief Justice of Sri Lanka a few days ago (Nov 1, 2012) has resulted in bringing a political storm especially within the legal and political spheres of the island.

Editorial - Prison-break

Drama was not the word when pandemonium broke loose in the Welikada prison on Friday, which ended up killing twenty-seven persons. Though the exact reason for the fiasco is yet to be revealed, it could be nothing but the zero tolerance of the inmates in the face of the surprise raids by the STF in the latter’s mission to crackdown on drug related activities behind the bars.

Is South Africa digging its own grave?

Is South Africa going to tumble from the sky like some out-of-control aeroplane? It is beginning to look like it. Ex-president, Nelson Mandela, who sacrificed a good part of his life in jail to liberate it, must be wondering, and doubtless is full of grief.

Editorial - Obama victory changes face of America

The re-election of Barack Obama as the President of the United States has changed the face of the world’s leading superpower and has some important lessons for Sri Lanka in issues relating to ethnic harmony, unity in diversity and social justice.

Obama: 2nd chance to restore US image

When Barack Hussein Obama won the presidency in 2008, many thought he would be a one-term president. Some even feared that he would be...

Where the womb becomes the tomb

Sunday November 11 has been declared as the Day of the Unborn Child. Behind this theme are some horrifying figures...

2013 Annual Budget

Relief was the call when President Mahinda Rajapaksa read the Budget for the year 2013 in Parliament yesterday. Though the lengthy report contains...

Flooded with agony and political chicanery

“For the past 32 years, I don’t think I have slept soundly a single night during rains,” Shermila, a resident of Sedawatte, Kelaniya says.  Born and raised in the area and now a mother of two, this young mother says they are gripped with the fear of losing their shelter due to constant floods prevalent in the area.

FUTA and our future

FUTA sold out after a long haul and we are yet to hear of the progress with regard to demands and proposals that were discussed at negotiations.  The decision to go back to work, despite being apparently dissatisfied with the Government’s response to the demands

Editorial - Lonely in the planet

The so-called paradise would look pretty from outside; so pretty that the travellers are tempted to cross many seas to rest their feet on this soil. Even during the troubled times, despite the travel warnings issued by many countries, there were tourists who braved the troubled terrain.

Naked more than TRANSPARENT

Impeachment is an eerie prospect - a legislative lasso twirled to hurl a justice up for unseating. It dispatches a chilling message where a government holds a majority. If the parliamentary majority is overwhelming, logistically the judiciary is tied to a kennel lashed by the party whip. The dice is heavily loaded against – unfairly. Citizens face a similar ordeal when Justice takes them on contempt of court.

Dialogue in Doha

The Syrian opposition groups, who recently met in Doha, seem to be in a confused state of mind. Their endeavour to put in a credible opposition to dismantle the regime in Damascus is faced with tough tasks.

A BIPARTISAN BUDGET DEBATE

Women struggling to sustain homes, wage earners, the business community and economists and other professionals, all await the presentation to Parliament of the Government’s budget proposals for the year 2013, on 8th November 2012.

To thine ownself be true

The Government is resorting to the impeachment of the Chief Justice, whose appointment was signed and approved by the head of the same regime. To facilitate this process, the Government had sought and collected 117 signatures from the members of Parliament, for this motion to be handed to the Speaker, so that the death knell could be expedited against the last bastion that protects democracy and the fundamental rights of the people.

TWO GLOBAL SUPERPOWERS ONE GLOBAL CHALLENGE

While the world’s attention is focussed on the leadership contest in the United States, the leadership change that will unfold in China just days after the US presidential elections has received comparatively less attention.

Competition or Monopoly in Education?

There is considerable opposition from the university students as well as university teachers to the establishment of national or international private universities in Sri Lanka.

Impeachment: The crisis and the solution - Editorial

The 2013 Budget to be presented in Parliament on Thursday has been overshadowed by events that could make or break democracy in Sri Lanka. When Parliament meets today, the Speaker will announce the ruling of the Supreme Court on the Divi Neguma Bill amid one of the most serious crises between the all-powerful Executive and the Legislature on one side, and the Judiciary on the other.

India's Panchayat system is model for power devolution

Q: What are you planning to do under Divineguma Bill?  A :  Divineguma is actually a movement. In the past, there were family based self-sufficient economies. They did paddy cultivation.

The price “good men” pay

Thus we speak on this present interference with the judiciary, which began with the so called “unknown attack” on the Secretary of the JSC, followed now by a more “known” attack on the head of the Judiciary herself. We do so, not to hold a candle to anyone;

Budget 2013: luxury Vs frugality - Editorial

The annual budget for the year 2013 will be presented in Parliament this week. From the fourth budget after the conclusion of war, people still expect the reliefs promised long ago by the government. However....

Impeachment of CJ: An Effort to Preserve Arbitrary Rule

It may appear that the Rajapaksa regime is so powerful that even for the initial impeachment motion against the Chief Justice, Dr Shirani Bandaranayake, it has gathered 117 signatures of parliamentarians.

Speak out for democracy, or remain silent forever - Editorial

A parliamentary motion to impeach Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake was presented to the Speaker on Thursday, marking a dangerous stage for democracy and the separation of powers which have carried Sri Lanka through trials and tribulations, bloody insurrections and war since independence.

Israel’s nuclear weapons

The story of Israel’s nuclear bomb is rarely told. But we hear a lot about the possible Iranian bomb and the dangerous bombs of Pakistan that perhaps...

Cricket mudalalis watch out: Disaster if you lose your fans

Gone with the wind is the lofty Olympic motto, “When the One Great Scorer comes to write against your name He writes not whether you won or lost but...