National Leopard Day 2023 Bridging the gap of coexistence between leopards and humans

In 2021, the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS), one of the oldest wildlife organisations in the country together with the Department of Wildlife declared August 1 as Sri Lanka’s National Leopard Day. This was an attempt to improve the conservation status of leopards at a time when they were being killed due to snares, poaching and other anthropogenic activities. The leopard being a top carnivore in Sri Lanka’s ecosystems draws special

Drama and dichotomy of democracy

On Friday (July 28) evening President Ranil Wickremesinghe and his wife Maithree Wickremesinghe sat at the Lionel Wendt theatre to witness...

Mafia, monopolists and citizens held to ransom - EDITORIAL

Mexico has become infamous for its notorious drug wars, where drug cartels fight to control Mexico’s lucrative drugs trade. The aim...

Cricket lovely cricket, how we mourn thy passing

On Thursday, a group of persons having watched the second Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) grounds stood mournfully and sang “Nearer My God to thee”

The never ending talks on ethnic issues

The All-Party Conference (APC) held on Wednesday (26) was the second one to be called so and convened by President Ranil Wickremesinghe

Gary Anandasangaree Canada’s First Sri Lankan Tamil Cabinet Minister

History was made on July 26, 2023, when Sri Lanka-born Gary Anandasangaree was appointed by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as Minister of Crown–Indigenous Relations to his Cabinet

An Indian author and lessons on morality - EDITORIAL

Sri Lanka is now known as a nation that has driven its people to despair. With regard to the health crisis and the shortage of drugs in the island many medical professionals have aired the view that state...

Quran burning: Western liberal ideology reduced to ashes

Quran-burning demonstrations by Islamophobes in Sweden, Denmark, and other liberal Western nations continue despite condemnations from Islamic nations, protests by Muslims, and the passage of a recent....

Youth Day: Only 2% are MPs

With President Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Government taking practical and effective measures to pull Sri Lanka out of the debt crisis and restore economic stability within a few months, it is important to give a vital place to the role of youth in the economic development strategy. They could get involved practically and effectively in major social problems such as poverty alleviation, and the battle aga

Towards an intellectually robust political lexicon

At the Galle Literary Festival in 2008, I believe the late Sunila Abeysekera pleaded that ‘LTTE’ and ‘Tamil people’ not be conflated. She was pointing fingers at Sinhala nationalists. The following question was put to her: ‘Is there no conflation when the LTTE insists it is the sole representative of the Tamil people and others either agree or remain silent?’

Civil societies condemn Muslim MP’s attempt to derail MMDA reforms

Women and Media Collective (WMC) releasing a press statement has condemned the demands made by the Muslim Members of Parliament (MPs) seeking to block crucial reforms proposed to the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA) of Sri Lanka. These demands have been made through a letter dated 8th June 2023 and addressed to the Minister of Justice. The letter, signed by 17 Muslim MPs, endorses discriminatory and harmful practices, which Muslim women hav

President’s India visit: opportunities and dogmatism

During his last week’s visit to New Delhi, President Ranil Wickremesinghe signed a host of agreements, which, if followed up earnestly, would interlock the Sri Lankan economy with the world’s fastest-growing....

The begging bowl cannot solve our debt crisis - EDITORIAL

On 12 April last year, our government signalled the country was bankrupt and announced suspending the repayment of our external debt, saying the country could no longer honour its commitments owing....

Crisis in the health sector - EDITORIAL

The recent statement by Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella that all those who are admitted to hospitals do not return home alive is no doubt outrageous, despite it being indisputable. It is outrageous as it was made following recent controversial deaths that were suspected of being caused due to poor quality medicines which were said to have been withdrawn after the said deaths. The minister while speaking in Parliament had stated that if a hun

Cabinet posts, no pound of flesh for SLPP

Can Lanka rise from the ashes of July 1983 - EDITORIAL

Today July 24, we remember with sadness one of the most shameful days in our more recent history. A day when the lawfully elected government of the country permitted hooligans and thugs carrying....

Corruption, Health Ministers and Pharma Mafia: Understanding the Presence of Undertakers Near Hospitals

Some funeral directors operating in hospital environs, pay bribes to hospital minor staff, including mortuary workers. These ‘undertakers’ are non-professionals who provide ‘services’ to poor families...

Sri Lanka and the Road to Mediocrity

Domestic Debt Optimization (DDO) has been cannibalizing the commentary in recent weeks but I invite the reader to zoom out of this specific aspect of the recovery to focus on the big picture. The current....

Tamil Political Leadership criticised by Tamil Civil Society

In a significant political development last week, some influential members of Tamil civil society in the northern and eastern provinces of Sri Lanka took the initiative to write directly to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking India’s help in urging the Sri Lankan Government to hold Provincial Council elections as early as possible

The significance of President’s India tour

President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s two-day visit to India on Thursday (20), exactly one year after he was elected President by the Parliament might have kindled many hopes in many groups

The President’s visit to India and balancing strategic interests

President Wickremesinghe in his own words is a man on a mission. His mission ‘...to steady the Lankan ship which just brief year ago was floundering.’

Merrill Joseph Fernando: The ‘tea maker’ who left behind a remarkable legacy

Merrill Joseph Fernando, the visionary founder and CEO of Dilmah Tea, the world renowned Sri Lankan tea brand, passed away on July 20, 2023, at the age of 93. Born on May 6, 1930, in Negombo....

The best next step for improving tax collection

In 2021, the country’s tax revenue as a share of gross domestic product (GDP)reached its lowest level since 1959 – dropping to just 8%. Increasing tax-to-GDP ratio is one of the most important measures....

Are we seeing a rejuvenation in athletics and cricket?

The recent performances of our athletic team has been an eye-opener. For long years, except for a few individual brilliant performances of individual athletes, we have trailed behind other Asian nations in the field.

Teach the people, change the system Educating simple voters to demand a genuine and simple electoral system is a social responsibility

Our simple voters, as main stakeholders of a General Election, primarily want to know the Winning Party and the number of seats they have won; Secondarily, the names of the ‘225’ who will represent them in the Supreme Parliament. They are not keen to know how the number of seats were calculated but accept the result like the ‘Bible truth’. Even if they were keen, they would have given up halfway, unable to digest complex factors such as ‘Relevant

Unbanning Extremism

The Government has decided to lift the ban on five of 11 Islamic organizations that were proscribed after the Easter Sunday attacks on April 21, 2019, according to our sister newspaper Sunday Times. Accordingly...

Nelson Mandela: A giant of our times

Sri Lanka has witnessed many political insurrections, a 30-year ethnic conflict, and class struggles up until the most recent people’s resistance (Aragalaya). In each of these uprisings, the oppressed communities sought justice. Or equality, in other words. Against this backdrop, it is quite apt to remember Nelson Mandela, an individual who was determined to end the apartheid era and bring about a multiracial democracy.

July - the most momentous month Many landmark events have marked July in recent Sri Lankan history

The month of July has had an uncanny relationship with landmark events in recent Sri Lankan history. The latest took place only last year. A cataclysmic mass movement (“Aragalaya”) resulted in an elected President fleeing the country and being replaced in an unprecedented manner by one whose party had been comprehensively defeated in the preceding parliamentary elections. However, the truly epoch-making series of events took place way back in

Growing hospital deaths and charges of corruption - EDITORIAL

Not so long ago -in the late 1990s the health services of our country was praised by organisations such as the World Health....

Shifting Allegiances: From Rilaw Monkeys to Crudia

Monks, politicians, and environmentalists often exhibit a tendency to extend their passion beyond rational boundaries. Their focus....