The budget vote, a divided opposition and difficulties ahead

The second reading of the budget was passed on the 22nd of this month. The budget offered no relief to the people and is widely believed to have been drawn up in line with International Monetary Fund (IMF) requirements One-hundred-and-twenty-one MPs voted in favour.

People’s dilemma: Stability or protests

Inter University Bikkhu Federation Convener Ven. Galwewa Siridhamma Thera who was detained along with Convener of the Inter University Student Federation (IUSF) Wasantha Mudalige under a ninety-day detention order issued by President Ranil Wickremesinghe as the Defence Minister was released on bail by Colombo Additional Magistrate T.N.L.Mahawatta on Wednesday.

Are you ‘qualified’ to teach? - EDITORIAL

A photograph appearing recently in our sister paper ‘The Sunday Times’ showed how a teacher and some students of a remote school in Puttalam were conducting traditional rites to mark the opening....

World Cup: Qatar’s goal for inter-civilisational dialogue

Qatar, the host of the 2022 Football World Cup, lost the opening game to Ecuador 2-0. But it has already emerged a mighty winner. We are not talking about the successful manner in which it is conducting....

Reforms with IMF would lead to many thousands of school dropouts

If over 30% of school children drop out of school in the beginning of next year that should not be a surprise.

To Deny People their rights is to Challenge Their Humanity

Human rights have become a major issue in Sri Lanka since President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected as President in 2019.

FIFA World Cup and hypocrisy in Qatar - EDITORIAL

The world’s biggest extravaganza, the quadrennial (four-yearly) FIFA World Cup, has begun in Qatar. It’s been 12 years since it was.....

That Twitter journalism groove

It was in 2009 that I first started using Twitter. It had been around for a while by then. During those days, the main network for instant....

Why is Public Service Commission dragging its feet on serving justice to Shani and Ranjan?

The Public Service Commission (PSC) reportedly has blocked two retired senior public officers, their due salaries/ pensions allegedly.....

Regular human smuggling and haphazard remedies

The last week’s revelation of a seeming sex trafficking racket by a group consisting of employment agents and state officials is not something that we hear for the first time. So many times before we have seen Sri Lankan women speaking from so-called safe houses in Middle Eastern countries over social media explaining the horrifying experience they have been undergoing. We have read thousands of newspaper reports on such i

Mahinda at 77: What is his legacy?

As former President Mahinda Rajapaksa celebrated his 77th birthday last week, one might have pondered over the legacy of Rajapaksa or more accurately, of the Rajapaksas, the familiocracy he presided over.

Hill-country Tamils and Crisis Times

When our country collapses before our own eyes with one of the deepest crises in historical memory, from what vantage point.....

PTA, ‘Aragalaya’ and need for long-term goals - EDITORIAL

The Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) (of 1978 first enacted as a temporary measure in 1979 under J. R. Jayewardene was....

Murugeysen Tiruchelvam and Koneswaram Issue

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader and Trincomalee district MP Rajavarothayam Sampanthan wrote a politically important letter to President Ranil Wickremesinghe on September 14, 2022. In that detailed missive, the veteran Tamil MP pinpointed several measures being enacted under the current regime affecting th

The geo-politics that Prabakaran failed to understand

Although six convicts of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case were released by the Indian Supreme Court on November 12, four of them have been again detained as they are Sri Lankans who had entered India without proper travel documents. They are being lodged in a special camp in Tiruchi, Tamil Nadu.

The G20 summit -extended wars and growing contradictions

The G20 (Group of Twenty) -initially an informal gathering of 20 of the world’s largest economies- was formed in 1999, in the wake of the Asian financial crisis. An attempt to co-ordinate global policy on trade, health, climate, and other issues.

Youth paid the penalty for not knowing empathy - EDITORIAL

We talk much about youth these days with so much concern. There is no doubt they have to deal with frustration given the skyrocketing prices of goods and services and both the state and private sectors....

Ukraine: How the world came devastatingly close to a nuclear war

On Tuesday, the world woke up to the dreaded possibility of a nuclear genocide capable of wiping out half the world’s population which reached the 8 billion mark only hours before. What happened....

Anti-corruption drive Give us genuine leaders who serve the nation

Presenting his first budget on Monday, Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe said a new economic order would be introduced to suit world trends and highlighted that Sri Lanka would embark on this new path through the 2023 budget.

Wither research (institutes)?

There are two questions. First, does research really matter or rather does research drive decisions when it comes to policy planning? Second, what is the role or research institutes or, put another way, do policy-makers understand the worth of such bodies?

Budget 2023 - Desperately needy overlooked

President Wickremesinghe’s 2023 budget was a big change from the usual run-of the-mill budgets the people of this country have been used to hearing. There were no big promises of looking into easing the burdens of the poor and n

Police gone Rogue

The whole episode of police harassment was captured in cameras and video clips are now circulating on social media, which, in return prompted the IGP to order an investigation. The two women, who resumed their march were again harassed by the cops in Moratuwa

What a shame! - EDITORIAL

Media yesterday reported that a special police investigation has been launched against the Panadura South HQI and his team after they were caught on camera physically assaulting two female protestors....

Improve Human Security as High Priority in Sri Lanka

In the recent past, Sri Lanka has dealt with the Covid-19 pandemic and now an ongoing economic crisis. Sri Lanka has faced both the pandemic and economic crisis after the end of the country’s civil war....

Can we make it out of present financial crises? - EDITORIAL

Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis in years. The acute shortage of US dollars in the country has pushed up the price of basic food items including milk, an essential ingredient....

Our cricketing culture ‘Boys will be boys’ will no longer do

The Dhanushka Gunathilake scandal raises disturbing questions not just about one individual, but our entire sports culture, including its star game, cricket. Dhanushka was....

Atamasthana Sans Politicos! A First Step in the Right Direction

Most Ven.. Pallegama Hemarathana Thero, who created lyrics for Karunarathna Divulgane’s ‘Atheethaya Sihinayak Pamanai sabesuvadak ne’; [loosely translated…, ‘Past is just a dream, where there....

COP 27: A bid to save the planet

Our world, mother to all species inhabiting the planet is ailing and is slowly but surely killed off by cancer. The cancer of human greed.

Fake news was never new. It just devolved

Facebook and Twitter must be having field days. No — they are having such.

She said/He said

Much has been written and said in the last few days since the news was released that a Sri Lankan cricketer has been charged with sexual assault by an Australian woman.