Adopting plain packaging a must to curtail smoking

Curtailing the ability of cigarette packs to advertise and promote their brands just makes common sense. Why? Think about it - everybody these days would agree that the ban on advertising tobacco on television and the internet, on billboards and in shops, is sensible and necessary. Nobody could dispute that promoting tobacco and smoking have led to the greatest public health threat the world has ever known.

Sushma Swaraj’s gumption and India’s abiding arrogance

The Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, addressing top diplomats posted in neighbouring countries (July 3, 2018), opined that India should not focus on competing with China on resources. That’s sensible considering resource-mismatch. She also said that India must closely watch all Chinese activities.

Fuel price hike President kept in the dark by treasury officials

President Maithripala Sirisena was outraged at Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting for keeping him in the dark about the move for the upward revision of fuel prices last week.

Save the young from this tobacco monster!

McDonald’s gives away a free toy with meals intended for kids. So what? No big deal, right? 

THE TALES OF WHITE VANS, HITLERS AND PSEUDO KINGS...

  We seem to have many in the former regime, wandering In a wonderland, shooting their mouths off at any given opportunity. This brings to mind a Churchillian saying ‘Before they get up, they do not know what they are going to say; when they are speaking, they do not know what they are saying; and when they have sat down, they do not know what they have said’.

The bus culture in Sri Lanka stinks!

The private bus industry is reaching a deteriorated condition. This situation is tarnishing the reputation of the country.   

What the German Ambassador said…

The Controversy created over the alleged violation of tender procedures with regard to the LNG Plant, to be installed at Kerawalapitiya, is just the tip of the Iceberg; corruption, bribery, malpractices and kickbacks have become almost an integral part of State initiated mega development deals and projects of this nature.

COUNTRY’S DETERIORATION!!!

It seems that no matter, who writes or how often we talk about the various happenings and shortcomings and abuses in this country of ours, there is never an end to what goes on!!! Murder, rape, money laundering, travesties of justice, dictators openly challenging, and worst of all, Minister Samaraweera saying “There must be a Rule of Law even for criminals”!!! 

Sri Lankans beware… do you want yesteryear’s rejects?

Mahinda Rajapaksa has shown, if the reports are correct, that he has not changed at all; no repentance, no apologies and definitively not divorced from untruths. Following is a report as it appeared in the local news media:

Medical Tourism in Sri Lanka- Are We Ready Yet?

A patient walks in to a hospital in Singapore with a swollen and painful knee. MRI scans are done and in an instant an Indian radiologist based in Bangalore goes through all the images. The reports are prepared within a day and by evening the patient gets an expert opinion on his knee by an internationally acclaimed radiologist living in India.   

The Debt Trap

The leaders of the so-called Yahapalana Government painted a rosy picture through providing concessions to the people for a few months soon after assuming office. They also had a  mini-budget the same month they came to power. However, they have since been lamenting about a huge debt burden they had inherited from the 

GR’S PROJECT AND ‘VIYATH MAGA’ INTO THE SEPARATIST MINEFIELD

Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara crucially writes: “When it became evident that his Dr. Dayan Jayatilleke’s [DJ] sole purpose of getting closer was to push Gotabhaya Rajapaksa [GR] towards 13A, naturally there were objections from others. 

Pinprick of a pretty bloody racketeer

During the past few decades, transnational drug companies often operating as an international mafia are known to have indulged in a multitude of operations ranging from the manufacture of non-essen

Right of Reply: British High Commissioner responds to “World Cup Soccer in Russia and Novichok in Br

I am sure that many of your readers were as surprised as I was by your editorial yesterday (“World Cup Soccer in Russia and Novichok in Britain”). May I suggest that they can expect better of your newspaper than to publish as its own views Russian State disinformation about the use of deadly nerve agents on the streets of the United Kingdom?

Why should we be worried about Vijayakala’s romance with the LTTE?

State Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs, Vijayakala Maheswaran has called for the resurrection of the LTTE to give dignity and order to Tamils.  “All of you know how our people lived before 2009-05-19. When comparing with today’s situation, it seems the LTTE should be revived. If our children and women are to come home safely, an LTTE administration is again 

Right of Reply : DJ’s project 13A and GR’s Viyathmaga

There was a swollen headed Brahmin called “Akkosha Bharadvaja” who, after studying a few Vedic stanzas and theories, thought that he was the only brilliant intellect in the country. This man, festered with venom and ill will, once unleashed his wrat

Wily Musharraf pushed weak Sharif into disastrous war with India

It was 19 years ago, on July 26, 1999, that the two-month long Pakistan-India war over Kargil in Kashmir ended, after claiming the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, of soldiers on both sides.   

World Cup soccer in Russia and Novichok in Britain - EDITORIAL

By tonight, July 9, the FIFA World Cup tournament being held in Russia will have entered its semi final stage. Since the tournament was awarded to Russia....

Shifting power equations and South Asia’s geopolitical uncertainties

The South Asian region has been witnessing uncertain geopolitical dynamics around sore trouble areas like Afghanistan, Kashmir, shifting American and....

Coal power plants are ecological disasters

Coal is the dirtiest source of fossil fuel. When burned it produces emissions that cause global warming, create acid rain and pollute water and.....

Govt. urged to take urgent action to rescue Tea Industry

There was a good response to our article on the plight of the Tea Industry. We are also glad that at the Annual General Meeting of the Tea Traders Association....

Sustainable societies through cooperation

Today is the United Nations International Day of Cooperatives, and the oncoming year’s theme is “sustainable societies through cooperation.” In a statement, the UN says that at a time when income inequality is rising around the world, it is good to be reminded that solutions to inequality do exist. The cooperative model is foremost among these solutions, since it contains aspects of sustainable development at its core and is bas

French President Macron’s method is motion

At last week’s European summit, the leaders spent most of the time discussing immigration restrictions. Yet, the Syrian rush through the Mediterraneanis now a trickle. The African migration is down by 95%. 

A simple and low cost method for holding PC elections

It is reported in the press that notwithstanding a difference of opinion that has arisen at a party leaders’ meeting regarding the forthcoming Provincial Council (PC) elections, it has been decided to revert to the ‘Preference Voting’ (PV) system. It is tantamount to a patent reversal of the much avowed election promise given by all political parties at the last Preside

Illegal tourism on Sallitivu Islet, Vakarrai

Sallitivu Islet, significant for rich biodiversity, is located in the Batticaloa district in the Eastern province of Sri Lanka. It is approximately 275 metres in length and 155 metres wide and is seasonally connected to 

SAFMA-SL condemns targeting of Lankan journalists

The Sri Lanka chapter of the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) is very concerned about the targeting by politicians of two Sri Lankan journalists involved in internationally reporting on Sri Lankan issues published recently in the New York Times newspaper of the USA. We are concerned that, due to this individual targeting, the professional sights of thes

Vijeyakala Lacked Political Maturity

State Minister of Child Affairs Vijeyakala Maheswaran, who stirred controversy by making a statement about the need for an organisation like the LTTE, has not denied the fact that the Tamil people were free when the terrorist outfit operated in the north.   

The front guard and the rearguard

2015 and 2016, years of optimism, hope, and a little growth, have been followed by 2017 and 2018, years of cynicism, darkness, and not a little regression. 

Bring back LTTE! -Want a Hitler ? But, Don’t ‘Shoot the Messenger’

In the South they want a Hitler and Notherners want LTTE back! If this goes like this both will surely get leaders they deserve. The truth is that a large majority does not want Hitlers or Prabhakarans back. Both Ven.

So many Vijayakalas

First, the New York Times helped the Government, especially, the United National Party (UNP), the main party in the Government to divert the people’s attention from the Opposition’s criticism on economic problems to an alleged huge fraud by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.