Today is late Dudley Senanayake’s 107th Birth anniversary DUDLEY - THE INCOMPARABLE STATESMAN

Today, on the late Dudley Senanayake’s birthday, with the party he belonged to and loved, as part of the Unity government, as he never did long or high jumps to any other party, as has become the norm of our times, one is reminded of him. 

India-US relations come under strain as ties with Russia develop

Relations between India and the United States, which were on the upswing following the collapse of the Soviet Union and its aftermath, have now come under strain due to President Donald Trump’s eccentric trade and defence policies. 

SL should not go for anymore coal -powered electricity generation

In an article published in the SUNDAYISLAND of January 7, CIMOGG, employing a minimum of technical language, set out several compelling reasons why coal-powered electricity generation was wrong for Sri  Lanka. Engineer Tudor Wijenayake (TW), in an article in the DAILY FT of June 7, has given much useful additional information including valuable data on 

Singapore’s Hub success and Sri Lanka’s choices

Trump – Kim summit became the story for the global media last week, the multitude of narratives were presented in both legacy and social media platforms from a plethora of agents representing traditional security scholars, media....

Polonnaruwa Inferno ’58 ; 60 Years on...

When a government, however popular, begins to help  racial or religious emotionalism merely because it is a harsh and loud-noised demand made on it, and then interferes  in the management and enforcement of law......

Myth of Self-Employment

Almost every time Sri Lanka’s massive rural unemployment problem is discussed, many tend to suggest self-employment as the best possible solution. Self-employment is also at the heart of the debate on predatory....

Whither the Kim-Trump summit

On June 12, as the world held its collective breath, so-to-say, as US President Donald Trump, leader of the world’s foremost military power, met with his adversary - President Kim Jong-un of North Korea - a protege of China....

Honour your mother and father

Sri Lanka’s Islamic community celebrates Ramadan today, after almost one month of sacrificial and selfless fasting and prayer, in addition to sharing with the poverty-stricken or marginalised people. While wishing them showers of blessings on this day, we hope and pray that our country also will be blessed to bring about inter-religious and inter-racial unity in diversity. We hope this blessing will 

Obama was a light Trump is of the night

Politics is a fickle beast. Barack Obama won more votes among blue-collar workers than did his opponent, Senator John McCain. But it was those very blue-collar workers who tipped the scales in Donald Trump’s victory. They weren’t racists or they wouldn’t have voted for Obama in the first place. But in voting for Trump they voted against their economic interest. Trump hasn’t and won’t help the health of the poorer, no

Northern fishermen shouldn’t be neglected

Desperate cries of Jaffna’s fishermen demanding solutions to issues connected to their industry continue to echo despite the Government reducing the price of kerosene to Rs 70 per letre. 

Summit of the century: Will there be substance from the showpiece?

Commenting on the meeting between the United States President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, most analysts said they had to pinch themselves to realise that what they were witnessing was real. 

Waiting for Development

“We have initiated as a Government an impartial development programme this country needs.

Political Ifthars and Rajapaksa hunt for Muslim vote

The Rajapaksas, who ruled the roost in the country some three years ago are seen now luring the Muslims, especially by appearing at Ifthar events, the events organised by various Muslim and non-Muslim groups for the Muslims to break their Ramadan fast.

Anagarika Dharmapala : Shedding away the invective

Anagarika Dharmapala is the worst thing that happened to Sri Lankan history. 

Why carry the white man’s baby at cricket?

I walked in to witness the first day’s play of the Test Match at Trinidad’s Queens Park Oval, after flying 23 hours, from Colombo. 

UNP will nominate its own candidate for Presidential polls

Lands and Parliamentary Reforms Minister Gayantha Karunatilake speaks about the government’s plan for the future and the next presidential election. The excerpts of the interview:   

Crime of the century; 152 million child labourers : EDITORIAL

World spiritual leaders have warned us that those who abuse children or indulge in child labour would and should be thrown into the deepest ocean with a millstone tied rounds their necks. Children are devastatingly honest and innocent that is why the heavenly realms comprise people who have the honesty and innocence of children. Seen in this light many of our leaders -- political, social, business and even religious leaders -- appear to be sadl

Let us keep an eye on Uncle Sam

Anyone who has read Noam Chomsky’s ‘What Uncle Sam really wants’ would not get too excited when a US President, Secretary of State or Ambassador talks about democracy. Neither would they lose any sleep over such worthies speaking in somber tones about individuals, parties or governments they dislike.   

Recover monies plundered through rackets!

When the officials of the Attorney General’s Department first revealed that a member of Parliament had received one million rupees from a subsidiary company of Perpetual Treasuries Ltd. (PTL) headed by Arjun Aloysius- who has been remanded after being implicated in the Central Bank bond scandal- they also revealed that a VIP had also received the same amount of money from the same source.   

Sovereignty: Sold Out !

If anybody still needed proof that the representatives who claimed to be holding the  legislative, executive and judicial powers of the people have turned their backs on them and have pursued a path of individual well-being, the developments during the past two weeks would have furnished enough evidence.

PARADISE IN CHAOS!!!

Writing an article about the happenings in this country is becoming next to impossible!!! Those who lack the courage to do what is right; and there are SO MANY OF THEM, will always find a philosophy to justify it!!! We simply cannot count the number of wrongdoers who are continually being brought to Court and sent away!!!

Existence or Extinction Choice can’t be clearer

When one looks back on the pros and cons of the decision taken by the people in the 2015 Presidential Election and the mandate it carried, after two-and-half-years in power, the current administration does not have anything to brag about except one outstanding accomplishment of theirs.

Diplomacy and Foreign Judges

Could there be a keener pleasure than to sit around a fire and discuss diplomacy with a diplomat? Of course, there is no fire; just coffee, and that only in plastic cups, which nevertheless provides the fire, inside, instead of outside, but with the same cheering and relaxing power.  

Yahapalanaya deserves some credit for bond scam revelations

Yahapalana government that came to power promising to combat corruption has found its parliamentarians implicated in the mother of all scams.

KNUCKLES FOREST CONTROVERSY : Its time that UNESCO intervened

When Knuckles conservation forest, along with Sri Pada peak wilderness area and Horton plains, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2010, the World Heritage Committee came up with a set of recommendations. The purpose of this was to ensure that the successive governments of Sri Lanka prioritized the protection of these three sites, which form the central highlands of Sri Lanka.  

Can we rule out GLYPHOSATE in CKDU ?

Dr. Rohan Pethiyagoda, former chairman of the Sri Lanka Tea Board, presents a logical argument for lifting the ban on glyphosate, due to the lack of evidence. He also points to the fact that t

If Trump ignores North Korea’s monstrous crimes, they’ll come back to haunt him

“The gravity, scale, duration and nature of the unspeakable atrocities committed in the country reveal a totalitarian state that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world.”

On Somaweera Senanayake and on television

Not too many years ago, before I found a job, I was involved with tracking down, calling, and interviewing veterans from various cultural fields who had contributed something substantive to Sri Lanka. I would summarise their lives and work and try to fit those into the (horrendously meagre) space of a 1,500 or 2,500 word article (which would sometimes be in two parts). It was a challenge I had to me

At SCO, Sino-Indian differences persisted, but enhanced trade could bridge gap

Even as the Qingdao Declaration was being drafted at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, contradictions between India and China appeared, casting doubts about the success of the meeting held on June 9 and 10 at Qingdao in China. 

US - N.KOREA SUMMIT AND THE US ‘PIVOT TO ASIA’

News that US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un will hold a summit meeting at a venue in Singapore on June 12 this year were confirmed by the White House spokesperson.