Nuclear sabre rattling with North Korea

Does President Donald Trump (aka Fire and Fury) know what a nuclear war would be like? I ask the question because President Roland Reagan confessed he did not until he decided to look at some movies (once an actor, he was a cinema man), like “On the Beach” that depicted a nuclear war. 

Ravi, Wijeyadasa and Marapana Manifestation of Govt’s moral predicament

Foreign Affairs Minister Ravi Karunanayake resigned from his Ministerial post on August 10 following pressure exerted by members...

The big bluff in asking for promises the 6.2 mn voted for

An organised crowd of around thousand men and women met in the shadow of the Buddha statue in the Vihara Maha Devi Park....

government to unveil economic vision till 2025 - Eran Wickramaratne

State Minister of Finance Eran Wickramaratne, in an interview with Daily Mirror, speaks about the future economic plan...

NEW Movement critical of yahapalana govt’s journey

The present ‘Yahapalana Government’ completed a period of two and half years. But as the Government passed its two-year mark...

Despite Trump’s racism, let’s have a dream that all are created equal

Race-based politics wins votes and politicians know that well. Nothing can assert this political truism than the much....

The positives, negatives and realities - EDITORIAL

Two years after the decisive general elections which led to the two major parties forming a National Unity Government for the.....

Mahinda Rajapaksa should take a step back and make way for unity in SLFP - SB Dissanayake

Minister of Social Empowerment S.B. Dissanayake, in an interview with the Daily Mirror, spoke about the political situation in the country following the resignation of MP Ravi Karunanayake from his post as Foreign Affairs Minister. Excerpts of the interview:

PRESIDENT’S POWERS IN CRISIS: Is Constitutional crisis in the making?

Sri Lankan President’s statement that no party or group can form a Government without his “blessings”, even if it is shown that the opposition has 113 members - which is an uphill task - may lead to a constitutional crisis and confrontation in the current political turmoil. Nothing could be ruled out based on the current uncertain trends when bribery, corruption, inefficiency in small and large scales , growing as breath for t

Imagine Dracula in Charge of the Blood Bank

The words of the once Australian opposition leader Andrew Peacock, ‘’Dracula in charge of the blood bank’’ were occasioned by the appointment of Mic Young, a former minister who had been exposed as having sold state secrets to Soviet Spies, as a member of the Government Security Commission. The disbelief and indignation at this dubious appointment was obvious. It is needless to say what happens when Dracula is appointed

Let us take the high road

During the past few years, in most cities and suburbs, unprecedented traffic congestion has driven Sri Lanka into a multitude of crises. Of these the worst is air pollution. Most people are inhaling instead of exhaling carbon dioxide. That is perhaps one of the major reasons why more people are falling sick more often and private hospitals have become big business ventures while public hospitals are crowded like market places.  

Echoing Ravi K’s resignation UNP backbenchers urge corruption cases expedited

Days after former Foreign Affairs Minister Ravi Karunanayake’s resignation, the United National Party (UNP), which he represents, is at pain to control the damage to its credibility. It comes out with the argument that even a Minister is now prevailed upon to relinquish office in case corruption charges are framed against him, due to the principles of good governance cherished by it.   

MEN OF 2017 Facts speak for themselves, however hard they are suppressed

Hilarious! Can you name the Magazine that featured Karunanayake as the best Finance Minister of the Year 2017?   

‘The Political World is like a burning inferno’

The political world is like a burning inferno. These comments were made by Minister of Justice and Buddha Sasana Wijeyadasa Rajapaksha during an interview with Sunday Lankadeepa where he commented on the present situation of the Government. He is one of the political leaders who took great pains to establish the Yahapalana Government.  

THE CRACKUP COMMENCES

The weekly evidence of the unprecedentedly dependent, servile character of the Yahapalana administration came in the form of a report in the prestigious Hindu by its smart, Colombo based correspondent Meera Srinivasan. Captioned ‘India keen to run Sri Lanka airport’, it says:  

Dengue: All talk, no show

What happened to the huge outcry that prevailed in the country a few weeks ago against the killer disease, dengue? The entire government was agog with finding solutions to the rapid spread of the disease days ago while media too had focused its full attention towards the same end. There seems to be a considerable let up now in the flurry of activities that had been aimed at the eradication of dengue mosquitoes apparently because of the slight r

Sri Lanka, it’s high time for a Green Revolution

Sri Lanka, once identified at a time known granary of the East, is now almost reliant on imported food items. The unfolding....

In seventy years of freedom India comes out of its shell

Seventy years ago, on August 15 ,1947, India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, made his epoch making “Tryst with Destiny”....

“Considerable gap between rulers and people” – Prof. Ajantha Hapuarachchi

Senior Lecturer of Mass Communication Professor Ajantha Hapuarachchi of the Colombo University Journalism Unit in a recent....

Debate on strategic investments: So much baloney about sovereignty

Recently, many folks were bragging about our strategic location astride the key maritime routes in the Indian Ocean....

GOP rise against White supremacism corners Trump - EDITORIAL

Charlottesville, Virginia did what others could not. It has jolted the otherwise insipid Grand Old Party from its slumber to....

No more deals with the wheels of justice - EDITORIAL

Overall the widely-predicted but yet dramatic resignation of Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake last Thursday appears to have....

In Pursuit of a Futuristic FR Chapter

One of the key proposals in the current Constitution Reform process is to strengthen the Fundamental Rights (FR) chapter in the....

Chinese money in Hambantota: Small change in the juggernaut of Belt and Road

The government’s manner of communicating details of the Hambantota port deal to the public has been less than forthright, and....

Coming Nuclear Winter

August marks the two independence days of India and Pakistan, English lawyer Sri Cyril Radcliffe, was given a hasty assignment to....

Hot air over north Korea - EDITORIAL

North Korea and the US are once again at loggerheads. At first glance it appears a military confrontation is a distinct....

Is there a way of reducing ethnic disputes?

It’s not that many years ago that Warren Christopher, the US Secretary of State, commenting on the outbreak of separatist ethnic strife....

Sino-Indian Conflict and Bertrand Russell’s role

“Many people seem to have been amazed that I should mediate in such matters without having any official status to do so, but I think...

Youth building Peace: Sri Lanka’s best hope

In September, last year, I had the privilege of attending an event in Galle, with the then UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, to meet......

Politician who pioneered foreign investments

Paul Perera was a household name in politics two decades ago. Paul became a close associate of J R Jayewardene when he was the Leader of the Opposition and played a key role in ensuring the UNP victory at the 1977 General Elections.