Sri Lankans are looking forward to two things next month; the Sinhala-Tamil New Year and the General Elections. Hence we can say that the wait till then amounts to hope; hope that something positive can be witnessed when these

The impasse over the symbol has compounded internal squabbling of the United National Party(UNP) beyond redemption. The party led by former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe refuses to budge an inch from its stance

The establishment of the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) on February 28, 2018, with a broad mandate to investigate the fate of the missing and disappeared and protect the rights of their relatives, represented an explicit

After years of huffing and puffing by the then joint opposition -- against the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Resolution 30/1 since its adoption on October 1, 2015 -- now in government in its current format as the Sri Lanka

There are rooms, there are discussions and there are elephants in certain rooms whose existence is denied. Sometimes people do say ‘hey, there’s an elephant here, we can’t ignore it.’ Once that’s said, you can’t ignore it or

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has dissolved the Parliament at midnight on Monday, at the first moment he was constitutionally authorised to do so. He has fixed April 25 for the next Parliament election and the week between March 12 and 19 for tenderin

Sri Lanka withdrew from the 2015 UN Resolution it co sponsored with US and eleven other countries. The Foreign Minister in his speech informing the international community of the withdrawal referred to the fact that some of the commitments made throu

The political scene in Sri Lanka is filled with stories of dynastic politics and we are witnessing the trend continuing, but with a small twist.

We are the last generation that did not wear a helmet when we rode our bikes or went roller skating. We played in the street without fear. We drank water from the water fountains and taps without any worry and never from plastic bottles. It was no

uantifying happiness has often been seen as a futile task by psychologists given the elusive nature of the concept of ‘happiness’. Positive psychologists view happiness with two theoretical perspectives - hedonic and eudaimonic. Hedonic happiness

The government last week announced that it would not be signing the Millennium Challenge Cooperation (MCC) Agreement, a US $ 480 million development grant from America that was negotiated by its predecessors of Yahapalanaya. The government’s decisi

Bangladesh is a Muslim-majority country where the State religion is Islam. But “secularism” is embedded in the preamble of its constitution, thanks to incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed. However, Hasina had only revived a constitutional

Whenever a new President is elected, hope rises among the populace, that the new leader would find a new path to prosperity and a brighter future. This has often happened, only to be disappointed later.

Sajith Premadasa has a birth right to claim Colombo Central his home base; it was in Kehelwatte, the heart of Colombo Central, where his father and grandfather were nurtured.

Hiruni, a fisherman’s wife, who has to manage her household (of five people) with an income of about 2.5 euros (500 Sri Lankan rupees) per day, is heavily indebted. In order to increase her household income, she borrowed 50,000 rupees.....

The US invaded Afghanistan on October 7, 2001 over Taliban’s refusal to hand over Osama bin Laden -the architect of the 9/11 attack to the US- and to dismantle al-Qaeda and its bases in Afghanistan. The invasion aimed at removing....

Debt relief is now a call at all levels of state and society in Sri Lanka. The Prime Minister recently requested a three-year moratorium on debt repayments to India, the Government earlier announced....

In October last year, twelve Malaysian nationals of Tamil origin were arrested by the Malaysian Police over suspected links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and alleged involvement in terrorist activity.

In today’s digital, capitalist and globalized world, wildlife is symbolically in the wilderness with even the forest’s kings -- the elephants and the rhinoceroses -- being way down in the priority list for most countries though maintaining the de

“If you find yourself standing on a landmine, you don’t just jump off – experienced experts have to painstakingly de-activate the pressure-sensitive mine.”

Teachers and principals in Sri Lanka continue to agitate for being underpaid and such actions are just what the media spot and highlight. So now we know, through newspapers, that the teachers...

A country spends billions of dollars on defence to avert an imminent enemy invasion or keep the enemy at bay. Then suddenly, the country is threatened with the novel coronavirus outbreak. Should it drastically....

Major political parties in the South, as well as North, are hell-bent these days on forming electoral alliances, some for mere survival and some others to fulfil special needs. Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) headed by former President Maithripala Sir

Like other ecosystems found on land, marine ecosystems are also equally important as they comprise a large portion of sea animals, plants and corals. Being an island, Sri Lanka boasts of its rich biodiversity in marine ecosystems....

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) teamed up with Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and formed Sri Lanka Nidahas Podujana Sandhanaya in view of the upcoming parliamentary elections. Its electoral strategy is clear in the districts outside the North and

The proposals submitted by ‘Yuthukama’ to the public in the presence of the President of the Republic last week are well crafted, reflect the views of a majority of those who voted for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and should be subject to serious

The 29th Delegates’ Conference of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress is reported to have adopted a resolution to renounce the proposal to completely repeal the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA). The Conference has instead ‘resolved to reform it i

Two important events took place last week, one in Parliament and one within the Halls of Justice, which underscored the fact that all are equal before the law. One was the debate on the reports of the forensic audit on the Central Bank bond scams whi

A tourist with East Asian features was moving about freely at the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy and even mingled with local tourists. He introduced himself as a Chinese national and requested for some flowers, soon finding many who

Today, I would like to share with you an article, not just for senior citizens but for everyone, that getting old is a reality that we need to embrace and prepare for.