Just days ago the NPP government in keeping with its pre-election promises set in motion legislation to do away with the pension scheme for parliamentarians. The scheme was the brain-child of our first Executive President JR Jayawardene way back in 1

Sri Lanka’s agriculture remains beholden to a law from 1958 that compels nearly half of the country’s poorest farmers to plant rice, even though alternative crops could more than double their earnings. What began as a measure to protect tenant cu

What a shame in this urban sprawl, Where filth and stench have built a wall.

We have always seen bad accidents in Sri Lanka. That didn’t start yesterday, or last year. Some of them – bus, train, even air crashes – were terrible. But most major accidents occur on the roads, involving motor vehicles, rather than trains an

The recent statement by the Secretary of Defence that underworld activities do not pose a threat to national security is a point of contention that demands a rigorous and fact-based examination. This perspective, which seemingly compartmentalises cri

Last week, Sri Lanka secured a major reduction of Trump’s import tax on goods, placing it on par with its regional competitors.

Just three days after Sri Lanka commemorated leopard day on August 1, the skinned carcass of a leopard was recovered from the Maduru Oya National Park on Monday.

Since last month, there is an ubiquitous police presence in Colombo at night, and some of the ‘tent’ checkpoints are back and manned.

Once the ‘Presidents’ Entitlement (Repeal) Bill’ was gazette on July 31 to abolish the entitlements for the past Presidents, as its name indicates, Opposition parties seem to be gradually teaming up against it, and another law for the annulment

There are two kinds of cross-border invasive action one sees today – cross border terrorism and transnational repression. The former is perpetrated by non-State actors and the latter by States. Even as the world is trying to find ways to check cros

A protest organised by the Free Palestine Movement (FPM) was held yesterday evening outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Fort, opposing the government’s decision to grant free visas to Israeli nationals. The FPM has consistently raised serious

My work with the co-operatives in the North has led me to frequently visit the East in recent years for collaborative initiatives.

In April 2022, our government announced that it was defaulting, making it the first sovereign default. Our external debt for 2023 was 61.71 billion US dollars. The country was facing shortages of all basics from food and fuel to power. Blackouts were

The new Bribery Commissioner and his team are indeed performing a daunting task in combating corruption and promoting transparency in governance.

While researchers have worked hard over the years to study a plethora of socio-economic, archival and archaeological phenomena – from cults to beggary, ghosts, ola leaf manuscripts and ancient inscriptions, to mention just a few – I have not foun

The promise given by the National People’s Power (NPP) at the last Presidential and Parliamentary elections to introduce a new Constitution had resurfaced last week following an oral question raised by Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) member Ajith P. P

In July 2022 our then government accepted that the country was bankrupt. We had lost the ability to repay our foreign debts and import essential food items for our people.

We read in the news from time to time that there are huge sums of tax and EPF payments that have gone into arrears, in many cases without any chance of recovery.

Donald Trump’s tariffs shook the world. Financial markets around the world plunged. The US stock market registered its largest two day loss in history. Businesses and politicians were in panic.

The Kandy Esela Pageant started with all its glory on the 30th of July with the Kumbal Perahera. There is much to learn about this historic pageant which began during the time of King Kithsiri Mevan (301-328 BC). This event could easily be named the

Let me begin today’s column with the story of Amir, a boy barely 10 years old. His story depicts the everyday tragedy that awaits starving and highly emaciated Palestinian children and adults at the US-Israeli food distribution points in Gaza.

In response to last week’s column titled ‘R2P RIP: Its grave is in Gaza’, Iranian Ambassador Alireza Delkosh makes a comment:

Recently, the Supreme Court declared that the former Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the Hasalaka Police Station had violated the Fundamental Rights of a woman who was arrested and detained for wearing an item of clothing bearing a ship’s wheel, which w

Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s meteoric rise to the presidency in 2019 was built on a formidable reputation. As the Defence Secretary credited with orchestrating the decisive victory against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009, and for his pe

Much has been spoken about Sri Lanka’s administrative service and its culture of lethargy and inefficiency. While certain citizens have had the privilege of getting the required services within a span of a few hours or in one day, most citizens hav

Sri Lanka is at present cock-a-hoop after topping the list in a survey done to find out the 50 best islands to travel to. Sri Lanka fared extremely well in this survey, conducted by www.enjotravel.com

As early as eight-to-nine p.m., one can see so many people walking for miles at night on Colombo streets. This is because there are no buses plying even on some of the major routes. If this is the situation in Colombo, it must be worse out of Colombo

The government’s proposed education reforms, in their snippets that are still available for public knowledge, appear to be transformative.

On September 21, 2024, the National People’s Power (NPP)’s Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD), was elected president of this country.

I want to express my appreciation to the Sri Lankan Army for declaring July 29 as Sea Shore Cleaning Day. This initiative showcases the Army’s commitment to protecting our environment and ensuring the well-being of our citizens. Kudos to the Army f