Adverse weather, poor planning and the plight of farmers - EDITORIAL

Sri Lanka is going through a prolonged period of dry weather this year. However, this is not the first time such variations in the climate have adversely affected this country. The older generation....

Singer Umara Sinhawansa: APPRECIATE, CONDEMN HER NOT

It’s tragic that a handful of petty minded patriots have leaped out to vociferously condemn Umara Sinhawansa’s rendition of the National Anthem of Sri Lanka at the IPL opening ceremony held...

The guard becoming the thief

Transport, Highways and Mass Media Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardena has ordered the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB), the island-wide state-owned bus service to disband its Flying Squad and re-establish it within a strong legal framework, as the officers who are tasked with stamping out corruption in the SLTB themselves have become corrupt elements. In short, the guard has become the thief.

The Minister of Health, hospital deaths and politics - EDITORIAL

Our health system is in a mess. Today there is a serious shortage of drugs at the premier cancer hospital on the island. According to the Maharagama Apeksha Hospital, Paediatric Oncologist Dr Sanjeewa Gunasekera....

70th Anniversary of Hartal 1953: Dudley’s 1953 withdrawal and its impact on Gota’s 2022 bankruptcy

The economic downturn that eventually led to the 2022 bankruptcy commenced on August 12, 1953, when the Dudley-JRJ government reversed its policy of sustaining an extensively subsidized rice ration....

Lanka’s Finest Foreign Minister

Sri Lanka’s finest Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar was assassinated in Colombo by a suspected sniper of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on August 12, 2005.

Is 13A debate to further defer PC elections?

The 13th Amendment to the Constitution; a subject matter of unending debate for the past thirty-six years since 1987 when the so-called Indo-Lanka Peace Accord that was imposed by India on Sri Lanka was reached. The debate is continuing and seems to continue for another decade or two.

The IUSF and recognition of private medical universities - EDITORIAL

On 10 August the Inter University Students Federation (ISUF) attempted to hold a rally protesting government’s move to grant recognition to the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University and the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) as medical degree awarding universities.

The minister who dislikes the ‘colour’ of sports - EDITORIAL

Sports in Sri Lanka must be protected and nurtured at all costs. This is because sports have given this blessed country and its sportsmen and women numerous opportunities to showcase their talents to the....

13th Amendment: Power devolution and beyond

To rekindle the devolution-debate fire in a country that has still not come out of the economic bankruptcy may appear to be out of sync. Since devolution of power is linked to political stability, which in turn....

Dialogue for conflict resolution: True friendship is priceless

Recently the United Nations marked the International Day of Friendship in a world wreaked and ruined by wars and violence, mainly the bloody conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the crisis in the West African country of Niger where the Presidential Security Division ousted the legally elected President and the African Union is threatening to take even military action to restore democracy.

The 13th Amendment and the Bhutanization project

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has called on all political parties to submit their views on the 13th Amendment. He, more than anyone else, should understand that right now the legitimacy of all political parties (including his) and all politicians (including himself) is suspect (and I am being kind here). Nothing illegal about his ascension to the post of president, and nothing illegal about 225 persons representing various political parties rema

Subsidies, deficit budgeting, and the end of the welfare state - EDITORIAL

Since independence, the Sri Lankan government has implemented a number of welfare state measures, such as subsidizing the costs of food, fuel, transport, providing free education and free health care. These.....

Tragedy and Farce of ‘Free Education in Sri Lanka’

Two weeks back, the Parliamentary Select Committee on the Expansion of higher education issued its report, which anyone who has not defined their whole existence on finding fault with every other government....

Drought and the departmental mindset of ministers

The plight of the farmers in the Udawalawe area who have been severely affected by the prevailing drought was the most prominent news item carried in the Sinhala language newspapers yesterday. The water capacity in the Udawalawe Reservoir which is said to be 217,000 acre-feet has reduced up to about 2,000 acre-feet (less than one per cent of the full capacity), according to reports that quoted the engineer in charge of the reservoir as stating.

Changing pattern of suicide in Sri Lanka

The incidence and nature of suicide in Sri Lanka have varied over time. The cause, frequency and method of suicide have changed with changing conditions. In the last three years (i.e.: 2020,2021 and 2022) 15.6 out of every 100,000 of the population in Sri Lanka had died by suicide. And for every successful suicide, there were 15 unsuccessful attempts, according to Dr. Rohan Ratnayake of the Sri Lankan National Institute of Mental Health. Globa

Ousted PM Imran Khan handed three-year prison term

On 5 Saturday August 2023, Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan was sentenced to three years in prison on corruption charges and issued his arrest warrant. Imran Khan , a former cricket star who went on to forge a political career, serving as prime minister from 2018 to 2022, was elected in a free and fair election, but was overthrown by a no confidence motion. There were reports of involvement of United States and its collaborat

The World Leader of Black Transplants In Ukraine organs are traded online and offline

Ukraine has long been known as a world leader in organ trafficking. Scandals involving the illegal removal of organs from corpses began to appear in the late 1990s in the wake of the country’s socioeconomic deterioration. The problem began to mount in the early 2000s, and the violent coup in Kiev in February 2014 and the ensuing conflict in Donbass were an additional contributing factor. In 2014, the OSCE stated that corpses with removed inter

Another electric shock in the making - EDITORIAL

While we Lankans are still engrossed in the mispronunciation of a single word in our National Anthem, many earthshaking events.....

Commercialising Universities

One of Sri Lanka’s great achievements beginning in the late colonial period and continuing to this day is its free education....

President’s Committee to Revolutionise Healthcare: Focus on Prof. Bibile

President Wickremesinghe aims to bolster the nation’s healthcare system by formulating a new Medical Act within six months....

Ajahn Brahmawanso - The Remarkable Monk

Recently this venerable priest was in the news when he was offloaded from an outgoing flight from Sri Lanka to Singapore. It created....

The tale of the bridge on the bridge

During bilateral discussions between President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 21, the two sides had agreed to conduct a feasibility study to establish land connectivity between the two countries for developing access to the ports of Trincomalee and Colombo, apart from connectivity in air, maritime, trade and energy domains.

The National Anthem and Much Ado About Nothing - EDITORIAL

A journalistic colleague once said, “In politics, nothing ever happens by chance. It’s the art of distraction.” This was brought forcefully to mind a few days ago.

The story of upcountry Tamils: Two hundred years of humiliation and exploitation

As the month of July has ended, the minds of many a citizen are drawn to the sad events of July 1983. A time the then government permitted thugs and hooligans to attack members of the Tamil community, killing....

Calls to transform our education must be heeded! - EDITORIAL

School education has changed dramatically over the years and it’s amazing to see old teachers and their old school teaching methods still being in use. The present principal of Royal College R.M.M Ratnayake....

Revisiting Hiroshima A-bomb horror

On Sunday, the world will mark the 78th anniversary of one of the worst crimes against humanity: the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, an act that was as cruel as the Holocaust, which ended with Germany’s....

Another export target destined to be missed? Sri Lanka is aiming to double its goods export revenue by 2027, but history is not on its side

In a recent statement, Sri Lanka’s Export Development Board (EDB) announced plans to secure USD 31.3 billion revenue from total exports (both goods and services) by 2027. The EDB expects to double goods export revenue from 2022’s USD 13.1 billion to USD 26 billion in five years – a yearly growth rate of 15%. Sri Lanka has a history of seemingly ambitious export targets being missed and subsequently downgraded, and these fresh export aspir

Humanitarian worker, a Crusader for conflict-filled world

In Sri Lanka, despite a multitude of problems, democracy still survives. Traditionally the norms of democracy are the Presidency, Parliament, the Judiciary and the Free Media. For democracy to thrive, the spirit of humanitarianism is also needed. This often comes out of spirituality that brings love, joy, peace patience and kindness, humility, meekness, faithfulness and kindness. To what extent humanitarian thrive in Sri Lanka cannot be cal

“Our education system should cater to the child of the 21st Century” - R. M. M. Ratnayake, Royal College Principal

Having passed the Sri Lanka Education Administrative Service Exam in 1988, Mr. R. M. M. Ratnayake had initially assumed duties as principal of a national school in the Kandy education zone.