‘Pearl’ was ablaze way before X-Press Pearl “Good, Bad, Ugly” of Sili-sili and Oil

A step further from last week’s second to last of trilogy in “Dollar series”— “Good, Bad & Ugly”. Watch!—is there any plastic around....

I don’t need travel restrictions; I am not going anywhere

This may sound selfish, but there was immense relief and joy in my heart when I heard yesterday that ‘travel restrictions’....

ENVIRONMENT, FIRE AND PETROLEUM - EDITORIAL

On World Environment Day - June 5 - the United Nations highlighted the fact that we cannot turn back time. But, we can grow trees.....

Land for the People

One of the first books read to me as a child by my parents, was a parable on land drawing from one of Leo Tolstoy’s short stories....

Life and Times of Dynamic “Thamby” Arumugan Thondaman

Thamby”in Tamil means younger brother. It is also used widely as a pet name for male kids in many Tamil households.

The innings of a rebel monk ends

The passing away of Buddhist monk Baddegama Samitha Thera (1952-2021) would be felt more in the political scene than in the renounced world of saffron robed monks. This is largely because of his involvement in politics and also because of the fact that he became Sri Lanka’s first Buddhist monk to enter parliament.

Take care of children, they are our future leaders

Every child is a gift to the world. Besides the five external senses, the child has internal senses including memory, knowledge, wisdom, creativity, imagination, and innovative skills that need to be developed so that the child could become a responsible citizen who will contribute towards building a just and fair society.

Is it a bottomless abyss?

Have we failed in containing the COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka? There seems to be no letup in the third wave of the pandemic, which emerged after the Sinhala and Hindu New Year holidays.

Will Sajith be eclipsed by Ranil in Parliament?

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), the main opposition of Parliament, appeared to be anxious following the announcement that former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will be sworn in as an MP filling the sole parliamentary seat secured by the United National Party (UNP) at the last parliamentary elections.

An education in English, for all! - EDITORIAL

An Education Ministry official talking about a proposal in the pipeline to provide schoolchildren from grade 1 to 13 with an education entirely....

Official apathy a national disaster in preventing natural disasters

Sri Lanka had gone through a terror war for three decades and emerged victorious, yet when terrorists of a different kind struck on Easter Sunday....

History and Historiography 101 for US lawmakers

Tulsa. Remember the name. May 31 and June 1. Remember the dates. There’s a year to remember: 1921. And there’s a thing that the USA would want US citizens and indeed the world to forget. Remember it. Racism.

Indian Ocean’s Pearl on an X-Press voyage to desolation

Last week in our concluding paragraphs, we highlighted the fact that the bottomline in all these large scale calamities is that neither have officials or institutions ever been found responsible or held accountable,

“Deaths not categorised as COVID related may help spread disease” - Dr. Wickramanayaka

Sri Lankans living in UK have made an urgent appeal to Prime Minister Boris Johnson to release the supply of 600,000 doses.....

Virological perspective of the Covid pandemic

SARS CoV-2 is a well-adopted human respiratory virus to bully the human community globally. It is useful to compare this virus....

It’s monsoon season again in Sri Lanka - EDITORIAL

Sri Lanka has two distinct monsoon seasons. Seasonal flooding due to extreme rainfall has become normal.

Fertilizer tug-o-war leaves farmers in limbo

The ban on Chemical fertilizer and pesticide on April 22 has already started its impact on the farmers, not favourable, but adversely. Vegetable farmers in the up-country and paddy farmers in the North Central Province have started to express their frustration as the decision has already had a crippling effect on their crops in the current season. M

Today is World Oceans Day Global concern over environmental pollution caused by container vessels

World Oceans’ Day on June 8 this year is of particular significance to Sri Lanka because the theme this time is “Life and Livelihood”. Both life and livelihood had come under severe threat in the island when the container vessel X-Press Pearl car

Who’s to blame for ‘Express Pearl’ disaster? - EDITORIAL

The ‘MV X-press Pearl’, a Singaporean registered vessel, was around nine nautical miles outside the port –direction Negombo....

Science today is for spirituality of tomorrow

We have listened to the famous quote called “The science of today is the technology of tomorrow.” told by Edward Teller.

Is there compassion for SL refugees in India?

Tamil Nadu has a history of agitating when Tamils in Sri Lanka are discriminated against or undergo severe hardships. During the ethnic conflict scores of Tamil citizens fled to South India and most of them are still living in refugee camps under trying circumstances. Their plight has been further highlighted by the fight that they are putting up to stay alive during the pandemic.

If we destroy nature and biodiversity we will destroy ourselves

We today mark World Environment Day, a vital day for the whole world because if we do not take effective steps in the battle against climate change the death toll may far exceed the number of people who have died in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic with some environmental experts warning that as many as two billion people could die from air and water pollution,

“Ecosystem Restoration”

Dept. of Geography, University of Colombo World Environment Day (WED) is one of the most widely celebrated global days that inspires the general public towards being environmentally conscious.

NEED A Plan of Action to face pandemic. Not mere lockdowns

The fixation to global free market profits with COVID-19 pandemic control efforts became more evident with an international call to establish a “Global Health Threats Council” (GHTC) with a high profile senior global political leadership via a UN General Assembly.

Recalling brutalities of the war is harmful - EDITORIAL

June 2 marked 35 years after the brutal Aranthalawa bikku massacre. It’s a pity that the media has to highlight such a bloody incident that took place in 1987.

End vaccine apartheid; unite for the common good of all

It is disheartening to note that the world powers have not got their priorities straight yet although the global population.....

US$ 200 million currency swap with Bangladesh: a stepping stone to furthering bilateral ties

The signing of US$ 200 million currency swap arrangement with Bangladesh has sparked a discussion both in local and regional contexts.

A week of apologies by Western leaders

The week from May 27 onwards was significant for students of history in that several leaders of Western countries including former colonial countries....

MV X-Press Pearl: A Blazing Inferno with Unimaginable Consequences

The latest tragedy to befall Sri Lanka was that of the major fire on board the Singapore-registered vessel MV X-Press Pearl off the coast of Negombo. The vessel was carrying several containers of chemicals, cosmetics and 25 tons of Nitric Acid, which on its own would not burn but would explode should it come in contact with certain substances.

Letting and making things happen

What’s happening? That’s the question many ask. Then there are those who respond to the question or, as in certain cases, a question is not even necessary for comment. ‘Nothing’ is a common response/comment. To elaborate, ‘nothing is happening.’