Social justice in the digital economy

Social justice is a vital dimension of our social lives and also our spiritual lives. Many independent analysts are hopeful that the United States’ new President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will work fast and effectively not only to end white racist supremacist extremism or terrorism as we saw on January 6 but also to bring about racial equality and social justice first in the US and then hopefully in most countries of the free wor

A woman’s courage in a khaki jungle - EDITORIAL

There was a time when Sri Lanka was known as a country of missed opportunities. The last time critics said that profoundly was when the Government of Sri Lanka....

World summit for a global war against COVID-19 pandemic

As nations rich and poor struggle to come out of the pandemic pit pinning their hopes on hurriedly tested vaccines approved only for emergency use....

TNA regrets crimes committed in the name of the Tamil people: Sumanthiran

The human rights issue in Sri Lanka will take center-stage when the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) meets in Geneva for its 46th Session from February 22 to March 23.

Modi’s remarks on Tamils set the cat among the pigeons

The Government has articulated over and again that its foreign policy will be neutral and non-aligned. However, it is now challenging for the regime to be true to such a policy since the major powers with interests in the region have made it almost unworkable in a practical sense. The absence of a cohesive policy regardless of the change of governments has made matters worse.

Concerns of a nation before UNHRC sessions

In February valentine’s day parties were canceled and people were told to remain at home. Sri Lanka also braces itself to face a new variant of the COVID-19 pandemic which is said to have originated in England and now present in this island nation. But Sri Lankans who have their ‘thinking caps on’ are living life low key. This is because of the upcoming UNHRC sessions in March which could put Sri Lanka in a spot of bother if resolutions are passe

COVID-Deaths: Yes to Burials Cremated Again

This turn of events, which would have been the cause for much relief especially to the Muslim community, took place in no less a forum than Parliament with no less a person than Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa taking centre-stage.

Let’s call the bluff of India and the Indophiles

A few years ago, the Indian Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah, who also served as the President of the Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP) from 2014 to 2020 in a conversation over the party’s victories in several States is reported to have quipped ‘Nepal and Sri Lanka are still left’.

‘India is our closest friend’: PM - EDITORIAL

India has at various times in the past and in the not too distant past proved to be a valuable ally of our country. In fact our Prime Minister....

‘The Half’: The muffled story of Shakthika Sathkumara

Shakthika Sathkumara was acquitted and released by the Magistrate’s Court of Polgahawela last week, as the Attorney General, at long last....

Power Sector: New theatre of big power rivalry

The resolution of the East Container Terminal saga with a Cabinet decision that the Sri Lanka Ports Authority would retain 100% ownership and control....

The mess in handling COVID deaths

The recent newspaper reports show what a messy situation prevails in hospitals in handling the victims of COVID-19 and the lack of empathy towards the relatives of the victims. An article in the latest issue of our sister paper, The Sunday Times explains the cruel treatment by some employees of some hospitals who solicit bribe from relatives for handling the bodi

GoSL may ask UNHRC to set up data base on war time dead

Since there could not be “accountability” in the true sense of the term without credible evidence of culpability, data will first have to be collected scientifically and transparently, Dr.Gunaratna argued

How this govt. made SL weaker abroad, divided and fragile at home?

Last week, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa assured in Parliament that the government would soon permit the burial of Muslims who died of Covid-19. “The dead will be allowed to be buried,” he quipped in response to a question by the Sa

Copyright issues, TV rights in sports broadcasting and streaming

Copyright in its culture is constructed to deal with author’s supremacy and branches out to the two prone claim viz economic rights, and moral rights

No permanent friends or enemies, only interests - EDITORIAL

Diplomacy is the art or skill of managing international relations -typically the art of dealing with foreign governments in a sensitive and tactful way.

Burma and Ceylon in 1962: Why military succeeded there and failed here?

Three times Prime Minister U Nu’s democratic Union Parliament was overthrown by General Ne Win on March 2, 1962.

Tamil “P2P” Protest of 2021 and the Tamil “Satyagraha” of 1961

The “Pottuvil to Poligandy” (P2P) Protest that ended last week was a watershed moment in the political history of Sri Lankan Tamils.

Law, Diplomacy and the Politics of Human Rights

Sri Lanka will shortly be facing renewed scrutiny at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, where elements of the international community have been calling for action over unsubstantiated war crimes allegations.

The plight of our forsaken migrant workers

Stories about Sri Lankan migrant workers, especially women left on roadsides in Kuwait after being stranded went viral, first on social media and then carried in the mainstream media this week.

Wimal: The snake around Lord Shiva’s neck

The rift between Industries Minister Wimal Weerawansa and the main constituent party in the ruling coalition, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna......

Myanmar diary: Dealing with impermanence and a ruthless junta

Myanmar, formerly Burma, a Buddhist nation, is in tears because the military has taken over the administration of the country once again.

Let’s felicitate our teachers! - EDITORIAL

These are days when much of school education is happening online via zoom technology. Teachers are seen from a distance.

Vital need to depoliticize UNHRC

In theory, human rights are universal and apolitical. This is what international human rights law insists, for the law is no respecter of nations or politics.

Easter Sunday attack, the CB bond scam and vaccines

The final report, of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) on the April 21, 2019 Easter Sunday Suicide Attacks, was handed over to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa by PCoI Chairman, Supreme Court Judge Janak de Silva at the Presidential Secretariat on February 1 in the presence of the other members of the Commission --

Draft UNHRC resolution on the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is set to present a resolution at the 46th Sessions of the UNHRC on (read, ‘against’) Sri Lanka. Ideally the United States of America, which co-sponsored a resolution ON (read, again, ‘against’) Sri Lanka in 2015, should be leading the charge. That country has since rubbished the UNHRC as ‘a cesspool of bias,’ before leaving in a huff.

India’s concerns over ECT understandable - Ajith Nivard Cabraal

State Minister of Money, Capital Markets and Public Enterprise Reforms Ajith Nivard Cabraal, in an interview with the Dailymirror, speaks about the present status of economy and steps for macroeconomic developments. Excerpts:

Independence Day - EDITORIAL

This year on February 4, as has happened over the past 73 years, leaders of the governing political elite ‘celebrated’ this country’s Independence Day....

The revolution is digital

When what is now known as the Saffron Revolution began in Myanmar in early 2007, the big difference between a decade back....

Let us see more world rulers with hands that rock the cradle

In journalism, we are told that we should avoid the use of clichés because they are often quoted and thereby prostituted. But in this case we use the cliché ‘the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world’ because it is approp