COVID-19 dissects religious gene; exposes myth For how long can we hurt nature?

The short answer is, there are no almighty, omnipotent, omnipresent gods in Buddha Dhamma, but plenty in “Buddhism”, burrowed from other religious beliefs, mainly of Hindu origins.

Can we avoid a situation of queues and scarcities? - EDITORIAL

On April 22, cabinet spokesperson, Minister Bandula Gunawardana announced that the government would be taking steps to limit imported goods into the country.

Post COVID-19 Era: Leveraging on Agri-food sector for SL’s economic revival

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy of Sri Lanka like anywhere else in the world will be complex to predict in terms of magnitude, but directions are predictable.

South Asia needs a humanitarian response to the COVID-19 pandemic : Ranil Wickremesinghe

The former Sri Lankan Prime Minister says India has to play a leading role in formulating a SAARC-led regional response to the crisis.

Politics of Postponing Parliamentary Elections Amid a Pandemic

The world including Sri Lanka is undergoing a pandemic crisis of colossal proportions. The Island nation however is in double jeopardy as it is in the grip of two crises simultaneously.

To help an Earth under stress, let’s look to Sri Lanka’s wetlands

With Earth Day marked on April 22, we look to nature’s solutions to climate change and other challenges. Wetland preservation is vital for our environmental, food and societal futures.

COVID-19 Pandemic: Mother Earth sends us a message

Amid the devastating COVID-19 pandemic – worst viral disease in more than a century -- the United Nations on April 22 marked the International Mother Earth Day. We hope the International Mother Earth Day’s principles and values will continue to be observed by the people throughout the coming months and years. While governments and big movements do it on a mega level individuals could do it on a small scale by saving fresh water or electricity, pl

Politics riding the crest of a COVID-19 wave

We understand why the National Elections Commission (NEC) indefinitely postponed the general election that was scheduled for April 25 -- it was nothing but the heightening of the COVID-19 threat.

World seemingly distressed by a pandemic once in ‘five score years’

The earliest known pandemic was recorded in France, known as Great Plague of Marseille in 1720, exactly 300 years ago.

Home education during a crisis - EDITORIAL

The COVID-19 pandemic poses many questions regarding school education. One is why should students return to school at all if technology....

Post-Covid world order: No cure for self-centred power politics

The global war against Covid-19 can be, in a sense, described as World War III. Many believed that World War III would see a nuclear war, but before....

NEC Chairman continuing as one-man commission: Hoole

National Elections Commission (NEC) member Ratnajeevan H. Hoole has not been in good terms with NEC Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya....

‘Legally the old parliament can now sit’ - Sumanthiran

The political landscape in Sri Lanka is on the brink of another crisis with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa insisting that he will not reconvene the old Parliament despite strong pressure from the opposition.

There’s no Place like Home

THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. -- Thomas Paine

The resurrection and the life

It’s just a year after the Easter Sunday attacks that shocked the nation and took the lives of some 300 Sri Lankans. It was a rude awakening for a nation that truly believed that terrorism was a thing of the past. It reminded everyone that the demise of one kind of terrorism does not mean the end of all terrorism.

Govt, opposition heading for Constitutional showdown

The announcement of a new polling day for the parliamentary elections has now intensified the political debate between the government and the opposition regarding the call for the reconvening of Parliament.

Don’t make Sri Lanka a vulnerable nation

Sri Lankans have got used to living with a lot less. Salary cuts have been announced and even the sick have been made to go into survival mode. Pharmacies are opened only on selected days of the month. People have to toughen up and most importantly if one observes closely there are few or no options to complain about anything.

Why aren’t our children smiling?

Of course it’s difficult to smile often during a pandemic. However, even otherwise our children had not been smiling. They looked very serious, thoughtful and ill-tempered even before the epidemic. This had been the case with both Ge

The curious case of @ChinaEmbSL

On the eve of Avurudu last week, a relatively obscure Twitter account became the focal point in Sri Lanka’s tweets sphere.

Honouring the Victims of April 21, 2019 Through Togetherness & Unity

Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of the Easter Sunday attacks, in which eight IS terrorists senselessly murdered 269 Catholic and Christian worshippers and tourists, shattering our collective sense of unity and togetherness. Fa

Sri Lankan millennial entrepreneurs defy stereotypes

Facebook Cofounder and now President of Social Capital, Chamath Palapithiya is inarguably one of the most famous,

Easter Sunday attacks and their twists and turns

April 21, 2019 or Easter Sunday that year will go down in the history as one of the darkest days that saw a dastardly crime against humanity when terrorists with a Muslim tag killed more than 250 innocent people and wounded hundreds more in three churches and three tourist hotels in Sri Lanka. It was a barbaric attack against human civilization, since the attackers targeted a particular community just because the latter were of a different faith

A year since the Easter Sunday attack; some lessons from the tragedy

A year ago, at 8.25 a.m. on this day, Alawdeen Ahamed Muaath, a 22-year-old law graduate turned suicide terrorist detonated an explosive-filled rucksack amid a throng of Easter Sunday worshipers praying at St Anthony’s Church, Kochchikade. The explosion killed more than 50 people and wounded scores more. Within the next hour, multiple coordinated suicide attacks ripped through the chu

Despite Covid-19, can Sri Lanka conduct safe elections like South Korea?

Sri Lanka’s Election Commission, comprising former Commissioner of Elections Mahinda Deshapriya, retired Legal Draftsman Nalin Abeyesekera PC and Ex-Jaffna.....

Gazetting a date for Polls

Two days ago, the Election Commission Chairman telephoned me to confirm my attendance at the Commission meeting on April 20, 2020, and....

Women bear brunt of COVID-19 pandemic

‘Do not go gentle into that good night - Rage, rage against the dying of the light’ The world as we know it has changed drastically....

United States is dumping WHO - EDITORIAL

The coronavirus or COVID-19, which surfaced in a Chinese seafood and poultry market in December last year, has spread to at least 177 countries.....

COVID-19 signifies both “danger” and “opportunity”

Back in first week of January, many global scientists predicted that the spread of the new COVID-19 or coronavirus in China would reach a turning point by the second or third week of February.

The New Poor

Increasing unemployment following the COVID-19 pandemic will create a new class of poor and the Governments cannot respond the same way they did following the 2007 Great Recession.

Hold tobacco industry accountable for the harm caused by COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic is still unfortunately under progression. There are limited data with regard to the clinical characteristics of the patients as well as to their prognostic factors.