The noble role of parliamentary diplomacy

In President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s address yesterday (26), many independent analysts expected that he would announce his candidature for the Presidential Elections in September or October amidst wide speculation about who the other candidates would be and whether the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna will continue its alliance with the President, or even whether Parliamentary Elections will be held first. Since Independence in 1948, Sri Lanka h

‘Analysis-paralysis’ dampens air quality development even further

In November 2022, Verité Research wrote on the importance of better data to formulate a necessary air quality policy in Sri Lanka (https://www.veriteresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/20230425_AQD02_AirQualityandPublicHealth_F.pdf). The author recently worked with Verité Research staff to audit the air quality data that had since become available from around Sri Lanka, and concluded that there still wasn’t enough data to base any firm policy

Sri Lanka’s Presidential Elections - 2024 Who will Champion the Race?

“POLITICS IS TOO SERIOUS A MATTER TO BE LEFT TO THE POLITICIANS “(Charles de Gaulle) “That government is best which governs least.” “The people cannot delegate to government the power to do anything which would be unlawful for them to do themselves.”

Asia Cooperation Dialogue An Opportunity to deepen Intra-Asian cooperation and interaction

This week, Tehran will host a Ministerial meeting for Ministers of Foreign Afffairs of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) member states. Foreign Ministers and senior officials from 35 countries, along with heads of regional and multilateral Asian organizations, will take part in this gathering. This significant multilater

Elections, electioneering and ground realities

The Commissioner of Elections has confirmed that presidential elections will be held sometime between 17 September and 16 October 2024. While a plethora of candidates could be expected to contest the election, the reality is that only th

India revives the ancient glory of Nalanda Mahavihara

On June 19, a momentous and historic event took place in the North Indian State of Bihar. The governments....

Who does the Tamil diaspora fight for? - EDITORIAL

The UK Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission on Friday rejected an appeal by the Transitional....

Exactly 50 years ago… Today, India Crashed for 42 on 24th June 1974

The Indian cricket team, led by Ajit Wadekar, returned home after a disastrous tour of England in 1974. This tour included the infamous “Summer of 42” second....

Honouring parents -a question over Father’s and Mother’s Day - EDITORIAL

On May 25, most countries in the world celebrate Mother’s Day, while on June 16 we celebrated Father’s Day. The origin of both Mother’s Day and Father’s Day....

The Tamil Doctor who Gave Medical Aid to Injured Tigers

Captain Blood: His Odyssey was an adventure novel written by well-known writer, Rafael Sabatini, in 1922. Sabatini had a flair for creating fictional characters set against the backdrop of true, historical events. This blend of fiction and fact was received well by readers.

arrogance and nonsense

Just last week, in the aftermath of our dreadful performance at the still ongoing 2024 T-20 World Cup cricket tournament where our team was dumped at the group stage; team captain Hasaranga came out all guns blazing. He was not apologising for the weak-kneed performance. Rather the ‘captain’ was accusing ‘social media trolls’ of trying to turn local cricket fans against the team after their T20 World Cup exit.

Another probe on Easter Sunday carnage

The Presidential Committee of Inquiry appointed by President Ranil Wickremesinghe on June 12 to look into the intelligence failures that led to the Easter Sunday bomb attacks in 2019 is the fourth such investigative mechanism in relation to those attacks put in place by the present and past Presidents.

Election gimmicks; after India now it’s Sri Lanka’s turn

India finished with its parliamentary elections a few days ago and the Wickremesinghe regime can only be happy with the result. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP Party couldn’t win its outright majority, but held on to administrative power in Parliament with the support of a few regional parties. This support for Modi and the status co regarding who ‘rules’ India remaining unchanged means Sri Lanka doesn’t have to start bilateral ties with its i

Come on, hit me: Hezbollah challenges Israel

When Hezbollah tells the Middle East’s most powerful nation, Israel, “Come on, hit me,” it demonstrates its readiness for a fight and its confidence that it could teach the enemy an unforgettable lesson. It is an aggressive challenge. The pro-Iranian Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Palestine, the Houthis in Yemen, and several armed groups in Iraq form the axis of resistance against Israeli expansionism and Western imperialism. Hezbollah’s challeng

Insensitive leaders be aware that history can repeat!

Sri Lankans are very concerned about the much looked forward to Presidential Elections and the proposed tax reforms by President Ranil Wickremesinghe. Both are factors which will shape our futures. Though we cannot be proud of the post D.S. Senanayake era, we did have a past where Sri Lanka, or Ceylon then, was very much on the world map for all the good reasons. Other than the nation’s port facilities, ‘Ceylon’ was known for its Kings and prospe

Every minute, 20 people are forced to flee as refugees

Sri Lanka is one of the countries worst affected by the refugee crisis largely due to the civil war that lasted about 25 years. The root causes for this included political, educational and economic issues with the United National Party governments working according to the globalised market economy system. This was aggravated by the Executive Presidential system which was introduced by J.R. Jayewardene government on February 4, 1978. Since then, t

Political literacy and just recurring rhetoric

Election time is around the corner. A galore of promises, political grandstanding and conspiracy theories are only natural in the times ahead. The trend is already visible. The political literacy of the people who are supposed to decide, ultimately, matters more than ever during this time, to sift truth out of the mess for informed decisions to be made when casting ballots. Another broken promise? Once again, promises for constitutional amendment

Flooding the Court of Appeal with Tax Appeals A Recipe for Disaster?

It was reliably made to understand that the Government is about to bring some radical changes to the existing tax appeal procedures on the pretext of expediting the appeal process and reducing the undue overtime consumed for its finalisation at pr

Dudley Senanayake Statesman ‘Par Excellence’

The late Dudley Senanayake remains unforgettable to all those who had the privilege of knowing him. We think of him more than ever on June 19 which was his birth anniversary. What was it that made him different from other politicians of his time or thereafter? He was both an internationalist and a liberal in his political thinking. Although there were political giants like the late Dr. N. M. Perera, the late Dr. Colvin .R. de Silva, the late Phi

Queers for Palestine, Professionals for NPP and irrational quest for self-validation

Those who follow the worldwide pro-Palestine protests against the Israeli military campaign in Gaza in response to the slaughter of Israeli civilians by terror group Hamas might not have missed its moment of magic realism: Queers for Palestine.

Stop playing ducks and drakes with people’s lives

During this past month, hardly a day has passed without a page one story of large numbers of our former soldiers and officer-ranked military personnel being ‘duped’ into fighting in the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine. Let’s face it, ou

‘Fortress Europa’ against incoming flood of immigrants

“We do not want to become fortress Europa,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a speech....

Taiwan overcomes political barriers to build economic ties with South Asia

Though its very existence as a sovereign country is challenged by its giant neighbour, the Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC),Taiwan....

Haphazard solutions wouldn’t work for a deep-rooted problem - EDITORIAL

After the recent floods in some areas in Colombo and downstream of Kelani Ganga authorities were heard speaking.....

The IMF knife threatening democracy

The IMF after much fanfare released its third tranche from its Extended Fund Facility program for Sri Lanka amounting to US$ 336 million. These tranches that are released....

Presidential elections and changing global economic realities - EDITORIAL

We are entering the second half of this election-charged year. All major presidential candidates are now presently directing their political campaigns....

TheVersatile and multi-faceted Nissanka Wijeyeratne

Nissanka Parakrama hailing from a prominent Sabaragamuwa province family was born in Colombo on June 14,1924. He was the second son of Sir Edwin (EAP) and Lady Leela Wijeyeratne of Buddhenipola Walauwa, Kegalle. Sir Edwin Wijeyeratne served as Home Minister in the first post-independence Cabinet of Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake and was later Colombo’s envoy to London and New Delhi. Nissanka’s elder brother Tissa was a barrister and diplomat who

Dwindling hydro, petroleum resources makes nuclear power viable

The world’s resources of petroleum and natural gas are running out. On the other hand, the world’s population is growing. The global human population reached 8.0 billion in mid-November 2022 from an estimated 2.5 billion people in 1950, adding 1 billion people since 2010 and 2 billion since 1998. It has been estimated that known oil deposits will run out by 2052. While, there may be new wells discovered in the future, what is certain is that the

13A conundrum: A shared legacy of SJB

As some politicians in the North are vigorously debating whether to boycott the forthcoming presidential election or to field a common Tamil candidate the interest among the main presidential contenders in the Northern voters seems to be growing. President Ranil Wickremesinghe who seems to be undecided on his candidature has toured the Tamil-dominated Jaffna peninsula thrice this year, in his capacity as the President but with an ostensible elec

Should we ‘kill’ the postman?

Sri Lankans believe in resorting to strike action to resolve grudges related to employment. And the government plays dumb till then; in other words the state has to be told that workers have a problem. Just a day ago, postal workers commenced strike action citing existing job vacancies not being filled.