Less than 30% think IMF programme will improve economy in future: Verité Research

Approximately 28% of the population believes Sri Lanka’s ongoing programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will make.....

Whither safety in our public transport system - EDITORIAL

Modern public transportation in our country dates back to 1902. The first ever car entered our shores, an 8 HP single cylinder....

IMF, Retirement Funds and Bailout

The IMF is in town for the first review of its programme launched in March 2023. Some Colombo circles worry whether the so-called IMF....

Who is Hanzeer Azad Maulana the Whistleblower on Channel 4?

Britain’s Channel 4 TV aired the documentary Sri Lanka’s Easter Bombings in its Dispatches programme on Tuesday, September 5, 2023, at 11. 05 p.m.

Unanswered questions and complex theories

Can the committee and the PSC carry out investigations with an open mind after having so many theories on the crime having been spread and deeply rooted

Old people never die, they just fade away - EDITORIAL

America’s famous Nathaniel Adams Coles, known professionally as Nat King Cole, wrote a beautiful song about growing old. It goes like this: “You will never grow old, while there’s love in your heart, time may silver your golden hair, as you dream in an old rocking-chair; So keep my love in your heart, remember the love-tales we told, for with my love in your heart, my darling, you will never grow old; Don’t be fretful, or regretful, that you will

Political winds that engulf the estate sector - EDITORIAL

Sri Lankans are quick to highlight problems associated with grieving or suffering communities by writing or talking about them in media outlets. But seldom do we see any follow-ups being made on these stories....

IMEC versus BRI: Corridor conflicts in emerging bi-multipolar world order

A new connectivity plan that might compete with or complement China’s One-Belt-One-Road effort or the Belt-and-Road effort (BRI), depending on how geopolitics play out, emerged on the sidelines....

Are Trade Unions digging their own graves?

In the wake of the railway strike, which tragically claimed two lives and inconvenienced thousands of passengers and the public, it is time to reflect on the role of trade unions in our country. The ongoing strike, orchestrated by railway trade unions, has brought to the forefront an issue that has plagued Sri Lanka for years – the contentious relationship between trade unions, the government and the public. This situation raises a crucial questi

Schrodinger’s Banks: The immediate need for Policies to ensure Financial stability

Sri Lanka is entering into a new, dangerous phase in its economic recovery. Although macroeconomic stabilisation has made progress, financial stabilisation needs immediate attention. The combination of covid-era loans and crisis-era loans with high-interest rates all coming due, and in an environment with volatility and uncertainty in loan quality, it is important that policies be put in place now, well before any crisis emanates from the banking

The ‘Channel 4’ drama -journalism on the wrack - EDITORIAL

The Channel 4 drama - titled Dispatches is holding our country in thrall. Everybody is talking about it and everybody has...

Real victims and real danger of Channel 4’s fact-less documentary

Channel 4’s latest documentary on the Easter Sunday attack is way too depressing for any Sri Lankan, more so for the survivors ....

Politicizing disasters

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that he would appoint a committee headed by a Supreme Court judge to look into the allegations levelled by Britain’s Channel 4 that the State Intelligence Service Chief Suresh Sallay conspired to engineer the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings.

What happened to the Veddas, the indigenous people of Sri Lanka?

The Veddas, the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka, were once numerous and lived throughout the island. But they have almost disappeared now, being less than 0.13% of the population according to the last census taken in 2011. Presently, they are confined to the Bintanna area in South Sri Lanka and the Batticaloa District in the east. These days, the Veddas are treated as museum pieces to be shown to Western tourists fascinated by antiquities. A

Economic crisis is not something that can be overcome easily or without painful decisions - David Capie

Prof. David Capie, an academic from New Zealand specialized in international relations, shared his views in an interview by e-mail with Daily Mirror. He responds to questions on how small nations like Sri Lanka....

A major factor for Brain Drain in Sri Lanka

The political and bureaucratic system along with society at large and the professionals themselves have a third world mentality and offer and accept third world remuneration/salaries....

The TRUTH!: Easter Bombs, Channel 4 Blast and Politico Booby Traps

Sirisena, Wickremesinghe, and the Rajapaksas are seasoned, shrewd, and occasionally unscrupulous political figures, much like ALL other leaders in the political arena. They are well-informed...

Petty crime, unpaid fines and overcrowded jails - EDITORIAL

Our prisons are overcrowded. According to the Prisons Department, while the total capacity of our prisons is for 13,241 inmates, the total prison population stood at over 29,000. Almost double the number....

Who tells the truth: Moulana or Sallay?

The latest documentary produced by Britain’s controversial Channel 4, Sri Lanka’s Easter Bombings- Dispatches was fair enough to quote both the ‘whistleblower’ Asad Moulana and the Head of State Intelligence Service (SIS) Major General Thuan Suresh Sallay on the latter’s purported meeting with the leader of the National Thawheed Jama’ath (NTJ)

Droughts: Lack of competence or sabotage? - EDITORIAL

In Sri Lanka, we have been fortunate to have a tropical climate, and never really faced droughts of the worst order. Technically, what faced, have been extended periods of dry weather.

Easter attacks: Channel 4 bombshell and People’s right to truth

Those who are uncomfortable with the truth may try to accuse Britain’s Channel 4 television of pedalling lies through their Tuesday night programme on Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday terror attacks. To survive in politics....

Bloodstains won’t be washed away by tears! - EDITORIAL

Sri Lanka is again under the spotlight because Britain’s controversial television channel ‘Channel 4’ has released a documentary on the island’s Easter Sunday bombings which were carried out in....

Centric Globalisation: Taking G20 to the last mile, leaving none behind

‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ – these two words capture a deep philosophy. It means ‘the world is one family’. This is an all-embracing outlook that encourages us to progress as one universal family....

Let there be peace in Lanka, let it begin with me

President Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Government appear to be taking effective steps to stabilize Sri Lanka’s economy to rescue the country from the debt crisis. But the focus this week is on the no-confidence motion against Minister Keheliya Rambukwella who is accused of importing low-quality and even dangerous drugs outside the tender procedure and without the approval of the National Medical Regulatory Autho

Health Committee is barking up the Wrong Tree!

The Committee of Experts of the Ministry of Health to “Examine the identification of impediments in the procurement of quality drugs and equipment at competitive prices: Adoption of Simple and Transparent Procurement Methodologies: and Restructuring of the National Medicine Regulatory Authority [NMRA]” by the Cabinet, has called for written submissions before September 13.

The Onmax DT scam and Sri Lanka’s struggle against pyramid schemes - EDITORIAL

In recent years, Sri Lanka has witnessed an alarming surge in the proliferation of pyramid schemes that prey on the innocent public’s desire for quick wealth. The Onmax DT scam, which came to light not....

India’s moon landing and Rajapaksas’ crash landing of Sri Lanka

Two weeks back, an Indian space mission, Chandrayaan 3, landed in the hitherto unexplored South Pole of the moon, making India the first country to achieve the feat. The mission cost US$ 75 million....

Social safety net for poor: reality of a farce?

It is a well-known fact now that the official figures of inflation and reality on the ground seem to be worlds apart, the former indicating a downward trend while the other does the other way around. In fact, the root cause of last year’s public unrest, except for the weeks-long and miles-long queues for fuel and cooking gas, is still in effect. One has to understand the huge scramble on the part of the members of the low-income stratum of soc

Now the small fry are shining once again

Conning people is an old art, and didn’t start with the pandemic, or Gota’s economic miracle which put most of us from the frying pan into the fire.Even in pre-2021 better times, all kinds of cons were practised on people. One smart young guy in a tie had appeared down our lane long ago when it wasn’t a highway but a simple gravel road. He had collected money from several households, claiming that he was from the Road Development Authority, whi

An open letter to Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles

As Sri Lanka Police celebrated its 157th anniversary on September 3, one of the most experienced and qualified retired senior police officers, Gemunu Hapuhinna, writes about important measures to control crimes (including drug related underworld activities) and the Police Reward Fund and Police Savings Association- which could be used for the much needed welfare of the police officers and those in the lower ranks effectively if the funds are used