How planning ahead can reduce disaster risk and support faster recovery

The rains have come again hard, causing flooding, landslides, and displacement, wreaking havoc on already vulnerable populations.

Elections belong to the people - EDITORIAL

Tomorrow, we move into November – a crucial month owing to Sri Lanka’s General Elections scheduled for the 14th.

Problems hang fire while government ponders elections

The new JVP/NPP government has been in power for less than two months. They are faced with mounting problems which are not of their making. In Opposition the president and his political party, which now rules our country condemned the former president Wickremesinghe for ignoring the plight of the masses.

Threat of Islamist extremism is real, don’t play politics with it

For the last couple of years since the tragic Easter Sunday attacks, some sections of the Catholic church led by Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith and civil society groups have been wanting us to believe that nine Islamist suicide terrorists, having pledged allegiance to the transnational Salafi Jihad terrorist group, Islamic State, blew themselves up killing 250 locals church goers and foreign tourists in order to bring to power an ardent Sinhala Buddhis

Why does Canada want to restrict immigration?

The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on October 23, that Canada will “significantly” reduce the number of new immigrants.

Elpitiya, a wakeup call for amending LG Election Act

The results of Saturday’s Elpitiya Pradeshiya Sabha election cannot be taken as an indication of the results of the forthcoming Parliamentary election scheduled for November 14, as some suggest, since the two elections are different in several aspects.

Israel’s espionage machine – cyber intelligence, moles and money

Israel pulled off two stunning espionage coups in recent months – the killing of Hamas’s top political leader Ismail Haniye in the Iranian capital Tehran, followed by the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, head of Hezbollah militant organisation in Lebanon.

Petty politics shouldn’t divert attention from justice to Palestine - EDITORIAL

The Middle East, more realistically East Asia, is now virtually a tinder box. Over the past decade or so Israel has assassinated a number of Iranian scientists.

Anura Dissanayake and the Formation of the National People’s Power

This is the fourth part of an extended article focusing on Sri Lanka’s newly elected President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. In the first part of this article, the early years of Anura’s eventful life were delved into in some detail. In the second part, AKD’s steady growth as a political leader within the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) was related to some extent. In the third part, Anura’s rise to the leadership position of the JVP was recounted.

Terror attack turned into a political foot ball

The can of worms that was opened by the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) leader, Parliamentarian Udaya Gammanpila with regard to the Easter Sunday attacks seems to have been overshadowed by the US travel advisory due to a purported plan by certain individuals to launch a similar attack on Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka.

Can government overcome problems of impunity and arm twisting

When ordinary citizens are brought before the law it is seen as a stigma, and shame. Times out of number, when officials are caught out -either embezzling funds, accepting bribes or any other offences; when produced before the court, these individuals tend to cover their faces in shame.

Security alert: More to it than meets the eye

There is more to the Israeli presence in Sri Lanka than meets the eye. Also, there is more to Wednesday’s security alert than what the authorities and embassies claimed.

The Govt. must study Jack Ma and the ecosystem - EDITORIAL

Sri Lanka has long been a country where ambitious individuals have toppled existing regimes and created new ones.

The building of a political force for the benefit of the country

October 24 marks the 30th anniversary of my father’s death. It was a on a day like today on that fateful night when the LTTE assassinated one of the most dynamic and accomplished politicians this country produced.

The colour of the lawmaker who’s not fake

Many moons ago, before the last presidential election, there was great uncertainty because the lawmakers were robbing the people off their tax contributions.

Let’s join the battle against corruption - EDITORIAL

Going by popular trends, most independent analysts are forecasting that the new President and his party will get at least a simple majority in parliament.

Gammanpila’s ‘Wikileaks’- a Pandora Box or Can of Worms? Campaigner or attention-seeker?

“Secrecy, being an instrument of conspiracy, ought never to be the system of regular government.” Jeremy Bentham-English Philosopher, Jurist:1839

Continuing investigations and reports into Easter Sunday killings

It is over five years since the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks which left over 270 persons dead. The families of the victims in that mass killing still remain traumatised. There has as yet, been no closure to their sufferings as we Lankan’s as a whole and Catholics in particular have no idea as to who master-minded the evil deed.

Who are the would- be new guards of Sri Lanka and what are they saying?

It is more accurate to say that the new political entity, NPP, has replaced the Pohottuwa/SLFP

The Senanayake Legacy: Pioneers of Sri Lanka’s Independence

Don Stephen Senanayake, the first Prime Minister of independent Ceylon, was born on October 20th 1884. His family was in the forefront of the struggle for independence that began following the 1915 riots.

Pakistan’s constitution amended to tighten control over judiciary

Through the 26th Amendment (26A) to the Pakistan Constitution, the county’s parliament and the executive have tightened their control over the judiciary,

Accountants - Watchdogs or Facilitators of Financial Crimes!

“To steal you don’t need a mask and a gun- just a three-piece suit and a briefcase” – the motto of the new mafia.

The never ending clash with the UNHRC- EDITORIAL

The new government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) is encountering or is going to encounter several dilemmas some of which threaten its very survival, despite the ruling National People’s Power (NPP) or the main constituent of it, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) having not been responsible for them.

Patients burnt alive in tents - Auschwitz in reverse?

The world never looked really sane but, before the Bush-Blair team decided to change the world order after the Soviet Union collapsed, there was a semblance of sanity – or a method to the madness, at any rate.

World Bank’s Development Trap for Sri Lanka

The Western establishment has many ways to corner developing countries like Sri Lanka and set their economic trajectory in the interests of global capital. I have written extensively about the role of the IMF in trapping Sri Lanka with financialised commercial borrowing and austerity measures. In this column, I address the other powerful twin from Washington, the World Bank, and its economic policy-making role in Sri Lanka.

Conflicting reports and Lanka’s position re- sanctions on UNSG

Sri Lanka has always backed the cause of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian people. Whichever government was in power, unlike India which more recently has refrained from condemning Israel’s genocide in Palestine, Sri Lanka has been consistent in its support of Palestinian rights.

Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia to boost trade, investments ties

Diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka were established in 1974. Sri Lanka opened its Embassy in Jeddah in 1983 and later relocated to Riyadh in 1985. From 1977 to 1995, the Kingdom’s Embassy in New Delhi oversaw bilateral relations between the two nations, until Saudi Arabia opened its Embassy in Sri Lanka.

How Tertiary Education Institutes can Improve Student Engagement Levels in S. Asia?

In South Asian countries, many tertiary education institutions face challenges in maintaining and improving student engagement. The following document outlines strategies that these institutions can implement to enhance student engagement. The purpose of this article is to share the perspective of four prominent researchers on how to improve tertiary education levels with special reference to South Asian countries.

Dr. Lorna Dewaraja’s book ‘The Muslims of Sri Lanka’ Muslims’ role in Lankan politics and the magnanimity of Sinhala Kings

Sri Lanka’s history of peaceful relations that had existed between the Sinhalese and the Muslims, stands as a contrast against the mass destruction taking place in the Middle East in the name of ethnicity and religion.

NPP’s struggle against corruption

A record number of front-line politicians has opted out of the November 14 Parliamentary election. Despite over fifty MPs who represented the last Parliament having so evaded the directed contest at district level some of them are anticipating to enter the House through the National List of their respective parties or the parties where they finally took refuge in, on the eve of the September 21 Presidential election.