The government made two important decisions recently on medical education in the country. One was to establish a medical faculty at the National School of Business Management (NSBM) in Homagama and the other was to enroll local students at the Genera

In sixth century BC, Buddhism thrived in the Gangetic Plain in North India due to urbanisation and the development of trade. According to the renowned scholar of Buddhism in India, Balkrishna Govind Gokhale, Buddhism began to decline in India when ur

Corporal punishment affects over 1.3 billion children worldwide and is the most common form of child abuse globally and in Sri Lanka, where complaints of cruelty against children have increased by three-fold in the past ten years. As the world cel

When Israel launched a massive bombardment of the Gaza Strip in retaliation to the Hamas cross-border attack on Oct 7, 2023, I had divided sympathies, especially in view of the atrocities....

This Wednesday is May Day, a day set apart to commemorate the struggles and gains made by workers and labour movements the world over. Very sadly, in our country, workers’ day has been usurped....

The Haymarket affair, which occurred in Chicago 138 years ago, marked a significant moment where labour protests advocating for an eight-hour workday turned violent, resulting in the deaths of several....

While the concept of permanent tourism may seem novel, its implications for countries like Sri Lanka are profound. Unlike traditional short-term visitors, permanent....

The first part of this article published in the “Daily Mirror” on April 20, 2024 under the heading “Ranil Wickremesinghe caravan moves on despite barking dogs” evoked a lot of reader responses. In a climate of Ranil-bashing, many seem to be h

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leaders who had been imprisoned for their involvement in the 1971 Insurrection followed an untraditional strategy subsequent to their release from prison in 1977, in their pursuit of political power. They, instead

I hope to convince the reader that despite some of the commentary, Sri Lanka is not on the road to recovery. Numerous predictably dysfunctional policies with questionable....

What horrible times are we living in? “Never again” was the resolve that led to the formation of a rules-based world order in the aftermath of World War II, in which some 80 million people....

The tragic motor car accident that snuffed out the lives of seven people and injured over 20 people must be reviewed critically. At the time of writing this column only two drivers...

Five years ago, on Easter Sunday, a group of local Islamists carried out coordinated suicide attacks targeting three churches and tourist hotels, killing over 270 worshipers and tourists and wounding 500 others. The fifth anniversary of that heinous

While most Sri Lankan politicians and the people are focused on elections—what elections and when or whether they will be held—it is more important to give attention and priority to issues such as gender equality. It is especially important to fo

Sri Lanka’s latest news in the international scene is generated with its dealings with Iran, a nation considered as a super power in tactical ballistic missiles and UAVs. Iran’s President Dr. Ebrahim Raisi was in the island on Wednesday (April 24

What a turn of events in Myanmar–in 2021, the Generals seized power again from the legitimately elected government of Aung....

The saying “Whom the Gods would destroy, they first make mad” is believed to have been made by the Greek Tragedian....

Palitha Thewarapperuma, a controversial politician from the Kalutara district met a tragic death last week. His popularity was reflected in the huge crowd that gathered, including thousands of Muslim men and women from many parts of the district. He

Maldivian voters gave President Mohamed Muizzu’s alliance, principally comprising the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and the People’s National Congress (PNC), a super majority in the Parliamentary elections held on April 21. As per the inte

Israel’s misguided (as the US President chooses to call it) attack on the Iranian Consulate in Syria, the retaliatory strikes by Iran....

Global oil and gold prices surged, while stock markets plummeted, in the wake of reports that Israel had launched missiles....

In April 2022 our country was declared bankrupt. We were unable to import basic needs such as food, fuel, cooking gas, medicines and other necessities. A sudden ban on the import of petroleum-based fertiliser nearly killed some of our main export cro

Despite the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and the Jathika Jana Balawegaya (National People’s Power –NPP) having been throwing challenges at each other for a debate over the economic recovery of the country, they seem to have their apprehensions as

“The Dogs bark but the Caravan moves on” is a proverbial saying of supposedly Turkish origin. A caravan refers to a group of people, animals or vehicles on the move. As is natural members of the canine species respond to the strange sight of

These are days when politicians in the country are getting ready for upcoming elections, hence there are thoughts about whether anyone of them would use schools and education to promote....

Israel’s hardline and war-thirsty Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is more than ever before well close to dragging the United States into a war with Iran. Ever since Iran launched its nuclear....

April 21 this year will mark five years since the deadly 2019 Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka. The targets included two Catholic churches in the Archdiocese of Colombo....

Kachchativu is a small island a mile long, three quarter mile broad at its widest and area wise less than half a square mile, located about halfway between India and Sri Lanka close to the median in the Palk Strait. In the drawing of the maritime bou

While President Ranil Wickremesinghe, the splintered Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) government and opposition parties are focusing on the elections, what election should be held or when and on what basis, more attention needs to be given to vital

The 2022 Football World Cup in Qatar centered the world’s attention on the abuse faced by thousands of primarily South Asian migrant construction workers. The spectacle was a rare opportunity to press the case for reform not just in Qatar, but acro