“Miss, mantheeru neethiya nisa api bus passen yanna one. Ithin drop eka parakku wei,” (Miss, because of the lane law we have to follow the buses. So I will not be able to drop you on time), warned a tuk tuk driver. The newly introduced and much-s

Despite city beautification projects that have been taking place, several areas in Colombo are still awaiting a facelift. One of these areas is a section of Malalasekara Mawatha, opposite Arcade Independence Square. Residen

Over the years, Muslim politics in Sri Lanka has been undergoing changes in terms of issues/concerns, organization, alliances, and of course, relations with other communities. There have been periods of consonance as well as disso

Sri Lankans will soon lose their opportunity to boast about the rich biodiversity the land once had. Ad hoc practices such as clearing protected areas....

Days after the Anawilundawa Ramsar Wetland, situated in Puttalam District, made headlines over an illegal clearance, nearly 100 acres of forest area was reportedly destroyed in Kuratiyamohotte.....

On September 6 as many as 100 adolescent couples in Anuradhapura were taken in for questioning on the accusation of engaging in ‘improper behaviour’.

A flute version of Beethoven’s ‘Für Elise’ was echoing from a distance, indicating the hour of the choon paan vehicle. The young and the old alike had arrived at the roadside to purchase an evening snack. Harmonising the background noise was t

Weeks after MV Wakashio, a Japanese-owned bulk carrier, ran aground a coral reef in Mauritius, a crude oil carrier MT New Diamond caught fire around 38 nautical miles East of Sangamankanda Point in the East Coast of Sri Lanka on September 3.

The Dambulla Dedicated Economic Centre (DDEC) is a hive of activity from 5.00am onwards on any given day.

The “Mathiya Seyal Kuzhu” (central working committee) of the Ilankai Thamil Arasuk Katchi (ITAK) also known as the Federal Party will be meeting today (Aug 29) in Vavuniya. The committee is generally referred to as “Mathiya Kuzhu”(Central com

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently announced that the COVID-19 wave will prevail for another two years. This means that people will have to continue adhering to basic health guidelines....

The Department of National Museums came under heavy scrutiny after photos of the black leopard’s carcass went viral on social media.

Wildlife crimes in Sri Lanka and around the world are escalating at an alarming pace. Illegal activities such as snaring pose a threat to endemic species and the link to the illegal bushmeat trade has in most instances been exposed.

The recently concluded Sri Lankan parliamentary election resulted in the defeat of several veteran politicians.

The island-wide power cut which occurred on August 17 at 12.45 am and continued for 8 hours has disrupted economic activity and day to day lives of people in different sectors.

Liberal democracy is rooted in the rights of individuals, and not the rights of groups or fixed communities. Liberal democracy cannot exist without a national identity that defines what citizens hold in common with one another.

The ‘lungs of Sri Lanka’ are gasping for air. The Sinharaja Forest Reserve was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in 1988 and is arguably the most important biodiversity

It’s a crystal clear fact now. Colombo’s air quality index improved by leaps and bounds during the COVID lockdown phase. But this jubilance is short-lived as it’s predicted that the pollutants will again encroach the city when traffic returns t

All isn’t well for the estate worker in the Hill Country – the land of tea. Reaching out to every tea bush on the mountainous terrain amidst nasty leech bites and threats from leopard and wasp attacks is a fraction of the effort that goes into ma

The one-word answer to the question “Did M. A. Sumanthiran of the Tamil National Alliance win in the Jaffna Electoral district by “stealing” the preference votes cast for another TNA candidate Ms. Sashikala Raviraj?

Sri Lanka has elected a new government from a newly-formed party to rule for the next five years. The new and the not-so-new, young and old and a variety of elected lawmakers will soon fill the 225 seats in Parliament.

The long awaited 2020 Parliamentary Elections has concluded with a 71% voter turn out despite the difficulties imposed by the COVID -19 Pandemic threat. Appropriate health procedures were followed by the authorities with enthusiastic cooperation of t

Sri Lankans went to polls yesterday (August 5) in adherence to the health precautions outlined by the respective authorities to make sure that COVID -19 will not spread as a result of the polling process. Every election has its own significance, and

The death of a notorious Sri Lankan born gangster in India opens a window for us to peep into the past and observe how our closest neighbour offers us both the good and the bad.

The recent United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) report titled, “Tackling the COVID-19 economic crisis in Sri Lanka...

Sri Lanka has become an unsafe place for children. Even with a National Child Protection Authority (NCPA), Women’s and Children’s Affairs Ministry and a Child Protection Unit at the Attorney General’s Department the number of child abuse cases

In the run up to last year’s Presidential Elections, Facebook visibly increased its interactions in Sri Lanka. Officials from the social media platform were in the island meeting with government officials as well as those working outside of governm

“I have had the privilege of working closely with the late General Kobbekaduwa when he was the Security Forces Commander in Wanni and subsequently at the Joint Operations Command in Colombo.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and the fellow travellers of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) are asking for a two-thirds majority in the general election. For what? They want to abolish the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, one

Sri Lanka lost seven leopards within seven months of 2020. The main cause was snaring – an offence under Section 30 of the Flora and Fauna Protection Ordinance.