Views - 70 Friday, 18 January 2019 00:00

A media conference was organised by Justice for Animals, a community project under the Sri Bodhiraja Foundation, to discuss the enactment of the Animal Welfare Bill. The panel consisted of three key speakers: Sri Bodhiraja Foundation President Ven. D

Views - 317 Friday, 18 January 2019 00:00

The Yahapalana Government completed four years on 8 January this year. The four-year journey was a rough ride with a clear rift between the President and the UNP; the ruling party. The Government continues to face severe criticism from both inside an

Views - 309 Friday, 18 January 2019 00:00

In an age of stark contradictions, we live in a world where the exclusive 1% enjoy access to an abundance of wealth and resources but also a world where a billion people scarcely have enough to eat and have limited access to health and education. Whi

Views - 9302 Thursday, 17 January 2019 00:22

Karunanayake’s response is welcome since it allows the readers to make a judgment about the issues having considered all the arguments. However, my reading is that it is a personal attack rather than a professional response. My pension is a way bel

Views - 692 Thursday, 17 January 2019 00:12

W.A. Wijewardena, a retired Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, through a column in Daily FT severely criticised the policies adopted while I was serving as Minister of Finance, making a shameless effort to interpret the ongoing economic crisis as a

Views - 107 Thursday, 17 January 2019 00:09

Dear Minister, I wish to share my views about the present power system expansion program in Sri Lanka. A joint ADB/UNDP report released in 2017 glowingly expressed the belief that Sri Lanka can meet its current and future electricity demand through

Views - 140 Thursday, 17 January 2019 00:07

By Srimal Fernando and Mizly Nizar From the inception Sri Lanka and South Africa have made enormous strides in diplomatic cooperation. 2019 is a special milestone for both nations when they celebrate 25 years of diplomatic relations while looking to

Views - 41 Thursday, 17 January 2019 00:00

Sri Lanka’s abysmal record in dealing with alleged war criminals is well documented. And, with the recent appointment of Major General Shavendra Silva—an alleged war criminal—as second in command in the Sri Lanka Army, the South Asian nation ha

Views - 1617 Thursday, 17 January 2019 00:00

Happy Pongal, Mr Sumanthiran! You and I are from two very different generations. In fact you belong to my uncle’s generation (sadly I don’t get along very well with my uncle). You are a child of the ’70s. I’m a child of the 90s. In a more tex

Views - 133 Thursday, 17 January 2019 00:00

Before commenting on the selection process, it is better to understand the ground realities and the nature of the beasts. Sri Lanka has a good theoretical education system. This system prompts students to ‘Cram-Remember-Express’ or ‘Read-Rememb

Views - 80 Wednesday, 16 January 2019 00:00

(8) An analysis of overall effectiveness of Australian FTAs According to the Australian productivity research report (2010), businesses in Australia have provided little evidence that Australia’s Bilateral and Regional Trade Agreements (BRTAs) have

Views - 120 Wednesday, 16 January 2019 00:00

Sri Lanka is known to be plagued by twin deficits: The Government budget deficit (income being far less than expenditure) and the external current account deficit (importing a lot more goods and services than exporting). Main focus is on budget defic

Views - 23 Wednesday, 16 January 2019 00:00

Good governance activist Chandra Jayaratne has written to Minister of Finance and Mass Media Mangala Samaraweera on 10 January on an essential reform for macroeconomic advancement. Jayaratne has copied his written submission to the President, Prime M

Views - 116 Wednesday, 16 January 2019 00:00

I am an apolitical person. I am neither a political analyst nor a sports analyst. However, I closely observe both activities. I attentively observed recent political turmoil in Sri Lanka from a remote location via mass media. I watched the performan

Views - 748 Wednesday, 16 January 2019 00:00

As a Sri Lankan first, as a member of the predominant ethnic community, Sinhalese, as a follower of the Buddhist philosophy and as a grandmother, I have taken it upon myself to address the youth and young adults of Sri Lanka, amongst them – the fut

Views - 36 Wednesday, 16 January 2019 00:00

These are profound and intense words of wisdom, unbelievably, from The Greek Iron Age - a period of time between the collapse of the Mycenaean civilisation around 1100 BC and the beginning of the Greek Archaic Period of 800 BC. These are ancient word

Views - 76 Wednesday, 16 January 2019 00:00

By Bernard Fernando For long we have witnessed the recurring, unprofessional conduct and unproductive contributions from many of our undisciplined ‘Mace-raiders’ masquerading as politicians, who make a mockery out of august assemblies such as the

Views - 514 Wednesday, 16 January 2019 00:00

Gotabaya Rajapaksa is a determined contender for the presidency. His trenchant lecture to activists of the Viyathmaga forum demonstrated the man’s spiritedness and impulse to act. He is a driven man. What drives him?

Views - 514 Wednesday, 16 January 2019 00:00

Bourgeoisie venues It is no accident that presidential-candidate hopeful Gotabaya Rajapaksa holds his Viyathmaga meetings in bourgeoisie spots. Once, it had been Shangri-La. Last Saturday, 12 January, it had been Waters Edge. Gota’s speech offered

Views - 161 Tuesday, 15 January 2019 00:08

(5) Approach to FTAs of other countries (a) Lessons from India-EU FTA negotiations It is good for Sri Lankan negotiators to learn from their counter parts in India and EU. This is an exemplary occasion where negotiators from both India and EU showed

Views - 365 Tuesday, 15 January 2019 00:03

After shouldering the leadership of global democracy for over seven decades, the United States is seen withdrawing from the rest of the world. The European Union is not as united as it once was with Brexit and far right movements getting more likely

Views - 93 Tuesday, 15 January 2019 00:00

A phrase that does not have much meaning with the rest of the world yet an integral part of the American political way of life. A distinct dysfunction of a working democracy in that. A default mechanism that works wholly and totally against the peopl

Views - 41 Tuesday, 15 January 2019 00:00

In Sri Lanka, 80 people are killed by elephants and 230 elephants are killed by people each year, an expert on the Human-Elephant Conflict pointed out recently. International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), UK Chief Economist Paul

Views - 269 Tuesday, 15 January 2019 00:00

Ballistic missiles are rocket propelled weapons systems capable of carrying high explosives and also chemical, biological and nuclear munitions. Ballistic missiles fall into several categories such as strategic missiles (capable of being launched by

Views - 6629 Monday, 14 January 2019 00:10

Hitting a dying man on the head A high-level delegation led by Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera has left for Washington DC to meet IMF’s high-ups. The purpose? To negotiate for the restoration of the Extended Fund Facility or EFF temporarily su

Views - 356 Monday, 14 January 2019 00:04

“Don’t let anyone break your wings, you are free, fight and get your RIGHTS,” were the words tweeted by the 18-year-old apostate, Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun from Saudi Arabia, who renounced Islam, ran away from her family and sought asylum in a f

Views - 267 Monday, 14 January 2019 00:00

The policy debate towards negotiations on Free Trade Agreements (FTA) has been intensified after Sri Lanka signed a Free Trade Agreement with Singapore in 2018. Almost two decades ago, Sri Lanka entered into its first-ever FTA with India, followed by

Views - 647 Monday, 14 January 2019 00:00

I witnessed the launch of a book with a difference recently. It was Senior Professor Henarath Opatha, a veteran researcher in the field of HRM presenting his newest contribution titled ‘Sustainable HRM’. Today’s column is about the nature and f

Views - 100 Saturday, 12 January 2019 00:00

Copious amounts of what has to be construed as democracy administered broadly and expansively to drench a desperate, bewildered citizenry by a rotating leadership of confirmed crooks pregnant with hypocrisy and insincerity have in essence contributed

Views - 810 Friday, 11 January 2019 00:19

It is after some months that I visited Jaffna three weeks back, to spend the holiday season. As in almost every visit, I make it a point to go to the Jaffna Public Library. Every time I climb those steps, it is with reverence mixed with a deep sadnes