Sri Lanka centrepoint – partnership for growth
Sri Lanka is presently at a critical juncture in the economic front. The Government of Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickremesinghe have been in office for a period of 16 months with several reforms on the democratic front to their credit. Beyond that the challenges have surmounted on driving an economy that needs infusion of capital [...]
Website launch and lecture to mark death anniversary of Anagarika Dharmapala
To mark the death anniversary of Anagarika Dharmapala, the Sri Lanka Presidential Secretariat together with the Ministry of Buddha Sasana and the Department of Mass Communication of the University of Kelaniya organised a website launch and a commemorative lecture under the title “Vision of Srimath Anagarika Dharmapala: To Current Generation”. It was held on April [...]
Indian High Commissioner to commemorate Birth Anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore
To commemorate the 155th Birth Anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, Indian High Commissioner Y. K Sinha, will be garlanding the bust of Tagore at the main Library of the University of Colombo at 9.30 a.m. on May 6 in the presence of the academic community and Tagore aficionados. The event is being jointly organised by [...]
Denmark peace activist in Sri Lanka
Tharuma Tharumakulasingam, Chairman of the Centre for Peace and Social Development (CPSD) in Denmark and General Secretary of the International Movement for Tamil Culture (IMTC), was felicitated by the Sri Lanka Human Rights Foundation (SLHRF) in Colombo recently. Mr. Tharumakulasingam,is seen with SLHRF President B.M. Murshideen, SLHRF officials Suraiya Rizwie, Pamini Vetrichchelvan, Srinath Perera, M.JM. [...]
65,000 houses: A socio-cultural emancipation or a welfare disaster in the making?
Much has been said and written about the 65,000 houses programme being proposed by the Government. Its critics claim it to be an improperly conceived national expenditure with relatively high opportunity costs. On the other hand, its proponents, the Ministry of Rehabilitation and Resettlements, in particular, say those who criticise the project are ignorant of [...]
It takes two to political corruption
UNITED NATIONS – When Mobutu Sese Seko, one of Africa’s longstanding dictators was president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (1965-1997), he was vilified as one of the world’s most corrupt leaders. Arriving in the US with a predictable plane-load of political cronies, his pilgrimages to Disneyland were legendary – not forgetting his visits to [...]
Eastern Europe’s claims for UN chief questioned
UNITED NATIONS – As the campaign for a new UN Secretary-General (UNSG) gathers momentum, there is one lingering question that remains unanswered: does the now-defunct Eastern European political alliance have a legitimate claim for the job on the basis of geographical rotation? Of the nine candidates in the running, seven are from the former Eastern [...]
Malaria’s deadly comeback
SINGAPORE – The dramatic drop in malaria deaths since the beginning of the century is one of the great public-health success stories of recent years. Thanks to concerted investments in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, the number of people killed by the disease each year has declined 60% since 2000, saving more than six million lives. [...]