It’s freebie season in Tamil Nadu ahead of tomorrow’s polls
It’s election time in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. And for voters, it means just one thing: freebies. As campaigning for assembly elections intensifies, voters are being showered with promises of gold and smartphones, free laptops and free Wi-Fi. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, 68, who heads the All India Anna Dravida [...]
Rahul emerges as threat to Modi
It was one of the stranger sights in Indian politics: On the day the storied Congress party suffered its worst-ever defeat, deputy leader Rahul Gandhi stood with a wide grin on his face. That expression in May 2014 as his mother conceded the election to Prime Minister Narendra Modi typified the image of Gandhi as [...]
Bridges can be easily smashed but not so easily built: Chief Justice
Jaffna Hindu College and Ananda College, Colombo recently held their annual events organised with the aim of promoting national reconciliation and the north-south dialogue. The events included a cricket encounter between the two premier Hindu and Buddhist schools for the Sivagurunathan Memorial Challenge Trophy and a debate in English for the Panikkar-Thanabalasingham Challenge Shield — [...]
Sri Lankan New Year Festival held in US
Woodbridge,s NJ-Beautiful weather added spice to a grand day-long gala held in celebration of the Sri Lankan New Year on Saturday, April 30 at the Alvin P. Williams Memorial Park, in Sewaren, New Jersey. The event organised and sponsored by the Sri Lanka Arts Society of New Jersey, featured Sri Lankan cultural activities as well [...]
China, Sri Lanka and politics of Indian Ocean
The flurry of analytical pieces in the media and the continuing political point scoring at China’s expense, suggests intense interest in the outcomes as Sri Lanka recalibrates its relationship with China following the uncertainties that accompanied the change of government in 2015. India’s views on the ongoing adjustment process are unknown at this stage but [...]
Sri Lankan wins award for Dengue research
Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama, Consultant Physician and a well-known Specialist in Dengue, recently won an international award for his research work in Dengue. He was one of the three winners of the ProMED award in Emerging infections selected from submission of clinicians from all over the world to the International Society of Infectious Diseases. This was [...]
Exhibition for Palestine Nakba Day event in Colombo
To mark the 68th anniversary of Palestine Nakba Day, an exhibition and a public meeting will be held today at the MICH Auditorium at No. 7, Lily Avenue, Wellawatte. The exhibition will be opened for public from noon while the meeting will start at 4 pm. Colombo’s Chief Quazi U.L.M. Marzook will presdie at the [...]
Seizing the moment
The name on Jean-Marc Flambert’s t-shirt wasn’t his own. Above the number assigned to him by the organisers of the London Marathon was the name Rudy and just beneath it the line ‘God loves you.’ As he neared the London Bridge on April 24, every breath burning, muscles pumping, Jean-Marc found himself swerving to the [...]
‘Anonymous Entry’ 1st visual arts exhibition ‘Thrill’
‘Thrill’, the 1st visual arts exhibition organised by ‘Anonymous Entry’ is in its final day today at the J.D.A. Perera Gallery, Horton Place, Colombo 7. The exhibition is open today from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Ceramic arts, digital arts and a collection of paintings would be included in this exhibition. ‘Anonymous Entry’ is a new organisation [...]
Sykes Picot Agreement: 100 years ago, Britain and France carved up West Asia
During the second half of the 19th century the British Empire wanted to ensure the Middle East remains destabilised. It was around the same time that the Zionists were planning to set up a separate Jewish state in Palestine where more than 97 percent of the population were Palestinian Arabs — both Muslims and Christians. [...]
Yasapalanists’ Parliament
I am surprised that many citizens, all those who craved for a ‘Yahapalanaya’, have showed utter dismay over the attack carried out by some Members of Parliament on their colleagues. Various civil societies and other organizations pleaded with the public, delivered graphic sermons to the voters and published advertisements, spending millions of rupees, which they [...]
My dear Mahinda: An open letter from Mangala Samaraweera to ex-President
My dear Mahinda, I still vividly recall the first time I met you. It was at the SLFP Party Headquarters on Darley Road in June 1988, which I attended in my capacity as the new SLFP organiser for Matara. I also remember being moved by the impassioned speech you made during the meeting about the [...]
How Trump would weaken America
CAMBRIDGE – Donald Trump, the Republican Party’s presumptive US presidential nominee, has expressed deep scepticism about the value of America’s alliances. His is a very nineteenth-century view of the world. Back then, the United States followed George Washington’s advice to avoid “entangling alliances” and pursued the Monroe Doctrine, which focused on US interests in the [...]