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Home » ColumnsPoverty elimination and reduction of inequality: Global trends and policy imperatives
The elimination of poverty has been a popular promise among political leaders in Sri Lanka and elsewhere. Despite their repeated promises of eliminating poverty, poverty persists. The rhetoric on poverty elimination has far surpassed efforts to reduce it and not been adequately backed up by policies that mitigate poverty and reduce income inequality. The people [...]
New faces but the (hauntingly) old mindset
Governments may come and go in Sri Lanka but the anti-reform and anti-liberties mindset seems firmly entrenched. This is now proven beyond all shadow of a doubt. The only difference therein is that of gradation. So the gullible may gladly murmur ‘this is better than what was there before.’ That, in fact, happens to be [...]
Ranil chocolate impresses Belgium master
It was amid some political tension that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe left Sri Lanka for Belgium. His last meeting with President Maithripala Sirisena was on October 13 at the President’s Paget Road residence in Colombo. That was to clarify statements Mr. Sirisena made at a function at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute (SLFI) where documents [...]
Oct. 12 comments: President goes into damage-control mode
Sirisena explains issues to ministers and claims again his speech was misquoted; media staff blamed for not clarifying position At Cabinet news briefing, Senaratne gives long explanation of controversial speech, adding to the confusion By Our Political Editor President Maithripala Sirisena’s broadsides at his own United National Front (UNF) Government led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe just [...]
Bribery controls halt
My dear Dilrukshi, I thought I should write to you because it appears that the whole country is talking about you, your job and your resignation. It is disappointing that you had to leave in the way you did, but after Maithri made his statement about you and the bribery commission, he didn’t leave you [...]
So much ado about verbal pugilistics
Aiyo. Before linguistic purists direct their verbal barbs in this direction may I say in mitigation that it should be known by now that this word has gained international respectability. It has entered the prestigious Oxford dictionary which surely stamps the imprimatur of acceptability and passage into common usage. How it got there and when [...]
The Yahapalana blues and President’s right to sing it
No one really knows what made President Maithripala Sirisena give pubic expression to any private misgivings he may have had in the way the onslaught on corruption was carried out by the agencies assigned to that task and why he singled out the Bribery Commissioner for special mention. Had his broadside, made last Tuesday, been [...]