Monks on Dhammadutha service
For the past eight decades, the Anagarika Dharmapala Trust has been sending monks on Dhammadutha service to the centres of the Maha Bodhi Society of India. This month, a new batch of monks was sent after an orientation programme at the Vidyodaya Pirivena at Maligakanda, Colombo 10.
The Female Resistance
By Sławomir Sierakowski WARSAW – Antagonism is mounting between today’s right-wing populists and a somewhat unexpected but formidable opponent: women. In the United States, much like in Poland, women’s rights have been among the first targets of attack by populist leaders. Women are not taking it lying down. Traditional conservatism in the West has largely [...]
Trump’s Anachronistic Trade Strategy
By Richard Baldwin LONDON – Donald Trump’s ignominious executive order barring entry into the United States for refugees and others from seven predominantly Muslim countries has dominated headlines in recent weeks. But the damage done to America’s image, and to the global economy, will only be further compounded by Trump’s early decisions on trade. In [...]
St. Lucia’s Cathedral, Kotahena to resonate with Coronation Mass
By Shakya Wickramanayake St. Lucia’s Cathedral, Kotahena will be witness to an amazing and deeply spiritual spectacle on Sunday, February 26 when over 300 voices will come together with a 30-member orchestra to sing Mozart’s Mass in C Major KV 317, also known as the ‘Coronation Mass’ at the solemn Eucharist celebration to commemorate ‘the [...]
Grateful thanks from those in whom the “Navajeevanam Legacy” lives on
106th B’day greetings to LOUISA ARULAMMA THAMBYRAJAH On February 6, you celebrated your birthday – you are 106 years young! Such rare occasions are a wonderful time to look and thank God for His grace and guidance. How thankful we are that in 1959, just one year after the ethnic riots of 1958 that you [...]
Takes oaths as lawyer
Jayathissa Herath of Vekanda Road, Habarakada, Homagama took oaths as an Attorney –at- law before a panel of judges of the Supreme Court on January 27. Mr. Herath, the president of the Sri Lankan branch of the International Committee on Monuments and Sites, is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the National [...]
RKW: Now an inspiring presence at the Law Library
By Joshua Surendraraj A humble legal academic, loved by his students: An eminent counsel respected by his colleagues, the late Deshamanya R.K.W. Goonesekera was considered a legend in the legal sphere. His demise in November, 2014 left a void that is still being felt by many in the legal profession. The bust of the late [...]
SAARC: Panel discussion points to impediments and the way forward
A panel discussion on “SAARC: Its Impediments and Way Forward”, was held by the High Commission of Pakistan in Sri Lanka and the premier national security think tank, Institute of National Security Studies Sri Lanka (INSSSL) at Hotel Galadari on February 6. The event was addressed by several experts from Sri Lanka and Pakistan. They [...]
The new anti-Semitism: First the Jews, now the Muslims
By Ian Buruma NEW YORK – Those who have been telling us that Islam, not just revolutionary Islamism, is a lethal threat to Western civilisation should now feel satisfied: the President of the United States, and his main advisers, agree with them. In the tweeted words of Donald Trump’s National Security Adviser, General Mike Flynn: [...]
Right to Information: Excitement in the air!
By Mathuri Thamilmaran As citizens take their first steps towards obtaining information from Public Authorities (PA) with the operationalising of The Right to Information Act No. 12 of 2016 (RTI Act) on February 3rd 2017, there are many hiccups that are bound to arise. This is inevitable as other countries around the world take as [...]
60 years of inexorable Sri Lanka-Russia relations
By Somar Wijayadasa On February 19, 1957, Mr. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, the Prime Minister of Ceylon (later Sri Lanka) established diplomatic relations with the former Soviet Union, now Russia, thus beginning a significantly new era of diplomatic relations between the two nations. But the long-winding history of our relationship is much older, dating back to 1891, [...]
Sri Lanka’s foreign affairs initiatives then and now
By Leelananda De Silva I refer to the perceptive article “The game changer” written by Dr. Sarala Fernando, one of our highly regarded diplomats of yesteryear, which appeared in your newspaper on January 29, 2017. She referred to one or two initiatives in foreign affairs in her time. I would like to expand on this [...]
US threatens to penalise allies on UN voting
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS – The United States and most western donors have traditionally exercised their financial clout to threaten developing nations who refuse to fall in line on critical UN voting either in the Security Council, the General Assembly or the Human Rights Council. The unwritten rule, exercised off and on, warns: if [...]
Nazi Germany’s judges were also tried as war criminals
By Jayantha Gunasekera When the Second World War broke out in 1939, the Prime Minister of Great Britain was Neville Chamberlain, the President of the United States was polio stricken Franklin D Roosevelt, and the French President was Francois Daladier. Hitler successfully bluffed the Western leaders and Russia, by signing a Peace Agreement which was [...]
Should we abolish private medical education in Sri Lanka?
By Dr. Miran Salgado Private medical college and private medical education have once again become bitter words generating an awful taste, as it was merely 35 years ago when I was a medical student at the Colombo Medical Faculty. Answers to the questions raised today as to private medical education can be found if the [...]
Trial of the German judges and the trial of the Nazi war criminals
By Jayantha Gunasekera When the Second World War broke out in 1939, the Prime Minister of Great Britain was Neville Chamberlain, the President of the United States was polio stricken Franklin D Roosevelt, and the French President was Francois Daladier. Hitler successfully bluffed the Western leaders and Russia, by signing a Peace Agreement which was [...]
How Lankans overseas celebrated Independence Day
France The embassy of Sri Lanka in Paris celebrated the 69th Anniversary of the Independence on 4th February 2017 at Espace Saint Pierre in Paris with the participation of over 550 invitees from the Sri Lankan community representing all ethnicities. Staying true to the spirit of reconciliation, the national anthem was sung in both Sinhala [...]