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Home » ColumnsSunday Punch stroll down 2017: Well, that was the year that was
Even as President Maithripala Sirisena vowed this week to unsheathe his Sword of Excalibur and crackdown on the nation’s bog of corruption, the Sunday Punch on this New Year’s Eve craves your indulgence to embark on a stroll down memory streets of the year that was. But before we turn to the events that came [...]
Wedding bells for Chinese couples: Who will foot the bill
A hundred Chinese couples tied the nuptial knot this month in Colombo watched by their relatives and a distinguished audience. Later, there was a banquet for 600 guests at a leading restaurant in Battaramulla. The Chinese couples have gone back home after a brief honeymoon in paradise isle to live ‘happily ever after’ and their [...]
Cheers! dear citizens
My dear citizens of Paradise, I thought I must write to you when everyone is wishing you a Happy New Year and most of you are hoping that the next year will be better than the one that is ending today. What I wanted to tell you is that, even if you haven’t realised it, [...]
Time for Sri Lanka’s friends to step up and be counted
One of the positive features of the regime change that took place in January 2015 was the restoration of Sri Lanka’s image in the eyes of the world. As a result of the over three decade civil war and the related fallout, particularly in the field of human rights, the country was fast gaining a [...]
2018 should not bring us saviours, presidential or otherwise
As we enter upon a New Year pregnant with hope and foreboding in equal parts, the inglorious epitaph of the past twelve months qualifies to be none other than the adage ‘the more things change, the more they stay the same.’ A tug-of-war between the old and the new Certainly the signs of the establishment [...]
2017—year of slow economic growth but great expectations
This year’s economic achievements were modest and inadequate. In the background of slow economic development and inability to implement economic reforms needed to boost the economy, the government’s vision of prosperity in 2025 is a dream. In brief Natural disasters impacted adversely on the economic performance this year, but the economic growth of only around [...]
British twists in an annus rather horribilis
And so it came to pass that the annus was running into trouble from the early days. Two years after an outsider donned the kingly crown and the previous one forced to abdicate but still not abandoning his ambitions, it appeared that Lanka was about to turn into the Miracle of Asia. Only a miracle [...]
As polls campaign begins, Sirisena brings bribery and corruption to the fore
All SLFP and UPFA candidates take pledge to work with high integrity, free of fraud, some already have charges pending Bond Commission report handed over to President, speculation of serious charges against Mahendran but questions over whether President will make the report public before the polls After rice and fuel crises, fertilizer shortage becomes major [...]
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