Re-energising NVQ: A fillip to national economy’s local skilled partners
Sri Lankan skill is second to none in the world. While the irrigation marvels from the days of the ancient royals still astonish the modern engineer and the Sigiri feat continues to enthral the whole world, with only the inherited skilled gene in them, our masons, cooks, welders, carpenters, tailors, cinnamon peelers, tea pluckers and [...]
A look back at the thirteen hundred days of the chalk and cheese regime change
When I sat down this morning to write about my musings this month, I realised that the beginning of August this year marked no less than thirteen hundred days since Yahapalanaya was thrust upon us with the swearing in of Maithripala Sirisena as President of our country on January 9th 2015. Although it seems that [...]
A radical cure
Hundreds of young people, their minds once clouded by religious bigotry and calls to violence, are now returning to normal, peaceful lives. Their social rehabilitation comes courtesy of a humane counter-terror project—one that has the government, security agencies, the police and community leaders working together to defeat terror. Yasar Moideen of Malappuram in Kerala has [...]
Amidst rising heat waves, UN says cooling is a human right, not a luxury
UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – The rising heat waves in the world’s middle income and poorer nations are threatening the health and prosperity of about 1.1 billion people, including 470 million in rural areas without access to safe food and medicines, and 630 million in hotter, poor urban slums, with little or no cooling to protect [...]
Building safe spaces for youth
When you hear that there are thousands of young people who do not qualify after their O/L examinations and there are hundreds of thousands more not in employment, education, or in formal training at any given time, it is a stark reminder of how vulnerable young people are. We say that our youth carry with [...]
Too many White House lies that debase the currency of trust
CAMBRIDGE – By June 1 of this year, US President Donald Trump had made 3,259 false or misleading claims, according to The Washington Post Fact Checker’s database, which tracks and categorizes every suspect statement uttered by the president. That’s an average of more than 6.5 false claims a day, up from a daily average of [...]
Sunday Times Kumudini Hettiarachchi wins gold at The ‘Top 50′ Professional and Career Women Awards 2018
The Sunday Times Deputy Editor (News Features) Kumudini Hettiarachchi was awarded Gold in the Media – Print category at The ‘Top 50′ Professional and Career Women Awards 2018 held at the Colombo Hilton on August 7. Sixty-three women from Sri Lanka and the Maldives were honoured with Gold and Silver awards for excellence in either [...]
Hussain’s final volumes of case law digest launched
The final parts (volume 25 and 26) of the ‘Complete Digest of Case Law of Sri Lanka (1820 – 2000) edited by M.S.M. Hussain, LL.M., a senior lawyer with a 40-year practice, were launched at a function held on August 9 at the Royal Golden Court of the Royal Mall in Kandy. The chief guest [...]
Pakistan Maritime Security Ship “Kashmir” to visit Sri Lanka
Pakistan Maritime Security Ship (PMSS) “Kashmir” will call over at Colombo Port on a four-day goodwill visit from August 13 to 16. Pakistan Naval ships frequently pay port calls to Sri Lanka, as both countries enjoy warm diplomatic and strong military ties, a Pakistan High Commission statement says. “Such interactions also demonstrate both navies’ resolve [...]
Is ethnic cleansing coming to India?
NEW DELHI – Seventy-one years after the partition of India, and 47 years after the former East Pakistan became Bangladesh, one of the legacies of the messy division of the subcontinent has returned to haunt the country. The current crisis over the publication of a National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the Indian state of [...]