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Home » ColumnsThe balance of power in a family affair
My dear Mahinda maama, I thought I must write to you because you too have an important role to play in this coronavirus pandemic. I hope you are not too annoyed by most people – such as Maco and young Sajith – writing to Gota maama instead. What they get in return is, of course, [...]
Pay-cut donation: PB’s personal plea
Punchi Banda Jayasundera, when he was Secretary to the Treasury, was once regarded as the financial brains behind President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government from 2000 to 2015. PB as he is fondly called, was most sought-after during times when a budget is presented in Parliament. For five months now, he has been Secretary to the President. [...]
The disappointing economic performance of 2019
Last year’s economic growth of 2.3 percent was a further decline in economic performance from the low growth of 3.3 percent in 2018. It was less than half the average economic growth of South Asia of over six percent in 2019. The Annual Report of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka for 2019 described it [...]
The viral pandemic of the mind and Sri Lanka’s loss of the law
Even as petitions are collected and hands are rightfully wrung for redress regarding the arrest and detention of attorney Hejaaz Hisbullah, it is timely to recall (despite a tad unkindly) that if the attempt to push through Sri Lanka’s draft Counter-Terror Act had succeeded at the height of the ‘yahapalanaya’ years, abuse of civil liberties [...]
Preach one thing, practise another
Rarely do political leaders miss an opportunity to issue statements when nations or religious and ethnic communities celebrate important occasions that are sacred to some and meaningful to others. This happens the world over, especially in countries in which democratic governance or a shade of it, still exists and public support is constantly sought to [...]
Lanka will have to learn to live and let live with COVID
Tomorrow morn over six million people in Colombo and three other districts will officially enjoy the freedom of the streets even though they are officially padlocked at home under a 24/7 curfew that seems to never end. In the manner Buddhist hold on to a ‘soul, no soul’ concept to explain exactly what is reborn [...]
TNA dumps opposition parties by attending PM’s meeting
Sampanthan speaks on memorandum outlining Tamil people’s problems and helps his party to win the confidence of voters UNP and SJB in weak position; boycott what they call a politically motivated move Dr. P.B. Jayasundera’s ‘personal letter’ creates crisis; puts Govt. against public servants Barring changes at the eleventh hour, the government’s fourth attempt to [...]
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