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Home » ColumnsSF reveals how prison days made strange bench fellows
An exchange took place between the Government and Opposition in Parliament on Tuesday regarding the plight of detainees held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Namal Rajapaksa pointed out that many LTTE suspects arrested under PTA had been held for years without charge or had their cases still pending [...]
Importance of English to empower youth
There is a national consensus about the importance of increasing the English competency of our youth but it is not supported by a strong commitment to achieve this goal. No longer is it necessary to argue the case for the importance of English. English is a window to the world and therefore an important skill [...]
Back to old ways
Hello machan Dumi, I didn’t think I would be writing to you so soon, although I knew I would have to, sooner rather than later, knowing that Gota maama would grant you a pardon one day. Honestly, I can’t understand why all these people are expressing their shock and horror – we all knew this [...]
Hunger and starvation amidst a multiplicity of economic problems
The severest blows dealt by COVID, globally and in Sri Lanka, is the deprivation of employment and income, which has increased poverty and starvation. Resolving or even ameliorating this human tragedy in poor countries around the world is a near impossible task. It is a near impossible challenge in Sri Lanka too owing to the [...]
Ranil returns with a bang; SJB holds protest over fuel hike
When he took oaths before Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena on Wednesday, former Prime Minister and United National Party (UNP) Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe finally filled the lone National List seat secured by his party at the 2020 parliamentary election. The fact that the seat had been left vacant for 10 long months is a reflection of [...]
Justice in flames and a president’s grievous paradoxes
Stirring scenes of Sri Lanka’s ancient grandeur in the backdrop of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s speech to a nation in tumult this Friday does not minimise the frightening disconnect between perception and reality that emerged from what the President thought it fit to speak (or rather, fulminated) about. Limits of presidential powers This must surely concern [...]
Euro bells toll the knell of Lanka’s GSP+ status
On June 10 the European Union Parliament overwhelmingly voted for a resolution calling its 27-member states to temporarily withdraw all the concessions coming under the EU’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP). The GSP is a trade arrangement that allows developing countries to pay less or no duties on their exports to the EU. But it’s [...]
Who pushed for the fertiliser ban?
As the furore over the ban on chemical fertiliser and pesticides continues unabated with soil scientists, economists, agriculturists and experienced tea producers joining in the verbal fray, one is tempted to look back at promises made at election time by contending candidates. One is reminded of a remark made by the leading candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa [...]
President mulls Cabinet reshuffle
Officials who have failed to get the axe; New faces and portfolios The dilemma of the Opposition as Ranil returns to Parliament Core group may announce tough measures ahead of UNHRC Sept. sessions A motley collection of tractors, earth movers, vans and buses carried the main opposition Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) MPs last [...]
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