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Home » ColumnsString hopper blasphemy: Food for thought over Sri Lankan cuisine
The diplomatic community has weighed in to a seemingly nonsensical tweet by a foreign tourist who was critical of Sri Lankan cuisine. This has ignited the local Twitter community that rushed to the defence of Sri Lankan dishes. Dan Qayyum, a tourist visiting Sri Lanka, posted a lengthy tweet on Friday complaining about the “lack [...]
A year on
My dear citizens of Paradise, I thought of writing to you today to remind you that it is exactly one year ago that you took power into your own hands and forced someone who you yourselves elected with an overwhelming majority, to resign. Some will argue about the way it was done but others will [...]
After much protests by Opposition over delays, 2nd reading of Anti Corruption Bill passed without a vote
The Second Reading of the Anti-Corruption Bill was passed in Parliament without a vote on Thursday (6) after the opposition protested a proposal by the government to further postpone the bill. The Committee Stage, where amendments will be incorporated into the final draft, was postponed for July 19. Leader of the House Minister Susil Premajayantha [...]
Economics and politics of DDR
The government’s controversial domestic debt restructuring (DDR) plan has been approved by parliament. This is a necessary condition for the restructuring of the foreign debt and stabilising the country’s foreign finances. Hopefully, this would enable the restructuring of foreign debt favourably. The country’s foreign debt liabilities are expected to be reduced by 30 percent. The [...]
On courageous judicial reasoning and Sri Lanka’s ICCPR Act
This week’s order of the Colombo High Court granting bail to comedian Nathasha Edirisooriya imprisoned under Section 3(1) of the much abused International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR Act, 2007) for commenting ‘disrespectfully’on Buddhism, is a fine example of legal rectitude if not basic judicial commonsense. Understanding the limits of the law The [...]
Disturbing statistics of the impact of economic mismanagement and contradictory narratives
The Government last week obtained approval from Parliament for its Domestic Debt Restructuring Plan now referred to as Domestic Debt Optimisation. The resolution adopted by Parliament gave authority to the Finance Minister to restructure domestic debt. How the country has come to such a sorry pass was described by Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe [...]
If peraheras must have elephants, more the reason to see they’re well
As Muthu Raja is flown to a Thai haven after years of a Lankan hell, were Thai corns trampled after ‘hands off temple elephants’ protest? As Muthu Raja was flown back by the Thai Government last Sunday, a top veterinarian questioned why the tusker’s keepers had ignored warnings and had not sought specialist advice at any [...]
Not giving people and our animals a chance
That was a holiday that was. Five days in a row and the great minds that earn more than their living from the House at Diyawanna Oya were summoned on a Saturday to contribute their intellectual worth to the birth of a new phenomenon. Some might call it Destructive Debt Recovery (DDR). For others, the [...]
Economic bankruptcy: New parliamentary committee probe under a cloud
Speaker names Basil loyalist Sagara Kariyawasam as chairman of select committee; several other loyalists also serve as members PSC to ascertain factors that led to the economic crisis and identify those responsible for it; report to be presented in three months Govt. preoccupied with Domestic Debt Optimisation process; Sumanthiran says Govt. lied to the people; [...]
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