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Home » ColumnsFish and ‘chips’: Stilt fishermen catch tourists
Images of stilt fishermen on the southern coast have long been one of the most iconic scenes showcasing Sri Lanka’s tourism. This distinctive traditional form of fishing is famous throughout the world due to the thousands of photographs that have been taken of these fishermen over the years by visiting tourists and professional photographers. While [...]
SC ruling on local elections read out in Parliament, ‘right to vote vs right to contest’
The right to vote and the right to contest were central issues that weighed on the Supreme Court (SC) in its determination on the Local Authorities Elections (Special Provisions) Bill, where a three-judge bench delivered a split decision. On Friday, Speaker Dr Jagath Wickramaratne read out in parliament the determination of the Supreme Court on [...]
A barrel of monkeys
My dear Monkey in Panadura, This is the first time I am writing to someone who is not a human, but I thought I must, even if I am not sure whether you are dead or alive. You have gained international fame, with news headlines all over the world describing how you managed to plunge [...]
President Trump’s order to dismantle USAID: Implications, contradictions, and global reactions
The recent decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to dismantle the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has sent shockwaves across the globe. Declaring the agency corrupt and a waste of taxpayer funds, Trump’s order has been met with a mix of approval, condemnation, and deep scrutiny. The move, executed under the supervision of [...]
The prosecutor under siege; suggestions on the way forward
‘Disappearing’ notebooks, an assassinated editor, a lowly police officer who protested against the destroying of evidence and was threatened by his superiors to conform ‘to orders’ and such like, belong more inside the pages of a high octane spy thriller than in real life. A blueprint on how to violate the law But these surreal [...]
Strengths and weaknesses of our external finances
Last year’s balance of payments performance illustrates the strengths and weaknesses of the country’s external finances. Remittances from abroad and earnings from tourism were the two strengths of the economy. These help offset the large trade deficit. Our economy’s weakness is the inadequate merchandise exports to meet our import expenditure. The trade deficit was as [...]
Hanuman trips the national grid fuse and plunges Lanka into total blackout
Rambo style one monkey attack on substation hits world headlines Hanuman had risen from the pages of the Ramayana to stage a Rambo-style pre-noon attack on a single power grid to plunge Lanka into total blackout that lasted for several hours. The Power Minister in the court of Vibeeshana, the Rama-appointed successor to defeated Ravana, [...]
Making monkeys of us all—or so they think anyway
So what more can one do? I am all for President AKD’s policy of non-interference with the judicial process from the pages of literature… It is the intervention with and the tampering with justice that have caused the breakdown of good governance and inevitably turned the people even against the forces of law to the [...]
Power sector double-whammy exacerbates litany of Govt.’s challenges
Official responses to last Sunday’s countrywide blackout draw criticism Adani Group’s withdrawal from US$ I billion wind power project sends wrong signals to investors; raises questions about investor-friendliness Moves to set up Independent Prosecutor’s Office, following AG’s advice to release suspects in the alleged abduction of Lasantha Wickremetunga’s driver Govt. also sets up Central Crimes [...]
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