LankaWeb News Archive

From Eelam War Heroes to Disposable Mercenaries: Sri Lankan Combatants Fighting in the Ukrainian War
Dr. Ruwan M Jayatunge
The onset of the Ukrainian war in 2014 created significant manpower challenges, prompting both Russia and Ukraine to recruit former soldiers from various nations. This situation has led to the involvement of numerous ex-combatants and military personnel from Sri Lanka, driven largely by the country's severe economic conditions. Many veterans have unfortunately become targets for human trafficking networks and misleading social media campaigns that promote lucrative, non-combat positions. As a result, a considerable number of individuals have travelled to the conflict zone to enlist in either the Russian or Ukrainian armed... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/06/26)

ICC not only had constructive knowledge but also actual (physical) knowledge of the Player - Referral concept gained during David Richardson's visit to Sri Lanka in July 2008
Senaka Weeraratna
The International Cricket Council (ICC) had direct exposure to the Player Referral concept during the tour of India to Sri Lanka in July 2008. During this time, the then-ICC General Manager of Cricket, David Richardson, physically visited Colombo and was handed over a Dossier of Documents on Player - Referral in Colombo by SLC officials and in person by Nishantha Ranatunga (SLC Secretary) in Dubai in June 2009 This new evidence supported by newspaper reports published in 2009 including interviews with Nishantha Ranatunga (then SLC Secretary) demolishes the line of defense adopted... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/06/26)

The concept of cricket's UDRS originally originated in Sri Lanka - Upali Dharmadasa failed to table it at ICC IN 1997
Sports
"Point Blank" was a prominent, hard-hitting sports journalism column written by the veteran Sri Lankan cricket writer and commentator Sa'adi Thawfeeq. [1] Key Details of the Column Publication: The column was featured in the Sunday Nation, a popular weekly newspaper in Sri Lanka. Focus: It primarily focused on inside stories, critical administrative affairs, and controversies surrounding Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). Notable Impact: One of the column's most famous installments was an interview published on June 22, 2008. In it, the former Cricket Board President Upali Dharmadasa admitted to... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/06/26)

Civilization Unmasked: The Persistence of Human Brutality
Dr. Alon Ben-Meir
To my utter chagrin, the scale, frequency, and brazenness of human rights violations around the world have not diminished, but rather have grown profoundly, raising the question of whether the very notion of “civilization” is little more than a veneer. We pride ourselves on culture, law, and moral advancement, yet beneath this thin surface lies a persistent brutality. Increasingly, it seems we have not escaped that condition; we have merely disguised it. In many countries, human rights violations have become the default response to conflict, replacing peaceful approaches and reconciliation. This failure is... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/06/26)

ඉන්ධන පරිභෝජනය අඩු කිරීම සඳහා හවුල් ගමන් සහ බුද්ධිමත් ප්‍රවාහන ක්‍රම
ආචාර්ය සරත් ඔබේසේකර
ඉන්ධන මිල ගණන් අඛණ්ඩව ඉහළ යාම හේතුවෙන් පවුල්වලටත් ව්‍යාපාරවලටත් විශාල ආර්ථික බරක් එල්ල වී තිබේ. මේ තත්ත්වය හමුවේ ලොව බොහෝ රටවල් ජනතාවගේ ගමනාගමන අවශ්‍යතා පවත්වාගෙන යමින් ඉන්ධන පරිභෝජනය අවම කිරීම සඳහා නවෝත්පාදන ක්‍රියාමාර්ග අනුගමනය කරමින් සිටී. සංවර්ධිත රටවල සාර්ථකව ක්‍රියාත්මක වන මෙවැනි ක්‍රමවේදයන්ගෙන් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවටද ප්‍රයෝජනවත් පාඩම් රැසක් උකහා ගත හැකිය. ඇමරිකා එක්සත් ජනපදය, කැනඩාව, ඕස්ට්‍රේලියාව සහ යුරෝපයේ රටවල් කිහිපයක් විසින් හඳුන්වා දී ඇති සාර්ථක වැඩසටහනක් වන්නේ High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Lanes හෙවත් බහු මගී වාහන මංතීරු ක්‍රමයයි. මගීන් දෙදෙනෙකු හෝ වැඩි පිරිසක් රැගෙන යන වාහන සඳහා පමණක් වෙන්කර ඇති මෙම මංතීරු හරහා ගමන් කාලය... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/06/26)

Sri Lanka's Construction Boom Faces a Labour Crisis: Time for Revolutionary Thinking
Dr Sarath Obeysekera
Sri Lanka is once again showing signs of economic recovery. Major infrastructure projects are being discussed, highways are being planned, urban development is accelerating, and private sector investment is slowly returning. Yet beneath this optimism lies a serious challenge that threatens to derail the country's construction ambitions: the severe shortage of both skilled and unskilled labour. The Chamber of Construction Industry's decision to initiate a discussion on this subject is timely and necessary. The reality is that Sri Lanka's construction sector is not adequately prepared to meet the manpower demands of a rapidly... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/06/26)

Why Sri Lanka Must Shift Towards a Steel-Based Construction Industry
Dr Sarath Obeysekera
One of the most important strategic decisions Sri Lanka can make is to gradually shift from labour-intensive conventional construction towards a steel-based construction industry. Traditional building methods depend heavily on large numbers of masons, carpenters, bar benders, and other tradesmen. With the growing shortage of skilled labour, these methods are becoming increasingly expensive and difficult to sustain. Steel construction offers a practical solution. Steel structures can be fabricated in factories under controlled conditions and transported to project sites for rapid assembly. This approach reduces construction time, improves quality, minimizes material wastage,... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 02/06/26)

Does Royal College have a sound claim for celebration of the legacy of Player - Referral ( DRS)? If so, how should Royal College and its old and young boys celebrate this global scale achievement by an old Royalist?
AI Overview
Yes, Royal College has an exceptionally sound claim to celebrate the legacy of the Decision Review System (DRS). The fundamental architecture of the DRS—specifically the groundbreaking concept of the "Player Referral"—was conceived and architected in 1997 by prominent Sri Lankan lawyer and old Royalist Senaka Weeraratna (Class of 1960). [1, 2, 3, 4] Before his invention, technology was strictly used at the discretion of umpires. Weeraratna’s paradigm shift allowed the players to directly challenge an on-field human error, completely altering the rules, tactics, and transparency of global cricket. Cricket historians widely credit his global... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/06/26)

Royal College must take pride in producing unique Cricket Thinkers and Innovators who have transformed the game of Cricket forever.
Source: AI Overview
Royal College, Colombo, holds an undeniable legacy of nurturing game-changing thinkers, innovators, and administrators who have fundamentally restructured global and domestic cricket. From pioneering revolutionary rule changes to guiding the sport through massive structural growth, the institution's alumni have left an indelible mark well beyond the boundaries of Reid Avenue. [1, 2] The Architect of Modern Fairness: Senaka Weeraratna The most profound structural innovation in contemporary cricket came from a distinguished Royalist, Senaka Weeraratna. [1] The Brain Behind DRS: Weeraratna is the original conceptual architect of the Player... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/06/26)

How India rejoice and felicitate their Cricket stars while in stark contrast Sri Lanka sideline ingenuity and Cricket thinkers who transformed the game forever is deeply unsettling
Source: AI Overview
Indian superstar Vaibhav Suryavanshi (age 15) was felicitated by both the Indian President and Prime Minister Narendra Modi while in contrast the Sri Lankan Cricket Thinkers who democratized and transformed world cricket from an authoritarian system i.e., umpire's word is final, to one of fair play, transparent and a reduced tension game through the mechanisms of Third Umpire ( Mahinda Wijesinhe) and Player -Referral (DRS) (Senaka Weeraratna) remain sidelined by the envious and shameless Political and Cricket establishments of Sri Lanka. Jealousy, the scourge of Sri Lanka, has no limits. ... -Full Story- (LankaWeb - 01/06/26)

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