Ajit Randeniya There are some strange limits and inexplicable exceptions to the so-called “ƒ”¹…”Freedom of Expression’ and Media Freedom concepts globally promoted by the US and the rest of the Western world. One notable prohibition relates to the use of the word “ƒ”¹…”conspiracy’, defined as “ƒ”¹…”an agreement to perform together an illegal, wrongful, or subversive […]

Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J 6G1 . Canada September 29, 2009 Hon. David Miliband, MP Minister of Foreign Affairs House of House of Parliament Westminster London, UK Dear David: I just read that you had a tripartite meeting with Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Ranjith Bogollagama accompanied by your Bobbsey […]

S. Akurugoda Both printed and electronic media are full of news items carrying the activities, statements and articles of so-called “ƒ”¹…”activists’, especially those who pretend to be the guardian of human rights, free media rights and peace. Apart from the lucrative jobs, these millionaire “ƒ”¹…”activists’ are receiving free attractive titles, ƒ”š‚ wide publicity, and free foreign […]

By Walter Jayawardhana The Hindustan Times newspaper said the Communist Party of India, popularly known as the Maoists of India have borrowed the idea of child conscription to their army from Sri Lanka’s Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). According to an item published by the Hindustan Times they have imitated the Tamil Tigers by […]

By Walter Jayawardhana The Australian Communication and Media Authority after an investigation found certain programs broadcast by the SBS Radio were bias towards Tamil Tigers and contravened the radio station’s own code of principles. The authority said the Tamil language programs on the activities of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were bias towards the […]

By Walter Jayawardhana Singapore’s former Reform Party Man who was a powerful committee member of the party Balraj Naidu has been arrested and produced in court for an extradition hearing over an alleged arms deal with Sri Lanka’s Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Naidu was arrested on a warrant and produced in courts said, […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratneƒ”š‚©2009 In Therigatha, bhikkuni Vajira is said to have responded to Mara: It’s only suffering that comes to be, Suffering that stands and falls away. Nothing but suffering comes to be, Nothing but suffering ceases. In retrospect, I find my quest for a PhD in journalism and mass communication and the subsequent […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratneƒ”š‚©2009 Vincent Lowe, Dean Sharom Ahmat’s emissary from the School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia, welcomed me at the Penang airport. He took me to the campus and gave me some idea of the university’s communication program. I stayed the first three nights at the colonial seaside hotel, the Eastern & Orient. […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratneƒ”š‚©2009 On the last Sunday of November 1974, just after my parents had left Malaysia to return to Sri Lanka, an incident that occurred at the beachside garden of Rasa Sayang Hotel in Batu Ferrenghi devastated me”ƒ¢¢”š¬‚a clear reminder that exceeding the middle path would rebound in accelerating dukkha. ƒ”š‚ Leslie Allen, an […]

By Razeen Sally courtesy Far Eastern Economic Review July 2009. Sally is director of the European Centre for International Political Economy in Brussels and is on the faculty of the London School of Economics. July 2009 To most outsiders Sri Lanka is a far-away tourist destination, a tropical paradise that has fallen into a vicious […]

EMBASSY OF SRI LANKA, WASHINGTON, D.C. COUNTRY INFORMATION UPDATE Sri Lanka’s economy continued to expand in the four months since government forces defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), ending 25 years of terrorism and conflict. Many sectors have shown signs of quick recovery, especially tourism. Country visits leapt forward in July, and plans […]

By Walter Jayawardhana Cairn Energy Plc, the UK listed Indian oil giant is expected to drill for offshore oil in Sri Lanka in January 2011. The company’s advertisements asking for offshore oil rigs have appeared in the Economic Times newspaper in New Delhi. The advertisement said Cairns wants to hire a drill ship or a […]