By Lasanda Kurukulasuriya Courtesy The Daily Mirror While much ink has already been spilled over The New York Times’ recent piece on Chinese bribes allegedly given to the Rajapaksa camp ahead of the 2015 presidential election, some interesting questions remain to be addressed. Setting aside, for now, the report’s inaccuracies (such as describing the Port City […]

By Charunya Rajakaruna Courtesy Adaderana Former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa says that he was at the forefront of every step taken towards establishing democracy in the North following the end of the war. Speaking during an ‘Eliya’ seminar held in Chilaw, he said that today there is a debate over the uncertainty whether democracy will be lost […]

  This government loves to keep the people busy by regularly throwing issues to keep them busy. These are excellent methods to divert people’s attention from the real issues that questions the governments inefficiency. We’ve had a string of such public diversions – New York Times, Wijayakala and now it’s the death sentence.   When […]

KAMALIKA  PIERIS The first mention of a national anthem for Ceylon, according to Haris de Silva, former Director, National Archives, was by J R Jayewardene. JR had brought the need for a national anthem to the notice of the Ceylon National Congress   on 26th June 1941. Accordingly, says D.B.S. Jeyaraj, a lyric was composed by […]

By Rohana R. Wasala The Midweek Review feature article under the title Hitler Reincarnate – And Sri Lanka’s Presidential Stakes by Susirith Mendis (The Island/July 4, 2018) embodies the soft soothing voice of wisdom, that got drowned in the cacophonous ‘sound and fury’ raised in the wake of the Asgiriya Anunayake Ven. Wendaruwe Upali thera’s […]

DHARSHAN WEERASEKERA, Attorney-at-Law I read with amusement an article in The Island of 12th July 2018 titled, ‘Dons condemn incendiary statements against HRCSL.’ It’s about a letter written by 50 academics condemning the conduct of a number of ex-military officers who had said that academics (or anyone else) found to have supported attempts by certain […]

වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග  මෙම අර්බුධය උත්සන්න වෙමින් පවතින විටදී කරාපිටිය ශික්‍ෂණ රෝහලේ ළමා රෝග විශේෂඥ වෛද්‍ය මහාචාර්‍ය සුජීව අමරසේන මහතා ගේ මෝටර්  රථයට පහරදී අලාභ හාණි කරනු ලැබීය​. ඔහුට නොකඩවා මරණීය තර්ජන දුරකථන මාර්ගයෙන් එල්ල කරන ලදි. තවද වේලාහෙට්ටි නම් සිසුවෙක්  සුජීව අමරසේන මහතා ඝාතනය කිරීම සඳහා කුමන්ත්‍රණයක් දියත් කල බවත් පසුව එය අසාර්ථක […]

Economist Richard Wolff discusses the coming economic collapse of the United States of America. https://youtu.be/0i1T72jfoWA

Editorial Monday 16th July, 2018 Courtesy The Island July 15, 2018, 10:50 pm Doctors have threatened to stop performing heart surgeries, at the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital (KTH), owing to a defect in the airconditioning system, as we reported the other day. An intensive care unit has been seriously affected by the defective AC plant, with […]

By Suwatchai Songwanich CEO, Bangkok Bank (China) Courtesy The Nation China’s investments in deep-sea ports in Myanmar and Cambodia will provide critical links in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), but there are also concerns that they could give China undue economic leverage in the region. On the Bay of Bengal in Myanmar, Chinese state-owned firms […]

By Wang Se Source:Global Times Recently, some Western media outlets have accused China of using debt trap to expand its influence to Sri Lanka and other countries along the Belt and Road route. They allege that China lures countries of strategic significance into the debt trap by giving them huge loans and then taking over infrastructural projects […]

Courtesy Xinhua COLOMBO, July 14 (Xinhua) — Sri Lanka has announced that it is moving its centuries-old folk medicine system for protection under the international intellectual property system, local media reported Saturday. Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishard Bathiudeen said the government was working with Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) for the last five […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS REVISED 14.7.18 The Government of Sri Lanka defeated the LTTE in Eelam war IV on 18th May 2009. There was a spontaneous outpouring of joy at the crushing defeat of the ‘invincible army’. People showed their joy island wide. The entire island erupted in jubilation.  On 22nd May an estimated 150,000 people converged […]

ALI SUKHANVER Hundreds of human rights victims, activists, diplomats, journalists and student leaders are invited to attend a summit which is organized on the eve of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s main annual session every year in the month of February. This summit is known as the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS (REVISED 14.7.18) The ‘Sinhala only’ story began in the 1920’s and 1930’s, when agitation for ‘swabhasha’ emerged as an anti-imperial or anti-colonial gesture. Sinhala Mahajana Sabha was set up  in 1919 under the auspice of the of the Ceylon National Congress, with the objective of ‘reaching out to the great masses of the […]

By: A.AM.NIZZAM – MATARA This is a roundup of news published in the Sinhala newspapers and Sinhala news websites this week excluding articles, interviews and messages Sunday  8th July Viyatg Maga an extension  of Mahinda Chintana (Lanka C News) LCN Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa addressing the Hatri Maga Seminar in Kolonnawa xsaid that Mahinda Chintana should […]

by C.A.Chandraprema Courtesy The Island July 14, 2018, 12:00 pm Last Thursday, the Professionals’ National Front (PNF) which brings together professionals from the medical, engineering, banking, IT, architectural, and many other spheres held a seminar to a packed audience at the Sri Sambuddhathwa Jayanthi Mandiraya in Thunmulla on the SL-Singapore Free Trade Agreement ahead of the […]

By Prof Rajiva Wijesinha Courtesy Ceylon Today There was another area in which we did much vital work in the period before the war ended, but that too in the end fell prey to rival ministerial ambitions. This was the question of Rehabilitation of former combatants, for which we formulated a policy with the assistance of […]

By Lakshman I. Keerthisinghe Courtesy Ceylon Today An auditor is not bound to be a detective, or, as was said, to approach his work with suspicion or with a foregone conclusion that there is something wrong. He is a watch-dog, but not a bloodhound. – LOPES L.J. In re Kingston Cotton Mill Company (No. 2)  (1896) […]

By Dr. Tilak S Fernando Courtesy Ceylon Today The response to one of my articles titled ‘Burgher Community in Sri Lanka,’ some time, ago has been appreciated by many of my Burgher friends both abroad in Australia and in Sri Lanka. My good friend, Egerton, decided to comment on it,  in typical old school ‘Sri Lankan […]

By Arjuna Ranawana Courtesy Ceylon Today The reaction from Social Media to recent revelations about the sources of funding that our politicians got during the 2015 elections range from derision to anger. One of the most popular posts on this subject on Twitter is a quote from the wacky American actor and comedian, Robin Williams who […]

By Udaya P Gammanpila Courtesy Ceylon Today UNP MP Vijayakala Maheswaran told a public rally on 2 July that the LTTE should be resurrected if the Tamil people are to get their freedom.  Although this controversial statement is two weeks-old, law enforcement officers have done nothing against her. The LTTE have committed brutal terrorist activities to […]

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Colombo, July 13 (newsin.asia) – Over 27,000 people have been infected with dengue from January to July this year with capital Colombo reporting the highest number of infected patients, statistics from the Epidemiology Unit showed here Friday. So far in July, 1309 patients have been diagnosed with dengue from across the island while […]

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Colombo, July 13 (Xinhua):  Fifteen Sri Lankan university students have been awarded scholarships by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) to pursue higher studies on climatology and oceanography under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to strengthen educational ties between China and Sri Lanka. The scholarships were handed over on Wednesday under the […]

By Radhika Iyengar/Livemint Courtesy NewsIn.Asia New Delhi, July 14: It was in 1952 that the Minister of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) of newly independent India, B.V. Keskar, decided that All India Radio (AIR)—the information and entertainment lifeline of the nation—would not air film songs as they were degenerate and far too Westernized”. He believed they would […]

Chathuri Dissanayake Courtesy The First Post Colombo: Questions are now being raised in Sri Lanka over the seriousness of India’s intent to set up a joint venture for Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in Hambantota, which has the dubious distinction of not having any scheduled flights. Almost one-and-a-half years after India submitted a proposal for gaining control over the […]

Written by Harish Damodaran | New Delhi |Courtesy The Indian Express Updated: July 15, 2018 3:40:08 am The government’s decision to raise the minimum support price (MSP) of common paddy from Rs 1,550 to Rs 1,750 per quintal this crop season may benefit farmers ahead of elections, but could impact the country’s export of non-basmati rice. The […]

Courtesy The Asian Age Two Sri Lankans, including a 38-year-old woman, suspected to be part of the racket, have been arrested, police said Chennai: Police have busted a fake passport racket in Tamil Nadu, which helped Sri Lankan nationals fly abroad from the city as Indian citizens. Two Sri Lankans, including a 38-year-old woman, suspected to […]

Amrutha Vasireddy Samayam Telugu | Jul 14, 2018, 01.12 PM IST HYDERABAD: Veteran female singer K Rani, who is famous for her song ‘Anthaa Braanthi Yena’ for Devasau movie, passed away on Friday night at her daughter’s residence in Kalyan Nagar, Hyderabad, at 75. K Rani, the most popular singer in the olden times, has sung […]

By Charles.S.Perera On the 3 July, 2018 the Prime Miniter speaking in the Parliament on  the statement made by  State Minister Vijayakala Maheswaran on the necessity to revive terrorism, said  that there is no need for a revival of terrorism and that he would take action against the Minister after listening to why she made […]