Dr. Alon Ben-Meir Trump’s threats and maximalist demands ignore Iran’s history, security fears, and distrust of Washington. A durable agreement requires time, restraint, and professional diplomacy—not bombast, coercion, and calls for unconditional surrender that guarantee only resistance Trump, Iran, And The Folly Of Demanding Surrender Iran is not a transient power that can be coerced […]

ACN Newswire – Attracting some 13,000 global buyers Industry expresses optimism regarding future sales prospects HONG KONG, Apr 23, 2026 – (ACN Newswire) – The 3rd Smart Lighting Expo and the 17th Hong Kong International Lighting Fair (Spring Edition), organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), successfully concluded today at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera What are the lessons we can learn in Sri Lanka now run by a extreme ex communist party  It’s tempting to think the secret” is simply one-party rule, but that’s not what made China and Vietnam grow so fast. Many countries have had centralized political systems without achieving anything close to their […]

Sarath Wijesinghe President’s Counsel, Solicitor in England and Wales, former Chairman Consumer Affairs Authority Former Ambassador UAE and Israel and President Ambassador’s Forum. WORLD CONSUMER DAY World consumer day falls on 15th March every year celebrated by the Consumer International the main body for consumer – and others world over as the Consumers Day world over […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera 1. Don’t abandon banks—but be selective Licensed commercial banks supervised by theCentral Bank of Sri Lanka are  still far safer than most finance companies. That said, don’t treat all banks as equal: Instead of asking which institution is safest,” assume none are risk-free. This way, even if one fails, you’re not wiped out. […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera Please find response from EX Indian CEO of Lanka IOC  Indian oil company in Trinco  Quote  Beautifully articulated. Temples and schools are important but less capital intensive and hence easier to manage. For major investment like developing Trincomalee and to have India involved in it, Govt to Govt push is a must […]

By Dr. Sarath Obeysekera Sri Lanka is no stranger to financial scandals. But what is truly alarming is not the scandals themselves—it is the complete absence of accountability at the highest level. From the infamous Central Bank bond scandal to the quiet collapse of finance companies and the near-fatal instability of licensed institutions, one question […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Colombo, April 23 (Daily Mirror) – The people of Sri Lanka will lose trust on banks as a result of the hacking of the USD 2.5 million government funds, the Joint Opposition said today. Former Minister Professor G.L. Peiris told a media conference that the last thing which Sri Lanka wants […]

Courtesy Adaderana The President of the Free Lawyers Organisation, President’s Counsel Maithri Gunaratne, has claimed that both the President and the Secretary to the Finance Ministry should be held responsible over the disappearance of a USD 2.5 million payment owed to Australia. He further alleged that the incident would not have come to light if […]

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ජනාධිපති නීතිඥ මෛත්‍රී ගුණරත්න සභාපති / ‍ෆී ලෝයර්ස් සංවිධානය ‍ 2026 අප්‍රේල් 22 ගරු කතානානයකතුමා, ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව, ශ්‍රී ජයවර්ධනපුර කෝට්ටේ, කෝට්ටේ. ගරු කතානායකතුමනි, මහා භාණ්ඩාගාරයේ ඩොලර් මිලියන 2.5 ක මුදල් පරිගණක හැකර් කෙනෙකු අතට පත් වී තිබේදැයි පාර්ලිමේන්තුව හරහා විමර්ශනයක් සිදු කරන ලෙස ඉල්ලීමයි.   ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය 2025 සැප්තෑම්බර් මස අග වන විට […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera 1. Stop thinking like a builder — start thinking like a dealmaker Sri Lanka’s mistake has been engineering-led development without parallel commercial strategy. What’s missing is aggressive anchor investor targeting. Without 5–10 global anchor tenants, the skyline will remain empty. 2. Re-negotiate utilization—not ownership The narrative that Sri Lanka lost” Hambantota Port […]

Top Discoveries

By Dr. Sarath Obeysekera The recent visit of Jagdeep Dhankhar to Sri Lanka has once again exposed a familiar pattern in India’s engagement with its southern neighbour—symbolism over substance, visibility over viability, and soft diplomacy masking strategic hesitation. Let me be clear at the outset: Sri Lanka must welcome goodwill. Assistance for schools, temples, and […]

Courtesy Hiru  News Four members of a special parliamentary committee intend to request the summoning of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and three other witnesses to testify regarding the release of 323 containers from the Colombo Port without mandatory physical inspection. Members of Parliament Ajith P. Perera, Dayasiri Jayasekera, Mujibur Rahman, and D.V. Chanaka plan to […]

Courtesy Hiru News A payment of $2.5 million released by the General Treasury to settle a foreign debt failed to reach the intended recipient and was reportedly diverted to a computer hacker or a third party, according to the ‘FREE LAWYERS’ organisation. The chairman of the organisation, President’s Counsel Maithri Gunarathne, sent a letter to […]

Courtesy Hiru News A strong response has been sent to the letter of demand issued to Hiru News by the lawyer of Agriculture Minister K D Lalkantha, regarding his declaration of assets. The legal team of Hiru News has communicated that their client categorically denies all and singular the several claims, assertions, allegations and demands made […]

Source:   A1 Overview On November 14, 2018, Sri Lankan attorney Senaka Weeraratna addressed a symposium at the Japanese Diet (Parliament). Invited by the Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact, he delivered a keynote speech titled “Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbour ignited the liberation of Asia from Western domination – Time for Asia to express gratitude […]

By M D P DISSANAYAKE Beating India is great; that is our ultimate opponent.  They underestimated SL prior to  the match. The problem of fitness still persists. Angelow, Asela, Kusal must be back in action in the quarter final against Pakistan on Monday. SL has a remarkable record of coming from behind.  India has a […]

By Dr. Sarath Obeysekera In 1984, I returned to Sri Lanka after working in the harsh, demanding offshore environment of the North Sea. There, welding was not just a trade—it was a science governed by precision, discipline, and unforgiving standards. When I joined Colombo Dockyard as a consulting engineer, I stepped into a yard that […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera Case study for Cololmbo dockyard/  Mazagon combination  For a product/chemical tanker in the ~30,000 DWT range: Why fillet welds are so high: Even though butt welds are fewer, they consume a large share of time and QA effort (full penetration, radiography, UT, class approval). Where fillet welds are concentrated During block construction […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera Marine sector development in India and Sri Lanka is an area that needs urgent attention  right  now, Sri Lanka can either lose skilled labor to a Middle East pull, or deliberately position itself as the alternative regional shipbuilding power   Trying to stop workers from leaving the country is not practical in a […]

By Garvin Karunaratne Half a century ago I was privileged to be one of the youngest lieutenants handpicked to implement the Paddy Lands Act, the magnificent piece of legislation devised by the visionary leader Hon Philip Gunawardena to allay all the ills of peasant agriculture in Sri Lanka.  It was a time when our country, […]

Nava Thakuria As Assam completed the single-phase largely peaceful polling on 9 April 2026 to elect 126 representatives for State legislative assembly,  the focus shifted to probable outcome as both the ruling and opposition parties are claiming the result  in their favours citing the reason of an all time high voters’ turnout (85.96 percent) in […]

Sarath Wijesinghe PC former Chair CAA CAA main Regulator in the country CAA is the main regulator in Sri Lanka set up with so many expectations in 2003, yet the citizen only will be able to assess the impact and efficiency of CAA which is known to a limited number of citizens of the existence […]

Source: National WW11 Museum, New Orleans, USA https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/justice-radhabinod-pal-tokyo-war-crimes-trial At the Tokyo Tribunal, Justice Radhabinod Pal voted for the acquittal of all the defendants on all counts.  Pal’s dissent, more than 1,230 pages in length, reveals the fissures within the attempts to bring to justice Japanese war criminals. The last of the justices selected for the […]

Lanka Voice

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Mark Julian Edwards Sri Lanka’s storytelling excellence took centre stage at Inspire Global Media Awards 2026, held recently in London, United Kingdom.  The Sri Lankan travel documentary produced by Mark Julian Edwards won the prestigious Television Broadcast of the Year at the ceremony, contested by BBC and Amazon TV.  The documentary […]

Courtesy The Hindu BusinessLine Radhakrishnan and Dissanayake also had productive discussions on further deepening the multifaceted bilateral ties, housing projects and fishermen issues between the two South Asian neighbours By PTI Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan meets with Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the Presidential Secretariat, in Colombo on Sunday. | Photo Credit: ANI […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror The cover of the report launched by the Centre for Society and Religion and titled ‘Memory, Pain and Hope; Seeking Justice Even after 7 Years’ Since 2019, April 21 is not just another day for Sri Lankans who became victims of the deadly Easter Sunday attacks. Seven years have elapsed since […]