KAMALIKA PIERIS Medical prescriptions were written down on palm leaf manuscripts. Besajja Manjusa is the oldest medical manuscript   written in Sri Lanka. There is a Sinhala translation of the Pali original in the Colombo Museum library. The manuscript of Bessajja Manjusa held in Ayurveda Research Institute, Maharagama was included in the UNESCO Memory of the […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera I often reflect on my days as a young engineering student in the former Soviet Union. My mentor, a Russian Jew and a passionate patriot of Russia and its revolution, frequently spoke about how a nation becomes powerful through knowledge, discipline, and scientific inquiry.  Under leaders such as Stalin, he believed that […]

AI Overview Under the doctrine of stare decisis, the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka generally treats its own prior judgments as binding. However, it can and does overturn its own previous decisions to correct legal errors, adapt to changing social realities, or rectify judgments made per incuriam (through carelessness or lack of regard to the […]

By Sarath Obeysekera The Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) remains one of Sri Lanka’s most debated infrastructure projects. Built in 2013 at an estimated cost of US$209 million, with the majority financed through Chinese loans, the airport was originally designed to handle one million passengers and 50,000 tonnes of cargo annually. Unfortunately, traffic projections never […]

ECONOMYNEXT ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka has urged investors from Belgium and Luxembourg to seize opportunities in the island nation, citing economic reforms, affordable real estate and cheap labour. Speaking at a panel discussion during the BELGOLUX -Sri Lanka Business Forum with a number of Belgian and Luxembourg delegates at Colombo Port City, deputy minister of […]

Dr. Alon Ben-Meir The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that was finally unveiled a few days ago only reaffirmed how misguided the joint US-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28 was, as by every account and careful analysis, despite Iran’s heavy losses, it has come out on top. Should the US and Iran negotiate the various […]

Dr Sarath Obeysekera AI assisted to formulate following . Many of the world’s great advances came from exceptional individuals such as J. Robert Oppenheimer, Tim Berners-Lee, and countless scientists, engineers, and thinkers whose creativity changed civilization. Their inventions brought enormous benefits but also risks. Nuclear technology, for example, can generate electricity or destroy cities. Will […]

AI Response Yes, the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka can overturn its own decisions, but only under strictly defined, highly exceptional circumstances. [1, 2, 3] As established in landmark rulings, the Supreme Court is the apex judicial body and its judgments are constitutionally final. It has no statutory or constitutional power to rehear, review, or […]

By Sarath Obeysekera As a child, my mother was an ardent devotee of the deity of Kataragama Temple. Before every important examination or milestone in my life, she would take me on a long journey by bus to Kataragama. In those days, it was an adventure in itself.We travelled for an entire day and stayed […]

Anadolu Agency President Dissanayake authorizes security forces to join mosquito-control efforts as daily hospital admissions surge past 1,000 ISTANBUL Sri Lanka has deployed its military to assist in dengue-control operations amid a sharp rise in infections that has pushed daily hospital admissions above 1,000, local media reported Tuesday. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake authorized the armed […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Colombo, June 22 (Daily Mirror) – The United States today announced the provision of a Fleet Broadband satellite communications system worth approximately US$4 million (over Rs. 1.2 billion) to the Sri Lanka Navy, in a move aimed at strengthening maritime security and connectivity across the Indian Ocean. The announcement was made […]

Courtesy Hiru News Claudia Sallay, the mother of the Major General (Retd) Suresh Sallay, who is the former head of the State Intelligence Service, forwarded a letter to Pope Leo XIV today (23). The letter requests justice, human dignity, and a compassionate intervention regarding Suresh Sale. Accordingly, arrangements were made to hand over the relevant […]

Courtesy Hiru News The proposal to reduce the annual turnover threshold for Value Added Tax and Social Security Contribution Levy from Rs. 60 million to Rs. 36 million, which was proposed in this budget to be implemented from the upcoming 1st of July, will not be implemented. Deputy Minister of Economic Development Nishantha Jayaweera stated […]

Courtesy Hiru News Prioritising the protection of existing garment factories, which face severe risks amid the current economic crisis, must take precedence before the government considers manufacturing textiles from banana plant fibres, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa said. Addressing a public gathering, the Opposition Leader pointed out that Sri Lanka’s garment factories currently stand in an […]