by Dr Amali Wedagedara In Sri Lanka, public policy lost in the neoliberal haze treats the market as a cure for all ills. Not only is the market omnipresent, but it is also omniscient and omnipotent. The charm of the ‘market’ that research and advocacy lobbyists are creating is so alluring that only a few […]

At a discussion at the World Economic Forum (WEF) stakeholder dialogue titled ‘Pulling back from the brink,’ held in Kurpark Village, Aspen, President Ranil Wickremesinghe outlined short-term strategies aimed at revitalizing Sri Lanka’s economy. Emphasizing tourism promotion, agricultural

Labour and Foreign Employment Minister Manusha Nanayakkara yesterday slammed Finance Ministry officials for their failure to protect the fisheries industriy and the fishing community. Addressing a meeting held at his Ministry, Minister Nanayakkara said that as a result of lack of understanding of realities, the Finance Ministry officials had not been able to prepare a […]

Sajith says govt.’s impending electoral defeat cannot be reversed through constitutional means By Shamindra Ferdinando The National Movement for Social Justice (NMSJ) has urged the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government to put off the two-day debate on the proposed Online Safety Bill scheduled for January 23 and 24th. The NMSJ, led by former Yahapalana speaker Karu Jayasuriya, has […]

Public Security Minister Tiran Alles has explained the ongoing ‘Yukthiya’ operation to members of the Colombo-based diplomatic community. The Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Commission has jumped to question the government operation. The Foreign Ministry said that Minister Alles provided an update on the progress made by the special operation against drug menace and underworld […]

By M. Rodwan Abouharb Associate Professor in International Relations, UCL and Bernhard Reinsberg Reader in Politics, University of Glasgow Sri Lanka received a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in March amid soaring inflation, debt and a sovereign default. In exchange for US$3 billion (£2.4 billion), the government committed to spending cuts and tax […]

By Saman Indrajith Forty-eight-year-old Batticaloa District MP Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, popularly known as Pillayan, has been shaping the Eastern Province’s political narrative since he was a teenager. He was just 16-years old when he joined the LTTE in 1990 as a child soldier. Since then, he continued to rise in the ranks of the LTTE until […]

During a meeting between President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lankan authorities and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday (11), the IMF congratulated the country on completing the first review under its program. The IMF highlighted the positive start of the program, recognizing the challenging reforms undertaken by Sri Lanka and their significant impact on the […]

India’s domestic and foreign situation has changed tremendously compared to four years ago and it has achieved outstanding results in economic development and social governance, said an article published in China’s state-run Global Times. The article authored by Zhang Jiadong, director of the Center for South Asian Studies at Fudan University, said India has made […]

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry chaired the first briefing of the year for the members of the Colombo-based diplomatic Corps at the Ministry on Thursday (Jan.11).

By Sanath Nanayakkare When a country is in an economic crisis, it creates an environment conducive to implementing economic reforms which would be difficult to do in good times, however, it still depends on how far the reformist leaders can shape the opinion of the people and the people’s willingness to take those reforms on […]

By DEVENDRA SAKSENA Currently, the words ‘debt trap’ have a distinctly Chinese connotation. According to the Western press, the Chinese, as part of their geostrategy, have inveigled poor nations into borrowing huge amounts from them for fanciful infrastructural projects; almost all borrower countries are in dire economic straits, because most such projects are lying incomplete, […]

A pivotal meeting was held between Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Japan E. Rodney M. Perera and Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki at the Ministry of Finance in Tokyo, ahead of the latter’s forthcoming official visit to Sri Lanka next week. This formal meeting was pursuant to a brief exchange between Ambassador Perera and Finance Minister Suzuki […]

by Neville Ladduwahetty What Sri Lanka has achieved since it declared itself insolvent is hailed by some with much optimism. The “relative stability” currently experienced is presented by the Governor of the Central Bank “as the outcome of a united effort from the outset” (The Island, December 26, 2023). The focus of that collaborative effort […]

SC asks Parliament to address inconsistencies in four clauses at committee stage By Shamindra Ferdinando The Sectoral Oversight Committee on National Security has given the go ahead for the enactment of the National Hydrographic Bill. Chairman of the Committee, Rear Admiral (Retd.) Sarath Weerasekera recently told a senior delegation that represented the National Aquatic Resources […]

by Sivamohan Sumathy And I wish to speak of a poet here. Kurinjith Thennavan is an auto-didact. He did not learn to become a writer in our schools or university. He is a worker. He was shut out of our free education mandate even as he and others like him were enabling it. He was […]