New laws contemplated by the government appears to have caused much concern among Opposition political parties for obvious reasons. The constitutionality of the proposed Broadcasting Authority Bill is expected to be challenged in the Supreme Court. The whole process of law making raised quite a stir in the wake of the recent shocking Supreme Court […]

‘Broadcasting Authority a political mechanism led by Media Secretary’ By Shamindra Ferdinando Top Opposition spokesman Prof. G. L. Peiris yesterday (05) alleged that President Ranil Wickremesinghe intended to silence television and radio stations through the proposed Broadcasting Authority Bill (BAB). The former External Affairs Minister asserted that the BAB was part of a destructive political [&...

President Ranil Wickremesinghe will deliver a special statement on the government’s efforts taken over the past nine months to revive Sri Lanka’s economy, as well as outlining the forthcoming stages of the country’s social, economic, and political reform agenda. This special statement is scheduled

NEW DELHI: A UAE free economic zone invited Indian companies on Thursday to expand operations into the region, as the Gulf state tries to attract investors from South Asia’s largest economy with new opportunities. Economic ties between India and the UAE received a major boost

Eid was celebrated with enthusiasm in Srinagar while on the other hand in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, people are not able to enjoy and celebrate the festival due to the crisis in Pakistani economy, the News Intervention reported. The Pakistani establishment has created

by Sushant Sareen The good news is that there is some new evidence that despite all the adventurism and brinkmanship, the top echelons of the Pakistan Army have, by and large, remained rational and not radicalised players. The bad news is that the Pakistan Army’s bluster and grandstanding have injected exaggerated notions of its military […]

From the end of the 1980s towards the beginning of 1990s, in our region (Azad Kashmir), a storm erupted in newspapers, TV, mosques, schools, colleges, cities, markets, and villages. There were chants, songs, processions, Mujahideens, prisoners, killers, dacoits, Kalashnikovs, camps, training, Vigo cars, double-door vehicles, agencies etc. etc., it appeared as if Kashmir’s independence is […]

By Prof. Nalin Abeysekera Sri Lankans are celebrating the traditional New Year, and we can see that despite many obstacles people wanted to move back to their normal lives. The country has suffered three different blows––the Easter Sunday attack, Covid-19, and the economic crisis. They have caused many hardships for the general public. There has […]

by Jehan Perera Government supporters appear to be satisfied at the masterful manner by which they believe they have had the local government elections postponed. They deny there was to be an election to be postponed, at all! They find fault with the Election Commission for not having minutes of the meeting they had to […]

A retired Indian Ambassador (never posted to Sri Lanka) sent me these two quotations by Nehru. “My greatest challenge has been how to make a modern nation of a people steeped in religiosity” and at the tail end of his career he was asked, ‘What has been your greatest success?” He answered, “to have taught […]

By C. A. Chandraprema We now live in a digital world dominated by the social media, where information or disinformation coming through our mobile phones has more to do with forming public opinion than the plainly visible and palpable reality and well-established facts and data. Sri Lanka recently marked the 75th Anniversary of its Independence in […]

Islamabad [Pakistan], February 6 (ANI): Former Pakistan Finance Minister Miftah Ismail has said that things on the economic front will “remain tight” as the economy faces a severe liquidity crunch, Geo News reported. Pakistan is seeking an installment of USD 1.1 billion from the International

Reforms to be introduced to end ‘media abuses’ President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday said that the government was not in a position to lower the taxes. Delivering his second government policy statement to inaugurate the Fourth session of the Ninth Parliament, the President said: “Some people say that the primary taxable income should be raised from […]

Thursday 9th February, 2023 President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who presented his government’s policy statement in Parliament, yesterday, sounded like a seasoned insurance sales agent with glib phrases rolling off his experienced tongue; he sought to scare the public and infuse them with hope, at the same time, to sell his policies. The knee-jerk reaction of the […]

By Jehan Perera The government celebrated the 75th Anniversary of its independence from colonial rule under tight security.  President Ranil Wickremesinghe did not even deliver a speech on the occasion.  He had an excellent written speech, but chose not to deliver it for reasons not known.  The speech was circulated later. The exclusion of the […]