By Dr. Dayantha Laksiri Mendis “Multilateral treaties are the bones and sinews of global politic, making it possible for states to move from talk through compromise to solemn commitment.”– Professor Thomas M. Frank BACKGROUND The UN system is the catalyst for the creation of multilateral treaties. It is the greatest achievement of the UN system […]

By Sirimantha Rathnasekera Minister of Water Supply and Estate Infrastructure Development, and General Secretary of the Ceylon Workers Congress, Jeevan Thondaman during a meeting with the Director General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Gilbert F. Houngbo raised concerns pertaining to the Lankan migrant workers, ministry sources said. Minister Thondaman and his delegation embarked o...

By Chandre Dharmawardana chandre.dharma@yahoo.ca According to newspaper reports (The Island 16 October [1]), an NGO carrying the acronym MONLAR has accused that “the agricultural policies of successive governments have rendered millions of Lankans insecure”. It claims that “as of today, 5.3 million people in Sri Lanka are food insecure. This proves that what the government [̷...

Sri Lanka should aim to get state revenues more than 12 percent of gross domestic product and avoid revenue shortfalls next year, International Monetary Fund Senior Mission Chief Peter Breuer said. Sri Lanka projected revenues (including non-tax) of 3,408 billion rupee (11.3 -pct of GDP) and the IMF 3,286 billion rupees (about 10.9-pct).Up to July […]

[…]The post Online Safety Bill & Anti-Terror Bill –  Law Making To End Democracy & Fundamental Rights Of Sri Lankan Citizens appeared first on Colombo Telegraph.

The agricultural policies of successive governments have rendered millions of Lankans insecure, Movement for Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR) has said in a media statement. Historically, the major victims of these policies have been smallholder food producers and the members of the plantation community. However, during the past two years, due to the restrictions on […]

Let us set the record straight, officially Retired Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera recently declared that in his capacity as Chairman of the Sectoral Oversight Committee on National Security he would present to President Ranil Wickremesinghe a comprehensive report on how the war was conducted. The recent US denial of a visa to Adm. Weerasekera underlines […]

by Amal de Chickera At the very centre of the catastrophe, are the people of Gaza themselves, caged in, bombed out, starved, parched, killed. Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the Palestinian diaspora, Israeli allies who are anti-occupation, anti-authoritarianism and pro-peace, citizens of the world with a conscience – all of us are […]

This week, China is throwing a huge party to celebrate one of its biggest experiments in engaging with the world: its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Officials and leaders from all over the globe are in Beijing to attend a high-level summit marking the BRI’s 10th anniversary. Participants expected to show up range from Vladimir […]

by M. Rizwan Muzzammil According to an article in ‘The Diplomat’ (2nd Oct., 23), the Sri Lankan government has committed to supplying 70% of its domestic electricity, with renewable energy sources, by 2030, with the longer-term goal of achieving a fully renewable electricity supply by 2050. The government is incentivised by “debt-for-renewables swap”, which enables […]

The Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative projects in Sri Lanka have not only laid a solid foundation and provided strong impetus for Sri Lanka to get out of the economic crisis and resume economic and social development, but also created thousands of jobs for local people, Chinese Ambassador Qi

Friday 13th October, 2023 A model parliamentary session held by a group of schoolchildren from Ratnapura, at the Presidential Secretariat, on Tuesday, has received much publicity. President Ranil Wickremesinghe, addressing the students, asked them to suggest solutions to their problems. The government was willing to consider them, he added. Tuesday’s event has come in for […]

By Uditha Devapriya One of Sri Lanka’s most distinguished yet underrated economists, S. B. D. de Silva died five years ago, on June 15. His magnum opus, The Political Economy of Underdevelopment, remains as underrated and under-read – one could say unread – as he. First published by Routledge in 1982, The Political Economy of […]

… asks for early cross-party consensus By Shamindra Ferdinando Former Governor of the Central Bank Dr. Indrajith Coomaraswamy yesterday (11) threw his weight behind the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) call for far reaching measures meant to stabilize the economy. The Washington headquartered lending agency recently suspended the US 2.9 bn bailout package, pending an agreement […]

USD 73 mn down the drain? The US Embassy is on record as having said that USAID conducted a project at a cost of USD 73 mn during the Yahapalana administration (2015-2019) to enhance the efficiency of lawmakers and be responsive to the people they represent. In terms of this project, 50 Research Assistants of […]