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 […]

Rubber production in Sri Lanka commenced in 1876, with the planting of nearly 2,000 rubber seedlings at the Henarathgoda Botanical Gardens in Gampaha. The total extent under rubber in 1890 was around 50 ha and in the early 1900s it increased to around 10,000 ha. By 1982 the total extent under rubber was around 180,000 […]

by Moshahida Sultana Ritu Earlier this month, the five percent electricity price hike and 78.2 percent gas price hike by the Energy and Mineral Resource Division raised concerns about the accountability of the government, and consumer rights. The December 2022 amendment of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (Berc) Act 2003 empowered the government to set […]

Friday 13th January, 2023 Yesterday’s Supreme Court (SC) judgement by a seven-member bench, in a high-profile fundamental rights violation case against former President Maithripala Sirisena and four others for their failure to prevent the Easter Sunday attacks (2019), has infused the hapless people with some hope and optimism. It will serve to reinforce public trust […]

Ronnie de Mel’s contribution undervalued, corruption later gnawed at its vitals Excerpted from volume two of Sarath Amunugama’s autobiography One of the spectacular achievements of the Jayewardene regime was the completion of the accelerated Mahaweli Development scheme. The Ceylon National Congress and its successor the UNP under the Senanayakes paid special attention to the development […]

As per projections released by the United Nations, China’s working-age population, defined as those aged between 15 and 64, will start declining rapidly in the 2030s and will shrink by more than 60 per cent to 378 million by the end of the century, according to The Star, a Malaysia-based publication. The country’s working-age population declined […]

Institutions remain the most important factor for strengthening productivity and the investment climate in a country. Good governance, rule of law, and socio-political stability are crucial determinants of long-run economic growth. As famously described by Douglas North, “Institutions are the rules of the game in a society; more formally, they are the humanly devised constraints […]

By Jehan Perera The passage of the budget by a comfortable majority confirms that the government’s parliamentary majority is holding in the face of adverse circumstances. The ruling party has lost over twenty of its members who no longer follow the party line. But the rest of them appear to be staying together despite the […]

By D. L. Sirimanne I dreamt I was the Radio Officer on a KLM Super Constellation flight to Colombo with a Dutch crew. Flight Information sent us a ‘red alert’ that Colombo Airport was closed and to divert the flight to Jaffna. I immediately informed the Captain and he accordingly altered heading to Jaffna. I […]

By Shamindra Ferdinando Narendra Fernando, Sergeant-at-Arms of the crisis-ridden Parliament, has declared that the largest number of students, in the post-independence era, visited the House on Thursday (Dec. 01). Director, Legislative Services, Janakantha Silva, who is also the Acting Director of Communication, quoted Fernando as having said that approximately 5,000 students, from 32 schools, rec...

Speech made November 22 I have consistently recorded my opposition to Minister of Finance being the President. From 2010 onwards in this House, whenever the President in his capacity as Minister of Finance has presented a budget I have recorded that protest and I wish to record that today as well. When a person who […]

Senior lawyer S. A. Cader sayas that it was the responsibility of Parliament to enact legislation to enable the country to seek UN support for the recovery of stolen public assets.Cader, senior partner at Julius & Creasy emphasised the urgent need to address the issue at hand as part of the overall efforts meant to […]

GL asks govt. to secure int’l assistance to recover stolen money By Shamindra Ferdinando Former Foreign Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris yesterday (07) suggested that the government seriously consider securing UN support for the recovery of stolen public assets. Addressing the media at the Nawala Office of ‘Nidahasa Jathika Sabhawa’ consisting of 13 rebel SLPP MPs, Prof. Peiris said […]

Wednesday 12th October, 2022 The resentful public is demanding elections, but the government is offering electoral reforms instead. President Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that unless political parties co-operate with the government to reform the electoral system, the people will be consulted thereon directly at a referendum. He seems to think the people are still with […]