The challenges Sri Lanka has to face in its march towards development are manifold. Although the war has ended the wrong political ideologies, the proposals and timetables it created are still in operation. By Government Information Department Additional Director General Chandrapala Liyanage Similarly, various social activity groups and individuals and organisations operating under the advice ...

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children, as the Native American proverb goes. It is with this philosophy in mind that Jetwing Hotels will be participating in the Earth Hour campaign on 31 March. Jetwing will be the first Sri Lankan hotel chain to do so and ...

With the recent relaxing of the rupee exchange rate and subsequent increase in fuel prices, trade unions and the opposition parties are conducting protest campaigns against the Government, demanding a reduction in oil prices and the cost of living. This article investigates the living conditions of citizens in the recent past and present, quality and ...

Can clothes, fashion accessories and makeup make a country look democratic?Dictators have begun to dress up their autocratic regimes in the manner of democracies with all the mod cons that help to pass off a system of government, which is for all purposes a dictatorship, as a five-star democracy. This in the manner that a ...

Reuters: Greece claimed a major success for its bond swap offer to private creditors on Friday after it won heavy acceptance for a deal that averts the immediate risk of an uncontrolled default on its massive public debt.  The finance ministry said 85.8 percent of its 177 billion euros in bonds regulated under Greek law ...

New Delhi: India has urges all parties in Maldives to maintain calm and to exercise restraint, said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday. In a reply to a question on developments in the Maldives, the official spokesperson urged all parties to maintain calm and to exercise restraint. He encouraged them to exercise their ...

Reuters: Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez broke his silence on Wednesday after surgery in Cuba for a suspected recurrence of cancer to insist he was recovering well and “soaring like the condor”.  “I send you all my supreme love. We will live and we will recover!” the 57-year-old socialist leader enthused via Twitter from Havana where ...

Reuters: A planned referendum in Ireland and a German court ruling cast new uncertainty on Tuesday over efforts to overcome the euro zone’s debt crisis, just when a flood of central bank money appeared to be calming financial markets.  Ireland’s prickly electorate, which has twice voted “No” to European Union treaties before reversing itself, will ...

Benito Mussolini, the fascist ruler of Italy, during World War II, said that his brand of fascism ‘should be more appropriately called Corporatism, because it is a merger of state and corporate power’. Compare this with the dictionary definition of capitalism: ‘A system in which a country’s business and industry are controlled and run for ...

The debate between UNP MP Dr. Harsha de Silva and Telecommunications and Information Technology Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya on the current economic crisis will go live tonight at 10:30 p.m. on Sirasa TV.

By C. Bryson Hull MALE (Reuters): It was an ordinary blue felt pen, and not a bullet, that killed Mohamed Nasheed’s term as the first democratically elected president of the Maldives. After rising to acclaim as a champion of democracy and action against climate change, Nasheed is now back on the streets where he led ...

Reuters: On a recent Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight, water flowed from the toilets through the aisles during the entire journey from London to Islamabad. "What if it reaches some electrical wires and puts us in danger?" said one concerned passenger to another after flight attendants brushed off repeated complaints. "This could be a catastrophe." ...

Q: 13 Plus has become the most discussed topic in the political scene. What do you think about 13 Plus? A: Before looking at the 13th Amendment or the 13 Plus, first let us give a chance to the present mechanism. I strongly believe the present mechanism can address the majority of our issues. The ...

MALE (Reuters): The former President of the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Maldives sat inside his house awaiting arrest on Thursday after being ousted from his post in what he said was a coup at gunpoint. About 200 supporters stood under umbrellas in the pouring rain outside as Mohamed Nasheed spoke to reporters at his ...

MALE (Reuters): The ousted President of the Maldives, credited with bringing democracy to the Indian Ocean island resort, said on Wednesday he was forced out of power at gunpoint and urged his successor to step down. The Maldives on Tuesday installed Vice-President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik as President, who promptly denied being part of any ...

HAS democracy failed in the Maldives? As chaos engulfs the second closest country to Sri Lanka, it is impossible not to wonder over where this change will lead. Will the country still continue as a democracy or will it fall into extremist hands? What are the lessons that Sri Lanka can learn from what has ...

MALE (Reuters: President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives, widely credited with bringing democracy to the hideaway resort islands, resigned on Tuesday after weeks of opposition protests erupted into a police mutiny and what an aide said amounted to a coup. Nasheed, the Maldives’ first democratically elected president , handed power over the Indian Ocean archipelago ...

Brent hits six-month high of $ 116.70 per barrel Brent widens spread above US oil to over $ 20 Iran-West tension, supply worries supporting Brent LONDON (Reuters): Brent crude oil rose above $ 116 per barrel to a six-month high on Tuesday as threats from Iran to ban exports to some European states stoked supply ...

The Visible Hand of the government ‘The Visible Hand’ was the title which the famed London-based economics weekly, The Economist, used when it published a special report in its issue on 21 January 2012 on the rise of state capitalism in the modern era. The title has a pun: The governments do not care to ...

Ambassador updates foreign reporters on post-conflict development and reconciliation in Sri Lanka “Sri Lankans support a home grown solution for reconciliation” Ambassador invites international correspondents to visit Sri Lanka WASHINGTON: Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya hosted a group of foreign correspondents here in a January 25 reception held at his residence, prompting a discussi...

Reuters: Seventy-four people were killed when supporters clashed at an Egyptian soccer match, prompting fans and politicians on Thursday to turn on the ruling army for failing to prevent the deadliest incident since Hosni Mubarak was ousted. At least 1,000 people were injured in the violence on Wednesday when soccer fans invaded the pitch in ...

Sydney Morning Herald: This summer’s tri-series will be played amid a backdrop of a pay dispute which sees Sri Lanka’s players owed as much as $US 5million ($4.71 million) due to a cash crisis within the country’s governing body. As Mahela Jayawardene’s team battle the world’s top two ODI sides on the field during this ...

Reuters: Mitt Romney cruised to a blowout victory in Florida’s Republican U.S. presidential primary on Tuesday that put him back in front in the fight for his party’s nomination to face President Barack Obama and left chief rival Newt Gingrich reeling but vowing to fight on. With 70 percent of the vote counted, Romney had ...

Reuters: President Nicolas Sarkozy used a primetime television interview on Sunday to flesh out a flurry of measures to boost employment and competitiveness which he hopes to rush through France’s parliament before a presidential election in April. Sarkozy, who is running far behind Socialist challenger Francois Hollande in opinion polls for the election, said he ...

Text and pic by Harsha Udayakantha Peiris Malaka Dewapriya a young cinematographer with a determined  mission  towards a cinema with  a richer conception  to uplift the social bases of the communities has launched fieldwork for his first  feature on  silver screen for the local and international audience, namely, ‘Bahuchithavadiya’  which narrate...

Reuters: Pakistan’s premier on Wednesday appeared to back down from a confrontation with the military, moving away from remarks made this month that it had acted unconstitutionally in supporting a court investigation of a controversial memo. “I want to dispel the impression that the military leadership acted unconstitutionally or violated rules,” said Prime Minister Yusuf ...

Media organisations in Sri Lanka have urged the authorities to investigate all recent attacks on media personnel and institutions. The watchdogs say they will stage a protest on 25 January in Colombo against a series of attacks against media personnel in recent years. It will especially mark “Black January” during which many prominent media personnel ...

By Devin Jayasundera The British Council Colombo, in its efforts to increase the capacity of its premises, kicked off a refurbishment programme under the auspices of Higher Education Minister S.B Dissanayake. The refurbishment plan is valued at Rs. 500 million and is the single largest investment commitment made by the British Council for 2012 in ...

LONDON (Reuters) : FIFA’s former director of international relations Jerome Champagne has suggested changes in the world governing body to help end a perception it is run by self-interested men who do not care enough about the game. The erudite 53-year-old Frenchman, who left FIFA suddenly two years ago, has now broken his silence since ...

LONDON (Reuters): Mass euro zone ratings downgrades are unlikely to shake up investors too much, but with Greek debt talks at an impasse, pressure has been loaded on the bloc to shore up its defences and glimmers of optimism from last week have been firmly doused.  With the United States and Japan already downgraded from ...