The upcoming women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa will have an all-woman line-up of match officials, in what will be a landmark first in the game.On Friday, the ICC announced the panel of three match referees and ten umpires, featuring officials from seven countries. The match referees are GS Lakshmi (India), Shandre Fritz (South […]

Cassandra has stopped watching news at night for the sake of her wellbeing and peace of mind. Watching English news at 9.00 p m on a local channel caused her to toss and turn or wake up at the ungodly hour of 2.00 am to again toss and turn, but this time mentally with suppressed […]

by Rohana R. Wasala First of all, let me express my sincere respects to Mr. D. L. Sirimanne, the writer of the interesting article entitled ‘Celebrating 75th Anniversary of Independence’ (The Island/Opinion/January 18, 2023). He struck me as a venerable old man, who, at 103 years of age, still thinks about the welfare of his fellow Sri […]

Dr. Jaishankar is in Sri Lanka to help under the “neighborhood first” strategy of India By R. R. M Lilani  Dr. Jaishankar, India’s Foreign Minister, who is scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka on January 19, 2023, has made another ‘neighbourhood first’ agreement with Sri Lanka by backing the country’s delayed debt restructuring programme with […]

The Chinese Embassy in Colombo has slammed US Ambassador here Julie Chung over her comments in an interview with the BBC. The Chinese Embassy has questioned the US policy vis-a-vis Sri Lanka struggling to overcome an unprecedented economic crisis. The following is the text of the Chinese Embassy statement: “‘China, China, China!’, our US colleague […]

By Sanath Nanayakkare The Governor of the Central Bank, Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe said on Tuesday that Sri Lanka had been hiding its bankruptcy which had actually occurred months before it was officially announced. He said so during a multi-TV channel programme where several key political and public officials responsible for the country’s economy were quizzed […]

The Embassy of China in Colombo has slammed the Ambassador of the United States to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung over her remarks during a recent interview with a UK television program on Sri Lanka s debt issue.

By Eng Parakrama Jayasinghe parajayasinghe@gmail.com Sri Lankans have not forgotten the advice given by one of our former Presidents: “Citizens should look after their own security.” It appears that the Electricity Consumers are now faced with this choice given the upheavals and shocks received in recent times, with the sword of Damocles of a further […]

The ‘First Capital SSC Open Ranking Tennis Championship 2023’ conducted by the Singhalese Sports Club commenced at the SSC Tennis complex on Friday.  The championship which will run till January 21 is conducted annually under the auspices of the Sri Lanka Tennis Association and is organized by the SSC Tennis House Committee. The SSC Open, […]

Rex Clementine in Rajkot Often Virat Kohli’s on field antics doesn’t win him many friends outside India. As a result, Indian cricket is frowned upon by all and sundry. As a norm, most Sri Lankan fans, especially the young ones want India to lose wherever they play. There was this fan who came to RPS […]

“A time to say goodbye and a time to say hello. A time to bid farewell and a time to look forward. A time to let go and a time to learn new things, that’s what happens when the New Year rings in.” Catherine Pulsifer We have said goodbye to a crime filled year of great […]

BY GEORGE BRAINE This was early 1981, and the government was planning to start a state-run television service. Applicants were invited for an inaugural training course for producers, directors, researchers, and writers. I had applied, and was called for an interview. The interview was at the newly set up National Television Planning Centre, at Kirulapone. […]

CONFESSIONS OF A GLOBAL GYPSY Dr. Chandana (Chandi) Jayawardena DPhil President – Chandi J. Associates Inc. Consulting, Canada Founder & Administrator – Global Hospitality Forum chandij@sympatico.ca More Music Shows … Having produced, annually, The Island Music Awards shows on three occasions, I did my largest show in Sri Lanka in 1992. It was The Island […]

By Rathindra Kuruwita Sensational reports by some sectors about the spread of drugs among schoolchildren is likely to be politically motivated, Chairman of the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol Dr. Samadhi Rajapaksa, told journalists in Colombo on Monday. Rajapaksa said that only 9.1 percent of Sri Lankans now smoked. The number consuming betel had […]

Sri Lankan wrestler Nethmi Ahinsa Poruthotage, who won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham was presented with a house in Wepalla, Kurunegala, by ÂManusath Derana, the CSR initiative of TV Derana.

The local media industry has been hit hard by the prevailing economic crisis as money spent on advertising decreased by around 70 percent while production costs were on an incessant rise, journalists and media organization representatives informed the National Council Sub Committee on Economic Stabilization of Parliament. This sub-committee met on Thursday at the Committee […]

The IMF could finalise Sri Lanka’s financing package within three weeks of the country’s main bilateral creditors formally informing the IMF that they would help Sri Lanka restructure its debt, Governor of the Central Bank, Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe, said on Thursday appearing on a TV programme. Dr. Weerasinghe said that Sri Lanka had already provided […]

By Saman Indrajith Ex-President and Polonnaruwa District MP Maitripala Sirisena, in Parliament, on Tuesday, denied media reports that he and Mahinda Rajapaksa, as former presidents, had spent colossal amounts of public money to maintain their personal staff. Sirisena said that the amounts mentioned in the reports had been calculated wrongly. The media reports on the […]