Cassandra in her Friday Cry-s has often noted with deep gratitude that nature has been benevolent to suffering, down and almost out Sri Lanka. Forest fires due to intemperate temperature in usually cool climes; sudden floods due to torrential rains; erupting volcanoes and earthquakes have all assiduously avoided troubling poor little Sri Lanka struggling against […]

Wednesday 2nd August, 2023 A brouhaha has erupted over what is described as the distortion of the national anthem at the Lanka Premier League (LPL) opening ceremony. Talented young vocalist Umara Sinhawansa has been drawing heavy fire for singing the national anthem in operatic style, and mispronouncing some words therein. Her performance has sparked a […]

Leaders of India and Sri Lanka were on the same page over regional security following President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s latest visit to New Delhi, an official source said amid fears of China’s growing influence in the Indian Ocean region, Wickremesinghe addressed India’s security concerns over China’s increasing footprint in Sri Lanka and vowed to fast track […]

By Jayantha Somasundaram (This articlecontinued from yesterday (25) is based on reporting by the international media on the events in Sri Lanka forty years ago.) “For day after day Tamils were beaten, hacked or burned to death in the streets, on buses, on trains – sometimes in the sight of horrified foreign tourists. Their homes […]

(Excerpted from volume ii of the Sarath Amunugama autobiography) During one of my visits to Colombo I got a call to see the President at ‘Breamar’. Gamini Dissanayake had told him of my friendship with Parathasarathy and he wanted me to help him repair the damage done to their friendship due to the abuse heaped […]

The muted, panicked voice came through the phone of a friend who croaked she was very confidentially warning Cassandra and advising her. Yours truly was immediately panic infected. With deep emphasis and concern the friend took her time to advise that Cass withdraws all money from banks. Cass was for once glad she was poor […]

Wednesday 21st June, 2023 The ‘Rice Mafia’ has emerged so powerful over the years that it is now running a parallel government of sorts. Wealthy rice millers resort to market manipulations, determine paddy and rice prices and exploit farmers and consumers alike, with impunity. This country is not short of political leaders who talk tough […]

This last week has seen two very white, very important politicians having to slide down the pallang, certainly not to obscurity but to real shame and huge setbacks. Yes, they are the yellow haired charlatan reprobates who think they know it all from the US of America and the UK. Ex-President Donald Trump has been […]

A highly appreciative skill of the Pakistani administration is their extensive theatricals which can deceive the most intelligent of men. Lengthy speeches in the parliament are converted into minutes packed with wise counsel. After collecting enough praises and spewing venom on the opposition, they end up ultimately doing what they would do anyway — putting […]

Two years into the military recapturing power, there does not seem to be a let-up to the torment of the people of Myanmar. The latter are putting up sustained and spirited armed opposition to the military but the ruling junta is yet to contemplate backing down from its harshly repressive treatment of the resisting public. […]

Wednesday 7th June, 2023 The easiest task in Sri Lanka is perhaps to distract the public. In ancient Rome, the patricians used bread and circuses to take the plebeians for a ride, but there is no need for bread to hoodwink the masses in this country, where a mere political circus can make them forget […]

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 to be broadcasted today (01) at 8:00 PM across all television, […]