With the Elections Commission now on formal record that the forthcoming presidential election must be held on a date between Sept. 17 and Oct. 16, 2024, the attention of both the media and the electorate will inevitably become more focused on the upcoming contest. While incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is serving former President Gotabaya […]

BY Dr B.J.C.Perera  Specialist Consultant Paediatrician and Honorary Senior Fellow, Postgraduate Institute of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. It was indeed a catastrophe of epic proportions that occurred at the Fox Hill Supercross 2024 car racing event on 21 April 2024 in Diyathalawa. There were fatalities amongst the onlookers as well as some of […]

The death on Thursday of State Minister Sanath Nishantha on the Katunayake expressway when his luxury sports utility vehicle (SUV) crashed headlong into the back of a container carrier in the early hours of the morning generated the predictable publicity in the evening news bulletins of the various television stations and Friday’s newspapers. What caused […]

by Rex Clementine   The Boxing Day Test match has become an integral part of the game of cricket as during the festive season people are hooked onto their televisions from morning to evening watching the proceedings at MCG before switching their channel to find out what’s happening at Centurion. The Boxing Day Tests are […]

Spectacle of the past week was the SLPP Convention held at the Sugathadasa Stadium. Of course, the crowds were present – transported from outstations since nobody thirsting for some free frolic will stay home when offered transport and food and probably more than a tot just to swell the audience. The usual paeons were sung […]

(24 Nov 1923 – 24 Nov 2023) by Kumar de Silva With his 21-year tenure as Principal of Wesley College from 1962-1983, Arthur Shelton Wirasinha goes on record as being the second longest serving Principal of the College after Revd. Henry Highfield. A product of Richmond College, Galle, he touched the hearts and lives of […]

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 […]

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 […]

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

Monday 25th July 1983 began like just another day. But what we didn’t know was that it was to be the last day of an era. By mid-morning from my second-floor office in Fort I could see the city being put to the torch. Already my two sisters’ homes in the suburbs had been attacked […]

(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 […]

by S. Skandakumar Dear Mr. Taufel As you were an Umpire who was held in the highest esteem throughout your tenure, I read your comments on the Bairstow dismissal with interest. Since it was an incident that raised comments from two Prime Ministers and turned the sacred Long Room at Lord’s temporarily into an angry […]

By Dr Upul Wijayawardhana “I write my songs not for critical acclaim but for the sole purpose of the enjoyment of listeners, without them having to turn the pages of a dictionary!” Thus retorted Karunaratne Abeysekera, during an interview, when reference was made to the disapproval of some critics of his lyrical style. Paradoxically now, […]