By Tisaranee Gunasekara “If one harbours anywhere in one’s mind a nationalistic loyalty or hatred, certain facts, though in a sense known to be true, are inadmissible”. Orwell (Notes on Nationalism) Round II of the local government elections was held, coincidentally, on the 17th anniversary of Black July. Its results embody a stark message: post-war, [...]
Several night clubs and pubs in Colombo have defaulted on payments of the Value Added Tax (VAT) and this amount is now running into millions, Inland Revenue Department officials said. By Indika Sri Aravinda Speaking to The Sunday Leader, an official at the department said that VAT collection officers are finding it hard to obtain [...]
By Indika Sri Aravinda A Sri Lankan government minister has called Galle district government parliamentarian Nishantha Muttuhettigama a “modaya” over the way he behaves in public. The comments came after Muttuhettigama forcefully removed iron railings at the newly built Galle bus stand to satisfy a group of private bus protestors. Senior Minister Piyasena Gamage told [...]
By Maryam Azwer The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says around 140,000 Sri Lankans who have sought asylum overseas are yet to return home. Earlier this month, the number of refugee returnees for the year hit the 1000 mark, with the latest UNHCR statistics showing a total of over 1,200 returnees so far. [...]
By G.D. Dayaratne, Manager, Health Economic Policy Unit – IPS In recent years there have been a number of developments in alcohol policies the world over. A noteworthy aspect in these is that the greatest public support is given to policy measures that are not seen as intruding on the moderate or occasional drinker and [...]
The monetary system of the world is its unofficial religion. Everyone works for money, that’s agreed. Everyone builds their lives around money. Yeah, you can deny it. What? Me? A slave to money? Are you crazy? I’m just doing this cause I like the job and the perks are not bad either. A bowl of [...]
The real situation in the North is far from what is seen by the side of the A9 highway, political representatives in the North said. JVP activist in the North, Lalith Kumar Weeraraju says that children in the North are still being educated under trees. He observed that the government has failed to address the [...]
Photo by Thusitha Kumara The Socialist Youth Union (SYU) last Thursday (28) organized a protest in Fort calling for the immediate release of Tamil political prisoners in the country. The SYU had organized the protest to mark a day of fraternity where they said all communities should be able to live in harmony in a [...]
Since the 1970’s, both in developed and developing countries, there has been greater emphasis placed on the rights of minorities than the interest of the entire nation. Prof. Samuel P. Huntington (better known for his Clash of Civilisations) in his book on Americans: Who Are We? quotes another American author who points out that while [...]
By Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema UNP co-deputy leader Sajith Premadasa said the working committee of the UNP has not met since May 3 this year. A group led by Premadasa had last week announced that UNP deputy leader Karu Jayasuriya had been invited to lead the party.When asked about the next step in the process, Premadasa [...]
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