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Home » ColumnsEAM stands firm defending the indefensible with irrelevance
The External Affairs Ministry (EAM) has become one of the most discussed ministries in Parliament in recent months, with the many mess-ups providing enough fodder for Opposition legislators to take the Government to task. However, equally consistent has been the manner in which its Minister G.L. Peiris has managed to sidestep issues of concerns raised [...]
Anti-US rhetoric, but tens of millions busted to win Obama’s support
The UPFA Government is hiring and firing public relations agencies in the United States at its will and pleasure with enormous cost to the Sri Lankan taxpayer. The secret exercise costing millions of dollars appears to have become high priority, or so the UPFA leaders believe, due to the adverse fallout on Sri Lanka. It [...]
Green, green losers of my home!
My Dear Green Man, Uncle Karu and Sajith, I thought I must write to you to let you know that Mahinda maama has called for elections to the Uva Province. Of course, most people would assume that you would know about the elections but the manner in which the Greens are going about their work, [...]
Growing fast, but are we moving towards external debt vulnerability?
The IMF has given a glowing assessment of Sri Lanka’s economic performance. Its July 29th statement says: “Sri Lanka’s economic growth has been one of the fastest among Asia’s developing economies in recent years. After falling to 6.3 percent in 2012, real GDP growth accelerated to 7.3 percent in 2013-driven primarily by a pickup in [...]
India, Pakistan and some unexpected complications
Reports that a diplomat in the Pakistani High Commission in Colombo accused of spying was ‘withdrawn’ even before a dossier on him prepared by New Delhi reached Colombo, have taken speculation relating to these events — which has been going on for some time — to a new level. A Press Trust of India (PTI) [...]
Crude intimidation of legitimate protests
The modus operandi of this government in cracking down on legitimate dissent and protest would be truly farcical if it was not so deadly. What is the government frightened of? First mobs of Buddhist monks are used to ferment and arouse hatred between communities. Now, much like instant noodles, we have ‘instant civil society organisations’ [...]
MoD blunder: Tamil Nadu billboard shows President pleading
The final chapter to what India complained was an article derogatory of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jeyaram Jeyalalithaa on the Defence Ministry’s website came this week.Soon after the matter was raised in the Rajya Sabha, India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj invited the new Sri Lanka High Commissioner to the [...]
Jayalalithaa raised to kick up dust for Lanka
The moment Narendra Modi became Prime Minister designate of India, the Lankan Government’s official spokesman, Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, could not contain himself with glee at the prospect of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa being negated in the new power equation and getting her comeuppance. From his weekly rostrum he declared to the media that [...]