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Gota has long dialogue with recuperating Kabir

Gota has long dialogue with recuperating Kabir

Former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa who now heads Viyath Maga, an organisation made up of professionals and businessmen, sprung a surprise on the United National Party (UNP) Chairman and Minister Kabir Hashim last Thursday. He paid a visit to his Rajagiriya residence to see how the former UNP General Secretary was faring after a brief [...]

Who blundered Vesak Poya day?

Who blundered Vesak Poya day?

This week on Friday, the United Nation’s Organisation started a week of Vesak celebrations to commemorate the Birth, the Enlightenment and the Passing Away of Gautama the Buddha which falls this month of May on the 29th — full moon day. And chose ninety percent Buddhist Thailand to be the host nation which, along with [...]

The mighty and the corrupt fall but not always

The mighty and the corrupt fall but not always

The recent Malaysian elections that resulted in the downfall of a political party that has ruled the country for decades and the ouster of an allegedly corrupt leader have brought home an important lesson. But it is hardly likely that our leaders will learn from this significant turn of events. It is more likely they [...]

“Yahapalanaya” copes with members ‘bonded’ to Aloysius

“Yahapalanaya” copes with members ‘bonded’ to Aloysius

Since the “Yahapalanaya” Government took office in August 2015, the focus has been on strengthening the role of Parliament, particularly its oversight bodies and its control over public finances. One of its first tasks was to grant the Chairmanship of the Committee On Public Enterprises (COPE) and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to Opposition Lawmakers. [...]

Staying in power priority issue for divided coalition partners

Staying in power priority issue for divided coalition partners

The Government’s two coalition partners — the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the United National Party (UNP) – are locked in two different proxy wars with each other in a new turn of events which began this week. For the SLFP, its 16 rebel MPs, now sitting in the Opposition benches in Parliament, have [...]

All bets off

All bets off

My Dear Thilanga, I thought I must write to you when I heard that you are running for the top job at Sri Lanka Cricket once more. Cricket gives us more joy – or grief – than anything else that is happening in this paradise of ours, so I suppose it is fair to say [...]

Living beyond our means: Large deficits and debt

Living beyond our means: Large deficits and debt

The old saying “living beyond our means” is an apt summing up of the economic condition of the country. Joan Robinson, the eminent Cambridge economist, once commented that we are a people who want to taste the fruit before we plant the tree and nurture it. We are a country that “does not cut the [...]

The king cobra and Sri Lanka’s fascinated paralysis

The king cobra and Sri Lanka’s fascinated paralysis

When the king cobra kills, it is said that its glare is so unnerving that the victim is fascinated first into a state of terrified immobility before the strike occurs, paralyzing through the injection of a potent neurotoxin that immobilizes the central nervous system. The victims, (including humans if the dose is large enough), can [...]

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