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Home » ColumnsAppeal Court order brings relief to CMC
Colombo’s Mayor Rosy Senanayake was breathing a sigh of relief yesterday after the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) overcame one of its most troubled issues — the dumping of garbage. The Court of Appeal on Friday ordered the Wanathavillu Pradeshiya Sabha and its chairman not to interfere in or obstruct the CMC from disposing garbage at [...]
Goading Gota into action!
My dear Gota, I thought I must write to you today because today is the day you hope to be formally declared as the candidate for the ‘pohottuwa’ party for the next big race in about a hundred days from now. I know you must be very busy today, but I hope you will have [...]
Batticaloa campus, agreements with foreign countries, agencies dominate House debates
An eventful week in Parliament saw debates on the controversial Batticaloa Campus (Pvt.) Ltd. (BCPL) and several key agreements the Government plans to enter into with the US. Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) MP Dr Nalinda Jayathissa moved an adjournment debate on the BCPL on Wednesday (7), stating that the campus had been set up illegally, [...]
Fiscal consolidation derailed by increased expenditure
Although the government’s strategy was to reduce the fiscal deficit and thereby the outstanding debt to a sustainable level over the medium term, the current spending spree of the government is likely to derail the fiscal consolidation process, destabilise the economy and slow economic growth. Fiscal slippage In as much as 2015–the first year of [...]
Sri Lanka’s jihadists and truths stranger than fiction
In Sri Lanka, injustice takes manifestly queer twists and turns. A State signs an international convention on the solemn understanding that it will conform to those obligations. It passes a Constitution or enacts a law consequent to a pact entered into with citizens promising that narrow interests of one specific power bloc or agitators will [...]
Dear Uncle Sam: Take good care there
My dear Uncle Sam, What a pleasant surprise it was to receive your letter this week after a gap of about four months when you wrote me last and advised me in your strict usual tones not to travel about and stay put at home for safety’s sake soon after the Easter tragedy. Rest assured, [...]
Hate speech and racism trigger violence
However much President Trump attempts to deny his racist rhetoric over the years has not spurred white supremacist violence, the unbiased listener to his speeches and tweets would abjure such puerile and coarse defence. But it is not just the US president who resorts to stirring up the baser instincts of people — in this [...]
Sirisena now agrees to support Gotabaya as presidential candidate
Mahinda Rajapaksa to announce former Defence Secretary’s name at SLPP convention today Says talks with President Maithripala Sirisena “very successful” Sirisena to sign MoUs with SLPP and its presidential candidate Ranil or Sajith – the tussle continues as both insist on contesting Mahinda promises Tamil parties 13 Plus This year’s presidential race has assumed [...]
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