http://www.sundaytimes.lk The Sunday Times is the largest selling independent English language weekly newspaper in Sri Lanka. It is widely respected for its fair, balanced and accurate reporting. en-us Sun, 23 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT Sun, 23 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT 2006 Wijeya Newspapers Ltd ramesh@sundaytimes.wnl.lk http://www.sundaytimes.lk/common_library/logo2.gif http://www.sundaytimes.lk http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060723/columns/political.html The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) joining the Government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa will soon become a reality. Sun, 23 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060723/columns/political.html http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060723/columns/5th.html My Dear Green Man, I thought I must write to you, even though you may be in far away India receiving, we are told, a red carpet welcome from Manmohan and his officials. Sun, 23 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060723/columns/5th.html http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060723/columns/sitrep.html It happened last week in the sacred city of Kataragama that draws devotees from Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim faiths throughout the year.Intelligence operatives on a special assignment were tipped off by a civilian on the suspicious movements of a woman. They in turn told the Tissamaharama Police. Sun, 23 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060723/columns/sitrep.html http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060723/columns/econ.html There are many factors impeding Sri Lanka's economic growth which prevent the country from achieving a much higher level of economic performance. Among these is the rampant corruption by both politicians and government officers. Sun, 23 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060723/columns/econ.html http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060723/columns/focus.html There has been a studied silence from the offices of what is now referred to as Sri Lanka's "National Human Rights Commission" (HRC) following last week's newspaper reports that its Board had decided to stop inquiring into complaints of over 2000 disappearances of persons in the past. Sun, 23 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060723/columns/focus.html http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060723/columns/lobby.html Surviving without a majority in Parliament is becoming a difficult task for the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) Government, as was evident last week when an attempt to pass four important finance bills was abandoned after both the JVP and the UNP opposed them. Sun, 23 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060723/columns/lobby.html http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060723/columns/london.html Every two or three months British television viewers are treated to a satirical series called "Bremner, Bird and Fortune" that takes the mickey out of politics and politicians. To my mind it is in the top bracket of British tv and takes politicians such as Tony Blair, his transatlantic handler George Bush and sundry politicians and bureaucrats apart, exposing their follies and foibles, their indiscretions and horrible errors of judgment. Sun, 23 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060723/columns/london.html http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060723/columns/inside.html NEW YORK -- As a helpless Lebanon continues to be turned into rubble by Israeli firepower, the United Nations remains politically impotent and unable to take any action because of a hard fact of life: the unrestrained and overindulgent US support for an intransigent Israel. US Ambassador John Bolton says there will be no ceasefire unless it is part of "a comprehensive solution that lays a real foundation for peace." Until then, he seems to argue rather ironically, Israel has the right to destroy the whole of Lebanon just to disarm a single militant group: the Hezbollah. Looking at it from a military perspective, the Israelis are using a monstrous tractor to kill a fly. Sun, 23 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060723/columns/inside.html http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060723/columns/issue.html While preparations were under way for the United States to lead an international force to liberate Kuwait in 1990, a 15-year-old girl appeared before the United States Congress in October 1990 with all major US television channels focusing their cameras on her. Sun, 23 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060723/columns/issue.html http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060716/columns/political.html A rather outspoken western diplomat was addressing the Sinhala Businessmen's Association in Colombo last week; he said that a friend of his had sent him a photograph of Opposition UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe at a World Cup football match in Berlin. He said that Wickremesinghe looked a bit bored in that picture e-mailed to him, but also looked the part of a football enthusiast by wearing an appropriate cap. Sun, 16 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060716/columns/political.html http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060716/columns/5th.html Returning after meeting Mahinda maama, the Green Man was very annoyed and had turned red in anger. His able deputy Karu asked him what was bothering him.He tricked me again the Green Man said. Sun, 16 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060716/columns/5th.html http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060716/columns/sitrep.html Last week's Situation Report in The Sunday Times has drawn the attention of the Commander of the Army Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka, now undergoing treatment in a Singapore hospital. This is for the injuries he sustained when a suicide bomber successfully infiltrated Army Headquarters on April 25 and exploded herself causing serious injuries to him. Sun, 16 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060716/columns/sitrep.html http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060716/columns/econ.html Labour laws that the country boasts about are among the bottlenecks for rapid economic growth. Sun, 16 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060716/columns/econ.html http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060716/columns/focus.html The death in prison custody of Sunil Perera and the assault on Gamini Munaweera should not reduced to a statistic among many others. Both were brought about by negligent police work (in arresting and detaining two innocent persons over a hoax bomb call placed to a school in Ratnapura) as well as brutal treatment by prison guards, Sun, 16 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060716/columns/focus.html http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060716/columns/inside.html NEW YORK -- The perennially-volatile Middle East, one of the world's most dangerous political hot-spots, is heading towards a calamity. The ongoing crises in Gaza and the new battle front in Lebanon have threatened to trigger a wider regional war, possibly dragging both Syria and Iran into the battle zone. Sun, 16 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060716/columns/inside.html http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060716/columns/london.html There is a good reason why I have been silent for three weeks. It is not a because of a bereft of ideas. How could one not have things to say when one sees a nation marching backwards into the future, a people who have begun to perceive change as always change for the worse because a corrupt and self-aggrandising political establishment have over the years instilled this in our collective conscience. Sun, 16 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060716/columns/london.html http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060716/columns/issue.html Terrorists strike. Civilians die. Politicians talk rhetoric. This routine has come to symbolize the 21st century or, at least and hopefully, the first decade of it. Tuesday's bomb blitz on India's magnet city Mumbai - a sprawling city of 16 million people - is not India's first encounter with terrorism. Sun, 16 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060716/columns/issue.html http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060709/columns/political.html Despite the sporadic but hard military attacks by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), President Mahinda Rajapaksa has become steadfast in his desire for a dialogue with them. Sun, 09 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060709/columns/political.html http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060709/columns/5th.html My dear Mahinda Maama, I thought I must write to you again after I heard all these rumours about what you seem to be doing, quite unknown to all of us. Sun, 09 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060709/columns/5th.html http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060709/columns/sitrep.html Some months ago, a state intelligence agency checked out how effective security measures were at Army Headquarters (AHQ).They tasked a female operative. Believe it or not, she placed two mangoes in the cups of her bra, wore it and turned up at the main entrance. She produced her National Identity Card that bore a Sinhala name. Her name was recorded in a book. She was not subjected to the "walk through" or metal detector. There was none there. She was allowed in. The exercise meant she could have smuggled in two grenades in her bra. Inside the AHQ where security was purported to be very heavy, she moved around very freely. No one asked her questions. Sun, 09 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060709/columns/sitrep.html http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060709/columns/econ.html Consultants from the UN, USAID, World Bank and other international organisations continuously evaluate the progress of countries in the achievement of their Millennium Development Goals (MDG). Sun, 09 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060709/columns/econ.html http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060709/columns/focus.html The term "activist" has oftentimes, a pejorative ring to it. One's mind immediately turns to placard carrying, slogan shouting demonstrators interrupting rush hour traffic. In other contexts, it is vested with dangerous undertones; ie; activists work in non-governmental organisations (NGOs') funded by foreign donors. Sun, 09 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060709/columns/focus.html http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060709/columns/inside.html NEW YORK -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (known to headline writers as North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (commonly referred to as South Korea) are political and economic extremes. Sun, 09 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060709/columns/inside.html http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060709/columns/lobby.html While all parties joined hands to pass an important piece of legislation last Wednesday - namely a bill to set up a national authority on tobacco and alcohol, no such unity prevailed the following day, when the Government was forced to postpone a vote on the 18th Amendment to the Constitution. Sun, 09 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060709/columns/lobby.html http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060709/columns/issue.html Gaza is under siege. More than 1.4 million impoverished Palestinian people living in the world's largest refugee camp, and now prison, have no electricity, no water and no adequate medical supplies. Sun, 09 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT http://www.sundaytimes.lk/060709/columns/issue.html