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Home » ColumnsAnarkali sees bombs in brinjals
The rising cost of living, it appears, was cause for serious concern for Bandula Bandarigoda, a UNP member of the Southern Provincial Council (SPC). So, he entered the last meeting of the council wearing around his neck a garland made of brinjals. “Kilo ekak asuwai” or eighty rupees per kilo, he shouted like a vegetable [...]
Cold war between Govt. and Judiciary continues
Leaders of the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) were preoccupied asserting the role of the Executive in the ongoing cold war with the judiciary this week too. President Mahinda Rajapaksa who held a breakfast meeting Thursday with publishers of national newspapers and heads of radio and television stations, both private and state, re-iterated the issues [...]
Bend the rules and win the game
My Dear Mahela and the team, I thought I must write to you because you have taken us to the finals of a cricket World Cup for the fourth time in five years and will today take the field to try and repeat our World Cup win under Arjuna sixteen years ago. We admire your [...]
Patronage system replacing the rule of law
These are cataclysmic times marked by complete public cynicism regarding the value of the law, when the Judicial Service Commission has been unrelentingly attacked by the state media and its Secretary complains publicly that there are fears for the security of even ‘the person holding the highest position in the judicial system’ (see Daily Mirror [...]
Challenge of sustaining high economic growth
Sustaining economic growth at 8 per cent has turned out to be more difficult than anticipated. Treasury Secretary P.B. Jayasundera reduced the expected growth this year to 6.5 per cent. The Central Bank reduced its estimate of growth some time ago to 7 per cent and revised it at the end of September to 6.8 [...]
How to defy the umpire’s verdict and stay in the game
Sunil has resumed his efforts to enter politics with renewed energy, much to the consternation of his mother. He now has new reasons for pursuing this career path. He says it is soon to be made compulsory for all government Members of Parliaments and high ranking officials to undergo intensive coaching in cricket. The government [...]