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Car loans scheme stuck in political jam
Car loans scheme stuck in political jam The interest-free car loan scheme announced by President Mahinda Rajapaksa is going on a slow gear with only a handful of journalists benefiting from it while hundreds of others are left dreaming of their dream car. The scheme was announced by the President in November 2010 when he presented [...]
Lobby
Legislators in rare show of unity to honour Pope Benedict XVI
Govt. refutes Opposition charges of indifference, inaction towards simmering religious disharmony By Chandani Kirinde, Our Lobby Correspondent There was a rare show of unity between Government and Opposition Legislators last Wednesday, when the Vote of Appreciation was taken up in Parliament, in honour of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI who recently announced he would be [...]
Political Column
Govt. faces heavy fire from Geneva
Upul Jayasuriya’s resounding victory at BASL elections sends message to Rajapaksa regime US prepares tougher resolution with support from 27 European Union countries By Our Political Editor Besides polls conducted by the Department of Elections, perhaps the only other which assume an official character are elections to the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL), the [...]
5th Column
Queen of the damned
My Dear Sumedha, I thought I must write to you after hearing that you are one of the most powerful people in the country. Although you are not very famous you are still a minister-in charge of Parliamentary Affairs- but I think your powers go far beyond that. In fact, you may be the most powerful [...]
Focus on Rights
Restoring the relevancy of the bar
The simmering anger by the majority of the country’s legal practitioners in response to the executive’s unceremonious sacking of the 43rd Chief Justice of Sri Lanka came to a fairly predictable boil this week when an outspoken anti-impeachment lawyer resoundingly defeated a government backed contender in the elections to the Presidency of the Bar. A [...]
From the sidelines
A mini revolution in English teaching
From the sidelines By Lasanda Kurukulasuriya At a time when the country’s public education system is in the doldrums with shortcomings being revealed almost on a daily basis, a small revolution is on its way to transforming at least one aspect of it – that of English teaching. It’s well known that the difficulties encountered in teaching [...]
The Economic Analysis
Reducing fiscal deficit vital for economic stability and growth
Containing the fiscal deficit to 5 percent of GDP is vital to achieve economic stability and growth, prevent the public debt from escalating to an unsustainable level and avert a balance of payments crisis. Today we explore the reasons why successive governments have found it difficult to contain the fiscal deficit to the announced targets. [...]