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Home » ColumnsBoxful of Helapas for Lokubandara’s wife
Boxful of Helapas for Lokubandara’s wife One time Speaker of Parliament and now Sabaragamuwa Province Governor, W.J.M. Lokubandara is known for his love for traditional habits. When he was a Cabinet Minister, a staffer at his residence was trained to answer the telephone by saying “Ayubowan, Mahathmaya or Mahathmiya” as the case may be. Last Tuesday [...]
Fireworks at Cabinet meeting on 13 A
Amid confusion, ministers agree on only one change to the Constitution, other proposals to be discussed by PSC India on alert, TNA delegation to meet Manmohan and Sonia; Special Envoy to be appointed The Government took a step backward on Thursday from stripping two major provisions of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. Instead, it [...]
Stuck on 13
My Dear Mahinda maama, I thought of writing to you when I heard that you had suddenly decided to amend the Constitution yet again and withdraw some of the powers given to the provinces under this very, very, unlucky thirteenth amendment. Pardon me, Mahinda maama, I think you must have been really worried about Uncle Champika [...]
Macroeconomic weaknesses threaten food security
Macroeconomic weaknesses could pose a serious threat to food security. The accessibility of poor households to basic foods is becoming increasingly difficult owing to their high costs, as well as higher expenditure on other essentials. Weaknesses in public finances, the trade balance and external finances are increasing prices of basic food imports such as wheat [...]
Parties need to demonstrate bona fides to resolve differences on 13A
From the sidelines Tensions that have arisen over the 13th amendment (13A) seem to have come to a head at Thursday’s cabinet meeting. The UPFA’s coalition partners were asked to report back with their views on two Government-proposed amendments to this controversial piece of legislation at this meeting. The reportedly stormy discussion resulted in three [...]
Sri Lanka; a haven for criminals
Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s claim during a recent address at the Kotelawala Defence ‘University’ that Sri Lanka is presently enjoying the ‘full benefits of peace’ sits strikingly at odds with the headline of the country’s newspapers on any given day. Complete degeneration of law and order And to be clear, I am not talking in [...]