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Home » ColumnsHi-tech Kelama turns into Kolama
The mood could be likened to the launch of a spaceship by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from one of its facilities in Houston though the purpose of the local exercise was quite limited. It was the launch of an unmanned, less sophisticated version of a drone over strict natural reserves of [...]
Govt. to reject international probe commission; what next?
“If you cannot stay in the Government, you can get out,” President Mahinda Rajapaksa warned Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader Rauff Hakeem at Friday’s re-scheduled meeting of ministers. He accused Minister Hakeem of “betraying the country” in what seemed a simmering battle for months now with the SLMC, one of the UPFA’s partners. Rajapaksa [...]
Polemical play of Navi Pillay
My Dear Navi Pillay, I am writing to you because you had announced this week that you would like to conduct an international inquiry into what happened during the final stages of the war against terrorism we won five years ago. I am slightly confused about all this, Navi, so I thought it is best [...]
Towards smaller trade deficit and balance of payments surplus
The prospect of reducing the trade deficit to about US$ 6 billion this year presents an opportunity to generate an overall balance of payments surplus that could increase foreign reserves, reduce foreign borrowing and decrease foreign debt. These could be achieved provided the economy is managed sensibly and there are no negative external shocks. Increased [...]
Pillay’s report and the ICRC study on ‘use of force in armed conflicts’
UN Human Rights chief Navi Pillay’s report to the 25th session of the Human Rights Council was made public on Feb 24, 2014. It calls for the UNHRC to establish an ‘international inquiry mechanism to further investigate the alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law’ during the last stages of the war in [...]
Treating the chief justice worse than a common criminal
Last week’s judgment by a Divisional Bench of Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court affirming that parliamentary processes relating to the impeachment of superior court judges cannot be judicially reviewed has, quite tellingly, occasioned scarcely a ripple of surprise in public opinion. An unquestionable departure from the past But putting inevitable cynicism aside, this should not be [...]
Amarapura Nikaya bans politics for rebel monks
On Monday, Lanka’s second largest monastic order for Buddhist monks, the Amarapura Maha Nikaya, banned all monks belonging to its Chapter from engaging in any form of political activity forthwith. In a far ranging decision taken by its Executive Sangha Council, Buddhist monks of the Order will no longer be allowed to participate in protests, [...]