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More than a year passed, and NPP’s short-lived Speaker of Parliament Ashoka Ranwala could not find a copy of his Japanese doctorate, which he promised to produce ‘in a few days’ time’.

Unfortunately, another NPP leader is in an honorary doctorate muddle, though she possesses a genuine PhD. Prime Minister Dr Harini Amarasuriya, who graduated from the prestigious Hindu College of the University of Delhi (DU), visited her alma mater on Thursday and interacted with academia and students, making an excellent impression. However, the honorary doctorate by the University of Delhi, which was earlier proposed, did not materialise. It was India’s External Affairs Ministry, which made the proposal to the DU Registrar to confer the honorary doctorate. However, the DU Board approval could not be obtained in time. The Lankan side, however, was informed that India’s Vice President C. P. Radhakrishnan, who is the Chancellor, was to do the presentation, but that he was not available on the dates of PM Amarasuriya’s visit, and therefore, it had to be put off to a later visit.

The Hindu College of Delhi University honours Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya by naming the university’s social and ethnographic research lab after her

Instead, the Hindu College proposed to confer the Distinguished Hindu College Alumna Award on Dr Amarasuriya. But when informed by High Commissioner Mahishini Colonne, who interacted with Hindu College on the matter, the miffed PM declined to accept it and merely paid a visit to her alma mater.

At the university’s Hindu College, the “Harini Amarasuriya Social & Ethnographic Research Lab’ was inaugurated to coincide with Prime Minister Amarasuriya’s visit. She had completed her bachelor’s degree in sociology. The research facility had been inaugurated in her name in recognition of her achievements. Ethnography is a branch of anthropology which involves the systematic study of individual cultures. Premier Amarasuriya holds a PhD from the University of Edinburgh in social anthropology.

The Indian hosts seemed keen to match a number of collaborative ‘research’ laboratories the Chinese have set up with Sri Lankan universities, especially in the South in recent years. These came in for some criticism alleging that local academia was being used ostensibly for marine research, all of which went on a trajectory of their own with national security implications.

Content gets darker on ‘Dark’ YouTube channel attacking Govt.

A newly established “Dark” YouTube channel has been gaining attention for going even beyond gossip and levelling highly personal attacks directed at government ministers and other prominent National People’s Power (NPP) MPs.

The channel has been churning out content at a rapid pace. Most of its videos attacking government ministers and MPs contain personal attacks that lack any evidence to prove the allegations levelled against them. Some stories are fabricated.

Security agencies that have been tracking the channel have uncovered that a former Cabinet Minister who is the accused in several high-profile court cases is behind the channel, government sources said.

Chinese tea and camaraderie with MR

Chinese tea trade delegation members posing for a photograp with former president Mahinda Rajapaksa

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has never been short of admirers, and since his move from his official residence at Colombo’s Wijerama Mawatha to his private residence at Tangalle, he has had a long line of people visiting him on a daily basis.

Visitors have come from different corners of the country, from former presidents to foreign ambassadors, but this week the visitors were an unusual crowd. They were a group of around 25 Chinese tea traders who dropped by to visit the former president. They were welcomed, and Mr Rajapaksa spent some time chatting with them through an interpreter before the visitors proceeded on their journey.

Visually impaired MP champions disability rights at Commonwealth meeting

Parliamentarian Sugath Wasantha de Silva taking part at the Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities (CPwD) meeting

Sri Lanka’s first-ever vision-impaired Member of Parliament, Sugath Wasantha de Silva, had the distinction of representing Sri Lanka at the Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities (CPwD) sessions on the sidelines of the 68th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) held in Bridgetown, Barbados, this week.

He contributed to the discussions on promoting inclusivity, accessibility, and the meaningful participation of people with disabilities in political life.

The MP was part of the parliamentary delegation from Sri Lanka, led by Minister of Women and Child Affairs Saroja Savithri Paulraj.

The Conference, organised by the CPA, brought together over 500 parliamentarians and parliamentary officials from across the Commonwealth to exchange views on strengthening democratic governance, promoting inclusivity and transparency, and fostering international cooperation among member legislatures.

ACTC in PC dilemma

Even before the official announcement from the Election Commission, Tamil political parties have already begun discussions on potential alliances to face upcoming Provincial Council elections.

The government, both at recent UNHRC sessions and in political engagement with other parties, indicated that the PC polls would be held ‘at the earliest’ of next year.

With some bitter lessons learnt in recent polls where National People’s Power (NPP) made some inroads to the Tamil nationalist vote bank, the main motive of the northern parties is to ensure maximum return of Tamil votes to local parties. There was a slight reversal of the voting trend at the local council elections, though.

Leading this initiative is none other than the one-time Chief Minister of the once-merged North-East Provincial Council, A. Varadaraja Perumal, who was forced to flee to India during the conflict period with death threats from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

On Wednesday, a group of Tamil parties under the umbrella of the Democratic Tamil National Alliance—consisting of breakaway parties of the former Tamil National Alliance (TNA) led by the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK)—gathered in support of early polls.

Another nationalist party, the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), which denounced the PC system, is in a dilemma over how to co-exist within the alliance while maintaining its anti-13A stand.

However, the ACTC entered into an agreement with other parties to secure local bodies recently but now finds itself in a delicate position with upcoming PC polls. But they should fear not. Even the ruling JVP opposed the 13th amendment and the PCs. And now in government, it is preparing to hold elections for the councils.

Only brown sugar for state bodies

All state institutions, including the Sri Lanka Army, Navy, Air Force and Police, the Prisons Department, and government hospitals, will be required to procure only brown sugar for their use, according to a Cabinet decision taken this week.

This is after the Pelawatte and Sevanagala factories of Lanka Sugar (Private) Company Limited, under the Ministry of Industries and Entrepreneurship Development, exceeded this year’s brown sugar production targets due to higher yields. These factories produce around 56,000 metric tonnes of brown sugar annually, with production increasing further this year. Henceforth, it’ll be brown and not white sugar when making government procurements.

 Mahinda and Maithri want bulletproof vehicles back

Former Presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa and Maithripala Sirisena have written to the Public Security Ministry requesting the return of their bulletproof vehicles.

A Public Security Ministry source said the requests have been forwarded to a committee tasked with making threat assessments of VIPs and said once the assessments are completed, the Ministry will give them vehicles deemed ‘necessary’ to the former presidents depending on their security needs.

Pointedly, the source did not confirm whether the vehicles to be provided to the former presidents were the original bulletproof vehicles they had returned.

Ugly scenes mar CEB unions’ meeting with minister

A tense situation arose during a meeting held this week between representatives of Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) trade unions and Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody. The meeting was held to discuss issues surrounding the restructuring of the CEB, as unions continued their work-to-rule campaign.

Journalists waiting to speak to the two sides at the conclusion of the meeting witnessed two people being removed, one man being practically dragged out by security officers. It turned out that the two men were the president and the secretary of a trade union known as the Joint National Freedom Employees Union. They claimed they had been attacked by security personnel, while the CEB later accused them of assaulting two security personnel inside the building.

Authorities later said that one of the two had earlier been interdicted and had no right to be at the meeting, which in turn raised issues as to how an interdicted staffer was able to sneak into such a meeting where the minister himself was present.

Energy Minister attends Russia forum amid US warning

Energy Minister Engineer Kumara Jayakody was in Moscow this week to attend the Russian Energy Week-2025, a forum to discuss current issues in the development of the fuel and energy sector, interregional cooperation, and the establishment of international relations in the field of energy.

The minister’s participation in the Russian Energy Week was aimed at enhancing bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and Russia, especially in the energy sector, and developing new opportunities and synergies.

Sri Lanka wanting to develop close energy ties with Russia may be closely watched by US President Donald Trump’s administration, which is threatening higher tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil. India has already been targeted by President Trump
with increased tariffs for trading with Russia.