Climate-smart Sri Lanka tourism: Adaptation, mitigation and resilience
By Prof. D.A.C. Suranga Silva Tourism is highly sensitive to climate change, as it threatens infrastructure, natural attractions, recreational opportunities and destination accessibility. This sensitivity reveals itself critically across the diverse tourism landscape of Sri Lanka in several interconnected ways. Direct physical impacts Sri Lanka’s tourism demonstrates extreme climate sensitivity through direct physical impacts. It [...]
The island that voted before Paris
By S. Y. Quraishi Here’s a historical detail that not just Sri Lanka but the whole of South Asia should be proud of: In 1931, women in a small island colony in the Indian Ocean gained the right to vote—years before women in Paris, Brussels, or Geneva. That colony was Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. Three [...]
Dhammachakka Puja at Sarnath calls for peace
The Dhammachakka Puja at Sarnath brought together multiple Buddhist monastic traditions at the sacred site where the Buddha delivered his first sermon. Organised by the International Dhammachakka Puja Committee, the week-long observance from 15-21 January brought together monks from different traditions and nationalities. In unison, they chanted the Dhammachakka Pavattana Sutta, symbolising unity in diversity [...]
Hamlet screening today at Regal Cinema
Ceylon Theatres Limited, in partnership with British Council, presents the first ever screening in Asia of National Theatre (NT) Live’s Hamlet starring Hiran Abeysekara. The screening will happen at Regal Cinema in Dematagoda at 5. 30 pm today – Sunday, January 25. Hiran takes the title role — the first Asian actor to play Hamlet [...]
Peradeniya Catholic students donate dry rations for flood victims
The Catholic Students of the Newman Society of the University of Peradeniya conducted its Seventh Charity Project and celebrated the Holy Eucharist at St Joseph’s Church in Gampola, with the participation of the members of the Newman Society,in donating the dry rations packages for the affected families of the Ditwah Cyclone and floods recently. Though [...]
Lankan-American recipient of GBEF Technology Leadership Award
Ashan M Benedict, currently a Public Safety Executive at Peregrine Technologies, who retired after serving over 30 years in federal and local law enforcement and leadership positions in the US, is the recipient of the Government Business Executive Forum (GBEF) Technology Leadership Award. Benedict, a Lankan-American, joined the US Capitol Police (USCP) in 2023, and [...]
3i show wins Asia’s Best Emerging Podcast
Stefan de Alwis, founder and host of The 3i Show was awarded Asia’s Best Emerging Podcast Show of the Year 2025–2026 at the Asia Awards. Presented under the Asia Awards programme — recognised as Asia’s No. 1 Brand and Leadership Awards platform, and associated with the World Research Congress with Times of London as its [...]
Salam Ramadan welcomes holy month
The Task Force for Salam Ramadan organised a programme on Wednesday at Cinnamon Grand Hotel to welcome the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins in three weeks with the sighting of the new crescent.
Lecture on rainforestation farming
The Genesis Thought Leadership Series continues with a timely lecture on sustainable land use in the humid tropics by Prof Friedhelm Goeltenboth, Honorary Professor of Tropical Ecology at the University of Hohenheim, Germany, and Scientific Advisor to NatureLife-International. Titled “Rainforestation Farming – an innovative new option for the humid tropics”, the lecture will take place [...]
RAASL lecture on Vedda people
The Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka (RAASL) will have its first public lecture for 2026 on Monday, January 26 at 5.30 pm at the Council Room of the RAASL, No 96 (first floor, Mahaweli Centre), Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha, Colombo 7. Chinthaka Ranasingha, Senior Lecturer at the Sinhala Department, University of Kelaniya will talk on [...]
The $4.1b. paradox: Why Sri Lanka’s commendable telecom recovery cannot mask its pre-disaster vulnerabilities
By Eng Nihal Pradeep Kumar Rathnapala, Former Deputy Director General-TRCSL Cyclone Ditwah, which struck Sri Lanka in November 2025, was not merely a climate event. It was a national stress test of institutions, infrastructure, coordination, and governance. According to the World Bank’s Global Rapid Post-Disaster Damage Estimation (GRADE) Report, published in December 2025, the scale [...]
Is there life after the US dollar?
By Paola Subacchi, PROJECT SYNDICATE, EXCLUSIVE TO THE SUNDAY TIMES IN SRI LANKA PARIS – US President Donald Trump’s relentless attacks on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, together with his destabilising foreign policy—notably the seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and subsequent threats to bomb Iran and invade Greenland—have called into question the entire postwar [...]