Columns

From minister, to minister; bakers get half-baked replies

Bakery Owners’ Association president N.K. Jayawardena explained that he used many ways to reach the ministers and deputy ministers of the government to create a mechanism to provide fuel for bakeries so they could operate their diesel ovens and power generators.

He had first sent letters to both Trade Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe and Deputy Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship, Chathuranga Abeysinghe explaining their plight; yet no favourable responses were received apart from an acknowledgement from a secretary that the letter sent to Deputy Minister Abeysinghe was received.

Thereafter, Mr. Jayawardena reached out to Industry Minister Sunil Handunetti via a mobile call, and during the call he was asked to get his association registered under the Industry Ministry and then he could look into the matter.

Finally, when he contacted the Foreign Affairs Minister Vijitha Herath a reply text message was sent to him by the minister saying that a mechanism to issue fuel for bakeries is being made, yet implementation of it would be delayed.

Old habbits die hard and Bimal’s story of a fuel hoarder since COVID-19 times

As the fuel crisis continues there are many who are benefiting from the situation.

Many of them have been hoarding fuel and selling at higher prices. In one of the latest detections, Police on Friday recovered a stock of fuel hidden at two locations in Bogahakumbura, Bandarawela- They found 110 litres of  petrol, 18 lt of Diesel and 30 lt of Kerosene oil.

Similar raids have been carried out in different locations in the country over the past few days.

In the process there are also pump attendants who have been benefiting by pumping fuel beyond the quota for an additional charge. There are others who have been deducting a higher number of litres from the quota than the actual amount pumped, to sell it at a higher price later. These are however, old practices coming down from the previous years when there was fuel rationing.

The Leader of the House Minister Bimal Rathnayake claimed to know of a person in Vavuniya who had fuel stocks stored from the COVID-19 pandemic years .  Many were left wondering what magic formula the minister’s acquaintance had in storing fuel for nearly six years without any evaporation.

“The Story within Blood and Tears”: NFF holds event

Iranian embassy officials were among those who attended an anti-war exhibition and conference, held in Colombo on Thursday, highlighting the humanitarian, political, and economic impacts of the ongoing conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran.

The event, titled “The Story within Blood and Tears”, was organised by the National Freedom Front at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute and highlighted the humanitarian, political, and economic impacts of the ongoing conflict.

National Freedom Front leader Wimal Weerawansa and political analyst
Mohan Samaranayake addressed the gathering.

‘National Honesty Week’, among those put on hold

The ongoing war in West Asia and potential effect on the country disrupted government initiatives to a significant level as the government had to introduce a four day working week to save fuel.

Among the scheduled initiatives that were planned for later this month was ‘National Honesty Week’ starting from March 27 to 31 where several programmes were organised under the theme ‘corruption free government and transparent governance’.

On Friday, the Presidential Secretariat issued a directive to all secretaries of ministries, local government bodies and districts informing them to put on hold scheduled events until further notice considering ‘that government’s focus is centred on managing challenges as a result of Middle East tensions’

We are a sadder lot than last year, so says World Happiness Report!

Are Sri Lankans less happy in 2026 than they were in 2025? If one is to go by the country’s ranking in the World Happiness Report 2026, they are less happy. The Report has ranked Sri Lankans among the least happy people, with the island nation’s ranking dropping one place to 134th, according to the World Happiness Report 2026, published on Thursday.

With an average life evaluation score of 4.013, Sri Lanka is only ahead of 13 other countries in the index, including nations such as Ethiopia, Tanzania, Lebanon, Yemen and Afghanistan.

In comparison, Sri Lanka was ranked 133rd in 2025 and 128th in 2024 while the country was placed 112th and 127th in 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Every year, the World Happiness Report reveals where people feel most satisfied with their lives, and where they don’t. The modalities used in coming to these conclusions are of course, highly debatable.

War heroes on the war path over forgotten dues

Members of the police war hero community, including those who once served in the elite Special Task Force and several welfare associations, staged a protest near Fort Railway Station on Thursday demanding long-overdue legal rights and benefits for those
who made sacrifices during Sri Lanka’s 30-year separatist war.

These included issues relating to pensions and other allowances which are paid to members of the tri-forces. The demonstrators later marched towards the Presidential Secretariat, calling for immediate government action.

Indian envoy’s visit to Udappuwa village and talk of links between two countries over centuries

High Commissioner of India Santosh Jha visited Udappuwa village during his visit to Puttalam District on Thursday.  The residents
of this unique village trace their roots to Akkamadam and Thangachimadam in Rameshwaram in Southern India.

The High Commissioner paid respects at the Udappuwa Sri Parthasarathy Temple and interacted with the people of the village. During the interaction, the residents conveyed that their ancestors came to Sri Lanka in the 17th century and settled down in the region. They highlighted that they have preserved their distinctive traditions and customs to date, which include worship of Sri Draupadi Amman and a fire walking ritual in the temple premises during an annual festival.

High Commissioner Santosh Jha highlighted that the residents of Udappuwa represent a distinctive facet of the deep people-to-people links spanning centuries between the two countries.

Indian social media handles give AKD a pat on the back for stance

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s revelation on Friday in Parliament that the government denied access to United States’ war planes to land in the country made headlines not only within the region but even in international dailies.

The New York Times published a piece titled: U.S. Asked to Keep Military Planes in Sri Lanka before Iran Airstrikes

“Sri Lanka did not agree to the request, officials said, and has tried to remain neutral in the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran.”

What was interesting to note is that Indian media picked up the line and influential Indian social media handles tried to portray how a President of a small island took some policy decision while criticizing Indian government’s ‘non-committal’ stand on the West Asian war.