By Charles.S.Perera United Nations Organisation “had been ” a symbol of equality and Unity ofƒ”š‚  Nations of the World. But to-day the UN does not symboliseƒ”š‚  eitherƒ”š‚  the Unity or the equality of Nations.ƒ”š‚  The developed countries dominate the World Forum and the Chief Executive the Secretary General ƒ”š‚ of the UNOƒ”š‚  is only a ” […]

Dilrook Kannangara Sri Lanka’s university admission policy has always been mired in one controversy after another. On top of that the university system is in total disarray as the Minister of Higher Education stated in parliament. Thirdly, it is a well known fact that there is a dangerous subculture in universities. These suboptimal systems have […]

J M Kumarasinghe It was very pleasing for me to attend a function where the Institute of Personnel Management in Sri Lanka (IPM) felicitated ƒ”š‚ it’s greatest son, Dr D S Bandarage, at a special ceremony held three years ago, in the auspices of Mr N Cabral, Secretary to the Ministry of Plan Implementation and Governor […]

A.Siddique Ever since the coming down of the WTC twin towers in New York on September Eleven 2001, terrorism has acquired the status of a regulatory tap that India has compulsively employed to control the ebb and flow of Indo Pak bilateral relations. The strategy has served them well and even after passage of nine […]

ALI SUKHANVERƒ”š‚  The writer is a Pakistan based bilingual analyst on national and international strategic and defense affairs. Obscurity generates fear; disinformation disables best of our abilities; darkness crushes the very inside of us; nights could be pleasing but for a very short chunk of time. That is why most of the people keep on […]

Press Release Media Sec for Minister of Justice and Law Reforms Milinda Moragoda Minister of Justice and Law Reforms of Sri Lanka met with Minister of Justice of The Netherlands, E.M.H. Hirsch Ballin at the Ministry of Justice in The Hague. This meeting was part of an initiative to establish close cooperation between the two […]

Ajit Randeniya There are some strange limits and inexplicable exceptions to the so-called “ƒ”¹…”Freedom of Expression’ and Media Freedom concepts globally promoted by the US and the rest of the Western world. One notable prohibition relates to the use of the word “ƒ”¹…”conspiracy’, defined as “ƒ”¹…”an agreement to perform together an illegal, wrongful, or subversive […]

Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J 6G1 . Canada September 29, 2009 Hon. David Miliband, MP Minister of Foreign Affairs House of House of Parliament Westminster London, UK Dear David: I just read that you had a tripartite meeting with Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Ranjith Bogollagama accompanied by your Bobbsey […]

S. Akurugoda Both printed and electronic media are full of news items carrying the activities, statements and articles of so-called “ƒ”¹…”activists’, especially those who pretend to be the guardian of human rights, free media rights and peace. Apart from the lucrative jobs, these millionaire “ƒ”¹…”activists’ are receiving free attractive titles, ƒ”š‚ wide publicity, and free foreign […]

By Walter Jayawardhana The Hindustan Times newspaper said the Communist Party of India, popularly known as the Maoists of India have borrowed the idea of child conscription to their army from Sri Lanka’s Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). According to an item published by the Hindustan Times they have imitated the Tamil Tigers by […]

By Walter Jayawardhana The Australian Communication and Media Authority after an investigation found certain programs broadcast by the SBS Radio were bias towards Tamil Tigers and contravened the radio station’s own code of principles. The authority said the Tamil language programs on the activities of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were bias towards the […]

By Walter Jayawardhana Singapore’s former Reform Party Man who was a powerful committee member of the party Balraj Naidu has been arrested and produced in court for an extradition hearing over an alleged arms deal with Sri Lanka’s Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Naidu was arrested on a warrant and produced in courts said, […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratneƒ”š‚©2009 In Therigatha, bhikkuni Vajira is said to have responded to Mara: It’s only suffering that comes to be, Suffering that stands and falls away. Nothing but suffering comes to be, Nothing but suffering ceases. In retrospect, I find my quest for a PhD in journalism and mass communication and the subsequent […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratneƒ”š‚©2009 Vincent Lowe, Dean Sharom Ahmat’s emissary from the School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia, welcomed me at the Penang airport. He took me to the campus and gave me some idea of the university’s communication program. I stayed the first three nights at the colonial seaside hotel, the Eastern & Orient. […]

By Shelton A. Gunaratneƒ”š‚©2009 On the last Sunday of November 1974, just after my parents had left Malaysia to return to Sri Lanka, an incident that occurred at the beachside garden of Rasa Sayang Hotel in Batu Ferrenghi devastated me”ƒ¢¢”š¬‚a clear reminder that exceeding the middle path would rebound in accelerating dukkha. ƒ”š‚ Leslie Allen, an […]

By Razeen Sally courtesy Far Eastern Economic Review July 2009. Sally is director of the European Centre for International Political Economy in Brussels and is on the faculty of the London School of Economics. July 2009 To most outsiders Sri Lanka is a far-away tourist destination, a tropical paradise that has fallen into a vicious […]

EMBASSY OF SRI LANKA, WASHINGTON, D.C. COUNTRY INFORMATION UPDATE Sri Lanka’s economy continued to expand in the four months since government forces defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), ending 25 years of terrorism and conflict. Many sectors have shown signs of quick recovery, especially tourism. Country visits leapt forward in July, and plans […]

By Walter Jayawardhana Cairn Energy Plc, the UK listed Indian oil giant is expected to drill for offshore oil in Sri Lanka in January 2011. The company’s advertisements asking for offshore oil rigs have appeared in the Economic Times newspaper in New Delhi. The advertisement said Cairns wants to hire a drill ship or a […]

By Walter Jayawardhana India’s External Minister S.M. Krishna told the United NationS that there is a new beginning in Sri Lanka today. He said , ” peace, security, stability and the welfare of India’s neighbourhood is vital for India.”ƒ”š‚ This was an obvious reference to the end of the war by Liberation Tigers of Tamil […]

By Asoka Devendra Many theories Theistic, Scientific or otherwise have been advanced about the origin of the solar system. But one fact is certain and this has been firmly authenticated by meticulous scientific research. The Solar system is one connected system and the sun had to appear first to hold the planetary system in place. […]

MEDIA RELEASE The Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office at Geneva Monday, 28 September 2009 On a request made by Hon Basil Rajapakse, MP, Chairman of the Presidential Task Force for Resettlement, Development and Security in the Northern Province, and subsequent discussions that Hon Mahinda Samarasinghe, Minister for Disaster Management & […]

MEDIA RELEASE The Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office at Geneva Hon. Mahinda Samarasinghe, M.P, Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights addressed the 60th Session of the Executive Committee of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) at the Palais des Nations in Geneva today. Hon. Samarasinghe is among a […]

Dr.P.A.Samaraweera, China In a letter to an English Daily on 26th Sept., titled ‘Ragging in universities’, a subscriber observes, “…Ragging in universities must stop. The perverts must be punished severely…Get the military to give protection to the new comers. Our forces defeated the ruthless LTTE… Tackle these poisonous snakes…” ƒ”š‚ A few weeks ago it was […]

by Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island Investigations into Tigers’ weapons procurement reveal The Norwegian government helped the LTTE to establish relations with Eritrea, which allowed the group to purchase arms, ammunition and equipment from China on Eritrean end-user certificates and other documents needed to legally buy weapons, according to well informed sources. Sources said the […]

The Island Editorial 28th September 2009 As the day on which the EU is expected to make a final decision on Sri Lanka’s GSP Plus draws nearer, the government has stepped up efforts to retain it, though it is not as desperate as it was a few months ago because Sri Lanka’s economy has improved […]

By I. A.Pansohta During the last couple of weeks, the political weather of the subcontinent fluctuated but its decisive shift is still at the mercy of intentions. History of 62 years has taught its South Asian neighbors’ New Delhi’s regional governance. It was not any surprise when India claims about Pakistan training its terrorists to […]

Dr. Sudath Gunasekara (SLAS) 27.9.2009. Going by how things are been currently manipulated at the UNO by the West and its allies and how shabbily and discriminately Asian countries like ours are treated, I fully endorse L. Jayasooriya’s proposition (Asian Tribune) that we must look for an alternative Asianƒ”š‚  (or Afro-Asian) UNO in place of […]

By Walter Jayawardhana Prime Minister Rathnasiri Wickramanayaka addressing the United Nations General Assembly in New York said the Charter of the United Nations does not allow the UN to interfere in the internal affairs of member nations. He said , “It is imperative that the prohibition reflected in Article 2(7)of the charter that the UN […]

By Charles.S.Perera ƒ”š‚ Robert O’Blake US Assistant Secretary of State for Asian and Central Asian Affairs, is not promoting the USA President Barrack Obama’s foreign policies. In the 38 minutes long speech to the UN General Assembly the USA President made significant statements. But O’Blake is making a mockery of President Obama’s speech to the UN […]

ASOKA S US bashing is a common thing to many who write on the on line forums. It is rarely that one sees bashing of other powerful nations like Britain, Germany France, Canada or Australia. Bashing is usually done by expatriate Lankans who live outside Lanka in relative security and prosperity of the West. As […]