By Saman Indrajith Forty-eight-year-old Batticaloa District MP Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, popularly known as Pillayan, has been shaping the Eastern Province’s political narrative since he was a teenager. He was just 16-years old when he joined the LTTE in 1990 as a child soldier. Since then, he continued to rise in the ranks of the LTTE until […]

During a meeting between President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lankan authorities and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday (11), the IMF congratulated the country on completing the first review under its program. The IMF highlighted the positive start of the program, recognizing the challenging reforms undertaken by Sri Lanka and their significant impact on the […]

By Rathindra Kuruwita The government will have to spend about USD 40 million to upgrade the offshore patrol vessel to be sent to the Red Sea to take part in operations against the Houthi rebels, Y.N. Jayarathna, retired Rear Admiral and hydrographer, said in a televised interview this week. The Sri Lanka Navy would be […]

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Announcement by UNP of Presidential, General and PC polls: By Shamindra Ferdinando Former Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) parliamentarian Mujibur Rahuman yesterday (10) asked whether the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government had decided to do away with Local Government (LG) polls. The SJB Mayoral candidate for the Colombo Municipal Council at the indefinitely postponed LG polls said that the […]

By Ifham Nizam Sri Lanka has made commendable strides towards fiscal discipline, particularly in the area of controlling government spending and managing inflation, Rockefeller International chairman and founder and CIO, Breakout Capital Ruchir Sharma said. Sharma was speaking at a special public lecture in Colombo recently, organized by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. At […]

By Sanath Nanayakkare When a country is in an economic crisis, it creates an environment conducive to implementing economic reforms which would be difficult to do in good times, however, it still depends on how far the reformist leaders can shape the opinion of the people and the people’s

By DEVENDRA SAKSENA Currently, the words ‘debt trap’ have a distinctly Chinese connotation. According to the Western press, the Chinese, as part of their geostrategy, have inveigled poor nations into borrowing huge amounts from them for fanciful infrastructural projects; almost all borrower countries are in dire economic straits, because most such projects are lying incomplete, […]

by Neville Ladduwahetty What Sri Lanka has achieved since it declared itself insolvent is hailed by some with much optimism. The “relative stability” currently experienced is presented by the Governor of the Central Bank “as the outcome of a united effort from the outset” (The Island, December 26, 2023). The focus of that collaborative effort […]

The Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) government is under fire for its perceived apathy towards looming health threats in the region, leading to a critical halt in the immunisation programme in the vulnerable Diamer district. This suspension not only jeopardises the health and well-being of the local population but also raises questions about Pakistan’s commitments to international organisations. [R...

by Dr Lahiru Kodituwakku MBBS, MSc (Community Medicine), MSc (Disaster Risk Reduction & Development), MBA, PgD in Health Sector Disaster Management Healthcare institutions are often considered to be sanctuaries amidst crises and wars. Not only do they provide lifesaving health services but also give refuge to the most vulnerable, when there is nowhere else to […]

The Middle East conflagration has been brought very close to South Asia by a suspected drone attack a couple of days back on an Israel-linked chemical tanker headed for India, off the latter’s coast. The attack comes close on the heels of similar reported strikes on international tankers in the Red Sea, which have compelled […]

by Jehan Perera The change that the country is looking for lies in the future. The change that the government has brought may have been sufficient unto the day, especially for the upper classes and the international community they fraternise with, but insufficient for the future progress and wellbeing of the masses of people.  This […]