Leave for Tri-forces personnel cancelled

As It Happens

Apr 26, 2020

All leave for Tri-forces personnel have been cancelled with immediate effect and until further notice, Army Commander Shavendra Silva announced on April 26, 2020.  This includes short-passes. Therefore, all those service personnel currently on leave have been requested to report to their respective camps. All personnel have been requested to contact their officer-in-charge for further instructions. Those who are unable to secure transport to return to their bases have been requested to report to the nearest camp. Meanwhile, the government has decided to extend the ...Continued

Observing Ramadan in Times of Corona

As It Happens

Apr 25, 2020

Kshama Ranawana

Muslims around the world begin the Holy Season of Ramadan on April 25th, while most countries battle the spread of COVID -19.  And like the Christians who followed virtual services on-line or via television during the 40 day long Lenten obligation and Easter Celebration, Muslims too will be restricted to carrying out Ramadan rituals and prayers from the confines of their homes. In a communique to all trustees of Mosques, the Wakfs Board of Sri Lanka has issued the following guidelines, which are to be ...Continued

Eminent Group appointed by Pathfinder Foundation to steer Sri Lanka’s...

As It Happens

Apr 19, 2020

A study group appointed by the Pathfinder Foundation is to prepare a set of action-oriented recommendations to help steer the Sri Lankan economy into the post COVID-19 era. Chaired by Pathfinder Senior Fellow and former Governor of the Central Bank, Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, the principal authors of the study will be Dr. Sisira Pinnawala, Department of Sociology, University of Peradeniya and Dr. Ganeshan Wignaraja, Executive Director of the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute. Twenty other leaders drawn from academia, research and the private sectors, including Prof. Sirimal ...Continued

Helidarawwa – Combatting Corona Fake News

Columns

Apr 11, 2020

Even as we fight the spread of the deadly Corona virus, there is another danger that people are facing; and that is the prolific dissemination of information regarding this sickness.  Mainstream and social media have been very busy, bringing us good information, but often there is also disinformation and misinformation or deliberate attempts to instill fear about the disease and even to try and single out a community. Helidarawwa is a series produced for television to address disinformation regarding COVID-19 and is an initiative of ...Continued

Helidarawwa – Combatting Corona Fake News

Columns

Apr 9, 2020

Even as we fight the spread of the deadly Corona virus, there is another danger that people are facing; and that is the prolific dissemination of information regarding this sickness.  Mainstream and social media have been very busy, bringing us good information, but often there is also disinformation and misinformation or deliberate attempts to instill fear about the disease and even to try and single out a community. Helidarawwa is a series produced for television to address disinformation regarding COVID-19 and is an initiative of ...Continued

Issuance of Curfew Permits Streamlined

As It Happens

Apr 8, 2020

Kshama Ranawana

Streamlining the issuance of curfew permits, a communique from the Inspector General of Police states that staff of forty three government and semi-government departments and private institutions will be allowed travel for work purposes during curfew hours, by showing their official Identity cards. However,  employers are cautioned to limit the number of staff called into work, and are asked that records such as date, time, place or area of work,  and vehicle numbers  of the said staff be maintained. (See full list in communique inserted ...Continued

CHILD PROTECTION IN SRI LANKA – CRISIS ESCALATES

Columns

Apr 7, 2020

Dr Tush Wickramanayaka

THE EVOLUTION A fundamental universal fact is that all living beings nurture their young and protect them from harm. What distinguishes humans from other animals? Charles Darwin believed we are similar to animals and merely incrementally more intelligent as a result of our higher evolution. Our conscience and higher intelligence are the most influential distinguishing factors of Homosapiens. He would be seriously re-evaluating this theory if only he knew the rapidity at which convicted murderers on death row are released in Sri Lanka. The island ...Continued

Committed to a Life of Social Change for Sri Lankans

Columns

Apr 3, 2020

Kshama Ranawana

She was born to a life of privilege and was planning a career as a medical doctor.  However, she gave it all up in pursuit of a dream of changing this country to one where all citizens would enjoy equal status. Hemamali Wijesinghe was just 18 in 1971, and she was amongst the many young people who passionately wanted to see a social change in Sri Lanka. Hemamali’s parents were philanthropists and her older siblings felt very strongly that equality for all will be possible ...Continued

Hygiene and cleanliness…an integral part of tourism

Columns

Apr 3, 2020

Ivan Alvis

I guess, some of you may wonder why I’ve touched on hygiene and cleanliness where tourism is concerned. Well, the following galvanized me into action, and I wasn’t surprised at all when a foreign family, visiting Sri Lanka, in early January, inquired from me about the garbage, plastic bags, etc., strewn everywhere in the city! I explained that the authorities in charge are doing their best to beautify Sri Lanka and that before long we would be proud of our tag the ‘Wonder of Asia.’ ...Continued

Party leaders behave, for once

Columns

Mar 28, 2020

Vishvanath

It is seldom that political leaders see eye to eye on anything, in this country. They are perennially at daggers drawn and go for one another’s jugular, at the drop of a hat. In the aftermath of the Boxing Day tsunami (2004), which pummelled the country’s littoral, destroying as it did tens of thousands of lives and properties worth billions of rupees, leaders of all political hues got together and vowed to help the country rise above the waves. But their much-publicized show of unity ...Continued

COVID-19: Quo Vadis Sri Lanka

Columns

Mar 27, 2020

Introduction  COVID-19 has wide-ranging implications on two fronts: healthcare provision and economic activities. The impact is being transmitted at the global, sectoral and individual levels. The severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is being compounded in global financial markets by the tension in the oil market arising from Russia’s effort to undermine the US shale sector leading to a split between Russia and Saudi Arabia. The severity of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is being amplified by the difficulties healthcare services, first in China and ...Continued

Curfew and what next?

As It Happens

Mar 25, 2020

Dr. Prasanna Cooray

A countrywide curfew was imposed, on 20 March, as a desperate measure to contain the spread of the Covid -19 virus within the country. This stringent action was taken in the wake of the declaration of a special holiday (16 March), which was extended for three more days for the state sector workers. The private sector was requested to consider it a mercantile holiday, if possible. Some private companies complied while others didn’t. The commencement of the first-term-end school vacation was advanced to 13 March ...Continued