Photo courtesy of The Federal All social science research is done for someone and some purpose. There is no politically neutral social science. The political agenda behind this article is my concern about the fate of the underprivileged in Sri Lanka. In post-colonial Sri Lanka, we have seen violence and state repression because of these issues. Resulting social costs have ...
Photo courtesy of Counterpoint The Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS) MRP provisional estimates of presidential election voting intent in February 2024 show no real changes compared to January. NPP/JVP leader A.K. Dissanayake continues to lead with the support of 53% of all adults followed by SJB leader Sajith Premadasa on 34%, President Ranil Wickremesinghe ...
Photo courtesy of ANFREL The latest estimates from Institute for Health Policy’s (IHP) SLOTS MRP model show modest increases in support for NPP/JVP and SJB, with weakening support for the UNP and other parties, continuing trends since July 2023. NPP/JVP lead with 44% (+2) support of Sri Lankan adult voters, followed by SJB with 30% (+1), the SLPP at 9% ...
For real this timeCrossing The Swamp, by Jon McNaughtonAs discussed earlier, the old dog is chasing the Presidential car again, and this time the fleas have learned how to drive. A group of conservative organizations have released a nearly 1,000 page document, personnel database, and training program called Project 2025. This is what the next Trump Administration plans to do, ...
Photo courtesy of Al Jazeera The long lines at fuel stations have disappeared as have the frequent power outages; it’s almost as if the economic crisis is a thing of the past. For Colombo’s working class poor it is anything but. The last few years have brought upon crisis after crisis, leaving many families at breaking point struggling to put ...
Photo courtesy of The Island The world is becoming less democratic and more autocratic (i.e. authoritarian). One of the best sources of information is the annual Democracy Report issued by the V-Dem Institute in Sweden. The Institute continuously measures the extent to which national governments are either democratic or authoritarian and the directions in which they are moving. Its 2024 ...
An introduction to destruction“The Republican Club” by Andy Thomas of Carthage, Missouri.In 2016, Donald Trump was like a dog who caught a car. He really didn't know what to do with the Presidency, failed to appoint people to key posts, and wasted his mandate without mandem. In 2024, the big dog is running again, and this time the fleas on ...
Photo courtesy of Onlanka The publishing of ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s memoirs, almost predictably titled The Conspiracy to oust me from the presidency, provide an opportunity to reevaluate those tumultuous events that did led to the fleeing abroad of the former president in 2022 and his resignation including the political discourse that arose from the aragalaya. The political discourse of ...
Photo courtesy of Hotel Mannar Mannar Island transcends the realm of a mere tourist destination. It’s a living tapestry woven with threads of breathtaking natural beauty, a profound historical heritage and a vibrant cultural diversity that has flourished for millennia. Yet amid the island’s serene shores and ancient whispers, a silent war brews – a battle between the promise of ...
Photo courtesy of NBC News Behind front doors of friends and compatriots in Port Au Prince, we listen to evening prayers and the silence of fear, and observe the strength of resistance against the bush’s rules, that the big cat eats the little one, and the woman is raped if she walks on the street alone, that there are no ...
Photo courtesy of e-ir The year 2024 is an election year in Sri Lanka with the president’s term of office ending on November 17, 2024 and accordingly the conduct of a presidential election constitutionally mandated upon the Election Commission between September and October this year. The ousting of former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa through the mass protests of the aragalaya two ...
Photo courtesy of PARL Politicians, government officers, temple officials and business people are illegally acquiring hundreds of acres of forest land belonging to the Department of Forest Conservation in the Kataragama area and distributing them to their friends and relatives. These forest lands serve as water catchment forests and as habitats for wild elephants. In addition to forest land that ...
Photo courtesy of HuffPost The World Health Organization (WHO) is expressing concerns about the global community’s readiness for pathogen X, a highly contagious pathogen that could emerge in the future. Scientists predict a higher likelihood of its origin in tropical regions, placing Sri Lanka at considerable risk. The COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted the livelihoods of millions of workers across Sri Lanka. ...
Former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has released a book entitled “The Conspiracy to oust me from Presidency”. Also on the cover are the words “how internationally sponsored regime change made a mockery of democracy in Sri Lanka.” It is priced at least 10 times its print cost and is sold out. The book is in Sinhala and English although Tamil is ...
Photo courtesy of CCRB Women working as tea pickers form the single largest segment of the plantation workforce in Sri Lanka, with little room to progress in their careers. Over the years women occupied in manual work have been resigned to difficult working conditions and limited prospects. They have been supervised, monitored, instructed and commanded by men. The tea industry ...
The public starvation of Palestine'Israelis' on a Deathright tourWhat do you say about the unspeakable? About people looking for flour being fired upon? About an entire population being starved to death? About every hospital, school, and refugee camp attacked or completely destroyed? What numbers, words, or images can you recite, to make it all stop? Why must we even debate ...
The YouTube channel of ITN Sri Lanka, which hosts over 2 million subscribers, has been hacked in what appears to be another crypto scam-related cyberattack. It’s unclear how the channel was hijacked and ITN has yet to offer any official statement regarding the present circumstances. High-profile YouTube channels have been routinely getting hacked by crypto scams in recent years, with ...
Photo courtesy of Daily Sabah In the backdrop of the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections, pivotal moments are anticipated that will shape Sri Lanka’s future. Amid this evolving landscape, the voices leading change – women, trans, human rights defenders and activists – take centre stage. Sri Lanka saw months of civil unrest at the peak of the economic crisis, culminating ...
Photo courtesy of Sameera Weerathunga Today is World Wildlife Day On World Wildlife Day, it is important to remember both the triumphs and the tragedies of conservation in Sri Lanka. One of these is the Uda Walawe National Park, which was established on June 30, 1972 after consistent lobbying by members of the Wildlife & Nature Protection Society (WNPS), led ...