Beginning in the 1990s, thousands of people in Sri Lanka’s Dry Zone – heartland of its rice farming — developed kidney failure without having diabetes or high blood pressure, the common causative factors. Most affected were men aged 30 to 60 years, who worked as farmers. As numbers rose, puzzled doctors and other scientists started […]
On 26 January 2017, the Alliance Française de Kotte with the Embassy of France in Sri Lanka presented the first ever “Night of Ideas” held in Colombo. During that event, participants were invited to engage in discussions on ‘‘A World in common – Freedom of Expression (FOE)” in the presence of French and Sri Lankan […]
Journalists, academics, politicians and civil society representatives joined the launch of Tamil language version of Sri Lanka’s Media Development Indicators (MDI) Report in Jaffna on 24 January 2017. The report, titled Rebuilding Public Trust: An Assessment of the Media Industry and Profession in Sri Lanka, contains 101 recommendations for media sector reforms needed at different […]
Brief comment provided to Daily Mirror newspaper, Sri Lanka, on 20 January 2017: ‘Eyes in the Sky’ need ethical and careful ‘pilots’ By Nalaka Gunawardene For some, drones conjure images of death and destruction – military applications have been their most widely reported application. But unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs are increasingly being used for […]
As 2016 drew to a close, The Sunday Leader newspaper asked me for my views on Lankan civil society’s key challenges in 2017. I had a word limit of 350. Here is what I wrote, published in their edition of 1 January 2017: Lankan Civil Society’s Unfinished Business in 2017 By Nalaka Gunawardene Sections of […]
How to ‘Bell’ the policy ‘cats’? I posed – and tried to answer – this question in October 2013 when addressing a group of Asian research leaders gathered in Bangkok, Thailand. It’s a question without easy or simple answers. Policy makers come in different forms and types, and gaining their attention depends on many variables […]
Column appearing in December 2016 issue of Echelon business magazine, Sri Lanka Sri Lanka’s Dilemma: Open Economy, Closed Minds By Nalaka Gunawardene Each time I see a Finance Minister struggling to deliver annual budget speeches, I remember Ronnie de Mel. President J R Jayewardene’s Finance Minister from 1977 to 1988 was one of the most […]
Column published in Echelon business magazine, November 2016 issue. Plugging into the Sun, with caution By Nalaka Gunawardene One of my favourite cartoons on energy was drawn by Australian cartoonist Ron Tandberg. It shows two men standing on a bare land and looking intently at the ground. Says one to the other: “There must be […]
Op-ed written for The Weekend Express broadsheet newspaper in Sri Lanka, 18 November 2016 What does Donald Trump’s election as the next President of the United States mean for action to contain climate change? The billionaire non-politician — who lost the popular vote by more than a million votes but won the presidency on the […]
Within hours of the US Presidential Election’s results becoming known on 9 November 2016, I gave a telephone interview to BBC Sinhala service. They asked me how almost all the opinion polls did not see Donald Trump winning the election, even though many polls said it was going to be a close contest. සමීක්ෂණ හා […]
On 19 October 2016, I spoke on climate change communications to a group of Asian journalists and other communicators at a workshop organized by Sri Lanka Youth Climate Action Network (SLYCAN). It was held at BMICH, Colombo’s leading conventions venue. It was part of a platform of events branded as Sri Lanka NEXT, which included […]
In this week’s Ravaya column (in Sinhala, appearing in the print issue of 9 Oct 2016), I profile and salute Dr Ajith C S Perera, a leading champion for accessibility rights in Sri Lanka. A chartered chemist by profession, a former senior manager in industry, a qualified training instructor, also a former test-match-panel cricket umpire, […]
Back in 2009-2010, I used to host a half hour show on Siyatha TV, a private television channel in Sri Lanka, on inventions and innovation. So it was good to return to Siyatha on 27 September 2016 — this time as a guest on their weekly talk show CIVIL, to talk about Sri Lanka’s new […]
“For me as an editor, there is a compelling case for engaging with poverty. Increasing education and literacy is related to increasing the size of my readership. Our main audiences are indeed drawn from the middle classes, business and policymakers. But these groups cannot live in isolation. The welfare of the many is in the […]
Op-ed written for Sri Lanka’s Weekend Express newspaper, 23 September 2016 Investigative Journalists uncover Asia, one story at a time By Nalaka Gunawardene The second Asian Investigative Journalism Conference in opens in Kathmandu, Nepal, on September 23. Themed as ‘Uncovering Asia’ it is organized jointly by the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN), Centre for Investigative […] ...
In May 2016, the major new study on the media sector I edited titled Rebuilding Public Trust: An Assessment of the Media Industry and Profession in Sri Lanka, noted: “The new government faces the daunting task of healing the wounds of a civil war which lasted over a quarter of a century and left a […]
In this week’s Ravaya column (in Sinhala, appearing in the print issue of 18 Sep 2016), I discuss new forms of media repression being practiced by governments in South Asia. The inspiration comes from my participation in the 2016 Asia Media Conference organized by the Hawaii-based East-West Center held its 2016 International Media Conference in […]
The Hawaii-based East-West Center held its 2016 International Media Conference in New Delhi, India, from September 8 to 11, 2016. Themed “South Asia Looking East”, it drew over 350 participants from across Asia and the United States. On September 11, I took part in a breakout session that discussed media innovation in Asia and the […]