[Main points I made in a TV news interview with national broadcaster Rupavahini on 25 June 2016, within 24 hours of Sri Lanka’s Parliament passing the Right to Information law.] 2016 ජූනි 24 වනදා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ ඒකච්ඡන්දයෙන් තොරතුරු දැන ගැනීමේ පනත සම්මත වී පැය 24ක් යන්නට පෙර ඒ ගැන කෙටි සාකච්ඡාවක් රූපවහිනියට මා ලබා දුන්නා. නීතිවේදියෙක් […] ...
Sri Lanka’s Parliament is debating the Right to Information (RTI) Bill on June 23 – 24. Over 15 years in the making, the RTI law represents a potential transformation across the whole government by opening up hitherto closed public information (with certain clearly specified exceptions related to national security, trade secrets, privacy and intellectual property, […]
Half a century after narrowly missing the opportunity to eliminate malaria in the mid 1960s, Sri Lanka seems to have reached this significant public health goal. “With no indigenous malaria cases being reported since October 2012, Sri Lanka is currently in the malaria elimination and prevention of re-introduction phase,” says the website of the Sri […]
In this week’s Ravaya column (in Sinhala, published in issue dated 15 May 2016),, I revisit a public health emergency that I have been writing about for several years: mass kidney failure for no known reason. Beginning in the 1990s, thousands of people in Sri Lanka’s Dry Zone – heartland of its rice farming — […]
On 11 May 2016, Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Parliamentary Reforms & Mass Media convened a meeting with the senior managers of print and broadcasting media house to discuss how media can support the new Right to Information (RTI) law that has recently been tabled in Parliament. Nearly 15 years in the making, the RTI law […]
Two teenaged girls being knocked down and killed by a moving train in Dehiwala on 25 April 2016 shocked the whole of Sri Lanka. This tragic accident could have been avoided if only there was greater safety consciousness in the two girls – and those accompanying them. The latest tragedy highlights a deeper problem: our […]
In this week’s Ravaya column (appearing in the print issue of 1 May 2016), I return to the topic of Sri Lanka’s new Right to Information (RTI) law that has recently been tabled in Parliament. Over 15 years in the making, the RTI law is to be debated in June and expected to be adopted […]
A popular TV programme genre in Sri Lanka that is being mass produced on the cheap is tele-dramas or television serials. Therein lies a problem: the local tele-drama industry is trapped in a vicious circle of low budgets and low production values. An estimated 5,000 to 6,000 Lankans who earn their living from this industry […]
In this week’s Ravaya column (appearing in the print issue of 10 April 2016), I return to the topic of pseudoscience — a claim, belief, or practice presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unprovable claims; over-reliance on confirmation rather than rigorous […]
In this week’s Ravaya column (appearing in the print issue of 3 April 2016), I probe why the blogosphere and other social media platforms are vital for public discourse in the Lankan context. Sri Lanka’s mainstream media does not serve as an adequate platform for wide-ranging public discussion and debate. Besides being divided along ethnic […]
An experienced mountaineering duo, Jayanthi Kuru-Utumpala and Johann Peries, are the first Lankans to attempt the summit of Mt. Everest in the forthcoming Spring 2016 mountaineering season. They have both individually and as a team successfully completed some of the world’s most challenging treks in Asia, Africa and Latin America – not to mention all […]
An experienced mountaineering duo, Jayanthi Kuru-Utumpala and Johann Peries, are the first Lankans to attempt the summit of Mt. Everest in the forthcoming Spring 2016 mountaineering season. They have both individually and as a team successfully completed some of the world’s most challenging treks in Asia, Africa and Latin America – not to mention all […]
At the second Nelum Yaya Blogger Awards ceremony held at the Media Ministry Hall last afternoon, the organisers presented me with a Lifetime Achievement Award in New Media. The award was presented by Karu Jayasuriya, Speaker of the Lankan Parliament and a champion of the right to information. As he presented the trophy, he told […]
At the second Nelum Yaya Blogger Awards ceremony held at the Media Ministry Hall last afternoon, the organisers presented me with a Lifetime Achievement Award in New Media. The award was presented by Karu Jayasuriya, Speaker of the Lankan Parliament and a champion of the right to information. As he presented the trophy, he told […]
Can newspapers survive the challenge from digital and online media? Plenty of printer’s ink has been spent reflecting on this question. I once again addressed it when moderating a panel at the D R Wijewardene commemorative event held on 26 February 2016 at Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute, Colombo. Wijewardene was Sri Lanka’s first Press Baron. About […]
Can newspapers survive the challenge from digital and online media? Plenty of printer’s ink has been spent reflecting on this question. I once again addressed it when moderating a panel at the D R Wijewardene commemorative event held on 26 February 2016 at Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute, Colombo. Wijewardene was Sri Lanka’s first Press Baron. About […]
Sri Lanka’s broadcast sector, which was a state monopoly for decades, was finally opened up for private sector participation in 1992. However, it has been an ad hoc process ever since – with no clear rules nor any independent enforcement or regulatory mechanism. The broadcast licensing process remains undefined, opaque and discretionary on the part […]
Sri Lanka’s broadcast sector, which was a state monopoly for decades, was finally opened up for private sector participation in 1992. However, it has been an ad hoc process ever since – with no clear rules nor any independent enforcement or regulatory mechanism. The broadcast licensing process remains undefined, opaque and discretionary on the part […]
Broadcasting uses the electro-magnetic spectrum, a public resource. It is also a finite resource: there is only so much of the spectrum available for broadcasting and other uses such as telecommunications, emergency communications and military uses. And because it is a scarce resource, it is valuable. In a landmark 1995 judgment, the Supreme Court of […]
Broadcasting uses the electro-magnetic spectrum, a public resource. It is also a finite resource: there is only so much of the spectrum available for broadcasting and other uses such as telecommunications, emergency communications and military uses. And because it is a scarce resource, it is valuable. In a landmark 1995 judgment, the Supreme Court of […]