by Kath Noble The rise of Basil Rajapaksa has been rapid to say the least. Having spent years out of the country pursuing other interests, his return to support his brother’s presidential campaign was unexpected. Even more surprising was the popular backing he managed to acquire within a very short period in an unfamiliar district [...]
Archive of entries posted on 28th August 2012
Johann Sebastian Bach, ‘Tyagabrahmam’ Tyagarajarajaperuman and the ‘Bhakthi’ Music of Devotion
By Satyajith Andradi The great composers Johann Sebastian Bach and Tyagarajar hailed from two worlds different from one another in space, time, race, language, religion, social order and musical tradition; Bach lived in Germany, whilst Tyagaraja lived in South India, in present-day Tamilnadu; Bach died in 1750 whereas Tyagaraja was born seventeen years later in [...]
Ban Ki-Moon Going to Tehran Re-affirms Interlinked Relationship Between the UN and NAM
By Ernest Corea UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon’s decision to attend the 16th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM16) in Tehran from 26-31 August follows the precedent set by his predecessors and reaffirms the interlinked relationship between the UN and NAM. NAM has been described as the largest politically-oriented body in the world, second in membership [...]
Sustenance of Sri Lankan National Security Depends on Inclusiveness of Democracy and Equality of Citizens
by Salma Yusuf The notions of justice and equity are paramount in any endeavour to establish and sustain national security. The sentiment was consistently resonant in the submissions and interventions made by a range of speakers from diverse backgrounds at the fifth annual International Symposium of the Sir John Kotelawala Defence University held last week. [...]
Season Four of Future Leaders Conference Gets Underway at Jaffna College
By Maheesha Mudugamuwa The Future Leaders’ Conference (FLC) – Season 4 began yesterday (28) in Jaffna College with 500 youth leaders, between the ages of 15 and 18, from 75 schools across the country participating. Sri Lanka Unites (SLU) is hosting the FLC for school children, who have exhibited potential for leadership. It will be [...]
Transnational Govt of Tamil Eelam a “Virtual State” Raising Issues of Territory, Sovereignty and National Identity
By N Sathiya Moorthy The revelation that most, if not all, of the SMS rumours that caused panic among North-East Indians studying or working in south Indian cities and towns originated in Pakistan should be cause for concern in more ways than one. It throws up possibilities of ‘cyber crime’ that had not been considered [...]
Precedent set by US in Prosecuting Assange Could be Followed by Russia and China to Extradite Foreign Journalists
By MICHAEL MOORE and OLIVER STONE WE have spent our careers as filmmakers making the case that the news media in the United States often fail to inform Americans about the uglier actions of our own government. We therefore have been deeply grateful for the accomplishments of WikiLeaks, and applaud Ecuador’s decision to grant diplomatic [...]
Prime Minister, Crime Minister!
By S. P. Udayakumar Prime Minister, Prime Minister, why did you keep coal When none of your predecessors ever had this foal? Did you sell non-players and new ones all the Black Gold So thermal power goes down and nuclear becomes bold?
Valaichchenai paper mill to Resume Full Production Capacity After Re-structuring
By Ranil Wijayapala Once a thriving industry in the centre of the Eastern province, the Valaichchenai paper mill after years of slow operations and going through the restructuring program initiated by the State Resource Management and Enterprise Development Ministry, is now gearing to resume its full capacity to become a jewel of the Eastern province [...]
