Category: Articles & Reviews

Chemical fertiliser ban reversed?

admin

Chemical fertiliser ban reversed? Agriculture Ministry Secy. says chemical fertilisers will be imported Mahindananda claims no decision to import chemical for paddy, vegetables Shasheendra says 100% organic not possible in one season SJB claims chemical fertiliser ban now reversed By Buddhika Samaraweera- The Morning 22-11-2021 Ministry of Agriculture Secretary Prof. Udith K. Jayasinghe-Mudalige stated yesterday (21) that steps will be taken to re-import standardised, second-generation chemical fertilisers, agrochemicals, and essential plant nutrients required for paddy, maize, vegetables, and other plantation crops, which, if implemented, would appear to signal an abandonment…

Read More

New Constitution needs to reflect Sri Lanka’s plurality

admin

New Constitution needs to reflect Sri Lanka’s plurality by Jehan Perera (The Island 16th November2021) Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has informed Parliament that the draft constitution will be finalised by the end of the year. An expert committee to draft a new constitution was appointed in September last year, soon after the government won the general election with close to a 2/3 majority. In his inaugural address to the newly elected Parliament, on August 20, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced that the government would replace the existing constitution and do away…

Read More

A strategy for leftists and nationalists

admin

A strategy for leftists and nationalists by Uditha Devapriya- The Island Since at least 1977, nationalists and leftists have constantly been defining themselves against one another. The key years in which this gulf widened would be 1980 (the July strike), 1982 (the presidential election), 1983 (the anti-Tamil pogrom and the proscription of the Left), and 1987 (the Indo-Lanka Accord). What we see in those years is a middle-class abandoning the Left: partly on account of an ideological turnaround, but also, more crucially, on account of the different trajectories such ideologies…

Read More

Notes to the People: Should Sri Lanka Seek IMF Support?

admin

Notes to the People: Should Sri Lanka Seek IMF Support? By Sumanasiri Liyanage (Ceylon today 13-11-2021) The triple crises in Sri Lanka -the economic, the epidemiological, and the political- appear to be aggravating day by day. Although many countries suffered from a COVID-19 outbreak are slowly but gradually coming out of the economic crisis created by the pandemic, there are no signs of such a development in Sri Lanka.  The prices of all essential goods have rocketed. Farmers are still indecisive as to whether they cultivate or not for the…

Read More

Shedding some light on the Yugadanavi deal

admin

Shedding some light on the Yugadanavi deal The good, the bad, and the ugly of the agreement between the Government and the US BY Sumudu Chamara (The Morning 11/11/2021) Sri Lanka is going through one of its toughest times in recent memory, and the ongoing pandemic has worsened the economic hardships that the country was dealing with before the pandemic. While the people are clearly sacrificing their comfort to face this difficult time, the Government is also seeking new ways to save and make money. According to the Government, the…

Read More

Constitution-making should be open, public and transparent

admin

Constitution-making should be open, public and transparent Sri Lanka’s national unity requires the recognition of pluralism within a framework of democratic constitution and a Bill of Rights A group of leading academics, professionals, human rights activists have issued a joint statement urging the government to ensure that a strong degree of accountability and transparency is maintained in the ongoing constitutional reform process. Following is the full text of the statement; “ We, the undersigned, issue this public statement to urge the Government to adopt a transparent and consultative approach to…

Read More

Beware: The third readymade Constitution is coming

admin

Beware: The third readymade Constitution is coming (Basil Fernando – The Morning 4th Nov) Foreign Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris has announced that the drafting process of the Constitution is over and that now, the text is ready. He further said that it is expected that in January next year, it would be presented to the Parliament. President Gotabaya Rajpaksa also, in a televised speech, referred to the Constitution being made within the course of next year.  This should be alarming news for all citizens who are concerned about their…

Read More

Sri Lanka downgraded by MOODY’s and the Government call it ill-timed

admin

Sri Lanka sovereign rating downgraded to Caa2 by Moody’s   Thursday October 28, 2021 4:04 pm   ECONOMYNEXT – Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded Sri Lanka’s sovereign rating to Caa2 from Caa1, taking the country’s credit deeper into speculative grade as foreign reserves continued to fall amid money printing and crippled forex markets. “A large financing envelope that Moody’s considers to be secure remains elusive and the sovereign continues to rely on piecemeal funding such as swap lines and bilateral loans, although prospects for non-debt generating inflows have improved somewhat…

Read More

From farmers’ agitation to commercial dispute with China

admin

From farmers’ agitation to commercial dispute with China ( By Kelum Bandara – Daily Mirror) The government decided, all of a sudden, to implement organic farming in place of chemical agriculture which Sri Lankan farmers are accustomed to for nearly 60 years. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is pledge-bound to introduce eco-friendly agriculture in steps over a decade according to his manifesto ‘Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour’.  Despite the policy envisaged in the manifesto, the government took a hasty move to ban chemical farming ahead of four months for the Maha season…

Read More

Appointment of militant monk raises human rights concerns

admin

Appointment of militant monk to head task force on uniform laws raises human rights concerns By P.K.Balachandran (NewsIn Asia)  Colombo October 27:  The Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday appointed a Presidential Task Force (PTF) to study the implementation of the “One Country, One Law” concept and prepare a draft Act to bring about one law for all Sri Lankans, irrespective of religion or ethnicity. The move to get everybody to obey the same laws is laudable. The concept “One Country, One Law” is a hallmark of modern democracies.…

Read More