Blog Posts
Silent role of translators and interpreters in diplomacy
By P M Amza/Colombo Telegraph – Colombo, January 27 – When the U.S. President’s special envoy Richard Whitkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin’s long-time interpreter Alexei Sadykov this week, he offered a remark that instantly resonated across diplomatic circles: “Oh, a legend! I can recognise...
Pathfinder Foundation inaugurates a repository for Sri Lanka’s peace initiatives
Colombo, January 26 – The Pathfinder Foundation’s Repository for Sri Lanka Peace Initiatives was inaugurated by Mr Erik Solheim—former Norwegian Special Envoy to the Sri Lanka peace process, former Minister of the Environment and International Development of Norway, and former Executive Director of the United...
Sex education for school kids necessary to curb child abuse
By P.K.Balachandran/Counterpoint Colombo, January 26 – Earlier this month, sex education in schools became a subject of serious concern in Sri Lanka following the discovery of a link to an adult website in the course module prescribed for Grade 6 English students. The controversy was...
India, middle powers and the emerging global order
By Milinda Moragoda/The Hindustan Times New Delhi, January 23 – For many middle powers, the question now is not whether the old order is fraying, but who has the credibility and reach to help shape what comes next. Designed by the victors and led by...
Reaching true reconciliation in Jaffna
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake takes on contentious issues that confront peaceful co-existence and unity
The conundrum of the curriculum: how not to govern and how not to oppose
By Kassapa/Counterpoint Colombo, January 15 – The furore over proposed educational reforms hasn’t died down. If anything, the cacophony about the controversy has increased. The opposition is demanding that they be withdrawn. The government has yielded but only slightly: the Grade Six reforms will not...
The problem of being Harini Amarasuriya
By Viswanath/Counterpoint Colombo, January 17 – The government has partly shelved its controversial education reforms in view of protests by other stakeholders. Last Tuesday, it brought itself to postpone the Grade 06 reforms until next year. A link to a gay website, in the Grade...
Gajendrakumar’s meeting with M.K.Stalin -a case of the blind leading the blind
By Veeragathy Thanabalasingham Colombo, January 17 – Within a month of his meeting with a delegation of the Tamil National Council ( TNC ) led by Member of Parliament Gajendra Kumar Ponnambalam, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin wrote to Indian Prime Minister Narendra...
Iqbal Athas’ contribution to Sri Lankan war coverage
By Mohamed Ayub/Daily Mirror Colombo, January 17 –Sri Lanka’s best-known war correspondent, Aqbal Athas, died here on January 13 aged 81, leaving a void that is difficult to fill. If not for an exclusive revelation by Athas in the Sunday Times in 2003, when the...
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