Taking a closer look at ‘aragalaya’ – By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando   The ‘Aragalaya’ or the protest by peaceful demonstrators in front of the Presidential Secretariat has exceeded fifty days and continues. The protesters claim the 6.9 million who voted for a change and for Gotabaya Rajapaksa failed to deliver what was promised on election platforms.  Fuel prices have gone up several times to unprecedented levels. Consequently, people stand in long queues mainly for petrol, gas and milk-food, while consumer prices are sky high. The scarcity of medicines in hospitals is also flashing red lights. People complain they have to spend their time in queues constantly. The poor cannot afford the wave of fuel and consumer price hikes. Yet, it is the fault of all Governments since Ceylon became independent in 1948 for not implementing robust economic policies. Still, everyone blames the present President in a matter of three ...

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Rape of Sinharaja Source:Island Now and again we are treated with utterances, declarations, proposals, which are capable of being construed or interpreted as unsympathetic, harsh, impractical, inhuman, or plain stupid. One such famous instance is that of Marie Antoinette of France, where she is “credited” with the infamous quote – “If they have no bread, let them eat cake”. We, in Sri Lanka, are not without our own Antoinettes, with ideas they feel as bright. And now, amidst the hurly-burly of constant allegations of illegal deforestation in many locations, not excluding Sinharaja, Snr. Minister Chamal Rajapaksa has chosen to throw the spanner in the works, with his idea of constructing two reservoirs in Sinharaja for the altruistic purpose of providing pure drinking water to Hambantota, many other close locations, and the environment. ...

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SRI LANKA NEWS (OCTOBER 2019) – Compiled by Victor Melder The Government announced harsher penalties in a bid to protect wild elephants on Tuesday, as investigators probed whether seven jumbos found poisoned over the weekend were killed by villagers. Wildlife and Tourism Minister John Amaratunga said he will impose tougher sanctions on offenders to boost laws enacted three years ago but not yet implemented due to administrative delays. Elephants are a protected animal in the South Asian island nation and the new rules will increase the length of jail time and amount of fines for those found to have been cruel to the beasts. Authorities will also be given wider powers to investigate offenders, Amaratunga said, though no further details were released. Investigations into the deaths of seven elephants at a forest reserve in central Sri Lanka showed the animals had ingested poison, but it was not yet clear if ...

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