The Political Logjam
Photograph courtesy President’s Media Division, In a recent article on Donald Trump, commentator Adam Gopnik reminds his readers that while crazy lovers are pitiful or pathetic, crazy politicians are not. The shenanigans…
Environment
After Sampur
It has been five months since the Sampur Coal power project has been terminated. Those who protested against the project celebrated their victory. Now the matter has been forgotten, and there is…
Man Versus Elephant
I hear compensation due for an attack by a wild elephant will increase to rupees 500,000 from the current 200 K in Sri Lanka. Henceforth, if you are unlucky enough to…
Is the Air Pollution Analysis for the Sampur Coal Plant Credible?
Where does the Wind take pollutants from Sampur? As per modern myth, school texts, national atlases, and indigenous forecasters, the wind blows from the North-East over Sri Lanka at the turn of…
World’s first EleFriendly bus launches in Wasgamuwa
The first EleFriendly bus in the world was launched on the 23rd of May, in a village in the Wasgamuwa National Park. The launch was held in the Pussellayaya Temple within the…
Independent report on the proposed 65,000 houses by ArcelorMittal in the North and East
The Government’s controversial 65,000 housing project in the North and East continues to come under heavy criticism with the latest call for review of the entire project by the Tamil National Alliance….
Getting Ahead of the World by Leaving it Behind: Megapolis and the Myth of Progress
Image courtesy Steve Cutts The question remains. For Sri Lanka, in terms of its list of priorities, is Megapolis an absolute necessity or just another luxury that we can’t afford? or worse,…
Time out on tusk trade
Photo courtesy A Voice for Wildlife Over 25 million elephants in Africa have succumbed to the now illegal ivory trade that has spanned across the last 200 years. To put that into…
Addressing Climate Change: COP21 and Sri Lanka
Featured image courtesy EPA The COP on climate change in Paris saw Sri Lanka make pledges on the global stage, that we will be a responsible nation when it came to the…
Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and the Need for Domestic Actions
Photo via The Paris Agreement focusing on climate change and ways to address its adverse impacts was adopted on the 12th December 2015. It provides both binding and voluntary measures to address…
Meeriyabedda: One year on
On October 29, 2014, at 7:30 am, a landslide hit Meeriyabedda, Haldummulla in the Badulla district. The landslide was one of the worst natural disasters recorded in recent times. Although 12 bodies…
#Cokepollutes: Signatories to petition and archive of tweets against Coca Cola
Coca-Cola has paid Rs 130 Million to Water board as voluntary compensation for Kelani River pollution issue reports Lankadeepa newspaper — Azzam Ameen (@AzzamAmeen) September 25, 2015 It appears that due to…
A tree does not, a forest make
Today September 21st has been declared the International Day of Struggle against Tree Monocultures , people around the world will come out, write or otherwise question the wisdom of creating tree monocultures…
Coca-Cola: Apologise and pay compensation for contaminating drinking water
Photo courtesy Sri Lanka Water Board, via On 17th August 2015, local authorities discovered a leakage of diesel into the Kelani river, the source of drinking water for millions of Sri Lankans….
On Creating Our Future
Photo via #happysrilankans We have emerged, as a nation that is maturing politically and can determine its future in a participatory, democratic manner. Now that the process of lying out of our…