BLACK LIVES MATTER
Racism has always been an inescapable part of the American story. With a legacy of the slave trade, a civil war and persistent
STATE OF THE NATION
A ‘C’ CHANGE: IT’S RICH AND STRANGE Wijith DeChickera notices how the COVID-19 pandemic has…
THE BIG PICTURE
Questions, debates and even anger abound on social media these days with the administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic taking centre
THE GENERAL ELECTION
As was the case in the run-up to the November 2019 presidential election and earlier, there is a discernible rise in nationalist sentiment. The general election
FOOD SECURITY
When islandwide curfews came into effect in Sri Lanka earlier this year amid concerns over the coronavirus outbreak, perhaps the main
COVID-19 CLIFFHANGER
Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time compresses several billion years of the universe’s existence into about 200 pages. What we are collectively
WORKING FROM HOME
In 1964, Sir Arthur C. Clarke addressed developments that he believed would comprise the ‘day after tomorrow’
STATE OF THE NATION
June was once the month of bridals. Under pandemic conditions, it was hardly a time for sealing lasting relationships. However, romantic notions
THE BIG PICTURE
The Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Deshamanya Prof. W. D. Lakshman says in this edition’s Cover Story that “COVID-19 could be effectively used as a turning
4/21 POSTMORTEM
Over a year has passed since the Easter Sunday bombings that stunned the nation and
REGIONAL OUTLOOK
South Asia faces a dire economic outlook on account of the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis; it is expected to experience its worst
EARTH SHUTDOWN
We were warned that an asteroid was heading toward us in April. However, it took a submicroscopic virus to send
LEADERSHIP NARRATIVE
On 14 January 2020, the WHO announced on Twitter that “preliminary investigations conducted by the
STATE OF THE NATION
COVID-19 did not cause every sickness in human society. However, it did expose the underlying rottenness in many a republic. On the one hand, public safety being
THE BIG PICTURE
Our national carrier has done the nation proud during this time of extreme crisis, following the sudden emergence of a virus that took the world we live in by storm – suffice
SHARED RESPONSIBILITY
Despite the economic costs, the government made a timely decision to tackle the COVID-19 threat. It sought to restrict the mobility of people and their interactions
WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY
In this period of continued lockdown across many parts of the world, there’s been a seemingly endless stream of conspiracy theories in relation to the origins of the disease
SPACE EXPLORATION
The moon has been desolate since 1972. A few have tried to revisit it but haven’t succeeded. After all, having conquered and planted
COVID-19 WORLD VIEW
In July 2003, the Beijing Municipal Council announced that the SARS virus had cost Beijing’s tourism industry a mammoth US$ 4.8 billion. At the same time, the WHO declared
THE BIG PICTURE
In what is a highly fluid landscape both here in Sri Lanka and across the seas, against a backdrop of the highly contagious coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, we have surely done exceptionally well
