The story of ancient Sri Lanka begins in the Stone Age. It is during this period that we find the early man who lived in caves with family members, eating fruits, yams and bush meat. Many of these characteristics have survived among the Aadivasi community today, and it is widely supposed that the people of the Stone Age bear a close resemblance to them. The rocky caves became their homes, where they lived in small family groups.

According to the International Food Policy Research Institute’s Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2017, with 14.7 percent of the country’s children stunted and 21.4 percent of children under the age of five already wasted, Sri Lanka finds itself among only four countries in the world to have every fifth child wasted. The other countries with over 20 percent wasting rates are India, Djibouti and South Sudan.

The Counter Terrorism Bill approved by cabinet last week is a major improvement on the existing Prevention of Terrorism Act, but the bill only has conditional cabinet approval and could be subject to regressive amendments in committee stage in Parliament

“Oh really?”

The Naganathan residence on Shoe Road, Kotahena is dark and dreary. Inside, it is as though time has stood still for the once happy Naganathan family, since the abduction of their son, Rajiv Naganathan, almost 10 years ago by a suspected, organized Navy abduction for ransom gang. Since his disappearance, Rajiv’s parents, especially, his mother Sarojini Naganathan has left no stone unturned in the search for her only child. Her only focus is the return of her child. Splitting her time between caring for her ailing husband and numerous court visits, Sarojini now spends most of her days at kovils and temples, praying for the return of her son, and inviting the fury of the Gods upon those who took him away from her.

Sri Lanka’s rail network is widely hailed as one of the more positive parts of the country’s colonial legacy. Annually, millions of passengers and tourists use these tracks snaking through a long coastline and tall mountains, once constructed for the primary purpose of transporting different goods to Colombo.

As the strike by engine drivers, guards, controllers and station masters continues for the fifth day, the Railway Services Trade Union Front has come forward to operate trains by requesting authorisation from the Minister of Transport and the General Manager of Railways (GMR) to do so, thereby giving renewed hope to commuters who have been severely inconvenienced in the past week.

After spending nine years waiting for the Marsoof Committee to complete deliberations on reforming the regressive laws, Muslim women and activists brace for more delays as conservative Muslim organisations band together with politicians from the community to try and water down the Committee’s recommendations for change; but legal experts say the ball is now firmly in the Government’s court to amend the legislation and give Muslim women equal status

Stories of Sinhalese families sheltering their Tamil neighbours during the terrible violence abound, but walls that had never existed between neighbours and residential communities in the past were built after the 1983 communal riots, forever altering a country and a capital that marked its darkest day 35 years ago