The Examiner

The Sri Lankan poet-king Kumaradasa fashioned his Ramayana from the familiar ingredients of great epics: gods, demons, wars, and sex. But it remains forgotten. To recover it is to recognise the sophisticated Sri Lankan engagement with Sanskrit literary culture.

Mayday, mayday! May is here, but barely yet the monsoon. Too much to do, and too much heat to do it in.  Poison returns for the weekend. Though sold out twice before, Polymarket isn’t

Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s victory marked a high-water point for Sinhalese nationalism. But the NPP’s recent success in the North shows that its power is receding. Reading Rajesh Venugopal’s 2018 economic history suggests that the structural conditions which sustain this ideology are becoming weaker.

Customs seized a consignment of four books written by a Tamil writer. Writers and activists condemned the government. The culture ministry reviewed the books but recommended releasing only two, intensifying criticism.

Famously bureaucratic and long neglected, the IRD is getting a facelift. Mick Moore is hopeful: fixing the tax department’s personnel and technology woes will help solve a good chunk of the country’s budgeting problems.

Whisper words of wisdom this evening, at Lakmahal’s non-fic book club, on Arundhati Roy’s Mother Mary Comes to Me.  AI is laying-off Colombo’s techies. ’Fully automated luxury communism’ presumably isn’

Tech layoffs are here, but they aren’t as bad as the rumours suggest. Small outsourcing companies, and specific jobs like tech writers and quality-assurance engineers face the greatest threat. Tech education isn’t keeping up.

The no-confidence motion against the energy minister cites negligence in procuring coal, and corruption from a stint at a state company. The motion is unlikely to pass but will publicly test the government’s commitment to anti-corruption. Government members disagree on how to handle the allegations.