Kumar Chokshanada Sangakkara is a Sri Lankan former professional cricketer who played for Nondescripts Cricket Club from 1997–98 to 2013–14 and for Surrey County Cricket Club from 2015 to 2017. He represented Sri Lanka in 134 Test matches from 2000 to 2015, including fifteen as captain. He was born in Matale, Central Province.
Jagath Wickramasinghe is a Sri Lankan musician. He is the current Chairman of Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation.
Palagummi Sainath is an Indian columnist and author of the acclaimed book Everybody Loves a Good Drought. He has extensively written on rural India, his notable interests are poverty, structural inequities, caste discrimination and farmers protests.
Narasimhan Ram is an Indian journalist and a prominent member of the Kasturi family that controls The Hindu Group of publications. Ram was the managing-director of The Hindu since 1977 and its editor-in-chief since 27 June 2003 until 18 January 2012. Ram also headed the other publications of The Hindu Group such as Frontline, The Hindu Business Line and Sportstar, and has been awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India and Sri Lanka Ratna by the Government of Sri Lanka.
Shivshankar Menon is an Indian diplomat, who served as National Security Adviser of India under Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh. He had previously served as the Foreign Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs. Prior to that he was Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, and Sri Lanka and ambassador to China and Israel. He is currently Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Social and Economic Progress. He is also Visiting Professor of International Relations at Ashoka University.
Rajiva Wijesinha, MA, DPhil is a Sri Lankan writer in English, distinguished for his political analysis as well as creative and critical work. An academic by profession for much of his working career, he was most recently Senior Professor of Languages at the University of Sabaragamuwa, Sri Lanka.
Seelaratna Senarath is the director programming of CRI Sri Lanka. He is a commercial program announcer of Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation and former director editorial of Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited. He is also the incumbent chairman of State Radio Advisory Board of Arts Council of Sri Lanka.
Lasantha Manilal Wickrematunge was a high-profile Sri Lankan journalist, politician, broadcaster and human rights activist who was assassinated in January 2009.
Nalaka Gunawardene trained as a science writer, he has worked as a journalist, broadcaster and development communicator since 1987.
Freedom of the press in Sri Lanka is guaranteed by Article 14(1)(a) of the Constitution of Sri Lanka which gives every citizen "the freedom of speech and expression including publication". But under some government's there was widespread suppression of the media, particularly those critical of those governments. Sri Lanka is ranked 146 out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders's Press Freedom Index for 2022
Anita Pratap is an expatriate Indian writer and journalist. In 1983, she was the first journalist who interviewed LTTE chief V. Prabhakaran. She won the George Polk award for TV reporting for her television journalism related to the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban. She was India bureau chief for CNN. She has written the book Island of Blood based on Sri Lanka. In 2013 she was presented with the Shriratna award by the Kerala Kala Kendram an organisation associated to the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi. She was nominated as the Aam Aadmi Party candidate from Ernakulam, Kerala, for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Andrew Stroehlein is an American/Belgian/British journalist, communications professional, and human-rights activist who currently serves as European media director of Human Rights Watch. Based in Brussels, he is responsible for the organization's media activity in Europe, Central Asia, and West Africa. He previously spent nine years as director of communications for the International Crisis Group.
Kumara Thirimadura [Sinhala) is an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, stage drama and television. He is an actor, singer, filmmaker and journalist by profession. He is considered one of five actors who have dominated the Sri Lankan Stage by critics.
Daya Dissanayake is a bilingual Sri Lankan novelist, poet and blogger. His work spans a critical study of king Ashoka, nine novels in English, six novels in Sinhala and a collection of poems, and numerous articles in newspapers, journals and magazines. He is the author of the first e-novel in Asia, 'The Saadhu Testament' (1998), and the first e-novel in Sinhala, 'Vessan Novu Wedun' (2003). His first nonfiction work is "Who is Ashoka?" He is the only Sri Lankan writer to receive the Sri Lankan State Literary Award for the best English novel three times and was awarded the SAARC Literary Award in 2013. Being the first Sri Lankan to release his work online and for free access, he is often seen as one of Sri Lanka's earliest and most vocal advocates for the ebook format, copyleft and Creative Commons.
Aruna Darshana is a Sri Lankan sprinter specialising in the 400 metres. He was tipped by many in the circles that he could follow the footsteps of former veteran athlete Sugath Thilakaratne. He won the men's 400m event during the 2018 National Athletics Championships by clocking at 46.16 seconds.
Ranasinghe Arachchilage Ajantha Sarath Kumara Ranasinghe, popularly as Ajantha Ranasinghe, was an award winning Sri Lankan journalist, lyricist, poet, and novelist. Considered one of the most iconic and prolific lyricists ever produced in the country, over the course of a 40 year career he contributed to nearly 60 films and more than 400 songs.
Godewatta Arachchige Bandula Padmakumara, popularly as Bandula Padmakumara, was a Sri Lankan journalist and television presenter. He was an iconic figure of Sri Lankan media and journalism most notable for the popular television programs Mul Pituwa and Loka Sithiyama. He was also a former Editor in Chief of Lakbima newspaper and former Chairman of Lake House.
Rohini Mohan is an Indian journalist and writer, currently working independently. In 2019, she was the recipient of the Chameli Devi Jain Award for Outstanding Women Mediaperson. Her first book, The Seasons of Trouble (2014) won the Shakti Bhatt Prize in 2015, and the Tata Literature Live! First Book Award.
In Indian religions, darshana is the auspicious sight of a deity or a holy person.
