Trump's economic missiles are boomeranging

It affected academia and bereaved many while a considerable greatly saddened by the premature death of Prof Harshana Rambukwella in his late forties on April 21 in Dubai.

- NAN

Was his departure to hopefully greener pastures of greater remuneration due to the taxes levied on Sri Lankan professionals among others increased two years ago. This was due to government mismanagement of previous regimes throwing the country to bankruptcy.

Sri Lanka has from long ago suffered brain drains but an year or two ago saw an unprecedented number of professionally qualified young persons moving overseas, not able to live here at least reasonably well on heavily taxed salaries. These migrating brains included doctors in large numbers and university lecturers.

Perhaps Harshana was one of them, driven to Dubai having difficulty supporting adequately his wife and two daughters. Prashani Wijesinghe Rambukwella is a corporate communications professional and author too, winning the Gratiaen Prize with her first book Mythil's Secret in 2009, with follow up novel Asiri's Quest. Harshana was Director, Post Graduate Institute of English, Open University, who received his PhD from the University of Hong Kong where he was Hony Asst Prof at the School of English. He was a researcher in literary history, post colonial literature and sociolinguistics.

US brain drain

This is hard to believe that professionally qualified persons are leaving the US of America and going forth to other countries: Canada and the Middle East particularly. Europe is doing its best to attract such migratory brains. Laurie Udeshey and Jack Leeming wrote the article titled Exclusive: Nature analysis signals the beginnings of a US science brain drain in a recent issue of Nature. The crux of the article is that US researchers in science and medicine are seeking research opportunities abroad.

And why? A direct fallout of Trump's policies of cutting back on funding to universities and institutes engaged in research such as on HIV AIDS and Covid 19. Trumps administration suddenly cut funding.