Features
The Biden Presidency is a Point of Inflection

“This country belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they grow weary of the existing government they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it.”
Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address, 1861.
by Kumar David
The term ‘economy’ is constrained and narrow, the phrase ‘material and social conditions of life and the interface between State and citizen’ is clumsy but better conveys my import. I have no choice but to keep switching terminology as this column progresses. True, America is still the “greatest power on earth” (said with rasping tongue on dry palate) but it is also a very troubled nation in a turbulent world. I have a gut sense that the Biden Presidency signals a transition between what is and what may be. Let my mind roam through this maze; without imagination we are dullards.
It’s not that Old Joe is great or god’s gift to America, it is that matters have come to such a pass that it is not possible to run away any longer. America lives on borrowed time and fake money thanks to the world’s greed for the almighty dollar. The US runs up ever more debt and prints ever more dollars and the world chases them in perpetual defiance of financial gravity. This has to give! It will in three ways – (a) domestic instability – drawn out or sudden, (ii) wakeup and change, (iii) withdrawal from global dollar veneration. Or more likely an interweaving of all three in now indeterminate proportions.
My conjecture, for the purposes of today’s essay is that Old Joe, perhaps kicking and screaming, will be a step in the direction of option (ii). Commentators these days are stodgy and dull; instead, let us be bold. In these strange times imagination is more real than prosaic reason. I begin with the proposition that the Biden Administration intends to and will be the antithesis of Trump since its domestic and global credibility are predicated thereon. Next it will have to address social problems that were the grounds for the rise of the Trump Base. It will have to address them from premises where it can, in the end, say: “Trump was an aberration, his methods were wrong. We overcame crises from diametrically opposed premises on race, economy, climate, global engagement and moral values at large”. Third, not only this presidency but what becomes of future presidencies will depend on whether the Biden experience stands or falls. In other words I am making the case that we are at an inflexion point in American history. At an inflexion or a saddle point a momentous transition can materialise but it is an uncertain switch which may flip in unexpected directions.
Luck has been on Biden’s side so far and he is cashing in. There has been a 70% reduction in the rate of spread of covid since mid-January. Ninety million vaccine doses have been distributed and three-quarters have found their way into people’s arms. Biden is backed by a scientific team headed by Anthony Fuchi, America’s and perhaps the world’s leading expert on infectious diseases and the team includes Professor (Ms) Rochelle Walenky of Harvard Medical School and current head of the Centre for Disease Control, and health-care businessman Andy Slavitt who signed on as Presidential Covid Advisor. US scientists in tears say “Oh my god what a change”. On other matters too the US has given notice: Return to the Paris Accord, WHO and Iran Nuclear deal. US allies are ecstatic and ungrudgingly make room for the big guy calling it a reassertion of American leadership or a return of the prodigal, depending on whether the speaker is of Anglo-Saxon/Germanic or a Latin-derived tongue. The switch from a Neanderthal to a Homo-sapiens variant of genus Americanus is widely welcome. The icing on the cake was Percy’s arrival on Mars.
Yet things are bad for America though Biden glows in redeemers luck. Some scientists on US TV say the country will lick the pandemic by Christmas even if the fast spreading British and South African mutants prove stubborn, but others reckon that unless tough measures as in S Korea, China, Taiwan and New Zealand are adopted this will not be possible. Americans, unlike people elsewhere, are uncooperative though science has got the virus by the vitals, and if it sets its sights it can subdue it. However, more critically, this is not the case with socio-economic ‘epidemics’ which span all dimensions – class, state, poverty, wealth & income, race and politicos hungering for eternal power. In respect of the last cancer, be it America or Lanka, vermin behaviour is similar.
While Biden has scored some successes his greatest challenge, the one that will decide his fate, is how his Administration addresses the economic conundrum that underlies partisanship, sparks social instability and nurtured the extremism which burst out in terrorist proportions on Capitol Hill on January 6. So much has been written about inequality in the world’s richest country that I can get by with one graph. The top 10% in the US take 50% of national income as in 1929 in the period leading up to the Great Depression. The forty years from the end of WW2 to the mid-1980s spans the four decade dream of American exceptionalism; the shinning city on the hill, the immigrants’ beacon, the apogee of welfare capitalism when income distribution was fairer. But that was then. Wealth inequality now is even worse than income inequality. The top 5% owns nearly 70% of all wealth and the median wealth of the poorest 20% is either zero or negative (indebted). The median wealth of White families exceeds $150,000, Latinos $6500 and Blacks $3500 – 2016 statistics. Wealth-Income inequality is but a single indicator; I do not have the space to enumerate other inequities such as healthcare, education and housing. Inequality and inequity almost completely explain why so many are angry and why nearly 75 million Americans voted for an insolent, uneducated scoundrel.
What can a new administration, even if well-intentioned and willing to go the extra mile do? Inflection is not revolution, nor are Americans ready to countenance structural overturn of property relations. Capitalism has accomplished “wonders surpassing Egyptian pyramids, Roman aqueducts and Gothic cathedrals”; it has conducted expeditions that have reached the planets of the sun. Still it carries within it the seeds of its own decay. That came to pass in the Great Depression and again in the Great Recession of 2009. The point is how governments and the entrenched global economic order dealt with the downfall this time. No, not by classic cleansing of the Augean Stables as Adam Smith anticipated nor by Schumpeter’s creative destruction. Finance capital was too entrenched to be thus overthrown. This time the tools were different; creation of gigantic debt.
Not only Sri Lanka, though we are among the most foolish at the game, in America, Europe, Japan and everywhere, central banks are issuing electronic paper-money like spillage gushing from a ruptured sewer.
I cannot inundate you in a statistical flood; one bar chart must suffice. The chart makes a point needed for this essay, Bidden’s impasse. The rupture spurted out stimulus packages (grants to bankrupt businesses and to banks deemed “too big to fail” that their bankruptcy would entail a threat to the system itself). Quantitative Easing (QE) poured astronomical quantities of central bank (CB) money into financial houses, banks and insurance companies. CB funds purchased their bonds at low or negative real interest rates and thus found its way into stock-markets and prime property creating an asset boom and the largest flare-up of income and wealth inequality in capitalism’s history. In America alone this injection reached nearly three trillion dollars in 2020 before the December $960 billion ‘Covid Package’. The Fed’s net balance-sheet (net because short-term support is recovered at intervals) swelled to $5.3 trillion in March 2020. At one point Bank of America’s Mark Cabana feared that “Unlimited QE and emergency liquidity programs will see the Fed balance sheet double in size (to $10 trillion) over 2020” (CNBC, 27 March, 2020). Biden is now comitted to another $1.9 trilllion to fight the pandemic, provide essential public assistance and rebuild infrastructure. This is unavoidable and has my support. (Wipe that smirk off your face; no I don’t have a vote in the US Senate!)
Forget the plethora of hard to remember stats; the simple point is this, I cannot see how the US, whoever the president can escape from a stranglehold that has become perpetual indebtedness. US National Debt (debt owed by the Federal Government will reach $27 trillion as you read this, and that does not include unfunded future Medicare and Social Security commitments; add such omissions and the US is looking at future Federal indebtedness of about $125 trillion (see ). This leaves out State Governments, Commercial and household debts, which technically are not Biden’s nightmare. With a massive commitment to infrastructure and a targeted push to renew of capitalist entrepreneurship, can the Biden Presidency pull America out of the hole? Not unless it is accompanied by economic restructuring which is doubtful.
Before closing I need to comment on the Bidden Inflection Point from the perspective of human rights, relations with China and Russia and Israel-Palestine conflicts. In my view there will be no big change except the nuclear arms agreement with Russia. The rhetoric all round will be more decent than Trump’s. It is on Palestine that we will see the worst. There are too many pro-Israeli incumbents at the heart of the Presidency and Biden will do no more, and maybe less, than his predecessor to ease the misery of the Palestinians. On human rights, Gota will be disappointed to learn that despite the Core Group watering down the Geneva Resolution, Biden Administration is likely to be more forceful than Putin and Kim embracing Donald Trump.
Features
The iconic Roger Federer: The Full Measure of a GOAT

There is an unending debate about the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) of the global sport of tennis. The debate is on, as to which one is the GOAT of the players of the “Big Three” era. Those three are Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. All three were very prominent figures in that period. Their intense rivalries pushed the sport to new heights and captivated millions of people in a global audience, thereby significantly increasing tennis’s popularity. However, of the three, Roger Federer was a rather central figure.
Federer’s list of tennis accolades is staggering, and his greatness is often reduced to headlines and statistics: 20 Grand Slam titles, including a record eight Wimbledon singles crowns, 103 Association of Tennis Professionals Tour Singles titles, and 237 consecutive weeks atop the world rankings. He is well-known for his fabulous all-court game, and he is one of only four players to have won a career Grand Slam on three different surfaces: hard, grass, and clay.
His career is marked by remarkable consistency, including reaching 10 consecutive Grand Slam finals and 23 consecutive Grand Slam semifinals. Federer’s game was often described as graceful, effortless, and artistic. His fluid movement, powerful forehand, and elegant one-handed backhand made him a joy to watch for fans worldwide. He redefined modern tennis with his blend of power and finesse. Yet for all that, beneath the elegance of his backhand and the sheen of trophies lies a deeper heritage; one that elevates him from tennis legend to a true Great Of All Time.
Federer views these achievements as milestones, not the destination. He has always emphasised relationships, gratitude, and giving back, values instilled by his South African mother, Lynette, and nurtured over a lifetime of turning success into service. His effortless finesse and mental fortitude created ballet on grass and clay; moments etched forever in sporting memory. But narrowing Federer’s story to courts and scores does him a disservice.
Federer’s South African heritage cultivated a profound connection to the continent. He holds dual Swiss and South African citizenship and has frequently returned to support earlychildhood education via the Roger Federer Foundation, impacting over two million children across Southern Africa. More than just funding, Federer has rolled up his sleeves, visiting rural schools, launching coaching clinics, and advocating for play-based learning. Philanthropy is woven into Federer’s identity just as deeply as tennis. As he once said, “greatness is not confined to silverware; it lives through the lives we touch“.
Among his lesser-known acts of compassion is one of the most profound. It was in 2005 when Federer was fast turning into a tennis sensation, that he found twin infant girls abandoned outside a health clinic during a charity trip to a remote village in South Africa. The man did not walk away. Moved by their vulnerability, he quietly ensured their care and education, funding their essentials through a foundation partner. He did this without fanfare or media attention, and no publicity followed.
Fast forward to July 11, 2025. At a gala event in Geneva celebrating Federer’s stellar career, two young women took to the stage. It was the same pair of South African twins, now in their early 20s, returning to honour the man who saved them.
The sisters spoke with composed gratitude: “We do not remember being abandoned as infants. But we remember being saved. And the man who saved us is sitting right here tonight.”
Then came their own act of generosity. They said, launching a scholarship fund under Roger Federer’s name, to support rural children, “It is dedicated to helping underprivileged children in rural areas gain access to sports and education, the very things Roger had given us. It is our turn to give back, just as Roger gave to us, without expecting anything in return.” A visibly emotional Federer was left speechless before he gathered himself and said in a shaky voice, “I thought I was just helping two lives.
I had no idea they would come back and inspire the world.” That moment, a twin act of kindness born and returned, was described as “grander than all the 20 Grand Slam titles… one of the most powerful moments in tennis history“. That evening rippled globally, it flew virally across social media, confirming that character can outrank championship counts.
Off the court, Federer’s family life is rich and intentional. Married since 2009 to former player Mirka Vavrinec, they have four children: twin daughters Myla Rose and Charlene Riva (born in 2009) and twin sons Leo and Lenny (born in 2014). Their household, brimming with two sets of twins, reflects unity, resilience, and love, values the Father and Mother Federer’s cherish.
If tennis is art, then Federer’s philanthropy is impact. His “Match for Africa” series: exhibition matches featuring Nadal, Murray, and Gates, has generated over 12 million US dollars to support education in Africa. Beyond big events, his foundation has supported earlychildhood programmes in six countries, deployed digital teaching tools and training tablets for educators, and engaged communities and governments to bolster preschool readiness. These are not just token gestures; they are sustained efforts that aim to change systems, not just headlines. He privately supports coaching and education in African villages: a lyrical service that mirrors his gameplay: smooth, reliable, and deeply invested.
In his understated way, Federer has consistently reinforced kindness and integrity. He funds an elderly couple every Australian Open; the parents of his first coach, late Peter Carter, covering flights, hospitality, and box seats, every year, since 2005. Federer has never forgotten the Carter family’s role in his life and career.
These gestures resonate because they are personal, respectful, and ongoing. They speak of a man who remembers where he came from, on and off the court, and who sees grand gestures in the small, consistent acts of humanity.
When discussing Federer as the GOAT, numbers will take you so far. But greatness also measures intangible things: compassion, humility, and legacy. What Federer did for those abandoned twins, and how they returned that grace, reveals more about his character than any gold trophy could. It is easy to point to “trophies won” as the final verdict. But Federer’s life story adds nuance: identity, empathy, and generosity, which truly elevate his accomplishments to a celestial level. His Wimbledon stamps, Swiss coins, and honorary degrees are symbols. The real trophy is the networks of lives he has touched: the rescued twins, African children on new educational pathways, and the families of those who supported him along the way.
Roger Federer’s journey from a junior champion to a record-breaking legend serves as a benchmark for aspiring tennis players and inspires millions around the world to aim for greatness while remaining grounded. In essence, his legacy celebrates not just a phenomenal tennis player but a true sporting icon who left an indelible mark on the game through his achievements, style, character, and humanitarian efforts.
In the court of moral measure, Federer is undisputed. His twin daughters and twin sons will grow up knowing that their father is more than a record-holder. He is a man defined by action. The twins in South Africa, now embroidering his legacy with their own generosity, complete a cycle: champions saved, and champions paid forward.
Yes, Roger Federer is the tennis GOAT. But he’s also the GOAT of genuine kindness, empathy, and impact. That, ultimately, is why the story of greatness cannot, and should not, be limited to statistics alone.
Role models are remembered, not just for what they win… but for the gratitude they inspire, the opportunities they create, and the kindness they live out.
The story of the South African abandoned twins was garnered from the News Arena Network – Geneva through News Arena India on 14th July 2025.
by Dr B. J. C. Perera ✍️
(Tennis Player)
Features
A book on iconic Sri Lankan poems

Lakdasa Wikkramasinha
(1941-1978) has been acknowledged as one of the finest Sri Lankan poets writing in English. The Sri Lankan born Booker Prize winner Michael Ondaatje says Wikkramasinha has written “some of the most permanent and iconic poems of this country”.
In a period spanning only thirteen years before his untimely death, Wikkramasinha published six collections of his English poems (and two collections of Sinhala poems as well).
Rage and Heartbreak fulfills the pressing need for a collection of critical writings on Wikkramasinha’s poetry. Essays authored by Gamini Haththotuwegama, Lilani Jayatilaka, Annemari de Silva, Nihal Fernando, Vihanga Perera, Madri Kalugala, Chandana Dissanayake, Nipuni Ranaweera, and George Braine are followed by Indrakanthi Perera’s brief memorial.
Most authors are practicing or retired academics, mainly in English literature. Some are published poets.
Rage and Heartbreak is published by Tambapanni Academic Press and priced at Rs. 3000/.
Vihanga Perera (Ph.D., Australian National University) is an academic and researcher working at the Department of English, University of Sri Jayawardenapura. He is also a poet and novelist, an arts critic, and editor of creative work. He is a recipient of the Gratiaen Prize and the State Literary Award.
George Braine (Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin) taught English in four countries before retiring from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He was acquainted with Lakdasa Wikkramasinha in the 1970s.
Features
Babies made using three people’s DNA are born free of hereditary disease

Eight babies have been born in the UK using genetic material from three people to prevent devastating and often fatal conditions, doctors say.
The method, pioneered by UK scientists, combines the egg and sperm from a mum and dad with a second egg from a donor woman.
The technique has been legal here for a decade but we now have the first proof it is leading to children born free of incurable mitochondrial disease.
These conditions are normally passed from mother to child, starving the body of energy.
This can cause severe disability and some babies die within days of being born. Couples know they are at risk if previous children, family members or the mother has been affected.
Children born through the three-person technique inherit most of their DNA, their genetic blueprint, from their parents, but also get a tiny amount, about 0.1%, from the second woman. This is a change that is passed down the generations.
None of the families who have been through the process are speaking publicly to protect their privacy, but have issued anonymous statements through the Newcastle Fertility Centre where the procedures took place.
“After years of uncertainty this treatment gave us hope – and then it gave us our baby,” said the mother of a baby girl. “We look at them now, full of life and possibility, and we’re overwhelmed with gratitude.”
The mother of a baby boy added: “Thanks to this incredible advancement and the support we received, our little family is complete. “The emotional burden of mitochondrial disease has been lifted, and in its place is hope, joy, and deep gratitude.”
Mitochondria are tiny structures inside nearly every one of our cells. They are the reason we breathe as they use oxygen to convert food into the form of energy our bodies use as fuel.
Defective mitochondria can leave the body with insufficient energy to keep the heart beating as well as causing brain damage, seizures, blindness, muscle weakness and organ failure.
About one in 5,000 babies are born with mitochondrial disease. The team in Newcastle anticipate there is demand for 20 to 30 babies born through the three-person method each year.
Some parents have faced the agony of having multiple children die from these diseases.
Mitochondria are passed down only from mother to child. So this pioneering fertility technique uses both parents and a woman who donates her healthy mitochondria.
The science was developed more than a decade ago at Newcastle University and the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and a specialist service opened within the NHS in 2017.

There was a case of epilepsy, which cleared up by itself and one child has an abnormal heart rhythm which is being successfully treated.
These are not thought to be connected to defective mitochondria. It is not known whether this is part of the known risks of IVF, something specific to the three-person method or something that has been detected only because the health of all babies born through this technique is monitored intensely.
Another key question hanging over the approach has been whether defective mitochondria would be transferred into the healthy embryo and what the consequences could be.
The results show that in five cases the diseased mitochondria were undetectable. In the other three, between 5% and 20% of mitochondria were defective in blood and urine samples.
This is below the 80% level thought to cause disease. It will take further work to understand why this occurred and if it can be prevented.

Prof Mary Herbert, from Newcastle University and Monash University, said: “The findings give grounds for optimism. However, research to better understand the limitations of mitochondrial donation technologies, will be essential to further improve treatment outcomes.”
The breakthrough gives hope to the Kitto family.
Kat’s youngest daughter Poppy, 14, has the disease. Her eldest Lily, 16, may pass it onto her children.
Poppy is in a wheelchair, is non-verbal and is fed through a tube.
“It’s impacted a huge part of her life,” says Kat, “we have a lovely time as she is, but there are the moments where you realize how devastating mitochondrial disease is”.

Despite decades of work there is still no cure for mitochondrial disease, but the chance to prevent it being passed on gives hope to Lily.
“It’s the future generations like myself, or my children, or my cousins, who can have that outlook of a normal life,” she says.
The UK not only developed the science of three-person babies, but it also became the first country in the world to introduce laws to allow their creation after a vote in Parliament in 2015.
There was controversy as mitochondria have DNA of their own, which controls how they function.
It means the children have inherited DNA from their parents and around 0.1% from the donor woman.
Any girls born through this technique would pass this onto their own children, so it is a permanent alteration of human genetic inheritance.
This was a step too far for some when the technology was debated, raising fears it would open the doors to genetically-modified “designer” babies.
Prof Sir Doug Turnbull, from Newcastle University, told me: “I think this is the only place in the world this could have happened, there’s been first class science to get us to where we are, there been legislation to allow it to move into clinical treatment, the NHS to help support it and now we’ve got eight children that seem to free of mitochondrial disease, what a wonderful result.”
Liz Curtis, the founder of the Lily Foundation charity said: “After years of waiting, we now know that eight babies have been born using this technique, all showing no signs of mito.
“For many affected families, it’s the first real hope of breaking the cycle of this inherited condition.”
[BBC]
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