Care-free ride
A mother takes her daughter after school on a neatly paved road under an ADB-funded project in southern Sri Lanka. Pic by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
Govt. proposes unified employment law
The Government is going ahead with a new unified employment law gradually replacing 54 archaic labour legislations currently in force, the Labour and Trade Union Relations Ministry revealed. The unified employment law which is yet to be made public, as a draft, was presented to the National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC) last Tuesday without any [...]
Clamp down on foreign travel
The Ministry of Finance is clamping down on officials’ foreign travel as standard procedure has not been followed in nominating officers for foreign programmes. A 2- page circular issued by Finance Ministry Secretary Dr. R.H.S Samaratunga is aimed at regulating and restricting foreign visits of Ministry officials. It has been observed that when nominating officials [...]
India enhances Palaly airport with Rs.300m grant
Palaly airport currently under renovation to meet international standards is likely to become the centre of business and tourist traffic between Sri Lanka’s North and India with the latter providing a Rs.300 million grant to boost the facility. Civil Aviation authorities have initiated plans to develop the airport with a large component of the budget [...]
Austerity measures to gain prosperity in disruptive economy
In the highly disruptive phase of Sri Lanka’s economy with elections around the corner, the Finance Ministry has embarked on a prudent path in bringing down large unproductive conspicuous public expenditure, official sources said. The large expenditure on public service salaries and pensions, big losses in public enterprises, and expenditure on subsidies and welfare are [...]
Sri Lanka and Iran negotiate tea trade
Sri Lanka is likely to sign a deal with Iran to sell its famed tea over the next two years in exchange for the settlement of loans obtained for the purchase of oil. Two weeks back a discussion was held at the Foreign Ministry among Ministers Tilak Marapana and Navin Dissanayake together with other relevant [...]
Retailers back in the game at CSE
The May 31 policy interest rate cut by the Central Bank and the caps on bank deposits have pretty much moved Colombo’s retail activity considerably with analysts hinting that the Colombo Stock Exchange’s (CSE) rebound has begun. They say that since July 1 retail activity has been augmented considerably and CSE’s main All Share Index [...]
“More tabs, no lats”
It was intriguing. This was a story I read off the web under the above headline (I am borrowing it for today’s commentary), which said while the government was giving tablets to schoolchildren, there were still schools without latrines/toilets or proper drinking water facilities! I was drawn to these statistics by a comment from Kussi [...]
Singapore formula II: Ceylon Railway’s crab curry
One of the first things I heard from Sri Lankans about Singapore was that its late Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew had desired to grow Singapore like Sri Lanka. However, I didn’t find any evidence to confirm the authenticity of this claim. He did appreciate Sri Lanka at that time, but all that appreciation was [...]
New data shows London’s property boom is a money laundering horror
Money laundering has been pinpointed as a problem for the UK, with trillions of pounds thought to be sloshing through banks and properties. It has been pinpointed as a target for the government, with economic Secretary to the Treasury John Glen saying that “money laundering regulation exists to help protect honest business, so anyone who [...]
Govt. ignores enormous contribution by migrant workers
The government is conveniently ignoring the tremendous support that the migrant domestic workers provide to the economy to the tune of over US$ 7 billion annually. It would be serious to ignore the circumstances under which these mostly abjectly poor rural women go to West Asia. In a way it amounts to somewhat cruelty, the [...]
CPC-Hyrax Oil’s new lubricant blending plant attracts more FDI
In a 20-year BOT agreement, Malaysia’s Hyrax Oil Sdn Bhd inaugurated its second lubricant blending plant in the world in a strategic collaboration with the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), last month in Muthurajawela, Wattala. The first one is in Johannesburg, South Africa. Under a Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) agreement, this project was endorsed by [...]
Racism engulfs trusted stationary brand in Sri Lanka
While Easter Sunday attacks brought the country to a standstill and all industries are trying their best to overcome the situation and move on with the usual business, certain brands and communities have been unfortunately targeted as accountable for the attacks. Local stationary manufacturer Atlas Axillia Co expressed concern over sales compared to its previous [...]
Transforming Sri Lanka’s farmers to grow healthy food courtesy Cargills
Thambuththegama – Cargills (Ceylon) PLC’s Sarubima programme has transformed the traditional vegetable and fruit farming community in the country with a new farming method tried out among the company’s 5,000 farmers spread across the country. The approach is multi-pronged intended to change the traditional farmer mindset and to provide the option of following modern farming, [...]
K Seeds launches K Venture
K Venture is the most recent business unit launched by K Seeds Investments (KSI), providing a platform to connect business entrepreneurs with potential business investors. The platform will allow businesses of varied natures and scale of operations to be advertised for current business owners seeking divestitures. “The business will be advertised after an initial vetting [...]
FB ramps up Sinhala and Tamil language experts to check hate speech
Facebook has significantly ramped up Sinhala and Tamil language expertise to curb hate speech and other harmful contents originating from Sri Lanka on the social media platform after mob violence directed at its Muslim minority post the Easter Sunday bombs, which saw hate speech and rumours spreading like wildfire on social media services, especially those [...]
Ceylon Chamber plays vital role in nation building
Sri Lanka’s most influential business chamber, taking the bull by the horns, is organising two important discussions of national interest in the next 10 days dealing with growing mistrust between communities and the future of the presidency. The first discussion by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) on a fractured nation and bitterness between communities [...]
Staff watch cricket match
Some patrons wait outside while staff inside watch an ICC world cup match. This was the scene at around 6.30 pm at a branch of a prominent bank in Colombo last week. While customers complained that they should have been informed by SMS of the early closure of the bank, officials of the bank said [...]
Energy users seek more independence
Sri Lanka depends heavily on fossil fuels and hydropower for energy, with more than 90 per cent of the country’s consumed electricity generated from these sources. Coal and hydropower are by far the most economic sources of electricity for the country, but in order to cater to this insatiable peak demand, more than 50 per [...]
YouLead, Kandy Hoteliers collaborate to save jobs, strengthen tourism Industry
The Kandy Hoteliers Association (KHA) launched a soft skills training programme in Kandy on July 10 for tourism and hospitality industry employees. It was launched in collaboration with YouLead, a $12 million programme funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by the International Executive Service Corps (IESC) to improve technical and [...]
Homagama Technology City initiates fourth industrial revolution
Sri Lanka is now leapfrogging from conventional phases of development into the fourth industrial revolution phase with the Homagama Technology City project being implemented making use of emerging science and technology to serve citizens, society and the public at large. Time is opportune for the country to enter into the fourth industrial revolution phase which [...]
Debenture issue from Bogawantalawa Tea Estates
Bogawantalawa Tea Estates PLC (BTE) this week announced the issue of 5 to 7 year, senior, listed, BBB+ rated, unsecured, redeemable, Rs.100 Debentures, issued at Rs.85 each, totalling Rs.850 million. The issue opening is scheduled for July 18. The debenture listing, through Managers to the Issue – Areva Investments (Pvt) Ltd, would assist the company [...]
Wage and salary inequities that plague the nation
Manifestation of the salary inequity problem Unrest among employees in state and corporations sectors has become rampant with demands for the rectification of salary anomalies, higher wages and benefits. Lightning strikes by railway workers have left commuters stranded. Strikes without due notice is against existing trade union laws. The loss incurred by the Railway Department [...]
Cabinet to revisit free visa, visa on arrival
The government while considering reviving the recently suspended free visa and visa on arrival to a number of countries except India and China, is also looking at “tracking” tourists entering Sri Lanka. Tourism Development Minister John Amaratunga told a media briefing in Colombo at the Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (SLITHM) this [...]
Modernisation gives Sri Lankan fibre mills the winning touch
Sri Lanka’s business prospect of coir, the golden fibre, is now looking positive with a traditional fibre mill modernisation programme for the first time countrywide by Tropicoir Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, a leading exporter of coir based products. The upgrading of the traditional fibre mills to a modern industry is in line with the present day [...]
New Jaguar Land Rover tech helps reduce stress
Jaguar Land Rover is researching new artificial intelligence (AI) technology to understand our state of mind while driving – and adjust cabin settings to improve driver wellbeing. The technology uses a driver-facing camera and biometric sensing to monitor and evaluate the driver’s mood and adapt a host of cabin features, including the heating, ventilation and [...]
Thomian Ride pedals fortunes to save lives
The healthy habit of cycling is taking a new course as a group of men have taken to ride across the country raising funds for worthy causes like renovating the oldest teaching hospital in South Asia. “When we reached 50 years we thought we should do something interesting and healthy and give back to the [...]
ADB-funded roads benefit rural folk
Sri Lanka’s iRoad programme is the largest single, countrywide, integrated road development programme that affects a population of 22 million scattered across the country. This project will have a massive socio economic impact on the rural communities, by uplifting their day-to-day life. This will enable the rural folk to contribute to the development of Sri [...]