Firecrackers galore!
Firecrackers being prepared for packing ahead of the Sinhala and Hindu New Year at the town of Kimbulapitiya (near Negombo), about 37 km from Colombo. This town is famous for firecrackers and manufacturers say there is huge demand this year. Pic by Eshan Fernando
Treasury move to handle special GST sparks protests
The takeover by the Treasury of some of the functions of the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) along with the introduction of an online managed single Special Goods and Service Tax (GST) in place of the various goods and service taxes and levies, has sparked protests from IRD staff. Joint Secretary of the Inland Revenue Service [...]
Tourism industry cries foul over new draft Act
Sri Lanka’s tourism industry on Friday voiced their opposition over the sudden move by the authorities to change the Tourism Act of 2005 and highlighted that the new draft is likely to remove the private sector from the boards. At a joint media briefing held at the Ramada Hotel in Colombo the Tourist Hotels Association [...]
TRCSL ‘fixing’ laws for equal play
The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) is fixing coverage and service quality on the voice in mobile telephone sector while enacting related laws to be in line with international best practices and gearing for number portability by year end. The TRCSL is currently at the technical planning stage and preparing the required legal [...]
Banks stepping up dollar conversions
A few banks are pushing their efforts towards foreign currency conversion, keeping in line with a Central Bank (CB) circular to banks saying to incentivise customers who do so. The CB has directed banks to provide Rs. 2 extra for each converted US dollar in a bid to buffer up market liquidity. HSBC is one [...]
TUs to challenge Port City Commission Bill
Several trade unions, organisations and individuals are planning to challenge the recently presented-to-Parliament Colombo Port City Commission Bill in the Supreme Court. “Six to seven unions have expressed interest in challenging the bill particularly since it exempts the operation of the Termination of Employment of Workmen (Special Provisions) Act, No. 45 of 1971 for companies [...]
‘Kingdom Sigiriya’ housing complex gets underway amidst public concern
A luxury apartment complex ‘Kingdom Sigiriya’ is now being constructed in close proximity to the Sigiriya world heritage site and the pre-historic Potana cave site amidst concerns of residents, environmentalists and archeologists. This modern hotel and residencies joint development project with Grand Heritance Hotel and Residencies has been launched by Global Housing and Real Estate [...]
Avurudu rantings
The popular ‘Avilla…..….avilla, Sinhala Avurudda avilla (the Sinhala New Year has arrived)’ song could be heard blaring from a radio in a neighbour’s home, heralding the April 13-14 joyous festival, traditionally celebrated by Buddhists and Hindus across the country. For sure, this year’s ceremonies in temples and kovils would draw attention to numerous crises the [...]
Root cause of all problems
There is an old saying – “All garbage goes to Beira Lake”. It is self-explanatory; Beira Lake in Colombo was the recipient of all sorts of garbage in the city – at least those days. In the same way, the country’s “open economy” has been the recipient of all the blame. Accordingly, all sorts of [...]
New Port City gazette needs 3-months of public consultations
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa have been urged to provide three months’ time for public consultations and representations on the new Colombo Port City Commission gazette, a leading trade union said this week in letters to the two leaders. “This is to inform you, we as a responsible trade union is seriously [...]
Aitken Spence invests in renewable energy project in hydropower
Aitken Spence PLC recently acquired Waltrim Energy Limited, a subsidiary of Sunshine Holdings PLC for Rs. 900 million. The company contributes 6.6MW to the national grid via three mini hydropower plants located in the Nuwara Eliya district, namely, Waltrim Hydropower (Private) Limited, Upper Waltrim Hydropower (Private) Limited and Elgin Hydropower (Private) Limited. The Waltrim hydropower [...]
First Zonal Office of Condominium Management Authority opened at Maligawatta
The first zonal office of the Condominium Management Authority (CMA) was declared open at Maligawatta Housing Complex in Colombo on Monday, signifying a further expansion of its services. This was the first pilot zonal office out of four to be established in the Colombo District by the CMA under the concept of “A comfortable home [...]
Central Bank Governor predicts 5.5- 6 % economic growth this year
The Central Bank continues maintaining the low interest rate regime in low-inflation environment for a sustainable economic recovery with inflation targeting, Central Bank Governor W.D. Lakshman said. The Census and Statistics Department has announced that the economy contracted by 3.6 per cent, lower than the projected 3.9 per cent, he told a media conference in [...]
Bold changes needed to salvage Sri Lanka’s tea plantation sector
The Sri Lankan tea plantation industry is facing serious challenges that call for unbiased analysis of the current status and bold rethinking of the solutions required if it is to continue to hold its place as one of the nation’s leading sources of foreign exchange. What we are witnessing presently is an industry that cannot [...]
Ronnie de Mel celebrates 96th birthday
Ronnie de Mel, Sri Lanka’s veteran, retired politician and who holds the record for the largest number of budgets presented by a finance minister, celebrates his 96th birthday today (April 11). A former civil servant, he was the Minister of Finance from 1977 to 1988 under the United National Party government and was instrumental in [...]
Union Assurance introduces Group Health; a holistic, automated insurance solution for corporates
Sri Lankan insurer Union Assurance recently launched its latest digital offering, ‘Group Health’. The holistic, fully-automated life insurance solution empowers corporates to manage their group’s policies efficiently and effectively. “The solution offers employers unparalleled convenience by fully automating administrative processes, eliminating manual interventions and documentation and optimising cost control processes, while equally enabling employees to [...]
Sri Lankan rupee faces depreciation pressure despite foreign currency swaps
A significant depreciation pressure on the Sri Lankan rupee was observed since the dates of entering into currency swap agreements with India and China. The rupee has come down sharply and it has fallen to Rs.187.86 per dollar on July 31 from Rs.188.02 on July 24 2020 in six days since signing the currency swap [...]
CEAT Kelani announces 125% increase in Truck Bus Radial tyre production
CEAT Kelani Holdings has announced another significant increase in production that will more than double the number of Truck Bus Radial (TBR) tyres reaching the domestic market by June this year, further supporting the national effort to reduce dependence on imports and conserve foreign exchange, the company said this week. It said, in a media [...]
Massive tax evasion aggravates economic stress
At a time of unprecedented economic stress, the Government is losing billions of rupees in revenue with the increase in tax evasion, the Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) has found. Extension of tax holidays, tax exemption for investment in start–ups and concessions given to agriculture and tourism sectors were aimed at providing a much [...]
Sri Lanka Tourism turns back the calendar!
The relatively new Tourism Act of 2005 is to be changed under the present government’s vision despite these bodies being established to act independently that have now, after a lapse of just 16 years, caused issues to the efficient running of the organisation. Mooted by the industry itself back then and hailed as an exemplary [...]
Winners of its first ever Nestlé-Hatch Open Innovation Idea Hackathon
Nestlé and Hatch recently announced the winners of its first ever Open Innovation Hackathon Challenge 2021, awarding two teams for their breakthrough ideas on healthy products using local ingredients, and green initiatives. Dulanja Gamanayake, Ashan Kottagoda and Sachinthi Wirasinha won for presenting a waste management solution for the company’s packaging waste while Sameeha Jabeer, Keshala [...]
EFC initiates dialogue on IT-integrated remote work culture
The first edition of the HR/IR Forum for 2021 of the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC) was held recently on the theme of ‘IT-integrated remote work culture: Pandemic and Beyond’. The webinar-forum which brought together experts in HR/IR, Industrial and Labour Law and disability sector from the EFC and its member-companies, deliberated on opportunities and [...]
Dilmah wins accolades at Best Corporate Citizen Awards
Dilmah Tea was recently awarded the Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Award 2020 by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, with their independent panel of judges assessing the company’s commitment to quality, tradition, customer, employees, innovation, ethics, integrity, and sustainability. As a family-owned tea company, the sustainable development of Dilmah’s plantations – its community and environment – [...]
Hemas’ exit from leisure sector; good decision, says Fitch Ratings
The exit of Hemas Holdings, which had many hotels, last December from the leisure sector selling a majority stake to the LOLC group, was a wise decision, says Fitch Ratings in its latest ratings’ update on the group. “We believe the exit was timely as the segment would have been a cash drain on the [...]
Capturing the cost of living thro’ the Bath Curry Indicator
The unique ‘Bath Curry Indicator’ (BCI – a food price tracker for Sri Lanka) launched by the Advocata Institute, a policy think tank, would be helpful to policy makers, politicians and other officials in their quest to reduce food prices or monitor them. The ‘Indicator’ launch took place at the BMICH on Wednesday. BCI is [...]
Cargills initiates pioneering Plastic Modified Asphalt Concrete Car Park
Cargills has partnered with AGC Innovate Pvt Ltd to launch “Paving with Plastic” as a means to address Sri Lanka’s plastic waste menace in an ecofriendly and pragmatic approach. As a first step to tackling this waste plastic problem, Cargills made a landmark decision to pave the Cargills Food City Carparks using Plastic Modified Asphalt [...]
Shipments, freight crises loom over tea auctions
Delayed shipments have caused concern among the country’s tea industry that is seeing a direct impact as a result of this in terms of lower prices at the Colombo tea auction. “Shipments are getting delayed by weeks,” Ceylon Tea Traders Association (CTTA) Chairman Jayantha Karunaratne said noting that since mid last month there are very [...]
People’s Bank negotiating for $75-100 m loan
The People’s Bank is currently in negotiation with the China-led Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB) for a US$75 million-US$100 million loan to be lent to COVID-19-hit local SMEs, the bank said this week. The bank this year celebrates 60 years of yeoman service of providing financial stability, growth, profitability and leading the way in [...]
Posa Tech finds new market for SL exports
Posa Tech Pvt Ltd is a company which has diversified interest in Sri Lanka has been successfully introducing Sri Lankan products to the world since 2016 through its popular website www.buysriLankan.lk. In a media release the company stated that POSA Tech has been finding new markets for local manufactures since its inception. The website that [...]
German Embassy supports small scale North-East organic farmers
Under the Micro Project funding scheme of the German Embassy, a grant of over Rs. 2 million was allocated to a project proposed by Comdu.it, a German organisation of volunteers. This organisation aims to build climate resilience among farming communities in North and East of Sri Lanka by establishing “NEOrganics” to foster widespread adoption of [...]
AkzoNobel harnesses AI technology to introduce Dulux Preview Service
AkzoNobel’s Dulux has harnessed the transformative power of machine learning technology and AI to introduce for the first time in Sri Lanka, a new concept that allows customers to accurately visualise their dream space ahead of their next paint job. A first in the industry, the Dulux Preview Service is accessible from a desktop or [...]