Courtesy The Business Times Sri Lanka’s cabinet cleared a revised agreement for its Chinese-built southern port of Hambantota on Tuesday, the government said, after terms of the first pact sparked widespread public anger in the island nation. The port, close to the world’s busiest shipping lanes, has been mired in controversy ever since state-run China […]

තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ වෘත්තීයවේදීන්ගේ සංසදයේ සභාපති කපිල පෙරේරා සහ එම සංසදයේ ලේකම් ලසන්ත වික‍්‍රමසිංහ විසින් රචිත ” එට්කා- නෑයෙක්ද? ආක‍්‍රමණිකයෙක්ද?” කෘතිය ජාත්‍යන්තර වෙළඳාම පිළිබඳව ජාතික ප‍්‍රතිපත්තියක් සම්පාදනය සඳහා වු මහජන කොමිෂන් සභාවේ සභාපති, කොළඹ විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ හිටපු උපකුලපති මහාචාර්ය ඩබ්. ඞී. ලක්ෂ්මන් මහතා වෙත කපිල පෙරේරා මහතා අතින් පිළිගන්වන අවස්තාව ඡුායා රුපයේ දැක්වේ. තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ වෘත්තීයවේදීන්ගේ […]

GK NAIR Courtesy The Hindu KOCHI, JULY 17:   As cheaper pepper from Vietnam continues to flood the Indian market through Sri Lanka, taking advantage of the lower duty structure under SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Area), growers here have threatened to abandon the cultivation of the spices crop. Growers and traders from the key producing States […]

BY KAMAL MAHENDRE WEERARATNE Courtesy Ceylon Today Aruna Benedict Dias, Deputy General Manager of the Treasury Department (bond transactions) of the Pan Asia Bank, told the Presidential Commission probing controversial Treasury Bond issues at yesterday’s hearings that Arjun Aloysius “begged me to help him when giving evidence before the Presidential Commission since the following fortnight would […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror The South-Asian Institute for Technology and Medicine (SAITM) today said that as per the Cabinet Memorandum approved by the Cabinet, the mortgage rights of the Dr. Neville Fernando Teaching Hospital (NFTH) will remain with the Bank of Ceylon (BoC) until such time all loans are repaid by SAITM within the next […]

TradeArabia News Service DUBAI, Emirates’ iconic A380 aircraft will make a one-off landing at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Colombo on August 14 as the airline joins local authorities in the celebration of the airport’s resurfaced runway. The special flight, operating as EK654 from Dubai, will be the first A380 aircraft to disembark passengers […]

incentivetravel.co.uk ONYX Hospitality Group, one of Asia’s leading hotel management companies, has launched a brand-new Amari property in Sri Lanka’s historic southwest coastal city of Galle. The 172-room Amari Galle, located a short distance from the UNESCO World Heritage Galle Fort, is ONYX Hospitality Group’s third hotel in Sri Lanka. This hotel is also the […]

dezeen.com SOM has won a competition to design a new district for Sri Lankan city Colombo, with a design featuring numerous skyscrapers, a marina, canals and a park, influenced by the country’s tropical climate. The finance and marina district masterplan was designed by SOM for CHEC Port City Colombo, which is looking to transform 269 hectares of reclaimed land beside Colombo’s central business […]

19 July 2017 | By GCR Staff Courtesy  GCR global construction review.com Website of the Chartered Institute of Building Major US architect Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has won a three-horse race to design the centre of Sri Lanka’s controversial, Chinese backed Port City of Colombo. The competition was held to gather design concepts for the financial district […]

UkrAgroConsult Sri Lanka has offered to purchase 500,000 tonnes of high-quality rice from Myanmar through a government-to-government contract, said U Aung Soe , director general of Myanmar Trade Promotion Team under the Ministry of Commerce. The offer to buy 200,000 tonnes of parboiled rice and 300,000 tonnes of white rice was made last week. Parboiled […]

Xinhua   Sri Lanka’s Tourism Minister John Amaratunga Tuesday said direct air links with China have boosted the country’s tourism market as more Chinese tourists are now choosing Sri Lanka as a holiday destination. Amaratunga said there are direct air links between Colombo and Chinese cities without transit and the country is expecting the tourism market […]

By Yusuf Ariff Courtesy  Adaderana Attorney-at-law Upul Jayasuriya has resigned from his position as Chairman of the Board of Investment (BoI) of Sri Lanka. Jayasuriya, who is the former President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL), has reportedly resigned due to personal reasons and has already tendered his resignation to the Presidential Secretary. Speaking to […]

By Niranjala Ariyawansha Courtesy Ceylon Today The Auditor General’s Department is set to reject the 2016 Annual Report of the Ministry of Finance, reliable sources told Ceylon Today. They added that the 2016 annual report of the Ministry of Finance was a balance sheet which had nominal and false figures in terms of debit and credit. […]

By Shyam Nuwan Ganewatte and Sarath Dharmasena Courtesy The Island June 22, 2017, 10:06 pm Additional Director of Supervisory Department of the Non Banking Financial Institutions of the Central Bank, Suresh Sedera, testifying before the Presidential Commission probing alleged bond scams yesterday revealed that three primary dealers had not paid taxes on profits from bond transactions […]

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa The Government should not create unrealistic expectations about GSP+ among the public, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa said yesterday. He added that programmes should…… be started to help businesses prepare for the inevitable transition to a future without any EU trade concessions, through the diversification of products and markets. Providing low interest […]

Shehan Chamika Silva Courtesy The Daily Mirror Testifying at the Presidential Commission of Inquiry on the Central Bank bond sales, Auditor General (AG) Gamini Wijeysinghe said the decision to opt for 30-year bonds at high interests rates could not be rationalized because according to the Finance Ministry the Government wanted to borrow to settle interest payments […]

ලංකා සී නිවුස් ලංකාවට ජී.එස්.පී. ප්ලස් බදු සහනය නැවත ලබාදීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් සිය මතය ඉදිරිපත් කරමින් හිටපු ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ මහතා විසින් නිකුත් කර ඇති නිවේදනයක් පහත දැක්වෙයි. ලංකාවට ජී.එස්.පී ප්ලස් බදු සහනය නැවත ලබාදීම යුරෝපා සංගමය 2017 මැයි 19 වන දා සිට, ජී.එස්.පී ප්ලස් බදු සහනය නැවත ලංකාවට ලබා දී ඇත.  යුරෝපා සංගමය විසින්  ජී.එස්.පී […]

Courtesy The Sunday Times  The Government is planning to introduce a scheme somewhat akin to the ‘Malaysia My Second Home’ via introduction of a new law in Sri Lanka. For this purpose a Bill dated May 29, 2017 has been specifically published and is yet to be enacted in to Law. The preamble reads an […]

modernpowersystems.com The Sri Lankan government has approved a proposal to develop a large-scale wind-solar hybrid power plant in the north of the country. The plans comprise the construction of 240 MW of wind energy capacity and 800 MW of solar capacity in three phases. The project is in line with government policy to increase the […]

Courtesy The Island May 27, 2017, 7:19 pm Sri Lanka’s high-end luxury apartment developments may already be in trouble, according to at least two developers responding the Central Bank’s concern over a property bubble that could potentially undermine the entire economy. The private Iconic Developments, an apartment builder, said it was aware of at least […]

The Rajpal Abeynayake Column Deplorables? Ghouls? Now, that comes close. Ingrates? Absolutely fits the bill, but is not a complete description. Vermin? Very close. These are the words that describe the current, dispensation, Prime Minister, President and all. Why should we say all this? Because words are important and they have to be used at […]

Press Release Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), the electricity sector regulator, recently opened the path for public to comment on the Least Cost Long Term Generation Expansion Plan (LCLTGEP) 2018-2037, prepared by State Utility, Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB). The LCLTGEP, has been compiled based on the results of the latest electricity expansion planning […]

Press Release of Computer Society of Sri Lanka (CSSL – www.cssl.lk) Colombo – 14th May 2017 at 1.00am The Computer Society of Sri Lanka (CSSL), the apex body for IT professionals in Sri Lanka wishes to alert the public about the newest ransomware to hit the cyberspace, WCrypt, which continues to infect computers across the globe. […]

By Umesh Moramudali and Rathindra Kuruwita Courtesy Ceylon Today The proposed Economic and Technology Corporation Agreement (ETCA) with India has caused many a controversy, and in this interview with Ceylon Today Secretary of the Society of Information Technology Professionals, Lasantha Wickramasinghe, explains how ETCA will affect the country’s economy, and the reasons for opposing it. Following are […]

By Shivanthi Ranasinghe Courtesy Ceylon Today The Stock Market boomed into life, with the successful conclusion of the war, in May 2009. After stagnating for years, the rising activities were the barometric readings of the fast reviving economy. Yet, despite the massive development projects and investments taking place, the market was slowing by 2011. Investor confidence […]

Courtesy DNA Sri Lanka will only lease out oil tanks to India under the proposed deal to jointly operate a strategic oil facility in the eastern port district of Trincomalee, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said. Addressing a gathering in the central town of Welimada yesterday, the Prime Minister said the joint working group of […]

 Courtesy The Daily Mirror A US equity firm that bid to buy a stake in Sri Lanka’s loss-making national airline has pulled its offer, officials said Saturday as the carrier scrambled for a new partner. TPG, a San Francisco-based private equity firm, has withdrawn its bid for a 49 percent stake in Sri Lankan, dashing […]

Wade Shepard ,  Contributor Courtesy Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/wadeshepard/2017/01/21/india-tells-sri-lanka-take-your-trincomalee-deep-sea-port-and-shove-it/#58d40c5b5f88 Last Wednesday, January 18th, Sri Lanka’s minister for regional development, Sarath Fonseka, told journalists at a conference in New Delhi that terms were being discussed to give Sri Lanka’s northeastern Trincomalee port to India. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe reportedly vouched for the veracity of the remarks […]

Professionals’ National Front පසුගියදා ජනමාධ්‍ය වාර්ථා කර තිබුන ආකාරයට අගමැති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා ඉන්දියාව බලා පිටත්ව යනුයේ ඉන්දීය අගමැති මෝදි මහතා හමුවී අපේ රටට තීරනාත්මකව බලපාන්නා වූ කාරනා කිහිපයකටම සිය අවසාන එකගතාවය පලකිරීමටය. ඒ අතර අපේ රටට  තීරනාත්මකව බල පාන්නාවූ එට්කා ගිවිසුම ද වේ. රට තුල මහත් ආන්දෝලනයකට තුඩුදුන් එට්කා ගිවිසුම පිළිබදව රටේ පිළිගත් වෘත්තිකයන්ගේ […]

Professional’s National Front   According to the recent press reports, PM Ranil Wickremasinge visited India in order to meet his Indian counterpart, Modi, and to give the final consent on several issues of critical importance to Sri Lanka.  Among such issues, one is the ETCA agreement. Throughout the recent past, Professionals National Front (PNF), a collection […]