A Norwegian company that conducted preliminary investigations on oil deposits off the Sri Lankan coastline and sold the data 'exclusively' to the government is now selling the same data to the global industry in direct violation of the agreement, The Sunday Times FT reliably understands. TGS NOPEC, the Norwegian company which was paid US$8 million by the Sri Lankan government for data from two dimensional (2D) seismic surveys on gas and oil exploration which the company gathered in 2005, has been selling the exact same data on the Internet through a website for US$3464, despite the fact that this data is owned by the government.

Some years back the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce had a sub committee dealing with education that regularly discussed developments and came up with a set of recommendations.What has happened to that committee? Either it doesn’t exist anymore or continues but with little or no public profile in the form of inputs on education.

The ‘quick-fix’ approval scheme of the Board of Investment (BOI) by powerful business baron Dhammika Perera after he assumed office as its chairman has come under fire from former senior officials.

Asian Alliance Insurance Company (AAIC), a subsidiary of Asia Capital, is to be asked to submit to a special audit by the Insurance Board of Sri Lanka (IBSL) for violating its rules. This is the first time the IBSL is ordering an audit on a local insurance firm, a decision that is to be conveyed to the company in a few days time, an industry source said.