CEB to stop private power purchases in 2013-2014
The Government confidently said this week it planned to discontinue buying private sector-generated power in the next two years, with power generation from new state plants sufficient to meet the country’s entire needs. The assurance came amidst frequent breakdowns in coal and thermal power plants resulting in countrywide power cuts. Power and Energy Minister Patali [...]
SriLankan losses to ease to $80 mln in 2012/13 FY
The national carrier has set its sights on lowering losses budgeted at US$80 million in the current financial year, SriLankan Airlines CEO Kapila Chandrasena said. During an interview with the Business Times, he said that this would ideally mean the airline would be halving its losses during the year 2012/2013. The airline’s losses soared to [...]
SL firms keen on JVs in Trinco’s Indian-managed SEZ
Several Sri Lankan companies have expressed interest in investing in the Indian-managed Trincomalee’s Manufacturing Special Economic Zone, officials said, at the conclusion of last week’s India Show in Colombo. Kulathunga Rajapaksa, Managing and Executive Director of Samson International PLC, said they were keen on a joint venture with Indian firms in the rubber sector to [...]
Confirmed: Mafia operates in the Colombo stock market, says COPE
The Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) is ‘convinced’ that a ‘mafia’ operates in the stock market, a conclusion it arrived at after Tuesday’s meeting with officials of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to COPE Chairman D.E.W. Gunasekera. “There’s a mafia operating in the Colombo stock market, there’s no question about it,” he [...]
Kelani Cables plans Rs 300 mln expansion
Kelani Cables PLC is planning a Rs. 300 million expansion to be completed by next year in a bid to arrest its capacity constraints, according to officials. “We have identified a 277 perch land which is adjacent to our factory at Kelaniya for expansion,” Mahinda Saranapala, CEO Kelani Cables told the Business Times. He added [...]
Crisis of confidence
Errors in the combined and applied maths papers; errors in other subjects at the ongoing GCE A level examination! Haven’t we heard this before? The Z- score fiasco continues to be an issue being canvassed in courts as student after student claims discrimination. University teachers are up in arms over wage issues and threatening to [...]
Sri Lankan intellectuals raise concerns over education issues
The Friday Forum, comprising a group of intellectuals, has raised some salient issues on the ‘Crisis in the Education Sector’. Here are excerpts of that statement: Education has always been considered a public good in this country and providing equitable access to education continues to be one of the important pillars of public policy. Our [...]
Just 2% of investors control 95.7% of the stock market – CSE data shows
Just a fraction of investors in the Colombo stock market are responsible for the bulk of the transactions, data from the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) shows. The number of shareholders in the market rose by 32.6 per cent to 206,465 by the end of December 2011 against the previous year. According to the table seen [...]
India has helped ‘immensely’ in rebuilding Sri Lanka’s north
India has helped immensely in rebuilding the northern province, according to K. Poornachandran, Chairman, Jaffna Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He made these comments at the launch of the Jaffna International Trade Fair 2013 (JIFT) held in Colombo last week. JIFT 2013 would be held on January 18-20 at the Duraiyappah Stadium, Jaffna. Responding to [...]
Sri Lankan entrepreneur receives ‘business champion of the year’ at US business forum
Sri Lankan-born entrepreneur, Susantha Shan Sisilchandra, founder and CEO of Ceyhinz Link International, was among those who received awards from the Governor’s North Texas Business Forum held to recognize some of Lone Star state’s most successful entrepreneurs. Mr. Sisilchandra received the “Business Champion of the Year” honor in the program established by Texas State Governor [...]
Foreign exchange reserves swell to $7.1 bln in July
A large amount of foreign exchange from different sources help swell Sri Lanka’s ‘gross official reserves’ to around US$ 7.1 billion by end July, the Central Bank (CB) said this week. “Such level of reserves is equivalent to an import cover of 4.2 months, and the strengthened external sector position is likely to attract further [...]
Singer: Increased interest rates major concern for all
The Singer Group’s recently released results showed that it continued its growth momentum though there was concern over rising interest rates. The 2012 first half revenue increased 23% over the prior year and 2012 first half net profit increased by 21%. The group revenue for the first half was Rs. 12.6 billion and net profit [...]
Hacking, virus infections doubling every year
Over the past five years, the incidence of hacking and virus infection has doubled year-on-year, according to a statement by Sri Lankan Information Security specialist eCybersec. The company also added that application failures in smartphones and tablet PCs using Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS operating systems have been increasing at a rate of 105% year-on-year [...]
Hayleys shows mixed performance in first quarter
While turnover rose by 17 per cent at the Hayleys Group, its net profit fell to Rs 582 million from Rs 606 million in the same 2011 period while the amount attributable to equity shareholders also eased to Rs 219 million from Rs 268 million.Dhammika Perera, powerful businessman and also a government servant as Secretary [...]
EFC claims bias in J Crew withdrawal probe
The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC) has complained to the General Secretary of a global union that only ‘one side” of the story has been heard in an issue where a foreign retailer has pulled out of Sri Lanka over alleged violation of workers’ rights. Responding to a letter sent to the EFC by Jyrki [...]
Govt. to introduce public sector reforms plans next month
The Government is to introduce public sector reforms by the end of next month, State Management Reforms Minister Navin Dissanayaka said in Colombo last week. With a public sector comprising 1.3 million people and salaries amounting to Rs.355 billion and pensions at Rs. 108 billion for this year the revenue however, stands at Rs.985 billion [...]
Janashakthi Insurance wins international awards for CSR, Branding and Marketing
Janashakthi Insurance won two prestigious awards for Corporate Social Responsibility and exceptional Branding and Marketing at the recently concluded CMO (Chief Marketing Officer Council) Asia Awards held in Singapore. Picture shows the winners with the CSR award. From left – Nina E. Woodward – President, Nina E. Woodward Associates INC, Jude Niranjith Silva – Brand [...]
Sri Lanka – “break-out nation” : Cabraal
With Sri Lanka becoming a “break-out nation” it was an opportune moment for local companies to showcase their might through their Annual Reports to the rest of the world.As a country moving out of the ordinary, the Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said local companies should expand and showcase themselves to the rest of [...]
Sri Lanka’s brain-drain will cease with economic boom
Sri Lanka’s talent migration patterns will change with its economic boom and the country will be able to retain its talent, says a top management accountancy professional. “In this post-war era, Sri Lanka will attract more investment opportunities. Colombo is noticeably more vibrant than two years ago and there’s noticeably more growth. So the opportunities [...]
India to establish a pharmaceutical manufacturing hub in Sri Lanka
Indian Commerce, Industry and Textile Minister Anand Sharma, who was in Sri Lanka last week with a large contingent of businessmen and officials representing 108 large Indian companies, highlighted how the bilateral trade and investments would be further accelerated. He said trade and investment between the two countries would expand and be enhanced to $10 [...]
Ashok Leyland introduces double decker buses in all major cities
Lanka Ashok Leyland (LAL) has posted a 14 per cent increase to Rs 317 million in net profit for the last (completed) quarter against Rs 279 million for the same period last year. The company is introducing the, once ubiquitous Double Decker buses in all the major cities. “Even more impressive is a 48% increase [...]
UK arrivals to Sri Lanka rise, drop in the Maldives
While UK arrivals have dropped in the Maldives, the number of tourists to Sri Lanka from that country has increased in the past few months. The total number of arrivals in Sri Lanka for January to June 2012 was up 18.7 per cent to 452,867 from the same period last year. The UK arrivals rose [...]
Land, Class and Ethnicity
Land and land policy has received much attention in recent times. There are numerous discussions and activism around land policy. For example, the LLRC has recommendations about land disputes in the North; land disputes were mentioned in the resolution passed against Sri Lanka during the 18th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council; there [...]
Rapid skills build up by SL professionals : SAP India MD
Sri Lanka has good people talent, as well as education, and building up skills of local professionals has been rapid, according to Peter Gartenberg, the Managing Director of the Indian Subcontinent office of leading global enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions provider SAP. He also added that SAP’s education efforts here were attracting a lot of [...]
Global HR firm Randstad to recognise Sri Lanka’s most attractive employers
A global Human Resource (HR) firm, Randstad plans to recognize Sri Lanka’s most attractive employers based on the results of an independent employer branding survey, a top official of the company said. Ranstad, the world’s second largest HR firm has been in Sri Lanka since 2004. The awards will be presented to most attractive employers [...]
Wärtsilä opens new Propeller Repair Facility in Colombo
Wärtsilä, a global leader in complete lifecycle power solutions and services, recently opened a new propeller metallurgical repair facility in Wattala. The new repair facility enables Wärtsilä Sri Lanka to offer a wide range of services with rapid response times. “The new propeller repair facility strengthens our service offerings to Colombo Dockyard, Sri Lanka Navy, [...]
SriLankan in head-on collision with staff productivity
SriLankan Airlines has set its sights internally eyeing its employees to ascertain who needs to clean up their act and increase the company’s overall productivity.The reason behind this is believed to be its recent tie-up with the Oneworld Alliance that aims at impacting on all of the airline’s area of business and supporting it through [...]
Unit Trust – a way to avoid pump and dump
Unit Trust, a form of collective investment, is an ideal way for small investors to invest for their future without getting burnt in pump-and-dump situations in the share market, a top money market specialist says. “Small investors are people who earn their living engaged in activities not related to the financial arena. They are aware [...]
