Sri Lanka’s first houseboat in the Bentota waters
The Jetwing Group, always looking for innovative ideas to steer its tourism segment, has come up with another first – houseboat tourism. The company has launched its first houseboat on the lines of the Kerala backwaters (and also Kashmir) where houseboats are a popular tourist attraction. “Shiromal (Cooray, Jetwing Director) and I visited Kerala and [...]
Cheated Touchwood depositors meet on Wednesday
Adding to troubled forestry firm Touchwood’s woes, Sri Lankan expatriates in Dubai and Australia who invested in Touchwood plantations are joining forces with depositors in Sri Lanka in a new attempt to seek justice against the company. The Maloney’s –Ross and Swarna who founded the company – are absconding abroad and sought by the Lankan [...]
100 year-old Gafoor building reconstruction underway
The changing landscape of Colombo Fort by renovating and reconstructing some 40 old buildings including the over 100 year old Gafoor building is now underway to bring a complete new outlook in the metropolis, official sources said. The Urban Development Authority (UDA) has recently issued a directive to expedite the reconstruction and renovation of Gafoor [...]
Geneva resolution “counter-productive”, says Ceylon Chamber
The resolution against Sri Lanka which was passed in Geneva on Thursday has been condemned as “counter –productive,” by the country’s most powerful business chamber. Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Chairman Suresh Shah, speaking with the Sunday Times on the sidelines of a media briefing held to announce 175 years of doing business in Sri Lanka [...]
Have bell; no ding dong!
The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) has got a new bell for ‘opening trading’ but it won’t be rung daily. It will be only used on special occasions like new listings or an anniversary event. While some exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange continue the ‘bell-ringing’ tradition, this practice at the CSE apparently ended with [...]
Shareholder woes over AGM meetings
Sri Lanka’s annual reports season has arrived and once again most, small shareholders, will be scurrying from one annual general meeting (AGM) to another as several meetings are being held on the same day, and at the same time; 9.30-10 am. Not unusual, as this situation has happened in the past, shareholders, particularly small minority [...]
Sea Street jewellers asked to open shops at army-built Gold Centre
Sri Lanka’s famous Sea Street jewellers have been requested by the government to open jewellery shops at the Dubai-styled Gold Centre being constructed by army staff at the former St. John’s wholesale fish market in Pettah. These jewellers will be allowed to carry out their business in their present premises while being asked to maintain [...]
National minimum wage problematic for certain sectors : EFC
The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC), in a recent submission to Sri Lanka’s National Pay Commission, the country’s apex employer body, has signalled that a “national minimum wage could distort and create problems to certain sectors which need to be separately considered for fixing minimum wages”. Putting forward its case, the EFC stated; “The issue [...]
Plight of ordinary Lankan depositors
The woes of ordinary, working-class Sri Lankan depositors who have invested their hard-earned money in finance companies and banks have been profiled by the Business Times and the Sunday Times over the years. This is for the simple reason that investments in finance companies, banks and other deposit collecting institutions are an established practice of [...]
Lankan insurance industry slated to undergo similar consolidation to that of finance sector
Sri Lanka’s insurance industry is slated to undergo a similar consolidation to that of the finance sector which is now in that process when new regulatory measures are imposed early next year, industry experts say. “The (insurance) regulations (effective) February 2015 are to increase the risk based capital (RBC) to Rs. 500 million per class [...]
Kalhari Group to expand operations throughout Sri Lanka
Indhra Kaushal Rajapaksa, a home-grown entrepreneur into recycling, has won an international award that was also won by Sri Lanka’s biggest players in the corporate world. The Kalhari Group CEO was awarded the APEA 2014 – Most Promising Entrepreneurship Award organised by Enterprise Asia, a non-governmental organisation which promotes the development of entrepreneurship across the [...]
Business organisations should be encouraged to have CSR policies, says JASTECA President
The Japan Sri Lanka Technical and Cultural Association (JASTECA) is encouraging businesses and other organisations to have a CSR policy that goes beyond statutory and stakeholder obligations – fulfilling aspirations towards the society, economy and environment, according to JASTECA President Athulla R.F. Edirisinghe, speaking at a media conference held recently. It was held to announce [...]
SriLankan Cares wins ARE Award
SriLankan Cares, the community development arm of SriLankan Airlines, was recently awarded with the Corporate Social Responsibility Health Promotion Award for the ‘Impactful Healthcare’ at Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship (ARE) Awards 2014 held in New Delhi recently. SriLankan Cares said it has been seeking ways to enhance and develop child welfare since its inception in 2003. [...]
Royal College wins finale of Tokyo Cement multi-million rupee brain game
The Tokyo Cement All Island Schools Quiz 2013, a multi-million rupee brain game amongst schools across Sri Lanka, came to an exciting end on March 23 in an “epic battle between the blue-and-golds (Royal), and red-and-golds (Ananda)”. Two of Colombo’s top boy’s schools that survived intense mental melees for months, met in a final showdown [...]
Major Kithul products fair in Colombo April 4-6
The Ministry of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development has organised the Kithulaka Varuna Exhibition and Trade Fair – showcasing Kithul products – on April 4-6 at the Sudarshi Sinhala Cultural Centre opposite the BMICH. This is an annual exhibition and trade fair held every year before the Sinhala and Tamil New Year to popularise [...]
Incidents of unruly airline passengers on the rise :IATA
Geneva – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is urging governments to close legal loopholes that allow unruly passengers to escape law enforcement for serious offences committed on board aircraft. Governments this week met for a diplomatic conference at the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in Montreal to discuss revisions to the Tokyo Convention. The [...]
Central Bank says EPF accounts for 2011-2012 already released to the public
The Central Bank (CB) on Wednesday strongly denied claims by the opposition that the authorities have failed to provide details of accounts of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to the public for 2011. “On several occasions the EPF has informed the public that its financial statements and key performance indicators for 2011 and 2012 have [...]
Chevron Lubricants Lanka concerned about lack of regulation
Chevron Lubricants Lanka PLC, while reporting strong progress in the construction of its US$15 million new blending plant at Sapugaskanda due to open in October , has expressed concern over the lack of proper regulation in the lubricants industry. It has also raised the serious issue of ‘product adulteration in various forms, posing a serious [...]
Mackwoods to roll out electric vehicle charging stations this year
Mackwoods Energy PLC (MEP) is in discussion with various stakeholders in the industry to set up electric vehicle charging stations around the country this year, officials said. “Currently we’re also in discussions with the Ceylon Electricity Board to obtain their support on this. Most probably this year we’ll roll it out,” Arjuna Yatawara, Managing Director [...]
Amana Bank CEO Salieh retiring from service
Faizal Salieh, Managing Director/CEO of Amana Bank is resigning from his position and retiring from the service of the bank from June 1, the bank said this week. The bank said it would announce a new CEO after obtaining the approval of the Central Bank. Mr. Salieh, who held senior positions in the banking sector [...]
CA Sri Lanka unveils new curriculum
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka), in a visionary leap aimed at revolutionising professional education, on Wednesday unveiled its new curriculum aimed at churning out high quality chartered accountants by 2020 and beyond. The curriculum 2015 was ceremoniously launched in the presence of business leaders including Chairman of the Ceylon [...]
Indunil Liyanage obtains Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from the Colombo University
Indunil Liyanage, Chief Marketing Officer of , Bank of Ceylon, completed his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from the Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS), University of Colombo, Sri Lanka recently. His doctoral research was conducted on Human Psychology in the subject area of Organisational Behaviour. The doctoral thesis titled “Role Stressors and the Impact of Coping [...]
Daily Cinnamon Air flights for April Nuwara Eliya season
Cinnamon Air, Sri Lanka’s main domestic airline, is adding a daily flight from Colombo (Waters Edge and BIA) to Nuwara Eliya’s Lake Gregory and back, for 10 days in April this year for the holiday season. The flights will operate daily between April 10th and 20th and take 30 minutes to reach its destination. It [...]
Mobitel’s Club Magnate partners with Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group
Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel’s Club Magnate Loyalty Programme has added a global hospitality company, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group to its extensive merchant partner network. “The strategic partnership with Carlson Rezidor, one of the largest international hotel chains in the world, will provide exclusive offers to Club Magnate members,” the local mobile phone company said. The [...]
EU Mission to assist Sri Lanka in improving spices exports
The European Union Mission has expressed willingness to assist Sri Lanka in improving the export of spices to EU countries amidst increasing consumption of ethnic foods in those countries. Head of Mission, European Union (EU), David Daly said, “the usage of spices and herbs by consumers in the EU is increasing because these products are [...]
Golden Key opts for a new business model amidst protests from depositors
The defunct Golden Key Credit Card Company (GK) will move a new business model after the completion of the Phase 3 repayment of Rs 100,000 each for all depositors with security deposits in the company up to Rs. 3 million, new directors appointed with theconsent of the Supreme Court, said. The company aims to collect [...]
Etisalat joins Dialog’s ezCash mobile money platform, in a global first
In what has been described as a world’s first by the GSM Association’s Mobile Money Expert, Gerald Rasugu, the local unit of UAE-based Etisalat last week signed on to the ezCash mobile money platform, owned and operated by dominant Sri Lankan celco Dialog, which is, in turn, shepherded by Malaysia’s Axiata Group. According to comments [...]
E-tel adds quad-core N3, at Rs. 21,900
Sri Lankan firm Brantel has added the quad-core “Curiosity N3″ smartphone to its locally present E-tel product line, according to a launch announcement by the company. Further, the announcement stated; “The E-tel ‘Curiosity N3′ is powered by the latest MediaTeck Superfast 1.3 Ghz Quad-Core Processor and runs on the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating system. [...]
Outernet, the saviour of the Internet or another big brother
Just last month, the Internet, the blogosphere and even mainstream news outlets were all abuzz with stories of the Outernet, a free wifi network beamed all over the world from outer space via hundreds of 10 cm by 10 cm by 10 cm ‘CubeSat’ Low Earth Orbit iniature satellites, which will initially test deploy in [...]
Microsoft and Education Ministry to train 300 ICT teachers from April
Two Sri Lankan teachers recently attended the “Microsoft in Education Global Forum 2014″, held in Barcelona, Spain, according to a statement issued last week by Microsoft. Additionally, the statement also noted, “Shiroma Weerathunga from Presidents College, Ambilipitiya and Champa Rathnayaka from Kandy Model School were picked from 23,000 teachers worldwide for their innovative and effective [...]
Pirated Software – Compromising Cyber Security
A recent joint research study by the IDC and the National University of Singapore revealed that consumers and enterprises have a 33 per cent chance of encountering malware when they obtain and install a pirated software package or buy a PC with pirated software on it. IDC estimates that malware related issues on using pirated [...]
MedSource expands foreign medical transcription operations to Kandy
ri Lankan Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) company offering medical transcription services mainly for US-based hospitals has expanded its operations to Kandy with the aim of providing job opportunities for youth in up country. MedSource, a member of the Butani Capital Group opened a branch office in Kandy recently providing employment for 50 youths in the [...]
175 year-old Lankan business association says Govt. growth target “stretched”
The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC), the apex body for the private sector that celebrated its 175-year anniversary on Tuesday, termed the government’s growth target as a “stretched target.” It remains supportive of the government’s initiative to achieve 8 per cent growth though it was a “stretched target,” the CCC Chairman Suresh Shah said at [...]
RAM reaffirms Lankaputhra Development Bank’s ratings
RAM Ratings Lanka has reaffirmed the respective long and short-term financial institution ratings of Lankaputhra Development Bank (LDB) at A- and P1. The long-term rating carries a stable outlook. RAM said the ratings are supported by the bank’s strong capitalisation, funding and liquidity positions and the financial flexibility derived from its sole shareholder, the Government [...]
CICL offers pension scheme to Water Board employees
The Co-operative Insurance Company Ltd (CICL) has introduced a pension/ life insurance solution for the members of the Common Employees’ Union of the National Water Supply and Drainage Board. CICL said this move will benefit workers who are not eligible for a pension scheme after their retirement. The pension scheme/life cover has been offered by [...]
Good old days of English cottages, back in Nuwara Eliya
It’s more than six decades since Sri Lanka obtained independence from Britain but British ideas, techniques and lifestyles remain the same in certain regions of the island. One example – British styled cottages. In the heart of the city in Nuwara Eliya elegant little England cottages are planned to be built whereas a few have [...]
Global chain Best Western gears for 700 rooms in Sri Lanka
The US-based Best Western chain of hotels is already looking at expanding its midscale Colombo property, upto 120 rooms in 2014, after its opening in mid June this year. This brand would actually fill the void for rooms at this rate compared to other city hotels. Currently, set to open with only 60 rooms, the [...]
