Result of illegal sand mining
At first glance this picture looks like one of the rivers in Sri Lanka. Not so. This is a large pond stretching about 10 acres on the banks of the Maha Oya river at Kochchikada, Negombo caused by illegal sand mining. See detailed story and pix by Quintus Perera on Page 10.
Anxious Sri Lanka seeks IMF facility again to tackle BOP crisis
According to Finance Ministry data, the trade deficit has widened by 15.6 per cent to around $4 billion while exports eased 4.2 per cent, year-on-year, to $944 million in June. Export revenue also fell by 0.6 per cent. State foreign borrowings totalled $3.8 billion while local borrowings through Treasury bonds and bills rose to Rs. [...]
The Kingsbury rises above price undercutting
In the wake of a number of city and resort hotels left hurt by price undercutting, The Kingsbury has been able to pull through without engaging in a price war, a senior official said on Monday. At The Kingsbury, Hayleys Leisure Managing Director Lalin Samarawickrama speaking with the Business Times said the room rates were [...]
Cases against Rajapaksa regime’s powerful politicians and top officials likely in the High Court for money laundering
Several powerful politicians and top officials of the Rajapaksa regime are likely to be charged in the Colombo High Court on money laundering charges – however based on the Attorney General’s (AG) advice, Police Department sources revealed. They said the views of the AG have been sought on whether charges could be filed against former [...]
Marapana pulls out of CIFL defence team
Tilak Marapana, an influential member of the ruling United National Party, has pulled out of the legal team defending alleged CIFL head Deepthi Perera. When the case was taken up for hearing this week before Colombo Chief Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya, Eranga Gunawardena, Attorney at Law told Court that Mr. Marapana, PC who appeared for Mr. Perera, [...]
FCID completes probe against Godahewa, charges soon
The Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) is preparing to file charges against some top names in the capital market industry allegedly involved in corrupt deals with most investigations over, FCID sources said. “The FCID has completed the probe against former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Nalaka Godahewa and Ronnie Ibrahim, Director Prime Sports pertaining [...]
Sri Lanka offered legal services of high profile British firm run by Cherie Blair
Cherie Blair, wife of the former British Prime Minister, has offered the services of her London-based international legal consultancy firm to the Sri Lanka Government while on a private holiday this week. Omnia Strategy LLP “provides strategic counsel to governments, corporates and private clients”, according to its website. It was established by Ms. Blair only [...]
‘Uncertainty’ the only certainty in Sri Lanka
Even as the dust settles on the recently-concluded parliamentary elections, drama and uncertainty continues as leaders from Sri Lanka’s two main parties grapple to form a joint administration. The appointment of the cabinet is yet to take place, two weeks after the August 17th poll, while different dates of the swearing in of the new [...]
Coca-Cola factory contaminated Kelani water
Coca-Cola Beverages Sri Lanka, in a public statement issued this week, confirmed that the company has temporarily halted operations on a directive by the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) over a serious oil leak that contaminated the Kelani Ganga water. The leak occurred on election day – August 17th, the company said.At the time water supply [...]
Rohitha Amarapala re-elected IPM President
Reputed HR professional and Head of Human Resources at Pan Asia Bank – Rohitha Amarapala – was unanimously re-elected as the President of IPM Sri Lanka for the year 2015/16 at the Annul General Meeting held recently at the IPM’s Head Office “HR House” in Colombo 5. Over 200 members participated at the AGM. Accepting [...]
UDA suspends earlier forcible land acquisition in Colombo and suburbs
The land acquisition and forceful eviction of residents in the guise of development in the Colombo district by the Urban Development Authority (UDA) under the earlier SLFP administration has been halted on the directions of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, official sources disclosed. Large extents of private land in and around Colombo had been forcibly acquired [...]
LMRB awarded Asia’s best employer brand
Lanka Market Research Bureau (Private) Limited (LMRB) was awarded the prestigious Asia’s Best Employer Brand 2015 at the 6th Asia’s Best Employer Brand Awards held in Singapore recently. These awards, endorsed by the Asian Confederation of Businesses, are hosted by the Employer Branding Institute, an organization managed by professionals from various countries and geographies who [...]
EDEX Mid-Year Expo to kick off next month amidst ongoing GCE AL exams
EDEX Mid-Year Expo, one of Sri Lanka’s most sought after education placement exhibitions, will kick off next month – this time while the GCE Advanced Level exams are underway. Unlike the AL exam schedule which was postponed in-between exams to accommodate the General Elections that took place on July 17, the EDEX event couldn’t be postponed, [...]
Aitken Spence Travels attracts nature and adventure visitors from Spain
Intensive marketing of Sri Lanka as an ideal destination for nature and adventures tours by Aitken Spence Travels has attracted a leading specialised tour operator from Spain to send two tourist groups to Sri Lanka this month. The group tours in Sri Lanka were handled by Aitken Spence Travels, the company said. The Spanish tour operator [...]
NSB reports pre-tax profit of Rs. 6.2 bln in 1st half – 2015
National Savings Bank (NSB) has recorded its highest half-yearly profits ever with “an impressive Profit before Tax (PBT) growth of 68 per cent” as compared to same period last year, the state bank said last week. Profit for the first half for 2015 reached Rs. 6.2 billion with the increase mainly fuelled by growth in its [...]
EAP Group launches 5- storey Cinema Multiplex and Retail/ Commercial Complex at Rajagiriya
Galaxy Landmarks, part of the EAP Group, recently conducted a ground-breaking ceremony to commence the construction of the Galaxy Impala Complex in Rajagiriya. The ceremony was attended by the company’s Directors and Senior Managers. The Chief Guest was Dr. Soma Edirisinghe – President of EAP Group. Galaxy Landmarks is a fully owned subsidiary of the EAP [...]
North-South SMEs to strengthen business and social links thro’ GIZ-CCC
GIZ SME Development Programme, together with the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, will launch ‘SME-ProLink: Unity Through Business’, an initiative to link the Northern and Southern SMEs to strengthen business and social relationships and promote unity and harmony among communities. The programme will be held in Matara on September 29-30. The Deutsche Gesellschaft fÜr Internationale Zusammenarbeit [...]
JLanka Technologies sponsor of 2nd Annual International Conference on Energy – 2015
The 2nd Annual International Conference on Energy – 2015 (ICOE-2015) will be held on September 2-4 at Hotel Galadari, Colombo under the theme “Advanced energy horizons-opportunities and challenges”. The 2nd International Conference on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology-2015 (ICNSNT-2015) will also be held concurrently at the same venue along with ICOE-2015. “Accordingly registered participants of ICOE 2015 [...]
MATRADE wants to finance Sri Lanka projects
Malaysia’s MATRADE says it is ready to work with Sri Lanka in the areas of property development, monorail, railway infrastructure development, port operations, real estate, and also constructions of resorts. This was announced by a visiting Malaysian delegation during a meeting in Colombo with Sri Lankan businessmen at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. The meeting [...]
Google Cloud Platform forums from Sept. 8-10
A series of Google Cloud Platform forums in Colombo, scheduled for September 8, 9 and 10 will feature Google Cloud Platform Sales Lead Southeast Asia Melina Lee and Google Cloud Platform Asia Technical Lead Karthik Rajasekharan as its main speakers, according to a recent statement by its organiser Finetech, the local enterprise partner for Google. [...]
Mega “Kandy City Urban Upgrading Project” on track to ease congestion
The joint venture between Engineering Consultants (Pvt) Ltd (ECL), Sri Lanka’s leading multi-disciplinary consulting company, and Keios Development Consulting of Italy, has been awarded the consultancy contract of the “Kandy City Urban Upgrading Project”implemented by the Strategic Cities Development Project (SCDP). Keios provides planning, design and technical assistance services in the fields of urban development, [...]
Hayleys Leisure expands room capacity
Hayleys Leisure is planning on a number of key investments and a prospective expansion of the existing Kingsbury Hotel added to opening its first overseas hotel in the Maldives in 2018, a senior official at the company said on Monday. The Kingsbury hotel as well would be eyeing further expansion of its current 229 room by [...]
Importance of Alphabet, the new face of Google
The beginning of this month was marked with some jarring news for the tech industry, ultimately leading, last week, to what one media outlet had termed an “exodus” of Google staff. While Sri Lanka’s parliamentary election was gaining importance locally, the rest of the world at large was waking up to the age of Alphabet. [...]
Health Record System paves the way for Digital Health in Sri Lanka
The application of information and communication technology in healthcare is in a state of rapid evolution. It is undergoing transformative change that we could not have anticipated a decade ago when telemedicine was still the buzzword. We have moved from a phase of telemedicine to eHealth to mHealth to now Digital Health. Where is all [...]
Robotics at the University of Moratuwa
GRIN Technologies – Genetics, Robotics, Information technology, and Nanotechnology are recognised as the driving technologies of the world today. Developed countries make very good use of these technologies to maintain their development, while developing countries are trying to introduce these technologies into their production processes in order to speed up their development. It is in [...]
SL pay-by-SMS VENDABLE vending machines sell first few units to Unilever
A finalist at this year’s Venture Engine start-up competition, VENDABLE is a Sri Lankan pay-by-SMS vending machine concept that has big plans. This follows recent, infrequent, instalations of cash-only vending machines in places like the Crescat Food Court, which is a new concept locally despite it being prevalent in many countries worldwide. “VENDABLE is a [...]
Cyber surveillance using Biometric ID
People are recognised by their faces, sometimes by their voices or handwriting, or by the way they move. Human scrutiny was the only way of checking the identity of international travellers, visitors seeking to enter business or government offices, or individuals withdrawing cash from banks. Nowadays, there is a new way of checking identity; using [...]
New committee at the STBC
The annual general meeting (AGM) of the Sunday Times Business Club (STBC) was held on Tuesday at the Cinnamon Lakeside hotel. The following were elected to the STBC Executive Committee. They are: President- Amal Fernando (uncontested/second term); Vice President – Sampath Kulathunga (uncontested/second term); Secretary – Chamindika Jude Samaraweera (uncontested/second term); Treasurer – Harsha Pathiraja (uncontested/second [...]
Bank of Ceylon shows strong growth in 1stH 2015 with Rs. 9.1 bln pre-tax profit
The Bank of Ceylon (BoC) Group says its strong growth momentum is continuing with the pre-tax profit (PBT) in the first half of 2015 up 6 per cent at Rs. 9.1 billion from the corresponding period of 2014. Profit after Tax (PAT) rose 8 per cent to Rs. 6.7 billion. The group reported Rs. 9 [...]
Landmark no-frills Cinnamon Red hotel celebrates 1st anniversary
Cinnamon Red in Colombo, which opened its portals to the world as the first lean luxury hotel in South East Asia, is celebrating its first year of operations. Its General Manager Terrence Fernando says Cinnamon Red has transformed the quintessence of travel for today’s traveller whose needs are discerning, detailed and exact. “It has been a [...]
More than 1.3 million Sri Lankans travel abroad annually, says Classic Vacations
More than 1.3 million Sri Lankans travel abroad annually with outbound travel growing by at least 15 per cent a year, according to Classic Vacations, a leading travel consultant in Sri Lanka. This information was given in a media release where the company said it has been appointed by Cox and Kings Ltd, the leading [...]
Better decisions and more instep heathcare with EHR
The world has been drastically altered by digital technology – smart phones, tablets, and web-enabled devices have changed our daily lives and the way we correspond and it’s the same for medicine, which is an information-rich enterprise. A larger and more flawless flow of information within a digital health care infrastructure, shaped by electronic health [...]
Asiri Hospitals gets ISO 22000 food safety management system certification
Asiri Hospitals, recently obtained the coveted ISO 22000 Food Safety Management Systems (FSMS) certification for its food and beverage department. Awarded by the ‘Societe Generale de Surveillance’, Zurich, Switzerland, the certification is valid for thre years, the hospital company said. The most representative international standard in food safety, ISO 22000 FSMS which integrates Hazard Analysis [...]
Brandix ‘Model Village’ programme provides water supply and sanitation facilities
The ancient Sri Lankan concept of village life revolving around the tank, the temple and the school has inspired Brandix to adopt a ‘model village’ approach to empowering communities in areas where the Group has a manufacturing presence, the company said. A programme to identify and address water-related issues facing people resident within a five [...]
Lamudi Sri Lanka says strong international potential for Sri Lankan developers
Several international projects such as One Galle Face by Shangri-La, ITC Colombo, Altair and Hyatt Regency are on the rise around Sri Lanka due to the increasing demand for real estate and tourism. However, most domestic developers have focused only on the local market and have not utilised the opportunities of the international market efficiently. [...]
BBDO Lanka celebrates 4th anniversary at Sangakkara’s farewell test
BBDO Lanka celebrated its 4th anniversary by cheering for Kumar Sangakkara at his farewell test this week and rewarding every 4 he hit in the match with a contribution to his charitable initiative ‘Bikes for Life’. BBDO Lanka MD Santosh Menon said the company completed four years of operations in Sri Lanka and continued with [...]
M Power Capital celebrates a year in business
M Power Capital Ltd (MPC), the Colombo-based corporate finance advisory and private equity group, has completed its first year of operation during which it handled some significant deals. Located at Horton Place, M Power Capital was established by a group of experienced industry experts with operational specialisation in diverse fields. The team’s primary areas of specialisation [...]
MRL Corporation Ltd to begin high grade graphite production in Sri Lanka
In a major breakthrough in Sri Lanka’s mineral industry, an Australian-based company, MRL Corporation Ltd is to begin high grade graphite production for the export market in the second half of this year following successful results in diamond core drilling and testing at Pandeniya site, near Warakapola and also the Aluketiya project in the southern [...]
‘China market fall ominous’ – JETRO
The first-ever Asian trade promotion deliberations to take place in Colombo opened on Tuesday with the inputs of 40 Asian export CEOs-and JAPAN JETRO’s CEO Hiroyuki Ishige in attendance, a media release issued by the Industry and Commerce Ministry, stated. “The world economy is shaken badly after yesterday’s Chinese stock exchange fall. Even under this [...]
Illegal sand mining adversely affecting the clay tile industry
Sri Lanka is known to be a country with a rich civilization, culture and industrial development some with a strong element of nature. The clay industry is one of them. Since ancient times tiles – Sinhala Ulu (tiles) – were manufactured the traditional way until the 1950s. With the advent of the present new clay [...]
‘Lankasoy’ celebrates 25 years of quality products in Sri Lanka
Convenience Foods Lanka PLC (CFL), the pioneer in manufacturing and marketing soya based products in Sri Lanka, recently celebrated its 25th anniversary while felicitating employees who have completed 25 years of service. CFL manufactures and distributes the renowned soya products brand ‘Lankasoy’ in Sri Lanka and in overseas markets. The company was incorporated in Sri [...]
Spence to sell Embilipitiya power plant
The Aitken Spence Group is in talks with foreign parties in a bid to sell the assets at its Embilipitiya power plant, company sources said. ”The Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for this plant wasn’t extended. What the Power and Energy Ministry has indicated to us is that this is due to the lower demand for [...]