Illegal tourist restaurants dismantled
The Coast Conservation Department (CCD) on Friday began dismantling illegal structures housing tourist restaurants and guest houses at Mirissa and Weligama following a Presidential order after some tourists were attacked. Seen here are structures being razed to the ground. (Inset) Police on duty. Pix by Krishan Jeevaka Jayaruk, Matara Correspondent
TUs, RPCs brace for stormy weather
Trade unions and Sri Lankan plantation companies are bracing for a tough round of negotiations, starting later this month, on the once-in-two years wage hike amidst the controversial state takeover of hundreds of acres of plantation land which has resulted in lost jobs for workers. While the takeover of land to set up an industrial [...]
Headless SLT management in dire straits
Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (SLT) management is in dire straits as it has functioned sans a Group CEO since last December, SLT trade unions say. Attempts to recruit a suitably qualified and experienced person to head the management of the company by conducting interviews after calling for applications twice through newspaper advertisements were fruitless, union [...]
Central Bank: Not taking over Samurdhi Bank
The Central Bank (CB) said on Friday that it’s not taking over the Samurdhi Bank, an issue that raised a lot of heat in the political arena this week. Instead, according to CB Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, the banking regulator will be assisting to strengthen the regulatory and management process of this bank helping the [...]
Banks to execute IRD tax deductions tomorrow
In the absence of an official communication from the Treasury or Inland Revenue Department (IRD) on taxes on public accounts, banks have decided to deduct these taxes and remit them to the IRD tomorrow, officials say. They said that banks have already deducted the taxes such as the 5 per cent withholding tax on interest [...]
Akuregoda Defence Headquarters Building becomes a white elephant
It will be a bitter pill for Sri Lankans to swallow as the controversial Pentagon-styled Defence headquarters building complex at Akuregoda, Battaramulla is becoming a white elephant spending millions of rupees from the country’s taxpayer money, a senior cabinet minister revealed in Colombo. The project was launched in 2011 at an estimated cost of Rs.8 [...]
Rights and Responsibilities
Often we speak of rights with the rights discourse dominating the newspapers, day-in, day-out; that our rights cannot be denied by governments, dictatorships, etc. However, what about the other side of the coin: Responsibility of the citizen to society, government and the state? I was reminded of this when Kussi Amma Sera (now in full [...]
Oil at boiling point, for most economies!
It is again time for “oily talk”, because world oil prices are on the rise. We are caught up in between economics and politics of setting oil prices and spending on oil bills. How we set the domestic oil price will determine who will pay for the oil bills. Well, we also have to cope [...]
Political stability, the hallmark of Singapore’s development
Political stability and the rule of law of the government was the cornerstone of Singapore’s stability with a strong leader like Lee Kuan Yew who wielded power for a long period, said Tilak Abeysinghe, Director of Research, Gamani Corea Foundation and Adjunct Professor of the National University of Singapore delivering a lecture on “Singapore’s Development [...]
WNPS helps NDB to create awareness on environmental conservation
NDB’s Human Resources Department recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society of Sri Lanka (WNPS) to create awareness on environmental conservation in Sri Lanka among the bank’s staff and family members. While ensuring that corporate sustenance is vital, NDB simultaneously places importance on developing the society through many of [...]
Lanka’s top digital brands Kapruka and Grasshoppers featured at UN event
UNCTAD recently hosted the 2018 edition of its UN E-commerce Week, bringing together the global e-biz community to discuss the future of e-com in developing nations and what it takes to unlock these countries’ untapped potential. Among the prestigious line-up of speakers was Dulith Herath, founder of Kapruka and Grasshoppers, who in his presentation pointed [...]
Malta eyes Sri Lankan exports to boost EU businesses
Malta, an island located in the Mediterranean sea with a small population of 450,000 people, has an eye on Sri Lankan exports to boost businesses in the European Union (EU). There are many opportunities for sectors such as logistics, aquaculture, information and communication technology (ICT), plantation exports and so on in the EU. Sri Lanka [...]
Pioneer headhunter and marketing personality receives prestigious CMI award
Fayaz Saleem, a ‘Companion’ of the Chartered Management Institute UK (the highest form of membership for those who have made outstanding contributions to management and leadership), was recently recognised by the Chartered Management Institute Sri Lanka branch as the ‘highest Contributing’ CMI Management Professional. Mr. Saleem, a past President of the Institute, and one of [...]
Firms look to expand at home, region as protectionism rises: HSBC report
Businesses are concerned about the cost of rising protectionism, yet are optimistic about their international business prospects, according to a new report from HSBC titled, ‘Navigator: Now, next and how for business.’ Of the 6,000 firms surveyed globally, three in five (61 per cent) think governments are becoming more protective of their domestic economies. This [...]
Dialog drives growth in 2018 on the back of forex losses on rupee fall
The Dialog Group, Sri Lanka’s largest mobile phone operator, continued its growth momentum across all key business segments including mobile, tele-infrastructure, digital pay TV and fixed line to record consolidated revenue of Rs. 26.1 billion for Q1 2018, up by 5 per cent Quarter-on-Quarter (QoQ) and 18 per cent Year-on-Year (YoY). “Underpinned by strong revenue [...]
Women’s contribution in development: Rhetoric versus Practice
President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, in statements made on Women’s Day which fell on March 8, emphasised the role women play within the socio-economic spheres of the nation. The underlying message of the statements is very clear: Women are considered “equal partners” because they play a pivotal role in Sri Lanka’s development [...]
Govt. to revise oil prices every two months under new formula
Sri Lanka on Thursday night introduced a cost-reflective transparent fuel pricing formula, based on international market prices while increasing the price of fuel with effect from midnight Thursday, Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera revealed. He told a media conference in Colombo that fuel prices will fluctuate every two months in accordance with the new formula based [...]
Services sector liberalisation in the Sri Lanka-Singapore FTA stirs professional groups
Amidst many allegations made against the signing of the Sri Lanka – Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA) in January this year, the liberalisation of the services sector is creating chaos among professional organisations in the country. The perceived lack of restrictions on Singaporeans coming into Sri Lanka on business and work visas and non-transparency of [...]
“Safety standards lacking in most Lankan factories”
Reference to last week’s story under the above headline, ILO Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Ms. Simrin Singh, Director, ILO Country Office for Sri Lanka and the Maldives says she didn’t speak about “the case of around 100 workers suffering from a gas leak at a Jaela factory” as reported by the newspaper.
Teejay Lanka’s Q4 pre-tax profit up 27% in 2017-18
Teejay Lanka PLC has reported a pre-tax profit of Rs. 501.7 million at group level for the final quarter of 2017-18, to end a challenging year. One of the region’s largest textile manufacturers, Teejay supplies fabric to some of the best international brands across the world. The Weft knit fabric specialist with manufacturing operations in [...]
Think different if you want to be competitive in today’s connected world, says Rainer Deutschmann
Think exponentially and not in the time-honoured linear habit if you are to make an impact in today’s world of technology, was the sage advice Dr. Rainer Deutschmann offered to the large crowd at the Google I/O Extended Sri Lanka 2018 hosted by Dialog Axiata and Ideamart in Colombo this week. Dr. Deutschmann, chief operating [...]
Empowering Bangladesh’s female garment workers
DHAKA – For four decades, the garment industry has powered Bangladesh’s economy and put more people to work than any other sector. Women in particular have benefited from this hiring boom, and today, a majority of the industry’s four million employees are female. But while the textile trade has put money in women’s purses and [...]
Homes for 25 IDP families from Tokyo Cement
Tokyo Cement Group recently set up a housing scheme for 25 internally displaced families from the Trincomalee district on the company’s own land at Adampodai, Nilaveli. This, it said in a media release, is the initial phase of a much larger project to uplift the lives of Internally Displaced people in Trincomalee. While the foundation [...]
Cyber security services from SecurMatic
Canada-based SecurMatic has announced the launch of SecurMatic (Pvt) Ltd, a cyber-security services company supporting organizations in Sri Lanka and South East Asia, with the opening of its Development and Global Security Operations Centre in Colombo. “SecurMatic provides end to end information security and compliance solutions that are affordable to companies of any size and [...]
Truth about defaced currency notes
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CB) recently adopted a clean note policy which has caused some anxiety among the public. Originally it was to come into effect on December 31, 2017 but then it was postponed indefinitely. With an effective campaign which had CB adverts at every cash counter, the public have been made [...]
MiracleofAsia.LK, Sri Lanka’s largest travel website showcases local miracles to the world
MiracleofAsia.LK, aiming to be Sri Lanka’s largest travel website in the form of a content magazine and website, was launched at the recently held Sancharaka Udawa travel exhibition in Colombo. The magazine contains feature articles on the country’s best attractions, fun activities, top places to shop, abundant offers and also offers a sneak peak on [...]
Viber assures Sri Lankan users of ‘more secure, stronger connections’
Viber, the global messaging and voice app, says it has taken careful steps to ensure data remains secure and private, following a recent outcry over privacy options on social networks by users. Growing concerns have also risen about certain social and messaging apps harvesting private messages and using them as valuable data for their systems’ [...]
India’s Jet Airways to buy 75 Boeing jets in multi-billion dollar order
Indian airline Jet Airways has entered into an agreement to buy 75 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in a deal that could be worth more than $7 billion, the country’s second-largest airline said recently in an announcement to the Mumbai stock exchange. The company did not specify which model of the narrow-body jet it planned to [...]
Emirates announces $1 bn profit in 2017-18 year
Dubai-based Emirates Group, one of the most powerful airlines in the world, this week announced its annual results saying it posted a profit of AED 4.1 billion (US$ 1.1 billion) for the financial year ended 31 March 2018, up 67 per cent from last year. The group’s revenue reached AED 102.4 billion ($27.9.billion), an increase [...]
Central Bank probes foreign exchange market transactions
The Sri Lankan rupee is on the verge of being stabilised following the intervention of the Central Bank (CB) in the domestic foreign exchange market to control the unexpected pressure and volatility on the rupee (against the US currency), Governor of the Bank Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy told a media conference convened to brief journalists on [...]
Mobitel hosts ‘Google I/O Extended Sri Lanka 2018’ for 5th year
Mobitel recently hosted the ‘extended event’ of the Google I/O 2018 on May 8 at the Stein Studio Complex in Ratmalana, for the 5th time in Sri Lanka. This was the local extension of Google I/O – an annual global developer event. The local event of the global one brings local developer communities together to [...]
NTB says profits up by 30 per cent in 1stQ
Nations Trust Bank has closed the first quarter ending March 2018 with a post-tax profit of Rs. 939 million, up by 30 per cent over the corresponding period in the previous year with pre-tax profits increasing at a higher rate of 36 per cent. Post tax profit growth for the group was lower owing to [...]
NDB completes ‘impressive’ first quarter 2018
National Development Bank PLC (NDB) completed the first quarter ending March 2018 on a high note with impressive growth in profitability and business volumes. Q1 performance was recorded in the aftermath of a highly successful financial year in 2017, the bank said in a media release adding that gross income grew by 20 per cent [...]
RIU investor forum gathers momentum
The Research Intelligence Unit, a Colombo-based research and consultancy with a global presence, is gearing up to host its annual edition of RIU Investor Forum on Thursday May 17 at the Sri Lanka High Commission in London, UK. RIU hosts these annual events with the aim of promoting and channelling investment into Sri Lanka from [...]
Gated communities in despair without proper laws
Gated communities are popping up all over Sri Lanka and while they certainly can boost security, a few issues have been cropping up. Unlike apartment owners, those in gated communities which are a rapidly growing phenomenon in Sri Lanka, don’t have laws or any authority that govern them. A gated community (or walled community) is [...]
April sales down due to false VAT alarm: May looks good
While the month of April wasn’t as good as March for apartment sales, builders say May looks promising. The 15 per cent value added tax (VAT) on sales of apartments from projects after April 1 won’t be effective from April 2018, as planned earlier, but this notion that it ‘will come’ had hastened many sales [...]
Real estate awards: Judging their authenticity
Many industries dispense gongs to the ‘superstars’ during an awards season. It is like a build-up to the festive season, a shot at building the feel-good factor and what’s more, everyone loves a celebration. So anyone who has accomplished something brag-worthy, now’s not the time to be humble, they say. The obvious gains from these [...]
Iconic Galaxy sells 50% of its apartments
Iconic Developments says that they sold 50 per cent of their apartments at the soon to be completed, housing project, Iconic Galaxy. Located in the prime of Rajagiriya’s upscale locality, the sale of half of the 261 apartments, within a span of 14 months has been the developer’s highest in the quarter, beating demand slowdown [...]