Private aerodrome
Sunday Times Photographer M.A. Pushpa Kumara’s picture of a helicopter at Sri Lanka’s first private aerodrome facility in Welisara owned by IWS Holdings which opened on Tuesday
Bureaucratic red tape forces staggering 28 % tax on EPF
Sri Lanka’s Employees Provident Fund (EPF) is now compelled to pay a staggering 28 per cent tax in accordance with a clause in the new Inland Revenue Act and also proposed in the 2017 budget as it has not been waived off by the government, trade union leaders alleged. The 14 per cent tax on [...]
CTC launches ‘fruit flavoured’ cigarette
The Ceylon Tobacco Company (CTC) has launched a new cigarette, which is a line extension of their regular Gold Leaf (GL) product, in a bid to attract new segments – possibly females, analysts say. It’s a red berry flavoured cigarette and was put to the market with the intention of injecting modernity into the brand [...]
Jetwing begins Rs.550 m property in Kandy
Jetwing Symphony will be commencing work on the construction of its upmarket property in Kandy next month with an investment of Rs.550 million. “We are planning on Jetwing Symphony starting construction on 22 suites on Jetwing Kandy Gallery in mid July and by end of 2019 it will be operational,” Jetwing Chairman Hiran Cooray told [...]
China can be a “big bully,” says top bureaucrat
A top bureaucrat this week insisted that the stalling of talks between Sri Lanka and China authorities was inevitable since giving in would hurt Colombo in the long run and cited Beijing as a “big bully” in this respect. Export Development Board Chairperson Indira Malwatte in an interview with the Business Times on Thursday at [...]
SL incurs loss in De La Rue Lanka money printing deal
The Sri Lankan Government loses a colossal amount of money every year as the Central Bank (CB) is compelled to buy currency notes without competitive bidding from De La Rue Lanka Ltd at the price decided by the company itself, Finance Ministry statistics revealed. Raising fresh questions over the procurement of currency notes from De [...]
Winning at all costs
Though football is not as popular as cricket in Sri Lanka, many people have been watching the ongoing FIFA World Cup matches on television. World Cup fever seems to have even “infected” our very own Kussi Amma Sera, who a couple of days ago appeared shocked when she was briefly watching a match (along with [...]
US-China trade war: “Cool ground” and “hot ground”
While in our small paradise we were worried about the depreciating rupee-dollar exchange rate that surpassed Rs. 160 last week, world attention was grabbed by something more shocking – the opening gunshots of a trade war between US and China. Looking at this more closely, however, we saw that there are peculiar policy mixes too [...]
Canned fish had worms, consignments turned back
Sri Lankan consumers are subject to substandard imported products, as indicated by the recent detection of worms by the Sri Lanka Standards Institute in some imported canned fish, which is a very serious issue. This was stated by Dr. Sarath Amunugama, Minister of Science, Technology, Research, Skills Development, Vocational Training and Kandyan Heritage, at the [...]
Pandithage and TeamShark all revved up and breathing fire
FAST AND FURIOUS IN THOTALANGA: It doesn’t take much to get Ranjith Pandithage all revved up – just like the sleek black machine built from scratch by a bunch of undergraduates from the University of Moratuwa. The chairman and managing director of DIMO is in full throttle as he takes a swipe at ham-fisted politicians [...]
Nihal Hettiarachchi and Co. hosts HLB Int. Asia conference
Nihal Hettiarachchi and Company, a leading Chartered Accountants’ firm, in affiliation with HLB International, London, recently hosted the “HLB International Asia Pacific Regional Conference” under the theme “Excellence through Unity” in Colombo. A media release from the company, said that the conference included a thought-provoking line-up of speakers, highlighted by experts and noted figures in [...]
Moratuwa University develops “Compatible Joint Ankle Exoskeleton Robot”
The Bionics Laboratory of the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Moratuwa has begun research to develop an ankle exoskeleton robot, named “C-JAE.” The robot is a wearable device which combines human intelligence with mechanism to perform human ankle motions. The mechanism and drive units are placed at the foot and shank segments [...]
Pandemonium at the Department of Immigration and Emigration
Following a work-to-rule by some of the management officials on June 14 the Department of Immigration and Emigration of Sri Lanka saw a large number of applicants queued up outside the premises for various services on Monday (June 18). Though the department was closed on Friday, for the Ramazan festival, the work-to-rule among the management [...]
Assetline Leasing Co Ltd celebrates 15 years
Assetline Leasing Company Ltd (ALCL) recently celebrated its 15th anniversary at all its branches across the country. A special event was held at its corporate head office in Battaramulla and ALCL planted tree saplings at selected schools in all its regions, where school children and teachers also took part in making the initiative a success, [...]
Deposits in banks reached Rs.7 trillion in 2016 from Rs.2 trillion in 2009:CB
The value of deposits in Sri Lanka’s banking system rose to Rs.7,399 billion (Rs.7.4 trillion) in 2016 from Rs.2,232 billion in 2009, latest Central Bank (CB) data shows. In an April 2018 circular on guidelines on opening new banks in Sri Lanka, the CB has provided details of advances, deposits and other financial data like [...]
Lack of funding for R&D at SLINTEC
While Research and Development (R&D) is one of the key areas where Sri Lanka can showcase its knowledge and expertise to developed countries around the world, there is lack of funding in this sector. The Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology (SLINTEC) in Homagama has all the equipment and infrastructure in place, but lacks funds to [...]
Danish firm Grundfos offers smart water solutions for rural Sri Lanka
COPENHAGEN – Like many things in Sri Lanka, from climate change to natural disasters (floods and drought), people wait until catastrophe strikes, then look at the government to provide relief and compensation. Even though the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004 taught Sri Lankans the importance of having a preventive mindset towards natural disasters; “we” haven’t [...]
Integrated thinking for biz leaders at CMA Global Management Accounting Conference
CMA Global Management Accounting Conference on the theme “Integrated Reporting -Future of Corporate Reporting” will be held on July 5 at the Cinnamon Lakeside, C0lombo. A media release from the organisation said that the session on “Integrated Thinking” will have experts from ACCA UK, CIPFA UK, CPA Canada speaking on the important aspects of this [...]
E-passport tender dispute triggers a passport shortage
Sri Lanka‘s Department of Immigration and Emigration (DIE) has expedited the procurement process of passports following cabinet approval given this week to place an order of 1 million passports with the present supplier Epic Lanka (Pvt) Ltd. The department is now running out of passports due to the delay in procuring of passports owing to [...]
New ways of travel: Online bookings
The outbound travel industry has evolved over the years and has become extremely volatile. The challenges are vast, as competition amongst the airlines, the travel agents, the numerous online booking engines that cover air and hotel bookings, coupled with the rules and regulations meted out, specially by the airline fraternity, creates the impression of being [...]
Hiran Cooray wants to retire in a penthouse on the beach
Veteran hotelier Hiran Cooray will be venturing into the condominium industry investing Rs.4.5 billion in the new WaterScapes property to be established as a resort complex in Negombo with construction set to start by the end of this year. “We have received preliminary approvals for the project and will start construction by the end of [...]
Hotel Show Colombo 2018: Celebrating 20 years ; “Future of hospitality today”
The 13th edition of the Hotel Show Colombo 2018 – organised by the Ceylon Hotel School Graduates Association (CHSGA) together with event partner CDC Events, returns on July 20-22 to the BMICH. It will be supported by both the Government and private sector related establishments, a media release issued by the organisers stated. For the [...]
Promotion Bureau to attract visitors in lean months
Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) is working out a model to entice travellers to increasingly visit the country during the off peak season through special offers in tie-ups with stakeholders. The Destination Management Companies (DMC), hotels and airlines – whoever is willing to come onboard and the SLTPB is trying to work out a [...]
Roadmap charts course of Sri Lanka tourism’s lifeline
The private sector driven tourism industry believes they have found the answer to attract the new recruits in their roadmap for the next five years: Sri Lanka Tourism and Hospitality Workforce Competitiveness Roadmap 2018-2023 – A Private Sector Approach. The tourism industry is plagued with the prospects of a dwindling workforce as many are leaving [...]
Plight of SL’s public sector engineers
In 1971, the Government established the Sri Lanka Engineering Services Division (SLES) under the Ministry of Public Administration and Management with the vision of a contended engineering service that would provide a better service to the country. Today, administrative procedures of around 1440 engineering cadre positions in government sectors such as irrigation and water resources, [...]
Public sector recruitment transparent and merit-based in Norway, visiting State Foreign Minister says
With a great history of seafaring and fishing, the Norwegians are now helping Sri Lanka to map out a resource map of the country’s marine and fisheries resources during a month-journey round the island. And at hand to see the start of this new relationship between Sri Lanka and Norway was that country’s State Foreign [...]
PIM Alumni Association’s new President, EXCO for 2018/19
The PIM Alumni Association (PIMA), the professionals’ association of the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM), recently concluded its AGM electing the President and the Executive Committee for the Year 2018/19, at PIM. CEO of East West Marketing (Pvt) Ltd, Dinesh Hamangoda was elected the President for the year 2018/19. Members of the Executive committee include [...]
“Make Sri Lanka fake and forgery free”, says MD of Holographic Asia
The Malaysian Managing Director of Holographic Asia, Foong wan Hong is on an extensive mission to make Sri Lanka fake and forgery free. He yearns to see this country, which he has visited over thirty times during the past 12 years, (including the war torn years as well) marching towards progress in every sphere of [...]
Tavistock Group invests in Sri Lankan talent to form a global tech cluster
The formation of Elovate Group, a cluster of companies under multi-billion dollar international private investment organisation the Tavistock Group (Tavistock), was announced last week in Colombo. Comprising Atlas Labs, Pyxle International, Trabeya and Surge Global, the Elovate Group offer their global partners value through IT solutions via end to end expertise in hardware, software, big [...]
DentsuGrant creative joins global workshop in Japan
TOKYO – DentsuGrant’s Tara Weerasinghe spent an exciting few days in Tokyo earlier this month representing Sri Lanka and her agency at the Dentsu Young Innovators Workshop 2018. As one of seven rising young creatives from the APAC region chosen to join her peers from Dentsu Inc, she spent four days in Japan surrounded by [...]
Politics has ruined sports in Sri Lanka
Sports in Sri Lanka is facing crisis proportions with the biggest problem being that politicisation has crept into sports administrations amidst a generation who are talented but don’t have opportunities. These issues emerged at the monthly meeting Sunday Times Business Club (STBC) held at the Movenpick Hotel in Colombo during a discussion by an eminent [...]
Sri Lanka needs more and better jobs: World Bank
Better jobs, more women in jobs and creating new jobs was all the talk at the World Bank Development Report Update released on Thursday at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel in Colombo where policymakers and economists highlighted the need for reforms for Sri Lanka to reach an upper middle income country status. “Sri Lanka’s march towards [...]
NSB to appoint in-house consultant to dispose select shares
The National Savings Bank (NSB) is to appoint an in-house consultant to dispose of some investments by them in the Colombo bourse, informed sources said. This has come on the back of the state entity deciding to revoke a decision to entertain proposals from all stockbrokers that they are dealing with, to dispose these shares, [...]
IWS Holdings opens new phase in transportation
The transport sector is set to take a new turn with the opening of the first private aerodrome facility in Welisara on Tuesday by IWS Holdings that gives wing to those willing to use it for their own use for parking and even for hiring staff for manning helicopters. Rejected from obtaining a hangar at [...]
SEC launches SME board for small and medium companies
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) together with the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) is launching “Empower” – the SME Board to attract Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to the CSE, on July 5. Under a programme to launch a series of new Capital Market Development Initiatives proposed by the new SEC Chairman, [...]