Decent work for women
The Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) this week held a conference in Colombo on “Women’s access to decent work in Sri Lanka” bringing together practitioners, activists and trade union officials. Picture shows one on the panel discussions in progress.
Second sugar scam after questionable sugar tax hike
The government’s decision to increase import taxes on sugar to Rs.50 per kg from 25 cents this week has triggered a second sugar scam (the first one in 2020) and opened another can of worms. It will incur a loss of Rs. 422 million in tax revenue from the stock of 8500 metric tons of [...]
Minimum rates a sore policy, some hoteliers hurt
Sri Lanka’s city hotels are currently governed by a minimum room rate (MRR) that one month on some hoteliers believe is eating into their revenues while others believe a drop in occupancies compensates for the higher revenue earned to ward off bank pressures and increased employee service charge. “We have seen a drop in bookings [...]
India interested in SL-China debt agreement
India while assuring Sri Lanka that it will continue to work closely with Sri Lanka on discussions regarding debt restructuring, has also shown interest in the Chinese debt agreement that was recently inked, highly placed sources said. Sri Lanka says it reached an agreement with the Exim Bank of China on key terms and principles [...]
Lycamobile questions after French sentence
After Lycamobile’s French companies were recently fined 10 million euros by a Paris court for money laundering and value-added tax (VAT) fraud, concerns were raised whether the company had used illicit cash to invest in EAP Broadcasting Networks which operates two television channels and three radio channels. Lycamobile, owned by Subaskaran Allirajah owns Sky Media [...]
Institutions move at snail’s pace for FIU directions/stipulations
Questions are being raised by professionals and authorities over how receptive certain entities are to the regulations and stipulations by the FIU (Financial Intelligence Unit) of the Central Bank (CB). The FIU over the past few months has made stipulations and directed entities such as the Inland Revenue, the real estate sector, the Exchange Control [...]
Welfare Budget 2024 to empower 6.8 million vulnerable people
The government is to present budget 2024 in Parliament on November 13 with wider social welfare package for the 6.8 million poverty stricken people amidst heavy increase in public expenditure, State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya divulged Sri Lanka’s welfare allocation for 2024 will have to be Rs. 200 billion compared to the previous budget’s [...]
Decent work and labour reforms
It was my friend ‘human resource’ pundit HR Perera, popularly known as HR, who drew my attention to an interesting development last week which is considered to be part of wide-ranging labour reforms to be introduced in Sri Lanka. “I say…..did you hear about the Cabinet approval for night work for women,” he asked, calling [...]
Pray for the future; pay for the past
The increase in public protests organised by numerous pressure groups has been a common issue now in Sri Lanka. During the past few weeks, almost every day we have seen public protests somewhere in the country. In fact, it is not unusual to see the heights of public protests in crisis times according to the [...]
Sri Lanka hotels struggle under worker crisis
Sri Lanka’s tourism industry is facing a crisis as its skilled workforce is leaving in droves and authorities are now implementing desperate measures to retain them. Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (SLITHM) Chairman Shirantha Peiris told a media briefing in Colombo that the industry is faced with a crisis as hotels are [...]
Public procurement undergoes system change devoid of malpractices
The government will be enhancing the effectiveness, efficiency and transparency in the public procurement system making it more accountable, streamlined and cost effective, Finance Ministry sources said. Sri Lanka public procurement remains an area of governance weakness tainted with corruption vulnerabilities, despite attempts to improve its effectiveness, a high official of the ministry familiar with [...]
Noritake clinches international gold award
Noritake Lanka Porcelain (Pvt) Ltd achieved a Gold Award in the International Convention for Quality Control Circles (ICQCC), which took place in China recently. The company which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year is a pioneer porcelain tableware manufacturing conglomerate in Sri Lanka and is a subsidiary of Noritake Group in Japan.
Radisson Hotel Colombo’s Free Training Courses
Radisson Hotel Colombo has taken a step towards supporting ambitious yet less privileged young individuals by introducing a fully sponsored residential training course. The inaugural batch of trainees has recently completed three months of intensive training in culinary arts and kitchen operations. This year-long orientation and skill enhancement programme have been meticulously designed to provide [...]
MAS completes phase II of Project Photon
MAS Holdings has just announced the completion of the second phase of Project Photon, a roof mounted photovoltaic (PV) solar power project. This ambitious venture, initiated in 2017, has catapulted MAS Holdings to the forefront of the country’s renewable energy industry, making it Sri Lanka’s largest generator and supplier of roof-mounted solar energy, the company [...]
Irregularities in National Identity Card tender
The Department for Registration of Persons (DRP) has called a new tender for the procurement of 5 million pre-printed Poly-carbonate National Identity Cards (NIC) on Wednesday November 1 until a new bio metric NICs applicable to the whole population is ready for issuance, department sources confirmed. The DRP has officially informed the cancellation of the [...]
Seylan Bank PAT surges 79% to Rs.4.49bn for 9-months of 2023
Seylan Bank announced a Profit after Tax (PAT) of Rs.4.49 billion for the nine months ending September 30, 2023, representing a 79.47 per cent surge in growth compared to Rs.2.5 billion in the corresponding period last year, demonstrating resilience in overcoming challenging market and economic conditions. In a media release, the bank reported substantial growth [...]