By Anuradha Hiripitiyage The secretary of the Electricity Consumers’ Association, Sanjeewa Dhammika said yesterday (11) that the government was planning to spend about Rs 40 billion on emergency power purchases in the coming three months. Despite the government’s claims of promoting renewables, the Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera has presented a Cabinet paper […]

More than 3,000 US military personnel have arrived in the Red Sea on board two warships, part of a beefed-up response from the United States after alleged seizures of several civilian ships by Iran, the US Navy said. The US sailors and marines entered the Red Sea on Sunday after transiting through the Suez Canal […]

By Rathindra Kuruwita The government had increased the price of fuel to enable Sinopec, China’s leading international petroleum company to maximise profit, Convenor of the SJB trade union wing, Samagi Joint Trade Union Alliance, Ananda Palitha, alleged yesterday. Palitha said that the first consignment of fuel was brought in by Sinopec on 30 July. This […]

China’s Sinopec, a leading international petroleum company, had imported its first consignment of fuel to be distributed in the local market, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara said yesterday (01). The Minister said in his Twitter that its second shipment would arrive today (03). He said the entry of such suppliers into the domestic market […]

Tuesday 1st August, 2023 The QR code-based rationing mechanism introduced one year ago has helped halve the national fuel consumption, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) has said, according to media reports. In fact, it helped bring order out of chaos and thereby saved current dispensation. Ideally, fuel should be available sans any restrictions, but the […]

Monday 24th July, 2023 President Ranil Wickremesinghe has returned from New Delhi with a to-do list given by the Modi government. He will have Big Brother breathing down his neck hereafter. It has been reported that the SLPP-UNP government is planning to hold an all-party conference on the ethnic issue. Some of India’s dictates have […]

Islamabad [Pakistan], July 19 (ANI): Beyond the upcoming election cycle and the current standby agreement, Pakistan needs another International Monetary Fund (IMF) program and assistance from other multilateral lenders, the lender stated in a report released on Tuesday, according to Dawn. “Resolving Pakistan’s structural challenges, including long-term BOP [balance of payments] pressures, will req...

Sri Lanka has notified the Indian rupee as a designated currency, Indian External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on Thursday (July 20). “In terms of trading in our national currencies, Sri Lanka has already notified India Rupee as designated foreign currency in their system,” Bachi said during a weekly media interaction in New Delhi. […]

by Y P Prakash The Sri Lankan government, led by Power & Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara, has placed significant emphasis on regional energy integration and grid connectivity between Sri Lanka and India. The target for implementing this initiative is 2030. Discussions regarding regional energy integration have been ongoing for more than two decades, and the […]

Sri Lanka born international economist Dr. Howard Nicholas of Erasmus University, Netherlands has categorically stated that Sri Lanka must not adopt the IMF recommendations on monetary policy for it has no rational basis and evidence of success anywhere in the world. Coming from a Western based economist that provides a lot of food for thought […]

by Y P Prakash As Sri Lanka aims to meet its growing energy demands and explore opportunities for electricity generation and export, it can draw valuable lessons from the tripartite agreement between Nepal, India, and Bangladesh. This agreement has facilitated the development of robust grid connectivity, enabling the efficient exchange of electricity among the participating […]

BEIJING, June 28 (Reuters) – Annual profits at China’s industrial firms extended a double-digit decline in the first five months as softening demand squeezed margins, reinforcing hopes of more policy support to bolster a stuttering post-COVID economic recovery. The 18.8% year-on-year slump in profits came on top of the 20.6% contraction in January-April, and added […]

Udeni Kaluthantri, a 54-year-old port worker, became an overnight sensation last year for reasons that had nothing to do with his job. Days after protesters stormed the presidential palace in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, a video surfaced of Mr Kaluthantri lounging on a bed draped with the presidential flag. Pictures of young men jumping […]

When the five days long stretch of holidays ended last week and the Colombo bourse reopened for trading on Tuesday, the market surged 6.71 percent (633.69 points up) on the broad All Share Price Index (ASPI) while the Standard and Poor SL 20 index covering the 20 largest and more liquid companies quoted on the […]

By Amal JAYASINGHE The snaking queues for food and fuel that crisscrossed Sri Lanka last year have given way to a different kind of line — people scrambling for travel documents to flee their bankrupt island. “What we see as normalcy is a mirage,” customer care executive Gayan Jayewardena, 43, told AFP while queueing at […]