Watching the World T20 matches on TV – currently being played in Sri Lanka, I noticed a Tourist Board commercial on the theme ‘Refreshingly Sri Lanka – Wonder of Asia.’ Immediately I recalled last year’s stamp released to mark World Tourism Day. Sri Lanka issued ten stamps with an attractive souvenir sheet carrying all the ...

Celebrating ties between China and Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka-China Journalists Forum in collaboration with Embassy of China will present China Nanjing Little Red Flowers Children’s Art Troupe for the first time in Sri Lanka as ‘Red Flowers on Stage’ on 30 September and 1 October at the Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre. The exclusive ...

The location of Sri Lanka has a strategic significance and this has been proven by the historical trading activities between Sri Lanka and ancient China, Egypt, and the Roman Empire. There is ample evidence to show that Sri Lanka was a main trading hub in Asia. The reasons for occupation of Sri Lanka by the ...

Xinhua: Sri Lanka’s topmost Tamil minority minister in the northern town of Jaffna on is  confident that the government will be able to finalise a political solution for the Tamils. The minister of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development, Douglas Devananda, told Xinhua in an interview that the solution should be based on 13 Amendment ...

The WTO in its annual World Trade Report for 2012, in addition to analysing world trade, has dealt in detail on Non Tariff Measures (NTMs), which has gained an important place in international trade today. In a world of trade liberalisation and free trade agreements which deal mainly with tariff reductions, which are clearly spelt ...

The academics are marching. The students are marching. The Muslims are marching. Every day hundreds images of throngs of people shouting slogans and demonstrating blare across television screens, newspapers and of course, the internet. SMS news alerts about road closures and barricades abound as popular discontent rises to the surface through trade union agitation and ...

Sri Lanka team wins Plate beating Thailand 22-7 Hong Kong beat hosts China 40-10 to win the weekend’s HSBC Asian Sevens Series’ (HSBC A7s) Shanghai Sevens and underline their growing status as one of the top teams in Asia. In the other silverware matches, the Ben Gollings-led Sri Lanka team won the Plate beating Thailand ...

What is planning? Planning (also called forethought) is the process of thinking about and organising the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning involves the creation and maintenance of a plan. As such, planning is a fundamental property of intelligent behavior. This thought process is essential to the creation and refinement of a plan, ...

By Cassandra Mascarenhas Moving beyond financials and laying a heavy emphasis on the human dimensions of doing business in the world today, the CIMA Management Accountants’ Conference 2012 was aptly themed ‘Reboot your business beyond financials,’ highlighting that such aspects will be key to getting things moving again and sustaining success in the long run. ...

A number of articles which appeared in print media in the recent past signify the volatility in the economy. High volatility leads to vulnerability. Volatility and vulnerability are reflections of the haphazard nature of the economic policies and poor economic governance in a country. What is volatility? Volatility is the severity and the frequency with ...

Reuters: A deeply divided and unproductive Congress wrapped up its final business before November’s elections early on Saturday as the US Senate passed a stopgap measure to fund federal programs and avoid an 1 government shutdown. The 62-30 vote on the funding bill, which now moves to President Barack Obama’s desk to be signed into ...

Previously observed proceedings of Sri Lanka’s Fonseka and Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim   Here to observe proceedings re Rishad Bathiudeen M.P. Acted as Counsel on world’s longest sea chase incident FV Viarsa 1 The Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) observer, Australian Queen’s Counsel Mark Trowell has arrived in Sri Lanka today morning. “I am here on behalf ...

Commendable achievements Over the years Sri Lanka has gained a considerable reputation for its achievements in social development. It punches above its weight on the UNDP’s Human Development Index. It has also performed very well in meeting the internationally agreed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which focus on indicators related to poverty, health, education and gender ...

It is with great sacrifices that Sri Lanka brought about a victory against ruthless terrorism, which is certainly a feather in the cap of Rajapaksa family. No one can dispute the fact that President Rajapaksa provided the political leadership and ensured that the LTTE was decimated at any cost. The Tamil diaspora and the pro-separatist ...

Non-Americans generally have a patronising, derisive view of American politics. That also applies to this presidential election campaign. Trivia, mud-slinging, bitter partisanship, extremism (particularly among Republicans) and Washington gridlock crowd out sensible debate, reasonable compromise and hard policy choices. That, at least, is the conventional wisdom. But it is wrong in one major respe...

I wonder if you can remember the famous World Cup Soccer final some years back where the fourth referee intervened after the great Zinedine Zidane head-butted Italian defender Marco Materazzi in the World Cup final. It would have perhaps gone unnoticed if not the TV referral. In my view, if this had gone unnoticed, it ...

The Government has gazetted a Bill, on 27 July 2012, to set up a Divi Neguma Department, which will take over the existing Samurdhi Authority, the Southern Development Authority and the Udarata Development Authority (successor to the Kandyan Peasantry Commission). The Bill will also set up a Divi Neguma Community Based Organisation, Divi Neguma Community ...

The place isn’t a paradise for minorities but the economy is recovering By Sam Baker Asuasentinel.com: The Government of Mahinda Rajapaksa in Sri Lanka has probably botched its dealings with the United States, the European Union and the United Nations. Still, the disenchantment with Colombo may be overblown three years after the end of the ...

By Saman Gunadasa World Socialist Web Site: A scandal over the manipulation of shares on the Colombo Stock Exchange has erupted in recent weeks, after former Sri Lankan Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Thilak Karunaratne accused Government ministers of acting in league with speculators. Karunaratne was pressured by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to quit his position, ...

Adlai Stevenson once said that “public confidence in the integrity of the government is indispensable to faith in democracy; and when we lose faith in the system, we have lost faith in everything we fight and spend for”. Public integrity is one of the salient features of a democratic system of governance, where every action ...

The global escalation of commodity prices in the latter part of last decade impacted Sri Lanka’s rice market, with retail prices showing sharp increases for the consumer. The regulatory forces with a ceiling on consumer prices and guaranteed price for paddy did alleviate this problem to some extent. Today it has taken a different turn ...

On Friday (7) afternoon, the eve of provincial council elections in three provinces, a certain gathering took place at 101, Rosmead Place, which houses the corporate offices of Democratic National Alliance (DNA) National List Parliamentarian, Tiran Alles. Consultations that lasted for hours, took place between Alles and UNP Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa and a few ...

It is unfortunate that today many impressions of Sri Lanka in foreign countries are based on unverified facts, and wrong or deliberately manipulated disinformation, carried out by those who once supported the forces of terror. These same elements continue to sow the seeds of division and separatism through various media, and also influence politicians in ...

By Shanuka Tissera Amendments to the Petroleum Products (Special Provisions) Act have been finalised and approved by the Attorney General. It is expected that both bills will be presented to Parliament shortly for enactment. Pending the enactment of new legislations, the Cabinet of Ministers has appointed the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) as ...