People have to be held accountable for their actions. However, mechanisms to hold the high post holders to account have always been a challenge around the world as well as in Sri Lanka. Perhaps a dent is being made in this challenge, at least in Sri Lanka in recent times, by Public Relations Minister Mervyn ...

The 10th edition of Dharman’s Media Guide of Sri Lanka was issued last week.  A publication of the Sri Lanka Environmental Journalists Forum it is one of the most popular and leading media guides in Sri Lanka edited by senior journalist Dharman Wickremaratne.  First published in 2000, it is the country’s only media guide updated ...

AS expected, Sri Lanka’s tourism industry made a booming start to the New Year with the news that South Africa’s Sun City is planning to invest a hefty US$ 800 million in a massive project in Katana. This brings the total investment from large-scale foreign hotel projects to nearly US$ 2 billion, with Sheraton, Shangri-la, ...

World’s leading and the most discerning and trusted monthly travel magazine in Britain Condé Nast Traveller has nominated Sri Lanka as one of the top five destinations to watch in 2012. The travel experts of the magazine have predicted that Sri Lanka will be among the hottest new holiday destination for travellers in the coming ...

Xinhua: Sri Lankan Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella Tuesday met with Ju Mengjun, Director of the Xinhua News Agency Asia-Pacific Regional Bureau on Tuesday, both sides expressed the hope to further enhance bilateral cooperation in all areas. During the meeting, Ju said Xinhua is glad to seek closer relations with Sri Lankan media and relevant departments ...

Reuters: Tens of thousands of flag-waving and chanting protesters called on Saturday for a disputed parliamentary election to be rerun and an end to Vladimir Putin’s rule, increasing pressure on the Russian leader as he tries to win back the presidency. The protesters shouted “Russia without Putin” and “New elections, New elections” as one speaker ...

(Reuters): Pakistan’s top judge moved on Friday to allay fears of a possible military coup as tensions rose between the civilian government and the country’s powerful generals over a controversial memo alleging an army plot to seize power. “There is no question of a takeover. Gone are the days when people used to get validation ...

It is the season for giving, which we all know is a reason to look beyond ourselves and find some worthy cause to take up for Christmas. Everyone is familiar with the warmth connected with giving and the quiet pleasure in ensuring that someone else has a happy time as well. It can be something ...

Reuters: Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, an investor in some of the world’s top companies, on Monday unveiled a $300 million stake purchase in fast-growing microblogging site Twitter, gaining another foothold in the global media industry. Alwaleed, a nephew of the Saudi king with a personal net worth estimated by Forbes magazine in March ...

Plastic crates: Universally used in agri markets In 2002, the writer had a chance of visiting a few farms in Czech Republic, some 200 kilometres away from its capital, Prague. They were all medium sized farms owned by private individuals producing such products as vegetables, fruits and honey. At the time of the writer’s visit, ...

International Consultants Chairman Ranjiv Goonawardena had kindly invited the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau to participate by showcasing the great opportunity that Sri Lanka has to offer, at the Islamic Real Estate Finance (IREF) Summit and Gala Dinner Awards Ceremony of which it was a sponsor. International Consultants sponsored for the second year the ninth ...

PARIS/NEW YORK (Reuters): Standard & Poor’s has warned it may carry out an unprecedented mass downgrade of euro zone countries, including Germany and France, if EU leaders fail to deliver a convincing agreement on how to solve the region’s debt crisis in a summit on Friday. The ratings warning sent markets reeling and drew a ...

Last week my phone beeped and the text message read ‘The Chairperson of the Security and Exchange Commission Indrani Sugathadasa had resigned citing reasons of values and principles for her resignation’. My mind went back to the time when this lady when she was the Board Director at EDB. Whenever tough decisions had be taken ...

IN 2010, the boost for Sri Lanka tourism was being named the top travel destination by the New York Times. As the dawn of 2012 emerges the plus point is being among the top six of National Geographic’s best global destinations. Upbeat on tourism, the Government is considering a target of 950,000 arrivals for 2012 ...

The Pathfinder Foundation, true to its name is ready to continue its quest for innovative, homegrown solutions, while benefiting from relevant international and regional collaboration. By the first quarter of 2012, the Pathfinder Foundation is planning to launch a few new initiatives i.e. ‘Towards Reconciliation and Development,’ ‘Track Two Initiative for Closer Economic and Othe...

Mere news of Presidential meeting with brokers boosts stock market Benchmark index ASI up near 4%, highest daily gain in 15 months Market’s value swellsby Rs. 79 b Second tier and speculative stocks first to rebound with retail play; blue chips gain moderately The mere news of President Mahinda Rajapaksa meeting brokers, as exclusively reported ...

After the recent Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India, critics found three new words for the acronym ‘CWG’ – Corruption, Waste and lack of Governance. The Chairman of the Indian National Olympic Committee, who was Chairman of the Organising Committee, is presently in Tihar Jail, in Delhi with many of his acolytes, on charges regarding ...

No unanimity on exchange rate movement A front page headline news item in this paper on last Saturday had reported on an apparent division of opinion between the two top policy makers of the country, namely the Treasury Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera and the Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal, on the depreciation of the ...

Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) last week in a statement said it was deeply concerned over the recent attempts by State authorities to arbitrarily block identified websites and the proposed compulsory registration of websites that publish content on Sri Lanka. On 5 November 2011, the Director General of the Department of Information required all websites ...

This is the week of Budget bashing for some and for others it is the week for inventing cute ways to meet the bashes. As is usual for most, it is looking at this all in the ‘what’s in it for me?’ mode. For some, it is also about ‘who said what’ and not ‘what’s ...

The Free Dictionary defines impunity as ‘exemption from punishment or loss or escape from fines’. In the context of the international law of human rights, it refers to the failure to bring perpetrators of human rights violations to justice and, as such, itself constitutes a denial of the victims’ right to justice and to bring ...

The news that five websites of an allegedly dubious nature have been banned in effect was followed by the Government’s rationale for its action, of which the Media Minister is the latest chorus bearer. The reasoning is that a plethora of unregulated websites had allegedly tarnished the good image of Sri Lanka, that some of ...

Following is a statement on the Expropriation Bill by UNP Deputy Leader Karu JayasuriyaThe might of numbers in Parliament steamrolled the plight of the private sector albeit the nation last week. Notwithstanding widespread protests, the Government has placed in the statute books the draconian Revival of Underperforming Enterprises and Underutilised Act. That 37 business enterprises, ...

All of the Commonwealth will today focus on the crucial vote for the host of 2018 Commonwealth Games with Sri Lankan contingent publicly and personally upbeat about candidate city Hambantota’s chances. Sri Lanka’s spirited southern port city Hambantota and Australia’s Gold Coast need minimum 36 votes out of 71 Commonwealth Games Associations at the CGF ...

PARIS (Reuters): France announced 65 billion euros of tax hikes and budget cuts over five years, as President Nicolas Sarkozy seeks to protect the country’s creditworthiness in financial markets without killing his chances of re-election in six months time.  The main goal was to protect a top-notch credit rating that allows France to fund itself ...

Sydney Morning Herald: The Sri Lankan city of Hambantota is appealing to the camaraderie of small Commonwealth nations to edge out the Gold Coast’s bid for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Bid teams from Sri Lanka and the Gold Coast are making their final pitches to Commonwealth Games Federation delegates on the Caribbean island of St ...

The European Union Heads of Mission yesterday called on the Government to ensure that the rights of the free media are respected. In a statement issued yesterday the EU Heads of Mission in Colombo pointed out that it considers freedom of press forms an integral part of any democratic system and therefore media should be ...

DNH Financial Ltd., is confident that investors can beat the bearish market provided a portfolio is built comprising most compelling companies in the ASPI not only based on macro-economic fundamentals but closely tied to local consumption dynamics. This assessment is contained in DNH’s weekly stock market review, excerpts of which are as follows. A flash ...

REUTERS (New Delhi): Rahul Gandhi is likely to succeed his mother and India’s most powerful politician Sonia Gandhi as Congress party chief in four to eight weeks, The Economic Times reported on Saturday, citing several unnamed party leaders and a government minister. While the party spokesmen denied any knowledge of the development and refused to ...

Discussion on the validity of non-military engagements of the military The war or internal armed conflict in the north and east is over; the Emergency is no more; but still the military is everywhere. The military is now engaged in peacetime police-work, whale watching, selling vegetables, agriculture, cleaning, constructions and many other non-military activities. Yet, ...