Sri Lanka will continue Iran crude, but will have to reduce Sri Lanka indirectly penalised by US sanction – Basil Reuters: Sri Lanka could trim Iran crude imports up to 20 per cent in the face of US sanctions, the island nation’s economic development minister said on Tuesday as it had taken strong measures to ...

Sees the series of abductions as the undisclosed state policy of the Government to suppress dissent Conveners of the Lawyers for Democracy (LfD) Lal Wijenayaka and J.C. Weliamuna yesterday issued a statement on the abductions of Premakumar Gunarathna​m and Dimuthu Attygala which it described as a continuation of State Policy on suppression​n. Continuing with its ...

It is more than two years since the 30-year war with the LTTE was brought to a successful conclusion.  The LTTE has been militarily decimated. The domestic political landscape of Sri Lanka saw a drastic change resulting in political purges and the fragmentation of political parties. Ideologies of political parties have undergone tremendous changes owing ...

It is that time of the year when National Sports Associations traditionally resort to their annual merry-go-round. A time to take stock and launch their team for the next term; a time also for back scratching or stabbing, whichever is convenient or professionally justifiable! The bandwagon is the important vehicle and keeping it intact and ...

YANGON (Reuters): Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been invited to make her debut in parliament in two weeks, her party said on Monday, following a historic landslide victory for her and other party members in by-elections. Party spokesman Nyan Win said Suu Kyi and 36 other National League for Democracy (NLD) candidates ...

Professor Buddhadasa Hewavitharana felicitated The legendary Economics Guru of Peradeniya vintage for more than four decades, Emeritus Professor of Economics Buddhadasa Hewavitharana, was felicitated last week by the country’s top policy think-tank, Institute of Policy Studies or IPS and the Department of Economics and Statistics of the University of Peradeniya by releasing simultaneously tw...

 Singaporean bakery boutique franchise BreadTalk opens in Sri Lanka By Cheranka Mendis Singapore boutique bakery chain, BreadTalk yesterday launched its service in Sri Lanka with an investment of Rs. 400 million, opening the largest boutique bakery in its international portfolio.   At the opening of BreadTalk outlet in Sri Lanka with chefs from left Director ...

The Daily FT on Thursday featured on page 1 a story based on some startling comments and allegations by UNP MP Dr. Harsha De Silva and young business leader Dilith Jayaweera. The headlines and the contents wouldn’t have been a good read for President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is also the Minister of Finance and Planning, ...

The challenges Sri Lanka has to face in its march towards development are manifold. Although the war has ended the wrong political ideologies, the proposals and timetables it created are still in operation. By Government Information Department Additional Director General Chandrapala Liyanage Similarly, various social activity groups and individuals and organisations operating under the advice ...

By Ian Paisley The Sri Lankan Parliament has begun debating the resolution from the UN Human Rights Council urging Sri Lanka to conduct an investigation into alleged war crimes committed during its battle against Tamil Tiger separatists in 2009. On hearing of the UN passing the resolution the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, immediately ...

UNP MP Dr. Harsha de Silva yesterday charged that the Government and the Central Bank seriously lacked credibility, whilst the people were being taken for a ride with falsehood. He alleged that a few months ago the Government, especially the Central Bank, was hoodwinking the masses saying the economy was robust and fiscal and monetary ...

COLOMBO (Reuters): Sri Lanka’s central bank will have room to raise interest rates by at least another 50 basis points if April trade and inflation data show signs of stabilizing, the treasury secretary said on Wednesday. “Since we have already raised policy rates by half a percent (in February), maybe another 50 basis points upward ...

Parliamentary accountability The Parliament, as the country’s foremost representative institution, has the sole authority over national resources and financial allocations and concurrently has a prominent role to play in fiscal responsibility, the budgetary process, economic development and effective transparent economic and financial management, with a view to assuring sustainable growth an...

The quadrennial conference of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is due to take place in Qatar from April 25th to 28th. The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Development-led globalisation: Towards sustainable and inclusive development paths’. UNCTAD was established in 1964 as a permanent intergovernmental body dealing with trade, investment and ...

‘Small is Beautiful’ is the title of the famous book authored by E.F. “Fritz” Schumacher, which was at one time rated among the 100 most influential books to come out after World War II (by the Times Literary Supplement). It was 100 years ago that Fritz Schumacher was born in Bonn, Germany, on 16 August ...

The rupee gained 1.7 per cent on Tuesday as exporters sold dollars after the International Monetary Fund approved thedisbursement of a long-delayed loan tranche of $ 426.8 million to the Government. The rupee strengthened to 126.00/126.30 a dollar from Monday’s close of 128.25/128.30. Dealers said the currency strengthened to 125.60 some importer dollar demand curbed ...

The UNP and the robber barons When the UNP came to power in 1977, it had a massive mandate to implement economic policies at will, irrespective of whether it benefited the country or not. Its main objective was to open up the economic sluice gates which had been closed for years by the United Front ...

The sports minister in Sri Lanka has vowed to continue bidding for more international sporting events despite the failure to secure 2018 Commonwealth Games in Hambantota. Sri Lanka lost to Australia’s Gold Coast in Saint Kitts last year, after a lengthy bidding process spending Rs. 880 million. But Sports Minister Mahindananada Aluthgamage told BBC Sinhala ...

While the government is fully capable of dealing with any pressures that come from Geneva, New York or Washington, it is the public servants and heads of corporations who should ensure good governance to improve the image of the country internationally, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Addressing a gathering of public servants, heads of state corporations, ...

Tiger Airways is preparing to launch flights between Singapore and Colombo; its first destination in Sri Lanka and its seventh in its growing network of destinations in South Asia. Tiger Airways from May will fly three times a week to Colombo when the service commences – on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. The airline made available ...

Sri Lanka is to get a $ 400 million lifeline following what is anticipated as a favourable decision on the part of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF Board was scheduled to meet Monday evening Washington Time, and its Resident Representative Koshy Mathai is scheduled to hold a briefing today in Colombo at 2.00 ...

YANGON(Reuters): Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi claimed on Monday a by-election landslide for her party, which she hoped would mark the beginning of a new era for Myanmar after a historic vote that could prompt the West to end sanctions. The charismatic Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who led the struggle against ...

Let’s accept it, Sri Lanka made a statement to the world that we are open for business with Expo 2012, even though it had its limitations like the faulty air conditioner at the launch that grabbed media attention. Whilst some can say that the shine was taken off the event due to the very uncomfortable ...

The Secretary of Defence and Urban Development Gotabaya Rajapaksa was invited as a Guest of the Government of Japan in order to interact with the key political leaders, senior technocrats and cabinet ministers. Secretary Rajapaksa, on the day before he left to Colombo, met Minister of Education, Culture, Sports , Science and Technology Hirofumi Hirano; ...

By Kanwal Sibal Daily Mail, UK: Many arguments can be made against our decision to vote against Sri Lanka in the Human Rights Council in Geneva, a decision highly questionable from the foreign policy point of view. Domestic compulsions seem to have outweighed foreign policy considerations in this case. India and the West have been ...

By Firdous Syed DNA India: There seems to be no moral justification behind the United States-sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council. The massacre of ‘40,000 civilians’ and continued persecution of Tamils is a fit case for international censure; even an international intervention could be justified. That the US, motivated, or ...

“So, where do we begin? As the saying goes, the first thing to do when you find yourself in a hole is to stop digging. A national reform process is the only way to out-run international encirclement” – Ambassador Dayan Jayatilake It is unfortunate that Sri Lanka was hammered at the UNHRC session over the ...

By Cheranka Mendis While Sri Lanka’s largest mega trade, investment and tourism promotion initiative ‘Expo 2012’ has been welcomed by stakeholders as a timely affair, stallholders shared mixed feelings on the order of the show. Some were elated having received inquires just two days into the event, while others expressed disappointment with regard to the ...

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children, as the Native American proverb goes. It is with this philosophy in mind that Jetwing Hotels will be participating in the Earth Hour campaign on 31 March. Jetwing will be the first Sri Lankan hotel chain to do so and ...

By Cheranka Mendis Even if the status of the world economy seems to have found a rather fragile equilibrium with Europe over the past six weeks, the world is no closer to being immune from the risks that have cropped up as a result of the European and USA led recession and changes in world ...