By Uditha Jayasinghe Brewed by external demand reductions and local policies, Sri Lanka’s value-added tea exports are declining while bulk shipments are increasing, resulting in a possible drop in earnings, industry experts warned yesterday.  Terming the reduction in value-added tea as a “disturbing trend,” Asia Siyaka Commodities said in a review report that Sri Lanka’...

In the latest figures available, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) last week reported that the preliminary figures for international visitor arrivals into Asia/Pacific destinations1 for July 2011 show a year-on-year increase of 7%. Director of the PATA Strategic Intelligence Centre John Koldowski PATA’s Strategic Intelligence Centre notes that the growth rate has become more ...

In the previous two ‘My Views,’ the following five popular fallacies of appreciating the exchange rate were discussed: Fallacy One: A Government can fix the exchange rate at any level it wishes. Fallacy Two: An appreciated exchange rate is a symbol of a country’s strength and prestige. Fallacy Three: The appreciation of the exchange rate ...

President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressing the recent sessions of the UN General Assembly made a plea for ‘justice’ for his country, as most pleaders for Third World countries usually do, at international fora. ‘The might of powerful nations cannot prevail against justice and fairplay’, he declared. President Rajapaksa, being a lawyer, may have deliberately ignored the ...

By Uditha Jayasinghe High on its recent UN success, Sri Lanka is already preparing for fresh contentions on human rights and political reconciliation issues at the next UN Human Rights Council General Meeting scheduled for March 2012, a top Government Minister said yesterday. Plantations Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, who headed the special team to the UNHRC ...

WHEN one hurdle is cleared, another appears on the horizon. Sri Lanka’s recent success at the United Nations General Assembly and UNHRC sessions does not mean that its vulnerability for international intervention is over. This much was acknowledged by Plantations Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe who headed the Government team at the UNHRC. In fact the Sri ...

LONDON(Reuters): World stock markets will recover next year from a nightmarish 2011 that has wiped trillions of dollars off share prices, according to a Reuters poll that showed almost all major stock indexes ending 2011 in the red. Darkening economic prospects and fears the euro zone debt crisis will unravel into financial catastrophe sent global ...

Justice and fair-play is paramount Justice and fair-play are of paramount importance to all members of the world family consisting of 193 nations expecting justice and fair-play equally. It is the principle on which the United Nations was established in place of the less-effective League of Nations, in order to settle differences among nations based ...

Mismanagement in sports administrationThe role of oligarchs in sports administration, national, regional and international, is not solely a South Asian phenomenon, it is a worldwide cancer. Anyone who has worked in the sports sector in South Asia would have come up against this debilitating factor. It is all pervasive and endemic. Once at a South ...

Industry wants promotions in Russia and Far East to fill vacuum from recession-hit West Demand from Middle Eastern markets, which accounts for 55% of tea exports, is still low, according to a report released by a broker recently. The Lanka Commodity Brokers tea market report noted that demand from Middle Eastern countries for Colombo Tea ...

By Cheranka Mendis Tapping into the high-end tourism market Russia would help boost tourism numbers in large volumes and drive the industry to surpass the expected arrivals of 750,000 by the end of the year to over 800,000. SriLankan Airlines yesterday made its first direct flight to Moscow, the financial and political centre of Russia. ...

Time.com: Aboard the Man Gyong Bong, fresh coffee is served, along with dried fish and local beer. Karaoke parties pep the night life. That said, turn on a faucet and there’s usually no water – and cabins are more like dormitories. Welcome to North Korea’s first cruise ship. If all goes according to the plans ...

Developing countries, having recovered pre-crisis growth trends, could now be affected by recession in developed economiesEconomic recovery may come to an end in developed economies because private domestic demand remains weak and supportive macroeconomic policies are being replaced by austerity measures as governments try to regain the confidence of the financial markets. By contrast, developing ...

The Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) has launched a new campaign with a budget of 19 million euros ($26.7 million) designed to boost international tourism to Cyprus this year. According to Alecos Orountiotis, CTO chairman, the “Cyprus in Your Heart” campaign will promote Cyprus’ history and culture, friendliness and hospitality, its mix of modern and contemporary ...

(Reuters) – Group of Eight finance chiefs pledged $38 billion on Saturday in financing to Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Jordan over 2011-13, widening a deal agreed in May and offering Libya the chance to partake too. The IMF promised a further $35 billion in funding to countries affected by Arab Spring uprisings and formally recognised ...

WASHINGTON, D.C: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s decision last week to lift the country’s 28-year-old state of emergency will likely further endear him to a public that almost universally supports him. It may also potentially ease some of the international pressure the country is under over its human rights record. More than 9 in 10 ...

Reuters: England piled more misery on India with a thrilling six-wicket victory in a one-off Twenty20 match at Old Trafford on Wednesday. After losing the test series 4-0, India started brightly in the shortest version of the game and racked up 165 all out, only to see England reach their target with three balls to ...

Italian oil company Eni led the charge back into Libya on Monday as rebels hailing the end of Muammar Gadaffi’s rule warned Russian and Chinese firms that they may lose out on lucrative oil contracts for failing to support the rebellion. Gadaffi’s fall will reopen the doors to Africa’s largest oil reserves and give new ...

A son of Muammar Gaddafi, previously reported captured, made a surprise appearance with jubilant supporters in Tripoli overnight, urging loyalists to fight off rebels who say they control most of the Libyan capital. Saif al-Islam, seen as his father’s chosen successor, visited the Tripoli hotel where foreign journalists are staying to declare that the government ...

Hatton National Bank plc (HNB), the only local bank to be a member of the Asian Bankers’ Association (ABA), reaped the dividends of this relationship at the height of the Great Recession which hit the world four years ago. Rajendra Theagarajah, HNB’s Managing Director/CEO and the incumbent ABA Chairman told reporters on Wednesday that his ...

By S. V. Kirubaharan - in France Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies.” — Julius Henry, Groucho Marx, American comedian and film star (1890-1977). When life is smooth and everything goes in the right direction, normal civilians can become President, Prime Minister ...

By Tisaranee Gunasekara “For both Prabhakaran’s war of national liberation and Rajapaksa’s war for national sovereignty, one unstated motive assumed the greatest significance – the entrenchment of unchallenged personal power”. UTHR-J (Special Report No 34 – 13.12.2009) Sri Lanka is to buy 14 Mi-171 military helicopters from Russia, two+ years after the war was won. ...

By an Independent Analyst The State Assembly of Tamil Nadu (TN) passed a resolution on 8 June 2011, requesting the Indian Central Government to push the international community against Sri Lanka towards imposition of ‘economic sanctions’.  The resolution at the TN assembly moved by Jayalalitha as the Chief Minister passed unanimously with the ruling party ...

A queue of a different type Last Sunday when the sun was shining hot and bright in the western sky, thousands of youth — almost all were boys — had assembled themselves with backpacks still hanging on their backs, along the wrought iron fence of a park in Colombo ready for an overnight stay there. ...

Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has said that it is not the international community but only few countries who are calling for a probe on the final stages of the war in the country. He also stated that Sri Lanka is a sovereign country, and they have done nothing wrong in the humanitarian operation. Speaking to ...

By Dushy Ranetunge in London The Sinhalese and Tamil Diaspora periodically launch protests in their host countries galvanised by events that affect their particular tribe. Often they are financed, organised or encouraged by their political formations. The ones perceived as “Tamil” protests are often organised/encouraged by the LTTE or organisations which are affiliated/sympathetic to the Tamil ...

Interpol supposed to chase criminals across borders is being used by some countries including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Iran, Russia and Venezuela to punish political dissenters and opponents, a new investigation done by a Washington-based journalists’ consortium claims.

Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Russia Udayanga Weeratunga says the invitation extended to President Rajapaksa to participate in the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg is an honour bestowed on Sri Lanka.Ambassador Weeratunge said the President’s arrival is of great significance due to the under-estimations made by certain countries. Among the main countries participating in this ...

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to leave for Russia on tomorrow (14) to attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and meet with Russian leaders in Moscow. The media has reported that during his meeting with the political leaders, the President would seek Moscow’s support for Sri Lanka. Rajapaksa is reportedly scheduled to have one-on-one talks ...

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will request Russia and China to urge the Sri Lankan government to work out a long lasting political solution to the national question, parliamentarian and...