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 ...

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 ...

Darshi Keertisena of Buddhi Batiks will showcase at the prestigious Russia Fashion Week, which is the largest fashion week of East Europe. This opportunity was part of the HSBC Colombo Fashion Week initiative. Moscow is one the biggest luxury markets in the world and it has a special

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 expects modest growth but no boom expectationsby Cheranka Mendis The tourism industry is looking at a 10-15% increase during the coming winter season although there will be no sell-out as earlier expected, according to industry experts. The season, which usually amounts to the highest number of arrivals each year, was initially expected to bring ...

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

By T. Farook Thajudeen A tea exporter who allegedly pirated the getup and the Bar Code of another tea dealer was restrained from trading or exporting tea or any other product under similar getup or Bar Code until 4 October by the Commercial High Court of Colombo. The complainants, Horanagamage Don Tenyson George, Ranasinghe Arachchige ...

The Mlesna Tea Centre at Majestic City was re-launched with a sophisticated and stylish new look recently. The Tea Centre now carries a wider range of premium quality tea for the benefit of tea lovers and connoisseurs of Sri Lanka as well as for overseas visitors. The much sought after Mlesna Tea Centre at Majestic ...

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

Exports volume to Middle East up but industry fears danger of price fluctuations towards year endBy Uditha Jayasinghe Brewing with mixed fortunes, tea exports have faced the Middle East unrest well, but future price fluctuations may pose challenges in the short term, say industry experts. Despite the challenges of the ongoing turmoil in the Middle ...

Establishing a landmark in Sri Lanka’s aviation history, SriLankan Airlines’ makes its maiden flight to the historic city of Moscow, commencing a twice-weekly scheduled service between Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) and Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport on 17 September 2011. Religious observances by dignitaries of the four religions in Sri Lanka will invoke bl...

The just concluded 21st FACETS Sri Lanka 2011 international gem and jewellery exhibition saw strong sales to foreign buyers ‘easily exceeding US $ 10 Million’ but the overall totals could be far higher. More than 7300 visitors attended the show of which more than 1300 were foreign visitors. The topmost preference for foreign buyers was ...

By Cheranka Mendis WSO2Con 2011, the much looked forward to, user conference for technology enthusiasts kicked off yesterday at the Water’s Edge, promising three days tech-savvy interaction to more than 250 participants from all over the world. With over 40 sessions planned out with speakers from 10 countries alongside local speakers and participants, the conference ...

The gem mining sub-sector grew by 7.9% in 2010. The gem and jewellery exports too reported 1.56% positive growth in 2010. Even in the first-half of 2011, increased earnings from mineral exports were led by higher exports of gems which increased by 35.5% in the first half of 2011, according to the Central Bank. The ...

This is a headline article of Khaleej Times – one of the most prominent and leading newspapers in the United Arab Emirates.  According to the news item 350milion population in the Arab World is in need of 160,000 doctors.  In the UAE out of the population 80% are expatriates mainly from South Asia.   The ...

SRI Lanka’s medical sphere is about to get sick again. The current standoff between the government and doctors over the Malabe Medical College has reached serious proportions. On Wednesday the strike action led to the doctors demanding that the gazette notification empowering the medical college to award degrees be withdrawn by the Health Ministry unless ...

Despite crises in most world markets, the Government yesterday remained upbeat on prospects for Sri Lanka’s exports which have grown by 35% so far to reach $ 5 billion giving optimism that end 2011 figure would top $ 10 billion. “On the back of 21% growth in exports in 2010, current year’s exports have grown ...

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 ...

Now Sri Lanka is enjoying the dividends of peace. The growth of the tourism sector can be witnessed. This is more important for economic growth since the country always depends on garments as well as traditional exports like tea. Especially for products like garments, we have to import the materials from overseas. So the net ...

It’s strange how the innovations of the world tend to wrap around our daily life. One of them is the brand Facebook. I have been trying to locate a friend of mine for the last 12 years and failed, until I used a modern IT application like FB and today I realise the power of ...

Eshana De Silva, the Chairman of the Esna Group of Companies and Shermans Logistics has been officially appointed as the Honorary Consul to Kazakhstan. De Silva is also a Director of Pan Asia Bank, Mc Marine and functions as a board member of the Board of Investment (BOI) and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA). ...

Move in partnership with Huichen Group inspired by Mahinda’s recent State visit to BeijingHVA Foods Ltd. has launched a unique ‘Infinity – President’ tea range in China in association with its partner there inspired by President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s recent State visit to Beijing. During the President’s recent visit to China, he made a special stop ...

By Marianne David Warm, welcoming and exuding good cheer, the Cinnamon Lakeside’s newest General Manager Denis Gruhier perfectly fits into the best qualities the hospitable hotel is well-known for and his affirmation of Sri Lanka’s optimistic post-war outlook for tourism in particular and the country in general is welcoming news indeed. Having joined the Lakeside ...

Sri Lanka’s exports to all key markets grew in the first half of 2011 helped by the improved global economic conditions. The highest exports growth was seen in exports to Singapore which reported a 74% growth in comparison to the first half of 2010, says the latest Report on Export Sector Performance for the first ...

Sri Lanka fails to find funding; project cost now at $2 bln Talks with Russia, S.Korea to double refinery capacity COLOMBO  (Reuters): Sri Lanka is eyeing at least $2 billion in foreign investment to double the capacity of its sole decades-old oil refinery, after the island nation was unable

Munich: The BMW Group continued on its successful course as the world’s leading premium car company once again in July with an increase of 7.6% in sales. A total of 129,094 (prev. yr. 119,992) BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brand automobiles were sold worldwide last month. Over the past seven months the number of deliveries climbed ...

Combined publicity programme The Government’s plan to formulate a combined publicity programme to build a unified brand for Sri Lanka tourism is well timed and one of the brilliant steps taken in the right direction. It is noted that the project is to be named Tourism Promotion Programme (TPP). Currently Sri Lanka is at the ...