OPINIONSri Lanka sports: Mired between power plots and honey pots!
At long last a renewed National Sports Policy (NSP) was presented to Parliament last week and will no doubt shortly transform into the latest legislation for sport in our sunny isle.
Tea without tears
The hub and the pledge
The recent Government pledge voiced by none other than the Secretary to the Treasury to protect ‘Pure Ceylon Tea’ is laudable and reassuring. It is the
popular and patriotic view held by the vast majority of Sri Lankans who are extremely proud of the tea we produce in our country and the ‘Pure Ceylon Tea’ label. A much lesser number of people, however, have been directly associated with the different aspects and sectors of the tea industry and trade, both locally and internationally, and it is from this group that the persistent view has been emanating that the interests of the country in terms of value to be derived from our tea is best derived by opening up our country as a tea hub; the objective of a hub being to blend teas of other origins (not low quality teas) with our own teas to be able to compete with tea products being marketed in the super- and hyper-market shelves in the modern trade channels of the world.
Sri Lanka ‘accountable to UN on human rights standards’
COLOMBO (IDN): The resolution on reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka adopted at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on 22 March by a vote of 24 to 15 is a legitimate exercise by the international community and not an act of unwarranted external interference in Sri Lanka’s internal Affairs, says Sri Lanka’s Friday Forum in a recent public statement.
IMF MD calls for anchoring stability to sustain higher and better growth
Restoring solid, sustained and balanced growth is the central economic challenge facing the world today, said Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), emphasising the importance of well paced, country-specific credible fiscal adjustment combined with reforms aimed at increasing growth and jobs.
An LP-free zone?
Still recovering from decades of civil war, Sri Lanka has attracted some private equity interest but firms have found it hard to rally LP support for the country
PE Asia: Sri Lanka’s golden sandy beaches lie not 50 kilometres from India’s closest point, but the distance between the two countries’ private equity markets is vast.
Chandra J. writes to SEC Chairman on NSB-TFC ransaction
Mr. Thilak Karunarathne
Chairman,
Securities Exchange Commission,Colombo.
Dear Sir,
Re: SEC inquiry connected with the stock exchange transaction where the National Savings Bank acquired shares of The Finance Company
I wish to hail your expressed commitments to initiate with urgency a comprehensive inquiry connected with the stock exchange transaction where the National Savings Bank acquired shares of The Finance Company, all as broadcast over the MTV Channel 1 News.
Breakdown of economic governance
It is very tragic that Sri Lanka may lose the confidence of the business world both locally and internationally courtesy of the Government-appointed nominees of the State. I like to highlight just two such incidents with no bias.
Some questions for US Ambassador Patricia Butenis
I observed a recent letter written by Patricia Butenis, the US Ambassador in Colombo, where she calls herself a friend of the people and Government of Sri Lanka, and says the US is keen to achieve freedom in Sri Lanka, and around the world. I presume then, that the freedom that she talks about includes the freedom in the USA as well and therefore, I wish to pose a few questions to her.
Sri lanka’s peace dividend
I first visited Sri Lanka in 1997, shortly after a rebel bombing of the central bank headquarters had thrown the financial system into chaos. Military checkpoints made travelling around the capital city of Colombo rather punishing, but the overwhelming impression was of an utterly charming island and talented people trapped inside a seemingly endless civil war.
Aid effectiveness debate in Busan
By Saman Kelegama
New deal from Busan?
The 4th High Level Forum (HLF) on Aid Effectiveness in Busan which took place during 29 November to 1 December 2011 came out with a New Deal for Engagement of Fragile States – a somewhat novel document of aid architecture that provides fragile states a stronger role in their destiny.
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