Other SectorsLLRC was for reconciliation, not to create divisions – President Rajapaksa
We cannot allow this report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) appointed to bring about reconciliation among people to be used to create divisions among people.
Dilmah’s Malik responds to Willie Weerasekera’s Pure Ceylon Tea or Tea hub?
Following is the response from Dlimah Tea Director Malik J. Fernando to Willie Weerasekera’s article ‘Pure Ceylon Tea’ or ‘tea hub’? The billion dollar question published last Friday in Daily FT.
The writer speaks sense when he says “the million-dollar question is therefore much more than ‘Ceylon Tea’ or ‘tea hub’ – It is: How do we formulate a sustainable competitive future for the Sri Lanka tea industry?”
The tea industry has no strategy. There is little linkage between tea producers and exporters. Everything is reactive like the current tea import story. Meantime we run out of markets. 60% of teas are exported to just five countries. Ceylon Tea and Sri Lankan brands are virtually absent in sophisticated markets.
Hameedia now dresses third generation grooms
Sri Lanka’s leading menswear specialist, Hameedia, today prides itself in dressing third generation grooms. From the simple tailoring establishment which opened its doors in 1949, Hameedia has evolved over the years to occupy top slot as the country’s most sought after grooming specialist. This isn’t confined to grooms alone, but encompasses the entire gamut of men’s grooming for any and all occasions.
Marking this watershed in its journey through men’s fashion and grooming, Hameedia celebrates June – the month of weddings – with a novel campaign which encompasses the essence of sartorial elegance.
Italy vies for fashion medal with Armani suits
Reuters: Will Italians be the best-dressed squad of the London 2012 Olympic Games?
The Italy team is pinning its hopes of striking gold in the style stakes on fashion guru Giorgio Armani, and his 50-piece Olympic collection.
Yet, prevailing in the fashion arena may be just as hard as winning medals on the running track given the competition from rivals such as US designer Ralph Lauren and Britain’s Stella McCartney, who have created stylish kits for their respective national teams.
AOD fashion alumni Mario managing design nucleus at MAS Active Nirmaana
Design is a professional pathway that offers more choices than most conventional careers. As it becomes more and more important to the industrial world, the design sector has expanded to include new creative careers. Mario Sittampalam who graduated as a fashion designer from AOD, is a designer who transformed his life by leading the way in a new creative career. Combining the use of his formal fashion education at AOD with his natural skills in leadership Mario is currently the Manager Design and Development at MAS Active Nirmaana Ltd.
Triumph inspires up and coming designers through Dragons and Butterflies
Triumph, one of the world’s leading lingerie and shape-wear brands, challenges young students from all over the world with the fifth Triumph Inspiration Award, the industry’s leading design contest in lingerie. The national preliminary workshop for all Sri Lankan participants was held on 2 April at the Galle Face Hotel. The national finals will be held on 25 May in the presence of a renowned jury of fashion, design and media.
Roger Federer awarded ‘Men in Black’ suit by Will Smith after winning Madrid
Roger Federer won his 20th Masters 1000 title with his 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory over Tomas Berdych at the Madrid Open. And, yes, it was his 45th win in his last 48 matches, gave him seven titles in his last 10 events, made him the first player to ever win at least 10 championships on each major surface and earned him that bizarre Ion Tiriac trophy.
Moscow show recalls fashion behind the Iron Curtain
Reuters: A sweeping new Moscow fashion exhibit illustrates the evolution of Soviet couture behind the Iron Curtain from the post World War One era to Perestroika.
“Fashion behind the Iron Curtain” at the 16th-century Tsaritsyno estate on Moscow’s outskirts spans seven decades of female coquetry, describing how Soviet women made do with silk night gowns for theatre, acquired designer items and scrounged for fabric to satisfy a hunger for style in spite of shortages.
The retrospective offers glimpses of the sophisticated, Western-inspired dress of the Communist-era elite.
Maximising the benefits from Chinese funding
Lessons from Latin America
Sri Lanka has recently mobilised very substantial loans from China to fund large infrastructure projects (e.g. the Norochcholai power station and the Hambantota Port). It would, therefore, be useful to understand better the manner in which the Chinese authorities administer their foreign loan programs.
Mahaveli waters: Power and irrigation conflict
The Mahaveli Development Project was planned in the late 1960s as a multi-purpose project to provide water for irrigation and for enhancing 
hydropower generation. At that time the politicians boasted of exporting electrical power to India.
Implementation of the project on a 30-year programme commenced in the early 1970s under the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Government, as the ‘Diversion of Mahaveli Waters to North’. She was able to complete Polgolla Diversion, Ukuwela Power House, Bowatenna Tunnel and Power House, improvement of Kalawewa and associated works.
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