Category: Opinion
Opinion: The truth about Geneva Human Rights Council Resolution
By Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera During the past few weeks, I have been watching the many headlines, debates, misinformation, misrepresentation of facts as well as self-congratulatory statements by some members of the delegation that went to Geneva to participate in the 40th session of the Human Rights Council where the High Commissioner for Human Rights […]
Small Northern Businesses Struggle for Funding
By Jekhan Aruliah There is an old joke: “The fastest way to become a millionaire is to be a billionaire and buy an airline”. The airline will lose money so fast the billionaire will see his fortune quickly destroyed. We need look no further than our own Sri Lankan national carrier’s capacity to lose money to […]
‘s criticisms of $ 2.4bn bond offering undermine CBSL
March 22, 2019 (LBO) – Former Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) during the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration, Ajith Nivard Cabraal, has come out with criticisms of the pricing and interest rates on debt that came out of the recent sovereign bond offering. His contention that somehow the interest rates were abnormally high […]
Opinion: As Racial and Religious Intolerance Raises Its Ugly Head
By Sanjeewa Fernando As the United Nations gear up to celebrate the International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination, or Anti-racism day, as it is commonly and conveniently referred to, on 21st of March, that is today, the entire civilized world finds itself reeling from the gruesome mass murder that took place at two mosques […]
Are we doing enough to increase political participation of women and youth in Sri Lanka?
Mar 19, 2019 (LBO) – The political participation of women and youth is an important subject that came to the fore during the previous election. According to data from National Human Development Report for Sri Lanka (NHDR) although 71.5 percent of youth in Sri Lanka exercise their right to vote, only a small fraction is directly […]
‘s banks aggressively raising capital without adequate disclosure?
March 17, 2019 (LBO) – Banking institutions over the last few months seem to be making an aggressive push to raise capital through rights and debenture issues. Almost all banks in Sri Lanka are in the midst of some capital raising exercise. LBO has reported extensively on the subject of rights issues in the following […]
Opinion: Policing the Police – challenge for the newly facelifted Police Commission
By Sanjeewa Fernando Some say that the Police has gone to the dogs. Without being so harsh, yet being realistic, we would euphemistically admit that some dogs have got into the Police force. They are wreaking havoc, abusing power, desecrating the hallowed police uniform, wagging a tail at politicos and making people lose their trust in […]
Jaffna’s Emerging Women Entrepreneurs
By Jekhan Aruliah Jaruza Jayachandran states with no embarrassment that she didn’t do well at school. When she used to go for parent-teacher meetings at one of Jaffna’s leading schools, Vembadi Girls High School, Jaruza’s mother would ask to be warned which teachers would be complaining. Now that young girl who says she failed to […]
Managing fiscal deficits can increase investments in health & education in Sri Lanka
FEATURE: Managing fiscal deficits can increase investments in health and education in Sri Lanka What happens when a population pyramid no longer resembles a pyramid so much as a rectangle? Sri Lanka is confronting a profound demographic shift, due to falling fertility rates and rising life expectancy. The base of the population pyramid – consisting […]
Opinion: Sri Lanka’s Quest for a Rules-based Indian Ocean
February 6, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Quest for A Rules-based Indian Ocean Dr. Ganeshan Wignaraja and Dr. Dinusha Panditaratne* The evolution of Sri Lanka’s foreign policy since the election of a unity government on 8 January 2015 merits interest. Changes include the country’s engagement with a wider range of international partners, as well as […]
From Toronto to Toddy, a Jaffna Entrepreneur’s Journey
By Jekhan Aruliah When it comes to investment in the North there is far more talk than there is action. A rare example of action is Suganthan Shanmuganathan. Having fled the Sri Lankan Civil War 25 years ago as a teenage schoolboy, Suganthan came back to Jaffna from Canada in 2014 with his wife and […]
Opinion: Why it’s important that Facebook remain free
By Mark Zuckerberg Next month, Facebook turns 15. When I started Facebook, I wasn’t trying to build a global company. Back then, I realized you could find almost anything on the internet — music, books, information — except for the thing that matters most: people. So I built a service that people could use to connect […]