Category: Other
Tax Co-ordination
July 12, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka and India will sign an agreement to prevent double taxation and tax avoidance, minister Keheliya Rambukwelle said. Agreements signed between Sri Lanka and other countries provide reduced tax rates on dividends, interest and royalties. Sri Lanka’s cabinet had approved changes to an earlier draft following bilateral negotiations conducted […]
Press Laws
July 12, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will bring laws to make registration of news websites with with the state compulsory and charge annual renewal fees, information minister Keheliya Rambukwelle said. Police arrested several journalists and closed down two websites connected to Sri Lanka’s main opposition last month. Rights activists, media freedom organizations, the US […]
Sri Lanka urged to depoliticise tea estate wages
July 09, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka, one of the world™s largest tea exporters, has been urged to replace its ageing politicised wage structure with a productivity linked model, to sustain the viability of the centuries old brew. Trade unions, backed by ethnic minority political groups, prefer a fixed day™s wage instead of a productivity-linked […]
Sri Lanka owes 16 billion rupees to fertiliser importers
July 09, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka owes fertiliser importers some 16.0 billion rupees for purchasing fertiliser to be distributed among farmers growing a wide range of crops, a local fertiliser company said. Agri Expansion Weerasekara said the company was scouting for export opportunities and is investing 200 million rupees for its new agri-venture in […]
Lessons Learnt
July 04, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should implement several key measures contained in a report by a commission which studied lessons to be learnt from a recent civil war, some of which can be done without delay, a civil organization of professionals has said. Sri Lanka’s Organization of Professional Association, a civil society organization […]
Media Policing
June 30, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lankan police Friday shut down main two opposition websites and arrested nine employees, and the house of its editor has also been raided, media reports said. Some 17 journalists and media employees have been killed in Sri Lanka in the past decade, pro-opposition websites have been blocked and media […]
Sri Lanka bans exports of rice in new state intervention
June 29, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka said it had banned the export of rice amid a drought to ensure that the “country will have adequate rice stock at affordable prices”, in the latest in a series of ad hoc state interventions in agriculture. Sri Lanka only exports small volumes of rice targeting expatriates or […]
Equity Probe
June 29, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s main opposition will push for an independent investigation into stock purchases by a state managed fund of private citizens’ retirement money and officials would be also summoned to parliament, a legislator has said. Harsha de Silva, representing the main opposition United National Party said the EPF had bought […]
Public Petition
June 25, 2012 (LBO) – A former financial sector professional has written Sri Lanka’s main political parties to help citizens petition parliament over risks facing the island’s banking sector following report by Standard and Poor’s, a rating agency. S & P said Sri Lanka’s banks faced high economic risks and regulatory conflicts, particularly after a […]
Freedom Concerns
June 23, 2012 (LBO) – Friday Forum, a Sri Lankan citizens group has expressed concern over further deterioration of rule of law and religious freedom three years after a 30-year civil war ended. “Three years after the end of the war, we are deeply concerned about the continuing violent political culture, the deterioration of our […]
Millions of Bangladeshi apparel workers need bank accounts: IFC
June 22, 2012 (LBO) – International Finance Corporation, a member World Bank arm has said 86 percent of three million apparel sector workers in Bangladesh did not have bank accounts, potentially opening up a large new market for banks. “This report shows that there is a considerable opportunity in offering a range of financial services […]
No Sri Lankans among rescued from stricken refugee boat: foreign ministry
June 22, 2012 (LBO) – There were no Sri Lankans among more than 110 people rescued from a capsized refugee boat by Australian authorities, the foreign ministry said. Australian and Indonesian authorities are continuing to search for around 90 other still believed missing from the boat, the foreign ministry said. Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry said […]