Category: Special Reports
Austrian banks grant Rs2.7bn interest free loans for university & health sectors
May 24, 2018 (LBO) – Two Austrian banks have provided over 2.7 billion rupees worth interest free loans for health sector development and to improve university medical facilities, the Finance Ministry said. The Erste Bank of Austria has provided EUR 9.5 million (approximately SLR 1,810 million) interest free credit facility to enhance the access to […]
Johann Peries successfully summits Mount Everest
May 22, 2018 (LBO) – Johann Peries has summited Mount Everest today becoming the second Sri Lankan to summit Everest after Jayanthi Kuru Utumpala in 2016. PR & Media Consultant Kumar de Silva said in a Twitter post that after having summitted Mount Everest at 5.55 AM Nepal time today, Johann Peries has now begun […]
World Bank approves USD100Mn to help Sri Lanka modernize education system
Apr 27, 2018 (LBO) – World Bank Board of Executive Directors on Thursday approved a 100 million US dollars credit to support Sri Lanka’s efforts to strengthen and modernize its education system. The General Education Modernization Project (GEM) will modernize and diversify the curriculum of general education in keeping with the transformation taking place in […]
New Social Registry MIS to reduce welfare cost in Sri Lanka
Apr 24, 2018 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s newly developed Social Registry – Management Information System (MIS) is expected to reduce the welfare cost of the government by eliminating the duplication of beneficiaries. Releasing a statement, Policy Development Office said this new system will also be beneficial to the policy makers in developing evidence-based policies for […]
Sri Lanka to lead Commonwealth Centre for Digital Health
Apr 20, 2018 (LBO) – Commonwealth Centre for Digital Health will be Launched in London Today at the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2018. The Centre was proposed by Prof. Vajira Dissanayake of the University of Colombo in 2016 and incorporated into a Commonwealth Policy Brief on Digital Systems for One health approved […]
EU to turn on new law amidst Facebook, YouTube criticized for data misuse
Apr 10, 2018 (LBO) – European Union’s wide data protection instrument, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will become directly applicable on 25 May 2018, two years after its adoption and entry into force. On 6 April 2016, the EU agreed to a major reform of its data protection framework, by adopting the data protection […]
US–China trade war escalates as China imposes tariffs on US goods
Apr 02, 2018 (LBO) – China has suspended tariff concessions on 128 items of U.S. products including pork and fruits starting Monday, Country’s Finance Ministry said. China’s Finance Ministry said in a statement that the measure was taken in order to safeguard China’s interests and balance the losses caused by the United States. “China’s advocacy […]
Sri Lanka up four notches in World happiness ranking
Mar 15, 2018 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has moved up to 116 position with a score of 4.471 from 120 in the World Happiness Report 2018. The report ranks 156 countries by their happiness levels, and 117 countries by the happiness of their immigrants. The island was also ranked 43rd in the sub-category of best […]
Elon Musk starts SpaceX mission to provide broadband from satellites
Feb 23, 2018 (LBO) – SpaceX made history yet again with the successful deployment of first two Starlink global internet demo satellites to orbit, opening a new generation of satellite technologies that will provide broadband services.Starlink is a satellite constellation development project underway by SpaceX. On Thursday, Falcon 9 launched the two demo satellites called […]
Sri Lanka up 4 notches to 91 on Corruption index
Feb 23, 2018 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has moved up four places to 91st from 95th, in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2017 released by Transparency International with the island failing to show significant improvement. The index ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption. This year, New Zealand and Denmark rank highest […]
Opinion: Cabinet decision to ban women from buying liquor is unconstitutional
By Verité Research Women are permitted to purchase liquor. On 10 January 2018, the Minister of Finance and Mass Media issued Excise Notification No. 02/2018 under the Excise Ordinance, No. 8 of 1912 (as amended). The new Notification amends Excise Notification No. 666 of 31 December 1979, and removes the ban on the sale of liquor […]
CMPort pays 2nd tranche of USD97.3mn in Hambantota Port investment
China Merchant Port Holdings (CMPort) made the payment of US$ 97.365million to the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) as the second tranche of its investment in the Public-Private Partnership (PPP). The payment, recently in January, takes the total paid by CMPort to date to US$ 389.462 million. The final payment is paid within six months […]