by Sanath Nanayakkare in The Island, May 11, 2023State Minister of Defence Premitha Bandara Tennakoon said on Tuesday that Sri Lanka Navy will undertake the task of mapping out an essential map for safe marine navigation for ocean-going ships sailing in Sri Lankan waters. “Many countries require merchant ships to have these maps on board for safe navigation when they have entered a specific country’s waters wherever the ships’ destination may be and pay for…
Posts tagged as “Sri Lanka”
report in ECONOMYNEXT, May 14, 2023 at 5:21 pm– Thousands of heavily armed troops and elite commandos were deployed Sri Lanka’s capital following a false alarm based on an unusually large lunch order at the Colombo university, top security sources said Sunday. Panic-stricken police chiefs of the Western province mobilised special Task Force Commandos, riot squads and contingents of women constables to deal with what they believed was another uprising led by undergraduates. “Intelligence units…
EDITORIAL in The Island, May 3, 2023China has manoeuvred astutely to overshadow the IMF in Sri Lanka. It is never tired of waiting until the time is opportune for action. When Sri Lanka was left with no alternative but to go cap in hand to the IMF, last year, many thought that the western bloc and India had succeeded in removing it from China’s sphere of influence, and Beijing would have its work cut out…
By Kapila Bandara in The Sunday Times, Apr 30, 2023Sri Lanka has granted sole and exclusive rights to the Chinese state enterprise China Merchants Port Holdings Company for a logistics centre in the Port of Colombo for 50 years. The public-private venture on build, operate, and transfer (BOT) terms, involves Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), and civil engineers Access Engineering Plc as minority shareholders. SLPA is not allowed under the BOT agreement, “to grant any…
report in ECONOMYNEXT online, Apr 24, 2023China, one of Sri Lanka’s largest bilateral lenders, attempted to prove its close cooperation with the island nation after its state-owned China Merchants Group (CMG) signed the first large investment deal since the Indian Ocean nation declared bankruptcy. The Hong Kong-listed company signed a $392 million agreement with government-owned Sri Lanka Ports Authority on Saturday to jointly build the South Asia Commercial and Logistics Hub. “We are always “providing…
By Shamindra Ferdinando in The Island, Apr 24, 2023Leader of the House, Prasanna Ranatunga, yesterday (23) said the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) wouldn’t replace incumbent Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.Responding to media queries, after paying a floral tribute at the Reggie Ranatunga memorial at Udugampola, Gampaha, the Urban Development and Housing Minister alleged that canard was spread by the Opposition. Gunawardena is the leader of the MEP, a constituent of the SLPP. The MEP…
By Kasun Warakapitiya in The Sunday Times, Apr 23, 2023Sri Lanka wants to verify details of a Chinese ‘animal breeding’ company which had sought to obtain 100,000 toque macaques reportedly for zoos in China. The Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka has been asked to provide complete details of the company, the secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Gunadasa Samarasinghe told the Sunday Times. Environmentalists have severely criticised the unsolicited proposal for endemic monkeys of Sri…
report in The Morning, Apr 18, 2023Despite possessing enviable social indicators at the time of its’ Independence in 1948, Sri Lanka, at 75, is a “failed state”, former two-time President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga claimed on 16 April. “Seventy-five years is a long time for a nation to achieve considerable progress. Even after 450 years of destruction by colonial rulers, at Independence, Sri Lanka possessed some of the best socio economic indicators. Today, at 75, Sri…
Reuters report Apr 13, 20223Washington:- Japan, France and India will announce a new platform for creditors to coordinate restructuring of Sri Lanka’s debt, Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Wednesday, adding it would be “very nice” if China were to join the effort. As chair of this year’s Group of Seven (G7) meeting, Japan has put efforts to address debt vulnerabilities of middle-income countries such as Sri Lanka as among priorities for debate. The…
by Dimuthu Attanayake in SCMP, Apr 9, 2023Almost four years ago, Rupika Rosairo’s two daughters left the family home in Colombo in their Sunday best to attend Easter mass with their grandmother. But that evening, her 13-year-old younger daughter returned home in a coffin. Rosairo’s children were victims of Sri Lanka’s Easter bombings that killed more than 260 people and injured some 400, after eight local Islamist militants blew up three churches and hotels in…
report in ECONOMYNEXT, April 9, 2023Sri Lanka had signed an agreement with the China International Development Cooperation Agency to get a data forensic lab as part of foreign aid, China’s embassy in Colombo said. Ambassador Deng Boqing, Vice Chairman of China International Development Cooperation Agency had visited Sri Lanka from April 04 to 07. He had met Sri Lanka President and Minister of Finance Ranil Wickremesinghe, Minister of Transport and Highways Bandula Gunawardane, Minister of…