All Blogs
Smoke Screen
Sri Lanka was considering bringing back heavy taxes to discourage foreign ownership of land amid a surge in the sale of beach property to non-nationals, a senior government minister said Friday.The cabinet on Wednesday decided to reconsider imposing a 100 percent tax on foreigners buying land, cabinet spokesman Mangala Samaraweera said adding that a committee […]
Lost In Translation
For instance, a simple and direct translation in Sinhalese for ldblquote save dblquote means rescue, while there is no commonly used local term for mouse.rn rnMicrosoft Corp., recently setup local office is booting up for a nationwide campaign to compile a glossary of terms and phrases used in daily computing.rn rnThe proposed open process will […]
Load Of Gas
Concerns are rising among apartment developers that the proposed transfer tax on land may hit the industry.The Ministry of Lands announced a Cabinet decision to re-introduce the 100 percent tax on land purchased by foreigners on Thursday.rn rnIn the late nineties the tax was relaxed to allow the upper floors of an apartment block to […]
Street Hawkers
Sri Lankas corporates are jostling each other to come out into the sunshine thanks to the digital revolution jumping the local advertising industry. Its not a small budget, small business thing anymore; outdoor advertising is climbing the social ladder in Sri Lanka.rn rnWhether its the corporate blue bloods or the village petti kade (box shop), […]
Red Alert
Sri Lankas police and customs have been ordered to seize Buddha Bar music and bikinis with Buddha images, officials said Thursday.rnState Attorney Nihal Jayawardene asked for strict enforcement of laws that prohibit the commercial use of religious symbols and said Buddha Bar music and the bikinis would fall under the measures.rn rn His order was […]
Long Beep
Fixed line operator Suntel plans to infuse US$ 20 mn this year, to roll out its network islandwide.The wireless local loop operator has sought the telecom watchdogs approval to get a slot in the 800 Mhz bandwidth.rn rnSuntel officials say they applied for approval mid last year, but are yet to receive the regulators consent. […]
Inside Lanka
Chipmaker Intel setup shop here this week, apart from the obvious reason of taping into the sales potential in the island, to standardize wireless technologies WiFi and WiMax. The local office will help identify corporate businesses and rural infrastructure rollout projects that will use wireless technologies.rnrnThe wireless standardization process is in line with Intels current […]
Top Brass
The government has appointed top private sector businessmen to drive its economic agenda, the Presidential Secretariat said.Treasury Secretary Dr. P B Jayasundara, will be the Secretary General of the newly formed National Council for Economic Development or NCED, which will translate the United Peoples Freedom Alliances election manifesto into a six-year economic plan.rn rnOther top […]
IT Global
Sri Lankas IT industry is surging ahead and on Tuesday another key player launched operations in Colombo, adding one more link to the backward integration chain.Sri Lankas computer market is estimated at 150,000 PCs a year and is growing at around 19 percent every year.rn rnHigher priced branded computers make up nearly 30 percent of […]
Parliament Jokes
Sri Lankas Buddhist monk Parliamentarians staged a demonstration in Colombo on Wednesday for a better-behaved legislature for the island.rnThe JHU (Jathika Hela Urumaya) staged a sathyagraha (meditation demonstration) at Colombos Viharamaha Devi Park for peace and sanity among parliamentarians.rn rnldblquote This is our way of condemning the behaviour in Parliament yesterday and we are meditating […]