Picked by an Angel

Developed economies spend the equivalent of two to three percent of their GDP on Research and Development (R&D).rnBut the figure is much lower for emerging markets including Sri Lanka.rnrnExperts say without prosperity there wont be enough for R&D expenditure and without R&D spending growth will always be below par.rn rnWithout prosperity there wont be enough […]

Smart Hutchison

Hutchison telecom says their local operation will connect an additional one hundred thousand customers to their GSM network when its commercially launched later this month.But the company says they dont plan to eat in to market share of other GSM mobile operators but would go after over 90 percent of people who do not own […]

At Your Service

The services sector made the biggest contribution to economic growth last year.The sector that accounted for a little over forty percent of economic activity when the country adopted a market economy, today accounts for nearly 55 percent of the countrys GDP.rn rnOver 54 percent of the countrys GDP is accounted for by the service sector. […]

Dim View

Suspected Tamil Tigers shot dead a soldier in eastern Sri Lanka after the rebels warned that Norways renewed efforts to broker peace in the island were in jeopardy, a local official saidThe victim, a member of an intelligence unit, was taken off of a bus and killed in broad daylight near the town of Batticaloa, […]

U Too

Top donors like the World Bank and the IMF say Constitutional reforms without a two-third majority in the parliament will not affect their lending program to the country. However, analysts pointed out that any attempt at tinkering with the Constitution without a two-thirds majority in parliament could lead to political uncertainty, which will directly affect […]

Back To Work

Striking flight attendants at Sri Lankas national carrier SriLankan Airlines announced they had ended a work stoppage that forced the airline to ground flights for more than 24 hours.The Flight Attendants Union said its 600 members would return to work from 2:00 pm (0800 GMT Saturday) after securing a meeting with their chief executive officer […]

Wings Clipped

A strike by flight attendants over a pay row delayed several SriLankan Airlines flights and stranded passengers Friday, airport officials said.rnThere was no immediate word from the airline about the delays, but the Flight Attendants Union said 600 crew members were taking part in the trade union action.rn rn The strikers are demanding talks over […]

Spring Cleaning

Fitch Ratings Lanka Limited has revised symbols used to communicate its national ratings in Sri Lanka, in order to achieve greater consistency with the rating symbols used by Fitch in other markets where it assigns national ratings. rnrn rnThe new symbol replaces the earlier used prefix of lquote SL rnwith the suffix lquote (sri). rn […]

Scoring Points

Sri Lanka has made it to a list of 15 countries eligible for aid this year from the newly formed US Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). “Sri Lanka was selected for eligibility because of its demonstrated commitment to just and democratic governance, to economic freedom, and to the determination to invest in its people,” US Ambassador […]

First Innings

Former Sri Lankan cricket captain Arjuna Ranatunga Friday mended fences with President Chandrika Kumaratunga and was sworn in as deputy minister of industries, tourism and investment promotion.rnOfficials said Ranatunga, 40, who refused to be sworn in last month unless he was given the sports ministry, had his appointment confirmed at a ceremony held at Kumaratungas […]

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