Archive for Economy
July 1, 2010 at 10:15 am · Categories: Colombo, Constitutional Reform, Development, Diplomacy, Economy, End of war special edition, Foreign Relations, Gender, Human Rights, Human Security, IDPs and Refugees, Identity, International Relations, Media and Communications, Peace and Conflict, Poetry, Politics and Governance, Post-War, Reconciliation, War Crimes | by Groundviews
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From 19 – 27 May 2010, Groundviews ran a special edition on the end of war in Sri Lanka. Over this week alone, the site received over forty thousand readers and exclusively featured over eighty thousand words of original content, one video premiere, over a dozen photos, generating over one hundred and fifty thousand words of commentary. Tens of thousands more have read …
June 16, 2010 at 6:30 am · Categories: Colombo, Economy, Science and Technology | by Nalaka Gunawardene
It happened 20 years ago, but I still remember the incident. In early 1990, as a young science journalist working for the Asia Technology magazine of Hong Kong, I was being shown around the Pakistani space agency SUPARCO premises in Karachi. At the time, they were readying the country’s first digital communications satellite, Badr 1 (Urdu for ‘New Moon-1’). There was great excitement about its impending launch (which took place a few weeks later on a Chinese Long March 2 rocket).
Being younger, eager and more idealistic, I asked the Pakistani space chiefs if the ‘New Moon’ would also usher in a new era of information disclosure for the hitherto secretive space programme. Pakistan had recently returned to civilian rule …
June 15, 2010 at 7:22 am · Categories: Colombo, Constitutional Reform, Economy, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance | by Muttukrishna Sarvananthan
[Authors note: This was a talk given at the International Conference entitled ‘Taking the Sri Lankan Peace Process Forward’ organised by the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi on May 11, 2010.]
Introduction
For too long, the political processes in Sri Lanka to resolve minority grievances have been preoccupied with the nature of the state (unitary versus federal), unit of devolution of political and administrative power (village, district, or province), language, land, police, and other administrative issues. Very little discussions have taken place regarding the division of financial/fiscal powers between the centre and the peripheries. All the previous political processes have failed on one political and/or administrative issue or the other.
Even the externally imposed provincial council system under the Thirteenth Amendment to the …
June 14, 2010 at 5:47 pm · Categories: Development, Economy, Human Rights, Human Security, Identity, Jaffna, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance, Post-War, Reconciliation | by Groundviews
From the psycho-social trauma and destruction of the social fabric in Jaffna after close upon three decades of brutal war to the challenges of post-war development, entrepreneurship and economic revival, these two interviews focus on two leading Tamil civil society activists who have lived in Jaffna from when the war was still raging.
Dr. Muttukrishna Sarvananthan is the Principal Researcher at the Point Pedro Institute of Development and author of three well read articles on Groundviews. Our conversation was pegged to the socio-economic aspects of post-war scenarios in the North and East. Dr. Sarvananthan’s key ideas for post-war development are …
May 22, 2010 at 6:00 pm · Categories: Colombo, Economy, End of war special edition | by Rohini Hensman
On the first anniversary of the end of the war, with the presidential and parliamentary elections behind us, now is the time to start thinking seriously about addressing some of the problems dogging the economy of Sri Lanka, including a massive debt and unsustainable budget deficits. Failure to do this will mean falling living standards and eventual crisis.
Demilitarisation
What does demilitarisation have to do with the economy? Everything. Military spending produces nothing that contributes to expanding the economy: neither food, clothes nor shelter, neither education nor healthcare, neither infrastructure nor capital goods. On the contrary, by swallowing up taxes, or by creating a public debt which has to be repaid (with interest) out of taxes, it actually constitutes a deduction from a country’s …
May 18, 2010 at 5:04 pm · Categories: Colombo, Economy, Elections, Politics and Governance, Post-War | by Sanjana Hattotuwa
Interview III – Dr. Harsha de Silva from Young Asia Television on Vimeo.
I recently spoke with Dr. Harsha de Silva, now a National List MP from the United National Party (UNP). I first interviewed Harsha a little over a year ago, on the context leading up to and the fall out of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bail-out package and the general state of the Sri Lankan economy.
This time around we spoke about his entry into parliament, and one of the younger and more dynamic individuals entering for the first time into a chamber hitherto not known as …
May 6, 2010 at 8:47 pm · Categories: Colombo, Constitutional Reform, Economy, Politics and Governance | by Publius
There has been speculation this week that the government is planning to present a Vote on Account rather than a full and proper budget. The DNA/JVP has already announced its opposition to this, and perhaps more importantly, the IMF has indicated that the next tranche of the loan granted last year in order to avert the balance of payments crisis may be affected if there is no proper budget in which the deficit is brought down to the agreed 7% of GDP from the current 9.7%, fiscal reforms are introduced, and public spending is cut to a more sustainable level. Traditionally, the Sri Lankan electorate is not only uninterested in the way governments manage their money, but positively rewards fiscal …
May 6, 2010 at 9:04 am · Categories: Economy, Politics and Governance | by Sunil G Wijesinha
First it was the Swine ‘Flu and now it’s the PIGS. The four countries of the European Union; Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain, saddled with the current debt crisis, weak economies, and high unemployment; are referred to by the acronym PIGS. Will it be the end of the road for the European Monetary Union (EMU)? The EU “fortress” was meant to withstand such crises and provide protection for it’s member states. However it’s “immortality” has been threatened by its Achilles Heel, the PIGS. Greece started it and so I thought it appropriate to refer to Achilles.
We all know the term “Achilles’ Heel”. However, for those who need to refresh their memories, Achille`s was the son of the Sea Nymph Thetis …
April 21, 2010 at 6:30 am · Categories: Development, Economy, Identity | by Concerned Citizen
Are we Sri Lankans laid back as a nation? I have a sneaky feeling that we are, particularly, during New Year celebrations. No doubt, it is a wonderful tradition for family and friends to get together and celebrate. But aren’t the celebrations carried too far, in terms of time! In fact, it has become an excuse for dragging the holiday period further by several more days on account of transport issues and fuel shortages.
In our ancient past, life moved at an easy pace. There was adequate time for fulfilling customs and rituals according to astrological times such as ceasing work, ceasing cooking, lighting the hearth, partaking of meals, bathing, anointing with oil and starting work.
Isn’t it a little anachronistic for …
March 24, 2010 at 9:08 am · Categories: Colombo, Corruption, Economy, Politics and Governance | by Groundviews
Bell Pottinger hired Qorvis Communications as a subcontractor for its work with the government of Sri Lanka, starting December 1, according to a filing with the US Department of Justice. Qorvis is providing media relations and monitoring, crisis communications planning, and stakeholder representation in the US. The budget is approximately $483,000.
Though freely available on the web since January this year, this information to the best of our knowledge has not been prominently featured or robustly questioned in mainstream media to date.
Bell Pottinger is one of the UK’s largest public relations firms, spin doctors par excellence for those who can afford them, including amongst many others, the Government of Iran, members of the government of Saudi Arabia and …
February 10, 2010 at 7:00 am · Categories: Economy, Education, Youth | by Nishika Fonseka
The unemployment rate in Sri Lanka is not exceptional when compared with other countries in the world. In fact, it might seem relatively low. On a list of countries ranked in order of their rate of unemployment in the World Factbook produced by the US Central Intelligence Agency, Sri Lanka ranks 62nd with a comparatively low unemployment rate of 5.2%, a figure that concurs with that in the Central Bank report of 2008.
However, for Kosala Perera (name changed) this is no comfort. After graduating from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura with a second upper in a Bachelor of Business Administration, Kosala enthusiastically embarked on finding a job that would pay back the loans he had taken from relatives in …
January 28, 2010 at 7:00 am · Categories: Economy, Elections, Human Rights, Human Security, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance, Post-War | by Samath Gammampila
Dear Mr. President,
I’d like to congratulate you in advance for your impending victory of the Presidential election in the following days to come. With the SLFP consolidating their power through the provincial council polls in the aftermath of the war, a presidential re-election and another term with you as President seems inevitable.
The potential in Sri Lanka knows no bounds; therefore boundaries must be clearly drawn so that this potential is not exploited by a few for themselves and for their kith and kin. This has undoubtedly taken place in Sri Lanka time and again, with every administration that has governed the country. This needs to be addressed by the authorities and checks need to come into play. For …
January 21, 2010 at 7:00 am · Categories: Colombo, Economy, Elections, Politics and Governance | by raja
The country is being told some dangerous lies by both main candidates contesting the Presidential election. The manifestoes put by both main candidates with much fanfare are ignoring economic realities. MR wants to give us more of the same when he has failed to resolve the problems of the economy or run any public service satisfactorily except the war where he had the horse sense to pick the right man in SF. He will build 60,000 houses in the north and east when he has not built even one so far, 6 months after the war ended. He will give land to public sector employees to build houses etc. It is a wish list not an economic manifesto. Mahinda Chinthanaya …
December 30, 2009 at 7:00 am · Categories: Colombo, Economy, Elections, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance, Post-War, War Crimes | by Sudat Pasqual
Over 6 decades of independence and universal adult franchise and SL has reached probably the lowest points of its political life.
Listening, reading and drawing inferences from what’s coming out and not coming out of the 2 main camps in the presidential foray; I cannot help but come to the conclusion that the people of SL has the unenviable choice of electing either the biggest swindler in the country’s history or the most decorated military dunderhead in the country.
So far, the sitting president has made the earth shattering declaration that he will not accept campaign contributions from Prabakaran’s parents and has admitted that he may have made a few errors of judgment in appointing one or two people during his presidency. …
December 17, 2009 at 7:00 am · Categories: Constitutional Reform, Development, Economy, Foreign Relations, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance, Post-War | by Michael Roberts
[Editors note: This article complements The Rajapakse Regime and the Fourth Estate, also by the same author.]
This is a disjointed exercise that does not claim comprehensiveness. That is impossible in a short essay, the more so because I write without ethnographic exposure to the experiential subjectivities of either the Tamil people in Sri Lanka or the poor people from every community struggling with the cost of living.
Terrible Record
In a recent essay I have briefly annotated the government’s failure to prevent a series of killings and intimidations directed against media personnel and the widespread belief that elements in its sprawling establishment had a hand in many of these acts of injustice.[i]
In step with this record the Rajapakse Regime …
November 17, 2009 at 7:00 am · Categories: Colombo, Disaster Management, Economy, Foreign Relations, Human Security, IDPs and Refugees | by Prof. Rohan Samarajiva
Intellectuals in India have unfortunately not played positive roles in building good relations with its small neighbors. For the most part they ignore all neighbors other than Pakistan. In the few cases they do not, they tend to do active harm. The recent article in Forbes.com on 9 October 2009 (http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/08/tamil-tigers-rajiv-gandhi-opinions-contributors-sri-lanka.html) by Professor Brahma Chellaney exemplifies the latter.
Justifying cross-border terrorism
India is a country with many minorities. Would it like an external power describing one of its minorities as its “natural constituency” as Professor Chellaney does? I do not know quite what to make of this excerpt from his article: “India already had alienated the Sinhalese majority in the 1980s, when it first armed the Tamil Tigers and then sought …
November 15, 2009 at 7:00 am · Categories: Colombo, Economy, Foreign Relations, Human Security, IDPs and Refugees, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance, Post-War | by Rohini Hensman
It is worth clarifying here the situation regarding the EU GSP+ facility, given the confusion prevailing in the mainstream media.
The EU has NOT threatened trade sanctions against Sri Lanka. The GSP+ facility is an extra privilege granted to developing countries which abide by certain human rights norms. If it is withdrawn, the EU will continue to trade with Sri Lanka, but its imports from Sri Lanka will have to compete with imports from other countries likeIndia and China which do not enjoy the GSP+ facility. This means their quantity will decline, and there would be job losses for workers and revenue losses for the government.
Is this fair? The lengthy EU report on Sri Lanka produces mounds of evidence that Sri Lanka is not complying with the human rights norms which are …
November 13, 2009 at 7:00 am · Categories: Colombo, Constitutional Reform, Economy, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance, Post-War | by Sumanasiri Liyanage
Many questions with regard to democratic values and system of government in Sri Lanka have surfaced in recent years and it has been argued by some that Sri Lanka is heading at accelerating pace towards an authoritarian regime similar to that can be found in countries like Zimbabwe. An assassination of media persons, curtailment of civic rights, death threats for dissidents, non-implementation of relatively democratic amendments to the constitution are depicted as symptomatic of this trend. In this note, I argue that this analysis lacks theoretical consistency as well as empirical substance and reveals major flaws in Sri Lankan democratic discourse. In a nutshell, my main argument here is that in recent years Sri Lanka has shown a clear tendency …
October 23, 2009 at 7:00 am · Categories: Colombo, Economy, Politics and Governance, Post-War | by Darini Rajasingham Senanayake
[Editors note: Read Part 1 of this article here.]
Economic and Governance Challenges in Post-conflict Areas
The Rajapakse government is increasingly dovetailing its policies to make Lanka a destination of Indian and Chinese investment. As a first step in attracting investments in the former north-east conflict zones, the government recently announced a 15-year tax holiday for companies setting up operations in these regions. Among those queuing up are NTPC, Cairn, L&T, Purvankara and various information-technology (IT) companies. India’s National Thermal Power Corporation is expected to sign an agreement soon to set up a 1,000 MW coal based power plant in Trincomalee with an investment of US$500 million, while Cairn India has received approvals for oil exploration projects at a cost of …
October 22, 2009 at 6:06 pm · Categories: Colombo, Economy, Human Rights, Politics and Governance | by Dr. P. Saravanamuttu
The Final Report of the investigation initiated by the European Union under the terms of the GSP Plus concession entitled “The Implementation of certain Human Rights Conventions in Sri Lanka” has been handed over to the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL). The GOSL has time till the 6th of November to respond to the report. Two months from that date- 6th January 2010- the Council will take the final decision on the extension of GSP Plus to Sri Lanka, which will be effective six months from that date.
According to the statement released by Lutz Gullner, the spokesperson of the European Commission:
The Commission has completed a thorough investigation into the human rights situation in Sri Lanka and in particular whether Sri …
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