Sunday Observer

Youth Observer

Features

16 January, 2022 0

Ceremony on low key on President’s directive

Second session of ninth Parliament opens on Jan. 18

The second session of the ninth Parliament will be ceremonially opened under the patronage of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Tuesday, January 18.The President is due to present the Government Policy Statement at 10.00 a.m. in accordance with the powers vested in him by Article 33 (2) of the Constitution. On the directive of the President, the ceremony will be held in a simple manner thus there will be no...

16 January, 2022 0

Basil Rajapaksa and Indian External Affairs Minister hold virtual meeting

Early realisation of US$ 1.5 b credit facility

Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa and Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jayashankar held a detailed virtual meeting yesterday morning to review the extension of India’s credit facilities to Sri Lanka including the early realisation of a US $ 1 billion term loan facility to purchase essential commodities and the US $ 500 million Letter of Credit to buy fuel.Dr. Jayashankar in a series of twitter...

16 January, 2022 0

Sharp increase in tourist arrivals - D. V. Chanaka

State Minister of Aviation and Export Zones Development, D.V. Chanaka said 194,805 people visited Sri Lanka last year and of them, 89,506 had arrived in December.“That is a huge increase in the number of tourist arrivals. On some days, there were 5,000 visitors. At present, we have an average of 3,500 tourist arrivals every day. It has a huge impact on our plans to increase the number of tourist arrivals...

16 January, 2022 0

‘Republican’ tax breaks for ‘rich’

This is the time to give entrepreneurs tax breaks. ‘Republican’ type of tax breaks that may make the wage earners and workers complain that the rich are being pampered. But it’s such generous tax breaks that would probably save this struggling economy.Big companies don’t necessarily need such tax breaks. In this country the big players cater mostly to the domestic economy and have consistently been...

16 January, 2022 0

Colombo Port City

EC progressing smoothly

With Port City Colombo’s Marina Promenade being open to the public from Monday (10), thousands arrive at the location to witness the changing landscapes and get a glimpse into the future of a new city rising from the sea.It’s a new experience for the people to take in Colombo from outside, standing at the neatly paved walkway, and walking across the state-of-the-art bridge in the serene atmosphere created...

16 January, 2022 0

Leave the past two years to critics, embrace the future - Prime Minister

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said that we should take the future into our own hands, leaving the past two years to the critics. The Premier said that the two years lost due to the Covid-19 pandemic should be forgotten and we should raise hopes for the next three years. Even though the past is important to the Opposition, the Government must always accept the future, not the past.Premier Rajapaksa was...

16 January, 2022 0

Moneragala boy’s 85 helps Sri Lanka down Scotland

Skipper Dunith Wellalage had fine figures of 5 for 27 but nothing would have been possible had not a village lad Sakuna Liyanage made a fighting knock of 85 in 85 balls that paved the way for Sri Lanka to defeat Scotland by 40 runs in their Under 19 World Cup opening match played at Georgetown, Guyana in the West Indies on Friday.Sri Lanka chose to bat first but were struggling at 78 for 5 wickets after 13...

16 January, 2022 0

Revival of industries, an uphill task - Industry experts

Rising logistics, raw material costs and higher wage demand...

Worker absenteeism, rising logistics and raw material costs and demand for higher wages by workers have stifled revival of industries that were rocked by the global pandemic for nearly two years.Industry experts believe bouncing back to pre-pandemic levels would take a considerable time given the scale of the impact of the health crisis.According to them, worker absenteeism is still at around 10-15 percent...