Chinese sea cucumber farms back in operation in Kilinochchi by Dinasena Ratugamage, Sunday Island, Colombo, August 6, 2021 Two sea cucumber farms, managed by a Chinese company in Kilinochchi, recommenced its operations after fishermen’s associations in Jaffna and Kilinochchi said that they no longer opposed the farms. The operations of the two farms were stopped… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Economy
Oil and Gas Exploration in Mannar Basin Mapped
by Financial Times, Colombo, August 5, 2021 Energy Minister Udaya Gammampila in a gazette notification has published a map of blocks for joint exploration for oil and gas in the Mannar Basin. Titled ‘Hydrocarbon exploration block map of Sri Lanka,’ the map outlines the blocks for exploration licences, development licences and joint studies. The publication… Read more »
Sri Lanka Sliding Down a Dark and Slippery Slope
Daily Mirror editorial, Colombo, July 14, 2021 Somewhere after defeating separatist terrorism in 2009, Sri Lanka missed a glorious chance of turning a destructive era on its head. In the aftermath of the near 3-decade-long separatist war, instead of pursuing a cherished dream of reconcilliation, our political leaders acted like Don Quixote who went tilting… Read more »
Debt-hobbled Sri Lanka Risks Running Out of Options
by Tom Arnold, Marc Jones, Reuters, August 3, 2021 LONDON, Aug 3 (Reuters) – Sri Lanka paid a $1 billion bond last week, but the alarming state of its finances suggests it may have been just another step towards its first sovereign default. All the tell-tale crisis signs are there: bonds at nearly half their… Read more »
The Origins of the Great Divergence
A review of Peer Vries’ “Escaping poverty” by Branko Milanovic, his personal Substack, July 22, 2021 While the world is witnessing global convergence (essentially the catch up of Asia with the West), the debates about the origins of the Great Divergence—the take-off of the West and absence of growth in the Rest—are going strong. I… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Rajapaksa Dynasty is Not as Secure as It Appears
by Banyan, The Economist, London, July 17, 2021 The family that runs everything is running out of cash Since winning the presidency in a landslide nearly two years ago, Gotabaya Rajapaksa has worried not that he has too many relatives in government, but that he has too few. One of the 72-year-old’s elder brothers, Mahinda, himself… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Falling Economy & Failing Good Governance
by Thambu Kanagasabai, LLM [London] Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 21, 2021 President Gotabaya acclaimed as un uncrowned king of Sri Lanka after defeating the Liberation of Tigers in the genocidal war with the assistance of 22 countries particularly from India, Pakistan and China as confirmed by his brother Mahinda… Read more »
Fears over Sri Lanka’s Rising Coronavirus cases and its Militarised response
‘We are bracing ourselves’ by Thusiyan Nandakumar, Tamil Guardian, London, May 4, 2021 Amidst a devastating wave of coronavirus in India, across the Palk Strait in Sri Lanka infections have also been rapidly rising, with newly diagnosed cases breaking records every day. Clusters are now appearing across the island, sparking fears not only of a… Read more »
Sri Lankan Tamil Refugees in India
Conceptual Framework of Repatriation Success by Miriam George, Anita Vaillancourt, and s. Irudaya Rajan, Refuge, Vol. 36, No.3, 2016 Sri Lankan Refugees in India Repatriation Success 2016 Abstract Repatriation to Sri Lanka has become a primary challenge to Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in Indian refugee camps, and a matter of significant public discussion in India… Read more »
P2P Demands & Pledge
by North East Civil Society Forum, February 7, 2021 P2P Demands and Pledge Pottuvil to Polikandy (P2P) – Demands and Pledge 1) We Tamils have been fighting for over seventy years for self Determination. We are a nation of people living in the merged North and East in the island of Ceylon. We have our… Read more »
Strategies for the Renaissance of Irrigation Glory
by Nimal Wijesinghe, Daily News, Colombo, February 27, 2021 There is an awakening in the field of irrigation development in the country. The ancient kings treated rainwater as a highly precious national asset and constructed small, medium and large-scale tanks and anicuts for collecting and storing every drop of rainwater for irrigational, agricultural and drinking… Read more »
Opening Yan Oya Project Delayed
Families await compensation [Note that this article says the project is in Anuradhapura District, while in 2017, this Colombo Page article says it is in North Central & will irrigate land in both Anuradhapura District & Trincomalee District.] by Daily News, Colombo, February 26, 2021 A major inter-provincial Irrigation in Sri Lanka awarded to China… Read more »
Land and the National Question in Sri Lanka
by N. Shanmugaratnam, Groundviews.org, Colombo, July 13, 2012 Image courtesy Sainthan Sivanesan on 500px I am thankful to the Norwegian Tamil Study Forum for inviting me to address this Workshop and am looking forward to listening to the main speakers. In this brief intervention I wish to make some general comments and raise a few issues,… Read more »
Suez Mishap Is a Foretaste of the New Cold War Stakes
by Peter Fickling, Bloomberg News, March 25, 2021 Ships so big they get stuck in the Canal literally define “chokepoint” but other waterways will play much more serious roles as the rivalry between China and the U.S. heats up. After a tumultuous year of pandemic, economic crisis and international tensions, it’s somehow comforting to be confronted with… Read more »
Cooperative Movement in Jaffna District 1911 – 1970
by Kanthappoo Paraiiothayan, 1990 Cooperative Movement in the Jaffna District 1911 to 1970 Abstract Using the problem analysis method advanced by Professor Brian Holmes,the study looks into the politico—economic and socio-cultural factors that gave special significance to the Cooperative Movement in the Jaffna District of Sri Lanka when it was introduced nation—wide at the beginning… Read more »
An Appraisal of Education & Sports in the NorthEast Province 1999
of Sri Lanka by Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam, Ph.D., May 1999 NEP Education Report__1999pdf PREFACE This report attempts to inform those who are in decision making positions the conditions of the violent conflict environment and the status of education in the NorthEast Province, and recommends actions that would stabilise and improve education and the life of the… Read more »
Endless War
by Anuradha Mittal, Oakland Institute, California, March 2021 Endless War Oakland Institute March 2021 *** The Destroyed Land, Life, and Identity of the Tamil People in Sri Lanka —FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE— March 7, 2021; 10:00PM PT Media Contact: Anuradha Mittal, amittal /A_T/ oaklandinstitute /D_O_T/ org” data-extlink=””>amittal /A_T/ oaklandinstitute /D_O_T/ org(link sends e-mail); +1 510-530-5126 As the 46th… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Post-War Defence Budget
A systematic review by Kamanthi Wickramasinghe, Daily Mirror, Colombo, February 5, 2020 A systematic review of Sri Lanka’s post-war defence budget reveals that Sri Lanka spends too much on defence and the defence budget is spent inefficiently. The study done by Daniel Alphonsus, who had served as an advisor to Sri Lanka’s finance minister with… Read more »
Sri Lanka Turns to China Rather than IMF
To avoid default Relations with US-led multilateral lender strained by past misadventures by Marwaan Macan-Markar, Nikkei Asia, October 12, 2020 Sri Lanka’s government led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa desperately needs cash to service over $15 billion in foreign debt. (Source photos by Reuters) COLOMBO — Sri Lanka’s ultranationalist government looks set to receive a financial lifeline from China… Read more »
In Sri Lanka, a People Living Off Borrowed Money
by Meera Srinivasan, The Hindu, Chennai, August 22, 2020 As Sri Lanka struggles with outstanding foreign debt, rural households across the country have been living off borrowings after exhausting their savings. Meera Srinivasan reports on how those already struggling with severe economic hardships are now grappling with a pandemic-induced crisis After doing seven jobs in the last three years in and around Colombo,… Read more »