Choices: Half full or half empty?
November 15, 2006 (LBO) – At a recent discussion on comparative rankings of economic performance, an esteemed economist decried the tendency of Sri …
Choices
Choices: Essential or luxury?
October 23, 2006 (LBO) - Recently the government imposed tougher import conditions on non-essential items: …
Choices: Geography or ideology?
October 16, 2006 (LBO) - "While the JVP supports a vibrant free market economy to generate growth, we are completely against an unbridled, uncontrolled open …
Choices: Trade agreements or tired tirades?
August 28, 2006 (LBO) – In a discussion of two pieces of trade-related legislation now before Parliament, a JVP MP stated that they served the interests of …
Choices: Brand or generic?
August 7, 2006 (LBO) – Generic is cheap and utilitarian. Brand is expensive and status conferring. That's the common wisdom. But those in the new, hot field …
Choices: Work with the Disaster Act or fix its flaws?
July 25, 2006 (LBO) - The 2004 tsunami was a shock. One out of 500 Sri Lankans died in the short space of three and a half hours when walls of water hit them …
Choices: Kiri or kekiri?
July 11, 2006 (LBO) - Do infrastructure reforms increase disparities between the wealthy areas around Colombo and the rest of the country? Do they yield kiri …
Choices: To appoint or advertise?
July 3, 2006 (LBO) - The Information and Communication Technology Act, No 27 of 2003, was a watershed for a number of reasons. It created a fully government …
Choices: Toll or troll?
June 21, 2006 (LBO) - Recently there was a news report on innovative policing on the Colombo-Kandy road. On two days of the week, the traffic police would …
Lies or the bitter truth?
June 8, 2006 (LBO) – Some time ago I wrote a column http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/normal-or-peculiar-standard-time/ about changing the time standard: It …
Traffic congestion: On the road to Seoul or London?
May 22, 2006 (LBO) - Most people trying to move across the city of Colombo in recent days have experienced increased difficulties. A trip that used to take 20 …
The Sri Lankan state: Failed, failing or maligned?
May 12, 2006 (LBO) - The May/June 2006 issue of the international affairs monthly, Foreign Policy, carries an article entitled "The Failed States Index" …
Choices: The money of politics or the politics of money?
May 01, 2006 (LBO) - It appears that lordships have been sold in the UK, again. Tony Blair, who criticized the Tories for selling honors, is on the back foot, …
Infrastructure: Back to basics?
Apr.13 (LBO) - In the famous five classes that the JVP used for recruitment in the years before the first insurrection of 1971, a story was told about tea. It …
Choices: BPO or KPO?
Mar. 28 (LBO) - I was at a meeting in Delhi in early March when I first heard the acronym KPO, of course without being spelled out. online pharmacy buy …
Normal or peculiar standard time?
Mar. 16 (LBO) -- The President has announced that Sri Lanka’s clocks are to follow Indian Standard Time (IST) with effect from April 13th, 2006. This means …
Vote: With the ballot or with your feet?
Feb 21, 2006 (LBO) -- In some discussions in 2002-04 when the government was interested in a bridge cum utility conduit over the Palk Strait (the now forgotten …
Congestion becomes a hot topic as Sri Lanka’s telecom sector goes through another growth spurt.
Every time the telecom sector goes through a growth spurt in Sri Lanka, congestion becomes a topic of conversation. People begin to grouse that the companies …
Choices: Workaround or workthrough?
Beginning of December, I was invited to speak at Softexpo, a major software industry event in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The organizers transported me to the seminar …
Choices: An MOU to implement MOUs
R&D or housemaids? On December 8, Bill Gates announced that Microsoft will spend US$ 850 million on research and development in India over the next four …