LOLC Group marked its first overseas leisure venture in the Maldives and also broke new ground in Sri Lanka-China relations last week, announcing its North Malé Resort Development project in partnership with State-owned China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC).

Sri Lanka has always been an indisputable part of South Asia, geographically and culturally. Yet, it is also a place apart in many ways. Unlike other modern countries in South Asia, like India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, which have experienced political unity under many empires, Sri Lanka has always been a distinct region unto itself within South Asia. The great empires of the subcontinent, with one notable exception, made little effort to control Sri Lanka, and even the British ruled it separately from the Raj, as a crown colony. It is especially interesting that Buddhism survived in Sri Lanka, despite the island’s only neighbors being Hindu-majority regions and the fact that most of the islands in the Indian ocean (Zanzibar, Comoros, the Maldives, Indonesia) converted to Islam during the last millennium. Despite having been a hub of trade, many cultural currents seemed to have passed Sri Lanka by.

Sri Lanka Customs Trade Unions began a work to rule campaign on Monday 19 demanding the Finance Ministry to withdraw the proposed new Customs Ordinance Draft Bill.

When Maithripala Sirisena won the presidential elections in Sri Lanka in early 2015, followed by Ranil Wickremesinghe taking over as Prime Minister, New Delhi was delighted. The previous regime led by Mahinda Rajapakse had hurt India’s two core interests in the island — by refusing to politically address Tamil discontent, and inviting a greater Chinese role in the island.

Former Minister Imithiaz Bakeer Markar has assumed duties as the Chairman of the National Media Center.