Following years of speculation, Dialog Axiata has officially unveiled its home broadband fibre packages. While Dialog fibre packages have been on offer in recent years, they were merely limited to corporate packages. However, now it appears that the telco has stepped up to offer SLT some competition. Prospective customers can get a Dialog fibre connection either based on quota or ...
According to a report by The Morning, the Inland Revenue Department has no immediate plans to convert existing NICs to TINs and that the current effort is only a proposal. “So far, we haven’t implemented anything like that. It is just a suggestion,” says IRD Assistant Commissioner S.A.K.K. Sanath. So far, the IRD has only utilized NICs as a means ...
President Ranil Wickremesinghe visits AiGrow, an AI-driven greenhouse effort by Vega Innovations, as part of an observation tour. The president also toured the company’s electric tuks and e-bikes. President’s Media Division of Sri Lanka President’s Media Division of Sri Lanka President’s Media Division of Sri Lanka President’s Media Division of Sri Lanka President’s Media Division of Sri Lanka ...
SriLankan Cargo x CargoAi SriLankan Airlines has joined hands with digital freight solutions company CargoAi intending to upgrade its airfreight booking and payment processes. The integration of SriLankan Cargo’s airfreight services with CargoAi’s ecosystem translates to online booking and instant cross-border payment facilities. “We will be able to enhance the visibility of our inventory and offer customers a convenient airfreight ...
Kapruka adopts LankaPay’s JustPay Web service Kapruka Holdings PLC has announced that its platform has now opened up for direct bank payments online. Thanks to LankaPay’s JustPay Web service integration, customers can make purchases on Kapruka without the need for debit/credit cards, wallets, and other third-party mechanisms. Early this year, LankaPay launched the JustPay Web as an alternative to the ...
Central Bank wants to tighten SIM re-issues to curb banking frauds The Central Bank of Sri Lanka is currently in discussions with telecom operators over SIM re-issues to curb mobile banking frauds. These discussions primarily revolve around getting the telecom operators to tighten their processes to ensure that the numbers will only be issued to the real owners. While ID ...
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the president’s proposal to cancel the Information and Communication Agency Act No. 27 of 2003 and to introduce the Technology Promotion Act. Accordingly, the Legal Draftsman is to prepare a draft bill based on the proposed concept paper. According to the government, the act involves “introducing new laws for digital improvement/transformation” and the establishment ...
President Ranil Wickremesinghe announced that the government will allocate LKR 1 billion next year for research on the relationship between Buddhism and AI. He further mentioned that the original plan was to commence the research this year. However, the initiative was postponed to 2025 due to pending AI legislation. “We are currently at the dawn of Artificial Intelligence, prompting questions ...
The upcoming Cyber Security Bill is set to be presented before the Cabinet of Ministers by the end of the month. The bill was published for public consultation last year and is now scheduled for submission as per State Minister of Technology Kanaka Herath. The minister also mentioned that the draft is currently undergoing revisions following feedback from the Ministry ...
The Sri Lankan government will be conducting cyber security training for its workforce as part of its Digital Economy 2030 plans, as per a recent Memorandum of Understanding signing. The MoU with the Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team Ministry of Technology (SLCERT), Federation of Information Technology Industry Sri Lanka (FITIS), and ISC2 Colombo Chapter will see 1,000 government officers ...
Spotify has officially announced that its subscription will go up, starting next month. The price hike will come into effect in Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the UK, and at least one other market, with the US to follow later this year. While it’s the second time in less than a year for Spotify, this marks the first time markets like ...
Sri Lankan digital media company Roar Media has shuttered its news publishing arm in light of its content production studio. Roar, which has been in active operations for a decade, has now pivoted from news to a B2B content creation company. Issuing a statement, the company announced that moving forward, it “will be focusing entirely towards the development of platform-specific ...
Following the news of McDonald’s winding up operations in Sri Lanka, Abans PLC has issued a statement claiming that the group isn’t the franchisee of McDonald’s in Sri Lanka. In a letter addressed to the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), the company points out that the local franchisee is its Managing Director Rusi Pestonjee’s International Restaurant Systems as opposed to Abans ...
Recently, the Colombo Commercial High Court issued an enjoining order preventing the Abans Group from operating McDonald’s (McD) in Sri Lanka. The order was issued following a lawsuit filed by the franchise owner (McDonald’s Corporation) under the provisions of the Intellectual Property Act, No. 36 of 2003. Effective until the 4th of April, the enjoining order also included the closure ...
The much-anticipated opening of Sri Lanka’s first IMAX movie theatre may be just months away. According to Chassy Cortes, Head of Marketing and PR at Scope Cinemas, the IMAX theatre is set for a 2024 launch. While the company didn’t offer a specific date, Chassy stated that the tentative plan is to open up the theatre in time for the ...
Gamer.LK recently announced the launch of its original mobile game, ‘Cricket Sixes’. Developed in-house, Cricket Sixes aims to shake up the mobile cricket gaming space in South Asia, offering a unique, competitive experience designed for both casual and hardcore gamers. Cricket Sixes which combines the thrill of cricket with the accessibility of mobile gaming, marks Gamer.LK’s venture into game development. ...
The YouTube channel of ITN Sri Lanka, which hosts over 2 million subscribers, has been hacked in what appears to be another crypto scam-related cyberattack. It’s unclear how the channel was hijacked and ITN has yet to offer any official statement regarding the present circumstances. High-profile YouTube channels have been routinely getting hacked by crypto scams in recent years, with ...
The National Water Supply and Drainage Board’s revamped online portal may have some security vulnerabilities that could comprise user data. First pointed out by @ishanul on Twitter, the NWSDB Online platform’s APIs are open in a way that would allow malicious actors to extract sensitive user data with ease. The vulnerability could potentially expose data such as email addresses, mobile ...
Recently, the Finance Ministry announced that the government has pushed the deadline for some of the announced tax changes by one month. Accordingly, individuals now have until February 1 for vehicle registration, revenue licenses, and property purchases without a tax file. As of now, individuals 18 years or older and residents of Sri Lanka starting January 1, 2024 are to ...
After days of ambiguous posts about an upcoming broadband offer, SLT has finally unveiled its latest addition to its service, “midnight thriller”. Starting January 1, all SLT home broadband users can surf the internet for free between 12.00 am and 7.00 am. In other words, no data will be deducted from your package during this period. Over the years, consumers ...
